Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We are, after a lovely summer "en France", en route for the USA. We are so lucky to have been able to experience another summer in France, but we are also happy to be going home to our "real life" as well.
Tuesday was "move out day". It's a little bizarre to move out, while leaving all your stuff there for someone else to manage. This requires boxing up everything, including lamps, mirrors, and art work, which normally in our American moves, I transport myself. We did manage to label every box as to where it is to go in our new French house, and as to what it contains. To see what our packed up house looks like, check out our picture album labeled "Demenagement--moving out". The album cover picture was on a moving truck at the Gare de Lyon in Paris, and believe me, that is NOT me in the bathtub surrounded by moving boxes! It doesn't ever work like that, even in France.
We did manage to leave on schedule, one minute after 9:00 am, to get our car delivered in Avignon and catch the TGV to Paris. From there, we went on to Aachen, Germany (also known as Aix-la-Chapelle), the HQ for Charlemagne, an incredible warrior/king who managed to whip the Francs together to create a formidable empire. In Aachen, he built a church, known as the "Kaiserdom" (Imperial Cathedral) and a palace, where he established an administrative and educational system that was unheard of at the time. What? Education? Really!
We visited the chapel, built in 805, that references Saint Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, c. 547. It is definitely byzantine in style, with golden mosaics and arched ceilings in an octagon shape. His throne, a simple structure made of stone, is on the gallery on the second floor, looking down at the Barbarossa Chandelier (bronze) and the Shrine of Charlemagne, which contains the 4 most important relics. From the Middle Ages on, this chapel has been a pilgimage stop on the Route de Compostelle. Every 7 years, they open this shrine, cutting off the jewelled locks placed there to reveal the contents for the pilgrims to see. See our album entitled Aachen-Charlemagne to see the throne as well as some of the many treasures kept at the nearby Treasury.
Besides the chapel and the Treasury, we visited the current Town Hall, which was built over the remains of Charlemagne's Palace. The great hall was the Coronation Room for many German kings, and symbolizes Charlemagne's wise leadership as emperor. Alas, it didn't last!
We usually pick a theme for our trips to Europe, and of all the themes we've chosen, my favorites have been 1. Augustus, 2. Napoleon, and 3. Charlemagne. All three great leaders, all three warriors, and all three builders of empires. This trip to Aachen brought them all together. Augustus is in a cameo on the golden Cross of Charlemagne, implying that the power of the Roman Empire was tranfered to Charlemagne, crowned by the Pope in Rome. In Aachen's Town Council Room, Charlemagne's portrait faces Napoleon's portrait. Charlemagne is portrayed as a warrior while Napoleon is portrayed as a ruler. For me, this was the culmination of three years of Middle Ages studies (4 art history classes and numerous movies, CDs, and books).
From Aachen, we returned to Paris to meet our Swiss friends, Ruth and Hans. We have known them for years through Les' international CPA group, and have met them all over the world. We were very happy to once again celebrate Ruth's birthday together. See our album labeled "Paris" if you're interested. We also put an official end to our Middle Ages study by visiting the Musee Cluny, France's official museum of the Middle Ages. It remindes us a lot of the Cloisters in NYC, which we visited in February.
So off we go to the USA, full of beautiful memories. We hope you've enjoyed our View from the Terrace. See you next summer for another "View"?
Love,
Elise & Les
- comments
Ruth Haag Dear Elise and Les It was great to meet you in Paris and to celebrate my birthday. Thank you so much for your witty presents from Charleston. We had a funny time together.