Monday, October 03, 2005

Good bye to France



Time to head back over the ocean and the continent to Washington State. As this was written after our return we can tell you that it took more than 21 hours and we saw five movies during that time, none worth remembering.

But what is worth remembering was this magnificent adventure. We went with open minds and a sense of curiousity and wonder. We expected to have a great time and we did. We also took the time to do a lot of reading ahead of time to try and understand the French culture--that really helped. When we head to Italy, we'll do the same thing because it really does help --"when in Rome (or Paris) do as the Romans (or Parisians) do." So, here are two final photographs of our wonderful trip because we are off to new adventures!

I love the market picture--it is so quintessentially French. Everybody has a rolling bag and everybody goes to the market in their neighborhood. One of my favorite sights the first day I was there was a little old man in a beret on a bicycle with a fresh baguette and a big bunch of flowers strapped on the back. It fulfilled all the tourist fantasies I ever had.

The other picture is Chateau Gaillard. The ruins of the fortress built by Richard Lion Heart overlook the town of Les Andelys on a bend of the Seine. Richard built the chateau to hold the Seine at this bend near Rouen to keep the French out of Paris. Although he was English Richard Coeur de Leon loved France so much he left his heart there when he died. His heart still rests in the great cathedral at Rouen. Monet painted the cathedral and here Joan of Arc was buried at the stake in the place du Vieux Marche.

Where ever I went or looked and whatever we did, the sense of living in history was pervasive. It is not dead gone history, it is vibrant and alive and all mixed in with the present. I think I left my heart behind too.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home