God, Glass and Gondolas – Venice, Italy in a nutshell.

But first a couple of thoughts on our May 16th drive from Switzerland… The Peugeot 5008 that we are driving has an excellent GPS system – Margaret (ie. Thatcher) gives us great directions with a beautiful BBC British accent (“at the roundabout, take the third exit”) and so we have relied on her to get us where we need to go.  But, unfortunately, nobody tells her when mountain passes through the Swiss alps are closed after traveling 75 minutes and through 100 hairpin turns. Although the drive was both exhilarating and beautiful – it was very frustrating to turn around more than an hour into our journey.   So… if you have plans to travel through the Swiss Alps – make your route AROUND the mountains until the middle of June.  Once you get to the flat lands, the drive east is easy albeit very crowded with both cars and HUGE trucks.  So it was a very tiring and yet, beautiful drive.

Our arrival in Venice was somewhat stressful as well.  Cars are not allowed on most of the island. Fortunately, we had arranged to rent an apartment from a terrific guy who thoroughly explained exactly what to do.  We drove to an industrial area used for loading, parking and cruise ships and met Sebastiano there. He even hopped in the car and took us to the huge public parking garage and showed me how to work the automated machines.   Thank goodness he was there – the Italian I learned during the 1990 World Cup wasn’t helping me much.  He then hired a transport company to deliver our bags to his apartment and led us to the city via a quick train ride (called the “People Mover”) and a 15 minute walk.  The three photos below show Sebastiano leading the way and then two views of the street we lived on.

   On Friday morning, May 17th, the sun didn’t shine much (except in Falmouth, MA where Kathleen’s mom was celebrating her birthday).  But since we only had spots of rain we were able to do some sightseeing. We bought tickets for the longest vaporetti (Boat Bus) route and traveled down the Grand Canal – in the rain.  We had the Rick Steves guidebook with us, so we were able to learn a lot.  But perhaps what we’ll remember most was a woman sitting near us in the front of the boat going absolutely berserk after the driver asked her to close her umbrella so he could see to drive and dock the boat.  OMG, she screamed every cuss word known to man in both Chinese and English.  She ranted on and on for about 20 minutes about how awful Italy is, about how stupid all Italians are, and how she’d never come back to Italy again. It was both funny and frightening for the girls, but I think the Italians were glad she wouldn’t returno….

Let’s start with glass. As you wander around the narrow streets of Venice you see more touristy nick-knack stores selling all kinds of bright, glittering glass stuff it’s easy to get a bit numb to it all.  Well okay, it was easy for me to get numb to it all.  The girls never tired of it – Kathleen included – they loved the glsss.

The big deal is all about Murano glass.  Murano is a little island about “a nine iron” away from Venice.  It’s there that the best of the glass is made.  But it’s easy to copy and it’s hard to know if what you’re buying is made nearby or in China.  Although it was closed when we had a moment to see it, the factory store is located right behind St. Mark’s square.

From Glass we move to God.  He’s big in Italy, as you may know. And although we saw some pretty amazing houses of prayer in France, even Erin at 10 years old, had to be impressed with what we saw in Venice. We started with San Marco’s (Saint Mark’s) Square.  Our first impression is simply jaw dropping wow… In the photo below you can see the girls taking pictures from the back of the square facing the Cathedral. The buildings on the right and left, once the government buildings of the Venetian Empire are now office buildings for Europe’s largest insurance company… some things never change….

As usual, they are doing work on the facade of Saint Mark’s Cathedral but if you click on the photo to see a larger version  you can still see how magnificent it is. To the right of the church is the house of the Doge – or Governor of Venice –

Photos are not allowed inside the cathedral, but I took some anyway.

Even the floor is amazing.

Next we traveled across the Grand Canal to Santa Maria della Salute of the church of Saint Mary of Health. It was closed for “siesta” but we had a nice rest on the steps to watch the hustle and bustle at the mouth of the Grand Canal looking across to San Marco.

The Photos below are of the two smaller churches in our neighborhood. Both amazing and beautiful. Like I said, God is Big here.

By far the most peaceful and expensive way to see the city is by gondola.  There’s a good feeling one gets by supporting the skill and expertise of these 400 men and one woman who inherited the right to be a gondolier from their fathers.  Primogeniture is alive and well in Venice.  Our guide was named Andreas and he spoke very good English. He truly seemed to enjoy paddling the canals and giving his fellow gondoliers a hard time. He not only used the paddle, but quite often used his feet to push off the buildings and propel the boat.  He explained the gondoliers’ disdain for the motorized water taxis is due to the torrents they create which are ruining the foundations of the buildings.  Andreas also explained how Venice is very quickly dying as a vibrant city.  It is so expensive to live there, that as property owners get older and find it necessary to move away, their children do not want the property and cannot sell it.  Young families do not want to live in Venice – there is very little open space to play, they have sewage and flooding problems, and the cost of living is prohibitive.  Venice is almost purely a tourist city – “a sinking tourist museum” Andreas called it.

