Život v Cizine (was La Vie Expatriée)

Monday, September 01, 2008

Week in Frantiskovy Lazne

After my birthday weekend in Mariánské Lázně, I was curious about what the real spa experience was supposed to be like. And I was also in the mood to get out of Prague for a little while. So, I booked myself a one-week stay in Františkovy Lázně. Of the three main spa towns in that district, Františkovy Lázně is the least well-known (and the smallest); Karlovy Vary is the best-known, with Mariánské Lázně coming in between.

It's a very pretty town, with extensive parks:



There's even a "miniature golf course":

This is the first miniature golf course I've seen in the Czech Republic.

One of the parks has a bandstand which was host to a (free) afternoon concert:

The official color scheme of Františkovy Lázně, or at least the spa district, is yellow and white. It's very stylish, but it starts to get a little boring after a while. I forget which hotel this was:

The Catholic church, which was also home to a very nice concert one evening:

The colonnade, with its attendant sphinxes:

And where is it written that all Czech spa towns must have a colonnade?
The Božena Němcová Theater does not follow the yellow and white rule. Though it's not readily apparent from this shot, the theater is actually pale green and white:

I was staying at the Hotel Imperial:

It's not as big as the picture makes it look: it's only a few dozen rooms, but it is, for Františkovy Lázně, very grand. English was in short supply, although the clerks at the front desk managed to get by pretty well, and the doctor spoke surprisingly good English. (On my last visit, she asked what I did for a living. When I said that I'm an English teacher, she exclaimed that that was why I spoke so slowly and carefully and was so easy to understand. She was touchingly grateful that I was so easy to communicate with. It made me wonder what her experience with other English speakers had been like.)

As at Mariánské Lázně, the treatments were very clinical: the treatments rooms feature lots of white paint and tile and bright lights, and the attendants are all in white uniforms. It's not at all like the muted and tranquil environment that I usually associate with days spas in California.

The treatments I had were pretty ordinary: baths and massages and one mud wrap. The one treatment that I found novel was the "underwater massage". In this one, the attendant uses a high-pressure hose to do the massaging. Kind of like an hand-held shower massage, but dialed up about a hundred-fold!

It was a relaxed week, though. I walked a lot and caught up on some reading. (The limited Internet service coupled with a problem with my computer's power supply kept me largely offline for the week.)

Labels: Czech Republic, Frantiskovy Lazne, spa, travel

posted at 4:51 PM permalink  0 comments

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Visit to Cesky Krumlov

I finally visited Český Krumlov after putting it off several times. While it's possible to visit as a day trip out of Prague, it takes about three hours to get there, and the prospect of spending a total of six hours in one day sitting on a bus was not appealing. So instead, I took the Student Agency bus down for an overnight trip.
The seal of Český Krumlov:

And the sight for which it is perhaps best known, the Little Castle and Tower:

Touring the Castle and Grounds

The castle complex is the second largest in the Czech Republic, Prague Castle being the largest. It has some 40 buildings spread out over a kilometer of a hillside overlooking the Vltava River. Just crossing from the Red Gate, the main entrance near the town, up to the gardens took about half an hour.

The former Mint is now the ticket office and main gift shop:

Across the second courtyard from the Mint is the New Burgrave:

Those aren't really stones joined with mortar, nor are there niches with statuary. That trompe-l'œil effect is created with sgraffito. There's a lot of sgraffito and frescos decorating the castle exteriors.

Looking back to the Little Castle and Tower from the path to the gardens:

The Gardens

The gardens alone cover 11 hectares (ca. 27 acres). There's a fountain, of course:

And looking at the fountain from behind:

I think it very thoughtful of them to provide a little step ladder, the better to get a good view of the garden:

Although, even with the stepladder's help, I couldn't get a really good perspective of the garden:

The gardens are also home to a Revolving Theater. While the theater itself didn't yield any interesting shots, I liked seeing these set bits lying on the grass:

The Castle Bears

According to the castle website, bears have been kept in the moat of the castle since the 16th century, during the era of the Rožmberk family. The family claimed descent from the Italian Orsini family, whose emblem was the bear, and so the Rožmberks kept bears to emphasize the relationship.

The moat is divided in two by the bridge, with Kateřina and Vok to the left and their daughter Marie Terezie to the right.

Marie Terezie takes her duties as guard bear seriously:

I can't tell if this is Kateřina or Vok, but it appears that Marie Terezie's parents are less serious about protecting the castle:

I like the way in which they politely discourage people from feeding the bears:

And keeping watch over the bears, we have St. Joseph (on Marie Terezie's side):

While Our Lady keeps watch on Kateřina and Vok's side:

The Tours

There are three guided tours of the castle, of which I managed to complete only two (leaving a tour of the theater for another visit, I guess). We heard the stories of the various families who owned the castle, starting with the Rožmbrks (1302-1602), followed by the Eggenbergs (1622-1719), until it was passed on to the Schwarzenbergs (1719-1947). It was nationalized in 1950 by the Communists. Following the Velvet Revolution, it was offered back to the Schwarzenbergs, but conditional upon their assuming responsibility for restoring it. They declined the offer.

As do so many castles, this one has a "White Lady". Here, it's Perchta of Rožmberk. Perchta was unhappily married to a much older, abusive husband, Jan of Lichtenstein. On his deathbed, Jan repented of his many cruelties and asked Perchta's forgiveness. When Perchta refused, he cursed her instead. As a result, she now haunts the former Rožmbrk residences, especially this one. If she appears wearing white gloves, good news is in the offing. However, if she's wearing black gloves, it's a death omen. The tour guide claimed that one of her colleagues had recently reported a sighting of the White Lady. However, she went on to say, he was drunk that night, so no one believes.

There are lots of bearskins rugs in the castle: while I vaguely noticed this, I didn't really pay it any mind until the tour guide brought it to our attention. "These are the bears from the moat", she told us. For some reason, that really creeps me out.

Besides the Castle, There's the Town...

In addition to visiting the castle, I took the audio guided self-tour of the town.

