Easy like Sunday morning

As the French usually do on Sundays, I took it easy today. I got a little bit of a later start as opposed to the last few days and used my last métro ticket to go downtown to the Pont de l'Alma, (which is where there is a copy of the Statue of Liberty flame and where Princess Diana was in her car accident that ultimately ended her life).  I was a little early for the next thing on my list so I did my favorite thing to do in Paris: sit and soak. So I found a prime bench partially in the shade in view of the river and the Eiffel Tower, sat and read my book. 

I won't be seeing this next Sunday! :-/

Then after about an hour or so, I packed up and headed across the river to the American Church in Paris. It was a little weird to be in a building a stone's throw away from the Eiffel Tower and completely be speaking English. Typical church service, a few songs, a few Scriptures, offering and a message. There were probably about 100 people there by the end. And, by the way, it was so late in the afternoon because it was their third, maybe fourth, service of the day. I chose to go to the contemporary service at 1:30pm. 

After the service, I didn't stick around and I walked down the quai by the river all the way past Musée d'Orsay and crossed into the Tuileries and the Louvre. I treated myself to one last Nutella crêpe and kept walking toward the newly reopened shopping area, Les Halles. 

Now here's the sticking point: it's Sunday. Not everything is open. So the usually-busy Les Halles was almost a ghost town. But I did get to see the newly finished glass canopy and other than that, I didn't feel like going downstairs and shopping in the underground section. Better for my suitcase and better for my wallet. I was also a bit disappointed that the Doc Martens store was closed as well but I repeat, better for my wallet. I did take a quick walk through the Lego store simply to check out the Notre-Dame made out of Legos. 

So basically, with that, my Paris to-do list was pretty much complete. While walking, I had said "au revoir" to all the big sites, telling them that I'll see them next summer so I didn't feel the need to stay out just for the sake of staying out. So I came back, took a nap, tried not to scratch my annoying mosquito bites and waited for the apartment lady to come back with my security deposit. After she came, I went out to grab dinner and now, it's time to mentally prepare for a long day of airplane travel tomorrow. 

Honestly, after all my adventures and almost three weeks away, I'm ready to come home. It's been such fun; I've seen a lot and made so many new memories but: I want my cat. I want my car. I want screens in my windows and air conditioning. I want my bed and for goodness sake, I want a top sheet!

So friends and family, I'll see you soon. Students, I'll see you in a few weeks. 

In the presence of the kings

I got out of the city again today for my second planned day trip to Reims, a city in the heart of Champagne. (Yes, where they make champagne.) This city has been of particular interest to me because this is where all but two French kings have been crowned since Clovis, the first king of the Franks, was crowned way back in 498.  Because he had recently converted to Christianity, he modeled his coronation after that of King David and was anointed with oil to communicate to his people that he was God's chosen leader. This ceremony was repeated for each French king. So after visiting Saint-Denis the other day where all the kings had been buried, now I was able to visit where all of their reigns had started. 

I started out this morning walking to Gare de l'Est to catch my train. This time, it was TGV (high-speed train) and I got to the area in about 40 minutes. I immediately changed trains to a regional one to take me the rest of the way to the city center of Reims. This part took only about ten minutes. When getting on, I asked the lady sitting there if it was first or second class and she struck up a conversation because she studies languages and caught a hint of my American accent. In fact, she kept saying over and over that I barely had an accent at all except for a few vowel sounds on certain words. That made me super happy, of course, because I want to sound as native as I can. So she continued to talk and talk and honestly, she was talking so fast, I had a hard time keeping up with her. By the end of our conversation, she wished me a good afternoon in Reims and gave me a book. I guess I'll have to read it to figure why she felt she needed or wanted to give it to me. But, wow, such a nice lady. 

So now again, map in hand (you know I love my maps), I made my way up to Place Royale and on to the Reims cathedral. 

Inside: 

Honestly, I've gotten to the point where all these churches start to look the same - at least on the inside. But sitting there thinking about how I was in the same spot as all of the kings, probably some of the queens and even Joan of Arc and how much history had been made there, I was in awe. 

