Chamonix is a small town in a freshly carved glacial valley (think steep walls with hills of gravel and rocks along the sides (moraines). I say ‘freshly’ carved because the Mer de Glacé Glacier (Sea of Ice) used to extend down to the town of Les Bois and was clearly visible from Chamonix (approximately 2 km farther down the Valley than its present location when visitors first started frequenting the area in the early 1741). They have been formally studying this glacier since the ~1870’s but they have data back to 1565. Mer de Glacé is really the birthplace of Glaciology (study of glaciers) and the It is the longest studied Glacier in the world.  

 Since they began tracking the glacier it has had numerous periods of advance and retreat but has been in overall retreat (with only small advances) for the last 170 years.  The glacier has lost over 2 km in length and a couple hundred meters in thickness (it is about half it’s thickness at lower altitudes).  In the early 1800’s, the people of the Chamonix Valley were quite concerned that the glacier was going to over run the town of Les Bois and so the bishop came down and he exorcised the glacier!

It worked. 

The glacier has been in retreat ever since.  Blame God, not global warming for this one.   

 Studies of the Glacier continue annually and each winter a tunnel is drilled into the Glacier. If you visit in the winter season, you can take a stroll in the “Ice Cave” and see inside a real live glacier! If you don’t want to visit Chamonix for the skiing, this is definitely a reason to come back and nerd out! I am seriously considering adding it to my geology bucket list. 

       
             

 
 

  

Louis XIV who built Versailles led a very public life.  Everything he did, he did in public and this is one of the reasons he succeeded in making France Europe’s number-one power.  Versailles was the cultural centre of Europe, everyone learned French and French style, taste and manner of kissing spread across Europe.  There was no suspicion about him, no rumours, no cause for question because everything he did had a witness. Louis XIV had no privacy and privacy was something Louis XV and Louis XVI craved and they eventually took for themselves.  That privacy ultimately led to the fall of the French Monarchy.  

The day Louis XIV died, his grandson and heir Louis XV took the throne and went to bed in public that night.  Louis XV was only 5 years old. A Regency was establish and ruled until the King turned of age and life was much the same as it had been under Louis XIV.  When the King turned of age he had new apartments built for himself in Versailles (see Versailles – A lesson in opulence) and slowly carved out more and more private time for himself.    Louis XV lacked his grandfathers charm and slowly France lost it’s power abroad and rumblings of rebellion began in France.  By the time Louis XVI took the throne, the nation was in crisis.  He was a meek man who married a sweet girl from Austria, Marie Anntoinette.  The two retreated into a private life in the Gardens of Versailles, isolating themselves from the growing revolutionary fires.  They lived extravagantly, no one knew what they were doing, there was a lot of suspicion and question.  Eventually the poor peasantry were wondering why the King held absolute power over them and why they should be expected to pay for all his and Marie Antoinette’s extravagant life?  This is a bit of an over simplification of what caused the French Revolution by the gluttenous lifestyle of Louis XIV, XV & XVI certainly were leading factors.

Versailles has some amazing gardens originally built by Louis XIV.  In his mind, he was the divine ruler and thus he canncontrol nature.  The well manicured gardens were well planned, beautifully manicured and embellished with statues and fountains … This control in the gardens was to remind the 5000 nobles who lived at Versailles that the Sun King was in complete control.    We were lucky to be there on a day when the fountains were on, so we got to enjoy them in all their splendour!

                  

Palace life at Versaille still got hectic for Louis XIV.  Ironically, he moved the French Court to Versailles to get away from the stressful life of the Louvre in Paris and instead he just moved all that stress to Versailles.  The constant scrutiny and strict etiquette of being watched by people 24/7 had to wear on the king and so ‘The Trianon Palaces’ were built as a getaway at the edge of the manicured grounds (about a 30 minute walk from the Palace).  Louis XIV and XV used the Trianon Palaces mostly for their mistresses … Louis XVI and his wife retreated there to lead a private, insulated life away from the countries problems.

