I’m Getting Ahead Of Myself

There are a few more notables from our trip to Paris that I want to mention before I go on…

For this trip we stayed in Versailles and to be frank, our drive there was a nightmare. We hit Parisian rush hour traffic and since we had to drive around a good part of the city to get to Versailles, it was much longer than an hour. In fact, a trip that should have taken 4 hours took closer to 6. Blech. (There was one near-highlight though – we saw paparazzi with giant cameras zipping in and out of lanes of traffic on scooters, which made me uber-curious about just who was also stuck in traffic that was photo-worthy! Never found out though.) By the time we got to the hotel we were tired and hungry so for the first time ever we got room service. Woo-hoo!

A few other interesting pics from Paris: Check out the car parked on the back of this houseboat on the Seine!

There is so much beauty in Paris and here’s another example: This rooster embellishment on a lamp pole. I just learned that the rooster is the national bird of France! (Insert joke about French culture here.)

The first time we were in Paris we could smell cotton candy (barbe à papa) but just could not find the source. Andrew settled for this lollipop instead. This time he was determined that he would get cotton candy! We found it, and dare I saw that it was worth the wait? That thing is HUGE!

We wandered through this lovely market.

I find this somewhat amusing: in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower my children are most happy playing on a playground! 

 

We enjoyed staying in Versailles. We were about a mile from the train station and we passed by two war memorials in that short walk. I cannot fathom the losses that Europe experienced during the early part of the 20th century and the reminders are always close by.

While I was running the boys wandered around the palace of Versailles. It was too crowded to tour the building in the short time they had but the gardens are equally amazing and a little more kid-friendly.

Wouldn’t this be a great place for a triathlon? That canal would be perfect for the swim.

Au Revoir, Versailles, I hope to be back someday!

Read Full Post »

A Quick Visit to a Quaint City: Strasbourg, France

Whenever we’re road-tripping from Point A to Point B we like to check out what we might see along the way. When Point A is Paris, France and Point B is Garmisch, Germany the trip could very possibly take more than the 9 hours and 8 minutes that Google Maps says it will take because there is a lot to see. (This is especially true when you leave Point A at 1 o’clock in the afternoon after running 10 miles.) All in all the trip took us about 16 hours because we spent the night in lovely Strasbourg, France. If we didn’t have to be in Garmisch by 7pm I could have stayed for days.

Why Strasbourg? I’d heard it was nice and it was about halfway. It was quite beautiful and we’d love to go back again! Right after a bike ride for Jeremy and a lovely French breakfast we headed for a brisk walk around the historic district, including Petit France.

We were on a tight schedule so we didn’t get to take a boat tour but we did see a canal in action!

Since I grew up near the Erie Canal I think that understanding the engineering and mechanism of a canal lock is essential cultural literacy! Okay, maybe I won’t go quite that far, but I do think it is cool. I will refrain from explaining it all in this blog but you can get the whole scoop here. Or just visit Explore & More in East Aurora, NY and check out the hands-on, functional, waterless model of a canal that they have – or at least they did have once – I haven’t been there in a while.

It took about 15 minutes for the boat to move through the lock. All the while I was staring at this green and brown house and I was overcome with a craving for mint chocolate chip ice cream. Too bad there weren’t any ice cream shops open at 9am.

Even though we didn’t stop to play at the playground (I did say it was a quick visit) the boys indulged my requests for photos and smiles. We were in such a hurry the photo is blurry.  

Strasbourg is in the Alsace region of France, right on the German border, so the style is German and French and maybe a little Swiss mixed in also.

Here is a famous resident of Strasbourg: Johannes Gutenberg. He created his printing press while living in Strasbourg.

It was too early to do too much shopping – except for this store. Ever since I read this post I’ve wanted to visit this store but I have shied away from dragging my family there because I’m a bit outnumbered. I was so excited to see that La Droguerie has locations all over France (and even in Japan!) Photographs are not allowed inside but trust me when I say this is a crafty girl’s dream. Fabric, yarn, beads, buttons, patterns, ribbon…yes, please!

What else is there to see in nearly every European city? A cathedral, of course! Here’s what is unique about this one: It is made of pinkish sandstone, and it is constantly being renovated. (Apparently Strasbourg has some of the most polluted air in France and all that smog does a number on the building.) We learned that there are several dozen craftsmen and apprentices who seek out sandstone pieces that match the sandstone used in the cathedral, and are working to keep the building in tip-top condition.

There’s also an archeological dig going on just outside the chapel. I wonder if they’ve found anything interesting.

