tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68405253113277108352024-03-20T06:18:23.023-07:00Nicole Flies Off To FranceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-698818933852682792014-11-16T13:01:00.003-08:002014-11-16T13:01:31.718-08:00Last stop on the road tripI spent a few more days in Toulouse which was really lovely. The architecture is distinctive and the stones used for building are pink. I even bought a pink stone ring to remind myself of the place.<br />
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I visited one last museum with a selection of French art...got my last Monet fix in.<br />
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And bought a leather purse in a market.<br />
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Then, on to my last stop on the whistle-stop France tour with Bordeaux. I didn't have very high hopes for Bordeaux as it's such a tourist draw but I was pleasantly surprised. Because it was a rich port throughout the past centuries, it has these big wide open boulevards and plazas everywhere. They've also just spent ten years cleaning the 18th century limestone buildings so the whole city looks sparkly with it's unique classical decorations.<br />
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Also, they've also finally gotten enough money to restore recovered bronze statues that were removed during WWII. <br />
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I did some souvenir shopping and, of course, took a wine tour out in the gorgeous countryside.<br />
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Learned some unique things on this tour such as how the barrels are made by hand by a cooper. Not surprisingly, coopers are getting harder to find these days.<br />
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Tried some sweet whites, dry whites and reds. Although I enjoyed this tour more, I think I like the Burgundy wines that I tried on my Dijon tour more.<br />
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I'm back to Vancouver next and I can already feel myself going into croissant withdrawal...not sure what I'll do!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-55299649585639829502014-11-15T12:08:00.002-08:002014-11-15T12:08:39.895-08:00CarcassonneCarcassonne is the city built up around a little hilltop that has had people living on it since people were living in France. The little hilltop became a fortified walled city about 1000 years ago and was added onto and built up over the centuries. Currently, it's the oldest fully walled medieval city in Europe and it's enchanting. Now it's filled with shops and restaurants and tourists but you can imagine what it might have been like with knights galloping around and the peasants going about their daily business. They actually have a few actors wandering around in costume which sounds kitschy but which was kind of cute.<br />
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I also had lunch there and tried the traditional 'cassoulet' which is a stew made with white beans cooked in duck fat and then baked with chicken and pork...delicious!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-57320566994336141962014-11-15T11:38:00.002-08:002014-11-15T11:38:31.512-08:00TrainsAfter a crazy day of traveling, I'm now in Toulouse. <br />
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I've only got one more train ride to go so I feel somewhat qualified to make some comments on traveling by train in France.<br />
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1. If you have heavy luggage, are disabled or older, you're screwed. There are always stairs and the lifts and escalators are turned off or non-existent. I think they're labeling this under 'austerity' measures but I'm putting under 'mean'.<br />
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2. There is always one woman on every train who will talk non-stop in rapid-fire French the entire journey. She will ignore all glares directed her way and will only pause for breath as she's leaving the train.<br />
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3. The train conductors are there to make sure you have a ticket. They are not there to help you with your bag, find your seat or ensure that you know when to exit the train. Stop bothering them!<br />
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4. The toilet in your car will be broken...always.<br />
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5. Never catch a taxi at the train station as they add a luggage fee and a station fee...I think this is basically a stupid-tourist-tax.<br />
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6. Your ticket price is directly related to how popular the route is and how close the departure time is so buy your tickets early and go to boring destinations if you want to save money.<br />
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7. You have a fifty-fifty chance of sitting next to a chain smoker who, of course, won't be smoking on the train, but will have smoked an entire pack before boarding to brace themselves for their journey. Keeping an emergency scarf in your bag may save you from asphyxiation. <br />
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Let's look at the pros;<br />
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8. The view outside your window will be spectacular so always book a window if you can.<br />
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9. Buying tickets online and then printing them at the station is unbelievably easy.<br />
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10. The train stations always have somewhere to buy chocolate croissants which makes them magical places, in my opinion.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-57589402416126822062014-11-11T11:47:00.000-08:002014-11-15T11:39:15.991-08:00Life of the rich and famousSo to join the rich and famous in Monte Carlo I took the 1.50euro bus from Nice because I'm not rich and famous myself. It turned out to be a great idea as this was typical of the view en route.<br />
