It took the better part of a day and four different trains to get from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland. What a beautiful part of the world and a lovely adventure to get there. Though Astrid frowned on my idea – jumping roof to roof on the train cars. Spoil sport…

When we made the decision to leave Zermatt and skip the rest of Switzerland due to poor weather we were heartbroken. Bernese Overland was going to be a trip highlight but knowing they were calling for rain, ice and snow (and temps below the freezing point), well we knew that meant low cloud, little to no hiking, limited visibility on any cable cars or gondolas and we figured it just wasn’t meant to be. So, we rerouted ourselves, hopping the train back to Visp en route to our connecting high-speed train that would carry us to Florence. It was a full day of travel, but who doesn’t love to ride the rails.

The train ride was general uneventful. Breathtaking scenery, epic mountains, blah blah blah – we had pretty much gotten used to the fact that this is how we roll. Save for a rather undescribedly unhygienic pack of teenage boys on the ride from Zermatt to Visp and some rockin’ music from another group, we quietly enjoyed the scenery and had some downtime on iPad catching up on our HBO – Astrid glued to The Affair, me starting True Detective.

As I said, it was a full day of travel from Zermatt to Florence, and when we arrived, it was like a monsoon as we marched our way from the train station to our hotel about 10 minutes away. Because we had booked it from Switzerland early, I’d found us a hotel on booking.com. Much nicer than we would have needed, but options were slim at the last-minute and we got a really good rate.

We arrived in the lobby, dripping, like a pair of wet dogs that had run straight from a rainstorm outside into a formal living room. My favourite line from the hotel front desk – as I looked confused as to why the bellman was hovering well into my personal space – “Miss, he’d like to take your backpack”, because it (and I) were causing a massive puddle on their spotless, polished marble floor.

But, that’s a story for another time….stay tuned.

CKD

Probably the country I was most excited to see was Switzerland. Sure we live here in the foothills of the Rockies and I grew up surrounded by the coastal mountains of British Columbia. But as Astrid liked to explain to those who asked “Why the Alps?”, these mountains are different that those mountains.

Our Swiss leg originally was to involve a couple of stops – the first being Zermatt, most famous for being the second location for the Matterhorn. With Disneyland, of course, being the typical North American’s first encounter with this majestic mountain. And I’ve been asked – the one in Zermatt is SO much cooler.

Our second planned stop was to be the Bernese Overland – specifically Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald.  Sadly, the weather turned on us on day two in Zermatt so this became our only stop in this beautiful and expensive country, complete with exceptionally efficient and well-run rail service. But, the point of this post isn’t to whine about where we didn’t get to go, rather to tell you all about our adventure in Zermatt.

First – the background…thanks again to our friends at Wikipedia we can tell you that Zermatt in the district of Visp and is primarily in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais. A canton, we learned, is like a province or state. 

There are about 5,800 residents in Zermatt and during our visit – remember it was inter season – about two dozen tourists. It’s a pretty tiny place, you can probably walk from one end of the other in about half an hour.  From what I can tell, there are 3 main drags, all running along the banks of the river Matter Vispa – which rises at the glaciers at the feet of the highest peaks – Gorner Glacier (east) and Zmutt Glacier (west).  Many of the cross streets cut around the train station and the local church – which seemingly is the centre of ‘town”.

The little village – which could have been taken straight out of a children’s book – was EMPTY during our visit! While we had been warned, I still expected a bit more hustle and bustle, even though it was inter-season. Most things were closed and that which was open seemed to be under some form of construction.

The upside to this – no lines and no need for our #donttouchme hashtag. The downside was the restaurants that had been recommended to us were closed and I feel like, after the lovely vibe of Chamonix, we missed out on truly getting a real feel for Zermatt and why everyone I talked to who has been loves it so much. A return visit during ski or hiking season will be necessary. Perhaps when we finally make it to the Bernese Overland – hopefully soon at that!

Wikipedia tell me – though likely if I had a map with me (as Astrid always does) I could figure this out myself – that the town lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), at the foot of Switzerland’s highest peaks. The town of Zermatt lies at the southern end of the Matter Valley, which is one of the lateral branches of the great Valley of the Rhone.

Until the mid-19th century, it was predominantly an agricultural community; the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 was followed by a rush on the mountains surrounding the village, leading to the construction of many tourist facilities.

It is well known as a mountaineering destination and of course, ski resort. You can actually ski year-round if you really wanted to. We watched a few seasoned pros climb on and off the gondola as we traveled the gondola to the Glacier Mountain Paradise and on the lower slopes where tourists who likely had just strapped a pair of planks on for the first time, and likely never seen snow before.

