France for Freebooters

Vivienne Mackie visits Provins, which has been a World Heritage Site since December 13^th, 2001.

This pretty medieval town is easily accessible from Paris (a 2-hour drive), so is perfect for an overnight stay.

Provins skyline

The initial approach to Provins doesn’t look that inspiring, although you can see the tower and the cathedral high on the hill, and doesn’t prepare for what you actually find: a wonderful, partly walled Medieval town. Follow the signs to Old Town, which take you first up the hill around the back past the Visitors Centre, a very friendly place where you can get a good map, lists of restaurants and hotels etc. We found a great “gite” that way. (www.provins.net ).

More than a mile of crenellated ramparts circles the haute ville (upper town), which we entered through the Jouy Gate. Restoration work is being done on one of the old 13^th century entry gates—St-Jean’s Gate—plus on parts of the walls and ramparts but that doesn’t detract from how spectacular they are.

Provins walls

Provins was famous in the 12^th and 13^th centuries for its huge trading fairs, or foires, after the Counts of Champagne introduced a passport of safe passage across their territory for merchants. Carts and wagons full of goods from all over Europe and further thronged the streets—cloth merchants from Flanders, Lombardy money-changers, spice merchants from the Orient, poets and intellectuals.

The center of the upper town is the Place du Châtel, a large square (with easy parking) surrounded by half-timbered buildings and several cafes, including some good creperies. In the center, the well and the Exchange Cross date from the 13^th century. The cross was used as a public notice board for the edicts of the counts.

The upper town is crowned by the 12^th-century Tour César (Caesar’s Tower), a turreted, fortified keep that overlooks the fertile countryside. We also visited the domed Saint-Quiriace Collegiate Church, erected in the 12^th century, but never completed due to the French kingdom’s financial difficulties. The dome was built in the 17^th century following a fire.

Of note is also the Grange aux Dîmes (Tithe Barn), a huge 13^th-century building used by merchants during the fairs to sell their wares. If you have time (we didn’t) you can also visit the Underground Galleries.

A stroll the following day took us down to the ville basse (lower town).

Rose de Provins

Walking on the narrow cobble-stoned streets, lined with grey stone buildings, or lovely half-timbered houses painted in different colors, brings alive the atmosphere of long ago—it’s easy to imagine the folk in the previous centuries walking around and living here, as the atmosphere and surroundings are very evocative of the past. Peer up or down very narrow alleys, marvel at huge stone doorways.

The presence of history is very strong. But, it’s also a modern town, living in the present, and celebrating its past. Typical boulangeries, boucheries, charcuteries are busy and stand next to modern ATMs and banks, and a Monoprix store was bustling that Sunday morning. It’s interesting how a supermarket and all the small speciality shops seem to co-exist quite happily. The section of old town down the hill has a very pretty pedestrian street, both it and the Mairie (Town Hall) gorgeous with thousands of brightly colored chrysanthemums in the autumn. The Mairie is literally draped with chrysanthemums, all carefully tended and trained on wire frames.

The old Saint-Ayoul Church was busy that Sunday morning—families with small kids talking and romping, even a dog sitting patiently at the door. People are going about the business of daily living in this amazing historical town. The square in front of this church was one of the earliest commercial and trade fair areas and has been rebuilt many times since the 11^th century. The portal is modern, by sculptor Georges Jeanclos.

One of the counts of Champagne—Count Thibaud IV— brought back the ‘Damascus rose’ from the crusades. This ancestor of present-day rose varieties was formerly known for its medicinal properties. The Damascus rose, which features in Provins as part of their heraldry, is sweet-scented and sweet-tasting and rose petals are used in wines, jams, honeys, ice cream etc.

You can also catch a train from Paris’s gare de l’Est (80 minutes each way). Make sure you get a map of how to get to the old town from the more modern train station at the bottom of the hill.

