Paris avec la belle soeur et beaux frere

Our weekend in Paris for Elise's birthday was a much needed break from the work and heat of Marseille. Unlike many of our crazy museum intense vacations, this was very much a relaxing weekend that involved eating more food, than battling the crowds. I felt like the stress was melting away as soon as I stepped on the fast speed TGV train to Paris. It is so civilized that you can cover over 900km in three hours, in a serene environment with beautiful landscapes, and never have to wait in a line once to get on or off.

We stayed with a collaborator of Keith's and her family. She took us out for a lovely meal on the Friday night where Keith tried andouillette. He was advised that  "Politics is like an andouillette – it should smell a little like shit, but not too much."   We continue to try new foods as much as possible here and they usually are some kind of meat based on an organ that we would never think about eating in North America. 

We spent a full morning wandering around Pere Lachaise Cemetery. The different styles of graves and numerous celebrities who are buried there make it more like a museum than an actual graveyard. During the day it is peaceful and lovely with the sunlight filtering through the trees, but I wouldn't want to be there at night. With all of the small alley ways and twists and turns, it would be very easy to imagine something or someone lurking in the shadows.

I thought this is one of the creeper graves we saw. Why would you want to show arms coming out of a grave? Is there another meaning aside from freaking people out? Below is a picture of Jim Morrison's grave which has become more like a shrine and point of pilgrimage, even though it is tucked away behind several other head stones and family chapels.

Oscar Wilde's grave was artistically unique, but it has been restored and surrounded in glass due to too many people kissing the original and causing damage. 

We also did a walking tour highlighting the activities of the Paris Resistance during WWII, which was interesting but the group was a bit too big and the traffic too loud. Below is a monument dedicated to the high school students who took an active part in trying to end the Nazi occupation and keep Parisians informed about the what was going on in the world outside occupied France. Although there were many tales of bravery and quick thinking, the fact that young teenagers realized the importance of this moment in their own lives and in the freedom of France really stayed with me. I would like to hope that my past and future students would be so enlightened and active in a such a worthy cause.

Even though we did not hit the tourist hot spots. We really did have a great time. Mostly this was because we had a chance to hang out with Elise and Aid. It was so nice to spend a weekend with them and we really look forward to their visit this summer.  

Invités

At the end of May we were overjoyed to have Tuan and Julie visit from Halifax. They made a special change in their scheduled vacation to Italy to stop in and see us and it was a delight to catch up.

Because they were only here for two days we thought long and hard about what we would show them and where we would visit. We ended up choosing to leave Marseille and show them what we consider the best of Provence; St. Remy de Provence, Glanum and Les Baux de Provence. These three sites incorporate the a large swatch of history from the Gauls to medieval times, and St. Remy is your typical Provencale town. This is my third time to all of these sites, but I still enjoy them.

Tuan and Julie have told us that every time they come home from Europe they always try to think about how they can make their daily lives more European. I think this is a fantastic philosophy. Their past resolutions have included using bicycles more and buying bread from local bakeries. They have informed us that this trips European lesson is to try to picnic more. Keith and I picnic a lot on our various day trips and I must say it is not only preferable in terms of cost and the convenience of being able to eat whenever you want, but you can also eat where ever you want. We have had some great picnics on the tops of mountains, in old ruins and beside the sea. I would encourage everyone to picnic more often.

I have always visited Les Baux and the other sites in the off season. This has worked out wonderfully in terms of being able to wander around without crowds or line ups, but on this trip we did reap some of the benefits of visiting in tourist season. Firstly at Les Baux they had the role players putting on little shows to explain aspects of medieval armor and weapons to children which is always entertaining. Secondly and most importantly  they were actually firing the different catapults and the the trebuchet.   We were all lucky enough to be picked from the crowd to participate in launching the different siege engines for the audience.

Julie and I were fortunate in that it took little effort to launch this catapult like contraption, but Keith and Tuan spent roughly ten minutes each winding up the trebuchet and were left with sore muscles.

We were so happy to host Tuan and Juile. It was a lovely visit, but too short. 

Nimes

As we continue our explorations of Provence, it continues to amaze me how old everything is here. It is difficult to imagine that Romans walked in the same places that I walk daily and it is astounding how much of their presence remains. One of the sites where the glory of Rome is best preserved is in Nimes. This former centre of Roman life and culture lives on in the monuments which have been so well preserved and exhibited. The ampitheatre (above) is the crown jewel of Nime's Roman monuments and unlike so many other site it has full explanations of the uses of the arena. With information ranging from the different styles of gladiators to how bull fighting is still practiced in the arena today, the various posters and details allow you to imagine how this building has functioned over two millenia ago.

Again the preservation of the Roman heritage of Nimes is impressive. Here you can see the old Roman road which led from the arena to the former gates of the city.

The Tour Magne is one section left from the walls that once defended the city. Unfortunately a gardener got permission from the King to dig into the inner part of the tower. This request was made because he was convinced that Nostradamus had written about treasure being hidden there. Needless to say his search was not successful and instead he simply undermined the foundation of the tower and destroyed much of the outer section where the guards would have worked and kept watch. His work left only a portion of the original tower standing and resulted in the need for major renovations to the inside to stabilize the tower and prevent it from further deterioration.

