Tue/Wed Oct 13-14th - Provence

We rose early on our last morning in Paris, packed our suitcases and took a taxi to Gare de Lyon, the enormous Paris train station where we boarded our TGV train to Avignon. TGV is a high speed train that whisked us at 300 km/hr to Avignon - the French countryside was a blur (ok, that is a slight exaggeration, but it is a very fast way to travel). Upon arrival we picked up our car and headed to St. Remy de Provence and to our hotel, Le Chateau des Alpilles, 2 km outside the town. The chateau is a lovely hotel situated in a huge walled property with very spacious rooms.

The staff are wonderful and make you feel very much at home. We had dinner at the hotel the first night and the food was excellent. It's also a wonderfully quite and restful place to be - and best of all, they have internet coverage so the blogging can continue!

Just a few miles outside of Saint Remy is the Greco-Roman town of Glanum. It was originally a Celtic town built in 2nd c. BC. These monuments date from the 1st century AD and are beautifully carved.

Glanum from the "belvederes", an easy climb above the south end of the town. Really helps to comprehend life in a Roman town when one can see the layout.

A reconstructed corner of one of the two twin temples. It really is remarkable to see all these Roman ruins - helps you understand better the reach and power of the Roman empire outside of Italy.

On Wednesday we drove up to Avignon where we spent 2hours touring the palace of the Popes. In 1305(?), the Pope fled Italy, having been unable to live in Rome for several years due to a number of political issues. He had moved between the various papal states in Italy, but decided that the wars there made Avignon more habitable. 9 popes in all would spend time there over ~100 years, the last two both beginning the return to Rome. Most were forgettable characters. The last sparked a schism, and if memory serves Carl correctly, at one point they

had three Popes before they finally deposed 2 of them. Ah the good old days when the Popes were fun. Now we have Benedict.*(* Carl wrote this piece)

We also walked out onto the Pont de Avignon which half crosses the Rhone, half having been destroyed in a flood. Unusual weather here in Provence - it's fairly warm but extremely windy. Apparently, at certain times during the year, a strong wind comes in, known as Le Mistral, and continue for days at time blowing very hard - yesterday wind speeds were at 80-100km/hr - and it's constant, not like in Canada where we can get the occasional windy day - this keeps going day after day. It's good for the vineyards here because the wind dries the grapes if there has been rainfall and prevents rot - but not good for hairstyles.

The Pont-de-Gard is a 2000 year old Roman acqueduct west of Avignon built around 20 BC. It is as beautiful as it is a marvel. 4.4 million gallons of water were brought daily to the nearby city of Nimes over 51km. It is 39m high. It was built with block and tackle, using a human treadmill to create the energy. Breathtaking to see, we wandered around it for an hour. Incredible that after 2000 years this structure appears barely touched by the passage of time.
More pics below. That's all for now.

Monday October 12 - Eiffel Tower & Shopping

Happy Thanksgiving! We got up early and took the subway to the Eiffel Tower this morning. Touristy but the views are fantastic. Cold and windy up top. At the left is the Arc de Triomphe taken with a telephoto lens from the very top of the tower, the third level.








Here I am on the 2nd level of the tower looking west along the Seine.











The Champs de Mars leads up to the Ecole Militaire. From there we headed over to the Invalides, spectacular dome. We decided not to bother going in to see the Musee de l'Armie. Beyond the Tomb of Napoleon, we doubted we knew enough French history to make sense of it. Just across the street is the Rodin Musee. We got glimpses of the statues in the garden and they were stunning. However, we had forgotten it was Monday and that all museums are closed. Heartbreaking!

Proof that Carl was here and I still shoot crooked photos even with a better camera. I will be better by the end of the trip, I promise!!

The ghost of Julia Child must haunt this place. It is where she bought her cookware when she lived in Paris. It looks like an old hardware store of the type one no longer sees in Canada. Rows of copper pots, 40L stock pots, etc. all in their wrapping. For prices, one takes the stock number then looks the price up in a book on the wall. It's like a huge hardware store for cooks! Beautiful copper cookware, all made in 'France and cheap compared to US prices. I bought a small saute pan - the stuff is so heavy it would be impossible to bring more back. See photo below of me holding a pot. That's it for today, off to dinner now and up early tomorrow to get our 9am train to Avignon. A note: you may not hear from us for a couple of days because we're not sure if internet coverage exists at the St.Remy de Provence hotel we will be staying at. Once again, enjoy Thanksgiving and stay warm- we saw it was only 4 degrees today in Toronto!