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Then to the home of the Formula 1, the world's first casinos and way too much money, Monte Carlo. I took the hop on/hop off bus and listened to a bit of history as I got driven around. Apparently, the country used to be quite a bit bigger and have huge orange orchards as their main source of income but in the 1860s those areas seceded and King Charles had to come up with a new source of revenue. He created Monte Carlo (Mount Charles) and brought in the casinos. <br />
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It was a bit shocking walking through the marina and seeing dozens of these floating monstrosities and the parking lots filled with expensive sports cars...everyone there seems to have money to burn.<br />
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To try to get some of that money for myself, I went up to the world famous Monte Carlo casino. They charge 10 euros just to walk in this lovely building designed by Charles Garnier so I went to the free casino next door. I didn't win any money or see James Bond but it was fun anyways.<br />
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I didn't really think much of the city. It's overly complicated getting around because of the raceway, it's very mountainous and seems a real hodge-podge of new and old construction side by side which makes it feel disjointed. There's also a huge, loud and tacky amusement park along the entire waterfront. An interesting trip but not somewhere I'd want to stay.<br />
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The next day I went to a great outdoor flower market in Nice.<br />
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I would love to live in a place that had a market like this every day.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-15041808846860498782014-11-07T10:22:00.002-08:002014-11-07T10:22:37.263-08:00EntrevauxI had heard about these cool little trains that took you into the mountains to see the medieval towns so I spent today doing just that. They have special tourist trains with big windows and, apparently they usually have a tour commentary but they didn't today. <br />
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The train ride wasn't quite as pretty as I had hoped partly due to the sun being so low in the sky this time of year. It was kind of blinding on one side but when it dipped behind the mountains, the fall leaves were brilliant.</div>
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Entrevaux dates back to the 1500s and was repeatedly fought over...here's a list of occupiers courtesy in just six years. <br />
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It was a pretty little town but mostly shut down for the winter. I was going to hike up to the monastery at the top of the mountain but the ticket dispenser was broken...my thighs seemed pretty grateful about that. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-55619469696468002172014-11-07T10:05:00.001-08:002014-11-07T10:05:43.942-08:00Nice is very niceSo, Nice is now my favorite place in France. It's so pretty here and it smells good...strange but true. My first day, I took a leisurely five hour walk. I started at the azure blue sea by walking along the beach and then up to the top of the, once fortified, castle grounds.<br />
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On the other side of the hill, you can see the marina.</div>
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There's a cemetery and beautiful park at the top of the hill.<br />
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Then I went back down into the medieval part of town for a wander.<br />
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This is my favorite part of the city...narrow, winding alleys with colourful shops and restaurants.<br />
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Then, as it was my birthday, I treated my self to a huge Panini with various meats and cheeses on it and a chocolate covered something for desert.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-6829103645823787922014-11-07T09:51:00.001-08:002014-11-07T09:51:51.020-08:00DijonWell, it started raining the minute I walked out of the Dijon train station and didn't stop until I left three days later. I suppose I shouldn't complain since they've had the best weather this fall that anyone here can remember. I did go out into the stormy weather but mostly looked at it from restaurant and café windows. It's a shame because the old town looked very inviting.<br />
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What to do when it's rainy and windy and icky outside....drink wine in underground cellars! I took a tour of the local Bourgogne/Burgundy wine area and did a little sipping. It was a great tour and I learned all about the complicated wine labels and the crazy rules of wine making in the region. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-68559013348828262492014-11-02T11:56:00.001-08:002014-11-02T11:56:55.197-08:00StrasbourgSo, I've left my cozy Paris apartment and headed out into the countryside. First stop; Strasbourg, which is a ridiculously adorable town on the border with Germany. It has an odd history as it has been passed back and forth between Germany and France repeatedly since Charlemagne died. It's now the home of the European Council and the European Court of Human Rights which is a nice result for a town that has been the prize of a tug-a-war for centuries.<br />
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I stayed in a very cute hotel in the Cathedral square.<br />
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The only problem was this;<br />
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Less than 100 feet away were 16 cathedral bells that rang every 15 minutes....starting at 7:00 am. Seriously! Every 15 minutes. Apparently the Vatican hasn't figured out that we've all got time devices of our own now. Other than that, this 900 year old cathedral was really gorgeous with pink stone and odd animal statues interspersed with the gargoyles. <br />
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I took the walking tour.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old girl's school</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old City fortifications</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fisherman's wharf</td></tr>
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The guide talked all lot about the struggle between Germany and France with the tour ending in Republic Square with this war memorial.<br />
