Germany/France — July 30, 2012

Along with flights and the hotels, I had booked a guided bus tour to Mont Saint Michel

 through the travel agent. The tour was scheduled to leave at 7:15 Monday morning and get back 14 hours later — and give or take a few minutes, that's what happened.

I allowed plenty of time to get to the departure point

 (Place du Pyramide — or is it des Pyramides) by subway. It's a good thing I did. I emerged at street level

 on the Avenue de l'Opéra and decided to walk in the direction away from the Opera. That was a mistake. It was about four blocks directly to my destination if I had taken the intersecting street. Before long I realized I had no idea of where I was headed and stopped a passerby for directions, which enabled me to report to the bus in good time.

Early on in the ride, I saw a street sign: we were driving on the Champs Élysées, and ahead I could see the Eiffel Tower. So I can check off two sights I hadn't even really planned to see. We stopped for refreshments about halfway through the ride. The highway brought us within sight of Caen and a few other cities whose names are familiar from history books. When we arrived, we were provided lunch in

 a restaurant at the mainland end of the causeway to the Mont: a local recipe omelette, salmon, and dessert, with local hard cider and coffee.

Then a shuttle bus took us over the causeway. We walked (climbed?) to the top with our guide and started our tour. She had a wireless system for us to listen to her so we could hear her above the other groups without her needing to shout. We started in

 the church, which is the highest building, (top to bottom: facade built when the west end of the nave collapsed; east end, gothic choir and apse; west end, romanesque nave walls and barrel vaults) and then went through the rest of the buildings,

(top to bottom: cloister; monks' refectory, notice that the thickness of the walls allows the windows to illuminate the room while all but the nearest are not seen; statue in funerary chapel; scriptorium; scriptorium again, this time with a view of the chimney of one of the two fireplaces so the copyists coud keep their hands warm to write — the only heated room)
going twice around the Mont (I think) as we descended through the various levels. Finally we arrived at the base of the monastic buildings (and the souvenir shop) after which we were on our own for somewhat under an hour before we'd have to take a shuttle bus back to the mainland. (More detail than I'm giving can, no doubt, be found via google or other search engines.)

A couple of photos showing the rock on which the monastery is built

There were two ways to get to the base of the mont: one was to walk down the crowded main street of the village; the other was the walk along the top of the ramparts, less crowded. I chose the latter, but when I got to the base in good time, I decided to walk up

 the main street a short distance and pop into a restaurant (at the Hotel Croix Blanche) for a refreshing cold cup of cider. I got back to the mainland in time to enjoy the coolness of the strong breeze off the water and get a good look at the dam that has been built across the River Cuesnon which empties into the bay on the west side of the Mont. It has sluice gates which will enable it to regulate the flow to provide maximum rates so as to help wash out the silt which has been accumulating since the building of the causeway and threatens to turn the island into a peninsula.

Back in Paris, I took the subway to the Île de la Cité for another look at Notre Dame, and walked back to the hotel. Then I headed out for another stroll and eventually,  sometime after 10:00 settled on a restaurant where I took a table on the sidewalk (apparently, from the reviews, it would have been much more crowded earlier in the evening) and treated myself to what the tourist companies would call a "gala farewell dinner" to the tune of 92.60€ (= $114.06), which is more than I have ever spent on a meal for myself alone, except maybe on one or two occasions in very fancy restaurants. Well if it was 20 or 25 dollars more than I might have expected to pay before I chose the place, it was nice to have a really fancy meal for my last evening of the trip.

All in all, it was a very satisfying day to end a very satisfying time in Europe.

Click on photos to enlarge — I highly recommend it.

Germany/France — July 29, 2012

As mentioned in my previous post, Sunday became my day to go to Chartres. But first I went to Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. It turned out to be a Mass with  Latin Gregorian Chant. Much of the congregational part was familiar to me from when I was a boy, so I was able to join in readily.

At Gare Montparnasse, I just missed the 12:09 train, so I had to wait for the 1:06, which was scheduled to arrive at 2:07. Malcolm Miller doesn't give tours on Sundays, so I bought a copy of a guidebook he had written and followed it around. The cathedral

 is fascinating, and the book explained it well. When a 4:00 organ concert was about to begin, I decided to head out for lunch

 at a restaurant (center left, with white placard in front) across the plaza from the south side of the cathedral.

After lunch, I took

 a picture of the St. Thomas Becket window in the martyrs' chapel in the southeast corner of the apse. The tower closes at 6:00, with no admission after 5:30, and at about 5:25 I started up.

