1000s of fans gathered at the Eiffel Tower to celebrate the music of the King of Pop.

Paris- June 28, 2009—

Almost immediately after the King of Pop passed away fans started to gather in many of the world most famous locations to celebrate the music of one of the most talented and at times controversial artists of our generation.  At the Eiffel Tower a tribute was organized over Facebook that reached all languages and ages.  By the 3:00 pm start time the crowd was already in the 1000s and composed of all ages and nationalities.  For hours impromptu dancing broke out while the crowd consistently clapped and chanted Michael…Michael….Michael.

The Owl Trail guides you to 22 of Dijon's best sites in the city center.

By Sarah–

Dijon is only an hour and forty minutes from Paris and is a great respite from the busy city.  This city that was once a rich capital of art and culture has plenty to do and see and without the expensive price tags of Paris.We left Paris Wednesday morning and took the train out of Gare de Lyon straight into Dijon. The tickets were purchased the day of the trip, although we could have possibly found them a bit less expensive had we planned further in advance. When we first started to look we found one way tickets for just over 30 euros. That makes the transport around 60, although as I stated for the day off we ended up paying 90 euros round trip per person.

As for accommodation, we found Dijon-rentahome.com lists many quality apartments throughout Dijon. We selected a two bedroom on Rue Verrerie and found the location to be perfect. The apartment was extremely comfortable and affordable. It is well equipped with everything you need for a few days to a few weeks. For the four nights we ended up paying 440. The owners Beatrice and Max have created a wonderful atmosphere and are a great source for local information.  The neighborhood was central and rich with a lot of fun discoveries such as a wonderful boulangerie and numerous shops. The street where our apartment was located is called L’Bout d’la Rue (52, rue Verrerie, 03.80.71.37.92) which had a lovely mussels restaurant (yes nothing but mussels in many varieties of sauce).  We tried the crepe restaurant across the street, but believe it or now we needed reservations and it was booked.  Finally, although we did not try it, around the corner looks to be an interesting cooking school named Atelier des Chefs.com. The cooking school will do courses in English and seem very accommodating.

When we arrived in Dijon we made a quick stop at the helpful Tourist Office and tried a place called Le Concorde.  Located at 2, Place Darcy this typical French brasserie that is perfect for a drink and bathroom stop.  We weren’t hungry so we didn’t sample the food but if you are hungry the plate of the day always comes recommended. The day we were there it was roast beef and mashed potatoes for only 9 euro!  A steal.

There is a plenty to do in Dijon. We found the city planned tour where you follow a path marked by the city good luck charm, the owl, with an accompanying book. The tour takes you around the city with local history and interesting facts.  We slowly walked along the clearly marked path with a few stops into churches and cafes and had a pleasant afternoon. Well worth your time is a visit to this hat shop which was amazing to all of us – Chapellerie Bruyas (65, rue des Godrans, 21000 Dijon, 0380304923). You should also visit the Boutique Maille at 32 rue de la Liberté.  Maille is the famous mustard brand that comes from Dijon and as you would expect they have a pretty nice shop set up displaying all the history of the brand and plenty of opportunities to buy specialized mustard jars and other accessories.

Worth your time is a day trip out to Beaune. We took a train around 11h, returning at 16h. The town is a quaint, picturesque, small town France at its best – once you are inside the walls. We walked the town, visited the wine museum and did a great lunch. If you are a fan of wine this is town for you. Tons of tasting locations and, if a bit rustic, an interesting wine museum. For the approximate 6 euros entry you find out all kind of remarkable facts. If you are not a huge wine enthusiast we would recommend you skip it. Towards the end of the tour we did lunch at Le Galion (5 place Ziem, 21200 Beaune, 03.80.22.65.21). We had salad with warmed camembert, tuna tartar salad, and beef bourgogne. It was a beautiful tranquil square, tasty marvelously presented food for a variety of pallets, and helpful wait staff. If you visit walk the town, check out the ramparts and go to a few of the wine tasting establishments.

In Dijon, we sampled some good restaurants but highly recommend a visit to the local market called Les Halles. It runs Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and is a spectacle of French cuisine. The architecture of the building is interesting as it was designed by Gustave Eiffel.  For lunch (and unplanned dinner) we purchased pungent cheeses, wonderful pates, sausage, fresh fruit, veggies (asparagus of the woods which was a discovery for us) and a few bottles of wine (a great wine shop is La Carte des Vins, 1 rue Musette, 21000 Dijon, 0380304501, www.achat-dijon.com).

If you do not have the space for eating your own purchases or just want a night out try a walk down Rue Admiral Roussin. There are 4-5 different restaurants that are good and you can’t make a wrong choice, from Italian to crepes to local French food. We tried the Italian restaurant and Le Petit Roi de la Lune (28, rue Admiral Roussin, Dijon, 0380498993). All of the choices were excellent and the service helpful.

One of the highlights of the trip was a tour of the region provided by Max (owner of the apartment). We visited a number of wineries, received personal tours and tutelage about the region, ate a typically delicious Burgundian meal and ended with a short tour of the canals where Beatrice and Max call home. Although not ready to rent when we were there was a barge docked near their home. If you want to do the Burgundy area at a leisurely pace you might also think about renting it out for a short stay.

All in all our visit to Dijon was excellent. The weather turn out perfectly, we walked a ton and then made up for it by eating and drinking the local specialties!