After visiting the church, I went next door to Palace of Tau, which housed treasuries from the church, including the outfit Charles X wore for his coronation as well as pieces of gold finery used by the archbishops or whoever during the ceremonies. 

Charles X's outfit: 

His robe (sorry about the glare): 

They also had many old statues here from the church before they replaced them during a renovation. I thought it was interesting because there was a video with the renovation team and they discussed how to decide to keep, repair or replace broken or damaged items but still remain true to the history and integrity of the church - to make sure they try to keep as much of the original as possible. 

So the only other thing worth seeing (besides touring a champagne house which I didn't get to do for various reasons) was the Abbey of Saint Remi on the far side of town. Literally, the area was cut off on the map I was using. Saint Remi was the one that baptized Clovis 1100 years ago and he is buried here. This church is from the 1100's-1200's. 

Saint Remi's sepulchre:

Then I walked all the way back across town. Took a break at McDonald's because I was craving an iced tea and lo and behold, they had it - only in mint or peach flavors. Then I arrived back at the train station with about an hour to spare. My feet were killing me by this point so I gave them a rest. 

I got back in Paris just after 5pm after another 45 minutes on the TGV. Since I was in the area, I walked over to one of Paris's beautiful parks, Buttes-Chaumont. So pretty!! Lots of people were out enjoying this beautiful summer weather. It was so peaceful that one would almost forget they're in Paris and the craziness of the tourist traps just a few miles away. 

Then I finally took the subway back, grabbed dinner and after 23,000 steps and 9 1/2 miles today, I'm in for the night!  

So now, tomorrow is my last full day in Paris. I have one métro ticket left. Let's see what sort of fun I can get into tomorrow to say "au revoir" to my favorite city. 

Museum hopping and a little shopping

This morning, I walked down to Place des Vosges, which I have been to a few times already this week but I was finally there during the day when Victor Hugo's house was open to tour. So I explored that and got to sense how he would have lived there and wrote some of his best works while living there. His apartment was on the third floor and the second floor was dedicated to his children, grandchildren and their talents in the arts.

Victor Hugo's bedroom (also where he died):  

After I was done there, I forgot to go to Hotel de Sully because I asked the lady at the Hugo museum to point me in the right direction for Hotel Carnavalet and she rushed me off saying they were closing soon. Since certain things close for lunch for two hours or so, I thought that was what she meant. So I rushed over to Hotel Carnavalet, which is a museum about the history of the city of Paris. I was pleased that admission was free and then I understood why soon after. It seemed that more than half the museum was closed off for renovations, including the section about the French Revolution. Sigh. Guess I'll put that back on my list for next time...  But the high points that I did get to see were the building itself and the old signs that used to hang outside of shops. 

The sign from the old Chat Noir cabaret in Montmartre: 

Since I was basically in the general area, I walked down to Berthillon for two old favorite flavors: mocha and salted butter caramel. I'm done trying sorbets for this trip. Then crossed over the river and walked through the Latin Quarter. Back close to Cluny where I was the other day.  I walked down Boul'Mich (Boulevard Saint-Michel) to Boulevard Saint-Germain  to find the Little Prince Boutique, which is what I think heaven for French teachers is like. 

Can this fit in my suitcase?? 

I bought a few things and headed off to catch the subway but found a big grocery store instead. Stopping at a big one (not one of the little neighborhood limited ones) was on my to-do list so I got to check that off. Then ate lunch and hopped on the subway to get to my last museum for the day. I had never heard of it until a few months ago but thanks to Samantha Brown, travel guru, I got to visit Marmotten Monet Museum to see collections by Monet, of course, as well as Berthe Morisot among others. There must have been a field trip from a nursing home there because there were a whole bunch of elderly men and women with walkers, canes, wheelchairs and their helpers. It was cute because one of the helpers asked a lady to read the title of the painting for the others and the lady said she couldn't do it because she was half blind. So the helper read it (something about the Duchess of Feltre) and the lady thought she said Seltre.  The helper kept correcting her, even spelling it for her but the lady kept going "yeah, okay, Seltre." The helpers (and I) had a little bit of a giggle because really, who cares whether the woman in the painting was the duchess of Feltre or Seltre. Except for maybe the duchess herself, of course. :)

By this point in the day, my legs and feet were trying to call it quits. So I sat on a bench in the nearby park to rest. I happened to park it near where a man was giving children donkey and pony rides. I felt bad for the animals because they were all chained together by the bits in their mouth.  They looked sad... Or bored. I hope they get to run around a big field on their days off. Poor things. 

