Category Archives: Historic Places

Attractions, Getaways, Historic Places, Places of History, See America, US Destinations

Surprising Boston: Three Days on the Freedom Trail

October 29, 2024 krubin723

*The Freedom Trail is an actual brick line in the sidewalk that you can follow to Faneuil Hall and other important historic sites. ©Keroack Photography*

by Geri Bain for Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

If you had asked me whether I knew about Boston’s role in the American Revolution before my recent exploration of the Freedom Trail, I would have unthinkingly said, “Of course.” Hasn’t every American heard the story of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and the Boston Massacre in their history classes? Even people who don’t know who the current president is could probably tell you what happened at the Boston Tea Party. But just as visiting the Roman Forum expands your view of the ancient past, a thoughtful visit to Boston’s Freedom Trail will forever deepen and perhaps change your view of American history.

And it’s fun. You won’t need any maps or preparation. While most tourism routes use the term “trail” figuratively, Boston’s Freedom Trail is an actual 2.5 mile “trail” marked by a red brick line that you can follow to some of the most iconic sites in the birth of our country. Detailed historic markers all along the way make it easy to dip into the stories of our past on your own.

For those who prefer a more structured visit, there’s a wide array of guided tours that provide a more interactive approach. The Freedom Trail Foundation’s several daily 90-minute group tours are led by costumed guides (thefreedomtrail.org) and based on what I heard in passing over the course of my time in Boston, the tours are lively and informative. The Foundation also offers a free online brochure that can act as a self-guided tour. There are also free apps from the National Park Service (nps.gov/boston) with recorded commentary for major sites and apps focused on Black heritage and other themes.

*The Park Street Church was the nation’s tallest building when it was built in 1810.*
*©Keroack Photography*

DAY ONE: To get grounded, I chose a three-hour VIP Freedom Trail Tour by Walks (booked through City Experiences (www.cityexperiences.com/boston) which limits its group size to 15 people. The day I went, it was just me and a family of four. Our guide, Alexandra (Alex) Smith, was a theatre artist and history buff (who was currently directing “Revolution’s Edge,” a historical drama that was playing at the Old North Church). She used anecdotes and questions to capture our imaginations.

Standing in the Boston Common, she pointed out that the corner where the Park Street Church stands was dubbed Brimstone Corner both for the fiery sermons given at the church and because of the gunpowder stored there during the War of 1812.

*A visit to Paul Revere’s House humanizes one of America’s favorite heroes. ©Keroack Photography*

When we got to a statue of Paul Revere, Alex asked the two school-aged kids in our group if they’d heard about Paul Revere racing to Concord and shouting the warning “The British are coming”? They nodded.

“Well that’s not true.” They looked puzzled. First, she explained, all Bostonians considered themselves British back then, so those wouldn’t have been the words he would use. And second, the mission was a stealth operation so he wouldn’t have ridden through the streets yelling. And most important, the King’s soldiers were on patrol that night and Paul Revere was stopped and held for questioning before he could deliver his message to Concord. Wisely, he was not the only messenger who rode out that night, so the message got through.

Most people think of Paul Revere solely as a silversmith, but his work as a printer and an artist was key to his role as a patriot seeking to break with Great Britain. His print of the Boston Massacre was significant to organize public opinion against the British. Paul Revere, The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated on King Street, Boston. (Hand colored engraving, 1770. American Antiquarian Society. Gift of Nathaniel Paine.)

“So why does Paul Revere get the credit?” Alex asked us. She paused, then explained, that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wanted to create a dramatic hero for America so he took artistic license in his poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. It makes for a relatable and patriotically-motivating story to have a single hero.

*A plaque in front of the Old State House commemorates “The Boston Massacre.” ©Keroack Photography*

Another example of drama trumping truth took place at the Old State House. Pointing out the plaque that commemorates The Boston Massacre, Alex showed us a picture of British soldiers shooting into the crowd. That image, engraved by Paul Revere and sent to all the Colonial newspapers turned the “Boston Massacre” into a rallying cry against the British Crown. However, like Wadsworth’s poem, the engraving took poetic license.

Tensions had been building between Boston residents and the growing number of soldiers sent there to enforce new taxes but also taking jobs from local workers. One argument between a soldier and a colonist escalated, with soldiers and Bostonians gathering into a standoff. The soldiers, under attack by the crowd with snowballs, clubs, and other objects, were told to hold their fire, but one of them panicked and shot and then another joined in. Five people were killed.

*The Granary Burying Ground, established in 1660, is the resting place of many Colonial heroes. ©Keroack Photography*

Sam Adams arranged and funded a huge funeral parade for the five victims of the Boston Massacre and paid for the five victims to be buried in his plot in the Granary Burying Ground where he now lies as well. The parade made a big impression both on the British soldiers and on the residents of Boston, Alex said. “Great propaganda!”