]]> http://ikangaroo.com/2009/06/22/dijon-get-a-way/feed/ 0 http://ikangaroo.com/2009/04/06/french-museums-free-for-eu-25s-and-under/ http://ikangaroo.com/2009/04/06/french-museums-free-for-eu-25s-and-under/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:47:06 +0000 Chris http://ikangaroo.com/?p=1520

From April 4, 2009 masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa will be free to view for EU travelers 25 and younger

In January 2009 French President Nicholas Sarkozy announced that on April 4, 2009 French museums and monuments will stop charging admission people 25 years and younger.  At the time of the announcement it was not said if this would mean everyone, EU residents or simply French.  Now it is official and clear: this new benefit is for European Union residents with passports or official ID 25 years and younger and teachers. The program is reported  to be costing the French government €30M, but is expected to create lifelong customers for French culture and art.

French museums such as the Lourve and d’Orsay are reasonably priced this move is like putting an extra €20 ( or more) in the pocket of each EU student traveler who wants to see the Mona Lisa, Impressionists or countless other artists represented in French museums. Moreover, for those not able to enjoy this privilege don’t worry because this will be a benefit in that if you are lucky enough to be in Paris during a free- museum Sunday I expect that lines and crowds will diminish as student and young EU travelers will no longer have to enjoy France’s fantastic works of art, for free, at specific times.  While this may be a disappointment for non-EU students, they will still be able to enjoy free admission to museums such as at the Louvre on Friday evenings and very resonable admission rates.

A common scenario that I discovered goes like this: a traveler books a bed online for €25 which they lock into for 3 days, totaling €75.  Another traveler rolls up to the hostel without booking, and because there is vacancy the price is dropped to €16 per night so her three night stay costs €48 or €27 less for the same accommodation. Then these two travelers chat over a beer and one learns that they paid 30% more, which they take up with the hostel who won’t adjust the price leaving the traveler feeling unsatisfied with the hostel.  There is an opposite scenario in which the traveler does not book online and she rolls up to find vacancy and she gets stuck paying a lot more for an alternate accommodation.  With a little thought this situation is easy enough to navigate thus putting yourself in the best situation and most likely saving some money.

Here is what to think about to decide if you should book or not.

1. The time of the year: High season in Europe is between late May and August when the majority of students and recent graduates are traveling for the summer.  March to May and Sept to October fluctuates from dead to slamming.  November to February with the exception of Christmas and New Years, depending on the city, is usually the most quite time of the year.  Of course this scenario is flipped for places that thrive in the winter such as ski towns.
2. The time of the week: I know that when you are on the road for a month that everyday is Friday, but weekends need to be considered as they are busier because study abroad students travel more on weekends; hotels have less capacity thus giving budget travelers fewer options; people like to stay put for a weekend thus resulting in fewer beds because of less turnover.
3. The city: Some cities are just more busy than others.  Plus, in major cities there is a chance that a convention, concert, holiday or sporting event could fill room capacity which will again shove more budget travelers to hostels.
4. How popular is the hostel:  The more popular a hostel the more likely it is to be booked, but don’t take this for granted.  I suggest going to www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelbookers.com to read the most recent reviews.  Also, ask around when you are on the road (i.e. receptionists, tour guides, other travelers, etc) because you will get a more candid picture from someone who has stayed there rather than online reviews.  Its for this reason why keeping your options open is more desirable because there would be nothing worse than booking a lemon hostel three months prior  only to find out that two blocks away is currently the funnest hostel in Europe.
5. Hostel capacity: Size matters!  A lot of great hostels have reputations that are far larger than their capacity.  Examples of this are Mambo Tango in Barcelona and The Beehive in Rome, which have great and well deserved reputations but not a lot of beds.  Other hostels like The Pink Palace, Balmer”s and the Generator are massive.
6. Type of room needed (dorm, single, quad): Along with size, most hostels will only have a few doubles, triples or quads so they will be harder to get without booking.
7. Number of spaces needed: How many people are you traveling with?  Of course single travelers will have an easier time than a group of 6 or more.
8. Your risk tolerance: Can you take not knowing?  Are you flexible?  That is for you to decide.

Back of the napkin calculation that could save you money if you book when you don't need to.

Full disclosure, iKangaroo uses hostelworld.com as the booking engine on this site.

Okay, from here you may have decided to book a hostel.  Great!  But now which booking system to use?  All are basically the same in terms of providing a secure and reliable reservation.  Between HostelWorld.com (HW) and HostelBookers.com (HB) it is hard to tell a difference except that HB does not charge a booking fee and HB has a more detailed rating system of each of its properties.  Hostelworld is a much bigger organization and is the market leader and as such hostels commonly allocate them more beds, which means a better chance of getting a booking and a wider selection.  But wait, not so fast, shop around because one site may have a better deal than another.

Three Examples:

1. Oops Hostel in Paris, a new and well located hostel that is becoming more popular.  I did a search for May 25, 2009 (two months in advance, high season, popular city and hostel) for one person for 7 nights and the best deal I got was through HostelBookers and the Oops website, with HW coming in €8.50 more expensive total.
2. Home Hostel in Valencia Spain for May 25, 2009 for 7 nights (two months in advance, high season, less popular city, popular hostel).  I found capacity on each website for a number of dorm rooms.  At this place HostelBookers had the best prices on 12 and 16 person dorms at €11.20 compared to €13 on HostelWorld, which when the €1.50 HW service charge is factored in turned out to be €14 more expensive.  Surprisingly Likeathome.com was more expensive again.
3. One last example to show that HW is not always more expensive and that it behooves you to shop around is Balmer’s Herberge in Interlaken Switzerland.  Balmer’s is one of Europe’s anchor hostels that has maintained a good reputation over the years. Again a search showed that HW was more expensive on the dorm rooms, but it was much less expensive for private and smaller rooms by at least 30%.  Since the Balmer’s website is supported by Hostelworld, which is common, the website had the same prices as Hostelworld.

