October 21, 2012

LEAVIN' ON A JET PLANE

Maybe another blog--another time, another place

         

October 21, 2012

NORMANDY AND BRITTANY

Last week I took a very quick trip with a visiting friend to Bayeux in Normandy and to St. Malo in Brittany. We only had 52 hours; I think we spent more time traveling to and from the train and on the train than we did in our destinations.  In any case, the weather was very sunny and nice. It was an adventure.

We left Paris from St. Lazare station, after taking two trains to get there. The train trip took two hours and we sat with a lovely couple from upstate New York. Arriving in Bayeux, there was no time to check into our hotel as we were booked on a tour of the D-Day sites beginning at 1 p.m. A small cafe and the meeting place were across the street from the train station; our bags came with us in the trunk.  There were only four of us and it was most interesting (a father and daughter from CA).  Our guide, Adoline, was very nice and a wealth of information as she took us to a number of stops which were important during the invasion on June 6, 1944.

The first stop was at Gold Beach, which was the scene of the British invasion. On all of these stops, we wound around the French countryside through small little villages which faced or were near the beach where the action took place. Dinner was at a charming little restaurant behind the cathedral accompanied by a glass of wine. Our rooms have a TV, and I was able to watch the last part of a very close tennis match, the details escape me, I was shocked at having a television in front of me.

Wonderful museum at our first stop

German bunker

Carole talking to our guide, Adoline

The American Cemetery

Learned next morning via BBC that the presidential debate in the U.S. last evening was considered a draw; basic details were presented early a.m. We needed to catch our train at 7:31 a.m. and there was no time to see the Bayeux tapestries, which were on my list to try to see (next time). We got into St. Malo about 11:00 and checked into our hotel, the Anjours d'Oc, in the old walled city.  The rooms  here were also very nice and faced the cathedral. Our for a quick lunch and a walk on the wall around the whole city, which takes just under an hour. We then hopped on a little train called "Le Petit Train" and waited with others for the driver to show up.  When he was late, I suggested we just drive the train ourselves, but, as one woman remarked, We don't have an engine.  Behold, about 15 minutes later the driver and the engine come clanging down the street.

The ancient walled city of St. Malo controlled the fortified island of Rance (St. Malo is now connected to the mainland and is the most visited site in Brittany). In the 6th Century the modern  city was founded by Monks and centuries later became the home of a firece breed of pirates who forced English ships passing up the Channel to pay tribute (financially). Four four years, beginning in 1590, the city becme independent. Jacques Cartier, who founded Canada, lived in and sailed from St. Malo.

St. Malo from above on the wall

St. Vincent Cathedral

The tour wasn't very good and the commentary didn't go with what we were seeing. The whole thing was very strange.

Next morning, after a wonderful sleep, we just had time to visit the St. Vincent Cathedral, which was lovely. This church is very old and is the resting place of Cartier. Our taxi picked us up at 11 to go to the train station for our return, and we got on our high speed train with no problem just before noon.  We did not arrive in Paris until right before 3 (Montparnasse), and spent a lot of time trying to find our 2 Metro stop to get back to where we pick up our bus to go back to Vaujours.   Finally we found both of them. Almost there, right?    Wrong.  Our bus #8 stop had disappeared!  A different bus # was posted there.  After asking about five different bus drivers what happened to the #8 stop, we finally found it across the street.  It was raining again by this time and tons of people were getting on the bus.  Fortunately, we got a seat.  I think this took us about another hour until we finally got back. We ate another one of our frozen dinners and went to bed.

TO PARIS WITH LOVE

I am amazed at the number of people who are reading my blog; thanks for taking the time.  However, I am amazed at the fact that the one with the most gorgeous fantastic photos was only read by four persons - this is the one, Walking Hand in Hand with Monet.   Over 100 people read about my Flybe adventure, but the trip to Giverny blog contains only some of the most gorgeous photos on the blog. I'll change the name and maybe more people will check it out ???

To all of you who have supported me in so many ways, I dedicate some of my favorite photos from my special time in France.  It has been most interesting and educational, but it's not about the places you went, the things that you saw, nor the experiences that you had--it's about the people you meet along the way. Because of all of you with your constant support, and all those people I met by chance during the past three and one half months, my heart goes out with much thanks and love as I prepare to say Au Revoir to France and Bonjour to America.