The Marian Plague Column in the Main Town Square is under renovation:

Krčín House is notable mainly for its sgrafitto and frescos:

And round the corner...

If I remember correctly, this was the house of Sheriff Slatinský:

Farewell

And a last look on my way back to the bus stop:

I've put some additional photos into this slideshow:

Labels: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, sightseeing, travel

posted at 8:02 AM permalink  0 comments

Monday, May 12, 2008

Holiday weekend in Olomouc

May 8 is a holiday in the Czech Republic (as it is in France and elsewhere) celebrating the Day of Liberation (the end of the 2nd World War). Since it fell on a Thursday, I persuaded (without great difficulty) my Friday classes to forego their lessons on the 9th, and visited Olomouc for a long weekend.

Why Olomouc?

Much as I like Prague, I'd really like to try living elsewhere in the Czech Republic. When I started asking around for alternate places to live, Olomouc was one of the names that cropped up most often. The second largest city in the Czech Republic, Brno, was usually dismissed as an unattractive industrial city that I would find boring. Olomouc, on the other hand, is a university town (of its population of 100,000, an estimated 20,000 are students). Olomouc's main claim to fame these days is the Holy Trinity Column, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Historically, Olomouc was the capital of Moravia (although Brno now claims that distinction). It is also where Václav III, the last of the Přemyslid kings, was assasinated on his way to Poland to claim the Polish crown.

Sightseeing

Besides the Holy Trinity Column, Olomouc's other main claim to fame is the Astrological Clock at City Hall:

The clock itself is centuries old, although the mosaics surrounding it date from the Communist era. Olomouc has suffered the mosaics to remain because, despite the political implications, it really is quite stunning art work.

Olomouc is also noted for its fountains. There's the Cæsar fountain:

It's not as unlikely as it seems: the ancient tradition is that Olomouc was founded by Julius Caesar and indeed the name of the city is a corruption of "Julius's Mont". And archaeological findings under what is now sv. Michael's church in fact confirm a Roman presence.

The relatively recent Arion fountain is a great favorite, especially because of the turtle sculpture that adjoins it:

The Hercules fountain shares plaza space with the Holy Trinity Column:

Besides the Holy Trinity Column, there's a Marian plague column, erected by plague survivors to celebrate their survival:

There's a little bit of the former Yugoslavia just outside the old city walls:

It was built to provide a resting space for Yugoslav soldiers killed during World War I, and, much like an embassy, the government gave the land to the government of Yugoslavia. The remains of the soldiers were subsequently repatriated sometime when Tito was on the outs with the Czechoslovak government, and the crypt fell into disrepair. The Olomouc city officials have recently persuaded one of the new countries that was formed by the dissolution of Yugoslavia to take responsibility for the (now empty) crypt, so with luck it will be spruced up soon.

The Church

The cathedral in Olomouc is sv. Václav:

The chapter house of the cathedral is where Václav III was assassinated:

I was in Olomouc over Pentecost, so I attended Mass at the cathedral on Sunday. Fittingly enough, they were celebrating Confirmation that weekend: about two dozen adults were confirmed. I noticed that those attending Mass were rather more formally dressed than I've been accustomed to in churches here, but maybe that was just because it was the cathedral or because of the Confirmations. The area immediately adjacent to the main altar is mostly kept locked if there isn't a service, so there's a chapel off the outer nave where the Sacrament is reserved. I also noticed that people stopped to genuflect in front of that chapel as they were entering and leaving the main altar area.

The Archdiocesan Museum adjoins the cathedral:



It's a little surprising to me that, after 40 years of Communist suppression, the Church still has any treasures left. And actually, it does sometimes seem to me that the "jewels" in monstrances and the like are only cut glass (although that could be a security measure).

I also visited the Basilica of the Visitation on Holy Hill, a major (well, major for the Czech Republic) pilgrimage destination:

While the main entrance has been repainted, they haven't (yet anyway) attended to the back or sides:

It put me in mind of an old Peanuts cartoon: Linus is showing off his newly shined shoes to Lucy, and as he turns to go, Lucy points out that he has only shined the fronts of his shoes, and not the backs. Linus replies that he cares what people think about him only when he's arriving, not when he's going.

St. John Sarkander

The closest thing that Olomouc has to a home grown saint is John Sarkander, who is venerated as a "martyr of the confessional". He was accused of treason by Protestant leaders and tortured partially due to his refusal to divulge what was said in confession. He died as a result of the torture, and the prison where he was held has since been converted into a chapel in his honor:

There's also an altar with his relics in the cathedral. Although he died in 1620 and a cause for his canonization was started soon afterwards, he wasn't beatified until 1860, and he was canonized only in 1995 by Pope John Paul II.

Dance

The Moravian Theater is the home for ballet and opera as well as drama. While I was there, the ballet was performing The Beatles and Queen, which sounded like an intriguing combination, especially for a ballet.

The music was presented (more or less) chronologically and the dance mimed the history of each group. It was very lively and went over well with the audience.

Haná Cuisine

I don't really know enough about Czech cuisine to speak authoritatively on the differences between Bohemian and Moravian cooking, but I did notice a few little differences. Garlic soup, for example, is much heartier in Moravia; it includes ham and poached egg. And I was surprised by the "Chicken à la Duck": yes, the menu said it would be accompanied by sweet and sour cabbage, but I was expecting red cabbage, whereas this was white cabbage. And generally, white cabbage was more popular here than the red, whereas in Prague, it always seems to be red cabbage.

Olomouc's Cafe 87 also has the only chocolate dessert that I've found worth eating in the Czech Republic: a bittersweet chocolate pie. The other chocolate desserts I've encountered in the Czech Republic have seemingly been based on milk chocolate and poor quality milk chocolate at that. Most baked goods also seem stale, or maybe Czechs just like their pastries on the dry side, but they're not to my taste.

