Since our return from Provence we have not sat back on our laurels, so to speak. We have been burning up the autoroute and paying our share of the peage that supports the French highway system. We headed south west to Cincinnati friends Joan, Mary Carol and company for dinner one night. There is something ironic about eating dinner with one of your Cincinnati next door neighbors, and another who was a former boss in a remote tourist town in France. It was great fun however, and we all enjoyed telling our Ohioans meet the French stories. In fact, in true Jen style, we met an older French man that night at dinner and had a great time hearing him describe his trip to California.
Our next big adventure was the arrival of Descea and Ashley, two new high school grads from Cincinnati, on their first big vacation alone! They are delightful, intelligent and interesting young women and we have been showing them the beautiful parts of Paris and France. Our first stop was the Marais, and Place de Vosges, where Grandma and Pat and I had dinner one evening early this winter. This beautiful little neighborhood was built by King Henry IV and his architect and incorporates businesses on the ground floor and apartments "fit for a king" on the upper floors. If you go there is a great restaurant, Chez Janou, that is well worth looking for. While there, Des, Ash and I went to Victor Hugo's home, and then went shopping in Le Marais.
The next day, my fab neighbor, Catherine, went with us to visit the Musée de Cluny. This is definitely one of my new favorites. It has history of France from the Middle Ages and is built on the Gallo Roman baths from the 3rd century. It also houses some amazing tapestries that are quite interesting and are apparently full of the kind of symbolism that Freud would love. We met this very talkative older man there, and with my newfoundFrenchh skills I was able to discuss the responsibilities of being sentient beings. He proposed we were merely the sum of our electrons, and I advocated for being obligated to teach peace and responsibility for our actions, which I said set us aside from those who did not possess the same types of electrical transactions. I did this inFrenchh, with the help of my friend Catherine.
On Saturday morning, with the best of intentions Pat decided he was going to drive us to the Loire Valley to see some chateaux, but after being on the road for over two hours, and making very little progress we chose to abort that plan and drove instead to Chartres, to see the beautiful cathedral there. I am really glad that we did. The sun shone through the stained glass windows and provided some stunning views from the top of the North Tower (see previous blog). The girls were duly impressed. Pat was happy to have shared with them some really cool history. I was thrilled to get another chance to see the beautiful cobalt blue stained glass surrounding an image of Mary holding Jesus.
Sunday was interesting too. Everyone was moving a little slow - but Pat took off for a bicycle ride, giving me time to go to the market with the girls. They were very intrigued with all the vendors, and I went shopping for meat, fish and fruits for a house full. I had spent the week before wondering where I was going to get groceries now that all of my usual vendors were all on vacation for the entire month of AUGUST!
Anyway, after that, we piled into the car to head southeast this time to Provins. A town billed as medieval, located about an hour from us. It was a beautiful day, and perfect for this trip. We arrived easily enough and were amazed by the stone rampart built sometime during the 1100s, and there were many buildings that clearly were nearly as old. The town is quaint in that it has preserved a lot of it's architecture but has still built a little touristy area that is friendly and accomodating. There was lots of parking, clean restrooms, several bistros and a humorous horse show that enacted some version of life in the medieval ages. From there, on to the local amazing church and then crepes and beer, before driving home.
Monday took us to Monmarte and Sacre-Couer. We saw the outside of the Moulin Rouge, then went to Notre Dame de Paris and escaped the rain. From there to St. Paul and The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore, a great place to find an excellent selection of books in English, and just down the street from the American grocery - Thanksgiving. Then it was off to buy chocolate, see some more historical things like the remains of the original wall built to protect Paris by King Phillipe Augustus in the 1200s, and then back home in time for dinner. But, because Pat is wonderful, we went out again to see Paris lit up for the night. I think everyone is satisfied with having a full and fun day. Thanks Pat for the icing on the cake.
