Grand Palaces and Half-Timbered Buildings

What at long, wonderful weekend.

Saturday, I went to the Palace of Versailles. Dr. Morris and a group of about eight of us girls from the Auburn group left the residence hall around nine o'clock in the morning and took the metro to the RER station (the RER are the trains that serve the Ile-de-France, the province where Paris is). But when we got to the RER station, it was closed. It took us forever to figure out what we had to do, but we eventually found a metro employee who could point us in the right direction. Unfortunately, the right direction was to the complete other side of town, because we had to take the metro about thirty minutes away to find an RER that would take us to Versailles. The train ride to Versailles itself was only about twenty minutes, but it took so long to figure out the detour that it ended up taking two hours to get there.

But Versailles was beautiful! The palace was really cool, but I liked the gardens much better. After about three rooms in the palace, you kind of get the point: they were rich and like gold. Every room is coated in unbelievable amount of gold. Its almost like everything there was either made of gold or had gold on it. And of course, every room had its fair share of royal portraits and such. The best part of the palace was the Hall of Mirrors, which was unbelievably gorgeous. It was a long hallway with a eighteen windows on the right, and eighteen mirrors across from the windows to create a lot of light and a great view in any direction. There were huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling in front of ever window as well. The ceiling and walls were painted in gold. It was incredible.

All that said, I was way more impressed by (or maybe just interested in) the gardens. The estate was extensive, with flowers, large shrubbery, fountains, and a large canal built right in the center. Every inch of the estate was so well manicured; I can't imagine how much time and money was put into it. Not to mention I now understand why it cost 26 euros to get in, too. The most interesting part was Marie Antoinette's estate. She had her own "little" cottage that was actually bigger than any house I've ever lived in, as well as her own gardens and a little village that was built just for her to play in. She was married when she was fourteen, and she liked to play in the village with her friends. There was a pond there and even a fully-equipped farm that was tended to by servants. This girl had it all!

I also had the best chocolate ice cream cone I've ever had in my life at Versailles. The chocolate was so rich and sweet that it tasted like chocolate pudding, but more frozen, like ice cream. It was the best three euros I've spent so far!

We were there for about six hours, just wandering through the gardens (and getting lost). Dr. Morris didn't go into Versailles because he had been there about a million times, so we met him outside of Versailles at five o'clock that evening. We were late because we got lost at least twice just on our way back from Marie Antoinette's village. That, and we kept getting distracted. Dr. Morris was waiting for us at the gate, but there were still a few other people who hadn't yet shown. Four other girls and I were worried that we would be late for dinner back at the residence hall, so we left by ourselves to catch the train. Fortunately, our train was waiting for us when we got there, so we didn't have to stand around and wait. But when we got on the train, we didn't know if we were actually on the right train. There wasn't anything that identified the train as being the one that was going to Paris, and a bunch of other passengers were confused as well. But there was no other train at the station, so we stayed on that one. Apparently it was the right one though because we ended up in Paris.

After a long Saturday, Kaylin and I woke up at six o'clock in the morning on Sunday to get ready for our day trip to Strasbourg. We thought we'd given ourselves plenty of time, but when we got on the metro to head to the train station, we realized that we were running late. As soon as the metro pulled into the train station, we had to run-run-rudolph all the way to the quai to catch our train in time. It felt like Home Alone all over again. But we made it with a few minutes to spare, and before we knew it, the train was rolling toward the German border.

The train ride was great. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, with rolling hills and forests, and checker boards of farmland as far as the eye could see. Occasionally the train would pass a tiny French village, most little more than a tall gray church spire peaking out over a huddled patch of orange roof tops. At one point I saw the remnants of an old stone castle clinging to the edges of a tree-covered hill. When traveling, I enjoy the journey just as much as the destination, and this trip was certainly no exception.

