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).