One of the best things about having family in other countries, is you can visit places that most tourists would not bother with or even know about at all.
Heading due west towards the German border took us into the Alsace region of north-east France.
Colmar
Colmar is a pretty town with German influences.
Or it could be a German town with French influences.
Strasbourg sits on the Rhine River, overlooking Germany itself.
Strasbourg
The city is a combination of cozy streets…
and imposing cathedrals.
In fact, it was the world’s tallest building for 227 years from 1647 to 1874!
The astronomical clock is one of the largest in the world too.
On the opposite end of the scale, Kaysersberg is a tiny commune that means Emperor’s Mountain.
Kaysersberg
The ruined castle overlooks the town, but no emperor lives here.
Who would want to anyway? There are much more pleasant homes down below!
With little cafes, boutique stores and a restaurant or two, Kaysersberg is a cool little spot hidden within an up-and-coming wine region.
Looping back north, Metz sits near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany and Luxembourg.
Metz
The city has a rich 3000 year history, passing through many hands; Celtic, Gaul, Merovingian, Roman, French, German, then back to French again. The Gothic Saint-Stephen Cathedral has the largest expanse of stained-glass windows in the world.
Colmar-Kaysersberg-Strasbourg-Metz. A pretty cool corner of France, don’t you think?
Visited 18th to 22nd October 2014.
We took the train due east to the historical and cultural province of Lorraine (yes, of the quiche variety). Andrew’s aunt lives just out of the main city of Nancy.
A half hour drive west is the cathedral city of Toul. You can’t miss it, ’cause you’ll see it from a mile away!
The interior is uniquely bright and airy for a Gothic church.
Not a bad way to pass one’s time, don’t you think?
For something less grand, you can visit nearby Grand. Home to a grand old Roman amphitheatre and some well preserved floor mosaics.
She was born in this little house.
Overlooking a nearby valley is the Basilique du Bois Chenu.
Inside this simple church, her story is shared for all to see.
And never forget.
Visited 16th & 17th October 2014.
The simple hunting lodge was enlarged into a royal palace through several phases of expansion. Wings were added to the original building and renowned architects and designers each added their own flair to create the Château de Versailles (Palace of Versailles).
The expansions continued right up until 1789, when the royal family were forced to return to Paris because of the French Revolution. That hasn’t stopped some modern additions though.
Chandeliers hung in every room and hallway and room and hallway and room and hallway…
It was well presented throughout. No ugly display stands or velvet rope with hanging signs. The original furniture was set out in the rooms like they were only lived in yesterday.
There were long art galleries that looked out across long gardens.
There was even art under your foot and above your head, inside and outside!
The Hall of Mirrors is a hall of mirrors and…well yeah.
Step a bit further back and you’ll meet this.
And then that.
It was ridiculous. Seriously.
While the gardens and lawns are vast, there are equally small nooks and crannies hidden behind tall hedges. Many of the paths converged on circular colonnades and fountains.
Tired legs can simply lounge by the many lakes. Just don’t venture too close to the water…
It truly is worthy of a bucket list.
Visited 14th October 2014.
For a more direct route though, one could follow the Paris Meridian.
For the steely eyed travellers (of which Andrew is, but not Lakshi who got over this really quickly!) there are 135 bronze medallions set into the ground all over the city along the Paris Meridian in honour of 19th century astronomer, François Arago, who solidified this as a global meridian. They are hard to locate and difficult to spot when you get there. They can be found in the road, footpaths, even inside and outside the Louvre!
Next it was church hopping into Saint Sulpice Church.
Cafe-dawdling now. And pretty spoilt for choice to be honest.
Or wine-sampling?
And finally garden-strolling. Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden) to be exact.
But don’t leave Paris without doing one last thing. It would be pretty hard to not notice the lovely patisseries dotted about, with a tasty selection of desserts to meet anyone’s fancy. Ladurée is the famous luxury bakery of the infamous French sweet delights.
And that takes a bite out of another Bucket List item!
Visited 5th to 15th October 2014.
