April 6, 2010 (Tuesday)

We’re up at 5:45 am, get ready, pack, and take luggage down to the hotel lobby to leave until after we get back from our day trip. When we get back this evening, we have an overnight train to catch from Paris to Berlin. Our day trip is out into the French countryside to find the town of Angers, where a castle that long had been an important medieval fortress, the Château d’Angers, houses the famous Apocalypse Tapestry that Jerry is dying to see.

The cab comes right on time at 7:15 am, and we’re off to Gare Montparnesse station for our train. The station is huge. We get a little breakfast from a café where the servers were very rude. They refused even to try to help understand selections and prices, speaking French only, dismissive of our presence, and motioning we should just get out of line if we could not speak French. I managed to speak enough French to get us a little bite to eat for breakfast. Jerry got so mad at their rudeness. All he could think of were the young American boys spilling American blood on French beaches to save France from the tyranny of Nazi Germany.

Then we are off to view the boards to determine which platform our train will be on and look for an ATM. (We need more Euros.) I tried to get info about the trains, and Jerry found an ATM. The platform number is supposed to be posted 20 minutes before the train leaves. We have a long, cold wait. The terminal is exposed to the outside air, and the waiting area is cold and drafty. Our anxiety level rises as time passes and our platform number still is not posted. Finally, when we have only 9 minutes before our train is scheduled to depart, the platform number we are supposed to go to shows up on the main board, so we rush to that platform and hop on the first car we get to just to make sure we are on the train. We figure out what car we are on and discover we are several cars away from ours. We have to walk through several cars to get to our reserved seats. We finally find our seats just seconds before we are off to Angers. Whew! That was close! [If you would like to see where Angers, France is, click the Google Maps link below. After you are finished, use the back button on your browser to get back to this page.—Jerry]

Angers Map (Google Maps)

[A little history from Jerry: The Apocalypse Tapestries were ordered by Louis I d’Anjou, who wanted to depict the scenes of the Bible’s book of Revelation. The master weaver contracted for the work was the famous Parisian artist Nicolas Bataille, working with Robert Poinçon, who designed and executed one hundred tapestries from 1375–1382. Only seventy tapestries survive, a loss of the Revolutionary period of French history. These tapestries are the oldest, most extensive, and best collection of medieval tapestry in the world. They are important not only for their craftsmanship and artistry, however. They are important to biblical scholars because they are a silent testimony to how the images of the Apocalypse were interpreted in their day. The conceptualization and depictions in the scenes of each tapestry panel become a commentary on fourteenth-century political struggles in the turmoil and uncertainty of Western Europe under Muslim invasion and conquest. In the tapestries, the forces of Antichrist are strikingly Muslim in appearance, dress, and weaponry. Only 71 years later, in fact, after the completion of the tapestries, Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire fell to Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Thus, in a way, their world did come to an end. They really were not all that wrong in seeing the “end of the world” coming.—Jerry]

An hour and 40 minutes later we’re in Angers! Miracle of miracles, outside the Angers train station the Garmin gets a signal and directs us right to the castle! The hike is a short uphill walk. Road construction made the way a little confusing, but suddenly the castle appears up ahead. The castle grounds are so beautifully manicured!

We get our tickets and head straight for the Apocalypse Tapestries Museum housed in part of the castle. The time is about 11:15 or so. Yea! Photos are allowed! Just no flash. Jerry is in heaven. We enter the museum area and are taken aback by how huge the tapestries are in real life. Jerry proceeds to take pictures, and I follow along, but mostly I sit on the benches and stare in wonder at the scenes before me. By a little after 1 pm, two hours later, we are starving, but we do not want to leave the tapestries yet, so we eat some peanut butter crackers I have in my pack and drink some water. We then go through the exhibit again in sequence through the tapestry panels, with me attempting to translate the descriptions. With Jerry’s help, we manage to go through the scenes of the book of Revelation depicted in each panel of the tapestry.

