Pilgrims' Progress

Day 4: Distance travelled 16.5 kms. Total ascent 28m – descent 584m
Weather: Cloudy cool morning, clear hot afternoon. Est: 28+ degrees

It’s only been four days, but we are in the pilgrim rhythm and acting like all the others around us instead of looking like the fresh new kids on the block. Even three days ago people commented on how fresh we looked and we didn’t really understand. Today half of us have the pilgrim hobble and the other half are scratching bedbug itches. Last night we shared a dorm with 22 others (and when I say dorm I mean an ancient stone building with massive wooden beams and creaky wooden floors upstairs and slabs of rock underfoot downstairs), and so we were woken early. Being in an albergue that supplied breakfast, we all sat bleary-eyed together drinking coffee or chocolate and eating slabs of dry bread with peach or strawberry jam. We quickly check washing lines, finish filling packs and peek under the bunks to make sure we have forgotten nothing. Apply tea-tree oil to keep the bugs away, apply sunscreen to the back of the legs and arms as the sun will be at our backs all day, when it finally rises, collect hiking footwear from the communal shelf (no boots in rooms, you know…..we started with sandals of ten different colours – now they are all deep orange), check sunhats are easily accessible, pick up walking poles and head out the door into the semi-darkness. It will be half an hour or so before the sun is up and we value every moment walked in the cool of the day. Although everyone sets out at about the same time, we are soon alone on the track.

Step follows step until the sun is rising and we turn to watch the red ball pop over the mountaintop or trees (depending on where we are), step follows step for another hour or so until we take an obligatory rest stop for a few minutes. Then step follows step, we sip frequently from water bladders, adorn heads with hats, keep on walking, sometimes sticking as a group, sometimes stretching out along the path at our own rate. Sometimes we catch another couple of pilgrims while they rest, and later they will pass us again, always exchanging a “Buen Camino!” or perhaps a greeting in their mother tongue as we get to know who these people on the route are (mostly Germans or Spaniards, but also Poles and Brits and Finns and Italians and Dutchies and Canadians and an Irishman and a newly-wed Czech couple).

We will see interesting insects and broad panoramic vistas. Hills that were yesterday in the far distance are soon being climbed, a town that looks so far away you’d never consider walking to it at home, is soon behind us.

Children play “find the arrow or shell” as we look for the waymarkers that show us where to go.

We stop to sample blackberries or grapes growing by the path (but leave the ones that clearly belong to someone, of course!)

At some point one of the hourly breaks will be longer and we’ll eat lunch. Then we’ll be on the road again, pressing on towards the next albergue, because it’s first-come-first-served and we are a big group! Sometimes we arrive before opening time, yesterday we were second to arrive, but only five minutes later the place was “complet”. Paperwork is done….the hospitalero records details of everyone walking, stamps your pilgrim passport and takes your money – maybe 5 euros, maybe a donation, then you claim (or are shown to) your bed.

You shower and wash clothes (not in the sink – make sure you use the washtubs that are usually situated outside in the courtyard) and you’re done for the moment. The first day it felt strange to be all fresh and clean mid–afternoon, but as I have already said, we are true pilgrims now. Other pilgrims seem to crash onto their bunks, but we find ourselves journalling and playing cards or wandering around the town we have ended up in. We might bump into someone we had met earlier and stop for a chat. Do you remember Emilio and Mercedes from yesterday? They turned up at the same albergue as us today….we bumped into them again when we were all looking for food for dinner once siesta was over at 5pm and shops reopened….and then they turned up at our table outside, under the grape arbour beside the stone wall as we ate….they offered wine, and not just any wine, but wine bearing his family’s label, from a vineyard established by his great-great-grandfather. Mercedes promised the children chocolates would follow if they finished their dinner (at least we thought that was what she was saying……..no chance of the kids NOT eating – they are ravenous at the end of the day), and she was true to her word. With Emilio translating she explained that “fathers are for giving an education to their children and grandmama’s are for giving chocolate”. Our children now have a Spanish grandmama!
Dinner done, dishes washed, water bladders filled for tomorrow, we consider the options for the day. We look at how far away the various albergues are, whether food is readily available along the way, how we are feeling and how far we think we might be able to go, and we make a tentative plan. (Tomorrow’s plan is for NOT TOO FAR as we have a dozen tender feet between us…..besides, there’s a Templar Castle here that we want to take a look at and as Louis L’Amour so aptly said, “Too often….I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.”)
The sun is still high in the sky, the evening is delightfully warm, FatherBear finishes the blogging and we might take a short walk round town or sit talking with fellow pilgrims. Kids collapse into bed, and the adults soon follow. It is not long before someone is snoring, a rooster is crowing despite the late hour, church bells are ringing out the hours and a dog barks in the distance.
It will not be long until it starts again tomorrow.

