Monday was a day we got to construct for ourselves. At my urging, we started with the Orangerie. This is a museum in the Tuilleries Gardens that began life as part of the Tuilleries Palace. It was constructed with glass ceilings to permit the growing of orange trees, hence the name. When I was here in the 1970s, it was cut into two floors. The upper housed traveling exhibits, and Henry Moore sculptures were in the surrounding gardens.
But the real stars of the Orangerie are Monet’s famous water lily paintings. These are the most amazing works of the Impressionist era. Painted at Monet’s home at Giverny, these pieces measure some 12’ high and vary in length from 20-35’. To see them is overwhelming. We all sat struck silent by the power and movement of these brush strokes come to life. We moved slowly among the two rooms to take it all in. The quite striking silence was broken by several groups of preschool age children who were brought in. They just couldn’t contain themselves. Why their teachers at the école maternelle thought it was important for three-five year old to experience Matisse, I’m not quite sure.
So we moved to explore the exhibit below. I should point out that the Orangerie has been redesigned since the 70s. The upper floor has been removed to allow the natural light to illuminate the Monets, and a lower floor has been added below. (As the stories go, the Water Lilies had to stay in place during reconstruction, so they were covered. During their breaks, the workers uncovered them to admire their beauty – only in France.)
Below, was the collection of a man who began collecting art in the shortly after WWI. He began as a garage mechanic, displaying art in the window of his garage. On his death some sixty years later, he had the largest personal collection of Impressionist art in the world, and could count numerous Impressionists as friends. We saw works by virtually each one of the other significant painters of that day. We even saw a Kandinsky and a Meunch. There were even the Americans Marie Cassat and Winslow Homer.
It makes me wonder what we will see when we visit the Musée d’Orsay on Thursday. Who’s left?
Each of us wanted to see the Arc de Triomphe up close. Stella said, “It’s just a 20 minute walk,” so we walked along the Seine. It was an absolutely glorious sunny morning, and the walk was delightful. But we have come to learn that Stella’s “20 minute” walks are usually 45 minutes long.
Nonetheless, we arrived at the Arc in due course. Several of us decided to brave the 289 steps to the top of the Arc. Abby, Hayley, Chris, Reid, Kaitlin and I huffed and puffed our way to the top. Our reward was an unusual view of Paris and Parisians. Most of us recorded it on video. Of course, Reid had to “Tebow” at the top. I think he would “Tebow” at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Stella lead us then to a carry out lunch from an amazing bakery on the Champs-Elysées. We ate on the sidewalk, where a tourist from Kokomo, Indiana spied Chris’s IU hoodie and struck up a conversation with Randy.
We then headed for the famous cemetery Père Lachaise. I had to take a small detour back to the hotel because I loaded my camera with a dead battery and didn’t want to miss a day’s photos. While the others were visiting the graves of Baudelaire, Beaumarchais, Chopin and other famous French luminaries, I got a good tour of the Métro.
Paige took a map of the cemetery and lead Reid, Hayley, Carrie and Abby through the twists and turns of this quiet corner of Paris. I arrived in time to have an abbreviated tour while the others pris un verre (had a drink) at the corner café. I got to see the graves of Georges Seurat, Beaumarchais and Jim Morrison.
After the hustle and bustle of the Champs Elysées, it was a welcome respite to amble among the graves of the elite of Paris.
We then took the Métro to Montmartre, at the base of the Sacré Coeur. We walked up the steps to take in the breathtaking views of Paris. This is the highest point in the city and is rather windy on any given day, thus the presence of windmills in former times. Today, there are only two left in existence.
A few of us stepped in the knave of the basicilla to see the ornate designs of the church. We then wandered through the streets of Montmartre and the Place Terte. Many of us purchased gifts there. There were people from all around the world crowded into the narrow streets of this former village.
We met at a wonderful restaurant in the center of the Place Terte, La Cremaillère. We had another delightful salad followed by a beef burgundy with sliced potatoes. Dessert was a sort of raspberry cake with a tart sauce over it. Not all of our students like the heavy red sauces that the Parisians favor (Kaitlin and Paige), so a later stop for ice cream was in order.
Before that, Stella gave us a walking tour of Montmartre. We saw the small winding streets, the café where the impressionist painters let the owner’s donkey paint a masterpiece with a brush on his tail, and the last vineyard in Paris. We saw where St. Denis stopped to wash his head after he was beheaded, on his way to a church. We saw the Moulin de la Galette and the man who walked through walls. We ended in Place Pigalle and a view of the Moulin Rouge.
Nineteen Métro stops later, we were back safely at the trusty Amiral.
