A little bit of William and a little more war

Our next stop was Bayeux, but the Lonely Planet suggested a little detour that turned out to be very worth it. The Abbaye de Jumieges consists of the ruins of an 11th century Benedictine abbey, cathedral and all. Construction of the church began in 1020 and was consecrated in 1067 - William the Conqueror (or Guillame le conquarent) attended. It was a seat of learning and became one of the holders of important scripts in the 13th and 14th centuries, but during and following the French Revolution, the monks were kicked out and the abbey was,ined for stones for other projects. Now, you can see the bones of the cathedral and other surrounding buildings, which I found really interesting from an architectural perspective. Plus, whatever spiritual leanings I have, I tend to find those connections in the open air, so this was an interesting situation.

From Jumieges, we took a little ferry across the Siene and headed towards Bayeux and up to the Normandy coast to Courseulles - better known in Canada as Juno beach. On June 6, 1944, 2 American units, 2 British units and a Canadian unit stormed the beaches of Normandy, code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword for Operation Overlord. The landings on D-day led to heavy fighting in Normandy and the eventual liberation of France. The Allied troops suffered 210,000 casualties, the Germans around 200,000 with another 200,000 taken prisoner. Approximately 14,000 French civilians were also killed. Visiting Juno beach was very different than Dieppe, you could see where the Allied forces had learned from the failure at Dieppe two years previously. Although still marked with higher ground where the Germans could defend from, it was not nearly as drastic. The beach is also sand, rather than pebbles. Along with the Americans and the British, the D-day landings marked a significant turning point in WWII, eventually leading to the German surrender at Reims. At Juno beach, there is a Canadian museum and memorial that we visited. 

We have now arrived in Bayeux, a wonderful little Norman city, with architecture that survived both the revolution and WWII, which I am looking forward to exploring a bit more. 

The battlefields of WWI and WWII

The plan had been to head to Dieppe, but as dad looked at the map from the navigator's seat, we decided to take a little detour up to Vimy Ridge. Vimy is the site of one of Canada's great military battles where our troops were able to take a very strategic point from the German forces in WWI. Our troops suffered significant losses, but were successful in taking the ridge, which arguably broke the stalemate pushing the Germans back. I had seen the memorial many times on tv, particularly on Remembrance Day, but it was much more than I expected. It is surrounded by land that is still heavily marked by the craters left from the artillery and mortars. It's is now covered in grass, kept short by a herd of sheep, but it's not hard to imagine the muddy hell that once lay on these grounds.

From Vimy, we got back on route and made our way to Dieppe. It was a war memorial kind of day. Dieppe was the site of one of Canada's greatest defeats of WWII. The Canadian Battalion was sent to Dieppe to attempt a sea based attack on heavily armed German held territory in Normandy. The  results were catastrophic - and in seeing the beach, it's hard to believe that anybody thought any other result was possible. We stopped at the Canadian cemetery, which is an interesting place as many of the soldiers buried here were actually buried by German forces. Walking through the cemetery and reading the inscriptions on the headstones makes your heart hurt. The love from families, parents, wive, children and siblings. And then the headstones where the soldier's name is unknown. The weather in Dieppe was kinda what I expected, cold, rainy and windy, fitting for the visit. 

Day 2 at Reims

Like I said in my previous post, Reims is full of history. Our first stop on our second day in Reims was the Surender Museum, the school house where General Dwight D. Eisenhower had his office when he was the Supreme Comander of the Allied Forces Europe. It was here on May 7, 1945 that German General Alfred Jodl surrendered on behalf of Nazi Germany, unconditionally to the allied forces. The surrender took place in the map room which is just an amazing site and hard to believe how difficult it would have been to keep track of everything going on all over Europe.

After leaving the museum, we went for a drive through champagne country - where they grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunièr grapes. It's a beautiful time of year to drive through this area, starting to change colours, while still appearing alive.

 I couldn't believe the number of little champagne houses we drove by. We then came upon an old moulin (mill) that is now a tasting centre for Mumm champagne. Really enjoyed our drive, even if the weather was meh.

Back in Reims, we walked over to the Palais du Tau, where the French princes would stay before their coronations. They had a great exhibit on including Charles X's coronation robe and Charlemagne's talisman.

From there it was over to the G.H. Martel caves, where we went on our champagne cave tour and tasting. I found it super interesting and learned a lot. Most importantly, don't wait to drink champagne. It can go bad.  You shouldn't keep it for any more than 3 years apparently.

