Keeping my Balance

Trains and a last taste of France

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:13:00 +0000

Tomasz, a 3M engineer, who drove us around to see other areas of Wroclaw, his apartment and took us to a mall where we bought some yummy sausages for the next day.

The temporary station in Wroclaw is a challenge - just a crowd of people waiting outside until the track is posted, usually less than five min before the train is to leave. Luckily it was not raining.

Train stops about 20 min from our stop in the middle of nowhere... Announcements of stops have been in English also but this issue seems beyond the English capabilities of the conductors.
we sit for 10 min and they say in German (per some passengers we asked) that they have to wait to get some people off the track. Bill immediately thinks the worst and goes to the back of the train to see if we ran over someone, figuring that will take a long investigation....but nothing can be seen.

Later an announcement that we will be at our next stop in 10 min. About 10 min later they announce it will be about 30 min. Once we get there we have to catch an S-Bahn (city train) to the main train station and then our train to Paris. We had almost 2 hours to do those two things, now down to 80-90 min, really hoping we get going soon....

Got there about 40 min late and the s-Bahn train to the Hauptbahnhof came within minutes of our arrival, and we were in Berlin with plenty of time to find our City Night Line train to Paris.

So this time we actually got comfort class with a bathroom and shower - but the water didn't work...at least the breakfast was better...

Unknown to us in Germany, the French rail workers were striking in protest to the attack on a train worker in a random act of violence, evidently. So upon waking up within France we got the news that we had to detour a bit and would take about an extra hour of riding around the beautiful French countryside - including going right near our hotel for the night.... We really didn't mind as we had no connections to make. On arrival in Paris we decided not to try to make it out near our hotel by train due to the strike and we took a taxi for the half hour drive. We thought taxis would be in great demand but both the train station and taxi stand were mostly deserted.

So, Ermenonville, our last stop. It was fun to walk around and see the town, where we had last visited in 1993.

We found Le Prieure, where we had stayed in 1993, right next to the church - originally the priory. It is now converted to apartments.
Turns out the man who owned it had died, then then his wife was killed in the 1990 Air France flight crash coming from Brazil. We learned this from the owner of the restaurant where we ate. We happened to have walked through the graveyard and found her marker and those of the two young women who had been on the trip with her. New owners decided to turn it into apartments.

The grave marker of the woman from Le Prieure

The graveyard was full of very old graves mostly, including some with a sign warning about those that are not kept up (probably payments not kept up?)

Bill's favorite - we wondered about this one, it was a used target sheet inside glass on the stone...It only says here lies the body of Jean Francois Richarz, who died 16 Feb 1877 in his 85th year...

The creperie where we ate in 1993 - not much has changed Katie, do you remember this place? It wasn't all that good then but Bill kind of wanted to see if it still was disappointing (he had been searching for French crepes in 1993)

but we found a newer restaurant with the wonderful. And her interesting shop and garden restaurant, featuring very interesting teas and all organic foods.

Quiche - Bill's with figs and bacon and mine with asparagus and salmon (but reversed in the picture) - the cups are our tea

And it came with dessert sampler, all homemade.

We bought some tea

Bill's wondered what this is - anyone know? Mike? He's pointing at a switch or lever...

This time we stayed in the very old, Chateau d'Ermenonville, a beautiful old palace dating back to the middle ages, with most of the current building being redone in the early 1700's. It has an interesting history and was famous for it's beautiful and huge gardens, much of which are now a park named after author Jean Jacques Rousseau who spent his last six weeks here in 1778 and is buried in the property. Henri XI often visited in the 1400's, along with a long list of named you would recognize including Jeanne d'Arc in 1429.

A little worn to be called a luxury hotel but very lovely place with a top restaurant,

The gardens, swans and a tree I just liked...

This was like our view out our window but taken from below in the restaurant.

In the hotel

our last big dinner, we figured a two days early celebration of the 40th anniversary of the day we met.

My appetizer with lobster, cream, and the little thing was some kind of shell fish

Bill had A mushroom soup

This course had some sort I'd fish in it, liked it a lot, Bill did not

My entree - scallops with two kinds of beets - I don't like beets but I liked these

Bill's lamb, bulgar and sweet potatoes

Sebastian brings the cheese cart

Not sure what this was - we figured it was dessert but that came later

My dessert - orange, chocolate and something else...

Bill's

So when we turned down coffee and said we were done, the final sweets came

Two shots of a swan at night lit by the flood lights

What meal to have right before coming home and having to weigh myself....

And we are off to the airport the next morning...

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:27:00 +0000

Getting ready to leave, how did three weeks go by already?

So a few train challenges today and tomorrow and we're on our way home. One night on the train, one more hotel and one more nice dinner.

This hotel in Wroclaw has a scale in the bathroom and I was amazed to see I had lost over 65 lbs...oops, it's in kg.... So I gained 3 lbs, definitely worth every ounce though....would have been more without all the walking.

Not sure I'm really ready for reality - I have about 70 baby clothes orders waiting at home to be shipped next week, and lots of mail to go through and packages of baby clothes to process, bills to pay, cats to give attention to...at least the dog, thanks to Alija and family has had lots of attention... But I'm excited to see my family again, and to talk to Katie, Colleen and Chris and find out more about their last three weeks....so also looking forward to coming home!

Will try to post again from France before we leave - when/if I have wifi. Otherwise, from home...

Wroclaw - just the pretty pictures, I promise

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:16:00 +0000

Walking to our boat ride, we had some time to kill so stopped in a park where a bride and groom were having wedding photos taken. The bride was hesitant to sit on the bench in her dress so Bill ran over with a map and offered it for her to sit on... So I took a few shots also

Thanking Bill for the map

Not a wedding picture prop

Waiting by the boat now - a pigeon sat on a man's leg for some time but when I tried to get a picture another one flew up...the man never even glanced at them as he sat reading his book, "Jesus of Nazareth" ( in Polish)

Chocolate pistachio cones while we waited - yum, it was a great combination of flavors!

The boat ride - this was not narrated but gave us a good view of the town along the river Odra

One of the gnomes found all over Wroclaw old town area

After the boat we visited the University - founded by the Jesuits in 1659 when emperor Leopold gave them the former castle. The baroque lecture hall was dedicated to Leopold.

We visited the museum, pictures were seen in the previous post and then climbed to the top for some views of the city.

The stairs

Oktoberfest in the Bierhalle on the main square after our 5 1/2 hour walk plus 40 min boat ride

And a few meals....
At a small Polish restaurant

where Bill has Russian Pirogies - baked not boiled

and I had Silesian noodles with goulash and fried cabbage.

Right across the street we discovered a very old street - now all art galleries but the street used to be where all the butcher shops were and the statues of animals are in honor of that.

Next night we ate at Bernard with Bill Huey, Pavel and Tomasz from 3M Poland and another man from 3M in the US. So you get to see more food...without remembering what I'd had the night before, I ordered a Czech goulash with a steamed bread.

And Bill had turkey with walnuts

Two of the men got Pig's knuckle - which was huge and washed it down with a liter of beer!

Earlier I had probably my favorite thing that I've eaten in Poland. I do love herring, have to say and this was THE best ever!

Bill had a Camembert cheese plate with pears

And this more or less concludes my post on Wroclaw - will send while I have good wifi and add a wee bit more when I can. Off to the train this morning - 5 hr trip to Berlin, then overnight train to Paris, night near the airport and home Saturday. Happy and sad...

Location:Kazimierza Wielkiego,Wrocław,Poland

My dad would be so proud I am finally interested in WWII history...

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:16:00 +0000

First thing to understand is that Wroclaw was once one of the most important centers of trade in the world. With the growth and changes in Western Europe in the 17th century, Wroclaw's importance began to decline but the structure of the old city reflects one of affluence and major trade activity. It was at various times under Czech, Austrian, Prussian and German ownership but was basically ethnically 95% German, until 1945. You will see soon why the background is needed.