I also tried (I think!) the famed Olomouc stinky cheese, but I was seriously disappointed. The aroma was very mild and not particularly unpleasant; the flavor was unremarkable; and the texture was very waxy. In fact, after the first bite, I took another look to make sure that I hadn't overlooked a rind or wax covering that I was supposed to remove first! I tried asking the waitress if there had been a mistake, but unfortunately, neither her English nor my Czech was up to the task. So I don't know if I was (inadvertently perhaps) cheated or if Olomouc stinky cheese really does not live up to its reputation.

The Joys of Czech Trains

I was seriously unprepared for the business of traveling by train over a holiday weekend. There are several trains a day between Prague and Olomouc, so I didn't figure that, even for a holiday weekend, I would need to book in advance, and buying a ticket on Thursday was no problem. When I got on the train, though, not only was every seat taken, but the aisles and vestibules were also crowded. I was "lucky" enough to be able to claim a stairwell in the vestibule, but mostly I stood for the three-hour trip to Olomouc.

I wasn't in a mood to repeat that for the return trip, so I made a seat reservation. The return train, though, had originated in Kraków and passed through Ostrava before getting to Olomouc so it was already standing room only. There was such a crush of people boarding I couldn't stop to look for my seat until we were already underway, at which point, I found that I was at the opposite end of the car (fortunately I was at least in the right car!). Looking at the mass of people and luggage crowding the aisle, I was going to give up. However, the two very nice Czech ladies who were trying to get me oriented weren't having any of that and handed me over to the conductor. The conductor went off with my ticket, leaving me no choice but to follow, stepping over my fellow passengers with many an apology.

When we located my seat it was, of course, occupied, and by a woman with a child sleeping in her lap. Fortunately, the man in the seat opposite chivalrously gave up his seat (and stood for 90 minutes to Pardubice) so that I wasn't in the awkward position of having to oust a mother and child from my place.

Moral of the story: next time I travel on a summer weekend, I'm not only booking my seat in advance, I'm also going first class!

What Else?

I took way more pictures, but they don't really fit into the narrative, so there's a supplemental slideshow.

And it really is true that once you get outside of Prague, people don't speak as much English. German is popular, which makes sense since the Czech Republic is bordered half-way around by German-speaking countries, and in Olomouc, Polish is reasonably popular, which again makes sense. But not a lot of English.

Labels: Czech Republic, Olomouc, travel

posted at 6:10 PM permalink  0 comments

Monday, December 24, 2007

Trip to Vienna and comparative Advent markets

I've heard a lot about Austrian Advent markets, and I was curious to make the comparison with the Prague markets. One of my students told me that she thinks that the Salzburg markets are much better than the ones in Vienna, so I was thinking about going there. However, it's 5 hours by train to Salzburg, and there's only one direct train per day from Prague, and it arrives in Salzburg after midnight. So I went to Vienna instead. Since my camera is on the blink, I bought a disposable camera, but I haven't yet had it developed (or even used it all up), so pictures will have to wait.

Vienna itself is a pretty city, although I found it somewhat shabbier in feel than Prague. A lot of it could use, at the very least, a fresh coat of paint!

On Saturday, I visited the main market, in front of the City Hall. Like the markets in Prague, the most heavily trafficked stalls were those selling food and drink. In Prague markets, though, the non-food stalls mainly sell the usual touristy junk that you find in the souvenir shops around, for example, Old Town Square. The Viennese market, on the other hand, actually had stalls where you might reasonably buy genuine (non-souvenir) gifts.

One of the things that the Viennese markets do that I really like is when you buy a drink (coffee or hot wine or hot punch), instead of giving it to you in a paper cup, they give it to you in a mug, for which you pay a 2€ deposit. When you return the mug, you get your deposit back. Alternately, you can choose to keep your 2€ souvenir mug. However, the information booths also sell (clean) souvenir mugs for the same 2€ fee, so why put the dirty mug in your purse or bag? It put me in mind of Grandma's adage, "Never steal a dirty ashtray".

"Never steal a dirty ashtray"

The story that Mom always told in illustration of Grandma's adage goes like this: once she and Auntie Jo were out having lunch somewhere with Grandma, and Grandma took a liking to the ashtray. However, since all three were smokers, by the end of their meal, the ashtray was thoroughly dirty. So, when it came time to pay the bill and leave, Grandma handed the ashtray to the nice young waiter, explaining that she didn't care to put the dirty ashtray in her purse and asking him to please bring her a clean one. The nice young waiter dutifully went away and returned shortly with a properly cleaned ashtray, which Grandma promptly stowed in her purse. Mom never said, but I do hope that they gave that waiter a healthy tip!

Since I was downtown for the market, I took advantage of the proximity to visit the Hofburg Palace as well and saw the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum (the museum dedicated to Empress Elizabeth) and Imperial Silver Collection. I also wandered in the gardens while it snowed picturesquely on me. I think it would be lovely to visit in the Spring.

Sunday, I went to visit the Schloss Schönbrunn, which I liked even better than the Hofburg. The grounds are more expansive than the Hofburg's, and again, would be well worth a Spring visit. When I bought my ticket to tour the palace, I hadn't realized that there would be about a two-hour delay between the purchase and the time I would actually be allowed to enter (the tickets are stamped with the admission time). Fortunately, there was a little Advent market in front, so it wasn't too painful to while away the time.

BTW, this posting (from another, food-specific, blog) describes the food at Prague advent markets very well. Plus, there are pictures of the market at Old Town Square.

Labels: Advent market, Hofburg, Prague, Schonbrunn, travel, Vienna

posted at 3:15 PM permalink  1 comments

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

NY Times article on Mariánské Lázne

I'm not the only person who has recently traveled to Mariánské Lázně: this article recently appeared in the New York Times travel section. The author's experience was very similar to mine.

Labels: article, Mariánské Lázne, travel

posted at 8:21 AM permalink  0 comments

Friday, November 23, 2007

Day Trip to Dresden

In September, it had been three months since I arrived in Prague, so I needed to leave the country to "reboot" my tourist visa, and I took a little day trip to Dresden.

This is a sufficiently common trip that there are five trains a day between Prague and Dresden. After the Czech Republic joins the Schengen agreement at the end of December, I expect the popularity of trips to Dresden will fall off, since a trip to Germany will no longer suffice for non-EU citizens to restart the clock on their visas.

