Parisian Tour Guide - Week 2

You might wonder why I am spending my last Sunday in Paris holed up in my apartment writing my blog, but a trip yesterday in search of vacuum bags (of all things) nearly put me over the edge with the crowded streets of Paris. I also wanted to capture more of the things I have done over the last two weeks with my parents (see previous post) and then with two of my best friends - Cate with whom I am sharing my flat here in Paris, and Wendy who came to visit last week.

Part of the visit with Wendy was a bit of a repeat of the trip with my parents. There are certain things you must do on your first visit to Paris, like walk along the Seine, visit Montmartre at night, visit the Eiffel Tower etc etc. But we also visited the Jardin des Plantes, a lovely garden with a fantastic Alpine garden (once we found the underground tunnel access to it from an adjacent garden).

We also visited Pere Lachaise cemetary and found the graves of Jim Morrison and Chopin. Oscar Wilde was too far on the other side of the cemetary to visit after we had had to search around for the first hour without the benefit of a map as the tourist office was closed for lunch. Besides, I had visited Mr. Wilde on my previous visit to Paris.

One of the highlights of the week was a trip an hour southwest of Paris by train on Friday to the small village of Chartres. We were a bit worried our plans to visit Chartres might be hampered by the transit strike the day before, but that was over before our train left (and really did not impact Paris much anyway). The strike did hamper our trip to the Rodin museum the previous day though, as many burly gendarme in riot gear were blocking the way along all the streets leading up to the museum, which has the misfortune of being located next to the Prime Minister's office. Which was apparently a target for angry dock workers from Marseilles who object to having their port privatized. There very likely will be a general strike in early June, so it is just as well I am leaving here on May 30.

But back to Chartres. Notre Dame Cathedral of Chartres is one of the best preserved gothic cathedrals in Europe, and also has one of the largest numbers of intact medieval stained glass windows. During the world wars, the stained glass had been removed and hidden to protect it, and the cathedral itself narrowly missed being bombed by the Allies seeking to destroy a nearby German airfield in the time leading up to D-Day.

I had been here on my previous visit to Paris, and was delighted to discover that the Chartres expert, Malcolm Miller is still providing tours of the cathedral. Mr. Miller has been studying the cathedreal for something like 50 years, and says he is still learning new things. Needless to say, he gives a fascinating tour combining history of Christianity with architecture, and an excellent introduction to the symbolism and story-telling contained in the stained glass and statuary around the cathedral.

The town of Chartres is also very charming with a picturesque river, medieval wood houses and little shops. If it wasn't already charming enough, just as we stopped to take a photo of the river, a swan got up off the riverbank to go in for a swim.

We had a lovely day in Chartres, hopped the 5:12 train and were back in Paris by 6pm. Since it was Wendy's last day in Paris, after a bit of relaxation, we got dressed up and headed out on the town that night. We went to Buddha Bar which is famous for its trancendental / dance club music mixes. It is something of a place to be seen, although with drink prices starting at 15 euros we hadn't planned to be seen there for very long. I had an Elderflower martini - very tasty. After some friends of Cate's joined us, we split a slightly more reasonably priced bottle of wine and a good time was had by all. Not much conversation though, since the music got louder and louder as the evening progressed. This was a bit of a mystery to us, since Buddha Bar has no dance floor. So why does the music need to be so loud? At least it was very good music.

Having Wendy here was the start of my slow realization that my time here is coming to an end, and soon I will be returning back to Burnaby and work. Today Cate and I had brunch with my co-worker Vlad and his family who have been in Paris for the last week as well. It has been great to have visitors here to rekindle my inner tourist, particularly as I prepare my list of things I must see over the next five days before I leave. I am also looking forward to going home (although perhaps not as excited about going back to work).

From D-Day to Orsay

I've been very busy playing tour guide for the last two weeks with first my parents coming for a week, followed by a week with my very good friend Wendy. It's been a lot of fun seeing Paris again through the eyes of those who had never been here before. I have also gotten to see some of the key sites here and around France that I was saving for just this time. What I had forgotten was just how exhausting being a tourist in Paris for one week can be!

