Hello Paris . . . au revoir Diane!

We returned the rental BMW to Avis on Sunday, Oct. 14, at the Versailles railway station.  It was raining pretty steady, and there were only a few parking spots and no Avis signs.  So Trudy went in search of help.  After a short wait, she emerged with a young French assistant who looked a little upset that he had to come out in the rain.   He walked over to a spot that said “A _ _S” and moved two orange parking cones so that it spelled AVIS.   As Tom said… “Sodbuster…we didn’t sign up to play “fill in the blanks” in the rain.”  C’est la vie, we unloaded the car and took the next train to Paris.  

When we arrived in Paris, it was chilly and still raining.  We checked into our hotel and then took a cab to the Louvre.   For those who may not be familiar with the history of the Louvre, this was Louis XIV’s crib until he built Versailles, at which time he allowed the Louvre to be used as a museum.  (Remember Chateau Chambord?   Many of the valuable pieces of art from the Louvre were stored at Chambord during WWII for safekeeping.)  This picture was taken the next day when it had stopped raining.

 

While we had been to the Louvre before, Diane had not.   Accordingly, Diane was able to take full advantage of our vast knowledge of the Louvre as we led her through one wrong gallery after another in search of the Mona Lisa.   Diane snapped a pretty good picture of Mona considering she had to wedge herself between about 1,000 other amateur photographers. 

  

Because the Louvre was a palace before it was a museum, some of the apartments have been maintained as they were when it was a palace…and oh my…what apartments!   These rooms were meant to stun and amaze those who came to visit Napoleon III during the mid 1800’s.  Here are some shots of the apartment interiors--unfortunately they are a little dark (no flash allowed!).

After being lost in the Middle Eastern History section for a while, we stumbled into the Greek gallery and found Venus de Milo.  If the farmer who dug her up on the island of Melos in 1820 knew how much she would be worth in 2012, he would have kept digging until he found her arms.  Even without arms, she is a truly beautiful piece of art which seems to transport the viewer back in time.  

We spent a fair amount of time in the gallery containing the massive marbles of horse and riders (once located outside as the entrance to gardens) and larger-than-life sized gods, goddesses and warriors.  Here are just a few samples of what we enjoyed. 

And the next one is what I called "the Bloomington Four fulfilling Tom's wish to see Mackinac Island one more time."

 

Since the Louvre is closed on Monday, we reached critical mass at about 5:00 PM.  Diane had to decide whether to 1) see the Egyptian wing and view an extraordinary collection of art from one of history’s most enduring civilizations, or 2) shop in the Louvre Galleria.  Well...Diane is going home with souvenirs. 

Since the rain had started again, we decided to cab it back to the hotel.  We were unbelievably lucky to get a cab in the rain outside of the Louvre.   Our driver used this opportunity to complete a trial run for the upcoming Grand Prix by cutting in and out of traffic and totally ignoring any posted speed limit.  A terrified Trudy asked “Do you always drive like this?”  He replied “I’m a very good driver.”  (Remember the movie Rain Man?  He was “a savant who was a very good driver.”)  As he squeezed between cars at breakneck speed, Trudy asked if this was safe.   He replied “I drive with my mind…not my eyes.”   He did deliver us to the hotel for $23 Euro.  As a retired accountant, Tom found this interesting since our ride earlier that day from the hotel to the Louvre cost $12 Euro.  Oh well, how often does one have the opportunity to be launched through Paris traffic from the Louvre to your hotel by a savant cab driver.

 On Monday, the sun came out and it was a glorious day to be in Paris walking through the autumn leaves and smelling the crisp fall air as we headed for the Eiffel Tower.  The tower can be viewed from several locations around the city since it is 1,050 feet tall.  Diane enjoyed seeing this historic landmark for the first time.  We considered waiting in line to join the 7,100,000 people who ascend the tower each year.   However, after seeing how many were waiting that day, and knowing  this was Diane’s last day in Paris, we decided not to raise the tally to 7,100,003. Here's Diane's creative shot.

 We then took a cruise on the River Seine, getting off at Notre Dame, one of the amazing cathedrals of the world started in 1163 . . .

 then we saw the Arc de Triomphe (control yourself Lee!) . . .

Then we walked through the Tuileries (the gardens) leading from the Louvre down the Champs-Elysees.  Diane and Trudy admired the beautiful clothing, shoes and purses.  Tom thought the prices were sinful . . . but the shoes were so beautiful!

We had our farewell meal with Diane at a small café near the hotel where we enjoyed talking to a young professor from New Jersey who had brought his mother to Paris for the first time.  The next morning we walked in the rain to the Arc De Triomphe where Diane caught her shuttle to the airport.  Au revoir Diane!  It has been fun!