Some photos taken in Paris from the beginning:

Sorbonne

window at St. Sulpice Cathedral

In front of the American church

Here come the roller bladers

  I'm addicted to bookshops, so of course I had to check out Shakespeare and Company; below, a poster inside

 

We came upon this wedding couple heading for their reception.

Right, the back of the Louvre

 I got a head & neck massage on the street and asked the therapist what the building was at the end of the street--of course, it was the Sorbonne (I felt kind of odd having asked this).  Anyone no matter whom they are can take classes there free.
 

Right, leaving the Louvre area and entering the Tuileries


Below on the Pont des Artes, enjoying my new sorbet discovery, citron (lemon or lemon-lime depending).  The locks on this bridge have been initialed by lovers all over the world and the keys thrown into the Seine. I enjoyed this so much I went to this spot three different times and the same guy was always there with the same flavors.  One scoop was 2.5 euros. The perfect thing on a hot day!

 I will think about that sorbet long after summer disappears.

Notre Dame at midnight

Pantheon from Luxembourg Gardens

B

 Lena and I had brunch at Les Trois Maggots - it was a most gorgeous day in Montparnasse. The restaurant is most famous as many writers hung out here in the past.

Cafe de Flore was next to Les Trois Maggots;
everyone was out enjoying this gorgeous day.

October 6, 2012

A WALK WITH VAN GOGH

We got an earlier start today, and even though Auvers-sur-Oise was closer than Giverny, hardly anyone was there on this Saturday morning.  It was a bit drizzly but did not affect our visit. There are few signs to help direct us, but after having a coffee on the main little street, we were able to buy our tickets to visit Auberge Ravoux, which is a museum above what is now a restaurant. It was here that Vincent VanGogh died after shooting himself in the chest two days earlier on July 29, 1890 (more about this later). We tromped up a staircase with a young man from the book shop to one of the two rooms upstairs and found ourselves in the smaller one where there was a reproduction of the only chair that was there at the time, after which we went into the larger room where we watched a short film about him.

Auvers was already a favorite destination of eighteenth century landscape painters before VanGogh arrived; all of this because the train allowed them to get out into the countryside.

Van Gogh had no money and rented this room for the price of six francs while under the care of his close friend, Dr. Gachet, who was homeopathic doctor to the artists in the area.  VanGogh only lived in Auvers-sur-Oise for 70 days during which time he produced 80 of his paintings.  We then went to see Auvers Church, the church made famous in his painting. We went inside and walked around and then headed to the back of the property, where there was a poster with the church; it was interesting to compare the two. There was only one other person in sight.

We were headed back down the hill when I saw a directional sign to VanGogh's grave; I told Judy and Ron that we must walk up that hill.  Ron agreed to tromp up the hill with me and I thought it would be enormous tomb but the grave plot was small.  Vincent's beloved brother, Theo, was buried next to him (Theo died only a year later). There were wreaths of flower laid over the grave.

We were starving by this time, and found a little out-of-the-way restaurant, Le Chemin des Peintres. No one there (it was 1 p.m.) when we arrived, and  we had a delightful lunch and a great conversation with the owner, who is very involved in an organization focused on organic produce. If we had come the day before, there would have been a train ride with an organic picnic lunch, just one of the events about which we learned.


It was raining by then, and we came upon the Absinthe Museum and learned about the poets' elixir, known as "the green peril" (absinthe was outlawed in 1915).
   
 We walked up the hill to the Chateau d'Auvers, which offered a self-guided 90 minute tour, each topic presented in a separate room; it all led up to the movement of the painters to the countryside, this being made possible by train travel. The Impressionists found their niche with the open air, fields and countryside becoming available as subjects.

                                             The Church at Auvers

We ended our afternoon at the Chateau d'Auvers with a film about all the French impressionists (in French) which was quite nice.  Charles Daubigny was mentor to man of the younger painters like Renoir, Monet and Cezanne, who together with VanGogh, visited him. Daubigny's painting are in the Daubigny Museum, which we did not get a chance to visit.

In one of the shops we visited later, I found a book about VanGogh's supposed suicide and the shop clerk and I had a long conversation. I learned that the gun was never found but that several years ago someone found a gun in that field that was dated back to that time period (the book I found was about that). I had read somewhere that there is a theory that VanGogh did not commit suicide, and when I asked her about that, she told me that a book had come out about that subject.  The always-believed story is that he went to pick up the gun to shoot himself again and could not find it, so somehow got back to his room where he later died.

I thought about this, because if he could not find the gun that he had just dropped, how was he able to make it a mile back to his room and go up all of those steps?  When I asked her about the book, she said she thought it was "A Life" and I knew which book she meant. She remarked that it was "an American thing." The book theorizes that he was shot by a local boy with whom he had spent a lot of time at a local villa and with whom he had a complex relationship, including the boy buying him drinks and teasing him. The authors believe that VanGogh did not implicate the boy afterwards because VanGogh welcomed death and because he did not want the boy to be punished.

This evening it did not take us long to get back to Vaujours, and we enjoyed a snack and conversation. Another great day!

October 5, 2012

MONET'S GARDENS OF GIVERNY -

            ANOTHER ALMOST TO PERFECT DAY

After viewing the weather forecast, we opted to go to Giverny today to possibly avoid any weekend crowds. It was a good drive, about and hour and a half, but we arrived in bright sunshine and anticipation. There were people there, of course, but it was not crowded--we were surprised as the day was gorgeous. The profusion of color is much as it was in Monet's lifetime.

 

 

  Claude Monet moved with his family to this house, remaining until his death in 1926. Giverny became his life's work and it was here that he created the motifs that transposed the water lilies, boats and bridges of the gardens onto his canvases. When the family first moved here, the garden was an orchard of about 2 acres enclosed within high walls.  Later Monet bought the land on the other side of the railroad tracks and prevailed against opposition to create his project of exotic gardens with bamboo plants, wisteria, willows and of course the famous water lilies.  The pond was created by diverting the Epte River, and looks today much as it did in his lifetime. A local crafts person built the graceful Japanese bridge, and a wooden boat still floats at one end of the pond.                    

 

 The maison has been kept much the same as it was - Monet loved Japanese engravings, and his precious collection, which is displayed in several of the rooms, inspired the design of the water garden. Reproductions of the art that he loved hang on the walls to recreate the interior in Monet's time. The entrance to the house is through his studio, constructed to give him the room and light he needed to paint the giant "Waterlilies" which I previously blogged about and which today are in l'Orangerie in Paris. After his death, the house was badly neglected, but in 1966 his son donated Giverny to the Academie des Beaux-Arts--the floors and ceiling beams had rotted away, and a staircase had collapsed. The restoration project of the house and the gardens took ten years.

 Every year half a million people visit Giverny. This is definitely on the list of places I wish to return someday. But for now, I have my memories and my pictures = and some bookmarks!

We left this wonderful place right about 5:00 and soon found ourselves in a massive traffic jam (Friday night in Paris).  Ron was wonderful in the way he zipped along, weaving our way slowly back to Vaujours. We were amazed at all of the motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic and remarked how dangerous this mode of transportation is, and the fact that most of the cyclists (some in groups) had no concern to any danger they posed to motorists.  Ron is a great driver!

October 4, 2012

C H A N T I L LY

I had heard about Chantilly from someone here in Vaujours who had recently been there for a picnic, so when Ron and Judy Taylor arrived Thursday for their long weekend visit (via Hong Kong) and we wanted to do something mid-afternoon, I suggested Chantilly.

Chateau de Chantilly & Forest ,owned by the Institute of France,  is set in the middle of a romantic moat in the heart of the forest. One of the most beautiful chateux around Paris, Le Grand Chateau was destroyed during the French Revolution but has been re-created and is now home to the Conde Museum, a fabulous art collection, and the Horse Museum and Great Stables (circa 1719). The Horse Museum is housed in a monumental stone building that at its height housed 240 horses and 300 hounds.  Dressage demonstrations are open to the public, and Chantilly is the site of one of France's major horse racing tracks.  Le Petit Chateau was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency. 

We only had a few hours to see the grounds and, unfortunately did not have time to see the Horse Museum or the Dressage (on my list for next time), nor did we get into the museum. It was enough for us just to drink in the sights before our eyes and imagine what it must have been liked to be either the owner of the chateau, preparing for a hunt with the foxes and hounds, or unluckier to be one of the servants which the chateau must have required just to keep running smoothly.  The day was cloudy, but the sun occasionally peeked out, and it was not a very long drive from Vaujours.

We enjoyed the grounds and the chateau enormously, and it was a great way for them to start their visit.

 Anne de Montmorency, soldier, statesman and for decades, an influential member of the French court, especially that of Francis I, was born in Chantilly in 1483. The Montmorency family acquired Chantilly in 1450 through marriage and built the chateau that stands today, one of the most celebrated domains in France.

We were not disappointed!