Paris1972-Versailles2003

I am bringing you back to a wonderful city of the old region of Béarn in the south of France,and a superb city. This is cruising time this short week of four days at work.  The sun is still with us and should be for the rest of the week. I will do this post on my black and white series ,no pictures. Plenty on specific sight posts in my blog.

I am talking about Pau, a city of passing many times and layovers of a day, on my way to my beloved Spain, then it hit us ,we needed to visit for real and we did.  Pau  is in the department 64 Pyrénées Atlantiques in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine.

The city is located in the heart of an old independent state call Béarn of which it was the capital in 1464. Bordered by the gave de Pau river (long of 183 km) and about hundred km from the Atlantic ocean and about 50 km from Spain. This gave it a great position to offer a remarkable panorama on the Pyrénées chain of mountains as well as the hills of Jurançon with a fantastic view from the boulevard des Pyrénées.  .  Pau is only 110 km from Bayonne and the Atlantic ocean, especially the beach or Plage de Capbreton is only 122 km ; to the north there is at 216 km, Bordeaux and on the east Occitanie with only 40 km away from Tarbes ,46 km from Lourdes, and 196 km from Toulouse. Spain is only 50 km accessable via Gan by Oloron-Sainte-Marie and the peak of Somport (1631 meters and now the tunnel of Somport, or via Gan ,then Laruns to the peak of Pourtalet at 1794 meters; both of my favorite routes into my beloved Spain. Pau is found at the intersection of autoroutes A64 aka Pyrénéenne linking with Tarbes and Toulouse, and later on the west to Bayonne, and the Basque coast; and the autoroute A65 or autoroute de Gascogne connecting to Bordeaux via the A62 and the D817,  D937 and the D943 and the D945, and the N134 linking to the peak of Somport and Spain.

The funiculaire or cable car opened in 1908 to link the lower city train station and the boulevard des Pyrénées or the upper city; nice quaint ride indeed. There is TGV train service from Paris Montparnasse to Tarbes and intercités trains from Hendaye to Toulouse-Matabiau as well as TER trains from Bordeaux-Saint Jean station to Tarbes. The closest airport is that of Pau-Pyrénées located at 12 km from the town of Uzein and links with Paris CDG and Orly airports , Lyon, Marseille, Bastia, Ajaccio, Naples, and Bari in summers on my last reading.

A bit of history I like

The city is connected to the castle once it became the seat of the kingdom of Navarra in the 16C. Pau becomes the political and intellectual center under the reign of king Henri and Marguerite of Navarra. The story of Pau is deeply marked by the birth of Henri de Bourbon in 1553 in the castle; eventually he rises to the crown of France in 1589 under king Henri IV. Since then, the history of the city is connected to him. At the end of the Béarnaise independence  in 1620, Pau loses its influence but stayed at the head of the province autonomous until the French revolution. During the 18C another great local is born, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, marshal of the empire under Napoléon Ier and later chosen to become king of Sweden and Norway from 1818 to 1844 on his death , he started a dynasty that still reign over Sweden today.

By October 1620 the Catholic cult is reestablished here in the Béarn by a procession followed by king Louis XIII ,on the same day he published an edit to bring about the union of the Béarn and Navarra into the crown of France.  The king promise and guarantee the Béarnais to preserve their customs and privileges with autonomy.  King Louis XIII change the sovereign council of Bearn into the parliament of Navarra bringing in the court of Saint Palais; the city of Pau goes from royal town to parliamentarian town.  When the WWI began many pilots were trained here from a dozen countries including the French Georges Guynemer, René Fonck, Charles Nungesser, Roland Garros (of tennis fame) , Jules Védrine and even the American Norman Prince living in Pau at the time and founder of the Escadrille La Fayette (volunteers American who fought even before the USA entered the war). During WWII, Nazi occupation brought the Gestapo to the villa Saint Albert (today  destroyed) from 1942 and using the outpost or caserne Bernadotte as a prison until August 1944.

With the coming of the Belle Époque period a new influx comes to Pau, rich tourists especially British but also Russians, Spanish, and Americans coming to spent the winter and benefit from the special climate ordered by Scottish doctor Alexander Taylor. Pau is change into building several villas and palaces to host the new arrivals with all modernity such as baths, casino, and cable car or funicular. At the same period Pau becomes one of the world capital of aeronautics with the Wright brothers, and the first school of pilots organized in the world.