The cathedral was built in the late-Gothic style so there are plenty of similarities to other Cathedrals we’ve seen but it is still beautiful in its own right.

Here’s the interior view. I could probably get better photos in low-light settings like these if I brought a tripod, but since they are not usually allowed in cathedrals just don’t enlarge this photo and maybe no one will notice that it’s blurry.

This is a sculpture called “Christ on the Mount of Olives.” Someone is either big on conserving electricity or smart about money management, because we had to put 20 cents into a machine to make the lights go on. No kidding!

This is called the Pillar of Angels. Someone had already put 20 cents in for these lights so I got to take this photo for free.

This clock is what the cathedral is most famous for. It was quite advanced for it’s time and it keeps not only time but dates, including leap years and equinoxes, as well as moon phases, planetary motion, and solar time.  Apparently it could determine the date for Easter which is pretty remarkable considering that the date for Easter is “the Sunday that follows the fourteenth day of the moon that falls on March 21 or immediately after.” If we had stayed until 12:30 we would have seen figures parade around. They are automatons, just like in the movie Hugo! Ah, next time – along with a boat ride, more shopping, another visit La Droguerie, a stop at the Art Deco museum, a visit to the European Union headquarters, a search for some storks…I think we’ll need at least a week.

Read Full Post »

Race Report: Paris-Versailles 16K

I’m forgoing my usual chronological order of blog posts to report on last weekend’s race! If I were to blog things in order, at my current pace I’d be sharing this in about, ah, December and at that point it wouldn’t exactly be timely. So here goes…

“La Grande Classique” took place on Sunday, September 30th. It is a 16 kilometer race, which is roughly 10 miles for the non-metric readers. It is a one-way race, with the start in Paris and the finish in the city of Versailles. We opted to stay in Versailles so I got up early on Sunday and took the train in to Paris.

How about a nice warm-up at Champ de Mars?

As the sun began to rise the crowds gathered at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Beautiful!

Three friends from our home in Germany were also running, but I only met up with Laura. Please disregard our attire – I assure you, those shirts were only temporary. It was only in the 40′s at the start – we chucked those beauties just before we started. (I did pause momentarily at the loss of my “Biloxi” shirt – that was my second race ever and I actually got a trophy in my age group! Oh the memories….)

With over 22,000 runners, the start was staggered. The first group of 350 people started at 10:00am, and every minute 350 more runners started. We started around 10:30. The runners were not grouped by pace at all. I feared I’d be trampled or squished, but it all worked out.

Like the Amsterdam half-marathon, I decided to run with a camera to document the race. And like Amsterdam, the pace of the race and the crowds prevented me from stopping to take any super quality shots, but here’s what I’ve got. I don’t have a fancy camera that also makes phone calls and surfs the net, just an old Sanyo that I think we rescued from the lost and found.

The race shirts were bright red for women and bright orange for men. (It was interesting to me that men outnumbered women more than 3 to 1 for this race!) The runners were very colorful – not just with race shirts, but also it seems that florescent is “in” for running attire.

My least favorite part of the course was this tunnel! The huge exhaust fans were very loud. I was happy when we got out of there. I know this is a horrible photo. Taking a low-light photograph while running is just beyond the capabilities of my little digital camera.

Here’s the elevation map for the race. Do kilometers 6-8 look scary? They were. The course went through surburban Paris, with plenty of apartment buildings, office complexes, and shops. There were bands playing classical music along the route for entertainment.

This photo might capture that little hill. This doesn’t seem too steep, until it goes on for several kilometers, with twists and turns that give false hope that the end is near when it really isn’t.

After a few more neighborhoods we ran through a lovely shaded nature preserve. Refreshments were served along the way! The menu was decidedly low-tech: water, sugar cubes, raisins, and orange slices. The water was bottled and I think I should practice opening and consuming bottled water while running. It proved to be a bit difficult, but the camera survived. I sure hope they recycled all those empty bottles – those are the white blogs in the lower right corner of the photo.

Finally we approached the city of Versailles. These photos are actually in focus because they were taken by my adoring fans (Jeremy and the boys.)

I picked up my medal and bag-o-snacks, turned in my timing chip, and rushed back to the hotel so I could shower and check out. Au revoir, Paris et Versailles!

Read Full Post »

Wish I Was There!

After our visitors left the boys and I packed our bags and jumped on an airplane to London, then Washington, D.C., then my childhood home in upstate New York. For a brief moment I was quite sad for my dear husband who was home all alone without us. That quickly turned to jealousy as he hit the road with a friend of his to see the TOUR DE FRANCE!

