Un Voyage en France

Well, we were planning to be on time but with Harper that's pretty much impossible. (Harper: Hey this time it wasn't my fault!!!!) We got to Temple Meads Train Station with only minutes until our train was supposed to leave. We ran to the Platform only to hear the whistle blow signaling no more passengers were to board. The next train to London wasn't for another hour but we asked the platform attendant the fastest way and he had us board a train that went a few miles to Bristol Parkway where we could board another train to London. So we ended up leaving in 30 minutes instead of an hour, which was good because we arrived at Victoria Coach Station and were the last people to be checked in for our bus to Paris that was already running late!

Our overnight bus ride proved to not be particularly restful. We ended up on a coach that was full of Russians (in there 20's) who were very loud, laughing their way to Dover. It was a relief to get onto the ferry from Dover to Calais because we got a brief break from the loud Russians. The ferry however rocked more than any seagoing vessel I have ever been on, which was surprising since it was so large and the water didn't look particularly choppy. So we had restless sleep on the Ferry until Calais where we got back on the bus, luckily most of the Russians had quieted down some and we did get some sleep between Calais and Paris.

Looking at part of the line from the top

 It took us a few minutes to get oriented upon our arrival at the coach station but we soon found a Metro and headed straight for Le Tour Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower isn't quite as tall as we imagined it but it was still incredible just to be there. We waited in line for about an hour and half -which was pretty good considering the tower hadn't even opened yet for the first half hour of our wait- and finally reached the ticket window. Much to our disappointment the top of the tower was closed! We were baffled; apparently due to some technical issues only a 

few people who had pre-purchased tickets were allowed to go to the top. So we bought tickets for the second floor of the tower, which saved us quite a bit of money, and we still got the feel of being at the Eiffel Tower (not to mention that we rode a double-decker elevator!) The best part of the Eiffel Tower was probably taking the stairs back down to the bottom though, you feel so vulnerable climbing down stairs from so high up in the open air. After that many steps you get a weird condition that we have now named TMSS (Too Many Stairs Syndrome) which gives you shaky legs for hours afterwards. We have definitely climbed enough stairs in the past few months to know for sure that this affliction is real!

         

   From the Eiffel Tower we got on the Metro and made a quick trip to L'Arc Du Triumphe on Les Champs Elysèes. It was quite a regal monument but we decided to save our money and not climb it since we had just gone up the Eiffel Tower (and there was a very long line to climb it). So after claiming that we had 'Been There' we got back on the Metro and went to the Louvre.

            The Louvre was enormous! We had no idea where to start so we randomly progressed through hallway after hallway of famous artwork. Eventually we came upon the Mona Lisa, which we both agreed was not very impressive and should not be as famous as it is, there are hundreds and hundreds of better paintings from the same time period in the Louvre. We moved from Italian artists towards French painters and came across La Libertè guidant le peuple (Liberty guiding the people) which appears on the cover of Coldplay's Viva La Vida (and happens to be one of my [Dakota's] favorite paintings). After looking at room after room of paintings we progressed towards the Venus de Milo which like the Mona Lisa was no better than any other statue in our opinion. But now we can say we saw it! The Louvre was so enormous that there were thousands of people in it but it was easy to be the only person looking at a picture, often times there were no more than 15 people in a room. After seeing about as much artwork as we could handle we made our way to Napoleon III's Apartments, which were more lavish than anything we have ever seen. There were crystal chandeliers hanging in every room and numerous velvet lounges, we were quite impressed. After another hour or so wandering aimlessly about the Louvre admiring artwork we made our way back out and headed to Notre Dame.

The creepiest gargoyle

Coming out of the bellfry

After seeing as many churches as we have this semester, the inside of Notre Dame was not particularly special. The greatest things were probably that the ceiling was taller and the stained glass was very elaborate. Climbing the towers of Notre Dame was much more impressive than anything inside. After hundreds of steps we came up on a balcony and stood amongst the famous Gargoyles, many of which are very creepy looking while others aren't so much, such as an elephant and a stork. We moved on through a very short and narrow entrance in to the belfry and stood next to an absolutely enormous bell and then went back out and descended the tower, after which we got TMSS again. From Notre Dame we walked further down the island and made a special point to cross Pont Neuf since it is such a famous bridge (and was of extra interest to me since I just read The Three Musketeers in which it is a very important landmark).

Yummy sausages for lunch! 

Dakota by Pont Neuf

From there we took the Metro and found our way to our hotel. After checking in we went to a grocery store and bought some bread and cheese for dinner. The cheese was spectacular! It was called pié d'Angloy which was a soft cheese with a flavour best described as yum! We wrapped up the evening amusing ourselves watching an episode of Monk in French.