by MamaBear

Day 3: Distance travelled 17.5 kms. Total ascent 298m
Weather: Cloudy cool morning, clear hot afternoon. Est: 28+ degrees

If the Camino is all the people you meet, today was another significant milestone in our journey. The day started with an early breakfast at the albergue – coffee (hot chocolate for the children) bread and jam, as well as plenty of water. Today we continue our march up into the mountains. We are on the trail by 7:45am – the day is cloudy and cool, but thankfully the dark shower clouds of yesterday are nowhere to be seen.

An hour into the walk, we meet up with a Spanish couple – brother and sister it turns out, Emilio and Mercedes. They are fellow pilgrims, both having completed four previous Caminos, and enthusiastically welcome us on The Way. She doesn’t speak any English – or as much as we speak Spanish! Emilio speaks some English so we manage to strike up a conversation. As we talk we explain we are one family – three generations and with eight children. His eyes widen and twinkle with pleasure – he tells us they are also from a family of eight children. He explains this to his sister who shakes her head and repeats”cautro, cautro”. Even with our limited Spanish we understand this…”four, four”. The conversation continues and we can see Mercedes counting the children herself. Suddenly she busts forth with “Ocho! Eowee! Ocho!” She then rushes forward and embraces Rach and showers her with kisses. Her squeals of delight continue for a couple more minutes. Tears wet her eyes, and Emilio then explains that as we had walked up the path towards them Mercedes had been in the middle of a phone call where she heard that her brother-in-law had died. They were thankful that they had heard the news up in the mountains as they were ’closer to heaven’. They then explained that further up the trail was Le Cruz de Ferro, a simple cross monument at 1504m, with a simple wooden pole with a cross atop that has become one of the abiding symbols of the Camino de Santiago. They showed us the stones they were carrying with names of their grandchildren painted on them which they would place by the cross to honour and remember their grandchildren. They said they would also say a prayer for the brother-in-law when they got to the cross. They gave us their email address and asked us to please send them a photo to remember our meeting. It was simple, serendipitous and moving encounter, which I know we will remember for a long time.

Later that morning we crested the first summit, going through the only village which was marked to have a food shop. All we could find was some packaged muffin-style cakes, an orange for everyone and a couple of bags of almonds and hazel nuts. That would be lunch! The map had also indicated a refugio at the 10km mark, but we certainly did not see it, so we walked on… (see in the next picture….that’s the whole village…if you look very carefully you can see the sign that indicates you are entering MANJARIN and also the one that says you are leaving it!!)

We stopped at La Cruz de Ferro. We had all carried stones from New Zealand to place by the cross there – this is meant to symbolise leaving all your troubles behind! It is amazing just how many stones were piled up by the cross – and they had removed several tonnes of the stones a few years ago as they pile had grown dangerously high! (up the the steel band 2/3 of the way up the post on the photo below)

The weather turned beautifully clear and hot on the leeward side of the mountain and we ate “lunch” under some trees with a wonderful vista across the valley. It didn’t take long to eat, then it was back on the trail. The map indicated the next village was at the 17km mark, and we also knew if we arrived too late the chances of finding 11 beds in an albergue were slim, so we kept on walking. Thankfully we passed lots of wild blackberry bushes so we supplemented our food sources with handfuls of sweet and plump blackberries.