One of the more odd juxtapositions we encountered was being in a gondola as cruise ship entered the grand canal area.  I suggested to Andreas that a cruise ship seemed a bit large for Venice.  He agreed and suggested that they be outlawed… but said it would never happen, as the city needs the tourists and their money!

I think we need one of these boats to cruise the Charles River in Boston!!

Finally… some lasting memories from this beautiful city…

Two major purchases we made.  One was a painting of the city that we loved from this very gentle and kind artist and the other was a leather bag that we all agreed, Kathleen NEEDED….

Two cool things we saw. One was a very talented street performer who played crystal glasses that echoed off the walls of the nearby buildings… the sound was mesmerizing.

The second was a very cool boat, docked across the “street” from a vegetable store… We thought the floating annex was pretty clever.

And finally, just some nice views on a beautiful day with the family in Venice, Italy!!

ON TO ROME……

May 15 began as a beautiful morning and since our time in Switzerland was limited, we tried to make the most of it.  We woke early and went on a little run-walk through Wilderswil to a small castle nearby.  The structure dates back to 1000 AD and is a very nice piece of history.  Although nothing like the ruins we would soon see in Rome and Pompeii – this was pretty cool… and a beautiful morning walk!

It seems that Switzerland is a pretty awesome place…. along with all these beautiful fields, moutains and lakes, they also have chocolate factories!  Knowing this, we made plans to meet my old pal from Denison, Amy Krajewsky Meyer, and her two daughters for a tour and a tasting at the Maison Cailler in a small town near Greyer.  Amy and her family live in Geneva so our meeting place was almost exactly halfway between our two homes.  How convenient…. and tasty!

The Factory gift shop held our attention perhaps better than the factory tour.  There are bins and bins of the small, wrapped chocolate bars that you can select and pack in your own box – to keep or send to friends…. I think we did both!

After Maison Cailler, and since the girls were having so much fun together, we decided to extend our stay and travel the 10 minutes to Greyer.  Yup… where the cheese comes from.  I always though Greyer was in France – Nope.  It’s a beautiful little touristy town that you can walk through in 10 minutes.  But they have a couple of very cute restaurants and the Meyer twins had some teaching to do.  The Littles were introduced to Raclette and Fondue and the Bob and Kathleen also had some terrific Swiss food.  A marvelous, cultural learning experience – even if you don’t like cheese much…

Charlotte and Erin did a little bonding over styling hair…

and Kathleen and Amy bonded over their common Kappa Kappa Gamma routes.  Although we think Amy’s experience with the KKG was considerably more positive that Kathleen’s.  See the fleur-de-lis above their heads?

Our stay in Switzerland finished with a beautiful sunset and many thanks to our hosts, Cindy and Pascal Zeller.  Cindy is an American from Pennsylvania and Pascal is Swiss.  They were so gracious and generous with their time.  They are adventure guides, wedding planners and wedding photographers.  So if you ever find yourself in Switzerland and need these services – hire them at swissholidayhouse.com

May 14, 2013 – A nice sunny day.  Why don’t we go up to 9,745 feet?  We were hoping for the weather to clear so we could go to the top of Schilthorn and see the famous Piz Gloria where Telly Savalas held court in the Bond film  “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”  It wasn’t perfect, but good enough! So up we went.  The trip starts in the town at Lauterbrunnen – about 10 minutes from our home in Wilderswil – with a tram to Grütschalp.  Just doing this tram ride would probably be enough – but this is only the beginning.  I was amused by the two 18 year old boys, and their mountain bikes, on the tram with us.  At first I thought, “oh that’s cool – they can ride down”… not long into the trip, my thinking changed to “these guys are absolutely nuts!”

Once we arrived in Grütschalp, we then got on a nice little train to the town of Mürren.  There are no cars allowed in Mürren, and at this time of year it seemed that there were no people allowed either!  May is the between seasons time.  Skiing is over, but there is still snow around, so summer can’t start yet.  There are few guys fixing the plumbing and beginning the setup for summer, but many of the stores were closed and there were very few people about.  We did see a good drink available in the vending machine which gives you a bombastic good feeling,  and we had a chance to take a few photos before the second tram to Schilthorn.

The tram to up to Schilthorn is awesome.  That’s the only word…. Awesome.  And when we arrived, we were glad that we bought the hats.

The trip down was just as wonderful as the trip up – more good sights!

