PARIS PAPERS VOLUME X ~ May 24, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, here we go again. I am really going to miss doing this. Well, without delay, sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

Well, I survived another exposé presentation in Sociology, my last one for the semester, thank goodness. You all know I have NO qualms about public speaking, but it is an entirely different beast when you are speaking in a different language. Quite frightening, but it is over now. My classes are finished now, and exams start in a week. Two weeks ago I took one of my final exams (earlier than the others) in French as a foreign language. I am glad that is over with. All I have left is cooking class, but tomorrow is the last meeting of that. Two weeks ago we cooked Tajine de Poulet aux Olives et citrons (a chicken dish made with olives and lemon), and we made Cigares Algérios (a delicious pastry consisting of a filling of almonds, walnuts, and pistachios which is fried in oil and glazed with honey). I very much enjoyed the dessert, it was reminiscent of Baklava. Last week we tackled a most traditional French dish: Soufflé. It actually was not as hard as I anticipated, you just have to do things slowly and in the correct order, and you absolutely CANNOT open the oven while it is cooking. It is very tasty, light and fluffy. We also made Tarte Tartin, which is sort of a caramel apple pie, and we made fresh Crème Chantilly (named for the chateau from Volume II where whipped cream was invented by Vatel from the movie in Volume VII). I have decided the fresh whipped cream is right up there with Nutella on the list of the most incredible “condiments” on Earth.

Emmanuel and Me on the bike tour, with the Eiffel Tower

Two weeks ago, on a Friday, I finally got to do the night time bike tour of Paris. The city rents out mountain bikes for six Euros for the entire night, and you can join the ride for free. The ride lasts about two and a half hours (9:30 to midnight), and goes all around Paris. We took a ten minute break in front of the Eiffel Tower, and rode past the Pantheon, Place de la Bastille, Place d’Italie, Invalides and more. I went with my friend Emmanuel. I cannot remember the last time I rode a bike, and the old adage “it’s like riding a bike, you never forget…” is not necessarily true. It took me a little while to feel confident and comfortable on the bike. But it was a lot of fun. There were 350-ish other people on the ride, some of them had speakers strapped to their bikes and pumped good fast-paced music while we rode. The staff was very organized, they shut down the streets as we passed, and we had our own EMT. Aside from the aching backside, it was fantastic, and I would definitely do it again.

Over the fammed water lily pond at Giverny

The water lily pond (though the water liles are out of season)

Monet's Garden

Flowers at Giverny

Me at Giverny

The next morning, with my four hours of sleep and my sore bottom I went on a day trip to Giverny. Giverny is home to Claude Monet’s house and famous garden where he changed the course of painting history as the leader of the Impressionist Movement. The gardens were INCREDIBLE. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. His house was not overly impressive, and full of, strangely, Asian art, which is about as far away from Impressionism as one can be.

Honfleur

Boats in the Marina

After Giverny we headed to Douville for a beach day, but cold windy weather put an end to those plans, and so we headed to the small coastal town of Honfleur, home to St. Catherine, an ancient wooden church. We wandered around the town for the afternoon enjoying the medieval streets, old houses, and small shops.

Sunday Afternoon in the Tuileries

Boats for Hire

On Mother’s day (American, that is, Mother’s Day in France is at the very end of May) I spent the day wandering around Paris. I went to mass at Sacre Coeur, and it was quite nice, the choir was incredible, and the organ reverberated in my bones. I visited my artist friends in the square, I am going to miss that so much. I went to an art show at Place des Voges, and wandered under the arcades looking at the art. There was an incredibly good mini-string orchestra, probably about 16 violins and a few cellos. They were VERY good playing an array of classical music, so I listened to them for a while. I wandered up through the Tuileries Gardens enjoying the flowers and watching all the activities. I love the little cart where the man rents little boats to children that they send sailing in the fountains.

Hand-weaving tapestries

Close-up of the weaving tools

I recently visited the Gobelin Tapestry Manufacture in Paris. The industry was started by Louis XIV as a way to stimulate the economy. He invited artisans, particularly Tapestry weavers and Dye-makers to become employees of the state. Their works adorn the Chateaux of the Loire Valley, and Versailles. The industry survives today. The weavers of the Gobelin tapestries still work by hand and are employed by the state. Their works decorate government buildings. It was very interesting to watch them work. It is incredible to see them performing this old craft in our modern world. The tapestries they produce are of amazing quality. It can take years to finish one tapestry. No thanks.

I went to see the DaVinci Code the day it opened in France (2 days before it opened in the US). Movie going is a bit different. For starters the theater was VERY nice. The chairs were like big comfy arm chairs, and it was a very nicely decorated room. You cannot enter the theater until 15 minutes before the show starts. Then you go in and sit down, and there is a curtain in front of the screen. It opens and the “previews” start, only there are more commercials than there are movie trailers. That lasted for about 20 minutes. Then the curtain closed again and the lights came back up for about a minute, then the curtain opened to reveal a bigger screen, and THEN the movie started. Overall I thought the movie was very good, although the French Press has been dragging it through the mud relentlessly. They messed up the geography of Paris, mainly, the Bois de Boulogne is NO WHERE near L’Arc de Triumphe, and the US Embassy is 2 minutes from the Louvre (rather than the 10 it took them to get there, but it was a cool car chase). After the movie, I went over to the Louvre, just for fun, because I could.

