Aix-En-Provence, France

George and I took the opportunity to visit Aix-En-Provence several weeks ago in preparation for my travels further south. Located in the heart of Provence, Aix-En-Provence is best known as the birth place of Paul Cezanne, the post-impressionist painter.

George with statue of Paul Cezanne

His painting can be found all over the world, however the Museum d'Orsay (one of my favorites) in Paris holds a fair amount of his work.

Aix-En-Provence has created a Cezanne walk that leads you throughout the city to important locations related to the artist. By following the brass C on the sidewalk you can see and learn all things Cezanne. Descriptions of each location can be obtained from the Office of Tourism.

Birthplace of Paul Cezanne

School attended by Paul Cezanne

Unfortunately, time did now allow us to visit Cezanne's workshop, I would have enjoyed that, but that will be for our next visit. We were able to find his final resting place on the edge of town.

Paul Cezanne's grave site

For a late October day, the weather could not have been nicer, in fact the city boasts 300 days of sun per year, we cannot come close to that where we live. Aix-En-Provence has wide boulevards with large sycamore trees (I think the French call them plane trees) and

contrasting narrow "Old Town" streets.

Aix-En-Provence is a university town which adds to its vibrancy and is a great city for shopping. The city reminded me of the quintessential France, the kind of city you see in all the travel brochures or books. And from these photos, you can see why:

Normandy, France

This trip titled Normandy is so titled because that is where my visiting Mom wanted to go in all of France. After learning more about my Mom's traveling partner Mary, the most well traveled person I have ever met, I knew that my Mom was in good hands before her arrival and upon her departure back to the states.

But before we could get to Normandy, George and I wanted to show both Mom and Mary some gems of France close to our home, Strasbourg and Beaune. Strasbourg is known the world over as the seat of the European Parliament. This building sits in contrast to the numerous half-timbered buildings you will find in old town Strasbourg. There are beautiful parks, excellent biking trails throughout the city and a mixture of German and French regional foods.

Strasbourg center

As mentioned in a previous blog, the area in which this city is located was once Germany, then France, then Germany, then France.  I do not know how many times it changed hands. 

Construction of the magnificent Strasbourg Cathedral began in 1015.

Strasbourg Cathedral

 Inside the church is an astronomical clock that displays animation everyday at 12:30.

Strasbourg astronomical clock

Beaune, located in the heart of Burgundy country is a cute little town, great for relaxing, shopping, and dining. One of the attractions in this town is Hotel- Dieu (Hospices de Beaune).  Established in 1443, it was once a hospital for the poor. Interesting things we saw during our tour were unusual instruments used by nurses and doctors back in the day, that would appear somewhat barbaric today. The apothecary was most interesting as well with records showing very bizarre ingredients thought to aid in medicinal remedies such as eyeballs and ground goat skin.

Next stop - Reims. Located in the champagne region, we had the opportunity to visit Taittinger Champagne cellars. Underneath the city there are many champagne caves (cellars). These caves were originally dug or mined by the Romans for chalk. The interesting thing is that the chalk walls have carvings in them.

An advantage of chalk is that it absorbs moisture, so there isn't a damp feel in the air. But the best part was the tasting after the tour. My Mom went from not liking champagne very much, to liking it, in a matter of minutes, who would have thought!!! The Reims Cathedral is significant because this is the church were the coronation of French kings took place. In 2011, the city celebrated the Cathedral's 800 year anniversary.

Onward west - We found an adorable bed and breakfast west of Paris for the night, Le Moulin Du Bechet. It was part B & B and part conference center. Our room had an unusual aspect to it that one door to the room opened into a conference room. We joked the prior night about me leaving the room in the morning with a fistful of euros, kissing George goodbye while he stood at the door in his bathrobe. But we couldn't strike up the nerve to proceed with this humorous parting. But perhaps in France, the joke would have really been, on us!

Further westward - Mont St. Michel has been on my must-see list and I was happy when Mary said she'd like to visit it too. It is an imposing structure even from many miles away and it is hard to miss looking out over the horizon. Construction developed in the early 8th century and continued on and off for the next 10 centuries. It has been a place of pilgrimages, a monastery and a prison. During high tide it is an island.

Mont St Michel

Our next stop -The Normandy region. We toured the beaches of Omaha and Utah on our own for most of the day, walked around St Marie du Mont, a small town near Utah Beach, and visited a museum on Utah Beach.