That evening as the sun was setting our hosts, Cindy and Pascal Zeller, along with their daughter Sarah, took us on a little walk around town.  We stopped at a local farm and got some fresh, raw milk from a dispenser – one Swiss frank for a litre.  The farms are very interesting.  The cows spend the winter in the barns attached to the houses – right in town.  In early June, when the threat of snow is past, the cows are then led up into the hills where they spend the summer.  We learned that the small fields around town are kept long for the cows to graze, and the farmers get very angry if you walk in their fields…

Pascal showed the girls an old grain mill.  Wilderswil is a very old town and some of their neighbors’ houses go back to the 1500’s. Across the street was a funny little antique store that had an item in the window that is special to the Wilderswil area – specifically Grindelwald.  It’s a snow bike called a Velogemel. They are still made in basically the same way, and although there are other more modern versions, these Velogemel’s are the real deal.  This one in the window is possibly from the 1800’s. Each year in Grindelwald, they have a race. See it here.

It was a beautiful and awesome day!

May 13th brought decent weather and a perfect day for seeing the surrounding villages of Wilderswil, Grindelwald, Interlakken, and Thun.  We started at the Trummelbachfalle – (Trummelbach Water Falls) in Lauterbrunnen (just 10 minutes from Wilderswil) – This is a huge water fall located inside a mountain cliff, accessible by elevator and illuminated by electric lights.  It’s an amazing hike through a mountain that was first discovered and made available to the public in about 1900.  Awesome is the only word…

From the falls we headed into Interlaken for a quick trip to the grocery store.  We show Kathleen here with the cart because it was a 20 minute ordeal for her to get the cart into the store.  The grocery carts are chained together with individual chains that connect to the one behind it.  There must be a terrible theft problem for these carts.  Perhaps people use them as chair lifts to climb mountains, or as boats to get across the lake.  Maybe the local teenagers use them to race down alpen cliffs… Whatever the case may be, after pushing and pulling and asking and watching we learned that you have to put a coin into a small, almost invisible slot in the handle.  The coin disengages the chain, and you can roll the cart away. Which, by the way, has swivels on all four wheels – way nice!  When you return the cart and push the chain connector back in, your coin is then able to be removed….  Clever, those Swiss.  They should try their hand at watches, too….

After putting our dinner food away, we headed down the lake on an amazing, terrifying, swirvy drive right out of a James Bond movie to a beautiful lake side castle near the city of Thune.  The castle was closed, so we walked around the gardens and then played on the jungle gym located right outside the castle entrance…. Funny… thie girls loved this playground – all of them.  They climbed and played and laughed for almost an hour!!  They clearly needed some down time from seeing and learning and struggling with new languages.

They needed to play!

After dinner, while Caroline was “at school” the rest of us had a nice walk around Wilderswil.  It’s a beautiful, old (1500’s) town.

May 12, 2013

Sing along if you can….

This is the story about a man named Bob, a poor Boston teacher on a year without a job.  Then one day he was eatin’ a croissant and realized soon, arriving was his aunt. Francoise that is, wife of Jack, they own the place. Well the first thing you know old Bob’s a drivin’ east.  The kinfolks in the back not excited in the least. They said the  Swiss alps are where we wanna go – so they loaded up the car and got on with the show… Drivin that is, Peugeot, French for car….

Here are the photos that I took from the front seat.  An awesome drive….

Our ausfahrt to Switzerland was successsful.

Saturday, May 11th was a fabulous day.  The weather was beautiful the family was rested and the tourists seemed to be sleeping in.  Kathleen and I let the girls do some sleeping in also, and walked 3 minutes down the road to the open market. Although we only bought some strawberries we thoroughly enjoyed the sounds, sights and smells of this very European custom.

After breakfast we made our way to the other side and the highest area of Paris – Montmartre. Our first encounter with this area was the Metro stop.  Climbing the stairs to the street took about 15 minutes – it must have been four stories below ground.  Again, the girls did fine – their parents were winded!  But what we found after our climb was really cute – old school Paris.

We made our way through the streets and up the hill, climbing the stairs next to the “funicular” and arrived at the church called Sacre Coeur which clearly  has the best view of this wonderful city!

Photos of the Sacre Coeur are not allowed, but I got one without being arrested.  This church as an interesting story associated with it.  It was built at the end of the 1800’s and completed in 1919 – and was a crown jewell for this neighborhood atop a large hill.  During WWII it was targeted by the German bombers.  13 bombs were dropped all around the church – not one hit, and nobody was injured!  The stained glass all shattered but that was the basically the extent of the damage.  Devine intervention? You decide.

From Sacre Coeur we walked to the center square of Montmartre, just behind Sacre Coeur to see Paris’ oldest church Saint Pierre.  Although this section of Paris wasn’t always part of Paris proper, it is now, and this church was consecrated around 1147 and boasts four sixth century column capitals, that were reused from Roman times to build a structure on this site to pay homage to the God of War – Mercury.  It’s a beautiful church… and you’re allowed to take photos here…

 From St. Pierre we made our way through the crowd to see the artists at work.  There are probably 40 or 50 of these men and women sketching and painting in the square, surrounded by gift shops and restaurants.  We had lunch in the middle of the square and watched them work…

Lunch was fun. Caroline loved her Chocolat but Erin thought Schweppes would be ginger ale…

After lunch we made our way down the hill, bought a scarf or two, saw a famous nightclub,

…and made our way to the Eiffel Tower again – this time seeing it from the Trocadero.  It was a good place for some photos…  Caitlin and I enjoyed the irony that the pigeons created.

