On Tuesday, April 28, I waited patiently for my good friend Amy to arrive and when the time came I whisked myself toward the bus stop for the airport. But to my dismay Toulouse had yet another one of France's famous protester's walk directly in my path. Waiting as long as I could, I snuck through the line of them and got to my destination. Then it occurred to me since the protester's were allowed through how then would the bus get through? The road on which they held their protest was a road that made a T so the end on which my bus was to come was blocked via police barricade. I'm thankful I was not only person anxiously watching the barricade slowly go down and cars slowly allowed back through. Then it seemed like an hour or so later the bus arrived. Thankfully I arrived more than on time for Amy's plane. I'm glad I took the earliest possible bus. Yet one more dilemma, I thought I knew the airport better than I did. But alas, I was at the wrong gate and I was happy to hear "We would like to invite Taylor Goemaat to the information booth, Thank you." So I headed straight there hoping Amy didn't feel too scared. I found her, looking anxious (as I'm sure I would feel) but greeted her cheerfully. She gave me a hug and we were off to meet Ben who would be waiting with the car. We all got back to the apartment to rest for a few minutes before we headed to a bowling alley to meet Ben's co-workers.
We were the first ones to arrive to the bowling alley. It was near the large shopping center in Blagnac and we found it without hassle. But ever so slowly Ben's co-workers arrived. Then we seemed to wait for at least 10 minutes to be seated at the restaurant area of the alley. Being a French bowling alley, the meal was the main thing. Every single one of Ben's co-workers got the menu that was offered and we had just ordered pizza. So Ben, Amy and I tried to eat the pizza as slow as possible to wait for Ben's co-workers to finish each part of their meal. It was nice to meet Ben's co-workers face to face, some of them I had never seen before and it was also nice to chit chat with them about my time in Toulouse, what French words I was having trouble with and how long Amy was staying. They all seemed nice and glad to have some conversation. After the meal was over, we headed over to give up our shoes to get bowling ones and play the one game. Ben's co-workers were scared we Americans were going to be really good at bowling, but we definitely proved them wrong. At least on my end of things. Ben and I haven't been bowling at least since College so I knew I was going to be rusty. Rusty I was, for my frames each showed a nice little zero to say I was losing miserably. Ben, being the good husband explained why I was not doing so hot. He gave me some direction and I was finally earning some points, as little as they were. By the end of the game I was pretty close to one of Ben's co-workers, she only beating me by a few points. It was fun, a different way to do bowling, at least compared to America's version. Only playing one game I was not allowed to improve my score by much, which made me miss American bowling a little because you can play as many games as you want. But we all seemed to have fun. we headed home to rest after a long day.
I have not seen all that Toulouse has to offer so, a couple days later (Thursday, April 30), Amy and I headed to St. Sernin Basilica and the Natural History museum. Since I have been here awhile, I've heard a lot about St. Sernin and why it was a good place to visit, so one might as well see for themselves. Amy was immediately impressed by the architecture, its curving domes and doorways as well as the carvings decorating the pillars. Admittedly, I thought the Basilica would be more grand than it was. Of course I am just comparing it to the cathedral's I have already seen. Compared to Albi, it did not have the painting nor the scale of Albi's cathedral, but it was pretty in its own right. The front altar of the the Basilica was elaborately done in gold, beyond the altar there were vast paintings of Bible stories some having golden outlines. The many chapels each had their own elaborate decorations displaying their patron saint, one was even bigger than the rest. One of the most interesting things about the the Basilica is the story behind its creation. It was built in honor of a Toulousain bishop that was martyred by a bull dragging him through the streets. He was a popular bishop and he had a fascinating story, so after the Basilica was finished people came from all over to see the church which was built for him. With its following the Basilica became one of the stops on the way to Compostela in Spain. After we took a few pictures and explored all that we could explore in the church we headed straight to the Toulouse Natural History Museum.
When we arrived at the museum I was expecting something different when we arrived. I was expecting more about Toulouse and its natural history and not so much about the world as a whole, which was what the museum was about. It takes you on an adventure through the different layers of the earth starting with the rock and working up to the surface. Continuing on our journey through the earth we learned about earthquakes and lava, as well about many of the beasts that can be found on the surface. The first stuffed animals we saw were birds and insects then it began to tell of the other creatures, zebras, rhinos, sloths, snakes, alligators, and many other creatures one can see throughout the globe. It was all very interesting, even though several times I had to convince myself my imagination was playing tricks on me and that the animals were not moving in the least. Besides the stuffed creatures, the museum also has a garden full of different flowers and plants. One can also see two live peacocks show you their feathers as they strut through the greenery. We were done with the museum and decided to head to its boutique to see what was there. We made quite a splash in the boutique, finding neat things to give to friends. We both enjoyed our time there, learning about the animals and our earthly domain.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Pious and Wealthy of Toulouse
On a bright sunny day, Thursday, April 23 I joined my friend Lisa and her sister on another tour of Toulouse. This tour was on the different monasteries and mansions that once ruled the streets of Toulouse. A long time ago Toulouse was a very Catholic city, it used to have many monasteries that would take up several city blocks. In fact, Place Saint Georges nearly butted up against one of the monasteries. This monastery was the monks of St. Antoine Du T. Their monastery took up at least 4 or 5 blocks, thus nearly colliding with what is now (and was) Place Saint Georges. Monks, like football teams or high school teams had a bit of a rivalry. The St. Antoine Du T monks used to have a regular cross on their robes, but after the Knights of the Templar's came to Toulouse they could no longer have that cross, because the Knights had the same type of cross on their robes as well. So as a group the St. Antoine monks decided to use what our guide said was an Egyptian cross which formed a "T" thus making them St. Antoine Du T monks. The large monastery no longer exists, only a part of it remains. But that part is on the road tributes to the St. Antoine Du T monks. It holds the obvious name of "Rue de St. Antoine Du T" and funnily enough I use that road often to get to Place Wilson. Another interesting apart of that particular road, is that the city of Toulouse has displayed various stone pieces on a building, also attributing to the road's history. These pieces are replicas of what used to be on the monastery as decoration, their originals can be found at the Musee de Augustines.
Speaking of the Musee de Augustines, it is another monastery that held about the same amount of land as the St. Antoine monks. But unlike the St. Antoine monks, the Augustine monks would not go out into the world. They would remain in their monastery, praying, gardening and taking care of the church and cloisters. Later, in the monastery history, they decided that they wanted to get more land, so they asked the Pope if they could buy some more land. The Pope on the other hand would not give them the land unless the Augustine monks would take part in the world outside their monastery. The Augustine monks figured that would be an alright plan and opened their doors to the world. Several years later, due to their new worldliness, the Augustine monks were under scrutiny, the church had found that the Augustine monks were allowing prostitutes into their quarters. It had brought the monastery popularity, but the monks within the walls were no longer pious, their humanity brought their monastery shame. After kicking out some of the devious monks, the Augustine monastery slowly dwindled in numbers and soon was shut down.
On the other side of the spectrum, Toulouse was also home to several different sects of penitents. Penitents are religious men who aren't monks, but ordinary people who do good works for others. They came in many forms and colors, the colors could range from red to black. The color stood for how extreme their beliefs were. The red penitents would flagellate themselves in honor of Jesus' sufferings (as is one example). We only got to see two representations of the penitents that are still around. The blue penitents still have a church next to the department store Monoprix (this is about a 3 block walk from our apartment). The church is called St. Jerome. It has a somewhat unusual interior, having light blue walls and their sculptures being bright white. The inside was quiet and peaceful, a few people were inside, praying as we viewed the church. Just outside the sanctuary of the church our guide said that St. Jerome is usually quite busy, just from the use of the people. She also stated that St. Jerome is a place where people can find peace and meditation during their busy lives. I thought that was rather interesting, that the penitents, who ran the church let it remain open during the weekday to allow people to pop in and find peace in God. Another interesting fact about this church is that King Louis XV, I think, used to give money to this particular church, saying that he would continue to pray and give money to this church until his wife would give birth. As was his goal, his wife soon gave birth and money stopped being given to St. Jerome. Today there are many relics which remain with St. Jerome, these relics were purchased for the church through King Louis XV. It seems the penitents are still very gracious to the former King for all that he did for them. The other color of penitents we saw were the black penitents. Their church was unavailable for viewing because their are very few times throughout the day when it is open. But our guide said it is a very beautiful church that if you caught it open one should peek in.
Besides the Churches, we saw some mansions that were built by two different people. One, though I do not remember the architects name had a beautiful front. The building was red brick and on the second floor was a wonderful glass patio, framed by intricate metal work. The next mansions we saw were built by a different person one for his son and the other for himself. Again, I do not remember his name. The one for this man's son had a very picturesque door, with ornate carvings. They were sadly faded for it takes too much money and time to restore it. The house also had quite an array of vines climbing up it, which must also be apart of the lack of money for restoration. On the other hand, the man's house seemed very well taken care of, it is a unique house because it has a flat front decorated with beautiful Toulousain ironwork.
It was a fascinating journey from the time of the monks to the time of the mansions. The tour guide always seems to have great surprises for anyone who decides to go on her tours. I am very glad I have been able to go on them and learn just a little bit more of the city I have made my home for the past four months.