 Altogether I went up about 400 steps, getting to the level of the bells. There was a good breeze with some drizzle and, given my fear of heights, I decided not to go any higher. When I got back down, I decided I'd better get back to the station to catch the 6:30 train back to Paris (which was actually scheduled for 6:52, to arrive at 7:53), rather than stay and take the 7:34 and get back at 8:50. Through general inadvertence, the distraction of the organ concert, and concern to get a timely train back to Paris, I missed getting to the crypt, which would have been interesting, and I didn't go to see the robe of the Virgin Mary in the northwest apse.

Strolling around in the area east of Rue St. Jacques, I got disoriented. Thinking I was headed southwest, back toward my hotel, I actually walked about 15 or 20 minutes easterly parallel to the Seine. When I got to the Place d'Austerlitz, I consulted my map, realized my mistake, and retraced my steps. For dinner I went to another restaurant in the Latin Quarter and had one of the "menus." The restaurant had lots of exposed wood and stuffed animal heads. Three young men came and sat at a table in view of mine. I noticed that they seemed to be economizing, including drinking only water. Belatedly, it occurred to me that I could have bought them a drink — beer or wine — but by the time I thought of it it was too late: they were finishing their meal. I enjoyed everything, although reviews are decidedly mixed. The whole meal cost me 37.10€ which came out as $45.70 — again, less than I'd probably pay in a restaurant hereabouts.

Click on pics to enlarge.

Germany/France — July 27-28, 2012 — Night Train to Paris

I had decided to economize by taking an overnight train from Berlin to Paris, rather than adding another night in a hotel and then spending much of the day traveling. So I had a ticket and a reservation for a seat in a second class compartment. As the time approached for the trip, I found myself wondering if I had made a wise decision. Should I have paid more for a private compartment with a sleeping berth?

There seemed to be a lot of college-age students among the people who would be in my car. Eventually the train arrived, and we boarded. I had the rear-facing seat nearest the corridor. The window seat was occupied by a middle-aged German who had brought along beer and snacks (and it occurred to me that I should have brought some provisions too). In the seat facing me and the one next to it were two college-aged girls, dressed for the weather in very short shorts and tube tops or something of the sort. Eventually I noticed that they were also wearing identical St. Christopher medals. The other window seat and the one next to me were empty at first.

We pulled out of the station, and before long we were in open country — farmland with crops similar to those I had seen in Bavaria with occasional cows or sheep. I noticed that some people were in the corridor, with windows open (from the top). When the conductor took tickets, I asked if there was food and beverage service. There was, in the car behind ours. So I paid a visit and bought a beer to keep hydrated in the heat and get a few calories. One of the girls said they had been told that beer was good with Coke*, and I said Coke was also for sale, so they could try it. Eventually they did and found it okay.

*I suspect the idea of beer with Coke may have been with reference to Berlin-style weissbier, which is so sour that I find it virtually impossible to drink. Ass I understand it, the local custom is to have it with a shot of some kind of syrup to sweeten it a bit.

Anyway, after I finished my beer, I decided to go into the corridor to try to cool off a bit. Standing by the open window was really pleasant, both for the cooling wind and for the view of the scenery. As on earlier evenings, I also enjoyed the long twilight which made things visible until around 10:00p.m. I began to see the clouds illuminated by lightning inside them, and in a while it started to rain, so it was necessary to close the windows most of the way to keep the rain out, but I stayed there until we reached Hannover. We sat in the station there for some time, then pulled out and went back, but switched to a different track. At that time passengers were allowed to board, and the other window seat in our compartment was taken by a man who was wearing what looked to me like a Franciscan tau cross.

After we left the station, I again went to the corridor to stand at a window. But now it was quite dark. Artificial lights were visible, of course, and it was possible to make out hillsides and treelines against the sky. Occasionally a train passed in the opposite direction, with an explosion of air and loud noise. Often I could realize they were approaching in time to shut the window. I really continued to enjoy it. Finally , shortly before midnight, I went back (although it was now forward as we had reversed directions in Hannover) and got a Coke and a water.

When we stopped in Gottingen, a young man boarded and took the seat next to me. Finally, I decided to try to sleep and I did doze for shorter or longer periods. Everybody was trying to sleep. Occasionally the young man's left side would press on my right arm, which was pleasant, but before long he'd shift.

At Mannheim, we made a long stop. If only I had known in advance, I could have invited Lunario to come to the station (at about 2 or 3 a.m.) and we could have met. Finally we reached Saarbrücken and then crossed into France. Daylight caught up with us. I got coffee and orange juice. The man with the tau cross took out a prayer book — a German Liturgy of Hours (Kleines Stundenbuch) which priests have to pray — which I instantly recognized because I have exactly the same book. I had noticed it in a bookstore on one of my trips many years ago and had bought it, even though I'm not a priest.