Tomasz, Pawel, anyone, feel free to correct me if facts are wrong, the opinions, I take credit/blame for myself....

After it's first couple of hundred years perhaps (beginning in 1000), Wroclaw was not part of Poland. Near the end of World War II, Wroclaw (along with Dresden ) was almost untouched by the fighting but Nazis held the city until the bitter end - and bitter it was. In the final weeks, in building to building fighting, Wroclaw was about 75% destroyed. Earlier women and children had been moved eastward to Wroclaw to be out of the war areas but now they and the citizens of Breslau were forced to leave, with many, many of them dying along the way. Some were forced to walk miles to other towns in cold weather to find trains west. Many of the survivors ended up in Dresden, not long before the firebombing of Dresden.....

So, after the end of the war I don't pretend to understand all the Allies did but this area was declared to be part of Poland now, although never sought after by the Polish government in exile. And the whole country was under the Soviet Union's "care". What wasn't destroyed was only further harmed by the Soviets who removed most things of value and Polish people from further East were uprooted from their homes and forced to move to Wroclaw.

Whew, are you still with me? You'll get a break with some pictures soon,

In certain neighborhoods, and near the train station you are struck by the work needed, the buildings still in disrepair or just in need of cleaning and/or painting. An interesting example was a beauty salon called Le Grand Salon. From the outside, the building is not particularly inviting and does not evoke images of grand and barely of it's former beauty. Inside it was totally modern and gorgeous and looked quite upscale.

There are many buildings in even worse shape and lots of Soviet era "architecture" - there are many many of these, mostly built where the buildings were so damaged they were just removed.

BUT, back up a bit to what these people were handed in 1945 (pictures from a museum and outside some churches)

University in 1945 and 2005

A church through the years...

and you can see what the almost unbelievable amount of lovingly accurate restoration has already taken place to have the town hall and squares now look like this

To be sure the work goes on

Contrast of these buildings shows what can be done

Blending old and new

To create a beautiful, vibrant city where these 3rd and 4th generation Poles can take ownership, feel pride and see the effects of their hard work and hopefully end of such hard times. The feeling you get on the streets here is no longer of ghosts of former buildings, former inhabitants, but of an upbeat, hopeful, and successful city. Ok, now you all need to add Wroclaw to your bucket list....

When we said we were arriving by train, it was lamented that we would see the train station at it's worst - in a temporary location until the station remodeling is done before the 2012 Euro Games - and it does look like it will be beautiful but I am happy to have seen that, and feel a bit of the changes, and hope to come back and see the new station when it is completed.

So, I could have gone on and on and I have so many more pictures...

I will do one more post from here but I promise no politics or philosophy, just nice
pictures and cute stories... our boat ride, visit to the old Jesuit university building and views from the top of that tower. Maybe a little more food and we leave on our train ride back to Paris and fly home....

Maybe more churches per square meter than Florence or Rome

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:02:00 +0000

Around 9 AM, we got going on our walk around Wroclaw. The night before when Tomasz called, he said to meet him by the church....Bill said "WHICH church" - it was the one right down the street from us near the Opera but we later discovered another church just the other side of the Opera - and many more...

We started out with the plan to go to Ostrow Tumski and do a boat ride tour on the Odra River. We ended up walking about five hours that day...And sorting out all that we did and all the pictures may take me almost that long! So I'll try to treat you to some examples of what we saw, more or less chronologically, interspersed with things to illustrate some of my thoughts and impressions as I spend time in Wroclaw. I may end up splitting it into two posts...

So will begin with some nice pictures and get into the deep philosophy later...

Bear in mind, it took me five hours to take all these pictures and I hate leaving out nice ones....but guess what, family, you will get treated to many more in a slideshow when I get home (if you are interested....)

Ostrow Tumski was once an island in the River Odra and it was here Wroclaw was founded before the year 1000. A bishopric was established in the year 1000 and even after the city moved to the left bank of the river, the island remained a base of the church. Later the northern arm of the Odra was filled in and it was no longer an island, but remains a beautiful, peaceful destination to walk or take a river trip.
The botanical gardens are also located here but we did not get to them.

So as we arrived many of the churches had Mass going on, so we were unable to take many pictures inside but we did attend five or ten minutes of Mass in each of four very different churches. So, the churches...

Starting with the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, which was built during the 13th through 15th centuries, in the place where the original was built in 1000. It has had restoration many times including in 1952-53 after World War II, when it was 3/4 destroyed. It is the double spired church in the photos above.

A very formal Mass

The nearby archbishop's palace

Gothic Church of the Holy Cross

Where a more folk Mass was going on with guitars and modern singing

Church of Our Lady on Piasek Island

People leaving one of the chapels after a Mass doe the deaf

And an orthodox church, Sts Cyril and Methodius

There are so many more churches here I have lost track of which ones they are....so just a few pictures to give you the idea and this post ends.

Somehow I missed getting a good picture of the outside if the Jesuit Church at the University but I sure didn't miss the very baroque inside!
Outside is seen in this reflection

Very old pews

The organ

So to end the churches.... With the realization that the rest will wait for the next two posts - and the hope I didn't name any of the churches wrong....or mix up exteriors and interiors since we had to take many of the inside photos with iPhones to avoid making noise...

Location:Ostrow Tumski, Wroclaw, Poland

Nysa

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:37:00 +0000

In search of lunch, we came to Nysa, the only larger town we had driven through on our way south. We parked near the town square and set off in search of a place to eat.

Nice food and not expensive. We were already starting to feel good about Nysa (pronounced Niss-a)

My salad

Bill's gyro - with no wrap.

Bill tried to ask the delightful young waitress why no wrap on the gyro - but as they pronounce it with a hard "g" and he had not caught onto that and said it to sound like "euro", she talked about why Poland has not yet adopted that currency... She also told us she would like to visit the US because she likes big cars with big engines - her dad is a car mechanic and loves fixing cars and has obviously passed that love for cars on to her.

While we were eating, a procession of cars drove by led by one saying "just married" with horns sounding. It seemed like only a half hour and another came by. Later while walking around we saw two more weddings at the large church. At one we saw the two musicians approach, playing music at the same time we heard recessional music from the church. They met the wedding party at the church and played.

We saw two wedding parties come out of the church during the day.....and "little old ladies" (like myself I guess) sat on benches across from the park watching....

So ,lest you think this is the only church, let me say your tour will include more, as well as a walk to the fort. It was to this town that the bishops of Wroclaw fled when chased out during the Reformation so evidently they all had to build a new church...

Nysa was founded in 1223 and was once the capital of the dukes of Wroclaw and the see of the duchy of Nysa (Niesse). The town suffered massive destruction during the World War II but has some interesting building still and has been (and still is being) been nicely restored.
The gothic church of Saints James and Agieszka with separate belfry dating from the early 16th century.

Light coming in the stained glass windows - the full size versions of these are better

Love how this picture shows how massive these buildings are - guess that's why any part of them remained after the war...

Beautiful well from 1686

Two other beautiful churches, but by no means the only others in town...

Church of The Assumption - a Jesuit baroque church built in 1688-92

And has beautiful painting inside

Town square

An old tower and gate

We then walked through this lovely park to the fort which was part of the town walls surrounding the town as well as this forested area.

Many old canals with a system to control water levels at one time....Some could still be in use

Remains of the fortress

We then went back to the same restaurant for dessert - having decided we really like Nysa and thought it was a town definitely worth visiting - a much smaller, quieter version of Wroclaw...

So we drove home and got a call from Tomasz - he and a friend met us and we went to sample a place they like for some beer (for us) and vodka (for them) and some bar food that we liked a lot and at a very good price! Just around the corner from the more expensive, more aimed at tourist spots...
Somehow the two guys missed out on getting in the pictures...

We then left them to go off to a bachelor party and we went back to the jacuzzi...

