In 2000, we went to Belgium for Jan's grandmother's 85th birthday. We decided that Thomas was old enough to stay alone with his Oma for a week, so Jan and I took a trip down through France to visit some places that I've long wanted to see.
[Kortenberg; N2/E40 to R0 around Brussels; R0 to X Ittre; E19 through Mons to French border near Valenciennes; A2 past Cambrai to A1 at X Combles; A1 to exit Péronne/Assevillers; N29 to X Amiens/Longueau (really nasty traffic; the road is about to be relieved by construction of the A29 highway a few kilometers to the south); A29 to A16 south of Amiens; A16 to Beauvais]
Forget Notre Dame. Come out here.
This church was intended to be the biggest Gothic church in the world, and the construction definitely pushed the technological envelope of the time. They built three arms of it, and then they made the mistake of building the towers before building the nave (?). A mistake, because the nave was needed to provide structural support for the tower, and the tower collapsed eight years after it was finished.
So it was never completed, and even now, the church has wooden supports inside to keep it stable. But what was done is amazing. The roof is higher than any part of Notre Dame. And unlike Notre Dame, the place is quiet enough that it feels like a church!
[Beauvais; D981 to Gisors; D10, then D17 to Dangu; D146 along the valley of the Epte (one of Monet's favorite subjects) to X Bray; D5 to Giverny]
Monet's gardens and house. Crowded, much more crowded than Beauvais was. But it's worth seeing, especially at this time of year. The gardens were beautiful; we sat by the famous lily pond and walked over The Bridge. The house is worth seeing too, both for Monet's possessions (one room has a large photo of Monet in the room, and you can see that the furniture is basically the same -- and that kitchen! what a huge space!) and for the large collection of Japanese prints. One print made me think of Madame Butterfly, an American sailor and a Japanese woman. Then there was the mother nursing her baby, and the baby was pinching her other breast -- yep, children are the same all over.
[Giverny; D5 back to Gasny; D913 through La Roche-Guyon and Vétheuil to Mantes-la-Jolie; D65 to X Hargeville; D11 to X Auteuil; D76 to Montfort l' Amaury]
We didn't actually stop here, but we drove through and got a pretty good view of the church. This is the home of Simon de Montfort, who left here in [year?] to begin the crusade against the Albigensians. Amaury was his son.
[Montfort l' Amaury; D138 to St. Léger-en-Yvelines; D936 to Rambouillet]
Hotel St. Charles
15 rue de Groussay
78120 Rambouillet
01 34 83 06 34
Fax 01 30 46 26 84
Very nice and comfortable. We went to a nearby Chinese restaurant, Au Lagon de Chine, that had good food. I had a Thai lemon grass soup and the duck with black mushrooms (the mushrooms turned out to be one of these leafy fungi rather than the big dark mushrooms that I'd expected, but still tasty). We walked to the chateau and then down to the railway station.
Rambouillet was basically a royal hunting lodge for the French kings, and the forest is huge. There was some major storm damage there a few years ago; you can still see where trees were uprooted or broken.
[Rambouillet; D27 to X Rochefort-en-Yvelines; A10 to X Orléans; A71 to X Gannat; D998 to Ebreuil; D35 to St. Bonnet-de-Rochefort; D37 through Rouzat and Neuvial to Gannat; A719 to X Gannat; A71 to X Clermont-Ferrand; A75 to exit Ruynes-en-Margeride; N9 to Garabit; N9 to exit Loubaresse; A75 to exit Sévérac-le-Château; N9 to X Sermels; D2 through La Clau to Gleysenove; D654 to D911; D911 through Pont de Salars to X La Primaube; N88 to X St. Martial; D574 to Viaur; D574 back to D179; D179 to N88; N88 through Carmaux to Albi]
Today was bridge day. Two bridges by Gustave Eiffel (Rouzat and Garabit) and one (Viaur) by one of his pupils (Paul Bodin), showing the whole evolution of large steel bridges from girders supported by straight pillars (Rouzat) through girders supported by an arch (Garabit) to self-supporting, balanced arch (Viaur). The view of Viaur is especially impressive -- you look at it and wonder how they get the thing to stay up. Like a Gothic cathedral in steel.
A church that looks and feels like a fortress. An implacable wall that will stand against any heresy this area can hurl at it. Message: don't mess with this church or you'll regret it.
