27 August 2008 Rouen, France

Just returned from Tours, France in the heart of the Loire Valley region of France. This is where most of the famous chateaux of France are located. We went down by train last Saturday and spent three afternoons doing minibus tours of the chateaux [2 or 3 each 1/2 day]. Mostly they were interesting and pretty but, I confess, I have now seen enough chateaux to last me a while.

One of the interesting ones was the small chateau where Leonardo da Vinci lived the last three years of his life. The young king lived very near by and invited da Vinci to come there because the king wanted the intellectual stimulation of his company. The building was simple inside and out but da Vinci's drawings and the exhibits of the models of many of his inventions were absolutely fascinating [at least to us].

The chateau which we liked the most was Villandry--and that was for the gardens, we did not go inside the building. The gardens are deservedly very famous and were amazing. They have trained apple trees on a wire about 2 feet off the ground all around each section of planting so it is sort of an apple "vine" and it was full of apples. It is a very large garden with many different sections including both many types of flowers and a very large kitchen garden. There are several chateaux which are more famous than this one but we certainly enjoyed the gardens.

We enjoyed the very French hotel in Tours and had a couple of excellent meals in restaurants [also some ordinary ones]. However, no matter how much French we use, everyone always knows we are either English or American. They usually assume English since Americans usually do not speak as much French as the English.

We are getting organized for our trip to Paris airport on Saturday and flight to Atlanta on Sunday. So, home soon.

21 August 2008 Rouen, France

Summer seems to have ended in Northern France. The weather is now in the 50's (F) at night and the 60's during the day. It stills rains a lot, but that is Rouen. It does not rain much at a time, just a light rain or heavy drizzle for a while and then cloudy [or Maybe sunny] for a while. School ends tomorrow---for us. We train to Tours on Saturday for three days of Loire Valley chateaux. Have to change train stations in Paris but since we will only have our carry-ons for luggage we will just take the metro. I am home with some type of stomach thing but feeling better.

17 August 2008 Rouen, France

It is now Sunday night after a three day weekend. Friday was some religious holiday and the French NEVER miss the opportunity to have a holiday if there is some sort of reason.

We did lots since this is our last weekend in Rouen. Friday we took a guided [in French] tour of the Cathedrale de Rouen. The guide was 82 years old and did a nice job. Dee understood a significant amount and I even understood some. He was pleased to have some Americans and the other two people spoke some English and were happy to help with explanations. The Cathedrale was severely damaged during the D-Day Invasion and was completely rebuild after the war. It was started in the 9th or 10th century. It is beautiful--particularly the outside. Monet painted many pictures of the outside in different light and at different times of the year. After our tour there was a concert of two trumpets and organ and we stayed for a part of that.

Saturday we went by train to Bayeux. First some background for the non-history majors.

England was LAST invaded in 1066 by William the Conqueror Duc of Normandy,France) and he won the battle [and the crown of England] at the battle of Hastings. This is a very famous event in English history since no invasion has occured since. In the near years after the battle [currently assumed to be within the next 50 or so years] someone [not known who today] commissioned a tapestry depicting the story of why the battle and of the battle. The tapestry still exists today and is over 1,000 years old! It is about 18 inches high and over 70 yards long.

It is called the Bayeux Tapestry [or Tapisserie de Bayeux] and that, dear friends, is why we went to Bayeux. If you have any interest in history, it is a very good visit. Afterwards we visited their Cathedrale which is quite pretty and worth a visit. As we were leaving, a wedding party arrived so we waited and watched the bride [who was quite pretty] and her entourage get organized and enter the church. Since the Cathedrale is a big tourist attraction, the church was not closed for the wedding but we decided not to actually attend their wedding.

It was a two hour train trip each way but it was a fun day.

Today we made our last 2008 trip to the Sunday open market [called a marche] in one of the city squares. We have gone every Sunday. One of the ladies even remembered us from last year on our first visit this year!

This is our last week of school. Next Saturday we are off to Tours, France by train for three full days of visiting the chateaux of the Loire Valley. Then back to Rouen for a couple days and then back to Georgia the end of the month.

UPDATE FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE

Our only official newsletter [email] was from the early part of our trip to Belgium. A quick look back to bring one up to date.



We visited Gent, Brugge and Brussels while in Belgium for two weeks in May. Enjoyed everything but were a little disappointed in Brussels [I think Paris has spoiled us for most other large cities]. We went by high speed train to Paris where we stayed several days. Had good visits to several museums and a very good meal at a restaurant we went to last year.



Then to the barge, L'Heritage, for the month of June. We rented a car and went sightseeing for a few days before starting to move. Among other places, we went to the official head-waters of the Seine River [a spring coming out of a grotto]. Our friends, Bob and M.J., joined us for the last two weeks of June and we traveled to Dijon. The weather got warmer [but never too hot] and we traveled through 119 locks!!--luckily all managed by lock keepers.



We came from Dijon to Rouen where we have rented an apartment for two months while we go to school. The school is good and we are learning a lot of French---though we have no hope of learning it all.

3 August 2008 Rouen, France

My Mother seems to have recovered from her health problems and so we hope her situation will remain stable.



We are now in Rouen and have just finished our fourth week of French school. This is the same school we attended last year. We returned here because it is the best school we have attended so far---this is our fourth year of coming to school in France. I might actually learn to speak French one day! Dee Ann of course continues to improve.


We have three more weeks school then we go to Tours, France for about a week for some sightseeing in the Loire chateaux area. then we return to Rouen for a few days before flying back to Atlanta.

2 August 2008 ROUEN, FRANCE

Our apartment building is on the corner, across the street from the Seine River [the same river that goes through Paris]. Here is the view from our balcony. Unfortunately, it is somewhat noisy but we have adapted to it.

Rouen has a big Armada of sailing ships every four years. Our schedule this year happened to coincide with the big event. We spent two 1/2 days walking along the quay looking at the ships. Lots of fun but tiring.