Our boom boom bracelets

The next morning we made our way to Sacre Cœur (yet another church) situated high on a hill. As we went to climb the steps to the church some street vendors took a liking to us. We tried our best to avoid them, repeating no thank you and trying to walk away but it was futile. They grabbed our hands and slipped a string over one of each of our fingers and proceeded to make bracelets, we tried to slip away but we were stuck, the only way out would have been to beat them off! So we gave in and the men were from Senegal and told us that hakuna mattata (which you may recognize from the lion king) was from their language and that we would have good Juju and that I would have 3 kids and the guy making Harper's bracelet said she would have 5! (a little concerned about this discrepancy!) However they proceeded to bless us and told us that we 'will have good boom boom, you know what I mean by boom boom?' Well after scraping by paying the Africans 5 Euros we hurried up the mount avoiding other vendors at all costs!

We did a quick walk through of the church and then went to a separate entrance to view the crypt and climb the basilica. The crypt was rather dull so we didn't spend much time down there and progressed to the stairs up to the basilica. The climb to the Basilica was neat because it was a combination of indoor and outdoor stair climbing. We went up a spiral staircase inside, then went outside and climbed stairs that followed the roof of the church and then went back inside to another spiral staircase up to the cupola. It was neat climbing so many monuments because you can see all of the other places you have been or are going once you get up to the top.

 After descending the stairs back to the bottom (and another case of TMSS) we wandered down the surrounding streets looking in shops and then headed back down the mount. At the bottom of the stairs we were confronted once again by African street vendors but we came prepared and had our hands clenched. One man grabbed me and was trying to get me to buy a bracelet but I escaped by saying 'No, I already have one' and then he changed completely and thanked me and shook my hand instead. They are very persistent! From there we headed to the Moulin Rouge since it was so close. So we walked over in front of it and said 'saw it' and headed back to the Metro and took it to the Catacombes.

 The Catacombes were definitely a highlight of our adventure. We waited in line for about an hour before we got the entrance, but it was well worth the wait. We got in for half the price because we were between 14 and 26, which is always nice, and then we descended a long spiral staircase deep into the earth. When we reached the bottom (and recovered from TMSS again!) we reached a series of dark narrow passageways. We walked for quite a ways and were pretty edgy because there were dark side corridors with iron gates over them which were scary just because they were in the unknown. After nearly half a mile of walking down these old mine passages we came across a sign over a passage that said Arrête! C'est ici l'Empire de la Mort (Stop! This is the empire of the dead) which made it even creepier. We entered and saw the walls of the tunnels lined with femurs and skulls stacked up next to each other, the rest of the bones were piled in a heap behind them. We walked for about a mile through collection after collection of bones from throughout the city.

 If it wasn't enough walking through walls of dead people some of the skulls bore the marks of murder, execution and torture, some had obvious bullet holes in them, others had knife or sword cuts into the skull, and still others had holes that had been drilled into them. An interesting study in anatomy and crime and punishment, but certainly not a light hearted trek! There are supposed to be more than 6 million bodies that were removed from cemeteries around Paris because the bodies were piling up so much they were causing health problems. (Oops, got a strange disease from a dead body at church today!) Throughout the tunnels there were also quotes from poetry and books that referred to death, which were disturbing and certainly put one on edge (and made me feel that my courses in French had finally paid off). After about an hour and a half in dark tunnels deep under the city we climbed yet another spiral staircase to the exit, where our bags were searched to be sure we weren't stealing bones! EWW!

Upon exiting we realized we had just walked about two miles underground so we had no clue where we were! (And it wasn't even on our map!) So we wandered down some streets until we found a Metro, where we were able to navigate back to our hotel. Then we went out to eat at a restaurant we found just down the street. Our waiter thought it was quite amusing that we shared our meals and so he laughed and joked to us every time he passed by. We ordered l'escargots (just because we were in Paris) and a veal dish. It was by far some of the most savoury dishes I have ever had! The escargots were actually really good, they were broiled in garlic and tasted and had the same texture as mussels (meaning Harper didn't like them too much). For dessert we had some very delectable crème brûlée.  We spent more than an hour in the little French restaurant and enjoyed ourselves very much; the prices were great except for the bottle of water which cost us 6 Euro! We ran back to the hotel in pouring rain and watched the Simpsons in French, Marge sounds even worse in French than in English!

