Les Vacances

Alors!  I am back from a vacances tres bien passees.  Voici the (semi)abridged version:

The journey started on Saturday with my first TVG experience!  I must say, the train is indeed grande vitesse, because in a short three hours, we arrived in Paris.  After two mishaps with the metro, we found the correct subway stop for our hostel, dropped off our bags, and set off again.  We decided that we wanted to explore the city and see the Champs Elysees, and after asking a marchand for directions, he told us it's "just straight ahead."  Thinking we were relatively close, we started the first leg of what was to be our 6 hour walk.  

The hostel was in a great location.  We walked along the Seine, passing the Hotel de Ville, and not too long after, the Musee Picasso and the Louvre.  The whole time, it was just so hard to believe we were in Paris!  After a short photo stop at the Louvre, we continued following our path to the Arc de Triomphe, which seemed to be a short distance away.  After a bit of shopping on the Champs Elysees and some new sneakers for Ashlee's hurting feet, we finally arrived at our destination of the Arc, more than 3 hours after when we set off.  The new problem: how does one cross the 6 lanes of traffic of the rotonde to get to the Arc?  After walking around the circumference for a while, we discovered a set of stairs and the underground passage!  We ignored the "do not enter" sign on the stairs and emerged safely in the center of the Arc to watch some sort of military procession.  

We then decided that we wanted to see the Tour Eiffel at night.  That, too, didn't seem too far away until we arrived there an hour later.  Never the less, when we turned the last corner, it was wonderful to see the tower, which was twinkling at the start of the new hour!  After more mishaps to find a subway, we finally got back to the hostel neighborhood and ate a very Parisian timed dinner at 10.00.

Sunday morning we awoke to have the hostel breakfast of a baguette, pain au chocolat, tea, and orange juice.  We then headed to the Musee d'Orsay, which I was particularly excited about because it has all of my favorite impressionist art!  After lunch, we headed to the Ile de la Cite to see St. Chapelle et Notre Dame.  Hannah warned me that St Chapelle looks like "a moroccan restaurant" on the first level, and I would have to see I tend to agree.  The paint was all in primary colors with the repeating patterns typical of the middle ages.  However, the stained glass on the second level was truly amazing.  Each window featured the book of a different saint.  If only it had been sunny so I could really see the contrast!  Overall, the feeling of St Chapelle was much more touristy than a church.  We next went to Notre Dame, which I much preferred.  There was an organ recital going on when we were there, and it was evident that people were taking their time to appreciate it as a place of worship as well as for its historical and architectural value.  Interesting, despite the even darker skies, the Rose window of Notre Dame was far more contrasted and impressive than those at St. Chapelle.  

Monday we set off for our second museum experience: le Louvre!  We attacked the sections in chronological order.  First off, the Egyptians.  The Louvre has one of the largest Egypt exhibits, and what was especially captivating was the range of artifacts.  There was the hieroglyphics, but also preserved food (the bread from 3000BC looked like sea sponge!), a menu, pottery, games (dice!), sewing bobbins, musical instruments, jewelry, mirrors, and even tweezers!  

We then went to the Antiquity section.  It was so strange to see all of my art history pieces in person!  By far the most impressive was Nike, the Winged Victory.  I could have stared at it all day.  As is, we circled around it for a good 25 minutes.  

We then went to the Painting section to see the Mona Lisa and other French Romantic Paintings, then we also saw the Appartements of Napoleon III.

After the Louvre, we headed for a gouter chez Angelina's, which is renowned for their desserts and hot chocolate.  Or rather, melted chocolate.  It was so thick it required another drink in order to drink it!  

That evening, we headed back to the Eiffel tower to try to go to the top.  We started to realize a theme of the vacation: we seemed to have perfect timing for everything!  We waited for a short period of time, and ascended to the second level just around the time when the sun was setting.  Even though it was cloudy, the rain had stopped, and we were able to see the transformation of the City of Lights from day to nighttime.  After some time on the second level, we took the elevator to the very top!  Very narrow, slightly frightening, but absolutely worth it!  

Tuesday, we went to Versailles.  All we could keep saying was "Oh, Louis."  He was indeed the Sun King, and it was strange because despite the excess of gold and decoration everywhere, after a while it started to become repetitive.  He knew what he liked, and used it a lot.  The Hall of Mirrors was indeed beautiful with the light reflected in the windows, mirrors, and chandeliers.  I was disappointed in the gardens, because while I expected there not to be much in the way of plants, the fountains weren't working either.  

Wednesday followed Hannah's wish to see the Opera before leaving Paris for Normandie.  This was also a project of Louis XIV in his attempts to promote the arts during his reign.  I would have to say that this was my favorite site in all of Paris.  It was breathtakingly amazing, more so than Versailles in my opinion.  All the architectural elements were incredibly exquisite, but there was variation so that everywhere you looked, you were seeing something new.  The ballroom was similar to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, but in my opinion, was more impressive.  

In the afternoon, we took the train through more beautiful French countryside to Caen.  In seeing so much green, I realized that there isn't a lot of grass in Aix.  I spend most all of my time in the very developed parts of the city, so it's all stone, sidewalks, and buildings.  Any sign of nature is carefully manicured and maintained by the city.  Strangely, they cut their trees off right at the branches!  In any case, it was nice to see real nature for a change.  

We met Ashlee's former host sister, Julie, for dinner.  She and her friends took us to Uncle Scotty's, clearly the typical representation of classic America.  If this is what the French think of us and our food, I'm afraid.  Everyone was wearing cowboy hats, there were slightly offensive (okay, and yet slightly entertaining) posters everywhere, and the food came in huge, tremendously greasy portions.  

 

Caen was much more laid back than Paris- a good break from our busy schedule in the big city! We explored the castles, churches, and Abbaye aux Hommes (where William the Conqueror's tomb is).  We also branched out in our cultural experiences and profited from the rainy weather by watching two movies- LOL and Le Code a Change.  We couldn't pass it up because the Caen cinema is only 3.60E if you are under 26!  Hannah and I also went to Mont St Michel on Friday.  It is an Abbaye and a very small town built on a tiny island on the ocean.  It was absolutely beautiful, and we caught it in late afternoon and saw the sunset!  Saturday, Julie's family took us out to lunch at one of their favorite spots.  It was evident that they go there a lot because when we entered, they gave bisous to practically everyone in the restaurant.  Definitely a small town feel a la francais!  After, we went with Julie to the Plages de Debarquement and finished off the afternoon with another fabulous crepe gouter.  

Finally, Sunday was the day of travel.  It was a wonderful week, but I was very happy to come back to Aix!  It is strange to say my vacation is over, because really, I have to keep reminding myself that I am still in France!