13th May at Les Eyzies: Font de Gaume

After an early breakfast at the elegant dining table, we set off on the bikes through the village to Grotte de Font de Gaume, determined to succeed in our goal to gain entry to the heavily booked tours of the cave to see the ancient paintings. This cave is the last original to be available for tours - even the famous Lascaux cave is no longer open to the public, it has been reproduced along with its paintings for people to view. Irene had the plan for this adventure upermost in our time in France, so it was very important.

The English tours were booked out for days and we did not have the time to wait for one, but we were delighted to be admitted on the first French tour this morning; we locked the bikes away safely and browsed the inevitable gift shop while chatting to others also waiting for the tour. How wonderful it was to see paintings of bison, horses and deer in manganese and iron oxides. I felt, very strongly, the atmosphere of this place and the way the paintings had been created.

As is turned out, the guide was the only one present who did not speak English, but Ann kindly translated the information she gave. Ann and Albert are from Gent (Ghent) in Belgium and we found we had much in common; Ann teaches drawing to tertiary students and Albert loves opera and cooking; he is also also passionately interested in ethical, sustainable environment and changing the way we approach life with this in mind.

(The fortified church - view from our bedroom window)

After our fabulous time in the caves, we rode home quickly because our new friends had arranged to collect us at the fortified church next to our b&b; we would see the paintings (watercolour sketches) Ann did in the previous week in Spain, have lunch and then visit a different sort of cave near Le Bugue, the village where they stayed. How lucky were we!!! The cool breeze picked up a little as we sat outside, but the food was delicious and the conversation intellectual and stimulating, so we all enjoyed ourselves. Ann's sketches clearly protrayed, in several exercises, the atmosphere of the coastal landscape where they had been in Spain. But disappointing weather had sent them north to Le Bugue, lucky us!

Albert drove us to Gouffre de Proumeyssac (Cathedral of Crystal) where we decided to go in for the for a 45 minute tour. The cavern has huge with well lit formations of stalactites and stalagmites as well as clear, terraced ponds of mineral water which were constantly splashed by trickles from high in the ceiling. Our arrival in the dark, at the high gallery in the cave, was greeted with a music and light show which drew our attention to the amazing shapes around us and entertained us very well. Some people were lowered in a basket from the very high centre of the ceiling right down to the floor of the cave, many metres below.

On our way back to Les Eyzies, Ann and Albert invited to collect us the next morning for another outing to a place otherwise out of our reach. In the evening, Irene and I met others staying at Ferme de Tayac and we were jind by Ava and Dave at a local restaurant for a dinner of roast duck and local mushroom sauce - delicious!

(Bedroom windows at Ferme de Tayac)

12th May Les Eyzies de Tayac

Well, what a day - a 5:30 am start and a bike ride to finish it (and me) off! Rather than cope with 3 trains in the Paris Metro and the zillion steps involved with our luggage, we went by taxi to Gare d'Austerlitz for our fast train to Limoges on the way to Les Eyzies. From Limoges we boarded a bus of the 90 km drive to Perigeux because the rail line was under reconstruction. This was an even better way to see the area because we called into villages along the way and we had front seats with a beautiful view of the countryside.

In Perigeux we had time for lunch at the station dining room - not quite as luxurious as our experience at the D'Orsay, but the service and soup, roast pork and chocolate mousse were very good and MUCH less expensive.

A single carriage diesel train took us to Les Eyzies and we pulled our cases along the road to our b&b at Ferme de Tayac - about 500 metres or so. What a place. Just past the fortified 12th century church, the original building of the monastery was 11th-12th century with new wings added in C17th. It was in ruin when our hosts Suzanne and Mike bought it 10 years ago. With their son Paul and support of their family, they took 7 years to create this beautiful place and I'm sure their work will never end.

We left our luggage in our pretty room and went for a walk through the village and later tried out a couple of bikes ready for an attempt in the morning to hurry to the local cave to book in for a tour - we were told it would be difficult to get in and we wanted to arrive early for the expected queue. After a light tea in the arbour in the evening daylight, we sat around the fire in the large, comfortable lounge listening to classical music. Not a bad end to an exciting day.

The rock cliff overhangs the village at Les Eyzies.

11th May Musee D'Orsay, Paris

This was our last day in Paris and we planned a late arrival at the Musee D'Orsay to avoid the early queue so we walked through the Gardens in front of the Louvre before crossing the river to the gallery. It was a great plan and it probably worked, but we still had to stand for an hour and a half in mist and a bitter wind. Once inside we went straight to the cafe for a hot chocolate (and cake) before separating for our viewing. I concentrated on the Impressionists and I was really delighted with the rooms of paintings and sculptures.