That’s just one of many stories waiting to be told at the Granary Burying Ground. Once the very edge of 17th century Boston, this small patch of cemetery is now like a who’s who of the American Revolution. For example, across the grounds from Adams is the tombstone of James Otis, who coined the phrase “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” Otis was one of the great minds behind the Revolution but he suffered from periods of insanity which kept him out of the limelight.

The cemetery is also the final resting place of Paul Revere, John Hancock, the parents of Benjamin Franklin and an estimated 5,000+ other people. We asked Alex how so many people could fit in such a small space and learned that bodies were often buried one on top of the other.

The tour also included a visit to the Old North Church, and strolled through Little Italy, where Alex explained the difference between the two most popular cannoli spots. Along the way, Alex also shared tips on exploring the city, how to learn about free concerts and events at the Boston Common, and a list of her favorite eateries, making us feel a bit like insiders in the city.

DAY 2: My husband and I were joined by his cousins for a leisurely stroll along the Freedom Trail. We stopped to read the signs at spots that grabbed our attention and toured Paul Revere’s home, where we learned that the Wadsworth poem might have been quite different had his dad not anglicized his Huguenot name from Appolos Rivoire to Paul Revere. (Rivoire is a harder name than Revere to rhyme.)

We also spent some time in Faneuil Hall, which was built and gifted to the city of Boston in 1743 by philanthropist Peter Faneuil to serve as a meeting hall and a marketplace. It was where the “Sons of Liberty”— and activists ever since—gathered and gave speeches.

The hall now houses a moving exhibit called “Slavery in Boston” underscoring how much of Peter Faneuil’s and Boston’s wealth came from goods produced by enslaved labor and slave trafficking. The exhibit also looks at the lives of individual enslaved Africans. One of the most touching was the story of Caesar, an enslaved Black boy, “owned” by one of Boston’s richest families, serving them and children including a son who was his age.

Not far from Faneuil Hall is another stirring site, the New England Holocaust Memorial, (www.nehm.org), an outdoor space that takes you by surprise if you’re not expecting it. As we were walking through Carmen Park, I noticed steam rising from between towering plates of glass that line a black granite path. Walking towards it, I began reading quotes from Holocaust survivors etched into the glass and realized that the steam is a reminder of the smokestacks of the crematoriums at the Holocaust death camps. Looking down through the metal grates, I saw small lights that represent the charred embers of those murdered in the gas chambers. Signs told me that the glass towers represent the smokestacks and the Menorah-like lights atop them are symbols of strength and endurance. It was an impressive experience.

On a lighter note, a great spot for recreation or simply a relaxing sit-down is the Rose Kennedy Greenway, (www.rosekennedygreenway.org/). It was built as an over-the-highway park linking the waterfront to the city. It was a great spot to sit and socialize and our visit was enriched by reading the self-guided tour (available on the website), which provided fun information. For example, the dirt removed to make the Greenway possible could fill a stadium to its rim 16 times, and the concrete used to create it is equivalent to laying a sidewalk three feet wide and four feet thick roundtrip from Boston to San Francisco three times It’s amazing to think about that when you’re strolling through the lovely gardens. We also enjoyed the free (ever-changing) contemporary art installations and exhibitions and food trucks.

*The Oyster Bar at the Union Oyster House where Daniel Webster dined* *©Keroack Photography*

For lunch, we chose the Union Oyster House, an attraction in its own right. It’s the city’s oldest restaurant and a National Historic Landmark. The brick line of the Freedom Trail passes right in front of it. More importantly, it serves some of the best seafood in the city in a genuine historic and unpretentious setting. In fact, in 2023, the restaurant earned a spot among the Taste Atlas Top 50 Most Legendary Restaurants in the World.

Our six-person hardwood booth was across from one with a plaque memorializing the one reserved for John F. Kennedy and family when they dined there. We took quite some time to look around after we ate; the restaurant is filled with fascinating memorabilia and its walls are covered with paintings, photos and newspaper clippings about the famous people—from Daniel Webster to Meryl Streep—who have been patrons here over the centuries. My husband and I liked the restaurant so much that we dined there again the next day.

Day 3: Before leaving Boston, we went for one last stroll through the Rose Kennedy Greenway. We stopped to observe a tai chi group and to watch children scrambling to get on their favorite hand-carved animals which included a peregrine falcon, a green sea turtle and imaginary creatures that were chosen from a fun project drawing on the imaginations of local children.

*A harbor cruise offers a lovely perspective on the city.*

We then took an enchanting one-hour narrated Historic Boston Harbor Cruise, where our guide pointed out how much land was created by landfill, including Back Bay, the Seaport and parts of downtown and Logan Airport. In fact, one-sixth of the city is landfill—a process that began in the 1700s. (The cruise and a hop-on/hop-off bus pass we used, were part of an all-inclusive GoCity.com/boston pass that included entry into more than 45 attractions.