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The female character represents Strasbourg while the two nude males represent all the dead from both Germany and France. They're nude to show that in death it doesn't matter which side they were on. Strasbourg mourns for them all.<br />
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On the tour, I met an interesting woman from the UK who is working at the Human Rights Court and we had dinner together in Petite France.<br />
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Petite France is the original city and was eventually turned into a hospital/brothel for syphilis patients. So French! Now it's just beautiful with tiny cobblestone streets and wooden framed houses.</div>
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On the other end of the scale, here's the European Human Rights Court that I saw while taking a boat tour of the Ill River<br />
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It probably doesn't hurt that it's sunny and 22 degrees but I really like Strasbourg. I'll have to come back one year for their Christmas Market. Tomorrow I'm off to Dijon for some wine tasting.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-39777947031428878742014-10-30T09:34:00.003-07:002014-10-30T09:34:54.788-07:00The Palais GarnierI didn't intend to but I accidentally left 'the best for last' by making the Paris Opera House my last stop in Paris. It was fantastic! Designed for a contest by Charles Garnier in the 1860s and finished in 1875, this building has all the French opulence that anyone could want as well as some great stories to go with it. Because the English tour was sold out, I toured with the audio guide which turned out good as it was the only good audio guide I've used in the whole city. It gave me a comprehensive explanation of each area as I walked through and provided extra information if I wanted it. It also included interesting tidbits of historical events at the opera. <br />
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The grand staircase was designed to show off the ladies' dresses to their best. <br />
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It's a dramatic entrance made up of more than 9 different marbles and decorative lines on every surface. Above it are balconies which people can stand and watch who's coming and going.<br />
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Then you go through the dramatic entrance to the box seats, lined with red velvet 'to flatter and bring out the youth in ladies faces' according to Garnier.</div>
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In 1964, the Opera House commission the famous Chagall painting on the ceiling, which was actually the only thing I didn't like in the place. It looked, to me, a bit like a 10 year old had done it with crayons.<br />
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Between the acts, the audience could enjoy the salon and some drinks or food. Elaborate tapestries adorn the walls showing what was available.</div>
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There were also busts of famous actors, including this one of the most famous French actress who played Gisele, which after seeing a million Madonnas in the museums, was a breath of fresh air.<br />
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Then, the piece de la resistance, the grand salon. <br />
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This place was built so the women would sit safely in the boxes and the other rooms were for the men only but on the opening night, the Queen of Spain couldn't contain her curiosity and wandered all over the place, making it acceptable for women to mingle with the men for the first time in history.<br />
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If you have one day in Paris, go here.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-67821746208481994382014-10-28T09:21:00.001-07:002014-10-28T09:21:17.841-07:00The most horrendous tourist trap in the worldCan you guess what I'm talking about?<br />
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Versailles, of course.<br />
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This was the only really unpleasant day I've had here. I came early by metro to avoid the line and they weren't really too bad with about a 30 minute total to get in and get my audio guide. As I was leaving, the line had to be at least 3 hours long if not longer so it was worth coming early.<br />
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The unpleasantness started as soon as I started the tour. There were so many people stuffed into the rooms that you couldn't turn around in some of them. I was pushed, shoved and elbowed repeatedly. In addition, the audio guide was really limited with almost no information. This has been the case with almost all of the audio guides I've gotten here so I'm guessing that they just don't know how to do it well.<br />
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In addition, due to the revolution, there is almost nothing authentic left in the Palace. It's all reproductions and guesswork and there isn't very much of that either...bare rooms with elaborate gilt and painted ceilings. Don't get me wrong, the ceilings are amazing but not worth 3 hours in line.<br />
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I'm also going to have a little rant about Asian tour companies here. I don't blame Asians for wanting to see the sights like the rest of the world but I do blame the Asian tour companies for running groups of 30+ people through these places at high speed and forcing everyone else to get out of their way. It's been an issue at almost all of the Parisian sites I've been to but Versailles was completely out of control. I can't imagine that the poor tourists are really getting anything out of it at the speed they're being rushed through and the rest of us weren't impressed either.<br />
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That being said, here are a few images.<br />
