Day Trip! Chambord, Blois and Wine!

Today we went on an excursion! Just like school there was a big bus, a head count and accompanying teachers. But there were also castles. 

First up was Chambord. 

 

I have a dislike of Chambord. I find it overall too showy and pretentious, and I am not a fan of the fact that this castle is built like a Medieval fortress and then decorated like a Christmas tree. It makes me wish I had a trebuchet!

It was built by Francois I, off plans and drawings made by Leonardo Da Vinci. After the vast expense of building this Chateau, Francois only spent 72 days here. The main reason he built it, as the audio guide kept telling me, was to show off to his friends and the other kings of Europe.

However, you cannot deny it's magnificence.

 

Exterior view of the Royal Apartments.

 

Some foxes!

 

The ever present Salamander. Francois I took the Salamander as his symbol and promptly stuck it EVERYWHERE. Like actually, everywhere. 

 

This is the grand staircase. Now this actually is cool. No photo can convey its awesome, but the stairway is a double helix, two interlaced spirals twining up into the tower shown in the picture below. 

 

The next port of call was Blois. Which was much more my sort of castle. Blois is one of the five medieval chateau of the Loire. I have now seen four! Winning!

However, it has had bits and pieces added to it over the course of the centuries and now presents a pretty astounding melange of Gothic, flamboyant, Renaissance and Classical architecture!

 

The coolest parts however were on the inside.

 

Queen's Bedroom...

 

Oratory....

 

Random piece of wall showing the awesomeness of the paintings on the walls!!!!

 

This is the Hall of the Three Estates built in 1241. It is called the Hall of the Three Estates because this is where the Estates General met the two times they were summoned by Henri III in 1576 and 1588. The Estates General, if I know my history correctly, were the closest thing under the French Monarchy to a Parliament. The Three Estates were the church, the nobility and commoners. For those who are interested, the free and independent media was dubbed the Fourth Estate, although slightly more recently!!!

And finally here are some happy snaps of the vineyard where we tasted some wine and cheese!

 

 

Until next time!

Soldes, soldes, soldes!

Sales shopping in La France! .......best thing ever!

Today marked the beginning of the Summer Sales (or Soldes as they call them) in France. I like the congruence between our sales in Australia starting on the 27th of December and these starting on the 27th June.

Unfortunately I was a really bad blog keeper and actually didn't take any photos of the stores, which were packed.

Today, unfortunately has been the only hot day in this summer so far! It was 28 degrees, which I feel is a solid effort for Europe, which so far has been managing to pull off a summer of 13, 14 and 15 degree rainy days! The heat however made the crowds sweaty and smelly which was mildly unpleasant!

Here are my pretty purchases....

and here are some other random things which might be of interest or amusement!

 

Only in France would they have a tram station called "Droits de l'Homme" - yes, you heard it, "Rights of Man."

 

I found this cute little picture in one of the corridors at uni, the translation is "The Fabulous Progress of History: Barbarossa invents the 100m free swim in amour in 1190" 

This on the other hand is a more professional "bande desinee" or comic strip. Bande desinees are really popular in France and read by an astounding number of children and adults. Near my house there is a Christian bookstore, and I found them preaching the word in somewhat unconventional means.... 

Le Messie = The Messiah

 

I like the way the Apostles look ready to pull out some Kung Fu in this picture!

 

The Angel Gabrielle and Mary....

 

These, I would gather, are the bad guys.....

Week One in Orleans

Hello all,

So I have now been living in Orleans like a real French person for more than a week. I have really enjoyed it and I definitely think my French is getting better. The course is actually pretty good and I have met some awesome people. I have been enjoying telling Americans about Australian award wages and how its illegal to pay and adult $8 an hour in Australia. Free healthcare also draws gasps as does the revelation that we don't pay thousands and thousands of dollars for our university.

Thursday night was Fete de la Musique, a French national holiday, all about music! It celebrated right across France and in Orleans there were DJ's, bands and dance-floors set up all around the city. As you walked down the main street one type of music merged directly into the next. There was classical, Jazz, dance music and some epic African drumming.

The streets were absolutely jam packed. Here are some happy snaps!

 

You can't really see here, but these people were absolutely rocking out! And yes, that is Joan of Arc in the background!

 

This was a dance floor, but I couldn't really get closer and still take a picture. Hope you can get the jist of it. 

Today we went to the country house of the family I am staying with's Grandma. It was pretty amazing. The house is seriously old, and her husband had been a hunter, so there were boar skins and fox furs and deer heads everywhere. There were some books from the 1400s which were the archives of a lawyer who had been in the family. I was amazed! Not to mention a delicious lunch...the highlight was strawberry icecream (home made) with home made meringues. 

