Speyer Technik Museum

A Lufthansa 747 with a long tube slide below

Often when leaving or arriving in Heidelberg we pass the Speyer Technik Museum--several large buildings with airplanes looming above--and think that we should make time for this place.  So today we did.  We rode most of the morning and reached Speyer about 1.  The town itself, which we had seen several years ago, is filled with medieval buildings, a park along the Rhine, and a splendid cathedral.

After lunch in the museum cafe we set forth among the numerous airplanes, cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles in the first of two exhibition halls.  We took a break to view a film which documented the difficult transport of four planes to the museum via water and road.  Back to hall #1, then another break to see automated musical instruments, and finally hall #2 which is filled with space age vehicles and technology.  And more motorcycles.

1961 VW T1 bus, nicknamed "Bulli"

 

The heat made the day somewhat uncomfortable but the displays were not to be missed. We left at five and endured 45 minutes of traffic to our "home" in Heidelberg.  We're packing up for our Icelandair flight tomorrow.  We'll spend the weekend in Arlington, then 10 days of travel in Maine and NH on our Bergman, and finally 10 days in Minneapolis before returning to LA in mid-August

Bastogne

Since we need to return to Heidelberg tomorrow night, we split the trip in two and decided on Trier as tonight’s destination and Bastogne as the mid-day stop.  We were able to avoid autoroutes and enjoy the rolling hills and farmland of Belgium.

American soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge

The WWII museum outside Bastogne was another excellent example of providing a variation on the same material, namely WWII, with an emphasis on Belgium and especially Bastogne which lay at the heart of the Battle of the Bulge.  Much of the story was told in audio form by four individuals:  a German soldier, an American soldier, and two civilians of the town—a teacher and a 13 year old boy.

Belgium capitulated early to the German onslaught, hoping to save lives by limiting the bombing.  The museum covered the subsequent resistance movement and those who collaborated.  Video interviews of civilian survivors effectively gave a sense of those years under German control.  

interview with one of Bastogne's civilian survivors

After D-Day the Germans were pushed east and Bastogne was liberated.  The Germans held the line to the east and slowly surrounded the town.  The famous Battle of the Bulge occurred in December 1944 to January 1945 when American troops under General McAuliffe held off for six days German attempts to recapture the town. Patton’s troops arrived as reinforcements and the Germans retreated.  The Battle of the Ardennes which included the Bulge took a heavy toll:  100,000 men killed, wounded  or missing on the German side, and 85,000 on the Allied side.  The Americans suffered heavier losses than in the entire Normandy campaign.

We lunched in the cafe and left after 4 for another scenic ride to Trier which we have visited twice previously.  This city has much to offer—a fantastic Cathedral, Roman Constantine Basilica, huge Roman gate and ruins, and the Moselle running through it.  And Karl Marx’s house.  Whether we revisit any of these sites tomorrow remains to be seen.  

Arras

Arras Town Hall

We have been booking ahead day by day for the last several weeks and usually select a destination on size (large enough to have hotels but not too large) and sometimes Michelin stars.  Arras was selected on these criteria (**).  After last night's walk, the architecture and especially the Town Hall satisfied the ** designation, but we knew nothing of the town's history or other offerings.  So searching the internet last night we discovered the Carriere Wellington.

The Wellington Quarry is a series of tunnels beneath the town built by New Zealand miners, using pick axes but no dynamite, during WWI by enlarging the existing 17th century chalk quarries. The English held Arras in 1916 and were preparing for a 1917 spring offensive against the Germans who held the line just east of the city.  The tunnels allowed soldiers to arrive near the line unseen.

The tunnelling effort was enormous and in one sector, four Tunnelling companies of 500 men each, worked around-the-clock in 18-hour shifts for two months. The tunnellers dug 20 kilometres (12 mi) of subways (foot traffic only), tramways (with rails for hand-drawn trolleys, to take ammunition to the line and bring casualties back) and railways (a light railway system).^[18] Just before the assault, the tunnel system had been enlarged sufficient to conceal 24,000 men, with electric lighting provided by a small powerhouse, kitchens, latrines and a medical centre with an operating theatre.

bunks in the Wellington Quarry

We took the 45 minute tour which was quite well done and provided some sense of the size of the system, the difficult conditions for the men waiting there for battle, and the subsequent retreat of the British and French forces after an initial victory.  German reinforcements arrived the day after the British success and retook much of the gained ground.

