The Family Vacation

The Mitchell family Paris vacation is sadly over. 

Here is a photo series titled "The Good Photographs with People in Them"

It is roughly chronological, but by no means a complete accounting of the trip.

Museum of Hunting and Nature:

an appropriately surreal first stop for the jetlagged and tired.

Jon fought a bear.

   

eating l'As du Falafel like pros in the park by the Carnavalet Museum

Jon and Brittany enjoying their first Paris protest.

the Roman arena: also a great place for family battles

Jon ponders the fall of John Galliano across the street from the now infamous café.

Château de Vincennes

Richard Lenoir market, Sunday morning near the Place de la Bastille

celebrating the launch of his new cosmetics line

photo shoot with the Code of Hammurabi for the next Super Lawyers issue

Pop-In, a comfortable and cheap bar near the apartment.

Rodin Museum, en route to The Thinker, with the dome of l'Hôtel des Invalides in the background

Rodin Museum

Jardin du Luxembourg 

The fountain had only recently been turned on for summer. 

We sat in the warm sun and watched the kids push sailboats around the pool.

Omaha Beach, near the American Cemetery

Pointe du Hoc, Normandy

Jardin du Palais Royal

Ici c'est Paris !*

Jeff's parents, brother and future sister-in-law are currently visiting us, so we haven't had a lot of time to update the blog. We have been herding them to various monuments (the Tower, the Arc, Notre-Dame and Père Lachaise so far), Paris-walking them to the point of fatigue, and trying to make sure they eat themselves silly. These things take time. But I know (or would like to think) that there are a few people who want updates and aren't interested in our excuses. So here is a quick little post to satisfy the curious.

As most people know, "football" means something different to the rest of the world than it does to people in the United States. While in Paris, we decided we ought to check out this strange, foreign version of football, so the day after Jeff's birthday, we went to see the home team in action. Here we are at the Parc des Princes, home field of the Paris-Saint-Germain team.

It wasn't very crowded, in part (I think) because it was a bit cold. Maybe around freezing. Perhaps you've been wondering how an outdoor stadium would work in a Minnesota winter? Well, after the regular game time had ended, we were pretty cold. By the time the second overtime finished, we could not feel our toes. Our verdict: put a roof on that baby.

Here is star player "Nenê" (a.k.a. Anderson Luiz de Carvalho - yes, really, Anderson!) on a corner kick! He was our favorite. As Minnesotans, we wanted to yell "Anderson!" but restrained ourselves, mostly.

Kind of a blurry shot of some of the crazed fans in our section. They were very, very serious about the game. We were scared to be too obvious about taking pictures of them. Some of them, I swear, you could write a really gritty depressing novel. 

Lucky for all of us, PSG won with two fabulous goals, on our end, during second overtime. 

* "Here, this is Paris!" what you chant while the players are running out, or when they score a goal.

Chevreuse

Chevreuse is a small town set in the Yvette River valley, about 50 minutes by train to the southwest of Paris. It is most well known for Château de la Madelaine, a castle perched on a hill top overlooking the town. Madelaine is one of the few reasonably well preserved really old castles in the Île-de-France area. From what I can tell, it's a pretty common destination for lazy weekend exploration. The end of the RER-B line is in St-Rémy, so we got off the train and began the 45 minute walk to Chevreuse. 

There is a bike/foot path that follows the road from St-Rémy to Chevreuse. If you pretend really well, you can make out the Château about one-fourth of the way from the right side of this photo. Don't worry, we have better shots later.

The path was nice, but we spotted people walking by the river about 20 minutes in and decided to check it out. Chevreuse is also known for its "Promenade des Petits Ponts," a stretch of the river that is traversed by many small bridges. We entered the trail a little early, purposefully not noticing the "Voie Privée" signs, and were essentially walking through people's very pretty backyards. 

As we got closer to town, the petits ponts started to appear.

The doorway here is less than welcoming.

ducks!

Chevreuse was once a center for animal hide tanning. Most of the small buildings lining the river were dedicated to this purpose. There was a similar segment of the Bièvre River in southern Paris which was subsequently paved over due to the fetid waste produced by the tanning process. In Chevreuse the river smells fine, harbors animals and retains its old world charm. 

The Séchoir à Peaux is the largest of the "skin drying" buildings.

giant stone table visible through the doorway

Lia, perfectly hydrated, across from the séchoir.

so many petits ponts!

riverside lantern

I would rent that.

the view from one of the small tanneries

The two things I'll miss the most when we leave France?

doors and moss, obviously

In the center of town and, most importantly, upriver from the tanning houses, is the old public laundry house.

The path past the laundry leads into town and up to the château.

 The castle looms over the town.

the beginning of the way up

it's a long, steep path

voila!

 

Here is a panoramic shot of the interior of the château. The very tall structure on the left is the keep. Construction of the keep began in the mid-11th century. Originally surrounded by high wooden palisades, stone walls were built in the 12th century. Additional improvements were made until the 15th century at which point construction changed focus from fortification to upkeep and restoration. 

another view of the keep

Using our perfect archery form in defense of the castle.

The well, tended to like a cauldron by Sorcière Lia.

looking out over Chevreuse

Château de la Madelaine is the starting point for the Chemin de Jean Racine. The path is the same one taken by the playwright on his way from Chevreuse to the Port-Royal Abbey, where he studied under the Jansenists, a heretical religious movement which "emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace and predestination." Sounds like fun. We didn't have time to make the 10km trek, but are planning a return visit.

"I am happy on these mountains

which rise up to the skies,

like a graceful tiara

crowning the beautiful countryside."

Or, something like that.

Back down the hill in the old part of town is St-Martin Church. 

Construction began in the 12th century. 

The wall paintings were especially beautiful despite their well worn state.

 

pious Lia

On the walk back to St-Rémy to catch the train Lia harassed a horse.