Teaching the children to .... Sail

When our kids were growing up they learned to shoot bow and arrow or play t ball or soccer.  We saw these small boat/tubs bobbing around in the bay and later saw the class.  They were learning to sail.  I would guess they were 8-10 year olds.  They would lash all the boats together and haul them out into the bay behind a zodiac and practice.  This was some of their "on land" learning.  Can you imagine how good they will be by adult hood?

Another Lousy Day in Paradise

After seeing Roman ruins and losing our way in multiple narrow streets we headed for the Mediterranean and we both thought this was the highlight of our trip.  We even went back a few days later.

Cassis is a small coastal town 30 minutes south of Aix and we drove there to spend the day.  It knocked our socks off.  Imagine driving down a steep valley amongst vineyards and flowers.  Suddenly there is the Mediterranean and this massive cliff above it.  This is a picturesque fishing village and although there were lots of tourists it hasn't been completely overrun.  Parking was tight - it is everywhere.  Be thankful you can just pull up and park anywhere you want to.  Not so here.  The walking was steep but what a view. 

View from la roue des Crestes

 Before we went into town we drove up the fabulously windy la route des Crestes to the view from Cap Canaille.  This is a 1000 foot cliff (no guardrails) above the Mediterranean.  Even Tom had to step back once from the edge.  Every viewpoint was breathtaking - literally.
Climbers love the area.  The sea has multiple colors of blue - hard to capture in a photograph. 

Down to the harbor

Seaside lunch - local wine

Perfect day.

The Italian Connection

Back a few days we toured Pont du Gard, the third largest aqueduct and the longest surviving one built by the Romans in France in 19 B.C.  The engineering ability was staggering.  This was a rich, thriving part of the Roman empire and we have felt many times a connection to Italy:  sun, food, environment, wine.  (Sorry if this offends but it is not meant to).  The Romans built roads, bridges and aqueducts.  These still stand while many other structures do not.  Then Rome fell, the Barbarians took over and everyone moved to the hill country.  Now we have Medieval towns built around protective castles or churches. Then the French Revolution changed everything.  French History 101. This is the France countryside and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing it on this day a few days ago...

Pont du Gard aqueduct

Pont du Gard

Roman Theatre in l'Orange seats 10,000

Mille Bourne revisited

We have skipped a couple days blogging but will be sure to go back and fill in. We are now in Aix-en-Provence.  Aix is a city of about 120,000 in south eastern France.  It's a combination between Key West (party all night), Daytona (college students) and Palm Springs (every expensive store I have ever seen).  It was fabulous to travel on the TGV from Paris and arrive in Aix 3.5 hours later - driving would have taken us 8 + hours assuming we could find our way.  We have a wonderful studio/flat on the 4th floor of a building right in the center of town.  Did I tell you there is no elevator?  74 steps up each time we come up.  I've counted.
Anyway it's a great place with everything we need.  For those who have been around here we are on a street called Cour Mirabeau.  It's tree lined and has fountains and is beautiful.  The bands have been playing all weekend in the square (the high school drum corp was less than appreciated when they went on for hours, but the gospel singers and jazz bands were spectacular.

Today we decided to brave the roads and the French signs and go out of town.  I am a country girl at heart and I really needed to get out of the city, away from tourists and smoke!  Everyone smokes here - it's gross.
We took off with sort of google map directions and a good map and only got lost once.  The "interstate" highway is an autoroute and has few exits.  It is also very fast.  Too bad we were in a little VW.  We made our way to L'Isles Sur-de-la Sorgue - a small village with a huge Sunday market.  We scored some gifts and some great fresh veggies.

Olives

 

Garlic

We then hit the road exploring the small (!!) windy roads leading into the Luberon area.  This is a National Park but has small villages.  Because it is a protected area there has been little commercial development and it still seems like small French villages.  We had lunch in Goult at La Carollin a lovely restaurant run by a woman from Belgium.  Here is my dessert -  I can't believe I took a picture of sorbet.

 This little village has a windmill.  Moulin in French means windmill (get it...the Moulin Rouge)

Oh yeah Tom has to tell you about the title - Mille Bourne.