Speaking of the Musee de Augustines, it is another monastery that held about the same amount of land as the St. Antoine monks. But unlike the St. Antoine monks, the Augustine monks would not go out into the world. They would remain in their monastery, praying, gardening and taking care of the church and cloisters. Later, in the monastery history, they decided that they wanted to get more land, so they asked the Pope if they could buy some more land. The Pope on the other hand would not give them the land unless the Augustine monks would take part in the world outside their monastery. The Augustine monks figured that would be an alright plan and opened their doors to the world. Several years later, due to their new worldliness, the Augustine monks were under scrutiny, the church had found that the Augustine monks were allowing prostitutes into their quarters. It had brought the monastery popularity, but the monks within the walls were no longer pious, their humanity brought their monastery shame. After kicking out some of the devious monks, the Augustine monastery slowly dwindled in numbers and soon was shut down.
On the other side of the spectrum, Toulouse was also home to several different sects of penitents. Penitents are religious men who aren't monks, but ordinary people who do good works for others. They came in many forms and colors, the colors could range from red to black. The color stood for how extreme their beliefs were. The red penitents would flagellate themselves in honor of Jesus' sufferings (as is one example). We only got to see two representations of the penitents that are still around. The blue penitents still have a church next to the department store Monoprix (this is about a 3 block walk from our apartment). The church is called St. Jerome. It has a somewhat unusual interior, having light blue walls and their sculptures being bright white. The inside was quiet and peaceful, a few people were inside, praying as we viewed the church. Just outside the sanctuary of the church our guide said that St. Jerome is usually quite busy, just from the use of the people. She also stated that St. Jerome is a place where people can find peace and meditation during their busy lives. I thought that was rather interesting, that the penitents, who ran the church let it remain open during the weekday to allow people to pop in and find peace in God. Another interesting fact about this church is that King Louis XV, I think, used to give money to this particular church, saying that he would continue to pray and give money to this church until his wife would give birth. As was his goal, his wife soon gave birth and money stopped being given to St. Jerome. Today there are many relics which remain with St. Jerome, these relics were purchased for the church through King Louis XV. It seems the penitents are still very gracious to the former King for all that he did for them. The other color of penitents we saw were the black penitents. Their church was unavailable for viewing because their are very few times throughout the day when it is open. But our guide said it is a very beautiful church that if you caught it open one should peek in.
Besides the Churches, we saw some mansions that were built by two different people. One, though I do not remember the architects name had a beautiful front. The building was red brick and on the second floor was a wonderful glass patio, framed by intricate metal work. The next mansions we saw were built by a different person one for his son and the other for himself. Again, I do not remember his name. The one for this man's son had a very picturesque door, with ornate carvings. They were sadly faded for it takes too much money and time to restore it. The house also had quite an array of vines climbing up it, which must also be apart of the lack of money for restoration. On the other hand, the man's house seemed very well taken care of, it is a unique house because it has a flat front decorated with beautiful Toulousain ironwork.
It was a fascinating journey from the time of the monks to the time of the mansions. The tour guide always seems to have great surprises for anyone who decides to go on her tours. I am very glad I have been able to go on them and learn just a little bit more of the city I have made my home for the past four months.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Doing as Romans Do: Rome, Italy
Friday, April 17: Ancient Rome
Rome is one of those places a person has to see. It is the birthplace of modern human civilization and has helped established of many places on the map, especially in Europe. Ben and I headed to Rome for the weekend. It is nice to know we live in a town that has flights to wherever you would want to go. Especially if one would want to see Europe.
Our flight to Rome was not too long, about an hour and a half. We arrived at the airport only to wait for our bags for a little while and then run into some men advertising a "shuttle" from the airport to the center of town. They explained that it would be cheaper and faster than the train to get where we needed to go and at that point we needed to get to our hotel that we hadn't a clue as to where it was. We waited patiently for the drivers to be ready. Our wait was soon over as we were motioned to our van, which was already filled with people, most of which whom had not been to Rome yet. The people we met were from several different places on the globe, the couple who were sitting behind us were from Holland and a couple we met while waiting for the driver were from Canada. It was nice to know that we were not going to be the only tourists in town (not that that would really be the case in Rome).
After the short drive into the city center Ben and I arrived at our hotel. We were quickly checked in and our bags were dropped in our room. Ben found that the Coliseum was not too far away, about a 2 or 3 mile walk. As we are young, it seemed easy just to walk there. The weather was cooperating, for the sun was out and it was warm. Collecting our cameras, the map and ourselves we headed out the door, ready for a Roman adventure. On our way to the Coliseum there were many touristy shops on the way. We had to peek in, for before our trip we had determined to get several gifts for those at home. Our peeking was over and we were headed out again. It seemed we were not the only tourists who had decided to walk to the Coliseum. We were following several people headed in the same direction. Once we got there, there was a huge crowd around the Coliseum. Some of which were not tourists. There were some very persuasive men dressed as gladiators that scooped us up to take a picture, with our camera, who we reluctantly shelled over 10 euro. But after that distraction we headed toward the entrance. Now I admit I have been to Rome before and this time the Coliseum did not seem as impressive. I don't know if it was all the tourists we were following, or if it was the effect of the last time I was there. The last time I came to Rome, I was with friends, and I distinctly remember coming out of the metro station and being completely awed. Perhaps the last time I came it was the transition from the modern to the ancient that really impressed me. This time we did not have quite that transition. Nevertheless, Ben at least was very impressed and I knew that the Coliseum was a great building, still standing from the ancient world. We viewed it for awhile and took too many pictures. Then we headed to the other ancient Roman sites, the Palentino and the Roman Forum. It was neat walking through the ruins of the Roman times, imagining what it would have been like to have been a Roman citizen and shopping, getting food and conversing with the fellow citizens amongst the stone structures. Leaving the ruins we walked a block away to the Circus Maximus where the Romans had chariot races and other such wonders. It is just a park now, that is heavily used by the modern citizens of Rome. We soon left the ruins and the Circus for something I had never seen in Rome and that is the famous Mouth of Truth. It was perhaps made famous by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the movie "Roman Holiday." It is an unusual site. It is attached to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the church was closed, but through the gate we could see its stony faded face. There is an unusual legend attached to it, that if you are a liar your hand will be bitten off. The funny truth about the Mouth of Truth is that it is just a drain cover from Roman times and it simply gets its infamous history from the silly legend. But everyone is always up for a little fun, so I understand why such a legend stuck.
Saturday, April 18: Vatican City
We thought we would be smart and head to the Vatican City a little earlier than the average tourist, about a half an hour before it opened. We got there in good time and started our wait about a block and a half away from the main entrance. While in line, we met a couple from near London who were on a weekend getaway like we were. We had a nice chat about our homes, work and what is worth to see in Rome. But we soon parted at the door which we reached at 9:15 a.m. 15 minutes after the museums in the Vatican had opened. We were through the security and ready to see the religious artwork that was available. Unfortunately, as we walked through the museum, viewing the precious and beautiful artwork I could remember seeing some of what we saw. I felt a little deja vu, for in a another life (the life of a student) I had seen it. Continuing on our journey through the museums, I kept telling Ben we had to go through a lot of artwork to get to the Sistine Chapel, but we kept on getting sidetracked by various bits of other artwork in other sections of the museum. Finally we found the right path. The path was long and draining to the Chapel, but I was encouraged it was worth it to go through it all. As we got nearer to the Sistine Chapel the artwork got more and more modern. We soon were seeing Salvador Dali and other modern artists, sadly we did not spend much time viewing these pieces of art. Everyone in line, including Ben and I wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo's more impressive piece of art.
The Sistine Chapel was awesome, just as I remembered, crowded and a bit loud, despite the fact that one is supposed to remain quiet while viewing the masterpiece. I have seen the Sistine Chapel before, though I have that privilege I was still very impressed. It truly is a beautiful piece of artwork that I certainly could stare at time and again and see something new and different. We were soon through what we wanted to see at the Vatican. We stopped by a building to see the Pope's carriages through the years and were amazed by the number of them and the ornate beauty of his possessions.
We left the Vatican City satisfied with what we had seen and glad that the overwhelming amount of artwork was no longer in front of our eyes. We spent the rest of the day finding souvenirs for ourselves and family. Determined not to leave Italy without a little something for those at home.
Sunday, April 19: Those Other Famous Sights
No journey to Rome is complete without seeing the Trevi Fountain. We were within walking distance of the fountain, so we took the chance to do that. When we reached the fountain it had, of course, a mob of people from all parts of the world each one doing something different, taking a picture, throwing a coin or just enjoying the sight of several hundred people admiring it. The fountain (if you've never seen it) is a dramatic picture of what I think are sea gods controlling their water steads (horses). Like the Mouth of Truth, the Trevi Fountain has a story, but its story is that if you throw a coin behind your back, your wish will come true. This was also in the movie "Roman Holiday" but I have a feeling it was famous before the movie came to film it. After seeing what we could see of the fountain, we headed for the Spanish Steps. This was also within walking distance so we walked the several blocks from the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish Steps. Like the fountain, the steps were full of people but, unlike the fountain, they were able to sit and rest on the steps. We took part and rested for a bit. In front of us, with the view from the steps, one can see a long road, this road is Rome's high end shopping district. One more thing I had not seen on my former visit to Rome as a student. I asked Ben if we could see it and he agreed, so we joined the hundreds of people walking down this road. Whatever high end thing you would desire, you could find on this road. There was a Louis Vuitton store, Prada, Gucci, Dior and whatever sort of thing you could want or need there was a store for it. We peeked in the stores, but being high end we only looked. It was fun, but it was hard to believe that someone could afford such things, even if it was just a designer name that they were buying. We soon tired of the mayhem of the people and prices and decided to go to St. Peter's Basilica, which we still hadn't seen (due to my lack of remembering how one could get there).
