Paris – Some Summer Games

Oh goodie, a foodie!

August 2, 2024

Our afternoon plan was a foodie tour of the south Marais.

Of course we had to do a quick stop for a little lunch before the tour.

The tour was not only very well done, but our guide was also very informative about the area and its history.

We learned that ‘Marais’ means swamp, and also some very sad things about the history and persecution of Jews here.

After the tour, on out walk home, found another hang-out and had a great time there as well.

Our last afternoon in Paris for this trip was a great success!

Stop at a street cafe before our foodie tour.

We randomly met one of the track olympians we saw running that morning. Acquaviva was so sweet, and also loved all the attention.

https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/safiatou-acquaviva_1922434

Victorine.

Our wonderful tour guide for this adventure is very well versed. Not only is she involved in cook books, but she also has a wine certification. It became even more obvious as the tour progressed.

There are lots of chocolate shops all over Paris. The better ones sells chocolates from specific regions. Our guide explained it best when she said that Paris is obsessed with food and geography.

What makes this shop unique is that not only is the cacao from a specific region, but it is also from only one specific farm within that region.

And to note, maybe the best macarons ever!

Reÿs sells ice cream that makes you dream of faraway places.

He is famous for his love of traveling, and then he brings all those flavors back to make ice cream.

This synagogue in the Marais is one of the oldest in Paris. It was designed by the famous Art Nouveau designer Hector Guimard. His designs are most noticeable as the entrances to the Metros.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Guimard

Laurent Dubois is the most famous cheese monger in Paris, if not in all of France.

The shop is amazing. At the bottom right of the photo are five cheeses in the shape and colors of the Olympic rings. A homage from him.

The bakery we went to is also known as the ‘Little Versailles of the Marais’

The wine store is our last stop and for a cheese and wine pairing.

We learned the ‘correct’ way to cut the cheese. It seems everybody must get an edge and a center piece. Who knew!

More random facts: Goat cheese came in little round balls because it was easier for the laborers to stuff them in their pockets when working in the fields.

Nearly all the cows in Normandy, the best cheese and butter region of France, came from Wisconsin after the Second World War as part of the rebuilding.

Learning about French wine regions. We have been to four already. So much more wine left to taste. Sigh…

Saying goodbye to Victorine after a most enjoyable tour. We now understand why they are so highly recommended.

https://parisbymouth.com

Found a cute bar tucked away in a dead-end street and decided to stay.

Last sunset in Paris of this trip.
Bonne soirée, Paris!

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A do run run run

August 2, 2024

Our last event for this trip, and the first event of track and field (athletics).

What a great experience to be in the stadium where it happens. Despite sharing it with lots and lots of ‘friends’. The excitement was exhilarating.

Thank you, Olympics!

Flying saucers, lights or art?
Maybe all of the above!

The new aquatic center is the only new event building constructed for the Olympics.

Only a little backup trying to get 75,000 people through bag check.
To be honest, it moved pretty fast!

Stade de France is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the largest stadium in France. The stadium is used by the French national football and rugby union teams for international competitions. It is the largest in Europe for athletics events, seating 77,083 in that configuration. During other events, the stadium’s running track is mostly hidden under the football pitch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade_de_France

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You don’t d’Orsay!

July 31, 2024

After hearing for many years how amazing it is, we finally made it to Musée d’Orsay.

Everybody was right!

Not only is this a stunning art museum, but it directly fed into Pieter’s love for train stations. He might have taken more photos of the architecture than anything else.

It is also a great example of what can be done with old stations to give them new life.

Inaugurated in 1900 for the World Fair, Orsay train station ran services to the capital for passengers from right across southwest France. Also housed within the building were a luxurious hotel and a grand reception room.

With the modernisation of trains, the station was gradually abandoned. In 1977, the French government decided to turn the building into a museum. The Musée d’Orsay was inaugurated in 1986. Through paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, photography and drawings, the museum presents the full diversity of artistic creation in the western world from 1848 to 1914 (from the Second Republic to the World War I).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay

The Olympic Flame is very unusual and environmentally on point. There are no actual flames, it is water vapor and lights.
One more example of the ‘greenest’ Olympics so far.

The Gare d’Orsay train station, designed by the architect Victor Laloux (1850-1937) on the eve of the Universal Exhibition of 1900, included a hotel for travellers and a function room – the salle des fêtes. It quickly became a popular reception venue for the Parisian middle class.