We needed to cover some miles today since we are due in Heidelberg on Thursday, so the rest of the day was spent riding in overcast, chilly, and threatening weather (no rain materialized on this holiday). We picnicked beside the canal in ...and took a particularly lovely road along the Muse River, enjoying the forested hills after several days of flat farmland.  Tonight we are in Bouillon, Belgium, a town we know well from our travels five years ago.  The 10th century castle sits above this charming town along the Semois River in the Ardenne area.

Calais, Lens, Arras

Calais town Hall

It's a challenge to start the blog at 9:15 after a full day and evening walk.  I'll give it a go but may finish and post it tomorrow.  Although Calais was seriously destroyed during the war, it retained its most prominent building--the Town Hall--and used the huge German bunker in the nearby park to develop a museum.  The weather was not at its best--chilly, overcast, occasional rain, very windy.  

Our first hour was spent at the Town Hall and attached Belfry.  The fine stained glass window presents the history of the English taking over Calais (1346) until the French took it back (1558).  We got a tour of the belfry with fine views of the town, and learned that Charles de Gaul married his wife Yvonne (a Calais native) here.  Nearby was the park and the huge German bunker which had served as their headquarters.  The 21 rooms of the museum are filled with uniforms, artifacts, newspapers, posters, artillery, and a video produced by the US, meant to drum up continuing support for the war. Another impressive museum in an unusual setting.

Louvre-Lens main gallery

An hour's windy ride to Lens brought us to Louvre-Lens, one of the Louvre's new satellite museums.  Lens was a mining town (the slag heaps are the highest in France), somewhat in decline, and the museum is one attempt to bring in tourists and cash.  We had lunch in the adjourning restaurant (delicious as always) and then spent about 75 minutes in the museum.  The collections are displayed in a single long room without partitions.  One wanders from the early Egyptian era to about 1850, one object at a time.  

At 6 we started towards our destination of Arras, but got sidetracked by a huge white monument looming on the horizon.  This turned out to be a Canadian memorial to the WWI Battle of Vimy Ridge, when the Canadian Corps succeeded in taking the ridge from the German 6th army.

On to Arras, a town with wonderful architecture and a stunning Town Hall outside our hotel window.  The houses surrounding the two main squares are quite uniform and are described as Flemish Baroque.  The town belonged to the Spanish Netherlands from 1556 to 1714 and the houses seem to reflect that influence. 

Caudebec-en-Caux to Calais

Caudebec-en-Caux church

The day was overcast with occasional rain and chilly temperatures.  We needed to cover some ground so the day was mostly spent riding, both autoroute and local roads.  First we visited the town's claim to fame--the Flamboyant church built in the 15th-16 c and known for its stained glass windows and elaborate exterior carving.  The nearby 13th c. Templar House included an information plaque indicating that the Friends of Historic Caudebec once dissuaded an American buyer from purchasing the house and shipping it to the US (as many others were).

We made a brief morning stop at the Abbaye Notre Dame du Pre in Valmont, founded by Benedictines in 1169.  The current buildings date from the 18th century.  The Abbey was dissolved after the Revolution and was privately owned (Delacroix vacationed nearby and painted the church) until 1994 when it again became a Benedictine Abbey.  We have passed several abbeys founded by the Normans in the 12th c.

Dieppe harbor

We reached Dieppe in time for lunch and then walked the harbor--mostly fishing boats.  We picked up the autoroute in order to make a dent in the travel plans, exiting near Boulogne-sur-Mer.  This was our first choice for accommodation but the town was booked solid so we had found a hotel in Calais instead.  We took the coast route from Boulogne and stopped at windy Cap de Gris Nez (Grey Nose), a bunkered point which looks north to Cap de Blanc Nez (White Nose) with Calais beyond.  From our hotel we can watch the ferries arrive and depart for England. The city is mainly post-war since it was heavily bombed.

Giverny

July 10:  A slow day--Rob at morning talks and me doing a laundry.  Lunch in the room, and then at 4 we took a long ride to Rambouillet, using back roads to avoid the Paris exodus on this Friday before the long holiday weekend.  The chateau was under renovation but we walked partway around the lake and along the shaded paths of the enormous park.  More riding and a return to Bures at 9.

water garden

July 11: We packed up and departed at 10:30, taking the autoroute and then secondary roads to Giverny where Monet's famous garden and house pull in the crowds.  We had ordered tickets online to avoided the long lines.  The garden is divided into two sections--the main flower garden and adjacent house and the water gardens across the railway and road, accessed by a tunnel.