Wikipedia says “The name of Zermatt, first as Zur Matte (“at the meadow”) and became later Zermatt. It does not appear until 1495 on a map or 1546 in a text, but may have been employed long before. Praborno or Prato Borno (prato also means meadow) are the older names of Zermatt; they appear in the ancient maps as early as the thirteenth century.

Despite being quiet, we didn’t lack for fun things to do. After checking into the Hotel Bristol, we made quick work of getting our shots with the Matterhorn. One of the things I had read was that she is a bit shy – and if the weather and clouds are not on your side, you can go days (or even an entire visit) without seeing her.

From there, we took some time to reflect on the lives lost – as memorialized in the tiny Mountaineers cemetery next to the church. Here there were gravestones that dated back to the 1800’s and many of families had gone to lengths to ensure the decor (?) of the stones reflected the individuals passion for the mountains and the risky sport. 

From there, we walked up and down the main streets doing a little shopping for Astrid’s boys and maybe even for ourselves. 

We encountered the Matterhorn Museum – and Astrid, powerless to not increase her educational levels – suggested we drop in. What a cute little place – the audio tour was done by some folksy guy – think he was the founder of the museum and the place was a dorky and kitschy as you’d expect a tiny museum in this tiny little town to be.

Our second day in Zermatt, we rose to sketchy weather so we booked it up top to the Glacier Mountain Paradise.  Astrid will likely provide a second blog with more geological significance, but for me it was simply a beautiful ride up and another spectacular adventure. We rose in elevation to of over 12,000 feet – and you bet the air was thin! 

On a clear day – and that was not the case the day we were there – the views from the observation platform include Mount Blanc (4,810 metres) – which is the highest mountains in the Alps (and part of our Chamonix adventures) and the summit of the Grand Paradiso (4,061 metres), which is Italy’s highest mountain. Normally you should also be able to see the Matterhorn. We – sadly – saw none of those, but had a grand old time taking snapshots from the platform in the cold, with crazy gusts of wind blowing us around. Astrid kept squinting into the clouds in hopes of getting a glimpse of Matterhorn but it felt like a lost cause. For true Mountaineers – unlike ourselves – you can scale this 4,164 metre climb in about 2 1/2 hours.

The other highlight from our time at top of Europe was the glacier cave, which provided endless entertainment with ice sculptures, a ice slide and a mini Matterhorn. A visit to a glacier cave would also not be complete without an educational video, which had cute little egg-shaped chairs viewers could sit in, the best part being that they were heated which was sure welcome after that gusty outdoor platform.

We had originally intended to descend only to the mid-point and then hike out to town in the cool but decent weather we had left on the ground. We quickly realized as we began our ride down through snow and then rain that we would need to abort that plan. As we got closer and closer to town the rain came down heavier and heavier. It was a teaming, wet walk back to our hotel, but we were sure glad we’d started the day as early as we did – I don’t think we would have wanted to miss that for the world.

We agreed that night – after checking the forecasts – that going further into Switzerland simply wasn’t a good idea.

The weather called for ice, snow, rain, low cloud and overnight temperatures below the freezing mark. Hell, we can get that in Alberta in May, we thought, and knowing it was 25 and sunny in Italy we made our move.

Next up – adventures from Florence. Stay tuned….

CKD

Writers note: Our friends at Wikipedia assisted with facts and history for this post. Writer has cited where referenced as possible, but for more information and a complete look at Zermatt, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt

While we covered our time in Chamonix, France fairly extensively while we were on the road. Upon returning to Calgary and uploading my SLR camera files, I found some pretty great shots that I thought were worth sharing with those still following along with our adventure.  The similarities to BC mountains and the spectacular mountain views of Canmore here in Alberta seem to be how I describe our time there. Hope you enjoy these shots – certain brings back the awe and amazement of that portion of our trip. So beautiful.

 

 

We had some trouble with wifi during our time in Florence so we fell behind on our blogging.  Shockingly a 500 year old building  – next to what once was a women’s prison (more on that later) had spotty coverage.

Tourism took over and we are now back to “real life” in Calgary. Not wanting to leave our audience mid-story, the rest of our trip will be blogged as quickly as we can get to it.  Clearly, touring 3 countries in 23 days plus running a real-time blog was a bit ambitious.