 

This is the house, amazing right?

 

Some wheat!

 

Archery with the French! Tee hee hee! I actually managed to hit the target like an epic winner!

Until next time!

Cathedral and Veille (Old) Orleans

Today was the first day of the course, it was lots of fun and I met some lovely people.

We also had an amazing tour of the city, the Mairie (Town Hall) and the Cathedral, it was all in French and I was very pleased as I followed along. Mind you it was in snail's pace French, but French none the less.

This is the fireplace in the Mairie. It is from the 16th Century (I think - it was all in French remember!) Sorry for the blurry pictures. 

Here is me with an amusing picture of Joan of Arc!

In one of the rooms in this Mairie, king Francois II died in 1560. He was only 16 and had reigned for only 18 months. his wife, shown here in blue, was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. 

This is from the same picture, but the light made it impossible to get them both in. This is Catherine Medici, the mother and regent of Francois II. She seems to be holding it together much better than her Scottish daughter in law!

This is the Cathedral of Orleans.

This is the magnificent vaulted ceiling of the Cathedral at Orleans. At the end you can see an image of Jean D'Arc!

This is my feeble attempt to capture the glory of the rose window. 

Again, a feeble attempt to convey the glory of the stained glass. There were about thirty windows like these, each in their own chapel. 

This little model of the Cathedral is made of the same building materials as the Cathedral itself. It is for blind people to feel in order to experience what the Cathedral looks like to people with vision. 

Some "columbage" (I think - please don't judge me if its wrong) houses from the 16th century, in the Old City where I am staying. 

This is John Calvin, although you can't see him very well. Calvin was a protestant reformer, who attended the "old university" at Orleans. The old university was the Ecole de Droit Romaine (Roman Law) and taught a number of other notable French figures. It is now closed and the "New University" which I attend, is down the road, across the River. Too bad - I came so close to having shared an educational experience with Calvin!

Orleans

Greetings again!

I am in Orleans and am in the home of my host family where I'll be staying for a month. The family are lovely, and I am capable of making myself understood in French, albiet through amusing statements like: "Can I please use the machine, in which, one washes the clothes?"

French people really eat French food, even in their homes. For dinner last night we had tomatos and cheese on pastry and then tarte aux pommes. For lunch today, which is a bigger meal than dinner, we had fish, with tomatos and mozarella for entree. And for dinner tonight we had a delicious concoction called "frites" which is basically cheese, flour and eggs - deep fried! Every meal is at least two courses, even if desert is only yogurt or fruit. All the fruit here is amazing, except the apples, which are large and yellow...and powdery!

Here are some happy snaps of things I have found in Orleans so far!

This is the Cathedral, which is huge, as you might be able to tell from the picture. 

This is the former city wall, the bottom part was built in the 4th century, the upper part in the Carolingian period. 

Yesterday I visited the Orleans Museum of Art. There were some interexting pieces, including the one below of Joan of Arc. However, I am not sure if I was in a mood for appreciating art, and kept noticing silly things, some of which I have recorded for you. 

This is Loth being seduced by his daughters, its an Old Testament story. Notice the amusing look on the blonde one's face!

This is a small part of a painting, but the likeness between the expression of horse and rider distracted me from everything else!

Once again, this is a very small part of a painting, but.... What is actually going on? Is this guy actually wearing a flamboyant purple outfit thought which we can see his navel, poking his tongue out, brandishing a flaming helm and sword?

The lord and lady are doing their best to look dignified, whilst their horse does his best not to. 

Classic, ugly Renaissance baby.

Sorry about the light, just an amusing family shot. Can you imagine what these people would have been like in real life? 

Angers

Today we visited the town of Angers which for fellow history fans is in Anjou, from which the Plantagenet Kings and Queens of England are descended.

It was a seriously long drive, I read more Game of Thrones than I care to disclose. However, when we came upon the town we found that the people of Angers, in light of the growing Eurozone crisis, are taking suitable precautions by enhancing the fortifications of their city.

 

Here are some of the completed sections with the EU flag flying!

Okay, that's not what really happened! 

This castle was built by a LADY. Her name was Blanche of Castile who was acting as Regent of Anjou. She built the castle in the 13th century as a place to marshall troops.

Originally all the towers had turrets on them, which would have been cool, but they were leveled in the 15th Century so that artillery could be fired from them!

Here are some pretty castle pictures: 

 

As you will see from the picture of the plaque, this wall is actually Roman! It was built as a defense in the 3rd century and then added on over time!

And here is the Town Centre of Angers looking very picturesque.