St. Peter's is quite a walk, so we took the metro. It was easily found just around the Vatican wall. Admittedly, this Basilica was as busy as the fountain and the shopping street, but one has to remember that it is the largest Basilica in the world. The Basilica was just as I remembered, vast and beautiful. But one thing I remember doing, we could not do. There was a mass going on so we could not go closer to the main altar. So we just stood on the sidelines, watching as a few people could get through to the mass. We continued to view the Basilica and were soon done. We decided to head back to the hotel to rest before dinner, so we hopped on the metro and rode it to our hotel (for it had started to rain). Once we were back in our room we watched a very competitive game of soccer (all in Italian, mind you) cheering for the team of our choice. Soon that was over and it was time to eat. We rode the metro to a wine bar, but unfortunately it was full. So we headed in the direction of our hotel, via the sidewalk just looking for any sort of restaurant that caught our eye. One caught it immediately. Outside of this restaurant, lights were flashing and when we entered we were greeted with great hellos and were immediately seated. The restaurant was rather homey, despite its packed nature. The walls were decorated with rustic pictures and tools. The music was fun and loud, all due to their DJ who certainly enjoyed his job. We ordered a roasted chicken and potatoes. Boy was it tasty! The chicken was moist and the potatoes flavored and cooked to perfection. It was the highlight of our trip, just having waiters and their DJ enjoy their job. If you're ever in Rome, go to this restaurant, I believe it is called Malto Calto. You will certainly experience a fun and homey atmosphere. We went back to the hotel satisfied with our meal and our day. We had throughly enjoyed our own "Roman Holiday."
Rome is one of those places a person has to see. It is the birthplace of modern human civilization and has helped established of many places on the map, especially in Europe. Ben and I headed to Rome for the weekend. It is nice to know we live in a town that has flights to wherever you would want to go. Especially if one would want to see Europe.
Our flight to Rome was not too long, about an hour and a half. We arrived at the airport only to wait for our bags for a little while and then run into some men advertising a "shuttle" from the airport to the center of town. They explained that it would be cheaper and faster than the train to get where we needed to go and at that point we needed to get to our hotel that we hadn't a clue as to where it was. We waited patiently for the drivers to be ready. Our wait was soon over as we were motioned to our van, which was already filled with people, most of which whom had not been to Rome yet. The people we met were from several different places on the globe, the couple who were sitting behind us were from Holland and a couple we met while waiting for the driver were from Canada. It was nice to know that we were not going to be the only tourists in town (not that that would really be the case in Rome).
After the short drive into the city center Ben and I arrived at our hotel. We were quickly checked in and our bags were dropped in our room. Ben found that the Coliseum was not too far away, about a 2 or 3 mile walk. As we are young, it seemed easy just to walk there. The weather was cooperating, for the sun was out and it was warm. Collecting our cameras, the map and ourselves we headed out the door, ready for a Roman adventure. On our way to the Coliseum there were many touristy shops on the way. We had to peek in, for before our trip we had determined to get several gifts for those at home. Our peeking was over and we were headed out again. It seemed we were not the only tourists who had decided to walk to the Coliseum. We were following several people headed in the same direction. Once we got there, there was a huge crowd around the Coliseum. Some of which were not tourists. There were some very persuasive men dressed as gladiators that scooped us up to take a picture, with our camera, who we reluctantly shelled over 10 euro. But after that distraction we headed toward the entrance. Now I admit I have been to Rome before and this time the Coliseum did not seem as impressive. I don't know if it was all the tourists we were following, or if it was the effect of the last time I was there. The last time I came to Rome, I was with friends, and I distinctly remember coming out of the metro station and being completely awed. Perhaps the last time I came it was the transition from the modern to the ancient that really impressed me. This time we did not have quite that transition. Nevertheless, Ben at least was very impressed and I knew that the Coliseum was a great building, still standing from the ancient world. We viewed it for awhile and took too many pictures. Then we headed to the other ancient Roman sites, the Palentino and the Roman Forum. It was neat walking through the ruins of the Roman times, imagining what it would have been like to have been a Roman citizen and shopping, getting food and conversing with the fellow citizens amongst the stone structures. Leaving the ruins we walked a block away to the Circus Maximus where the Romans had chariot races and other such wonders. It is just a park now, that is heavily used by the modern citizens of Rome. We soon left the ruins and the Circus for something I had never seen in Rome and that is the famous Mouth of Truth. It was perhaps made famous by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the movie "Roman Holiday." It is an unusual site. It is attached to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the church was closed, but through the gate we could see its stony faded face. There is an unusual legend attached to it, that if you are a liar your hand will be bitten off. The funny truth about the Mouth of Truth is that it is just a drain cover from Roman times and it simply gets its infamous history from the silly legend. But everyone is always up for a little fun, so I understand why such a legend stuck.
Saturday, April 18: Vatican City
We thought we would be smart and head to the Vatican City a little earlier than the average tourist, about a half an hour before it opened. We got there in good time and started our wait about a block and a half away from the main entrance. While in line, we met a couple from near London who were on a weekend getaway like we were. We had a nice chat about our homes, work and what is worth to see in Rome. But we soon parted at the door which we reached at 9:15 a.m. 15 minutes after the museums in the Vatican had opened. We were through the security and ready to see the religious artwork that was available. Unfortunately, as we walked through the museum, viewing the precious and beautiful artwork I could remember seeing some of what we saw. I felt a little deja vu, for in a another life (the life of a student) I had seen it. Continuing on our journey through the museums, I kept telling Ben we had to go through a lot of artwork to get to the Sistine Chapel, but we kept on getting sidetracked by various bits of other artwork in other sections of the museum. Finally we found the right path. The path was long and draining to the Chapel, but I was encouraged it was worth it to go through it all. As we got nearer to the Sistine Chapel the artwork got more and more modern. We soon were seeing Salvador Dali and other modern artists, sadly we did not spend much time viewing these pieces of art. Everyone in line, including Ben and I wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo's more impressive piece of art.
The Sistine Chapel was awesome, just as I remembered, crowded and a bit loud, despite the fact that one is supposed to remain quiet while viewing the masterpiece. I have seen the Sistine Chapel before, though I have that privilege I was still very impressed. It truly is a beautiful piece of artwork that I certainly could stare at time and again and see something new and different. We were soon through what we wanted to see at the Vatican. We stopped by a building to see the Pope's carriages through the years and were amazed by the number of them and the ornate beauty of his possessions.
We left the Vatican City satisfied with what we had seen and glad that the overwhelming amount of artwork was no longer in front of our eyes. We spent the rest of the day finding souvenirs for ourselves and family. Determined not to leave Italy without a little something for those at home.
Sunday, April 19: Those Other Famous Sights
No journey to Rome is complete without seeing the Trevi Fountain. We were within walking distance of the fountain, so we took the chance to do that. When we reached the fountain it had, of course, a mob of people from all parts of the world each one doing something different, taking a picture, throwing a coin or just enjoying the sight of several hundred people admiring it. The fountain (if you've never seen it) is a dramatic picture of what I think are sea gods controlling their water steads (horses). Like the Mouth of Truth, the Trevi Fountain has a story, but its story is that if you throw a coin behind your back, your wish will come true. This was also in the movie "Roman Holiday" but I have a feeling it was famous before the movie came to film it. After seeing what we could see of the fountain, we headed for the Spanish Steps. This was also within walking distance so we walked the several blocks from the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish Steps. Like the fountain, the steps were full of people but, unlike the fountain, they were able to sit and rest on the steps. We took part and rested for a bit. In front of us, with the view from the steps, one can see a long road, this road is Rome's high end shopping district. One more thing I had not seen on my former visit to Rome as a student. I asked Ben if we could see it and he agreed, so we joined the hundreds of people walking down this road. Whatever high end thing you would desire, you could find on this road. There was a Louis Vuitton store, Prada, Gucci, Dior and whatever sort of thing you could want or need there was a store for it. We peeked in the stores, but being high end we only looked. It was fun, but it was hard to believe that someone could afford such things, even if it was just a designer name that they were buying. We soon tired of the mayhem of the people and prices and decided to go to St. Peter's Basilica, which we still hadn't seen (due to my lack of remembering how one could get there).
St. Peter's is quite a walk, so we took the metro. It was easily found just around the Vatican wall. Admittedly, this Basilica was as busy as the fountain and the shopping street, but one has to remember that it is the largest Basilica in the world. The Basilica was just as I remembered, vast and beautiful. But one thing I remember doing, we could not do. There was a mass going on so we could not go closer to the main altar. So we just stood on the sidelines, watching as a few people could get through to the mass. We continued to view the Basilica and were soon done. We decided to head back to the hotel to rest before dinner, so we hopped on the metro and rode it to our hotel (for it had started to rain). Once we were back in our room we watched a very competitive game of soccer (all in Italian, mind you) cheering for the team of our choice. Soon that was over and it was time to eat. We rode the metro to a wine bar, but unfortunately it was full. So we headed in the direction of our hotel, via the sidewalk just looking for any sort of restaurant that caught our eye. One caught it immediately. Outside of this restaurant, lights were flashing and when we entered we were greeted with great hellos and were immediately seated. The restaurant was rather homey, despite its packed nature. The walls were decorated with rustic pictures and tools. The music was fun and loud, all due to their DJ who certainly enjoyed his job. We ordered a roasted chicken and potatoes. Boy was it tasty! The chicken was moist and the potatoes flavored and cooked to perfection. It was the highlight of our trip, just having waiters and their DJ enjoy their job. If you're ever in Rome, go to this restaurant, I believe it is called Malto Calto. You will certainly experience a fun and homey atmosphere. We went back to the hotel satisfied with our meal and our day. We had throughly enjoyed our own "Roman Holiday."