ERgirl6 had a couple of falls, and one major meltdown – but to her credit she got over them all (even if it did take a while for the hissy-fit to pass! :-)). All the children walked steadily, and we finally crested a hill to see the town of El Acebo, a very welcome sight at 3pm – and just managed to find an albergue which accepted us all (we did have to do some convincing that we were all one family, and yes, we had all walked here!). A memorable day, and we are only three days in to our pilgrimage!

ps – for some average unedited videos check out http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFadabear

Day 2: Distance travelled 12kms. Total ascent 178m
Weather: Cloudy, light showers and warm. Est: 22-25 degrees

Our second day into the Camino takes us up towards the Cruz de Ferro, although we plan to stop in Rabanal del Camino about 12 kilometers away. We start the day with a pilgrim breakfast in the albergue – hot chocolate, toast and fruit juice. A nice start to the day, but hopefully we won’t be caught to many more times without food and needing to eat in the bars as the budget doesn’t stretch that far! We head off as the sun is starting to rise.

As we head into the hills the weather becomes more unsettled and several light showers pass over us. The temperature is still in the low 20s so the showers are welcome cooling – and they help to settle the dust on the track. You can easily tell a pilgrim by the white chalky dust covering their boots and legs up the their knees. Starting out earlier means we are also walking amongst dozens of other travellers – most of whom are overtaking us! We have already met several hardened pilgrims who are covering 30 to 45 kms per day. One man had started from Amsterdam 96 days ago and was now averaging 40+ kms a day! We have also been told several Camino ‘proverbs’, such as:

The Camino doesn’t really start until you return home.
First you have to be the Camino before you can start the Camino.

Well, I guess these can be as deep and profound as you want to make them! For us, we are enjoying the slow pace, the chance to chat as we walk, the fresh air and physical exercise, and the snatches of deeper reflection on life this walk offers. We are also finding these small Spanish villages rustic, simple and charming. The locals are completely used to having travellers pass through their town and are extremely friendly and welcoming, but in a low key, non-consumerist and un-touristified way.

We have also had many conversations today with a diverse range of fellow pilgrims from around the world, each of whom has their own story and reasons for being on the Way. And that, we are starting to appreciate, is the beauty of the Camino. It is the people you meet and the conversations you strike up. It is strange how an ancient pilgrimage route such as the Camino attracts so  many different and varied people. The albergue we are staying in today, Albergue Gaucelmo, is run by volunteers from the London based Confraternity of St James. The property was purchased in the 70s and has been gradually restored. It is now a fabulously kept ‘hostel’, and run by three cheery and friendly British volunteers. The facilities are spotless and the amenities great.

The albergue is opposite the Benedictine Monastery of San Salvador del Monte Irago and we were fortunate to be able to attended Sunday vespers in the evening. JGirl17 was asked to take part by delivering a reading – most of the service is in Spanish or Latin (in the monastic tradition), but at the end several pilgrims were asked to give a reading from the Bible in different languages. The evening prayer service was marked throughout by the Gregorian chants lead by the resident monks, and was a fitting highlight to end our day with.

ps – it is a sign of the times that even in these tiny rural villages one can still find a wifi connection! 🙂

Day 1: Distance travelled 10kms. Total ascent 48m
Weather: Clear, dry and hot. Est: 28 degrees

Every year, thousands of ‘pilgrims’ journey along the Way of St James, a collection of pilgrimage routes to Santiago, marked by the yellow arrow flecha amarillo. Pilgrims like us undertaking a mixture of both inner and outer journeys, of discovery and of reflection. We begin our journey today – somewhat hesitantly as we meet other pilgrims who have been on the road for several days or weeks already – dusty, weary and nursing blisters and sore feet! What will our journey over the next three weeks bring? Have we prepared enough? Are we carrying too much? Are our shoes fitting well? GrandpaBear has already made the decision to package up 3kg of “extras” and post them ahead to Santiago, so we have a leisurely start to the day waiting for the post office to open.