Sunday October 11 - Versailles

Today was Versailles day. Before I start, I'm adding in one more pic from the Louvre - a front shot of the Venus di Milo which for some reason I couldn't post yesterday. She has an amazing presence when you see her standing by herself in that huge room. Back to Versailles - we got up early (8am) and took the Paris version of a Go train to Versailles. You walk 10 mins from the train station and you're at the palace. There were huge crowds by 9:30, so we ended up standing in line for 90 mins - hard on the legs and feet. Thankfully the rain held off. I haven't yet given you a weather report for this trip - weather has been quite unsettled - not alot of sun, and there has been the occasional shower - but it is very warm here - 21 yesterday and 17 today - good thing I left most of the sweaters at home.





I've included a few pics here from Versaille. It's quite an experience to tour through the palace - the opulence and the over the top Baroque styling is quite something - gold everywhere.
The Hall of Mirrors is incredible - 350 mirrors and spectacular views of the gardens. The Treaty of Versaille was signed in the Hall in 1919.



Other pics show the chapel and other state rooms. Carl also shot a couple of me in front of the palace. We spent about 4 hours there and then headed back to the hotel. 'At 8:30 we went to a baroque music concert at Sainte Chappelle (baroque was the theme for today). Sainte Chapelle is a jewel box like chapel with gorgeous stained glass windows - 2/3 of which are from the 13th century. It's very close to Notre Dame cathedral. The concert consisted of violin and harpsichord - played pieces by Corelli and Geminiani - it was beautiful music in a lovely setting. Walked back to the hotel along the Seine - Paris is so beautifully lit up at night. Tomorrow we hit the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides (Bonaparte's tomb) and hopefully squeeze in a couple hours of shopping - it's our last day in Paris.

Saturday October 10th = The Louvre

Hi everyone. First I must tell you that we are severely limited in the number of photos we can upload to this blog. I have not given up but we're trying to find out if there is a technical reason or if Google just does not want us uploading more. So apologies for the meagre number today. Today we spent 7.5 hours in The Louvre- it flew by! So much to see and we really only saw about 1/4 of what the museum has to offer. Left is the 9 ft statue Winged Victory - very dramatic impact when you first see it coming up the stairs.
















A familiar face, and you can't leave The Louvre without seeing it.




















































Here;s a rear view image of the Venus de Milo surrounded by her admirers. Sorry, couldn't upload the front view ones.

Beautiful statue of Cupid and Pysche by Canova - this picture does not do it justice. One of the most emotional pieces of statuary you will ever see.

Outside the Louvre with Carl. You enter the museum through the pyramid. Very controversial when it was built 20 years ago, but it works as an interesting contrast with the palace itself.

Had dinner at excellent seafood restaurant, Goumard, boulibaisse and cod, crabmeat salad and cardamom creme brulee. What can I say, the food is just amazing. Even the humble croissant and coffee in the morning is the perfect way to start the day. Stay tuned for more blogs soon.

Friday October 9th - Arrived Paris

Hello, greetings from Paris! Flight over was fairly turbulent but we slept for 4 hours - as these pods flatten into beds - you can actually stretch fully out. We arrived in the centre of Paris around noon, checked into our hotel and went walking to left bank. Lunch was in this petite boulangerie (any time you see that name in Paris, you must make a bee line to it - means lots of baked goodies and breads) we had a nicoise salad, vegetable flan and baguettes, as only the French know how to make, washed down with a delicious tea called Vert The Marco Polo.

Left is a view of the Isle de la Cite from a bridge over the Seine from a walk around we did after lunch. On the right, is a chateau in the Tuilieres Gardens near out hotel.

This fountain is in Place Concorde (where all the beheadings were done during the French Revolution)

Last night we went to a wonderful little restaurant Le Regalarde. - bit of a distance from central Paris (it's in the 14th arrondissement) but well worth it. Wonderful rustic French food. No pictures (didn't bring camera) but we had scallops on the shell, amazingly tasty roast pork, John Dory fish with roasted figs and Grand Marnier souffle for dessert - superb! When in Paris, you must visit this place.

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