To Summarize...

Summary: The Shuttle got us to Heathrow with plenty of time (2½ hours) before the flight. We are the breakfast the hotel had put together for us and killed time until 8:45 boarding. We were on a plane with individual touch screens in front of each passenger offering an array of TV, movies, music and games. Other than a male flight attendant with a bad attitude it was an easy, uneventful ride home. Detroit had a light layer of snow and temps in the mid-thirties. Quite a shock after the fine weather we had for the trip! After all, in the two and a half weeks we were gone we had only had a bit of light rain while driving to and then from Mont St. Michel and the temperature stayed mainly in the sixties and seventies. We breezed through customs and had an hour and a half wait before we could take the Michigan Flyer back home. This had been a wonderful trip with no glitches to speak of at all. We saw and learned so much covering over 3000 years of history. The Euro was about $1.43 most of the time and the Pound was $1.65. We paid €1.52 per liter for gas for two fill-ups of the rental car in Normandy. We left things undone and places not visited in Nice, Paris, Normandy, and London so, should we ever have the opportunity to return, we will have plenty to do.

An interesting addendum: While we were gone it was bothering Marv that our Federal Income Tax refund, which we had filed before we left town in March, never got deposited to our account. He checked on it as soon as he could only to see that we hadn’t actually submitted it after we printed it and the Michigan form. As luck would have it, the IRS gave us until midnight TONIGHT to submit since the 15^th was on a weekend. Disaster averted—we have now filed it for real and have the paperwork acknowledging it. WHEW!!

Our Journey Draws to an End

Sun. Apr. 17: Palm Sunday. After another hearty Continental Breakfast, our plan was to get to Westminster Abby, which is closed to tourists on Sunday, in plenty o time to make the 10:00 Matins Service. But they had a new schedule up by then and directed us to the smaller St. Margaret’s church next door for what had been changed to a 9:30 service. So we attended it with a small group of worshippers and enjoyed the cozy service but thought it would have more music than it did. We regretfully decided we didn’t have time to wait for the big West Minster Abbey Palm Blessing and Processional at 11:15 and went to Westminster dock to take in our ”free” boat ride on the Thames. It proved to be interesting with some new information and some new views of London from the top deck, sitting in the sunshine. They were holding the London Marathon (after the Paris Marathon last Sunday!) and things were pretty crazy with streets cut-off by crowds and the race path. We got off at the Tower of London and decided not to spend the £40 (over $60) to tour the Tower. Marv had seen it and I didn’t care that much, especially since there were other things we wanted to see on such a beautiful day. In effect, we traded his not seeing Versailles for my not seeing the Tower of London and we’re both okay with that. After wandering around St. Katherine’s Dock area, looking for a “loo” and trying to get a good shot of the Tower Bridge in the sun, we fought the Marathon crowds and got to the starting point of our final Rick Steves Podcast walking tour, “Historic London”. This took us through the square mile of twisting streets and alley ways of the true, 2000 year old, City of London, which has only about 7000 residents! The area had been devastated in the 1500s by the Black Plague, in 1666 by the Great Fire, and in the 1940s bombing raids of the German Blitz s, but it has always come back, bigger and better. A highlight of the tour was when he led us to “Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese” the favorite haunt of Dr. Johnson, the eccentric who wrote the first English dictionary, and Charles Dickens, who described the tavern on page 147 of A Tale of Two Cities, an original copy of which they have on display. That seemed the perfect place for us to have a Sunday midday dinner. Marv had Bangers and Mash and I had a buttery sauced chicken breast. We each had a pint and for dessert we shared warm pudding (Butterscotch and Ginger, not Dickens’ favorite Spotted Dick) with custard sauce. The whole experience was just perfect!! We finished in time to dash to the nearby St. Paul’s Cathedral for the 3:15 Evensong, which was quite simply spectacular. It was a Stations of the Cross service with the full choir, many clergy carrying a 20 foot rough hewn wooden cross to the four points of the nave and the amazing organ playing with all the stops out, quit literally. The leader of the processional was swinging a large incense ball and the fragrant smoke floated ethereally up towards the towering dome. Part of the time the sun shone through the windows, showing its rays through the smoke. As we all faced west for the beginning of the Processional, a full length purple cloth was suspended over the railing of the whispering gallery 30 meters above our heads, reaching to the floor behind the altar. It hung there waving slightly in the air currents during most of the service. The service was a mix of readings, anthems, hymns and prayers that took us through Passion Week until the crucifixion, with a “glimpse” of the joy of Easter Sunday. During the part of the crucifixion, the purple cloth was released, so it fell with a loud whoosh to the floor of the nave. Later it was draped all over the cross that was now leaning on the later, so that it covered the cross, strongly invoking the image of a covered body. The choir was amazing, with their beautiful sound echoing through the cathedral. It was a very moving and powerful service that ended with a thundering organ postlude. I thought of how much my dad would have enjoyed the postlude and hope that at some point he had a chance to listen to that organ. Back out in the sunlight we completed the Historic Walk, ending with a visit to Christopher Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire. The fire had destroyed more than 70 churches in London and he had designed 50 churches to replace them, 23 of which remain today. Enough time remained for us to find our way back to the Cartwright Garden area where Marv lived the summer he studied Humanities in London with Maury Crane, who told them, “You might as well study Humanities in London because the English have stolen all the artifacts and brought them there.” Much had changed but Marv managed to recognize the dorm where they lived and a bit of the neighborhood. It was getting cooler but was a nice evening so we bought a sandwich (again at Pret) and a salad to share and took them to eat on a bench in Green Park. There were many people enjoying the end of the day, lots of soccer balls being kicked, and even a football being tossed around. The sun was setting as we made our way back to Earl’s Court to buy Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bars (Don Filcek’s recommendation) and pack for our 5:50am pick-up Monday Morning