The Musee D'Osay had been built to be a

train station and it is amazing to look closely at its interior in this light. We lunched in the ornate dining room, what a gracious, sumptuous venue, mirrors at each end made the room seem gigantic, the painted ceilings could have been in any palace and the chandeliers created a very rich look. The food was most appropriate for the place - we rather lashed out to make up for the cool start.

The Louvre...>

9th May MothersDay in Dijon

We were pleased to receive sms messages for Mothers Day (I had no given it a thought) and our trip to Dijon was on a TV - very fast train - from Gare de Lyon. The walking tour was great, it followed footpaths impressed with little brass arrow heads carved with the Dijon symbol, a little owl. This is a beautiful city, blending architecture of an apparently thriving current world with a classical and elegant past. The medieval quarter is also fascinating and more decorated than we have seen. The weather was mild and although there was occasional fine drizzle, it was not enough to warrant our umbrellas, jackets were sufficient.

We searched for a restaurant offering lapin and moutarde to no avail, so we settled for escargot and coq au vin / Irene cose boeuf bourguignon. Continuing our walk my camera ran hot again and we bought some ocal souvenir gifts.

The trip home was again through beautiful country with agriculture ranging through vines to canola and wheat etc as we returned to the flatter land away from Dijon; again I was taken by the little villages scattered on the backdrop and while the white cattle were lying down in the morning, many were eating in the early evening so I could see their size more accurately ... they didn't seem to be very large cattle, but so white on the very green grass. A great day again.

7th May Monet's Garden at Giverny

Today our train to Vernon went from St Lazare again - we have found our way around many met stations, but this time we had to queue for 20 mins for a ticket, so we were pleased to have allowed extra time; you never know here what might hold you up. The upstairs seats in the train gave us a great view on the 50 min trip along the Seine in some parts. Then out to a bus to Giverny, in a rural setting. The old stone houses in the village are beautiful and Monet's garden was picture perfect (130 photos )!

Tulips were in abundance, the wisteria was in its prime and the pink clematis over the arches an absolute delight. As in all other places (I have forgotten to mention the lilacs growing wild everywhere), the lilacs were a fragrant wonder. Although there were many people there, we followed the underpass to the water garden and we were able to enjoy and photograph without feeling swarmed.

A delicious lunch of fish soup followed by scallops / St Jaques and I was in heaven. A walk to allow this yummy repast to put on as few inches as possible, took us along a country road where we found a little farm - in one single field there were: an ostrich, several EMUS!!! a flock of geese, 3 or 4 alpacas and 2 very fat grey pigs. What next! They were all content but for how long I wondered; I'm sure some will hit a plate at some time or another.

8th May Chalon en Champagne
Irene asked me to choose a day trip, so I found a place on the map in a different direction from Paris compared with our other trips and off to Chalon en Champagne we went. The trip through the country was great apart from a few ear popping tunnels. The open spaces were covered with lush pastures of wheat and canola with lots of wter courses. It was flat along the rivers where the crops were laid out in patchwork and the rolling hills were most often covered with neat fields of vines running downhill. High chalky ridges were heavily wooded and pretty country villages tucked in along the hills, the houses of stone or cream painted stucco with tiled or slate roofs. The ploughed soil here was pale and in many cases, new crops were just peeping through. Later we noticed white cattle lying in the lush green pastures and, as on previous occasions, many trees ravaged by mistletoe, some dead, their branches contrasting starkly with the surrounding forest.
Along the line, most villages had community vegie gardens and there was a fishing competition just out of Epernay - as I said - we had a good view!
Arriving in Chalon looking for their Saturday market, we found preparations for a VE day parade - Army personel (there are several bases there), roads blocked off, marquees, band members wandering around and so on. There is always something.

Chalon is a beautiful town with rivwes, canals and gardens. We walked around medieval streets while looking for churches that would be open to view - most shops and tourist sites were closed for the parade and only some opened in the afternoon, but we found the Museum of Cloisters showing wonderful archeological finds and later the Cathedral of St Etienne opened so we could admire the beautiful stained glass windows. It is certainly a poor cousin compared with the Paris cathedrals, a little unkempt, but I thought it was beautiful.
The halles, covered market, is an amazing building which we later learned was designed by Eiffel, our heads revolved as we walked up and down past the stalls. We chose 2 cheeses for lunch with a baguette that had us salivating (and to take home for tea in Paris we found a ham and cheese puff pastry pie and a hardboiled egg wrapped in ham and covered in aspic)! Lunch was a gracious picnic on a park seat in the sun in the Petit Jardin a picturesque little chateau. There was a small canal edged by neat hedges leading to the chateau.

