Paris                            

April 16 – 23, 2007

INTRODUCTION

The “Tale of Two Cities” was told by Charles Dickens in 1859.  However the novel unfolds beginning in 1775 and continues till shortly after 1793 when Marie Antoinette was guillotined.  Our times in Paris and London were over 200 years later and much has changed.

A sailing adventure to the Seychelles was proposed by friends.  The first question we asked was, “When?”.  “Where are the Seychelles?” was our second question.  The when fit our schedule and the where is off the east coast of Kenya.  That is pretty close to halfway around the world from Boston!

We decided that we needed a chance to recover from jetlag on our trip to the Seychelles.  With that in mind a stopover in Paris for a week seemed like a good idea.  Recover some from the journey and also take time to revisit some memories from our youth.  Then on the return from the Seychelles we stopped in London for another week to also recover from the plane flight before coming home.

PARIS

We got to Paris safely and were happy that all of our bags arrived also.  Leaving Boston on the 16^th the plane was about 40 minutes late due to the Nor’easter that came up the coast.  We were concerned that the baggage might not make our flight out of JFK to Paris but everything came through with no problems

We left for Logan early as we had wanted to give our friend Bill some business as he lost his day job about 3 weeks ago.  We wanted to leave early to allow some time for the folks that were being rebooked due to the weather cancellations.  American Eagle was showing our flight as being on time up until 2:15 when they changed our gates and we eventually got to leave about 3:30. 

In the waiting room the TV endlessly repeated the massacre of students at Virginia Tech.  The horror of the students being killed in classrooms and the video from a cell phone added brutal impact to the news.  We left home on this tragic note.

We got into terminal 9 at JFK and had to get to terminal 8 to get our flight to Paris.  It was a fifteen minute walk and was not well marked going through the baggage area.  One of the bad things was having to go through security again.  I hate having to take my shoes off and having Judy wanded by these folks.  One day we will look back on the overreaction of our government with dismay.  Dismantling the US security system after 9/11 was about as stupid as dismantling the Iraqi army after invading them.  And that is not considering the arrogance and stupidity leading up to the invasion.

OUR ARRIVAL

At Charles de Gaulle airport we got all our bags and went out to call the transport to take us to our hotel.  Judy got some money out of the ATM as the line to change $ into euros was way too long.  We went outside and voila, there was the driver.  This was a company that picked up many folks and we had to go to another terminal to pick up a lady.  The good news is she was the last and then he drove us for a long way into Paris.  We were the first ones he let off and we are staying at the Agora St. Germain.  We got to the hotel at 9:30AM.  We checked in and went up to our tiny room to unpack.

We then walked down to the Seine and settled at the Café Metro for Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) and coffee.  We sat close to a guy who was very offensive smoking a cigar. Our hotel is about 2 blocks from the river Seine and we walked down there and looked at Notre Dame.  We were in a jetlagged state so we came back to the room and took a nap. 

After the nap we walked up to the Pantheon but it was almost closing time so we walked on to the Jardin du Luxembourg.  It is a lovely wooded area.  With a pond in the middle that had lots of small sailboats, about 12 inches long that were sailing about and the kids had long sticks that they were using to push the sailboats out when they drifted to shore.  Folks were scattered on the grass and in chairs all around the pond, some reading papers or books or chatting with friends.  Many young families were strolling around in the sun.

We walked up near the Sorbonne, begun in 1253 as a university for theology. We had dinner there at a brasserie.  We found they make great salads with eggs, potatoes, ham and cheese, lettuce and tomato for about 8 euros.  That plus a couple of glasses of wine makes a great dinner.  $1.35 converts to one euro.

We came back to the Agora and went to bed about 8.  I was up again at 12:30 but I lay back down and did not wake up till Judy woke me at 6:30.  Jetlag really throws off biorhythms.

THE EIFFEL TOWER

We went downstairs and had breakfast in the hotel.  Breakfast was a croissant for each of us.  Then I had some cereal and Judy had a yogurt.  We talked to the desk clerk, Arlene and bought a 3 day Batobus ticket for 40 euros each. This ticket lets the tourist get on bus tours of Paris or the bateaux -  mouches (boat) tours on the Seine.  There are multiple bus routes and we had a color coded map to find our way around.  We picked up the bus at Notre Dame and rode on the upper deck on the blue line.  Got on green line on the bus lower level and rode to the Arc de Triomphe where we got back upstairs but by the time we reached the Eiffel Tower we were frozen.

The tower was a madhouse with very long lines to get a ticket to ride.  There were lots of kids there and we speculated that perhaps it was school vacation.  Judy was wearing her Red Sox cap and a fellow came over to talk with her.  He leads kids over to Europe every April.  This year he had a bunch of hockey players all from the Boston area.

The Eiffel Tower ride up to the second stage was fine as the car slopes up one of the support legs.  The north leg was closed for maintenance which may have contributed to the lines.  Each level of the tower has a different price and to go to the top was 11.5 euro per person and that is where we went.  The car goes to the second level and then we transferred to an elevator for the top level.

When we were here 25 years ago the two top levels were closed for repairs.  So this was a totally different experience.  The elevator ride up gave a sense of acrophobia as it has glass sides and you go up very quickly seeing Paris through this web of tinker toy steel beams.  However the top is all closed in so that the feeling is somewhat like being in a closed in room with a great view.

When we were walking around the second level it was cold with a stiff breeze blowing.  However there are little shops and a food station.  We bought a ham and cheese baguette and coffee and hot chocolate and sat on a bench to eat.  They did have tables that you could stand at.  So after our repast we went on to the top.

The views were excellent as there was hardly any haze.  The guidebook said you could see for 40 miles on a clear day.  I believe that was the case.   The gold dome is the Invalid where Napoleon is entombed.