Our First Full Day in London

Sat. Apr. 16: We tried to get an early start and were the only ones in the breakfast room but it was still about 9:00 when we hit the Tube to go from Earl’s Court to St. Paul’s. We thought we’d take a little time to do Rick Steves’ walking tour there but the high admission cost included an IPod with an audio/visual guide to the Cathedral so we did both. And it was worth it as different things (the IPod included footage from Prince Charles and Princess Di’s wedding and a virtual tour to the highest level of the dome) were highlighted and they were very different in tone (Rick’s is lighter and funnier). The cathedral is the 4^th biggest in Europe, and was constructed by Christopher Wren beginning in 1667, after the big fire burned London pretty much to the ground. He lived to see his masterpiece completed and his son put the cross on the top of the towering dome. We climbed, not all the way to the top, but to the second of three levels where we could walk around outside and look down across the vast city. By the time we had explored it all, including the crypt in the basement, it was after 1:00 and we were well past the time we had hoped to be on the Hop On/Hop Off Tour Bus so we climbed aboard for an overview of the town. It was partly sunny and nice to sit up on top once there was a spot for us. The sites of London are far more spread out than Paris so it was good to have this chance to be driven and have the route explained to us. After quite a long time we got off at Buckingham Palace, just as a minor guard change occurred (not the big pageantry that happens once a day) for us to film. The area is in full bloom but partly barricaded in preparation for the Royal Wedding in two weeks, with Press Stands blocking off the entrance to St James Park. We walked to Victoria Station and took the Metro to the British Museum. In between as some point we found Linda Filcek’s recommended restaurant for sandwiches, Pret A Manger, or “Pret” as the new ones seem to prefer. Marv had a grilled chicken Panini and I had a FABULOUS brie, basil, and tomato on a baguette. We were therefore ready to take on the huge museum with the help once again of Rick Steves. He took us to the Rosetta Stone, followed by the ancient Egyptian exhibits, with the mummies, Assyrian, Roman, and Greek exhibits. We ended with the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, so named for the procurer (he says he saved them, the Greeks say he stole them). Once again we closed the place down; as Rick Steves was closing they were shooing us out the doors. With a little extra wandering we got back on the Tube and returned to Westminster Abbey to get pictures and find out what time the services would be on Palm Sunday, because it looked like that would be the only way we were going to see the Abby. We dropped in at the Red Lion to have a pint. As we sat, it was getting dark. We decided that it would be nice to get pictures of things lighted, so we had a Sharing Platter of wings, sausages, potato wedges and garlic bread for dinner and then walked down to get our pictures. There was a full moon between the Parliament towers and Big Ben so we got some pretty spectacular pictures and even a movie as the bells chimed for 9:45. By the time we returned to the hotel we did some emailing and called Marv’s mom (with limited success) and went to bed.

Getting to London: Read and you'll see why there are no pix!

