Caves and Castles Day 4 - Morning - Sept 24, 2009

Day 4 was a castle day, no caves were visited. After a brief visit to a nearby village, we headed to La Madeleine, an archaeological site that also featured a ruined castle.

A tour bus arrived just ahead of us, so we diverted down the road to a fortress called Maison Forte de Reignac. It is built into a cliff face overlooking the Vezere River. Steve had hoped to show me Peregrine falcons there, but no luck. The fortress contained a hodge-podge of antiques and artifacts, with some museum like exhibits. It is most spectacular for it's setting, and the view from on high.

Then back to La Madeleine, which is where the famous bison carving we saw on Day 1 was found.

We toured the castle ruins and listened to Steve wax poetic about the archaeological significance of the site.

Megan's blog for the first part of the day is here.


The morning ended with a quick lunch beside the Dordogne River with an appearance of a group of Mute Swans.  It was nice to see them on their native continent. 

The Photos for the morning can be found here.

Caves and Castles Day 3 - Sept 23, 2009

Day 3 began with another brief visit to Montignac, this time I took my camera. The highlight of this brief stop was an old dog who was loitering outside a grocery store. When I entered, the dog scooted in behind me. His master was inside and was not too popular with the proprietor.

Wednesday is public market day in the medieval village of Sarlat. We spent the morning shopping for souvenirs and ended up with three bottles of wine, two of which made it back home. There was one public washroom in marketplace, with three self-cleaning toilets. Unfortunately, they were unisex, and the cleaning cycle took 90 seconds in between uses. The end result was incredibly long line-ups. How typically French.

In the afternoon, we visited the caves of Cougnac. The first cave we toured had no paintings, but was interesting geologically with awesome collections of stalactites and stalagmites. We were allowed to take photos.

Megan's first blog of the day is here.

Our guide in the caves was a young woman named Isabelle (shown below). She conducted both French and English tours simultaneously, speaking a million miles an hour in both languages.

The second cave contained a number of paintings and markings, dating back 14 - 15,000 years. They are more subtle than the other caves we saw, but impressive nonetheless.

Megan's blog for the second cave is here.

The link for the Grottes de Cougnac is only available in French (the first flag at the bottom).

My photo album for the day is here.

Caves and Castles Day 2 - Sept 22, 2009

We spent the morning at Rouffignac "the Hundred Mammoths cave". In this cave, we rode a train which transports tourists with minimal impact on the cave. Again, photos were not allowed, although I took some of the cave entrance and the train.

Here is the official site for Rouffignac: www.grottederouffignac.fr/ .
Megan's Rouffignac blogs are here and here .

The next stop was our first castle - Chateau de l'Herm. This is a late 15th century castle that is now mostly in ruins. It was purchased by a couple, both archaeologists, who have initiated projects to protect the castle. It is also used for summer concerts and theater performances. The official website is www.chateaudelherm.com/accueil_ang.html  

Here is a shot of Megan running around the castle:

In the afternoon, we returned to Les Eyzies for lunch, and then spent time at an active Archaeological site, Abri Pataud. An archaeologist demonstrated the three dimensional grid system used to record where artifacts and fossils are found.

Finally, we walked down the street to Abri Cro Magnon, where remains of the first modern humans were found. Interestingly, in French Cro means Quarry, and Monsieur Magnon was the owner of the quarry where the remains were found
 
 

 
Megan's final blog entry for the day contains sketches of Rouffignac, the castle and Abri Cro Magnon.
 
To see my photos from the day, click here.

Caves and Castles Day 1 - Sept 21, 2009

I have departed from my usual photo presentation for the Caves and Castles tour for these reasons:

1. We were not allowed to take photos at any of the archaeological sites. This is a French National law that I was not about to break. Therefore most of the really interesting caves that we visited are not represented by any photos. By using the blog, I am able to include links to official web sites of some of the locations that we visited.
2. One of the members of our tour group was able to capture images of the sites, in her mind and sketch book. Megan Baehr is a 24 year old artist from Vermont. The purpose of her visit to the caves of southwestern France was to perform research for a graphic novel she plans to write about the pre-historic artists who created the cave paintings that we saw. She has graciously allowed me to provide links to her blog pages. I have attempted to provide links for each day, but you may wish to just read through her entire blog all at once.