Digging up the ancestors

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:09:00 +0000

The morning started with a wonderful buffet breakfast at the Granary,

and then a small wild goose chase trying to locate a Polish SIMM chip (more 3M research), we thought we knew where the t-mobil store was but did a little backtracking

Bill searching for the store

and finally found it in a mall called Arkady, which revealed a world totally different from the one outside.

Picked up our rental car and made sure we knew where to go....turned out helpful to have the cell phone card later too...

I have such a wonderful experience of getting to know not only towns in Germany where great grandparents were born but also people, cousins and other residents of these towns who are happy and proud to have me interested in their towns.

With these experiences in my mind, I traveled from Wroclaw in our rented car to find the towns where some of my Prussian/German great great grandparents had lived. The first hurdle in this is figuring out the current name of a town. It was fairly easy with Schnellewalde as the wedding record of their marriage said not only the German town, Schnellewalde, but also the Polish town Szybowice. So we drove there first, a small town about 90 min south from Wroclaw, near the Czech border.

The town has a pretty church which appears old and I assume is the parish church where my great great grandparents were married. We took some pictures, noting that almost every name in the graveyard was now Polish. No old or German stones remain. People looked at us curiously but did not try to talk to us. We took some pictures of mostly older buildings to get a flavor of what it must have been like when they lived there.

The beautifully maintained church - parish ladies were mopping floors and cleaning

Already, I felt a kind of sadness, that even if any of the current inhabitants were interested to speak to us, (or we could speak each other's languages), they might not be delighted that my ancestors had come from this area due to my heritage being German as all Germans were moved out and Poles from the east of Poland were moved in after 1945.

So, the marriage record of my great great grandparents, Johann George Pohl and Maria Metzner, stated that Maria was from Schnellewalde (Szybowice) and Johann George was from Greisau. There are several towns that are possibly linked with that German name but the only one that made sense is quite close to Szybowice and it is called Gryzow.

One more town - Weza, formerly Prockendorf was very nearby where at least one of my great great grandparents' children was born.

The towns did not appear to have any restaurants or even a bar, other than one building with the word "bar" on it that was mostly rubble... So we drove on back to the larger town nearby, Nysa (formerly Neisse).

We spent several hours in Nysa and took a lot of pictures so I will let it be it's own entry...So, coming up is Nysa, and then our day in Wroclaw's old town and my thoughts on Poland so far.

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The long train day(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:41:00 +0000

So after a wonderful breakfast prepared by Richard - wonderful porridge (kind of a fancy oatmeal) for me with a fruit plate that was almost too pretty to eat. And Bill had the full British breakfast - 2 eggs, sausage, blood pudding, toast, tomatoes

We said goodbye to Richard and to Peter who was off for another day of 3M work and set off on our long journey at about 8:00 AM on Thursday.

It began with a walk to the train station where our credit cards were not accepted by the one ticket machine. Evidently it only works for those with a microchip as used in Europe. So we were told by another traveler that we could pay on the train, but could not get the non-peak lower rates. We had planned to wait for a later non-peak train but now hopped on the one that was just pulling up since we figured we'd be paying full price. The conductor came by to check new passengers tickets but waved us away when we tried to talk to him and he went on to sell tickets to a couple of others and then left the car. A couple of stops later we still had not paid so we got off in Northhampton. You need a ticket here to get out of the track area but Bill explained and went in to buy the non-peak tickets from Northhampton (a little cheaper than from Atherstone so it worked well and a train about 15 minutes later qualified as non-peak so we were set.

Two chacters who led to a bit of a story but too long to type here...Just put them in to remind myself

Arrived in London Euston station about 11:20, walked about 1/2 mile to St Pancras Station where the Eurostar is located. Then we had lunch at Pain de Quotidien
A really yummy avocado vegetarian tortine (a Belgian sandwich)

and not too long after were able to check in for the Eurostar which is like an airplane, you go through security. About 2PM we were pulling out from London bound for Paris. The Eurostar goes fast and in some long tunnels before the Chunnel which makes your ears pop.

We arrived in Paris Gare du Nord and had to walk about 2/3 of a mile to Paris Gare de l'est. Although Deutsche Bahn's European rail website would have routed us to the RER train and the metro, taking over an hour, we elected to walk the 2/3 of a mile.

Gare du Nord

So our long day continued with the almost three hour layover in Paris, a bit of a blessing to see a little of Paris again...

In the lounge in Paris - Bill kind of talked our way in here...you were supposed to belong to a club...

Our City Nightline runs from Paris Gare de l'Est to Berlin Hauptbahnhof in 12 hours. The trip can be done faster, arriving about 4AM but we decided rather than getting little sleep and arriving in Berlin hours before a train to Wroclaw, Poland that we would take the night train and have a sleeping compartment.
Unfortunately the train had some error and we did not get our nicer compartment so had to make do with a smaller one with no toilet or shower. They claim we can get a partial refund though...

For an idea of how cozy - I'm on the lower bed and that's my foot...Bill is unpacking on the floor.

Breakfast in the morning - also not the 1st class breakfast...But we didn't starve

So, the long train ride is not over yet....next is a half hour to find our train from Berlin to Wroclaw Poland - so far we have been on the move for about 25 hours...and within an hour will be on a five hour journey into Poland...

We lucked out and our train arrived on track 2 and the next one to Poland left on track 3 so we easily made it. The train is the very nice EuroCity line and we are in a compartment with two Germans going to Wroclaw for a business and social exchange. I talked with Britta who has been to Wroclaw many times and speaks Polish.

The train stopped at this station to change engines - no idea if it was scheduled that way or not...

So, upon arriving we were treated to how difficult things are at the main train station during the renovation they ate doing. It was just crazy trying to get through the crowds and down the street from the temporary station. It turns out students were returning to the University here this weekend and added to a Friday night rush hour timing, it was a challenge! But we walked, dragging our suitcases through crowds down cobblestones about 1 mile to our hotel.

So, after all this, the hotel is just gorgeous. It opened only a few months ago, a remodel of an old granary - the inside was gutted and made into lovely rooms.

After short rest, we set out to see the main square...

The town hall

In the middle of this picture is the place we ate the first night, Dvor Polski.

Meat plate starter

Pierogis - with a filling that included cheese and some walnuts, very good!

And of course Polish beer

So it's the weekend and we have two days to explore...

Location:Mennicza,Wrocław,Poland

The food does not get better than Chapel House

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:08:00 +0000

On my way back from my walk I was hungry and thought about just stopping for a sandwich but in the end decided to just go "home" and have Richard make me lunch...and what a good decision. I could sit with the view of the garden, with a glass of wine and a wonderful salmon and salad plate...

This was as yummy as it looks...
Talked with Siobhan for awhile and felt so well taken care of...without a care I. The world, so removed was I from any problems of life...

Siobhan and Richard, wonderful hosts.

Then just took some knitting that I had bought in a local store and my ipad book and sat in the garden for a couple of hours until Bill arrived home from work.

Siobhan brought me tea....

Think it couldn't get better?

So after Bill arrived from a hard day's work at 3M, we went out for a walk, and sW our acquaintance from the night before so we stopped to talk. He told us some history of the nearby buildings and offered to show us his house in one of the very old buildings just behind the square. I did not have my camera unfortunately because his house was very interesting on the outside and probably gives new meaning to the word "eclectic" on the inside. It was quite small and had once been a bakery. An old stone oven was still there. He had a tiny kitchen and two small rooms just filled with things. Upstairs was a bedroom and a second room he called dressing room plus a tiny bathroom with what he calls a "hobbit door"' about 3 feet high. This area had probably been storage originally before the building had a bathroom.

So we went out to a wine bar on the square and shared a bottle of wine and talked.

These are some older buildings like the ones around David's house.

-We just couldn't resist eating at chapel house again. It is the best food we've had and not so expensive as to be prohibitive especially when our meal the night before had been paid for.

