A SIDE TRIP TO PARIS

Paris is a 2 1/2 hour train trip from our Normandy location. We departed on a Monday to see the Opera that evening. The day was beautiful, and we decided to walk around the city.

 

Touring the Paris Sewer System.

This is the area where Victor Hugo in "Les Mis"immortalized the Paris sewer system.

We descended into the depths of Paris to discover a "city beneath the city". Hugues Aubriot, merchant provost, introduced the first vaulted sewers at the end of the 14th century. Michel Etienne Turgot, father of the future finance minister, had the main ring sewer built under Louis XIV. Bruneseau, a friend of Victor Hugo, was commissioned to make an exhaustive survey of the existing sewer network by Napoleon. The sewers were improved in 1823.

Until the Middle Ages, the drinking water in Paris was taken from the river Seine. The wastewater was poured on to fields or unpaved streets, and finally filtered back into the Seine. Under the reign of Louis XIV,a large ring sewer was built on the right bank, and the Bievre river was used as a sewer on the left bank. Napolean I, had the first vaulted sewer built. Thus was built, more than a century ago, a double water supply network, one for drinking water and one for non drinking water, and a sewer network is now 1300 miles under the city that is still used today.

 

 

THE PARIS OPERA

The Paris opera was established in 1669 by Louis XIV, who was a dancer, and one of the great architects of the baroque ballet which later evolved to classical ballet. The newer opera house, the 2700 seat Opera Bastille was built in 1989. The Paris opera has a significant budget 200Million Euros - 100million by the state government, and 70million by box office receipts.

"La Fille Du Regiment" by Donizetti. (The Daughter of the Regiment)

Donizetti occupied a transitional place between Rossini and Verdi. He was the link between two trends to which Italy owes its most authentic masterpieces. He composed 60 operas between 1816 and 1843. "La Fille Du Regiment" was originally written in French.

 

Natalie Dessay, the soprano, from France played the lead, Marie; Juan Diego Florez, the tenor, from Lima, Peru, played Tonio. It was an excellent performance.

 

Visiting the most interesting cemetary in the world.......

PERE LACHAISE.......

The Columbarium that holds the ashes of Maria Callas, and Isadora Duncan

The rows of bodies in the Columbarium - Maria Callas is in this row.

 

When it comes to name dropping this cemetary has no peer. It has been called the "grandest address in Paris". Sarah Bernhart,Oscar Wilde, Balzac,Delacroix,Maria Callas,Max Ernst and Bizet. Editth Piaf "the little sparrow" was buried here. Marcel Proust (who's 7 volume novel, considered the best of all time - "In Search of Lost Time", I am still trying to get through!!)

The cemetary is 109 acres. The city purchased it in 1804. The French Resistance , fighters of the Commune in 1871, the world's first anarchist republic, made their final desperate stand against the troops of the French government. They were overwhelmed, lined up against the wall, and shot in groups. A few survived and lived hidden in the cemetery for years.

The French Resistance Memorial

Chopin 's body is here, however his heart is in a Church in Warsaw, where he was born.

Does Colette need an introduction

 

Marcel Marceau, I took a Mime class from him when I was at University

We walked through the cemetary searching the graves of our favourite heros. We were provided a map as to where everyone was buried. Sort of like in Beverly Hills, a map of the stars' homes.

The street signs at the Cemetary. The only one with a name of a deceased.

Edith Piaf "the little sparrow"

Marcel Proust

Gertrude Stein

Oscar Wilde

We visited the Foundry in Villedeau -les- Poeles where they are currently making new bells for Notre Dame in Paris. They will be in the bell tower in February of 2013. It takes 7 months to make one of these bells. This Foundry is one of the few remaining in the world.

We visited E.Dehillerin founded in 1820 , and it has the largest selection of copper pots, and cooking utensils in Europe.

 

 

DISCOVERING NORMANDY LIFE

ROUEN

 

The capital of Normandy and the fifth-largest port in France, Rouen is a hub of commerce. The city has a current population of 500,000. An hour from our farmhouse in Basse-Normandie , we drove to the city,spent the night here so that we could be 45 minutes from Giverney to visit Claude Monet's home. Former occupants include the writers Pierre Corneille and Gustave Flaubert, Claude Monet - who endlessly painted Rouen Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, and Joan of Arc...("Oh, Rouen, art thou then my final resting place?").