“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” Susan Hellar

As we wait in the village square, and older man comes up and strikes up conversation in Spanish…it therefore wasn’t as much a conversation as us trying to understand. He enthusiastically welcomes us and wishes us buen camino. It transpires that he is a roaming troubadour who travels the Camino playing in various towns and has completed four Caminos himself. Thereafter, it only took a couple of hours for us to learn the camino salute – a simple “hola – buen camino” that is said when passing any fellow pilgrim, and said to you by most passing Spaniards. It all adds to the sense of being part of something much larger than your own journey.

The Camino ultimately concludes in Santiago, the total distance being completely dependent on which path is taken. The main route we are journeying on covers over 900kms from France, across Northern Spain. We have joined the Camino at Astorga meaning we will cover approximately 300kms in the next three weeks. Accommodation is available for pilgrims in a range of albergue, hostales and refugios. A night’s shelter typically costs from 3 to 10 Euros per person, or in some places whatever you want to give, and they can be found every 5-10 kilometres along the Way. To stay in one of these places, the pilgrim must have a pilgrim passport credential which is stamped at each hostel with a rubber stamp cello. This ensures you have come a realistic distance from your last stop (no cheating by jumping in a taxi without being caught out!). Today is a very modest start to break us all in gently. As MBoy10 said.. “we are pilgrims in progress now!”.

Many of the waymarkers have the distinctive yellow scallop shell to guide you along the Way, or may be a simple yellow arrow painted on the ground or the side of a building, or may even be a collection of stones on the path and are distributed surprisingly frequently along the pathway, and through the towns. Should you hesitate to discern the correct direction, a friendly local is sure to call out a welcome and point the way out to you. It would appear impossible to get lost. However, today was an easy start, a short distance, relatively flat and a simple path. There are many kilometers to come! But so far, buen camino!

We arrive in Santa Catalina in time for a late lunch, and make the decision not to travel on to the next town, but to allow everyone a quiet afternoon to catch up on journals and rest before anyone gets truly weary. The village apparently only has a population of 50 so it doesn’t take long to wander around this small but picturesque ‘town’. There are actually several albergue in the village, we decide upon the one in the middle of the “town”, a lovely stone building with a spotless bunk room that we all fit in. The children spend the afternoon playing in the playground and the rest of us catch up on blogs, journals and washing – along with a quick tour of the village.

We experience our first “pilgrim meals” at the albergue – and order several variations and end up with a combination of soup, salad, pork/chicken/veal cutlets with chips, and fruit and ice-cream. A simple but tasty meal which leaves us all satisfied and ready for bed. The change of pace from racing around Paris is a marked and welcome change. After dinner we sit outside at the tables on the pavement by the albergue and contemplate tomorrows journey. All in all, a fantastic first day on the Camino.

After 18 hours on an overnight bus the brain does not allow one to craft any special literary blog entry (not that I achieve that even with a good night’s rest!)! So here are the basic facts: we left Paris yesterday at 6pm to head to Leon – about 1150 kms by bus. Not the first long distance bus trip we have done, but most probably one of the most restful due to the fact that the bus was half full so everyone managed to stretch out on two seats and get a reasonable amount of sleep (in between the regular 3 hourly stops the bus made!). We arrived in Leon ahead of schedule at 11am, and made a quick executive decision to immediately catch a connecting bus to Astorga – a smaller town about 50km out of Leon, and the REAL starting point for our Camino Walk. On the coach trip to Astorga we caught our first glimpses of ‘pilgrims’ walking the Camino. The real reason for our trip was close to becoming a reality!

