Chateau Gaillard...over 1000 years old!
that's me.
the 3 of us in front of the place where joan d'arc was burned at the stake in Rouen. I'm not sure why we're smiling...
first time at the ocean!
our hostesses and Dr. Rusthoven infront of the Jacques Lefevre Institute
Mont. Saint Michel from a distance
Mont. Saint Michel up close--the big building at the top is the Abbey (it's huge!), and around it is the city
me in front of the chateau d'Amboise. Jordan--don't worry, i didn't cut all my hair off, steph just french braided it for me that day.
posing in front of a Lebanon cedar. where we're sitting is actually about 30 feet in the air above the city 'cause there's a whole garden inside the fortified walls of the chateau
The past 3 days have been great! Dr. Rusthoven was in Paris for a week, so on Thursday morning we rented a car and took a trip up to Normandy. We stayed at a house called the Jacques Lefevre Institute, a place where 3-week French courses are offered in the summer through a Christian organization. Our bedroom over looked the English Channel, and while some people insist I only saw the sea, I’m convinced I have finally seen the ocean! I didn’t get to touch or taste it yet…but that’ll happen before I come home. We had wonderful hosts, a couple of Austrian sisters, and they made the best suppers each nite—we had French soup, chicken cordon bleu, chicken soup, spaghetti, and tons of Parisian bread with French cheeses. It made me miss my mom’s cooking even more than I already do!
The days were a whirlwind of sight-seeing, running up and down stairs, and gasping in fear in the back seat of the car…I’ll get to that later. Thursday we stopped in Rouen to walk through a 14th c. cathedral and see the place where Joan d’Arc was burned at the stake. We also took a bit of a detour to see Chateau Gaillard, a chateau that’s over a thousand years old!
On Friday we drove out toward the REAL Atlantic Ocean to see the Mont. Saint Michel. It’s an incredible looking island, just off shore, with a huge Abbey built at the top, and a small city circling the sides. It’s like a labyrinth inside, with high stone walls and stairs everywhere. You can drive to the island when the tide’s out, and it didn’t come in while we were there, but on some days, depending on the week, the tide comes in and covers the entire parking lot! Sucks if you forget to move your car…On the way back we stopped quickly at a few war monuments along the beaches of Normandy. One of the places was Pointe du Hoc, a fortification from WWII with the bunkers and craters still intact. Looking down over the steep cliffs, it was difficult to imagine the allies being able to climb them, let alone under heavy gunfire. We also stopped at Omaha beach to see where Dr. Rusthoven’s dad landed when he fought in the war. Apparently he was part of the troop that accidentally blew off the top of the city’s church steeple, ‘cause they thought it was a German fortress, so we stopped and saw the rebuilt church steeple too.
Saturday was a lot of driving, but we made it to Amboise in Vallée de la Loire to see Leonardo daVinci’s house and the Chateau d’Amboise. Leo’s grave is in a small chapel in the chateau, and we also saw stuff like Louis-Philipe’s bed, piano, couch and stuff. If I was a history buff the names would mean more…but basically there were a bunch of kings and dukes and important people that lived there.
The rest of the time was spent in the car hanging on for dear life. I’m really grateful to Dr. Rusthoven for taking us to Normandy, but I’m even more grateful that we made it there and back again alive! The brakes were pretty touchy, so there was a lot of head-banging motion going on in the back seat…and not ‘cause we loved the French Church Songs CD we were listening to. It’s nearly impossible to follow a highway from one point to another, because they twist and turn into little streets as you pass through towns, so being the navigator was a feat. It was a test in patience, that’s for sure, but Dr. R. said we all passed.
It was so great to get out of the city for a few days, breathe some fresh air again and enjoy a slower pace of life. Now we have another week of nothing-ness to kill before we start classes, so we’ve decided to take a 4 day trip to Barcelona! It’s only February, so I’m not expecting bikini weather, but I’m excited to soak up a bit of sun since our hostel is right on the beach. I’ll let y’all know how it was when I get back!
And today’s French lesson will be our mantra from the Normandy trip:
“Je vais mourir, je vais mourir!” [I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die!]
Chateau Gaillard...over 1000 years old!
that's me.
the 3 of us in front of the place where joan d'arc was burned at the stake in Rouen. I'm not sure why we're smiling...
first time at the ocean!
our hostesses and Dr. Rusthoven infront of the Jacques Lefevre Institute
Mont. Saint Michel from a distance
Mont. Saint Michel up close--the big building at the top is the Abbey (it's huge!), and around it is the city
me in front of the chateau d'Amboise. Jordan--don't worry, i didn't cut all my hair off, steph just french braided it for me that day.
posing in front of a Lebanon cedar. where we're sitting is actually about 30 feet in the air above the city 'cause there's a whole garden inside the fortified walls of the chateau
3 comments:
weeeheeee! :) Have a good time in Barcelona my dear!
ade
those places are BEEEUUTIFUL! Did you go into the garden that the tree over looked?
Have fun in the sun, maybe you an send a little sunshine our way. All we have right now is lots of snow. Except the snow is pretty awesome, because the snow that fell was the big flaky kind that makes everything look like a Winter Wonderland.
bonjour bonjour!! I hope you had a fun time seeing all those cool places! Barcelona must have been fun. Those were some nice pictures you had posted there. the ones at the beggining were cool,too. well, once again, your trip sounds totally fun!! :^)
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