Mistletoe

 On our trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and France spring appeared in various stages. In the Netherlands the forsythia was in bloom and the trees were barely beginning to leaf out. Twas the same in Belgium. In Paris the trees were halfway leafed out and the lilacs were in bloom. I stopped to smell every lilac I could reach in Paris. In Normandy the forsythia was back in bloom and the trees were beginning to leaf out. Along the journey we saw trees infested with mistletoe. Some trees had 30 plus globes of mistletoe hanging from their branches. Others had one or two globes. Mistletoe is a parasitic growth. Too much mistletoe can kill a tree. Mistletoe spreads via birds eating the seeds and excreting the seeds on tree branches. One bird likes mistletoe berries so much it is named the Mistle thrush. Once the mistletoe seeds pass through a bird's gut they become very sticky and will adhere to the branches. Normandy has an abundance of mistletoe and exports it during the holiday season. Mistletoe threatens the apple trees that Normandy has in apple orchards. If humans eat the mistletoe berries or drink a tea infused with mistletoe the results can be deadly. The mistletoe we did see was mainly in hedgerows which are rows of hedges with a few trees mixed in between fields. I didn't see any mistletoe in forests nor areas where trees were close together. Years ago I saw mistletoe in Poland but it wasn't nearly as common as in Normandy. As we traveled by bus and train we saw miles and miles of European countryside. Not once did we see a raptor. We saw no eagles, no vultures, no buzzards, no hawks, and no kestrels. We saw several gray herons, lots of gulls and several sparrows. Also, just in case you are wondering where the milk is in a grocery store, don't bother looking in the refrigerated section. You can find cream in the refrigerated section but the shelf stable milk is kept on the shelves.

 

Mistletoe

 

Etretat

We took a train and a local bus to travel from Bayeax to Etretat. Etretat is famous for the tall chalk bluffs and stony beach. We got to the top of this bluff by taking the hop on/hop off mini train. The beach was crowded with people. I can't imagine the crowds in the summer. We watch two motorized boats help sailing students navigate the English channel.

This is a beautiful section of northern France.

Here is the view from the top of the bluff.

Also at the top of the bluff are the Etretat gardens. They had a dozen faces stuck in the bushes. Each section of the gardens had a sensory theme. We heard music.. We heard the word "art" spoken in 30 languages. We left Etretat on a Friday morning. As soon as I awoke I could see the farmer's market setting up in the town square. Besides vegetables and fruit they had flowers, leather goods, striped long sleeved shirts, scarves, scents, shoes, dresses, clothes in every size, food and pastries. I was able to successfully navigate a Americano coffee by myself and come back to our apartment without getting lost.

The author Maurice Leblanche lived in Etretat. We visited his house and saw where he wrote his mystery stories. His famous character is Lupin who was known as the gentleman burglar. For example he stole a necklace from the Queen when he was six. As an adult he returned the necklace and won accolades for finding it for her. The character Lupin has a series on Netflix which I plan to watch once I get home.

 

Mont Saint Michael

Today we took another tour about 45 minutes away via van to Mont Saint Michael. This church, Abby, fortress, former prison is on the coast of the English Channel. We came at low tide. During high tide the structure can be completely surrounded by sea water. We walked up about a thousand steps to get to a balcony. We saw great views of the English Channel and the Normandy countryside.

 

John Steele

On D-Day a paratrooper named John Steele got tangled on the steeple on the church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise. That night there was a fire in the town. The townspeople broke the curfew imposed by the Nazi's to fight the fire. The fire illuminated John Steele so he played dead. He actually survived this ordeal and lived into his 70's in North Carolina. He was awarded the Bronze star for valor and a purple heart. This town has an American Airborne museum that was very interesting.

 

Utah Beach

We also visited Utah beach which had better success on D-Day. The beach is straight and shorter in length than Omaha beach. The hills behind the beach are not as tall.

 

American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

Next to Omaha beach is the American cemetery. The United States was the only ally that gave the families of service men and women the choice to leave their loved one in France or have their body shipped home. Sixty per cent of families had the bodies shipped home. All the white crosses are made out of marble from Italy which is the whitest marble in the world. The cemetery is very well kept up by the ABMC (American Battle Monuments Commission). Although these are government employees they do not have their salary withheld during government shutdowns. Years ago some veterans came to visit this cemetery and could not get in due to the shutdown. Congress approved a bipartisan bill to prevent that from happening in the future.

