Paris a few days later

Friday morning at the Rue Mouffetard, the oldest street in Paris. Sunny clear weather today -it was raining here a few days ago and the atmosphere has improved, obviously. We found a nice little creperie/cafe with a warm generous owner, so returned there today and of course he remembered us. We had a a nice exchange of information about Australian weather and how hot it can get.
Musee d'Orsay was fantastic- a beautiful old train station transformed into a modern space with a wealth of art- paintings and sculpture. The impressionist collection was impressive,although we suspect some of it is probably in Australia right now, or at least being shipped there for an exhibition. Musee Picasso was closed for renovation until 2012 - disappointed!
Our all day metro tickets have been a huge success with both kids enjoying the many rides and the entertainment that sometimes accompanies it - we've seen violinists with no teeth, clarinet and sax duets, 10 piece orchestras playing classical pieces. All this for the price of your ticket and maybe a euro thrown into a paper cup. Formidable!
Off tomorrow to Mont St Michel. Climbing the Eiffel Tower this afternoon. Hope to see the lights at dusk.

Paris

Sunday night : rain
Monday morning clear blue skies, sunshine.
Walking, happy snapping – Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees – all iconic, busy and in full tourist mode. That’s the sights not us. Interesting photographic exhibition on the freezing banks of the Seine. Quite political and global –horrible pollution photos of industrial China, characteristic apartment living in poor areas in urban Brazil and fantasy Japanese shots of a schoolgirl being attacked by a green tentacled refrigerator monster and another being chased by a pink fairy floss tornado. It’s photography month in Paris… so lots of exhibitions around town.
Monday afternoon: chilly, overcast. Glad to get back to the warm camper. Camp ground just a metro and a shuttle bus (15 mins) from Eiffel Tower.
Tuesday: light rain all day
Catacombs closed because of vandalism- pity as we thought 1.7 km of underground tunnels filled with stacks of bones was a perfect dry antidote to rainy weather. Instead we wandered an ancient Roman road, Rue Mouffetard in the rain –some food stalls, designer shops and cafes. Coffees, chocolats chaudes (hot) and crepes and then we hit the Lafayette Galleries (an enormous department store with stunning glass dome and mezzanine levels, as well as a rooftop open terrace with great Parisian rooftop views). Expensive but fun store- a bit like a Harrods, with gourmet food hall and lots of designer clothes.

Blogformatmania.

I wonder if anyone noticed the strange formatting for our blogs on Pisa and Cinque Terre. Interesting reading if you like your sentences cut off at both ends. Hopefully a revised version is a better read.

Loire Valley

Three chateaux starting with “Ch…” Once again we were thwarted by closed camp grounds- earlier than indicated in our guides, but anyway we found a site slightly further away than we had anticipated. A revised schedule found us riding bikes from the little town of Bracieux through the Chambord forest to arrive at the biggest and grandest of the chateaux in the Loire Valley. Architecturally ( and I know what I’m talking about here), Chambord is immense. Double helix staircases spiral and intertwine but never meet, in the main foyer. This was probably a Da Vinci design but is not confirmed. It does however mean that the local brewery makes an excellent amber beer called “Leonardo”. Back to Chambord- the self-guided tour means you can go at your own pace and enjoy the spectacular views of the surrounding forest estate and parklands. The terraces, turrets and domes create a magical silhouette. We enjoyed our own little “picnique” in the grounds and felt like “wealthy land owners”. Even the drop of Italian red wine out of a little “popper” container was excellent.

Our second chateau was Chaumont, situated just above the banks of the Loire River, with a commanding view across the sandy banks and north and south. Perfect to thwart enemies – except for that rather large open section at the back near the stables and gardens. Chaumont is a fairytale shape and has a drawbridge, dungeon and courtyard. It also holds temporary art exhibitions in its many spare rooms. We had the chateau to ourselves and loved it’s intimacy. The furnishings were regal but not overdone and the views out of the windows were lovely- forested parklands and river views. The stables were actually very grand and it appears horses had a pretty good lifestyle – bathing and feeding zones, nice warm shelter, views…

The vegetable garden was impressive and we were also happy to partake in a free degustation of an autumn harvest menu- mostly ingenious combinations, for eg. pumpkin (with caramel sauce), carrot (cake), beetroot ( with cheese), savoury pears (poires de terre). Delicious. The exhibitions of produce were also excellent and displayed the pride the French take in their food. Yes, this was all out the back of the chateau.

