Da Vinci's last home and Orleans

Most people (even in France) don't know that Leonardo Da Vinci's last home was 2 hours southwest of Paris in the town of Amboise at the Château de Clos Lucé.  We went to see it on Easter Sunday, 2014 along with a lot of other tourists, French and otherwise.  This house (not really a castle), built in 1471, was lent to Da Vinci by King François I in 1516.  He lived there for 3 years til his death. Da Vinci brought with him from Italy a painting of a smiling lady, called in French La Jaconde, and in English The Mona Lisa, as well as two other canvases that he completed in France: The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and St John the Baptist, all of which now rest in the Louvre in Paris.

Château de Clos Lucé

 The estate of Clos Lucé includes an extensive part with a restaurant, a small cafe (where we had lunch), and lots of land, gardens and a meandering stream, with a collection of Da Vinci inventions from his extensive notebooks, brought to life by IBM. 

Cafe

Among the many inventions of Da Vinci, some concern military matters, including the swinging bridge (it swings away from the bank to prevent someone crossing if unwanted) and the first armored car, made with wood!  A turn jack brought water up a hill in a very efficient manner and the basic idea for a double hulled ship.  One of Da Vinci's inventions, an aerial screw was meant to lift up two people who turned it--this clearly doesn't work!  No one says all inventions have to.

Chuck on the swinging bridge

Lifting Jack

Double Hulled ship

Aieral screw

After we left the château, we decided to visit the little town of Amboise.  It has its own very large castle which was the home of King Francois.  We hadn't expected what we found there--a town fair, complete with a wine fair in the cave of the hillside!  We decided to taste the wine and see if we wanted to take some back with us.  Well, the wine was tasty and we bought a red, a white and a rosé; rosés are unusual for us, so we'll have a interesting meal coming in Paris.

Castle at Amboise

Amboise Center

Amboise has houses built into the cliff in the town!

A visit to a Wine Fair in a Cave

Chuck holds our wine with Loire River behind

We also stopped at a glassblowers to see a glassblowing demonstration (we were the only ones there).  I got to help the glassblower turn the glass form on the blowing rod and tap off the glass.  Then we drove to Orleans to spend the night.

While Easter and Easter Monday are not official holidays in France (because religious holidays are not recognized by the state--France strongly believes in separation of church and state), it's a holiday time nonetheless, and Easter Monday in Orleans meant the city was largely closed up.  No museums were open and few stores or restaurants.  We had breakfast at our hotel, and despite threatening weather, went to the town center to see the sights.

The cathedral of Orleans is old, as the first of its building was in the late 13th century, and is associated with Jeanne D'Arc, who was from Orleans.  Just behind the cathedral, we noticed something unusual--an old synagogue.  We investigated, but because it was the end of Passover as well as Easter, the synagogue was closed.  Jews have lived in Orleans since the 6th century, but have been banished many times due to religious persecution.  Of Jews in France, 77,000 were killed in the Holocaust.  In recent times (post 1970) a small Jewish community has returned to Orleans.

Chuck at Orleans Cathedral

Orleans Cathedral

Entrance to the oldest synagogue in Orleans

Synagogue in Orleans

While most museums were closed, we were able to visit the Old City Hall, built in 1530.  It was originally a home for a prosperous person, one Jacques Groslot, but became the city hall in 1790.  It is a lovely old building and in very good repair. Nowadays it is used for official functions and weddings.  The current city hall is across the street.

Chuck in front of the Old City Hall

Main Dining Room, Old City hall

The City of Caen and the D-day beaches of Normandy

We paid a visit to the lovely city of Caen in Normandy as part of a trip to see the D-day beaches at Normandy.  Caen is only 2.5 hours drive from Paris, through the Seine and Eure river regions of north central France.  The Orne river flows through Caen as shown below.  William the Conqueror made Caen his home and home base, he built an abbey there and is buried in the abbey.

We started our visit at the Caen Memorial museum, which tells the long and difficult story of World War II and France's part in it.  The museum is thorough in its history, frank about the Vichy government and the horrors of WW2.  The city built this museum at the behest of its mayor, who lived through WW2, and wanted it set on the current site, which held the bunker for the command post of General Richter, commander of the German army in Normandy.  It also is a beautiful museum.  The photo of the entrance contains a quote:  Sadness bruised me; brotherhood lift me up; from my wounds has flowed the river of freedom.

We then went walking in Caen proper to see the sites.  There is an old castle in the city, inside of which is a large area that includes the local art museum and other buildings.

Château Caen, built by William the Conqueror

Museum of Art, Caen

Across the street is this lovely Gothic church of St. Peter, and a building in the old wood style that was common until World War II when Caen was nearly destroyed.

Nearby is the city hall, part of which is the abbey for monks built by William the Conqueror and the location of his tomb.

Caen city hall

William's abbey

Two guys dress for Carnival

Student Carnival Parade 

As it turned out, it was also Carnival day for students and easily half of them were dressed in costume, some elaborate, some creative, some mundane.  (The university in Caen is quite large).  They were mostly drinking to excess, and the local police were out in droves, though very tolerant!  Near the city hall the students had a parade.  We guessed about five thousand young people were there, some of whom we talked with, and while they were a bit under the bottle, they were very sweet.

We walked off to our hotel and discovered the race track of Caen known as the Hippodrome Caen (the Normandy region has a history of horse racing).  We also had dinner in Caen at a very lovely little restaurant called La Petite Marmite.  Chuck thought it was the best meal he's had in France!