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The gardens really were worth seeing but, unfortunately, I picked the first day of wintery weather and I couldn't stay outside for more than 30 minutes. Oddly, they had covered most of the statuary and turned off all the fountains so it wasn't at it's full potential but the place is massive at 240 acres so it's impressive enough without the extras.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-72466528695306939132014-10-28T08:54:00.001-07:002014-10-28T08:54:06.134-07:00ShoppingOne of the oldest department stores in the world...very nice! I bought some souvenirs here as they had a good selection at not bad prices.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-40587818247740759482014-10-28T08:51:00.001-07:002014-10-28T08:51:51.420-07:00Musee D'Orsay vs. The LouvreI wish I had started my trip here with a guided tour of the Musee D'Orsay. It is a much better experience than the Louvre and deals mainly with French painting from 1850 onwards. The guide was excellent and explained the history of French painting so that I now get why Van Gogh and Manet were supposedly brilliant compared to their predecessors. There aren't any photos allowed of the museum or art but I did get a couple of the cafes inside the converted train station/museum.<br />
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Another great aspect of this museum is that it's laid out in a chronological order with special rooms for certain artists of the period. Very logical and easy to understand. You can start on one side and finish on the other. There were nicely placed signs in English to explain about the different art movements and how they came about. Well done!<br />
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This Renoir was my favorite painting...in fact, I think it's my favorite of all the paintings I've seen in Paris.<br />
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I also went back to the Louvre to explore the paintings. <br />
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I have two complaints about the Louvre (besides the massive tour groups pushing and shoving their way around). The first is the lack of cohesiveness about the exhibits. Turn a corner and you're surrounded by entirely different type of art with no real connection. Also, you spend a lot of time retracing your steps due to one-way corridors and dead ends which is tiresome. <br />
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My second complaint is that the Louvre doesn't really have that great of a collection outside of the French artists. Sure, they've got the tiny Mona Lisa and two of Michelangelo's statues but all of my favorite Italian and Dutch painters were poorly represented with second-rate paintings. After seeing the best work in their countries of origin, I could have easily skipped the majority of the Louvre. There is also the issue that, being Catholic, the majority of work collected by the museum seems to be religious in nature. <br />
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That being said, I did enjoy seeing some of the French art. <br />
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and I discovered Thomas Gainsborough who I had heard of but had never seen.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-64399875576740985472014-10-25T10:54:00.000-07:002014-10-25T10:54:05.395-07:00Rodin and NapoleanIt was a decent day so I decided to go for an outdoor museum experience and headed to the Rodin Museum. The museum is located at Rodin's last address, the Hotel Biron which he saved from demolition by donating his sculptures. The large pieces are out in the gardens and some of the smaller casts and marbles are inside the hotel. It was only 6 euros to get in as it's the only non-state run museum in the city. Most of the others are costing between 9 and 12 euros for the basic ticket.<br />
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Of course, there was the famous 'Thinker' with the Eiffel tower to his back.<br />
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Also, I had seen The Kiss outside of the Museum Orangeries and they had the marble here in the museum. Apparently he made over 300 versions of The Kiss. He would draw an image or sculpt it in marble or clay and then eventually make a bronze. <br />
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It was worth the visit and a nice walk through the gardens. I even saw a cute little bunny hoping around.<br />
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As the tomb of Napoleon is located next door, I wandered over to have a look. Unfortunately, you can only visit by buying a ticket to the Army Museum which was as dreadful as I had feared. Room after room of armor, swords and canons. <br />
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The tomb is as overdone and ornate as they come...bringing to mind pharaohs and roman emperors.<br />
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I really wouldn't advise wasting your time here unless you have some obsession with military history or medieval knight's clothing.<br />
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I did see a military funeral taking place in the main courtyard so the place is obviously still in use by the army. I was rather horrified to see tourists filming the funeral and taking photos and I have to wonder how lacking in common compassion people have become that they could blithely take vacation snaps of some family's grief.<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-49278208117288666062014-10-23T04:45:00.001-07:002014-10-23T04:52:08.482-07:00Sharon's last daySadly, Sharon's husband would like her back so I've had to say good-bye. We had a great visit and enjoyed hanging out in Paris. <br />
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Our favorite vacation pastime...eating. Oh, who am I kidding, this is our favorite pastime anywhere.<br />
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Here we are on the Eiffel Tower. It was very windy but it only took us 15 minutes of lining up to get to the second floor so it was worth it. A bit of a grey day for the view but it really gives you a good idea of the city's layout. I would recommend buying your tickets online and printing them to skip the lines...that goes for everything in Paris.</div>
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Here I am walking away from the Eiffel tower which I seem to be grumpy about.</div>