A LITTLE RUN ALONG THE SEINE

After the Eiffel we came back to the Agora St. Germain hotel.  Judy took a rest and I went out for a run along the Seine.  I ran past about 5 bridges and it was interesting along the quay.  Under one of the far bridges was a homeless tent city and I was a little spooked.  However I had just gone by a police boat that looked like a permanent station on the Seine, so I knew help would be close by.

There were lots of people along the quay.  Lovers holding hands, people sleeping on the grass, people out walking their dogs.  I was using Notre Dame as a reference point as to how to get back to the hotel.  However I overshot our street by several blocks as I had looked for the wrong bridge.

After I finished getting a shower we went out to eat. There was a street demonstration down by our hotel of folks who wanted to elect a leftwing politician.  They had a TV crew there and police as well as demonstrators holding up banners “100% left” “solidarity with strikers” “Jobs are a right” at several auto companies.  They were making lots of noise on their loudspeakers when I went to sleep.

SACRE COEUR

April 19, 2007 we had adventures this morning on the metro going up to the Madeleine.  Judy is a master of the underground as we started out on the yellow line and changed to the green line before picking up the OpenTour bus at the Madeleine for the yellow tour up through Montmartre to where we got off to go up to Sacre Coeur.

Interesting in the subway tunnel going to the train was a guy playing the accordion which was very loud.  In the subway car a woman was playing the violin for the passengers’ pleasure.  After her piece she came around with a bag for folk to drop money in.  Then at the next stop she got off.  I guess it was just a way to make a little money while going to her destination!

 Also, it was fascinating to pass by the Moulin Rouge and all the sex shops before and after it.  Brought back memories of Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters, paintings and his sad life. 

  We continued on to reach Sacre Coeur which is a lovely church and one of the highpoints of Paris both literally as well as figuratively!  We walked up two blocks after getting off the bus.  We were going to take the funicular to the church but it was closed for an indeterminate amount of time.  They had a little mobile child’s choo-choo train to take people up but after waiting about 10 minutes with no train returning, we decided to walk up.

 It was a place where we were accosted a number of times by black guys trying to sell us stuff that looked like string to make a bracelet or others trying to sell belt buckles.  It made us a little uneasy as someone stole something and there was a commotion of black guys running away with police after them. 

It is a good climb but we stopped along the way.  There were black guys with goods spread out on blankets at several places going up.  Sunglasses were prominent on several blankets.  Two guys were sitting out on the grass playing their guitars.

On the level below the church a guy was playing an electric harp.  We gave him a euro as he was playing well and entertaining the folks going to and from the church.  Going on up was a fellow on the steps with a very elaborate yoyo doing tricks.  Lots of people were setting on the steps so that we had to go to the side to ascend.

The Sacre Coeur was finished in 1914, but it has since become one of the top attractions in Paris.  The church is very distinctive with Madonna and child and beautiful stained glass windows.  Windows in the shape of stele, Dei Mater – god’s mother.  Lots of candles burning and one can buy additional prayer candles for 2 euros.

We were there during a church service and folks were asked to be quiet.  Interesting that there were pamphlets in many languages such as Japanese and Arabic but none in English!  There was a statue of Sainte Rita and of Saint Pierre.  The altar was white and tiered with mother and child on top level. 

The stained glass windows were long and narrow like stele and most of them were in 3’s representing Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  There is a window of Mary with the dead Jesus and another with Jesus wrapped for burial.  Over the windows gold filigree.  Judy pointed out a number of colorful mosaics.  Around the outside of the sanctuary were several wooden confessionals.

The apse had Jesus with a gold halo all on a blue background with radiant beams coming from him.  Perhaps Mary is looking up at Jesus.  There is writing around the top:  SS CORDI GOLLIA POE NITENS DE wonder what that could be?  Six disciples on either side of Christ on the cross.  Three rose small stained glass windows around the arches.  Angels at four corners of the dome.

There was a church service going on and when we first arrived a priest was speaking but he quit shortly and the nuns in the choir sang very sweetly and the church acoustics were excellent.  Judy noticed that there were birds flying around in the church dome about 50 feet above our heads.

One interesting things about Paris is the Toilette Access Gratuit on the streets.  One never has to feel a lot of pressure to find a public restroom.  Although going up to the Pantheon I did come across a man finishing up relieving himself against a wall.  We both noticed at Sacre Coeur in certain places the aroma of sewage and we wondered if some folks had been using the front of the church for parties.  Or perhaps they just had a problem with their plumbing system. 

Sadly we did see some young women begging on the steps leading up to Sacre Coeur.  We don’t know what hand life had dealt them, but it is sad to see so much pain in the world. 

LE MADELEINE

We caught the Open Tour bus back to La Madeleine formally known as the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.  It is a short walk from there to the Place de la Concorde and the Place Vendôme. The building, modeled after classical Greek temples, was consecrated as a church in 1842.  At the Madeleine lots of Christ statues with 4 angels.  Tablature with Jesus in center of disciples.  7 steps up to the altar – to the left an organ and someone started to play.  Jesus on one wall facing Madonna and child on the other wall. We were very tired so we spent a short amount of time before catching the subways back to our room.

Judy took a nap some and I walked up to the Pantheon and looked out over the Luxembourg Jardin to the Eiffel Tower.  I sat for a while and watched the people and looked at the building.  I found out it doesn’t close till 6 PM but I decided not to go in as I had not brought my notebook and pen, or the camera.

When I came back Judy was awake and we went out to dinner at the Etoile d’Or (Gold Star).  We had salad and my chicken was all dark meat.  Oh well we had a crème brulee to finish the meal as the salads were on the small side.