Things to see in nice Pau

The great parc Beaumont with a lake, river, and cascade with several branches of flowers and rosary on 12 hectares having 110 different species of trees with some remarkable such as the bold cypress, of Louisiana , the Persimmon of Virginia, and the Giant Sequoia . You have the parc Lawrence with centenary trees and an English villa from the 19C.  The domain of the castle of Pau has a renaissance garden with medicinal plants heir to the parks of the 16C under Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d’Albret  gardens seen as the most beautiful of Europe by contemporary visitors. You have main Churches such as Saint Martin Church started in 1863 and finished in 1871; and Saint James Church finished in 1868. Also, the fine arts museum opened in 1864.

The wonderful Château de Pau (see post) over the gave de pau river, the native house of Gen Bernadotte and from 1951 the museum of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ,general under Napoléon I and later king of Sweden under Charles XIV and king of Norway under Charles III.  The Hôtel Gassion and Hôtel de France on boulevard des Pyrénées. The palace or Palais Beaumont also known as winter palace built in 1900 to amuse the locals and visitors on the game  , spectacles , festivals and meetings in a casino and congress center, theater and etc . The current Hôtel de Ville or city hall from 1878, by the Place Royale that was before a theater from 1862.

Like I said this is a nice city good to walk around the Place Royale and up and down upper and lower city on the cable car, the views on boulevard des pyrénées and of course the Castle, always the castle.

There you have it wonderful deep into the Béarn, Deep France , my love is on these lands so much the real France still, please keep it like forever. Enjoy it, and remember, happy travels, good health ,and many cheers to all !!!

I think ,I have mentioned on the previous post but the way I came here was by accident or curiosity of a traveller. My idea and our family was to visit Luxembourg city, and we came here often. On one of the earlier trip, we had extra time and saw a brochure on Trier in the tourist office , been close and we with a car, we took off for the Roman city of Trier. Yes that is how we came to know Trier, and it has been a must visit once in a while over the years,and has become our favorite city in Germany, said. This is my introduction to Trier on my black and white series, no pictures. See my numerous posts on Trier!!

Trier (Trèves in French) is in the region state of Rhineland Palatinate  on the Moselle river near the border with Luxembourg (about 50 km /31 mi) and the Moselle wine region.  You have good transport here with a nice train station with connection galore, by train the nearest cities are Cologne, Saarbrücken and Luxembourg city. The highway are wonderful and we have done it on the expressway A1 as well as A48 and A64 connecting Koblenz, Saarbrüken, and Luxembourg city. The airport nearest Trier is actually in Luxembourg at Findel just less than an hour away, Frankfort is about 2 hrs away as well as Cologne/Bonn. The Moselle river has nice cruises too.

A bit of history I like

Founded by the Celtic in the late-4C BC ; this town became an old Roman colony founded in the year 16 BC under the name of Augusta Treverorum on the site of a gaullist people name the Triveres. There is an old stone bridge built in 45 AD replacing an older wooden one and still the oldest bridge in Germany still working.  There is a rampart housing the biggest urban area in all of Gaul ,about 282 hectares. It ‘s still has the Porta Nigra , a must to see ,it is a fortified gate, as well as some wall foundations in the ramparts still from Roman times. Trier is considered the second Rome or Roma secunda. In addition from Roman times we have the Basilica which today is a protestant Church, remains of an amphitheater and ruins of the spas. The Franks took Trier from the Roman rule in 459 AD; by 870AD it became part of the Easter France that eventually became the Holy Roman Empire. The Cathedral of Trier is home to the archbishop that was one of the prince elect of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire, and keeps a vest that is considered the Holy Shroud that wore Jesus Christ to the Calvary. This Cathedral was closed for many years and finally re opened again in 1974.

The German philosopher and one of the founders of Marxism , Karl Marx was born in the city in 1818. The University of Trier was founded in 1473 ,but it too was closed for several years , dissolved in 1797 and eventually reopened again in 1974. The years 1581 to 1593 ,the Trier witch trials were held ,perhaps the largest witch trial in European history. It was certainly one of the four largest witch trials in Germany. The persecutions started in the diocese of Trier in 1581 and reached the city itself in 1587, where it was to lead to the death of about 368 people, and was as such perhaps the biggest mass execution in Europe in peace time In the 17C and 18C, Trier was wanted by France, who invaded several times like during the Thirty Years war, war of the Grand Alliance, War of the Spanish Succession, War of the Polish succession; France finally claiming Trier in 1794 during the French revolution, and the electoral archbishopric was dissolved. After the Napoleonic wars ended in 1815 Trier passed to the Kingdom of Prussia. The city rose in revolt during the revolutions of 1848 in the German States   although the rebels were forced to concede. It became part of the German Empire in 1871. In June 1940 over 60K British prisioners of war captured at Dunkirk and Northern France were marched into Trier, which became a staging post for British soldiers headed for Nazis prisioners of war camps.