Victor Hugo called Rouen "the city of a hundred spires". Half of it was destroyed during WWII, mostly by Allied bombers, and many Rouennais were killed. During the reconstruction of the old quarters, some of the almost-forgotten crafts of the Middle Ages were revived. William the Conqueror died here in 1087, and Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on the place du Vieux-Marche in 1431.

Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Rouen.

Monet immortalized Rouen's cathedral (particularly the facade, with its galaxy of statues) in his paintings. The main door, Porte Central is embellished with sculptures depicting the Tree of Jesus. Consecrated in 1063, the cathedral, a symphony of lacy stonework was reconstructed after suffering damage in WWII.

The Tour de Buerre was financed by the faithful who were willing to pay for the privilege of eating butter during Lent ( I would have contributed).The Tour Lanterne built in 1877 and using 740 tons of iron and bronze - rises to almost 492 feet.

Behind the cathedral is the Palais de l'Archeveche (Archbishop's Palace), which was bombed in the war. Now it stands naked against the sky. The broken arches and rosette windows witnessed the trial of Joan of Arc in 1431, and her rehabilitation was proclaimed here in 1456.

 

 

Musee des Beaux-Arts.

This is one of France's most important provincial museums with more than 65 rooms of art that ranges from medieval primitives to contemporary paintings. Works by Gerard David (1460 - 1523) a Bruges artist. His most important work "The Virgin Among the Virgins" 1509 is here. His self portrait is in the top left corner.

Theodore Gericault (1791 - 1824) born in Rouen who was considered one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement. He stayed at Versailles, because his parents disapproved of his painting, and he painted in the stables. He became known for his anatomy and action of horses.

 

 

Joan of Arc (1412 - 1431)

"Maid of Orleans". She claimed Divine guidance during the 100 Years'Wars and led the French army to important victories. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English and was tried for "insubordination and heterodoxy". She was burned at the stake in Rouen when she was 19 years old by Pierre Cauchon. Pope Callixtus III, 25 years later proclaimed her innocence, declared her a martyr and she was beautified in 1909, and canonized in 1920.

 

 

 

GIVERNY - CLAUDE MONET

On the border between Normandy and the Ile de France, the Claude Monet Foundation preserves the estate where the great painter lived for 43 years. We visited the restored house and the magnificant gardens.

Monet, born in 1840, was best known during the French Impressionist period where he excelled in presenting the effects of light at different times of the day. Some say he "invented light". His paintings of the Rouen cathedral and of water lilies, are just a few of his masterpieces. He came to Giverny in 1883. Clemenceau,Cezanne,Rodin, Renoir, Degas and Sisley visited frequently. When Monet died in 1926 his son inherited the house but left it abandoned. The gardens became a jungle inhabited by river rats. When Michel (Monet's son) died in 1966 he left the house and gardens to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. in 1977, Gerald van der Kemp, who restored Versailles, worked on Giverny. Several US benefactors, notably Lila Wallace, former head of "Reader's Digest", restored the home and gardens. The garden is magnificant, and is far more interesting than the house. From Monet's bedroom, there is a stunning view of the garden.

The Giverny Impressionism Museum

Opened in 2009, the museum hosts a variety of exibitions throughout the year. Funded by Americans, the current exhibit is "From Delacroix to Signac" 100 drawings by Delacroix,Buillard,Signac and Bonnard from 1830 - 1930. The period traces the Nabis and neo-Impressionists periods during this time.

Friends enjoying the gardens of Giverny!!!!

 

CHATEAU DE BIZY

A small detour on the way home, we noticed a beautiful chateau from the highway. The Chateau was an 18th century chateau built in the granduer of Versailles in a magnificant park. It was built by France's last King and the Albufera family - Napolian's brother. His daughter, Princess de Lamballe married at 16 to Louis XIV's son. She immediately went to court and became Marie Antoinette's best friend and confidante. During the "Reign of Terror" she was captured and beheaded. Her head was placed on a pike, and was paraded in front of Marie Antoinette. She was 19 at the time, and her father never recovered from her death. Today, the last of the Albufera still resides at the Chateau. The family is one of the wealthiest in France today.

 

 

FOUGERES

The small medieval town of Fougeres is on the border of Normandy and Brittany. The castle began construction in 1166, and as it is known today was completed in 1397. It has the oldest belfry in France and is considered the best preserved fortified castle in Europe. Hugo,Balzac and Chateaubriand have graced Fougeres and written about the castle. It has 13 towers and the adjoining garden and grounds are magnificant.

St Leonard Church is on top of the hill. It was constructed in the 15th and 16th century, and the windows are 12century and represent the life of St. Benedict.