Eifel Tower/Louvre 09-25&26/2024

On Wednesday we decided to just hop on the Metro and go to the Eifel Tower. It wasn’t the best of weather as it rained on and off all day.

We also walked over to a site called “Hanging Garden”. Here’s what we found.

Must be fun to keep trimmed.

Yesterday we took a tour of the Louvre. Seemed a better idea than to just run through the museum as Connie and I did prior. We met up with the tour guide at the arch out front. It used to be an entryway to the palace. The guide was able to give us tons of information not only on the art but on the history of the Louvre as well. Also afforded us the ability to skip the line at entry.

Wikipedia:

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Phillip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French kings.

The building was redesigned and extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et du Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation’s masterpieces.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed from 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed Musée Napoléon, but after Napoleon’s abdication, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic. The collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

The Musée du Louvre contains approximately 500,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than 60,600 m² (652,000 sq ft) dedicated to the permanent collection. The Louvre exhibits sculptures, objets d’art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. At any given point in time, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are being exhibited over an area of 72,735 m² (782,910 sq ft), making it the largest museum in the world. It received 8.9 million visitors in 2023, 14 percent more than in 2022, though below the 10.1 million visitors it received in 2018. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world ahead of the Vatican Museums.

Daniele da Volterra – David and Goliath from the front and back. Both these paintings are displayed back to back.

FRONT

Venus de Milo – Aphrodite

Was actually larger than I remembered but still a lot smaller than I originally envisioned.

Remember, this was a palace. Here is an image of one of the halls and the coronation crown of Louis XV.

A couple more out of many…

Athena

The Nymph of Fontainebleau

Tomorrow we have a walking food tour.

Aurevoir for now.

Our travels in Paris this week 09-21-2024

I’ll start with some images from our apartment since I haven’t already covered it. There are two bedrooms in the bottom right panels. Ours is on the right and Joanne’s in the middle with the colorful art on the wall. The table and chairs is on our front balcony. That is where I took the street view pics from. We also have a balcony off the bedrooms in the rear but it is over a courtyard that is kind of blah.

These 2 pics are on our balcony looking left then right.

Love this street. So many restaurants and small shops.

This is the little Italian restaurant directly across the street. I’ve had pizza lunch there two times already (eat your heart out Taco Bell). Really nice having it there.

On Tuesday Connie and I took the train to see the LUXOR OBELISK.

The obelisk was given to France by the Viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, in 1829 in recognition of the work of Jean-François Champolion for the deciphering of hieroglyphics. It was one of a pair of obelisks that were positioned at the entrance of the Temple of Amun in Luxor, but of which only the one currently in Place de la Concorde was transported to Paris, representing a substantial technical achievement. Erected in 1836 in a particularly emblematic location of the capital, at the initiative of Louis Philippe, the Luxor Obelisk is a symbol of the strong ties between Egypt and France. Carved in the 13th century before our era, the monolith is 23 metres high and weighs 222 tons, to which must be added the 240 tons of the pedestal. It is made of Aswan pink granite very low in quartz.

Our tour guide explained to us that the French had to erect it following it’s arrival and they added the instructions on how to do so at the bottom. I was hoping to get a look but, as you can see, the Paris Olympics sort of took over the city so we will have to go back once they finish removing all the barriers.

Yesterday Joanne, Connie and I took the bus to the Île de la Cité (island in the center of Paris and the Seine). It’s the oldest part of Paris and contains Notre Dame.

As you know, Notre Dame suffered a great fire 5 years ago. It is not scheduled to reopen until December of this year. We took a walk, Historic Paris, as outlined in Rick Steves book. Along the way we viewed Notre Dame as best we could, walked through the art area on the left bank (where we all bought art works from local street artists) and even walked up to the hotel Connie and I stayed in for our 25th anniversary in 2010.

Our hotel/room from our 25th anniversary in 2010.

The 2010 hotel was just a short walk up the hill from Notre Dame so we took the detour and I took this picture.

