Part Deux...
(Sorry for having to do this in a couple installments... Jetlag was just not agreeing with me at 11 PM last night!)
Day 6: Met Mom & Dad for breakfast at 7:30 and headed down to the buses for Hotel des Invalides. We had a military band lead us into the main courtyard for a short homage ceremony for the veterans who furthered freedom and liberty in the US and France. Military band played French and American National anthems with an amazing resonance in the courtyard that sent chills through everyone. Jacques (the main coordinator) introduced Dad who gave the homage. Not that I'm biased, but my favorite part was a group of people whispering if Dad was the head of the SAR. We got a tour inside the current (and active) part of the chapel - amazing! Went to the Tomb/Crypt side of the church (the original chapel) where Napoleon and others were buried. Napoleon's tomb was observed from the top - from a huge balcony structure built into the first floor of the church. Everything was very elaborate.
Went to Picpus Cemetery for a Wreath Laying. This will be a running theme. Apparently, visits to Picpus require a reservation, so we had the entire cemetery in peace and quiet. La Fayette's grave is next to the mass graves where La Fayette's wife's family was buried after being guillotined during the French Revolution. Story says that George Washington appealed to the Revolutionaries for the life of La Fayette's wife. (Can't validate that, but it sounds good, right?) Chapel right outside Picpus had the names of those in the Mass Graves. Amazing.
Sit-down lunch at the Visitor's Center. The courses kept coming... Quiche, Salad, Chicken, ice cream and sherbert dessert... and good wine too!
Next was Vincennes - the Army and Navy arvhices with a Keep tower from the eral of Charles V and Louis (enter number here). The doors at the end of our tour were from where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were held before their executions. For our archives visit, several interesting items were pulled out that related to the time of the American Revolution. Maps of troop movements, naval records and inventories, La Fayette's birth certificate, personal papers of John Paul Jones.
Now to the rockstar part... our police escorts! We had several of these to get us through Paris... usually at rush hour! How cool is that?! So we were a little late getting out of Vincennes, so the police helped us get to Place du Rochambeau where were were scheduled to meet the mayor of the 16eme arrondisement for a wreath laying ceremony. We made it there - some exciting times, and very ballsy motorcycles later. Wreath Laying was nice - celebrating the assistance of the Compte Rochambeau's assistance. Escort got us back to the hotel where we changed for our next evening reception - the Musee Jacquemart Andre. Reception was given by the Instituit de France. It was in a beautiful (former) home that had been turned into a museum of works collected from throughout Europe. The works were moved to the countryside during WWII and saved from destruction. Rembrandt work Pilgrims at Emmaus hangs there and is never loaned out. Very powerful painting.
Day 7: Treaty of Paris celebration day. Breakfast before heading to Palais du Luxembourg for lectures. One in english and two in french with a translator. The two in French were very hard for the translator, and unfortunately, many people were lost along the way. Watching the actions of the French professor and then hearing the words from the translator was very tiring. Lunch reception at the Palais - Cocktail reception. Yummy finger sandwiches (tomato, mozz & basil) and desserts (chocolate covered pineapple, chocolate mousse and wafers) and wine.
Naval Museum tour - interesting models and details. Cutaway models were cool. Scuba and sailing exhibits was interesting. We had our picture taken at the Eiffel Tower. Walked over to Benjamin Franklin statue/park and laid another set of wreaths. Discovered that Dad lost his glasses. Another Police escort back to the hotel.
Eternal Flame Lighting @ Arc de Triomphe. We *walked* a block down the Champs Elysees and through the circle around the Arc. Traffic was stopped to get our marching group across, led by our flags - US, France, SAR, DAR and Washington's. Ceremony was neat - the eternal flame was dimmed and then the turn of a copper ring opened the valve again to set it blazing. More Wreaths, La Marseillaise and Star Spangled Banner were played by the military band, huge receiving line. We signed the guest book, then it was back to the hotel.
Police escort to Versailles -- This is becoming a pretty cool theme at this point! Gorgeous gate that is even more beautiful and gold than I remembered! Dad worked on names for introductions, as he was the M.C. for the gala event. We walked through apartments twice. Dinner was at the Grand Trianon - a side palace at Versailles. DAR picture taken. Champagne reception -- noted that it was Taittinger. Had duck for the first time. Sounds so much better as 'canard'... not so much as Daffy or Donald. Couldn't hear the Ambassaor's speech, but it went for a long while.