Historical plaques throughout the town square of St Marie du Mont told short stories and photographs of events leading up to, and following the invasion of June 6th, 1944. One plaque told of a German officer who was looking over his maps high up on the church steeple. A big gust of wind came along and swept the paperwork out of his hands. A nearby painter found the paperwork and stuffed it down his pants. The paperwork contained valuable information that the Allies would use in the war efforts.

The First Mass celebrated the 1st Sunday after the
Allied Landing at the Church in Saint-Marie-du-Mont
(photos was inside church)

The following morning we had a guided tour of Omaha Beach, Point du Hoc and the American Cemetery. Before the war these beaches had other names. But the code names were adopted as such after the war. To our surprise we saw signs for a German Cemetery too.

In this photo Utah Beach is almost at low tide, similar to the morning of June 6, 1944. The soldiers were told that there would be rocks to hide behind when they landed - there were no rocks to hide behind. This is the length of beach that the Allied Forces had to travel...

Utah Beach

before reaching this hill to climb. I cannot come close to imaging these feats of courage performed by soldiers during D-Day.

Utah Beach

Paris, our last stop before taking Mom and Mary to the airport. A tour bus was the best option we decided given the limited mobility of my Mom. So we saw all the popular sites in Paris on a double-decker bus. A perfect way to get around on a warm and sunny day.

Rooftop at Printemps store

My first time to the Paris flea markets, and I gotta say, I am hooked. I don't think there is anything, that you cannot find there. It is amazing, but we only scratched the surface. But to my surprise, (but shouldn't have) were the vendors setting themselves up for their lunch.

Lunch for the flea market vendors-I think the seated guy caught me taking
this photograph, whoopsie. But behind him was a large tray of oysters
on the half shell. I'll say it again, the French know how to eat.

Paris flea market - Trying on vintage clothing.

Here's a link to more photos of our trip. My apologies to the photos that are not oriented correctly if you view them using the slideshow. I think there is a bug in Flickr, the photo sharing website.

http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Visiting Luxembourg you can't help but consider how strategic the natural cliffs were, in providing an excellent defensive stronghold for centuries. The Romans built their own fortification here, but it wasn't until 963 AD that Count Siegfried built his castle. His Lutzelburg"little castle" gave the city and the country its name. Down through the ages further fortifications were built outside of the castle and surrounding communities.

During the 17th and 18th century casemates were built into the cliffs. This maze of tunnels measured about 14 miles, however today only 10 miles of these exist. The casemates accommodated thousands of soldiers, rooms for stabling horses, and supplies. During WWII the Germans occupied the casemates. We toured one of the casemates, National Museum of History and Art and rode the tour bus (the weather was not cooperating).

Today Luxembourg is known for its thriving financial and banking industry. Things are expensive, no doubt. The police and many taxi companies use Mercedes-Benz cars. The city center is easy to navigate, however due to the cliffs it is more challenging to walk to other areas of the city. My legs were sore the next day even though I thought I was in shape.

The Luxembourg people speak Luxembourgish however German and French are the official languages. If fact we were told that during a court hearing, the proceeding could be spoken in German, but the sentencing could be in a different language. We found it easier to just speak English here, it was quite confusing after a while.

Follow this link to photos of our weekend in Luxembourg.

http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt

Champagne Region, Paris

By the title of this blog post, you can tell that we have been on the go, again. Champagne region a couple of weeks ago and three days in Paris.

We only scratched the surface discovering the champagne region in our two days there. And we learned a thing or two about buying champagne-they want you to buy alot, not just a bottle or two which has been our M-O.

One tasting we had with an older madam was unforgettable, if you can picture this. We knocked on a champagne house door and ask for several tastings. We are invited in and seated while the madam is standing over us-hands on her hips, looking down on us through her thick eye glasses, pouring samples of champagne, no smiles of course. We had two tastings and then she almost demanded (in French) that we buy 24 bottles (a case each) since she opened two for tasting, still no smiles or even a slight, slight upturned mouth, it wasn't in the cards.

George looks at me with a puzzled look. I didn't know exactly what she said, we still don't know French very well, but we are getting there. I think I deciphered that we must buy 24 bottles, I relay that to George. He looks at her, then me. I can see WHAT, written all over his face. We're talking 25-30 euros per bottle. We slowly rise from our chairs and follow madam to the counter. George reached deep down (no, not in his pockets), deep down in the hollows of his patience and "negotiates" with her to buy six, not 24. Me, I'm on the sidelines watching this whole thing hoping that it ends soon and we can get the H-E-double hockey stick (as my brother Jim would say) out of there.

We could have just walked out and been "the rude Americans," we bought 6 reluctantly, but it was very clear that she was displeased with us from start to finish.

