Day 4 Fridday June 20, 2014 Train to Chartres Cathedral, Paris

Today we took the train to Chartres, a small city an hour south of Paris.  This small town has a "big city" cathedral, one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in the world.  It is in this cathedral that a particularly fine design for a labyrinth was originated.  We wanted to see the town, the cathedral, and walk its labyrinth.

Here is more about the Chartres: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/chartres-cathedral.

On a sunny morning we crossed Paris to one of its six train stations to catch our train to Chartres.  We navigated the subway system and then ticketing and finding our train at the Gard Montpasse.  The transportation portion of the travels has been made more challenging due to a transportation strike in France.  Our Metro Station was closed…confusion reigned as we tried to find our way.  Luckily, there are very helpful workers in Red vest to answer questions.  We found seats on the train just minutes before its departure.  The hour ride out of the city and across the rolling farm land to Chartres was delightful.

Once at Chartres, we found there were other passengers heading for the cathedral as we followed our maps, nearly in unison, the easy walk to the church.  We could see the spires from the station so it was simply to zero in on the cathedral. 

The church is magnificent. It is so large!  Fortunately it survived battles fought around it several times, including WWII. Most of the stain glass windows are original back to the 12th century.  They are stunning in their beauty, filling the church with multicolored light.  There are two huge rose windows on either side of the church.

We were pleased to have the chance to actually see the labyrinth in the Cathedral (during most of the time, the church covers up the labyrinth with folding chairs, but on Fridays between Easter and October, they put them aside on Fridays.)  So we arrived and thought we had the chance to walk this ancient labyrinth. As it turns out, there is a huge restoration project going on, so we could only stand at the very edge of it.  Patti walked just the first few feet of the path.

Luckily, there was another outdoors labyrinth, of a different design, that Patti was able to walk, so this was not such a huge disappointment. We have both walked labyrinths in many places, but seeing this was exquisite. Perhaps another time. 

At noon we had the special treat of being able to attend a tour of the cathedral by Sir Malcom Miller, age 80.  Here is some information about him:

“Malcolm MILLER has been guiding at Chartres Cathedral since 1958, and claims that he is still learning about it !

He has written several books, made TV documentaries, and lectured widely in the USA, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Sweden at some of the most prestigious universities : Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Uppsala, Princeton, UCLA. Museums - The National Gallery and Smithsonian in Washington, the Chicago Art Institute (17 times). And churches, The National Cathedral Washington, St. John the Divine, NYC and St. Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide and many more.

To thank Mr. Miller for his work at Chartres, he has received from the French Government two of its highest civilian honours : Knight of the National Order of Merit and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.”

We could hardly wrap our brain around how old this place was.  The “new” cathedral was built in 1024.  Imagine!  We saw and heard so many interesting stories and facts about the building and community there.  This place (now kind of out in the boondocks, about 50 miles southwest of Paris) was one of the highest and most famous centers of learning in all of Europe.  Just being there and feeling the feet of so many pilgrimages who had traveled there before us was inspiring.

Lunch in the early afternoon was at a delightful little family own bistro, Le Pichet.  Patti passed on the rabbit with prunes, but we both had some tasty “home cooked” style food. Yummy and delicious, made all the better by the fact that we were the only two guests in the place and got lots of great attention from the husband and wife who owned the place.  And the crème brulè was mouthwatering.  Here is a review: “Around the corner from Chartres Cathedral is a little restaurant named Le Pichet on a quiet little street . We stopped here for lunch and the food was amazing! I ordered the chicken stew (Cassoulet de Poulet) and a pear tart - the chicken was very tender and tasty with a mouth-watering combination of herbs. One of my friends ordered the vegetable soup which she really loved. The owners of Le Pichet are delightful - very charming and helpful. Fabulous service!  I highly recommend this restaurant if you go to Chartres. “

Evening took us back into Paris, where we met up with our friends, Sandra and Ramon who have now arrived.  It was good to see friends from home, as well as other colleague from around the world who come together for this business conference.  Dinner was a delightful time out in the neighborhood, just a block away form our apartments at Les Philosophes restaurant.  We had great salads, real French Onion Soup, and a wonderful bottle of red wine.  We celebrated what joy it was to be in Paris with such good friends. Here is a review off of Trip Advisor: “I am a true Parisian, know a lot about good and bad restaurants in Paris. I feel always so sorry when tourists (especially the American ones....) have bad experiences. So please do me a favor and go to Les Philosophes; The chef is an advocate of locally produced food, traditional recipes and honesty in the kitchen. If you came too late for lunch perhaps the dish of the day is not available anymore and that is a good sign; The bread is good, the butter is good, the cooking is what you can expect from an excellent French bistro.”

