He Didn’t Build It But He Is Here

Napolean overlooking courtyardOriginally uploaded by Joyz Life.

Earlier this week I paid a visit to Hotel National des Invalides. This huge complex was built by King Louis XIV to care for invalid soldiers in the 1670s. As many as 4,000 army veterans were housed there and put to work in shoe-making and repair shops as well as tapestry and illuminated manuscript workshops.

Part of the structure includes two churches — originally one that was divided after Napolean’s remains were moved here in 1861 from St. Helena some 19 years after his death, granting the wish in his will that he be laid to rest near the Seine close to the people, whom he loved.

When you walk into the Dome Church, you see a large circular railing centered beneath the dome where the floor is open to a lower-level, so that you can look down on Napolean’s tomb. The fresco on the inside of the dome was recently restored and is quite spectacular. Straight ahead from the entrance, on the opposite side of the church, is a huge ornate crucifix which replaced the original and was commissioned by Napolean. The crucifix is visible from the other side of a large window which divides the dome church from the Soldier’s church. If you look closely at the photo of the Soldier’s Church, you can see it in silhouette.

The Dome Church not only houses Napolean’s remains but also several family members, his most trusted generals and later military men such as General Foch. In the church’s lower level around the tomb there are low-relief sculptures celebrating his civil achievements as Emporer of France.

“Les Invalides” houses the Army Museum and there must be hundreds of canons on display both across the front of the property as well as throughout the arched galleries around the various courtyards within the complex.

Although part of the building housing the museum is closed for renovations, there was a special exhibition on World War I and World War II which was quite extensive. Thankfully there were English translations of some of the displays so I could more fully appreciate the exhibits.
 

Nice – Monaco – Menton

Nice hotel balconey3Originally uploaded by Joyz Life.Sunshine! Hey, I got half my wish. The Cote d’Azure was sunny but chilly last weekend. Seeing sunshine and palm trees made me homesick for LA — no lie! We stayed at this lovely Holiday Inn Resort Hotel in Nice (actually, just next door at St. Laurent-en-Var) and took the train east to Monaco to meet my new Monaco Soroptimist friend, Guiliana Madonna. Guiliana picked us up at the train station and we were off on a whirlwind tour of the Cote d’Azure.

Monaco is an autonomous principality governed by a royal family. Do you remember Princess Grace (formerly Grace Kelly) and Prince Rainier? Their children Prince Albert, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie are the current royal family here and I had the chance to be in the same room with Princess Caroline. Guiliana belongs to a needlework club that holds an exhibit of their fine handiwork every three years at the fabulous Hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo. (Monte Carlo is a section of Monaco.) This is Guiliana with a dress she made for her granddaughter. The blue decoration and trim on the dress is all handstitched. The Princess is the honorary president of the club and spent quite a bit of time looking at all the displays and chatting with the ladies. The work was exquisite and my photos do not do it justice. There was everything from fine lace to needlepoint and cross-stitch.

From here we headed east to Menton, which is only a short distance from the Italian border. The Menton Soroptimist Club organized a conference and exhibition for Soroptimist Clubs whose cities are on the Mediterranean Sea. Don made friends with the ladies from Marrakesh, so we may be headed to Morrocco in May. 

Guiliana was a wonderful hostess. She and her husband Renato (they are both Italian) invited us to lunch at the tennis club. She even tolerated Don’s request to go to church on “The Rock” — Monaco’s cathedral — Saturday evening. While we were waiting for him, we strolled through some older narrow streets and she took my picture in front of the Monaco palace. Her son is a doctor in Los Angeles and the next time she comes for a visit we hope to return the hospitality.

The trip took only 5 hours by highspeed train from Paris. Here is a picture of the train station in Nice-Ville and our train pulling in to take us back to Paris.

More on Our Normandy Road Trip

Don and Joy with rocks on beach EntretatOriginally uploaded by Joyz Life.ROCKS IN OUR HANDS, NOT OUR HEADS
Don and I were “rock picking” on this beach at Étretat in Normandy. See those little black specks on the beach to the left behind us, and the even smaller ones at the base of the cliff? This gives you some idea just how high they are — up to 300 feet.Looking down the beach in the other direction is a rock formation — actually two — called Porte d’Aval and another that translates as The Needle. We were there just before sundown, so my photos show the two in silhouette, one behind the other. Claude Monet, the French painter, did a painting of another arch formation on the beach called Le Manne Port.

Our first stop was Dieppe (see Michel, Don and Denise at the war memorial below), which is a port City for small boats and the ferry from England. Our final stop was Étretat. On our way there, we came across so many interesting, scenic villages, it was difficult not to stop everywhere. This small chateau caught our eye and even tho it was closed we couldn’t resist driving through the open gate. It is now a B&B. Although we couldn’t go inside, it was absolutely lovely.