If you decide to book it is in your best interest to shop around. As you can see prices vary.

The current economy is presenting some great bargins for everyone, including for budget travelers.  Over the past 10 years websites like hostelworld.com and hostelbookers have been instrumental in helping the idustry grow and they continue to do a great job of serving hostels and travelers, but right now it is in your best interest to shop around and possibly just try show up in a city to get the best deal.  That is how they did it in the 90’s and it worked just fine with a lot fewer beds.

By Chris

Rue Mouffetard in Paris’ 5th arrondissement is the definition of the beaten path.  It does not have undiscovered nooks with kindly shop-keepers who serve up surprisingly delicious food or have piles of rare antiques with that certain something that you have been searching the world over.  Instead it is a touristic production line that churns through 1000s of visitors in its countless bistros, restaurants, bars, pubs and sidewalk cafes. To the uninformed and travel elitist it is merely a Left Bank cliche full of indifferent service, mediocre food and cheap souvenirs.  However, if you’re able to accept, as my recent tour guide Alex said, that “you are a tourist” than you’ll find that rue Mouffetard is an exceptional opportunity to enjoy Paris on a budget.  It certainly has some good finds and overall great deals set in a bustling neighborhood that was born in Roman times close to 2000 years ago. A walk from the top of Mouffetard to the bottom will give you ample opportunity to take in small fun cafes and inexpensive restaurants.  Here are some I want to share.

Let’s start our exploration at the top of Mouffetard at 39 rue Descartes which is just above Mouffetard and close to the Pantheon, where Fucoult’s Pendulum is located.  In the 1920’s a poor and unknown Earnest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, lived in this building in a small third floor cold-water walk-up.  Today there is a plaque just under a canopy for a restaurant named La Maison de la Verlaine that informs passers by that Hemingway lived there from 1921-25.  We ate a Sunday lunch there that included two fixed menus plus wine which totaled close to 50€.  I had the frog legs with pomme frites which I thought were average (you never really want average frog legs) and overall we didn’t think the place or food were remarkable.

Down the street about 200 meters is Place de la Contrescarpe which is surrounded by some typical Parisian cafes and pubs– among them is Cafe Delmas, formerly Cafe des Armateurs which Hemingway called the cesspool of Mouffetard which now is now is nice but somewhat corporate –  that occupy prime real estate for people watching, grabbing a drink and enjoying this classic square.  Any of the cafes offer a similar experience and all are quite pricey relative to their neighbors just a few dozen meters away in any direction.  Nevertheless, they are less expensive alternatives, if not as fashionable, to their counterparts on the Champs or in Saint Germain, and all have the added benefit of very limited motor traffic therefore less noise.

As you are walking through this area you will probably notice lot’s of signs advertising Happy Hour at the scores of bars in the area– funny enough: the French wanted to get rid of the term ‘week-end’ because it is English but ‘happy hour’ seems to be going strong.  Generally happy hours in Paris are from 17:00 (5 pm) to 20:00, sometimes as late as 22:00, and drink prices are heavily discounted as much as 50%. Mouffetard has some of the best (i.e. cheapest) happy hours in Paris.  Here are two pub selections: one chosen for its comfortable atmosphere and inexpensive drinks and the other for its history.  PUB #1, The Fifth Bar located at number 62. This dive is a neighborhood hangout / college pub that offers the cheapest happy hour pints in the area, and I would guess Paris, for only €2.50.  The Fifth Bar also has free English newspapers and magazines, a friendly bar staff, beer-pong tournaments and the whole place seems to be set-up to meet people.  It is a good choice for groups, lone travelers, everyone sticking to a budget, and they will show the match / game (NFL, Soccer, Rugby) if you ask.  Happy hour ends at 21:00 (9pm) with drink specials all night on Thursdays.  PUB #2, Roadhouse le Vieux Chene at number 69. Not as cheap as Fifth Bar but it still has worthwhile happy hour deals ranging from €3.50 Stellas to €6.00 cocktails.  The interior is clean rustic, which means that it is designed to look like an old roadhouse.  I have been there a couple of times and the bar staff has always been friendly.  To me the history of a place is always a big draw and this pub has the distinction of being in a location that has been selling wine since the late 1500s as explained on the historical marker just to the left of the entrance.

Now to eat. Paris has a variety of crepe and sandwich stands.  From shoddy set-ups in the back of trucks to take away (emporter) windows in established restaurants these French stuffed pancakes can be an inexpensive and filling meal.  I am not a crepe connoisseur and historically I thought that all crepes are pretty similar, however, as I have experienced on Mouffetard this simply is not the case.  AU P’TIT GREC at number 66 seems to be an institution as evidenced by all the people migrate there leaving adjacent crepe shops empty.  I have tried these crepes which are made by a Greek family from Thessaloniki and I was impressed. Their crepes are the most interesting I have eaten in that the proprietors instill their Greek heritage by mixing in some feta with the usual ingredients.  It’s worth the wait and prices are right in line with the competition at €3 to €4.50 so they seem to be winning this crepe war based solely on their superior product.