The back at the apartment where they guys watched some of the French match in the soccer World Cup,  Final score was Franc 5, Switzerland 1.  We know that everyone round here is going to be stoked tomorrow for their team.

In the meantime, Patti and Saundra tried their best to wash a load of laundry.  Sound nice and easy, eh?  It turns out not being able to read the dials to know which button you are pushing can have fairly hilarious results.  They laughed until they were nearly sick, and finally got the drier to give up the load.  Go literacy…..it is sure nice to know what one needs to do in order to work things out.

Finally off to bed, with Dick and Ramon and Marybeth needing to get up early, early for Saturday’s conference day of presentations.  Another wonderful day in paradise.

A labyrinth is a symbolic journey . . . but it is a map we can really walk on, blurring the difference between map and world.”
― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Day 3 Thursday June 19, 2014 Paris

The Louvre.  How does one describe actually seeing the Mona Lisa, or The Venus de Milo…in person?  We arose early and walked twenty minutes to the Louvre Museum before it opened.  We had heard the security lines were long so it was better to get there early. The building is massive.  We walked through several passages until we entered the main plaza. Just seeing the famous (or infamous) glass pyramid, was amazing! But, we walked on past this main entrance and followed a suggestion to use an underground entrance.  It worked like a charm.  Getting the tickets was bit of a hassle, but luckily, Patti is a great Internet researcher, so she got tips on where to get them and how which helped us skip some of the longest lines.

One could spend days or weeks looking at every wonderful thing they have there.  We have had a great time.  We knew the crowds would build at the Mona Lisa so we went there first.  Now she is behind bullet proof glass in a climate controlled chamber but she is still amazing.  We spent several hours wandering and seeing such amazingly famous pieces of art. 

We had both expected that we would focus much of our time on seeing paintings.  There were so many to see.  We surprised ourselves that we spent more time seeing both famous and not so famous statues.  Of course, this included the Venus de Milo.  There were so many incredible Greek and Roman statues and two by Michelangelo.  Wow!

We took advantage of a tour in English, learning more about some of the 35,000 pieces of art they have on display.  Some of the pieces were just breathtaking.  And some were really thought-provoking.  They had at least a half dozen paintings by various painters of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus.  We realized that we have never seen images like these.  Patti just Googled this and found that there are dozens and hundreds of these online.  How come we have never seen this before?

This museum was just stunning!  Each room had something else wonderful to explore.  We were so full by the middle of the afternoon….knowing that we had only tasted a small part of this fabulous museum that was first started in the 1100’s.  Stunning!

We left the Louvre and walked through one of the best parks in Park, Jardin des Tuileries.  It is connected with the Louvre, and filled with people enjoying the day, their family, and art.  We strolled along soaking in PARIS…wow!

We tried to go to another of the premier art museums, Orangerie Museum.  Unfortunately, we arrived just after the sale of the final ticket.  Not today!  However, we went to our faithful travel Bible, Paris by Rick Steves.  We checked out which museums were open late on Thursday evening.  We found we were very close to another museum, Orsay, which focuses on the Impressionist.  We saw Rodin, Monet, Manet,  Pissaro, again, each time you turn around, wow!  Astounding, there is not words.

We had dinner at a lovely genuine French sidewalk café,  savory the amazing delicious food that you just can’t get back home:  mashed potatoes with grapefruit mixed in, duck cooked with peaches….delicious!!!

Then we walked along the Seine to catch our boat for a late evening boat ride down to see the Eifel Tower.  We got on the boat with about one hundred people and heard a bilingual English/French tour of Paris’ Top 20 sights.  It was romance at its best.  The sun doesn’t set until nearly 10:30, so dusk was just coming.  There was a special bridge that they said granted lover’s wishes if they kissed when they went under it.  We did, and we’ll let you know if the wishes came true.  We walked back to our apartment, floating, but exhausted.  Dick’s pedometer told him we had walked over 14 miles.  No WONDER we were tired.  This is likely to be the longest amount of walking we will do on the whole trip, and we did it!  We fell into bed, having greeted Mary Beth and her daughter, Tina, who will be staying with us in the flat.  They had a terrific day, and were in bed having just watched some great World Cup Soccer.  The team is beginning to assemble. And Paris is quite a place to gather.