Things to see are plenty here, my family’s favorite are:

The Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps; ruins of three Roman baths, among them the largest Roman baths north of the Alps; including the Barbara baths and the Trier Imperial baths; the huge Constantine Basilica with 67 meters long throne hall of Roman Emperor Constantine, it is today used as a Protestant Church; the Trier Cathedral St Peter dates back to Roman times and as said houses the Holy Shroud a garment dated back to the 12C; the one Jesus was wearing when he died. It is exhibited only every few decades, at irregular intervals. The Liebfrauenkirche or Church of our Lady one of the most important Gothic Cathedrals in Germany on the French gothic tradition of Cathedrals; the Roman amphitheatre, the 2C AD Roman bridge across the Moselle river, oldest north of the Alps still with traffic; St Matthias Abbey still in use monastery whose medieval Church is the only Apostle north of the Alps is held to be buried; St Gangolf’s Church, was the city market Church that rivalled the Archbishop’s Trier Cathedral; Saint Paulinus Church one of the most important Baroque Churches in Rhineland-Palatinate State; There are two treadwheel cranes one gothic the old crane from 1413 and the other the Baroque crane or old Customs crane from 1774.

As to museums ,there are some nice ones. The archeological museum and most important in Germany on the Roman period call in German Rheiniches Landesmuseum; the history of Trier museum with a model of the medieval city or in German, Stadtmuseum Simeonstiff; and for the kid in all of us,the Toy Museum of Trier.

Some webpages to help you plan your trip to the nice old city of Trier:

Panoramic views of Trier ,wonderful site : http://www.stadtpanoramen.de/trier/index.html

Tourist office of Trier in English: https://www.trier-info.de/english/index

From the Rhineland Palatine region there is more on tourism here: https://www.en.romantic-cities.com/cities/trier/

Tourist office of Germany on Trier in English: http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-cities-culture/towns-cities/historic-highlights-of-germany/trier.html

Hope it helps plan your visit to the wonderful Trier or Trèves , it is a nice place even with the tourist around, heck so are we… we love it. Enjoy the post and remember; happy travels, good health ,and many cheers!!

I am on the mood for Normandy, a treasure trove of goodies all over and now back to be call one whole Normandy again. We come here often even this year when we went to seek help near Mont Saint Michel. On our rounds we passed many times by the hilly curvy Les Andelys. I like to do a first post on these two jewels that need to be visited more by visitors to France. The season is right just 17C today and off clouds and sun.

Les Andelys  is in the departément 27 Eure of the region of Normandy at about 100 km from Paris. This is a hilly town and counts many hamlets on different local D roads ,most on the plains such as in the north Feuquerolles, le Mesnil-Bellanguet, Longuemare, and Noyers  by the D316; in the valley such as Radeval, Paix, and le Val-Saint-Martin, by the D125; and on the south the Cléry, la Baguelande, Mantelle, and Villers, by the D1.  However to get right by the town you are better off on the D135  from the A13 ,the only bridge is a suspended type rebuilt after WWII in 1947 that crosses the Seine river towards Tosny and the righg bank. It is the only bridge between Courcelles sur Seine and Saint Pierre du Vauvray.

The town has many traces of Vikings inhabitation and it is very old town as you can imagine in France. The town belongs to the archbishops of Rouen but it was ceded in 1197 to the Duke of Normandy Richard the Lion Heated ,upon his death he passes to his brother John without lands (sp?) or Jean sans Terre by which finally taking into France by the king Philippe Auguste in 1204.  This taken by France came as a result of the taking of the Château-Gaillard and created psychological conditions for the taking of Rouen and all of Normandy by the king of France. However, it is said on the strategic plan it had no impact as the Seine river was free as well as the route to Rouen much before the taking of the castle.  The results is the duchy of Normandy passing to the kingdom of France after 293 years of independence (since 911 –1204) .

As to the castle of Gaillard, in the following years it was restored later served as a prison ,and finally taken by the English during the War of Hundred years in the 15C. The castle was given up as needed to pull buckets from a well to get water; and with the advances of the artillery it was left in abandon becoming the refuge of homeless etc the King Henri IV ordered the dismantling of its stones that later served to built the Chartreuse of  Aubevoye in Gaillon.  Some anecdotes as here in 1762 the town passes from the duchy of Gisors to Louis Charles de Bourbon-Maine, duke of Aumale; upon his death in 1775 it passes to his cousin the duke of Pentiévre, and by 1793 it passes to Louise Marie de Bourbon-Penthiévre, Duchess of Chartres and Orléans, later in 1821 it entered on the heritage of Duke Louis Philippe III d’Orléans future Louis Philippe Ier king of the French. Early on in WWII in 1940 after bombings and fire on the town it falls to the nazis of the 6th infantry division ,after liberation a plan of rebuilding is approved in 1943.