Tuesday was our trip to Versailles, the traditional home of the French kings starting with Louis XIV. It began as a hunting lodge of his father, and Louis turned it into the most elaborate castle in history. On the way, Stella divided us into groups for our role playing game, Seize the Chateau! We were divided into the rural poor, the Parisian peasants, the bourgeoisie, the nobility, the clergy and the royalty. Stella interviewed each of us as to our issues in face of revolutionary foment.
We got there early so as to beat the crowds, but it was fairly densely packed nonetheless. NETC supplied us with audio guided tours based on our positions in Seize the Chateau! As we walked through the rooms of Louis’ palace, we were guided by people in our respective conditions. It was a very interesting way to experience the tour. It was guided and great amounts of information were presented, each from a particular point of view. I think we all really enjoyed it.
The crowd pushed us along at times and hindered us at others. But all in all, it was a very exciting experience, in spite of the pressure of the crowd. Later I discovered the crowds multiplied exponentially, so we had done well.
After a brief opportunity to view the formal gardens, we went to lunch in a local restaurant. It was in a narrow street just three blocks from the palais. The restaurant dated from nearly the time of Louis himself. The salad was a spectacular blend of sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, crisp lettuce and an olive oil vinaigrette. The main course was long-roasted veal in a beef sauce with potatoes and green beans. Dessert was a chocolate fondue.
I actually left my dessert to Randy, because I had to walk back to the palais. I had been asked to check my monopod (the stand I use for my camera in low light situations). I suppose it does look like blunt instrument. In any event, I didn’t want to leave my $70 accessory, so I walked back to retrieve it. I was amazed to discover a line of people wanting to enter that snaked through the courtyard and out past the main gate. Our wait of five minutes to enter had turned into what looked to be hours. Thank God for Stella’s plan for us.
Gilles, our coach driver took us back to Paris and let us off on the Champs-Elysées, right by Place de la Concorde. Our California friends had a date for a Galleries Lafayettes demonstration of Louis Vitton products. We opted for a more traditional visit to Les Invalides.
We walked across the Pont Alexandre III, built for the World’s Fair of 1900, and into the grounds of Les Invalides. We all toured the Eglise du Dôme, the site of Napoleon’s tomb. From there, we split up. Les Invalides contains three distinct museums. One is a museum of the French army and its armaments, another a museum of the world wars, and still another of relief models of the cities of France. Many went to the museum of the world wars. Paige, Abby, Hayley and I chose the museum of the army. We saw the armour of the early kings of France and of the nobility.
Stella called us to say that the Musée Rodin, just next door would only be open another hour and a half. We decided to forsake the armor in favor of the sculpture of Rodin. The main house is closed for renovation, but the gardens are open and feature the large, principal works of Rodin.
Hayley has just studied Rodin and I did graduate course work on Rodin some years ago, so we were able to help explain the significance of The Thinker, The Burghers of Calais, The Three Shadows and The Gates of Hell. We spent quite a bit of time studying the pieces and feeling their presence. The others joined us in the cool, restful gardens and everyone relaxed.
Eventually, we walked to Rue Cler, a market street near the Eiffel Tower. We shopped in a real French grocery store (to buy lunch for the next day). I helped Hayley change money in a Banque Postal. The lady who waited on us wasn’t happy and felt that the post office should have remained a place to mail things and should never have involved itself with banking and money. She freely expressed these ideas to us. Chris and Randy decided they didn’t need to change money quite at that time.
Kaitlin, Paige and Reid were fairly desperate for familiar food, so they chose an American style café. Paige and Reid had pasta, and Kaitlin had a burger and fries. Carrie, Hayley and I decided we wanted something lighter. After I bought some amazing cheese at a fromagerie, we had a deli plate at a corner café. Carrie and I indulged in a glass of wine and some serious people watching.
It came time to go and meet the others for our date with the Iron Lady. We had reservations to ascend to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were quickly dispatched to the elevators and whisked to the second floor. A quick change took us to the top. A few of us were quite nervous about being 1,000 ft. above Paris. There are actually two levels at the top, the first enclosed in case of bad weather, and the second above, open save for the safety cage.
We were quite proud of Katilin and Paige for making it all the way around and actually looking out across the city before they went back to the second level. Reid managed to both “Tebow” and “Bernie” in the face of the most luxurious view in the world.
The sun began to set while we were at the top. The lights of la ville lumière began to come on. Randy and Beth stayed for longer than Beth thought they would. Hayley was in search of the Arc de Triomphe and Abby assisted. We descended before it was completely dark. We were on the second level when the lady began her twinkling display. It was amazing to see it up close. I had the opportunity to view it among French elementary children who found it absolutely delightful.