Tour Magne stands on the top of a hill which was converted into extensive gardens. The stonework, paths, and waterways of this public park rival many of the grand Chateau gardens in the Loire built for nobles. It brings together in beatiful harmony French architecture while still providing space and protection for the Roman ruins.

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The Temple of Dianna

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The Maison Carrée is an impressively sized building in the centre of Nimes. The large columns and steep steps make it an imposing structure but there is nothing inside accept a 3D movie about the history of Nimes. The twenty minute movie was the epitome of French publicity stunts; lots of emphasis on the use of a new technology but little relevant content. Regardless it was fun to watch the bulls coming at us, as if we were the bullfighter. 


On the whole Nimes is one of the best day trips we have done because of its diversity of sites but also because of the accessible way in which information and historical facts are presented. I think we will definitely be back.  

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Terre Provencale

So over the past couple of months we have made a point of trying to get out and about to visit the different sites that Provence has to offer. It is nice to get out of the city and away to the different little towns which each have their own flavour and attractions. Maybe it's because I'm from the prairies (and got used to driving for hours upon hours in a straight line across perhaps the flattest land on earth a.k.a. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba)  but I am always pleasantly surprised at how quickly the geography changes in Provence. In a two hours drive you can go from sea side to flat plains to mountains. We've tried to get out and do a few of these mini-holiday day trips in the last several months to enjoy the changing geography, and I'd like to try to give you a sampling of what we have been discovering and exploring.

The pictures above and below are from the town of Bonnieux, which clings to the hillside, but overlooks a lush valley. To get to Bonnieux it is necessary to follow twisting turning roads along the sides of two other hills but the reward is totally worth it. This town is quiet with its only tourist attraction being its situation.

We also spent a weekend further exploring the ochre hills and mining in the Luberon. The colours are brilliant and it amazes me how such fragile rocks continue to survive the elements (as well as tourists walking all over them). We visited just after a major rain storm and it was impressive to see the amount of fine silt that had accumulated where small creeks should have been. The short hike we took showed us the remains of the mining operations that used to dominate the site and let us walk in valleys surrounded by rusty red walls. It is a landscape that is completely different from anything I have experienced before and seems a bit overwhelming as your eyes are stimulated by so many bright colours.

   

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    A left over lunch break area for miners or a time out spot?

We really will jump on any excuse to take a day trip somewhere new and exciting, and in fact many of our friends here have commented on the fact that we have quite possibly seen more of Provence than they have. One weekend Pascal and Jacqueline wanted to take a look at a motorcycle they were interested in buying north of Avignon.  The car ride up was interesting enough. We passed little villages with hilltop ruins, as well as got a closer look at one of the many nuclear reactors that dot the landscape here, but it was the ride back that was really spectacular.

On the ride back we went along the Gorge d'Ardeche. We walked out next to bubbling waterfalls and peered over huge cliffs, but the highlight was definitely the Pont d'Arc. It is literally a bridge of stone over the river. The photograph doesn't do the size of the arc justice. It is completely natural and there were people kayaking right under it!

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The Ardeche River snaking its way along at the bottom of some huge cliffs.

We also took a day to go back to the Fontaine de Vaucluse. We had visited this spring with Keith's parents last October, but wanted to take a look in the springtime. The water emerges from the rocks in a pool at the base of a  small mountain difference in the water level was dramatic but much to Keith's disappointment it was not high enough to see the water flowing out of the pool above ground. Instead the water continues underground just a bit farther down the valley to come out of the rocks at various points. We climbed down to one of the these and you could start the flow of water from simply digging into the side of the cliff a couple centimetres. 

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The current was definitely faster and the sun was brighter as we explored the surrounding river, chateau ruins and had drinks at one of the many well situated restaurants right on the water's edge.

You can see part of the run-off being divided here into the river and old Roman aqueduct. 

The remaining walls of the chateau from below. It was a bit of a climb but totally worth the view.

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The source pool and the tourists!

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Marrakech

After a week of hard core traveling we took a more laid back approach to visiting Marrakech. We new that we only had two days in the city, so it would be impossible to see everything and we opted instead to just relax a bit. Our riad had an amazing roof top terrace and we took full advantage.

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During the day we wondered the Medina, bartered for some slippers and a fun basket, and ate at cafes. We also had some amazing street food from the mobile restaurants that set up every night in Place Jemaa-el-Fna. The hustle was everywhere, with every restauranteur wanting you to choose his place but it was really amazing walking the rows between the fifty or so restaurants with bench seating that are completely absent from the main square during the day. The square was completely alive with street performers and orange juice kiosks. The oranges are amazing in Morocco and we had orange juice every chance we got.

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We did stop in at the Ben Yusuf Madrasa, which is an architectural wondering. The former residence for Islamic scholars must have been like a little city in its day, with rooms of different shapes and sizes housing students from very different walks of life.

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We also went to the Dar-Si-Said museum which has a somewhat limited collection focusing on pottery, jewelry, clothes and some weapons, but again has really neat architecture. For examples just look at the  door (above) and the central courtyard (below).

Morocco was not on our list of places that we needed to visit, but now that I have been I would love to go back. And I think that this has taught me something more, that is that no matter how much planning you do, sometimes the best times are when you don't have a plan. This is something I need to live by more often, and the other thing I learned that will improve my life is that I definitely need to travel more.

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