After hours in the museum, and some time in the museum store, we finally leave the tapestry exhibit. We walked around the castle grounds and up on the turrets. The castle grounds and the vistas along the walls are beautiful. A little café on the castle grounds looks delightful, and we stop and get a Coke. We have a nice conversation with the waiter who is from Algeria. His English is very good. We hate to leave, but we need to make our train back into Paris.

We walk back to the Angers train station and get assistance from an attendant to get the correct platform and boarding station (S). The train ride from the French countryside back into Paris is uneventful. We arrive back at the Paris train station and hail a taxi, but our driver speaks NO English. I manage enough bad French to ask him to take us to the hotel door and wait while we get our baggage at our Hotel Louvre Forum. I can’t believe he actually understood me, but apparently he did, because we arrive at our hotel. We retrieve our bags in storage from the hotel lobby and are off to the Garde d’Lest (east train station). We get our platform information and then get some supper at a café (lasagna and Greek salad). Very good! We test the Garmin a little, because she worked when we were in Angers. The unit is back to refusing to get a satellite fix. We are starting to hate that thing!

We board our overnight train to Berlin and look for our “Deluxe” sleeper. Well, not exactly what I thought, to say the least, about accommodations called “deluxe.” I tried to clarify to the attendant that the room to which he pointed us simply could not be our room, because our tickets said “deluxe.” The attendant nodded yes he understood, but that this was, in fact, our room. Jerry got so tickled at me in this whole exchange with the attendant and evidently my expression of disbelief in response. I thought we surely had the wrong car and coach or something. I told the porter (who spoke no English) “no, we had deluxe” and he nods and points to the little sleeper with bunk beds. Yes, there is a shower that’s about 6 inches wide, and yes, there is a small sink on a moveable arm that either has to be moved into the shower or over the commode to get in the bathroom! Now that’s “deluxe”! Funny how pictures in a brochure can make rooms look so huge. We learn only later from seasoned travelers that since we have private accommodations, no matter how small, the privacy itself was “deluxe.” Otherwise, you share bunks of four with anyone and a common bathroom for the entire car! So, in fact, the porter was exactly correct. He had taken us to our “deluxe” cabin.

Jerry was nonplussed by the cramped quarters. He simply immediately went into his “boy scout” mode and got us all organized and set up efficiently, making extraordinary use of every square inch like he was on a campout in the cramped quarters of a tent. Yea for the boy scouts! I wrote in our journal while Jerry set up his charging stations on the commode. Yes, that’s right. On the commode. The only electrical plug in our entire “deluxe” cabin is in the tiny little bathroom right above the commode with no shelf. Glad we didn’t accidentally flush anything down.

Finally, lights out, and I attempt to sleep, but the sounds and train movement makes rest for me difficult. Jerry, however, had his earplugs and did fine. In any case, we’ll wake up in Berlin tomorrow morning!

Here is a video of the Angers action today:

April 5, 2010 (Monday)

We’re downstairs by 7 am for breakfast so we can get to the Louvre for tickets at 8:30 am. We walk to the Louvre and go to the underground Carousel shopping area (our hotel manager told us about this entrance which is out of the weather). The ticket machine won’t be activated until 9 am, so we go down the escalator and wait in a short line to buy tickets and then wait for the Louvre to open. Maybe 25-30 people are ahead of us. This line is a lot better than the line of 1000+ yesterday! We enter the museum at 9:30 am and find our way to the Mona Lisa. She is exquisite. The crowd is small, so we can get to the front and stay a bit. And, we can take pictures! Amazing! We viewed the Wedding of Cana on the opposite wall which is a huge work or art. Then, off to find the Venus de Milo. She’s gorgeous as well. We next go to the Graeco Roman area. So many artifacts to see and so little time! We also see the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Athena, Minerva, etc. We get a lunch inside the Louvre and buy a few postcards and magnets at the shop. The Louvre is now filled with people. On the way out, we stopped at the Apple store in the Carousel, but they have no iPad to see yet—first release is only in America.