Day 8: WWI Homage day. Breakfast before LONG bus ride to Escadrille La Fayette memorial honoring WWI pilots. Life expectancy of a pilot in WWI was 3-4 weeks. Technology was 'barely there'. Laid set of Wreaths then visited crypt under memorial. Amazing Stained Glass!! (KC, you'd really be awed!!) Airplanes in each window. Crypt being restored - built in 1928 with little restoration since. French and American effort to restore. Two French buried there with 38 Americans.
Huge Lunch at a restaurant that could've doubled for a disco. Chateau Something. Did I mention lunch was HUGE? Salmon and shrimp (with heads AND legs - Mom thought the eyes weren't real...), Turkey and mushroom gravy, potatoes, zuchinni, and amazing Rhubarb pie! We had a very fun table. The George and Kristen Jones ate with us and we became fast friends. Oh dear, the jokes abounded - as they always do when there's testosterone in the room... Water with Gas, the oddly engineered Men's bathroom with a huge window.
Went to Bois Belleau - Very large monument at Chateau Thierry. Rembering Army division with Marine Attaches. Chapel and Cemetery - Wall of the missing - Lyman Harper's great-uncle listed among them. 250 unknown graves. Gorgeous Stained Glass.
Reims Cathedral was amazing. After staring down a would-be pickpocket behind my dad outside the cathedral, we saw a slideshow that gave some history - and pictures of the destruction from WWI and WWII bombings. Some stained glass from the 1200's survived. One window (champagne window) was recreated in 1954 from documentation - and replicated exactly as it was before WWII.
Taittinger Caves (cellars) - Long, very cold tour of cellars given by Taittinger himself. A very quiet man, but obviously very knowledgeable and very rich. (Check out your local champagne seller for Taittinger next time!) Old wine, long process - 2 fermentations. 1st makes non-bubble wine. 2nd adds yeast to make CO2, and bottles are turned in quarter-turns two times a week for 6 weeks. When the're ready to cork, the neck of the bottle is frozen to ice-in the sediment. Bottle is then uncapped and ejects ice and sediment. Tasting room - bought glasses.
Champagne Reception at Taittinger home was amazing!!! Gorgeous home - we had the reception in what looked like the "barn" - though it was obviously a reception hall... Beautiful flowers, lots of candleabras made with magnum (or bigger!) bottles.
Day 9: DAR/SAR Meetings. Across the street at Concorde Chapel. At the SAR meeting, the guys got their medals. Darrin got his first medal presented by the PG. Information given about W3R route markings. At the DAR meeting, I applied to become a member of the France chapter.
Went souvenir shopping - in boutiques next to the hotel. Walked all around the Arc de Triomphe - found the TnT (Trash 'n' Trinkets) shop, went to McDonalds for lunch. Interesting menu - mostly the same, but had "Croque McDo" and "Australian" burger.
Saint Denis Cathedral - Had a mass there for the preservation of peace. Flags entered first, wreaths laid while we waited. Processed to crypt, saw tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and others. Beautiful service in French and Latin. Recognized many of the words / musical phrases from the Requiems we've sung at church. Long line at gift shop. Another police escort back to the hotel so we could get ready for the big to-do! We had about an hour to get ready...
Police escort (again) to Hotel de la Ville - City Hall - Opulence isn't even the word for this place. Champagne Reception -- Taittinger, of course -- before going into main reception hall. Great dinner. Darrin and I had put together the songs for the dancing -- and there were people on the floor the entire time! (Thanks Jamie!!)
Day 10: Transfer back to Hotel de la Paix. Wasn't about to pay the 250 euros a night for Concorde when Hotel de la Paix was so awesome! Experienced the Paris Metro. Purchased carnets of tickets - made our lives much easier. Waited around the Eiffel Tower - in the hopes that Heather got my email before I left. Sadly, we didn't get to see her, and I haven't had a chance to catch up with her yet. Wakled to Trocadero Metro, bought souvenirs and prints. Went shopping with Mom and Dad while Trice did his own shopping at Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps.