The building project to redevelop the station into a museum (1983-1986) preserved this opulent space in the neo-eighteenth century style, with its mirrors reflecting a wealth of gilded stucco ornamen-tations, electric chandeliers, and crystal garlands. The pairs of faux marble columns are purely decorative as the whole building is supported by a metal framework. The decor designed by the architect was created in the workshop of the sculptor and interior designer Kulikowski, and Pierre Fritel painted the decorative schemes, The Chariot of Apollo, the allegories The Dance and The Seasons, and the grisailles, some of which bear the monogram P-O (the Paris-Orléans line).

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Just keep swimming

July 31, 2024

Our event for today is swimming. The arena is on the other side of the business center of Paris.

Over here all the buildings are tall modern skyscrapers of glass and steel. A completely different Parisian style of architecture.

After the very exciting event, we had lunch at a really fun restaurant. Somewhat Mexican.

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Look at those balls!

July 30, 2024

This was our busiest event day.

We had beach volleyball for the morning session right underneath the Eiffel tower. What an astounding location for such an event.

After a walk we headed to our next event, indoor volleyball.

Both events were so much fun in their own way, but we did appreciate being indoor on such a hot day for the second event.

They have volunteers all over the city to help people get to the venues.

Parisians know the Champ-de-Mars as a place to celebrate, often filled with thousands of people ready to come together, whether for the traditional 14 July fireworks display or the Euro 2016 football final.

Under the benevolent gaze of the Eiffel Tower, the Champ-de-Mars becomes the stage for beach volleyball and cecifoot events at the Stade Tour Eiffel, offering an unforgettable sporting spectacle in the heart of Paris.

*The Champ-de-Mars is also home to the Arena Champ-de-Mars (formerly the Grand Palais Éphémère), a temporary structure that hosts other exciting competitions.*

Did you know that beach volleyball was born in the bright sunshine of Santa Monica, California, in the 1920s? Since then, this spectacular sport has spread to beaches all over the world, offering exciting tournaments and sunny matches!

*The sandy court, two-player conditons make beach voleyball an exciting challenge for athletes.*

*At the Olympic Games, Brazil and the United States dominated, but other countries such as Germany, Australia and Norway have also left their mark on beach volleyball history.*

Sitting in the fan zone is always a lot of cheering fun.

Random meeting of a pompier (fireman) that had the same water bottle!

The bridge of the fashion show in the opening ceremonies.

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Not the Chambord you want to drink

July 29, 2024

Last castle after lunch is the very huge and architecturally very impressive Château de Chambord.

It sits on the largest natural park in France, and legend has it that Leonardo da Vinci was involved in the design. They know for a fact that he designed the double helix staircase that runs up the center of the castle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chambord

Chambord castle is one of the Renaissance’s most amazing constructions. Built to glorify Francis I from 1519, it is above all a work of genius, the result of a collaboration between the best French and Italian artists, architects and master masons. More than just a residential or administrative castle, and even more than a hunting lodge, Chambord embodies an architectural utopia, an ideal, a harmonious whole.

Its history is unique: in the 16′ and 17h centuries, Francis I’s, Henri II and Louis XIV came to stay, along with their courts, to enjoy the hunting, to dazzle their guests or to monitor the progress of the construction work. In the 18th century, relatives of the crown were occasionally allowed to use it. It then became the private estate of Henri, Count of Chambord, who was the last descedant of the elder branch of the Bourbons. The castle was bought by the State a century later, in 1930.

All Chambord’s residents have been keen to preserve this jewel of the French Renaissance, in which Francis I’s aspirations and Leonardo da Vinci’s ideas are expressed in a variety of ways.

The inside shaft of the double helix staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

Along the walls, a 45-metre-long carpet has been rolled out displaying a 360° panorama of a landscape viewed from above. The floor surface has been covered with one hundred and twenty square metres of tiling, each with an oil painting: in this mirror image play, Julien des Monstiers recaptures the ornamental coffer motif on the ceilings of the cross-shaped hallways of the château. The blue and orange tones in the pattern form an integral part of the artist’s visual vocabulary.