I found it interesting that, on the Czech side of the border, all announcements on the train were made in Czech, German and English, while on the German side of the border, announcements were made only in German and English!

Dresden is a very pretty city, although I think I've been jaded by Prague! Nothing really struck me as all that noteworthy. I did visit the (Lutheran) Frauenkirche:

There was a mime out front entertaining tourists waiting to enter the church:

There's also a statue of Martin Luther in the square:

The Opera House is striking:

I also liked the Zwinger: unfortunately, since it was just a day trip, I didn't have time to actually go inside and look at the collections:

Mostly, though, I just wandered around kind of aimlessly, taking in the sights:

Labels: Dresden, travel

posted at 8:34 PM permalink  0 comments

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Birthday weekend in Mariánské Lázne

For my birthday, I decided to treat myself to a weekend out of town. I had originally thought of Karlovy Vary, but was told that "Ah, there's nothing but rich Russians there!". Mariánské Lázně (which may be better known to some as "Marienbad"), on the other hand, was described as still being more Czech. Well, I'm in no position to compare, but there was certainly no shortage of rich Russians at Mariánské Lázně!

I stayed at the Nové Lázně, which is arguably the grandest of the spa hotels:

I had a very comfortable room overlooking the park:


That's the Church of the Assumption in the upper right; here's a closer view of this octagonal church:

And the archway over the door:

The assurances of the travel agency through which I arranged my stay notwithstanding, English was in short supply: there was German and Russian in abundance, but very little English. I spent most of my weekend communicating with the staff in mime, my highly limited Czech, and guessing at German!

When I showed up at the dining room for dinner, there was a brief flurry as the hostess, who spoke very little English, summoned a waiter to figure out where to seat me. The hostess and the waiter had a brief discussion, in which the only Czech word that I recognized was "Angličanka" (Englishwoman), after which I was led to a table which I shared with a very nice woman from Britain. She was coming up on the end of a two-week stay at Mariánské Lázně, and professed herself to be delighted to be able to have someone with whom she could speak English.

They take the whole "health resort" thing very seriously, and indeed, they don't seem all that keen on catering to weekend dilettantes. I had to have an interview with a nurse before I could schedule any treatments, and supplemental services were either fully booked already or were simply unavailable over a weekend. Fortunately, my package included two treatments a day, and those were provided: I had two each of the partial medical massage, dry CO² bath and mineral bath.

The dry CO² bath was the most unusual experience. Here is the brochure description:

This is another signature treatment of the spa resort of Marienbad where the gas - Marie's gas - that bubbles naturally out of the ground is used for the treatment. This gas is of volcanic origin and contains 99.7% CO². In our other resorts normal commercial CO² gas (the same as in the food industry) is used. During the treatment you lie fully clothed, comfortably on a bed enclosed in a large plastic bag that is sealed just under the arms. The gas is then pumped into the bag, which slowly inflates, where it is absorbed through the clothes and skin into the body where it slows down heart activity and reduces blood pressure. The gas also improves blood circulation and kidney activity and has an anti-inflammatory effect. The gas is also known to stimulate the production of the sexual hormones, testosterone and estradiol, which is why it is successful for the improvement of sexual functions and to relieve menopausal symptoms in women. Time: 30 minutes, Doctor's prescription required: No, Benefits: Therapeutic, Well Being.

The mineral bath is pretty well self-explanatory, but here's the brochure description for that one:

This is a signature treatment, exclusively provided in the spa resort of Marienbad using the natural local mineral waters and natural CO² gas that naturally seeps out from the ground. The water is heated to a temperature of between 28-34° C in an individual bathtub, into which is pumped the natural CO² gas that fizzes onto the skin, producing a relaxing, tickling sensation. The carbon dioxide is absorbed through the skin into the body, where slows down the heart activity and reduces the blood pressure. Several treatments will result in improved blood circulation, heart and kidney activity as well as reduced stress and anxiety. The benefits and procedures are similar to the carbon dioxide bath treatment, however the advantage here is that all the properties used are both local and natural. Time: 20 minutes + dry wrap (15 minutes), Doctors prescription required: no, Benefits: Therapeutic, Well Being

The thing that surprised me most about the mineral bath was that the water was no more than tepid! One of the ubiquitous rich Russians I chatted with one evening told me that, to get a hot mineral bath, I should go to a Hungarian spa!

In keeping with the whole "health resort" routine, life in Mariánské Lázně is very tranquil, and there's not a lot to do. The main tourist attraction (aside from the waters and spa treatments) is the Singing Fountain:


Every other hour during the season, the fountain "performs" to a soundtrack of such pieces as Petr Hapka's Music for the Fountain or Chorus of Hebrew Slaves from Verdi's Nabucco or Dvořák's Carnival, Op. 92. As my dinner companion pointed out, it would be more accurate to describe it as the "Dancing Fountain", rather than the "Singing Fountain". According to some of the flyers and brochures I saw around town, it looks as though the singing season is supposed to end on October 30. I guess they knew I was coming, though, because the Gala Closing actually took place on my birthday!

The fountain is in the Colonnade park:

The park also has a statue of Abbot Reitenberger of Tepla Monastery:

The abbot is credited with having established the spa town.

And perhaps it's to cater to those rich Russians that this Church of St. Vladimir was built:

Labels: Czech Republic, Mariánské Lázne, spa, travel

posted at 11:23 AM permalink  0 comments

Monday, October 29, 2007

Czech pride

For one of my classes, I brought in a Business Week article, Poland Tries to Reverse Brain Drain, thinking that the Czech Republic might have seen a similar effect after joining the EU. But no, while my students found the article interesting, they were also rather smug about insisting that, while it made perfect sense for Poles to leave their country, Czechs would never abandon their homeland to seek their fortunes overseas. Upon prodding a little bit, they did concede that, while they would never consider leaving the Czech Republic for good, they would maybe consider going abroad for a year or two, "just for the experience."

