May 21: Chartres and a Rumble with the Transit Cops

We had a VERY full day today.  We took the train to Chartres and the  cathedral was everything we expected; the stained glass windows had  been recently restored and were some of the most beautiful we'd ever  seen.  Most had been restored, and the contrast between the restored windows and those that hadn't been cleaned was dramatic.

Our Lady of the Pillar

Sometimes you walk to a spot in a cathedral or church that you know has a special significance.   This was the altar of Our Lady of the Pillar.  The Madonna and child statue was commissioned in 1508 as a black wooden copy of the 13th century silver Madonna that once stood on the main altar.  The pillar on which it stands does date from the 13th century.

One of the detailed carvings around the sanctuary.

We were a bit disgruntled when they shooed us out for 20  minutes so they could change things around for a group of pilgrims  coming in, and then found that they'd blocked off some areas, but we  continued to enjoy the place.  Then the organ started.  And the choir  sang "Panis Angelicus".  Then the pilgrims started to arrive- thousands of them, who had walked from Paris (over 50 miles away) in  cold rain.  They included parents, children, a lot of Boy Scouts, many carrying banners.  It was amazing.  This is one of the reasons we  travel.  We encounter things that we would have gone out of our way to  see, but had no idea they were there, and just happen to be in the  right place at the right time.

The pilgrims start to arrive.

More, singing hymns, wait patiently to get in.  We read later that the Cathedral couldn't hold them all.  You can see the weather they endured during their walk from Paris.

Here is a link to one blog created by a person on the pilgrimage.  Please note that I don't agree with all the beliefs expressed on that site, but it does provide a vivid description of the pilgrimage and links to other blogs and pictures.

View of the Cathedral from the train.

We left in a  happy glow, and decided to visit Napoleon's tomb on the way back to the hotel.  It was only a diversion a few stops off another line.  As we changed trains, we encountered transit police making a random ticket check.  I'd thrown mine away so I gave them a new one.  Wrong answer.  Very wrong.  A ticket that hadn't been stamped by a machine as you went through a turnstile was a sign you might have gotten in, say, by slipping in behind someone without paying;  I had to pay a fine of about 50 dollars.  No way out of it, of course.  We had almost zero cash so I handed over my Visa.  It didn't work.  Did I have another card?  No.  Did Ron have a card or cash?  My husband the pickpocket magnet?  Heck, no.  I patiently explained that due to the high incidence of pickpockets we carried only one card and little cash.  Well, they'd have to call the police. OK, fine.  We waited and after awhile they told us we could go.  I  suspect the police were not interested.  Big sigh of relief.

Two post-scripts:  Napoleon's tomb is part of a 10-dollar package deal with the military museum; it was 5 PM so we decided to go another day.  We picked up groceries on the way back to the hotel.  The Visa worked  just fine.

I should also add that we never met any of the legendary nasty Parisians on this trip.   People were nice and they were helpful.  The transit police were polite and they were doing their job.  I was in the wrong.  Still, I'm glad I avoided paying a fine!

May 22: Pere Lachaise Cemetary and Les Invalides- the thrill of the hunt

We finally got sunny weather today.  We went to Pere Lachaise cemetery, where Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust and all kinds of luminaries are buried.  It was opened in 1803 and Napoleon declared that all citizens should be able to be buried there, regardless of religion.  Some of the graves have crumbled over time, and the ones that were not bought in perpetuity were exhumed, with the remains carefully moved to an ossuary, and new graves built on the site.  True to Napoleon's intentions, we saw recent interments that were Middle Eastern, Asian and Jewish along with Christian burial sites.  It was a wonderful mix of graves and mausoleums stuck together in a random mix of times and styles.

Ron at the grave of Abelard and Heloise.

We did visit Jim Morrison's grave, which had a lot of people around it.    If you look closely, the botom line of the inscription is in Greek and translates as "By his own demons".

 

What I really wanted to see, though, was the grave of Marie Sophie Germain, who did a lot of groundwork for proving Fermat's last theorem.  It was a challenge.  She wasn't on the map and the hustlers who will lead you straight to Oscar Wilde hadn't heard of her.

Finally, I found the administrative office and asked a helpful civil servant.  He looked her up on his computer and gave me a map.  It still took some wandering- the graves are so close together and hers was obscured by a tree- but I found her.  It made my whole day!

At one point I was out running in a small park near the hotel and found myself singing along to a song on my iPod celebrating Napoleon's defeat in the War of 1812 ("Alexander der große, der große große Held, der schlug den Napoleon im offnen Feld..")   Oops.  Maybe not a good song to sing in Paris.  We did want to see Napoleon's tomb, though, so we headed over to Les Invalides on the Metro.

The church in front of the building housing Napoleon's tomb, suitably grandiose.  Interestingly, the twisted pillars reminded me very much of the ones inside the church in Vienna where he married Marie-Louise.

Napoleon's tomb, which contains several nested coffins.  No inscriptions at all.  They're not needed. 

From there we visited the nearby military museum.  It was interesting but the collection wasn't as exhaustive as the one in Brussels.  It was OK, though- we'd had a very productive day! 

May 23: Two Champagne Makers and a Cathedral

Ron and I, despite years of traveling in Europe, are still too chicken to actually drive there, so we booked a day tour to Reims Cathedral, which happens to be in the Champagne region, so the tour included visits to Mumm's and to Moet et Chandon (with cellar tours and a sample glass of the product in each place).  Fine with us!

It was another day of mostly bad weather, so it was good to be in the bus or indoors most of the time.  We were able to relax and watch the scenery while the driver dealt with rush-hour traffic in and out of Paris and maneuvered the large bus into parking spaces. 



The bright yellow sections are the flowers of the canola plants.