Note about hyperlinks:
The blogging tool does not allow me to have links open in new windows or tabs. Therefore you should open the links by using the Right mouse key and selecting either new window or new tab.

As mentioned in Day 8 of our Paris Blog, we had a long Sunday of traveling before ending up at the cozy residence (Les Rosiers) of Steve and Judie the proprietors of the Caves and Castles tour.

To read about Megan's trip to France, read these pages of her blog : 1 , 2, 3, and 4 . (Or you can just read her blog starting from page 1 at your pace).

Upon waking up on Monday morning, I snuck out to see if there were any birds about. I was able to spot some collared doves, which are quite common. These birds are now spreading across North America and competing with our Mourning Doves.

After a wonderful breakfast we headed out and started with a visit to the nearby village of Montignac. I left my camera in the car, but got some shots of the village later in the week.

Next up was a visit to the Lascaux II caves. The Lascaux caves were discovered in 1940 by four teenagers, who had lost their dog. The caves were kept secret until after the war and eventually opened up to tourists. However, they were closed again in 1963 as the millions of tourists were damaging the paintings with their CO2 exhalations.

The French Government decided to replicate the caves and their art and Lascaux II was opened in the 70's.  As mentioned, no photos were allowed, but you can link to the official site here: www.lascaux.culture.fr/ . The Wikipedia entry for the caves is here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux

Megan's sketches of the village and cave are here .

After Lascaux were returned to Les Rosiers for lunch and then spent the afternoon exploring the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies, which is a stunningly picturesque village carved out of a curved cliff face.

Most of the photos I took on day 1 are of the village and the museum. Megan's sketches of Les Eyzies are here .

We finished with an authentic French meal at a restaurant in Turzac called La Source, owned by a very interesting dutch couple. The food pictures in the photo album are compliments of Megan, as I did not take my camera to the restaurant (duh). The restaurants website is here: www.restaurant-la-source.fr/

Here is the link to my photo album of Day 1.

Day 8 - Travel problems

When planning our trip south, we decided to take an earlier train so we could check our bags at the station in Brive and wander about the town a bit. We were betting on there being a bag check at the station, and booked a train that would get us there an hour earlier than the scheduled pickup by the tour operators.

On Sunday morning, we hustled all our baggage onto the metro, did the transfer at Place d'Italie, and arrived at the Gare Austerlitz about 2 hours before our departure.

We had a morning coffee and croissant (11 Euros) and waited for the 12:50 departure to come. Compared to air travel, there is no security for trains. We had our ticket punched and boarded the train, with luggage. At the appointed time the train pullled out of the station, the passengers started eating their cheese and bread, and then we stopped. It was announced that there was a problem with le traction (the engine) and further info would be provided. There seemed to be two options, load all the passengers onto other trains, or get another engine. After 90 minutes, it was announced (in French only) that we would be pushed back to the station and assigned a new engine. 

Meanwhile, the next train to Brive departed, meaning that our early train was now the later one. We contacted our tour person and told her about our late arrival and waited for departure. Our train left about 2 hours later than scheduled. We were not on the super-fast TGV, so we were looking at a 4 hour trip.

Upon arriving in Brive, we went to the front of the station and looked from someone from the Caves and Castles tour. After 30 minutes we were becoming concerned. Finally an older man with frizzy hair (Steve) appeared with a sign.

He had been waiting for us inside the station all the time. We proceeded to his car and met Megan, a young woman from Vermont who had come in on the other train, (the later one that arrived earlier). Upon arriving at their house (Les Rosiers) we met Steve's wife Judie, and the other two members of our group (Jack and Bernadette) who were from California.