Race Track in Caen

A tour of the D-day landing area

The second day we took a guided tour of the D-day landing beaches near Caen and also visited the American Cemetery where over 9,000 American soldiers who died during the invasion are buried (they are other cemeteries for British, Canadian, French and the many other countries' soldiers.   Our guide was a local woman who was born well after WW2, but she said that for the people of the area, the remembrance continues as families have memories of how hard the dark years were and the many who died before, during and after the liberation invasion.  This visit was not for the most part a pleasant one, but rather one at which to learn and remember.

One of these sites we saw is now a farming field, but the first, at Point Du Hoc (near Utah beach) has been left as it was after the invasion with bombed out gunneries and huge craters in the ground.  225 specially trained rangers aimed to take this point; only 90 made it as the others were shot down in the landing.  The 90 who got there found that the big guns were not on the point but had been temporarily moved inland.  

We also visited Omaha beach where another pair of monuments are placed.

Another stop took us to this spot where a full bunker is still visible as are a lovely farmer's canola field:

Finally at Arromaches we saw an engineering marvel.  Because the Allies needed a harbor (they moved 156,000 men and 20, 000 vehicles onto the beaches in 12 hours) and didn't have one, they made an artificial one, the remains of which can be seen in the photo below.   The Allies brought 50 or more large cement caissons (hollow inside) and sunk them to form the harbor; they also scuttled some ships to fill in the gaps.  Also visible is a view down the beach.

 Visiting the American cemetery was even more sobering than the other sites, where rows of crosses and some Stars of David go on for acres.  There is also a monument to the spirit of American youth at one end of the cemetery.

This visit is evidence of the great sacrifice of many people, both soldiers and civilians, as well as how tragic wars are.

On our way back to Caen, we were able to see more of the lovely countryside of northern Normandy, shown below as well as the castle below in the village of Creully.

Mes Etudes en français à Alliance Française-- Learning French at Alliance Française

Depuis le fin de Septembre, j'ai appris français à la Alliance Française à Paris.   AF est la première institution en France de l'enseignement de la langue pour les étrangers. L'institution est situé près du mon appartement, seulement 5 minutes à pied.  Je suis heureuse que j'ai faire mes études la car l'instruction de l'éducation est excellent.  Les professeurs sont patients et ils travaillent très dur de nous enseigner (ils doivent faire un cours de training 4 mois longue à AF).  Les livres de l'instruction sont intéressant avec les leçons variées.  Dan le salle de classe, il y a un "smart board", outillage d'audio et wifi qui on utilise pour vidéo par YouTube.  Je me n'ai jamais senti ennuyé dans le classe.

Since the end of September I have been studying French at Alliance Francaise in Paris.  AF is the leading language learning institution in France for foreigners.  The institute is situated near my apartment, only 5 minutes on foot.  I'm happy that I have studied there because  the educational instruction is excellent.  The professors are patient and work hard to teach us French (they must spend 4 months in training at AF).  The instruction books are interesting with lessons with variety.  In the class there are smart boards, audio equipment and wifi for using video via YouTube.  I never felt bored in the class.

Front courtyard of Alliance Française
Cour avant Alliance Francaise

J'ai appris française 9 heures par semaine (avec aussi le devoir de environ 3-4 heures).  Quand j'ai commencé (aux E-U j'ai ecouté les audiotapes de Pimsleur),  je peur parle avec les verbes présents et comprendre un peur.  Je ne peur pas écrire et je ne peur pas lire bien.  Maintenant (ma dernière classe était cet semaine) je lis bien, je peur écrire un e-mail sans l'obstacle, je connais le passé composé, le imparfait, le future simple and présent conditionnel et beaucoup de mots!  Malheureusement je comprends encore pas trop bien, mais c'est le même avec les autres étudiants.

Le Professor devant le "smartboard"
A teacher in front of the smart board

Professor et étudiants
Professor and student

SmartBoard

Etudiants avant la classe
Students before class

I studied French for 9 hours a week (also with about 3-4 hours of homework).  When I started (in the US I listened to audiotapes from Pimsleur), I could speak with present tense verbs and a bit of comprehension.  I could not write and I couldn't read well.  Now (my last class was this week), I read well, can write an email with no trouble, I know the passé compose, the imperfect, future and present conditional tenses and a lot of words.  Unfortunately I still don't comprehend well, but it's the same with the other students.









La meilleure expérience de mes études était inattendue--les autre étudiants.  Ils viennent de la plupart du monde.  Il y a étudiants dans mes classes de Europe, l'amérique du nord (le USA et Canada), l'amérique du sud, le Moyen-Orient, le Japon, la Chine, la Malaisie, l'Australie, et Philippines.  Le plupart sont plus jeune que mois--20-35 ans.  Mais je suis allée à déjeune avec eux et nous avons parlé sur notre vie à Paris et chez nous (nous parlons souvent en anglaise!).   De les connaître était une expérience merveilleuse et a additionnée beaucoup à mon séjour en France.

The best experience of my studies was unexpected--the other students.  They come from most of the world.  There were students in my classes from Europe, North America (the US and Canada),  South America, the Middle East, Japan, China, Malaysia, Australia, and the Phillippines. Most are much younger than me--20-35 years old. But I went to lunch with them and we talked about our life in Paris and in our home countries (we speak mostly in English!). Knowing them has been a wonderful experience and added so much to my stay in France.