Hello ~ I’m Scott and welcome to your 5-minute vacation for July 16th. I share these snippets of our travels in the hope that my photos and stories will allow you to go on a vicarious vacation and “get away from it all,” if only for a moment. I appreciate you inviting me into your inbox today.
Here’s the previous 5-Minute Vacation if you missed it.
The Eiffel Tower from underneath.
Two days ago, France celebrated Bastille Day. Formally called the Fête nationale française and legally known as le 14 juillet, Bastille Day celebrates the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, and the Fête de la Fédération of July 14, 1790, that celebrated the unity of the French people.
Seeing this date roll around on my calendar made me think of our several visits to France. Today, please join me on this trip down memory lane to France in 2006. The details are a bit hazy now but let’s go anyway.
Notre Dame before the fire, Sacré Coeur and a more traditional view of the Eiffel Tower.
We landed in Paris and spent a day or two strolling around, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur, before renting a car (road trip!) and heading to Normandy.
On our way to Bayeux, we stopped at Monet’s garden in Giverny, where I apparently didn’t take any photos (as I recall, the light was horrid). That evening we stayed at Le Moulin de Connelles, a former mill converted into a hotel.
Continuing on, we stopped in Rouen for lunch and to visit the cathedral before settling in at a comfy hotel in Bayeux for the night. At Bayeux, we saw the Bayeux Tapestry, visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer (where my great uncle is buried) and strolled along the Operation Overlord beaches of Omaha and Utah.
Omaha beach with tractor front and center.
Next stop: Mont St. Michel. On our way, we stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s in a small town. The McD’s cashier was doubly surprised: first, that Americans were there and second, that we spoke passable French. (Back then, just like today, McDonald’s was very popular and frequently the only restaurant available along the road.)
Mont St. Michel. Clear skies when we arrived and completely fogged in the next day.
Watching the sunset and the tide arrive.
Once the tour buses and daytrippers left, we had the town practically to ourselves.
Next stop: the Loire Valley and the chateaus. We chose the town of Amboise as our base. Mary, Queen of Scots spent much of her early life here and Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years here. He is buried on the grounds of the chateau.
After visiting the chateau at Amboise, we visited the chateaus at Blois and Chambord (above). Blois is interesting because its construction spans the reign of several French kings but Chambord is more elegant.
Chenonceau. I’ve always been intrigued by this chateau, undoubtedly because it spans the river Cher. How cool would it be to have a house with a door on both sides of a river? During the Second World War, the river Cher was the boundary between occupied France in the north and the “free” France in the south. A blockade was constructed on the southern end of the gallery to prevent anyone from escaping from the occupied zone.
Heading back to Paris, we stayed overnight at the Chateau Escliromont, a fancy hotel close to Chartres Cathedral. Like many Gothic cathedrals, Chartre’s construction spanned centuries. Over those centuries, architectural styles changed (and funds ebbed and flowed) which explains why the north tower (camera left), finished in 1513, is so different from the south tower (camera right) from 1150. I just love the exquisite details of the stonework.
Finally, back to Paris for a quick visit to the Louvre before flying home. The Winged Victory of Samothrace stands at the intersection of several hallways and stairs, so most museum-goers pass by on their way to some other artwork. The man in the white sweater and I were the only ones to stop to admire the statue.
Today, we make notes on each trip because we realized that otherwise all the trips would soon blend together. Unfortunately, we didn’t do this in 2006. While I still have the photos I made, most of the particulars (hotel names, dinners, the name of that town where we stopped at McD’s) are lost to time. But I do remember that the 12 days passed too quickly.
Today’s Travel Word, inspired by the memories of wandering around Paris, is:
Flâner: to stroll, wander, roam, saunter, meander; to laze about, to be idle. (The Anglicized spelling is flâneur.)
Lors d'une visite à Rome, un jour, nous avons flâné plus de 11 miles. During a visit to Rome, one day we walked over 11 miles. We designated that distance a “Rome~y” and now use it to measure our walks/wanderings when visiting other cities. Example:
Me: How far did we walk today?
Rosemary: Barely a half a Rome~y.
Me: Is that all? My feet are killing me.
Friends, it’s time for a little vacation. I hope the rest of your summer is fun and I’ll return to your inbox in September.
Until then ~
Tschüss!