Monet and his family settled in Giverny in 1883 and he began to develop the garden, arranging plants in color palettes and constantly searching for new and unusual varieties.  In 1893 he purchased the property on the other side of the railway.  It included a brook, and he first dug a single pond and then several, inspired by Japanese gardens in the prints he collected.  The house contains many of these prints and copies of his paintings as well as restored furnishings.

When Monet died in 1926 his son Michel inherited the house.  By the end of WWII both house and gardens were in poor condition.  The Musee des Beaux-Arts inherited the house in 1966 and the house, furnishings, gardens and ponds were restored over the next 10 years.  The site was opened to the public in 1980.

Chateau Gaillard

The small town of Giverny is blooming.  The shops and restaurants are surrounded by flowers.  But we were off again, stopping first in Les Andelys which lies at a bend in the Seine under the perched ruins of Chateau Gaillard, built in 1198 by Richard the Lionheart, Duke of Normandy and King of England. Two tour boats had docked there, suggesting that the town has some appeal.  We walked the riverside and back through town before heading around Rouen to tonight's destination--Caudebec-en-Caux.  

Two Museums

Notre Dame and the tourist boats

July 9: Another day to explore Paris.  After a late start we took the train to St. Michel/Notre Dame, crossed the Seine, and walked along the river, past the Louvre, through the Tuileries, to the Petit Palace.  This was designed by Charles Girault and built for the Universal Exposition of 1900, and retains its elegant interior and exterior.  Aside from a small collection of Greek and Roman antiquities and Renaissance pieces, the museum houses mainly 18th and 19th paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts.  The exhibition rooms surround an inner courtyard garden and cafe where we lunched upon arrival.

Leaving at 4:15 we walked north to the Boulevard Haussmann and the Musee Andre-Jacquemart. I'm including a brief history of the house and collections:

entrance hall of the Petit Palais

Édouard André, the scion of a Protestant banking family, devoted his considerable fortune to buying works of art. He then exhibited them in his new mansion built in 1869 by the architect Henri Parent, and completed in 1875.

He married a well-known society painter, Nélie Jacquemart, who had painted his portrait 10 years earlier. Every year, the couple would travel in Italy, amassing one of the finest collections of Italian art in France. When Edouard André died, Nélie Jacquemart completed the decoration of the Italian Museum and travelled in the Orient to add more precious works to the collection. Faithful to the plan agreed with her husband, she bequeathed the mansion and its collections to the Institut de France as a museum, and it opened to the public in 1913.

winter garden of the Musee Andre-Jacquemart

Leaving the museum and needing a sit-down, we walked to the Parc Monceau, filled on this late afternoon with children riding ponies and feeding the ducks. After coffee, ice cream, and a rest, we found a bus to take us to the Place de Trocadero from which we viewed and then walked to the Eiffel Tower.  Lines stretched out under the tower waiting for the elevator, and packed Bateau-Mouches carried tourists along the Seine.  The weather was close to perfect today.  We noticed, as usual, the need for people to take their own photo in front of every interesting site.  Street vendors sold selfie-sticks but everyone seemed to have theirs already.

We picked up a bus to take us back to our Metro stop but traffic slowed it nearly to a stop so we decided to walk the 2.5 k along the left bank of the Seine, finally catching our train to Bures at 8:45 and arriving home an hour later.  A long but quite satisfying day--our last look at Paris for this year.

Musee des Arts et Metiers

Foucault's pendulum

July 8: Rob skipped today's talks and we took the train to Paris for a look at the Musee des Arts et Metiers.  Another fantastic museum!  This is the National Conservatory of Arts and Industry, founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.  Of the 80,000 objects and 15,000 drawings in the collection, about 2,500 are on display.  I wanted to take photos of almost everything.

The museum is housed in the deserted priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs which was renovated in 1990 and now includes the attached three level priory building. The largest objects such as planes and cars are displayed in the church along with Foucault's original pendulum. The seven different collections are: scientific instruments, materials, energy, mechanics,construction, communication, transportation. 

Clement Ader's Avion III

Among the most interesting of the many interesting items were:  the original model of Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty, Louis Bleriot's plane, Clement Ader's Avion III, Joseph Cugnot's 1770 steam-driven "Fardier", the 1684 Marly machine used to raise water from the Seine to the Versaille fountains.  Please check out the photos for more of the rich holdings. (these are as yet uncaptioned.  check tomorrow)

We returned to Bures in late afternoon to attend the conference reception at a chateau in nearby Gif which is run by CNRF, the French scientific organization. 

