Pierrefonds and Compiegne

Erin and I drove east into Northern France to visit a couple of chateaus. Very exciting, especially since this was Erin's first time navigating in Europe, trying to figure out which way to turn or exit a roundabout. Road signs around here, as in most of Europe, simply list a town with an arrow, no road names or directions, like I-10 west, simply Paris-->. It is up to you to figure out whether the town you're going to is on the way to Paris, after Paris, or nowhere near Paris. Even worse, you're almost never going to Paris, so you're looking for a sign with an "obscure" town name which may or may not be on your map. Even though she got the hang of it really quickly, I know that there were a couple of moments in the car when she wished that she'd studied our map of Northern France a bit more before we took off.

Pierrefonds

Chateau de Pierrefonds. Louis d'Orleans, the second son of Charles V, built this chateau in 1393. It was demolished in 1617 by Louis XIII. In the 1857, Napoleon III decided to restore the chateau and use it as an occasional imperial residence. Full restoration did not take place, as all work on the chateau ceased in 1885.

The chateau houses the Collection Monduit. The Monduits were master lead-workers, who were entrusted by the great French architects and sculptors to restore the spire of Notre-Dame-de-Paris and create the Statue of Liberty, among other things. This is a very small replica of the Statue of Liberty.

Compiegne

The Chateau de Compiegne is where Louis XVI first met Marie Antoinette. Tsar Nicolas II and the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna were the last royal guests to stay here, back in 1901. This is a picture of the outside of the chateau. The sign said that it closed at 5:00, but 5:00 really means 3:45, since they close all the doors at 5:00. Pretty neat from the outside, huh?

Trees lining the sidewalk along the cobblestone streets in Compiegne as far as the eyes can see.

Exploring Normandy with Erin and Nic

Erin is here visiting us for the week and Nic came over from Berlin for the weekend. We visited Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery and Memorial, Queen Matilda's Tapestry in Bayeux, Mont-St-Michel and Chartres Cathedral.

Omaha Beach

Erin, Omaha Beach and the English Channel.

A few of the 9,386 marble tombstones in the American Cemetery and Memorial on a hilltop overlooking Omaha Beach.

Wall of the Missing. The names of soldiers whose bodies could not be found are etched into this wall.

Bayeux

This town is famous for its tapestry, known as Queen Matilda's Tapestry. It is 225 feet long and contains 58 scenes which tell the story of William's conquest of England in 1066. Cameras are not allowed in the tapestry room, since the tapestry was stitched in 1067. Here we are, eating lunch outside of the Tapestry Museum. Chips, sandwiches and clementines, delicious!!

Mont-St-Michel

One of the absolute COOLEST and impressive places any of us has ever seen. The Mont-St-Michel abbey sits on top of a 264 foot rock off the coast of France. The original church was completed in 1144 and the abbey took over 500 years to build (1017-1521). Benedictine monks live and work at the abbey today.

You can see sand flats surrounding the abbey because it is low tide right now. We wouldn't be able park our car in this spot if we were visiting during high tide, since the sea can rise up to 45 feet.

Halfway up the steep staircases going up to the abbey.

Close up view of the abbey.

The streets of the village at the bottom of the island are lined with shops, restaurants and hotels. It looks like a Disney village.

The abbey at night. Looks kind of like Cinderella's castle, doesn't it?

Chartres

Built in 1250, the cathedral in Chartres is famous for its over 150 stained glass windows.

The stained glass windows depict both biblical stories as well as 13th century daily life. This window depicts the Glorification of the Virgin. The five windows beneath depict the kings of Judah and the prophets (including Nebuchadnezzar, David, Solomon, Aaron, Saul and Pharoah).

A typical French half-timbered house.

Hockey Night

We went to a hockey game tonight. Rouen players are wearing the yellow and black jerseys. The home team won. After the game, we met some of the hockey players and their wives/girlfriends. A bunch of the players are from Quebec, so it was pretty cool for Alex.

Alex with two of his teammates, Chris and Chez and Chris' fiancee Julie.

Caen

We took the scenic route to Caen. Great views of the Norman countryside on the way. Won't be wearing this jacket again. The reflectors photograph weird.

This and the next 2 pictures were taken in Pont l'Eveque. Cute little town. Picture-worthy.



Had to get in a picture of Alex. Tired of only seeing pictures of myself.

Caen is the capital of Lower Normandy (Rouen is the capital of Upper Normandy). William, Duke of Normandy, ruled from Caen before he conquered England and became William the Conqueror.
I'm standing on one of the ramparts in William the Conqueror's fortress. Built in 1060. Behind me is the Church of St-Pierre.

The eastern gate of William's fortress. A rare sunny afternoon in Normandy.

The Eglise de la Trinite (Trinity Church) in front of the Abbaye aux Dames (Ladies' Abbey). The Abbey was founded by William the Conqueror's wife, Queen Matilda in 1063. Queen Matilda is buried in the church.

Abbaye aux Hommes (Men's Abbey) on the left, church of St-Etienne on the right. Both built by William the Conqueror from local Caen stones, which he also used to build Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. William the Conqueror was buried in this church, but his tomb was destroyed.

Where we are

Rouen is northwest of Paris, along the Seine River. We are really close to the English Channel. If you head west from Rouen and go along the northern coast of France, you arrive at the town of Bayeux, which was the first town liberated during the Battle of Normandy. Go west a little bit more and you'll hit Omaha Beach.

Our Apartment

Our apartment building. We are on the first floor. Parking is very convenient, right outside our front door.

Our totally AWESOME Renault Scenic. Plenty of leg room for Alex and enough room for someone to sit behind him too. Great for road trips!!

The kitchen also houses the washer and dryer.

The living room. The couch turns into a bed, we've been told. This apartment has wireless internet!!!! Amazing. Even more amazing, the team had it set up before Alex arrived.

A typical French bathroom. The toilet gets its own room. The shower/sink in the other room which includes a drying rack.

2 bedrooms. The one on the left has a mattress that is somewhere in between a twin and full size. A bigger one is on order. The second bedroom has a twin bed with another twin trundled underneath it.

The local train, or metro. We are right between 2 stops, each stop is only about a minute's walk away. It's really hard to get lost on the metro. There are only 2 lines, and the 2 lines merge at the Seine. So actually, there are only 1 1/2 lines.

Night Pics of Downtown Rouen

We drove into downtown Rouen to check out the local attractions.
To my right is the back of the Joan of Arc Church. This church was built on the spot where she was burned to death in 1431.
Behind me, you can see the light near the top of the 490 foot spire from the Cathedrale Notre-Dame.










The Gros-Horloge, a giant clock in the middle of the street. It tells both the time of day and the day of the week.

The Cathedrale Notre-Dame. Originally built in the 12th century.

Close up of the spire.

Get used to this outfit....I'll be wearing this jacket and scarf a lot in the next couple of months.