The Rick Steves walk was a little over 2 miles and took us a few hours. Nice way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Today, Saturday 9/21, we took a tour of the Palace of Versailles. Our second time here but Joanne’s first. Took the train to meet the tour on the west side of the city then took the RER out to Versailles.

The town was mostly the same as I remembered it but the amount of busses and tourists was huge. The weekend was when the fountains were supposed to be running however we found only a few were. The guide said that they are gravity fed and would only last less than an hour if they turned them all on. That didn’t match our experience from 2010 when they were all running. I suspect the French don’t want to pay to keep the pumps running all the time so they don’t.

It seems an understatement to say the Palace is over the top. It goes way beyond that. Our tour was limited to only one area of the Palace. Seemed considerably smaller an area to cover than prior. Still very impressive and understandable why the French started cutting off heads. The grounds originally covered 31 sq miles. In the current day it’s only 7 sq miles. Still huge.

I’ll start with some of the exterior pics with the interior and the gardens following.

Us in the “Hall of Mirrors”. Mirrors were very expensive (she said $1,500 each so millions and in that day…).

Then outside in the gardens.

Came across these outside on our walk back to catch the train.

Beautiful weather yesterday and today. Tomorrow we are supposed to get into a more wet weather pattern which is why we did both of these yesterday and today.

We do have a walking food tour and tour of the Louvre already planned. More to follow on those.

Aurevoir for now.

Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral 09-13-2024

Today was our last day on tour. We visited the Chartres Cathedral then returned to Paris where we will spend the next month.

Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral is an amazing structure containing a double relic, The Veil of Mary.

The Cathedral has a great history dating back to the 4th century where it traded hands multiple times until the building of the current structure following a devastating fire begun by a lightning strike on the 10th of June, 1194.

The fire burned for 3 whole days. Fortunately the Veil of Mary was transported under the floor by two monks who remained with it protecting it as the building burned above with stones and ceiling material raining down on the floor under which they stayed. They had no food, water or light but they protected the most valuable relic and, when the fire died out, were able to extricate themselves and the relic unharmed from the vault that had protected them.

The townspeople with the help of many financial supporters undertook the rebuilding which took only 26 years until the roof was on and the relic returned to the site.

You’ll note the front facade has two different spires. In 1506, lightning destroyed the north spire (the one on the left in this picture), which was rebuilt in the Gothic style from 1507 to 1513.

Other exterior pictures.

The The Veil of Mary is considered a double relic as it was worn by Mary at the time of Jesus’s birth as well as coddling Jesus while wearing it therefore Jesus had to have at least rubbed against the veil.

There is a series of 40 carvings as shown in the image below. This image depicts the Virgin Mary in her Veil along side of the baby Jesus.

Other pictures from the inside of the church.

You may have noticed the nice clean surfaces in places. That is due to the current cleaning that is being undertaken. Here is an image which shows both the uncleaned and cleaned surfaces.

So now we are back at La Hotel Meridian in Paris. We will be leaving around noon tomorrow to transfer over to our Air B&B. May not blog for a few days however there will be more to come.

Aurevoir for now.

Chateau De Chenonceau/Chateau De Cheverny 09-12-2024

Last night we had dinner here at the hotel following our LONG day. Didn’t get to our room after dinner until almost 10:00.

Today was another story. Both today and tomorrow breakfast is at 8 and on the bus at 9. Very nice change. Also was 46 degrees when we went out to get the bus at 9:00 so winter isn’t far away.

Wonderful weather and only two stops. One before and one after lunch. Back at the hotel at 4:30 at which time I walked around the hotel and took pictures (at the end of this blog). A wonderful place. Just what we pictured the French countryside to be.

Here are a few pictures of the countryside taken during our drives.

The Chateau De Chenonceau was built in the 16th century by a tax collector. It was lavishly furnished which prompted the king to audit his books which resulted in him being found guilty of embezzlement. That in turn caused the Crown to take possession of the property and it remained in the hands of the Crown until following the French Revolution at which time it was sold.