We arrived in Astorga just after 1pm, and found the albergue (pilgrim hostel) and received our first stamps in our pilgrim passports!

Right outside the albergue is a set of church bells which faithfully ring on the hour, and half hour, and quarter hours! – it is the church of St Francis of Assisi who is alleged to have come here on his pilgrimage to Santiago in 1212. These paths have been well travelled! As for the bells, I don’t think we will hear them tonight!

Astorga is a pretty town, with wonderful cathedrals and roman walls. It looks like another movie set with the Gaudi building known as the Bishops Palace rising above the ancient walls. It is now a museum to the history of the Ways de los Caminos – numerous roman roads that made their way to converge on Astorga and which formed major trade, military and pilgrim routes. So much history, so much to take in… and if the reception from the albergue is anything to go by, so much warm hospitality to receive and return. Tomorrow we are on ‘The Way’ for real. For now, it is off to catch up on sleep.

What do the Eiffel Tower, The Statue of Liberty and Budapest Station (Hungary) all have in common? You can no doubt guess – they were all designed by one man, Gustave Eiffel (he designed the metal frame for the statue of Liberty along with the sculptor  Bartoli). Eiffel was a master engineer, entrepreneur and also avid scientist, a polymath of sorts. The engineering involved in the design and construction of the tower resonated with this blogging former engineer! (in case you can’t tell from the post!)

In 1798 Napoleon addressed his troops against the backdrop of the pyramids, “Soldiers, imagine from the summit of these pyramids, forty centuries of history look down on you”. Napoleon recognised the incredible feat that the construction of the pyramids represented, and Eiffel similarly wanted to create a structure to inspire France. Built for the World Fair in 1889, the Tower commemorated the centenary of the revolution and was an engineering light-year ahead of its time. In just over 120 years it has become one of the modern symbols of France.

To appreciate the scale of the task, one has to understand that at the time, the tallest building in the world was the just completed Washington Monument at 169 metres tall. The tallest building in France at the time was 105 metres. 300m was a symbolic height that represented technological and engineering nirvana of the day. Eiffel’s firm won the contract for the design of the Tower as part of the World fair, and in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days, his team of 250 workers removed 39000 square metres of earth, erected 7300 tonnes of steel frame comprising of over 18000 parts, and fixed over 2 1/2 million rivets. The Tower eventually achieved a height of 324 metres. An engineering feat! Not only that, but it looked pretty sharp as well. So on our final day in Paris, we found ourselves at the base of this engineering marvel. And marvellous it is.

MamaBear elected to wait at the base with all our luggage (we were en-route to the bus station!) and the rest of us elected to walk to the second level of the tower. The two older boys also chose to brave the queues and catch the lift all the way to the top. I am not sure of the actual elevation of the second level lookouts, but the view from there was stunning. From the Arc de Triomphe, the tower had looked as if it sat in a slight depression and was slightly lower than the Arc, but from the tower’s second level it was obvious that the tower did tower above everything. The boys absolutely raved about the view from the very top – the view was ‘almost scary’ they confessed.

The view from the second “floor”

A view from the top!

An additional highlight of the day was being able to catch up with some friends from Romania – Sam and Adina with their daughter Dorotia. They had won a trip to Disneyland and just happened to arrive in Paris on the same day we were due to leave, so we managed to have lunch together in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. It was great to be able to catch up again and renew old friendships.

We couldn’t linger too long as we needed to jump back on the Metro to get to the international bus station to catch our bus to Leon, Spain. Our time in Paris has flown by, but we could not have kept up the pace any longer! All the children were starting to wilt from our frenetic sightseeing, and we had all reached sensory overload. There is just too much to see and take in in such a short time – we all have fond memories that we will hopefully be able to digest further as we slow down to walk the Camino. Au revoir Paris, until next time!