We were then treated to a full French meal, with ample amounts of wine,and given our notes for the week's adventures.

Bernadette looks at notes with Steve and Megan looking in.

Day 7 - Return to the Louvre and Rodin's Garden

Saturday was our last full day in Paris and there were too many places that we had not seen yet. But first, we had to return to the Louvre for a couple of hours to see Michelangelo, Bruegel and Hireonymous Bosch, all items on Edith's must see list. We were now veterans fo the Louvre and bypassed the tourist exit for the ones the locals use. The photos below show some of the sights from that visit:

1. French Sculpture near the Richeleau entrance:

2.7000 + year old sculptures from China:

3. I like the 3-D effect of this little piece:

4. Finally the Michelangelo:

5. Over to the Rodin Museum. The gardens on the museum grounds are wonderful. There are statues (or copies) spread throughout the grounds.

6. Rodin's Thinker in the Garden

Day 6 - Miscellaneous Paris Photos

So far most of my posts have concerned our daily activities, rushing from one museum to another. This has largely been the case, but I have taken some pictures that reflect what life in Paris is like:

1. A harp store (or rental facility) on Ave Carnot close to our first hotel

2. There are many motocycles of all shapes and sizes parked everywhere

3. This clothing shop has a name that means something to us computer geeks:

4. This wine store would not let me take a photo inside.
I suspect they've seen too many heist movies.

5. The American scourge of coffee is here and has a following.
I have  to say I've enjoyed the French Cafe au Lait 
(even the ones from a machine!)
more than the tall Sumatra blend at Starbucks.

6. The locals enjoy themselves at the Jardins de Luxembourg.

Day 6 - The places they warn you about

We woke up in our new hotel around 9:30, still sleeping way later than we planned. Nothing looked appetizing in our area, so we hopped on the Metro with the usual empty stomachs and headed for Montmartre, the location of the Sacre Couer. This is yet another famous church, built atop the only hill in Paris. It is in the north of the City, looking down on the sin capitals like the Pigale and Moulin Rouge. It is also home to many of the pickpockets, beggars and scam artists that the tour books warn you of.

Upon leaving the metro, we were immsered in the area immediately. All of the roads leading up to the church are very narrow and lined with souvenir shops and tacky cafes. We managed to find a decent breakfast, and had become immune to the 20 Euro total on the bill. Edith wrapped up most of the souvenir shopping and we headed up the hill.

We were stopped by some very friendly men from Senegal who wanted to put friendship bracelets on our wrists. Althoug I knew it was a scam for money, it was impossible to put up resistance. Edith got away with donating the 4 Euros in change that she had, but all I had was a 20. I tried to contain the damage to 5 Euros, but could only wrestle (figuratively) 10 back in change from my 20.

The rest of the walk was uneventful with the usual cast of beggars and people impersonating statues.

By this time it was noon and Mass had started inside the Sacre Couer. Photos are not permitted, but it is the usual domed ceiling with lots of stained glass and statues. There was a choir of nuns singing to start Mass, and I have to say that the sound was heavenly indeed.,

Upon leaving, our plan was to attend a small special museum exhibition near our first hotel. The exhibit featured works by Bruegel, Memmling and Van Eyk, and was not part of our Paris Museum pass. Upon arriving, there was a fairly long line to get in, but we figured it would not be too bad. One hour later, we staggered in the door and rushed for the bathrooms.  The exhibit was worthwhile. Edith got to see Bruegel's "Slaughter of the Innocents" and the Van Eyk was very good.

Our final destination was the Jardin de Luxembourg. En route, we stopped for a beer at the Horse's Tavern on Rue Odeon, and then proceeded tot the Gardens. This was one of the few public spaces we saw where people could play tennis, sit on a chair and read, and children could ride on the Merry-go-Round. Of course, the Gardens contain a musuem and a palace for good measure.