So since my legs, ankles and feet deserved some well-deserved time off and I was done with my to-do and to-see list for today, I came back to the apartment to unload my bags and cool off for a while. I ended up taking a little nap and reorganizing my suitcase to try to lighten the load and organize myself. My philosophy of weighing down my carry-ons to make sure my suitcase isn't over the weight limit may come back to bite me when I'm lugging them around the airports on Monday. 

So later, I went back out to grab dinner and now, I'm perfectly happy to stay in for the night. I've got a book I've been trying to finish. 

 

Bucket list: Bayeux tapestry ✔️

So I had to get out of the city today. I needed to be away from the hustle and the bustle and the noise. So this morning, I caught a train to the northwestern town of Bayeux in Normandy. Its claim to fame is the looooong tapestry recounting the Battle of Hastings in 1066. I've known about it at least since college and I teach it as part of one of my history units in French 4 & 5. The thing plays pretty much like a comic strip. And shows lots of men in chain mail, horses, battles and the loser with an arrow in the eye. It even shows Haley's Comet. 

So it took me just over two hours to get here because it's not part of the TGV network (high-speed trains) in France. The ride here was peaceful, quiet and lulled most everyone to sleep. One guy in front of me even started to snore! I tried to read a book and after chapter one, I could hardly keep my eyes open. Anyways, arriving here about 12:15pm armed with a city map, I was gearing myself up for a hike into the city and really, it was so much easier than I expected. I found the tapestry museum without a problem and got right in. They give everyone audio guides to tell you the story of each panel and it was really interesting, giving details I would have just passed over. After that, I went into the cathedral and thought that was about it for the town. My train back to Paris wasn't until 6pm and I dreaded trying to find ways to kill a few hours. So using my map, I explored farther and found the real city with shops and restaurants. Then I sat and read my book for a while and was back to the train station very early. Ah, country life. 

Another 2 hours and 15 minutes back to Paris, back through the métro and just like that: home again, home again, jiggity jig. 

I plan on staying in Paris tomorrow and maybe taking another day trip on Saturday - this one shorter and closer... And faster. And by the way, these day trips were always part of my original plan - don't think I ran out of things to do in this city! 

I think I overdid it.

So part of this trip was my goal to walk the city as much as possible and not rely on the subway unless it was too far. Let's just say my Fitbit is now at 25,611 steps and 10.65 miles. Oh, and 29 flights of stairs. 

So I got a decent start this morning and took the métro all the way to the northern outskirts of the city to finally visit the Basilica of Saint-Denis. It was the final resting place for all of the kings of France since the beginning. I say "was" because the French Revolution changed all of that. They were so against anything having to do with royalty, kings or queens, that they destroyed as much as they could. That included digging them all up, putting them in a mass grave and pouring Lyme on them to destroy the bodies quicker. So now, the church still has all the sepulchres but most of the bodies aren't there which in my opinion, is such a shame for history's sake. 

Then after my visit,  I took the métro back into town to visit the Cluny Museum which houses things from the Middle Ages. Its big piece (or pieces) are tapestries depicting the Lady and the Unicorn. I thought there was just one but there's six, I think. The first five depict one of the five senses. 

Touch:

Sight:

And I just liked this unicorn because he looked quite sassy: 

After Cluny, I walked across the river to Berthillon for my daily taste-test. Today was cherry and strawberry because she was out of peach. Then (get a map and follow along if you would like), I walked from Ile-Saint-Louis all the way to the other end of Ile-de-la-Cité to Square du Vert Galant, crossed across Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris) and down to the Louvre. Then, after a brief rest and a map check, I continued up to the opera house and went to the nearby Fragonard perfume museum. There was some info added that I hadn't heard in going to the factories in Provence but some of it was repeat. So I skipped the sales pitch and just walked back over to the opera house  because I was exhausted. That's also where I was supposed to meet Mario for a little bit. I was perfectly happy to sit for an hour. His group was running later than expected so that only gave us less than 30 minutes together. More than enough time to take another selfie.  