For more of a sit down experience try Le Mouff’tot Mouff’tard at number 73.  In terms of the food it was above average- not outstanding, but good–, yet when the cost of about €40 per person including wine (wine there- table wine anyways- is cheap (€9 per 50cl), a rarity in Paris) is factored in this restaurant becomes a good choice.  When I ate there pushed the upward price bounds (i.e. the most expensive menu and numerous carafes wine) and the price was still reasonable.  The owner and his wait staff were very attentive and I was particularly impressed that when I left something there and returned a week later that they had remembered me and were happy to return my property.  This is no Michelin star property but it came recommended by some people in the neighborhood and it met my expectations as a decent place with good food at a reasonable price.

A classic French brasserie that I like a lot is called Le Mouffetard at 116.  From its appearance this is a cliche French brassiere, a possibly a tourist trap, because of its ornate trimmings, colorful vintage French advertising posters and zinc bar.  Yet, I have found this restaurant to be friendly, if you take your drink at the bar it is cheap and the food is good.  One of my favorite meals there was a cheesy, potato and bacon dish called tartiflette (€11 including a small salad) which was served in an individual baking dish so you know that it was baked fresh as opposed to just reheated and slapped on a plate.  Tartiflette comes from the mountain region in France and it an excellent and hardy meal for one of those cold and damp Parisian winter days.

Another restaurant that was recommended by locals is called La Salle a Manger at 138, specializing in salads and tartines, located in the market area at the end of the rue. They are only open for breakfast, lunch and brunch.  I had a salad that was big enough for two and was a nice break from the more traditional French fare.  The prices are very affordable to the budget conscious and this restaurant is also nice because of its outdoor seating amidst the hustle and bustle of the market- if you are into that type of thing.

For a little more of an elegant affair or perhaps a glass of wine try Cave La Bourgogne at 144.  This is another classic French brasserie but what I find most interesting is that it is decorated with vintage pictures of the area.  I always like these places and tremendously enjoy the pictures of people doing the exact some thing in the same place but 50 years or so ago.  Cave La Bourgogne is perfect for a cup of coffee €1.20 or a glass of wine €3.00 and it also has a nice terrace with excellent people watching values. For a quick lunch or a snack they have a great country platter (cheese, meat and vegetables served on a wooden cutting board), which will run about €10.00.

Last and my favorite of the lot is Cafe Lea which is located off the bottom of Mouffetard at 5 Claude-Bernard.  This cafe is popular with the work crowd so if you want to lunch here either arrive early around noon or after 14:00 when the work crowd has dissipated but you then run the risk of not getting the best menu items as they will have assuredly sold out for the day.  The menu is ever changing and consists of variations on classic French dishes.  Entrees run around €15 and you can expect to drop ~€25 per person if you want to do the whole French lunch (i.e. entree, desert, wine and cafe), which is a good deal considering the quality food you are getting in Cafe Lea’s fun and fresh atmosphere.  The service is efficent, polite and consistent.  With that said, they do a booming lunch business and understand that table turn-over equals increased revenues so be prepared for this or try timing your lunch a bit later at around 14:00 as most French will be winding down and going back to work.

Now to wrap up with a great coffee.  My personal favorite both for the €1.00 price-tag and quality of coffee is called Brulerie des Ternes at number 111.  This cafe, and I use the term loosely, is nothing more than a coffee purveyor with a couple of seats and four standing tables.  The coffee is strong and the view is good so for a quick cafe break this place would be hard to beat, especially on a nice day.

Okay now that you are sold on how great the 5th is you probably want to know where to stay.  Sure there are lots of hotels in the area and I hope that people will give me some feedback about which they have enjoyed for now all I have is the hostel called Young and Happy at number 80 rue Moufftard.  In terms of location this hostel is hard to beat and generally it is everything a backpacker expects in a youth hostel (i.e. bunk beds, shared bathrooms and somewhat cramped quarters).  The prices are right in line with other Parisian hostels.  The feedback that I have gotten about Y&H has been positive but it has been mentioned by some backpackers I chatted with who were staying there wished it has more social space.  However, I spoke with the manager, Charles, and they are in the middle of a renovation so look for more chatting-up space in 2009.

Rue Moufftard may be a heavily touristic area but it is far from a tourist trap if you know where to go.  Mix  tourists in with French students, an old neighborhood and a high concentration of French businesses and what you have is an opportunity to have an unique French experience.  One last note: Mondays are very slow here as the markets and many of the places that I have mentioned are closed, so keep in mind that Mondays are not the day to get the full Mouffetard experience..

If you have had an experience in The Mouffetard that you would like to share please do not hesitate.  Thanks for reading.

]]> http://ikangaroo.com/2008/12/12/paris-on-a-budget-rue-mouffetard/feed/ 0 http://ikangaroo.com/2008/11/13/paris-guide-to-visiting-the-crown-of-thorns/ http://ikangaroo.com/2008/11/13/paris-guide-to-visiting-the-crown-of-thorns/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:17:26 +0000 Chris http://ikangaroo.com/?p=1172

By Chris–

To a large degree being Catholic gives a traveler advantages in navigating the ABC’s of European travel.  The ABC’s?  All the Bloody Churches.  Why does being Catholic help?  Because where there are churches there are relics and ceremonies that have protocol that even the most latent Catholic can remember quicker than you can say, “Hail Mary.”  For an accidental Catholic – a non-Catholic who is an accidental participant in Catholic ritual – finding yourself in what may look like a Holy aerobics session may be awkward because of all the sitting, crossing, kneeling, hand motions, etc.  Recently, even I, a Catholic, was caught off guard when I went to the Veneration of the Crown of Thorns so I have put together these tips for getting the most out of your visit to see the Relics of the Passion at Notre Dame de Paris.