Things to see here are many manoirs or mansion homes of rich architecture and these my favorites: The Gallo Roman Grand Théatre of the 1C with 120 meters of diameter inside . The before mentioned Chateau Gaillard, Church Collegiale Notre Dame des Andelys built in the 13C 14C 16C and 17C with renovations,; the Church Saint Sauveur du Petit Andely built in the 13C , the hospice Saint Jacques from the 14C and 17C founded by Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthiévre and rebuilt in the 18C , as well as the ramparts of the Grand Andely and the clock tower or Tour de l’Horloge from the 17C

Some further information to help you plan your trip to this wonderful corner of Normandy.

From the city tourist info in French see “Decouvrir” have on Chateau Gaillard: https://www.ville-andelys.fr/chateau-gaillard/#

Tourist office in English here: http://www.lesandelys-tourisme.fr/en/

Tourist office region of Normandy on castle Gaillard in English: http://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/chateau-gaillard-258-2.html

The dept Eure tourist office on les Andelys: https://www.eure-tourism.com/Fiche/Detail/Activity/LES-ANDELYS/Les-Andelys/PCU-PCUNOR027FS0005W

There you have it one two punch in Normandy. You can come here by train from gare Saint Lazare in Paris to Les Andelys or by car take the A13 autoroute exit/sortie no. 17 Gaillon . Enjoy it as we did!

Remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers !! Enjoy week!!!

I like to have memories and nowdays even more. I remember Fontainebleau castle as it was the property in Seine et Marne dept 77 that my late wife Martine, took me first to show me her department/region back in 1990. We have come here ever since,and it is one of my favorite castles been friend of the association that helps protect its heritage. Their office is on your left once entering the main entrance to the castle.  First , let me start by telling you , I have written before several posts on Fontainebleau. Read on….

To speak a bit more on this wonderful castle will take me a whole blog but will give you some general information on it and the city of same name.  Fontainebleau, the city, is in the department 77 or Seine-et-Marne, part of the region of ïle de France, and only about 57 km (about 35 miles) from Paris. It is the most extensive city of the region and mostly covered by a forest; the city itself not counting the castle is 232 hectares or about 573 acres. The Seine river passes by it as well as the smaller river and tributary of the Seine , the Ru de la Mare aux Evées (actually a stream of water).

Some of the main streets in town are the rue Grande long of almost 3 km and the most the visitor will like to walk on. Others are the Place Solférino, Place Denecourt opening to the grill door of the garden or Jardin de Diane, the famous Place d’Armes or Place François Ier, place de l’Hôtel de Ville, place de l’Etape aux vins and the Place de la République.  There is a train station in the nearby town of Avon , attach to Fontainebleau and get you to the castle by local bus or taxi easily.  Gare de Fontainebleau-Avon on the line Paris gare de Lyon trains R direction Montargis/Sens; better in French and you can print the train stops map here: Transilien Fontainebleau train line R 

You can take a taxi outside the station to the castle or pre booked better on this recommended companies by the city:

Radio-Taxi Fontainebleau Avon : 01 64 22 00 06 http://www.taxis-fontainebleau-avon.fr

Taxi Fontainebleau Avon : 06 77 94 10 06 www.taxi-resa.com

By the road ,which how I always go there from Paris you take the A6 at porte d’Orléans or Porte d’Italie and get off at exit for Fontainebleau. Rather than drive around for a parking spot, I have become used to park at the same parking each time and never a problem.  Parking Château on Rue Ferrare just on the other side of the main entrance to the castle ,next street over; open 7/7 24hrs and free on evenings from 19h to 9h every day; daytime is a modest price where I never paid more than 5 euros.

Another route I take from family and could be useful for those coming from Disneyland is to get on the A4 direction Paris and get off at exit/sortie 15 on the N36 direction Melun and there take the D606 direction Fontainebleau right into the rue Grande or from the D606 right after Melun get on the D142 by the carrefour du roi traffic circle follow it thru the forest and entered once past another traffic circle or La Croix du Grand Veneur you will be on the D607 straight into Fontainebleau by the Rue de France; take a left on rue Denecourt and then a right to parking at Rue Ferrare.

A bit of history I like.

