France - Beaune

In the Burgundy region of France known for its wines, is the city of Beaune. Dating back to before the Roman conquest in 59-51 BC, it was the seat of the dukes of Burgundy during the 14th and 15th centuries and still has many buildings from that period. The town is surrounded by a river and a wall that protected it.

The Hotel Dieu, a charitable hospital founded by Nicolas Rolin and his wife, Guigone de Salins, is one of the main attractions. From the outside, it is very plain but once you enter the courtyard, you are struck by the magnificent colors of the roof. Most all of the decoration inside and out must be viewed by looking up. It was to inspire the very ill who of course, could only look up from their pallets or beds.

The grand hall featured 28 small beds which accommodated three patients each—regardless of sex. To fit them into the beds, two were laid in one direction and one in the other. Pity the poor person who had to smell four feet. But these patients were the very ill and many did not survive. And for many, it was the first time they had ever laid in a bed. Further on just off the courtyard was another room, smaller, but for the wealthier patients who did not have to share a bed.

At the end of the grand hall is a chapel. All of the beds faced the chapel so the patients could contemplate their possible demise (wonder how the one laying in the opposite direction could). The beams above their heads appear to be the demons of hell spewing out the beams that support the ceiling—a reminder of where you would go if you did not repent.

The tiles in the middle of the grand hall were specially designed to reflect the great love between Nicholas and Guigone. Their initials are intertwined by a vine of oak around which is the word “Seule” and a star. Our guide told us that Nicholas would tell Guigone that she was the lone star in his life. When he died, she continued the work on the chapel but in the chapel, the tapestries on the wall have the word “Seulle” and a star signifying that she was now a lonely star.

The hospital was a model for its time where the patients were cared for by the Sisters of the Hospices de Beaune. A pharmacy was on site as well as a large kitchen for preparing meals. All of this was embellished with beautiful tapestries and works of art, one of which was originally in the chapel but now has its own room to preserve it. It is the Last Judgement by Flemish artist Roger Van der Weyden. The backside of the panels that closed over the main painting featured the Rolins in meditative prayer.

Later, as we explored the town on our own a bit, we came across this candy store that featured what I first thought was meringue. They called it nougat and it came in all sorts of flavors, was a bit chewy but oh, so good!

France - Chalon sur Saone

After spending two nights in Paris at the end of our cruise down the Seine, we boarded a train for Chalon sur Saone where we were to board the Viking Burgundy for our trip down the Saone and Rhone rivers. Actually the train went to Lyon and there we switched to a smaller train that went on to Chalon.

The first train ride was exhilerating. Bob has an app on his phone that is a speedometer and we were able to estimate the speed of the train at about 160 mph. You didn't really notice it until trees and brush close to the track passed by in a blur.

Arriving in Chalon about 11 in the morning, we walked the short distance to the riverboat dragging our suitcases behind us. (It pays to pack light!) The rooms were not scheduled to be ready until 3 p.m. but we were able to check our luggage and head off to find a restaurant for lunch.

Just up the river from the boat was a bridge that led to an island where the hospital is located. Just next to it is a street filled with restaurants. However many were not open. We finally settled on one, La Normandie, and were seated in the tiny establishment. It didn't take long to realize there was either no English spoken or they were reluctant to try. The menus had no English subtitles as we'd found in many other restaurants. But Italian dishes are the same in any language and we settled on spaghetti.

There was definitely a disadvantage to not knowing much French this day. As we watched others get their meals, we discovered that their specialty was mussels in several different broths apparantly and not just a measly dozen as we'd see in the State. Oh no, these were large bowls heaped with 6 or 7 dozen mussels and accompanied by a plate of French fries. Our spaghetti dishes were wonderful but it left me craving mussels--a craving satisfied when we found a similar restaurant offering in Nice.

The central square in Chalon was alive with a farmers' market when we first arrived. Stalls of cheese, fresh vegetables and fruits, sausage, and of course breads were abundant.

To our surprise, the city boasts of a famous son, Joseph Nicephore Niepce, who they say invented photography. He succeeded in obtaining a negative image in 1816 and then went on to get a positive one in 1822.

Since we overnighted in Chalon, we had time the next day to explore a bit more and found a beautiful garden to stroll through while enjoying what would be some of the precious few hours of sun and good weather we would have for the next week.

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Gift - A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts

Next week will start the Christmas shopping season in earnest. For that hard-to-buy-for person, you might want to consider A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. Great stories, recipes, easy ideas for celebrating the season, greenthumb tips, inspirational thoughts, all put together in a beautifully illustrated gift book.

We have received some great news about our book. It is now available in many local bookstores. Besides some of the biggies, you can also find it in these chains:

Parable Bookstores

Lifeway Bookstores

Munce Bookstores

And of course there's always Amazon.com!

France - Versailles

Louis XIV. Marie Antoinette. The stories surrounding them have spawned all sorts of literary endeavors. On a very cold morning, we boarded buses for our trip to the palace at Versailles. Upon our arrival, we headed for the gardens. Group tours are scheduled at certain times in order to keep congestion to a minimum and control the crowds.