According  to Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, president and co-founder of the e-commerce site PriceMinister, online sales of unwanted Christmas presents will rise to around 3 million this week, compared with 2 million last year. Most of it is desirable stuff that has been heavily promoted – smartphones, the last Harry Potter DVD, Steve Jobs’ biography…

The reasons for immediate sale are :

• Receiving more than one of the same thing.
• Not getting the model that suited them best.

A week or so later, people start selling off stuff they have enjoyed but realise they will not use again, like the DVD they’ve watched ten times, and things they have never tried before but now realise they will not ever use, like smartphones and tablets.

Although traditionalists may find this shocking, it has its positive side. Instead of getting lost in the back of a cupboard, or ending up in the dechetterie, these brand-new items will be bought for around 20-40% below list price, and give real pleasure to someone else.

Since the French distribute presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, the online sales start early. Kosciusko-Morizet says his site registered it first big surge of selling at 9:00 p.m. on 24 December, and was back in full swing around 8:00 a.m. on Christmas day.

Vivienne Mackie takes us down into the sewers of Paris.

For most, Paris conjures up images of the River Seine, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and the iconic Eiffel Tower. But, beyond these icons are many other museums and sights that in any other place would be significant attractions. Paris also has a number of off-the-beaten-track treasures, one of which is Les Égouts, or the Sewers. Apparently tours of the sewer system have been popular since the 1800s during Victor Hugo’s time, so the off-beat has been around in this city for quite a while. Tourists were moved in the sewer tunnels in carts suspended from the walkways on the tunnel walls, and later by small carriages pulled by a locomotive. Nowadays it’s much easier.

Why an interest in the sewers of Paris?

Paris street sign

It’s a slightly round-about story that’s linked to Paris street signs. We always note the street signs in the city as they are often named after people who contributed to society or somehow left their mark.  They were philosophers, scientists, writers, politicians, artists and architects. (For example, Rue Cler after a military general). So, it’s an easy way to take in a bit more French and/or Parisian history. One such sign we found was rue Bruneseau in the 13th with the explanation, “Créateur des égouts”. Monsieur Bruneseau may have made one of the most significant contributions—to Paris and to the rest of the world – as modern-style sewers are one of the most important inventions that caused life expectancy to double.

Entrance to Paris sewers and museum

So we decided we had to check out the sewers. It’s actually very easy to visit this strange underground attraction. The entrance is beside the Pont de l’Alma, with a huge blue sign on the Quai d’Orsay.  From the bridge is a good view of the Eiffel Tower and the boats on the river. Parisian school kids regularly come on this tour, so if possible try to visit on a day when it’s not mobbed by excited young people.

This museum is really different from your mainstream city attraction. It’s part museum, about the history and development of the sewers, and water sanitation and purification since the Romans. And it’s partly a mini-tour of a small section of the sewers here. As I walk down the steps, into the underground of these Paris sewers, I can’t help feeling overtones of Hades and the River Styx. But, it turns out not to be gloomy or scary at all. It’s a self-guided tour with a brochure, and boards in the museum section, so you can stroll at a leisurely pace, reading all the signs and really gaining an understanding of how important this complex and highly-organized underground system really is. Sometimes free guided tours are available.

Explanatory sign in Paris sewer museum

The first underground system in Paris was constructed in 1370 and kings and governments since then enlarged the system as the city population expanded. The current 1,305-mile network of tunnels was constructed during the reign of Napoleon III, and is considered one of Baron Haussman’s finest achievements. If laid end to end, the tunnels would reach from Paris to Istanbul, apparently. It’s amazing how much is underground in the city, which is apparent when looking at this, and from watching the tunnels when going on the train and metro. The sewers also house freshwater pipes, telephone wires, traffic-light cables, and other utilities, and used to have the city’s pneumatic postal network (which was shut down in 1984).