As we approached Paris the young man struck up a conversation. He was French and was going to his home in southwestern France. I told him about my trip and my plans. He asked what hotel I'd be staying at in Paris. I looked through my folder for Berlin-Paris, and my folder for Paris, and couldn't find the sheet from my travel agent which gave the name and address with confirmation of the reservation. All I knew was that it was a Best Western with the word "Tour" (Tower) somewhere in the name. At that point I was pretty nearly in panic mode, but he reassured me that it should not be too much of a problem, and he could help When we got to the station (Gare de l'Est) he brought me to the information desk and had the clerk look up Best Westerns. She couldn't find one with Tour in the name. So he had her find one near Gare Montparnasse, where he had to go to get his next train. He then showed me how to buy tickets for the subway and when we reached Montparnasse, he directed me to the hotel. At the hotel, the clerk was able to find the name of Best Western Tour Notre Dame and print out directions to get there by bus. So I got to the hotel, where they had my reservation in their computer, and all was again well. But I did comment to the clerk, "Old men should not be permitted to travel alone."

I don't know exactly what would have happened if that young man had not been there to guide me. I'd have been at Gare de l'Est with only the vaguest idea of where my hotel was and no way of figuring out how to get there, in a city which, like Boston, has streets which make it easy to become disoriented. IOW, I really believe that it was divine providence which led to our being seated next to each other. Not only did he enable me to find my hotel, but in the process, I got a tutorial in how to use the Metro. (BTW, I eventually concluded that when I got to the hotel in Berlin, I inadvertently gave them my paper for Paris as well as the one for Berlin, and they didn't notice or didn't realize that I needed the Paris paper back.)

But apart from that, my misgivings about traveling second class in a shared compartment were entirely unwarranted. Once I discovered the possibility of standing at the window, it was delightful. It's not ideal for sleeping, of course, but you can always catch up on lost sleep — eventually.

Steps in Good Directions

Health.  On Tuesday I had an appointment with my surgeon to "consult" about my hernia. This one is on the other side of my lower abdomen from the one I had repaired three years ago. See here for "before" and here for "after.") The surgeon who did that operation retired at the end of February this year, and this surgeon was one of his original partners. I was very comfortable with him. After examining me, he concluded that the hernia was of a moderate size, and did not require immediate action. We scheduled the surgery for August 22, which will give me time for the trip I want to make to Germany and France (see below) and to host my kid brother when he visits from Japan in early August. There is a new facility, associated with Massachusetts General Hospital. I was given my choice of having the operation there or in the older hospital where I had my first operation. I chose the bright shiny new place. Of course, I have a pretty good idea what to expect: some discomfort, but nothing intolerable, with the discomfort slowly diminishing.

Travel.  On July 25, my sister-in-law will be giving an organ concert in Regensburg, Bavaria (with my nephew as her page turner). After the date for my surgery was settled, I went to a travel agent to make arrangements to go there for the concert and then go on to Berlin to meet Martin and, hopefully, Morgenländer and finally to France to see the Sainte Chappelle in Paris, Chartres Cathedral, and Mont Saint Michel.

For almost all of my travel, I've made my own arrangements — a practice which has been made fairly easy because I've frequently stayed in private residences and rented a car to get around. This time, however, I'll be staying in hotels and getting around by train (except for the trip to Mont Saint Michel), so I thought it would be good to have the agent help coordinate things. I'll fly to Europe on July 23 (arriving on the 24th) and return to the U.S. on the 31st. Originally, I had planned to come home on the 30th, but then I realized that I wouldn't have enough time for the Berlin leg of the trip, so I added a day. So far, my flight to Europe and my hotel in Regensburg are settled, and my return flight is tentatively booked. The remaining items are still TBD. It turns out my nephew will also be going to Berlin the same day I will, so we may be able to go together, which will mean two sets of eyes and ears looking and listening for announcements during the few minutes available for transfer(s).

Kitchen.  Having told about some culinary failures, I want to tell of a more successful recent effort. I occasionally "barbecue" spareribs by sprinkling them with a "rub" and baking them for an hour with mushrooms and onion or leek. Then I pour bottled barbecue sauce on them as I eat them. This time, I learned from Martin to add two carrots and some water to the baking dish, and I also put some leftover sauerkraut on the ribs as they cooked. It came out pretty good, and the sweet barbecue sauce worked well with the pork and sauerkraut.