Finding Old Photos: France Edition

Well, I've been here before. A slow month. I could write about a lot of health things or political topics but I don't want to and you probably don't want to read them. So, it's back to revisiting the travel photo archive!

Dreaming of Paris and Remembering Montmartre

I have been listless and more than a little down in the dumps lately.

The visit of my long-time friend Suzanne from London, Ontario, brightened my mood some, as we filled our time together with long talks, movies, shopping and eating at some of her favorite spots (mine, too!) But it has been cold and I have been gloomy and when I am I often think back to Paris. It felt like a good time to participate in Paulita's Dreaming of France party.

Because of the sadness in my heart, I suppose it made some sense to revisit the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. Rick and I did this with "Peter's Paris" blogger Peter who was a terrific guide to not only the cemetery but to the area in general.

It was a rainy day as we walked by the graves of the famous and the ordinary. The rain made the stones deeper, richer in color. The flowers just "popped." (I believe this was composer Jacques Offenbach's grave.)

I can't hear the guitar music of Fernando Sor (which Rick will play on occasion) without thinking of seeing his resting place.

The sculpture was beautiful and poignant. It cried out with emotion, sorrow and grief.

This is my favorite photo from the trip. As you know, I love cats and there are generally more than a few roaming the cemeteries of Paris. But on this day, it was very rainy (think "April Showers," which capsulized our April in Paris.)

At the time we were in Paris, our Marmelade Gypsy was back home in Michigan, every day closer to his last. (We lost him about two weeks after we returned). I was having a lot of separation issues on that trip, for though I knew he was in safe hands, I also knew his health was very fragile, something that if I'd known when we booked the trip, we may not have gone at that time.

Eager to see one of the "cemetery cats," I was thrilled to find this one hiding on a shelf in an elaborate marker. I didn't dare get too close -- I didn't want to scare him. So I snapped the photo and thought little more about it. But when I saw the pictures later, I was entranced by both the memory and this handsome cat.

I didn't get another cat right after Gypsy died. I couldn't. But then a friend was fostering a mom-cat and her kittens and while the kittens were easy to place, Mom was less so. But I was willing to take her on.

Right now she is purring right beside me and every time I look at her I think of the Montmartre Cat. No, they aren't dead ringers for each other. But perhaps that cat imprinted its pretty black-and-white features on the heart of this soul who loves her orange cats. Maybe. Just maybe.

Postscript: For more on the beautiful statuary at Montmartre's cemetery, visit Peter's great post HERE.

Paris In July: Tour de France Destinations

I hope you love the Tour de France as much as I do.

Even if you're not a fan of bicycle racing, how can you not enjoy the beautiful vistas and overhead views of France's sites?

On Tuesday (July 9) and Wednesday, the tour will be in Brittany and Normandy. So, as part of Paris In July I thought I'd take you OUT of Paris and to the area of the Tour.

Here is St. Malo -- a charming walled city in Brittany. You can see it best from the Marina outside the walls.

I posted in depth about St. Malo HERE. It's a sea town, with links to Chateaubriand and Cartier. Pirates abounded and is surrounded by ramparts.

In World War II, the town, including its beautiful church, were seriously damaged when the U.S. bombed the city, which was a Nazi stronghold.

Here in America, they would be likely to view the bombed out site as a potential shopping mall or village of houses made of ticky-tack that all look just the same.

Not in France. Proud of its heritage, it rebuilt St. Malo as it was before.

The tour will ride through the Brittany countryside.

They will find twisting roads and charming villages and towns.

Perhaps they will see sites such as this beautiful windmill amidst a field of rapeseed.

And take a look at that little spot in the distance!

On Wednesday, the Tour will arrive .at the famed Mont Saint Michel, which I wrote about HERE.

This is another "walled city" in its way. There are people who actually live in this mountain of rock that is also the home of an abbey.

In its time, it has been not only abbey but prison.

And you can see how it would be a mighty fortress. When the tide comes in, you are there, whether you want to be or not! The views were dazzling!

Lots of rocks. LOTS of steps. (Let's just say, I sent my PT a postcard from here, thanking her for getting my knees in shape to handle it!)
 

I especially loved the potager. I could envision monks growing their veggies and preparing them.

 

Of course we saw it on a mostly rainy day -- but the sun did shine...