Lunch - Nice place with (thankfully) English menus. I'm still amazed at how bad the translations are on many menus. Good business opportunity here -- translating brochures to what they REALLY mean to say vice literally translating. Had a ham and cheese baguette. Met up with Trice at Saint Chappelle... The giards closed the gate at 5 or before, and they were supposed to close at 6. VERY upset about that. Bummed, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at a recommended italian place. We got good food, but bad service. Back to the hotel to set wake-up call for Burgundy!!
Day 11: Burgundy! Tour guide (Olivier) arrived early at hotel. Headed to Burgundy, stopped for Breakfast along the way. Saw lots of castles, Wall of castle that inspired Versailles, sunflower plantings, lots of signs along the way. Learned a lot about appelations of wine, the regions, and the affects of the soil. Rained a little on the way there and on the way back, but gorgeous for getting out and taking pictures. 1st stop was in Beaune- I'd been there during my study in Dijon. At Domaine Mussy, got a great personal tour of family producer's cellars. 2001 good year to drink now, 2004 a good year to drink in 1-2 years, 2005 a great year in 10-15-20 years. Suggested to buy a case that is good, let the taste "close", and it will repoen eventually. Must open and continue to try them -- hence the case purchase. *shh* We tried a grape off the vine.
Lunch at La Concorde then a walking tour of Beaune. Medieval Hospital - Hotel Dieu. Small streets, old-style wine presses, upscale TNT store. Beaune is a formerly fortified city. Went through Marche de Vins - with little tasting cups. Not very good wine, in our opinions. Little explanation, Mostly red wines, nice setting though.
Traveled to Clos de Vougeot castle - saw vineyards of most expensive wines in the world. Headed back to hotel in Traffic. Felt like being on 66 back home...
Had to stop to get money out, and heard a horrible crunch in the street. A motorcyclist had been hit! He could get up though, so it was just damage to the car and motorcycle. Dinner at Auberge de Venis again -- where we had dinner our night after Normandy!
Day 12: The flights home were pretty uneventful -- the 7 hour layover at Heathrow was VERY excessive, but what can one do?! Fortunately, we had things to do like take buses from terminal to terminal and go through security again (I swore they were going to take Mom's new Chanel perfume). All baggage and passengers again arrived in one piece -- including the two bottles of champagne and the bottle of wine!
EDIT: Pictures are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/mckinleyschmidt
xoxox
hlms
Day 6: Met Mom & Dad for breakfast at 7:30 and headed down to the buses for Hotel des Invalides. We had a military band lead us into the main courtyard for a short homage ceremony for the veterans who furthered freedom and liberty in the US and France. Military band played French and American National anthems with an amazing resonance in the courtyard that sent chills through everyone. Jacques (the main coordinator) introduced Dad who gave the homage. Not that I'm biased, but my favorite part was a group of people whispering if Dad was the head of the SAR. We got a tour inside the current (and active) part of the chapel - amazing! Went to the Tomb/Crypt side of the church (the original chapel) where Napoleon and others were buried. Napoleon's tomb was observed from the top - from a huge balcony structure built into the first floor of the church. Everything was very elaborate.
Went to Picpus Cemetery for a Wreath Laying. This will be a running theme. Apparently, visits to Picpus require a reservation, so we had the entire cemetery in peace and quiet. La Fayette's grave is next to the mass graves where La Fayette's wife's family was buried after being guillotined during the French Revolution. Story says that George Washington appealed to the Revolutionaries for the life of La Fayette's wife. (Can't validate that, but it sounds good, right?) Chapel right outside Picpus had the names of those in the Mass Graves. Amazing.
Sit-down lunch at the Visitor's Center. The courses kept coming... Quiche, Salad, Chicken, ice cream and sherbert dessert... and good wine too!
Next was Vincennes - the Army and Navy arvhices with a Keep tower from the eral of Charles V and Louis (enter number here). The doors at the end of our tour were from where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were held before their executions. For our archives visit, several interesting items were pulled out that related to the time of the American Revolution. Maps of troop movements, naval records and inventories, La Fayette's birth certificate, personal papers of John Paul Jones.