THE PANTHEON

Ah, the call of the Pantheon which was only about three blocks from our hotel tugged at me.  I left Judy resting and toured by myself.  The Pantheon meaning "Temple of all the Gods") is a building in the Latin Quarter. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve who had saved Paris from Attila the Hun in 451 by “prayer”.   She is the patron saint of Paris.  Now after many changes it combines liturgical functions with its role as a famous burial place. It has a façade modeled on the Pantheon in Rome.

A striking item is the Foucault pendulum beneath the dome.  This experiment in 1851 by the physicist demonstrated the rotation of the earth.  I would never have guessed that this was where he did this and the original iron sphere is here.  We have a much smaller version of this in the Museum of Science in Boston.   One can be hypnotized watching the ball swing back and forth and.....

 Ah, in the great long ago, I recall reading Voltaire’s Candide.  Dr. Pangloss and the claim that “this is the best of all possible worlds!”  A true optimist.  I paused beside Voltaire’s statue and tomb in the crypt. 

Yes, this is the necropolis of the great.  Rousseau who inspired Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers.  Victor Hugo who was a poet as well as a great novelist.  And over here Louis Braille, who was instrumental in opening the world to Helen Keller!  Madam Curie lies in a crypt resting peacefully above her husband who passed on before her. Marie was the first woman to be buried in the Pantheon for her own contributions to science.  So many AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE ("To great men the grateful homeland") which is the legend above the entrance to the Pantheon.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES             

Up at 5 AM and in the lobby of the Agora St. Germain.  I started out labeling the photos taken so far of Eiffel, Sacre Coeur, and others.  There is now a lobby full of folks at a little after 7.  I read the London paper and the US attorney general Alberto Gonzales was under attack by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.  Wolfowitz under pressure to resign at the World Bank.  The Virginia Tech massacre from the deranged Korean and his videos leading up to the crime. 

Some general impressions of Paris.  Very clean as a street washer truck came by as I was jogging along the Seine.  A number of times we saw street sweeper/vacuum trucks cleaning the streets.  One was up by the Moulin Rouge.  While we stopped for a cup of coffee we saw several guys with brooms sweeping an area where street vendors had been set up.

Dress ranges from stylish to ordinary.  Lots of folks in jeans and some in suits and short hemline dresses.  Many people in sandals. 

THE LOUVRE 

The I.M. Pei glass pyramids dominate the entrance to the Louvre.  Under the ground level pyramid is a huge area with ticket booths for various tours of the museum.  One of the tours was for “The Da Vinci Code”!  We decided to take a general guided tour.  It was very interesting as we had headsets, but a guide who could talk to us and point out interesting facts about the Winged Victory and the Venus De Milo.  Winged Victory is standing on a boat and the drapery around her waist clings as if it were wet and windblown.  For the Venus she has her left shoulder raised as she is turning to the left and her left leg bent to the right.

The guide also told us about the large format painting by Theodore Gericault “The Raft of the Medusa” about a shipwreck and the fact that he used some bad oil paint and the painting is slowly deteriorating.  The painting is based on a true story and shows the hope of rescue by some and the despair of others on the raft.  Evidently some had lapsed into cannibalism.  There is as set of sails on the horizon.  Contrast of hope and despair and death.

It is very easy to get overwhelmed with all the art.  They have over 35,000 items from all over the world.  However the highlights come from Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire.  So much that one could spend several vacations in the Louvre and not begin to see it all!

 PLACE DE LA CONCORDE

 After the Louvre we walked through the Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde.  The fountains on either end took turns operating.  Interesting black people with the body of a fish starting at the waist and they were holding fish that spouted water through their mouths.

An open cheerful plaza with the obelisk with Egyptian hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II.  Ah, but this was a sad and tragic place where nobility and members of the bourgeoisie were entertained watching convicted criminals being dismembered alive, the new revolutionary government erected the guillotine there. The first notable to be executed at the Place de la Révolution was King Louis XVI.   Other important people guillotined there, often in front of cheering crowds, were Queen Marie Antoinette, Madame Elisabeth, Madame du Barry, Danton,, Lavoisier, and Robespierre.  Perhaps if you have taken chemistry you remember Lavoisier as the discoverer of oxygen and hydrogen.  He is also known as “the father of modern chemistry”. The guillotine was most active during the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed.

ARC DE TRIOMPHE ON PLACE DE L’ETOILE

We took the subway up to the Etoile and then the elevator to the top of the Arc de  Triomphe. This is one of the grand structures in the world.  Napoleon’s arch to the glory of the soldiers of the Revolution and the Empire.  It was begun in 1806 and finished in 1836, it was inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome.

The Arc has sculptures that depict famous episodes from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.  Bas reliefs of the Spirit of Liberty as well as allegories that inspired the people of France.  We today condemn the Japanese and Germans for trying to cover up their roles in WWII, but the French celebrate the conquests of Napoleon even after he lost the war to allied forces and was exiled two times.  His ashes were returned to Paris in 1840!

Many may remember the old newsreels at the movie theater of parades through the arch in 1919 at the end of WWI and in 1944 when Paris was liberated.  Also the tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI is here.  We could see lots of the highlights of the city from the top, but not the Seine. 

Etoile is star in French and relates to the 12 streets that radiate from the Arc.  However the French have changed the name to the Place Charles de Gaulle but it will take several generations for that name to stick!

From the top of the Arch you can pinpoint the main monuments of Paris.  The main view is down the Champ Elysees to the Place de la Concorde and on to the  Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel near the Louve.  It is also gives a great view of the Tuileries gardens as well as the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre Coeur.  