As with the Monet gardens, October was not the time of the year to be viewing gardens. The flowers had already been removed and the ground prepared for the winter season. It was still amazing to see the bushes and trees that were trimmed in intricate patterns and take in the immensity of the project. The gardens have been reduced since the time of the “sun king” but they still stretch as far as the eye can see.

Our group found a niche out of the cold breeze and waited for our appointed time to go through the palace. The original palace was actually a hunting lodge and when Louis XIV took over, he expanded it and created the opulent decorations Versailles has made famous. Even the horses had an elaborate building which housed them.

The story of the king’s morning routine intrigued me. The king and queen had private quarters but there was also a bedroom for the king that was more public. Each morning, he would climb out of bed and shuffle to the ceremonial bedroom where the official morning began with his courtiers and government counsel “waking” him and dressing him.

The private apartment was apparently not so private on the wedding night. Marie Antoinette’s bedroom contains a beautiful bed separated from the rest of the room by a three foot high balustrade that cordoned off the room so that the viewing public could be assured that the king was doing his job and procreating.

Of course the most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors. It is spectacular and I’m sure was even more so when the mirrors were all new and the room was aglow in candlelight.

With all of this splendor and display of wealth, is it so hard to imagine why the French commoners revolted?

France - Monet's Garden

The little town where we docked was called Vernon but we were here to see the even smaller town of Giverney where Monet lived and painted his famous water lilies. While we waited for our scheduled bus trip, we wandered across the bridge from our river boat and checked out the castles that had been rebuilt near the river. The turrets reminded me of the story of Rapunzel. I would not have been surprised to see some golden locks tumbling down from one of the upper windows.

At one time, there were several water mills stretched across the river on a bridge. All that remains is one lonely mill minus its wheel sitting atop what remains of the bridge.

Our trip to Giverney took about 10 minutes by bus. It was a romantic little town with the main attraction of course being the mansion and gardens of Monet and his famous water lily pond. Late October is not the time of year to visit if you expect to see lots of blooming flowers but it was still possible to appreciate the water lily pond. As we walked around it, I could see how Monet was taken with the way the light changed on the surface of the water depending upon the direction you looked across it. I could imagine even more how he must have worked to capture the subtle changes in the light from early morning to dusk portrayed in his paintings in the Orangerie.

The mansion was intriguing especially considering he had three women living in the house with him. He was quite a character and created a stir in the town as he campaigned to be able to divert the small river in the town to create his pond. From what I understood, he made quite a bit of money from his series of haystack paintings that allowed him to pursue the creation of his extensive gardens.

Off to one side of the mansion was a fenced area with several different species of poultry birds including a white turkey with black markings.

After our stroll through the mansion and gardens, we found a wonderful little café where we enjoyed cappuccinos on the patio and soaked up what little sun was left in the afternoon. Perhaps it was the caffeine or maybe the warm sun but I could just make out an old man with a long white beard strolling down the sandy road. A moment later he disappeared into the misty dusk as if blended into the oils of a canvas.

France - Ville des Andelys

What a treat to awaken one morning along the Seine and find ourselves in the middle of a Monet painting. The sun was lazily making its way up into the sky and a haze lay over the countryside creating the romantically mysterious sense of picturesque landscape that Monet and other Impressionists often captured in their work.

The little town of Ville des Andelys included a delightful morning excursion climb to the top of a ridge containing the remains of a fortress. It once belonged to Richard the Lionhearted. Not a lot of the stone fortress is left standing, but the view from the top was so very worth the climb.

Our timing was perfect. As we finished snapping the last of our pictures, a low hanging cloud engulfed us and shrouded the view. We headed down once again to the little town and began to explore.

A large square marked the center where a church faced out on one side. At one end of town was a large hospital. As I walked toward it, I found myself at a Y in the road with a bakery at the point of the intersection. A few doors down and across the street was another bakery (the French love their baguettes, croissants, brioche, and pastries). As I passed between the two shops I stopped and inhaled deeply. The smell of fresh baked yeasty bread hung there between the two bakeries. I forced myself to move on.

As we traveled along in Normandy, there were large clumps of what at first appeared to be squirrel nests in the trees like we have at home. We discovered, they were not squirrel nests but rather a parasite growing in the trees—mistletoe! Well, no wonder the French are so fond of kissing in their greetings. They’ve been wandering under the mistletoe!

Books for the Road - The Lucky One

Nicholas Sparks never fails to deliver a wonderful romance when I'm wanting to escape into something light and easy. The Lucky One again fulfilled that need. It is a story of a soldier who finds a picture of a pretty young woman in the sand in Iraq and after failing to find its owner, he keeps it in his pocket. After surviving several bombings, his friend convinces him that it is his lucky charm and he needs to find the young woman and thank her.

Logan Thibault never intends to fall in love with the woman in the picture, but as luck would have it, he does just that when he meets her. This tends to complicate her life as she is attracted to Logan as well.

A bit reminescent of Message in a Bottle, this is truly a "feel good" story and will not disappoint Sparks' fans.