Now, that we are back online, I am taking you back to Paris…

As you might imagine, there are endless museum choices throughout Paris and the Paris Museum Pass, while pricey, is your best friend for line hopping. Before we left, lots of advice and suggestions were made about which museums were a “must see”. For Cecily, Musee d”Orsay  and the Musee Rodin were top of this list. For Astrid, time spend in this historic Musee du Louvre was important. We also searched out Napoleon’s Tomb to begin the “I see dead people” Instagram series that tracked the various graves and tombs of significant people in European history who crossed our paths.

It would take hours to talk about each of these museums and this blog post – with lots of photos – is far too long as it is. Each museum offered amazing exhibits, and each had some “key works” that we wanted to see – like all the other tourists did – up close and personal. Here is a summary of those four- Musee du Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Musee Rodin and Eglise du Dome Church at the Hotel des Invalides where Napolean’s tomb rests.

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Musee de Louvre:

The Musee du Louvre apparently has one of the largest – and some might argue – most important art collections in the world.  Its been around for centuries and it is fricken huge!  There are more than 35,000 works of art displayed in this museum.  Its history is long and complicated but the short version is that through the centuries kings and emperors all wanted to build upon and enlarge the space.

It seems it was Francois I that built the Renaissance style building and is also thought to have started the Louvre’s collection with 12 stolen italian works, including the Mona Lisa. Its glory days were in the 17th century (Louis XIV) who loved the arts and this is when works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Titian were added.  Even Napoleon – known for the worst eye for art of any French leader in history – also added to the collection that was looted during his years of victory. In recent years a glass pyramid structure was built to serve as the entrance to the museum (photos below), which apparently and unsurprising became quite controversial.

For us, knowing it was more than we could ever see in one trip – and knowing about 30,000 visit the galleries each day – we make a napkin list of highlights and set forth.

The Portrait of the Mona Lisa – the word on the street is that it is tiny and, yes, that is true, but it was larger than I expected. You always hear it is the size of a postage stamp. I’d say its more like the size of a small poster. What is truly unfortunate about seeing her is the crowd. There are so many people crowded around that the routine is basically politely (we are Canadian after all) shove your way through the hoards of people until you are close enough to the exhibit, take your selfie and then quickly admire this classic painting before someone shoves you out-of-the-way. Photographs of such well-known works of art are also problematic because the art is often encased in a plexiglass because the general public cannot be trusted not to touch or otherwise attempt to destroy them.  But, on the artistic bucket list, this one now has a check mark.

Venus de Milo – was found in 1820 on the Greek island of Milo and named on this island where it was discovered.  According to our friends at Wikipedia – it is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. Created sometime between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty (Venus to the Romans). It is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life-size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high. The arms and original plinth were lost following its discovery. From an inscription that was on its plinth, it is thought to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch; earlier, it was mistakenly attributed to the master sculptor Praxiteles. It is currently on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Winged Victory of Samothrace – Likely my favourite of the three, perched atop a staircase and flooded in daylight, it is also called the Nike of Samothrace. It as described as a 2nd-century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess NIke (Victory).  Since 1884, it has been prominently displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world. As a side note, how many of you knew that Nike translated into “Victory” (other than Amy Tam-Naulty)….hands please? I thought so…

Wikipedia  also tells us that The Winged Victory of Samothrace, discovered in 1863, is estimated to have been created around 200–190 BC. It is 8 feet (2.44 metres) high. It was created to not only honor the goddess, Nike, but to honor a sea battle. It conveys a sense of action and triumph as well as portraying artful flowing drapery, as though the goddess was descending to alight upon the prow of a ship. Modern excavations suggest that the Victory occupied a niche above a theater and also suggest it accompanied an altar that was within view of the ship monument of Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337–283 BC).

Rendered in grey and white Thasian and Parian marble, the figure originally formed part of the Samothrace temple complex dedicated to the Great gods, Megaloi Theoi. It stood on a rostral pedestal of gray marble from Lartos representing the prow of a ship (most likely a trihemiolia), and represents the goddess as she descends from the skies to the triumphant fleet. Before she lost her arms, which have never been recovered, Nike’s right arm is believed to have been raised, cupped round her mouth to deliver the shout of Victory. The work is notable for its convincing rendering of a pose where violent motion and sudden stillness meet, for its graceful balance and for the rendering of the figure’s draped garments, compellingly depicted as if rippling in a strong sea breeze.  The statue’s outstretched right-wing is a symmetric plaster version of the original left one.