So find something to celebrate and celebrate. I also learned about the different kinds of champagne and figured out what I like (which was pretty much all of it). The caves were also really cool. These ones are in these underground tunnels (over 200km of tunnels under the city of Reims) that were developed during the building of Reims and taking limestone blocks out from undergoumd to build the cathedral and other buildings.

Apparently these tunnels are a very good temperature for making champagne. Anyways, enjoyed the tour, enjoyed the tasting.

A good day, lots of history and a celebratory drink. 

To the coronation!

We left Montemartre by metro and connected out to CDG where we picked up a car. Upon getting the GPS set to English (although I think I know my gauche from my droit), we were ready to go to Reims. Between 816 and 1825, Reims saw the coronation of over 2 dozen kings. I was going here for the champagne. Dad was going for the history. I don't think I could have possibly appreciated the history that this city has, Joan of Arc to Dwight Eisenhower, Clovis to Charlemagne, WWI and WWII. It just seems to not end, and then add in the champagne and you've got a pretty interesting place.

We made our way through the centre of town to Cathedrale Notre Dame (yep, another one). We stopped at the tourist office and ended up starting with a walking tour of Reims, instead of going straight to the cathedral. We toured around the various sites of Reims and quickly realized that almost the entire city is a rebuild. Following WWI, only a handful of homes remained standing undamaged.

 

 We later learned about how people sought refuge in the champagne cellars. So, when rebuilding the city, they tried to be true to the history of the place, but you can also see hints of Art Deco all over the place. It's a neat city. Reminds me a bit of Melbourne, but that may just be the trams.

Afte the walking tour, we headed back to the cathedral. The cathedral was started in 1211, but a church had stood on the same ground since the 5th century. 

In 496, St. Remi baptized Clovis on the site,  making him the first Catholic French king. It's also the site where Joan of Arc delivered Charles VII to his coronation. The last king to be crowned in Reims was Charles X in 1824. The cathedral is very impressive, although it seems the French were building a lot of gothic cathedrals around this time, and they do start to look the same.  

The one thing unique, both inside and out is the number of individual statues, from Christ and Mary Magdeline to the different saints to the smiling angel.  It is impressive. 

Oh, and I liked the rhino. 

After leaving the cathedral, we wandered around town for awhile longer and then picked up some wine, cheese and bread for dinner (I'm at that point that I am tired of eating out, and sacrilege, I don't love French food. Off to bed. Will check in again tomorrow. 

Last day in Paris

So Dad decided to not join me today and have a quiet day around Montmartre. Turns out he went to Pere Lachaise cemetery where Chopin, Wilde, Stein and Morrison are all buried. I headed down to the Musee D'Orsay a grand collection of 19th and early 20th century art including works of Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Renoir, Rodin and Toulouse-Lautrec. Like I've said before, more of a sculpture person than a painting person, but there were some notable exceptions here. Partly, I think, because this was a time where there begins to be more texture in the paintings, literally being able to see the layers of paint  on the canvas.

The Orsay is housed in an old train station which is magnificent in and of itself. Have I mentioned that I generally visit these types of galleries for the architecture of the building more than anything? You're not supposed to take photos in the museum, but I couldn't resist a few. They are all from my phone, so quality not great, but you'll get the picture. This is the main gallery...

I really liked that you can see through the main clock and see up to Sacre Couer on Montemartre. Even with all the kidlets in the way.

As I mentioned in my Montemartre cemetery post, I feel like I grew up surrounded by Degas. This is one of my favourite paintings of his.  I also loved the sculpture work of his and how he was able to capture the amazing movement of a dancer's body. 

And of course, Van Gogh's Self Portrait, St. Remy.

From the D'Orsay, I wandered back to the Ile de Cite where I went to the Conciergerie, which had been closed on Monday. This is the former prison connected to the Palace du Justice. It was the last stop before the guillotine for Marie-Antionette and Robespierre. It is a very real connection to the horrendous things that happened during the Reign of Terror. 2780 French citizens were sentenced to death by the guillotine and the Conciergerie was the last stop before execution for each of the.  Doesn't look much like a prison from the outside, and not really from the inside either, but you do notice little things like the massive spikes aimed down on the women's courtyard that demonstrate what kind of place it would have been.

There is a chapel built by Louis XVIII, brother to Louis XVI (M-A's hubby), and the first king to reclaim the thrown after the revolution. The chapel is built on the site of M-A's cell and honours her memory.

From there I headed to the right bank and had lunch near the Pompidou, the home of modern art in Paris. I skipped actually seeing anything here, except going up to the top to see the views. 

On to some shopping. Which wasn't very successful, just overwhelming. 