Fri. Apr. 15: It was an early morning to a full day of travel for us today! We got up at 7:00, finished packing, and enjoyed another fine breakfast. First Challenge: Getting from Honfleur to the Le Havre Train Station—After checking out, Marv went to get the car so we could load our bags without taking them so far. We had rush hour traffic but no problems getting to Le Havre to return the car. After checking the car and finding all was in order, the young woman told us her colleague could drive us to the train station. What a wonderful surprise that was! So we were at our first Gare of the day an hour before the train took off to return us to Paris. This time our (very unnecessary) First Class ticket gave us a little cabin of 6 seats to ourselves for the first hour. Two women joined us in Rouen for the next hour of the trip. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Second Challenge: Getting from Gare St. Lazare to the EuroStar—While we waited for the train in Le Havre we found our Metro schedule and figured out how to get from Gare St. Lazare to Gare Du Nord to take the EuroStar bullet train through the Chunnel to London. When we arrived at St. Lazare Station we followed the signs to take RER E, the intercity commuter train, found a change booth, and then bought 2 tickets. That led us to what we thought was the right platform but we weren’t positive until we looked in a door and could see the route the train was taking. WHEW! We were correct. The next stop was Magenta, where we followed signs to Gare du Nord. Then we could follow signs to EuroStar. Not knowing what to expect on the train, we bought sandwiches and drinks for lunch before checking in for our train. After going through French and British Passport checks we waited only about 10 minutes and boarded the train. And everything had been accomplished without ever going outside! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! On board the train and underway, they let us know they would be serving lunch in about half an hour! Oh well, live and learn! The GPS showed a top speed of 192mph! When we passed another bullet train going the other way the combined speed made it flash by in seconds. It was awesome. They served a light lunch of salmon pate and couscous with lemon mousse and choice of beer, wine or other beverage. The French countryside looked similar to Normandy but mostly a bit flatter. We passed quaint villages and lots of farm fields for an hour or so. We were in the Chunnel about 20 minutes and came out in England where the countryside looked very similar but everyone was driving on the wrong side! Before we knew it (a little over two hours, we think) we arrived at St. Pancras Station in London.
Third Challenge: Getting from St. Pancras Station to our hotel—We had pre-paid Oyster cards in our packet of materials which were good on buses and the underground in London. After we studied a map for a while we figured out how to take the blue Piccadilly line to Earl’s Court. Away we went, rolling our backpacks for this trip. A friendly “assistant” showed us how to scan our cards getting on and getting off each trip. We got off at Earl’s Court, went up the stairs and came out just around the block and about two blocks away from the hotel. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! We got signed in and settled and decided to head right back out. We took the underground again and went down to the Westminster/Parliament area and did a Rick Steves Podcast walking tour called “Westminster Walk”. It started on Westminster Bridge, nearly under Big Ben, and then walked us by Westminster Abby and up Parliament Street and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, pointing out #10 Downing Street and other famous spots along the way. What made this a bit different was that Marv had decided he didn’t need to carry the backpack for this short trip. But that meant he hadn’t brought a camera, which was very unlike him! He was quite unencumbered and could perhaps pay more attention to what we listened to and didn’t have to figure out how to line up his next shot. After wandering around the area at the square we walked around the theater district for a bit. It was all very busy on a Friday night with lots of traffic and noise. The London Marathon is this weekend (after being in Paris for their Marathon last weekend!) and things were being set up for that. After we had enough of being part of the “scene” we took the underground back to Earl’s Court and found a typical corner pub where we could enjoy—what else?—fish and chips with a pint!! It was around 10:00 here and it had been a long day, so, after removing the requisite duvet from the sheets and setting it aside (too hot! We have done this at nearly every hotel) we went to bed.