We had supper at a restaurant called Le Cocktail, across from the cathedral. You can sit back and look at this looming structure while you wait for the food, and the food's pretty good too. I had tagliatelle with magret fumé (regional specialty, basically a ham or bacon but with duck meat) and mushroom cream sauce. Jan had penne arrabiata, which were pretty good, and much more like the real thing than what we get at most Italian restaurants at home.
Hotel Du Parc
3 Avenue du Parc
81000 Albi
63 54 12 80
Fax 63 54 69 59
We saw the inside of the St. Cecilia church this morning. Jan observed that the contrast is interesting -- intimidating and fortress-like on the outside; colorful and welcoming inside. Psychological signal: "You're better off in here than out there." Of course, there was also an impressive, colorful fresco of the Last Judgement, offering plenty of evidence that the Marquis de Sade got most of his nastier ideas from the Catholic church.
[Albi; N112, then D71 to Réalmont; D92 through Lautrec to Vielmur; D14 through Soual to X en Calcat; D85 to Dourgne; D12 (very scenic) to Arfons; D4 through Saissac and Bram to Prouilhe; D119 through Fanjeaux to Mirepoix; D625 to Lavelanet; D109, then D9 to Montségur]
Tree-lined avenues are definitely typical of southern France. Most of them seem to use trees of the genus Platanus, according to Jan; he can't remember the English name.
You start to see churches with bell arches around here -- Spanish influence?
Montsegur!!!! After the climb up, we lay panting on the rocks wondering how the hell anyone could get an army up here -- by the time they made the top, they'd be so exhausted that you could knock them back down with a large stick. We later found out that the mountain has heavily eroded, and that at the time, there were wider, less sloping paths. They had _horses_ up here, and carts. And a whole city, attached to the mountain side. What you see in the pictures is just the fortress; there were at least four levels of houses below it.
The view is incredible. Yes, you can definitely see anyone who's coming.
The Pyrenees are very scenic. High peaks, woods, occasional snow patches, creeks and little cascades. We tried to get through the Gorges du Rebenty and across the Col du Pradel, which was extremely scenic as far as we got; unfortunately, the pass was closed for unclear reasons. [We later found out that local road authorities tend to close the passes for road works in summer; the pass above Montsegur was closed for similar reasons by the time we left. The locals are not very happy with this, as their livelihood depends on the tourist traffic.] So we had to backtrack up the Plateau de Sault and use the adjacent Col de Chioula.
[Montségur; D9 to Fougax; D5 to Bélesta; D29 to X Roquefeuil; D613 to X Espezel; D29 down into the valley of the Rebenty; D107 through the Gorges du Rebenty to road block near Col du Pradel; D107 back to Mérial; D20 back up the Plateau de Sault to X Sept Frères; D613 across the Col de Chioula to Ax-les-Thermes; N20 up the valley of the Ariège to l'Hospitalet; N22 to Andorran border at Pas de la Casa; CG2 up to Port d' Envalira]
We went to Andorra for about ten minutes, just so I could say I've been there. The place is a tourist trap, but we got out without actually spending any money. Very dry, very dusty, very mountainous. I can definitely see why it'd be a ski resort in winter; the tourist places reminded me very much of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, or of Florida beaches.
[Port d' Envalira; CG2, then N22 back to X Col de Puymorens; N320, then N20 to X Ur; D30, then D68/N154 "route neutre" to Llivia]
Well, Llivia -- a Spanish enclave within France. We bought fuel there, so we can say we did spend money in Spain.
[Llivia; D33 to Estavar (back in France); D33f to X Egat; D618 to Odeillo (four solaire)]
A solar energy station. One of the largest parabolic mirror structures in the world. Photographs of it in French textbooks usually have only the collecting mirror and not the tracking panels that reflect the light to the mirror.
[Odeillo-Via; D29, then N116 through Mont-Louis to Pont Gisclard]
A rare attempt to adapt suspension bridge techniques for railway use. According to Jan, the bridge has the necessary rigidity thanks to the cables across each pillar crossing over in the middle; in essence the bridge is a cable-staid bridge rather than a true suspension bridge. Unfortunately the engineer who designed the bridge died in a work accident shortly before the bridge opened, and the design has never been repeated.
[Pont Gisclard; N116 back to Mont-Louis; D118 up into the Capcir and down into the valley of the Aude]
Wow. Cool spring coming out of the rock wall, narrow high canyon. And then back out into the sun.
