Newsletter #41 - March 25 to April 1, 1960
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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.)
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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
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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.
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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
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