Now to the rockstar part... our police escorts! We had several of these to get us through Paris... usually at rush hour! How cool is that?! So we were a little late getting out of Vincennes, so the police helped us get to Place du Rochambeau where were were scheduled to meet the mayor of the 16eme arrondisement for a wreath laying ceremony. We made it there - some exciting times, and very ballsy motorcycles later. Wreath Laying was nice - celebrating the assistance of the Compte Rochambeau's assistance. Escort got us back to the hotel where we changed for our next evening reception - the Musee Jacquemart Andre. Reception was given by the Instituit de France. It was in a beautiful (former) home that had been turned into a museum of works collected from throughout Europe. The works were moved to the countryside during WWII and saved from destruction. Rembrandt work Pilgrims at Emmaus hangs there and is never loaned out. Very powerful painting.
Day 7: Treaty of Paris celebration day. Breakfast before heading to Palais du Luxembourg for lectures. One in english and two in french with a translator. The two in French were very hard for the translator, and unfortunately, many people were lost along the way. Watching the actions of the French professor and then hearing the words from the translator was very tiring. Lunch reception at the Palais - Cocktail reception. Yummy finger sandwiches (tomato, mozz & basil) and desserts (chocolate covered pineapple, chocolate mousse and wafers) and wine.
Naval Museum tour - interesting models and details. Cutaway models were cool. Scuba and sailing exhibits was interesting. We had our picture taken at the Eiffel Tower. Walked over to Benjamin Franklin statue/park and laid another set of wreaths. Discovered that Dad lost his glasses. Another Police escort back to the hotel.
Eternal Flame Lighting @ Arc de Triomphe. We *walked* a block down the Champs Elysees and through the circle around the Arc. Traffic was stopped to get our marching group across, led by our flags - US, France, SAR, DAR and Washington's. Ceremony was neat - the eternal flame was dimmed and then the turn of a copper ring opened the valve again to set it blazing. More Wreaths, La Marseillaise and Star Spangled Banner were played by the military band, huge receiving line. We signed the guest book, then it was back to the hotel.
Police escort to Versailles -- This is becoming a pretty cool theme at this point! Gorgeous gate that is even more beautiful and gold than I remembered! Dad worked on names for introductions, as he was the M.C. for the gala event. We walked through apartments twice. Dinner was at the Grand Trianon - a side palace at Versailles. DAR picture taken. Champagne reception -- noted that it was Taittinger. Had duck for the first time. Sounds so much better as 'canard'... not so much as Daffy or Donald. Couldn't hear the Ambassaor's speech, but it went for a long while.
Day 8: WWI Homage day. Breakfast before LONG bus ride to Escadrille La Fayette memorial honoring WWI pilots. Life expectancy of a pilot in WWI was 3-4 weeks. Technology was 'barely there'. Laid set of Wreaths then visited crypt under memorial. Amazing Stained Glass!! (KC, you'd really be awed!!) Airplanes in each window. Crypt being restored - built in 1928 with little restoration since. French and American effort to restore. Two French buried there with 38 Americans.
Huge Lunch at a restaurant that could've doubled for a disco. Chateau Something. Did I mention lunch was HUGE? Salmon and shrimp (with heads AND legs - Mom thought the eyes weren't real...), Turkey and mushroom gravy, potatoes, zuchinni, and amazing Rhubarb pie! We had a very fun table. The George and Kristen Jones ate with us and we became fast friends. Oh dear, the jokes abounded - as they always do when there's testosterone in the room... Water with Gas, the oddly engineered Men's bathroom with a huge window.
Went to Bois Belleau - Very large monument at Chateau Thierry. Rembering Army division with Marine Attaches. Chapel and Cemetery - Wall of the missing - Lyman Harper's great-uncle listed among them. 250 unknown graves. Gorgeous Stained Glass.
Reims Cathedral was amazing. After staring down a would-be pickpocket behind my dad outside the cathedral, we saw a slideshow that gave some history - and pictures of the destruction from WWI and WWII bombings. Some stained glass from the 1200's survived. One window (champagne window) was recreated in 1954 from documentation - and replicated exactly as it was before WWII.
Taittinger Caves (cellars) - Long, very cold tour of cellars given by Taittinger himself. A very quiet man, but obviously very knowledgeable and very rich. (Check out your local champagne seller for Taittinger next time!) Old wine, long process - 2 fermentations. 1st makes non-bubble wine. 2nd adds yeast to make CO2, and bottles are turned in quarter-turns two times a week for 6 weeks. When the're ready to cork, the neck of the bottle is frozen to ice-in the sediment. Bottle is then uncapped and ejects ice and sediment. Tasting room - bought glasses.