Paris sewer tunnel

The sewer tour includes a film, photographic exhibition, a museum hall, and a walk through the 18-foot-high by 14-foot-wide tunnels or on raised walkways above the actual sewage. In the past, you could do an underground boat cruise, but they were stopped after a bank heist in which the robbers made their getaway via the sewers. The museum has artifacts from way back, including old dredging boats, filters, de-sanders and work boots. We also see huge balls, used for cleaning out the tunnels.
As we wander we gain a better understanding of the history and importance of these sewers, and get a real feeling for the atmosphere down here. What hits us first is the smell. The smell is dank and musty, just off-awful, so take a deep breath and hold it a while then breathe through your mouth a bit till you adjust. Next is the sound – the sound of rushing water, glinting under the grates; some pipes dripping with condensate, shining blackly. It’s dark down there, but is well-lit, and the ventilation is good.

Short History

Before these sewers were built in the mid-1800s, the life expectancy of average Parisians was only 30 years. The Parisians dumped their waste right outside their doorsteps.  All this waste eventually found its way to the River Seine, which had then to supply the city’s drinking water.  Waste in the streets and filthy drinking water led to much illness and death, especially from typhoid and cholera outbreaks.  One solution, which didn’t change the problem, was to build mini-sewers in the middle of the roads with a collection trough just underground (but still exposed) that let the waste flow to the Seine.

Pipes sharing a Paris sewer tunnel

In the late 1700s Paris twice refused to build an updated water system, even though scientists recommended it. Voltaire criticized this refusal, and later even Louis Pasteur lost some of his children to typhoid. Under Napoleon 1 the first big breakthrough came: the first vaulted sewer network was built. Between 1805-1812 a man called Pierre-Emmanuel Bruneseau, the city’s municipal works inspector and a friend of Victor Hugo, was commissioned to undertake the building of many miles of new sewer. He laid new lines, extended the sewer tunnels, and disinfected and purified the whole network.
It’s all described by Victor Hugo in his 1862 monumental work, Les Misérables.
The next big breakthrough came with Napoleon III. Napoleon III and his advisors made the connection between wastewater, the need for clean drinking water, and disease, so in about 1850 he commissioned a huge new sewage system that would have a double water supply, one for drinking water and one for non-drinking water. He appointed Baron Haussmann, the prefect for the Seine, and Eugene Belgrand, an engineer, to design something underground to make Paris healthy and stench-free.
What exists now is an incredibly modern, very efficient underground system that collects and cleans wastewater and storm water before it is dumped (downstream) into the Seine, which still supplies drinking water.  Tout à l’égout (everything to the sewer) is now the motto (and the rule) for all water in Paris. The water eventually makes its way to enormous water treatment facilities in Achéres or Noisy-le-Grand.

What makes Paris’ Sewers Special?

An interesting feature of the Paris sewer is that it’s a complete underground network dug under streets and boulevards.  No other city in the world has a sewer network quite like this one in Paris. As mega cities develop the question of waste and sewage control becomes more and more relevant and perhaps they can learn from Paris. Each street in Paris, even if small, has its own sewer.  The tunnels are named for the streets that lie directly above them.  That sewer collects waste only from that street.  Longer streets have more than one collection basin. Victor Hugo wrote about the sewers in Les Misérables, saying there is a mirror of Paris under herself.  “Paris has beneath it another Paris; a Paris of sewers; which has its streets, its crossings, its squares, its blind-alleys, its arteries, and its circulation, which is of mire and minus the human form.”  (Les Misérables, Vol. V, Book II, Ch. 1)

Besides the history of the sewers, the museum also covers the current ecology of the river area. The quality of water is much better now, even compared to 20 years ago. Fish and birds are back in the river.

The tour ends with a Wallace Fountain and a bathroom (not linked!).   These Wallace Fountains (named after the English philanthropist – Sir Richard Wallace – who conceived and funded them) are in the form of green cast-iron caryatids in a circle with water coming up in the middle. They are dotted around the city and have become as much a symbol of the city as the Eiffel. The water is fine to drink—I’ve seen police filling their water bottles, school kids slurping, and old Parisiennes, loaded with shopping bags, lean and fill their cups.