His group headed to dinner and I walked over to the Madeleine church, a place that I've been by tons of times, but never have gone inside. 

 

As you can gather from the name, the church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and it was just really weird to see her as a focal point instead of Jesus. 

Altar with statue of Mary Magdalene with three angels: 

Then this where all my sanity went out the window and I decided to walk over to the peace wall at the far end of Champ de Mars opposite of the Eiffel Tower. So I grabbed grocery store dinner and ate it in the Champ de Mars. my view from dinner tonight: 

Then down to the peace wall which was all fenced in and inaccessible probably because of leftovers from the EuroCup fanzone that was here a few weeks ago. 

So then I had to walk all the way up to Trocadéro to catch the subway home. Luckily, the exit for the subway is just outside my building so I didn't have much farther to walk. My legs are screaming. :) 

I'm thinking of getting out of town tomorrow. We'll see what happens!

A love-hate relationship

Just to clarify the title, I admit, I have a love-hate relationship with this city. I love the art, the architecture, the sites, the museums, the monuments. I love the attention to detail they put on everything from water fountains to city hall. BUT: I hate the tourist traps and the masses of people that flock to them. Obviously, I'm comfortable enough with this city that I can walk it and get through it better than your average tourist. Maybe I could consider myself an honorary Parisian. But these people with their big maps and their selfie sticks need to get a clue... Or at least some consideration for those around them. So when I'm here, I try to avoid them. In fact, I haven't even seen the Eiffel Tower properly since I've been here. Haven't seen the Louvre, haven't seen Orsay, haven't seen the Arc de Triomphe. Eh, I've got the rest of the week. 

This morning, I was a little lazy sleeping in and maybe still recovering from Ireland. I had heard from Mario to meet him at Sacre-Cœur around 2pm so since there was no way to get there directly, I walked from République (where my apartment is) to Belleville to catch the métro there. I got off at Abbesses to spend some time at the "I love you" wall on a bench with a book. 

After a while, I hiked up the hill to Montmartre by Place Marcel Aymé (with the statue of the Passé-Muraille that we read this past year in French 4 & 5) and through the tourist trap that is Place du Tertre to meet Mario in front of the church. After giving directions to his group, he came to sit and chat with me for a while. Then, I went with his group to Notre-Dame (ah, two tourist traps back to back... I know, my choice for tagging along with his group.). While his group was exploring that area, since I had realized earlier I had forgotten my print out of my ticket for my concert today, we sweet-talked a girl at a hotel to print it for me. Then we moseyed our way over to Sainte-Chapelle to double-check the time it opens for the concert. When it was time for him to get back to his group, we parted ways for the day. 

Sitting in Sainte-Chapelle for the concert was just incredible. The chairs were a little uncomfortable but I just loved soaking it in. They played classical pieces; some I recognized, some I didn't.  

After the concert, I walked back over to Notre-Dame, grabbed a sandwich and ate it in the square in front of the cathedral. My view during dinner: 

Then more Berthillon taste-testing. Today's flavors: pink grapefruit and lime. 

Then I walked back home and now I've got to figure out what I'm doing tomorrow. Oh, the possibilities. 

 

Planes, no trains and automobiles

Here's my morning in a nutshell:

4:15 - alarm

5:30 - taxi to Dublin airport

8:15 - leave Dublin

9:15 - arrive at London Heathrow

11:15 - leave London

1:15* - arrive in Paris

3:15 - get the keys to my apartment for the week. 

* the flight from London to Paris only took about 45 minutes once we took off but it looks like two hours because of the time change between Ireland/U.K. and the rest of continental Europe. 

So I met Marie for the apartment keys and where everything is. The only problem was that I knew my suitcase was super heavy and I just hoped I could get it here and then not have to worry about it again till the weekend when I prepare to go home. But of course, she informs me that the elevator wasn't working and the guy was here fixing it. So she was nice enough to help me get my suitcase up SIX flights of spiral stairs. Ugh. And it's cloudy and humid here so you can just imagine how I was feeling.  She showed me around and where everything was and then skedaddled. 