Have civilisations always had a fascination with their own history and with the history of other civilisations? Did the difficulty of travel give further mystique to foreign lands and peoples? Do we gain any better understanding of our own times through studying ancient cultures and civilisations? When did the first museums appear?

The Louvre certainly has an amazing history – stretching back to the 12th Century and earlier. A visit to the Louvre was on all the family’s wish list and today was solely earmarked for a day in this famous museum. Clearly opinion is divided over the modern glass pyramid entrance – however it forms an amazing atrium over the main entrance to the Louvre. We had thought that the Hermitage in St Petersburg was massive – the Louvre takes it to another level again. Thankfully this time we didn’t lose anyone!

What we found that we did lose was a sense of perspective – you are exposed to such a wide range of fantastic art and displays that we found that we started to experience sensory overload. It is hard to comprehend such a vast collection of collections being in just one place, and also to realise there are even more musee around Paris!

We did have some favourites though. The first of these was the ancient Egyptian collection. We had heard that the Louvre had one of the best collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts and it did not disappoint. In particular, all the children gave the mummy display careful attention – showing details from embalming processes, to the range of organ storage jars, to the actual detail of the wrapping of the mummy. The detail of the hieroglyphs inside the mummy “coffins” was also incredible. The carved hieroglyphics on some of the carved stone tablets are incredible in the detail and consistency of the images – did the Egyptians have a typeset that they used on these?

Another “must find” display was the Code of Hammurabi. The older children and I had previously studied this obelisk-like diorite stele on which the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, had recorded the laws of the land back in approximately 1800 BC.  Written around the same time as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the code demonstrated just how ordered early society was in near East cultures at the time. Standing in front of the Code it was hard to comprehend that this had been crafted some four thousand years ago! There were also rooms full of fascinating carved wall panels from the Mesopotamian region circa 1000+ BC.

There was debate about whether we “needed” to see the Mona Lisa – but majority rule won and we found ourselves (along with several hundred others) queuing to view the famous lady. We clearly are no real art buffs as general consensus is that we just don’t get all the fuss about Lisa. Sure, her eyes ARE amazing and do follow you anywhere in the room, but the overall impression is of a dark and indistinct portrait! We must be in the minority though as the room was packed full of admirers (or maybe they all thought the same as us :-)). Turn around from Lisa though, and on the opposite wall there is an amazing picture of the wedding Feast at Cana! (if you really need to see a pic of Mona Lisa check out our Flickr images :-))

Today was our last full day in Paris – no one is eager to leave Paris, but we are all looking forward to the next leg in our journey. From our brief stay in Paris we have lots to consider – how has this exposure to such a wide range of historical information and artefacts helped us better understand the times we currently live in? How will it impact our lives in the future? All good questions …

The Palace of Versailles and the surrounding gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and sit on the outskirts of Paris about 20+ kms from the centre. Getting there involves a relatively simple three step shuffle on the metro then the RER train system. Another day where we are again impressed at the comprehensive public transport system in Paris, and the ease at which you can get to places – and it only costs you less than 3 Euros. Dream on Len and the Auckland Rail Loop! Now, if only Auckland had a population of 12 million….. but I digress.

Versailles was the centre of political power in France in the mid 1600s when Louis XIV decided to somewhat enhance the buildings of the Palace that his father Louis XIII had started. The extent of this power, wealth and influence is clear to see in the majestic and sprawling mini-city that is the Palace of Versailles. Given that most of this opulent craftsmanship took just over one hundred years to assemble and create is also amazing – the impact of the revolution meant that late in the 1700s the royal family were forced back to Paris before being arrested and “disposed of” – and the Palace fell into some disrepair and scavenging of resources before being declared a national museum in 1797 – long before New Zealand was even being settled by the Europeans!

The Palace fits well with the rest of Paris – it is grand, spacious and majestic. Actually, mind-bogglingly opulent. Studying the paintings of the day shows just how different the lifestyle of the royal court must have been from the masses. But I guess that is the story of the revolution!