For a good general article see Europe for Visitors

Admission charge: €4.30 for adults, €3.50 for 6-16.
Open Saturday-Wednesday, May-September 11am-6pm, October-April 11am-5pm. Closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and for two weeks in January for maintenance.
Address: Quai d’Orsay and Pont d’Alma
Entrance at ground level between Quai d’Orsay and the Seine. Look for the blue and white sign and the booth behind it.
Metro: Alma-Marceau (line 9)
RER: Pont d’Alma Line C

I often check my website stats to find out how people find this site. Occasionally, like today, I discover a site that fills in the gaps in my somewhat personal offering.

If you regularly take family holidays in France, take a look at France for Families . The Harding and King families are doing what you do, and they pass on their knowledge. Yes, there are plenty of ads on the site, but there are also plenty of up-to-date links to stuff they have experienced personally, and advice based on their own experiences. They even publish a newsletter – something I’ve been too busy (otherwise occupies? lazy?) to do myself.

Like the British, the French have several proverbs (old wives’ tales, if that’s what you’d rather call them) about the weather. Here is a selection:

RAINY SAINTS’ DAYS

‘St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
Saint Swithin’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.’
Saint Swithun (the preferred spelling) was Saxon Bishop of Winchester.
Saint Swithun’s day is 15th July.

À la Saint Thierry aux champs jour et nuit;
s’il pleut à la Visitation, pluie à discrétion.
(St Thierry’s day  is 1st July,  la Visitation is 2nd July)

À Saint Henri suée, mauvaise moissonnée.
(St Henri’s day is 15th July)

S’il pleut à la Saint Médard, la récolte diminue d’un quart.

S’il pleut à la St Médard, le tiers des biens est au hasard.

S’il pleut à la Saint-Médard, Il pleut quarante jours plus tard
Mais vient le bon saint Barnabé Qui peut encore tout raccommoder
(Saint Médard is 8th June, and St Barnabé is 11 June)

S’il pleut pour la Saint Paterne, l’été sèche ta citerne.
(There are 4 different St Paternes. I presume the proverb refers to the oldest and most important, who was the first bishop of Vannes in the 4th century AD. His day is 16th April)

S’il pleut le jour de l’Ascension, tout s’en va en perdition.

SUNSET AND SUNRISE

Red sky at night,  shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning.

Ciel rouge le soir laisse bon espoir, ciel rouge le matin, pluie en chemin.

Le jour de la Saint Vincent, si le soleil luit comme un chapeau, on aura du vin à pleins tonneaux.

(Saint Vincent’s Day is 22nd January)

WARM WEATHER

Till April’s dead, change not a thread.

Ne’er cast a clout till May be out.  (Actually, this May probably refers to hawthorn blossom rather than the month).

En mars crains les frimas, en avril ne te découvres pas d’un fil, en mai, fais ce qui te plaît.

(Since France is further south than England, winter is safely over a bit earlier).

Henry VIII did England a disservice. Think of all the saints’ days and associated proverbs we have lost.

Over 3 million tourists a year pay a visit to Mont Saint Michel, a mediaeval town dominated by a Bénédictine abbey, perched on a granite outcrop sticking out of a sandy bay. How many of these have visited the  underground chapel called Notre-Dame-sous-Terre, built around 970 AD?

A few metres from this is a dark, mysterious collection of cells. Somewhere for unruly monks to serve their penances? No. They were first used to incarcerate the enemies of Louis XI during the 100 Years’ War.

Later, during the French Revolution, the island was renamed ‘Mont libre’ but used almost exclusively as a prison, holding up to 700 inmates – dissident priests, criminals, and royalist rebels known as Chouans. This practice continued until the abbey was restored to the Bénédictines in 1865.

Creative Commons photo by http://www.all-free-photos.com/

UFO crashes in ball of fire in the middle of France

We get a lot of contrails, and some beautiful clouds, in our quiet corner of the Limousin. Sometimes I take photos, and sometimes I can’t resist a little spoof. How’s this for a pic of a UFO (Objet Volant Non-Identifié – OVNI) falling out of the sky in a trail of smoke, ending in an immense fireball?

The photo is exactly as it came from the camera. I have not retouched it at all.

Are you looking for ways to practise and improve your French? Talking to your neighbours is an obvious start, but what if they don’t share some of your interests and hobbies? What if you live deep in rural France and want someone to discuss things that are outside your neighbours’ ken?

I have found an excellent answer, even if it does nothing for my command of spoken French – using Facebook to find French people who share my interests. Sailing was the focus of my life until I got married, and it still had a place after that. Now I’m too old and I live a long way from the water, but I started looking for sailing folk to chat to on Facebook. In my youth I spent most of my time competing in sailing races, but now I am just as interested in classic sailing craft and the people who lovingly restore and sail them.

At first, I befriended English yachtsmen, but since many of these regularly crossed the Channel to France, I linked to their French friends. The next thing I knew, I was joining groups that were predominantly French, who wrote in French (although some of them spoke good English, too). Now I write several messages a day in French, but I am also absorbing a surprising amount of fairly high-level French culture. My friends are often artists and craftsmen, but many them seem to have a broad education. I end up in discussions about art, poetry, history and naval architecture as well as day-to-day boating life.

Whatever your interests, try finding like-minded friends on Facebook and gradually slide across into a Francophone world. It’s much more exciting and challenging than pen friends used to be in childhood days.

Well, we’ve had plenty of snow, but the weather got warmer yesterday. Most resorts open properly on 11 Dec, although some had a few lifts open this weekend, but off-piste skiers will have been taking advantage of the heavy snowfalls in  the big ski areas already.

The problem with doing this is that you have to be very knowledgeable about snow conditions and the likelihood of avalanches. Already one pair of off-piste skiers (in their 50s, so presumably quite experienced) has died in an avalanche in the Isère region, and it looks as if their own passage triggered the fall that buried them. Watch the video below to understand a bit more about avalanche conditions and how to predict them.

Looking at the beginning of that video, I can see the fractured slabs clearly, before the skier arrives. Did they fracture after the organisers had done their tests?

For centuries, oysters have been traditional fare during the Christmas season. In France, 70 percent of oysters are eaten at Christmas and New Year, and there is a historical reason for this.

People have eaten oysters in France since the time of Asterix and the Romans, but they were not farmed. By the 17th century their numbers were visibly decreasing, so a royal edict banned eating them except when there was an ‘r’ in the name of the month, to preserve the population. (Yes, that’s where the saying comes from – nothing to do with their being risky to eat in warm weather). Now, it’s a solidly-established tradition.

Native French oysters are flat (plates), which are still produced in parts of Brittany, but most of the ones sold in France are ‘cupped’ (creuses), a quarter of them coming from Normandy. Legend says that these were introduced to the south west of France when a Portuguese ship sank, and became more popular than the local ones. However, in the 1970s French oysters were nearly wiped out by disease, and producers now use a Japanese variety.

Normandy oysters are meaty, with a strong taste of the sea, because they are not brought into less salty claires to finish them before harvesting. They are gradually moved into shallower water, ending up high and dry at low tide. This makes them more muscular, and ensures that they stay tightly shut on their way to your table.

If you enjoy French oysters, make the most of them now. They take about 4 years to mature, and in recent years an unprecedented number of young ones have been dying for unknown reasons. They’ll be scarcer and more expensive soon.

French oyster tourism Sorry, I am not allowed to embed this vidoe, but you really should watch it.

Meanwhile, it seems that a declining oyster population has had an environmental impact on Chesapeake Bay.