But instead of the regular menu, we decided to order from their lighter, and less expensive resident's menu. Bill had Pasta Wellington with a wonderful sauce.

I had scallops and risotto - two of my favorites

These were smaller but just perfect for leaving room for dessert. Bill got a banana and caramel and chocolate delight - he can't resist chocolate.

I told David to make up whatever he wanted for me so I got something not on the menu.Pears, ice cream and a wonderful sauce.

Afterwards we met Peter for a drink and went up to pack up again.

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Atherstone - the town time forgot

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:00:00 +0000

We began our day in the breakfast room, a room where a luncheon was held in 1985 for Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

A half of a full English breakfast.

Forgot the picture from last night of Richard, our chef and one of the owners of this family hotel.

Our acquaintance from the night before, David, had mentioned to me that Atherstone is more like the England of the 1960's and has not made many of the changes found in other towns and cities. In some ways, you could argue that it is not all that different than a much earlier time. Yes, there are items available that were not possible a hundred or two hundred years ago, but there actually were few modern items, in the main older part of town at least. Did not see one electronics store or one cell phone store...

I went out for a walk after Bill left for 3M and ended up walking about 3 hours in town and along the canal. I was tempted to take pictures of every uniquely picturesque building but felt a little bit conspicuous, as the only one in town who appeared to be a tourist...in fact when I took one of my first pictures, a man who happened to be in the picture stopped to say (I think kiddingly), "you aren't a spy, are you?" he is the guy walking towards me below. So, you don't get 100's of pictures of old buildings, just a few.

Below, the man who asked me about being a spy.

Old Atherstone plaques showing historic places

So, our tour of Atherstone begins with the church next to our hotel, St Mary's Church.

The oldest part was originally built in 1155, and the present old part shown below was rebuilt on that first one in 1385. Under Henry VIII, monasteries were dissolved and this was used as a grammar school. In 1850, the new part was built and joined to the original nave in1884.

New area of the church

The old section

Long street, formerly Watling Road which began as an old Roman road

What could be cuter than an old fashioned candy store?

Household goods -

And old version of "True Value" or "Our Own Hardware"

The very old Red Lion Hotel

Sports bar - this town was once reputed to have more pubs for it's population than any in England

See anything strange about this place?

The picture up to the right of Sweeney's is Edward Scissorshands....

The old train station has been replaced by one automatic ticket machine so the building is now a veterinary clinic.

The theme here is that really every store in Atherstone was a normal store - used clothing, jewelry, household goods, clothing but not really high fashion, gift shop - no tourist shops... But all in buildings little changed from some time ago, in contrast to other places where many interiors are completely redone and modern.And it's not to say that there are no modern buildings, there are a significant number of post WWII houses further out from the old town, and some new facilities in town.

Library and Leisure Complex

An Aldi food store

Now, walking towards the canal, I couldn't resist this one - pertly for the reindeer and partly for the sign - although in fairness I have to say this is not uncommon - people come to the pub for a pint, and there is a place for kids to play...

And i had to walk back to this sign because it just struck me as funny.

The canals were once very important to commerce and there were wharfs along them next to small factories. Atherstone was well known for producing felt hats and other industries including mining.

Now the canals appear to be mainly used for recreation - on special canal boats. I talked to one woman who was getting their boat through the series of locks on the canals who told me that she and her husband were on a two week slow-moving vacation.

The locks - you maneuver the boat in while one person operates the locks.

Ok, two more pretty canal pictures and one of the old wall of Merevale Hall and the hall in the distance taken from a bit outside of town.

Old wall behind the horse

And will end here after my three hour walk - you got off easy, your tour was shorter. Next up is my lunch and afternoon at Chapel House, bottle of wine on the town square and dinner... Then goodbye to England.

Location:Atherstone, England

Atherstone's Chapel House

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:31:00 +0000

After arriving in Atherstone, we just had a half mile or so walk to the hotel - Chapel House, billed as a five star restaurant with rooms....but it's so much more.
When checking in, they knew Bill was with 3M and we were asked if we were part of the party from 3M who had dinner reservations. As far as we knew, we were not but we decided that since we wanted to try the restaurant one night, we may as well eat there the first night.

The hotel and room are beautiful

So off for a quick stroll around the marketplace and a little of the town.

And stopped for a pint of beer before dinner at the Market Tavern

Bill had a locally made beer and I had a Guinness.

We then got into a conversation with David, currently a local who seems to have had a very colorful past. He mentioned living in Paris a couple of times in his life, one time in the late 60's he said he lived "under a bridge" in Monmartre. But also he mentioned working in the foreign service. He had lost three fingers on one hand in an industrial accident. He told us stories about Atherstone and started me thinking more about the unique features here.
David...

And look at the bobbies in the background...

So we dressed for dinner since this was a nice restaurant even though we were told we didn't have to - but I brought a new dress I had not gotten to wear and I wanted a chance...and ended up glad we did.

We walked in to the restaurant area and were led to the lounge for any pre-dinner wine or drinks. And there Bill ran into the 3M people - they were actually St Paul people - one, Peter, visiting the plant and the other Chuck and his wife, Cindy, who are currently on temporary assignment there. We sat and talked to them and ended up sitting together for dinner also with Peter insisting on picking up the tab, which was very generous!

You just knew you were in a good place when the special of the day is not decided until the chef returns from his daily trip to the market, and they do the pairing of wine to fit our meals, and just so many things. They are often quite full but this week had only Peter, us and two women staying here and we had the beautiful small (8 tables) restaurant to ourselves.

It was hard to decide and I still wonder if I should have gotten the special - octopus. But I chose local Grendon lamb and loved it.

Oh, and do i need to mention that I'll just go on a diet again when i get home?

Bill had Sea Bass Veronica - it was turbot on the menu but the market was out - love it that it was fresh...

Wine was a wonderful bottle that had been set aside for .... who visits here twice a year and always stays at Chapel House. And the dessert
Apple torte for me

And of course Chocolate Duo for Bill - dark chocolate filled with chocolate mousse.

Somehow we got talked into espresso and truffles... And then I suppose to counteract the espresso, a glass of whiskey....these 3M managers know how to live.....

And then to bed....so I can be ready to explore the town tomorrow.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Friar's Gate,Atherstone,United Kingdom

Quick night in Dusseldorf and off to England

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:35:00 +0000

We were trying to decide between just grabbing a sandwich outside the train station and walking into the main city of Dusseldorf and decided to at least walk around the block but then kept going, and going. Once we hit the Konigsallee, I took some pictures,

Shopping street

Walked a little further and then we found ourselves in front of the restaurant recommended to us by Arnd from 3M Hilden - A Tavola. Seemed a little strange eating Italian food in Germany first thing but it was good.

They used a little slip of space next to the church across from the restaurant for more outdoor seating....I Love all the outdoor eating in Europe!

Bill's mushroom risotto

My salad napolitano - not sure I ever had tuna on a salad in Italy but it was good

Funny point was that we are confused enough between trying to use our limited German and having to switch to English for many things but the waiter was also throwing in Italian - I think I thanked him in French once....

We just had a starter dish each and a little wine and walked the mile or so back to the hotel. Had to pack up and be ready to go for a 5:45 AM departure for Brussels...

Next morning breakfast was too late for us so we picked up a apple fritter type thing to tide us over until breakfast is served on our train. Right now sitting on the train in Koln, right near the Koln cathedral and it's still totally dark outside.... But with our eurail passes we get 1st class so going to have a free breakfast and have free wifi...

Thalys trains were great but the wifi was not - it kept dying...

Next stop for us was Brussels where we were to have a four hour layover but we happened to notice a Eurostar train leaving soon and were just in time to change to that train and check in on time. So we'll have those hours in London instead...from London we go to Atherstone England where there is a 3M plant.

Eurostar was actually less luxurious but maybe just because it was 2nd class. They slow down in the tunnel but after that it just flew!