Upon returning to our hotel, we went to the local restaurant for dinner. It is hard to explain the compexities of French menus without experiencing it yourself. Edith ordered the appetizer plate, which included Pate, Ham, Salami, and a piece of toasted French bread with Cheese. I ordered the beef plate, which turned out to be a poor cut of steak served with French Fries.

Apparently fries are the rage in this area, as I saw plates full of them being delivered to many tables. Even asking for Ketchup resulted in a bottle of Heinz being delivered immediately. Not quite the French meal we were expecting to finally discover.

The pictures posted below contain:
1. First glimpse of the Sacre Couer from the Metro stop
2. Souvenir alley
3. A rare shot of the two of us with the Sacre Couer in the background
4. Edith at the Horse's Tavern
5. Louis with the Palace of Luxemburg in the background

Day 5 - Moving day

Today was the day to switch hotels. When staying in a city for more than a couple of days, I like to book two different hotels. If the first one is a dud, or gets boring we get a fresh start in a new location. This worked well for us in New York in 2005 when we moved to Central Park area after staying on 42nd street.

This time we were moving from a hotel we liked in a very interesting area to a more sedate business location further away from the centre of town. Kind of like staying in the West End and relocating to (dare I say it) Surrey. On the plus side, this hotel has free wi-fi,saving me the 15 Euros for 3 hours of internet access.

The move involved lugging our baggage on the Metro which has lots of stairs and turnstiles. After settling in, we walked to the Gare Austerlitz, which is the train station we depart from on Sunday. Ironically, it is close to the hotel (about 1 KM), but has no direct access by metro. We will have to take two trains to get there.

Next, we went on to the Musee d'Orsay, which we had missed on Tuesday due to the crowds.  This museum is a converted railroad station, situated across the Seine from the Louvre. It opened in 1986. Although thre latter has the most impressive art collection in the world. it can be argued that the Musee d'Orsay got the good stuff. It features art from 1856 - 1915 including impressionists such as Renoir (my favorite), Degas, Monet, and a limited number of Van Gogh's. Also included are some sculptures by Rodin, although there is another museum dedicated to him that is on our initerary.

We spent close to 4 hours in the museum, and saw pretty much everyything. One gets groggy after a while, but we knew we had no time to return here later.

Below are the photo highlights from the Musee d'Orsay:

1. The museum interior from the 5th level

2. Napoleon's March in 1814 after his first lost battle - by Messonier

3. Ugolin by Jean-Baptise Carpeaux
(with a large unrelated painting in the background)

4. Whistler's Mother (formally know as
Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother)
by James Whistler

5. Starry Night over the Rhone - Van Gogh

This is a variation on more famous "The Starry Night"

mentioned in the Don McLean song.

Day 4 - Versailles

Day 4 was one of those that you have while travelling where you have to keep going even though everything is conspiring against you. We had decided on Tuesday night to go to the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday, unless the weather was really bad. It is about 30 minutes out of town by train. so we decided to ask for a 7:00 AM wakeup call. I then stayed up until midnight catching up on Day 1 of the blog.

When the phone rang, we stumbled out of bed knowing we'd feel better with some coffee and breakfast, even if it was going to cost 20 Euros. However, the French do not open their cafe's at 8:00 AM, so we jumped on the metro for the first leg of our journey with an empty stomach.

We stopped near the Eiffel tower, and found a couple of dingy places open, but they did not take Mastercard and we were cash poor again. The next step was to catch an RER (regional) train for Versailles, which we did following the usual confusion. The good news was that our regular metro passes worked, so we saved some money on train fare.

We arrived in Versasilles and while exiting the station, Edith tripped and did a complete face-plant on the sidewalk.  She got up and the damage appeared to be a bruised knee and elbow contusion. She had done the same thing 4 years ago in Central Park, New York. The injuries did not turn out to be too serious and she soldiered on for the rest of this day and subsequent ones.