*Through the notion of reversal, viewers are given the opportunity to move within the painting, to experience it bodily.*

*The collection of hunting buttons*
The ancestral tradition of riding to hounds uses a pack of hounds to track and hunt down an animal until it is at bay and can be taken. When Francis I came to the throne, this form of hunting was regarded as the most noble and over the following centuries the practise of it was increasingly codified.

*Today it is part of France’s intangible cultural heritage.*
Apart from the act of hunting itself, riding to hounds also provided a magnificent display: the presentation of the pack, the horses and the hunters was an exactly ordered, elegant event. Its impressiveness was intended to highlight the prestige of an activity that had long been the preserve of the king and the nobility.

The costume to be worn by the hunters in particular became more standardized under Louis XIV. It comprised a heavy broadcloth riding coat or jacket with knee-length trousers, waistcoat, neck-tie, boots and stockings, gloves and riding hat. On top if this came accessories such as a riding horn, dagger, whip and so on. In order to differentiate the different hunts some parts of the costume were personalized, for instance the colour of the cloth or the pocket and collar trim, the braiding or the buttons on the jackets and waistcoats.

Following the Revolution, particular attention was lavished on the buttons which became items of skilled craftsmanship engraved with mottos or symbols referring to the species of animal hunted and all the accessories of the hunt.

*View of the French gardens*
From the terraces, you can enjoy a prime view of Chambord’s French gardens which were restored in 2016-2017, the result of sixteen years of scientific research and an outstanding construction. They reproduce the exact layout of the lost 18th century gardens, of which some vestiges survived until 1970. Their grassy parterres, their flower beds planted with yew topiaries and flowers, their alleys, alignments and staggered tree plantings are governed by the same rules of symmetry and geometry as the castle itself.

*Take the time to admire them from the terraces before going back down to the ground floor. From there, you can access the gardens’ platform and stroll through the alleys at your leisure.*

Recovery from the tour

The tiniest bug (about 1/8 of an inch) drinking water from my glass.

It was a great day. Even found Superman.

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A strange connection

July 29, 2024

Amboise is a beautiful town on the banks of the Loire. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. Looming over the town is the very impressive Château d’Amboise.

According to legend, King Charles VIII went to invade Italy but instead fell in love with it and brought the art and culture back. It is considered the origin of the Renaissance in France.

You can see it in the castle where parts are more gothic, and later parts more Renaissance.

When we were in Milan last year (https://travel.monkeydads.com/2023-rhine/graffiti-in-the-dining-room/) looking at the last supper, the guide mentioned that Leonardo da Vinci was buried in a small town in France. Thinking that we might see it one day, little did we know that six months later we will be standing here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Château_d%27Amboise

A more lyrical description from their website:

Imagine a palace on a promontory above the Loire, and imagine the hanging gardens between heaven and earth … Amboise was one of the favorite sites of the kings of France when they transformed their country during the Renaissance period. Anne de Bretagne, François Ier or Léonard de Vinci (buried in the chapel of the castle), are familiar faces here.

A living castle open to nature, a haven of peace for more than 90 species of birds, Amboise also offers a 360 ° view of landscapes listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.

https://www.chateau-amboise.com/en/

*Saint-Hubert Chapel*

Visible as soon as you approach, the Saint Hubert chapel is one of the architectural jewels of the Château d’Amboise. Former private oratory of the kings of France which seems to be suspended above the city, it houses sumptuous decorations sculpted in the tufa, this soft stone typical of the Loire Valley allowing the finest work. Do not miss to look up at the remarkable stained glass windows of the building.

*It is in this setting that you can discover the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci. As he had expressed his wish, the Italian genius rests in Amboise for eternity.*

The translation of the plaque is as follows:
*LEONARDO DA VINCI*
*IN VINCI NEAR FLORENCE ON APRIL 15, 1452,*
*SPENT THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN AMBOISE, AT THE CLOS LUCE MANOR AT THE INVITATION OF KING FRANCIS THE FIRST*
*HE DIED THERE ON MAY 2, 1519*
*AND WAS BURIED AT HIS REQUEST IN THE CASTLE, IN THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF SAINT-FLORENTIN WHICH WAS DESTROYED IN 1807*
*HIS PRESUMED REMAINS FOUND DURING THE EXCAVATIONS CONDUCTED IN 1349 WERE TRANSFERRED TO THIS CHAPEL*

*On 23rd April 1519, Leonardo dictated his last will and testament to the lawyer Guillaume Boureau, who noted,*
“The testator” wishes to be entombed in the St Florentin church, Amboise, and that his body be carried there by the chaplains thereof. On his death, 2nd May 1519, he was buried there. This fifth century collegiate was demolished between 1806 and 1810 (The bust of Leonardo da Vinci marks the spot in the château grounds).