The surrounding gardens are just as impressive.

Of equal, if not greater, interest to our family was Marie-Antoinette’s Estate and Hamlet. This is a “peasant village” that Marie-Antoinette had commissioned so that she could ‘experience the simpler lifestyle of a commoner’, albeit with her own entourage and with servants to do the work! This hamlet looks like a Peter Jackson set, and certainly looked more attractive than living in the pomp and ceremony of the main palace.

Walking back to the main palace from the hamlet was quite a hike – especially as we could not (or rather, chose not to) go the direct route through the main gardens as this would have involved a further 60 Euro fee – so we took the less direct route through the edge of the gardens, down LOOONG tree lined avenues (yes, that avenue stretches as far as the eye can see!). ERgirl6’s legs decided to give out and her older brother gave her a piggy back some of the way.

As we walked back Mamabear voiced her thoughts – that just as the palace with its opulence and riches seems so out-of-this-world and unattainable, so our own home back in New Zealand would similarly appear unattainable to many in the world, who live in poverty and squalor. A sobering thought….

Our first point of call today was Sainte-Chapelle – a smaller cathedral behind Notre Dame which is renowned for its impressive stained glass windows wrapping around all four walls. The cathedral was built between 1242 and 1248 under instruction from Louis IX. The Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle were part of the Palais de la Cite and were the residence and seat of royal power from the 10th to the 14th centuries. One “interesting” relic, which used to be housed in Sainte-Chapelle is the Crown of Thorns, acquired in 1239 for “a sum that greatly exceeded the cost of building the chapel itself”. Hmmm. A large number of these ‘holy relics’ were housed in Paris (largely being purchased by Louis IX) and Paris became a ‘second Jerusalem’ in the 13th Century.

Fittingly, the first stained glass window tells the story of the relics of the passion. The windows need to be read boustrophedonically. Chocolate fish to whoever  first provide a definition of this reading technique! At the end of the chapel is the western rose, illustrating the prophetic vision given to John in Revelation, and symbolically represented opposite the Passion of Christ in the choir’s central stained glass window (small blog rendition does nothing for this!).

Again, photos just don’t do it justice – each window towers 15m high! The glass was originally cut with red-hot irons and set into the lead framing. Most of the family ended up sitting down with their sketch pads drawing parts of the amazing windows. Awe-inspiring indeed.

By this time everyone was feeling peckish so it was time to leave Sainte-Chapelle and find a seat in front of the Notre Dame to eat our baguettes and (more) cheese. How circumstances can change how such a simple meal tastes!

Notre Dame is on a totally different scale to Sainte-Chapelle. For a start, a couple of thousand people can ‘disappear’ once inside the cathedral, and the impressive pipe organ manages to completely fill the sanctuary with its rich tones. The organist appeared to have deviated from the “approved” music scores, and had us all cracking up as the Nokia default ringtone sounded out. I am sure it is actually the introduction to some famous classical piece (I could google it I know!), but it still seemed completely out of place!

The nave stretches for what seems a couple of hundred metres, flanked by arches and alcoves housing amazing (and huge) pieces of art. It took over an hour just to meander around the edges of the nave. The famous Notre Dame bell tower is virtually invisible from the front of the cathedral and one has to skirt around the edges to get a proper view. Flying buttresses flank the rear of the cathedral with some amazing stonework. A picture is worth a thousand words . . . .

We decided not to try and queue for access to the viewing tower as the line stretched all down one side of the cathedral. Instead we stopped for an hour in the park behind the cathedral and caught up on some journalling and post-card writing.

Then there was just time for a walk in the Latin quarter where we found a gem of a music-box shop where two of the children decided to spend their 10Euro gift from Gran and Grandpa on a small music box each. There were dozens of tunes available, along with even more small decorated containers…..the real joy was watching the delight of the younger children picking out their tune-making-mechanism and trying to decide which tin container to house it.