Versailles is a bit like Banff or Whistler, a resort town with one big attraction nearby. We limped over to the Palace, found a bank machine and had a coffee and Muffin (9 Euros total) after being ignored for 10 minutes by the staff.

Versailles is an amazing place. It was built in the early 1600's and became the capital of France when Louis XIV expanded it and moved there to live. It continued to expand and was one of the causes for the eventual downfall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in the late 1780's.

The Palace (Chateau) is huge, but is dwarfed by the Gardens that go on forever. Elsewhere on the grounds are Marie Antoinette's house, and two large buildings called the Grand Trianon, where Napoleon resided during his time.

It was a grey day, so the pictures aren't the best, but that seems appropriate somehow.

After returning to Paris, we saw an impromptu dance session by four young black men. It was the perfect tonic for a grey day.

List of photos following:
1. An artists view of the layout of the Chateau and Gardens
2. One of the early large halls in the Chateau
3. The ballroom is full of mirrors and chandeliers
4. The Gardens stretch out from the Grand Chateau
5. The Hall of Battles was comissioned by Louis-Philipe in the 1830's to commemorate France\s great battles. Each painting is at least 30ft high.
6. Dancers on the Champs-Elysees.

Day 3 - All over the map

Day 3 was a a busy day although it went off the rails quite early.


First stop was the Concorde centre, which was the location of the famous guillotine that took so many lives during the French Revolution. Napoleon re-engineered Paris so that this place was literally the centre of Paris. You can look one way down the Champ des Elysees and see the Arc de Triomphe, then look the other way and see the Tuileries Jardin leading directly to the Louvre. There is also an Egyptian obelisk there that he stole. It was later officially given to France by Egypt.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We then walked through the Tuilleries. which were somewhat disappointing. The saving grace was a Grey Heron, an addition to the World list.   

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Our plan was to go across the Seine to the the Musee d'Orsay, but since the Louvre was closed, there was a huge line-up. We bounced over to the Rue St. Germaine where we saw a protest at the Foreign Ministry. There were at least two gendarmes for each protester.


Next stop was the Conciergerie, which was transformed from a king's palace into the Paris jail and Hall of Justice. We saw the cell where Marie Antoinette was held before her eventual execution.

On the same grounds, we toured the magnificient St. Chapelle Church, where the stained glass windows date back to the 1200's. The picture I have included does not do it justice.

After a quick tour of the Palace of Justice, we headed over to tour Notre Dame Cathedral. It is again very impressive and one can see what the Notre Dame in Montreal was patterned after.

Our supper plans at the local wine bar were scuttled - who knew we needed a reservation?

So we bought a baguette at the local patisserie, some sausage and wine at the butcher, and some cheese at the grocer and ate on our hotel room balcony, looking at the Arc de Triomphe.



We decided the night was young and used our Museum pass to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe - all 284 steps. This afforded us the view of the Eiffel tower at night, including a special light show at the top of each hour. So ended Day 3.

Day 2 - Modern "Art"

The Georges Pompidou Centre was built in the late 70's and was controversial from day one. The building is constructed inside-out with all the HVAC, plumbing and other things on the outside of the buidling. This allows them to move the interior walls around to suit whatever the current exhibition needs.  It also means there are no bathrooms above the first floor, and those are pretty sad (perhaps more will be said about toilets in a future post on life in Paris).

The centre is second only to New York's MOMA for modern art, at least according to the press release. The premiere exhibit at this time is Modern Art by Women. They seem to be expressing their anger at centuries of domination in the Arts by men, but the unfortunate end result is that the domination appears to be justified.
Some of the highlights included:
- a video of a woman's mouth going wah-wah-wah in about a 30 second cycle (shown below)
- a video of a woman in army fatigues crawling through a battlefield with a bass fiddle on her back with the Beatle's Revolution #1 playing in the background  (shown below)
- a gumby like lump on a trapeze
- a floor with bits of ceiling tile that have fallen from above

I guess Edith and I don't get modern art...