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FRENCH JOURNEY

FRENCH JOURNEY. By Wen-Chung Chiang. August 12 – 29, 2004. Map of France. Map of the Loire Valley. Paris ( 巴黎 ).

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FRENCH JOURNEY

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  1. FRENCH JOURNEY • By Wen-Chung Chiang August 12 – 29, 2004

  2. Map of France

  3. Map of the Loire Valley

  4. Paris (巴黎) On the first day of our arrival, we lunched in a small café eating sandwiches. A talkative old gentleman, dressed like a normal tourist, approached us and spoke of what he had discovered in Paris by showing us the images in his digital camera. To our surprise he’s a native Parisian. Having lived in Paris for a lifetime, he’s still finding new things everyday. That’s something about Paris! Now that I have visited Paris three times, but truth is that there’re still much more which I haven’t seen than those I have seen about the city. The hotel in which we were accommodated in Paris(Hôtel Sèvres Montparnasse) was a real find. It’s conveniently situated, with metro stations, good restaurants, and supermarkets in the neighborhood. The room, in spite of its petit size, has everything, including a small fridge and a hair dryer. The service was excellent and the price was inexpensive. Highly recommended if you ever want to visit Paris.

  5. These two pictures were taken on the day of our arrival near where we lived in Montparnasse, Paris.Above: How colorful! Right: The statue of Balzac by Auguste Rodin.

  6. Cimetière Montparnasse, Paris. This cimetière is among the most famous ones (along with Cimetière Père-Lachaise and Cimetière Montmartre) in Paris where many celebrities were buried. Above: the tombstone of Satre and Simone de Beauvoir (at the time it was laid on the roadside for construction).

  7. Right: The pipe organ of the Église St.-Sulpice, Paris.Above: The travel mates – from left to right: Ding-Ya Wu (吳定亞), Yu-Chieh Kao (高瑀婕), Wei-Jou Lin (林維柔, who joined us in Paris for two days), and Chia-Wei– in front of Église St.-Sulpice.

  8. Les Invalides, Paris. Napoleon’s ashes were laid to rest in a porphyry tomb in the church at Les Invalides. Les Invalides were quarters set up by the Germans during WW II.

  9. Tour Eiffel, Paris. Above: Inside Tour Eiffel there’s a beautiful geometric symmetry when looking up.

  10. The magnificent carvings of Notre-Dame, Paris.

  11. Église St.-Eustache and Henri de Miller’s modern sculpture “L’Écoute”, Paris

  12. Musée du Louvre and the brilliant glass pyramid by I. M. Pei, Paris

  13. These sculptures, though dated back 721-705 BC from Assyria, are beautiful and amazingly intact. Left:Winged Assyrian bull. Right:Héros étouffant un petit lion. Palais de Sargon II, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

  14. Lively sculptures in Musée du Louvre, Paris.Right:The Dying Slave by Michelangelo.

  15. Two sculptures in Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Although visitors are drawn mostly by the museum’s collection of Impressionist paintings, Musée d’Orsay also features a great number of fine sculptures. It’s a must-go place for me in Paris.

  16. Musée National d’Arts Moderne, Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris

  17. Opéra Garnier, Paris. The interior is filled with gold leaf, precious stones, frescos, marbles, and massive decorations. Our friend Min-Huei Den, who plays double bass in the Opera Orchestra, led us to the interior and offered us an excellent guided tour for free.

  18. Opéra Garnier, Paris.Left: The five-tier auditorium. Right: The false ceiling painted by Marc Chagall.

  19. The residential buildings of Paris are both stylish and magnificent. Above: located on Boulevard Raspail. Right: located near Notre-Dame des Champs.

  20. Doors of Paris !

  21. Château de Fontainebleau (about 60 km southeast of Paris) *Those of you who are interested in visiting Fontainebleau: taking the commuting train at Paris’ Garede Lyon could be very confusing. For information, please feel free to contact me.