This year the Tour began in Liege, Belgium, which is quite close to where we live, and continued through northeastern France.

It is well known that the Tour is a cycling race. Spectators get to see much more than some riders whizzing by. Before the pelaton arrives the caravan comes through – a spectacle of advertising on wheels. It is reminiscent of a Mardi Gras parade, complete with items thrown to the crowd.

A wide variety of products are a part of the parade.

Then finally, a cyclist arrives!

Then lots of cyclists

Then the support vehicles…and it’s over.

Jeremy saw two stages of the Tour – stages 5 and 6. These photos are a compilation from those two days. The first day was all about learning where to be and what to do. The second day he saw more of the actual race. Though Jeremy loves cycling, he acutally aspires to drive one of the caravan vehicles. My dream is to get to the race – but we’ll have to wait and see where the Tour is in 2013.

Read Full Post »

Puttin’ On The Metz

One city that has been on my DEROS list since we arrived is Metz, France. Strangely, I’ve  found very little about the city in travel guidebooks. I only knew of it because of my BIL. As far as I can tell, Metz is known for two things: a Cathedral and a huge flea market. There once was a Smurf-themed amusement park called Schlumpfland but I was sad to learn that it is now closed.

Since we were travelling with a Metz-pert we made a quick trip there on our way home from Trier. It wasn’t exactly on the way, especially when someone threw in a quick stop at a Trappist brewery in Belgium, but it was close enough.

The must-see stop in Metz is also a can’t-miss (because it is HUGE): The Cathedral, St. Etienne de Metz. Here are some of its superlatives: Tallest nave in France; 10th tallest nave in the world; largest expanse of stained glass windows in the world. FYI, the nave is the portion of the church where the congregation sits during the service. BIL, an architect by vocation, spent a good chunk of his summer here in 1996, drawing, measuring and studying the cathedral under the direction of one his professors. That same summer my sister was in the U.S. so a very long-distance international romance ensued.

We’ve seen our share of cathedrals but this one was impressive. I’m sure having a great tour guide helped.

Compared to many, it seemed quite bright inside.

Like the Cathedral in Reims, there were windows designed by Marc Chagall. I think these were the ones…

This may look like the main entrance

but this side entrance is more commonly used. Part of the Cathedral was damaged during a fireworks display in 1877, forcing some renovation of the entrance. I love how the doors are surrounded by images of saints who have gone before us.

There is a legend about the Cathedral that gave the boys goosebumps and near panic attacks. It is said that St. Clement came to the city when the residents were effectively held captive by snakes with bad breath. (I am not making this up.) St. Clement made the sign of the cross, tamed the snakes, and led them out to the river. The worst of these creatures was a dragon named Graoully. He became a symbol of the town.

In the crypt of the cathedral there is a sign inviting visitors to come meet Graoully. BIL (aka Uncle Chris) convinced the boys that yes, Graoully did in fact live there and he was HUGE. After that there was exactly zero interest in going to the crypt. Against their will we all went to the crypt. The boys were relieved and astonished to see just how small Graoully (a mere model!) was, especially when compared to how Uncle Chris had described him. They concluded that Uncle Chris must have terrible eyesight.

We had lunch in town – the local favorite, Quiche Lorraine for some of us, and Le Subway for some other less adventurous eaters. (If it is any consolation, I did order the subs completely in French.)

Metz is the quintessential French town, with plenty of boulangeries and pâtisseries.

There is a memorial to those lost in war. The city was liberated on November 22, 1944, by the 20th U.S. Army Corps of the 3rd American Army under General Patton. (That’s how I translate it anyhow.)

And coming soon to Metz in July 2012: the Tour de France. At least one of us will be back for that, and someday (I hope!) the flea market.

Read Full Post »

Je Vais à Disneyland!

(Or more accurately, since I am writing this nearly 2 months later, “Je suis allé à Disneyland!”)

I had one of those “milestone” birthdays this year (what is it with modern society and the obsession with multiples of 10?) and for months I told my gift-giving inner circle that the only thing I wanted was a trip to Disneyland Paris. That should be easy enough! No worry that an internet order will arrive on time; no trying to convert clothing sizes from European to American; no shopping trips to buy diamonds in Antwerp. Just a simple trip to Disneyland.

