We queued at Versailles

This is not the first time Vicki and I have been overseas together; we were travel buddies on my first transatlantic trip, *coughmumble* years ago. On that trip we went to London and among our other entertainments we went to the Wimbledon tennis tournament. It's possible to wait in line to get into the tournament if you are really patient and not too picky. As a reward you get in (hopefully) but you also get a sticker that says "I've Queued at Wimbledon." If it is raining you get a sticker that says "I've Queued in the Rain at Wimbledon."

As Bill Cosby would say, I told you that story so I could tell you this one. Today we went to the Palace of Versailles and queued for about an hour and a half to get in. Stickers were lacking but I think Versailles should consider it: "I Queued at Versailles." Of course, it was worth the wait. The palace is always amazing but today we also rented bikes and rode to the Grand Trianon and the Hamlet (somehow skipped the Petit Trianon--next time!). I had never seen those parts of the estate. The Hamlet is really beautiful!

By the way--it is worth taking your kid to Paris because kids get into a lot of the museums and national monuments, including Versailles, for free.

When we got back, we were totally done in and opted for a very glamorous French dinner of frozen pizza. I did manage to go out to a karaoke bar with Daniel later that night. In a funny coincidence, the second or third song we heard was "Georgia On My Mind." That guy could really sing, too! Daniel sang Charles Aznavour's "For Me Formidable," which is the perfect song for us because it's bilingual. It was fun to go out late at night--something I didn't do during the program since I usually had classes or excursions the next day. The karaoke bar, called Rive Droit, was right next to the Pompidou Center so we walked over so that Daniel could see it. It looks cool at night. I took a picture of the Niki de St. Phalle fountain nearby that everyone (of a certain age and background) knows from the old French In Action series.

It was time to turn in after a drink and a few songs. The next day--Friday--would be our last day in Paris.

That time we didn't go to the Louvre, twice

The day after Daniel, Vicki, and Samantha arrived was the first Sunday of the month when a lot of museums, including the Louvre, don't charge admission. So we went, but of course the line was enormous. We went to the D'Orsay instead. Today we decided to try again and . . . the line was enormous. So we went to the Rodin museum instead. Not going to the Louvre has turned out to be a good decision every time. The Rodin museum was great, as was the D'Orsay on Sunday. But we have decided that this trip shall henceforth be known as "that time we didn't go to the Louvre, twice."

After the Rodin we went to the Cafe du Commerce (Mrs. Redboots, please take note!) for a Fancy French Lunch. Vicki had gnocchi--not very French, but very tasty--I had "lieu noir" with "orge" which turned out to be fish and barley respectively (learning vocabulary by ordering things with names you don't know), and Samantha had a fish filet with fries. Everything was good and the restaurant itself was, as Vicki put it, "a French restaurant straight from Central Casting."

In the afternoon we headed to Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur which are always a good call. We took the funicular (after walking up through Abbesses metro station which is the deepest one in the system at 35 meters), walked through the church, then walked down and ate macarons. Plus a little light shopping in between! We bought cute/funny souvenirs in Pylones, which is a little store full of witty design objects. Now we are back at the apartment relaxing while the Pont-L'Eveque I bought comes up to room temperature.  Cheese and olives for dinner ahoy!

Also! Yesterday morning Daniel and I went to the Invalides/Museum of the Army to see Napoleon's tomb and the collections of arms and armor there. Then in the afternoon I dragged him to the Arc de Triomphe because I like it, and he gamely went along.

Eiffel Tower!

Today we went to the Eiffel Tower like good tourists. We went up the elevator all the way to the top! I had never been up so I was pretty excited. The line was a little long but it moved fast. As usual I would recommend arriving early. We got there around 9:15 (it opens at 9:00) and by the time we left the Champ de Mars in the early afternoon the line was MUCH longer.