I should know by now that whenever I want to do something that I should double my time estimate.  I thought that the Veneration would only take a few minutes for me to show-up, snap some photos and get on with my life, but… aaaahhhhh, not so fast.  After arriving plenty early, I inquired at the information desk where to go and I was soon sitting among hundreds of people, including two women who chanted for a solid thirty minutes.  Then, finally, the production started as the relics were brought out by a dozen priests. Perhaps most interesting at that point was seeing the Equestrian Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which is a Catholic chivalric order that can supposedly trace its heritage back to the First Crusade circa 1100.  The ceremony quickly developed into typical Catholic fare with the standing, sitting, crossing oneself and incense burning set to organ music and singing.  The grand finale was the opportunity to personally venerate the relic in a variety of ways including kneeling or prostating themselves before the crown, pressing their head upon, touching, just looking at, and/or kissing the jewel and glass encased Crown of Thorns.  If the thought of kissing something after hundreds of people makes you want to throw up in your mouth, don’t worry because they are cleaning the glass with enough alcohol that the fumes would resurrect Lazarus.  Since I was there I was curious to see the crown as closely as I could so I got in line.  As I moved forward I could feel my skepticism evaporate and as I approached the relic presented in all its glory, my heart beats quickened, my breaths shortened and I unexplainedly became optimistic that in the jeweled case was the actual crown of thorns.  For me this is sometimes what travel is: putting your beliefs aside, getting into the moment, respecting other people’s views and imagining the possibilities.  At the very least people have been venerating this relic for centuries, which in itself is awesome.  I recommend that if you have the opportunity you strongly consider this activity.

As a general rule this event is held the first Friday of the month but this can change so check this link here to confirm.  It is in French but you should be able to make the month and date, it is always at 15:00 (3:00 pm).

Some options for how the Veneration can be done to fit your level of interest.

Experience the whole ceremony: Arrive about 2:00 pm (14:00) and choose a seat close to the front and near the center aisle.  This provides a better view of the relics as they are carried by and you to be among the first to venerate the crown.  NOTE: When you are within the veneration area cameras are forbidden.  After visiting the relics, position yourself along the side to take pictures but the light and distance make this challenging with anything less than an excellent camera.

View the procession and take pictures: Note the following points on the map below: 0) Entrance to the Cathedral; 1-6) Facing the alter these numbers designate the south (i.e. right) side of the Cathedral.  The best spot for picture taking is on the south side between points 2 and 4– from about the statue of Joan of Arc to the confessionals– the procession starts from around point 13 and passes these points before turning at number 2 into the pews.  I recommend, getting there about 14:50 (2:30 pm) to stake your place to get the picture taking opportunities as the procession passes.

Floor Plan: Notre Dame de Paris

Just getting the best picture of the relics: This may be the easiest option.  Right now, remember to check out the link above, the ceremony ends at 16:15 (4:15 pm) at which time the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher and the priests return the relics to their diggs.  At about 4:00 position yourself in this area on South side just near the confessionals because the procession will exit right there within perhaps 20 feet (5 meters), marked on the above map.  This is your best camera position because a straight on shot is possible rather than the side angle shots.

Crown of Thorns

These options can be mixed and matched. If you are not seated in the pews when the ceremony begins you can enter after the relics have been placed on the alter.  Depending on the crowd you will want to do this sooner than later.  From what I saw the Knights started to stop people from getting in line around 30 minutes before the end of the ceremony.  Moreover, when you are done with your visit you can still set up at the confessionals to take your pictures as the procession passes.  Remember: No pictures are allowed inside of the seating area.

About the relics:

The Crown of Thorns was brought to Paris in 1239 by Louis IX because the Byzantine Emperor needed cash to help his waning Empire.  The price paid was about 3 times what it cost to build Sainte-ChappelIe.  The crown looks different than I expected in that it is simply a circulate of rushes (the same reeds that commonly make woven back chairs or baskets) void of any thorns, which surprised me as I had thought that the Roman soldiers spontaneously tore off some branches from a Jujube tree and joined the ends to make a ring that they used to crown Jesus.  According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Roman soldiers wove this rush band, picked spines from a Jujube tree and stuck them through the wreath to make the crown.  I only learned this after seeing the relic up close and thinking that it looked more like a smooth skinny woven band than a torture device.  Appearently, Louis IX and his successors gave the thorns away as gifts.

The True Cross was discovered by St. Helen, the mother of Constantine, Rome’s first Christian Emperor, in 325 which was the same year that the Council of Nicaea convened in Turkey to calibrate Catholic beliefs.  St. Helen traveled to the Holy Land and luckily found the True Cross and the nails used to crucify Jesus.  There are a couple of stories that tell how St. Helen identified the Cross including its healing powers and another which said that it did not cast a shadow.  Since the time of St. Helen the Cross has been broken into parts and there are now a few chunks of it across Europe including the one in Notre Dame.