[D118 to Axat; D117 through Quillan to Col du Portel; D 59 to Col de Coudons; D613 to X Montplaisir on the Plateau de Sault; D120 to Col de la Babourade; D117 to Bélesta; D5 to Fougax; D9 to Montségur]
Near Montsegur, we learned the real meaning of "Dodge Ram". a HUGE BLACK ram almost became roadkill in front of our car.
[Montségur; D9 to Fougax; D5 to Bélesta; D117 to Puivert; D121 to X Col des Tougnets; D12 to Couiza; D118 to Limoux; D104 through St. Hilaire to Carcassonne(cité)]
Cool old medieval castle/village with uncool amount of tourism. Like visiting a renaissance festival, except without the street musicians.
[Carcassonne(cité); N113 to X Trèbes; D3 through Lagrasse to X St Pierre des Champs; D212 to X Durfort; D40 through Termes to Col de Bedos; D613 to X Laroque de Fa; D139 to Davejean; D410 to X Maisons; D123 to Padern; D14 to Cucugnan; D123 to Grau de Maury and Quéribus]
Drove through the Corbières, wine country; you can just see the grapes on some of the vines. The Termènes, by contrast, are more rugged and shrubby.
This was the last Cathar fortress to fall, sixteen years after Montségur. Spectacular views all around, including across the valley to Peyrepertuse, largest of the Cathar fortresses, which by the time of Quéribus' surrender had fallen for several decades; one wonders what effect this continuous reminder of old defeat had on the defenders. The castle of Quéribus itself is better preserved than Montségur; you can still see some of the interior of the donjon.
Down in the valley below Quéribus is Cucugnan, village associated with Daudet's short story Le Curé de Cucugnan, about a village priest who is unhappy with the sinful ways of his parishioners and reforms them with a Dickensian Christmas Carol-like sermon of his visit to heaven, purgatory, and hell, and of course everybody from Cucugnan was found in hell. I'm not familiar with the story myself; Jan had known it for years, but had never realized before that there is probably a Crusade subtext to this old folk tale: originally, it might well have been the Cathar villagers of Cucugnan who needed to be turned from their evil ways!
[Quéribus; D123 back to Cucugnan; D14 past Peyrepertuse to Cubières; D10 through Gorges de Galamus becomes D7 to St Paul de Fenouillet]This is a spectacular drive, and a major canyon -- before Europeans knew of the Grand Canyon in the U.S., this was what everyone went to gape at. It is utterly spectacular; the river drops several hundred meters in a couple kilometers, so you can see the gorge growing deeper as you drive by, until quite suddenly you're clinging to the wall like a fly. If you have any tendency toward acrophobia, you will discover it here.
[St Paul de Fenouillet; D117 to X Axat; D107 through the lower valley of the Rebenty to X Belfort; D29 to Espezel on the Plateau de Sault; D613 to X Roquefeuil; D29 to Bélesta; D5 to Fougax; D9 to Montségur]
[Montségur; D9 to Fougax; D5 to Bélesta; D117 to l'Aiguillon; D16 to La Bastide sur Hers; D620 to Laroque d' Olmes; D625 to Mirepoix; D119 to X Prouilhe; D4 to X Bram; A61 to exit Lézignan Corbières; D611 to X Homps; D11, then D52e3 to Olonzac; D10 to Minerve]
Here you can get a better idea of what towns looked liked in Cathar times; the wooden buildings have merely been replaced with stone. This has one of the more popular postcard images, the dove carving in the town square, where about 200 parfaits were burned at the stake.
[Minerve; D10 to X La Caunette; D907, then D607 to X Cabezac; D5, then D11 to Béziers]
We just passed through without stopping. The traffic was absolutely horrible; the church is pretty cool-looking from a distance, but we didn't want to fight the traffic badly enough to go in.
[Béziers; D909, then D15 to Roujan; D30 through Paulhan to X Campagnan; D32 through Gignac to Aniane; D27 to Pont du Diable/Clamouse]
A reasonably impressive cave in the Massif Central. Some cool chambers -- one with a lot of aragonite crystals, making the stalactites look snow-covered. Jan said there were also some very nice excentrics (rare winding, worm-like concretions thought to be formed by bacteria), which the guide didn't mention.
[Clamouse; D4 to Causse de la Selle]
We found this cosy little hotel in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. We dined in true haute cuisine style: fish (saumon à l'oseille for me, daurade au basilic for Jan), game (civet du chef for both; we think it was wild boar), assorted cheeses, and assorted desserts. Unfortunately, the phones were dead all over the village because of a lighting strike the previous evening.
