- The start of our Pan European Sojourn
- And we’re off — first stop Palma de Mallorca!
- Alicante, Spain
- Sète and Aigues Mortes, France
- St. Tropez and Gassin, France
- Portofino and Camogli, Italy
- Paris and Angers, France
- Bucharest, Romania
- Into the Carpathian Mountains — Peles Castle
- Brasov and Sighisoara, Romania
- Bran Castle and the legend of Dracula!
- Vidin, Bulgaria
- Valiko Tarnavo and Arbanasi, Bulgaria
- Rolling down the (Danube) river and Golubac Fortress, Serbia
- Belgrade, Serbia
- Novi Sad, Serbia and Vukovar, Croatia
- Pécs, Hungary
- Budapest, Vienna, and end of trip
Before meeting friends in Bucharest for the Eastern and Central Europe portions of the trip, we decided to take a little time off in France. We hadn’t been to Paris for nearly 20 years and decided that would be a great place to hole up with no real agenda in mind other than a day trip we wanted to take to Angers to see the Apocalypse Tapestry. Most times we have visited Paris, it has been frenetic, having to do this tourist thing or another. This time, we took the slow lane with lots of wandering around neighborhoods and enjoying the food. This time, we stayed in Le Marais (which spreads between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements and a couple of blocks from the Seine. This neighborhood has a lot of old historic buildings (including lots of old Hôtels [palaces]) that were largely abandoned after the French Revolution. It was only in the 1960s, that Le Marais started being refurbished, with a number of those former palaces now being turned into museums. It is now regarded as one of the most trendy neighborhoods in Paris. We loved walking around the narrow streets and checking out the shops and markets. We also walked along the Seine and over into the area surrounding the Bastille. We saw an amazing interactive exhibit on Alphonse Mucha, who was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. He almost single handedly started the Art Nouveau poster period in Paris as well showing that style extensively at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition. This was just the relaxing time we were looking for. One issue though — Paris has basically given its streets over to bicycles. In general, that might be seen as a good thing as we try to drastically reduce our carbon footprint. Having said that, the bicyclists here are kinda crazy and tend not to follow the traffic rules. I can’t tell you the number of times I was nearly run over by a bicycle going against the traffic signal. Oh, and while there are ample lanes for the bike traffic, there is only one lane for traffic and one for buses/taxis on the main arteries. Tonight’s 10 minute ride turned into an hour!
Of course, being Paris, it’s all about the food. We enjoyed some fabulous meals, ranging from neighborhood bistros to an elegant meal at Les Parisiens. We even did a food tour, enjoying the best of what Le Marais had to offer. There was a lot to learn about how foods we normally associate with Paris actually came from other places and were modified (e.g., croissant actually originated in Vienna). We also visited a number of shops whose owners had won the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) award, given once every four years to the best of each trade. This award is recognized for life. For each of the categories of food, these awards have been given not only for the preparation of the food, but also for presentation. On our last evening, we returned to a restaurant we had visited about 20 years ago — L’Alsace on the Champs Elysees. Yeah, maybe it’s a bit touristy, but it was great!
During the middle of our stay, we took a day trip down to Angers, a city about 190 miles southwest of Paris in the Loire Valley on the River Maine. What normally would have been a long voyage (and not a day trip by any means!) was made easy by traveling on the TGV train, which scoots along at nearly 190 mph. We were traveling there to visit the Angers Chateau, a combined fortress and palace dating back to the 12th century. It is a massive structure, nearly a third of a mile long with 17 towers up to 130 feet tall around its circumference. The residence was actually built first, but with the threat of attack by the Normans, the fortress was built to both protect the residence and house troops. This was necessary because until the French Revolution, the Plantagenet ruled over Anjou from here. But the real reason we came here was to see the Apocalypse tapestry, the oldest surviving set of tapestries, clocking in at nearly 350 feet! It was commissioned in 1375 and took 7 years to make. It is made entirely of wool and tells the story of the Apocalypse according the Book of Revelation — the struggle between Good and Evil. It was an appropriate metaphor for the time it was woven since was created in the period of the Hundred Years War and the attendant famine and plague. It truly as incredible to see! What was really striking is that the tapestry pieces were abandoned and nearly destroyed twice until 1849 when the custodian of the Cathedral’s Treasury recognized their value and launched a major restoration and a project to piece together the puzzle of the order of the scenes. In the early 20th century, the tapestry went on a world tour, shown at a variety of world’s fairs and major museums.
Now we are off to Bucharest!
This entry was posted in France, Travel
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