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We also went to the Pompidou Museum of Modern Art. Here is a wall of globes with duct tape protuberants representing the violence in that part of the world. I liked some of the art, like this one, but some just completely escaped me. </div>
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I wish it wasn't going to be so long until we see each other again but at least we'll always have Paris...and Malta...and Athens...and Dubai :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-497392299844946362014-10-23T04:26:00.000-07:002014-10-23T04:26:54.998-07:00More interesting things you see in ParisI've come to the conclusion that all the nasty things people say about Parisians are just not true or not true anymore. I've been here for three weeks now and the worst that's happened to me have been two incidents of 'Sorry, I don't speak English' polite shakes of the head. Almost everyone in the tourist industry, including the door men at all the museums, speak enough English to help and they've been wonderful. The ladies at my local patisserie are very patient with my pathetic attempts to order things in French and the grocery clerks smiled indulgently when I take a few moments to count out my unfamiliar coins. Even the much maligned waiters have been friendly.<br />
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I've also come to the conclusion that Parisian women are much better looking and better dressers than their male counterparts. This was pointed out to me by my brother-in-law, Mark and I've been paying attention since then. He was right. The men mostly seem to have thrown on what ever clothing was laying on the floor that morning while the women really put some work into it. <br />
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Here's an excellent example...check out the heels and the color co-ordination with the scooter!<br />
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Here's a bizarre thing that I keep seeing; brides walking around getting their photos wedding photos taken.</div>
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Of course in the 'city of love' I guess some brides should be expected...especially on those love-lock bridges. They'd better hurry up for those photos because the city is replacing the chain fences on the bridges with glass to stop the heavy locks from dragging the bridges into the river.<br />
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Speaking of the river, there are a ton of house boats on the river. They're actually real boats though, not houses that float. Here's one with a float car on board. <br />
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I don't think I would like to live on these houseboats. In the summer, there are a ton of tourists taking pictures of you and in the winter, it would be damp and cold. They are very romantic looking though.<br />
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Not so romantic are the self-cleaning toilets around the city. I guess it's better than peeing on the street!<br />
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Back to the romantic with lovely sculpture around the city...free for all to enjoy. Here is Rodin's 'Kiss' just sitting in a park.<br />
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Or if you prefer, there are street performers and odd people everywhere.<br />
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If you look closely at this picture, you can see that there are a lot of people sitting on the stairs just beyond the bubbles. Sharon and I joined them and got a free show from four dancer/comedians. We did donate to the tip collection at the end but they were worth it.<br />
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Here's an oddity that I just couldn't resist taking a picture of. Everyone knows how the rats spread disease in Paris during the black death of the middle ages and I guess they've continued to be a problem for the city. Here's a company that brags about their contribution to the demise of these pests in very literal way.<br />
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Some of these rats hanging in the window were huge...glad I didn't see any in person. <br />
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Another odd thing that I've noticed about Paris is that the homeless people all have animals. At least one if not more. The animals all seem well cared for and healthy. I guess they're great company and a lot of people stop to pet them when they put money in the cups/hats provided. I was surprised by the amount of people who seem homeless. A lot of them seem older so I wonder if there is a problem with French pensions or if it's a case of mental health issues not being met. I can't imagine what they do when it gets cold. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-12446965658723132882014-10-16T23:23:00.000-07:002014-10-16T23:23:04.002-07:00Sharon's here!The day after Mark left, Sharon arrived. It's great to see her and I realized how much I'm missing my friends in the UAE. We've been visiting small museums and eating way too many pastries so it's been fantastic.<br />
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We've been eating near St. Michel's street where it's a bit cheaper. There are 'menu' options for 10 to 12 euros that have an appetizer, main dish and desert. I've been doing a comparison of 'French' onion soup at all of them.<br />
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We also saw a quartet perform at the Sainte Chappel for 30euros. The cathedral was gorgeous and we both loved the music.<br />
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It was a great night to be out walking.<br />
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We visited the museum of the Medieval Age and saw the magnificent Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. You can't tell by the picture but they were huge and really popped off the wall.<br />
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Yesterday, we took a train out to Giverny is Normandy to see Claude Monet's home and garden. There was a convenient bus at the train station to take us to the adorable village of Giverny and the village is basically a museum for the turn of the 20th century.<br />