...and we did play.

Please visit other blogs focusing on France this month as part of Paris In July. You can find links at Thyme for Tea or Bookbath.

Enjoy!

Road Trip: Mont Saint Michel

After leaving St. James, we continued to head toward Mont Saint-Michel, an island and monastery located in the western corner of Normandy, close to the country's northwestern coast. This was the view from the car window.

Yes, as you might expect, our arrival was a rainy one, although the rain stopped and started, leaving a gloomy gray during its brief reprieves.

We parked and walked up to the massive island, which is reached (currently) by a causeway. It is largely surrounded by bleak waters -- and one wouldn't want to be caught on the wrong side of the island when the tide is in.

 Some of the visitors were better prepared for the rain than I was!

Mont Saint-Michel served as a point for holding fortifications, but since the eighth century it has been the seat of the monastery and a pilgrimage destination.

Legend has it that the Archangel Michael appeared to the bishop of Avranches in the 700s and told him to build a church on the small island. It became a strategic point in wartime as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which tells of the 1066 Norman conquest of England. It is also considered a fine example of military architecture.

Over centuries Mont Saint-Michel has served as village, monastery and prison. Notably, Victor Hugo was one launched a campaign to restore the structure to national architectural treasure, resulting in the close of the prison in 1863 and eventually declaring it as a national historic monument.

The architecture is like that of no other monastery. Because the island mount is a pyramid, the medieval builders wound the buildings around the granite rock, with the abbey church at the top.

The original abbey church is clearly Romanesque in design and was built in the 11th century. Because of the weight of the structure, many underground chapels and crypts were built to support the structure.

In 1204 a fire damaged many of the buildings and when the abbey was rebuilit, it was in the "new" Gothic style. The refectory and cloister reflect this style.

The 15th century ramparts and fortifications were built to defend the site from the cannon -- a new weapon.

Now, 41 residents live on the island in apartments above shops, hotels and restaurants that one passes leading up to the abbey. 

We walked (and walked) and walked, through pathways...

...and up the cobbled steps to what I call a terrace -- I'm sure it has another name.

And, by the time we got there, the sky was a mix of gray to the sea and blue above the spire.

You see? Sun! You can't get shadow without it!

The view was pretty amazing and quite formidable -- imagine being a soldier approaching it from the sea -- or anywhere, for that matter.

One can't help but admire the builders who hauled the stone and built this massive structure, but as churches go, it isn't exactly warm and inviting.The lighting and floor of this chapel was the sole exception.

I found it cold, damp (helped, no doubt, by the pouring rain) and not particularly pleasing -- more like well-designed rock masses with some pretty incredible architecture. I suspect a little sunshine coming through the windows (and about ten degrees of heat) would have helped warm things tremendously.

Obviously, others have a different point of view. It is, after all, a place of holiness, a place of faith. And I can imagine the pilgrims found it quite amazing -- I count in that number the modern-day pilgrims who come to visit simply because they are aware of its great structure and architecture.

The ossuary was interesting. The wheel was installed in 1820 to hoist provisions to the prisoners held in the abbey during its period as a prison. It is a replica of the pulleys used for hoisting building materials in the middle ages.

There was little art in entire abbey. Here is a lovely piece -- Adam and Eve.

 My favorite area was the cloisters, a bright spot of green and color amidst much stone.

These were simply lovely, in the Gothic style, and offered many lovely and graceful lines...

...handsome sculpture...

...and some good spots for clowning around!

Because of the dampness, there was lots of moss...

...and a small potager or kitchen garden.

And occasionally, bright flowers seemed to grow from out of the rocks.

No matter where one looked, the view was quite spectacular.

Mont Saint-Michel was certainly not my favorite spot in our travels, and frankly, I was relieved to leave this cold, bleak place, with few spots that generated emotional warmth. As I mentioned, I suspect that had to do most with the weather and still being more than a bit jet-lagged. By the time we left it was close to 11 p.m., "Jeanie Time" and we still hadn't had dinner.

But I did leave with admiration for the architectural skill and history, though. It is a massive and fascinating structure and certainly one I'll never forget.

NOTE: Next we'll be going through Brittany. Remember, comments on this post and all of this series of recent vacation posts and the post about Gypsy will be entered in my 800th post drawing!