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A Little Taste of Southern France
Tuesday, March 24: Toulouse
Going a bit off the beaten path, Lisa and I went on an architectural tour of Toulouse around the basilica of Saint Sernin. Toulouse's boulevard used to be where its walls were. Hence why the word "boulevard" means walking along the ramparts. All the buildings beyond Toulouse's medieval wall were most definitely built in the nineteenth century. As we continued on our tour we saw a few more homes and buildings that were of the art deco period. These buildings just looked modern with straight lines and maybe a few curvy corners to liven up the flat palate. As we continued walking, we ended up at the place around Saint Sernin Basilica. One of the high school's administrative buildings used to be a Duberry mansion. The Duberry's were a well-to-do family who had a few ambitions ,one of them was getting noticed by the King. To get noticed by the King, one had to marry a very fine looking woman. There happened to be a fine looking woman in Toulouse (where the Duberry's were from). Soon after marrying her, Monsieur Duberry quickly sent her to Paris. She then became Madame Duberry, the favorite mistress of the King Louis XV. He was father to Marie Antoinette's husband Louis-Auguste or Louis XVI. Marie Antoinette historically did not have a good relationship with Madame Duberry because Marie Antoinette thought she was fooling around with the King (which she was). Part of this story comes from the home that is located close to Saint Sernin. Since the Duberry household was noticed by the King, they became rich and created for themselves a rather gaudy garden. This garden had a lot of fake items from fake trees to fake lovers sitting in the park kissing. A rather funny thing that they had was a mechanical bear that leapt from behind a bush. The tour guide said everyone came for miles around to see this ridiculous garden. All of France could come and look at their horrible little garden and laugh. Even though it was a rather funny story, to want to have one's wife be taken to the King and then make yourself a Chateau/Mansion with a rather sad-fake garden is quite odd. Ah, one's dreams have come true.Our tour was not quite over at the Duberry mansion. We ended up near the Strasbourg market, which is near the boulevard, to see a particular cafe that I fail to remember the name of. This cafe is where people came to have coffee after going to the market. It was also popular with the writers, who are often found typing away at their computers even to this day. Another interesting object we walked near was a fountain that was depicts a fictional woman who inspired a d'Oc language poetry contest. This area of France used to speak Occitane (d’Oc) which poets spent their time writing in. It used to be if a poet won the contest, he received a golden violet. These days there are fewer poets who can write in the ancient language and the prize has changed to a different flower but it is silver instead of gold. The fountain itself was beautiful, displaying its medieval woman carrying a violet in her hand and had neat little turtles and frogs below her that wanted to listen to her talk. The fountain is quite a mystical sight. All in all it was an interesting tour, even though I found the stories to be more interesting than the buildings that we saw.
Thursday, March 26: Lectoure
After picking up Melanie (a church friend) from Cornebarrieu, Lisa and I headed to the little town of Lectoure. It had the most intriguing Cathedral, its bell tour had three tiers, and it was rather impressive. It also had a neat interior but was much like the other cathedrals we've seen. After that we saw a funny little house with clarinets forming the doorposts and windows. Apparently the former owner loved to play clarinet so much he annoyed his wife and they had to put another level on his house, dedicating its design to the clarinet. As we continued on our little jaunt, we saw a rather disappointing fountain that used to have vibrant paintings, but, alas, time has erased them from the stone. We all were expecting some sort of statue or something, something more to catch the eye, but none was to be had. The next stop was a former tannery which probably supplied the royal household with leather goods. It had the standing of being a royal tannery, thus having other privileges that a regular tanner would not have. We then walked up an intriguing staircase which led along some of the former ramparts of the city. Next to the staircase was a metal cross dedicated to an evangelist that had been martyred in Lectoure. Toward the end of the road we found ourselves at the former executioner’s house. It was a towering building that was in a lot of disrepair. Some dogs barked at us as though we had encroached on their owner's property, even though we did not lay a hand on them, much less walk on to their owner's land. We also walked by an impressive building which used to house the Counts of Armangnac. It is now a hospital. Then we came back to the ramparts. It was a nice walk around an interesting town.We were not quite finished with our tour. We decided to also see their archeological Museum as well. We had to take a tour with a guide, who was very patient with us when Melanie had to translate. We saw some fantastic old relics. We saw several sacrificial stones, a head of a Gaul statue, Romanesque things and of course many sarcophagi. One was quite beautiful with fish scales, vines and branches. It was for a forty-year-old Christian woman, which was a ripe old age for a woman in ancient times. We also saw some very ancient artifacts such as fossils and the tusks of a woolly mammoth. The tour was quite interesting and informative. The town of Lectoure was rather interesting for a town somewhat in the country, but it was a nice little visit.
Friday, April 3: Pau
I had wanted to go to Pau since I had heard about it, even though I do not know what in particular drew me to it. Lisa, Katie and I were able head there and were able to see some neat things. One of the few highlights we were able to enjoy was the Chateau de Pau. It was fascinating to see a Chateau actually set up like the century it was from. The first room we saw in it was a dining room built to feed one hundred people. Chairs lined the walls waiting for people to sit and eat. Another interesting factor about this room was its tapestries. They were made by the famous tapestry maker of Goeblin. This was another place we had to take a tour and of course it was all in French, we had a written English translation, but it did not follow exactly all that the tour guide was telling us. He rambled on and on about the room and its wonders, especially about each particular tapestry that lined the walls. This was not the only room we got to see in the castle. We also got to see the living quarters of the families who made it their home. The living quarters had more beautiful tapestries and elegant furniture. One could definitely tell that a family with a lot of money had spent their time decorating and refining the rooms. We also got to see the bedrooms of the family. They were just as elegant, but perhaps not as big as one would think a castle would have. The castle was mostly used to house Napoleon III and his wife, so most of the things we saw were what they had owned and used. It was a neat sight to see.Next to the castle, we were able to see the boulevard de Pyrenees. We slowly walked down it but were unable to see the Pyrenees because of the fog. It was still a beautiful way to walk in Pau. Pau was good even thought it was short lived. I would not mind visiting it again to see what I had missed. Admittedly our problem at the beginning was that we couldn’t find our way around as quickly as we had hoped. But it was a neat city that is worth a visit.
Tuesday, April 7: Gaillac
Gaillac is a sweet little town with its own church and abbey. It is also known for its wine, so of course our last stop was the wine shop next to the tourist office. Well, as I am getting ahead of myself we took a walking tour of the town. We actually started near the tourist office (in the abbey and church area), but we did not go into those right away. Unfortunately, I do not remember the first building we went to. Early on in our tour we ran into this neat little pottery shop, unfortunately it was closed at the time. A little sign on the door said that if you wanted to go into the store just go down the road to meet the artist. Unfortunately we could not find what particular door the sign was talking about, or the artist was just not in town. As we continued on our tour we walked by a house that had been built in the middle ages with its attractive half moon door. Another interesting house was built with wonderful right angles making it an L shape. There are openings in the roof area which give a peripheral view of the city. Another interesting building was a convent which Nuns deserted during a plague, but they were still followed by the disease. The convent later became home of a merchant-politician who became very wealthy.There is a peculiar church in this town called Saint Pierre. It was taken by the Protestants who then turned it into a fortress. After that was done; the church was restored, leaving the lookout tower that was added to make it a better fortress. This shows that many things here in France have rather unusual histories. Another building with an interesting history is the Hotel de Paulo owned by the Paulo family who built it on the Abbey Saint Michel property. This family gave many members to be councilors of Toulouse. Also, no town is complete without a chateau. Gaillac has one called Faucard, it was not lived in by the Faucard family but by the Haute family, this is because of a marriage in the 18th century. It could only be viewed from the outside, but the outside was quite nice holding a beautiful park to enjoy and walk in. Gaillac had a lot of neat little tid-bits that could not be missed. It had a lot of interesting things to see.
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Whirlwind Tour: Barcelona, Spain
Thursday, March 19
What a rush! We had travelled far and wide but our journey was not finished. We wanted to see what Spain was like. So after getting up late in the day my family and I headed by car to Barcelona. Ben and I had heard of other people planning and achieving a pleasant trip to Barcelona via car, so it seemed quite nice. It is only 2 hours from Toulouse, a wee bit crazy, that in a few hours one could be in a whole new country, but we headed out confident that it may be a long trip, but worthwhile.
An hour or so later, we stopped at a neat little rest stop. It faced the Pyrenees and one could get a decent picture of them if they decided to stop and look. The rest stop was actually quite nice, it felt like you were in a little village, in fact I think the word "village" was in its name. There were a few restaurant choices so we picked their fast cafe. Which served what Ben called "work food." It was OK. Edible versions of French cuisine, but not like a five-star restaurant. But c'est la vie. We had a pleasant time wandering around the "village" and grabbed a few postcards and some more pictures of the beautiful mountains. Soon we were ready to hit the road again.