Cheneonceaux is probably the best known chateau. It’s arched building straddles the Cher River and it’s formal gardens, and forested area are well-known. The car-park at 4.00pm in the afternoon provided a strong hint that it was going to be busy. It was a Saturday, the French were on holidays, the weather had been good. It started to rain , the crowds remained. Quite a few tourist buses, but generally lot’s of families out for the day. In the gardens it was quite nice but inside the chateau it was wall to wall. The furnishings were impressive if you like that sort of thing- generally over-the-top, lot’s of gold, glass, tiles and portraits. The history of Chenonceaux is actually quite interesting and makes the visit worthwhile. The downstairs servants area and kitchen was well-equipped and an interesting diversion from all that glitter.

Fontainbleaue Chateau is 60km south of Paris. A huge forest estate and park land free for all to go for a walk and wander and wish. Unfortunately the late afternoon rainfall came in right on time and our wander was cut short. The interior tour of the chateaux was free today because it was the first Sunday of the month. This meant that there were possibly even more people interested in history than normally. Large family groups shuffled along following the signs from room to room. They gazed in amazement at the ridiculous amount of decorating that went into ceilings, walls and bedheads and took 10 photos per room with their mobile phone cameras or their SLR cameras with the 40cm lens. The first 10 or so rooms were very impressive and the art work, craftsmanship and quality of the furnishings were amazing. After that the views through the windows to the rain-soaked courtyards and gardens looked increasingly inviting. It became just a bit too much. I think I enjoyed the structure of the buildings and the landscape more than the interior extravaganza.

Unfortunately, the 60km trip to Paris on a rainy Sunday evening took three and a half hours and by the time we reached the camp ground at the Bois de Boulogne we were exhausted. For about 30 mins top speed on the freeway reached 6km/hr. The secondary roads were also clogged- roadwork and weekend traffic causing mayhem. Fun, fun, fun. Still… We’re in Paris now.

Beaune et Vezelay

Beaune has made it on the list of France’s Hot 100 of Beautiful Villages. It is medieval, cobble-stoned, heavily patisseried and shines with colourful geometric tiles on the church rooftops. The shops there also indicate that they attract a wealthy crowd of tourists, although it was relatively quiet when we popped in.

Vezelay is a medieval hilltop town with an impressive abbey at the end of a cobblestone climb up the main street. We enjoyed the late afternoon ambience of the town as the street lamps just started blinking and the sun spread its last rays across really old stonewalls. Well… the photos look okay. We also bought some delicious local honey made by sunflower bees.

Geneve, les Russes, Jura Mts.

Our visit to Geneve was mainly to visit a Voltaire museum. The museum was tucked away in an untouristy area but we found it and had it all to ourselves when it opened at 2.00pm. The museum was Voltaire’s house and gave some insight into his life. Arkady is doing an assessment task on Voltaire so hopefully it was helpful. The highlight for us all though was probably afternoon tea in a chic (but not shabby), eclectic (but not messy) café, where pastries, coffee and hot chocolates were served to us as we sat in an old sleigh near the window. The interior was certainly warm and welcoming and the décor had us spotting mini-chandeliers, old French oilcans, toy hot air balloons, vintage posters etc. We also managed to spend our last Swiss francs (yes they don’t use Euros!)

We found a beautifully situated campsite on the terraced hills overlooking Mont Blanc and Lake Geneve, groves of autumn trees, a winding tiny road, an even smaller village nearby and a sign out the front “Ferme” – closed yesterday. Camping grounds are very seasonal and many finish their run at the end of September. We’ve been lucky up ‘til now- we’ve planned and researched to make sure we had open campsites. The next nearest campsite was a car park at the top of a pass over the Jura Mountains. We started driving, enjoying the views back towards Mont Blanc and kept driving into the late afternoon. The car park was barren and uninviting. Finally we arrived in Les Rousses, a winter resort town for skiing and sometimes a walker’s paradise if the weather’s fine in autumn. It was, and we found a campsite open. The Jura Mountains are spectacular, trails going everywhere and of course that golden autumn glow of the forest. Next year’s Tour de France will hold a stage through this area and the town had posters up celebrating the event already. It should be good viewing in 2010.

Lac d'Annecy

Annecy was busy on a Monday afternoon. The French were on “vacances” and enjoying the sunny conditions. The walk along the lakeside to the old town is lined with giant trees all glowing in autumn colours of gold, orange and red. A little contrast is provided with the odd green leaf and some bare branches already in winter mode. Happy Birthday Jood. Half a day driving, a walk through the old town- full of canals and tiny shops, and as an extra treat a stay in a camping ground that feels like a farmers front yard. Nice owners though.