Wanderlust Traveler: 2011

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Grand Finale in Paris

Days 30, 31, & 32 (Saturday, September 26 - Monday September 28, 2009)

Below I have described the places and things I saw on what was my third visit to Paris (I had visited previously in September of 2006 and September of 2008, so not all of Paris' must-see sights will be listed in this entry).

Eiffel Tower: Even on my third visit to Paris, I made sure to fit in several stops to see the gorgeous Eiffel Tower. I recommend seeing the tower during the day and at night. There is nothing more beautiful than when the tower is lit-up during the evening hours, especially when the light show comes on at the top of each hour for several minutes. I find it truly mesmerizing and worthy of all the hype it receives; I will never tire of this tower! I have only gone up into the tower once, and that was probably enough for me. I have found that there are other areas in Paris that provide a better view of the city (i.e. Arc d'Triomphe, Sacre-Coeur, etc).

Notre Dame Cathedral: This 700 year-old cathedral is one of Paris' many must-see sights. Like the Eiffel Tower, I also recommend visiting during the day and at night. While the church itself is free to enter, it does cost extra to tour the treasury and to climb the tower (the latter I highly recommend). I climbed to the top of Notre Dame on my first visit to Paris and to this day it's still one of my most favorite moments I've had in the city. The view from the top is great and being up-close to the gargoyles is quite awesome!

World War I Sights of Verdun and Reims

Day 29 (Friday, September 25, 2009)

After waking up extremely early at 6:30, I began the long three hour drive to Verdun in order to visit the WWI sights. Although many visitors to France make their way to Normandy, far less people take the time to visit Verdun. The battlefields in this area of France saw the loss of 800,000 lives during the war that lasted from 1914-1918.

Upon arrival in Verdun, my first stop was at a museum called Memorial-Musee de Fleury. This museum was built atop the a village called Fleury which was destroyed during World War I. It is a good first stop for those touring the World War I battlefields as it provides a thorough introduction to the war. The entrance fee was 7 Euro, which I thought was a little steep. The museum was filled to the brim (literally) with a massive group of high school students, so it made it almost impossible for me to enjoy any of the displays or exhibits. There were lots of English descriptions, but between the students and having a lack of time, I didn't have the opportunity to get too in-depth with anything. I do recommend making time to watch the 15 minute movie that plays continuously as it has amazing footage from World War I which so many of us are unfamiliar with.

Exterior of Memorial-Musee de Fleury.

Recreated World War I battlefield scene at the Memorial-Musee de Fleury.

Next, I drove over to L'Ossuaire de Douaumont which is a tomb that holds the remains of 130,000 French and German soldiers. The tomb is adjacent to a massive cemetery, which contains 15,000 graves of soldiers. Unfortunately, I arrived just prior to the two hour lunch time closure, so I was unable to go inside the tomb nor watch the recommended 20 minute video. I found the cemetery itself to be very beautiful with a small rosebush planted in front of each soldiers grave but it did not appear as though the graves themselves were well taken care of which was disappointing, especially when compared to the cemeteries in Normandy. The reality though it that there are probably very few surviving family members or spouses of those that were killed in WWI, so it probably does not get the same level of attention it once did.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

Alsace: the land of half-timbered cuteness overload (Colmar, Strasbourg, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Hunawihr, & Ribeauville)

Day 27 (Wednesday, September 23, 2009)

I left sunny Beaune, and began the two and a half hour drive towards Alsace, where I would stay for two nights in the town of Colmar.

Prior to going out and exploring the city, I wanted to stop by the hotel to park the car and check into my room at Hotel Turenne. Although I had a spot reserved for my car in the garage, I was not able to park it inside until I received instructions from the hotel staff. As a result, I left the car in front of the hotel, with the caution lights on. It was partially parked in the street, but only slightly, which is not an uncommon sight in cities in France.

Exterior of Hotel Turenne.

I grabbed all of my bags and then brought them into the lobby. I saw a woman standing at the front desk, and proceeded to say to her “j’ai une reservation” (I have a reservation). She then responds “pardon” as though she cannot comprehend what I’m saying and becomes quite irritated with me. So, although I have spoken perfectly clear French (I know, my accent obviously isn’t perfect, but COME ON!) I proceed to tell her in English that I have a reservation, and then she quickly responds while pointing outside “you can’t leave the car there!!” Well, DUH, lady. Can’t you hear the very loud engine running and see the hazard lights blinking (it was about 15 feet away from me)? It would be fairly obvious to most that the car is only parked there temporarily until I receive instructions from your unhelpful self on how I am able to get into the locked garage. Instead of helping me, she huffs off and finds someone else to help me. I soon realize that she is one of the cleaning staff, thus why she wasn’t willing or able to help me (but why in the hell then was she standing at the front desk???).

Anyway, the second woman explains how to enter the garage so I then proceed to drop off all of my bags in the lobby and the leave for a few minutes to move the car. As soon as I return to check in, the lady informs me that my room isn’t ready yet. Of course, she couldn’t have mentioned this to me before I left to move the car, while the luggage sat in the lobby? No, because that would have been too easy. So, I then had to lug everything back into the garage, which was quite irritating. Even more annoying, I was asked to come back several hours later that afternoon to check in. I had plans to spend a little bit of time in Colmar, and then drive over to Strasbourg for the rest of the evening. Instead, I would have to waste more time coming back later to grab my luggage, complete the check-in process, and then bring everything upstairs. It might not seem like too big of a hassle, but when you are already behind schedule, have a tightly-packed day of sight-seeing, and when you have just dealt with the most unhelpful hotel staff, it certainly doesn’t make one very happy.

After that ordeal, I headed into Colmar, where I began a walking tour of the town listed in Rick Steves France guidebook. Colmar is a mid-sized town with approximately 70,000 residents and is a great place to base oneself while sightseeing within Alsace. The city was lucky enough to be sparred of wartime damage during World War II as both the Americans and British took special note of Colmar and made sure not to bomb the city. Colmar, like much of Alsace, has been thrown back and forth between France and Germany over the last few hundred years. In 1679, the city was ceded to France, and stayed within the boundaries of France until 1871, when the Franco-Prussian War caused Colmar to be annexed by the German Empire. It was then returned back to France after World War I, to only be annexed again, this time by Nazi Germany, in 1940. Finally, Colmar reverted back to French control in 1945. As a result of the multiple changes in boundaries, Colmar has a wonderful mixture of both German and French influences which can be found its food, architecture, and even language.

Instantly, I fell in love with the beautiful and ridiculously charming town. Everywhere I looked, there were brightly half-timbered colored houses and buildings which had the most charming Germanic flair to their design. Almost every single building was in immaculate condition; in fact, I can’t actually remember seeing a building that appeared to be in any need of help. Another interesting aspect that I discovered about Colmar was that the historic town core went on and on and on. It was the largest area of historically preserved buildings I could ever remember seeing anywhere; very impressive, especially for a town of less than 70,000 people.