        

The next morning we took the metro to the bus station and boarded our bus, which only had about 15 people this time and was much quieter! We bussed to Calais where we got on a ferry to Dover. We were excited to see the white cliffs of Dover and were quite surprised to see them from Calais! Of course they got bigger as we sailed across the channel, but they are definitely visible from France, we had no idea! From there we bussed into London and took our train back to Bristol, where we made a delicious late dinner of burgers and French fries (I guess I should say chips) at 11:30 at night! 

Rome & The Vatican

 Our huge adventure last week was a jump over to Italy to see all the wonders of Rome and The Vatican.  Having only three days to see all the sights we were busy running up, down and all around marveling at art and ruins.

Dakota along the river in Rome

The trip began with our first planning mistake wherein I (Harper) booked a flight that left from London at 6 AM, thinking we could get a train from Bristol to London very early in the morning.  This, however was not possible and we had to catch the last train from Bristol to London the night before our flight, leaving us in London's Paddington station from midnight till 3AM.  Then the train company I had booked our trip on said we could get on the Tube (Underground) at 3AM to transfer to Liverpool station where the shuttle to the airport runs from.  So we assumed that the Tube opened at 3AM and we would be able to get to Liverpool station at that time (since that is what our ticket said).  We faithfully waited at Paddington in the freezing cold with no one else around but the cleaning crew and some vagrants.  Dakota eventually noticed that he had brought his special pocketknife that had belonged to his Grandpa with him on accident and we were panicking that it would be taken away at the airport and it was too early in the morning to mail anything.  So we walked around the station a few times looking for a place to hide it in hopes we could just pick it up when we returned.  Finally we found a rafter just barely in reach that had 2 CCTV cameras mounted on it pointing in opposite directions away from the rafter, so they couldn't see it.  We decided to go for it and hid the knife there in hopes that it would still be there on our return.  And in hopes we wouldn't be caught for acting suspiciously.

Eating pizza after a long trip to Rome!

After playing lots of solitaire on my phone and standing in the warm light of the Millie's cookies booth, it was finally rolling around 3AM, but the Underground still wasn't opening.  I asked someone what time it opened and they said not until 5! So we rushed to a bus stop and finally got on the right bus to take us to Liverpool station where an exhausted Dakota and Harper got on the airport shuttle and immediately fell asleep on the warm train.  A 2 hour flight later we found ourselves in Rome.  Going through customs unusually fast (they didn't even look at us when they stamped our passports) we were finally in the city and ready to explore!!!



The first thing we set out to see was the coliseum.  A ginormous ruin, it truly is a marvel.  Happily, we had pre-booked tickets and a tour allowing us to skip the loooooooong line.  We got the 90 minute archaeological tour, allowing us to go through locked gates and even to the top floor (not the original, but the highest one left standing).  We learned lots of interesting facts for example nearly the whole thing including the seats was covered in marble, it used to have a roof, and the floor was covered in sand so that the blood could be cleaned out easier.  Originally it started out as sort of an arena of water with boats in it that people would tell stories from.  Then it became the bloody venue we know of today.

Harper imitating a statue

Next, we headed across the street to Palantine Hill (one of the 7 hills of Rome), where many Roman officials used to live.  Attached to it was also the Roman Forum, and both of these made up a very large collection of ruins.  Actually large is too small to describe it... there were so many we were almost bored by the time we'd seen them all! And that's saying something -especially for Dakota who's an archaeology major.  But nevertheless it was very interesting and we spent a few hours trudging around there.



After that it was gelato time! On our way to the Pantheon we stopped at a yummy looking gelato shop -after cramming ourselves into the tiny shop that was a brimming with people we picked out our flavors and ordered.  Dakota asked for a small cone that had a wavy edge and pointed to the lady which flavor he wanted.  She scooped it out and then looked at him expectantly and after a moment said that he had to pick out two more flavors.  So he did and then she proceeded to put another cone, two wafers and several swirly cookie-sticks and finally handed it over to him for a charge of 9 euros!!! After finding out that the original chocolate-sprinkle cone I wanted was going to be 24 euros, I promptly asked for a simple cone with just one scoop -I have no idea what they could have possibly put on it to make it that much!

We finished our abundant heaps of gelato and walked to the Pantheon -a huge domed church with great columns leading to it.  Magnificent!

Our next stop was to check in at our bed and breakfast -which proved to be more difficult than we expected.  It was in an apartment building with a buzz in door.  We had told them what time we planned to check in and they were supposed to meet us outside but no one came and no one came so we went in behind some people with a key.  At this point we were a little panicked and before we even got to the stairs, an elderly lady told us we were supposed to wait outside (or at least we think that's what she was saying).  So we went back outside and waited a little longer, then snuck in behind more people with a key and hiked up to the seventh floor where the directory said our bed and breakfast was.  On the door there was a little note that said if no one was there we should go to a different bed and breakfast on the third floor and they would check us in.  We went down the four flights and sure enough the lady there helped us and checked us in to our room.  Phew what a relief!