Last stop planned for the day - the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. The walk was busy and when I got to the Arc, they weren't letting anyone up to the top. So I sat down for a bit, took some more photos and then security guards came along and moved us all to the exits, just as sirens started arriving. Still don't know what was going on. 

Back to Montemartre and dinner with dad for our last night in Paris. And Rebecca, I finally got to wear my Paris dress. 

Taking me back to Tom's high school history class

KHigh on my list of sites to see was Versailles. The hall of mirrors is one of the few things I remember from high school history. That and Campo Formio. Can't remember what they were about, but I remember learning about them. As we took the train out to versaille the rain was coming down hard. From the train to the palace it just seemed to rain harder. It didn't look to be a good day to be exploring the gardens. 

 

We first took the audio tour through the apartments. My audio guide didn't work very well, which proved to be very frustrating for the first half of the tour and I may have missed out a bit on the tour due to my frustration. Oops. It's a pretty crazy place - room upon opulent room. 

          

Versaille has been home to kings and to the republics, with every occupant adding their own touch. And I got to find out why the Hall of Mirrors had played a roll in my high school education - the Treay of Versailles, ending WWI officially had been signed in the hall. 

As we proceeded through the tour, we noticed it had stopped raining.

I'm not going to lie and say it was some wonderful sunny summer day, it is October. But it was a wonderful fall day, the wind in the trees, the sun popping in and out from the clouds and the leaves on some trees just changing colour. 

We wandered through the gardens on our way to the Grande Trianon - the royal weekend home. It's gaudy. Pink marble everywhere. And I had to laugh at these two women who were viewing the palaces at about the same pace as us and their constant selfies. It was driving my dad crazy and I have to say, it was a full on show of narcicism. Maybe channeling their inner Marie-Antionette. 

From there we toured some of the other little buildings including the Petit Trianon, on our way to "the Hamlet", a little Normand village that M-A had built as she longed for the peasant life. It is a very strange place. The Hamlet also had a working farm and mill. Strange lady. 

We wandered back to the chateau. By this time the sun was starting to appear which was very welcome. 

We made our way to the train and by the time we were back in Montemartre, we were both exhausted. A good day. 

Check list day 2

Clearly a must is to visit the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately we haven't been having great weather, but you just keep going. So we arrived at the tower without an elevator reservation and there was no way I was standing in that line, so 669  steps, here we come.  It actually wasn't all that bad. Somehow we missed the memo about the glass floor opening the day before, so missed that on the first floor. But up to the second level. 

Then we took the elevator to the top. It was a wee bit windy up there. But good views. 

Down at the bottom, the sun started to peak out.

As we walked away from the Eiffel Tower, we saw the picturesque Parisienne apartments, with the little Juliet balconies. Clearly not the Paris of the majority, but the Paris of the movies. 

Next stop - Rodin. As I've said before, sculpture is more my kind of art and Rodin would be one of those artists capable of capturing the beauty of the human form. The Rodin museum has a neat story into itself. The mansion that houses it is where Rodin and many other artistic types, including ballerina Isadora Duncan, lived. It was on the municipal chopping block, but until it was scheduled for demolishing, thy rented it out by the room. The grounds of the property are quite large and Rodin took it upon himself to place his sculptures throughout the overgrown grounds. As he got on in years, he decided that there should be a museum of his work, and he was going to leave his works to the museum, and oh, by the way, the museum should be in the mansion he called home. So, with some back and forth, he convinced the government to keep the mansion and open it to the public to display some of his work. He didn't live long enough to see the project completed, but the gardens have now been pruned and you can wander around to see his work where he thought it should be viewed. One thing I did find surprising was how much of his work was repeated in different mediums and even using portions of the same casts for different pieces. Anyways - two of his most famous - the Thinker and the Kiss. One thing I did notice is Rodin's scale of feet and hands seems off. Either that or people's hands and feet have become daintier in the past 100 years. 

Ok, from one self absorbed French man to the next - across the street from Rodin's museum is the military museum, which houses the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. The little general may have been over- compensating in his wishes for his tomb. It is huge! 

We also did a quick tour of the military museum, from which I learned that the French didn't get their asses handed to them in WWII, in fact the end of the war really came about because of de Gualle. A little different from the stories I've heard. 

To rest our tired feet, we decided to hop on one of the little boat cruises down the Seine. A nice way to see the sites. But really the best part of it was the views of the Eiffel Tower as the sun had really come out. 

The end of the cruise left us with a very different sky though...time to get inside and under cover. 

Another lovely day in Paris.