1 - All
geared up for our French vacation; at home in West Lafayette, IN, USA. Bonjour!
2 - St-Malo
was our first stop after landing at CDG (Charles de Gaulle) airport in Paris. Yes! We headed
straight for St-Malo that very day (06/17/2006). At St-Malo, this cute creperie, La Brigantine, customized
crepes for us with fresh légumes and eggs (oeuf); the classy country
interior was cozy and welcoming!
3 - St-Malo
is a seaport in the Brittany region in
northwestern France.
It is situated on the English Channel and on the right bank of the estuary of
the Rance River. The old walled city stands on a
granite islet that is joined to the mainland by an ancient causeway and by an avenue
bridging the inner harbor. In the 17th & 18th centuries, Saint-Malo derived
prosperity from its navigators, traders, and privateers, including popularity
from the feats of the 16th-century French navigator, Jacques
Cartier. The town was three-fourths destroyed during World War II, but it has
been rebuilt, keeping intact the winsome charm of the old world. The
12th–17th-century Church of Saint-Vincent, previously the cathedral, was
damaged in World War II but has undergone restoration work. We visited the
church and also saw the tomb of Jacques Cartier there!
4 - Petite
déjeuner
(breakfast) in the cellars of Hotel Elizabeth, St-Malo, Brittany.
The hotel was a 16th-century town house built into the city wall,
with sophisticated decors and amiable hosts.
5 - St-Malo’s
city ramparts. It is hard not to think of the adventures and mis-adventures abounding
in the spirit of this pirates' city!
6 - At
the edge of the ramparts is this 15th century chateau, whose great
keep and watchtowers provide an impressive view of the harbor and coastline.
7 - We
are back from the "Bastille of Brittany",
the Fort National, a massive fortress accessible
only during low tide. We were told to get back toward the shores, water already
pouring in from all over!
8 - Battalions
of tourists invade this quaint little Bretagne
town during the summer months.
9 - Brittany
Ferries cross the English Channel and can get you to Portsmouth, England.
The English Channel, French: La Manche,
is a narrow arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern coast of England from the northern coast of France.
10 - Thanks
to our France Saverpass,
traveling was made real easy in France!
Here’s the train that took us from St-Malo to Bayeux
via Caen. Btw,
the France
Saverpass webpage has an important clause: “Make sure you really like each
other's company - With this pass you must stay together at all times”. http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/passes/france_saverpass.htm
11 - The
fishing port of Port-en-Bessin,
Normandy.
12 - Port-en
Bessin!
13 - The
Normans are
notoriously heavy eaters. Their famed calvados (apple brandy) is a great
traditional drink and ubiquitous in all their bistros and cafes. Fish and
seafood lovers can feast on oysters, lobsters, and shrimps–not your “dainty”
shrimp, peeled and processed, by the way! Silhouetting against the background
of this landscape is the epitomized Norman village, that Marie Antoinette tried
to simulate in her hamlet in Versailles, where she was the faux shepherdess
taking care of her perfumed sheep; wake up and smell the coffee Queenie Marie!
14 - FYI,
The largest of the D-Day assault areas, Omaha
Beach stretched over 10 km (6 miles)
between the fishing port of Port-en-Bessin on the east and the mouth of the Vire River
on the west.
15 - Pointe
du hoc: where the pock-marked terrain and the barbed-wire cliffs bear testimony
to the D-Day landings of 1944.
16 - 17th-
century Manoir du Carel, set halfway
between Bayeux
and the sea, was our base for exploring the D-Day beaches.
17 - We
drove our rented Peugeot to Mont-St-Michel to join droves of tourists! But, the
Mont was by
itself unmistakably elegant with our very witty Irish guide helping us
assimilate the charms of this rocky islet and famous sanctuary.
18 - The
cars could be swept away by the sea while the charmed tourists find their way
into the charming sanctuary of centuries! Beware!
19 - We
finally stroll the streets of Paris,
mingling with the trendy Parisians with our broken French and unbroken sense of
adventure!
20 - Paris goes "Smart"!
21 - Thirty
second Louvre watch from Captaine
Francaise sailing on the River Seine, Paris.
22 - Cruising
across the Seine; it is the second longest river
of France, after the Loire River.
The fertile centre of its basin in the Île-de-France was the cradle of the
French monarchy and the nucleus of the expanding nation-state and is still its
heartland and metropolitan region.
23 - The
fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, signaled the beginning of the French
Revolution. The square of the Bastille (Bastille Square) was created later, in
1803. Today, the only monument still gracing the square is the 52 meters tall,
Colonne de Juillet (July Column), created by d'Alavoine. The top is adorned by
a winged, gilded figurine representing the Spirit of Liberty.
24 - Victor
Hugo’s tall desk where he mused and wrote, Victor Hugo’s home, Paris.
25 - Fouquet's
jewelry shop in the Carnavalet Museum, Paris.
26 - Notre
Dame Cathedral, Paris. This is where Victor Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame”
was set.
27 - Strolling
around the pretty isles of Paris–the
city of cathedrals and museums.
28 - Claude
Bernard heralding the facade of College
de France.
29 - Gustave
Eiffel's masterpiece was initially frowned upon by intellectual Parisians, but
then, its splendor shone over the ages, standing erect and gracefully unscathed
by the tremors of time and war!
30 - The
Chateau of Versailles–under
renovation! Versailles was built by Louis the XIVth as a mesmerizing palace
flanked by avenues broader than the Champs-Elysees, to dwarf the provocatively
lavish chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte. It was here that the plight of Marie
Antoinette started unfolding,
culminating in her final death in the gallows of Paris, at the hands of
the seething French revolutionaries of the 18th century.
31 - Marie
Antoinette in Petit Trianon, Versailles!
The extravagant court of Louis the XVI and Marie Antoinette finally led to the
downfall of the Bourbon kings of France.
32 - The
great cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres
(Ile de France) was built in less than thirty years in the mid-13th century,
when high Gothic architecture was at its purest. The cathedral was built to
replace a 12th-century church of which only the crypt, the base of the towers,
and the west facade remain. Remarkable 13th-century stained-glass windows and a
Renaissance choir screen add to the beauty of the edifice. Also, of particular
mysticism is the Sancta Camisia; the
powers of this relic were confirmed in AD 911, when the cloth supposedly saved Chartres from invading
Goths and Vikings. The cloth is believed to have been worn by the Virgin Mary
when she gave birth to Christ.
33 - The
Sancta Camisia, preserved behind glass, in the Chartres Cathedral.
Merci, A bientôt!
Somali
Chaterji
References:
Traveling across France–Anecdotes & Recollections–Saurabh &
Somali, Summer of 2006 J
http://www.britannica.com/
Fodor’s France 2006
Let’s Go France 2005