London St Pancras

So now it gets interesting...
The train websites gave various ways to get to Atherstone, most of them requiring 4 trains. The most promising (only 3 trains) routed us to one stop first (I think called Black Friar) then to Euston Station (we had no idea where these stops were), about 20 min for each and then to Atherstone (another 90 min)

To complicate things, the privatized railway system in England means there are all sorts of small companies going on their various routes and no real way we could see to easily figure out how to get to Atherstone. Finally got in one line that seemed promising and were told that the ticket seller didn't know that town and although it did come up on his screen he had no idea if that was right (nor did we). So, he said to walk to Euston Station which it turns out was just a few blocks away. And from there we should be able to get a direct train. No clue why the website tried to route us on two trains to get a couple of blocks away...

After a short walk, we found we had just missed a train and had an hour wait so we had a quick lunch.

Bill had a pasty and I had a veggie wrap and Welsh cookies

We ended up on the very nice London Midland line

And cannot leave out the story of Marcus, who was sitting across from us. Unfortunately my stealth picture did not turn out. But this guy was a character - or as he put it, a "crazy bloke".

He was very hard to understand at first, having some very strong accent and even after awhile, still only figured out 3/4 of what he said. We first though he played soccer for a team of unrecognizable name, but pretty sure he just, in his words, "supports his team", mostly it sounds like by going to matches and fighting with fans from the other team. He has what appeared to be a broken nose or at least damaged, cuts on his face, says proudly he has broken all his fingers, and various other bones, somehow had some damage to his pancreas that left him an insulin dependent diabetic - has had several episodes of passing out from either high or low blood sugar, the stories just went on... He was on his way to visit his girl friend who wants him to move out of London and quit the fighting but he pretty much admitted he wasn't sure he could...

So after 90 minutes of talking with Marcus, we arrived in Atherstone,

walked about 1/2 mile to our hotel and will leave that to the next entry...

Hilden - all work and no play

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:16:00 +0000

So after over 24 hours we had to say goodbye to the Eifel and our wonderful hosts there... And onto another train adventure.

We started with the train back to Koln, and the Deutsche Bahn site gave us the route of train to Haan and then walk three minutes (with a 7 minute connection) to a bus to somewhere....not that clear so we were little nervous. Then after checking the db site, saw that our train was running a little late so in searching around we found we could get off one stop sooner and catch a train to our stationing Hilden - arrived a little earlier and our hotel was right across the street.

Monopol hotel - not much to write home a out, small, inexpensive and convenient. The owner/manager spoke no English but was so nice and accommodating! She allowed me to stay in the room until just about when Bill gets back from work and that has allowed me to catch up!

3M Hilden - walked here with Bill - about a mile from the hotel

So that night we realized there were not so many choices for a meal so we went to the nearby Mediterran Restaurant (did not misspell that, it's the German name...)
Turned out to look much nicer on the inside - and very good food - so still eating a lot...

Bill's halibut

My scampi

Very authentically they brought free liquor after the meal
Bill had something peach I think and I had Grappa

So next morning we walked to 3M and I walked back hoping to wLk off a few calories in two miles...

Tonight we have a S-Bahn ride to Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof where we will stay overnight in a hotel at the railroad station as we are on a 5:45 AM train to Brussels and then through the Chunnel to England.

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Oktoberfest in Effelsberg and Lethert

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:15:00 +0000

So we said goodbye to Delft after four days and walked to the train station, first taking a train to Rotterdam and then to Koln (Cologne) on Deutche Bahn. German trains have been very pleasant to ride. It was good to be in the Koln train station where we could actually understand many of the announcements and figure out the schedules and signs better...

For those who don't know, I have 4th cousins in Effelsberg Germany. My great granfather, Anton Lethert, was born in Effelsberg. The two small towns that are right next to each other - Effelsberg and Lethert have a festival for Oktoberfest and it just happened to be the weekend we were in Germany!

Train to Koln

Koln station

We say several people dressed in costume presumably for Oktoberfest celebrations

In Koln we got on the Eifelbahn train for Euskirchen

where we were picked up by my cousin's husband, Johannes Backes. After some time catching up on the years since we had seen each other, and seeing changes in the house like Renate's beautiful new kitchen....

I was bundled up in daughter Christina's warm coat and we went to the Oktoberfest celebration.

I wanted one of these shirts that the workers had!

Another cousin Hans Egon Lethert. So Minnesota Letherts, do you see a family resemblance here to a couple of Minnesota Lethert? I do!

Egon's daughter Anne-Catherine and wife Eva

Kristina Backes and me

Live music - I did recognize "Im himmel gibt's kein bier"

So the next morning, Oktoberfest was still on - all day Sunday. First Bill got a few radio telescope pictures...

And of the church in Lethert

Started with breakfast at home and went to the hall created out of an old barn

then Reibekuchen mit Apfelmus (potato pancakes) being cooked by Renate and daughter Petra.

There was also live music on Sunday

And just incredible homemade kuchen! We wanted them all - no, we are not eating light here either... :)

No grocery store or bakery boxes...

Renate, Petra, Kristina and me

There was a bird show with some gorgeous eagles and hawks. Unfortunately something had been set wrong on the camera and Bill did not notice the auto-focus was not working...

Also a wagon ride through Lethert

Am Hang - this area is where our surname Lethert got it's origins - the German name for the street is Am Hang but in one of the times it was under French hands, it had a French name and two brother who lived here in the 1500s took that surname - one was Wilhelm so Wilhelm (von) LeTarte (or similar) - am hang means on the hill or incline and (according to a man who did much research on the town history) the French name had the same or similar meaning but I can't find a current French word that is similar and has the right meaning.

Petra and Kristina Backes

Saying goodbye - hopefully not for so many years this time!

Location:Lethert, Germany

Bill's day at 3M France

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:53:00 +0000

Little out of order here but Bill just got these photos to me from his phone.

I'm sure they worked hard but what is preserved for posterity is the lunch and Eric's car...

First the lunch - Relais du Soleil Levant - good restaurant but a little slow - I'm sure they just wanted to hurry back to work...

Bill had rabbit with honey and raspberry - getting to be a favorite

And Jerome's "plank" was interesting enough to photograph. An assortment of foods

And a very good Bordeaux

And Eric's car

2 cylinder 12 HP - can you find the cylinders?

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Eating Dutch

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:08:00 +0000

Since I didn't follow my usual chronological approach in some of Delft, here all together are some meals - which despite our promises to ourselves to not eat so well were all pretty full meals...

At lunch coffee usually came with a cookie

And fries came with mayonnaise

Eating in the square by the Thursday Market where they sold everyone from meat, cheese and produce to clothes to freshly baked Dutch waffles

The second night in Royal Eten en Drinken

Chicken with honey and walnuts - just delicious and so tender, maybe our favorite in Delft (Bill ate one of my pieces)

Bill's salmon

Dutch apple pie

Some people we met who were den Haag for a judges meeting....not sure what it was but surprisingly to Bill, it was the two women who are judges

A little more charm, the bill came in a little chest....

A couple more lunch shots

Just for Christina, I had a smoothie

And our last night in Beestenmarkt with Chuck (from Bill's meeting) having beers and finally had dinner there too -also ran into Chris and Jane.

Obviously we had been sitting here a couple hours as it was now dark...

A little more, I visited a botanical garden which was not large but had some interesting items including a dawn redwood

And an usual birch tree

Ok, I'm a Minnesotan, I like birch trees...

There was a lot more including an autumn flowering crocus

And an usual sculpture

And that's the highlights for you...

Second two nights at hotel de Emauspoort we stayed in a gypsy caravan in the terrace area of our hotel.

Small and cozy but it had everything we needed...

I have more but guess you'd have to show up for a slide show of it all...