[Causse de la Selle; D4 to X Brissac; D108 to St Bauzille de Putois; D108e to Grotte des Demoiselles]
Huge cavern. And musical rock -- the guide played some very nice percussion.
One thing I've noticed is that the French don't seem to be as adamant about "keep your hands off the rocks so you won't kill the formations" as the staff in the Texan caves are. Perhaps this is because the European caves have been visited for much longer, and by time someone realized this, the stones were already dead?
[Grotte des Demoiselles; D108e, then D986 to Ganges; D999 through Le Vigan, Alzon, Sauclières to Nant; D991 down into the valley of the Dourbie to X La Roque St Marguerite; D41, then D124 through St André de Vézines, D29, then D110 to Montpellier le Vieux]
Great jumble of rocks weathered into suggestive shapes; very interesting site, but we should have brought more to eat and drink along for the hike--by the time we got back to the car we were both nearly dead. The view is pretty spectacular, though.
[Montpellier le Vieux; D110, then D29 to Le Rozier (very scenic descent into Peyreleau); D996 through the Gorges de la Jonte to Meyrueis]
Fairly neat little hotel; two flights up, again. No phone in the room this time; Jan called Belgium from the downstairs phone after a great deal of struggle with the phone card.
[Meyrueis; D39, then D139 to Dargilan]
Another cave. Would've been more fun without the Wallonian scout troop (well, they weren't that bad, but....)
[Dargilan; D139, then D39 back to Meyrueis; D986, then D63 to Aven Armand]
A huge cavern with a lot of interesting formations. The tour bored me, in part because I couldn't understand what was being said. Jan found it entertaining because they did all the tour in verse. Shades of Cyrano....
[Aven Armand; D63 through Nivoliers to X Aérodrôme Florac-Ste Enimie on the Causse Méjean; D 16 to X middle of nowhere on the Causse Méjean; D68 down through Montbrun (very scenic) to X Charbonniéres; D907bis into the Gorges du Tarn]
Big. Lots of rocks. Lots of big rocks. River. Lots of swimming people. (Can you tell that I'm starting to get burnout?)
[D907bis through the Gorges du Tarn to X Boyne; D94 up through Le Bourg to the Col d' Engayresque; A75 to Issoire]
Spent the night in Issoire, in a rather creaky hotel.
[Issoire; A75 to X Clermont-Ferrand; A71 to exit Montmarault; N79 past Moulins to Diou; D480 to X Gilly; D979, then D979a to Bourbon-Lancy; D973 to Luzy; D27 to X Le Puits; D18 to Mont Beuvray/Bibracte]
Bibracte: The site of an old Celtic town, at one time the biggest city in western Europe. We walked about the site for a while, but didn't spend very long here.
[Bibracte; D3 to St Léger sous Beuvray; D179 through St Prix to X Blain; D978, then D388, then D88 to Anost; D2 to X l'Huis Prunelle; D121 through Moux en Morvan to Saulieu; D980, then D103z to Semur en Auxois; D954 to Venarey-les-Laumes and Alise Ste Reine]Alise Ste Reine. Site of old Gaulish oppidum Alesia. We drove through it, but couldn't find the site because of confusing signage.
[Les Laumes; D954 to Baigneux les Juifs]
Stopping to check the map and figure out where we were, we saw a memorial stone for someone named Edmond Neugnot. He was a resistance organizer who was killed by the Germans in 1944. (The stone says "assassinated", but I don't know whether that's accurate or exaggeration.)
[Baigneux les Juifs; D954 to X Cosne/Beaunotte; D16 through Meulson to Beaulieu; D112b, then D29 to Essarois; D996 through Leuglay to X Louesme; D965 to Chaumont; N74 through Andelot to Liffol le Grand; D71, then D71d, then D3, then D53 to Domrémy la Pucelle]
This is the birthplace of Joan of Arc. There's a neat statue there commemorating Joan's vision. And the view is quite expansive and lovely.
[Domrémy la Pucelle (Bois Chenu); D53 to X Greux; D964 to Vaucouleurs; D36 to X Pagny sur Meuse; N4 to X Toul; A31 to X Uckange; A30 to Longwy; N52 to Aubange (Belgian border); A28/N81 to X Arlon; E411 to X Jezus Eik; R0, then E40 to Sterrebeek; N2 to Kortenberg]
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