Harper in one of the many
churches we visited

After a much needed sleep we woke up early the next morning at 4 o'clock because we had to register for our fall classes at home (University of Idaho), only to find that the internet server was down! But we managed to register by getting on to another network that wasn't secured (much to our relief). After a couple more hours of sleep we woke up to go to the catacombs of St. Callixtus, one of the first Christian crypts that used to house many of the first popes.  The bus ride there was very... well crushing.  We waited for about a half hour at the bus stop and then literally had to push ourselves into it to even get on it was so crowded! Every time it stopped everyone had to cram together so that the doors could open.  Slightly flattened, we arrived at the crypts to take an interesting tour seeing rows and rows of what now look like built in shelves on the earth walls where the bodies would have been placed and then a plaster would be put even with the wall to entomb them.  Our guide was an Australian priest who liked talking to me and Dakota and making little jokes -which made it all the better!

Dakota in front of Trevi Fountain

That afternoon we saw a few more incredible churches and fountains.  Our favorite was Trevi Fountain -and it is many other peoples' too as the throngs of fellow tourist proved.







Our next stop was the Capuchin crypts under Santa Maria della Concezione.  These were intricate decorations and monuments made of human bones.  They were very impressive covering the ceiling and walls in what could be considered beautiful designs.  To us that was pretty cool (although some might find it revolting and creepy) but the disturbing part were the dead monks around the crypts that still had flesh on them.  One even had a traces of a beard still! 


The next day was devoted to the Vatican.  We got up early to go see if we could get into St. Peter's Cathedral before getting into the Vatican Museums.  St. Peter's is a separate entrance and Wednesday morning is when the Pope appears so there was extras security measures and they were checking people's bags.  Dakota had just bought an Italian coke bottle and can (he's a collector) and they took them away (because they were such a threat to the Pope?).  After getting our soft drinks confiscated we asked a Swiss Guard -who really do look hilarious -how to get into St. Peter's and he said that it wasn't open until after the Pope gave mass! So we went back over to the Vatican Museum entrance, happily skipping the line of several hundred there as we had pre-bought tickets.  

Dakota's nose filling in for the statues' missing one

The Vatican museums have a one way traffic scheme, but we hurried through to the Sistine Chapel so that we could be sure to see it before it was too crowded.  It truly is amazing and the scenes look three dimensional in person.  There were only maybe twenty people in the chapel when we were there so we had plenty of time and room to marvel at it.  We went back to the beginning and through all of the increasingly crowded rooms with an overwhelming amount of art everywhere.  My favorite part was the map rooms with wall size depictions of places and villages, cities, trees and mountains painted intricately on them.  We were glad we went to the Sistine Chapel first though, because when we came back through a second time it was jam packed full of people!









After seeing just about as much art as we could stand, we went back to St. Peter's Basilica around 1:00 only to find that the mass was still going on (and there was no security so no need to steal my coke in the first place! -Dakota).

 

 

We joined a small line that was forming to get into St. Peter's Cathedral while we saw the Pope come out and crowds of people cheering for him.  So hurray! We saw the Pope! The line got longer and longer and when they finally opened it up to get into St. Peter's masses (Haha no pun intended!) of new people were pushing in to join the front of the line.  That is one interesting thing we encountered in Rome a lot: pushing, 

shoving and line-cutting.  Nevertheless, we ended up close to the front and headed strait for climbing the cupola.  It was an amazing hike, the first level taking us to the dome inside the church were we could look down and up at the inside of the incredible monument.  Then we went up more stairs until we were on top of the building itself, and then up more stairs until we were inside the cupola -the dome on top of the cathedral. In total we climbed 546 steps and some ramps.  Towards the top of the cupola the walls were tilted so you had to walk crooked! The view from cupola is stunning and you can see the landmarks of Rome around you.  After admiring the sights from above and finding our where we were staying from that height, we went back down a layer to the roof of the cathedral.  There we looked in the souvenir shop, wrote a few postcards (to send by Vatican mail) and sat and enjoyed ourselves.  This was our favorite part of the trip.  

The next day we were sad to leave the city of Rome with its overwhelming amount of artwork, ruins, churches and fountains.  Nevertheless, we boarded the plane and, after a scary landing where the pilot slanted the plane so the wing almost touched the ground, we were back on English soil.  And at Paddington station we were happy to find that Dakota's pocketknife was precisely where we had hidden it.