Europe 2019, Cont.: France

After an early morning flight from Bristol to Amsterdam on June 8, we rented a brand-new Mercedes SUV and, guided by Birgit (our name for the navigation system voice), drove to Rambouillet, southwest of Paris, where we stayed for five days.   An exurban location was preferable, for we wanted to concentrate on sights outside the city that we had not previously visited.  Rambouillet itself is a charming town, off the usual tourist route with a number of good restaurants

Rambouillet flower market

Rambouillet, June 9

The town’s main attraction is its chateau, originally developed by an illegitimate offspring of Louis XIV.  Louis XVI took it over as a hunting lodge and built a “dairy” on the grounds for Marie Antoinette to play milkmaid.  After Louis came a cropper, Napoleon developed a fondness for the chateau.  It has subsequently been used as a summer residence and entertaining venue for French presidents.  Visitors can tour the historic rooms, decorated in the periods of Louis XVI and Napoleon with indications of their use by the respective casts of characters.  One room features a dining table set for the banquet that Giscard d’Estaing hosted in 1974 for President Ford and other leaders of the G-6.

Visitor entrance to chateau

Giscard's table set for G-6

Grotto (milk cooling room) in Marie Antoinette's "dairy"

Reims, June 10

We drove east to Reims principally to visit its cathedral, the coronation site for most French kings beginning with Clovis in the 5th century.  The present cathedral, built in the 13th century but damaged in both world wars, is perhaps the most impressive church we have visited.  Particularly stunning are its soaring height and its front facade with a wealth of beautifully carved angels, saints, andkings.  Most famously, Charles VII was crowned there in 1429 in the presence of Joan of Arc.

St. Joan

Moving forward many centuries, we visited the high school building that served as Eisenhower’s headquarters and the scene of German surrender on June 7, 1945.  The school is still operational, but a few of Ike’s offices have been preserved as a memorial, including the room where General Jodl signed the surrender document.

Site of 1945 surrender

Giverny, June 11

Reviews of Giverny have dissed Claude Monet’s home as a quasi-tourist trap flooded with visitors so we were prepared to be underwhelmed.  Yes, the crowds were heavy, including squads of kindergarteners, but once past the ticket booth, we were delighted with what we saw.  The Monet Foundation appears to have done a good job of maintaining or recreating the interior of the house (with reproductions replacing the original paintings) so we gained some appreciation of how Monet lived.  The gardens were, in a word, beautiful

Arcade in Monet garden

Monet's view of his garden

Water lily pond 

Paris, June 12

We took a one-hour train ride into Paris-Montparnasse to visit Frank Gehry’s extraordinary building housing the galleries of the Foundation Louis Vuitton.  The special draw was an exhibition of impressionist paintings from London’s Courtauld Gallery, now closed for remodeling, one of the great collections of French impressionism.  However, we were also delighted to see (visit?) Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room - Phalli’s Field (or Floor Show), to which only four visitors were admitted at a time.

Louis Vuitton Foundation

A Manet from the Courtauld Collection

Kusama's mirror room

No trip to Paris would be complete without a good dinner.  We took the advice of The New York Times and ate near Porte St. Denis at Bouillon Juiien, which lived up to its review in offering excellent value for the money.  The restaurant’s art nouveau decor was a special treat.  Not surprisingly, given the Times’ review, many of our fellow diners appeared to be American.

Porte St. Denis

Bouillon Julien

Rambouillet, June 13

Seasoned travelers have to do laundry if they are budget-conscious.  Thus, we spent the morning at a local laundromat and the afternoon repacking and writing blog entries.