*The Langham, Boston combines elegant architecture with modern art and an inviting pool.*

As you might expect, historic hotels abound in Boston. The Omni Parker House is where Longfellow drafted his poem about Paul Revere. The former Boston Police Department headquarters is now the AKA Back Bay Hotel, and a former jail has embraced its past as the Liberty Hotel.

We stayed at The Langham, Boston, a five-star hotel that is just a short walk from the Freedom Trail and the waterfront and is itself a National Historic Monument. Built in 1922, it was home to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston until 1977. Its banking past lives on in details like the green bank-style lamps, the tweed furnishings, and the lock box-style drawers behind the concierge desk.

It’s also a great choice for art lovers. Two N.C. Wyeth murals commissioned by the bank are still in their original spots and The Grana restaurant, which occupies the former grand hall, still has the Federal Reserve Bank emblem at its center, and portraits of eight Fed presidents grace its walls. The hotel also has an extensive collection of modern art, with a series of videos, cued by QR codes, of the artists explaining their works.

One of the best things about staying at The Langham (LanghamHotels.com/Boston was unwinding in the pool, hot tub and sauna after a day of delightful surprises on the Freedom Trail.

Useful Links:

theFreedomTrail.org; provides great info plus special interest and Freedom Trail tours, apps, and more
NPS.gov/bost/planyourvisit/app.htm: offers a free app with recorded commentary as well as focused apps for Black heritage and more.
CityExperiences.com/boston: offers access to historic harbor cruise, VIP walks and other tours and cruises
GoCity.com/boston: offers an all-inclusive pass that includes entry into more than 45 attractions and historic harbor cruise or bundled admission pass
CityPass.com/Boston: offers a package with discounted admission to a choice of four major attractions

Also, meetboston.com offers information about events, activities, food and lodging.

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© 2024 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Attractions, Cultural travel, Historic Places, Museums and Exhibits, US Destinations

California Pacific Highway Roadtrip: Cambria is Enchanting Base to Visit Hearst’s ‘Enchanted Hill’

July 8, 2024 krubin723

The view of William Randolph Hearst’s “Enchanted Hill” – Hearst Castle – an architectural and engineering triumph of Hearst and his architect/engineer Julia Morgan. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin with Eric Leiberman, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It’s a dark night when we pull into our hotel in Cambria, on California’s famous (and fragile) Pacific Highway 1, so it isn’t until I awake in the morning to a moist mist rising after a rain, that I realize what is just across the road from the picturesque Moonstone Beach and a magnificent boardwalk that extends 1 ½ miles over the fragile seagrass, the ocean crashing against the rocky shore just beyond, where a few seals are resting, the sun making a gorgeous sparkling light,

We’ve driven down from the north, starting at San Francisco, to Monterey (made famous by John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row” and now with a world renowned Aquarium); following the Pacific Highway 1 as much as possible as it hugs the cliffs to Big Sur. We pull over frequently to take in those breathtaking views that look like the edge of the Continent just fell into the ocean. We spend a couple of days hiking and exploring, overnighting at the utterly enchanting and historic Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn (www.deejens.org, 831-667-2377), then have to backtrack to Monterey, driving inland three hours on Highway 101 to come into Cambria.

*Moonstone Beach, Cambria, across from our hotel, the Castle Inn © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Cambria is an outstanding base to experience not only its own charms, but to explore Hearst Castle, San Simeon, the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, and even driving north on the Pacific Highway, to Ragged Point, just at the southern end of Big Sur where you can get those dramatic sheer-cliff/crashing waves against the rocky shore views.

Castle Inn, which I found on hotels.com, is a delightful motel that is absolutely perfect for our purpose – the room is spacious and has a beachy (ocean) feel; the motel serves coffee, scones, apples, muffins, oatmeal for breakfast. Later, we will take advantage of its pool and hot tub under the stars, and is so close by to all the things we want to explore – especially having the Moonstone Beach and boardwalk just across the road. (6620 Moonstone Beach Dr, Cambria, CA 93428, 805-927-8605, castle-inn-cambria.hotelsone.com)

We grab coffee and muffins and immediately head out to Hearst Castle just eight minutes up the coastal road from Cambria in San Simeon.

We have to be at the Hearst Castle’s visitor center by 8:40 am for our pre-booked 9 am Grand Rooms tour – the most popular of a selection of tours you can take and the best if you have never visited before (others include “Hearst and Hollywood” “Designing the Dream” “Art of San Simeon,” “Julia Morgan”, “Cottages & Kitchen tour” “Upstairs Suites Tour”, also accessible tours and private tours.)

