Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday December 9th
Today we took the train to Versailles, first to the market and then walked up to the Palace. As you can see from the photos, the market both indoor and out and is exceedingly varied, fresh and colorful. It is not uncommon for the French to shop for food on a daily basis, at least bread and meat. Speaking of meat, the market is not for the faint of heart or stomach, all kinds of game, domestic animals, and fish, much of it displayed with heads, feet, etc attached and some of it, well, downright unappetizing. We are trying to be adventurous in our tastes, but may have to draw the line at a few of the local delicacies.
The walk from town up to the Palace was cold, uphill, and rough, as much of the approach is cobblestones. Touring the opulence of the Palace, it is not hard to imagine the resentment of the common folk for the Royal family and it's inevitable outcome, the ransacking of the royal houses and the French Revolution beginning in 1789. The morning the townsfolk stormed the Palace, Marie Antoinette was able to escape through a hidden passageway in her bedroom, but inevitably met her fate with the guillotine. Much of the interiors of the palaces and the gardens were destroyed and have been recovered or recreated during the ensuing centuries to their present glory.
After the palace, we walked back down to town as it began to snow and warmed up with a latte in a little corner cafe. So cute and so French!
Back at Bill and Sue's apt, it was another gourmet meal, see pics. C'est si bon!
The walk from town up to the Palace was cold, uphill, and rough, as much of the approach is cobblestones. Touring the opulence of the Palace, it is not hard to imagine the resentment of the common folk for the Royal family and it's inevitable outcome, the ransacking of the royal houses and the French Revolution beginning in 1789. The morning the townsfolk stormed the Palace, Marie Antoinette was able to escape through a hidden passageway in her bedroom, but inevitably met her fate with the guillotine. Much of the interiors of the palaces and the gardens were destroyed and have been recovered or recreated during the ensuing centuries to their present glory.
After the palace, we walked back down to town as it began to snow and warmed up with a latte in a little corner cafe. So cute and so French!
Back at Bill and Sue's apt, it was another gourmet meal, see pics. C'est si bon!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday December 8, 2008
Day 3 in Paris, the Louvre. First, a brief discussion of our means of transportation. Bill and Sue don't have a car, so all transport is either on foot, by train known as the Metro, by bus, by cab, or a combination of some or all on any one trip. Most days we walk the mile or so to the Metro station, where we may take a number of trains to arrive at our destination. So far, the public transportation system is very impressive. The French really have perfected both the science and the art of efficiently moving millions of people every day on time and in relative comfort. The trains and stations can be very crowded, cold, sometimes dirty, lots of stairs, but everything is well marked, on time, and fast. Without the over 100 year-old train system, most of it underground, it seems Paris might ground to a halt. Of course, we haven't needed to attempt any of it alone, as Sue is our companion and excellent tour guide. We are lucky dogs.
Back to our day at the Louvre. The Louvre was the former royal residence and later Napoleon Bonaparte. His sumptuous apartments are on display in the Louvre. As you can see from the photos there are also many masterpieces up through the mid-1840's including DaVinci's "Mona Lisa", Michelangelo sculptures, the Greek ancient sculpture "Winged Victory", and the Venus de Milo.
Back to our day at the Louvre. The Louvre was the former royal residence and later Napoleon Bonaparte. His sumptuous apartments are on display in the Louvre. As you can see from the photos there are also many masterpieces up through the mid-1840's including DaVinci's "Mona Lisa", Michelangelo sculptures, the Greek ancient sculpture "Winged Victory", and the Venus de Milo.
Sunday December 7, 2008
Day two in Paris...Went to mass at the Cathedral Notre Dame, originally constructed on an island, the Ile de la Cite', in the 12th century. Notre Dame, was the first significant example of Gothic architecture, it's size and scope made possible by the development of the flying buttress. After mass we walked to some shops and then on to the Jewish quarter, an area of extremely old buildings, some hundreds of years, and small winding cobblestone streets, where we had falafel sandwiches at a wonderful, loud, and crowded cafe. Did some more shopping after lunch, then downtown to the Arc de Triomphe. Dinner at home prepared by our gourmet hostess Sue was salmon with a Greek yogurt and caper sauce, goat cheese salad, bread, fruit, wine and chocolate dessert. Swoon.....
Saturday December 6, 2008
We flew with Marie's brother Bill, aka Hedgehog, from Detroit Metro departing at 9:35 Friday night. Managed to sleep a couple of hours on the flight and arrived at Charles de Gaulle around 10:45 Paris time on Saturday morning. Had a brief scare when our luggage did not arrive for over an hour, no good explanation, but it finally came.
Our hosts Bill, Sue and Mara live in a small town, St. Cloud, southwest of Paris, on a narrow street lined with charming homes, many very old, behind rock walls and gates. Today we were greeted with champagne, scallops, fruits and vegs, baguette and other wonderful treats. Sue is a gourmet cook (Art has asked that we photograph all our food, so you will see daily pics of our meals!) Sue and Bill don't have a car so after a little rest we walked the mile or so to the train station to make our first foray into the cite'. As you can see from the photos, we went to the Eiffel Tower which is decorated in blue and stars to honor France's current status as head of the European Union/EU. On the hour, it sparkles like a giant sparkler for a minute.
After our tour of the Tower, we walked a few blocks to a small and very French restaurant where we got a chance to practice some of our meager high school French. Had a lovely meal which included foie gras, creme brule' and wine, then taxi back to the apt.
Our hosts Bill, Sue and Mara live in a small town, St. Cloud, southwest of Paris, on a narrow street lined with charming homes, many very old, behind rock walls and gates. Today we were greeted with champagne, scallops, fruits and vegs, baguette and other wonderful treats. Sue is a gourmet cook (Art has asked that we photograph all our food, so you will see daily pics of our meals!) Sue and Bill don't have a car so after a little rest we walked the mile or so to the train station to make our first foray into the cite'. As you can see from the photos, we went to the Eiffel Tower which is decorated in blue and stars to honor France's current status as head of the European Union/EU. On the hour, it sparkles like a giant sparkler for a minute.
After our tour of the Tower, we walked a few blocks to a small and very French restaurant where we got a chance to practice some of our meager high school French. Had a lovely meal which included foie gras, creme brule' and wine, then taxi back to the apt.
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