Our trip to Barcelona was soon over, we reached its limits in no time. What a traffic jam! If one could call it that. Cars crept toward one another at a slow pace, hoping they would get to their destination on time. My Dad was an expert driver, despite the GPS having a trouble not knowing where we were. Finally, after a long awaited time, we reached the center of the city, where our hotel was. But the center was no different from the outskirts. Cars raced toward the nearest roundabout only to get stuck entering into it. We were stuck for a time and could not even get across to where we needed to be, so taking the next road we ran into the place (by shear luck I am sure) where our hotel was located. We tried to see if there was any parking near the hotel but our car was too big for the nearest lot (rather underground parking). So we crepted out into the pedestrian way and somehow, by the kindness of a pedestrian just sitting by the sidewalk we got out of the pedestrian mess out into the traffic mess once again. We travelled a little further, probably 3 or 4 long blocks and found another "P" indicating yet another parking spot. We found our way into it through the droves of people and hectic traffic. Without much ado we found a good parking spot. Scrambling out of the car we excited our underground parking to the world of Barcelona. It shouldn't have surprised me, but I could tell who were tourists and who probably weren't. But there were several tourists within a few yards of each other, from all walks of life and different countries. We had to find a map and easily found one, Ben knew where we had to go to reach our hotel, it just was a matter of finding where we had ended up and which direction we should go. After acquiring the map we headed more or less in the direction of our hotel which was through all the busiest streets of central Barcelona. We passed several touristy shops and Mom was excited to find Lladro, the small porcelain statues one can only find in Spain. We peeked into those windows hoping to find the right one. After going down the street filled with touristy shops we noticed it was probably The Ramblers, the main street full of shops and markets that is famous in Spain. Once realizing it was the Ramblers our hotel was easily found, just off the busy street in a little inlet of shops and pedestrian walkways.
The hotel was extremely modern, but in good taste. Up the elevator and just a few steps down the hallway we were upon our room, which of course held the same decor as the rest of the building. Two twin beds formed the "double bed" and bunk beds were just beyond the double beds behind a fake wall. The double bed was against one wall and in the middle was the TV, computer and desk and down a small hall was the bathroom. Everything was nice and well taken care of and I expected a fairly decent stay. The boys headed back out to fetch our bags abandoned in the car and us girls headed out to shop. Once out again we easily found the shops we wanted. Not all of them held Lladro, but they did hold Lladro's close sister Nao which is made by the same company and is the same quality as the original Lladro, just a touch less expensive. Nao also doesn't have quite the unique colors and delicacy as Lladro but just as nice. I easily found a Nao I liked and quickly purchased it. With a bit of bargaining even! I had not expected to bargain. But I got a slightly better price than was offered. Mom also was successful getting several gifts here.
We took our purchases back to the hotel, eagerly putting them in a safe place. The boys returned with our bags and reported they found a tour bus that took you throughout the city and would give us some good info. So resting for a bit more, we headed out once again to take the tour. The tour was great, especially the first half. We were able to see some of Gaudi's works an apartment building and a house he had built (I fail to remember their names). We also passed several historical things of Barcelona. One statue we passed was created by Roy Lichtenstein in honor of Barcelona, it was quite amazing. Unfortunately the tour grew long and things became a little less interesting. But Barcelona was a fun lively city and rather cool if one is on the top floor of a bus in the open air at night. It was also interesting to see some of the buildings that were left after the Olympics one such building got turned into one of Barcelona's finest apartment buildings, for its location to the ocean and its connection to the Olympics. All in all the tour was great, knowing that you had seen some of the great architectural works of the world. But admittedly that was the only touristy thing we did in Barcelona. We did not spend much time looking at Gaudi's other works or at any of the museums. I kind of regret not doing that, but if anything I saw and felt the beat of the city and sometimes that is all you need.
Our tour of France and Spain was over, it was a fast one, but good enough to glean some knowledge. Such as how Carcassonne was once a Cathar city and that the Eiffel Tower was built for the World's Fair or that the Louvre was once a royal palace. All interesting facts one could tell their friends or show them the pictures of the amazing works of art that were more amazing up close and personal. Such is life of a traveler. This was a fun trip and I hope to soon take another!
What a rush! We had travelled far and wide but our journey was not finished. We wanted to see what Spain was like. So after getting up late in the day my family and I headed by car to Barcelona. Ben and I had heard of other people planning and achieving a pleasant trip to Barcelona via car, so it seemed quite nice. It is only 2 hours from Toulouse, a wee bit crazy, that in a few hours one could be in a whole new country, but we headed out confident that it may be a long trip, but worthwhile.
An hour or so later, we stopped at a neat little rest stop. It faced the Pyrenees and one could get a decent picture of them if they decided to stop and look. The rest stop was actually quite nice, it felt like you were in a little village, in fact I think the word "village" was in its name. There were a few restaurant choices so we picked their fast cafe. Which served what Ben called "work food." It was OK. Edible versions of French cuisine, but not like a five-star restaurant. But c'est la vie. We had a pleasant time wandering around the "village" and grabbed a few postcards and some more pictures of the beautiful mountains. Soon we were ready to hit the road again.
Our trip to Barcelona was soon over, we reached its limits in no time. What a traffic jam! If one could call it that. Cars crept toward one another at a slow pace, hoping they would get to their destination on time. My Dad was an expert driver, despite the GPS having a trouble not knowing where we were. Finally, after a long awaited time, we reached the center of the city, where our hotel was. But the center was no different from the outskirts. Cars raced toward the nearest roundabout only to get stuck entering into it. We were stuck for a time and could not even get across to where we needed to be, so taking the next road we ran into the place (by shear luck I am sure) where our hotel was located. We tried to see if there was any parking near the hotel but our car was too big for the nearest lot (rather underground parking). So we crepted out into the pedestrian way and somehow, by the kindness of a pedestrian just sitting by the sidewalk we got out of the pedestrian mess out into the traffic mess once again. We travelled a little further, probably 3 or 4 long blocks and found another "P" indicating yet another parking spot. We found our way into it through the droves of people and hectic traffic. Without much ado we found a good parking spot. Scrambling out of the car we excited our underground parking to the world of Barcelona. It shouldn't have surprised me, but I could tell who were tourists and who probably weren't. But there were several tourists within a few yards of each other, from all walks of life and different countries. We had to find a map and easily found one, Ben knew where we had to go to reach our hotel, it just was a matter of finding where we had ended up and which direction we should go. After acquiring the map we headed more or less in the direction of our hotel which was through all the busiest streets of central Barcelona. We passed several touristy shops and Mom was excited to find Lladro, the small porcelain statues one can only find in Spain. We peeked into those windows hoping to find the right one. After going down the street filled with touristy shops we noticed it was probably The Ramblers, the main street full of shops and markets that is famous in Spain. Once realizing it was the Ramblers our hotel was easily found, just off the busy street in a little inlet of shops and pedestrian walkways.
The hotel was extremely modern, but in good taste. Up the elevator and just a few steps down the hallway we were upon our room, which of course held the same decor as the rest of the building. Two twin beds formed the "double bed" and bunk beds were just beyond the double beds behind a fake wall. The double bed was against one wall and in the middle was the TV, computer and desk and down a small hall was the bathroom. Everything was nice and well taken care of and I expected a fairly decent stay. The boys headed back out to fetch our bags abandoned in the car and us girls headed out to shop. Once out again we easily found the shops we wanted. Not all of them held Lladro, but they did hold Lladro's close sister Nao which is made by the same company and is the same quality as the original Lladro, just a touch less expensive. Nao also doesn't have quite the unique colors and delicacy as Lladro but just as nice. I easily found a Nao I liked and quickly purchased it. With a bit of bargaining even! I had not expected to bargain. But I got a slightly better price than was offered. Mom also was successful getting several gifts here.
We took our purchases back to the hotel, eagerly putting them in a safe place. The boys returned with our bags and reported they found a tour bus that took you throughout the city and would give us some good info. So resting for a bit more, we headed out once again to take the tour. The tour was great, especially the first half. We were able to see some of Gaudi's works an apartment building and a house he had built (I fail to remember their names). We also passed several historical things of Barcelona. One statue we passed was created by Roy Lichtenstein in honor of Barcelona, it was quite amazing. Unfortunately the tour grew long and things became a little less interesting. But Barcelona was a fun lively city and rather cool if one is on the top floor of a bus in the open air at night. It was also interesting to see some of the buildings that were left after the Olympics one such building got turned into one of Barcelona's finest apartment buildings, for its location to the ocean and its connection to the Olympics. All in all the tour was great, knowing that you had seen some of the great architectural works of the world. But admittedly that was the only touristy thing we did in Barcelona. We did not spend much time looking at Gaudi's other works or at any of the museums. I kind of regret not doing that, but if anything I saw and felt the beat of the city and sometimes that is all you need.
Our tour of France and Spain was over, it was a fast one, but good enough to glean some knowledge. Such as how Carcassonne was once a Cathar city and that the Eiffel Tower was built for the World's Fair or that the Louvre was once a royal palace. All interesting facts one could tell their friends or show them the pictures of the amazing works of art that were more amazing up close and personal. Such is life of a traveler. This was a fun trip and I hope to soon take another!
Monday, April 6, 2009
A Whirlwind Tour: D-Day Beaches and Carcassonne
D-Day Beaches
We were still in Paris on Monday, March 16 for we headed to the train station bright and early, before any well-meaning Frenchmen would be up. But surprisingly it was pretty full, the Gare Lazare station. We watched the train times expectantly, impatiently waiting for ours to show up. Sure enough it showed up, just not on the board we were watching. It was headed to Caen, the town in between Paris and Bayeux. Bayeux is where I read was a good place to start when looking at the D-Day beaches. The train would take us straight to Bayeux, with one small change in Caen.
