Burgundy vineyards

"delicacies", the virtues of which were once supposed to be curative – gingerbread, black currants, and mustard. [BB,D]

DAY 9 -- FROM BURGUNDY TO PARIS - AFTERNOON SIGHTSEEING
This morning we travel north, through Burgundy's gently rolling and lush fields, passing famous towns like Vézelaye and Chablis. Monks built the oldest surviving wine cellar here in the 12^th century, and the old wine press in the courtyard dates from the same period. Some 700 years later, in the 19^th century, Chablis wines were exported to many parts of the world and the name has now become a household word denoting dry white wines in general. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and indeed many have sought to copy the wines of Chablis in North and South America as well as in Australia.

Vézelaye – the "Eternal Hill" – was one of the most important places of pilgrimage in France. It was a point of departure and assembly for the Crusades and for pilgrims bound for Santiago de Compostela, but most of all it was a magnet for all who wished to see the relics of Mary Magdalen.

Before we reach Paris, we drive through the magnificent forest of Fontainebleau. It was the abundance of game that determined this location to be the hunting grounds of the French kings.

Long before we reach the center of Paris, we recognize on the horizon the silhouette of the most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower.  We will ride up the elevator and will enjoy an unmatched view over all of Paris.  A professional photographer will take our group photo with the famous tower as a very appropriate background.  Every couple, and each single traveler, will receive a complimentary copy of the group photo as a souvenir of the trip. This is the place where you, too, can take your own prize-winning photos of the Eiffel Tower.

The mystique of famous buildings, monuments and paintings is then revealed to us by our local expert and guide: the Opera, the Tuileries Gardens, and the Arc de Triomphe, as well as the hunchback Quasimodo’s beloved Notre Dame. The ghost of a guillotine may be imagined as we pass the Place de la Concorde where many a head rolled during the French Revolution. We return to the present as we pass the fashionable Champs Elysees, known for its chic shops and numerous sidewalk cafes. Vive la France!

The rest of the afternoon is free for shopping at chic boutiques, sampling sinfully delicious pastries at a sidewalk cafe, or wandering through the Louvre Museum to see the Mona Lisa. [BB]

DAY 10-- MONET'S GARDEN IN GIVERNY - PALACE AND GARDENS OF VERSAILLES
This day will likely be one of your favorites when you open the scrapbook of memories in the future. This morning we travel to Giverny, the little town about 50 miles to the northwest of Paris where Claude Monet, the great impressionist painter, lived.  The little house and the four-acre garden on which he lavished so much love have been restored to their former glorious state after being totally neglected for 50 years!

Everything humanly possible has been done to put the whole place back into the condition it was in when Monet lived at Giverny.  The house, the gardens, the furnishings, and his studios are the same.  You can see the garden which inspired some of his finest work ... including the water garden with its Japanese footbridge where he painted the lilies, the willows, and the wisteria which form such a great part of his paintings.

Monet was a simple man who loved the countryside and disliked city life.  During his 43 happy years at Giverny, he seldom left.  The simplicity of the house and the riotous, overwhelming profusion of the flower garden give an interesting insight into Monet's character and a deeper appreciation of his work.

We continue to Versailles, often described as the "palace of palaces", for the tremendous size of its construction and for its splendor and grandeur that just defies description.  How could it be otherwise?  Louis XIV, the "Sun King" considered himself the very center of the universe, around whom everything revolved like planets around the Sun, so such a man would, of necessity, have a palace equal to the size of his ego.

His court numbered 20,000 people. Included in this number were 9,000 soldiers and 9,000 servants for the 1,000 nobles living at the court. What can one say about Versailles that has not already been said?  It took 50 years to build.  Our modern minds can hardly comprehend the concept of 36,000 men, and 6,000 horses laboring simultaneously on this gigantic project.  A river had to be diverted and a "mere" 37,000 acres of land had to be drained before construction of the palace and gardens could even begin.  The grandeur of Versailles was such that it became the ambition of every king and prince in Europe to build a Versailles of his own.  Its style is indelibly stamped on similar constructions throughout the western world.

Our visit here includes entrance to, and a tour of, the sumptuous interior, including the magnificent Hall of Mirrors in which the Peace Treaty was signed which ended World War I.

The Gardens of Versailles are, in their way, as magnificent as the palace itself and not just merely a setting for it.  Just as the building itself can be regarded as a gigantic work of art, so too can be the gardens.  They cover 250 acres so you will have to be selective in what you wish to see. The grounds are organized around the Grand Canal, an ornamental body of water covering 105 acres and measuring more than four miles around its waterline. The main axis extends the vista infinitely westward between a rank of tall Italian poplars whose proud silhouettes can be seen just beyond the water. At the head of the canal, buildings called Little Venice evoke gondoliers with their gondolas, yachts and galleys, comprising a whole fleet used for outings, concerts, and nautical festivities.

After our return to Paris, you may want to stroll in Montmartre  

Vézelaye

In Monet's garden at Giverny

Louvre Museum