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His house made me think that it must have been a really happy place. All the rooms were painted in bright colors with art from his contemporaries and the kitchen, in particular, was cozy with a huge table for all their kids. Tons of light from the large windows with views on the garden.</div>
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The pond with the famous water lilies.</div>
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When we got back we decided to take a look at the Eiffel tower as neither of us had seen it all lit up on the hour.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-38226486577835678982014-10-13T06:32:00.004-07:002014-10-13T06:32:58.354-07:00Random Saturday picsOn Mark's last day, we visited the Museum Jacquarte Andre which was the home of a wealthy couple from the turn of the 20th century. They were extravagant art collectors and world travelers so it was fun to see how they lived.<br />
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Their house was specially built to display their art which included entire frescos taken off of Italian villas and shipped piece by piece. They also had a relationship with the Louvre and occasionally bought art that the Louvre couldn't afford but that would be saved for the future of France in their collection. <br />
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After that, we wandered a bit. Here is an example of Paris that will stick with me. Take your kid to the grassless park and pay for the swings. It seems this may be where socialism actually went to die.<br />
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I'd been walking by these odd green boxes all along the Seine for a week or so when suddenly, on the weekend, they opened to reveal their contents. Books, paintings, posters and odd souvenirs. </div>
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There are a ton a fountains around the city.<br />
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For dinner, we ended up at a sidewalk café in the Latin Quarter and had a 'menu' deal with appetizer, entrée and desert for 12EUROs which was a very good deal. Excellent onion soup! <br />
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While we were eating, a van pulls up across the way and guys start running around with loaves of bread. It went on for a good 30 minutes as they delivered all over the area. We decided not to think about how many hands may have touched our bread before it reached our table.<br />
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Mark's gone now and Sharon will be arriving this afternoon. It will be good to see her.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-88506986890315146422014-10-13T03:18:00.000-07:002014-10-13T03:18:59.777-07:00Mont St. MichelDown the coast towards Brittany is an odd little island just off the beach where a priest soon to be named St. Aubert decided to build a church after having repeated dreams sent from Michael the archangel in the year 708. Thus began a series of ever growing cathedrals and a small village. Lots of history, wars, monks and pilgrims.<br />
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We came in the morning before it got busy.</div>
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Very cool!</div>
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We took a free tour at the abbey which was fantastic. She told us all about the history as well as walking us through the place. Very worthwhile.</div>
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Noon Mass!</div>
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The cool thing about this place is that when the tide comes in, it's cut off from the mainland. Unfortunately, they had built a permanent causeway in the past to handle the tourists and are just now in the process of clearing away the land and putting in long above-water-walkway. They have already moved the parking off site with shuttle buses and it will be great with the tides coming in out unobstructed when it's all finished.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-67647798899061907562014-10-13T02:39:00.000-07:002014-10-13T02:39:07.300-07:00Other beautiful places in NormandyI really loved Normandy. It may have been the great weather or just the openness of the space but it was lovely.<br />
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We stayed in Bayeux to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry but the whole village was picturesque.<br />
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I really liked the tapestry museum's set up. The audio guide walks you through the whole 70 ft. length explaining the pictures. The only thing that I would have liked more is if they had included some external source material to verify how much of the tapestry was accurate and how much was propaganda because William comes out of the whole thing a little too rosy smelling right down to his horse having the biggest genitalia. <br />
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I don't have any pictures because they weren't allowed but if you want to see more on the tapestry, go to; <a href="http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/">http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/</a><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-28501772479400694712014-10-13T02:18:00.004-07:002014-10-13T02:18:33.769-07:00NormandyMark and I took the train up to Caen and picked up a rental car for a tour around Normandy. We got very luck as the weather was gorgeous and the driving was very easy. <br />
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We headed straight for the coast.<br />
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And to June Beach Centre, which is the Canadian centre that honors and explains the role of Canadian forces on the D-day landing on the beaches of Normandy and the whole war effort.<br />
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The center was extremely lovely and right on the dunes of the beaches where the Canadian soldiers landed.</div>
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I was very impressed with how the information was presented from the old fashioned radios with broadcasts of Hitler, Person and others to the displays chronologically breaking down what was happening throughout the war and on the actual D-day</div>