With its luxury shops, cafes, theatres and tree lined footpaths, it is a visual dream.
Twice the size of the lesser known arch waaaaaaay in the distance, the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. There are layers of impressive friezes celebrating different victories.
At least one of those avenues got us within view of the “monument” of monuments…
But for the best view (in the City of Love or course), all you need is a picnic of local cheese, some nibbles and a pop of champagne.
And that’s another Bucket List item!
Visited 9th to 14th October 2014.
Not only is it the second largest museum in the world, its one of France’s historic monuments. (Like they didn’t have enough already!).
As expected, the lines were ridiculously long even though we arrived much earlier than opening time. Finally with tickets in hand, we checked at the Inverted Pyramid below the main glass one then headed on in. (Another Da Vinci Code moment here).
Keeping to the theme, we made a bee-line for the most famous painting in the world:
Somehow we managed to squeeze through the horde of Asian tourists and their selfie-sticks for a selfie of our own (minus said selfie-stick).
Visited 8th October 2014.
Over the nearly 200 years of construction, each successive architect changed and evolved the design which can be noticed in the different parts of the cathedral.
It continues to be restored to this day. The openly visible façades are mostly clean, while the sides facing the street and the difficult-to-reach nooks and crannies are still very dirty black. It’s also one of the earliest examples of the flying buttress; an arched arrangement that extends from the upper portion of the walls to transmit the great lateral wall loads to the ground.
It’s only by stepping inside do you really appreciate the monumental scale of its beauty.
Impossibly high vaulted ceilings held aloft by huge stone columns; it’s an engineering marvel! Although, she’s showing her age with many stress cracks to be found up high.
We found the interior quite dark, mostly due to the lack of large stained-glass windows letting in natural sunlight. We didn’t complain too much.
Chandeliers hang down the sides, throwing a photogenic mix of mood lighting that would make Joan of Arc proud.
Among Notre Dame’s other residents, are some very lifelike (and deadlike) statues.
Beneath it all lies the Archaeological Crypt, with historical ruins of the earliest Gaul settlements and some great history displays to read.
Visited 7th October 2014.
Ahh…Paris!
The most striking feature of Parisian streets are the apartment buildings which line the wide boulevards. Thanks to the 19th century vision of Georges-Eugene Haussmann, under Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte), a massive city-wide major works renovation resulted in the homogenous, but architecturally beautiful façades that are synonymous with Paris.
Amongst the sea of apartment buildings, myriad museums and churches can be found, some small, some monumental!
The mind boggles at the scale of it all!
The main central dome was under restoration at the time, which obscured the exterior from the outside and the view from the inside looking up (but perhaps not looking down?).
Along the Seine River, Musée de l’Orangerie is an art gallery in the Tuileries Gardens, most famous for being the home for eight Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet. Here’s a tease…
Across the river, Musée d’Orsay is one of the largest art museums in Europe. It displays mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914 and houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters like Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh.
Times change.
Visited 5th to 7th October 2014.
Bavarian Journey Leg 7: Stuttgart to Heidelberg.
We had been following the beautiful Neckar River through the last few stops of Stuttgart and Tubingen. Just a few kilometres out of Heidelberg, it flowed into the mighty Rhine River.
In the past, the action focused around the central marketplace and Town Hall.
Unfortunately, not faring anywhere near as well are the ruins of Heidelberg Castle.
After lightning struck it in 1764, no further attempts were made to rebuild it. The King’s Hall was added to it in 1934, and is used for dinner balls, banquets and classical concerts. With a nice multi-levelled garden surrounding the castle, it makes for a nice scene and sunshine stroll.
Oh, and the views are fantastic.
It’s hard not to notice the Old Bridge that leads to the tree-lined hills across the river. The Old Bridge Gate still stands as the gateway to the city.
After the war, the university was quickly reopened and the city became a centre of learning once more. Traditionally, Heidelberg’s philosophers and university professors would walk and talk along the hilly riverside, aptly known as the Philosopher’s Walk.
Wonder what they were pondering about?
Visited 2nd to 4th October 2014.