My parents arrived on a Sunday morning - Mother's Day in fact - and after a brief respite were raring to hit the town. We had Mother's Day dinner at Le Pied au Cochon - but none of us were inclined to sample the house namesake and speciality - two steaks and a salmon filet s'il vous plait. Have I mentioned my distaste for "Traditional French Cuisine"? Give me a croissant or a croque monsieur any day over terrine de foie gras.

Day 2 with the parents was a marathon visit of the Louvre. After a bite of lunch I left them to take a bus tour of the city and visit the Eiffel Tower on their own. That night, we went up to Montmartre to visit Sacre Coeur and admire the view, and fortified ourselves with dinner at an Italian restaurant.

Normandy

Day 3 we took the train out to Caen, Normandy. To lure my father to France (Mom was an easy sell), I had to come up with something I knew he couldn't resist. This lure took the form of a tour of the D-Day beaches in Normandy. Since this was also something I had wanted to do on this trip, and I can think of no one I would rather visit the WWII sites in Normandy with, it seemed the perfect plan. And it worked! We toured the Musee Memorial de la Paix in Caen the morning on Wed. which is a spectacular museum of the events leading up to WWII through to the Liberation of France following D-Day, June 6th 1944.

In the afternoon, we tour a van tour of a few of the D-Day sites along the coast: German bunkers and the artificial harbour built by the Allies at Arromanches;

Omaha beach where the Americans had no hope of surviving on the 300 m open beach; Point du Hoc, a key point of land which would have been fascinating but for the thunderstorm that crashed down on us. And we visited the American Cemetary which was a very visual reminder of the huge sacrifice the Allies made over just a few short days in a spectacular military strategy to turn the tide in WWII. It was a trip I will always cherish and remember. The only disappointed part of the day (except perhaps the inclement weather) was that the tour did not go to the Canadian section at Juno beach. Something to visit another time.

My parents and I also visited Bayeux and its famous tapestry with the story of William the Conqueror, and sampled some local apple cider (yum) and Calvados or apple brandy (yech) before heading back to Paris. My parents last day in Paris was another marathon of the Musee d'Orsay (one of my favorites) and Notre Dame Cathedral. I had to leave my parents on their own for dinner as I had to go out to the airport via train to pick up my friend Wendy that night.

All in all it was a fabulous week with my parents. It was great to spend Mother's Day in Paris with my Mom. My dad had a thoroughly enjoyable time and reversed all his pre-conceptions about France and Paris in particular. This place will do that to you. It has a certain magic to it for sure.

Chocolate and Charlemagne

I spent last weekend in Brussels, Belgium and then two days in Aachen, Germany. I wasn't sure what to expect from Brussels, but I found it to be a delightful town full of fantastic Art Nouveau buildings. I, of course, sampled the local chocolate (ambrosia) and was very glad to get a decent beer for a change. I had the opportunity to be in a student film as I came out of the train station when I first arrived - all I had to do was cross the street looking stressed - not a problem as the pedestrian light was not working and in addition to getting across the traffic with my roller bag, there was the added risk of street cars rumbling by. Watch for me at Cannes!

I decided that with only two days in Brussels, I would take one of the tourist hop-on hop-off bus tours to see the sights and get a bit of history. I discovered that Belgium is a monarchy and then 10 minutes later was hopping off at the royal palace where I was lucky enough to be in Brussels during the two weeks of the year that the royal greenhouses are open. I was thinking it would be a couple of greenhouses with some nice flowers. Two hours later I had filed through building after building where the greenhouses rivaled the plants for grace and beauty. I also had a chance to glimpse the royal grounds which were equally stunning with a lovely view of the city over a lake etc etc. One thing I did note though was that even the king and queen of Belgium couldn't avoid being out of the flight path of the airport! It was a great side tour, but it did mean I ran out of time and missed seeing the Star Wars exhibit at one of the museums - rats!