The Holy Nails were also found by St. Helen which she gave to her son; he used on in his battle helmet and the other as the bridle for his horse.  The third was supposedly tossed into the sea to calm a storm and has been lost.  Santa Croce in Rome was built to house St. Helen’s finds that she brought back from the Holy Land.  Today, there is still a nail housed in Santa Croce so what is said is that shavings have been taken of the other to spread the relic around and that is what is in Notre Dame, a shaving.

No matter if you are a casual observer, passivly religious or faithful visiting Notre Dame for the Veneration of the Crown of Thorns is worth your time.  Throughout Europe there are many holy relics but this is the only chance to get upclose and personal with a majot object of veneration that people in Paris have been visiting since Louis IX brought it to France in 1239.

An admirer kisses Oscar Wilde’s grave

By Chris–

While working through, and getting lost in Paris’s Cimetière du Père Lachaise, I finally found my destination after hearing the giggles of some young American girls who were about to leave their madness of kisses on Oscar Wilde’s grave.  This was a twist because the great author, playwrite and poet would have rather gotten kisses from young, swarthy and dangerous young men.  At least this irony was understood by the girls who laughed at their male companion when he asked if they thought if it would be okay for him to kiss the headstone.  “Actually”, one girl chuckled, “he may have liked that more.”  “Why?” he asked, and then he must have gotten it because his face turned as red as the lipstick.  “What did you get in that class again?” and “Go ahead, you may as well just kiss it now that you have my lipstick on” were what I heard as I walked off thinking that Oscar Wilde must have turned over in his grave.

In Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Marc Anthony states, “The evil that men do lives after them whereas the good is oft interred with their bones.”  What he does not mention is that a person’s legacy, or what people do at their grave anyway, can be determined by obscure words, deeds or mere coincidences that may not have even registered with the popular voice during their lifetime, for example: the founder of the Roman Empire has a makeshift memorial maintained by small group that he did a favor for 2000 years ago.  A fisherman from Galilee met a carpenter, moved to the Caput Mundi, was executed, buried and literally has become the foundation of a church nation.  A man who preferred young and slender boys has his headstone consistently kissed by women.  Two philosophers who maintained that everything must be defined by the individual have their resting place covered with symbols even though their basic philosophy discourages symbolism.  Lastly, a rock star that burned quickly yet brightly may still haunt us today with more than his memory.

Julius Caesar:  Grave site: Rome, Italy- Roman Forum (cremated remains missing).

Julius Caesar invented the Roman Empire by doing what a modern captain of industry does: he created growth, ran an innovative marketing and PR campaign, successfully invested capital reserves and understood how to take care of his employees.  True, he was still stabbed 37 times with possibly the death blow being delivered by his son.  Surprisingly there is no grand monument dedicated to Caesar’s legacy.  Rather what exists is a piddly dirt mound in the Roman Forum that marks where he was cremated and where Marc Antony gave his funeral oration.  In ancient Rome this was where a temple stood for the Divine Caesar that housed his remains.  As with many buildings in the Forum the temple to the Divine Caesar was quarried, overgrown and forgotten about until the 1870s.  Today, the dirt mound is commonly covered with flowers that are usually put there by Rome’s Jewish community, which has never forgotten that Caesar allowed the practice of Judaism outside Palestine.  Also, on July 18, Julius Caesar’s birthday (July is named after him), Roman Jews decorate this spot and the statue of Caesar just outside the Forum.

Simon of Bethsaida (aka St. Peter):  Grave site: The Vatican

This fisherman from Palestine was told by Jesus, “you are my Rock and upon you I will build my Church”, which has literally happened.  Peter (i.e. rock in Greek) became Simon’s nickname, he then became Jesus’s stand-in (i.e.Vicar) on earth the first Pope.  After Jesus died, Peter moved to Rome and was there during the Great Fire of 64.  The Emperor Nero blamed this fire on the Christians which began the the Christian persecutions that lasted until 312, or 248 years.  Peter was arrested, crucified upside down and buried in a mass grave outside of Rome (i.e. the Vatican).  Christians immediately started visiting his grave, which in almost 2000 years has not stopped.  Since St. Peter’s death and burial in 67 there have been hundreds of millions of visitors, two major basilicas built over his grave and in 1929 the .44 sq km(0.17 sq mi) above and around his remains became an independent country.  Today the Vatican is ruled by Pope Benedict XVI who is the only absolute monarch in Europe.

Oscar Wilde:  Grave Site:  Paris, France- Cemetery Père Lachaise #83.

Oscar Wilde lived life on his own terms in spite of the constraints and consequences of Victorian era England.  The author of The Picture of Dorian Gray lived his last years in Paris before succumbing to cerebral meningitis.  Convicted of gross indecency in 1895, a piece of evidence that was used to convict him was a letter that he wrote to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas in which he talked about a “madness of kisses.”  This phrase, representing a glimpse into his passion that he paid two years of hard labor and imprisonment for, may be what has inspired the scores of pucker marks that are decorating or vandalizing the grave, depending on who is asked.  Originally, Wilde was buried outside Paris but he was moved to Pere Lachaise.  The monument was commissioned by one Bob Ross who asked that a compartment be created for his ashes which were interred in the monument in 1950.

Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beuvoir:  Grave site: Paris, France- Montparnasse Cemetary

Jean-Paul passed away in 1980 and his life partner Simone de Beuvoir followed him in 1986.  The basics of Sartre’s philosophy is that each person must define meaning for themselves.  Philosophically speaking Sartre was a fellow-traveler, which means that he may have agreed with a movement (i.e.Communist, Maoist, etc) but he would have never have officially joined any group.  During the turbulent 60s and 70s Sartre supported a number of Leftist movements including the French Maoists, which acted at times like Robinhood in that they stole from the rich (i.e. government) and distributed to the poor (i.e. workers).  One of these acts was inspired by a price hike for the Paris metro.  In response to this act, which directly impacted French workers, the group stole metro tickets and gave them away.  Sartre helped the Maoist cause by taking over its newspaper after the group’s leadership was arrested in 1970.  Today the grave of Sartre and de Beuvoir it is likely that some unused Metro tickets are on the grave which commemorate Sartre’s and de Beauvoir’s support of the French Maoists and perhaps of socialism and labor in general.  Notes are put on the grave for Simone de Beauvoir, the author of The Second Sex and who famously said, “one is not born a woman, but becomes one”.  The notes that I saw were written in a few languages including Arabic, English, Spanish and French.  The notes written in English, Spanish and French, the languages I could get the gist of, referenced a woman’s strength and thanked de Beauvoir for her inspiration.

Jim Morrison: Grave site: Paris, France- Cemetery Père Lachaise #30

The lead singer of the Doors died at just 27 years old after being in Paris for two months.  It is hard to believe that the Lizard King rose to fame and died in less than four years.  However, for the last 30 or so years his humble grave has seen and continues to see quite a lot of action. By some estimates the grave is the 4th most visited destination in Paris so it is consistently visited by camera carrying tourists, it has made cameo appearances in movies such as the 1991 Doors, Kate Moss and her boyfriend danced on it while singing Alabama Song, there are stories of seances, drugs, booze and the list goes on.  The grave has been vandalized, chipped at and has had its memorial bust of Morrison stolen.  Oh, did I mention that the site may be haunted?  In 2002 a Rock and Roll historian named Brett Meisner had a picture snapped of him, which later someone noticed that there seemed to be an apparition in the background.  Unfortunately, when I took the picture for this article I did not discover any background transparent dancers, but if you look closely it does seem that the rust on the headstone has made a face, that looks like Jim Morrison, maybe?  Even 37 years after his death this rock star still inspires hordes of fans to visit him, supermodels to dance on him while the whole time he just might be hanging around to enjoy the show.  

Père Lachaise greets about 1.5 million visitors a year and Morrison’s grave is definitely among the most popular.  If 50% of visitors to Pere Lachaise visit Morrison’s grave then it would be more visited than Elvis’s grave at Graceland which receives about 660,000 visitors per year. I recommend budgeting about two hours for the cemetery so you can get the most out of it.  However, if you are just there to visit Jim then 45 minutes should be sufficient.  There is no admission for either Père Lachaise or Montparnasse cemeteries. TRAVEL TIP:  There are no signs pointing to famous graves so when I was there I noticed quite a few people getting lost and confused, including myself.  I recommend taking a bunch of pictures of the master map when you enter and remember to include some with the list of names and their corresponding numbers.

Paris, France

I knew I was in a place hardly touristed when a friendly group of French at Bar du Centre gently mocked me for diluting my pastis with too much water and asked me, “What are you doing here?  You wanted to know the real deep France?”.  I responded, “Isn’t this festival des fromages famous?”  The students, seeming a little puzzled looked at one another, snickered and their spokesman said, “Maybe in this region.” This scene occurred at the 10th Annual Festival des Fromages de Meulan where we (i.e. Sarah and I) may have been the only two foreigners (American anyway) enjoying the ‘deep France’ experience.  With the quirkiness of a small town fair paired with world-class cheese and wine along with a jovial atmosphere this festival is a worthwhile excursion if you find yourself in or around Paris during the second week of October.

One of my travel mantras is “be open minded”, which sometimes is challenging but the rewards can be remarkable. The Meulan Festival de Fromages falls squarely into that category.  I came across a billboard advertising the event during a race from Paris to Versailles, in which we finished 13,880th out of 14,000 runners. How we ended up in the race is another story along the same lines of being open minded and taking risks. The short version is that somehow I did not translate ‘race’ to mean that everyone runs the entire 17k’s from Paris to Versailles.  I figured that there must be a walking category, which there was not. This was clear by the 1000s of runners who buzzed by looking at us with a bit of pity and embarrassment and solidified by the French spectators who kept encouraging us by saying, “Have courage you’ll make it!”  TIP:  Just because there may be a “walking” category in your local 5K does not mean that there is one in the Paris Versailles Race.  Nevertheless, talking our sweet time, we saw the beautiful French countryside where we found the billboard advertising the Meulan Cheese Festival. I snapped a picture- one of the perks of walking- thinking to myself that it would be a good Sunday adventure.

After deciding to give the festival a go, a little research was in order. It began with the obligatory Google search which yielded sparse information that confirmed that Meulan exists, but nothing about a cheese festival. I changed preferences to yield French language results and voila I found that the 10th Annual Festival des Fromages was on the local municipality website, no more information than that, but at least I knew it existed.  TIP: change Google to search to the language of the country that you are searching to find more local flavor, then translate the page into English.  Usually the translation hacks up the sentences but it will do a good job on dates and times which are usually most important.  Even with this anemic intelligence we still decided to go, but in the back of our minds we felt that it was possible that it could be a bust.