Normandy & D-Day

Thu. Apr. 14: For this stay the breakfast buffet has been included so we started the day with the biggest breakfast we had had in two weeks. We were therefore well-fortified for our day exploring the many sites centered around the D-Day invasion 67 years ago on June 6. Marv knew a great deal about it already but I learned so much! Going from our Rick Steves book, the GPS, and some other maps we had, we drove through lovely countryside and through tiny villages that hugged the winding road for much of the day. Our first stop was at the “Disembarkment” Museum in Arronmanches. This tells the story of the remarkable artificial harbor, called Port Winston, which the Allied Forces built in just 2 weeks immediately after taking the beach heads on D-Day. The harbor allowed the Allies to get supplies to the troops on the ground quickly and safely. We were lucky enough to arrive just as an English speaking guide began a group tour so we could understand everything as we watched the movie, heard her explanation of the display cases, and watched the slide show. We took a bit longer there as Marv had left his jacket in the theater and had to wait for another showing to let out to get it. From there we drove to the American cemetery. This has a wonderful Visitors Center with a very moving film highlighting some individuals as well as the general sacrifice that resulted from the D-Day invasion. There are many displays as well which are all in English (and French) because it is administered by Americans so we spent a long time there. The exhibits funneled us into the cemetery with its rows and rows of perfectly aligned whiten crosses and Stars of David. It is sobering, inspiring and memorable. We learned that the cemetery was established in 1956, with soldiers’ remains brought from temporary graves all over the area. Families had the choice of having their loved ones buried there or returned home, which about 61% did. Throughout the day the light cloud cover was burning off so that it was mostly sunny but cool as we wandered and contemplated the ultimate sacrifice that each grave represented. Omaha Beach is nearby so we drove there next to walk the famous landing site known as Bloody Omaha for the great number of casualties incurred by the Americans. As opposed to the many reminders left in the water of Port Winston at Arromanches, little remains here but there are a few markers of rusting hulks that we could see in the water, and one we could walk to and examine because it was low tide. The beach was chosen partly for its width at low tide so we walked a ways after we had eaten our lunch of a baguette and some cheese and tuna. By then time was running short so we drove back towards Arromanches to be able to watch the 360° movie that had been recommended to us. However, on the way we managed to find the best preserved German Battery site, which retains some of the original guns. We made our way around there on the long circular path that stops at 4 concrete gun sites with their low rounded roof that, with the help of camouflage, would have concealed them very well from bombers. The path also shows some of the underground ammunition bunkers and one large, two leveled machine gun nest right next to the cliff down to the sea. We left there in time to see the last showing of the movie, which is very well done, combining movie footage from the time of the invasion with footage taken in the same areas in 1994 for the 50^th anniversary. Afterwards, Marv realized that the camera had been on the wrong setting for much of the day. We returned to the German Battery to get new pictures while there was still light and then followed the coastline to return to Caen before getting back on the freeway to go back to Honfleur. By the time we had returned and found out we still couldn’t use the Wi-Fi, it was after 10:00 and restaurants were closing. Knowing we still had to pack for an early departure and that we would have a full breakfast the next morning, we settled for sharing our last packet of tuna and some trail mix for dinner; it was quite a long cry from our lovely meal the night before!

Normandy & Mont St. Michel

Wed. Apr. 13: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SALLIE!! Like the seasoned travelers we are now, we walked with our suitcases down to catch Bus #21 to Gare St. Lazare and boarded our train to Le Havre in Normandy. The gentle farm lands flowed past the windows and the slightly foggy landscapes had a distinctly Monet feel to them with budding trees, lilacs, and spring flowers lending color in every scene. Two hours later we arrived and, with the GPS to guide us, we walked 1.7 kilometers to pick up our rental car. We got on the road with Marv at the wheel and again followed GPS directions but we missed one exit which took us a ways down the road before we could retrace our steps. After checking in at Le Cheval Blanc Hotel in nearby Honfleur we immediately drove 2½ hours to Mont Saint Michel. We drove mostly on freeway with a bypass around Caen. The countryside was rolling and checkerboard-ed with bright yellow fields of what looked to be thigh high mustard in full bloom. It was thrilling to see Mont Saint Michel in the distance from about 20 kilometers away! There was some light rain as we approached the causeway and we kicked ourselves for not bringing our rain jackets from the hotel. But as we walked across the causeway after parking, the rain stopped and didn’t appear again until we drove away a few hours later! Once again we were grateful to take Rick Steves’ advice on how to avoid the crowds (which were not too bad since it was 4:00 by then) and get right to the Abbey. It seems to float impossibly high above the mudflats and it is hard to imagine one can really make it up there by foot. But pilgrims have been doing it for over a thousand years so we could, too! The one street village of 30 residents at the bottom of the hill is completely devoted to tourism and since we had already seen several very old villages with narrow streets we chose to go straight to climbing the ramparts and then the many, many stairs that seem endless up to the Abbey. Rick Steves described each part of the Abbey and it was very enjoyable to walk around and marvel at this engineering feat put up by the bishop of Avranches who heard the voice of Archangel Michael saying, “Build here and build high.” Today’s abbey is built on the remains of a Romanesque church, which stands on the remains of a Carolingian church. We were pretty exhausted by the climbing and walking, particularly because we hadn’t had anything but some cookies to eat since our yogurt and croissants at 7:30. But it was all worth it to have seen such a beautiful place. It began to rain again as we drove out of the area but by then it didn’t matter. At Caen we stopped at a McDonald’s for coffee and made it back to Honfleur and bought gas. After parking in the free lot several blocks away, we dropped things in our room and went to find some dinner on foot. Off the waterfront we came upon “les Fontaines” where a good-natured waitress spoke only French to us and insisted that Marv try to do the same. It was very jolly and our dinner of Normandy specialties like the local “cidre” to drink and the delicious cream and cidre sauce on our chicken made it one of the most enjoyable dinners of our time in France. It was quite reasonably priced, as well! We got back to the hotel about 10:30 and were disappointed to find that we couldn’t get on the internet for some reason that the man at the reception desk couldn’t figure out for us. But it is a charming hotel. The building was erected in the 1500s on the water front and it has always been a hotel. It was also a postal stop for the sailors to come to and pick-up their mail when they were in port. It has been beautifully decorated in period Normandy style and our room overlooks the small harbor from which Champlain left with an Honfleur crew to explore and settle Quebec, Canada. I sat at the desk in the window with lights shining on the water and the sound of infrequent cars rumbling over the old cobblestones to write this entry and we went to bed.