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These were booths that you could sit in and listen to letters home from soldiers describing their experiences.<br />
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We also took the free tour of the bunkers and beach provided by one of the great staff members at the center.<br />
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It gave us a great understanding of what the events of that day where actually like. Very impressive place that I think every Canadian should visit.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-29319807540822485292014-10-13T01:57:00.001-07:002014-10-13T01:57:53.108-07:00CatacombsSo, I've learned a valuable lesson about Paris on this excursion. Always assume there will a line and ask the door man what time is the best time to avoid the line. I couldn't have imagined that there would be a two hour line up for the catacombs but there was and we stood there for all two hours only to find out that later in the day, there wouldn't have been any line at all. Oh well, lesson learned.<br />
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This is a bizarre place created by Parisians clearing their cemeteries for land development as the city grew. Six million sets of remains were moved down into underground ossuaries and it became a tourist draw in the late 1800s. There were informational signs throughout the tunnels but, oddly, they were all about the geography of the stone rather than the remains or the project. <br />
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All the teeth were missing...wonder where they went? Incidentally, if you're considering visiting, go at 5:30 on a Wednesday or Friday when they're open late.<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-23415526438162132472014-10-13T01:47:00.000-07:002014-10-13T01:47:05.599-07:00Mark's visitMy brother-in-law Mark has come to hang out with me in France for a week. It's fun having someone to explore with. We started out with the Louvre, which in hindsight, may have been over ambitious considering his 15 hour commute to Paris. <br />
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I have to say that I wasn't that impressed with the Louvre. The biggest detractor being their audio guide which is now done on an overly complicated Nintendo 3D game console. They have chosen very few pieces to include information about and then the information is so academic that both Mark and I found ourselves turning it off. <br />
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Of course, the huge collection of seemingly random pieces all in long hallways doesn't lend itself to any sort of narrative and the surging crowds aren't so great either. <br />
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I did see a few pieces that I was looking forward to.<br />
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and, of course, we checkout the Mona Lisa.<br />
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I'll go back again but I'm going to try a book and a private tour as alternatives.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-89198611182714736562014-10-07T13:22:00.001-07:002014-10-07T13:22:17.847-07:00Pere Lachaise CemetaryIt was a gloomy Sunday so I thought I would spend it wandering the tombstones of Pere Lachaise Cemetery with it's famous occupants. The cemetery was made famous by the moving of Paris's own Romeo and Julliet couple; Heloise and Abelard. Their story was a bit rougher as Heloise fell in love with the much older Abelard and got pregnant. Her father had Abelard castrated and they both ran off to live separate sad lives. They finally got together in this lovely cemetery.<br />
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Of course, I had to find the famous tombs of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde as well. Oscar Wilde's tomb was so unlike what I expected with an abstract flying figure with an oddly Assyrian looking face. There were lipstick kisses all over the tome. The poor guy apparently lost his testicles to vandals but now there is a glass enclosure to make sure that he doesn't get kissed to death...not that ol' Oscar would have minded :)<br />
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Oddest thing I saw in the cemetery was the tree next to Morrison's tomb. It's been covered with chewing gum....no idea why but it's kinda gross.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-57036604120099563812014-10-06T09:01:00.000-07:002014-10-06T09:01:45.487-07:00Passe NavigoWhile researching Paris I came across some info on saving money with the Paris Metro. The residents do not get the same pass as tourists but this pass is legally available to anyone who asks for it. So I did! It's called the Navigo Decouverte and it is much cheaper. Just get your photo taken at the booths in all the stations, go to the information and pay 5euro for the card. Then charge it up with weekly or monthly amounts. Happy to be saving money but even happier not to be standing in line to buy tickets.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840525311327710835.post-6068310843799855632014-10-06T08:57:00.001-07:002014-10-06T08:57:24.889-07:00Notre Dame and Free walking tourI got up early to try to beat the line for the towers at Notre Dame but the lines were down the block 30 minutes before opening. Not really willing to stand in line for more than an hour so I'll try again. I did just walk in as there wasn't a line for that. I also walked around the place and toured the underground archeological site. I was way more impressed with the exterior with it's gothic flying buttresses and gargoyles than with the interior. After Italy's art filled cathedrals, everything else really does suffer in comparison.<br />
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I also took the free walking tour which lasted about 4 hours and almost killed me. My feet went on strike after that but I feel a lot more oriented in the city and I learned some interesting facts. Our guide took great relish in describing the gruesome deaths of several Parisian historical figures which made it all worthwhile. He also gave some great tips on avoiding lines in places like the Louvre.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0