After jumping for joy here, we walked down the river a bit to find a boat for a last tour of the city…  The monument that Caitlin is photographing is to honor Princess Diana.  It’s a replica of Lady Liberty’s flame and was placed on top of the underpass where she was killed.  For Kathleen and me it brought back all of those terrible memories from that August night many years ago…

The boat ride was a fun way to finish our last day in Paris!

The highlight of May 10th was a tour around the Lafayette Gallerie in Montparnasse,

shopping with the girls…

Then we went grocery shopping…

After almost two weeks, we have noticed that the girls are much less anxious about approaching people to do the small tasks they need to do.  Buying simple items, finding a bathroom, asking  easy questions are all getting easier.  They are beginning to realize that they can get along in other cultures, with folks who don’t speak much English.  They are also beginning to figure out that although things are different – they aren’t necessarily bad.  Although it was also nice to learn that Frosted Flakes are called Frosties and they are just the same!!!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah… 1o full days in Paris and no museums.  So shoot me… I’m not a big art guy. But, thankfully I have a 15 year old daughter who is teaching me how to be a man of the world – and forcing me to be a good father – so she took me to the Louvre!  We downloaded to the iPhone the free Rick Steve’s audio tour and headed to the Metro. Thursday, May 9 was a French national holiday in honor of the Ascension so the city was quiet and the lines at the Louvre were not too bad in the late morning. Here are some photos of Caroline seeing (and imitating!) some of the most famous pieces of art in the world. First is the Venus de Milo!

Other important statues…

The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The Kings’ personal stuff…  Steal it from other places or have slaves make it for you. Then, make a museum showing how great you are… It’s good to be the king.

The Great Hall with many fabulous paintings…

The Mona Lisa has her own wall and ridiculous crowds… Caroline said, It’s smaller than I thought it would be.  I heard the same thing in 15 different languages!

Michelangelo’s Prisoner – very cool

Ramses II

After seeing all of the most famous pieces of art in the world, we met up with the rest of the women – who had been strolling around the city on their own, and saw one more fabulous sculpture…

…of Caroline!!!

After two very beautiful yet tiring days in Normandy, Wednesday May 8th was a rainy, sleep in and (being happy about) doing homework day…

But, thankfully,  the weather cleared in the evening and offered us a perfect chance to walk down the street to some tower built in 1889 as the entry arch for that year’s World’s Fair.  Only about 7 million people will ascend the Eiffel Tower this year, so it was important for us to be a part of the select few. The walk is 15 minutes from the apartment, just down Avenue de Saxe around l’Ecole Militaire and through the park called Champs de Mars.  The view begins when we step out of the door.

There are a two things that are givens at the Eiffel Tower – lines and pickpockets.  Fortunately we were able to avoid both. We stayed close together in the crowds and we took the stairs.

The views begin right away.  You’ll see the stretch of grass with the big tower in the background a lot.  This is the park called Champs de Mars. The park is named after the Campus Martius (“Mars Field”) in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war. The name also harkens to the fact that the area was used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military. The large tower in the back ground is the Montparnasse Tower.  Completed in 1972, it’s basically a large office tower and the reason that skyscrapers are now banned in Paris. But this is our neighborhood – the 7th Arrondisment.

By climbing the stairs, you save some money, you avoid the huge line for the elevator and you get some exercise.  You also get to take some great photos.

After Climbing to the second level, everyone must get the elevator to the top.  Our timing was pretty good as the sun was setting when we got to the second level and we got to see the lights of the City of Lights when we arrived at the top.  Even so it’s hard to keep everybody happy… We thought it was that this guy was equally grumpy with us….

The route down also offers opportunity for some great photos.

And when we arrived back on Avenue de Saxe the tower said goodnight to us….

Today’s post is a long one. Make yourself comfortable.

Oh my, the mornings in the French countryside are even more beautiful than the evenings….First, a towel warmed on a rack is simply amazing…. and a good cup of real French Roast in the garden on a warm spring day… oh my.   Jos (rhymes with “moss” and short for Josiah) waited for me to arrive downstairs as I had asked to come along with him to the bakery… his dog, Binker, came along too.  The town – completely rebuilt after being demolished by bombs in 1944 reminded me of Concord, MA – quaintly bustling around, but not in too much of a hurry.

On the way home, Jos let the dog out…  He knows the way home… at 30 miles an hour.  Awesome Dog….     Awesome Dog

As breakfast concluded, Jos brought in his famous WWII rifle.  He found it a couple of years ago as he was restoring a bog to its original pond status.  It’s located about 75 yards (68.58 meters) from the house.  After pulling it out of about 3 feet of muck, he had it appraised and determined that it belonged to a Canadian soldier – probably a member of a reconnaissance patrol who was killed on the property.  The Canadians and British chose to bury their soldiers in cemeteries near where they died – while the Americans were buried in large American cemeteries. This soldier is buried right up the street from the Haynes’ house.