Outside of Reims Cathedral

We'd toured Mumm's on the way to the Cathedral; on the way back we stopped at Moet et Chandon, which turned out to be the better of the two, mostly because of the wonderful guide we had.  He'd been raised in the region, was passionate about the history of the company and the whole subject of Champagne making, and was able to answer the very detailed questions of one of the tour group members.  In the early years during a war with Prussia, the owner found that Prussian soldiers had broken in and were helping themselves to the merchandise.  He wisely decided that if he let them enjoy the product he'd turn them into customers.  It was a good decision; after the war, sales of  Champagne to Prussia increased substantially.

 Part of their display of medallions of monarchies to whom they supply Champagne; the one in the middle is from the Vatican.

A monument to Dom Perignon, the monk who founded the Champagne-making process.  Dom Perignon is now part of Moet et Chandon, which in turn was absorbed into the LVMH group.  There is very little family involvement in the business anymore.

May 24: Le Petit Palais, farewell to Paris

I've been watching downloaded news podcasts in French for a couple of years,  and it was pure serendipity that I saw an item about a temporary exhibit of Slovenian Impressionist painters at Le Petit Palais.  We love Impressionist paintings but had no idea there was a group of them in Slovenia.

The museum, as its name implies is housed in a former palace, and much of it still has the high, gilded ceilings with paintings at the very top.  It's built around a pretty courtyard with a garden.  After the chaos and lines of the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay, this was a breath of fresh air.    No lines, no waiting, and an admission charge only for the temporary exhibit, which we were happy to pay.  There was plenty of peace and space to contemplate the paintings- up close to see the brush strokes, then backing up so you could watch the picture emerge.  We loved this museum.

"The Sower" by Ivan Grohar

Same painting, close-up of brush strokes

Relaxing in one of the permanent exhibition areas.

At 2 PM, we started on the long trek to our next destination- the Hilton at Charles DeGaulle Airport.   We took the Metro to the Marriott, where we'd checked out in the AM, got our bags, then  took the Metro to the station where we caught the suburban line to the airport.  We were 3 hours in transit, but we'd expected that, and saved ourselves about $70 over the cost of a taxi to CDG.  Ron relaxed in the room and I went for a swim in the pool, then we both enjoyed drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the Executive Lounge. 

May 25: The Long Trip Home

The trip to the airport was pretty easy starting from our base at the Hilton.  We had a leisurely breakfast, took the shuttle to T2 and, thanks to access to the Priority Lines, were soon airside.  The flight left on time and landed early after many good in-flight movies on demand and lots of excellent wine and cheese.  We were able to get onto an earlier flight from DFW to MCI and got home at 9 PM- which was 4 AM Paris time.  Oh, well.  It was a good trip home.

Jonathan and Diana's Wedding- Friday, April 26

I took Friday off from work but it sure didn’t feel like a vacation day.  At 9 I drove over to the florist and picked up the flowers for 8 bouquets, 15 boutonnieres and 4 corsages.  I wasn’t sure how to time the work but when I saw how much of the car was filled up by flowers and greens I realized immediately that it would be better to get the bouquets finished before we left for Des Moines to cut down on what we had to bring with us. 

Umm, what am I supposed to do with all these flowers?

To add to the insanity, Ron realized the night before that he’d misplaced his wallet.  There were no unauthorized charges on the credit cards so we figured it really was just lost, but Friday morning he went over to the DMV with his passport and birth certificate and got another one before we set out for Des Moines.  It took forever to load the car and Ron said it smelled like a funeral parlor.

As we got closer to Des Moines, things started to look better and better,  With 8 bouquets put together and loosely wired, and 6 boutonnieres made, the remaining work looked manageable, especially since my sister had volunteered to help.  I got on USAirways’ site with trepidation to check the status of the flight carrying 2 siblings, their spouses and my parents, and found it was on-time.  What a miracle! Not only that- they’d given my brother 2 upgrades which he promptly let my parents use.  By the time we arrived, they’d set up their own “hospitality suite” and were visiting together.

I headed over to the rehearsal after a visit to the Fitness Center, to learn about the Unity candle part of the ceremony.

Ron and I were hosting the rehearsal dinner and as we added out-of-town family members and loved ones, the guest list swelled to over 60, plus about 10 children.  I had visited the place only once and had chosen the food from an on-line menu but it was just what I’d wanted- a pleasant, unstructured evening with kid-friendly food stations and a lot of visiting back and forth between tables as the families got to know each other. 

Ron told me later that the little kids had found that the sandwich wraps had been sliced into cross-sections held together by large toothpicks with colored frills at the ends, and they’d started taking the toothpicks out of the sandwiches on the tray to use as toys.  Kids will turn anything into toys!

Jonathan and Diana's Wedding: April 27, The Big Day

Saturday morning I woke way too early but got in a good workout before the day got too hectic.  At 9 my sister, mother and I unloaded the flowers, ribbons and tools from the car and got to work.  The bouquets still looked beautiful, thank heaven- all they needed was wrapping with ribbon.  I finished the boutonnieres, gave up on Velcro for the wrist corsages, and made nosegays instead.  When all else fails, improvise.  One hour before the ceremony we finished, made ourselves pretty, and headed to the church with our finished products.

Before the ceremony.





Jonathan and some of his groomsmen.

Lighting the Unity candle, with Diana's mother.

Here comes the bride!.

 Jonathan and his pastor, a close friend from college.

This picture needs no caption. 

Husband and wife!

The flowers came out OK.

Diana's bouquet.

 With my parents.

 With Diana's parents.

With Ron and me.

Entering the reception.

First dance.
 

Post-script:  Jonathan and Diana passed through KC on their way back home from the honeymoon a few days later and we had lunch together near my office.  It was wonderful to see them, and to see the love between the two of them.  We wish them many happy years together.