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Newsletter #41 - March 25 to April 1, 1960 |
| Newsletter #41 March 25 to April 1, 1960 Mailed from Paris, April 4, 1960 Received in Phila. April 7, 1960 Hello to all and Bonsoir (Good evening) We left London about noon today [March 26] after mailing several packages and doing necessary small chares in this bright and gay city. We wanted to be in Folkestone at a certain hotel by 3:00 PM to watch the Grand National Races at Aintree but when we arrived in Folkestone all the hotels were full because of a convention so we had to drive 20 more miles to a hotel which compares to any of Atlantic City's finest. We had a delicious dinner and then watched T.V. while most of the other hotel guests danced to the orchestra and drank spirits half the night. We felt very conspicuous tonight at dinner as all the women were in lovely dinner clothes probably designed by Dior or Hartnell and just dripping with jewelry and furs. (I am positive the jewelry was not paste.) It was a lot more expensive than most of the hotels we stayed in but these seaside hotels are all rather exclusive and we wanted our last night in England to be a memorable one. We surely have enjoyed England's rolling green hills, its winding roads bordered by stone fences and hedgerows, its attractive seasides, its rugged mountain areas, the peaceful beauty of its valleys, its many meandering rivers, its splendid examples of fine architecture, its old cathedrals, abbeys, walled cities, country homes, cottages, castles in ruin and in fine repair, lovely gardens, mining towns, its verdant downs, its wave beaten cliffs and its unusual moors. Our visit to England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland has been most satisfactory (except weather wise) because we saw so much of all four of these places and the people were friendly, polite, entertaining and hospitable. The charm and diversity of this United Kingdom gave us many happy memories which may have to last a lifetime although we would like to return some day. Tonight we are back in France after a pleasant plane ride across the English Channel. We met a husband, wife and daughter from Australia who were quite charging and made gay plane companions. After very little customs red tape we again began to drive on the right side of the road and first enjoyed seeing Le Touquet, a very splendid French seaside resort with its long esplanade which runs along the fine sand beach. Rouen at least 80 miles from Le Touquet, was the next city which we enjoyed today. Here we saw the Abbey of St. Ouen in Gothic style as well as the Church of St. Maclou which is a 14th Century masterpiece. The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Rouen was dedicated in 1063 and has been continuously adorned since and has a 15th Century tower in dazzling Gothic style as well as a 525 ft. spire which seems to dominate the city and the spire was added in the 19th Century. We visited its interior which is also very unique but still does not rival Notre Dame in Paris. This ancient capital of Normandy really houses treasures overwhelming in number and quality and has many quaint ancient streets which are interesting pictures for photography but as usual our weather is cloudy and dull. Our last place of interest in Rouen was Gros Horloge, an old Renaissance building containing the world's oldest clock (1389). This city is worth a stay of several days in good weather. We next visited Deauville, the fashionable seaside rendezvous of the world's "high society". The height of the season is in late August when the famous race meets are held here. (its race track is world-renowned.) We did not drive to Le Havre which is nearby as we felt we have seen so many of these large port cities. We tried to stay in a hotel at Deauville but many of them are closed until Easter. (Deauville has a beautiful casino, golf courses, impressive gardens, etc., which must be beautiful in summer.) |
Tonight we are staying in Lisieux, a famous city for people who make pilgrimages, as this city pays homage to St. Theresa. We were told most of the towns old Renaissance buildings were destroyed during the war in 1944. We will visit its shrines tomorrow and hope for better weather as at present it is really pouring. This morning [March 27] it was raining even harder than last night so we had to be content with seeing the gorgeous and massive Basilica of St. Theresa, the Cathedral of St. Pierre, which happens to be the oldest Norman Gothic Church, and the Carmelite Convent where St. Theresa lived as a child and which now houses her remains. This city of Lisieux reminded us of Lourdes, Prance except the setting for the Basilica was not as unusual in Lisieux as at Lourdes. In more rain we went to the city of Caen which was half destroyed during the Normandy invasion but it is now an attractive example of modern city planning. Caen is known as the "City of Spires" many of which still stand, and it was the favorite residence of William the Conqueror. While we were here we saw the Church of St. Pierre whose belfry has been rebuilt since the war but the apse, in rich Italian Renaissance style, was left intact; also the Abbey Aux Dames, a splendid specimen of Norman Romanesque dating from 1062 and the Abbey Aux Hommes, whose two Romanesque towers are topped by the first Gothic