Oh, ok, two more in case I left these out of the earlier picturesque pictures

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Location:Delft

Delft stuff part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:33:00 +0000

We were lucky enough to get to know some people during our four days in Delft. First we met Betty and Sharon who were traveling to France next so we gave them our ideas on France and they gave me ideas for Delft. They are from Portland Oregon. We would run into each other mostly while checking mail or working out travel plans in the lobby of our hotel where there was free wifi. Kind of glad there was not free wifi in the rooms as the lobby turned out to be a great place to meet and talk.
Here we are at breakfast one morning...news ail friends but I will have to get them to join Facebook...

We also met Jane and Chris who live in State College, PA. Chris is retired but still travels to consult on solar energy and Jane, like me, was going along on the trip. We were amazed to find a close connection - she is from West Pittston PA, not far from the towns that Bill's parents came from....and knew of his great uncle, Dr John Cotter.

Bill talking with Jane in the lobby - my newest Facebook friend - hoping we'll meet again somewhere in our travels...

When I wrote the summary yesterday of topics, I had no idea we would run into someone from Bill's meeting but we met Chuck in the market square looking for places to eat. We went to the Beestenmarkt for a beer - 3 beers later we decided to just eat there... So another new travel friend... Chuck from Cleveland. Turns out he and Bill had a lot in common - British humor for one...

Delft is well known for it's iconic blue painted dishes and other objects. There are a few levels of these .... Cheap ones not made the same way as the "authentic" ones...then the hand painted ones made in many small factories/workshops which are considerably more expensive and the antique delftware, much more expensive even.

I found this interesting - to me having the biggest selection in town (of touristy cheap stuff) was not at all tempting...

I went to the Vermeer center - which has done a wonderful job of presenting Vermeer's work as well as some idea of the times he lived in. Vermeer was born in 1632 and died in 1675 and really only painted about 50 pictures but they showed an incredible conception of how to portray light and almost all his pictures showed light coming in a window off to one side rather than the style of the Dutch Masters of having the background dark and light mostly being assumed from the front.
The center sadly, does not have any original Vermeers - they were all sold to large museums or collectors by an in-law after the death of his descendants in Delft. Probably the most famous, the girl with a pearl earing.

Our first two nights in The Vermeer Room at our hotel had a room decorated in memory anyway of the painter.

Here I am writing up in the loft above our room...

A painting "in progress" in the room

William of Orange was credited with saving the Netherlands from Spanish rule. He set up residence in Delft in the Prinzenhof and it was here he was assassinated at 51 yrs old. The building had formerly been a convent until he took over part of it. It is now a museum.

Delft was a very rich city and was coveted by many countries for it's position as one of the ports of the East India Trading company. It has suffered from attacks and also a catastrophic fire and later a large explosion that destroyed large parts of the city. Only brick buildings survived so most buildings were rebuilt of brick in the 1500's and 1600's.

Will finish Delft with the rest of our meals, the gypsy caravan we stayed in the 2nd two nights and any missing odds and ends....then off on train adventures to Effelsberg to visit relatives...

What do you think of when you hear Delft? Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:18:00 +0000

Say Delft to me and these things come to mind, in this order
Bicycles
Huge church
Quaint sights
Sharon and Betty, Jane and Chris
Delftware
Vermeer
William of Orange

So, bicycles... There is little parking in the older parts of town especially and few cars or other motorized vehicles but that doesn't mean no traffic or even traffic jams. I saw endless varieties of bikes.... Some with little cars behind them for dogs, for kids, saddlebags to load up on market day, two baby seats on one bike, the very young and the pretty old (bikes and people), people riding while eating, talking on the phone, carrying an armload of groceries, and texting...

Waiting for a lift bridge to close. Guess I didn't take as many bike pictures as I thought but they are everywhere as is the sound of bike wheels and chains....part of the charm.

There are two large Protestant churches here called the "old church" (built in 1240) and the "new church" (built in 1381). Both have been harmed and interiors mostly destroyed by fire and fighting during the 1500's.

The old church is not as impressive nor as much a presence in the city as the new church. But it contains the graves and mausoleums of many famous people including the artist Vermeer and Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, as you all surely know was the physician who invented the microscope. Here are a few pictures. It was odd walking inside as much of the floor is graves...

The "new" church dominates the town. It is the second highest tower in the Netherlands and has 350 steep narrow steps you can climb but I have not done this. It is the burial place of Prince William of Orange (who led the resistance against Spanish rule of the Netherlands in the late 1500's) and many royal family members.
This church is very tall and maybe the fact that it is narrow emphasizes this but I was amazed at how high the ceilings and stained glass windows are!
So, some photos of this - and I have to admit, this was photographed by me just a few too many times from the town - you just keep seeing new views of it...

First view is out the window of our room...

Mausoleum of William of Orange

The highest stained glass windows

This picture begins quite high off the ground

On left is the back corner of the church which is right out our window. And what we are told is the most photographed bridge in Delft.

Ok, I'll stop but I have more of this church....

Some cute sights around Delft...

Ok, that's it for cute and quaint - you'll have to go yourself to see it all.
But not done with Delft - I'll do the rest in the next entry...

If Paris is a city you love, Delft is a town that charms you

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:13:00 +0000

A few loose ends from St Germain and we are off to Delft...

The terrace - don't know where Dumas is supposed to have written his books. But I picture him sitting on the terrace...

For Katie...

So, we walked in to town to the RER station, caught a train to Chatelet station in Paris, where the rat catcher was and then one to Gare du Nord, and finally an ICE train to Rotterdam. Because we were on Eurail passes, we were in 1st class and got to use the lounge while waiting.

Bill working on his presentation for the meeting in the Netherlands.

ICE trains

Our meal was the most health conscious one we'd had so far...

Rotterdam

And then short ride to Delft on a local train

First thing you notice about Delft is bikes everywhere...

See the long row of grey things? They are bikes parked at the train station...

A very long line of them...

The station as we were walking into town

Maybe half a mile to our hotel right near the main square, behind the "new" church.

This building was built in the 1600's and in 1922 became a bakery owned by the current owners' great grandfather. They started the hotel above it and later closed the bakery and bought the building next door, a former coal shop.

We had the very large Jan Vermeer (famous artist from Delft in case you didn't know whose most famous painting is probably the Girl with Blue Earings) room - consisting of a large room decorated to represent the art of Jan Vermeer with a loft above - we could have had guest...

More of the room later. We walked around seeing one charming site after another...so here are a few of them.

So thirsty and then hungry .... First we went to a place for some Belgian dark beer on the beest markt square.

And then to a restaurant recommended by our hotel

Where Bill had rabbit in goose fat (ok, sounds weird but tastes really good)

And I had seafood called Brammer with a glass of bocksinthe that came with it...

Also vegetables

And the end of the day - coming up more cute stuff in Delft, a truly impressive church, some Delft history and more good food - seriously good!!

Location:Vrouwenregt,Delft,The Netherlands

Walking where kings walked, sleeping where kings slept

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:47:00 +0000

The night view with the searchlight on the Eifel tower - pointing to the right here, it was so bright it shone into our room as it came by...

Now some history.

The old castle - Chateau Vieux
The first castle was built in St Germain-en-laye in 1122.
The castle went through being attacked, burned, torn down twice and rebuilt, until finished pretty much as it is currently.
After the revolution, it served as a cavalry training school, until Napoleon set it up as an archeology museum which it still is today. During the German occupation it also served as a German army headquarters.

The New Castle - Chateau Neuf
King Henri IV built the new castle and the series of walls and terraces I mentioned down the hill to the Seine - they were right out our window. Two generations later, a baby was born here who would become the Sun King, Louis XIV. It was he who later built Versailles.

However much of that castle was torn down and what remains became the Pavillon Henri IV, where we stayed.

Before we get going for the day, sunrise out our window

And next the breakfast buffet at Henri IV

You know, maybe this is what makes the bread so darn good - butter is SO good here...

Have to wear off the butter and croissants so, now for the castle and town tour... Bill went off to work at the 3M plant and I set off to walk the 2 mile walk down the wall leading away from the hotel.