As the train approached Strasbourg, we came first to the industrial part of the city. In Europe, the wealthy people usually live in the inner city, and poorer people live in the outskirts of the city and in the suburbs (le banlieu), as opposed to in America where poorer people live in the inner cities and more affluent families live in the suburbs. It is really expensive to live downtown here, no matter where you are. The outskirts of Strasbourg looked like the outskirts of Paris, with a lot of factories and tall modern apartment buildings. But as the train moved closer to the center of the city, it became more quaint. At this point, I still wasn't sure what to expect. The train arrived at the train station in Strasbourg right on time (to the minute), and as soon as we walked outside of the train station, I knew I was going to love Strasbourg.

There was a big open plaza, with open lawns surrounded by tall, colorful buildings. To find out where we needed to go, I consulted my Rick Steves book (probably the most valuable thing I brought with me to Europe) and found the road immediately. It was an old medieval street, evident by the fact that it was cobblestone and had barely enough room for one car to drive down (believe me, they still tried). It was only 9:30 in the morning, so it was very peaceful and quiet. There were only a few other people out in the town and few cars at all. I haven't heard quiet like that in a really long time. I was strolling down the street taking in every inch of the city, breathing in the scent of fresh bread and feeling the bumpy cobblestone beneath my feet, when the river Ille opened up before me, a wide stone bridge traversing the green waters below. All along the river were colorful, half-timbered houses with beautiful flowers of bright summer colors cascading from window boxes. They looked like ginger bread houses all sitting in a row.

Kaylin and I followed the map into the heart of Strasbourg, looking for the Strasbourg Cathedral, where we would begin our journey through the city. After about twenty minutes of walking, we knew we must have been close because the further into the city we walked, the older the buildings got, and we were definitely in the medieval quarter. We made it to Gutenberg Plaza, where there is a giant copper statue of Johann Gutenberg, who invented the printing press in 1440, right here in Strasbourg! So as you're reading this blog, thank Johann Gutenberg, because without his revolutionary invention, you would not be reading this blog until I dictated this story to a monk or scribe, who would then spend a few years handwriting one copy of my blog. Not to mention the time it would take to get to all of you in the States. So thanks, Johann Gutenberg, for creating a more expedient way to produce literature (without which I would surely die of boredom)!

It was while we were standing on the corner in Gutenberg Plaza looking at the map in Rick Steves' book that I stumbled upon an amazing sight. I was looking for a street sign to say what street we were on, when I turned my head to the left, and oh, what a sight. I saw the largest, darkest medieval cathedral I have ever seen, standing proudly at the end of a tight, cobblestone lane, lined with medieval half-timbered buildings. It was astonishing. It was built with red stone that had slowly started turning black over the years. Its pointy bell tower stretched into the sky, with gargoyles staring menacingly back at me.

"Uh, Kaylin," was all I was able to say, as I pointed in the direction of the cathedral. "I think we've found Strasbourg Cathedral."

We tilted our heads toward the sky to try to take in all of the cathedral as we walked down the cobblestone lane, past the cafes and gift shops that were still in a deep Sunday morning slumber. We walked on with the sound of church bells telling us it was ten o'clock, until we reached the 2,000 year-old Roman square on which the cathedral was built. The square, unlike the rest of the city, was teaming with life. Locals rushing to the cathedral for morning mass, tourists taking pictures and gazing up at the incredible building before them. Construction began on Strasbourg Cathedral in 1015 A.D., but it wasn't completed until 1439. It was the tallest building in the world from 1647 until 1874. The building was way bigger than Notre Dame de Paris, and far more impressive.

Morning mass was going on inside the church and we were allowed to sit in and watch for a little while. I had never been to a Catholic church or a mass before, so it was an interesting experience. It was completely in French, so I wasn't really sure what was going on most of the time (not that I would have known what was going on if it were in English, either), but it was really interesting to watch. The inside of the cathedral was a lot like Notre Dame de Paris: Gothic architecture, high ceilings, stained-glass windows everywhere. We didn't stay long because we had a lot we wanted to do.