Did you ever play this game when you were young?  Well, it's not too far from the truth except we haven't had any accidents or flat tires, yet.  But it sure reminds us of the game.  Imagine driving through a beautiful countryside and not knowing what any of the signs say?  Just a few signs that tell you which way to a town.  It's an adventure.  And, that's what we like about it.

Last Tango In Paris

The last day in Paris was an interesting day.  It is strange to know you are leaving a great city and may never be back so you are torn between just wanting to lay back and enjoy the experience and fitting in all the "have-to" places.  So, we went to a cemetery Pere Lachaise (what is it about Candy and cemeteries?) that had very touching and strange burial sites.  And when I say touching I don't mean Jim Morrison "Touch me babe" for you Doors fans, but Chopin, and many Holocaust monuments.

Holocaust statue

Jim Morrison's burial site

Holocaust memorial

Frederich Chopin with fresh flowers

Then, on to the Berthe Morisot exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Marmottan private museum.  She was one of the only female Impressionists and her work was exceptional.  We then went on the obligatory Seine boat cruise at night.  Only, it really was cool.  The sights of Paris at night are really pretty and the boats are the best way to see them.  By then it was late and we took the Paris subway back to the Latin Quarter, stopped by for a quick glace (sorbet) and then to bed.  We saw all of Paris we could see in six days and felt satisfied.  Now, it was time to go on to the South of France, warmer weather, and the countryside.

Sacre Coeur and Montmartre

We started our day by traveling to the highest point in Paris, Montmartre.  This is the place of the artists of the Impressionist period and the last hold out of the occupation by foreign armies.  It is charming and quaint, once you find out where the tourists aren't.  The tourist areas look like Coney Island, but away from the crowds the people are friendly and helpful.

Sacre Coeur is one of the most beautiful of churches and there is much history behind it.  It was narrowly missed in the bombing of Paris by the Germans in WWII.  The parishioners believe it was divine intervention.

The Longest Day...

Arc du Triumphe.  We walked down the Champs-Elysees and found the Arc. Built by Napoleon for one of his great victories but it was short lived.  Several foreign armies have proven that as great as he was he was not invincible. The French survived the Revolution only to have a megalomaniac in the palace. We waited in a side walk cafe for the army band to stop playing under the Arc for some national event and had wonderful food and drink.  Then, we climbed to the top of the Arc and had a beautiful view of the city at dusk.  The French are proud of their military accomplishments and have built monuments to them, but they also honor their dead and this is the place of the unknown soldier flame.  We grabbed a metro train back to the flat and crashed, another successful day and many great memories.

Geocaching in France & finding the WWII Memorial

I love to geocache.  Understatement.  I always try to do it in a new place - especially in a new country.  My dear husband goes along - I think mostly to make sure I am safe.  Well here I really don't want to stick my hands in places I don't know and the muggle count is incredibly high so I went for multis and Earthcaches - ones that take you to different places and not so much about finding the specific box.
I did one at the Obelisque on Concorde Plaza - an Earthcache.  Reading inscriptions, counting marks in the granite.  I also did one call the Heart of Paris and it took us to six different places on Ile de la Cite.  This is the island in the center of the Seine where Notre Dame is located.  By doing this we found a lovely triangle park surrounded by homes and a Memorial to the Jews and others who were deported from France during WWII.  No guide books showed us this memorial - it was quite moving.

 

An older gentleman sitting by the memorial.  I wondered...

The final box was above a roof of a small bistro and graffiti on the wall said GPS!  How cool.  Candy

I Am Impressed

Today we went to the Musee d'Orsay - in my mind one of the finest museums in the world with a collection of Impressionist paintings I couldn't even imagine ahead of time.  The lines were long  (other museums are closed so everyone goes here) but we spent time talking to other American tourists and learning what they had done.  More on that later.  By the time we got in they were out of audio guides - go early!  We used our iphone app from Rick Steves and that was fine.  We started on the top level where the Impressionism exhibits are:  Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Rosseau, Gauguin and more.  Pictures you have only seen in books etc.  The crowds were pretty terrible and we found it hard to really see and enjoy all the paintings.  My favorite exhibit was the one based on night - it mixed artists, genres and time periods but depicted night.  Like that idea.  Rodin statues (Creator of Thinking Man) were also on display.  This sculpture is by Camille Claudel, Rodin's mistress done after he left her to return to his wife. Very powerful.  Her hands are just falling away from his. 

