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!

If I Could Go Back

Often when I post about travel, it is my beloved England or Paris. But there are a few other spots I've been to which I'd greatly love to return. I've been thinking about those places a lot lately!

Even though I have been vaccinated, it will be a long time before I feel comfortable getting on a plane and going six or seven hours across the sea, I wouldn't mind if my itinerary included another visit to Amsterdam.

I love the canals, the markets and there are more than a few museums and gardens I missed. Spring, I think, would be rather perfect!

 

 

And as long as one was in The Netherlands, it would be nice to revisit Delft.

 

After all, there are more than a few pieces of Delft china and more that I left behind. I'd love a tour of one of the workshops, too.

The first trip I took with Rick was to Japan. It was true culture shock for me and I was pretty terrified of getting separated from him. All I knew to say was "Hello," "Goodbye," "Thank you," "Excuse me," and "I have a cat." These words will not help if you get lost!

But it was a fabulous and eye-opening trip, thanks especially to time we spent with friends from Rick's Japan-America Society and Sister Cities days. We spent time in Toyko, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto and Otsu (some of those were day trips with our friends.) Kanako took us to Kyoto and I'd love to spend more time there. 

The temple at Miyajima was beautiful (and the deer so tame they even chased a man with a McDonald's bag, hoping for food!)

Kiyo and her family welcomed us to Hiroshima and we enjoyed meeting her friends.

 She took us to the Peace Museum, a somber and stunning place to visit and be reminded of the consequences of war. This installation of a thousand cranes made by schoolchildren touched my heart.

I write a lot about Paris but oh, how I would love to revisit Giverny.

Monet's home, with its fabulous kitchen and dining room, all the gardens and the small and charming town all are worth another visit.

St. Malo was another town I'd return to. It is a walled city and an old one. If you read "All the Light You Cannot See," it is set in this town which had quite a World War II history.

And good dog hygiene!

Oh, and the food was to die for! 

I'll never forget how moving the beaches of Normandy were.

Honfleur is another spot I enjoyed all too briefly -- just part of an afternoon and dinner. 

I didn't get to shop but I might have come home with one of these hats!

And when twilight came and the lights came on, it was downright magical! 

Speaking of French, should I want to speak French closer to home (or try), I would head immediately for Quebec City. The old walled city was my favorite part and there was much we didn't have time to explore in our few days here. 

Rick had cycled there from Michigan and his legs did the hills better than mine -- but oh, they were so worth it!

I enjoyed the art galleries and my birthday gift that year was a painting from one of my favorites. But it was hard to choose! 

One of the most magical places I ever visited was Martha's Vineyard and I'd go back in a heartbeat. (It's a shorter flight, too! I could even drive most of the way!)

 

 

When we visited in August 2017, we accidentally (and fortuitously) came during The Grand Illumination, where homes in the Oak Bluffs Campground, a collection of lovingly maintained Victorian homes, illuminate their porches with lanterns. 

That and the massive sing-along would have been enough.

But the towns are lovely, like Edgartown with its harbor... 

 ...and beautiful Oak Bluffs.

...and the beaches are fabulous!

There are  plenty more on the list, along with places I've never been. And I probably won't get to all these old favorites along with the new spots that intrigue me one more time. 

But I'll sure love the remembering!

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Paris In July - St. Malo, All the Light You Cannot See

I wish I had read one of my favorite books, "All the Light You Cannot See," by Anthony Doerr, before I visited St. Malo in 2012. I would have been on the hunt for all the spots mentioned in this story of a young blind woman living in this seaside French town during the Occupation, who became involved with the Resistance in her own way.

Alas, I didn't. But I thought I would share a few sights from the town to help give it a sense of place in the minds of those who have already read the book and those who have yet to discover it.

The original town was founded in the first century by the Gauls. By the fifth century, Celts fleeing instability in Britain added to the population. The modern town was traced to a monastic settlement founded in the early sixth century and named after a presumed follower of Brendan the Navigator, St. Malo (aka Maclou), one of the seven founding saints of Brittainy.

 
We arrived in the evening after a long and rainy day that included a visit to St. James American Cemetery and Le Mont St. Michel. We had been soaked, had tired feet and were hungry, so we headed to a cafe.

All three of us ordered the Plat which is the special. And wine. It was a chicken dish and delicious. And so was the dessert!

We didn't have a hotel reservation, either, but we were able to find a spot. I post the photo below only so you don't end up there! Every now and then one should sleep in the beds to be rented out. Just saying!

The following morning found us up and walking through the cobbled streets of the old walled city. Much of St. Malo was decimated in the WWII bombing and a large part of it is reconstructed. The villains were not the Nazis, but the Americans and British who mistook the town for a Nazi stronghold. (The town was occupied by the Germans.)  Napalm was used here for the first time by the Americans and it took twelve years to rebuild the city, stone by stone.

One would never know.

We found a cute cafe for breakfast and savored omelettes before heading off to see more of the city.

The town is the birthplace of Francois-Rene, vicomte de Chateaubriand, a French writer, historian and diplomat who is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature (thank you, Wikipedia!). Of course he is recognized in the city. Jacques Cartier, the founder of another favorite walled city of mine, Vieux Quebec, the older part of Quebec City, was born and set sail for the new world from here as well.

For the best views in town, head to the ramparts, which were built (or started) in the twelfth century.  The city had a long history of piracy and one can visually see how it may have been ideally situated for this.

You can walk out to the old fort. Rick and Jerry did this.

She who trips over her own feet on a good day elected to stay high above and take pictures! Because, some days, brains win out over desire!

I think perhaps my favorite spot was the beautiful La Cathedrale Saint-Vincent de Saint Malo. (Sorry for the blur here.)

It was pretty much destroyed during the war.

Now it is under reconstruction. (I should add here that these photos are from a 2012 visit, so that construction may be completed by now.)

Excellent graphics tell the story.

And the stained glass is exquisite.

 I loved this town, and why not? Any place that had a street named Rue du Chat Qui Dance (which Wikipedia translates as "Cat Street Dancing") is fine by me.

And they also seem aware of the pitfalls of canines, too!

I hope you've enjoyed this walk through the charming ancient and walled city of St. Malo (and if you haven't read "All the Light You Cannot See," I hope you give that a chance too!)

This post is part of Paris in July. Visit here for more links related to Paris and France.

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