Getting to Meulan from Paris is easy and efficient as it’s only 40 kilometers away to the west. When we arrived we were still skeptical about this festival, which was reinforced in that we were the only two to get off the train to enter the empty train station.  I swallowed deeply and quickly scurried about to look for some sign of civilization beyond the graffiti tags when we found, hidden away, a stack of fliers and then we saw a person in the ticket office. By simply pointing to the flier the ticket woman got a look of shock on her face as if to say, “Really, you came from Paris for this?”. She recovered and personally escorted us to the door, three meters away, giving us very detailed instructions that we thought might require a TomTom but essentially meant: follow this road to there.  What a nice greeting.

When we saw these dancers, the cheese and wine we knew we had tourist gold.

As we approached Meulan center it appeared that the festival was only a couple of makeshift stands selling cheese and a cafe. My first thought was, “Great. Fantastic. Two awkward events in a row.”   Fearing the worst I distanced myself away from Sarah so I could more easily see if she were to attack. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we looked around the corner and saw mountains of cheese, magnums of wine, folk dancers in traditional garb and hundreds of people. We had had found tourist gold: an authentic experience with heaps of cheap, free even, food and wine. Plus we were really going to have to be effective with our ‘point and pray’ communication technique (i.e. point at something and pray that’s what you get) as we seemed to be the only English speakers. The exception being a four-year-old girl who proudly proclaimed, ‘Je parle l’anglais,’ and counted in English for us, “one, tu, fee, fo, five, ses, seben, eet, nine, dix.”  This and a cold beer started what was a very pleasant, fun and inexpensive “deep France” day in Meulan.

Highlights:

The scene:

After being relieved to know that the festival really existed it went on to exceed our expectations.  The brochure says that there are 100 cheese vendors / makers in attendance with 300 varieties of cheese, this was spot on.  We found that the stalls stretched on for about a kilometer through the main square where many of the stalls were set up.  The atmosphere was complete with folk dancers, one man bands, French rappers, goat milking lessons with the teacher squirting onlookers from the goat’s utter.  So, plenty of entertainment.

The cheeses (les fromages):

With fresh cheese at every corner in Paris I felt that it would be a waste to focus on the common cheeses such as brie, Camembert and chevre so I focused my inner Andrew Zimmern and went for the cheeses that I thought were most bizarre.  Tomme au Marc:  A tomme is a cheese made with cream after much of the fat is removed for butter and richer cheeses; marc is the leftovers (i.e. skins and seeds) after wine making that are also used for grappa in Italy and marc in France.  Together what happens is a crusted, lower fat cheese that pairs well with red wines.  The dark, amost black, shell may be off-putting but I found this cheese very tasty.  Le Lavort:  This cheese comes from Auvergne and is what the French call “full of terrior” meaning that it has the distinct taste of its land of origin.  Kind of like an Italian pecorino but softer and nuttier, Le Lavort looks like a wheel of cheese dunked in dust and dirt.  Actually it was buying this cheese that we had our snag in the day when we got stuck with a €10.00 hunk, which was not too huge but was at least 3x bigger than we wanted.  Sometimes “point and pray” simply does not work.

Pierre, maker of Rose Bonnet

The wines (vins):

What I didn’t anticipate, which I suppose was a no-brainer, was that there would be so many varieties of wine.  There was at lease 40 stands representing many regions and all the owners were more than happy to let us have a sip or taste of their creations.  After sampling a dozen or so rose we chose Rose Bonnet made by Pierre-Yves Perrachon of Chateau Bonnet.  It is smooth, full flavored and not sweet.  Our choice rouge is from Domaigne Chassagne of Beaujolais ( a region in Burgundy) called the Beaujolais Villages.  Even though we should have let it age another 3 to 5 years we still enjoyed the delicious tannin rich wine with its slight undertones of vanilla and red berries.

The food:

One well dressed sandwich

Simple, traditional, cheap and delicious.  Just like going to any small town fair there was a wide selection of easy to eat and bad for you food.  There was a plate called Tartiflette which because of its popularity I imagined an old traditional food but apparently it is the product of an 80’s marketing initiative by the Reblochon cheese trade union.  Tartiflette falls into the oey-goey-cheesy starchy food group and seems about as popular and diverse as macaroni and cheese.  Another interesting set-up was a melted cheese sandwich with ham that the wait for turned out to be the defining moment of this experience.  When we were waiting in line to get this sandwich everything ‘deep France’ seemed to converge into one of those perfect moments.  We had: some type of French rapper, for lack of a better word, who was rapping along with a brass band and creating a pretty good beat (not unlike the bands at Octoberfest), then there were the small children who were dancing, we were dancing, the wine guy was dancing and the sandwich maker who was a good 2 meters tall (6′6″) was rocking out dressed in leotards, thigh high leather boots, a fish-net mini skirt and topped of with a pony-tail restrained scrunchy, while continuing to scrape gooey cheese goodness into baguettes.  Ah, what a scene.

The Meulan Cheese Festival goes in my plus column as a positive experience.  Now onto another hidden place that gets a mere few thousand Google results.  Luckily we got a recommendation for just such a place from Pierre, our rose wine maker, who mentioned a festival in a place called La Chapelle de Guinchay (3,400 Google pages or .0001% of Paris’s pages).  So off we go.

If anyone has any other experiences in these small town festivals let us know.

Happy Travels,

Chris