Entry Drive.

Outbuildings.

Some of the gardens.

The Chateau.

Inside.

The Chateau was used as a hospital during the world wars. In one of the images above you can see old X-rays. Some show the location of bullets. The last image is of Catherine DeMedici’s Apothecary.

And the ladies.

Our second stop today was at Chateau De Cheverny.

As much as I hate to do this, it’s late and I just can’t do the research now and still be able to get any sleep. Wikipedia does a great job explaining the history of the property. You can find it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Cheverny.

The property is used as what we would call a hunting lodge as well as being open to tourists 365 days a year. The owners live on property in areas of the mansion which are closed off to tourists.

Here are images of the grounds.

The interior is as you would expect. Lavish.

The children’s table

Note the animals made of Leggo’s

The owners Wedding Dress

The original ceiling from the 1600’s

The owners are fond of bears in trees.

The hounds used for hunting. Obviously resting. Afternoon naps.

Beautiful gardens.

We then headed back to our hotel. This place is quite quaint. Here are some pics of the grounds.

Our room (yes it’s been used).

Beautiful place. Each room is different. This room also has a second floor with 2 twin beds in it. Behind me in the shot of the room is a flight of stairs leading up to it. Quite warm up there.

We leave tomorrow for Chartres where we will visit Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral. Then on to Paris for our last night on tour. Saturday we head to our rental.

Aurevoir for now.

D’Angers Castle/Bouvet Ladubay Wine Cellar/Villandry Chateau and Gardens 09-11-2024

Last night we had dinner in a quaint seaside town in the north of France called Cancale in a restaurant called Le Phare.

It’s right on Mont St-Michael Bay (somebody pulled the plug before we arrived).

We had a wonderful meal here that lasted well into the night (and we had an early day today).

Oyster Farm

Today was a long, crazy day with many stops. We had to be at breakfast at 6:45 so up at 5:45. The longest day of the entire trip.

The day started with a stop at D’Angers Castle. This is a Medieval village surrounded by a dry moat and tall walls. Originally, the Château d’Angers was built as a fortress at a site inhabited by the Romans because of its strategic defensive location. The Castle was founded in the 9th century by the Counts of Anjou, it was expanded to its current size in the 13th century. It is located overhanging the River Maine.

The castle was used as an armory through the First and Second World Wars. It was severely damaged during World War II by the Nazis when an ammunition storage dump inside the castle exploded.

The Apocalypse Tapestry is a large medieval set of tapestries commissioned by Louis I, the Duke of Anjou, and woven in Paris between 1377 and 1382. It depicts the story of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation by Saint John the Devine in colorful images, spread over six tapestries that originally totaled 90 scenes, and were about six meters high, and 140 meters long in total. As explained to us, the tapestry represented the battle of the 100 years war where good fought evil. France being the good and England being the evil.

The chamber where it was presented had very low light and was temperature and humidity controlled so photos were difficult to take.

We then moved on to the Bouvet Ladubay Wine Cellar. Interesting. This Winery takes advantage of a limestone mine which was used to build many of the stone structures historically. Underground caves which maintain a steady temperature of 50-55 Degrees and the same humidity. The tanks store 5,000 Liters of juice each so this is a very large undertaking. Once fermenting is completed the juice is moved into oak barrels. As I understand it, it operates as a cooperative for the grape growers of the region. They deliver the juice to this location not the entire grape.

This last picture is of the current mechanized bottle turning. It replaces having to turn and tilt the bottles daily to move the sediment to the bottom of the bottles. These devices rotate and tilt the bottles over a period of weeks until all the sediment has settled into the neck at which time the neck if flash frozen, tops removed and the slight pressure contained within the bottles pops out the small ice plug which has formed thus removing all sediment from the wine.

Our last stop of the long, long day was at the Villandry Chateau and Gardens. A large Chateau renovated in the 20th century by an owner that loved the gardens. There are over 10 of them producing vegetables and beautiful flowers. Also a lily pond and tons of fishes just anxious for scraps of food to be tossed to them. If you look closely you can see their open mouths.