Musee du Quai Branly

Musee du Quai Branly

Yesterday was an "at home" day--the first since we started this trip six weeks ago.  We did ride around the area and shop for groceries for the week.  We spent several spring quarters in this town--Bures-sur-Yvette--in the 70s and the town seemed much the same. IHES--the Mathematics Institute that Rob visited--and l'Ormaille, the housing where we lived during our four visits--were relatively unchanged. In the afternoon Rob attended talks and I read.  A pleasant change to our usual hectic schedule.

bear costume from Oruro Bolivia

Today I took the metro into Paris and spent 5+ hours at the excellent Musee du Quai Branly near the Eiffel Tower.  The museum was designed by Jean Nouvel and brought together the ethnographic collections from two other museums. The extensive building along the Seine includes a circular entrance with a ramp leading to the long rectangular collection buildings which are raised on poles.  Surrounding and beneath the museum are gardens.

I've posted too many photos, but the variety of artifacts is quite amazing.  I barely made it through the main galleries before succumbing to hunger at 3.  A special exhibition on masks of the Ivory Coast was also comprehensive, identifying individual sculptors who covered a range of facial masks, mainly from the early 20th century.  

Le Memorial de Caen

Abbaye-aux-Hommes

Sunday. Rain.  We awoke to a steady rain which continued until noon.  Since we had to vacate the apartment by 11, and had a long day ahead of us, we put on the rain gear, packed the bike, and headed to the Abbaye-aux-Hommes which we had missed yesterday.  The Abbaye is a former Benedictine Monastery founded by William the C. as an act of redemption when his marriage to his distant cousin Matilda was considered irregular.  She also founded the Abbaye-des-Dames nearby.

Part of the Abbaye is now the Marie and the rest is viewable only via tour which we did not have time for.  We did look into the attached St. Stephen's church which houses William's tomb.  A Sunday service was in progress so we could not view the tomb itself.

Le Memorial statue based on Eisenstaedt's photo

The rain subsided as we approached our main event of the day--Le Memorial de Caen, the enormous museum which covers WWII in amazing detail but also the years leading up to it, post-War Europe and the Cold War, and some more general sections on war itself and reconciliation.  

There was of course too much to absorb but we gave it our best from noon to 5PM, with a short lunch break.  Finally we headed east on the autoroute for three hours to Orsay, south of Paris, for five days of mathematics for Rob, and a few visits to the city for me.  We are again booked into one of the aparthotel units run by Sejours & Affaires.  These comfortable studios with kitchenette are inexpensive (80+E for this one) and provide a bit more space while lacking the hotel facilities which we don't need.

Caen

Caen, which was badly damaged during WWII, has rebuilt itself as an attractive city which retains several historic buildings.  Caen Castle, founded by William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy, in 1060 looms over the town.  The excavated ruins of the original castle are enclosed within the walls, along with two museums.  

The nearby Church of Saint Peter dates from the 13th to 16th centuries (quite a spread).  After viewing the interior we spent some time in the nearby extensive outdoor market--mostly clothes and other non-food offerings.  As to the shop offerings, we've noticed a high percentage of shoes and watches here as in many towns.  What accounts for that?

Pegasus Bridge--erector and the original behind

We had planned to head next to Le Memorial, the largest of the many Normandy museums covering the events around D-Day.  But passing the Botanical Garden we decided to leave the museum until tomorrow.  The gardens were worth the change of plan, and were surprisingly empty on this Saturday.  Post-gardens we found a convenient Kabab cafe at 2 to provide us with lunch.

The agenda starting in mid-afternoon was a ride to the Pegasus Bridge and along the coast to Arromanches and Omaha Beach.  The bridge crosses the Caen canal linking the city to the coast.  On the night of June 5 1944, 181 British troops under Major John Howard arrived by glider and successfully secured the bridge from German troops. "Horsa" bridge was similarly captured. The large museum here kept Rob busy for more than an hour.  The original 1934 bascule bridge is now in the museum, replaced in 1994 by a similar stronger one.  We later saw the bridge rise to let a small motorboat through, holding up traffic for 15 minutes.

Arromanches--part of the temporary harbor and "sailing" cars?

We rode to the coast at Ouistraham where ferries to England depart, and then along the coast, stopping at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer for a walk and ice cream, and again at Arromanches to see the remnants of the temporary artificial harbor and watch interesting wheeled "sailboats" try to find some wind.

The final stop was at Omaha Beach, where the American Cemetery was unfortunately closed, but the stretch of beach and German bunkers still evoked scenes of D-Day. Rob says we camped on this beach on our 1965 motorcycle trip, but the memory eludes me. 