This spot was a hamlet and a stop for hunters and a chapel built by king Louis VII. Later Saint Louis (king Louis IX) who loves Fontainebleau  had built a mansion and a hospital here . Nevertheless, Fontainebleau was nothing than a hamlet until 1528 when king François Ier returning to France after spending a year in prison in Spain after the defeat at Pavia in 1525 had decided to built a castle inspired by the Italians styles. In the 17C, many mansions were built here office tourism says about 30 to house the princes and the lords of the court (one was the Ferrare palace now only the front door arch remains and is the entrance to the parking I used and mentioned above. It had great parties especially by the Madame sister in law of the king, the Princess Palatine. In 1685, king Louis XIV signed the edit of Fontainebleau that cancelled the edit of Nantes that cause many protestants to leave France. In 1725, king Louix XV marries here. The French revolution did not cause too much damage here due to the richness of the inhabitants. The empire of Napoléon Ier came to the castle and had it renovated as well as many mansions some turned into hotels like the current luxury  Aigle Noir.

On October 29 1807, Manuel Godoy the minister of the Spanish king Carlos IV and Napoléon Ier signed the treaty of Fontainebleau allowing French troops to passed by Spain to invade Portugal; they decided to stay in Spain too. By June 1812, the Pope Pie VII arrived at Fontainebleau and stayed as house prison from that date to 1814 without leaving his apartment. On April 20 1814, Napoléon Ier shortly after his first abdication says farewell to his troops from the courtyard of the Cheval Blanc (later courtyard of goodbye or cour des adieux). IN all , there were 34 monarchs from Louis VI le Fat to Napoléon III who stayed at Fontainebleau during 7 centuries. From the 16C to the 18C all the kings from François Ier to Louis XV had done renovations, demolitions, enlargements, rebuilts more or less homogeneous to the architecture of the castle. In August 1946, Fontainebleau held the Franco-Vietnamien conference to find a solution to the conflict in Indochina and was a failure as later history can attest. The military tradition of the city kept it for a long time link to the army barracks such as the headquarters of the allied armies of Central Europe or AFCENT, the land forces LANDCENT, and the air forces AIRCENT of NATO  from 1949 to 1967(when France pull out of NATO ) Today the city host a grand école a famous business school wiht international recognition such as INSEAD

The main things to see here are the Fontainebleau castle, and its Napoléon and Chinese museums inside as well as the gardens and the forest of Fontainebleau.  Others are the cimetery and the Saint Louis Church dated from the 17C and restored and enlarged in 1868(had a recent fire inside but currently been restored) . Other mainly horse related event are the CSEM or military equestrian sports center, and the Grand parquet on the field of Salamandre, that hold trainers and breeders of horses , the racecours of Fontainebleau at La Solle, and history tell us that at Bois-le-Roi a small village close to Fontainbleau  was held in 1776, the first English style racehorse at the hamlet of Sermaise. There is also, a nice theater or théatre Municipale built from 1905 in the louis XIII style in brick and stone, the theater opened in 1912. It was closed during WWI and again for restoration from 1999 to 2006.

Some of the mansions or architecturally interesting in my opinion here are: The Hôtel de Bellune at 4 rue Saint Honoré, Hôtel de Polignac at 23 rue Saint Honoré, Hôtel de Conti at 27 rue Saint Honoré , Hôtel de Pompadour, at the small street rue de l’Arbr-Sec this was built for the mistress of king Louis XV,it had a small botanical garden and a petting zoo.  There is an obelisk at the crossing or carrefour de l’Obélisque built in 1786 in honor of queen Marie Antoinette and her children. The curious will go to the forest and see the Priory Notre Dame de Franchard dating from early 411AD and rebuilt in 1626 now run by the order of the Trinitarians following the rule of Saint Augustin. 

The official webpage of Fontainebleau castle: Fontainebleau castle official site

The webpage to the Friends of Fontainebleau if you want to help preserve this wonder of our world. Friends of Fontainebleau castle

The national forest of France on Fontainebleau in French: Forest of Fontainebleau

the city of Fontainebleau and its history in French; City hall of Fontainebleau

The tourist office of Fontainebleau in English: Tourist office of Fontainebleau

Tourist office of dept 77 Seine et Marne on Fontainebleau:  Tourist office of Dept 77 Seine-et-Marne

Tourist office of the region of ïle de France in English on Fontainebleau: ïle de France region tourism

I believe you have a full spectrum of choices in this wonderful castle /city of many memories in my family ,and I hope if you do come will bring you many memories to you and yours too.

Remember, I am back. Happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!