Sunday morning I found myself climbing off the train in Aachen. As usual I didn't have a map, but I had drawn myself one off the Aachen tourist page on the web the night before to navigate to the hotel. It was supposed to be less than a kilometre, and it was a lovely morning so I thought I'd walk. Half an hour later I was hot and sweaty and cranky, and obviously lost. I found a map on a local bus shelter and discovered I had turned right instead of left at one of the first intersections. It still wasn't too far to the hotel, so I shlepped back, roller bag clicking along the pavement behind me. For a geographer, I seem to have both a lousy sense of direction, and a misguided confidence in my ability to travel without maps. I did get to the hotel, and stashed my bag to go off and explore the town (still no map). It wasn't until I had explored much of the gorgeous old town near the cathedral and was on my way back to the hotel that I discovered the tourist office a block from my hotel. I purchased the handy "Charlemagne's guide to Aachen" and was now able to understand much of what I had seen.

Charlemagne was apparently quite fond of Aachen and it is where he spent his final years, taking advantage of the natural hot springs in the area. The Aachen city hall has one tower (the one on the right) where Charlemagne lived in until his death in 814. The cathedral of Aachen is a UNESCO world heritage site (chalk up another one on my list), and seems small compared to some of the huge cathedrals in France, but it is much older. Charlemagne (naturally) built the first part of the cathedral and he's also entombed there. The cathedral was expanded in gothic style and consecreated on the 600th anniversary of his death, which brings us to 1414.

Aachen also is a city that loves its bronze fountains. This one is of a mythical creature from recent history that would apparently attack men on their way home on pay day and take all their money (and coincidentally make them smell like a beer hall). In the background is the Aachen Cathedral's gothic spire.

I did conduct some business in Aachen with my friends at Kisters, visiting their office and discussing the upcoming migration of our data management software system. Curiously the more interesting part of my visit was to learn that Kisters also makes 3-D "printouts" of computer-generated models as another arm of their business. It was good to meet some of the people with whom we will be working over the coming months.

I enjoyed my time in Aachen, but was happy to come back to Paris on Tuesday where I am at least able to speak the language! I ended up eating at a Greek restaurant in Aachen, because it was the only place I knew I could read the menu!

A bien tot! - S.

Of Shakespeare and Unicorns

I am actually writing this from Aachen, Germany, but realize I have gotten behind on my posts from Paris. I thought you might actually like to know some things about Paris before I go on about my next adventure to Brussels and Aachen.

I had the opportunity through a friend to meet an Australian who has made Paris his home for the last 20 years. David is an architect and now a photographer, so you can imagine he was a wealth of information on Paris. Cat & I met David on a Sunday afternoon for a cafe creme in the Cafe Beaubourg next to the Centre George Pompidieu where he shared his latest photos from a recent trip to India that he is hoping to turn into a book. After coffee, David took us over to Shakespeare and company to have tea with the 92-year old former owner of the famous english bookshop that has seen the likes of Hemingway etc in its day. Sunday afternoons at 4pm, you can go up over the bookshop to meet fellow travelers and aspiring authors for tea. The 92-year old former owner was a no-show, but we did meet several interesting others, including a travel writer for the Lonely Planet (my exclusive guide to all things France). Sitting in the small reception room of a tiny apartment above a famous bookshop made me wish (and not for the first time) that I was more literary. I did not fess up that I was currently reading a book entitled "Snow White and the Seven Samurai" about fairy tales gone awry in a humourous fashion.

David invited us along that evening to another Paris institution, although this one might not be in the guide books. We were invited to the home of a 1960s counter-culture icon and co-founder of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Jim Haynes. Apparently every Sunday Jim puts up a meal for up to 50 guests with the sole purpose of encouraging discussion amongst relative strangers. He's been doing this since the 1970s, and estimates that over 120,000 guests have shared a meal and some great conversation at his home. I think my six degrees of separation from the rest of the world just shrank by a degree or two. I talked to people from all over, from Portland OR, New Zealand, Toronto, France, Germany. I didn't get the chance to talk to the fellow from Vancouver. One woman from Milwaukee described how she met her Frence fiance when he was on a high school exchange in the US. They dated briefly then, but it was when he tracked her down some 10 years later that they fell in love and she moved to Paris. When telling this story to another frenchman, he replied "French men are tenacious like that". It was a wonderful evening.