The three of us went to the Eiffel Tower, ate lunch on the Champ de Mars, and then Vicki, Samantha and I took a boat tour on the Seine and went to Galeries Lafayette. So glad Daniel had cooked dinner for us when we got home, because we were tired. (BTW, for interested parties, we got off at Trocadero to go to the Eiffel Tower. It worked out splendidly!)

Daniel is here now with his laptop so I can post pictures from my camera. This is a banner day! These shots are in order of where we went: the Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, the boat tour, a stop off St. Germain des Pres where we stumbled onto a Laduree location, the Jardin des Plantes (another boat tour stop) and finally the roof terrace at Galeries Lafayette. Not pictured: all the amazing animal skeletons we saw in the Museum of Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes. Also not pictured: all the accent marks that are missing from this post because I don't know how to do them on this keyboard. Enjoy the photos anyway! A bientot! (accent grave...circonflexe)

The end/the beginning

Today at an astonishingly early hour, the students and most of the faculty of the EC Paris program departed to return to the U.S. But I was not with them. Yesterday afternoon, Vicki, Samantha, and Daniel all arrived in Paris and we are spending a week here together. Vacaaaaaaay!!!

Yesterday was mostly taken up with packing and getting my stuff from Cité U. over to our apartment for the week, but Vicki and Samantha and I did have time to go over to Notre-Dame for a look around (did not go inside because the line was long) and then walk over to Ile St. Louis for some Berthillon ice cream. It was very pretty weather and not too hot--a perfect first day in Paris. 

By the time we went from Cité to the apartment in a taxi and got a little bit situated, I had to run out to Roissy to meet Daniel. He was exhausted but otherwise fine; we made a stop at Carrefour City (how many different flavors of Carrefour are there?), got back to the apartment and vaguely unpacked, and finally went out for a very late dinner ate a brasserie down the street called Le Boucl'Art. It is a cute, casual place with pretty good food and of course good wine. Daniel wasted no time befriending the waiter while enjoying a pizza. Pizza is not very French unless you put some chèvre and a fried egg on it as this restaurant did. It was tasty and so was the burger that I had.

Between jet lag and a noisy street outside the apartment none of us slept very well, but we rallied this morning for an attempt on the Louvre (free on the first Sunday of the month). The line was already out of hand when we arrived around 9:45 so we went over to the D'Orsay--also free--and waited less than 10 minutes. The D'Orsay is beautiful; it used to be a train station and it has an enormous barrel-vaulted ceiling with big archways leading to all the galleries. It holds a lot of famous Impressionist works so we had our fill of Monet, Seurat, Manet, Gaugin, Renoir, and Degas. I got to see Degas's La petite danseuse de 14 ans among other great stuff.

After the museum we walked through the Tuileries (always gorgeous), got lunch at one of the restaurants there, and then tried out a few rides and games in the little carnival/amusement park there. Samantha did the "Magic Bubbles" ride which is the giant, human-sized hamster balls that float in a pool. It is apparently a lot more fun than it looks to me, because she loved it. Daniel lost some money on the midway games and finally we came back out near the Louvre and walked down Rue de Rivoli for a while, thinking about shopping. But it was hot, and it was Sunday, and décalage horaire was kicking in so we took a break in a café and finally came back to the apartment. Our plan is to get an early night tonight and hit the Eiffel Tower tomorrow morning. After that, probably a boat tour on the Seine and picnic lunch if it's not too hot.

It's time for dinner. À bientôt!

Return to Chartres

When I was a student on study abroad in 2004, I spent a night in Chartres so that I could see the famous cathedral. I'd seen photos of it in humanities class at CSF (that mention may bring some nostalgic commenters out of the woodwork) and had harbored a persistent desire to visit ever since. Chartres cathedral, properly Notre Dame de Chartres, is much like France in general: it does not disappoint. Approaching it from the northwest by train was exciting--you can see it from a long way off, surrounded by fields of grain in the region called "France's bread basket." 