ILE DE LA CITE

Above is the island in the middle of the Seine called Ile de la Cite and it is in the heart of Paris.  The structure to the left is Notre Dame and on the far right is the tip of the island Ile Saint-Louis.  There is so much to see in Paris and so little time, anyway let me dip into a little history.

NOTRE DAME

The near end of Notre Dame is a garden.  We picked up some sandwiches and ate lunch  there.  Another time we sat in a cafe across the street and watched the line to climb one of the towers for the view.  We had done that 25 years ago and now we didn’t want to wait.

Notre Dame’s construction took almost two hundred years beginning in 1163 and finishing in 1345.  It was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. The buttresses were placed where stained glass had been planned. During the Revolution, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The statues of biblical kings of Judea (erroneously thought to be kings of France) were beheaded. Only the great bells avoided being melted down, and the cathedral was dedicated to cults. The church interior was used as a warehouse for the storage of forage and food. After falling into disrepair, a restoration program was carried out in 1845

The rose stained glass windows are beautiful.  Also, the church has miniature sanctuaries or chapels down both sides where one can light candles or pray quietly.  The main sanctuary is awe-inspiring.  I sat there and thought of Victor Hugo and the “Hunchback of Notre Dame”.  He is said to have written this to support the renovation of Notre Dame.  Whether or not it is true the cathedral is truly a world treasure.

Another quick item is after the Pope anointed Napoleon, he seized the crown from the pontiff and crowned himself emperor!  Here also is where Joan of Arc was beatified and then canonized.  She died in 1431 at the stake, but then was canonized in 1920.  A little late for a girl who died at nineteen!

PALAIS DE LA CITE SAINTE-CHAPELLE

About two blocks from Notre Dame is Sainte-Chapelle.  This is a jewel of a church with beautiful stained glass windows.  King Louis IX had it build in six years between 1242 and 1248.  It was built to house relics of Christ’s Passion, especially the Crown of Thorns.  The king had acquired this precious relic of the Passion from the emperor Baudouin of Constantinople for 135,000 franks!  The Chapelle was built for 40,000 franks.

During the Revolution the Chapelle suffered as it was a symbol of the monarchy and religion: the choir stalls and rood screen were destroyed, the organ carried off, the spire torn down, as well as lots of other damage.  It is sad to see how this story is replicated over and over again in most countries.  The ancient Egyptians defaced or destroyed much of their heritage, in recent memory the Khmer Rouge in Cambodian trashed the Angkor Wat a magnificent temple complex.

 The lower chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the ceiling is painted with a radiant blue starry sky.  In the upper chapel, Gothic architecture is sublime with a conjunction of art and religion.

  But the Sainte-Chapelle is famed for its stained glass windows.  6485 square feet of glass of which two thirds are original gives a fantastic sample of fifteenth-century glass work.  The building seems to fade leaving the windows in radiant splendor.  I can only imagine what it would be like with the sun behind those windows.  Even on a somewhat overcast day they were still worth the visit!

The Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie are the only visible remains of the oldest palace of the French kings!  These two are joined together and a joint ticket provides access to both.

PALAIS DE LA CITE CONCIERGERIE

How often what starts out grand, noble and good turns to evil expressing the worst side of our humanity.  This was part of the Palace connected to the Chapel and was the kings residence till Charles V moved out.  He left in charge a Concierge (keeper) and this area went from a place with medieval halls to a prison.  A huge Hall of Men-at-Arms was able to seat about 2000 people in the king’s service.  There was a guardroom built around 1310 by King Phillip to serve as his hall of justice. 

Unhappily and woefully here sat the Revolutionary Tribunal from 1793 to 1795.  The hall had bays which were separated from the rest of the room by gates.  These bays were named for the executioner, known simply as “Monsieur de Paris”.  Here also poor prisoners sleep on the floor on hay. 

It makes the stomach queasy to think of over 2700 who were held here during “The Terror”.  From here a prisoner was led to the Grooming Room where they were stripped of their personal belongings before being led to the tumbrels that would carry them to the Place de la Concorde to meet “Monsieur de Paris” and the guillotine.

 Arguably the most famous prisoner here was Marie Antoinette and we visited the chapel that was built according to king Louis XVIII wishes.    The king wanted to remember the injustice done to his brother Louis XVI’s wife.   Her cell is down to the right of this huge hall.

 On the upper floor are lists of prisoners guillotined during the Reign of Terror.  The Prisoners Quarters’ re-create the cells as they appeared during the Revolution, with those for the penniless, another cell for the wealthier and another for the upper crust folk.  I guess you got better accommodations depending on how much you gave the Concierge!

 Now finally and sadly to the towers.  The Bonbec (good beak) tower earned its name by housing the torture chamber.  The accused were brought to “sing” when the “question” was applied.  Echoes of torture are present today.  The means have changed but the objective is the same, break the prisoner, make them “sing”.

 A final item to note is that this building is part of the Palace of Justice.  Each generation I guess leaves its ideas of justice to those that follow.

  MUSEE D’ORSAY

 The last morning in Paris.  The city of light, the city of love.  We have to pack up this morning and store our luggage before going out to the Musee D’Orsay.  We took the metro over to the Musee D’Orsay to look at the impressionists.  We got guided tour headsets and made it through most of the top floor seeing Monet, Cézanne, Degas, and the tortured Vincent Van Gogh.

 The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist masterpieces by popular painters such as Monet and Renoir.

 We wanted to come here as most of these painting were in the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume when we visited Paris in the early ‘80s.  At that time the Orsay was a train station.  It was converted to a museum in 1986.  The arched vault of the station is a wonder to behold in itself.  At one end is a huge clock for telling when the trains are due or departing.  Beautiful structure and they also have a cafe where we had our last lunch in Paris.

TRANSITION

So we leave Paris for the Seychelles.  Two weeks there for diving and sailing.  However we return to London to continue this latter day tale of two cities. 