We left and followed Rue Rohan to the river where we bought tickets for a boat tour of the city. We got really good seats on the boat, and a few minutes later, we left on our seventy minutes tour of Strasbourg. There were earphones in every seat that you could listen to for information on everything around you. When I first put the earphones on, it was all in German. I listened to the tour in German for about five minutes before I realized that I could change the channels and find it in English. When I finally did find English, it was an Irish man who was speaking, which was unexpected by definitely okay with me. I actually found myself paying more attention because of the Irish accent.

I was able to see so much of the city from the boat and it was absolutely beautiful. The river was lined with trees and of course the gorgeous medieval half-timbered buildings that are everywhere in Strasbourg. There is so much history in the city, too. Having been juggled between Germany and France for several centuries, it is a great mix. I felt like it has all the best things from both cultures. You could walk down the street and smell sour kraut cooking while people sit outside at cafes sipping on wine. The dialect there was very strange... it really threw me off, as someone who is still learning standard French. I was especially thrown off when someone said "Bon-shor-uh!" It took me a few seconds to realize that they were saying "Bonjour." It was like how Germans speak French, I guess.

After the boat ride, we took a walk throughout the city. We stopped at the archaeological museum in Rohan Palace, where we spent about an hour looking over old bones and skulls, and all kinds of ancient artifacts from the Alsace region (the region where Strasbourg is). It chronicled the history of Alsace from prehistoric times to the nineteenth century A.D. The even had a Neanderthal skull! After the museum, we made our way to La Petite France, where there is the biggest concentration of half-timbered houses and little sidewalk cafes. It is the oldest part of the city and it is called La Petite France because it has always been the French part of the city no matter what country happened to own the city at the time (kind of like China Town in New York or San Francisco).

We walked around for several hours along the river and through some of the non-touristy neighborhoods before deciding to find some food. We made our way back to the Roman square on which Strasbourg Cathedral stands, and found a decently priced cafe that served good food. I ordered a Kronenberg, which has brewed right there in Strasbourg for centuries so it was extra special, and a croque monsieur, which is a toasted ham sandwich with melted cheese on top and in the middle. It was incredible. It also came with a salad that had a delicious house dressing on it. I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious.

We had to leave right after dinner to make our way back to the train station. We walked twenty minutes back to where we first started our Strasbourg experience. The square was much more lively in front of the train station that evening than it was in the morning when we had first arrived. There were travelers and backpackers everywhere, some eating and some laying down in the grass with their heads on their backpacks, fast asleep. Many of them were traveling with dogs, who lay in the grass beside their person and watched all of the people walk by. Kaylin and I sat down too, to take a break from hours of walking. I didn't want to leave Strasbourg quite yet. I felt like their was so much more I wanted to see, but our train was leaving soon.

This time we didn't have to run to catch our train, thankfully. It was waiting for us when we got to the quai, and we hopped on and found our seats. The train left the station about fifteen minutes late and we headed back to Paris.

When the ticket checker came around to check our tickets, I had an interesting conversation with him. He was an older French man, with an interesting sense of humor.

"What part of America are you from?" he asked, a warm smile crinkling the skin around his eyes.

"Cincinnati, Ohio," I told him.

"And you are studying in France?"

"Yes, we're studying in Paris for a month," I responded.

"How do you like Paris?" he asked.

I gave him a big smile. "I love Paris! I don't want to leave!"

"Good, good," he said, looking at my passport. "You are called Marie Simpson?"

I nodded, wondering why he asked.

"I will look for you on television, then," he told me, with a big smile.

"On television?" I asked, wondering what in the world he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"The television show, The Simpsons," he said with a laugh. "My son loves that show very much."

I started cracking up. I never would have expected someone in France to connect my name with the American cartoon, The Simpsons. I haven't heard that joke at home since I was in elementary school, so it was such a surprise to hear.

He moved on to check the other passengers' tickets, then came back to my seat and said, "My name is Heinz, you know, like the ketchup."

The French have a really good sense of humor.

We made it back into Paris around nine o'clock that night and I was too tired to do anything but take a shower and go to sleep. It was such a great weekend!