As with the arms, the figure’s head has never been found, but various other fragments have since been found: in 1950, a team led by Karl Lehmann unearthed the missing right hand of the Louvre’s Winged Victory. The fingerless hand had slid out of sight under a large rock, near where the statue had originally stood; on the return trip home, Dr Phyllis Williams Lehmann identified the tip of the Goddess’s ring finger and her thumb in a storage drawer at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, where the second Winged Victory is displayed; the fragments have been reunited with the hand,^[6] which is now in a glass case in theLouvre next to the podium on which the statue stands.

For more on the Louvre Museum, visit: http://www.louvre.fr/en

The controversial pyramid entrance at the Louvre – excited and ready to tackle the crowds
  The Winged Victory of Samothrace

The swarms of tourists trying to get a shot of the Portrait of the Mona Lisa. Smart phones, SLRs and Selfie’s abound. #donttouchme

C’est Moi!

We took a moment to sit in the hallway outside the area where the Mona Lisa was hung, partly to brace ourselves for the crowds. We also wanted to sit quietly and watch this artist at work!

Astrid is a big fan of Egyptian history so we also spent time in that wing of the museum. Here she is trying to replicate a statue’s pose.  Not unlike how we all at some point in our lives have tried to “Vogue…”

Musee D’Orsay:

By far, this was the museum – across the entire trip – I was most exited to see, well, other than the Catacombs of Paris (more on that to come).  Several people told me that if there was only one museum we visited in Paris, this should be the one. The building was originally a train station and has a huge clock tower right in its centre. There are apparently also bee hives on the roof (which we did not happen to see). It is well-known for its amazing collection on Impressionists works.  Also, a welcome surprise was a fourth floor exhibit of works for furniture. We are both amidst some home renovations & decorating so it was a fun space to imagine how each of intriguing and unusual pieces of furniture might fit into our respective decor schemes.

According to the museum’s website “the museum building was originally a railway station, Gare d’Orsay, constructed for theChemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans and finished in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle to the design of three architects: Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard and Victor Laloux. It was the terminus for the railways of southwestern France until 1939. The national museum of the Musée d’Orsay opened to the public on 9 December 1986 to show the great diversity of artistic creation in the western world between 1848 and 1914. It was formed with the national collections coming mainly from three establishments:”

• from the Louvre museum, for the works of artists born after 1820 or coming to the fore during the Second Republic;
• from the Musée du Jeu de Paume, which since 1947 had been devoted to Impressionism;
• and lastly from the National Museum of Modern Art, which, when it moved in 1976 to the Centre Georges Pompidou, only kept works of artists born after 1870.

But each artistic discipline represented in the Musée d’Orsay collections has its own history, which you can dig into on their website at: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/history-of-the-collections/home.html

Major sculptors includes François Rude, Jules Cavelier, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Auguste Rodin, Paul Gauguin, Camille Claudel,Sarah Bernhardt and Honoré Daumier.

There are far too many amazing sculptures, paintings and artists to mention them all but some well know pieces – The Birth of Venus, Blue Water Lilies, Starry Night over the Rhone, Apples and Oranges as well as The Card Players (Cezanne), a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, The Circus, (Sevrat), The painting family, The sick child (Carriere) and the Luncheon on the Grass.

As luck would have it for us, a small exhibit of Picasso’s work is also on display until June 2015 – (citing http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/overview/actualites/the-museum-in-motion.html#c84991).

The Femme en vert (Dora) [Woman in Green, Dora]painting by Pablo Picasso

This exceptional loan from the Fondation Beyeler provides a dramatic conclusion, in contrast with the works presented in the Impressionist gallery.  Fifty years elapsed between this portrait produced by Pablo Picasso in February 1944, representing in all likelihood his companion Dora Maar, and La femme à la cafetière [Woman with a Coffeepot] by Cézanne.

Nevertheless, many aspects of this canvas are reminiscent of Cézanne’s artwork: the portrait, based on the aspect ratio of volumes, is treated as a still life, recalling his predecessor’s desire to “treat nature through cylinders, spheres and cones”.  Towards the end of the war, Picasso turned once again to Cézanne, whom he declared to be his role model for his Cubist years.

On the ground floor, visitors can admire Picasso’s works thanks to a long-term loan granted by a private collector.

Displayed in the room devoted to Parisian lifestyle (ground floor, room 10), The Absinthe Drinker (1901) hangs alongside scenes of entertainment, dance halls, brothels, portraits by Toulouse-Lautrec, Boldini and Anquetin, and once again reveals the fascination that bohemian Paris held for so many painters at the end of the 19th century. It is also a unique opportunity for visitors to compare this absinthe drinker by Picasso with that of Degas displayed in the Impressionist gallery.