Once in Bayeux, the plan was to find a rental car, so Mom and I waited for the men to find one. Unfortunately the nearest rental place had completely rent out all of its cars. After finding that out, we thought about a tour. But the place we looked at a possible tour was leaving to late in the day. We grabbed a taxi instead (keeping with our original plan) which took us to yet another place to rent cars, unfortunately the didn't have one big enough for four people and all their luggage (we were headed back to Toulouse that evening). Thankfully the cab driver stayed with us and we headed to our third rental place. Luckily it had a car big enough for all of us! So if someone wants to see the beaches, I would definitely suggest renting a car before you get to Bayeux or if you're adventurous, take a tour.
The car worked quite well and we were able to use our map skills to find our way out of Bayeux and to our first stop, German gun batteries that had survived the attack. These were quite interesting to see, to see the living conditions and what the soldiers who were housed in them were expected to do. One gun had in fact remained in pieces after an Allied bomb or gun had blown it apart. It was crazy to think that the guns actually had a use in the war and that that war had involved the country I call home. We had grabbed lunch in Bayeux and decided we were going to eat at that particular beach, for the sun had decided to warm us as we explored the former German guns. We joyfully basked in the sun as we ate and spoke about how amazing the views and the history was. After we were done, we headed to Omaha beach were the Americans took the most casualties. We found the beach next to the American Cemetery, as we entered it we could hear soft chimes filling the peaceful sun soaked air with soft music. We walked a little ways down to the beach and contemplated what the American soldiers had to go through, with bombs going off and rapid fire coming from the guns located on the beach. It also shook our world to see what a steep-like incline the soldiers had to mount if they were to get anywhere on the beach. It was a crazy and dangerous time, I'm sure that is also why so many Stars of David and crosses dot the American Cemetery today. We spent some time viewing the Cemetery itself, its large beautiful monument displaying the tactics of the Americans and other allies attacking the beach as well as taking in all the headstones that dotted the green grass. We soon headed into the building on the property that housed an exhibit showing the stories of men who lived and died on Omaha beach. Their stories took your breath away and humbled you on the spot. It was a remarkable place to see and I know it has touched my life to see the bravery of young people who stood for a cause that they believed in.
We soon were done with our tour of the beaches and caught the next train to Paris, to hopefully reach our plane in time to head back to Toulouse. Luck must have been with us, because we reached Paris to find another excellent taxi driver who took the right route to the airport. We reached our plane in the nick of time. It ended a successful, slightly hectic day.
Carcassonne
We went back in time a few centuries on Wednesday, March 18 as we went to the famous medieval city of Carcassonne. It is a walled city, sitting strategically on a hill. But I suppose it is not like every walled city because it had two walls. One wall protects the very outskirts of the city and it is yards from the inner wall. You could just imagine this first walled area to be swarming with peasants and merchants, all trying to get the best deal on bread and wine. The inner wall holds a castle, cathedral and the city itself. It all dates back to the 13th century. It used to house the Cathars, a religious group that the Francs did not appreciate. In fact they did not like them so much the Francs forced them to vacate the city, just the walled city mind you. They could place themselves outside of the wall and they did just that. Today there is a rather large city where the Cathars decided to live after the Francs made them vacate it.
When you explore the inner city you can see the castle. It seemed like a rather small castle, with a grand courtyard and a small great room. There also were several places one could defend the castle, shooting arrows out of the slits in the walls or tossing rocks onto people's heads as they mounted the hill that Carcassonne is located on. It was a great little visit, learning the tactics of people wanting the city and how some of their attempts failed. Another interesting factor when visiting the castle, you can see a film showing you how an architect tried to figure out the origins of Carcassonne. It was interesting to see his thoughts of how Carcassonne could have been built and why there were so many different layers of stone that were built on the to create the walls. (One can tell where one wall stopped and another one on top of it began) It is also evident of what was covered up. Some windows and doors were covered when building the walls. Thus the mystery of Carcassonne continues. But as a city Carcassonne feels like a small town. You could continually walk around and around the inner part of the city and feel you have hardly walked very far. It was a great place to go and I certainly hope it wasn't the last time for me to see it.
We were still in Paris on Monday, March 16 for we headed to the train station bright and early, before any well-meaning Frenchmen would be up. But surprisingly it was pretty full, the Gare Lazare station. We watched the train times expectantly, impatiently waiting for ours to show up. Sure enough it showed up, just not on the board we were watching. It was headed to Caen, the town in between Paris and Bayeux. Bayeux is where I read was a good place to start when looking at the D-Day beaches. The train would take us straight to Bayeux, with one small change in Caen.
Once in Bayeux, the plan was to find a rental car, so Mom and I waited for the men to find one. Unfortunately the nearest rental place had completely rent out all of its cars. After finding that out, we thought about a tour. But the place we looked at a possible tour was leaving to late in the day. We grabbed a taxi instead (keeping with our original plan) which took us to yet another place to rent cars, unfortunately the didn't have one big enough for four people and all their luggage (we were headed back to Toulouse that evening). Thankfully the cab driver stayed with us and we headed to our third rental place. Luckily it had a car big enough for all of us! So if someone wants to see the beaches, I would definitely suggest renting a car before you get to Bayeux or if you're adventurous, take a tour.
The car worked quite well and we were able to use our map skills to find our way out of Bayeux and to our first stop, German gun batteries that had survived the attack. These were quite interesting to see, to see the living conditions and what the soldiers who were housed in them were expected to do. One gun had in fact remained in pieces after an Allied bomb or gun had blown it apart. It was crazy to think that the guns actually had a use in the war and that that war had involved the country I call home. We had grabbed lunch in Bayeux and decided we were going to eat at that particular beach, for the sun had decided to warm us as we explored the former German guns. We joyfully basked in the sun as we ate and spoke about how amazing the views and the history was. After we were done, we headed to Omaha beach were the Americans took the most casualties. We found the beach next to the American Cemetery, as we entered it we could hear soft chimes filling the peaceful sun soaked air with soft music. We walked a little ways down to the beach and contemplated what the American soldiers had to go through, with bombs going off and rapid fire coming from the guns located on the beach. It also shook our world to see what a steep-like incline the soldiers had to mount if they were to get anywhere on the beach. It was a crazy and dangerous time, I'm sure that is also why so many Stars of David and crosses dot the American Cemetery today. We spent some time viewing the Cemetery itself, its large beautiful monument displaying the tactics of the Americans and other allies attacking the beach as well as taking in all the headstones that dotted the green grass. We soon headed into the building on the property that housed an exhibit showing the stories of men who lived and died on Omaha beach. Their stories took your breath away and humbled you on the spot. It was a remarkable place to see and I know it has touched my life to see the bravery of young people who stood for a cause that they believed in.
We soon were done with our tour of the beaches and caught the next train to Paris, to hopefully reach our plane in time to head back to Toulouse. Luck must have been with us, because we reached Paris to find another excellent taxi driver who took the right route to the airport. We reached our plane in the nick of time. It ended a successful, slightly hectic day.
Carcassonne
We went back in time a few centuries on Wednesday, March 18 as we went to the famous medieval city of Carcassonne. It is a walled city, sitting strategically on a hill. But I suppose it is not like every walled city because it had two walls. One wall protects the very outskirts of the city and it is yards from the inner wall. You could just imagine this first walled area to be swarming with peasants and merchants, all trying to get the best deal on bread and wine. The inner wall holds a castle, cathedral and the city itself. It all dates back to the 13th century. It used to house the Cathars, a religious group that the Francs did not appreciate. In fact they did not like them so much the Francs forced them to vacate the city, just the walled city mind you. They could place themselves outside of the wall and they did just that. Today there is a rather large city where the Cathars decided to live after the Francs made them vacate it.
When you explore the inner city you can see the castle. It seemed like a rather small castle, with a grand courtyard and a small great room. There also were several places one could defend the castle, shooting arrows out of the slits in the walls or tossing rocks onto people's heads as they mounted the hill that Carcassonne is located on. It was a great little visit, learning the tactics of people wanting the city and how some of their attempts failed. Another interesting factor when visiting the castle, you can see a film showing you how an architect tried to figure out the origins of Carcassonne. It was interesting to see his thoughts of how Carcassonne could have been built and why there were so many different layers of stone that were built on the to create the walls. (One can tell where one wall stopped and another one on top of it began) It is also evident of what was covered up. Some windows and doors were covered when building the walls. Thus the mystery of Carcassonne continues. But as a city Carcassonne feels like a small town. You could continually walk around and around the inner part of the city and feel you have hardly walked very far. It was a great place to go and I certainly hope it wasn't the last time for me to see it.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Whirlwind Tour: Paris
(Sat. March 14)
My parents came for a visit and they had decided that Paris was a great place to start. It was! We only had to meet them in the airport. Ben and I were able to catch a cheap flight into Paris and once we got there we saw that all the planes coming in were radically on time. So we found the only flight coming from Cincinnati, luckily it was not far from where Ben and I picked up our bags and got off our flight. Then the waiting begun, it seemed to take awhile, but I kept reminding myself that they had to go through customs because they had come straight from the U.S. . After what was a truthfully a long, impatient wait, they came out! We gave them hello hugs and got situated. We all wanted to get a taxi and head into the city and drop our bags at our hotel. We found a taxi driver who dropped us quite near our new doorstep, at the Hotel St. Dominique. Our hotel had started off as a monastery, so the rooms were all unique and the stairs old and worn, but it was comfortable. Soon we were all ready to go out and see what there was to see of this famous city.