Another student, in a different class, pointed out to me that it's very hard for Czechs to travel. After all, while there are some beautiful cities out there, there are so few that compare favorably with Prague!

Labels: Czechs, pride, travel

posted at 1:35 PM permalink  0 comments

Monday, August 06, 2007

Prague Slideshow

Ya know, sometimes one of the reasons that I hold off on posting is because I have all these photos piled up, and so I wait 'til I get them formatted, then I have to think about how to weave them into a coherent narrative, and it's just all so daunting that I put it off and put it off and put it off...

So, I'm just going to put up this little slideshow, mostly from a walking tour I took of Prague, and then I can just get on with posting about life here without having these photos hanging over my head!

Labels: buildings, Prague, sightseeing, slideshow, travel

posted at 8:16 AM permalink  0 comments

Thursday, June 21, 2007

I went to Disneyland!

As advertised, I went to Disneyland last Wednesday (the 13th).

Euro-Disney is very like its California counterpart: everything is spic 'n' span, lines at the rides move along briskly, there are ample opportunities to meet Disney characters, and there are more than enough places to buy over-priced food and drinks and merchandise.

It was not, in fact, very French at all. The French visitors were vastly outnumbered by the American and British visitors. It seems that everyone on the staff speaks English; in fact, I was surprised to see that a lot of the signs were in English only, which I had thought was prohibited. While Fantasyland was somewhat transposed to France, there's blatantly nothing French about Frontierland or Main Street, USA. Discoveryland and Adventureland are pretty much stateless. The main French touch: the availability of wine and beer.

Neither was it particularly crowded; granted, it was midweek and rather early in the tourist season, but still... The lack of crowds, though, meant that I was able to get in two rides on each of the three roller coasters: Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (aside: I didn't realize that Disney owned, or at least was licensing, the Indiana Jones franchise), and Space Mountain: Mission 2. Space Mountain was my favorite: a lot of it takes place in the dark and I found that the resulting disorientation increased the excitement. Star Tours (and I didn't realize that Disney owned or was licensing the Star Wars franchise, either) was also fun. Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast was really geared towards little kids and was rather hokey, but it was still entertaining. On the more sedate side, I always like carousels, and the riverboat ride was pleasant. Alas, Phantom Manor was closed during my visit.

Slideshow

I've put the rest of my pictures into a slideshow (this will open in a new window).

Labels: Disneyland, Paris, travel

posted at 9:49 AM permalink  0 comments

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Next Stop: Prague

Well, I've decided that Paris is really not for me, at least not just now. So, with the end of classes and the lease on my apartment next week, I'm moving on to Prague, where I've signed up for a TEFL/TESOL Course.

After that, I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm kind of toying with the idea of China. Or maybe Russia. Or I may decide on Central or Eastern Europe. Or I may backtrack to Western Europe.

It all depends on how well I take to Prague.

See, here's the thing: moving to Paris was relatively easy (once I got over the whole "Oh my God, I'm completely and totally insane" phase with which I was boring people). France is, after all, a Western, industrialized nation and I was already familiar with the language. So on the comfort scale, France isn't all that far out there. In fact, I think that's the problem: it's not far enough out there. So I'll try a little farther out the comfort scale, i.e., the Czech Republic.

If it turns out that Prague is just way too uncomfortable, I'll backtrack, if not to France, then to Western Europe. (Spain or Portugal might work.) On the other hand, if Prague is still not uncomfortable enough, then I'll push out the comfort scale still further. Then again, if the comfort level seems just right, then I'll stay. In brief, I'm doing a Goldilocks number.

I'm also partially motivated by a concern for hanging out someplace that'll look good on my resume when I get home. And really, Western Europe has been done to death. As for France, in particular, not even the French are trying to start careers in France.

Labels: France, Prague, travel, work

posted at 6:15 PM permalink  0 comments

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I'm going to Disneyland!

Okay, it's totally silly and pointless and why did I even come to France in the first place if I'm just going to go to Disneyland?

But I am. Tomorrow. For no real reason except that my classes are winding down to a conclusion and I want to. So just lay off, okay? (What? Am I just a little defensive here?)

Details (and probably pictures) will follow after my return.

Labels: Disneyland, Paris, travel

posted at 11:53 PM permalink  0 comments

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Pilgrimage to Lourdes

My excursion the second week of Easter vacation was a trip to Lourdes; Lourdes is about 6 hours out of Paris via the TGV.

Now, I should say at the outset that Our Lady of Lourdes is not in fact one of my particularly favorite devotions. As far as Marian apparitions go, I'm much more of a Fatima (and rosary) girl, and I toyed with the idea of going to Portugal instead. But my "home" parish is Our Lady of Lourdes in Oakland, and it seemed silly not to take advantage of the opportunity to visit its namesake.

I arrived on Wednesday, April 18, and stayed, at the Hôtel Saint Etienne, until Sunday the 22nd. The Saint Etienne is very convenient to the sanctuaries, just a five minute walk away from the Porte of St. Michael, and the staff were all very pleasant and helpful. It's also cheap and correspondingly shabby. Clean, mind, but it could seriously do with some fresh paint and new carpets & bedding.

The Pilgrimage

I visited the sanctuaries Wednesday evening to check out the visitor information center and just generally get the lay of the land. The grotto and the Basilicas of the Immaculate Conception and of the Rosary are easy enough to identify, of course, but there's also the (underground) Basilica of St. Pius X, the Church of St. Bernadette, various chapels, receptions centers, meeting rooms, residences, special facilities for the sick (though no hospital per se), a Way of the Cross on the hillside and another in the prairie, and a "Water Walk" (cf the map of the sanctuaries on the second page).

I had arrived in time to see the 5 PM Blessed Sacrament Procession, which is followed by the Blessing of the Sick. Hundreds of people, most of them either in wheelchairs or even gurneys or else pushing them, following the Sacrament from the meadow alongside the river to the Basilica of St. Pius X. I didn't join, but just watched them pass.