Marie Antoinette desired the simple life of a peasant.  She wanted the fairy tale of simple country living, she did not want the experience of hard labour like the real peasants who sweated and starved around her.  To live out this fairy tale she had built Le Domaine de Marie-Antoinette … A small peasant village where she could live out this dream.  She loved the privacy this village offered her as no one could come to visit without her permission.  It was this type of extravagance that earned her the nickname ‘Madame Déficit’ and helped the country become disillusioned with the monarchy.  Even with all of that – the village is a pretty amazing place and you can easily see its charm.

   

 
  

  

  

  

  

  

They still grow full gardens and have bunnies, goats and cows so you can get a real feel on what it would have been like. 
    

   

When you see Chateau de Versailles, it is easy to understand why the French Revolution happened.  The Kings were overspending, the peasants were starving and the only way the monarch could pay for his lavish and indulgent lifestyle – was to raise taxes … Beheading the king and queen was really just a matter of time.

Understanding Versailles requires a brief review of French history:

~1380’s-1654~ The Louvre Palace in Paris was he official residence of many French Kings and the political capital of France.  

1654-1715 ~ Louis XIV was King of France (aka the Sun King)’ reigned for 72 years is the longest of any monarch in European history. Moved the royal residence and the French Court from the Louvre in Paris to the Palace of Versailles.

1715-1774  ~ Louis XV, took the throne when he was 5 and was a huge science buff!

1774-1793 ~ Louis XVI was the last King of France (wife: Marie Antoinette).  Both were beheaded during the French Revolution and their deaths ended the French Monarchy.

1789-1799 ~ the French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval which resulted in the abolition of the French Monarchy and changed the power of monarchies across Europe.  It was decreed in 1792 that the Louvre be used as a museum to display the Nation’s masterpieces (at that time 537 paintings).

1804-1814 ~ Napoleon Bonaparte (aka Napoleon I) was Emperor of the French, he rose to prominence during the French Revolution

Louis XIV was the visionary behind Versailles.  He greatly expanded his father’s hunting lodge (where he had his favorite memories as a child) into his lavish home and the political capital of France.  It features 700 rooms, 67 staircases, 2,153 windows, 27 acres of roofing, and 55 fountains.  If you ever wondered where Donald Trump found inspiration … this is it.  Louis the XIV spent half of France’s annual GDP building the Palace.  The grandeur was to show the power of the King.  He lived his whole life in public, people were with him at ALL times – when he went to bed, when he woke up, nobles fought over who would get to dress him, people would sit and observe him eat all his meals. With high ceilings, poor insulation and expansive gardens – Versailles has been and continues to be a beast to heat and maintain.

  
  We did a tour of the private Royal Apartments of Louis XV and Louis XVI to bypass the 1.5 hour wait to get into the Palace.  We would agree the 15€ was worth every penny. The private apartments/areas were some of the best parts of the Palace we saw and when they opened the doors dividing the private and public areas you really got a sense of what Palace life would have been like.

The Private Apartments       

        

         

The Opera house was worth the cost of the tour all on its own. This was one of those places that is truly jaw dropping. The tour is the only way you can actually visit it’s unless you can afford a ticket to the Opera.  

The opera was commissioned by Louis XV but not completed and inaugurated until 1770 for the celebration of the marriage of Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette.

The Opera

         

     

We found keeping track of the Louis’ very confusing until we heard a great way to remember … The 14th built it all, the 15th enjoyed it all and the 16th paid for it all (with his head)!  From our tour we went on to the public areas. Much of the palace has been restored.  Much of the furniture was taken/sold off during the French Revolution so some of the decoration/furniture is original while others are restorations that are true to what would have been there.

The Public Areas 

   

  

  

      

                    

  

 

This opulent palace was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

 

When you think of Paris landmarks – you think of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe.  Napoleon commissioned the Arch to commemorate his victory at the battle of Austerlitz in 1806. Sadly, it was not completed until 1836 (at which point Napoleon in was imprisoned on a remote island in the Pacific) and so he never did see his Arch completed. When Napolean’s remains were returned to France from Saint Helena, they passed below the Arch on a parade to their final resting place at Invalides.