I decided to take it easy this afternoon and not pound the pavement too much to give my feet a break from what I've put them through the last week and a half so I rested up, texted friends and even fell asleep for about an hour while waiting for my phone to charge a little and for a rainstorm to move through. 

After, I decided to explore a little and walk all the way down Rue du Temple to Ile-de-la-Cité (where Notre-Dame is) and cross over to Ile-Saint-Louis for some Berthillon ice cream. I wanted to get to the original store because they have more choices but they were closed with a sign saying they'll reopen August 31 - gotta love France and their summer vacations. So I went somewhere else and got roasted pineapple basil and pear. Both good but the basil pieces threw me off a bit. I want to sample different flavors every day... We shall see. I have my eye on pink grapefruit next... 

So I ate it down on the banks of the river and watched the tourist boats go by. Then I wanted to walk back a different way so I crossed back over to the Right Bank, through the Saint Paul area and up to Place des Vosges, where the locals hang out. (By the way, I got asked for directions by some lady - if she only knew I just arrived...ha!) The locals were all hanging out on blankets with their wine and other goodies, chatting with friends and whatever else they do on a beautiful Monday night. 

Now back to the apartment with a now-working elevator and hopefully, I get a good nights sleep! Night!

Pucker up, Blarney Stone!

We left Cork this morning bright and early to load the bus and go about 15 minutes to Blarney. Yes, as in the Blarney Stone. Cathal was smart and got us there right as it opened at 9am. Our group was one of the first to climb the spiral stairs toward the famous stone. The steps got smaller and steeper the higher we got. Cathal says they're built on purpose like that to slow down enemies. Even though I was practically on my hands and knees climbing up the last few, I'll just say it was nowhere near as strenuous as Notre-Dame in Paris. So again because we were the first group we didn't have to wait at all to kiss the Blarney Stone to receive the "gift of gab". When it was my turn, I grabbed the rails and scooted up to hang upside down to reach the particular stone. In fact, I let go of one of the rails at one point to point to make sure I was going to kiss the correct stone  (because heaven forbid, I come all this way, hang upside down and receive and second-rate prize for missing the target!) the attendant yelled at me "get your hands back on the rail!" Oops. But hey, I kissed the lowest stone. I intend on making good use of my new gift of eloquence. ;) 

Blarney Castle:

After descending another set of stairs (that weren't as bad as the ones going up), I took time to look through the castle's poison garden that included marijuana, poison ivy, foxglove among others. And don't worry, no free samples. 

More of the grounds:

 

Blarney House: 

Then Blarney is also the home to the largest Irish shop so we did take time to get any final souvenirs, sweaters or whatnot.  Then back on the bus to finish our circuit of the Emerald Isle with our last night here in Dublin. On the way, we stopped for lunch and held our limerick contest. The grand total my friends and I submitted was 22... Out of a total of 32. One of ours were one of two finalists but we came out runner-up. That's okay because we had so much fun and shared so many laughs writing them. 

We got to Dublin, checked into the hotel and had a last bit of free time in the city. I am quite proud of myself - I really think should be an honorary Dubliner. In a matter of 30-40 minutes, i walked to Trinity College for one last visit to the gift shop and then hit up the Hard Rock Cafe for a t-shirt. And back to the hotel by exactly 5pm.  I did most of the preparations to my suitcase for flying tomorrow and was back downstairs for a group meeting for one last time. We thanked Cathal for all of his hard work and patience during this trip and had a few toasts to each other and our beloved EF staff. 

Then we went to an Irish music and dancing show for dinner. It was okay - let's just say I'd rather attend another show like last night's fun. 

So now it's the end of this chapter and on to the next. I have seen and learned a lot. I have gained new friends from all over the country and even the world. We've shared a lot of laughs and good craic over these last week or so. Thanks, friends. :)

Thank you Cathal for being such a fantastic tour director. Thanks to Tony for getting us around safely and not complaining too much about my heavy suitcase. A thousand thanks to Hélène, Josh, Cam and Emily for being great EF leaders and just being so darn cool. It's been great getting to know all of you. 

So I guess it's so long Ireland and hello to Paris.