Considering the amount of bombling done in this area during WWII, it is a wonder anything survived. I’ve read that many property owners rebuilt in the same style, rather than just throw up something contemporary, and so they have succeeded in preserving the flavor of the region. Here are a few more photos.

Thanks to our friends Denise and Michel we added another very special memory.
 

Where Did Spring Go?

Vu from hotel2

Originally uploaded by Joyz Life.

In Chicago, they have a saying: If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change. Well they ain’t seen nothin’ until they have seen Paris. Now I know why this is the “off” season — the weather changes as fast as you can flick a switch. You have to look had to see it but there are snow flakes in the rain in that photo taken from our hotel room yesterday. Pretty much the same today, snow and rain on and off all day.

We are heading south Friday for the weekend to visit some Soroptimists members in Monaco and Benton who have organized a Women’s Day event. We will be taking the high-speed train, too, to maximize our time there. Should be fun and I’ll be really happy to see the sun.

Looking for the Three Musketeers

Inside view of park and buildingOriginally uploaded by Joyz Life.

Place des Vosges, Paris’s oldest square, is also one of the most beautiful. I took advantage of another unseasonably beautiful spring day last week to people watch, eat lunch and take pictures. The square was commissioned by Henri IV and built in 1612 (yeah, almost 400 years old!). It has 36 connected houses with red-gold and stone facades that surround this lovely park. In the center of the park is a statue of Louis XIII with a goofy look on his face. I caught a picture of him pointing at the pigeon sitting on his horse’s neck.

You Three Muskateers fans will recognize this name — Cardinal Richelieu. He took a house here as did Moliere (a French writer) shortly after it was built and it remains an upper-class residential address. What I thought was very cool was a plaque on one of the houses that commemorated the birthplace of Marie de Rabutin Chantal, the Marquise de Sevigne in February 6, 1626.  She led an interesting life. If you want to read about her, clink the link on the left.

Victor Hugo (playwright, novelist, poet), who wrote Les Miserables also lived here and his museum is here. As good fortune would have it, the run of a special exhibit about Juliet Drouet — Victor Hugo’s mistress of (are you ready for this?) 50 years. It was all in French, but I pretty much got the gist of it. She was a beautiful young actress when she met Hugo who was writing plays at the time. Their love affair was particularly well-documented because Juliet, who never married, kept his letters. Of course the great man was married and had two children. Even when Hugo was exiled from Paris for 19 years after the Revolution, Juliet bought herself a cottage on the same island. After his wife died, she traveled and socialized openly with him, but they did not marry. It was quite a love story, with Hugo writing a beautiful eulogy for her. There’s a link on the left for Victor Hugo, too.

Luxembourg Gardens

Luxembourge Palais3Originally uploaded by Joyz Life.

Spring has sprung and it seemed like all of Paris was at the Luxembourg Gardens. This 60 acre park adjacent to the Luxembourg Palais, which is the home of the French Senate, was teeming with people yesterday. Does anyone here work? There were kids with parents floating boats in the Octagonal Lake in the center (slightly visible on the left), older students, young lovers, old lovers, sun bathers and office workers on lunch breaks occupying chairs and benches all over the park. I endulged my people watching while munching on a sandwich and Evian in the shadow of a statue of Berthe of Bertrade, Queen of France until 783. I believe I read that the gardens were commissioned by Napolean as a park for children and there is indeed a large playground area complete with carousel.

As I wandered around the park, I kept an eye out for the bronze relica of the Statue of Liberty which the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi donated to the Musee de Luxembourg, and was placed here in 1906. I also took lots of photos of people and the sights.

My stroll took me to the Musee de Luxemborg, which was featuring a temporary exhibit of jewelry designed by Rene Lalique (yes, the decorative glass guy) from 1890 to 1912. I’ll add a link to the museum website so you can see these incredible works of art. It’s in French, but you can still enjoy the photos.

Liberty Torch

france 075Originally uploaded by Joyz Life.The weather has turned beautiful this week — an early spring. Some trees are in bloom and you can see the buds on others just bursting to pop.

Walking along the Seine yesterday I came upon this copy of the Statue of Liberty’s torch. If you look closely, there are flowers at the base. Right below this statue is the entry to the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed. People use the torch as a place to leave tributes to her.

I hadn’t planned this walk, but a series of “coincidences” prompted me to just enjoy the sunshine and walk along the river. I ended up at the Grand Palais where there was an absolutely extraordinary exhibition of Egyptian artifacts that were recently brought up from three underwater archeological sites. I spent 4 hours looking at these 500 artifacts, which are touring the world before being placed on a permanent exhibit in Cairo at a new museum that is being built there. I took a few photos, but suggest you go to the website (see link on left) to see these incredible pictures and read about this 14- years-and-still-exploring project.