Tom and I had two more days in Paris so we were off to see the Musee d'Orsay.  Our last day would prove to be a haute-coiffure experience.  Stay tuned!

 Happy trails,

TNT

Chenonceau and Versailles

After visiting the chateau of Chambord, we moved on to Amboise where we checked into our beautiful French Manor for two nights.  We were off the next morning to see the chateau of Chenonceau. . .in the rain!  Here's a picture of our lodging in Amboise.

 

Although Chenonceau began as a castle in the 1400’s, it wasn’t until the mid 1500’s when King Henry II gave the chateau to his mistress that it became the unique bit of architecture that it is today.  She added the arched bridge across the River Cher to its opposite bank as well as the beautiful gardens surrounding the chateau.  [It’s bad enough that these kings were so naughty, but some of them let everyone know how naughty they were by giving their mistresses really nice houses to live in.]  Chenonceau changed hands several times over the years, but was known as the “ladies chateau” since the owners were typically the mistresses or queens of kings.  The portion of the chateau that crosses the river was used as a wartime hospital during WW I and over 2,000 wounded soldiers were treated there from 1916 to 1918.  Some of the wounded fished from the windows of the arched bridge to pass time. 

 

The best way to share the beauty of Chenonceau and the gardens is with pictures, so here you go…enjoy.

We arrived around noon on Friday in Versailles.  It took a few tries to squeeze through the streets to our hotel, and even a tighter squeeze to get into the parking garage.  After dropping off our bags, we headed for the Palace of Versailles which was right across the street.  Visiting Chambord and Chenonceau is a good way to prepare for the unbelievable sight of Versailles.   One look at Versailles, with its rooms that housed 10,000 aristocrats and servants, and you understand why Louis  XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads.  The sheer size and amount of gold leaf ornamentation is staggering.  However, the beauty of the architecture and art work contained in and outside of the palace is exceptional.  And the gardens, filled with sculptures and fountains of every size, stretch as far as the eye can see.   Luckily, we caught a good sunny afternoon to visit the extensive gardens. 

In addition to the palace of Versailles, we visited the Grand Trianon, which is a small palace in the back of  Versailles built by Louis  XIV to allow him to flee the stiff court etiquette and spend time with his mistress (how naughty can you get….keeping your mistress in the back yard).   The day we visited the palace, it was pouring rain and in the mid 50’s.  While we thoroughly enjoyed the palace tour, it was about a 20 minute walk from the palace to the Grand Trianon.  The walk was wet, cold and windy.  We stopped off for a hot lunch and a cappuccino at a crowded restaurant near the center of the gardens.  It felt so good to be dry and warm for an hour.  Then it was off to the Grand Trianon.   This small palace was beautiful in its own right, and was completely furnished in décor and furniture of the period. 

We also had tickets for Marie Antoinette’s hamlet, which was a little farm village she had built in the back of Versailles where she and her lady friends could pretend to live in the French countryside (this was when she still had a head).  While we were searching for Marie’s hamlet, the sun came out.  This really helped to lift our spirits and dry our soggy clothes.   It took a few tries down various dirt paths in order to locate the hamlet within the huge Versailles estate.  However, it was worth the effort.  The village was just “too cute.”  Here are snapshots of Marie’s farm village.  By the way, farmers lived in these little houses and grew vegetables that were used by the cooks in the palace of Versailles.

 Our next post will be our last two days with Diane in Paris.

Happy trails,

TNT

Who needs a GPS when you have Diane and Trudy?

After retrieving our BMW rental car on the top deck of the Avis parking garage, Tom figured out the controls for the windshield wipers since it began to rain at a steady pace.   He programmed the GPS for Blois and we named the GPS ”Bridgette” since we were in France.   Bridgette instructed Tom to “dodge left, dodge right, move to center, then dodge left on the second turn," etc.   And although there were some who doubted Bridgette’s abilities (excluding Tom), she directed us right onto the freeway towards Paris.  After driving for about an hour, Trudy and Diane began to question Bridgette’s direction and felt that Bridgette had not considered all possible shortcuts to Blois,  and so they came up with an alternate route to cut off several miles from the trip.  Since Tom and Bridgette were out-voted, the motion to exit the freeway was carried.  As a result of this alternate route, we saw some beautiful French countryside, quaint villages, vineyards and amazing farm land.  Scattered throughout the farm land were wind powered turbines, but not as many as we saw in Germany and the Netherlands.  Overall, it is impressive how much Europe is into green energy programs.  Of course, as with the U.S., there are the European factions who complain that wind turbines are decimating the bird population.  However, Tom pointed out that there are many square miles of air space to the left, the right and above the wind turbines.   Therefore, the only birds being killed are most likely suicidal or inherently bad flyers.  As a result, wind turbines are improving the European bird gene pool.