spires in Normandy. The next city was small but its an old Norman town famous for its fine cathedral and quaint houses. This town of Bayeux's Cathedral of Notre Dame is an outstanding Romanesque edifice which was later decorated in Gothic. The Bayeux tapestries are also quite famous and have often been reproduced. Our next place of intense interest was Omaha Beach, the place where Meredith landed on D-Day. He claims the waves were just as wild on D-Day as today and I can tell you they were something. Situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel is the American Military Cemetery called Normandy which covers 172 acres and contains the graves of 9,386 of our military dead and several of Meredith's buddies who were in his same outfit. The cemetery consists of a semicircular garden which is beautifully maintained and has a manorial which consists of a semi-circular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing maps in marble of the military operations. Standing at the memorial you see in the foreground a reflecting pool and beyond this is the burial area with the circular chapel. It was impressive even in all the wind and rain today. Meredith was very disappointed since he really wanted to get several pictures of this cemetery as well as the entire area we plan to do today. He wanted pictures of this area which has rugged terrain and which cost so many lives to get a foothold on the continent. Because of the terrific wind and downpour we decided not to drive to Cherbourg, a chief transatlantic port city, but instead went on to Saint-Lô in Normandy which was a town hard hit during World War II and has been rebuilt by planners who certainly attempted to preserve the aspect of an old, fortified town. Another town badly damaged was Avranches which has a beautiful area which they have named "Patton Place" in honor of General George Batten and in the center of this area the French have erected a beautiful memorial in remembrance of his outstanding leadership and his help in liberating their country from German occupation. Our hotel room gives us an excellent view of this wonderful memorial and the sky has cleared and we hope the rain has ended for a while as we want to drive to Mont St. Michel, the eighth wonder of the world, before it becomes dark. Tonight in Avranches we had a wonderful dinner and our trip out to Mont St. Michel was rather successful as it did not rain. This eighth wonder is like a pyramid of sacred masonry on a rock in the sea, at the gateway to Brittany. The extraordinary architectural superstructure of Mont St. Michel has been raised over the centuries - 2 -
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and during most of the year it is isolated in the center of a great expanse of sand and is connected to the mainland by a single road. In the spring the big tide is supposed to come rolling in at 10 miles an hour and surrounds the rocky island with water. This fortified town has remained intact over the years and contains buildings of all ages and styles; the most noteworthy among them are the great Monastery (La Merveille, the wander), the Cloister, and the flamboyantly Romanesque Minster, topped by a very tall spire. This island, a place of unusual beauty, was a prison in Napoleon's time. Anyone who goes to France should make a point to see this outstanding and unique place whose population is 268 people. This morning [March 28] being a beautiful sunshiny one we went to Mont St.Michel to take pictures and then drove into St. James to visit another American Military Cemetery. This is Brittany Cemetery where 4,419 of our dead are buried, most of whom gave their lives in the campaigns of Normandy, Brittany and Northern France. All these cemeteries are individual in design and this one has a curved retaining wall on the Memorial Terrace where are inscribed the names of 498 of the Missing whose resting place "is known only to God". Nearby is a gray granite memorial containing the Chapel, operational maps, the flags of our military services, and interesting stained glass and sculpture. The lookout platform of the tower of this Chapel affords an impressive view of the stately pattern of the headstones, as well as of the peaceful surrounding countryside. Our next stop was Fougères, a picturesquely situated Breton town with a very interesting feudal castle which we both photographed as the sunshine is still with us in spurts. Later we arrived at Rennes, near the center of the base of the Brittany peninsula and this lovely city was once the capital of Brittany. Here we saw the 17th Century Renaissance Palace of Justice, the Museum of Fine Arts as well as the Archeological Museum and a lovely botanical garden. Since the sun was still with us we hurried out to La Baule, a delightful coast resort in Brittany with a fine sandy beach, where we saw the waves of the Atlantic Ocean come peacefully rolling upon the beach. (Waves here were nothing compared with those from the Channel on Omaha Beach 2 days ago.) The hotels at La Baule were quite nice and I am sure it would be a delightful place to enjoy a seashore vacation. Tonight we are enjoying our stay at Nantes, a large city on the famous Loire River which has a fine 15th Century Cathedral, a large Art Museum and a superb Gothic and Renaissance fortress called the Chateau of the Dukes. Another morning [March 29] of sunshine finds us driving along the wonderful Loire River whose castles and manors are very famous in this Chateau Country. Since we spent several days in this area in November end I briefly told you about many of the Chateaus then I will only mention the new ones we have visited today. Before we arrived in Augers we saw the Chateau of Champtoce which was pretty well in ruins but was situated above a small town which it seemed to dominate and then we saw the Chateau de Serrant, a large structure in a beautifully landscaped area with quite a moat surrounding the entire Chateau. In Augers, a city famous for its plantation, seeds, and flowers, we saw a Chateau which was one of the finest feudal strongholds in France as well as the Cathedral of St. Maurice and the Archeological Museum which is housed in the picturesque 12th Century Hospital of St.Jean, the oldest in France. We next visited the Chateau Brissac whose interior was quite fabulous and in very good repair with exquisite furnishings while its grounds were just as lovely with streams and interesting walks in all directions. Chateau Sumar was the next 15th Century palace we saw whose interior is now a museum. There are no lovely grounds around this Chateau as it seems the homes of people are nestled into the castle walls. - 3 -
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Our next town was Chinon where we saw the ruins of the Castle of Coudray and the old clock tower. She silhouettes of the ruins were beautifully reflected today on the lovely Loire River. We then crossed the Loire and while driving on the other side we enjoyed Chateau Amboise and Chateau Chaumont which we visited in November. We next drove into Tours and on to Orleans where we are comfortably situated for the night. Before leaving Orleans, a city we visited before, we took photographs of the many reflections in the Loire which was flowing by our hotel all night. We drove to the famous Fontainebleau and to its fabulous forest of 42,000 acres where we saw the Palais du Fontainebleau on which many kings have lavished attention and money. This palace was begun in the 12th Century and it was Francis I who marked it with the stamp of the Italian Renaissance. Later Henry IV, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Louis-Philippe added both to the castle and to its lovely gardens. We saw the apartments of Marie Antoinette, and several other French Queens as well as the study of Napoleon etc. This was the biggest bargain we have had in France as the entire cost of seeing the interior and exterior was 200 francs. The Forest of Fontainebleau was once one of Europe' most magnificent and was a favorite hunting preserve of French royalty and nobility. We were very thrilled with this visit and really feel it put Windsor Castle and any United Kingdom Castle to a back seat. Today [March 30] seems to be our day for seeing world famous places as we next drove to Versailles which is considered one of the world's greatest tourist objectives and Fontainebleau and Versailles were our real reasons for trying to be back to Paris in April but we are really seeing them the last day of March. Versailles should not be missed by any visitor to France as it is almost overwhelming in its majestic beauty. Here you see the wonderful boxwood gardens, the hundreds of fountains and statues, the Palace of Louis XIV, the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. We missed the fountain, light and fireworks display which are only given during the summer, but it is a must if we get to France again. A short distance of about 15 miles away we went to see the Royal Palace at St. Germain-en-Laye where we saw its old mile and a half long terrace. This was a lovely Renaissance Chateau. Our next visit was to the home of Napoleon and Josephine and it was really an exquisite home furnished with marvelous taste. Of all the Castles or famous homes I have seen this would be my choice of the one most suitable for fine living. The surroundings and gardens were in good taste and beautifully maintained. The place is called La Malmaison and I am sure I will always remember its fascinating charm and perfection. It is only a few miles out of Paris and I would say another must for an American tourist who enjoyed simple beauty. Our last visit today [March 31] was to Suresnes Cemetery, another American Military Cemetery 5 miles from Paris, which is beautifully located high on the slopes of Mont Valerien. Here we saw a fine panorama of a large part of Paris which was quite interesting as I thought there was no hill for miles anywhere near Paris. The countryside here seems so flat. Tonight we are back in Paris for our third time and were lucky enough to get our same hotel room. Paris is lovely as usual, in fact its elegant even on this cloudy Friday [April 1], as Nikita Khrushchev, his wife and daughters are here and flags are everywhere. (Hope I get no where near any of them) Today we shopped as we want to do a lot of picture taking the next few days if the sun decides to break through the heavy clouds. My shopping is over here in Paris except for the Flea Market tomorrow (Hope I find something better than fleas.) We're still in tiptop shape and hope all of you are likewise. Fondest regards, Meredith and Charlotte - 4 -
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