A seriously angry cloud advances in Notre Dame, and I forgot my umbrella that day

Last Friday I had my last class at Paris VII, and I did some wandering around Paris. I found a food festival in front of Notre Dame, and tried some interesting cheeses, and some incredible chocolate. I also went back to the Craft Fair at Place de la Bastille. I went for a stroll along the Seine. I also relaxed for a little while in Shakespeare and Company. I am starting to prepare myself for the round of “Lasts.” My last trip to my favorite spots.

This was one of my favorite pieces at the Caen Memorial Museum (see below)

This past weekend, I spent my third straight weekend in Normandy. I went on another trip with Le Club International de Jeunes a Paris. We spent all day Saturday visiting D-Day sites and memorials. We started at the Memorial Museum at Caen. The museum was very well done, and there was a FANTASTIC film! It was the best explanation of the invasions and the aftermath that I have ever seen, and the best part was, there was NO dialogue. I had wondered how they were going to do a film for visitors of all different nationalities and languages, and so they just cut the dialogue. The computer graphics of the battles were amazing. The museum had a lot of great artifacts, and a lot of interactive components. It was a very good visit.

German Cemetery

Close up of a German Tombstone, they are double graves

From Caen we headed to one of the German Cemeteries. It was a very interesting experience being there. Historically speaking, having grown up in an “Allied” nation, I find it had not to think of the Germans as the “Bad Guys” as the aggressors. And you do not usually think of them on a human level, and it is easy to forget that they had enormous numbers of casualties, and every dead soldier was a person, a son, a father, an uncle, a friend, a brother. Being in the cemetery really humanized the Nazi soldiers. Seeing their names and graves lifted the generalization of having the German forces just being faceless masses of “Bad Guys.”

What remains of a German Bunker at Pointe du Hoc

The cliffs of Normandy

From the German Cemetery we headed to Pointe du Hoc. For those unfamiliar with the D-Day scenario, Pointe du Hoc is a high point on a cliff separating Omaha and Utah Beach. The Germans held a heavily fortified position atop the cliff, and could have very easily destroyed the landing forces at Utah and Omaha beach on June 6, 1944. Naval and Air force attacks did not succeed in destroying the German advantage atop the cliffs, and so it was determined that the Pointe du Hoc would have to be disabled by ground troops. The US 2^nd Ranger Battalion landed on the beach below the cliff, and scaled the 100-foot cliff face and attacked the German stronghold. The Rangers took and held the ground for two days until they were reinforced. The troops suffered heavy losses, but if not for their efforts, the D-Day Invasions could not have succeeded.

Pointe du Hoc, with all the craters from Allied Air Raids

At the bottom of a 3-storey crater

There is not much left at Pointe du Hoc. There are some incredibly deep craters from aerial bombings, and there are the vestiges of some concrete German Bunkers. You can also see the former positions of the Anti-aircraft guns. You also have a great view of the cliffs of Normandy that made the D-Day invasions so incredibly difficult.

This picture could be major black mail as the ultimate bad hair day, but it is the only way I could think to convey the force of the wind.......

I have never experienced wind like I did at Pointe du Hoc. I am not a small person, but I had trouble keeping my feet under me. The wind was incredibly intense. You ears and throat hurt from being out in such gale-force winds. I found out once I got back to Paris, that the wind was strong enough to cause power-outages across Normandy. It was crazy. The ocean was very choppy, we could see white foam everywhere from the wind. We had to yell to be heard. It was amazing.

Omaha Beach

Me at Omaha

From Pointe du Hoc we went to Omaha Beach. I think this needs no introduction. This was one of the landing beaches for the D-Day invasion. This beach was assigned to the American troops. At 6:30 AM on June 6,1944 the Allied Landing craft nudged into the shores of Omaha beach, the doors opened, and men went pouring out on to the beaches charging through barbed wire, other obstacles, and into the face of enemy fire. The 400-yard charge yielded heavy American casualties, but eventually succeeded, and the Germans were driven off of the beach.

Unfortunately when we arrived at the beach it was high tide, and so we could not see any of the remains of the battle. At low tide you can still see parts of the artificial landing docks, and some of the landing craft.