I will admit it: I LOVE Disneyland. I don’t love Disney, and I don’t necessarily love amusement parks (though we have been to a few since we’ve been here – like Europa Park and Legoland) but Disneyland is one of my favorite places. As a child whenever we’d visit my Grandmother we’d spend a day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. That day it was all about the rides, meeting Mickey Mouse, eating at restaurants for lunch and dinner plus snacks, and even getting a souvenir. It really was the happiest place on earth!

Disneyland Paris is about a 4 hour drive from home (or more, if a major road is closed and a GPS cannot be convinced to find an alternate route.) We stayed at a partner hotel, which meant it was family friendly and quite close (with a free shuttle to the park) but not actually owned or operated by Disney. The weather was not great – intermitten downpours both days – but we made the best of it.

We rode plenty of rides. Andrew’s favorite was Thunder Mountain Railroad. Lesson learned here: Go for the Fast Pass and the baby switch. We don’t have a baby, but we do have one kid who doesn’t like roller coasters. The baby switch allows one parent to ride while the other waits at the exit. When the first is done they switch and the second parent gets to jump to the front of the line. In the case of a popular ride like this one, it saves hours.

Thomas’s favorite ride was Star Tours. We had a old VHS tape of Disney Sing-A-Long-Songs that featured Disneyland, and this ride was on it. He thought it was pretty cool that he got to ride the actual ride. I thought it was a bonus that there was virtually no line.

Also in “Discovery Land” (which is known as “Tomorrow Land” back at the Disneyland of my childhood) was Space Mountain. We did the baby switch on this one too since neither of our kids were tall enough to ride. Loved it!

We had to ride Dumbo – it’s a classic, even if the movie isn’t on my kids’ top 10 list.

In my mind I kept comparing this Disneyland to the Disneyland of my youth. There were many similarities – like this Autopia ride – but obviously things had changed. The last time I was at Disneyland California was nearly 15 years ago, my memory could be a bit foggy, and of course there are cultural differences. However, I expected the food to be better, especially since we were in France. (Maybe my palate as a child was not so discerning?) Also, I remember more performers – like barbershop quarters and jazz combos – out and about and we didn’t see much of that. Sadly, at this Disneyland they don’t sell the Mickey Mouse ears with free personalization! Bummer!

We had a two day Park Hopper pass and the second day we went back to Disneyland to hit our favorite rides and the ones we missed. Then we went next door to Walt Disney Studios. We were initially impressed – check out the Hollywood sign. It looked so realistic!

However, we didn’t stay long. We went to one of the shows (a movie with some special effects). We wandered around a bit, but two of the rides we wanted to go on were not operating and others had really long lines. It seemed quite crowded and congested. I remembered wise words told to me – it is better to leave while everyone is still having fun. On that note, we bid Disneyland “Adieu!” and headed back home.

Here’s my final analysis: Disney was great and I had a fabulous birthday. I expected that there would be more things here that were uniquely French – like maybe  berets with Mickey Mouse ears or Mickey Mouse shaped crepes – but there were not. Even the Woody doll sold in the gift shop spoke English when I pulled the string. Perhaps that is because when Europeans go to Disney they want to get a taste of America. Either way, this mini-vacation was enjoyed by all.

Read Full Post »

Reims Rhymes With France?

Monday morning we had planned to go to the Marche Aux Puces de St. Ouen, since searching for buried treasure (even at flea markets) is a pastime of Jeremy’s. However, the market didn’t open until 11 and we tend to be the up -and-at-’em type. We decided to hit the road but not before looking to see what notable stops were along the way. We decided to go through the Champagne region of France and make a stop in the city of Reims. According to Rick Steves, Reims rhymes with France.  I know I’m not fluent in French but personally I have my doubts. I’m not saying Rick is lying, I’m just saying I don’t get it.

We drove past this Roman gate (Porte Mars) on our way through town.

This is the Champagne region of France so I had aspirations of a tour in the Champagne caves. Sadly, we were off-season so there were limited tours and they did not fit into our schedule. We did buy some bubbly though.

The next stop was an unassuming building which was Eisenhower’s headquarters (in France) during World War II. It was also the location of the German surrender and there is a small museum commemorating the event.

This is exactly where General Jodl sat and waved the white flag (figuratively speaking, of course.)

The walls were still covered with maps. Imagine the challenge of planning a war without computers, GPS, and modern communication devices!

We visited another Cathedrale Notre-Dame, which looks like the cousin of the Parisian one. It is notable for being the site of the coronation of many French kings.

It is showing its age a bit – after all it is about 900 years old.

I loved seeing these modern stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall in the 20th century. Gorgeous!

This building was quite chilly. Those vaulted ceilings are probably not energy efficient.