On the other hand we had a wonderful experience on the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay, the capital of the champagne region.

On this prestigious Avenue are the leading champagne manufacturers housed in nineteenth century mansions behind ornate iron gates, perfectly manicured scrubs/flowers, and immaculately clean sidewalks. It is quite obvious there is money floating in the bubbly or there's gold in them-there-hills! The Tour de France went through Epernay on July 6th.

The surrounding fields beyond the vineyards have wheat, potatoes in blossom, and unidentified crops. There was a large field of these blue flowers.

If anyone can identify this flower, I would be grateful to know what it is. It is fragrant, so I'm wondering if it is used for perfume making.

In Paris I visited the Auguste Rodin Museum. Rodin donated his collection of art including drawings, photographs, prints, sculptures, buildings, and gardens to the French State in 1916. I learned a little bit more about him during my visit, but for those of you who do not know Rodin, he is most famous for  his sculptures titled The Thinker and The Gates of Hell.

The Thinker

The Gates of Hell

I found this sculpture interesting in that all three figures are identical but are turned at a different angles. A smaller version of this is also at the top of The Gates of Hell.

The Three Shades

Lastly, my American friend in Paris, Mary Kay, suggested that I take the tour of the Garnier Opera and it was a great idea. If I had to use one word to describe the Opera is would be opulence beyond compare! Okay that's three words, but it is magnificent. I would put it on a "must see" list for Paris.

The Opera, by orders from Napoleon III, was completed in 1875 after 15 years of construction. Charles Garnier was a young, unknown architect who was chosen from a competition to build it.

I, unfortunately did not take photos of the outside of the Opera, and I don't think my own photos turned out that great, but you can take a virtual tour by following this link.
http://www.operadeparis.fr/en/L_Opera/Palais_Garnier/visite_virtuelle.php

And by following this link you can see more photos of our travels.
http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt

Tour de France

Yep, we were there. Stages 7 & 8 were about 2 hours from our home and it is a race that we always said we'd enjoy seeing in person, and seize the opportunity-we did. Not exactly sure what we were getting ourselves into as we left the house on Saturday morning. Not sure where to go for the best view, how early to get there. Sitting...waiting for hours for a 10 second glimpse as the riders fly by, sounds a little crazy, huh.

But I can tell you one thing-this race is A BIG DEAL! Five helicopters in chase, luxury buses (the kind rock stars use) for the riders, and at the finish, a quarter mile of grandstands, and not one, but two jumbo-tron televisions.

I can only imagine the multi-millions spent by sponsors for give-aways, signage, and their elaborately embellished caravan of vehicles, not counting the behind the scene expenses. This caravan travels the entire race route.

I never heard of Sammy 1, now there's Sammy 2. Does anyone know this movie?

Before the race along the course, spectators were setting up their spaces. Barbecues, chairs, tables, dining tents, RV's parked, TV's outside-very similar to what we know as tailgating. We did come a little prepared and had our own food and beverages. So before Saturday's race we took a short hike and were awarded a spectacular view.

Le Thillot, France

Le Thillot, France

near Le Thillot, France

The larger towns along the route decorated with various depictions of bicycles, some very creative, some not so, as in this photo. I unfortunately only have this photo to show which doesn't give the others justice. You will have to trust me on this one.

Belonchamp, France

By Sunday we were no longer rookies. The finish line for Stage 8 was in Porrentruy, Switzerland and we set our GPS for Porrentruy or bust! In this town, beverage stands were set up, bands were playing, shops normally not open on Sunday were open. There was more excitement in the air!

Here are some photos of both days following the Tour de France.

http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt

Summer Solstice, Feux de la Saint-Jean

 On June 21, summer solstice, is celebrated with music festivals that take place in cities and villages all over France. We happen to be in Paris that day, and throughout the city various venues were being set up for music performances that evening. Unfortunately, we left for home before we could experience one note of music. But you can be sure that I am making a note on next year's calendar of, "events not to miss."

Out to dinner near the Eiffel Tower

On June 24, Feux de la Saint-Jean (bonfires of St. John) is celebrated by the burning of huge bonfires throughout France. It is a tradition dating back 3000 years in Europe and was originally celebrated on June 21, in honor of the sun. The date changed over the years when Christianity became France's official religion. You can learn more about it here.




We were invited by our American/French friends to a small town near Vittel to witness this event. The wooden owl took several weeks to build by the town people, and stood taller than the trees as you can see. Fireworks exploded in the sky and food and drink stands were available, a DJ was playing music to dance to. We left about midnight and the party was still going strong.