After a few hours of traveling on two-lane roads, although the landscape was beautiful, Diane and Trudy admitted that Bridgette’s directions would have kept us on the four-lane freeway…which would have resulted in a 7:00 pm arrival time.   Instead, we arrived about 9:30 pm in Blois.   Lesson learned:  if you pay eleven Euro a day for a GPS unit, why not follow those directions.

The next day we were off to Chambord, the amazing chateau of Francois 1^st.    French chateaux (or palaces) differ from castles since they were not built for defensive purposes, but rather for “showing off” one’s wealth and power.  Chambord is the largest of the chateaux in the Loire valley.   It is a magnificent structure containing nearly a hundred unusual structures on the top level.  These various structures were supposed to resemble the skyline of Constantinople.  It is difficult to explain the sheer mass of Chambord and it’s requisite structures.  You could drive a Toyota Prius around the top of the chateau between these structures which appear to be a jumbled mass of small buildings from ground level.  The overall effect is a bit like being at Disney World.  The children of the various kings, queens (and mistresses of kings…yes…some were naughty) must have had a ball playing hide and seek and chasing each other around this make-believe city with its magnificent view of the countryside and impressive main approach lined with towering Sycamores. 

Here are some pictures taken by Diane.

That's all for now ...we are now 16 days behind in blogging and having trouble with our electronic devices!  It's always something!

Happy trails,

TNT

On to Strasbourg and an impressive cathedral

After prying Tom's hands from the Mercedes steering wheel, he reluctantly returned the rental car in Baden Baden on October 8.  We then boarded the train for Strasbourg, France.  We arrived at the Hotel Gutenberg in the afternoon.  This historic hotel has four normal floors, a refurbished attic with dormers (a.k.a. the fifth floor) and a sixth floor, which is really the "attic above the attic".  The sixth floor contained huge rafters that were at least 16 by 16 inches thick which ran through the hallways and guest rooms.  However, the rafters were painted white, giving them that "country french" flavor.  

Diane was lucky enough to get a room on the sixth floor.  Remember Harry Potter's room underneath the stairs at his mean Aunt and Uncle's house?  Harry's room was bigger than Diane's accommodations. However, the attic above the attic did have a skylight located over the bathroom sink allowing Diane to view the constellations as she brushed her teeth.  In fact, Diane described her room as "trying to get closer to the heavens" in the same spirit as the builders of cathedrals.  As a savvy traveler, Diane confirmed that there was a fire escape from the attic above the attic.  It consisted of a trap door in the hallway with a nylon chute in which you jumped feet first while keeping your arms raised over your head.  The directions did not illustrate where you ultimately land on the first floor after plummeting nearly six stories through a big sock. We have included a picture of the sixth floor emergency escape information.

After settling in, we were off to the Strasbourg cathedral.   What makes a cathedral a cathedral instead of just a really big church?   In order to be a cathedral, it must be a principal church of a Diocese where a bishop is officially associated.  The Strasbourg cathedral is a spectacular sight with tall spires and beautiful stained glass in hues of red, green and blue that contain strikingly detailed scenes.  While we were in the cathedral, organ music was being played throughout which really enhanced our visit.  We are including some of Diane's snapshots of the impressive entrance to the cathedral. 

The petite France section of Strasbourg has many half-timbered houses. It captures the feel and architectural elements of the French countryside.  This section of the city was filled with music, charm and the smells of fresh baked pastry.  Here are some  pictures of this area.

The next morning we were off to pick up our Avis rental car.  Tom was pouting at the thought of the three of us cramming into a Citroen A-3, after experiencing the Mercedes driving experience.  After our driving fiasco in Baden Baden, we were set on renting a car with GPS.  The only auto available with GPS was a BMW (picture a big smile on Tom's face), so we coughed up the additional cash and headed for the rental parking structure with the BMW car keys.  As we reached the parking structure, Diane pulled the large stainless steel door handle but could not open the door.  Then she tried sliding the door left and right...but no luck.  Tom then attempted to use his parking access card in a slot that looked logical but that only resulted in bending the access card.  At that point the three musketeers once again said "huh!"  Luckily, an Avis employee who was walking a few steps behind (and observing our inability to gain entry) stepped up and "pushed" the door open.  At this point the Americans and the French Avis employee all broke into uncontrollable laughter.  Now...in defense of Americans, unlike American doors, many doors in Germany and France have large handles on the outside which you would assume are for pulling, not for pushing.  However, you push to enter.  (Tom and Diane requested that this fact be documented in  the blog.)

After retrieving our car and loading up the luggage, it was time to head for Blois (pronounced "Blu Wah").  More on our trip to Blois and our visit to the chateau of Chambord in our next installment.

Happy trails,

TNT