The Baths

During the "Pilgrim Season" (roughly April 1 through October 31), the baths are open daily from 9 to 11 AM and again from 2:30 to 4:00 PM (except on Sundays and feast days, when they're open only in the afternoon). So, somewhat naively, I showed up at 9 AM on Thursday morning to find that they were already full up for the morning; the attendant suggested coming back at 1:00 to be sure of getting in for the afternoon.

Instead, I came back Friday morning. This time, I left my hotel at a little after 8 AM, getting to the baths at about 8:15. The "holding pen" was about half full, and was indeed completely full and late-comers were being turned away by about 8:45. (The sick at Lourdes on medical pilgrimage have their own entrance and schedules, although they're still bound by the opening times.) I suspect that if this had been the "high" pilgrim season, even arriving at 8:15 would have been too late.

A large group of Italian women had been among the first to arrive; they passed the waiting time in praying the Rosary. This provoked some mild, good-natured disdain among the French: they had no problem with the Rosary, mind, but they disapproved of the Italians praying aloud and disturbing the others who might have preferred to pray or meditate silently. "But that's Italians for you", murmured the attendant.

At 9 AM, proceedings opened with a prayer, and the ambulatory medical pilgrims were admitted to the baths while a first group of women was moved to the benchs lining the outer walls of the baths and the rest of us snaked forwarded among the rows of benches. As women left the baths, the women from the benches outside the walls moved inside, and more women were moved to fill their vacated benches, and rest of us repeating the snaking bit.

When my turn came to take a seat on one of the benches outside the baths, one of the attendants struck up a conversation. She had noticed that I had picked up an English leaflet (they're color-coded, which made it easy to spot), and asked if I were Irish or English. When I said that, no, I'm American, she wanted to know from where; from California, I said. -Where in California? -Oakland. Turns out she's from Burlingame, spending a few weeks in Lourdes as a volunteer.

On entering the building, we found yet another row of benches lining the inside walls, facing a row of cubicles. The middle one was especially wide, and that was the one used, though not exclusively, by those in wheelchairs or gurneys. And we waited some more.

I finally made it into one of the cubicles. Stations for six, with chairs and hooks and shelves for clothing and other possessions, and six attendants were there. Another curtain separated this dressing room from the bath itself. One of the attendants took charge of me (the others being preoccupied with their own charges) and directed me to an empty station. She held a big blue cape around me while I undressed and fastened the cape for me from behind when I was done, plucked my glasses from the shelf and put them back on, and handed me my bra. The bath was empty right now, she told me, so I could go right in.

Passing through the curtain, I found three more attendants. One of the women, who seemed to be the "lead" attendant, took my bra from me and held the cape while the other two wrapped a thin, damp white towel around me and then the cape was removed. The bath itself was grey stone, set in the floor with steps leading in, and with a small statue of Our Lady at the far end. They guided me in, one attendant holding each arm. The water was icy: not just cold, but downright frigid. I had been expecting cold, but not like this, and I was startled into letting out a yelp. This was not an unusual response, but neither was it entirely acceptable, and I was gently shushed.

While I stood on the first step, trying to adjust to the water temperature, the lead attendant reminded me that I might want to pray. Oh, right: that's why I'm standing in this ice bath. The other two attendants guided me down the next step and further into the bath; the water was a little over knee deep. Would I like to kneel or sit, the lead attendant asked, or maybe kiss Our Lady's statue. I settled for a quick genuflection before kissing Our Lady's statue. Once I rose, they turned me around and led me out. They were very careful about not letting go of me: they take no chances on anyone slipping and falling.

The blue cape came back out and the towel vanished, and my bra went back on and was fastened. They're very practiced at this, and they were done before I even quite realized what they were about. (I think my brain was still frozen!) I returned to the dressing room, where my attendant once again held the cape around me while I dressed. Throughout, the attendants were very careful about protecting the modesty of the women in the baths: I don't think the most self-conscious of women could find any cause to blush.

When I left the baths, it was 10:30.

Candlelight Procession

Scattered about the grounds of the sanctuaries are stations holding candles and paper "cages" to protect the flame; the candles sold on the grounds cost 1€. You can also find candles at the gift shops; those candles are 0.50€. The paper cages for the sanctuaries's candles are gold, while the those from the gift shops are white, so it's easy to distinguish between the frugal and those willing to spend the extra money to support the sanctuaries.

The procession is led by porters carrying an statue of Our Lady in an illuminated box, flanked by other porters carrying torches. While the schedule says that the procession starts at the Grotto, in practice, it appears to start from the foot of the esplanade. It goes out toward the Porte of St. Michael and loops back around to Rosary Square. Some of those in the procession are in wheelchairs; I didn't notice any gurneys. There are also lots of canes and crutches. Some people carry two candles, presumably on behalf of someone who can't be present or sometimes for someone who can't manage both crutches and a candle. Once the statue gets to Rosary Square, the crowd is held back until the statue reaches the portico of the Basilica of the Rosary, and then the crowd is allowed to fill Rosary Square.

Many of the groups of pilgrims have banners; the banner bearers also take their final positions on the portico of the Basilica.

The Rosary is prayed during the procession. Each decade is announced with a brief meditation in each of the six languages of Lourdes (French, Italian, Spanish, English, German, and Dutch*). The Our Father and Gloria are prayed in Latin, while the Hail Marys are prayed in different languages (i.e., the first five Hail Marys of the first decade are in French, the next five in Italian, with the first five of the second decade in English, and the second five in German, etc.). A hymn follows each decade: mostly it's a hymn that's sung to the tune we use in English for Immaculate Mary, and the refrain ("Ave, ave, ave Maria; Ave, ave, Maria") is the same. At the refrain, the procession pauses, and everyone raises their candles. This gesture in particular moved me near to tears each time. It takes until about the end of the third decade or beginning of the fourth for the statue to reach its destination. The crowd is dismissed at the end with the Kiss of Peace. I found it all immensely touching. Indeed, it was immensely more moving than the bath, which after all is a largely solitary experience. I think that Our Lady must be pleased.

*Aside: I understand the other five languages, but how did Dutch get in there? I wouldn't have thought of the Netherlands as an origin for Marian pilgrims.