Now that I am home in Massachusetts it is interesting to draw the parallels between two of the great cities of the world.  First there is the bone chilling violence of torture in the Conciergerie  and the Tower of London.  Then the parallel of the guillotine in Paris and the ax in London.  Surely some may have deserved the ultimate penalty, but just as surely many just happened to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In contrast to the violence it is interesting to consider the striving to honor God.  The cathedrals of Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey are tributes to our search for the meaning of life.  One could spend many pleasant months going from church to church and reflecting on the wonder of the human spirit and the divine will that guides us.

So with this as a segue, on to the scenes of London.

London, May 14

INTRODUCTION 

Visions of Charles Dickens revolve in my head.  “The Tale of Two Cities” since we had been in Paris a few weeks back; now in London since it was cold wet and dreary, some thoughts of “A Christmas Carol”!  However the air was clear and the building were clean.  The ban on coal fireplaces has completely eliminated the fog, smog and dirt we think of when we see “Mary Poppins”.  I had hoped to have time to go over to Dickens’ house which is near Westminster Abbey, alas it will have to wait for another trip.  Also, a Charles Dickens theme park just opened, but we did not have time for a visit there!

 HYDE PARK 

Let’s see our hotel is about 4 blocks from Hyde Park!  We went for a walkabout to Oxford Street and over to Marble Arch.  This was designed by John Nash and built in 1828.  It stands at the northeast edge of Hyde Park.  To get there we used the subway which is a passage under the street.  They call their underground the tube or metro.  As you can see the Marble Arch is very elaborate, and it was installed at Buckingham Palace.  However it was too small for the queen and was moved to Hyde Park in 1851 when Buckingham Palace was extended.  By tradition only the royal family and a small select group are allowed to ride through it!  

Continuing on we went to the Speakers Corner which is a big paved area, but no one was interested in talking.  It must be a weekend kind of thing but we didn’t go then.  There has been a right to speak here since 1872 and speakers are allowed to speak here as long as they don’t breach the law!  Many famous folk have spoken here such as Marx, Lenin, and George Orwell.

It is a pleasant walk from there down to Wellington’s memorial at the southeast end of the park.  Compared to the busy streets all around, Hyde Park is a huge green oasis in the center of London.  Walking back we bought some postcards on Oxford Street.

GROSVENOR SQUARE

Our hotel is facing Grosvenor Square and the US Embassy is on another side of the square.  The remaining two sides are used by the US State department.  Across from the hotel is an obelisk dedicated to the pilot volunteers from America and England who were in the Eagle Squadron before the US entered WWII.  The obelisk was funded by William Randolph Hearst. 

Before entering the square there is a legend in the concrete dedicated to the British and US statesmen who concluded the Treaty of Paris in 1784 formally recognizing the independence of the US.  John Adams and John Jay represented the US.

Going on across the square we come to a statue of FDR and on down the way near the embassy is a statue of Eisenhower.  FDR’s statue has him standing erect with no support.  To the left of FDR on the edge of the park is a memorial to 9/11 and notes that several hundred of the victims that sad day were British subjects.

At the Embassy there is a lot of construction going on.  There is a fenced in area with a long line of folks waiting to get in through a temporary guardhouse.  The sign says this is for visas and folks with problems.

A RUN IN HYDE PARK

I crossed Park Lane at the street light and continued down to Wellington’s end.  The statue at right was created by Richard Westmacott and features Achilles.  It was cast from cannons captured during the Duke of Wellington’s military campaigns.   

Turning north I noticed large areas where the grass needed mowing as it was about 6 inches high.  Then I came to some lovely flower beds in interesting designs of purple flowers around the edges and then yellow bands of flowers.  Very pretty.  I turned in to tour Serpentine Lake and went around the west side and continued past Buck Hill Bastion which had a playground.  A little further I came to the Italian Gardens but thought that I had reached Round Lake.  Talked to a very nice gentleman who took my map and showed me where I was!  Yes, I was very lost!

Turning in I found the statue of Energy which was represented by a man mounted on a horse to symbolize the idea.  The horse had his left front leg poised in the air as if he were ready to take the next stride, with the rider poised for action.

Going further up from Energy I came to the Prince Albert memorial across from Prince Albert Hall.  Very large tribute to her husband from Queen Victoria.  This was my furthest excursion as I turned to return to the hotel.  I headed back toward the center of the park and ran along the southern edge of the Serpentine Lake till I got to Princess Diana’s fountain.  It is a double set of waterways in a circle flowing down to a calm pool.  Along one side the water flows over a corrugated stretch before reaching the pool and the other side has a number of bursts of turbulence and waves.  Very interesting way to symbolize her life.  The fountain was dedicated by the Queen on July 6, 2004.  As a side note, there is also a playground in the park named for Diana but I had not the Energy to get there! 

As I jogged on back in the direction of the hotel I noticed some round markers in the walkway.  Stopping I read that these were labeled “The Princess Diana Walkway”.  So she has been honored in many ways in Hyde Park.

Going back to the Wellington corner I noticed again the benches along the side that were in memory of loved ones and then an astonishing tree!  I saw folks about 40 feet in the air on top of the tree and I slowed down as I noticed two women walking through a hole in the branches.  The tree was shaped like an umbrella but without the central handle and rod.  The branches touched the ground all around.  I went into the tree and saw there were a number of other entrances and the diameter of the cone was about 15 yards!  The tree trunk had a number of I Love You’s and initials carved into the bark.  Also a 5 or 6 foot scramble to get hold of some branches to climb to the top.  A really unique tree.