This is our coach driven by Noel on this trip parked by the winery.

We have our day today in the Loire Valley then tomorrow we return to Paris.

Aurevoir for now.

The Abby of Saint Michael/Saint-Malo 09-10-2024

Hope I don’t disappoint but I didn’t take pics of dinner last night. I did however take pictures of the beautiful hotel grounds from inside and out our window.

Today we visited two sites. The first is the Abby of Saint Michael. It was constructed on a volcanic outcropping in a tidal pool. The tides here are similar to those in the Bay of Fundy and can be up to 15 meters (50 ft). Considering that this occurs in a period of 6 hours (in or out) the tide is very fast moving and over the centuries has produced some great stories of people being trapped either on the island or off. Some have even perished by getting stuck in the muck left by the receding tide.

The construction began in 708 by monks supposedly by the direction of Saint Michael (hard to do since he was long deceased). According to legend, the archangel Michael appeared to Saint Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, in a dream three times in 708. Saint Michael asked the bishop to build a sanctuary in his honor on the island, then known as Mont-Tombe.

In 966, a community of Benedictines established itself on the island and built the first church. In 1023, the church was expanded into an abbey.

In 1203, King Philip II of France tried to capture the island and partly burned it down. He paid the monks to build the monastery known as La Merveille (“The Wonder”) to compensate them.

After the French Revolution, the clergy’s properties were nationalized and the monks were removed from the island. Political prisoners, such as Auguste Blanqui and Armand Barbès, were held on the island. The prison was closed in 1863.

It is also a world heritage site which sees over 3 million visitors a year. And it’s very windy!

Following our visit to the Abby of Saint Michael we took a short bus ride to the port of Saint Malo on the coast. Beautiful little town which is a French commune located in Brittany and is the main port on the north coast of Brittany.

There are many small islands just off the coast which were heavily fortified over the years as is the port itself. We were treated to a nice tour of the city.

Tonight we have dinner in a nearby restaurant and then move on tomorrow to Ouchamps in the Loire Valley. Wine tasting and cathedral along with beautiful gardens.

Aurevoir for now.

Normandy 09-09-2024 [2]

I’ll start this entry with a deep regret for the Human Race. We have had so many wars over our history. We just can’t seem to find a better way to settle our differences.

To spend a day on the beaches of Normandy and in the American cemetery is truly saddening.

Yes I’ve taken pictures but I’d like to start with just a few numbers.

The American cemetery contains the bodies of 9,389 soldiers. That represents all those killed in the battle of Normandy which encompassed pilots shot down and killed softening up hard targets prior to the invasion, the invasion on D-Day and the following 3 month battle with the Germans to free Normandy from their control. That 9,389 represents only 40% of those American’s killed during that time as the American’s offered the families the option to have them interned in Normandy at this cemetery or to have them returned home (60% were asked to have their soldiers returned to the US). Quick math, that’s roughly 23,500 identified KIA in the roughly 3 month period. There are many many more unknown and those with dog tags returned without bodies (likely buried in unmarked graves where they fell). There is also a wall containing the names of another 1,157 Americans missing in action.

The larger picture shows 350,000 Allied personnel who took part in the D-Day invasion which includes 156,000 troops that landed on Normandy’s beaches. 9,000 died on June 6th. By the end of the campaign for Normandy the Allies suffered more than 200,000 casualties including over 50,000 killed. Remember, this is just 3 months.

These images are all in the Omaha beach area. They start with our visit to the Pointe du Hoc Ranger Museum and Monument.

The height above the water is tough to judge by these images. The climb must have been torturous for the troops with heavy packs and under fire. Our visit was damp, cold and so windy. We were told that the winds were even greater the day of the invasion. So many of the ships and troop carriers were blown off course. How brave these guys were.

How do you even begin to show almost 10,000 graves.