The memorial at the American Cemetery


10,000 White Crosses

"Here Rests in Honored Glory a Comrade in Arms Known but to God"

From Omaha Beach we headed to St. Laurent-sur-Mer (St. Laurent on the Ocean), the American cemetery. Technically speaking, this cemetery is a US Territory, American soil. The French offered it to the US Government as American soil in the 1960’s and it was purchased by the US Government for a symbolic franc. There are approximately 10,000 US Soldiers buried there who died on the Beaches, or in the aftermath of D-Day. These casualties represent a portion of the 40% of US Casualties that were no repatriated following the war. There are over 300 unidentified soldiers, 4 women, and 30 pairs of brothers. Each soldier’s final resting place is marked by a white marble cross, unless the soldier was identified as being Jewish, and then a white Star of David marks the grave. The American flag flies over the cemetery, and you can faintly hear the Star Spangled Banner being played at the entrance to the memorial. The cemetery is better kept than most golf courses and overlooks the ocean. People wander between the markers in silence. This was my second trip to the cemetery, but it is still as moving and poignant as ever. Standing there, you cannot deny the sacrifice, and you can truly understand the price of war. I think it is important to visit places like this, and for people to understand that each of those markers is a person, a young person whose life was cut short by war. I am not meaning to sound depressing, but this was truly an incredibly memorable point of my time here.

Cathedral in Caen

Chateau at Caen

Gigantic Cathedral in Caen

From the American Cemetery we returned to Caen where we spent the night. The next morning we took a walking tour of the city, past a crooked Cathedral (suffering from the same malady as the Leaning Tower of Pisa), to the Chateau of William the Conqueror. After a brief visit to the Chateau Nicole (another American on the trip) and I went Cathedral hunting. We found several, but could not go inside because it was Sunday morning, and we did not want to be rude and interrupt mass. But we did find a rather incredible pastry shop offering mini-pastries. Oh my, what a discovery. Mini éclairs, mini tartes, mini cakes. Needless to say, we did some sampling. :o) We also found a large flea market and spent some time wandering in there before we had to catch the bus.

Rainy day in Honfleur (Nicole and me)

We went to Honfleur (my second time in two weeks), where we spent the afternoon. We found a wonderful little café for lunch, and had mussels cooked in a creamy curry sauce, it was very good. We spent some time wandering around the town. It rained for most of our visit. We also walked out to the beach and wandered there for a little while until we saw another rain storm rolling in. The sun finally put in an appearance just as we were boarding the bus to return to Paris. But we had a good time despite the rain.

Chatres Cathedral, with the mis-matched towers built centuries apart

Chatres from the side

The Veil of the Virgin

Yes, I know, my obsession with stained glass has got to stop... but... for the time being.....

The famous stained glass at Chatres

The blue of the Stained Glass is unique to the windows of Chatres

No more blue sky :o(

Yesterday I spent the day in Chatres, France. Chatres is home to a famous cathedral that was once a sight of many pilgrimages. Chatres is home to an alleged relic of the Virgin Mary. The veil is said to be the one worn by the Virgin the night she gave birth to Jesus. The veil has survived several fires, and this has added to its fame. Chatres is also home to some of the most famous stained glass windows in France. The windows chronicle much of the Bible, and the blue glass is a very distinct color only found in the windows at Chatres. During WWII, ALL of the glass was removed from the windows and hidden to protect the windows in case of bombing. I also had business to take care of at the cathedral. As you all know very well, I am terrified of heights. When I was in France 5 years ago, I had a bit of an issue once I got up into the Bell Tower, and ran back down the stairs without walking around and seeing the gargoyles. Well, I decided to go back and finish what I started. Unfortunately, extremely high winds kept the towers closed for the duration of my visit, and I was unable to complete my quest. I did get to enjoy the windows, and I took a tour of the crypt helping translate for some fellow Americans who did not speak French (the crypt tour was only available in French). So the day was not a total waste.

In other news, I am still in the process of figuring out the French grading system. All grades are given as a number over 20. Now, in the stares, when you are given a fraction for a grade, you automatically divide the top number by the bottom number and multiply by 100 to get your percentage which equates to a letter grade. That is not how it works in France. I was handed back a paper that I wrote and I saw 12/20, which in the states, would have been approximately a 60% and an F. But that is not the case in France. I am still working on understanding the system, but in the Arts and Humanities, according to my friends, it is not possible to get any higher than 18, and even that is rare. You can get a perfect score in the sciences, as is math it is possible to have an answer be perfectly correct, because 2 + 2 does equal 4, there is no need for interpretation, it is a fact. When you are writing a paper, there is interpretation and bias, and therefore it is “impossible” to receive a perfect score. To make a long story short, 12/20 is approximately a high B, or a low A depending on the professor (according to one of my professors who studied in the states and knows both systems). I really do not know enough to pass judgment on the system. The French system seems a little harsher, but that is just my opinion. It does make me wonder if the American system is too easy, but, I am NOT complaining!!!

In the trying new things category, we can add smoked duck, and also Chocolate-Habenero (extremely hot chili pepper) ice cream to the list. With three weeks remaining until I go home (actually 18 days) I will be staying in the greater Paris region and enjoying the benefits of my adopted city before I return home. It hardly seems possible that I am mere weeks away from returning to the states. Until that time comes, I will have more adventures to share in two weeks! I hope every one is well (and all dried out, after the flooding), and I shall remain your shutter-happy quasi-journalist,

~Monica