The next day we signed up for a bus trip to Winchester, Stonehenge and Bath.  We left at 8:10 or so and drove to Victoria Station where lots of folks got off to change for various other Evan Evans excursions.  Also other folks got on but our tour was only 18 people and there were seats for 50 or so and we had lots of room.

WINCHESTER

 In Winchester we got off the bus at King Alfred the Great’s statue.  Alfred’s reign as King of England was from 871 to 899 and he is honored as one of the greatest leaders in England’s history.

We followed our tour guide Paddy through town to Winchester Cathedral which was originally built in 1079.  Perhaps some of you remember the song that was released in 1966 by The New Vaudeville Band!  Very lovely cathedral but we were only allowed to peep inside as there was a charge and we had very limited time in Winchester!  An interesting note is that the north transept doubled as the Vatican in last year’s big-budget film “The Da Vinci Code”! 

We continued on down the street to Jane Austen’s last home.  She moved here in 1817 to be near her doctor, but she did not live very long.  According to Paddy he did her little good.  And here is the sad thing, Jane was buried in the Cathedral and we didn’t have time to visit her.  On the other hand there is a plaque commemorating her in Westminster Abby in the Poet’s Corner which I did visit.

Ah, close to the cathedral was the WC (water closet is the same as toilet in the US.) and it was free!  We went on across the street to Marks and Spencer to get a sandwich and water for Judy as it was about 11 but we had to get back on the bus with no hope for food until about 2 PM in Bath.  She got her items and then we were standing in the checkout line and the fellow in front of us had a large pile of groceries and he beckoned us to get in front of him!  Very nice chap.   I told him that was a nice gesture as we were from Winchester in Massachusetts.

Perhaps here is a chance to note the differences between London and the Seychelles.  The folk in London seem far more friendly.  They greet you and seem genuinely helpful.  The Seychellois speak when spoken to, but seemed to resent our being there.  At the market in Victoria the fish seller didn’t seem to want to serve us.  Striking difference in people.

Winchester was said to have 35,000 people which is just a bit larger than home, however it is a much bigger town center of many streets with shops  and the main street area is closed to traffic with lots of people.

I did get some photos of the Guild Hall on the right and the Winchester bus station.  But it was a hurried feeling.  The guide told us about Winchester College, the school being established in 1380 as the oldest continuous operated school in England.  It was called a public school although it is private and now costs about 20K pounds a year to send a student there!  It was set up for boys to prepare them for Oxford University.  Public schools here are private and state schools are public!

STONEHENGE

Back on the bus for our ride to Stonehenge!  What was to be the highpoint of the tour turned out to be the low.  When we got there it was pouring rain.  From the parking lot we went  through a tunnel under the road and then back up.  We walked around in the rain and I tried to take some pictures when the wind was blowing at my back!  It was a cold chill rain and we were pretty soaked walking around.   What a disaster!

Stonehenge is a World Heritage Site that was begun around 3050 BC.  The stones are surrounded by a circular ditch and bank which is called a “henge”.  The largest stones are Sarsen stones that were moved here from 19 miles away!  The smaller Bluestones were transported from Wales 240 miles distant!  You have to stand in awe here just as at the pyramids in Egypt.  The monumental labor as well as the mystery of why and how this was constructed.  Sadly much of the monument was carried away over the centuries in pieces by folks using  the chipped-up stones for building material.

Shivering from the wet and cold we got coffee and huddled in the tunnel to drink it out of the rain.  Yes, we were not alone as many other pilgrims were huddled with us.  Hoping the warmth of the fluid would help we hurried back to the bus as the rain slackened and then stopped as we left.  A half hour earlier or a half hour later and we could have enjoyed Stonehenge as dry pilgrims.  Sometimes life is not fair, another hope dashed as this was to be the highlight of the tour.

BATH

So we continued on to Bath which was developed by the Romans beginning in 60 AD.  They found the hot water springs here a blessing from the Goddess Sulis Minerva.  They constructed very elaborate baths for exercise and cleanliness.  They did this by mixing the hot thermal water with cold water to get many different temperatures.  Very interesting to imagine all the history from the current artifacts as by the 5^th century the Romans were driven out. 

Now the problem of getting soaked to the skin caused Judy to become almost hypothermic and shivering uncontrollably.  I was also extremely cold but not quite to that state.  We rushed through and went to a restaurant to get some hot chocolate and some food. After a bit the shivering stopped but we were both still wet and cold.  So the rain at Stonehenge continued to torment us at Bath.

We strolled around the town a little.  Let’s see Bath is a funny town as the local ordinance is everything shall be built with Bath limestone.  The limestone is porous and absorbs pollutants from the air which stains the limestone.  The owner of a building has to clean it or the town will clean it and charge the resident!  There were some buildings pointed out that had been cleaned as well as those that needed to be cleaned from the dark smoky external view.

The Bath Abbey was interesting as we were there when for a choir and orchestra rehearsal for a concert that night.  The acoustics were great.  The Bishop in 1499 demolished the ruined Norman cathedral and replaced it with the present Abbey. The east end of the Abbey in the photo to the right has 56 scenes from the life of Jesus. 

History has lots of notes of sadness.  In 1942 Bath was bombed and the Abbey was damaged.  It was a long trip back to London from Bath with much time to reflect on the beauty of the human soul which drives folk to build cathedrals and the evil of the soul which leads some to destroy cathedrals.  During the more than 2 hour trip I wrote a number of postcards. 

CHURCHILL’S WAR ROOMS AND MUSEUM

The next day we got up for a great start and then came downstairs and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  Really interesting as it took one waitress two trips to take our order and then another waitress had to come to get the order.  Judy thought the first waitress was Russian.  I ordered scrambled eggs dry 3 times and they came back ultra soggy.  I was sad.  Oh well, they had their chance.  I have had my year’s quota of eggs on this trip with lots of omelets from Marsella in the Seychelles!