 

Omaha Beach

We took a tour with a Normandy World War II outfit. We drove in a van to Omaha Beach. The curved shape of the beach and the cliffs behind it made it more dangerous for Allied troops. Nazi's could shoot guns from either end of the beach and mow down people as they got off the boats. This was a sad place to visit.

 

Bayeux

We traveled by train from Paris to Bayeux. We passed through the countrysides. Lots of the farms have hedge rows to protect the fields from the west winds over the English channel. We saw fields of wheat and flax. Most beautiful of all are the fields of canola (also called rapeseed). Picture the brightest yellow in your box of 64 Crayola crayons. Canola is brighter than that. Once we got off the train we walked through town to our lodging. The lodging was a bit tricky to find. Then we couldn't get the door open. We went to an establishment next door that sold wine, beer, soda, tobacco, and horse racing tickets. We eventually got in and have a really nice place. As we walked around a round about we came upon a garden with three topiary horses with knights mounted on them. This town is famous for a 68 meter tapestry that tells a medieval story. Unfortunately that museum is under renovation. The tapestry won't be available until 2027.

 

 

Versailles

We took the train out of Paris towards Versailles. The palace is a 5 minute walk from the train station. We waited in line with our tickets in hand. We spent a few hours walking through the palace admiring the artwork, the paintings, the sculptures, the wall paper and the furniture. We had lunch there and then proceeded to the gardens.

The gardens are massive and beautiful. We thought about renting a golf cart but the hop on/hop off mini train was more affordable. We stopped at two other palaces on the grounds. One was for Marie Antoinette. There was a lake where you could rent rowboats. Bicycles were available for rent as well.

The trees are trimmed in Versailles.

 

Pere LaChaise Cemetery

Frederic Chopin's grave at the cemetery in Paris.

Jim Morrison's (The Doors) grave.

Louvre

We spent quite a few hours at the Louvre looking at the artwork. This is a Degas painting of ballerinas.

The crowd around the Mona Lisa was most unpleasant.

The inverted pyramid in the foyer of the Louvre.

Saint John the Baptiste

Venus de Milo was purposely carved without arms because arms are prone to breaking off.

 

Montmatre

We had a walking tour of Montmatre. We got there early enough to have breakfast at Cafe Richard's. I had cafe Americano and a croissant sitting on the sidewalk watching the foot traffic, the bike traffic and the vehicle traffic. Later we saw an accident between a bicyclist and a taxi. Both were yelling at each other and the taxi driver started to chase the bicyclist. Our guide said both parties were at fault.

Apartment were once cheap in Montmatre which is why many artists, especially impressionistic artists, lived there. This is where Van Goth lived with his brother. This is a very hilly and unique neighborhood. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. The waiters were energetic and entertaining.

This is the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmatre. We waited in line for 30 minutes before we could get inside.

View from the front of the basilica. Statue of St. Michael on the left and Joan of Arc on the right.

A beautiful basilica.

 

 

 

I Love Paris In The Springtime

 We are staying in a Paris apartment. Out the window of our apartment we can see the very tippy top of the Eiffel tower. Our apartment is on the 5th floor. The bathroom appears to be in a broom closet. To flush the toilet you pull a chain on the overhead water tank. To wash your hands you have to walk to the shower room or the kitchen. We share the bathroom and the kitchen with others. The stairs to our aprtment are curving and have those triangle shaped steps as we ascent 88 steps. We walked to the Eiffel tower where we joined a tour which meant we didn't have long to wait in line. We took an elevator to the second floor and learned some history of the tower. From there we continued to the top without our guide. We saw Eiffel's office where they had a replica of Thomas Edison meeting with Alexander Gustave Eiffel. We walked around the top and ate some pistachio macaroons. We saw the landmarks of the places we wanted to visit. On the third floor is a net bridge that you can walk across the opening but we said  no thanks. After our tour of the Eiffel tour we took a boat trip on the Seine and learned more about Paris. For dinner we ate at a sidewalk cafe watching all the people stroll by. One thing I like about Paris is that some men wear classy leather shoes that really look nice. 

Our view from the top of the Eiffel tower.

Our view from the bottom of the Eiffel tower. That blue diagonal line is the mesh bridge you can pay extra to walk across. We passed on that.