We met up again under the southeast leg of the tower and headed for the Métro. A nineteen stop trip took us to Place d’Italie and a ten minute walk got us back to the Amiral.
*****
Wednesday morning’s wakeup call came at six in the morning. We had a long bus trip as we headed for the Loire Valley. We first visited the Cathedral of Chartres. It is an amazing example of Gothic architecture. One tower is so old it is Romanesque. But the bulk of the church was built between 1194 and 1206. The stories of the bible are told through the stained glass windows, some 60 of them. The stone arches and window frames soar to heaven. Unlike many churches, Chartres Cathedral was not bombed during World War II, so the windows remain intact.
From Chartres, an hour and a half drive lead us to the 15th century Chateau of Chenenceau. Chenenceau is called le château des dames, the women’s chateau. A married couple bought the old manor house and mill that stood on the site in the early 1400’s and built the great chateau of Chenenceau. The wife had a very public affair with King Charles II. When her husband died, he not only wore her colors onto the jousting field, but her mourning colors as well. Later, Catherine de Medici was in residence, as well as a Diane I can no longer recall.
We were hit with a lot of history today, and I do not have it all straight in my mind. Abby is working a project to track the French royalty. I’m hoping she can help.
We ate our picnic lunch next to a creek in the company of friendly, but hungry ducks. I think each of us was pleased with his choice from the grocery yesterday, and most especially with the prices. A group of French school children in red caps caused Carrie to comment on the difference between the American “red hats” and the French.
In any event, this amazing building is built out over the river Cher. However, It really doesn’t look as if any threat might come from the river side, but it could be easily defended against such an attack. Louis XIV visited for a day, and they named a room in his honor. It reminds me of a “Lincoln slept here” kind of thing.
All of the fresh flowers which decorate the rooms of the chateau are grown on the grounds of a 16th century farm on the grounds. There are also beautiful sculpted gardens named after the various ladies. They even burn actual wood fires in the fireplaces of the chateau, both for atmosphere and for actual heat.
A couple modern points of interest are that 1) the owner of the chateau during World War I turned it into a hospital for wounded soldiers, filling virtually every room with war wounded: and 2) in World War II, the river Cher formed the border between Vichy France and German-controlled France. Large numbers of French resistance fighters escaped German hands via the river chateau of Chenenceau.
Our next stop was the much older fortress chateau of Amboises. This was the home of and Louis XII. It sits on the bank of the Loire and the town exists right around it. It is high on a hill and served as a fortress since the 8th century. It is beautiful, majestic and bold in its preserved old age.
François I conducted several military campaigns of varying success in Italy. He brought majorica tiles and Italian Renaissance design back to France. And one Italian, Leonardo daVinci, accepted an invitation to come live in Amboises. daVinci died there in 1519 and is buried in a chapel on the grounds. His home can be seen beyond the ramparts.
We then went just outside Amboises to visit a vineyard that has been in the same family, passed from father to son, since 1509 – some 20+ generations. We got a tour of the wine caves conducted by the current leading son. And these caves were not a cool brick building like they are in Madison. These are actual caves in the bedrock of the hillside behind. They have some 300 acres of vines and produce over 100,000 bottles of wine each year.
We had the opportunity to taste, and the wine is really exceptional. They have received several silver awards – hard to come by in France. Our Madison students really liked the estate bottled grape juice. They even bought two bottles.
We then embarked on our cooking adventure. In the city of Amboises, there is a technical high school for training future chefs. Their staff worked with our students to produce a three-course meal. We started with a vichyssoises – a potato based soup with seafood. The plat principal was a baked and steamed guinea fowl (like a Cornish game hen, without all the bones) with pea pods and carrots, and a root vegetable I didn’t recognize. Dessert was prepared by our kids. It was brioche dipped in beaten egg, vanilla and sugar. (Sounds like French toast, huh?) That was accompanied by sautéed pineapple flambé and pineapple sorbet. Yes, our kids dealt with food and fire with no casualties.
Each group served the adults and the school staff each course and explained it. The dinner was one of the best we have had in France. And it was wonderful to talk with the French staff and learn the intricacies of technical education in France.
The long bus ride home afforded most of us a well-deserved nap and a chance to embrace tomorrow freshly. We owe a big thanks to our drivers, Gilles and Franca, and the amazing, delightful Stella.
What adventure will tomorrow bring us? The schedule says Musée d’Orsay and a tour of the Marais. But it is always so much more than the schedule states.
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