We went down into the underground at Bond St to go to Westminster Abbey.  We bought an Oyster card which we paid a deposit of 3 pounds for and had 10 pounds put on the card.  You touch the card to the top of the turnstile to get onto the tube and touch it again to leave.  The turnstile decrements the value of the card.  When you run out of value you can refill the card.  This is high tech.

We rode two stops down to Westminster Abbey and exited into the rain!  We found we could not get into the Abbey on Sunday as it was not open for tourists.  However Churchill’s War Rooms and Museum were right around the corner.  Judy decided to go back to the hotel and I did the tour.

Very fascinating to see where the conduct of the war against Germany was held.  The whole place is underground and reinforced with slabs of steel and concrete to take the force of a 250 kiloton bomb.  Thankfully the Germans did not know about it and there was never a hit on the structure above it.

The war rooms had places for the war cabinet, the heads of the army, navy and air force, a BBC room to pass on Churchill’s speeches.  Also, spaces for the map room.  Interesting that there would be a room with a desk and a bed and a pitcher and bowl on the table.  A few rooms had typewriters but most desks were bare and used only for handwritten messages.

Attached to the war rooms was the Churchill Museum which had exhibits from all stages of his life.  From childhood where he was ignored by his parents to videos of his funeral.  There were many spots where you stood on a round metal circle to hear excerpts of one of his speeches.

Interesting to see all the highs and lows of his career.  He was the major force in rallying the British empire to stop Hitler.  He saw Hitler as a grim and evil man.  Truly he was the man of the century if not the greatest leader of all time.  However with VE day in May of 1945 he was voted out of office in July before the end of the war with Japan. 

Somehow it is odd events like this that shape history.  The British were exhausted by war and wanted something new.  The course of history was changed by this vote as well as Roosevelt’s death in 1945.  The leaders were gone and new folk were left to make the peace.  That peace left Europe with an Iron Curtain with Russia taking over most of Europe!  Churchill was totally against Communism and only worked with Stalin to stop Hitler.  None of the replacements had the energy or vision to oppose Stalin and the world changed.

So Churchill went into the back bench but he would be back again and continue to be active in politics till his death. 

I came out of the museum into the sunshine.  I had gone in when it was raining and Judy took the tube back to the hotel.  I started for the tube, but then decided to walk back.

Across the road was St. James Park and I strolled along watching the folks enjoying the sunshine.  There are bikers and joggers and couples sharing the love of life as well as the love of each other.  London is a very busy city but in the park there is refreshment of heart and soul. 

At the end of St. James is Buckingham Palace and I saw two of the Queen’s guards in their little houses.  They stand so still that you would think they are toy solders.  It is about 40 yards from the fence to the palace so it was impossible to get close.  The statues and monuments around the front of the palace give a sense of the power of the Queen and her predecessors

Buckingham Palace sets in Green Park and I walked through there on my way to Hyde Park and then back to the Millennium hotel.  So much to see and do.  Back at the hotel we decided to go out for an Italian dinner.  Met a nice couple who had just arrived from Nova Scotia.  They are on a two week trip to celebrate their 35^th wedding anniversary.  Ah, it was the night I lost my garlic bread while talking too much!

TOWER OF LONDON

And now for  May 14, we went out for breakfast and then bought a “Big Bus” ticket to ride around London and have a guided tour.  Yes, it was one of those cute double decker buses, however it was rainy overcast and chill so we sat downstairs on the lower deck and listened to the guide till we got to the Tower of London where we got off.

We had purchased the ticket to the Tower of London at the hotel where we got the Big Bus ticket.  The concierge told us to go in the group line at the Tower to avoid the wait.  That was where we made a mistake as we missed the brochure that gave a layout of the area.

We did wait for the guided tour where one of the yeoman took us up to the chapel and gave us a history of the tower and who was buried in it.  He gave a good rendition and dramatic description of the deaths of the Queens and noblemen who were beheaded or hung and buried in the chapel.  But that is where he left us!

We found our way into the Crown Jewels and saw the crowns of the kings and queens as well as their maces and scepters. 

There is also the story of the little princes and how they were smothered and buried in the tower.  Did their uncle Richard III have them killed so he could become king of England?  It is a continuing mystery to this day and the Bloody Tower is where they were kept.  High tech continues in our world as they have electronic voting by the public as to who killed the little princes in the tower.

Guy Fawkes is listed as the one member to enter Parliament with honorable intentions.  He went in to blow up the place with a bomb.  He would not identify his conspirators.  He was broken in body and spirit on the rack and named all who had worked with him.  The Nov. 5^th is celebrated to this day in England for the gunpowder plot and the day is known as Guy Fawkes Day.

Many others were there such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Gray, Sir Thomas  Moore and the list goes on.  Many innocent folks who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The last prisoner held there was Rudolph Hess one of Hitler’s henchmen .

OBSERVATIONS

I went out for a walk across Grosvenor Square to get a cup of coffee.  I read the inscription on the bicentennial 1784 Treaty of  Paris with John Jay, Ben Franklin and others inscribed.  The Eagles Squadrons had 244 Americans and 16 British in the fight against Hitler.

Things I have noticed on our visit here.  The white painted inscriptions just off the sidewalk:  “Look Left” “Look Right” to aid the pedestrian who is not used to the cars driving on the left side of the road.  The rest of the world besides the British Commonwealth drives on the right side of the road.