Excavations were undertaken in 1349, led by Arsène Houssaye, inspector general of Fine Arts, and notably brought to light a skeleton close to a tombstone bearing fragments of the artist’s name and St. Luke’s, the patron saint of painters. The finds amassed, notably Italian and French coins from the start of François ler’s reign, enabled Arsène Houssaye to identify these remains as those of Leonardo da Vinci. These bones were finally transferred to the St. Hubert Chapel in 1874.

*François-Guillaume Ménageot*
*The death of Leonardo da Vinci in the arms of Francis the First*

A gargoyle with a face under him. Delightfully odd.

Included in the tour was also a small wine tasting of some local wines.

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The lure of the Loire

July 29, 2024

Today we had no events, so we planned an all-day guided tour that included three famous castles in the Loire Valley.

After a long morning drive, mostly on freeway, we arrived at out first castle. Château de Chenonceau. It is a picturesque castle built to span the river Cher.

It is known as the ‘ladies castle’ since it passed from royal lady to royal lady. Usually very dramatically.

It was fun trying to explore the extensive property in the limited time we had.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chenonceau

Here is a little more of their history:

In 1310, King Francis I incorporated it into the Crown Estate as part of a debt settlement. Later, King Henry II decided to offer it not to the Queen, but to his Favourite, Diane de Poitiers, “in full right of ownership, seisin and possession, completely, peacefully and perpetually, to dispose of as her own and true patrimony.” This artificial exit of Chenonceau from Crown Lands meant that it was saved, two centuries later, from the French Revolution.

On 10 July 1559, Queen Catherine de’ Medici, widow of Henry II, quickly deposed Diane de Poitiers and installed the authority of the young king, her son, at Chenonceau, amidst Italian pomp and splendour. Amongst the festivities she held here, she managed the Kingdom of France from her study, the Green Cabinet. Her daughter-in-law, Louise de Lorraine, wife of King Henry III, became a widow in turn, and moved into the château in her mourning.

In the 18th century, after the château was purchased by her husband, it was Louise Dupin, lady of the Enlightenment, who welcomed to Chenonceau the greatest scholars, philosophers and academicians in France to her famous literary salon. This exceptional woman was the first to draft a Code of Women’s Rights, with the assistance of her secretary, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who enjoyed a period of serene happiness at Chenonceau that is described in a number of his works.

Finally, in the 19th century, the château was the stage for the success of Madame Pelouze, born Margaret Wilson, before a financial scandal led to her ruin… and the resignation of the fourth president of the French Republic, Jules Grévy, following the case of embezzlement by his son-in-law, Daniel Wilson, brother to Madame Pelouze. Henri Menier purchased the château from the Crédit Foncier in 1913. On his death, his brother Gaston, a progressive deputy and later senator, transformed Chenonceau into a military hospital for the duration of the Great War. He met all of the operating costs, as he did at Noisiel, headquarters of the Menier chocolate factory, where he set up a second hospital.

During the Second World War, the Grand Gallery at Chenonceau became the sole point of access to the free zone, and the Menier family helped to smuggle out people fleeing the Nazi tyranny. The US president, Harry Truman, visited the château on his first trip to France.
First opened to visitors in 1913 by the owners, Chenonceau still hosts crowned heads, statesmen and leading personalities.

https://www.chenonceau.com/en/chateau/the-history-of-the-chateau/

Finally off the freeway and in the countryside.

The only light in Louise de Morraine’ all-black bedroom.

The wine cellar, where we found out we speak wine!

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GOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!

July 28, 2024

Our event today is a football(soccer) game in the Parc des Princes. Japan vs. Brazil women.

The stadium was a little ways out, so we left early and had a nice lunch in the general area sitting outside.

It was a great game and very tense at times. Everybody played well.

Nearly 50,000 people all left at the same time, and we had a very very crowded Metro ride back. I definitely mean ‘very.’ Kudos to the organizers for crowd control since it was all very well done.

On the ride back Peter picked a sweet restaurant close to home.