The three closeup images are of twin brothers Julius and Ludwig Pieper who wanted to serve together and are buried side by side. They joined the navy and their ship hit a mine and sank on D-Day. They perished together.

This monument to the soldiers who died is found on Omaha Beach.

This states “This embattled shore, portal of freedom, is forever hallowed by the ideals, the valor, and the sacrifices of our fellow countrymen.”

I’ve tried to make out the inscription on the side. All I was able to read (as the stone is quite weathered) is XXXX (not sure first line) In Memory of those The 116th RCT 29th Infantry Division A US Landed here June 6, 1944.

Connie and I visited the Viet Nam Memorial Monument in Washington DC last September and this truly compared to that on an emotional level. War is horrible. Nothing else can be said other than to add that the Human Race must find a better way.

On to St-Malo tomorrow.

Aurevoir for now.

Deauville 09-09 [1]

Today I’m departing from the norm and creating 2 blog entries.

This is the first and covers last night’s wonderful trip to Deauville Beach. The second our trip to Normandy today.

The beach, Deauville Beach, is a summer place for many people in the north of France as the trip to the south is a great distance. From Paris to here is roughly 2.5 hours by car. It helps to have plenty of money if you are going to enjoy it.

The evening was cold, some rain but the wind was extreme as you can see in some of these pictures (flags standing straight out).

Owned by a Sheikh

Note the Rolex clock

When famous persons stayed for over a week they named a cabana after them. Here are just a few but there were many.

Following the walk on the beach we dined in a restaurant on the beach called L’Aquarius.

Smoked Duck Salad

Candied Vegetables (though didn’t seem to be candied)

White Wine and Butter Sea-bass on Ratatouille and Wild Rice

Chicken Supreme with Norman Sauce and baby potatoes

Homemade chocolate cake with vanilla cream

Strawberry Soup (though, again, didn’t seem to be that)

So that was last evening’s adventure. Didn’t get back to the hotel till late. Up and out early this morning though we are staying at the same hotel again tonight.

Aurevoir for now. Next post, Normandy, to follow.

Normandy 09-08

Last night we had our tour welcome dinner with the group. Our first meeting. Many guests from around the world. All English speaking.

Following dinner we took a cruise on the Seine and got to view Paris under the lights.

Norte Dame still under construction. Opens this December.

Today, following breakfast, we boarded the bus for the church of St Joan of Arc (where she was burned at the stake for her role opposing England in the 100 years war) in the city of Rouen.

Seems every town has to have a carousel.

This restaurant was visited by Julie Childs. Best meal she ever had in Europe. Has a Michelin Star.

Joan of Arc Church

Joan of Arc

Well stocked Market

Following that we visited the Port of Honfleur. Used to be a working fishing village but has adapted to a change to tourism with many shops and restaurants.

Connie and Joanne had Mushroom Crepe

Frank had Sausage Crepe

The Girls went shopping. More Jewelry.

On to Manor d’Apreval which is an apple orchard which produces all sorts of cider products from 0% alcohol to sky’s the limit.

Processing storage

Still used

Some product as much as 20 years old.

We’re now heading to our hotel followed by dinner and an evening out.

Here is our room. Very nice.

Aurevoir for now.

Paris 09-07

Tonight we meet up with our tour group.

We were busy yesterday after our morning walk mostly just strolling around Paris.

One of the many things you see all over the place are many boulangerie’s. Here is one of the better ones.

Had dinner at La Maison, a quaint French restaurant. Connie had duck (her favorite while in France) and Joanne and I had steak. Very nice.

Today we had breakfast and then Connie wanted to go the Petit Palais to see the art exhibit. A 45 minute walk about 2 miles. Lots to see. Here are a few pictures.

Tonight at 5 we meet up with our tour guide Carley for our introductory dinner. Tomorrow our touring starts as we travel by bus towards the northwest coast of France. We’ve never been in that part of France before. Should be nice. We have been dealing with some weather but we have rain jackets and umbrellas.

Aurevoir for now.