The Water

I don't think that "fetish" is too strong a word to use to describe the attitudes of some of the visitors to the water. At the taps, I saw some people with four and six 5-liter bottles to fill with water. In my literal-minded way, my first thought was "How are they going to get all that home"? Not to mention "What are they going to do with all that water"? In some cases, I'm sure they were collecting water for family and friends, but still...

I think that those who run the sanctuaries are also concerned about the possibilities of excessive devotion to the waters themselves. The little leaflet I picked up at the baths makes the point that

You can have a wonderful pilgrimage without going to the baths. Bernadette only washed her face (the miror of the soul) and drank "a little water".

The deep meaning of the water of Lourdes is inscribed above the place where the taps are located:

"WASH YOUR FACE AND ASK GOD TO PURIFY YOUR HEART".

They also have a Water Walk alongside the river, opposite the Grotto. Each of the nine stations of this water walk focuses on a different scriptural passage related to water.

But yes, I did bring home some water: I bought & filled a little bottle that holds about one fluid ounce.

The Movie

They don't show Song of Bernadette at Lourdes (at least, not on a regular basis). Rather there's a French movie that covers much the same ground, Bernadette. There's a little movie theater near the sancturies that shows it several times a day. It's a little sappy, but more authentic than Song.... There's a sequel, Passion of Bernadette, that covers her life in the convent. I would have liked to see that one, too, but it's only shown a couple of times a week, and I managed to miss both showings. Apparently, Lourdes pilgrims lose interest in Bernadette once the apparitions are over.

Sightseeing, Etc.

Within about a 1/2 mile radius of the sanctuaries, there's little beyond gift shops, hotels, cafes, and the usual tourist traps. Once you escape that half mile, though, Lourdes appears to be quite normal and really very charming. I took the Tourist Train to get a feel for the town, and visited the Chateau Fort with its Pyrenean Museum as well as the Pic du Jer with its funicula.

I also found a truly superb restaurant, Le Magret. I had been looking for something regional and non-touristy and this definitely fit the bill. While I was there, they were offering a foie gras menu: 7 courses (I think), all featuring foie gras de canard, even the ice cream and dessert. Yes, you can make ice cream out of foie gras, and it was amazing. The waiter was a Basque and entirely charming.

Slideshow

And here's a little slideshow (this will open in a new window).

Labels: Lourdes, pilgrimage, Pyrenees, travel

posted at 10:07 PM permalink  0 comments

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

St. Malo Vacation

We had two weeks vacation following Easter, so I took advantage of the opportunity to get out of Paris for a little while. The decision to visit Bretagne was somewhat arbitrary: all I knew was that I wanted to head for the ocean. The decision to opt for St. Malo (new window will open) was even more arbitrary: I can't recall ever having heard of it before. But it's on the coast and the guide books speak favorably of it and it's easy to get to from Paris. I thought about renting a car so that I could explore more of Bretagne while I was there. But the automatics were outrageously expensive, and I didn't much fancy the idea of learning to cope with a manual transmission. As it turned out, I managed to come down with a cold (my very first night even!), which seriously dampened my enthusiasm and stamina for excursions, so it's just as well that I didn't bother with a rental.

I arrived in the afternoon of April 10 and stayed until the morning of April 16. Easter week is a popular vacation time throughout Europe, so there were lots of tourists, especially from England (which is just across the Channel).

The walled city is all cobblestones, narrow, windy streets, and stone buildings. The parts of the city nearest the portes in the wall are the most touristy: restaurants, gift shops, and hotels galore. The gift stores aren't quite as homogenous as usual: some focus on Breton crafts, some on Breton food and drink, some on pirate (whoops, make that corsaire) trinkets. As you move away towards the ocean, it becomes more low key.

History

I took commented tour offered by Le Petit Train de Saint Malo to familiarize myself with the walled city. And so I learned that in the 6th century, an Irish monk named Mach Low visited a hermit, Aaron, who lived on what was then an island. Over the years, "Mach Low" mutated to "Maclou", then to "Malo", and he apparently picked up a sainthood along the way. (Why our hermit friend Aaron got left out of the story was not explained.) The walls for which St. Malo is known were the brainchild of St. Malo's first bishop, Jean de Châtillon, in the 12th century. The buildings are all stone because of a royal decree following a fire in the 14th (?) century that wiped out 3/4 of the buildings. Jacques Cartier, who is credited with discovering Canada, is probably the Malouin best known in North American. However, the corsaire Robert Surcouf seems to be sailor of whom they are most proud. It's said of him that he trained very early at sea and embarked when he was 13 as a ship's boy, became a merchant-captain at 20, and at 22, in 1795, he started chasing the English vessels in the Indian Ocean and earned a reputation as a fearsome corsaire with outstanding spoils. When he was 23, he and his crew of 16 captured a English warship armed with more than 200 sailors. He became one of the richest ship owners in Saint Malo where he died at 54.

The commentary was delivered in both French and English, and there were a few differences in the commentary:

• Saint Malo was nearly totally destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in the original style. (It took over a year just to catalog the building stones.) The "lower city" was destroyed by the Germans. In the English version of the commentary, the "upper city" was destroyed as a result of Allied bombardment, the result of a mistaken assumption that there were Germans still hiding out there. (They were in fact hiding out in the Fort de la Cité.) In the French commentary, American and English bombardment were responsible.
• For centuries, St. Malo was among the richest cities in France. This was largely due to the activities of the corsaires (don't call them pirates*!), 1/3 of whose plunder went to the Crown, 1/3 to the ship owners, leaving the remaining 1/3, and a generous 1/3 it was, to be divided among the crew. In the French commentary, it was made clear that the English were the main involuntary contributors to St. Malo's wealth (with some relatively modest contributions from the Dutch); in the English commentary, St. Malo's benefactors remained anonymous.
  *"Corsaires" had official Crown permission to pursue their activities, hence distinguishing them from freelance pirates.

Day Trip to Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel is just a bus ride (well, okay, two buses: one to Pontorson, the train station for Mont St Michel, and a second one from the station to the Mont itself) away from St Malo. Leaving a little before 10, we arrived at about 11:30; the return trip was slated for 4:00. I was a little worried about being able to fill the time, but that turned out not to be a problem.

Pictures really didn't do much to prepare me for the reality.

The abbey seems to be all of a piece with the mont, as if it had been carved out of the earth itself. And the scale of it is immense: I have trouble picturing it as actually serving as a home to (how many at a time?) monks. I should think it would be very easy for a novice to become disoriented and lose himself for days at a time in its corridors and nooks. (I have the same trouble in the Louvre or Versailles, though, so maybe it's just a failure of imagination.) It's now "staffed" by about a dozen members of Les Fraternités Monastiques de Jerusalem. The men live in the abbey, while the women have a convent in the the town. They're responsible for liturgy and also conduct retreats.

I did the audio guided tour, which, while interesting, didn't yield any memorable insights into the abbey. I also attended the noon Mass. So, between the tour, the Mass, and a late lunch, I had only about 45 minutes for visiting the rest of the town, which was just about right. It's mostly the usual restaurants, gift shops and hotels. There are also innumerable "museums", but if you ask the people leaving them, they'll typically tell you that it's just a musty room with a few stray pictures and uninteresting displays.

Day Trip to Dinard

Another day trip was to Dinard, for no particular reason, except that it was just a 10-minute ferry ride across the channel of St. Malo Bay.

In St. Malo, the tourist season (though not the high season, which is July and August) starts with Easter (or April 1, whichever comes first). Dinard, on the other hand, seems to have only the high season (again July and August) and the off season, so much of it seemed closed for the winter. Even many of the residences looked to be closed for the winter: shutters closed, gates locked, lawns overgrown.

The architecture is particularly distinctive, Victorian ornamentation but rendered in stone:

Dinard was apparently a very popular resort in the late 19th century with wealthy British who built summer homes in their familiar styles with the local building materials.

Slideshow

The rest of the pictures that I judge suitable for viewing are in this slideshow (this will open in a new window).

Labels: Bretagne, pilgrimage, St. Malo, travel

posted at 11:25 PM permalink  0 comments

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Editorial Note #2

Yes, I know I said that I would post more about my trips to St. Malo and to Lourdes, and I will, honest. Pictures and everything.

First, though, I have to survive this week's battery of tests. There was the test in General French on Tuesday, today was Business French, and tomorrow, there's one in Oral French. Then, I'll post about my Easter holidays. I promise.

Labels: Easter, Lourdes, St. Malo, travel

posted at 9:26 PM permalink  0 comments

Friday, April 20, 2007

Second Easter Vacation Trip: Lourdes

I arrived in Lourdes on Wednesday for a brief "pilgrimage" that will last through Sunday. As with the St. Malo trip, I didn't think it worth the trouble to lug my own computer with me, so details and pictures will have to await my return. (It's too hard to write any length using a French keyboard!) But yes, I have participated in the candlelight procession and gone to the baths and lit candles in the grotto.

Labels: Lourdes, travel

posted at 4:54 PM permalink  0 comments

Editorial note

I had intended to write about my trip to St. Malo following my return on Monday, but it didn't work out that way. Well, there were those trips to the post office to pick up packages and letters that had arrived (two different post offices, too, for some reason), and tax returns (snarl) to finish up, and a stray website problem to troubleshoot. So the account and pictures from Bretagne will just have to wait.

Labels: Bretagne, St. Malo, travel

posted at 4:43 PM permalink  0 comments

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Visit to Bretagne

I'm spending part of the Easter vacation in Bretagne, specifically St. Malo. It's a coastal town, and is known for its wall and its past as a "pirate city". I'm very much enjoying being on the sea. I hadn't realized how claustrophobic I was getting in Paris!

While I ordinarily don't do product endorsements here, I have to say that Expedia.fr did very well for me. I'm staying at the Hotel Cartier, which has been recently refurbished and is very centrally located within the walls.

I decided at the last minute against bringing my computer with me, so this posting is from an Internet cafe (with, of course, a French keyboard), so I'll have to wait until I get home to post pictures or provide more details.

Labels: Bretagne, St. Malo, travel

posted at 12:30 PM permalink  0 comments

Friday, December 29, 2006

Arrival in Paris

After talking about it for years (since Mom's and Di's deaths in 2003, to be precise), I've finally arrived in Paris.

I allowed British Air to talk me into an upgrade to business class, which was very comfy. The section was designed to seat 20, but had barely a dozen passengers (which is presumably why they were offering upgrades at such a discount), and we had two flight attendants all to ourselves.

Despite being able to recline at full length, though, I still found myself unable to sleep on the plane.

On the advice of my landlord, I took a taxi from the airport. My cab driver, alarmingly enough, was *not* impressed with my new address. To hear him tell it, there would be junkies and prostitutes on every corner.

The apartment itself is very much as advertised, though. It's very bright and has obviously been recently and carefully renovated. And the building and neighborhood generally are quiet enough at night to belie the cab driver's comments.

I've already made the acquaintance of my neighbor across the hall. She's a widow, with poor eyesight, whom I would estimate to be in her 70's. Her husband was a great friend of my landlord, whom she describes as très génial. She was one of 11 children and was kicked out to make her living at 12. She worked as a maid for 6 years before getting married.

She invited me into her apartment, which is laid out very differently from this one. She has basically one long hallway, with the rooms that let off to the left: a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a bedroom. Judging from the pictures on the walls, she has several children and grandchildren. She is, or was, an accomplished needlewoman: she has several beautifully worked tapestries hanging. She told me proudly that she's been offered a great deal of money for them, but she has refused it, as she worked them for her own pleasure.

I realized when I tucked myself into bed that, no, I had not been truly been prepared for the enormity of what I was doing. "Omigod, I am completely and totally insane." and "What do I do now?" Not only that, but the bed here is tremendously uncomfortable. I wonder if the French think that mattresses with even a tiny bit of give are effete?

Labels: British Air, Paris, travel

posted at 7:16 PM permalink  0 comments