The white speck in the trees to the left of center is the hotel.

The wall went on but was partially blocked by some repairs so I turned and went through this arch in the wall.

Which at first seemed very deserted but when I came to an intersection, I saw there were many people here.

This is a good sized forested park that had been part of the royal grounds. Eventually I came to a more manicured garden area, also huge!

So I continued my brisk walk - haha, well I did pass up some elderly people with canes, mothers pushing strollers or walking with toddlers...

Eventually the lawn area gave way to lanes of trees

And there I was at the back of the old castle.

And a church and town buildings - the train station where we arrived was underground near the buildings at left.

Not sure what the things on the ground here are?

A view of the chapel, one of the older areas of the castle from an earlier version dating from the 1200's, if you click on the pictures, note the green color of the windows. (yes I will get back to that)

Door to the museum - I only visited the free exhibit

Bronze age girl

The beautiful, heavy door - pushing it open I had a sense of entering a different time period, although strangely empty of signs of life..

This is a particularly appealing chateau (French word for castle, and French castles certainly fit our idea of "chateau")

So, the chapel - still green on this side.

And inside

Surprisingly the windows appear very colorless, although a close look shows there are some greenish areas in each small tile of glass. And the walls actually were more white than this photo looks.
Even the plastic "door" was colorless from inside

But, I rechecked, and it was green from the outside too and no green in it and you are not now looking through two layers as you are with the glass.

Back to the town square - lots of very nice clothes shops down these streets

Just something else curious above a door - it says "ancient hotel of mademoiselle (young ladies)?

Ok, it's a pretty window but I promise I left out most of the pretty window pictures in Paris...

Place Royale traffic circle

Then walked by the Quartier de Gramont - thinking this is a barracks - lots of plaques commemorating military people especially General Leclerc, the man who liberated Paris in August 1944, but died in a plane crash in 1947 and is still very honored in France.

I kept walking and found this wall. At the time I was not aware how close I was to our hotel - this is one of the remaining parts of the walls and terraces built by the king.

I took the small road that went up along the wall next.

I knew was near our hotel but when I saw that the view was much the same as from our room.

Two of my favorite houses down the hill

One more big flight of stairs...

And home...

You probably noticed no word or pictures of Bill during this day - he was off working all day and didn't get back until close to 7. I had been walking for 3 hours or so and was hungry so I just got a cheese plate from the kitchen. What a treat to sit and eat a salad and cheese and bread looking out at my view...

So this night we decided to go a little less fancy - and cheaper. But the meal did not disappoint. Amnesia Cafe - but we won't forget it...

Bill's meal - I think it was duck...

And mine, an avocado and shrimp salad - and look at all that shrimp!

We were right across from the Alexander Dumas theater

Which reminds me I forgot to talk about him. He evidently lived at the Pavillon Henri IV while he wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. He later built his own small chateau nearby but we did not get to see that.

Location:St Germain-en-Laye

We'll always have Paris....

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:55:00 +0000

During our bike tour, we were reminded of a story that comes to mind often when you look at Paris, either from a distance as today or from in the city. The Nazis had occupied Paris and when Hitler knew his troops must retreat from Paris, he instructed his General Dietrich Von Choltitz to place explosives under all the major buildings and landmarks in order to destroy the city if he couldn't have it. But the general did not agree with this and did not want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Paris. So he disobeyed and when Hitler asked, as they were driven out by the resistance, "Is Paris burning?", he was told yes and thought he had destroyed the city so no one could have it. Sadly von Choltitz was never really celebrated or thanked by the allies, although certainly he must be appreciated now...I know he is by me...

We walked about 15 minutes to our RER train which we caught near the Opera. It was quite full but we had seats for the approximately 45 min trip to St Germain-en-laye which included many stops. The town is considered on the outskirts of Paris and you can see Paris from it as it is up on a hill. There is a law in Paris about how high the building can be but obviously there are the areas outside the main old city with the usual tall buildings but very glad they kept them outside.

Bill checking his GPS to find the way to the hotel

The old castle comes in view as you exit the underground train station

And our hotel - what remains of the "new castle" built by King Henri IV.

Entering our room

Rainbow out our window

View of Paris - the tall thin thing in the middle on the horizon is the Eifel tower.

More views of this beautiful old hotel

The room where King Louis XIV was born. Looking at the grandeur of royal sites and the riches in Paris as well as this place you really start to understand why there was a revolution....although having Napoleon take over was like having more royalty...

Just a small part of the grounds with the wall that was part of a series of walls and terraces that went down to the river Seine. More on that in the next entry...

My birthday dinner in St Germain-en-laye - at hmmm, forgot the name but have it written down, will update later...

First they brought a mushroom soup that was delicious

Then Foie Gras with chocolate that Bill ordered

Bill's duck dish with raspberries and black currant reduction - duck is our favorite "plat" in France

And my lamb hock with quinoa - as amazing as it looks

Dessert - Bill had Peach Soup in Verbena infusion with bitter almond ice cream

And my Encounter of Raspberries (which were actually strawberries, something lost in the translation I guess) and Ganache on a hazelnut chocolate bisquit.

Were they good?

Goodnight Paris - view out our window with Eifel tower lit up

Tomorrow a walking tour of St Germain-en-laye and the Vieux Castle (old castle)

Walking with the dead

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:09:00 +0000

Did that title get you to read on?

We revisited the Cimetiere de Montmartre - a huge graveyard built in an old quarry so it is below street level and in fact goes right under the street to the other side. Many famous people are buried there although only a few we recognized for sure. Not that much to say except it was the coolest cemetery I've seen and you can bury me there (gives a reason to visit Paris too)

So, with no further ado, some (but by no means all) of my favorites..

The map of famous people

A picture showing the large street above

It has street and district names (like the Paris Arrondissements)

and even traffic circles...

Creator of the French cancan

Alexandre Dumas - it says fils (son) after his name to distinguish him from his father whose name was the same (we asked some French visitors)

Edgar Degas

Jean Foucault

Vaslav Nijinsky - famous Russian ballet dancer

Bill says at this point, "all the statues are so sad" - guess he wants a happy clown on his...

Added note on this Jewish one to not forget family members taken away by the Nazis

Ok, done, I had a hard time narrowing down these ....

On to a happy note - the movie Amelie - today we found and ate at the cafe used in the movie - sitting outside we watched many people take pictures.

We had a pasta and salmon which was quite tasty - with French bread and wine, of course...

Creme brûlée (btw, I apologize for not using accents on French words...)

Inside Amelie's restaurant

In the restroom

And if you saw the movie, you know what this scene was... (if you don't know, watch the movie)

Couldn't help but notice how, despite so many people on the streets and eating outside, it was very clean. Everyday we saw people cleaning the streets and even saw trash trucks picking up on Sunday.

The brooms they use to sweep the street while water streams down, washing everything into drains

Then to fulfill Bill's other dream we visited the produce stand from Amelie.

I skipped a pretty church and some nice views but this is getting long...

And now it was time to pick up our luggage and take the RER train to St Germain-en-laye... Here is the tiny lift that took our luggage and one person...normally we used the steps

But first goodbye to Jacques and Helene's cat, Schnouff. The name is slang that refers to "white powder" and also given because they live by Place Blanche on Rue Blanche (French word for white)

Trip to St Germain-en-laye and best meal so far coming up next...

French food and markets and fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:03:00 +0000

They are just so beautiful, had to share this with you all. Even the simplest street cart of subway type sandwiches takes care with presentation...

Fashion - but it's no longer true that Europeans do not wear jeans...

For men too

Even the children are fashionable - almost all the little girls had dresses on...

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Location:Paris

Sleeping in the park and walking in the rain - to a phantastic ending

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:09:00 +0000

Today you find out why I told you to remember three pictures from yesterday. It was a good thing I remembered them!

But first, at the end of the "Tour de France" (ok, just a little of Paris), we were thirsty and tired, still a bit jet lagged... So we stopped at a cafe and had coffee and a cheese plate.