After finishing the Louvre, we go across the street to the Royal Palais and take the long Metro ride to the Eiffel tower, which is not conveniently located to anything is Jerry’s opinion. We walk around the park area along the river to view the tower. We see beautiful blooming flowers and statues along the avenues. We decide we do not have time to go up into the tower. The weather has cleared, and the day is beautiful!

After seeing the Eiffel tower, we go back to the Metro. The ticket machine doesn’t work with our tickets. Oh no. Finally the machine does take Jerry’s ticket, and he goes through, but now my ticket won’t work! I’m stuck on the outside, and I’m a little nervous about the situation. We tried my ticket multiple times, but it just won’t work, so Jerry told me to crawl under, which I did with a security camera pointed straight at me. No police appear, so I guess we’re okay.

We get back to the hotel and freshen up for our dinner cruise and illuminations tour tonight. We get a taxi to the tourism office, and after a wait, get on a van and are taken to our cruise boat. Our table is near the front of the boat, so we can see really well. Going up and down the Seine River, we pass famous buildings, including the Louvre we had visited that morning (which is in the background of the picture of Jerry), and go under beautiful bridges. It’s a great trip. The scenery is stunning. The sky is clear. The food is great. We have a wonderful time.

After the dinner cruise, we have about 45 minutes to wander around before getting on the bus for the illuminations tour. We stumbled on the “Bourbon street” of that area, one street off the main street by the river. We walk through this “Bourbon street” district feeling quite at home and come out at the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is even more beautiful at dusk. We take a few photos, Jerry hoping one of them turns out nicely, and then head back for the illuminations tour.

The tour is on a big double decker bus. Fortunately, we can sit downstairs because the brisk night wind on the top and open deck of the bus is very chilly. Paris—the city of lights—so beautiful. We go past the Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triumph, Champs de Elysses, National Academy of Music, and many other sights. At the Eiffel Tower the lights begin sparkling, and the display is spectacular.

We got off the tour bus at the Louvre, where we started our long day in Paris early this morning. We enjoyed a nice leisurely walk down Paris streets back to our hotel, reminiscing sights and sounds of the day. We have to pack and get ready for the early train to Angers tomorrow morning. It’s midnight by the time we’re finally off to bed.

Here is a video of the Paris action today:

April 4, 2010 (Easter Sunday)

Well, that taxi “arrangement” on the part of the hotel? Maybe something like, “We’ll have a taxi waiting for you at the front door early in the morning”? Not on your life! The “arrangement” was for us to walk down to the street corner in the cold, damp, wind to stand around trying to hail a cab on Easter Sunday morning. The only problem is, it’s EASTER SUNDAY MORNING, and there aren’t any taxi cabs! There’s like, no traffic on the streets at all. After the hotel proprietor himself tried for a while on the street corner to help us get a taxi, he gave up and gave us walking instructions so we could hoof it to the train station “rolling our bags”—like we’d seen so many people in London doing over the past few days. Now we’re one of those bag rollers! When I say we walked fast, I mean fast for a long time and at a pace that could rival the Olympics. We simply did not know how far the train station was nor how long we would take to get there on foot when we were supposed to take a taxi. [I was real proud of Jean, because she really hung in there! I could just see all Jean’s extensive plans for getting us to Paris going down the drain—we already had purchased our chunnel train tickets and everything—and I was heartsick the whole time we were fast walking to think we might miss the train.—Jerry] We made it in time for the Chunnel, but I may be crippled for life. My feet will never be the same after that 20 minute fast walk.

We finally get to the station, exhausted, and locate the platform. We boarded and are off to Paris. I bought us a snack on the train. One of the things I got Jerry was a Twix candy bar, and he loved it. I think he’s hooked now. We settle back and 2 ½ hours later we are in Paris.

After arriving at the Paris train station, we que up for a taxi, and when we finally get in one, wouldn’t you know our driver has horrible B.O.! It’s so bad it could have stopped the train. Today is not starting too well. What is wrong with these Europeans?!! We try to hold our breath as much as we can.