I look to the right as I cross the bridge and smile to see the tip of the Eiffel Tower soaring over rooftops in the distance on the other side of the river. I've seen it in photographs a thousand times, but seeing it in person for the first time that reminds me that I'm really, truly here, thousands of miles away, across an ocean from home.”
―  Kristin Harmel, The Sweetness of Forgetting

Day 2 Wednesday June 18, 2014

PARIS, FRANCE.  Arriving in Charles De Gaulle Airport went easily.  We had already begun to hear a lot of French spoken while in LA, and on the plane, but they speak a LOT of French in Paris.  This is Patti’s first time here, and Dick hasn’t been to Paris for 40 years, so it is very special to arrive together.

From the airport, we took the train into the central area of Paris. Only a slight problem due to a strike, some trains were not running as before and others weren't running at all. Our train from the airport only ran a portion of its route and then was returning to the airport.  Of course there were no signs or other information about this change.  We nearly went BACK to the airport, but luckily someone of the train told us we need to change trains.  We wandered and found an information helper in an orange vest who walked us down three flights of stairs (good for the light packing!), and got us on a train that was going to our destination. We had very detailed instructions as to how to arrive, and were able to find our AirB&B apartment without trouble.  If you would like to see photos of it, here is the link:  https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2159701.

If you don’t know about AirB&B, it is an internet-based network of individual people who rent out a room, apartment or house for a day, week or month.  It is a worldwide network, and much more personal than dealing with a hotel. We will have several AirB&B stays during this trip.


Our host in Paris is a wonderful woman, Keltoum.  Here is one of the notes that a guest who was there last month wrote: “Our stay in Paris was enhanced from the outset by our delightful French hostess, Keltoum, who made us feel right at home. In the heart of one of the most lively areas in Paris, Le Marais, our apartment was sound insulated and secure. The apartment was attractive, well appointed and with very comfortable beds. Keltoum was available to help with any queries and assisted us on the last day in looking after our luggage while we saw more of Paris before our late flight as well as arranging a taxi to the airport. Her love of Le Marais led us to some beautiful places we might have missed otherwise.”  We agreed with these thoughts.   Only one slight confusion as to when we were expected to arrive, but the AT&T phone saved the day, and we were able to make a phone call (with a little help form someone who told us which part of the number we needed to dial…no need for the country code).  Five minutes later we got a call back and were able to come into the apartment.

We arrived, checking in and delighted in how lovely the apartment was.  A typical remodeled nice Parisian  apartment.  We will be joined in the next couple of days by a couple other of Dick’s colleague from National University, Ramon (with his wife Sandra) and Mary Beth (and her daughter, Tina). By pooling our money, we got this fantastic apartment 15 minutes from Notre Dame each paying less money than it would have cost each couple to stay at the Paris Holiday Inn, where the conference is being held.  Patti thought it was just wrong to go to Paris and stay at the Holiday Inn!

Although totally jet lagged and confused as to what time it was, we couldn’t resist a stroll around the neighborhood, including walking along the Seine River.  We are REALLY in Paris.  We got a good taste, finding that we really are within ten minutes of Notre Dame, saw the famous bridge where lovers buy a paddle lock, lock it to the bridge with their name written on in, and then throw the key into the river.  Not very environmentally-friendly, but pretty romantic.

Patti and Giant Orange Dog.

We are beginning to get our bearings. Our neighborhood is called Le Marais. It is a combination of very touristy, an Orthodox Jewish area, and the GLBT section of town.  Very vibrant and fun. The people watching a great.  And they really do have sidewalk cafes on nearly every corner.  For dinner, we went, as recommended by our host, to a famous Falaffel restaurant.    Delicious food, freshly made, and people around the world rave about this place.  Then we picked up a few groceries to help us settle in for breakfast and snacks.

We had slept very little on the plane and walked over 6 1/2 miles on our first day before bed totally called out to us. It stays light until nearly 10:30, so we couldn’t stay up too late, but fell into bed.  Tomorrow, we begin,…Paris beckons.

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.”

- Charles Dudley

Day 1 June 17, 2014 San Diego to LAX to Paris

We both woke up multiple times much too early, before we finally got up at 7:30 knowing, “Today is the day that we are going to Europe!”

The planning has been going on for months and months.  It was last summer while Dick was at a conference in Istanbul, that he heard that the conference will be held this year in Paris.   He said, “Sweetie, would you like to go with me to Paris next year?” The answer was a resounding, “Yes!”  And the planning began. 

It was Dick’s idea, that as long as we would be in Paris, Denmark and Norway are only short train rides away.  And if we were going to go to Denmark, then Patti got the idea of seeing whether it would be possible to try to look up a relative or two from there.  Her father’s mother and grandfather, and mother’s grandfather, were all from Denmark.  On both sides of the family, some of Patti’s now elderly aunts had traveled to Denmark, but not for 15 or 20 years.  It took some phone calls and letters, but two aunts produced some 20 year old addresses, and Patti wrote letters last Thanksgiving.  And we waited.  At last, emails began to arrive, “Greetings from Denmark!”  And so, over the past 5 months, letters, emails and SKYPE calls have taken place, and now we travel to go meet many of these long lost relatives.  Cousins, and children and grandchildren of cousins, second once removed, or who knows what the exact technical relationship is.  Only, that they are related, and we are going to meet them.  This will take place at the end of June, so many more adventures before then!

So now, we finished up all of the work (everything you must do to leave before five weeks!  A lot!), did everything one must do to leave your home for a month, packed our bags (more on that later), drove from Oceanside to Los Angeles, parked our car at a funky backpackers hotel that allows people to park for $5/day rather than the $15-20/day that are charged close by the airport.

We have spent time over the past several days doing battle with AT&T trying to get our cell phones set to help us while in Europe.  Dick will have an international roaming plan on his phone, while Patti’s phone needed to be “unlocked” so that we can buy a local SIM card while in Denmark to be in touch with all of our relatives while there. This took multiple emails, several phone calls, a visit to an AT&T store, with more follow up while sitting at the airport.  The days of just getting on a plane and calling people when you get home are gone.

We decided to take the advice of travel guru Rick Steves, and travel what for us was VERY light.  We have for the next 28 days two smaller roller bags and a daypack (that also contains Patti’s laptop.)  We loaded one of the bags with both travel and gift books and checked it then we walked quite smugly through the airport watching some of the folks with suitcases piled on carts.  We are hopeful that indeed we have everything we are going to need.  Cool and a bit scary….what if we forgot something critical, or we don’t have the right close….guess we’ll have to buy something in Paris, huh?   We will let you know how the light packing went.

Then we did all of the waiting and checking in, and caught our flight-on-time leaving LAX at 6:35 on Tuesday June 17th, to arrive mid-afternoon on Wednesday June 18th in Paris.  A flight of over 10 hours with a little sleep, and a couple of movies, and time spent meeting our very first “interesting people of the day” on this trip. 

We joined about 300 other travelers as we boarded our Air France 777.  We had seats near the rear of the plane (guess our lower fare did not warrant better seats).  We had two aisle seats and someone was willing to trade one so we could sit together. Once in the air we found that they were going to keep the plane very cold.  We bundled up in the airline's blankets and tried to get some sleep in the cramped quarters.

We sat next to a very nice couple, who had offered to give suggestions of places to go and eat while in Paris.  We chatted in the night, and in the morning, as promise, Teo (and Scarlet, his wife) gave us a list of a number of great restaurants.  When Patti asked if he was from Paris, we heard “the rest of the story”.  No, he is a history professor at UCLA who does an undergraduate seminar in Paris history for 3 and ½ weeks each summer.  They were on their way a to begin this, a couple days ahead of the students.  Lovely, lovely people, and they were able to give us lots of great ideas, and even an invitation to join them as part of a walk on Monday to catch one of his walking tours.  We will see of we can work it out, but how generous and helpful they were.  The trip is off to a great start!

During the next 28 days we will take another short plane flight, take trains between Paris and Amsterdam, then to Odense and Copenhagen Denmark, then off to Oslo Norway, and around to several places in Norway, flying out of Oslo on July 15.  We are hoping that our light bags will be a continued joy as we roam about.

And so, we begin….the adventure has already started.

“It was exciting to be off on a journey she had looked forward to for months. Oddly, the billowing diesel fumes of the airport did not smell like suffocating effluence, it assumed a peculiar pungent scent that morning, like the beginning of a new adventure, if an adventure could exude a fragrance.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly