Trip to Cody

I was lucky enough to get picked up right from home; Colleen, Jackie, and I. We had fairly good luck on traffic through the park. One stopped car for a black bear but he pulled off into Petrified Tree rather quickly. The talks were interesting. And we got to see a moose on the way home!

European wrap-up

A wrap-up and a bit of miscellany. We had a driver from the airport who also took us to Normandy. Hakim was awesome. With the train strike, it made it so nice to just hop in our car with all of the luggage rather than struggle to get on the Metro.
Asking me about the best meal I had? They were all awesome. There were a couple that were only okay, true, but everything was just so much better than you can usually get over here.
There were so... many... English speakers. I tried to speak French but no one was enjoying my accent so the folks in the shops and restaurants usually just switched right over to English if they could.
I also finally learned how to prounounce Peugeot (poo-jus, (like au jus))

Dinant

We got to have a leisurely morning since we didn't have to leave until 9. Then we had a little (~3,000 steps) hike over to the Grand Centraal Station. We were off to Dinant, where we had lunch at the Cafe Leffe. Delicious.
Then a tour with Theierry. We started at Brasserie de Bocq. On the way, we passed the Leffe Abbey (which we learned last night, that means that the beer was once brewed by monks but no longer; the Trappistes beer is brewed in the Abbey an at least overseen by the monks). There are still monks in the abbey, but InBev (sp?) now makes the beer and uses their name.
Mouseau, a family brewed beer until just before the Second World War when they sold to the Lamotte family until a storm blew down the stack in the 70s. It was closed for a couple of decades but then opened by a man from Lamieux who renamed the beer Caracole (snail in French, the nickname of those
From Lamieux)
Two types of castles - on meant to defend something (usually on top of a cliff) This one was the same, but surrounded by wetlands that were dangerous to those who didn't know the area
The oldest part of this castle is in the river side. It has belonged to the same family for 25 generations. The gardens are not watered by pump, it comes down from the hills
Caracole beer is the last one in the world to heat the grains in the fireplace. They produced four beers until recently but now have a gastronomic beer by a local chef (at least a local gastronome)
Troublette -- white beer, a little dry for me
Saxo -- pale ale
Caracole --
Nostradamus -- five different malts

Brussels Day 1

We went with the Belgian Journeys company and our guide was owner Marie. She is a fabulous guide and had appointing she is very willing to share. Neuhaus? Not in her chocolate tour. #1 she doesn't like it; #2 they use palm oil in their chocolate.
Pralines in Belgium are all chocolate - not mixed with almonds
Started in Chocopolis -- looks tacky/touristy but is local and they are the only company to ship anywhere in the world
There we got to taste a dark chocolate ganache (dairy free in Belgian) with chili -- nice and smooth and then, POW!
The. We walked over to the next stop and saw some history along the way.
Picture of the "Royal" area, palace, library, etc.
Museum of Music -- art nouveau
Brick building closeup is of an art nouveau building (ransom, just a neat building)
Confiseer - buys chocolate that is already made, melt it down and create from there
Chocolatier - buys cocoa beans and creates their own chocolate
At the second shop, Frederic Blondeel, Marie had us stop and smell. It was a fabulous: all fresh chocolate.
Marie told us she likes to start with single origin, then have an old favorite and then end with something experimental (flowers, etc.)
So we got a 73% chocolate from Papua New Guinea and then we got to choose between bay leaves/basil/peppercorn, black pepper, and citronella and THEN a choice between a milk praline hazelnut, a raspberry caramel, passion fruit caramel, and sea salt caramel) and THEN a ganache with Christmas spices and run
We went to the next stop, Pierre Marcolini, which was very busy but our guide took us up to the second (third) floor which had a thick carpet but it was fake grass which was interesting to sit on.
Marcolini was a pastry chef until he developed a gluten intolerance and then turned to chocolate
First chocolate was 75% chocolate from Madagascar. He makes tea with chocolate but also makes chocolate with tea -- we tried the Earl Grey Tea. Not Dad's favorite
And third we tried a chocolate that had a paste inside with cardamom. Interesting. That's all I've got for that one. Interesting.
On the way to the last chocolatier, we passed the medieval wall of Brussels. It is in Flemish territory but it is different.
Then we passed the Mannekin Piss, the official symbol of Brussels. The first one was put in in the 14th Century. Then it was replaced in the 17th Century when it was stolen. The last time it was stolen was the 1970s and it washouts in the river with its legs cut off.
We stopped in Grand Place which has existed as a square since the 12th century. It was mostly razed by Louis XIV's troops in the 1500s (except for the tower.
We went through the Royal Galleries (picture of the open air arch). Very Fancy Shops (Shoppes?)
Our last sweet shop was Meert which originally opened in 1761 (but only opened at this location in the last 5 years). We got to choose two and I got the Yuzu (lime from Japan) and the sea salt the Marie recommended.
The first beer stop was a puppet theatre. There are low fermentation beers (quick to make, most of the well-known beers e.g. Corona, Heineken, Budweiser). High fermentation is for the more complex beers (ales). Spontaneous fermentation (lambic beers from Brussels). We tried a cherry lambic, not sweet.
11 Trappist beers in the world, 6 in Belgium (only one in the States).
Duvel - like beer and champagne had a baby
The fries in Belgium are deep-fried in beef fat
We tried a stout which was good
Double and Triple beers -- beer used to be 3%, 6%, and 9% alcohol (so three, two times three, and three times three).
We had a round with Manchego and bread and then some salami and Serrano.
Apparently fresh hops and fresh weed smell very, very similar since they are in the same family.
The last beer was an IPA on the sweet side, not as citrus-y.
Then it was on to the oldest bar in town with traces into the 17th Century. I got a "girly" beer (another Kriek) while the "male" beer was the Trappistes Rochefort 8. Mortsubite.

Notre Dame and bus tour

We started off with a Metro trip to Notre Dame. After an hour spent in quiet contemplation, we hedges off for a bus tour. It was really nice to spend a few days on foot and then a day sitting and getting the whole overview of the city (and get to listen to interesting Frencc music relating to the areas we're in
And you learn a little bit about the whole history of France. Like the fact that this tour really likes to talk about the .salacious side of France, referring to Henry IV as a philanderer (twice) and talking about what people got up to after beheadings (brothels were involved.) students went in search of the lowlife in the disreputable areas near <jardins>
The picture of the Eiffel Tower includes a look at the statues in the Trocadero, seven men and one woman.
It takes 60 tons of paint to recover the Eiffel Tower
We also experienced some excitement when a motorcyclist went around the bus and we all went flying forward when the driver hit the brakes. Seatbelt are a good thing
he obelisk is the oldest monument in Aris

June 10 -- Champs Elysee

On Wednesday, we had fit so much into our day that we took Thursday morning a bit more slow. We didn't even leave the apartment until 11, heading over to the Arc de Triomphe. While the rest of the group sent over to the Harley Davidson store, I ran up to the top. Almost literally. The line was super short to get in and then to get up. And everyone was moving fairly quickly. Not like my memory of 2000.

June 8 Louvre tour with Malcolm

Started in the statue courtyards aka the Richelieu wing.
The green statue was one of four that were at the foot of a statue of Louis XIV. When he was overturned, his statue was melted down but the statues of his victims were left untouched.
Four statues representing the four rivers
The apartments of Napoleon Bonaparte III <one picture of Catherine de Medici>
Then we moved into the French painters
John the Good (Jean Le Bon) - the oldest picture of a French royal <picture>
Also saw pictures by Seuer and Poussin. Also some Vermeers, Goyen, and Dujardin in between the Richilieu and Sully wings (the Dutch and Flemish rooms mainly being closed at the time for renovation, some paintings had been kept out).
Next we went down three levels to walk through the moat of the royal palace (1200s/1300s, probably filled in during the 1500s) that had been excavated in the 1980s
Through the Greek antiquities to see the Venus de Milo and the winged Victory of Samothrace discovered in 1863.
The Coronation of Napoleon <picture>
And of course the Italian Renaissance -- Titian, da Vinci, Digiorgio. "She looks like the kind of women who promises more than she delivers" -- Oscar Wilde
Ending at some of Michaelangelo's statues

Taste of Paris

Started in Le Halle with some musk melon (cantelope, very sweet)
Then we had cherries (Rainier and Napoleon)
Stopped at a Patessiere and then a Fromagerie for tasting
There was a Rocquefort, some goat cheese and a couple of hard cheeses as well as some quince and Mary Ellen's homemade tapenade- olives, anchovies (rinsed), olive oil, capers, garlic. The two best things were the soft cheese and the homemade tapenade.
Macaroons were brought from Italy with Catherine deMedici. In the 19th Century, the French macaroon was created.
Storer is the oldest bakery in France. When a Polish princess married the King, she brought her pastry chef and he invented Baba a Rum and the Well of Love.
We got to try (goose) rillettes and (duck) foie gras at Godard, a shop that specializes in goose.
A last bite was the "Cushion of Lyons". An almond paste in the outside with a chocolate sauce and Curaçao.

Normandy Day Trip

Hakim came to pick us up at 8am and 3 hours later, we were in Normandy. We started at the Normandy Cemetery. It was incredibly affecting and amazing to see how many people were therein uniform. A couple were old enough to have served in WWII. Also, there were some historical reenactors. Very strange to see them in 1940s clothing by they weren't past mid-forties themselves.
11 cemeteries in France, 5 for WWI and 6 for WWII
Omaha Beach - has 3 villages on 6 miles
35,000 men landed or tried to land. 4,000 died; 800 on the beach
90% of the 1,000 men of the first wave were unable to join in the rest of the fight
Families were given two years to decide if they wanted to leave the bodies in Normandy or if they wanted their loved ones repatriated to the States. Because the bodies were put in as the families decided, there is no order
Semi-Circle memorial surrounds the Garden of the missing. The statue represents the spirit of the American youth
The circular chapel is in the center of the cemetery which is laid out in the shape of the Latin cross
9,386 buried in this cemetery (40%)
At noon, the clock rang and then chimed out the tune to "America the Beautiful" and the "Panis Angelicus"

June 6th Afternoon walk

Also known as the Left Bank -- based on the Seines, Numbering was set by Napoleon Bonaparte
Poisoning scandal of 17th Century -- Poison list 1676 -- Wormwood (absinthe), cypress leaves (Gordon and the Marquise de Van Villiers(?)) "The Leather Funnel" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- Further writings from the letters of Madame de Sevigny
St. Michael is traditionally shown vanquishing the devil
St. Denys, the patron saint of France, is shown beheaded, often holding the head
Church of Saint Severin -- hermit from the 6th Century -- the church has expanded sideways over the centuries to grow expanding communities

June 6 in Paris

An example of breakfast:

Paris Walks -- Notre Dame with Chloe

The Notre Dame Cathedral used to be a temple to Juno

I think this is the Hall of Justice

The spire (see picture) was added in the 18th century by a man named La Duke who really captured (some say invented) the Gothic style. Though he took many liberties.

Chloe really getting into it

Oldest working clock in Paris

Oldest Public clock in Paris dating back to 1894(?)
It was very noisy as we were on big public streets, Chloe had an incredible vocabulary throwing in words like "vertiginous" and "insalubrious" "palaver."
There are 36 bridges that cross the Seine in Paris
Picture of Man on the horse -- Henry IV town planner, made a lot of public places - Green and Gallant one
#36 where Maigret works
Notre Dame -- Key stone laid in 1150(?)



















We walked over to the Latin Quarter to eat lunch. Dad and Brian had been wanting sausages and they got... something orange? We also got some really awesome desserts including a locally made sorbet.