PS – we stumbled upon some fantastic metro musicians on our way into town this morning. Check out the snippet on YouTube.

When you are in Paris on the first Sunday of the month, there is only one thing to do. Well, OK, after coffee and a pastry there is only one more thing to do. The first Sunday of the month means free entry into most museums in Paris – museums with collections that we rarely get to see down in God’sOwn. So today was our chance to soak up some culture and see first hand some of the classics that make the art world buzz. I have to confess I am no fine art connoisseur – I don’t even think I am a close to even a fast-food art appreciator. I struggle to distinguish between even the most well-known artists but Rach has brought our tribe up to appreciate a wide range of literature and art, so this was a good chance for me to learn a thing or two from them.

We headed into the Musee d’Orsay via an intricate round of metro hop-scotch. Rach has fully mastered the skill of finding the best join-the-dot pattern to navigate around the various metro lines, so it only took just over half an hour and four line changes until we arrived as planned at the Musee d’Orsay. We arrived at 9.10 am and joined the tail of the  queue which already had snaked its way beyond the pre-arranged corrals. By the time the doors opened at 9:30 our position represented the middle of the queue and there must have been several hundred people lined up in a snake that went back and forth right across the large courtyard several dozen times.

Thankfully the French seem pretty efficient in processing large crowds, and we were soon admitted to the museum building. If there is any scenario that makes a professional museum security-guard nervous, it is seeing a family with a large number of young children enter their gallery. Within a few minutes three of the youngBears had been scolded for getting too near to the walls, peering too close to examine the brushwork, and for allowing a pointing finger stray within a metre of the artwork. Fair enough I guess when these pieces are worth more than I am likely to earn in a lifetime. Cue Mrs McCreedy from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe…”there will be no running, no disturbing the professor and NO touching of the artefacts…”. Yes, point taken! Thankfully weeBears managed to adjust their behaviour and avoid too much further scolding from zealous security guards, although it was clear we remained under a volley of anxious stares throughout our whole visit. This did not detract from the magnificent artefacts and paintings. No cameras allowed of course, and I won’t embarrass myself by even trying to critique or describe the works – so here are some of the family highlights:

Degas’ ‘The Little Dancer’ bronze statue was Ella-Rose’s favourite. Micaiah also liked how “you could see her feelings”.
Jaala was drawn to Degas’ paintings of ballet students, which looked much better than in the books at home!
Kaleisha and Tessa both went for Aristide Maillol’s ‘la femme a l’ombrelle’ and the incredible prettiness of it.
Joisah and I both loved Monet’s ‘La Pie’ – simple colours, but amazing light effects in the snow scene.

Alas, no matter how great the masters’ paintings, there is only so much little eyes and minds can take of watching dried paint, and so we exited the museum for an early lunch on a bridge over the river Seine. More baguettes and French brie – yum!

After lunch we crossed the river to go into the Musee de l’Orangerie – most noted for its display of Monet’s HUGE water lily paintings that each stretch over 15 metres around the oval gallery walls. Certainly worth seeing in person. Another scolding or two from anxious security personnel and then it was back out into the sun for a bit of a rest in the Tuileries Garden (next to the Place de la Concorde). Rach decided to take most of the kids down to the Louvre for a sneaky peek (free entry remember!).
”Let’s head down to the Louvre” she suggested, “And see what we can see”.
Ella-Rose looked up incredulously, smiled as she realised her mistake, and explained,
“I thought you said the loo”.
However, queues of approx 500m put them off and we decided we will save the Louvre for another day. So instead, we went for a quick scout around the Petit and Grand Palais, and the impressive Pont des Invalides.

Energy levels started to wane again and so it was a quick trip home, with dinner of kebabs and tortillas – no, not exactly quintessential French fare, but it was right on our route to the hostel and we were made extremely welcome by a friendly Middle Eastern Frenchman. Frog legs tomorrow perhaps?!