Paris in the (Spring) Rain

We have seen Paris in all its glory, with the sun shining on the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.  That was not to be on this trip.  We had rain and low skies.

When we went out for dinner, the charming cafe had these pictures on the wall.

The next day our bus dropped us off as close to Notre Dame as was possible.  A large area around the cathedral is behind a fence, mainly because of lead contamination.  We did see the oldest tree in Paris, planted in 1602, a nice little park and some interesting buildings.

417 years and still standing!

Notre Dame with scaffolding

This is the best view we had of Notre Dame.  We could just make out the Eiffel Tower through the rain, so I did not think that would make a very good picture.  Fortunately, we were in Paris before, so here is what they looked like in 2011.

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

Another Day, Two New Countries

It was time to leave the rivers for another overland bus trip.  It did not take very long to get to Luxembourg.  Our guide had to point out the spot on the highway where we crossed the border  or we would never have known.  Since the EU (European Union) it is not necessary to have customs offices at the borders, and you never have to show a passport when you travel from one EU country into another.

Our first stop was the American Cemetery.  As you enter, the first thing you see is a tribute to the soldiers and a listing of the missing in action.  Marks by some names mean that remains have been found and identified.  Hundreds of soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge or shortly thereafter are buried here.

I never understood why it was called the Battle of the Bulge until I saw this map.  It shows the troop movements and battles.  The German troops had "bulged" into other countries.




Each grave is marked with a simple cross or Star, engraved on the back with name, Army unit, date of death and state.  The rows are laid out in a semicircular manner around the Memorial Chapel.






































One of the most famous soldiers in the cemetery is General Patton.  His grave was originally in among the others, but so many people came to see it that they were destroying the grass all around the area.  Now he is in a special area blocked off from the public.  The only civilian buried here is his wife.  Her ashes were buried near his grave.

That is a bank in the background,
not a church.

Luxembourg, the capital of Luxembourg, is the center of government and also of many corporations dealing with the European Union.  When the EU was established, none of the more powerful countries wanted to  have the headquarters in another powerful country, so tiny Luxembourg was chosen.  This brought banks and other companies to the country.  In years long ago, the churches were the tallest and most important buildings in a city.  Here and now, it is the banks whose buildings rule the skyline.  One exception is the column to victory.  The Germans tore it down and tried to destroy it, but it resurfaced, in pieces after WWII.  Part of the neck was missing, so now the statue looks down on the city instead of straight ahead.







The royal palace of the Duke of Luxembourg is adjacent to the legislature on a busy street.  Although the royal family does not live there, the palace and its grounds are well guarded.

The emblem of Luxembourg

The city has its share of churches too.

The old city sits on the top of the hills, with any attacker having to attack up-hill.























Colorful sculptures of brains dot the city.  They will soon be auctioned off to raise money for charity.

From here, it is just a short ride to the French border, then a long ride to Paris.

Once a Major City --Now?

It seems that we are spending a lot of time on the bus.  Today we left the boat at a small town and drove a couple of hours so that we could meet the boat at Trier.  The only place the boat could dock was nowhere near the center of Trier, and if we stayed on the ship and sailed to Trier, we would not get to the city until evening.  Thus the time on the bus.

We quickly drove past the Ruins of a Roman amphitheater, bu all I could see was a grassy field.  More interesting was the Governor’s Palace facing a large park.  I am not sure what you would call the statues guarding the steps down to the park.  The palace was ornate with what our guide assured us, was real gold.

This is a catholic area, with only one Protestant church.  Originally it was the audience hall for the Roman official in charge of the area.  The building was meant to intimidate the locals whose buildings were made of wood.  This structure was made of over one and a half million hand-made bricks!  It was longer than 2 football fields, over 100 feet high and about 85 feet wide.  Anyone seeking an audience with the head honcho had to enter this edifice, walk slowly the entire length and kneel down before the official.  By then he was probably quaking in his boots and could not remember why he came.  Although it has had many uses and suffered various amounts of destruction, the building still intimidates.

Some of the million and a half hand-made Roman bricks.

