Our Tour De France
We really couldn't have traveled France through the backdoor without Rick Steves. He was really our go-to-guy. If anyone is planning a trip anywhere consult one of his books because they are so well researched, thorough, and Rick just knows what is up. WWRD. So we traveled to France and back. It was France-tastic. There were many foci of this travel event. This trip could be dubbed Tour du France, as we traveled a lot of the route (by car mind you); Tour du Pastry (as Sam got grumpy every few hours without a pastry, particularly a strawberry tart; Tour du Chat (cat in Frenchie speak) as I think we didn't visit a town without taking a picture of a cat. Regardless to say we went, we saw, we made it back, and we undeniably enjoyed our jaunt.
We arrived after a very long overnight flight bright and early Tuesday morning. We managed to get a sufficient amount of sleep. We had a little trouble figuring out transportation to our hotel at first, but once we got our land legs, we were good to go. We took a 40 minute bus ride, a metro ride, and a short walk, and we were at our hotel Hotel Du Champs Mars which was situated on a pedestrian street called Rue Cler which was within walking distance to the Eiffel Tower. Upon arrival at our hotel, we immediately set out to go see the Eiffel Tower. We got there and dragged our selves up 669 stairs to the second tier of the tower (not even the top). The view was spectacular, and we managed not to be manipulated by the gypsy people. Since we had skipped lunch, being knocked off-kilter by the time change, when we walked back down, we decided it was time for an early dinner/lunch. We went to a cafe (any one of the million) and had a delicious Omelette Madame and a glass of wine. Lacking sufficient sleep we went back to the hotel for a nap, then came back out for a delicious crepe stuffed with strawberries, Nutella, and whipped cream. We made our way back over to the Eiffel Tower because we thought it would be really neat to see it at night. Many people were picnicking, and then it began to rain. We found shelter in the gift shop, and the rain stopped just in time for us to catch the light show. B-E-A-U-Tiful. Then-goodnight- day one fin.
On day two, we were greeted with a lovely breakfast at our hotel (fresh squeezed OJ, croissants, baguette, jams, fruit, yogurt, cheese, and coffee). We then set out to go to the Musee D'Orsay. I thoroughly enjoyed this and analyzed EVERY(Sam likes to emphasize the EVERY part) piece of art work. We then went to the courtyard of the Louvre, and then over to Notre Dame. Before touring Notre Dame, we went and ate at a cafe called Quasimodo(how fitting), and we had the most delicious french onion soup of our journey! We then toured the church basking in the beautiful stained glass, and Sam watched a pickpocket pace back and forth in the crowd (that is his speculation anyways). Tired, but not ready to resign, we tried to find a metro to take to Champs Elsyees to see the Arc du Triomphe, but instead stumbled upon an underground mall that was like a maze! There must have been a huge sale because the stores were shoulder to shoulder-unable to shop in these crowded chaotic conditions, we came out empty-handed one hour later. Finding a metro, we finally reached Champs Elysees where we saw the Arc, Louis Vuitton, and a restaurant where all the celebrities eat, and they have an $8 cup of expresso. Then, back to our home base where we had a pastry, AND THEN DINNER, and called it a night.
Stop #2 Dordogne
The next day we went to the airport to get our car, which took longer than expected, and headed south to Dordogne. Side note on the car: Sam has never taken the car route in Europe and refused to drive around Paris, so I had to do it! It really wasn’t that bad, just traffic-y, slow moving, and WATCH OUT FOR MOTORCYCLES! Anyway, on our way to La Roque Gazeac, we stopped in a Medieval town called Sarlat for dinner. This being a four course dinner, but very delicious, set us back a little bit. Thus we arrived at our hotel to check in a little on the late side. And by late side I mean they were closed. We had to drive the car up and shine the lights on the building until this man came out in his boxers. He didn't speak English. There were moments where we seriously had to entertain the idea of sleeping in our car. Eventually his daughter, who spoke more English, came out of another cottage and checked us in. WHEW. Our hotel was so secluded that they didn't even have a public phone! We had to drive to a nearby town to call home!