From the beginning I thought it would be good to start on the island where the Cathedral Notre Dame was. So we took several small metro trains to the "la cite" stop. The island was hopping with tourists and after figuring out which direction to head on the island, we ran into some people from Cyprus wondering where the cathedral was as well. So they walked with us asking where we were from and what brought us to Paris. We told them we were from Iowa and were just as curious about what Paris had to offer. The Cathedral of Notre Dame was quite majestic in the darkening sky, I kept wanting to peak up and see if I could see Quasimodo peak from the bell towers. One thing that did take me a bit off guard was the statue of Charlemagne that was prominently riding his horse into some battle next to the cathedral. Immediately all our eyes gazed on the statue wondering who it was and we forgot about the great cathedral that was before us. So after some debate as to who it was we took some pictures and headed inside. Another thing that took me off guard is that Notre Dame is still very much in use! We entered the cathedral listening the voice of a priest. I admit I do not know what sort of Mass he was giving but it took me off guard because it still is hard to get used to that some historical buildings in Europe are still in use. Behind the priest was a large statue of Jesus and Mary, it looked quite beautiful, but one was not likely to get a very close look at it. The things in the cathedral you could look at were amazing. It held quite a bit of fabulous stained glass. Just enough windows to let some light shine into building. Like a typical cathedral there were elaborate chapels that lined the way around the altar. Some chapels even held places for confession. The inside, like the outsides was everything that I had imagined. It had domed ceilings and bright cheery stained glass throughout. The choir blind also still stood in the cathedral. The outside of the blind was lined with stories of Jesus and his works in the world. They were ornate little pictures of those events. After we were done exploring the inside of the cathedral we headed out to the place area of the cathedral, we took a few more pictures of the spectacular sculptures that were on the outside of the building then we headed to the little archaeological museum that was below Notre Dame.
Inside the museum was the Romanesque history of Paris. It showed the Roman baths as well as where certain people of high rank used to live and why. It also explained the logic of some the the Parisian roads, some of them still exist to this day. It is amazing what the past can tell you about the present! The museum was interesting, seeing the ruins firsthand and imagining what they looked like when they were new. We soon headed back up to the world of present Paris. Present Paris was still bustling like it had when we left it. But there were still a few more things to see on the "La cite". There was one particular thing I wanted to see that didn't do much with medieval Paris but with booming nineteenth century Paris. It was the Shakespeare and Company bookshop. While we have been here I read the book A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. It is about Hemingway's experiences as a young married writer living in Paris. He frequented the Shakespeare and Company bookshop when it still lent books out to people. But now it is just a nice antique bookshop still lending itself to selling English books. If anything, visiting there made me feel like the book I read had come to life and I was in Hemingway's shoes looking for my own English book to pass the time and improve my writing. As he was trying to perfect his style when he moved and lived in Paris.
Our tummies were grumbling and we were all ready to eat, there was a rather large cafe right next to the bookshop that we stumbled into. We shared two pizzas, a Salmon one and a regular ham pizza (I think). They relinquished our appetites and we were ready to step out again. Ben and I had heard that Saint Chapelle was a wonderful sight to see, so we all headed in the direction of the chapel. After going through bit of security we entered a court yard which led to the chapel's entrance. When we entered into the chapel you just see a few stained glass windows and painted walls, somewhat disappointing, but once you climbed the stairs you entered into a room with a very high ceiling and huge stained glass windows. One cannot fathom each picture that was made into the glass because it reaches so high above you. I know each of us stood there in awe trying to decipher each one of the dramatic scenes that the stained glass artisans decided to create. The chapel was built to house the supposed crown of thorns. Which was displayed on a high altar above every one's heads. It also was quickly built, only taking five years to build with one architect (As Rick Steve's comments in his book). It was a fascinating sight to behold and one certainly not to miss if they are in Paris.
We went back to our hotel then, to comprehend what we saw and to rest our eyes from the tremendous amount of beauty that creeped into them. After our legs had had a rest and our eyes had closed for a few minutes, we headed out to the Eiffel Tower. The walk to it was rather slow, one expects to see it just around the corner, because it can so easily be seen above one's head! But when we finally reached the park in which it stands, one cannot help to look up! I was taken aback for sure and in my ear Mom was saying "Can you believe we're in Paris?" At that moment I certainly couldn't. I kept my eye on the thing hoping it wouldn't go away, but reluctantly I turned my back to have a couple of pictures taken. As we neared the tower, it seemed as if a party was going on. I could hear music playing. As we neared I realized it must have been entertainment for the people waiting in the long line to even climb the massive tower. Once we got in line it didn't seem to take long to get up into the lift and watch the steel rivets go by. We soon were on the second floor, if you will, of the tower. I could just hardly make out the Arch de Triumph and possibly the Louvre. According to our guide book you should be able to see them from that spot on the tower. But it was dark and I was concentrating on not being cold. For it was windy and quite chilly being about 200 feet up into the air, suspended by the steel body that is the tower. Before we had even reached that level, we had seen the tower glisten with powerful strobe lights in the night sky, as we waited for the line to progress. Soon we were ready to eat again, for dinner time was near. So we reluctantly headed down the tower to the ground level. Heading away from the Eiffel Tower, we took it in again. Its lights gleaming in the night sky. It was still beautiful.
On the way back to the hotel we found a Toulousain restaurant and we tried our first foie gras. I thought it was rather tasty. This particular foie gras was peppery and smooth to taste. No bad after taste, just an enjoyable little bite of something splendid. I also ate a Toulousain tradition and favorite, Cassoulet. The beans were wonderful little treats and the meat was OK. I know I am not used to the sausage here so that might have spoiled me a little bit. But despite the interesting flavor of the sausage, it was a good dish. Our day was busy, but it was wonderful.
Sunday, March 15 marked the day when we entered the Louvre. What can one say about it? First of all, the property in itself is incredible! I could've got lost in its gardens and towering arch statue. It also amazes me how much beautiful artwork is in its space. So much done by popular artists taught in schools all over the world. We started our Sunday there to a great crowd. All there to see what treasures were available to see with wide eyes.
One of the famous paintings I saw was the Feast of Canaan, I probably only remember it from High School art class, but we had to memorize it for the class. It was a large painting that took up the entire wall that it was displayed on. I must say the picture I saw in art class did not do its immensity justice, for one could feel like they were in the feast and took part in it. In fact I took a picture that looked liked all the tourists that were captured in it were there. This painting happened to share a room with the Mona Lisa, which was on a different wall behind glass. I could see why it would disappoint some people. You could not even get close to it to examine its little details. I would've liked to do that, but it was not worth it to shove past the people all trying to take a picture of it. We stood next to it for a little bit and then continued on into the other rooms that the museum held. Before we knew it were next to more famous paintings, but this time by French artists. One particular painting I do remember from High School art class it was the Crowning of Josephine. It is such a dramatic, fascinating picture. On the right of the picture is Napoleon, holding the crown above his wife's head and all of the French bureaucrats and political powers looking on. It is one painting to take in, to look for something fun, or something to make it even more fascinating. We saw some famous sculptures as well, but alas they are hard to describe. One that I am sure most people have heard of is the Venus de Milo who is a woman posed in such a way that she is an artistic and unique triumph for the unknown artist. She was actually holding a crowd as big as the Mona Lisa, but she is just famous for the fact that an ancient artist had a knack for carving out beautiful lines in stone.
Our walk through the Louvre was complete and we headed toward the Champs-Elysees and the Arch de Triumph. Both famous in there own right one for being the greatest road for shopping and one for being Napoleon's great dedication to his soldiers. The Arch de Triumph was a splendid arch, names covering its inside and the dramatic sculptures beaming on the outside. It was fascinating to see all the cars around it deciphering which way to go on the Arch's many roads leading from it. It was also neat that from the arch you can make out the Eiffel tower in the city distance. Admittedly, we were quickly done with the arch and were soon back on the street headed toward the Champs-Elysees. We hit some souvenir shops on our way down the Champs-Elysee where we picked up some great Parisian things for our families at home. We also ran into a huge Louis Vuitton store. I suppose it deserves the right to be huge being the original store. Things there were ridiculously priced. You could not even buy a key chain without dropping 200 euro. It was also crazy how many people were buying it as well. We were all awed at the fact people could afford it. Because the average American definitely could not. It was neat to see the range of things you could buy though. You could buy Louis Vuitton shoes, ties, billfolds, shirts and much more. But I suppose you expand so you can reach as many customers as possible, especially if they are able to pay the prices. We soon tired of the prices and found ourselves in the Swatch store, which seemed to have fairly reasonable prices. They also had some great watches as well! So many different creations one could wear on their wrist. One last stop on the Champs-Elysees was the Peugeot store. It showed off its newest cars and an assortment of memorabilia. It was interesting but we did not find anything worth buying. The Champs-Elysees, despite its steep prices at a few places was a great experience, it certainly made you feel like a Parisian, if even for an instant.