On a separate topic, a week or two ago I made a visit to the Musee du Moyen Age (Museum of the Middle Ages), which to my delight is currently free of charge. It started a little slowly with some ceramics and bits and pieces of statuary left over from the Middle Ages - you really need to use your imagination with only an arm or a head left of the statue. It then moved on to more information about daily life of the time as captured in a number of tapestries. There were also the tiniest detailed metal sculptures which were fascinating to me in their detail. The culmination is a series of 6 tapestries from the 15th century, called the Lady and the Unicorn. Five of the tapestries depict the five senses, and the sixth "A mon Seul Desir" is the moral of the series possibly about exherting control over your senses and an assertion of free will. (this photo is from musee Cluny website) The bright colours and impecable detail of the tapestries is quite stunning, and given their sheer size, all 6 together are fascinating to behold.

The museum has reflected the scenery from the tapestries in the garden adjacent, and the locals provide some parallel imagery of lovers and scoundrels depicted in some of the other tapestries on display.

May 4, 2008

How not to navigate across Europe

It is harder than I would have thought to keep this up to date. What to discuss? I am back in Paris again after driving back from Vienna via Innsbruck and Strasbourg. Innsbruck was a marvel after so long staying in bustling cities for the past few weeks. Soaring snow-covered mountains, blue glacial rivers, green pastures and wood-beam houses make Innsbruck one of the more scenic places I've ever been. On Sunday morning I was out exploring and came across a sort of parade next to the Hofburg (Palace). Everyone was in traditional garb, and there was a band and a small militia marched up in their lederhosen with rifles at the ready. There was a small ceremony, the anthem was played and the militia fired a salute. Then the whole parade marched off into town, flags waving. Most curious.

One other curiousity is that I did not see any livestock anywhere in Austria. Miles of green pastureland, but not one cow, sheep, not even a horse. Perhaps they were hiding behind the large barriers along the highway? As soon as we entered Switzerland, there were cows grazing where you'd expect them (see photo below). Given the amount of meat on offer in the restaurants in Austria, they must have a few cows somewhere. Although they do seem to eat a lot of veal, so perhaps most of the cows never make it to pasture?

After Innsbruck we made the decision to not stop in Switzerland, but rather push on to Strasbourg, France for a night so we could arrive back home in Paris a day early. We did stop in Liechtenstein for lunch (and drove across the country in about 20 minutes) and breezed through Switzerland on our way back to France. Cat & I had been to Switzerland on a previous holiday, so we didn't feel bad about skipping our way through. It did mean that we did a classic tour of Europe with four countries in one day (Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and France) .

Strasbourg, France is another connundrum to me. It is a relic of a town, by which I mean the centre is practically undisturbed from the medieval period. It is quite incredible. All these old wood-frame, lopsided and drooping houses with doorways about 5 feet tall, lining the canals that separate the city centre from the rest of the city. The Strasbourg Cathedral of Notre Dame, with it's gothic spire, imposes itself over the town, and must have served well to put the fear of God into the local inhabitants. According to Wiki, it was the tallest building in world from 1647 to 1874 - and is still the 4th tallest church. This fact was of much use to Cat and I as we did not have a city map for the city when arriving, but I knew that our hotel was near the cathedral. We navigated in by the church spire like two pilgrims. I might add a comment now, that if you find yourself driving around Europe, you might want to pick up a map with a bit more detail than the map of Europe that we were using to get around.

The route back to Paris was pretty straightforward, so we thought it might be nice to stop in Champagne on the way to sample some local product. It turns out that the grape-growing region in Champagne is much smaller than one would think, and we ended up driving down 50km of back country roads before laying an eye on a grape vine. At this point we were navigating off of a tiny map in my Lonely Planet France book. Having been on the wine route in BC, California, and Ontario I think were were expecting a little more local guidance to be available in the way of tourist information and signage. We did finally find the Champagne Route signs, but every place we drove through looked like the sidewalks had been rolled up for winter. I guess a Monday afternoon in April is not the best time to go wine shopping in Champagne. So back onto the highway we went, with no champagne. We declined to purchase the champagne on offer at the local Shell station (which is also where we ended up having lunch). I guess we should have read the Lonely Planet and actually gonr straight to Epernay as they suggest instead of trying to discover something for ourselves.