In the Dordogne, we saw prehistoric caves that were inhabited by cro-magnon men up until right before the Renaissance. Sam particularly like this, his favorite being St. Christophe which was a five level village built into the side of a cliff. We also saw prehistoric cave drawings of the woolly mammoth, horses, rhinos, and the like. A train took us a mile back into a cave that apparently prehistoric man use to crawl back into and paint on their backs....with what lighting? Can you imagine rhinos in France? We also visited Castlenaud, a castle built on a cliff to watch over another castle, Beynac. The view was spectacular. On day 2 we went on a 3.5 hour canoe ride down the Dordogne River. Every time I looked back Sam was "taking a break." We almost missed the bus that was going to pick us up, so the last minute we had to keep our heads down and "put our backs in to it." We made it, but only barely! That night we moseyed back over to Sarlat and went to a neat little street fair and had some pizza!
Stop # 3: Amboise
The next day we headed up north to Amboise in the Loire Valley. We made sure to get to our check-in early just in case they followed the same front desk schedule. Our hotel, Hotel Le Blason, was on a busy street within walking distance to the center of town. Amboise was a good place to be after being in extreme city (Paris), and extreme country (La Roque). Amboise had a good scene and a pedestrian street with lots of cafes and patisseries, in fact, a very famouse patisserie called Bigots. This is where we ate the bulk of our pastries, my favorite being the rochers (call to mind Ferrero Rocher...but then times it by 10). Sam of course sampled the tarts, but did branch out to the macaroons which were equally yummy!
The biggest attraction around Amboise were the chateaus and the vineyards. We visited three chateaus: Chambord, Chenouceau, and Cheverny. All three had very unique qualities. Chenouceau was built across a river and was use during WWII to smuggle people to safety. The Germans were on one side of the river and US on the other side. Chambord was a huge hunting lodge with 440 rooms! It was sparsely decorated, but of course it was mainly inhabited by men. It did have a really neat staircase in it that was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. Side note: Leo decided to settle in Amboise and had a house there. The last chateau we visited was our favorite, Cheverny. Cheverny was ornately decorated and the rooms were furnished. It had the "I could live here look." It also had an orangerie where Mona Lisa was stored during WWII, so that it wouldn't be destroyed. However, the neatest thing about this chateau was the hunting dogs! They kept 70 precisely trained hunting dogs in a kennel on the premises. The dogs were only fed once a day, and boy was it a show. The keeper/trainer made them go up on top of the kennel so he could clean and lay out their food. The dogs barked in anticipation when the trainer came back in, but he silenced them. They had to wait 15 minutes with the raw meat leftovers covered in dogfood spread out in front of them. The dogs exhibited complete composure. When the trainer opened the gate, they rushed down the ramp and formed a line about 10 feet away from the food. The trainers then led them very slowly towards the meat, and then motioned for them to go! They tore into the meat and slung it everywhere! I now know what it means to eat like a tied dog!
Cheverny
Chambord
Chenounceau
We also visited a wine cave. The cave was mined during the 5th century for limestone to build castles. There are 6 miles of caves that remain a constant temperature year round and store 4 million bottles of wine! We learned about the Vouvray grape, toured the caves, tasted wine, and saw the vineyards which were as far as the eye could see! It was a very neat experience.
Leo's House
On our way to Paris, we stopped in Versailles. It was ENORMOUS! It was neat to see the flamboyantly decorated baroque rooms in very radical colors. Everything was embellished with marble and gold plating! I am kind of a Marie Antoinette nut, so this was a big deal for me. They must have drained France dry building that thing! Let them eat cake, indeed! We also got to see Marie’s Hamlet where she spent a lot of her time. She had fields where she tended and get this PERFUMED her sheep, and very elaborate gardens…and a theatre! At the very least, I can say that this palace was breathtaking! After that we drove back to the airport, took a shuttle to our hotel which was very close to the airport, and tucked ourselves away for the evening!
The trip was really the perfect mix of sightseeing with ample time built in for café people watching. I felt like the French spirit was finally inhabiting me when I outstayed a French family at breakfast! Time to get my scrapbook on.
Oh,Paris (Par-ee) how I miss thee!
Crepe
Chat