Our Last Day in Paris

Tue. Apr. 12: How to make the most of our last day in Paris?!?! We still had much to do! Our arrondisement’s Farmers’ Market was set up just a block away so we went there and got bread, cheese, olives and oranges for lunch. We began by taking the Metro to Museé d’Orsay and assessing the crowd. As we had read, because the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, the lines we long so we went on to the Museé de Rodin. There, our museum pass (SO glad Aram and Judy told us to get this!) got us right in with no wait. The museum is in the “hotel”(villa) that he rented at the end of his life for a Paris home. It has fabulous gardens with sculptures such as “The Thinker” and “The Gates of Hell” outside and drawings, paintings and sculptures such as “The Kiss” from throughout his life inside. One room is devoted to his protégé and mistress Camille Claudel. She was an artist in her own right who depicted Rodin’s struggle between his devotion to his long time companion, Rose, and herself in her works entitled “Maturity” here and in the Museé d’Orsay. (I was happy to find out the old man ultimately gave up the sweet young thing, Camille, to stay with the aged Rose. Sadly, Camille slipped into insanity and died in an asylum.) We learned that “The Thinker” was actually Dante overlooking his Gates of Hell in the Divine Comedy, a piece Rodin worked on for over 30 years and never really finished. We also found that he was friends with such other artists as Monet and Van Gogh. They used to trade pieces of their art so there are paintings and sculptures from them as pieces in Rodin’s museum. After seeing the museum and grounds we walked toward des Invalids and found a lovely park in which to ea our lunch. The day was partly sunny, but breezy and cool with temperatures in the fifties. We returned to the Orsay, where the lines were much more reasonable. In some ways we were disappointed by it though. For one thing they kept making announcements in many languages warning of the pickpockets working the crowd. Also they are working on the building, which is the old train station, and there were scaffolding, barriers, and banging noises that were distracting. One nice thing is that they had all the main Impressionist and Pointillist artists’ works lining two long hallways so it was very easy to walk up one side and down the other and see it all. But there were no benches or seats to allow one to linger and contemplate and we had seen so many masterpieces by then that we made short work of the place and got back on the Metro. Back at the Ile de Cité we bought VERY expensive coffees to drink at a street side table in the sun. We returned to Notre Dame for the fourth straight day, this time to take pictures of the Pieta and the three rose windows which we couldn’t get on our other visits. At the other end of the Place we finally found the Crypt Archeology Museum open. One of most vivid memories of my high school visit to Paris was of going down some narrow, steep stairs and bending down to get a glance at the oldest parts of Paris, ruins from the Romans’ time here. The area has now been developed into a museum, all underground, of the ancient main road that ran across the Ile and through the Left Bank, and foundations of the ramparts and homes that were here. They have extensive explanatory panels with English translations and we spent quite some time enthralled by antiquity. Back in the light of modern day Paris we had an expensive misunderstanding at shop, which resulted in, not a piece of apple cake (Gateau de Pomme) but potato cake (Gateau de Pomme de Terre), and not tap water but bottled water sans gas, but since it was the only problem we had we couldn’t complain and even the potato cake was delicious, just not sweet.