So, after almost expiring from asphyxiation, we finally get to our boutique hotel within walking distance of the Louvre. [Way to go, Jean!—Jerry] We drop our baggage in the hotel lobby and catch a lunch at the bistro next door and then back to hotel to get into our room. Oh no I think we’re still in London. It’s Lilliput Lane! The elevator literally is almost too small for us and our two bags. When we get to the fifth floor and try to get out of the elevator, we can’t get our bags and our bodies into the hall at the same time! The room itself is tiny like everything else. If either one of us weighed one more ounce we wouldn’t be able to get into the shower door opening. We thought about Easter Sunday worship at our home church, which we were starting to miss, and called our minister of worship, Robert Comeaux, using Skype and left Easter wishes.

We then headed off to the Louvre! It’s a short walk to the museum. We arrive at the Louvre and are overwhelmed at its size. It’s beautiful and massive! No words can describe the size of this place. However, we do not realize until later that we were only on the back side of the museum!

When we get up to the que line, security guards stop us and say they have closed the line for the day. It’s the first Sunday of the month, so entrance is free, which we did not know, and Easter Sunday, so everyone is off work, and , thus, the 1000 people or more in line waiting to get in. We were not getting in the Louvre today! This day just really is not working all that well.

Jerry went ahead scouted around the interior court of the connected buildings and took some pictures. Suddenly the sky clouded up, and Jerry quickly took me to a corner overhang just before the dark sky opened up. It rained really hard in sheets sideways, and all those poor people in line got drenched. Thanks to my “boy scout,” who immediately sensed what was coming, I was perfectly dry. After the hard rain stopped, we walked around the courtyard and saw the famous glass pyramid of the Tom Hanks movie, “The DaVinci Code.”

In the courtyard we ran into a couple from California who told us they couldn’t get in either, and their concierge had told them the Louvre would be closed tomorrow on Monday. My heart is sinking. What will we do if that is true? We do not have hardly any time for error or change in our tight schedule. I found a security guard and ask (in my broken pitiful French) about tomorrow and thankfully am told (and shown a sign) that the Louvre is open on Monday but closed on Tuesday! Yea!

But, what to do now for the rest of today? We need to improvise our schedule to redeem the time. On the way back to the hotel to review our sightseeing plans, we go see a pretty church across the street on the backside of the Louvre (St. Germain). Jerry liked the architecture and took some pictures.

Back at the hotel, we review our tour guides and decide we should try to see Notre Dame Cathedral before it closes. The afternoon is late by now, so we have to make a fast walk to try to make the cathedral in time. Unfortunately, in walking so fast, Jerry stepped off a high curb in just the wrong way and pulled a muscle in his right leg so badly that now he’s in significant pain and limping seriously. Today just has not been a good day on the whole.

We get to Notre Dame, and the sky has clouded up ominously again, but shortly thereafter looks like the sun might pop out again, and it does! The que to get into Notre Dame is very long too. To take advantage of the unexpected afternoon sunlight, Jerry first decides to go ahead and take pictures of the building and statue of Emperor Charlemagne outside before we think about whether we will have a chance to get in if we que up in the long line.

We decide after taking pics to get in line and see what happens. The line starts moving pretty well, and we are relieved. Maybe we’ll get in under the wire after all! As we approach the door, I begin to hear beautiful singing. Easter mass is underway! So, we join in. The liturgy is in French, but the program has translations in about 8 languages. The organ music is so moving! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! So, I have to wonder. Were all today’s missteps, from no taxi early this morning in London to Jerry’s lame leg getting to the cathedral this afternoon, actually the path to worship—really meaningful worship—on this Easter Sunday? Praise be to God! Worship at Notre Dame Cathedral on Easter Sunday! Already one of the great highlights of the trip.

After services, we stayed around outside for a while and then start back to the hotel looking for a restaurant as we go along. We settle on a cute place that has omelettes. Just what we needed. The food is delicious. While we were eating, a luscious banana split was delivered to the table behind us. We can’t resist so we order one! What a great way to end a day that started out so badly. We walk back to the hotel, and the Louvre is beautiful at night. We’ll plan to be at the Louvre when it opens tomorrow to be sure to get in without too much of a wait.

Here is a video of the Paris action today: