Oh the places I've been: France

I've now lived in France for a total of 5 years (I announced this last year as well, but my maths was wrong). So I think I know the place fairly well. And yet, other than a day in Avignon, I've never visited Provence (if we don't count the Côte d'Azur as Provence); out of the entire South-West, I've only spent a weekend in Toulouse; I thought I'd just squeaked into seeing a tiny bit of Brittany with an overnight trip to Saint-Nazaire, but turns out it's not in Brittany after all, and I've never set foot in Normandy. Geez, when you put it like that, I really barely know the place at all!

So I suppose I'm the last person that should be writing a little listicle about places to visit in France, but hey. The places I have been, I tend to know pretty well, so here are some perhaps lesser-known destinations I've enjoyed over the years.

Beaumont-Hamel

Let's start out with one that's probably unfamiliar to most. Long, long ago, when I first lived in France, I used to work as a tour guide of sorts, accompanying British school children around northern France. Amongst many cemeteries, memorials, farms and chocolate shops, one of the places we visited was the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in the Somme. This is a little piece of Canada in France (it actually, legally is) where friendly and knowledgeable Canadian guides (if you know any young Canadians, you can actually apply to do this) take you through the terrible battles that happened here.

I've never been big on military history, but this place really brought it alive and helped me to understand a tiny bit of what it must have been like and why so many people died. On July 1st 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British (including the Newfoundland troops) lost almost 20,000 men, with nearly 40,000 more casualties. Absolutely mind-blowing, and with the WWI centenaries coming up, a good place to visit if you want to get some perspective on the war. There are other good WWI sites to visit in the region (Thiepval, Ypres, Vimy Ridge etc.) but this one stood out for the quality of the guided tour, which is probably free (I'm not sure, being there as part of a school group, but I would guess so).

Musée National du Moyen Age

Source

Home of the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, but probably not top of people's Paris lists regardless. I am big on the Middle Ages, however, so I loved it when I visited back in 2010. Apparently the exhibition space for the tapestries has recently been given a "relooking", as the French would say, so if you haven't been yet, now is the time to check it out!

Angers

While we're on the subject of tapestries, I've got to give a shout-out to the Apocalypse Tapestry in the Château of Angers, which I checked out back in 2012. This is amazingly old, amazingly complete (there are missing bits, but 71 huge tapestries still survive) and just all-around amazing, actually. They're packed with interesting symbolism, reflecting not only the Biblical accounts of the Apocalypse, but also the troubled times they were made in (war, famine, pestilence, etc. not being exactly uncommon at the time).

Blois

As we all know, you're spoilt for choice when it comes to châteaux in the Loire Valley, and I've been to a fair few of them. Chenonceau is probably the most spectacular, and the gardens at Villandry definitely deserve a mention, but I thought I'd give a shout-out to the château of Blois, which probably gets my vote as the most underrated of the Loire châteaux. I visited with my parents in early 2011 and it gets points for not only being pretty, but also making an effort to have things to see on the inside, as opposed to some which are basically empty shells.

Chinon

Home to my favourite rosé wine, it's a charming little town in its own right, and my favourite of the small Loire Valley towns I've visited (I've been there maybe 5 or 6 times). It has an old-school castle; a nice main square, good for noshing and people-watching; a hilariously kitch wine museum; lovely river views; tons of old buildings, and did I mention the wine?

Walking the Côte d'Azur

Cap d'Ail - if this looks familiar, it's the background image of the blog

Okay, this is more of an activity than a place, but while thousands flock to the Côte d'Azur every year, I think not so many walk along the coastline, and I can tell you they are missing out! I lived in Nice for 7 months in 2009-10, and my favourite activity became walking along the coast whenever it was nice weather and I had free time (which was a lot, since it's Nice and I only worked 12 hours max a week). I walked the whole coast from Nice to Ventimiglia in Italy, and quite a lot in the other direction towards Cannes. And wow, is it beautiful! If you'd like to try, it's easy to do as well - just follow the coast (the only tricky part was Monaco, too many damn private beaches) and the buses are so frequent that whenever you get tired there'll be one along within the next 20 minutes or so. Makes me miss living in Nice, I'm glad I got out and made the most of it though, in spite of (or because of) being terminally poor (see: worked max. 12 hours a week).

Villas Ephrussi and Kerylos

While we're on the Côte d'Azur, there's actually a ton to see in terms of museums and so on, which again people perhaps don't automatically think of when they think of the French Riviera. The ones that stick most in my head are two lavish and beautiful 19th-20th C villas on Cap Ferrat, the villas Ephrussi and Kerylos. Ephrussi was home to one of the Rothschilds, and Kerylos was built as a reconstruction of a classical Greek villa by a rich guy (who, in my opinion, squandered its amazing location, but that's by the bye). 

Strasbourg

So, Strasbourg hardly counts as off the beaten track, but it definitely earns a spot as one of my favourite places I've visited in France. From the awe-inspiring cathedral to the cute canals of Petite France, it really is a lovely place. And the food - miam miam! If you go, don't miss the painted St Pierre le Jeune church, I'm a real sucker for a polychrome church. 

Poitiers

I was going to finish there, but "polychrome church" reminded me how much I enjoyed Poitiers (which also has one). And a 5th century Baptistry, imagine that! I didn't really have any preconceptions of Poitiers, but it seemed like there was some historical treasure around every corner, I'd gladly go back for a longer visit. 

So that's definitely not all the cool places I've been in France (Reims, Dijon, Chartres, Chamonix, to name a few), but they're some that stick in my mind. Those of you who've lived and travelled here, where are your favourite places? We're hitting up Rouen at the end of the month, and I'd love to get to Bordeaux, Brittany, Lyon, Mont St. Michel, amongst others, but I know there's so much out there to see!

Strasbourg: Continued

I visited Strasbourg way back in July, and I blogged 'Day 1' and then with the whole flatmare (see what I did there) I never actually got round to blogging the rest of my trip. Which is a shame, because I see this blog as much as a record for myself as a way to communicate with others. And, predictably, I've now forgotten a lot of the details of what I did and saw. Apart from the cathedral, which I blogged about already, I remember blazing hot weather, visiting a bunch of different museums, eating a lot of yummy Alsatian food (my chicken thigh and spaetzle on my last day in town were a real standout), and the fabulous painted church I went to also on my last day.

Reaching back through the mists of time, I think my weekend went something like this: Day 1, arrive about midday, eat choucroute, wander around Petit France a bit and see the cathedral. Day 2, visit la Musee de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, which focuses particularly on medieval and Renaissance art, including the originals of sculptures and stained glass from the cathedral and other churches. I also went to the Fine Arts museum, and because you got a ticket for all the museums in the city, I ended up taking a quick look in the museum of the history of Strasbourg and in the museum of Alsatian life. I think I did some of these on the Sunday and some the next day. I don't really remember much about any of these museums, oops! The Alsatian one was mostly full of folk art and little bits and pieces from the lives of ordinary people, and was in a cool old house with a courtyard inside. The history museum was a bit disappointing since, bizarrely, it ended before the whole back-and-forth between France and Germany, which was really what I was interested in finding out about in the first place. Not sure if there were some rooms closed or that I just missed, because that seems like a very strange choice. On my last day, I got up bright and early and climbed to the top of the cathedral. I was lucky to get a great view and because I was up there first thing, I got the chance to take some photos by myself, before a group of annoying schoolkids came along. I also went to Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Protestant church, built from 1250-1320, which is an absolute must-see for anyone going to Strasbourg. I had taken a few notes off the internet of stuff to see before I left, and then I think I left them at home, so I only had a vague idea that I had noted down to go to this church, but no idea why or if it really was especially worth seeing. So glad I did go, because it was absolutely glorious. Really wonderful polychrome painting everywhere (kind of ironic that it's the Protestant church), and almost bereft of tourists, so I was really able to enjoy it.

Thinking back on my trip and looking through my photos, I really did enjoy Strasbourg. Totally different from other areas of France, in terms of the architecture, food, culture etc. but a really lovely place which I would definitely recommend. At the time, I really needed the break as well, seeing that it came just days after finding out about G not paying the rent etc.

Views from the cathedral roof
You can really get a good sense of the distinctive Strasbourg architecture from on high


I think this is the Palais Rohan, which houses the fine arts museum


A statue of a king with money on his hat, for some reason




I love that this guy is looking up towards the top of the tower he's attached to/shading his eyes from the sun. I'll make the comment I always make about how human the Middle Ages were, contrary to the popular impression.




There was all sorts of carved graffiti left by visitors over the years on the cathedral roof. I liked this one from a Russian army officer, in the service of "All the Russias", as they say

What's the bet this "Pritish" officer got some German-speakers to carve this for him? Ha ha! I reckon his name was probably "Robertson", not "Ropertson" as well!



Inside the cathedral, the astronomical clock


A detail of the clock - it was Monday too, very impressive!

Out and about in Strasbourg


At first I wondered what this was meant to be a photo of. And then I saw the umbrella hats.


From memory, this sounded quite different on the menu, but it was quite nice. The central bit is a sort of soft pasta/dumpling rolled up with a meat-loaf type thing. I liked the small portion of choucroute as well, as opposed to my absolutely massive serving (choucroute garnie) for lunch the day before.

The caption says that in the Middle Ages, people sentenced to death by drowning, especially people who killed their fathers or committed infanticide (yeah, feminism at work) were shut in cages and thrown in the water on this spot. What was I just saying about the humanity of the Middle Ages?


Views of the canals and some buildings I liked











Museums

Why I oughta! The plague-ridden, demon-visited guy looks quite relaxed, by contrast. Nice insouciant ankle-cross.

Cute sign for the Musee alsacien. I wonder why it's not Musee alsacienne??


Aw, no idea what's going on here but these look like cute little doggies trying to help a brother out rather than ravenous beasts going for blood.

I can only imagine this was a moment of self-loathing, homophobic rage

A painting by Gustave Dore! I didn't even know he did real paintings. I just looked him up, and he was actually born in Strasbourg.

One of a series of four paintings of the seasons using fruit and veg. I wonder if it's by Giuseppe Arcimboldo or an imitator?


Eek! "Two deceased lovers" according to the caption. I wonder if they were lovers of the naughty kind, to receive this fate, or if it's just one of the usual "memento mori" type paintings. In case you can't see, the woman has a toad on her bits!

Saint Pierre le jeune church

My photos don't do justice to this place at all, it really is lovely!


The outside of the church reflected in a modern building

Fresco of the crucifixion, with the good thief on Jesus' right (from his perspective) getting his soul scooped up by an angel, whereas the bad thief gets his snatched by a devil


Detail of the bad thief

Chapel inside the church. I think that thing hanging from the ceiling is the top of the baptismal font


Interior of the church


Detail of a fresco on the back wall


A fresco representing different nations - here, Aragon and Castile plus another one I can't read


A fresco showing the whipping of Christ


The rood screen and organ. Fun fact, "rood" is the Old English word for cross :) Who said studying Old English (one class thereof) at university would be a wasted effort?

Strasbourg - Day 1

Thought I'd say a few words on my trip to Strasbourg before I forget (Cambridge is still pending, and I know I never finished off my Venice photos... Next up of course is the Ukraine, less than a month to go!)

Anyway, took the train down on Saturday morning, everything going smoothly & got there about 1.30. By the time I checked into my hotel (nice surprise, I had been expecting a shared bathroom but got a private and a double bed, which was good) and managed to find my way out to a restaurant the check-in girl recommended in Petite France, it was probably getting on for 2.30-3 so I was hungry! I decided to start as I meant to go on by tucking into a 3 course Alsatian feast, starting with flammekueche (very thin pizza base topped with creme fraiche, onions and bacon bits mmm), followed by choucroute (sauerkraut) and a 'kugelhopf icecream' for dessert, which confused me but turned out pretty much just to be vanilla-cinnamon icecream in a ring shape, although it did have some kind of gewurtztraminer liquor in the middle (and a yummy raspberry coulis on the side).

So, how was my first choucroute? I wasn't sure whether I'd like it, although pretty sure I've had Russian pickled cabbage, but thought I had to give it a go when in Strasbourg. Verdict? Actually pretty good, although as you can see, the portion was ENORMOUS, so I didn't make it even halfway through. I think I enjoyed it more the next night when it came as a small side-dish instead of what I assure you is a mountain hidden below the meat here:

After a relaxing lunch, I went to check out the cathedral. All I can say is wow! It's a pity that it's so hemmed in by other buildings, you can't really get a good look at it from a distance. Here's a couple of pics of the facade anyway though:





When I first got to the cathedral, I was amazed at the crowds I could see surrounding it. I was even more amazed when I got closer and found that none of them were actually looking at the cathedral and its incredible ornate carvings and statues, but were crowded around a busker, one that I couldn't even see at first owing to the number of people. When I caught a glimpse, I at first thought he was playing guitar accompanied by a recording of someone singing. Eventually, however, I realised the god-awful noise was emanating from the hideous man-beast himself:



I actually find this guy painful to listen to, I don't know how everyone else could stand it! The worst thing is, he was there like ALL THE TIME, so you couldn't enjoy the cathedral exterior without him polluting the atmosphere, and his caterwaul was audible for blocks around. He even managed to follow me to a cafe where I was trying to enjoy a nice cider, as the people on the next table played their friends a way-too-long clip of him.

Anyway, enough about Mr. Nails-on-a-chalkboard... The cathedral is really wonderful, even though there were a few too many tourists. A few pics:

I liked the kind of dopey expressions on these guys' faces...

Elaborate carved altarpiece

The famous astrological clock



Stained glass windows in the cathedral



The rose window





Statues around the cathedral doorway

More stained glass:




Ooh, scary!







Pop-up dog in a basket! Why you would want this on your tomb, I dunno. And how did they get his legs in there?

And just because I'm immature:



Free Willie! But don't free him near...



I think I had a look in St Thomas's church as well on Saturday (that's where the dog in the basket was anyway), watched the F1 qualifying over a drink back at the hotel, then headed out for a wander and a late dinner around 9. Just another flammekueche by the cathedral, finished off with a really really nice apple strudel, super soft buttery pastry, I think I could have eaten just that with no filling! Reminded me of the AWESOME FUN that was the apfelstrudel show at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace - if you can't read a newspaper through it, it's not good strudel pastry!

Anyway, will have to fill in Sunday and Monday's doings and photos on another occasion.