  22. Château de Fontainebleau. The famous horseshoe staircase is richly decorated with Napoleonic emblems.

  23. Loire Valley (Vallée de la Loire, 羅亞爾河谷) We started our journey of Vallée de la Loire in Blois, a city of architectural and historical importance. The two-hour train ride took us from Paris’ Gare Austerlitz to Blois. We rented a nice Renualt Scenic in Blois from Eurocar, a major car rental company in Europe, and drove through the rest of the journey. Amazingly, the only person who worked in the Eurocar local office did not speak a word of English, and the French I had learned included no technical terms of vehicle, so the communication was a real pain. Vallée de la Loire is famous for its beautiful châteaux, fine wines, and a leisurely pace of life. *An excellent and inexpensive restaurant in Blois featuring all duck dishes: La Garbure, Cuisine du perigord et de la gascogne/ 36, rue Saint Lubin, 41000 Blois/ Tel: 02.54.74.32.89

  24. Château de Blois, Blois. A statue of King Louis XII (1462-1515) is the centerpiece of the entrance archway.

  25. Château de Blois.Left: the Gothic Louis XII Wing. Right:François I staircase

  26. Above:Blois as seen from the Loire, with Eglise St.-Nicolas in the center (beautiful sunshine, isn’t it?). Right:Cathédrale St.-Louis, Blois.

  27. Château de Chambord. Above: The astonishing skyline of Chambord. Right:François I Staircase.

  28. The roof terraces, Château de Chambord. (Can you see Chia-Wei in the picture?) “Chambord is truly royal — royal in its great scale, its grand air, and its indifference to common considerations.” ~ Henry James

  29. Château de Chenonceau — A jewel of Renaissance architecture. Catherine de Medici’s two-story gallery is built on the bridge spanning the river Cher.

  30. Château de Chenonceau and the flower garden. A nice photograph taken by Chia-Wei.

  31. Château d’Amboise, Amboise.Leonardo da Vinci was greeted by François I, and spent his last years in Amboise. Left:Chapelle St.-Hubert, where da Vinci is said to be buried.

  32. Above: Overlook of Amboise. Right: A private residence carved out of the tufa cliffside in Amboise.

  33. Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, in a verdant setting where the water acts as reflecting mirrors.

  34. Chinon. Above: The river Vienne at Chinon. Right:Château de Chinon.

  35. The Clos de l’Echo vineyard in Chinon. The wines of Chinon have an attractive aroma and age well.

  36. Cathédrale St.-Gatien, Tours. The building itself is quite heterogeneous, isn’t it?

  37. Jardins et Château de Villandry. Covering a total area of 7ha – 17 acres, the gardens of Villandry have many fascinating features.

  38. Jardins et Château de Villandry

  39. Château d’Ussé. The 17th-century French author Charles Perrault was inspired by Château d’Ussé to write his fairy tale The Sleeping Beauty.

  40. Saumur, dominated by its château on an open meadow overlooking the meeting-point of the Thouet with the Loire.

  41. Left:Château de Saumur. Right: the half-timbered houses situated in Place St.-Pierre, Saumur.

  42. Château de Langeais, Langeais.

  43. Abbaye de Fontevraud, the largest and the most extraordinary of its kind in France. Left: the Minster Church. Right: Romanesque kitchen

  44. Abbaye de Fontevraud. Left: Gate to the Chapter House. Right: Renaissance staircase.

  45. Angers Pont de Verdun, spanning on the River Maine (only 8 km before it joins the Loire), with Cathédrale St.-Maurice in the distance.

  46. Left: in front of Cathédrale St.-Maurice. Right: the statues of St.-Maurice, Angers

  47. Château d’Angers. The huge drum towers and curtain walls of this powerful fortress were built for defense purposes. The château houses and displays the magnificent Apocalypse Tapestries.

  48. St.-Malo, Le Mont-St.-Michel, Fougères, & Chartres We extended our trip beyond the region of Vallée de la Loire to include St.-Malo (Brittany), Le Mont-St.-Michel (Normandy), Fougères (Brittany), and Chartres (83 km southwest of Paris). After leaving Angers, we spent a night in Rennes, the capital of Brittany. But the only thing we saw in Rennes was Carrefour, where we bought foods for a lunch picnic in St.-Malo. We lived in Fougères (in fact a small town called St.-Brice-en-Cogles outside Fougères) for two evenings. Fougères itself is quiet and beautiful, and within one-hour drive from both St.-Malo and Le Mont-St.-Michel. Our hotel restaurant prepared excellent local dishes and we were very pleased with suppers of the two evenings. Our rented Renualt Scenic was returned at Terminal I of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport. This was quite convenient because the car rental office and the check-in counter were in the same building, although getting around Paris was a little bit complicated.

  49. St.-MaloLeft: A very handsome Porsche SUV parked outside the town wall of St.-Malo. Right: On top of the ramparts.

  50. St.-Malo. The walled town of St.-Malo is unique and spectacular.

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