Tuesday 4th May Versailles

Before arrival, we bought tickets for Versailles, but the queue for those with tickets still took half an hour. It was a very cold day, but we had layers of clothes and gloves. Opulance and extravagance are the words of today, along with kilometres of parklands, fountains and statuary. An amazing place, huge paintings, ceiling murals, gold leaf and decoration everywhere, marble floors, columns and fire places, exqusite furniture etc. We left home at 8.30 am and returned at 6.30 pm _ a looooong day. Delicious fettucine and prawns in tomato sauce with a nice vin blanc for lunch - very posh and a bit extravagent. Crepe and tea in the afternoon. Egg on toast for tea.

5th May Another Chateau
Thinking we had plenty of time to get to Asterlitz station, we found we had to run for our train! An hour and a half later we just caught a shuttle bus from Blois station to the fairy tale Chateau Chambord. The roofscape is unbelievable, with many, many spires, turrets and roofs. The king kept changing his mind about what he wanted. The architects and builders must have torn out their hair with frustration. But this is a beautiful place - between Versailles and Chambord, I think we have seen the most opulant interior and the most inticate exterior possible.

6th May Notre Dame
The cathedral is on the main island in the Seine, the centre of the old city and it is a most beautiful setting. Walking to the rear, we approached from its garden where there is a lovely old tamarisk. I keep seeing them in France having found them in the Sahara, planted to slow the encroaching sands. Alison had one at Ratho in Flinders and now I am sure I would like one. Notre Dame was busy but not unmanageable and from there we walked to The Louvre. I had seen an ad for a Russian exhibition which turned out to be excellent. The icons were numerous and varied, there were jewelled chalices, jewelled embroideries, models of chapels and other buildings, and other fabulous items. After lunch I focussed on paintings - Italian first - wonderful. Then I went on to French, Dutch and Flemish masters. It was wonderful to see so many works and artists that I recognised - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Tintoretto, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velasquez, Goya, El Greco, Gainsborough, Van Dyck ......
Giverny tomorrow - I am in my element!
It has been awful not having access to internet for so long. It is actually 12th May today and I am only up to 7th - it will have to wait.
Cheers all, Sue

1st May Springtime

When I titled the last post printemps, I meant to say why - everywhere we see flowering chestnut trees, wysteria, may bush and other wonderful spring blooms - a picture at every turn. Today there were people selling bunches of lily of the valley on every corner. We travelled to Sacre Coeur and found it at the top of many flights of stairs - there was a funicular rail to it but we chose to walk - silly us; my hips objected for the rest of the day. On our way back on the metro I was shocked to run into Robyn, the illustrator who came on the Desert Art Tour from Wiluna last year.
That night at about 8.30, there was a bit of activity in our courtyard, it appeared that some young people might be rehearsing a play - they were dressed in cloaks, had flaming torches and a backdrop that looked like a castle was rolled around the walls of the area. However, more and more things wer set up - a large Persian rug with a huge brass tray on its centre and then, truelly, a camel was led in! It had an ornate stripy blanket and a richly cloaked sheik in a gold jellabah and turban to mind it. Then guests began to appear at about 10 pm and music started. It was a part and it disturbed our peace until 3am! No longer interesting!

2nd May Monet Paintings
The Musee Marmatton has a marvellous collection of Impressionist paintings including a whole room of Monet works. The place was the mansion home of a collector of fine art and decorative arts and we spent some rapturous hours there. In the shop I was delighted to find Linnea in Monet's Garden a delightful picture story book that I have at home.
The Blois de Boulogne is nearby, so we walked around a lake there and we were pleased to notice this is a place of joggers, families and other walkers enjoying the lovely place.
In the mid afternoon, we found our way to Musee Cluny - a medieval building with another amazing collection of artefacts, tapestries, medieval jewellery, tombstones archetectural features, stained glass, sculptures, brass and silver ware and pottery. A wonderful place to visit on a drizzly day.
We travelled halfway home by bus then walked from the obelisk at the begiining of the Champs Elysees all the way home, stopping only for a vin blanc at an outdoor bar / cafe.

Monday 3rd May Troyes
The rail pass that we bought in Aus is wonderful for the day trips - today to Troyes; Irene is keen to see excellent example of French stained glass and of course, I am also keen. Unfortunately, of the 10 churches for which it is famous, all but one are closed on Mondays - however, this cathedral has beautiful stained glass, I think we found the best in the city.
Troyes is also famous for its sausage, which we tried for lunch. We decided we would not try it again, at least, I did not enjoy warm, lightly cooked sausage of large pieces of duck gizzards. I needed 2 glasses of red to wash it down! The town itself is amazing, a medieval wonder of tall, narrow, Tudoresque buildings, often tilting precariously; in fact, in some narrow lanes, heavy wooden props have been jammed between buildings to hold them up.