Jos and Carol bought their property six years ago and have worked extremely hard to make it an incredibly beautiful place.  Pristine flower gardens, perfect fencing, mowed paths through the woods and to a river…  It’s just beautiful.  Our friend Rick Copland (who will be mentioned in a few weeks…) stayed here a couple years back and told us it was beautiful.  It was an understatement.  If you are ever in Normandy to see the D-Day beaches – this is the place to stay!!

Click on the photo to see the website!

Here are some photos of our tour of the grounds.  You can see Jos is showing us the pond where he found the rifle.

Another very interesting thing we learned from the Hayes had to do with the strange circular clumps we had been seeing in all of the trees.

The circular clumps are mistletoe! Yep, that stuff you hold over your significant other at Christmastime to get a smooch… you know, with the white berries….  Well it seems that the birds eat the berries and the seeds get planted on the branches of trees in their… uh… poop.  There I said it.  The seeds then take root in the tree and the plant grows right there as a parasite… Perhaps everybody but us knew this… Oh well, if you want to learn more click here.

After our tour of the property, we said our thanks and au revoirs and we headed out for a quick 30 minute drive to the D-Day Beaches. We had fun seeing more fields of oilseed rape, more beautiful villages, and finally we arrived in the town of Arromanches.  The beach here is known as Gold Beach and is one of the beaches where the Canadians and British landed.  The women are waving westward to all of their friends and relatives – and beyond them you can see the remains of the debris that was dropped in the sea in an attempt create a man-made harbor.

After seeing Gold Beach we headed west to Omaha Beach where the Americans landed and where there is a museum and a large cemetery.

These beaches are beautiful, even stunning in their beauty.  The sand is perfect, the water is warm – even in early May – and they are long, long, long areas for fun and frolic in the sun and water.  The girls thought they were great… and although Kathleen and I appreciated their beauty, there was just something wrong about these places as summer amusement areas.  You can feel the sadness in the air….

Here are some photos of Omaha Beach.  You can see the memorials in honor of the 3,000 men who were killed here, as well as some of the German bunkers and gun perches. It’s kind of a grim and beautiful place at the same time.  Caroline seemed to notice this, and didn’t like being here.   She wasn’t able to articulate why but she was clearly uncomfortable the entire time.  Unfortunately, we were pressed for time (needing to be back in Paris for Caroline’s on-line school) so we were unable to see the American cemetery or the museum.

The ride home was uneventful until the British GPS lady thought it would be just fine to have Bob drive through the “roundabout” that goes around some large arch in Paris…. Ugggh.  Even for one who manages the Concord, MA rotary every day… this is really hairy.  There are so many accidents here that French insurance agencies don’t even try to determine fault anymore.  They just split the damage 50-50 with the other driver’s carrier!  But we made it through unscathed.

Oh… Caitlin filmed this with the iPhone which was also running Google Maps.  The ugly American pronunciation is very amusing, but loud – beware – turn down your volume!

All in all the fitting end to an amazing two days!!

Bright and early on Monday, May 6th we rented a car (Peugeot with GPS thank goodness) and headed out for the countryside of Normandy and the famous Mont Saint-Michel.  It’s about a three hour drive through beautiful countryside.  The yellow flowers are called Oilseed Rape in Europe, Rapeseed in the US, and are used for animal feed and to make canola oil.  The fields makes for an awesome view out of a car!

When you arrive at Mont Saint-Michel you walk with purpose through a small – mostly very new – little shopping district, board a bus and voila, there you are!

Mont Saint-Michele has 30 full time inhabitants – presumably monks – but it has a booming tourist trade in the little shops and restaurants built into the hill below the Abbey and Church.  Here are some of the photos we took!

After climbing through the town and to the top of the hill, you get to the Church and the Abbey – where the monks lived. The self guided tour leads you all throughout the buildings! The first photos show the construction process of the island beginning in the 900’s!

After visiting Mont Saint-Michel and getting a quick dinner, we got back on the road for a quick 30 minute drive through the countryside.

Finally we arrived at the home of Carol and Jos Haynes.  They share their  beautiful home as a Bed and Breakfast.

You can see more about it at their website:  www.abreathoffrenchair.co.uk

After meeting with the Haynes over a cup of tea the girls did their homework, and we were off to bed! It was a long and very fun day!

After touring Versailles we were all a little tired and decided to take Sunday morning as a day of rest… after all, this is a very Catholic country and that’s what the good Lord intended.  On line we learned that Mass in English is offered at St. Joseph’s Church, near the Arc de Triomphe. And even better – they offer a Mass at 12:30pm, we can sleep in a bit!  St. Joseph’s is located in what looks like an office building – interesting in this land of Cathedrals. The Mass was very similar to what we’re used to and it was nice to hear so much English spoken all at once!!

