| The day started
out very early (at 6:30) because we had to be gone from the hotel at 8:00.
Breakfast was the second best so far (only the previous morning's was better),
because there was a good selection of food including milk, and an assortment
of jams for the baguette. Since all were ready early, we rushed out
in the light rain to get our stuff loaded. Today I sat beside Mike
and behind Nancy and Tina on the bus. To occupy some of the time
there we played the last letter game (one person says Canada, next is Australia
[or some other country starting with A] then next is Austria, etc.), I
played a bit of Mike's Connect Four game, and talked. Later on the
others around me played the last letter game with movies and entertainment
figures instead of geographical locations.
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| Our first stop of the day
(to which we took the long route) was Chenenceau. Chenenceau is the
chateau built by Thomas Bohier and taken over by the king instead of payment
of back taxes. Henri II gave it to his mistress Diane de Poitiers.
When Henri II died, his wife Catherine de Medici kicked Diane de Poitiers
out and took up residence there. Catherine added her own garden and
put a building on the bridge over the river to serve as a ballroom.
Today, the chateau includes many of the original furnishings, because it
was protected during the revolution. Unfortunately, the stained glass
windows in the chapel are not the originals, because they were bombed in
1944. I got a good chance to look at most of the rooms in reasonable
detail, as well as the gardens.
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Chenenceau - a view from the front |
Catherine de Medici's garden |
Diane de Poitier's garden |
A view of Chenenceau from Catherine de Medici's garden |
Chenenceau from Diane de Poitier's garden |
Chenenceau from Diane de Poitier's garden |
The gardener's house at Chenenceau |
| Our next destination was
Chambord, which was the hunting lodge built for Francois I and then Henri
II. The chateau is one of the largest and has a colossal 365 fire
places (the most of any chateau). It has double spiral staircases,
which intertwine so that a person on one case cannot see a person on the
other set. It also has a double set of ramps leading into the castle,
so that the king could ride or be driven all the way into his castle, and
his wife could not see him leave to visit his mistress, if she was arriving
at the same time. Anyhow, we had a bit of time to look around, but
definitely not enough when the size of the place is considered. Mike
was the first to figure out the double staircase, and tricked most of us
by doing it. Scott and Matt (who were not at the preparatory meeting
when this fact about Chambord was told to us) were adamant at first that
there could not be intertwining staircases. I took a brief look in
many of the rooms and spent at least five minutes on the roof looking around
and out over the surrounding country. The day was slightly greyish, so
the view was not an excellent one. On my way out I took a quick look
through the gift shop and bought a postcard booklet of Chambord.
I waited a while for some of the others to get some ice cream at one of
the shops but left first because they were taking far too long.
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The Nanton contingent of the group in front of Chambord
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The Chateau de Chambord (from a post card book) |
The Chateau de Chambord (from a post card book) |
| As soon as everybody had arrived at the bus, we left Chambord and headed toward our last stop before Paris, which was Nôtre Dame de Chartres, a medieval cathedral. The bell towers are quite different looking, which reflects the different times when they were built. Most of the cathedrals were built over a span of more than one hundred years, but none show the differing architectural styles as well as Chartres. Inside was quite interesting to view, and for a fee one could go up one bell tower to get a view of the town. Since I did not know about this opportunity, I did not run up to get the view. It was sitting in this cathedral that I made my notes from which I wrote my newspaper article on how magnificent the cathedrals are, and yet how much greater God's love is. |
Nôtre Dame de Chartres |
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Note: My pictures of Chambord and Chartres were on a section of film that was destroyed, so I am using postcards and borrowed pictures . The pictures of the Nanton group at Chambord and of Nôtre Dame de Chartres are courtesy of Rennie. |
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Our brief stop in Chartres was over far too soon, but we still had more miles to travel before we would reach Paris. When we arrived in the suburbs of Paris, Mme. Berdusco offered a prize for the first person to spot the «Tour Eiffel», but, of course, she was the first to do so. After it was spotted, some of the stories of it were told: one famous person stated that the view from the tower is good only because it is the only place in the city where it can't be seen. On the way toward our hotel, several of the famous sights were pointed out to us including the place where Princess Diana died. We arrived at our Paris hotel and all said goodbye to Jean-Claude, some far more emotionally than others. The hotel was right beside a Metro stop, so that made travel around the city quite convenient. We were given some time to go to our rooms, after which we were summoned to the eating area in the hotel where Mr. Brown and Mr. Hall explained to us how the Parisian Metro operates including how line changes work. After this talk, we went on the subway with tickets purchased by the teachers for us (most of the students were out of francs) and headed toward the Place de la Concorde. In this area we got to see the Obelisk (given to France by a ruler of Egypt for their friendship), the lighted Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, and la Louvre in the dark. A brief look around in this area was soon over. After supper I went back to the hotel and went to bed. |
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