This time we came from Paris in a coach, so the cathedral wasn't visible till we got closer, but it was still exciting. Tour Guide Josh spent the ride giving us background information about the cathedral's history and its importance as a pilgrimage site ever since the days of Charlemagne. When we arrived he spent some time telling us about the elaborate carvings on the main doors and then a little bit about the stained-glass windows. Unfortunately we were reprimanded by a priest inside the cathedral because a group with more than 10 people is required to have a microphone-and-headset system to keep noise down. Josh knew this but thought he'd try his luck for a while. When his luck ran out we had already learned a lot!

So we had to split up to explore on our own, which is my favorite thing to do in a cathedral anyway. The air is cool, the columns are soaring, there are things to see all around you, and yet it all feels peaceful. It was as I remembered it--for the longest time I carried a memory of the smell inside the cathedral, and it still smells the same. But some things have changed. Starting in 2009, restoration work has been under way to clean and in some cases reprint the stone. Most people don't know (I didn't) that in the Middle Ages, cathedrals were brightly painted, inside and out. So those austere, creamy (or sooty if they haven't been cleaned yet) carvings and even the arches and columns themselves were originally bright-colored. The current restorations have found original paint in many places and have reprinted other areas according to careful research. The altar is now surrounded by cream-colored stone with the joints marked out in bright white, the columns painted to look like marble, and the keystones at the center of each arch accented in blue, red, and gold. It's completely incredible. 

I hope we go again next year when the restoration should be finished or nearly so. But I was glad to go today and see the "before" and the "after" at the same time. I also got to see the labyrinth again; it is only open to the public on Fridays. Today I did not walk it but several of the students did. It is a simple but appealing ritual. I will definitely do it next time. I did take a lot of pictures--I used to feel like it was disrespectful to take photos in churches but now I go ahead and do it if the church allows it (Sacre-Coeur, for example, does not). I am pretty proud of my photos but I've only seen them on the tiny screen of the camera so far.

After my visit to the cathedral I joined a few students at a café for lunch and had a cheeseburger and fries for the first time in a month. That burger was rare enough to make an American nervous but I loved it. It was actually strange to get a reasonable amount of fries that I could finish instead of the giant pile that one continues to pick at compulsively when no longer hungry. Food habits die hard; even the most avid Francophiles among us are starting to look forward to our favorite American treats. I find myself craving iced tea on these hot afternoons, and I want to go to Hacienda Vieja for a guacamole overdose as soon as I get back. Of course, I say that now but back in Macon I'll be wishing I could have just one more croissant and café crème.

We got back around 3:30 and I had to start packing because I am leaving Cité U. tomorrow. Vicki, Samantha, and Daniel arrive tomorrow and we are spending a further week in Paris, staying in an apartment that we rented through AirBnB. So right now while some laundry dries I am trying to discipline all the stuff I've spread around my room in the past month and corral it into my suitcase. Wish me luck--à bientôt!

The 14 Items and other clues

[Today was our final exam day with group photos at the Eiffel Tower coming up tonight. Instead of doing a daily journal post I am posting this thing about packing and travel tips that I started a while back.]

Regular readers (hi, Mom!) know that I followed a 14-item packing plan for this trip. The idea is that you take 14 pieces that can be combined into 30 outfits. Here's a list of my 14 items with notes on how they worked out:

-- Black pants: very comfortable for the plane but too heavy for the summer we ended up with here in Paris. Did not wear as much as I hoped. These probably won't make the cut for next year.

-- Khakis: been wearing a lot despite a grease stain on one leg.

-- 3 t-shirts (black, red, purple): wearing all the time, with or without a scarf, sweater, or necklace to vary the look.

-- Sleeveless print top (white/black/beige pattern): wearing a lot since it goes with everything else I brought.

-- 2 cardigans (1 grey, 1 black with a white flower print): wearing these on & off if the weather calls for it.

-- Black blazer: have only worn a couple of times and it likely won't be coming back. My white denim jacket would travel better and be cooler (in more than one sense).

-- Striped top (navy & white) with 3/4 sleeves: freakishly warm and clingy, only really goes with khakis, should never have gone into the suitcase.