We also saw the High Cathedral of St. Peter, the oldest church in Germany, built in Roman times.  It houses several relics, including the Seamless Robe of Jesus, the robe said to have been worn by Jesus shortly before his crucifixion. 

This was one of several “ecclesiastical” churches, not for the common people, so the merchants built themselves a church by the market square.  Its tower was higher than the official church.  Of course, that church had to add another steeple to top that one.

In all the cities we have visited, there once were strong walls surrounding the city.  However, in most cases, the walls were breached and subsequently torn down.  One small stretch of wall, or rather the gate of a wall still exists in Trier, and for a very strange reason.  This particular gate was not a gate as we envision a gate.  It actually was two strong stone walls connected by a building with rooms having windows looking down on the space between the two gates.  The outer gate was an iron "drop gate" which could be lowered to prevent entry into the town.  The  inner gate was thick wood.  If an enemy managed to get through the first gate, he was trapped in the space between.  The defenders, looking down from the windows above, could hurl rocks, garbage, or anything else they had on hand.  They also could pour boiling oil on the invaders.  It worked pretty well.  

A certain monk felt a calling to retreat to a room in the gate and remained there for the rest of his life.  Not too many years later, the Pope declared him a saint and the church took possession of the gate building.  They removed one of the towers, added height to the other and called it a church.  It is now an empty shell, but it did not get destroyed either by enemies or urban planners.

A town which has lasted for almost 2000 years has many styles of buildings.  Old buildings come down and new ones fill in the space.  New houses are attached to old, which creates a diversity of style and height. 

Sorry about the umbrella blocking the ground floor.

One building had an unusual feature -- no door on the ground floor!  The only way to enter the house was through the door on the floor above the ground.  (In Europe that is called the first floor.  In the US, that is the second floor.  Just another confusion of the languages.)  Entrance was by means of a ladder which could be pulled in to keep out unwanted visitors, or a husband who came home too late.

A more modern tall structure is the Sky Ride, a circular compartment that goes up on a tall central tower so you have a grand view of the city.  You would not have seen much when we were there.

A Tale of Wine, a Town and a Castle

We are sailing through one of the best regions in France for the production of white wine.  The steep hills are made of slate which warms up easily and holds the heat, releasing it slowly during the night.  Even though the mountains are steep, vineyards have flourished since Roman times.  Most of the plants are in vertical rows.  I would think that would allow a lot of erosion, but I understand that a single plant will send out roots for over 12 feet, holding the soil.  Also the plants in vertical rows do not shade the rows below them.  At least that is what we have been told.  However, in more recent time, more vines are being planted in horizontal rows.

 

Either way, all the grapes must be picked by hand.  Women make better pickers because they are fussier about what they pick.  Any grapes that are "sunburned" or damaged in any way will ruin the taste of the wine, so they are just left on the vines or thrown on the ground.  There are now tracks running up the hill between sections of grape plants.  A small "carta" goes up to collect the bags of grapes so it is no longer necessary to have strong men with what looks like a frame backpack go up and down with full loads of grapes.  We learned all this at a winery which has been in the same family for 11 generations.  The son did not want to carry on the family tradition, so he went off to college.  There he found out that there was a lot of science involved in making wine and came home with some new ideas.




Some previous blended wines were pretty bad, but, using his knowledge of the chemistry and properties of the grapes suited to this region, he created an new blended wine.  To avoid the old stigma of blended wine, he called it "cuvee" a French term meaning blended instead of the German word.  Now they produce thousands of bottles of it and it is widely accepted.  When we tasted it we knew why!






Cochem, on the Moselle River in Germany, was built, attacked, destroyed, and rebuilt many times.  Every time the balance of power shifted between the French and Germans, French troops would destroy the town.  Very little of the old town and its walls remain, but this section of the main gate and the adjacent house escaped destruction since it was built.

The house and wall were built in 1332!

Since most of the town lies along the river, they are accustomed to having a foot or two of flooding each spring.  However, they did not expect this high water in December 1993.  People had to be rescued from the second story windows.  One part of the town is well above any high water -- the castle.







The exterior and most of the interior of this castle has been faithfully restored.

The dining room

This statue is actually a knight in full
armor, not Kermit the Frog!

The view from the castle was stunning!