Photos of the paintings were not allowed through out the museum so I have none to show here.
The lower level however used to be a train station and has many wonderful sculptures, tile work and a huge clock.

 Next onto Notre Dame.  We had planned to climb the outer steps (400) but got to those just as the line closed.  Next time.  We did see inside, it was spectacular.  This cathedral has a very interesting history with church, secular use, occupation during the Revolution and more.  At one time all 28 kings had their heads chopped off (statues) by the revolutionary rank and file.  The rose windows are opposite each other.  St. Louis is honored with a window. Some are contemporary, some ancient.  Services go on while tourists walk around the outside viewing. 

Oh yes, other things we have found out about.  You can contract with a local to take you on walks  - no charge just a donation.  Sounds fun, needs a reservation
There are several old streets covered by roofs and called passages - they are the original indoor mall.
We are counting the stairs to high places and will give you a total at the end.  The views are worth it.
Candy & Tom

We have become tourists par excellence, which means we can negotiate the Metro system. It has rained all day, so today was an indoor day.  First, the Pompidou Center for the finest modern art collection we have ever seen.  You name the modern artist, and they are here:  Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, Dali, Warhol and more.  Even more, there is a special temporary Matisse exhibit of drawings and paintings showing pairs of paintings he did.   There are so many of them and the quality and variety was fantastic.  The Pompidou is a unique building with all the plumbing and escalators on the outside and huge spaces on the inside.  It houses all forms of modern art from drawings and paintings to sculpture and video.  It also has some of the best views of Paris - even on a rainy day.

Outside of Pompidou - see the escalator

Interactive art 

Optical illusions

3D Art beautifully done 

One of the most fascinating things we saw today were French school children touring and viewing the modern art.  They were so in tune and involved.  The teachers would sit them down and tell stories and ask questions. I couldn't help feeling that it would make it easier to understand and appreciate if one started young.  Can you imagine having this art available to you as a child?

A large installation that struck us as beautiful

The sculpture imitated the painting (Chagall)

Students listening to story about art they are seeing

Drawing what they are seeing

Kadinsky

Juxtaposition of modern & old

After a break we headed for the Pantheon, one of the oldest churches in Paris and now a tribute to the French Revolution and its heroes. It has had a history as a church, a basilica and a secular place of government.   The French are proud of their revolution and they were instrumental in guiding our founding fathers and the political philosophy of our new nation, so understanding them helps us understand ourselves.We were amazed to see how much history was going on in France that paralleled our American Revolution.  We had George Washington though who refused to be King.  They had Napoleon who wanted to be an Emperor.

Ceiling at Pantheon

Pantheon

Inlaid marble floor of the Pantheon

Ceiling Fresco in the St. Genevieve's Basilica of the Pantheon

After wandering about in the rain we found ourselves at a small streetside cafe for coffee, crepes with Nutella, and dark chocolate ice cream (glace).  Now, we are back at the flat relaxing and reflecting on a busy and wondrous day in Paris.  More to come....

We'll always have Paris......

34 Rue du Fer a Moulin

Well, unlike Humphrey Bogart, we are actually in Paris and it is wonderful.  We are now over the jet lag and are exploring all the sights and sounds and food of France.

We are staying in a small (by American standards) flat in Paris, and you can see the alleyway of our entrance in this picture.  We are in an area called Jardines du Plantes (#5) which is nice and quiet.  Metro lines are close and we can travel across Paris in minutes.  We have seen parts of the Louvre Museum and Saint Chapelle today.  The food is fantastic, and pricey.  Ah, the life of the traveller!  Below we have added a few pictures for you to enjoy!

Restaurant La Rose de France

Small restaurants are everywhere and contrary to what you may read, the staff are friendly and very understanding of travellers who don't speak French.

The Pyramid of the Louvre

The Louvre is truly one of the wonders of the world with its art and history.  We hardly scratched the surface.  It would take weeks to see it all as it is one of the largest museums in the world.  There is so much to see in Paris that we had to move on.

St. Germaine-Des-Pres

The stained glass is some of the best in the world as you can see here.

















We hope you enjoy the blog and photos.  Please let us know you have visited.

Tom and Candy