Charles Trenet

I LOVE Charles Trenet, here's something my friend Kerri emailed to me...thanks Kerri!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

A funny thing happed on the way to Charles de Gaule airport......um....we got lost. We left Normandy early to drive to Paris--CDG. The map looked like spagetti, the highways signs much smaller and not posted as often as in the States. Paul stopped and asked a shop keepper for directions (really, it's true). They both came outside, Paul showed him the map. The French are very demonstrative, Marci and I laughed as we saw the shop keeper motion to Paul waving his arms...non,non,non to the map. A droite, a gauche, a droite, a gauche, voila. So, off we went a droite, a gauche, a droite, a gauche...and sure enough...voila...the highway. How about that?! Well, we arrived at the airport 10 minutes late....no flight for us that day. We had to stay overnite. We stayed at a cheap (yeah, right) hotel at the airport. After a long nap, we went to the bar and had a couple of gin and tonics and some peanuts. The bartender was pretty outrageous! What a funny guy. He turned out to be a mathematics teacher, tends bar during the summer and travels. The next morning, we ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel, walked to the airport and the process of jumping through hoops began. Finally, we boarded the plane and sat for an hour before lining up on the tarmack. Then waited another 45 mintues to take off, then the 8 hour flight back. Once we landed at O'Hare, the process starts all over again, customs, waiting for baggage, going through the AG dept. because we stayed at a B&B on a farm. Then we called the shuttle to get to Marci's car, then f i n a l l y, we drove 90 mintues to get home. Whew!


So much to think about, these past 5 weeks. We've met so many wonderful people, see so many awesome sights, eaten amazing food, drank fantastic wine and calvados (did I mention gin and tonics?). It feels good to be home. We were ready to come home. More thoughts about the trip later.

Dinan

We spent a day walking around the town of Dinan in Brittany. Couldn't resist taking a picture of this wonky building, see how it curves....and sags? Another story book village.Down the street, another very old church.Beautiful stained glass windows....getting lost in the color....Here is a book store sign..... One of the mediums I like to work in is copper. This was so gorgeous to look at, Oh!the intricacy of the etching
This elephant was on both sides of a statue of an explorer.......
Another one of those do-dads that hold shutter open......
This reminded me of the longitude and latitude lines on a globe....gone a bit askew
Street musicians hold a special place in my heart. This man was playing this instrument that with one hand you turn a crank and the other hand plays a keyboard, I can't compare it's sound to anything else I've ever heard. It was great fun to stop and watch him play. Doesn't he remind you of the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz?

Cool door knob.

Mont Saint Michel

Mont Saint Michel is a wonderous sight. A grand cathedral on an island in Normandy.
There is a city built around it. As you might imagine, there are souvenir shops and cafes everywhere. There is a famous restaurant here that for 30 euros (that's about $45) will make you an omelette with all the theatriques. A chef beats eggs in a huge copper bowl with a whisk--to the beat of his own drum. The omelette is cooked in a fireplace. That's a bit out of my budget, I saw that on Rick Steve's PBS show.
Lace curtains, weather worn wooden doors, stained glass, not to mention the architecture. Everywhere you look, there is something amazing to see.
The causeway where you walk to the cathedral, the sea of cars and campers.
A long long line leading into the Abbey. I saw a woman, probably on a pilgrimage of her own, making her way through the throngs on crutches. We didn't go into the Abby because of the mass of people, but would definitely come back here again off season.

The American Cemetery

We visited the American Cemetery in Normandy. It's an amazing site, to see row after row-the crosses or stars of David that mark the graves of the brave soldiers. Some of them are unknown soldiers.
It's impossible to read this wall, but it is covered with names of soldiers and where they were from. These men and women where killed in the war, their bodies are in graves unknown---well, known only to God.
One of the many memorial sites.
An example of the bluffs the soldiers were to climb. Standing on the beach, looking up, I can't imagine what was going through their minds. The Germans waiting for them, shooting as they ran on the beach.
This is one of the many German bunkers. Thick concrete...protection, huge guns on top. Here, you see a small window in the door of a sleep quarters. When the German's heard someone's footsteps, and you weren't one of them....you were killed. This area, the beaches of Normandy are very emotional. Seeing what our soldiers saw, then standing at the top of the bluffs-seeing what they didn't.

Finally, connected again.....

We've been unable to get a wireless connection, I've missed posting....there's a lot to catch up on...bare with me!

So are we nuts or what? We rented a car (a VERY cool little Peugeot diesel) and picked it up in Caen. We took the train to Caen...it saved us many,many hours of driving. It's hard to beat the train. The roads are narrow...sometimes the roads would narrow to one lane because houses and barns have been built along the edge of the road. Here we are on the road to Normandy.

We stayed at Le Ferme du Pressoir in a small town. They have chickens, goats, cattle and make their own Cidre (hard cider). Odile's 91 year old father makes his own Calvados. She shared some with us, the best I've ever had. Papa's got his own still!
Here's Marci hiding around the corner. Odile and Jacque's house was built in 1787. A gorgeous stone building with very thick walls. The building we are staying in was at one time a sheep barn. Jacques and their 2 sons farm, and Odile runs the b&b. She understands some English, and was helping us with our French. She knows many places to visit and helped us plan our sightseeing day trips.

Bayeax, a fairy tale-like village, with it's stone buildings, flower boxes and picturesque scenes. Everywhere you turned, there was amazing scenery.

This cathedral is 1000 years old. Remarkable stained glass.This building is the home to the Bayeux Tapestry. It is a loooong piece and is 1000 years old. It tells the history of the Normande invasion. The room that displays this piece is dimly lit. It's difficult to get the colors right, but they are still quite vibrant. I look at this piece and wonder how many hours it took to stitch this, how many people. They were determined to tell their story.Walking along the canal, we found a section that had been an extention of someone's garden.
Tres charmante!

l'Arc de Triomphe

Paul, Marci and I went to the top of l'Arc de Triomphe. The view from the top is gorgeous. Even on an overcast day like today. Look at those skies!
My beloved Tour Eiffel.......
Admiring old buildings........

Louvre

The Louvre isn't something you can cover in a day. I think it would take me several weeks to really look at everything.
People are quite funny. Here we are, all wanting to see the Mona Lisa, she is behind glass, and a
large area in front of her is roped off. You can't get very close to her at all. Not enough to see the brush strokes. Did you know it's not a very big painting?


Winged Victory

Musee Rodin

The first time I visited the Rodin museum was in 2001. It's here that I fell in love with sculpture. The picture above is the step by step process to create a bronze sculpture. It is called the lost wax technique This is passion, a true labour of love.
A very moving sculpture is Les Bourgeois de Calais.
La Porte de l'Enfer based on Dante's Inferno.


A close up, do you recognize Le Penseur? An incredible amount of effort, wouldn't you say?Camille Claudel was a student of Rodin....his muse, his mistress. Her work is amazing...emotional.
She wound up in an insane asylum for 30 years. Learn more about Rodin and Camille here

The house that Jacques built

Construction here is very different as walls, ceilings floors are concrete.
Stucco, brick or stone (veneer) will be put on top of the concrete.

Gas prices

The Europeans are feeling the gas prices, this is per litre in Euros...you do the math.

Nice place to visit?......

We spent the day in Montmartre, an interesting place to walk around is the cemetery....
Unbelievable monuments...many of them unreadable, being weathered and over grown with moss. Narrow iron doors open to a small panel of stained glass and a place to knee and pray.
Interesting to see new shiny granite crypts juxtaposed with the worn.
Many famous people are buried here, Edgar Degas, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison (no relation to Dave).