Since we were right there, and it was a beautiful morning, another trip up the Arc was in order.  Some photos down the Champs Elysees and of the local surrounding were much better today!

This coming week is a real Holiday week.  Wednesday, May 8 is WWII Victory Day (la fête de la victoire, le jour de la libération) and is a holiday to celebrate the end of World War II and the French people’s freedom. It is the anniversary of when Charles de Gaulle announced the end of World War II in France on May 8, 1945.  Here you can see that they were getting ready for the celebrations.

Since the weather was so nice we decided to stroll down the Champs Elysee (with thousands of our closest friends) and then visit the Tuilerie Gardens…

After making our way home and doing some school work.  Kathleen, Caroline and Erin headed out for some pizza and Bob and Caitlin hopped on the Metro for Parc des Princes – the home stadium of Paris Saint Germain, the best soccer team in France.  After arriving at the stadium we stopped for a Coke to assess our dilemma.  We didn’t have tickets – and buying them on the street is illegal.  Now, it’s one thing to do that when you speak the language – it’s entirely something else when you don’t.  But after a few minutes of watching folks at the cafe, our plan took shape,  The gentleman below was seating people at the Cafe – and it became very clear that he knew everybody, and everybody knew him.  I asked him in my best broken French where I could buy “billets sur la rue.”

He brought me to a man, and said,  “Thees man – nobody else!”  It became immediately clear that we had been connected with the Godfather of scalping… the man – about 65 years old – was working two phones, both voice and text, at the same time. I explained that needed two seats together – that my petite fille must sit with me.  He’s said “C’est normale… bien.” And we walked the streets with him – following close as he said “Vite, vite!”  He met up with maybe six or seven different guys, and then magically, one appeared with two tickets. “Good seats, bon, bon, seats,” he said.  The deal was done. We were in…. and yes, they were “bon, bon, seats,” in the fifth row!!

It was a good game – although PSG did not win and thus clinch the league title.  We saw the best team in France come from behind to earn a draw with under seven minutes to play.

A night that neither Caitlin nor her dad will soon forget!

              The Kingsmen were probably not singing about King Loius XIV, the Sun King, when they rocked the house in 1955 but they could have been.  This guy knew how to live.  On May 4 we awoke early and took the train from Paris to Versailles – an easy 35 minute ride – to see Louis’ country house.

The train – very similar to the commuter rail in Boston is a double-decker affair and quite nice – it even comes with entertainment.

Versailles is a nice little town with an ostentatious mansion.  After a quick walk from the train station, we arrived at the palace.  Apparently a few (thousand) other folks had the same idea on this beautiful Saturday morning.  The lines were long… but the place is amazing.

We won’t use this blog to give a history of the mansion or a description of the rooms, but below are some of the better photos we took on our tour.  Erin thought all the rooms looked the same anyway!

The original part of the palace was built earlier as a hunting lodge in the country. These arched windows were the bedroom of Louis XIV both as a child and as king.

After seeing the residences of both the king and queen we headed out to the gardens….  WOW!!!  The Sun King thought pretty highly of himself. He felt that he controlled the whole world, both physical and natural. He loved to be outside, but he managed the outside like he managed everything else. The exterior of Versailles was just an extension of the inside – lavish and massive.  But, since we were getting a bit hungry, and since there are some nice restaurants hidden in the trees, we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we toured the gardens near the palace as well as the vacation homes for the vacation home – The Trianon Palaces.  These were a bit more simple and relaxed versions of Versailles and the place where Marie-Antionette (the wife of King Louis XVI) decided to make her home. We also decide that our outfits matched this house better!

After seeing the Trianon village area, we headed back to see the gardens and fountains with the water working! The gardens were designed to be like outdoor parlor rooms where people could meet and chat… all with different gravity fed fountains.  The water only comes on for a couple of hours, three days a week… so our time was limited as to which ones we could see and photograph.. we did our best to see a bunch of them…

The fountains were terrific, and we were exhausted.  Caitlin’s and Bob’s allergies wrere beginning to get the best of them so a bit of ice cream and a train ride home seemed to be in order.  All in all, a bon jour in the “countryside.”

Friday, May 3rd was a day of rest for the most part. Staying in touch with friends via Facetime, doing schoolwork via Google Hangout, writing in journals, reading and simply resting seemed to take over the day.  The weather being cold and drizzly didn’t help motivate us much to get “out and about” either.  But early in the afternoon, Bob had a brief meeting with Mme Tizon to discuss a small issue with the apartment’s dishwasher – it has a finicky dial/switch.  Mme Tizon, the building manager, is a gem.  She speaks basically no English but communicates well.  But, as this was a fairly complicated discussion about possibly hiring a fix-it man to come look at the dishwasher, I thought it was important for her to see and understand the issue better.  She came to the apartment and saw the problem. And then we sat at the table with Google Translate to discuss a plan of action.