French cheese and French bread, my new favorite meal...as you will witness as we go on

The plan was a boat ride on the Seine, which we had been told to do at night. So now we had to use up about 4-5 hours which sounded too short to go home, take a nap and come back, but too long to keep walking aimlessly. Saw the park with this impressive monument and sat down on a bench, "just for a minute" and ended up sleeping on Bill's shoulder for maybe an hour.

Then Bill had the great idea to just forget the night boat ride and do it now - we walked to the boats and had about a five minute wait only until it left. We cruised up and down the Seine, having buildings and many of the bridges over the Seine pointed out. Pictures are grouped as pictures of bridges, the Eifel tower and boats I thought were cool - there are lots of dinner cruises including one from Maxim's restaurant and lots of personal house boats...

Bridges

The statue here was used to measure flooding. In one major flood it got to his neck..

And boats

A party on our boat - seemed like a bridal shower or bachelorette party until the "angel" (dressed in white with halo) stood up and posed with a boat employee in a fake kiss shot - and she's about 8 months pregnant.... So who knows? They were having fun though...

And what's Paris without some Eiffel Tower shots...

Ok, so boat tour accomplished, we set out to take a bus back up to Montmartre area.

I forgot to mention that on the way down we were waiting for Bus 74 near our apartment and a woman at the stop asked if we needed any help - very nice. Any stories about the French not being friendly I have to take exception to. They do not greet strangers they pass on the street the way we do (at least in Minnesota) but every person has been lovely, helpful and interesting to talk to. They seemed to enjoy that we attempted to speak French but did not mind speaking English when they knew it. Some people seem to not know English, even in cafes but they worked things out...

So, back to the bus home. We waited at the published stop but there was a sign that my rudimentary French could not decipher about our bus. Another couple came and we asked if this was correct - they assured us it was and said they were going to the same stop. Then another person came who knew the, and said that bus 74 no longer stops there, go down 3 more bus stops. So they explained and brought us along. Not one 74 bus came in around a half hour so they decided to give ip and take the metro and told us to follow them...through two metros lines in very crowded cars where they constant kept track to make sure we were with them, including pulling me into a car I was sure had NO room. Very nice people...

So now we were back in the Pigalle area and walked up the hill to Monmartre area. Our goal for the night was Le Cave Gaston Leroux for dinner. A cave it turns out is a small wine bar with just small plates like appetizers. However by this time it was dark and raining. And while Bill said he remembered right where it was, it turns out he did not.

Now comes those three pictures I told you to remember. Suddenly I remembered I had photographed the place

and that pictures taken before and after might help pinpoint the place. The Cave was not in our GPS database but after ducking under cover, looking at pictures we remembered that the Moulin de la Galette was just 2-3 minutes before our goal,

and Le Consulat was right after

Bill was sure it was past the Consulat but that proved him wrong and after 20-30 minutes of walking in the rain, we turned downhill and there it was...

For those who don't know, our daughter Colleen LOVES Phantom of the Opera and Gaston Leroux, the author of the book. This place, it turns out, is owned by Gaston Leroux's great granddaughter and was FULL of memorabilia - a "Colleen heaven". We tried to get her on Skype but she was sleeping (in South Korea, where it was the middle of the night).

We had a wonderful cheese plate and wine.

Will save the rest of the pictures for Colleen because we have one more stop for the night - dessert across from the Moulin Rouge

Chocolate mousse for Bill and crepes for me and wine... And talked to people from Canada.

Whew, end of day two and did we ever sleep well that night...

Coming up next - St Germain-en-laye and sleeping where kings slept - and other famous people...

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Location:Paris, the Seine and Montmartre

Notre Dame and a bike tour of Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Cotter) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:01:00 +0000

We hopped a bus for a short ride into the heart of Paris and were early for our bike tour so took some time look inside Notre Dame Cathedral. Quite different than most Italian churches..... I will just let it's beauty speak for itself in pictures...click to see them larger

The bike tour met outside Notre Dame and then we walked a short distance to their location to get our bikes with David, our tour guide

Bikes were all named - here is Bill's

And Bill wished he had gotten mine when he saw the name

Here we go...

Stopping to see the house that had belonged to the bishop of Paris before the revolution

The home of Victor Hugo. David, our guide, is from the UK but now lives with his wife in Paris. He told us he expected Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and many more about the poor and social justice would live modestly. But this was his house - each home went from drainspout to drainspout, 4 sets of windows and all floors, including tiny windows in the grey roof at the very top for servants rooms.

One of these homes recently sold for 20 million Euro but normally they do not sell, just pass down to family members...

The houses each have a garden in back - one is open to view.

Evidently they have a problem with moles and/or just a sense of humor

Now to a favorite tourist spot that got too popular... The house where Jim Morrison died (you all remember him, right? From the band, The Doors) He supposedly died here too but there are rumors he died elsewhere and the body was brought here, evidently to make it appear he died at home.

There was a plaque noting this as his house but the neighbors got so annoyed at being inundated by tourists that they removed it - one of the empty spaces - looking closely it has Jim Morrison written on it. (bottom space)

And off we go again

A stop to point out an old historic house

And across the street they had been given permission to tear one down and David bemoans the fact that a beautiful house was replaced with something not as worthy

And....hey, I took all these pictures, you have to look at them... (actually I am leaving our a bunch!)

Home of the Republican Guard - did not get a picture but as we rode by, we could see them practicing on horses through an opening.

Beautiful boats along the canal built by Napoleon, which allowed water traffic to Amsterdam, a boon to trade, and to Napoleon's revenue.

And now down along the Seine...

The couple above, who were from England, were celebrating their 1st anniversary in Paris, probably wondering how two old people celebrating 38 years this week could even ride the 10 miles of this tour...

On one of the Seine bridges, a statue to St Genevieve who is credited saving Pars from a plague, along with many other miracles - the child's name in the statue is Paris

And Notre Dame

The young couple had their picture taken here so we had to also...

Restaurant with a view of Paris and Notre Dame - where you can drop a thousand or two on dinner for two... Do not know this from experience however. Quoting PlacesinFrance.com,
The Tour d'Argent restaurant is probably the most well known place to dine in France, if not throughout the world and is also the oldest restaurant in Paris that started out as an upper class inn for the aristocrats way, way back in the 16th century.
And add to that, it was used to base the restaurant on in Disney's Rattatouille...

It's a tradition for a couple to come and place a lock on a Paris bridge inscribed with your names and throw the key in the Seine - just like is done in Korea on the Seoul tower.

About this time I asked how much was left and you are probably asking too...but I was just hungry, not bored...

The Latin Quarter named that because of the Sorbonne - in this area students and teachers would gather, all speaking Latin.

And the Cour du Commerce, a very old street in Paris

Benjamin Franklin (and other famous people) ate here...

Old book store

Today we ate lunch at a street vendor - very tasty toasted sandwich on wonderful French bread

Then back on the road - to the Louvre, which I knew was big, but I've see big galleries....only this was is HUGE!

In the Louvre gardens

The entrance - it is said that if you visit every piece of art in the Louvre for 30 seconds (not sure if that includes transit time to the next one), it will take six whole days to see it all (also not sure if that means 24 hour days but either way it's a lot!)
David (our guide) says if you go to the Louvre, go with someone who loves and appreciates art. He was taken as a young boy with his younger brother - needless to say, it did not go all that well...

Almost done, really!
But first a little more Rattatouille. This area used to hold the very large food market but the mess left behind - rotting produce, stale bread, etc was a huge attraction to the rats of Paris so the market was abolished. But around the corner is the rat killer's shop from Rattatouille but it really existed, the shop of the Arouze family for five generations since 1875

Gotta love the ring-around-the-rats dance

And the final leg of the bike ride....

The rest of the day coming soon - it wasn't even close to over - it was now about 1:30 PM!

Location:Paris