-- 2 dresses (1 black, 1 aqua): worn every week.

-- White blouse: the white blouse I brought was a dingy mess and I've actually replaced it with a sleeveless one in a small flower print. Worn regularly including over my black dress (which is spaghetti strap).

-- Pencil skirt: too warm and a little too dressy. Only worn once or twice. Would rather have the same thing in denim, or a jersey or linen A-line.

-- Pleated A-line skirt: wearing all the time especially since I risked machine-washing it and it turned out okay. It is cooler and more comfortable than my other skirt.

I also brought 3 pairs of shoes: lace-up Pumas, slip-on Pumas that look vaguely like dress flats (or at least look okay with a dress), and my Fluevog heeled sandals. I'm sad to report that I have not worn the Vogs much and may not bring them back. They are comfortable for all-day wear in a car culture but not in a place where I am walking a 5K every day (it feels like). A few weeks ago I bought a pair of red Birkenstock sandals (bien soldé) and those have been giving me good service. They will definitely come back next year unless I wear them out first.

Hmm. I just counted and realized I actually have 15 items, not 14. In any case I think this approach is preferable for a long trip provided that one has access to laundry facilities, which we do here at Cité. Lufthansa limits the weight of your checked bag to 50 pounds and you will want to leave as much room as possible for souvenirs on the return trip. I was proud that my suitcase only weighed 38 pounds (or was it 32?) on the outbound side. 5 books, a pair of shoes, and some miscellaneous souvenirs later, I may be pushing it on the way back!

Here are some other packing clues I have compiled along the way:

-- Look at the fine print on your device chargers. If they say something like "110V-240V" you don't need a voltage converter, just an adapter for the plug prongs. Adapters are cheaper and take up less room.

-- If you can buy it in America you can probably buy it here. Save weight in your suitcase by buying toiletries after you arrive. (Exception: contact lens solution, which is expensive here and only available at pharmacies.) Take travel-size toiletries in your carry-on to use for the first day or two and on weekend trips.

-- You can wash almost anything with dish soap.

-- A microfiber towel is worth the investment (mine was about $15) if you have to bring your own towel somewhere. So much less bulky than a regular one.

-- Bring slippers (I have my Lands End travel slippers) or flip-flops for going down the hall to the coffee machine.

Stuff I wish I'd brought:

-- Old towel or bathmat: it's great that we have en-suite baths but the showers are tiny and the floor always gets wet.

-- A larger reusable shopping bag. Something like a duffel or large tote that packs fairly flat but has a zipper could be used for groceries, carrying laundry, and packing souvenirs on the flight home.

-- A refillable water bottle. Carrying an empty bottle across the ocean somehow seemed dumb to me but I'd have saved a lot of € by not having to buy bottled water.

Wish list--stuff to ask your family for as Christmas gifts:

-- A good camera. DSLR is the gold standard but I have a Micro Four Thirds and I love it. More compact, almost as much control as a DSLR, and (this is important) it's a lot smaller.

-- Noise-canceling headphones. Good for the plane and the dorm.

-- A sturdy but small folding umbrella and a nice-looking raincoat.

-- If you're a lady (or an open-minded dude), a purse that zips shut and stays secure under your arm or across your body.

General tips for having a better time:

-- Try to get used to walking a lot. Can you walk at a brisk pace for 30 minutes? Can you do it twice a day? Can you do it twice a day when you only slept 4 hours the night before? Okay, you're ready.

-- If you won't have a cell phone and you don't normally wear a watch, buy a watch.

-- If you will have a phone, break the habit of needing it in your hand all the time. 

-- Go to Lenox Square Mall in December. Stay until you no longer notice how crowded it is. Remember this feeling when you have to ride the Métro at rush hour.

-- Try the smelly cheese, the organ meats, the falafel, the couscous, the escargot, the Pernod, and the Ladurée. Explore and make up your own mind--it's more fun that way!