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Result? I emailed my Uncle Jack who said not to worry… he’d take care of it when he arrives on May 14.

After the visit from Mme. Tizon we headed out to Rue de Sevres for a look at the famous Bon Marche shopping mall.  As mentioned earlier, the Bon Marche was one of the first “department stores” in Paris and in many ways changed the way folks thought about shopping all over the world.  Now, it’s a VERY upscale place… but you can still see the original structure from 1852 – the famous criss-crossing escalators are terrific!

Attached to the Bon Marche there is also an upscale grocery store – very reminiscent, although smaller, of supermarkets in the US.  The girls were intrigued by some of the items for sale.

Although not a really eventful day, it was still one where we learned a great deal about what it’s like to live in Paris…. if you have a lot of money!!

On Thursday and Saturday mornings, on Avenue de Saxe, there is an open (farmers’) market.  It’s about 200 yards from our apartment – and it’s very cool.  There are lots of fruits and vegetables, meats, fish, and other household items for sale.  The one worry is that the prices are not really set – and the venders can really take you for a ride.  And, since we don’t speak much French, we have to be very careful and bold in dealing with the men behind the tables….  it’s fun, but intimidating. Below is Place de Breteuil, just on the other side is the Market.

We brought our breakfast home to our little kitchen and fixed up a bright and beautiful breakfast!

After breakfast we strapped on our walking shoes for a short jaunt around the corner to Rodin’s Garden.  We opted to just tour the garden, for many of the his most famous sculptures are outside and the day was finally beautiful and warm!  Taking a page out of the Park School 9th grade trip to Spain a couple of years ago… we decided to mimic the statues we liked.  If you can live it you can learn it!

[you can click on the photos to get a bigger version]

After enjoying the weather and the beautiful sculptures in Rodin’s Garden we walked across the Seine and strolled (quickly) to the base of the Champs Elysees where we caught the Metro home.  Time for school!!

After school and before dinner, we headed outside where Caitlin worked on her journal, and Caroline played some field hockey with Erin. It was fun to blend in (a bit) with our neighbors.

After just a couple of days in Paris, we have noticed that the Parisiens are a beautiful, well put-together bunch.  Here are a few photos taken stealthfully with Bob’s iphone.

Another gray and rainy morning greeted us, but our spirits were high as we prepared to head out on another adventure.  We were help up briefly by Caroline’s dresser’s “clothes ghost” somehow, as the door locked itself shut and she couldn’t get dressed. After some heroics (and brave ghost busting) from sister Caitlin, we were off.

To help orient you, here are two maps showing our position in Paris.  Below shows where we are living – 61 Avenue de Saxe… a straight shot down from the Eiffel Tower.

[You can click on the maps for a better look.  Just hit the back arrow to return]

And here is a close rendition of our Day 3 amble through Paris. 

We Started our walk down Rue de Sevres which boasts one of the most exclusive shopping areas in the city.  In 1852  Paris’ first “department store” opened here. The Bon Marche, built of steel and iron not unlike the ugly Eiffel Tower, was designed to give shoppers an inexpensive, one-stop place to find most everything they need.  It’s no longer inexpensive but it’s a great place to see and be seen.  Today – being May 1st, Labor Day, everything is closed.  Lucky for papa – he can save a few Euros.

You can see the streets are empty on this holiday that celebrates the workers.  This is the beautiful square where Rue de Sevres meets Rue de Babylone and crosses Boulevard Raspail.

This is the second oldest church in Paris called Saint-Germain-des-Pres.  It’s a beautiful old church with a wonderful neighborhood feel all around it.  Two very old and famous cafes look out onto this courtyard.  A cool place to hang out.

The old – and today very crowded cafes were a bit imposing for us, so we continued down Boulevard Saint-Germain and found ….  wait for it…. it’s famous…. The Croissanterie!  The Paris equivalent to Panera Bread.   But it was a nice late morning lunch! Here we made our lunch pact – No Complaining About Walking Too Far And Feet Hurting.  If we could keep this pact, the next few months would be easier!

Finally we arrived at the River Seine – excited to cross the famous Pont Nurf.  This is the place where all of the children of Paris throw spongy balls at the boats as they come out from under the bridge…. at least that’s that what the guide book I got in the Frosted Flakes told me.

        After crossing the bridge to “the island” (which was hard for Erin to understand) we walked along the river and tried to figure out what these huge rings were for. They are worked into the walls on either side at regular intervals.  Erin thinks they’re for tying up boats or horses. Any body have a guess…. ? Well after a short Google search, Erin was right.  The rings were used to tie huge river barges to the docks!

