Europe 2019, Cont.: Stuttgart and Bayreuth

Stuttgart, June 14-15

From Rambouillet we drove to Germany, stopping at Verdun to visit the massive concrete citadel that anchored the French defenses during the horrific battle there in 1916.  Our trusty Mercedes, which had proven its worth on the French autoroutes, was about to be tested on the speed limit-less German Autobahnen.  The car’s one peculiarity was its Siri-like voice recognition system, which was activated any time we said “Mercedes,” even in reference to a passing car.  Thus, we learned to refer to the other vehicle as a M-E-R-C-E-D-E-S.

Our trusty Mercedes

Arriving in central Stuttgart, we checked into a hotel on Marienplatz, a square frequented by young people on that Friday evening.  The next day our good friend Irene Kohlhaas, our next door neighbor in Chisinau and Todd’s colleague as German ambassador, led us on a tour of the city, where she had grown up.

Marienplatz Friday evening

We started with a walk through a forest to the Fernsehturm, reportedly the world’s first TV viewing tower, for a view of hilly Stuttgart and its surroundings.  Then on to the city center for a good lunch.

Stuttgart from the Fernsehturm

Downtown Stuttgart

In the afternoon we visited the Mercedes Museum, an impressively large and well organized building on the outskirts of the city.  Starting at the top floor and walking down a circular path, we viewed the evolution of the Daimler-Benz company and the vehicles it produced, all in the context of the political and social developments of the day.  The descriptions were quite forthright in describing the company’s use of POWs and other forced laborers during World War II.  Needless to say, however, the vehicles on display were magnificent

One generation of Mercedes vehicles

Georgia's new car

Bayreuth, June 16-17

Driving to Bavaria’s Bayreuth, we spent two days with Jochen and Irene von Feitlitzsch, with whom our friendship began in the 1960s, when Todd was a vice consul in Munich and Jochen was a university student there.  Irene took us on a bicycle tour of several new (to us) attractions in the city center, highlighted by a visit to the recently restored opera house, now included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.  Margravine Wilhelmine, favorite sister of Frederick the Great (and, like him, a composer), commissioned the construction of the exquisitely baroque opera house as a means of enhancing Bayreuth’s reputation and her own.  She quite clearly succeeded!

Wilhelmine's opera house

No visit to Bavaria would be complete without beer and music.  Happily, Bayreuth was celebrating its annual Volksfest, where we were able to drink suitable quantities of the local brew, eat brathendl and wurst, and watch the carnival rides.  (We politely declined Irene’s invitation to go on Aristico.)  Appropriately for us and the Volksfest, the evening ended with fireworks.

The Volksfest and Aristico in full swing

  

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.