For more: http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/garedorsay.htm

The main hall of Musee D’Orsay

Our Selfie with the Self-portrait (1889) by Vincent van Gogh

Behind the clock tower of the former train station that houses Musee D’Orsay

 Pablo Picasso Femme en vert (Dora)

  Light and dark – the Musee D’Orsay clock

Realizing we’ve just spend hours in this museum, decided it was time to book it to our next museum.

Musee Rodin:

By comparison to Versaille, Musee de Louvre and even Musee D’Orsay, the Musee Rodin is quite small. But, it was also on my list of things to see in Paris.  There are three main highlights of this visit – the gardens of the Rodin, where sculptures are nestled amongst the trees, flowers and grassy sections, hotel within which the museum is situated and the chapel.

The Hôtel Biron is in the style of rocaille architecture and the entire space (gardens included) is nearly three hectares. Hosts about 700,000 visitors every year. It opened to the public in August 1919 housed in a mansion, formerly called the Hôtel Peyrenc de Moras, now called Hôtel Biron, built between 1727 and 1732 and houses about 300 works.

There are 8 key pieces of Rodin’s work in the Garden, many such as The Thinker and The Gates of Hell are well-known – and have stood in place since 1929 when the museum opened.  Adam and The Shade, The Age of Bronze and Eve surround the reflecting pool and in another section, The Three Shades is displayed.

The gallery inside the former hotel hold many famous works and I was overwhelmed to see many “in person”.  According to the museum’s website, “for Auguste Rodin, working with a living, breathing model was essential—it enabled him to study the anatomy, facial expressions, and personality of his subject. When he hired models to pose for him, he asked them to move freely in the studio and was most inspired by their unguarded, unrestrained movements. In his portraits of political figures, writers, and artists, Rodin took measurements of their heads and studied their neck and shoulders. Some individuals were uncomfortable with this scrutiny, but Rodin’s aim was to understand and know his subjects intimately so that he could convey their character.Rodin’s portraits were prized in his lifetime for their vitality and honesty, and they continue to offer fascinating insights into his working practice. The works on view include such renowned subjects as Honoré de Balzac and Victor Hugo, the women in Rodin’s life including Rose Beuret and Camille Claudel, and several works that haven’t been exhibited for many years.”

Key works on display are the larger than life bronze doors inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, The Kiss, and a smaller version of sculpture “The Thinker” found outside in the garden.

For more on Rodin, visit: http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/museum/musee-rodin-paris

Recreating the pose – “The Thinker” and “The Geologist”

Le Penseur 1903

Monument a Victor Hugo (dit du Palis Royal)

Overthinking?

Eglise du Dome Church at the Hotel des Invalides:

We end this phase of museum hopping at Napoleon’s tomb. I’ll be honest, retaining all this history on this is a challenge so I’m dipping into the Google.

According to http://www.paris-france.me.uk/napoleon’s_tomb.htm Napoleon’s Tomb is located in the central crypt of the Eglise du Dome Church at the Hotel des Invalides, which is situated on the Esplanade des Invalides, within the 7th Arrondissement, in the city of Paris. The remains of the emperor, inside the sarcophagus, are protected by six concentric coffins, built from different materials, including mahogany, ebony, and oak, all one inside the other. It was also the start of our “I see dead people” instagram photo series.  Started by accident, but a highlight of our goofy online documentation.

On May 5th 1821, Napoleon died on the island of St Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. He was buried in the Geranium valley. His remains rested there until October 15th 1840. In 1840 his remains were exhumed and brought to Paris, under the instructions of Louis-Philippe, who demanded that the English return the emperor to French soil. A state funeral was held, and the remains laid to rest in St Jerome’s Chapel. The remains were moved in 1861 when the tomb was completed.

The tomb is crafted in red porphyry, and placed on a green granite base (GEOLOGY ALERT!), it is circled by a crown of laurels with inscriptions, which act as reminders of the empires great victories. In the round gallery is a series of low relief, sculptures by Simart. A statue of the emperor, bearing the imperial emblems, is located at the back of the crypt.

As a spoiler alert – we trudged through many more museums in the Alps and Italy so – wait for it – that excitement is still to come!

Writers footnote: some facts used in this blog were taken from and are credited to: Paris: AMA Spiral Guides, Wikipedia and any websites cited within our blog. 

I See Dead People – Napleon’s Tomb.