We finally reached Notre Dame.  It’s a really big church. The kids were awe struck. Lucky for them. It helped make the wait to get in less painful.
I guess people still think churches are important for weddings. Or perhaps they’re just showing off an expensive dress…. Nevertheless they are getting their picture taken in front the the 12 Apostles.  That’s gotta count for something.Upon entering the cathedral you are greeted with a true sense of awe… They broke ground on this project in 1163 and had the inaugural mass 200 years later.  Thousands of men, working for next to nothing so that their great, great, great, great grandchildren would have a place to worship.Wow…  The photos aren’t great – you gotta see this yourself!!

This statue of Joan of Arc (1412-1431), dressed in armor and praying honors the teenager who rallied her countries soldiers to drive the English invaders out of Paris.  She was burned at the stake by the British who claimed she was a witch.  The French were rightfully angry about this but it wasn’t until 1909 – right here in Notre Dame – that she was beatified.  Caroline thought this chick was awesome.  The Rose window above is located across from Joan.  It’s the only one remaining with its original, medieval glass.

It’s difficult to really get good photos of the church.  This is a wooden model in a glass case. I thought it best shows what the building looks like.

After leaving the church, we strolled around back through the gardens for a family photo shoot.

      From here we began out walk home by crossing the Pont de l’Archevêché. This is one of the many bridges in Europe that has become a place for lovers to express their never-ending devotion.  Wikipedia states: “In Paris, The  Town Hall in May 2010 expressed concern over the growing number of love-locks on the Pont des Arts, Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor and the Pont de l’Archevêché bridges, stating: “they raise problems for the preservation of our architectural heritage”.  The lovelocks of the Pont des Arts mysteriously disappeared during the night of 11 May 2010, but the Administration denied responsibility, until it was discovered that they had been removed by a student of the nearby École des Beaux-Arts to make a sculpture.^[7] Love locks immediately began appearing on the Pont de l’Archevêché.”

We headed home – now moving a bit more quickly but not complaining about our feet hurting – through the Luxembourg Gardens. A most beautiful place that we will return to, for sure.

At 4:00 (16:00) it was time for school.  Caroline meets with her teacher, Megg Lynch from Waterville Valley Academy, every day for two hours or so via Google hangout. While she’s doing that the rest of us study as well!

A Terrific Day 3!

Day Two and the rain forcasted for most of the week began in earnest.  The girls slept late as Bob had a marvelous cup of coffee (in a familiar mug) and then explored the neighborhood on foot to purchase two inexpensive, unlocked telephones that can be used throughout Europe. Email him for the numbers! After unpacking a bit further we headed out to the nearest Metro stop and made our way underground to L’Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees.

The famous Arc de Triomphe, now more famous – since we’ve seen it too!

This is the circular staircase that is the way up.  The girls counted the steps – 193 – to the first level! It was easy for them, not as easy for their parents!

The view from the top of the Arc looking down the Champs Elysees.  The rain has just started to fall…

Photo opportunities abound!

Ahh… Facebook profile shot.

One of the first places you come to at the top of the Champs Elysees is a small jewelry shop.  The girls hadn’t heard of it. We thought that was okay…but now they have.. uh oh!

When the rain really started to fall, we stopped for dinner. And although it’s not the most “fancy pants” place to go… Vesuvio is a pretty famous pizza joint on a pretty famous street.  It’s a terrific place to watch the people go by. And, the pizza, the pesto, and the hamburgers are excellent!!  If you ask for a “une boîte pour ramener à la maison” the nice waiter will give you this.  BTW he was very impressed with Bob’s French.  We didn’t tell him about google translate!

As the rain continued to fall, we were only able to stroll down the Champs Elysees for a short while.  Hopefully we’ll be back again!

Acton, MA to Paris, FR

Day one was a long one, beginning in Acton and ending in Paris. All went smoothly and we are settled in at the Paris home of Jack and Francoise Little – Bob’s Uncle and Aunt.  The view from the apartment, down Avenue de Saxe, is wonderful.  It’s a safe and quiet neighborhood – similar to Boston’s Back Bay.  After morning naps, we had a nice walk past Les Invalides to the Eiffel Tower and then home again.  On the way, we found a very pleasant bar on a hip shopping street for dinner.  One of waiters had been to Boston and expressed his sadness about the Marathon Bombing.  We agreed that Boston is now like many European cities having experienced such violence. After arriving in Paris and finding our way through customs – it was comforting to have a taxi driver – from Ghana – who spoke English and helped us out with valuable information about the city and our new neighborhood!

The view from the balcony brings back fond memories of winter 1985 with cousin John… 

Naps from 12:00 to 15:00.  Much needed!

On Avenue de Saxe.  Our Paris home for two weeks.

Napoleon is buried at Les Invalides.  It’s now a museum for the French Army – among other things.

Dinner at the Bar du Central

What a great place!!

After Dinner a walk to some tower… It’s supposed to be famous.

Then we headed home to bed and a glass of the local grape juice.