George and I have been wondering if building a fire in the backyard is prohibited - campfires for camping or backyard fires are not part of the French culture, however the French love to barbecue. 

I can just hear it now if we attempted to build a fire in our yard...our neighbor says - call the fire department--there's a fire next door...oh, wait that's those crazy ass Americans doing something with marshmallows and sausages!! How do you say crazy ass in French, just so I know?

This fire on Saturday could be our only one for a long, long time.

Horse Races

The racetrack in Vittel hosts many horse racing events throughout the summer and into the fall and these events are in full swing right now. On Saturday we watched horses compete in a race that I can only describe as a cross country race on horseback. Riders gallop full tilt down hills, around hedgerows, through water, over ditches and bridges, through paths in the forest, and over unbelievable high and wide jumps. The jumps are solid construction (no bars to knock off and fall to the ground) where, if a horse ran into them, it could be very dangerous for the horse and rider.

Competitors from numerous European countries participated in this cross country event and also a second jumping event inside a horse ring. Our French friends told us that some horses and riders participating will go on to the 2012 Olympics. 

I have to admit that the cross country races was more exciting than the event in the ring, and we cringed often during the race thinking, how is that horse going to make it over THAT jump!

Switzerland June, 2012

This past week, I got a chance to return to Switzerland-George had meetings in Montreux. When we were last there in February I was guessing that the summer time would be magnificent with snow capped mountains in the distant and all the greenery just waiting to explode, I wasn't disappointed. Right now Montreux is gearing up for the big Montreux Jazz Festival at the end of June, so there are flowers blooming in every place possible, repainting, and general sprucing up.

Early in the week there was downpours of rain, so I journeyed myself (with a little help from my American friend) to Bern, Switzerland by train. I was only there for several hours, but Bern is an easy city to navigate due in-part to the Aare River that wraps around the Old Town allowing you to keep your bearings. It was a good choice on a rainy day because there are approximately 4 miles of arcades in the Old Town offering covered shopping and site seeing.

Bern was founded in 1191 and legend has it that the brown bear was the first animal hunted and  caught by the Duke who was funding the building of the city. The city mascot, therefore, is the brown bear and several brown bears live in what is called the "bear pit" within the city. The name "bear pit" doesn't denote a pleasant vision in my mind and so I had to see this. But really it is a designated area along the river where the bears live, much like a zoo environment. I always feel sorry for animals in zoos and my feelings didn't change much for these bears either.

One thing about Bern is that it is a German speaking city, I left a French speaking city and traveled 1.5 hours to a German speaking city all in the same country.

Later in the week my American friend and I took the "chocolate train" out of Montreux to the Gruyeres cheese factory and Cailler chocolate factory (Cailler is a Nestle brand).  As you can see from the picture the train on the inside is a blast from the past. It was a picturesque ride on a beautiful, sunny day.

Just down the road from the cheese factory is the town of Gruyeres and it is the cutest little town ever. It has to be the smallest town so far that I have visited. There's a small castle there, artisan shops and touristy shops (of course), several nice restaurants and hotels. I had my first Swiss fondue served with potatoes and bread for dipping. I've been told that wine is a necessity when eating fondue--but hey, no problem here. But in actuality the wine helps with digestion, water supposedly hinders it with all the cheese (no details needed here). Pickles and pearl onions were provided too, but if any of you know my aversion for pickles, my American friend had them all to herself.

One very odd thing about the town of Gruyeres is the H R Giger museum. H R Giger is the Swiss surrealist artist who created the Alien movie life forms. It looked really out of place in the quaint town of Gruyeres.

Across from the museum is a bar that also depicts the Alien theme.

I am beginning to see how important cows are to the economy not only in France, but in Switzerland too, mostly for cheese and yogurt making. But you might find it surprising that I cannot always find fresh milk in the grocery store. The French don't drink milk quite like us Americans.

It appears to me that for many people, cows are a way of life, and for many in the US, this is also true. But since moving to France and living in the country, I am more aware of the cows and lamb in the fields. In Switzerland, you could see many cows grazing high in the meadow pastures. I'm not sure how they get the milk down to where it is needed, but it looks challenging for sure. And they stay up high all summer grazing on the fresh green grass, flowers and herbs. That's what gives the cheese its distinct flavor.

If anyone is wondering if I heard yodeling or tried yodeling while on my excursion, the answer is no. But the most pleasant sounds are the cow and lamb bells. Different size bells, obviously produce different ring tones, and as these animals move, you can hear the gentle clanging of the varying tone of the bells, one after another. I think I could listen to that all day.

Here's a link to more photos:

http://flic.kr/ps/285kjt