Mom came to visit me in Paris a couple weeks ago and it was chateaus and oreo smoothies and walking galore! She arrived in the morning on the 14th and we then left my apartment to explore Paris. I showed her Sciences Po, thereby proving to my parents that this whole exchange thing was not just a giant ruse to let me go chill in Paris for five months, and then we walked around the 7e arrondissement, stopping at le Tourville cafe for club sandwiches, pizza, and their famous oreo smoothies. Before dinner, we went to le Petit Journal, a jazz club near le Jardin du Luxumbourg where a jazz band from New Orleans was playing. We then dined at les Papilles (translation: the tastebuds) where I had probably the best meal, for me anyway, in Paris. They have a set menu that changes each night. On this particular night, they served cauliflower soup pour over bacon and cheese, a beef stew (there is a more culinary word to describe this), blue cheese and cherry jam (again, there is a more culinary word), and an apple cinnamon panna cotta for dessert. I felt like I was expecting triplets after that meal but it was sooooooooooooo good.
The next morning we got up bright and early to catch our train to Caen in Normandy. We got in around noon to a beautiful sunny but slightly cold day. We dropped off our bags at our hotel then explored the town. Caen was the city of William the Conquerer. We saw the fortress, Chateau du Caen, and the two abbeys, Abbaye aux Hommes and Abbaye aux Dames, he built around 1060. All remain intact and in good condition, surviving world wars, attacks by the English, and you know just a milleniums' worth of casual wear and tear. We also visited the Museum of Normandy which was kind of odd as they only featured Caen in the Stone Age and then skipped right to the Industrial Revolution. We also wandered along the river, watching sail boats prepare for the Normandy Channel Regatta. That night we dined on moules et frites and then waited for the bill longer than the time we had spent eating. Love French customer service!
Fortress of William the Conquerer
The next morning, we went to the Sunday market of Caen near the river. Mother was fascinated with the woven baskets and I got a cute beach onesie for my Greece and Croatia trip. We also snacked on crepes and picked up spices, baguette, and strawberries. After some struggles with the bus schedule, we managed to find the right bus to take us to Juno Beach. We visited the Juno Beach Centre, a museum built as a memorial for the Canadian soldiers that served in WWII and then took a tour of the beach, which included going into an old German bunker. It was so crazy to be at Juno beach and look out over the calm ocean and imagine that just over 60 years ago, the horizon was covered in military boats and the beach, with soldiers.
Juno Beach
That night I fulfilled my weekly seafood quota by dining on a seafood platter of calamari, mussels, and prawns. The following morning we packed up our things and trekked it to Bayeux (a small town about a 15 minute train ride from Caen) to see the famous Bayeux tapestry, a 70 metre tapestry which depicts William the Conquerer's conquering of England. We also checked out the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Bayeux, a lace factory, and walked around the entire town in about 20 minutes because it was that huge. For lunch, we had savory and sweet crepes and then we trained it back to Paris.
Bayeux
The next day was another bright and early morning at a train station, off to Tours for our tour of the Loire Valley chateaux. In the morning we visited Château de Chenonceau, a château built in the 1430s. King Francois I seized the château from the previous owner and upon his death, his son Henry II gave it to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. When Henry died, his widow Catherine de'Medici forced de Poitiers to trade Chenonceau for another château and it became de'Medici's favourite residence. The castle straddles the Cher River and it's the second-most visited château in France after Versailles. Chenonceau's gardens were incredible and Mom was particularly impressed by the amount of gardeners they had on staff and creepily took a picture of them! Here are some pics of Chenonceau:
After Chenonceau we went to Château d'Amboise, a château in the town of Amboise on the Loire River. Fun facts about Château d'Amboise: This château was one of the first to showcase Italian Renaissance influences in architectural design. King Francois I grew up at the château; he became a close friend of Leonardo da Vinci, and in da Vinci's later life he lived and worked there. He is buried in a small chapel on the château grounds. In the 1800's, the château was used as home for the exiled Emir Abd al-Qadir, the leader of Algeria during the French invasion, and his family. Château d'Amboise pics:
We had lunch in Amboise and then we went to Château de Chambord, which is the largest château in the Loire Valley and was used by Francois I as a hunting lodge. It has been suggested that da Vinci designed parts of Chambord, such as the double helix staircase (basically two spiral staircases wrapped around each other). The château has 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, and 84 stairs. The roof, especially, is quite intricate and almost has an art deco-like feel to it. FUN FACT (but actually I found this really interesting): During WWII, Chambord was used as a storehouse for various French museums' art pieces. During the lead up to WWII, French curators began to devise plans of how to evacuate and store art collections as they were worried about German pillaging, particularly of Jewish art. Chambord was one of eleven châteaux used as giant art storehouses. The Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo were even stored at Chambord at one point. Voici Chambord:
The last château we saw was Château de Cheverny, a slightly newer château than the previous ones we saw (it was built in the 17th century). This château had a more manor-like feel to it than the other châteaux . It's claim to fame is that it was the model for the Château de Moulinsart featured in the Tintin books. It also features the smelliest dogs in the world. The grounds house a cage of at least 50 hunting dogs and at first I was like "Oh cute, beagles" and so I went over to the cage and was met with the most repugnant smell of life, like wet dog x 50000 mixed in with the merde of 50 dogs. Unpleasant. Cheverny pics:
Mom got to experience a French impossible when we tried to return to Paris from Tours. There were strikers (but of course) on the tracks of Gare Montparnasse, the station at which we needed to arrive (but of course). So at first our train was on time, and then it was delayed, and then it was cancelled, and then it was delayed again. And they kept changing the arrival track so everyone was running up and down stairs, to and from various tracks. We did get back to Paris, only an hour behind schedule. I may have overreacted at one point (by freaking out that we would never get back to Paris and have to stay in Tours for the night) but really, I was just tired and hungry and could not wait to get back and eat the kraft dinner Mom had so kindly brought me. Yes, I'm surrounded by delicious French food every day but the thing I craved most for a month straight was powdered pasta. North American for life.
Mom's last couple of days in Paris were spent exploring the Marais and St. Germain, seeing Victor Hugo's house, visiting the Palais de Tokyo, failing twice to make it to Come on Eileen (how is it that when I want to go and show Mom all the amazing vintage clothes, they close for 3 days straight), attending the Lido cabaret, walking a ridiculous amount, and eating really good food. Peter was nice enough to grace us with his presence on Mom's last night in Paris and we went for dinner at Chez Janou, a typical French bistro such that you are literally eating dinner at your neighbour's table.
So all in all, it was a great week with my mother. I learned a lot about French history and she learned that 50 cents plus 50 cents equals 1 euro! and that a cent is 1/100th of a euro! Good for her!
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