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
Friday, June 10, 2016
Thursday, June 9, 2016
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.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
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
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
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.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
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"
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"
Monday, June 6, 2016
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
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
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| 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.
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| Chloe really getting into it |
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| 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.
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