Women are very fashion conscious with boots in all kinds of styles and that are worn with all styles of dress from working jeans to more formal attire.  Also the jumper dresses are quite popular in London as it looks almost like a miniskirt length, about mid-thigh but with slacks or jeans underneath.  Very fashion conscious are the Londoner.  Interesting sign on the side of the two decker buses “For the love of Boobs” for breast cancer research.  It is a sign to buy tee shirts with part of the proceeds going for research.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM

So today’s plan is to go to the British Museum and see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles and other antiquities.  After that a trip down to see Westminster Abbey and then we need to pack.  .  On the way to the British Museum and we got $40 changed to pounds so we would have some spending money.  We went into the museum and purchased a guide book which we did not need and then purchased a highlights audio tour.  

Yes, the first stop on the tour is the Rosetta Stone and it has Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian writing, and Greek translations.  With this key which is about 3X4 foot stone fragment, scholars were able to unlock all the hieroglyphics of the Egyptian era.  Since this was just off the Great Court there was a crowd around it most of the time.  Very difficult to get near.  But then again I can’t read Greek or hieroglyphics!

With a second stop at Ramesses II of Egypt. And we drift back in time to the ancient civilizations. Some claim “Ozymandias", a famous sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley, published in 1818 was inspired by Ramesses.

The British were an acquisitive group who roamed the world.  They also were interested in preserving historical monuments.  They realized the value of artifacts that the people who lived in those foreign countries did not recognize and sadly were destroying.  Man has a propensity for destruction.  The new generation feels that they are the only ones that matter and destroy their parent’s legacy and squander their heritage.  So in many cases we are left with fragments of past civilizations as various social groups rose and fell.  Legacies ebb and flow, wax and wane over the centuries.  We have artifacts, painting, sculpture, pottery and architecture to give us a glimpse into the past.  We try to capture in photos and video and all of our efforts cannot stay the hand of time as it obliterates and erases the past.

We saw that at Stonehenge as the local people were taking down various stone stele that had been brought from many miles away.  They chipped the pillars into pieces to be taken away to build their homes and walkways.  The new destroys the old, but is that not always the way things must be?  To live we have to forage and take what we need.  Living today takes precedence over saving things for the future.  We cut down forests to farm although in the future we may create more Easter Islands.  Life is a conundrum for we know not the future but must survive the now!

Back to the museum and we follow the map and the audio guide from antiquity to antiquity.  The “Ginger Man” at 3500 years of age desiccated in the desert sand, curled into a fetal position.  Looking at the bones I wonder what kind of life he lived and how did he come to his final resting place in a museum.  Would he approve of being looked at, or does he resent being put on display?

So many sculptors of Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and marble friezes, pediments, columns, and parts of temples.  The handiwork of the long ago civilizations which surpass those of today.

 Just looking around London and Paris there is the ornate decoration of the buildings from long ago and the lack of ornamentation of modern buildings.  Today’s approach is to build cheap and quick.  Hold costs down, whereas long ago it was take your time and build over many generations.  Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey: when people had little they put in a lot.  We have much and can contribute little.

After the British Museum the “Queen of the Underground” took us to St Paul’s Cathedral.  (I proclaimed Judy Queen of the Underground as she was the master of the Paris and London subway systems!)  What a lovely building which is a tribute to Christopher Wren.  However when we got there we found it was closed due to the 353rd anniversary of the sons of the priests or something like that!  So after a few photos we left for Westminster.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

At Westminster they charged 7 pounds for senior citizens to go in.  There are some advantages to be older!  What a beautiful church with soaring arches reaching hundreds of feet into the air.  I looked at many tombs and was struck by many resting places with figures on top of the sarcophagi with their hands folded facing skyward.

 Since the crowning of William the Conqueror in 1066, the Abbey has been the nation’s “Coronation Church”.  Of course we all remember that William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.  Since the Normans were French, I asked how the English language survived?  The English assimilated the Normans over generations, but still use French in some of their official proceedings!

 The Abbey is also the burial and memorial place of lots of famous folk over the past 1000 years!  Also interesting was the Poets Corner where many famous writers were at rest or memorialized such as Shakespeare and Jane Austen.  I did have a discussion with one of the marshals about where Jane was interred and he was wrong.  I knew since we had been down to Winchester.  Geoffrey Chaucer’s tomb began the tradition of literary commemoration here.  Currently there are about 120 writers, actors, poets, musicians and artists buried here.

There is also the Innocents Corner where the Little Princes were interred after being moved from the Tower of London.  Also, Doctor David Livingstone lies quietly here and I could not resist the temptation to say: “Doctor Livingstone I presume.”  Of course these were the famous words of Henry Stanley when he found him.  Livingstone went to Africa in 1864 and mounted an expedition to find the source of the Nile.  In 1871 the New York Herald sent Stanley to search for him.  Stanley found him in Ujiji, a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.  And I found him not far from the entrance to the Abbey!

I was struck by the thought of all these great people, Elizabeth I, Mary I, Henry VII, Mary Queen of Scots and on and on.  The great lie as quietly for eternity as do the unknowns.  The storms and tempests of those living today will one day be replaced by the tranquility of the grave.

It is now 12:48 Boston time and 5:48 PM London time so it is time to start logging off.  I told Judy that I would go over to Wilson’s this afternoon when we get home and get some veggies.  We are starting to plan our reentry!

CONCLUSION

Of course it is only possible to cover some of the highlights in a brief essay.  We didn’t get to the London Eye which is a huge enclosed Ferris wheel.  We didn’t get to Charles Dicken’s home.  We could have spent a month and not seen all the highpoints.  I could also spend many more hours or perhaps days recording what we did see.  However it is time to move on and there is more of this beautiful world to explore!

Dicken’s wrote the “Tale of Two Cities” to describe turbulent times in London and Paris.  The world is still turbulent as the French and British have both decided on new leaders for their countries while we were visiting.  Yes as Dickens began his epic novel: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times......”