Paris and Avignon

I left Rouen November 1^st and stayed in Paris for two weeks. Dianne, a friend from Canada, joined me for the remainder of the holiday. It’s nice to be able to have a real conversation in English again!

The apartment in Paris was very simple, but close to the train/metro station Gare de Lyon. Our apartment was on the fifth floor, with no elevator. If we forgot something at the beginning of the day, we did without.

The day after Dianne arrived, I gave her a chance to get over the jet lag while I went to a croissant baking course.

We learned how to make croissant dough which is also used for other treats such as “pain au chocolate,” (chocolate buns) 

“suisse” (a pastry with pastry cream and chocolate chips),

 “pain aux raisins” (raisin buns) 

and an apple braid. It was a lot of fun and I can definitely seeing me try some of these at home.

 The finished product:

After that I had signed us up for a couple of other workshops. The first was a wine tasting with lunch.

 We got a lesson in French wines and then tips for pairing different wines with cheeses. It was excellent.

The second workshop was cooking with a french chef in his home. 

There were four of us in the class and we made a squash soup, chicken with roasted potatoes and a pear clafoutis (pears baked in a crepe batter). We had a lot of fun.

We also had lunch with Sr. Hazel and her community. They were just finishing up Council meetings and were getting ready to depart for their various countries. We were glad to find them all at home.

 

Over the next couple of weeks we visited some of the familiar sites:

Notre Dame:

One thing that I found surprising was the military presence at some of the sights, such as the church.

 

Eiffel Tower,

 

The views from the top were incredible!

 

Arc de Triomphe,

We were here for Remembrance Day celebrations. It was a very simple commemoration. In France there are different anniversary dates for different wars. November 11 is celebrated primarily as Armistice Day and the end of World War I.

Basilique de Sacre Coeur

 

We also visited a few things off the beaten path, such as the flea market.

This one was huge! It went on for blocks and blocks. While there was the usual flea market finds, it was also a place where you could look for antiques, vintage clothing, and just about anything else you could think of.

 

Even a telephone booth!

There was also a futuristic house on display...don't think it was for sale - the price would be out of this world :-)

Another place we went was the catacombs. We had heard that it was a very popular place and that they let in only 200 people at a time, so we went early. We ended up about the 20^th in line. The catacombs were start in 1785 after the graveyards became a health hazard. All the graves from every church and religious community were dug up and the bones put in underground quarries. The bones were kept together and the parish and date indicated.While it is a tourist attraction, everyone is told that it is also a sacred space, so to be respectful.

The sign over the door says : "Stop: Here is the Empire of the Dead"

We spent one day walking through the Bois de Vincennes (Vincenne forest).

  It is a beautiful park that was once the hunting grounds for the king. There is a large chateau at the edge of the property.

There are also several small lakes/ponds on the grounds. One has the remains of a small temple.

Then it was time to go to Avignon.

 We took the fast train (TGV) from Gare de Lyon. The train travels over 300 km per hour and took under 3 hours to arrive. The closer we got to Avignon, the more water we saw in the fields. We also saw a few rivers overflowing their banks. Southern France has had a lot of rain this year. In Avignon itself, the Rhône River spilled over its banks. One of the road ways was closed and the crews were cleaning it when we arrived.

Avignon was the home of the Popes between 1309 and 1377. For a long time, the Popes lived in different locations - someone said because it was too dangerous to live in Rome. I've not seen "The Game of Thrones" but I suspect there is a lot of truth in the type of intrigue that is portrayed there. At one point the Popes found refuge in Avignon and over the course of the years, built a Palace - actually two.

We have a view of the Palace from our apartment terrace. The weather has perfect for sitting on the terrace and soaking in the sights.

And here you can see the terrace from the Palace tower.

The views from the Palace Tower were quite something. This castle belonged to the King of France.

 

Avignon is also the home of the Avignon Bridge – actually only part of the bridge is still standing.

There are four arches left. Originally it had 22 arches. The bridge spanned the Rhône River between Avignon, Barthelasse Island and Villeneuve les Avignon on the other side of the river.

While in Avignon we book a wine tour. This is the land of Rosé as well as some very good red (shyraz, merlot) and white.

Our tour guide was François Marcou. He obviously loves his work. He took us to four different wineries, plus a very nice restaurant for lunch. We returned back after 5:00 totally satisfied with the day.

We have spent a good part of the time just walking through the streets of Avignon. It is a beautiful city. Lots of shops and restaurants. It is someplace I could definitely come back to again.