The Arc de Triomphe now honours those who fought and died for France.  Beneath the Arch lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI.  There is an eternal flame and every day at 6:30 pm the flame is relit and fresh flowers are placed by school children.  No one parades under the Arch anymore.  Even in WWII when the Nazis took over France, Hitler respected the grave of the unknown soldier and his troops walked around the arch instead. 

   

 

  

   

    

     

A view of traffic on the Etoile … There are no lanes and the only rule is people entering have the right of way. Somehow it seems to work.

Cathedrale Notre-Dame or Notre Dame de Paris (Our lady of Paris) is widely considered to be the worlds finest example of French Gothic Architecture.  Construction started in 1163 (see Paris Stone for more info on the building stone) and it was completed in 1345. There have been numerous additions, modifications and restorations over the centuries and so in reality they have been working on this Cathedral for over 850 years.  It should therefore be no surprise the detail and craftmenship take your breath away. 

This Roman Catholic Cathedral was made famous with Victor Hugo’s book ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ in 1831.  The Cathedral was the main character of the book as Hugo wanted to bring attention to the disrepair the church had fallen into after being desecrated during the French Revolution in the 1790s.  The popularity of the book pushed to have the Cathedral restored and in 1845 work began.

Some stained glass windows were destroyed by stray bullets during WWII but for the most part, Paris remained intact.  The story goes that Hitler had one of his best generals in charge of destroying Paris … but, the general had fallen in love with the city.  All the monuments and historic buildings had explosives attached (including the Eiffel Tower which was set to fall across the Seine and block the river) but when the time came to destroy them – he just couldn’t do it.

       

  

 

 
    
  

          

  

  

  

  

 

The steps coming down from the tower

#nerdalert

Just a warning that the following post is probably best consumed by those who like rocks.

The stratotype  (international type/reference section) for the Lutetien stage of the Eocene Epoch (40-48 mya) is actually in the catacombs of Paris … honestly, how cool is that!?!   The middle Lutetien section was historically used as building stone in much of the Gothic monuments/buildings.  It is more generally referred to as “Paris Stone.” I will admit I took all the Notre Dame photos before I understood how they all fit in!

Cecily had no idea she was going to be hitting all of these geology hot spots!  I am calling her a GIT which is APEGA’s legal term for a geologist in training.   

    

         

  

 

Building stone for the Romans and later for what would become Paris, was originally mined in surface Quarries.  By the Middle Ages the quarries had moved underground.  The limestone they mined was used to build the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in the late 1100’s and most of the gothic monuments in Paris.  Beyond building stone, gypsum and chalk were also mined creating a network of tunnels over 200 km long..  About 1/10th of Paris (770ha … ~3 sections) has quarry/mine tunnels beneath it.  This mass network of unsupported mine tunnels went mostly unforgotten until the mid 18th century when some of these tunnels caved in disastrously.  Unsurprisingly, a general state of panic followed and so in 1777 Louis XVI (married to Marie Antoinette … both were beheaded during the French Revolution in 1792) created a Government department to oversee the structural integrity of the tunnels.  Some tunnels were filled in while others were reinforced with pillars and masonry. 

Meanwhile ….

By the early 1700’s the main cemetery in the heart of Paris – Cimetiere des Innocents (Cemetary of Innocents) which housed most Parians since the Middle Ages was overflowing.  The Charnel Houses (surface vaults) were overfilled and there was a real health risk to the surrounding neighbourhoods. Against much public opposition, the Cemetary was closed in 1785.

The city then set out on an ambitious project of creating a Municipal Ossuary (a site to serve as the final resting place for skeletal remains) in the abandoned underground quarries.  The Catacombes were consecrated on April 7, 1786 and bones were moved from deconsecrated cemeteries until 1788 and then again from 1842-1860.  Overall over 6 million people rest in these Catacombes and are the largest underground necropolis in the world.  Shockingly, only about 1/800th of the underground quarries are used in the Ossuary.

In 1809, the idea of the Catacomes receiving visitors was brought up and so the bones were stacked into displays and there were even geology displays explaining the rocks to visitors

     

 

  

Some of the displays …         

     

 

   

    

  

        
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