My parents came for a visit and they had decided that Paris was a great place to start. It was! We only had to meet them in the airport. Ben and I were able to catch a cheap flight into Paris and once we got there we saw that all the planes coming in were radically on time. So we found the only flight coming from Cincinnati, luckily it was not far from where Ben and I picked up our bags and got off our flight. Then the waiting begun, it seemed to take awhile, but I kept reminding myself that they had to go through customs because they had come straight from the U.S. . After what was a truthfully a long, impatient wait, they came out! We gave them hello hugs and got situated. We all wanted to get a taxi and head into the city and drop our bags at our hotel. We found a taxi driver who dropped us quite near our new doorstep, at the Hotel St. Dominique. Our hotel had started off as a monastery, so the rooms were all unique and the stairs old and worn, but it was comfortable. Soon we were all ready to go out and see what there was to see of this famous city.
From the beginning I thought it would be good to start on the island where the Cathedral Notre Dame was. So we took several small metro trains to the "la cite" stop. The island was hopping with tourists and after figuring out which direction to head on the island, we ran into some people from Cyprus wondering where the cathedral was as well. So they walked with us asking where we were from and what brought us to Paris. We told them we were from Iowa and were just as curious about what Paris had to offer. The Cathedral of Notre Dame was quite majestic in the darkening sky, I kept wanting to peak up and see if I could see Quasimodo peak from the bell towers. One thing that did take me a bit off guard was the statue of Charlemagne that was prominently riding his horse into some battle next to the cathedral. Immediately all our eyes gazed on the statue wondering who it was and we forgot about the great cathedral that was before us. So after some debate as to who it was we took some pictures and headed inside. Another thing that took me off guard is that Notre Dame is still very much in use! We entered the cathedral listening the voice of a priest. I admit I do not know what sort of Mass he was giving but it took me off guard because it still is hard to get used to that some historical buildings in Europe are still in use. Behind the priest was a large statue of Jesus and Mary, it looked quite beautiful, but one was not likely to get a very close look at it. The things in the cathedral you could look at were amazing. It held quite a bit of fabulous stained glass. Just enough windows to let some light shine into building. Like a typical cathedral there were elaborate chapels that lined the way around the altar. Some chapels even held places for confession. The inside, like the outsides was everything that I had imagined. It had domed ceilings and bright cheery stained glass throughout. The choir blind also still stood in the cathedral. The outside of the blind was lined with stories of Jesus and his works in the world. They were ornate little pictures of those events. After we were done exploring the inside of the cathedral we headed out to the place area of the cathedral, we took a few more pictures of the spectacular sculptures that were on the outside of the building then we headed to the little archaeological museum that was below Notre Dame.
Inside the museum was the Romanesque history of Paris. It showed the Roman baths as well as where certain people of high rank used to live and why. It also explained the logic of some the the Parisian roads, some of them still exist to this day. It is amazing what the past can tell you about the present! The museum was interesting, seeing the ruins firsthand and imagining what they looked like when they were new. We soon headed back up to the world of present Paris. Present Paris was still bustling like it had when we left it. But there were still a few more things to see on the "La cite". There was one particular thing I wanted to see that didn't do much with medieval Paris but with booming nineteenth century Paris. It was the Shakespeare and Company bookshop. While we have been here I read the book A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. It is about Hemingway's experiences as a young married writer living in Paris. He frequented the Shakespeare and Company bookshop when it still lent books out to people. But now it is just a nice antique bookshop still lending itself to selling English books. If anything, visiting there made me feel like the book I read had come to life and I was in Hemingway's shoes looking for my own English book to pass the time and improve my writing. As he was trying to perfect his style when he moved and lived in Paris.
Our tummies were grumbling and we were all ready to eat, there was a rather large cafe right next to the bookshop that we stumbled into. We shared two pizzas, a Salmon one and a regular ham pizza (I think). They relinquished our appetites and we were ready to step out again. Ben and I had heard that Saint Chapelle was a wonderful sight to see, so we all headed in the direction of the chapel. After going through bit of security we entered a court yard which led to the chapel's entrance. When we entered into the chapel you just see a few stained glass windows and painted walls, somewhat disappointing, but once you climbed the stairs you entered into a room with a very high ceiling and huge stained glass windows. One cannot fathom each picture that was made into the glass because it reaches so high above you. I know each of us stood there in awe trying to decipher each one of the dramatic scenes that the stained glass artisans decided to create. The chapel was built to house the supposed crown of thorns. Which was displayed on a high altar above every one's heads. It also was quickly built, only taking five years to build with one architect (As Rick Steve's comments in his book). It was a fascinating sight to behold and one certainly not to miss if they are in Paris.
We went back to our hotel then, to comprehend what we saw and to rest our eyes from the tremendous amount of beauty that creeped into them. After our legs had had a rest and our eyes had closed for a few minutes, we headed out to the Eiffel Tower. The walk to it was rather slow, one expects to see it just around the corner, because it can so easily be seen above one's head! But when we finally reached the park in which it stands, one cannot help to look up! I was taken aback for sure and in my ear Mom was saying "Can you believe we're in Paris?" At that moment I certainly couldn't. I kept my eye on the thing hoping it wouldn't go away, but reluctantly I turned my back to have a couple of pictures taken. As we neared the tower, it seemed as if a party was going on. I could hear music playing. As we neared I realized it must have been entertainment for the people waiting in the long line to even climb the massive tower. Once we got in line it didn't seem to take long to get up into the lift and watch the steel rivets go by. We soon were on the second floor, if you will, of the tower. I could just hardly make out the Arch de Triumph and possibly the Louvre. According to our guide book you should be able to see them from that spot on the tower. But it was dark and I was concentrating on not being cold. For it was windy and quite chilly being about 200 feet up into the air, suspended by the steel body that is the tower. Before we had even reached that level, we had seen the tower glisten with powerful strobe lights in the night sky, as we waited for the line to progress. Soon we were ready to eat again, for dinner time was near. So we reluctantly headed down the tower to the ground level. Heading away from the Eiffel Tower, we took it in again. Its lights gleaming in the night sky. It was still beautiful.
On the way back to the hotel we found a Toulousain restaurant and we tried our first foie gras. I thought it was rather tasty. This particular foie gras was peppery and smooth to taste. No bad after taste, just an enjoyable little bite of something splendid. I also ate a Toulousain tradition and favorite, Cassoulet. The beans were wonderful little treats and the meat was OK. I know I am not used to the sausage here so that might have spoiled me a little bit. But despite the interesting flavor of the sausage, it was a good dish. Our day was busy, but it was wonderful.
Sunday, March 15 marked the day when we entered the Louvre. What can one say about it? First of all, the property in itself is incredible! I could've got lost in its gardens and towering arch statue. It also amazes me how much beautiful artwork is in its space. So much done by popular artists taught in schools all over the world. We started our Sunday there to a great crowd. All there to see what treasures were available to see with wide eyes.
One of the famous paintings I saw was the Feast of Canaan, I probably only remember it from High School art class, but we had to memorize it for the class. It was a large painting that took up the entire wall that it was displayed on. I must say the picture I saw in art class did not do its immensity justice, for one could feel like they were in the feast and took part in it. In fact I took a picture that looked liked all the tourists that were captured in it were there. This painting happened to share a room with the Mona Lisa, which was on a different wall behind glass. I could see why it would disappoint some people. You could not even get close to it to examine its little details. I would've liked to do that, but it was not worth it to shove past the people all trying to take a picture of it. We stood next to it for a little bit and then continued on into the other rooms that the museum held. Before we knew it were next to more famous paintings, but this time by French artists. One particular painting I do remember from High School art class it was the Crowning of Josephine. It is such a dramatic, fascinating picture. On the right of the picture is Napoleon, holding the crown above his wife's head and all of the French bureaucrats and political powers looking on. It is one painting to take in, to look for something fun, or something to make it even more fascinating. We saw some famous sculptures as well, but alas they are hard to describe. One that I am sure most people have heard of is the Venus de Milo who is a woman posed in such a way that she is an artistic and unique triumph for the unknown artist. She was actually holding a crowd as big as the Mona Lisa, but she is just famous for the fact that an ancient artist had a knack for carving out beautiful lines in stone.
Our walk through the Louvre was complete and we headed toward the Champs-Elysees and the Arch de Triumph. Both famous in there own right one for being the greatest road for shopping and one for being Napoleon's great dedication to his soldiers. The Arch de Triumph was a splendid arch, names covering its inside and the dramatic sculptures beaming on the outside. It was fascinating to see all the cars around it deciphering which way to go on the Arch's many roads leading from it. It was also neat that from the arch you can make out the Eiffel tower in the city distance. Admittedly, we were quickly done with the arch and were soon back on the street headed toward the Champs-Elysees. We hit some souvenir shops on our way down the Champs-Elysee where we picked up some great Parisian things for our families at home. We also ran into a huge Louis Vuitton store. I suppose it deserves the right to be huge being the original store. Things there were ridiculously priced. You could not even buy a key chain without dropping 200 euro. It was also crazy how many people were buying it as well. We were all awed at the fact people could afford it. Because the average American definitely could not. It was neat to see the range of things you could buy though. You could buy Louis Vuitton shoes, ties, billfolds, shirts and much more. But I suppose you expand so you can reach as many customers as possible, especially if they are able to pay the prices. We soon tired of the prices and found ourselves in the Swatch store, which seemed to have fairly reasonable prices. They also had some great watches as well! So many different creations one could wear on their wrist. One last stop on the Champs-Elysees was the Peugeot store. It showed off its newest cars and an assortment of memorabilia. It was interesting but we did not find anything worth buying. The Champs-Elysees, despite its steep prices at a few places was a great experience, it certainly made you feel like a Parisian, if even for an instant.
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