It feels good to back in Paris where I have a good city map and can now find my way without getting too lost.

Vienna Notes

I am in Vienna now, arrived by car (a Mercedes!) via Germany on Sunday. It is strange being in a country where you have no ability to understand the language - you're brain seems to think that you should be able to figure it out if you just focus hard enough. No luck so far though. Germany is much prettier than I though it would be - a marked difference from the region of France I came through, where it is all fields and then you pass into Germany and it is all forested (at least for the first while). Everything seems so green after the grey of Paris. It was a pleasure to be able to stay with friends of Cat's in Speyer, Germany and take a lovely walk along the banks of the Reine River. I really appreciated having someone who speaks German to accompany me to the Apotheke (pharmacy) to help me buy some cough suppressant medicine for a terrible cough I have developed. That might have been pretty entertaining to try to have to act out my symptons to the pharmacist (or would that be the apothecary?)

Austria seems to think that you should focus on the road, because they have put up high barriers along the highway which block most of the view. The biggest adjustment here is getting used to having smoking in public places. Even Paris has banished their smokers outside. We arrived in Vienna on Sunday evening, and the European Geosciences Union conference started at 8:30 on Monday morning, so there hasn't been a lot of time for sight-seeing. Cat & I managed to attract an impromptu tour guide when wandering around the Stephansplatz reading our guidebook Tuesday evening. He pointed out things in the cathedral we would have never even noticed on our own, and then took us to see a portion of the old city wall before showing us a great place for Austrian food. I don't think I've ever seen so much weiner schnitzel on one plate before. It was delicious!

In this photo of the roof of the Stephansdom cathedral (one of the tallest churches in the world), there is the emblem of Austria on the right and of Vienna on the left. The roof was destroyed by fire in WWII, and rebuilt not with wood, but with steel. Apparently, the tiled roof is more indicative of the style used in southern France. I'll have to make the comparison when I travel there in a few weeks.

Well, my break in the conference program is over, so I'd better get back to it!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Finally - the sun shines in Paris!

It was a lovely day today, made even lovlier when I took a promenade along the Seine after french class with some of my class mates. We stopped for Chinese food for lunch (oddly familiar meal for me and a nice change from all the bread, cheese and wine one has over here), and then made our way from the 6th arrondissement where the school is over to le Hotel de Ville (city hall) close to where I live. The photo exhibition we had hoped to see there was unfortunately over, but it was a nice walk and we had lots of opportunity to practice our french and browse the booksellers lined up with their little stalls along the river banks.

French lesson of the day: The word "oui" comes from the archaic verb "ouir" which means "to hear".

Here we go

I've been in Paris for several weeks now, and am starting to feel at home here. The Paris apartment is small but perfectly formed. It has everything that a person could need (particularly now that the internet connection is working) and is in a great location in the 2nd Arrondissement in a neighbourhood called Montorgueil. This is a pedestrian area full of little shops and restaurants. Cat & I go out and do our shopping each day. Cat is able to pick up a baguette or pain au chocolat on her morning run and bring them back for a tasty breakfast.



I can't believe my two weeks of French classes are almost complete already. I have gotten a lot more comfortable speaking la belle langue, and have really enjoyed meeting people from all over the world brought together for sole purpose of learning a language. It is a special thing to meet people from Brazil, Australia, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Venezuala, US. The interesting thing is that speaking french you can't recognize a person's accent, so you can't tell where they are from until they tell you.

I haven't made it to very many museums or monuments since I arrived. Apart from one trip to the Louvre, I have mostly just been walking around and exploring. I did finally get up to Sacre Coeur last week to enjoy the view and sit in on evening mass. Listening to the nuns singing sitting under the spectacular mosaics would inspire anyone.

Alas, the last few days I have been sick so have not ventured very far from the apartment. I have read a few of the books I have brought with me and caught up on my 80's television (dubbed in French of course).