 An hour later we were back in Caen, stopped for breakfast supplies, and easily found our apartment before 9PM.  

Sainte-Mere-Eglise

Today’s route explored the Cotentin peninsula north of Granville--though not as far as Cherbourg. We needed a stop to break the morning and selected the ** town of Coutances  which promised a cathedral and gardens.  The morning ride took us first south past the faraway Mont St. Michel which we had bypassed yesterday and then north along the coast to Coutances.

Coutances garden

Coutances was just the ticket.  The Cathedral of Notre Dame is 13th century Gothic with an interesting lantern tower above the apse.   The public gardens provided lots of color, greenery, and some clever plantings.  We had noticed a creperie in town and though the timing was a bit early for us, there were no large towns on our afternoon agenda so we feasted on a quite tasty tuna salad and excellent crepe.

The highlight of the day was the town of Sainte Mere Eglise, the first town to be liberated in France on June 6, 1944.  Paratroopers of the 82th and 101st US airborne units parachuted into the town as the troops arrived on the beaches.  The Airborne Museum covers this early part of the invasion with photos, artifacts, videos, and a WACO glider and C-47 aircraft. A couple of hours later we departed for a ride past Utah and Omaha beaches.  Then a final hour on the motorway to Caen where we finally located the apartment (in a sea of apartment units) which we had booked.

As an aside, I would mention the 2001 series Band of Brothers which covers "Easy Company", part of the 101st Airborne, from training through the end of the war, and includes at the end of each episode, interviews with the surviving members of the Band.  Highly recommended.

The church at Sainte Mere Eglise

We will be here tomorrow night also and plan to visit the Memorial de Caen and perhaps something related to William the Conqueror as well, this being his base.

Saint Malo

We woke to rain and it continued through the morning.  Nonetheless we had plans, so we suited up and rode the two hours to St. Malo, keeping dry--no leaks in the rain pants and boots.  We had a recommendation for a restaurant at Cap Hornier which turned out to be a fine meal, eaten a bit earlier than our usual 1:50 and indoors due to the still-threatening weather.

Saint Malo walls

The famous walled town is 2k from Cap Hornier so we rode, parked, were duly impressed by the walls, and took a 90 minute walk around half the ramparts and through the inside town.  With the tide out, many people were walking on the sand or out to various forts nearby.  We noticed the statue of Jacques Cartier, a native son who departed from Saint Malo in 1534 on his voyage to claim Canada for France.  Apparently Chateaubriand was also born here, but we didn't see any mention of this.  The town is famous as a base for pirates.  It was fortified against attacks by Normans (British).  The city and walls were largely destroyed during WWII but have been painstakingly rebuilt.

Breton dancers in Saint Malo

At 4 we headed for Granville where Rob had secured a room.  This is a fairly large town but we had never heard of it.  We rode past the harbor and up to Le Roc with its lighthouse, bunkers from WWII German occupation, and sea views in all directions. Granville's most famous native son is Christian Dior.

Brittany coast II

crabs in the Roscoff market

Today turned out to be an extension of yesterday--exploring the coast of Brittany along the very tidal north coast from Roscoff to Paimpol.  But first we spent the morning using a local laundry facility and seeing the offerings at the local market.  Seafood topped the list.  This area is a big provider of oysters, lobsters, and crabs as well as various fish.  

We first rode south to Morlaix where we had considered staying last night.  The decision to find lodging in Roscoff was a smart one.  Morlaix is a bigger city and lacks the charm of Roscoff.  We did stop and enjoy lunch there.  During the entire day we noticed the very low tide, with many boats stranded in the mud flats.  Morlaix protected its harbor with a dam, as did Paimpol.  

Paimpol harbor

We stayed along the coast and the charming small Breton towns with their uniform houses and fishing fleets.  In good weather, as we had today, this area is lovely.  We wonder about the rest of the year.  We turned south from the coast to Lanmeur and on to Lannion and across to Paimpol where we had, during lunch, booked an Aparthotel.  The manager met us with the key and we are now enjoying an apartment with kitchen facilities (not to be used except for breakfast), living room and bedroom (80e).

We took a 90 minute evening ride to cover some missed coastline, including the Pointe de l'Arcouest with its ferries to the popular Ile de Brehat.  Back to Paimpol, noticing again the extensive farming, including artichokes, and greenhouses.  This area of Brittany is clearly fish and farm country.  And finally an evening walk to the harbor which protects its fleet from the tide with a weir and lock.  But one must have to time boat departures and arrivals carefully.