Champagne Reception at Taittinger home was amazing!!! Gorgeous home - we had the reception in what looked like the "barn" - though it was obviously a reception hall... Beautiful flowers, lots of candleabras made with magnum (or bigger!) bottles.
Day 9: DAR/SAR Meetings. Across the street at Concorde Chapel. At the SAR meeting, the guys got their medals. Darrin got his first medal presented by the PG. Information given about W3R route markings. At the DAR meeting, I applied to become a member of the France chapter.
Went souvenir shopping - in boutiques next to the hotel. Walked all around the Arc de Triomphe - found the TnT (Trash 'n' Trinkets) shop, went to McDonalds for lunch. Interesting menu - mostly the same, but had "Croque McDo" and "Australian" burger.
Saint Denis Cathedral - Had a mass there for the preservation of peace. Flags entered first, wreaths laid while we waited. Processed to crypt, saw tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and others. Beautiful service in French and Latin. Recognized many of the words / musical phrases from the Requiems we've sung at church. Long line at gift shop. Another police escort back to the hotel so we could get ready for the big to-do! We had about an hour to get ready...
Police escort (again) to Hotel de la Ville - City Hall - Opulence isn't even the word for this place. Champagne Reception -- Taittinger, of course -- before going into main reception hall. Great dinner. Darrin and I had put together the songs for the dancing -- and there were people on the floor the entire time! (Thanks Jamie!!)
Day 10: Transfer back to Hotel de la Paix. Wasn't about to pay the 250 euros a night for Concorde when Hotel de la Paix was so awesome! Experienced the Paris Metro. Purchased carnets of tickets - made our lives much easier. Waited around the Eiffel Tower - in the hopes that Heather got my email before I left. Sadly, we didn't get to see her, and I haven't had a chance to catch up with her yet. Wakled to Trocadero Metro, bought souvenirs and prints. Went shopping with Mom and Dad while Trice did his own shopping at Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps.
Lunch - Nice place with (thankfully) English menus. I'm still amazed at how bad the translations are on many menus. Good business opportunity here -- translating brochures to what they REALLY mean to say vice literally translating. Had a ham and cheese baguette. Met up with Trice at Saint Chappelle... The giards closed the gate at 5 or before, and they were supposed to close at 6. VERY upset about that. Bummed, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at a recommended italian place. We got good food, but bad service. Back to the hotel to set wake-up call for Burgundy!!
Day 11: Burgundy! Tour guide (Olivier) arrived early at hotel. Headed to Burgundy, stopped for Breakfast along the way. Saw lots of castles, Wall of castle that inspired Versailles, sunflower plantings, lots of signs along the way. Learned a lot about appelations of wine, the regions, and the affects of the soil. Rained a little on the way there and on the way back, but gorgeous for getting out and taking pictures. 1st stop was in Beaune- I'd been there during my study in Dijon. At Domaine Mussy, got a great personal tour of family producer's cellars. 2001 good year to drink now, 2004 a good year to drink in 1-2 years, 2005 a great year in 10-15-20 years. Suggested to buy a case that is good, let the taste "close", and it will repoen eventually. Must open and continue to try them -- hence the case purchase. *shh* We tried a grape off the vine.
Lunch at La Concorde then a walking tour of Beaune. Medieval Hospital - Hotel Dieu. Small streets, old-style wine presses, upscale TNT store. Beaune is a formerly fortified city. Went through Marche de Vins - with little tasting cups. Not very good wine, in our opinions. Little explanation, Mostly red wines, nice setting though.
Traveled to Clos de Vougeot castle - saw vineyards of most expensive wines in the world. Headed back to hotel in Traffic. Felt like being on 66 back home...
Had to stop to get money out, and heard a horrible crunch in the street. A motorcyclist had been hit! He could get up though, so it was just damage to the car and motorcycle. Dinner at Auberge de Venis again -- where we had dinner our night after Normandy!
Day 12: The flights home were pretty uneventful -- the 7 hour layover at Heathrow was VERY excessive, but what can one do?! Fortunately, we had things to do like take buses from terminal to terminal and go through security again (I swore they were going to take Mom's new Chanel perfume). All baggage and passengers again arrived in one piece -- including the two bottles of champagne and the bottle of wine!
EDIT: Pictures are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/mckinleyschmidt
xoxox
hlms
posted by Holly Lynne at 4:38 AM
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