After seeing the sights we had lunch at a local cafe and then headed home!

Read Full Post »

Arc de Triomphe

We hit our last stop in Paris with two tired and hungry boys. However, once arrived at our destination and emerged from the metro station beneath they were instantly energized. Who wouldn’t be at a sight like this:

The first challenge was crossing what is probably the world’s craziest roundabout. There is an underground walkway but somehow we didn’t see it right away and we walked nearly halfway around before finding it. (Sorry kids!)

One thing that is not obvious from photographs is that the Arc(h) is almost a historical document, covered with images of great battles and the names of those who fought for the French. The names are the generals; those underlined perished in battle.

We once again used the Museum Pass and headed to the top. We climbed a lot of stairs in our 2 days of sightseeing!

The view did not disappoint. I would have loved to stay on top until the Eiffel Tower was lit up, but cold, tired and hungry won out.

Here is the famous Champs d’Elysees. We didn’t buy anything. We only did some very long-distance window shopping.

There is an interior of the Arc(h) also. When I saw this scupture I thought of Napoleon – Dynamite, not Bonaparte. I think it is the slack-jawed look that makes me crave some tots.

Another bonus of our late-afternoon visit: We were able to observe part of the evening ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Apparently a different military group does the honors each day. The day’s participants were posing for a group photograph after the wreath-laying was complete.

And so ended our second day of touring Paris. We headed back to our hotel (which was technically within the city of Paris, but was a stone’s throw from the “suburbs”), ate some not-so-French food (Quick Burger was giving away Star Wars toys in their kids’ meals so anything authentic paled in comparison), and slept well after an exhausting (but wonderful) couple of days.

Read Full Post »

Musee Nationale de la Marine

If you haven’t already figured it out, I’m a big fan of the Museum Pass. Besides saving money and time (jump to the front of the queue with a Museum Pass!) it also doubles as a lavatory pass. Got someone who needs a restroom? No problem! Just find a place nearby covered by the Museum Pass and head on inside.

That is what initially got us inside the Marine Museum, but once inside we had a nice hour-long visit and we saw much more than the W.C.

In this case Marine indicates things of the sea, but not sea creatures. There were models, paintings, and artifacts, like this boat. It may look like just a figurehead but the white poles in the background are oars. This entire ship, made for Napoleon, was in the museum.

This figurehead was HUGE. Notice the human head in the lower left corner for a sense of scale.

This was the first museum that we used the audioguides, because they were free. They might have been free other places, but I never had used one and didn’t realize just how great they are! Both boys loved finding something they were interested in, punching in the number, and listening to a complete description – in English!

As a nice follow-up to the Army Museum, there were models of various modern naval military ships.

And as a follow-up to the Louvre there were plenty of paintings of ocean scenes, ships, and battles.

A brief history of undersea exploration was included. This is one of the first diving suits. I’d never thought about the technological challenges of exploring the oceans. It was comparable to space exploration.

When we were finished we got back on the Metro, on our way to our last stop of the day: the Arc de Triomphe.

Read Full Post »

The Eiffel Tower

Now we return to our regularly scheduled blog posts…

After emerging above ground and enjoying deep breaths of fresh air, we continued to walk along the Seine until we arrived at the world famous icon, the Eiffel Tower. We did not go up in the tower – the lines were long, the air was cold, and the elevator was not included in our Museum Pass. Besides, some members of the family were interested in doing other things:

Yes, he’s sitting on a park bench in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, completely engrossed in a graphic novel about the D-Day invasion that he got at the Army Museum bookstore. His brother, on the other hand…

talked me into getting him this giant Eiffel Tower lollipop. What can I say, I’m a sucker for the clever design, even at made-for-tourist prices. We were on the hunt for cotton candy (we could smell it but we just couldn’t find it) but settled for this treat.  Andrew was thrilled that it tasted like cotton candy so it was a win all around!

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the quality of photography in recent posts has been markedly improved. That’s because I’m shooting with my new lens – a 1.4 50mm! (Don’t ask me what that means. I just went with recommendations from other bloggers.) However, this lens is not so great for capturing the scenery. I’m sure there’s a technical term for that – field of view? range?  I could NOT get a picture of the entire tower while we were at the tower. Jeremy joked, “You’ll have to walk about a quarter mile to get the whole thing.”

And he’s right! This is the view from near the Trocadero.

We can now claim “been there” but not quite “done that.” On our next trip to Pairs I hope the weather will be warmer and that we’ll see the view from the top!

 

 

Read Full Post »