Where do you live in Paris? #2

Where do we live in Paris?

We live on a street with a shop that sells chapeux, hats.  

Laurence Bossion is a haute couture hat shop.  We enjoy looking in the shop window at the lovely, exotic hats.  The hats displayed in the window change each week, sometimes more frequently.  We know the seasons are changing just by watching the changing style and color of the hats.  

Of course, these are not just any hats.  The hats are bespoke one-of-a-kind creations.  Some appear in high-end fashion magazines like Vogue and Glamour.  The hats are a bit pricey.  For a few hundred euro, you can look like this.

If you are interested, you can learn more at the website by clicking here.  Or when in Paris, you can visit the shop in person.  It is located up the street from apartment.  

P.S.  FYI, Greg plans on sticking with his black beret.

Cars in Paris #1

While strolling around Paris, we see many exotic and luxury cars.  Some are vintage and some are new.  Here is a tasting menu.  Enjoy. 

A Maybach parked on Rue St. Honore.  (Our apartment building is down the side street on the left.)

An Aston Martin?

Possibly, the same Aston Martin parked in the same space.

Lamborghini

A classic Citroën

A classic Alfa Romeo

When you visit, you can even drive a luxury car.  For 89 Euro, you get 20 minutes behind the wheel of a red Ferrari California or a gold Lamborghini Gallardo.

We will take your photo speeding down the Champs-Élysées.

Traveling in France #1 (Part 6 of 6)

Our trip to Normandy continues with a visit to Mont-Saint-Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

Mont-Saint-Michel is an island near Avranches.  The island, a huge outcrop of granite, is home to an abbey at the top and a town at the bottom.  The island is surrounded by water at high tide and mud at low tide.  The island has long been fortified.  During the 100 Years War, the English attacked  unsuccessfully.

The island has long served as a religious refuge, at least since the 5th century.  In the early 8th century, Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, had a series of dreams in which the archangel Michael appeared to Aubert and commanded him to build a church on the island.  Aubert was hard-headed and didn't initially follow the command.  So, Michael touched Aubert's forehead, making a hole in it.  Aubert got with the program and started building an abbey with a church on top of the granite island.

In the abbey is a reproduction of the miraculous event (pictured below), complete with the hole in Aubert's forehead.

Over the next several centuries, construction of the abbey, town and fortifications continued with the magnificent result pictured below.

Visiting Mont-Saint-Michel is not easy.  It is not near anything else.  After arriving at a parking lot near the shore, a shuttle bus takes visitors across a long bridge.  Then, visitors walk along a causeway to the town's main gate.  At very high tides, the causeway is covered by seawater.  

Mont-Saint-Michel's fortified main gate, with a drawbridge  

Once inside the gate, the path leads continuously upward--up narrow streets and up many, many staircases.  If you are part mountain goat like Susan, you will enjoy climbing to the top.   

Main Street in Mont-Saint-Michel

A view of the top after climbing about halfway

The climb is worth it.  The views are wonderful and the church and abbey are lovely.  

A view from the top

Another view from the top

We toured the church and part of the abbey.  A portion of the abbey is closed to the public, because it is home (since 2001) to about a dozen sisters and brothers of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, an order founded in Paris in 1975.  (The order has a lovely church, the Badia Fiorentina, and small shop in Florence that we visited many times during Year 2.) 

Here is a photographic tour of the Romanesque church and abbey.

The facade, nave and roof of the church, together with the archangel Michael to whom the church is dedicated:

Next to the church is a cloister and a large refectory.

Below is one very large fireplace for cooking and warmth.

So, how you get supplies to an abbey built high on a hill?   The answer appears below.

Two men walk inside the "big wheel" which pulls supplies up the hill. 

We enjoyed visiting Mont-Saint-Michel, especially since our dear friend Susan Morris was with us.

Thanks for visiting Normandy with us.  We hope you enjoyed it.

Traveling in France #1 (Part 5 of 6)

Our trip to Normandy continues with a visit to the picturesque seaport St. Malo, in nearby Brittany.

The town was founded more than 2,000 years ago and has a colorful history.  After the Roman era, there was an influx of Celtic Britons fleeing England.  So, the area has a unique culture--language, music and food.  Over the centuries, the town (pictured below) was fortified against attack.  

St. Malo has a rich seafaring history.  Privateers, acting for the French king, attacked and seized cargo from ships sailing under flags of countries warring with France.  So, the sailors from St. Malo were highly skilled and some became extremely wealthy as a result.  

In the harbor of St. Malo, the Etoile du Roy (the King's Star), a replica of an 18th English ship   

One of St. Malo's favorite sons is sailor, explorer Jacques Cartier who claimed Canada for France in the 16th century.

Another favorite son was privateer Robert Surcouf (pictured below).  He was known for capturing many British ships.  After Surcouf captured one ship, a British officer told him, "You French fight for money while we fight for honour." Surcouf replied, "Each of us fights for what he lacks most."

(The statue of Surcouf is pointing at England)

Another favorite son was Chateaubriand, an influential French writer.  Chateaubriand was also a foodie.  Supposedly, his personal chef created the Chateaubriand steak for him.  

St, Malo is home to a lovely 12th century cathedral, the Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Saragosse de Saint-Malo.  The church, built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles, was partially destroyed during WWII and was eventually rebuilt.  

The blessing of Jacques Cartier

The bronze altar and lecterns from 1991 are especially interesting.

We walked along the walls of the town and enjoyed some beautiful seascapes.

The resort town pictured above, Dinard, is located on the harbor opposite St. Malo. 
Pablo Picasso visited and painted there in the 1920's.

The photo below depicts something odd in the water.  If you look closely, you can see a diving platform.  

It turns out that the diving platform is part of tidal pool.  At low tide, the water recedes far from the beach.  So, a pool was installed.  Check it out.

  

We strolled around the town and enjoyed some shopping and local cuisine.

It was a lovely day in St. Malo.  Thankfully, no pirates harassed us.

Next Up:  Mont. St. Michel