We get our wristbands and go to “gate” for the bus that takes guests up to the mansion along the long winding road – just as William Randolph Hearst intended his visitors to experience his “Enchanted Hill.”

The tour starts immediately on the bus, with an excellent narration giving the background – history, architecture, biography – and pointing out the sights along the way, accompanied by music of the 1930s and 1940s.

Hearst Castle is so much more than a magnificent mansion home (one of the most spectacular in the world), even more than an architectural jewel and a breathtaking art collection. It is the story of a fascinating man (love him or hate him or something in between, you still have to give the man credit for what he accomplished) who you come to know because everything about Hearst Castle is so personal to him. It is the story of an age – the coming of age of America, the coming of age of Hollywood and ascendancy of American culture. Everything you see is mind-blowing and breath-taking. And this mansion (he called it his country home), which has come to be known as Hearst Castle, is his personal artistic creation – the architecture and the art collection.

The tour is extremely well organized – it manages to be efficient and yet personal (I’m betting the earlier you can visit the better) – you feel as so many of Hearst’s guests must have felt the first time they were invited.

*The entrance to Casa Grande. William Randolph Hearst was inspired to build his castle from his European tour with his mother when he was 10 years old © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You realize that even if you think you know who Hearst was (and so many imagine Hearst to be the character of “Citizen Kane” but he is only a piece of that fictional character, and Marion Davies, his companion, was a smart, savvy and accomplished woman and quite a fine actress, not at all like the character of Kane’s), you come away with newfound respect and interest – in fact, as compelling a real-life story as the fictional Citizen Kane. (“Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz was one of Hearst’s guests here.)

You also come to learn – and admire – Hearst’s architect for his castle: Julia Morgan was one of the first female engineering majors at the University of California, Berkeley, the first woman to pass the entrance exam in architecture and graduate the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris – the preeminent architectural school of the time – and was the first licensed woman architect in California. (In 2014, Morgan was posthumously awarded the American Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal in recognition of her pioneering career and dynamic buildings, the first woman to be awarded the medal in its 107-year history, https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/julia-morgan/)

*The grand dining room at Hearst Castle © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hearst was inspired to build his castle and collect art when he took the grand tour of Europe when 10 with his mother. And his mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst. a philanthropist and advocate for women, introduced him to Julia Morgan. Phoebe began a lifelong interest in Morgan’s career when the two women’s paths crossed in Paris. The films and photos you get to see of Morgan, presiding over the dynamiting to level the summit and build the road, reviewing plans with Hearst, are fascinating.

Even though you are walking through the mansion with a tour group, you actually feel like you were one of Hearst’s guests arriving for the weekend – the home is set out as it would have been – most remarkably, in the grand dining room (it may well have inspired Harry Potter’s Hogwarts dining room, and interestingly, the banners on display refer to an Italian horserace), there are bottles of ketchup and mustard because Hearst himself, for all the spectacular grandeur of the art and architecture, wanted a homey feel to his country home.

*Ketchup and mustard on the table in the grand dining room at Hearst Castle © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The art is breathtaking – Hearst collected the pieces himself, and drawing from his European travels with his mother when he was 10 years old, are predominantly Gothic and medieval – a lot of religious art which Hearst appreciated for the art and the period, not the religious significance, the guide tells me.

*The oldest work of art at Hearst Castle is an Egyptian statue, 3200-3600 years old, of Sekmet, daughter of Ra © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At the entrance to the Casa Grande – the 68,300 sq ft grand house – we stop in front of the oldest work of art here, an Egyptian statue, 3200-3600 years old of Sekmet, daughter of Ra –with a hieroglyph that translates “Good God, Lord of Two Lands.” The entrance to Casa Grande – has real gold gilding on the door, 1500-year old mosaic tiles, a 600 year old statue.

*The Assembly Room of Hearst Castle gives you your first taste of the opulence and art collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are ushered into the grand Assembly Room – 15^th century church pews, tapestries, line the wall, and the Venus Italica, one of Hearst Castle’s greatest masterpieces, created by Antonio Canova (1757-1822).

In 1935 his collections were valued at more than $20 million (in the height of the Great Depression!), but then he fell into near bankruptcy, and at the age of 75, and had to sell off two-thirds of his collection, estimated at $15 million, at “fire sale” prices. (Marion Davies, by then extremely wealthy in her own right with movies and real estate investments in places like Palm Springs, lent him $1 million so he could keep Hearst Castle; when she died, her estate was worth $8 million; when he died, she gave the Hearst Company shares he left her back to his family and they promptly kicked her out and refused to let her come to his funeral.)

You can easily picture who Hearst, Davies and Morgan were, and the glorious celebrity life they lived because there are home movies, photos!. It is thrilling to sit in Hearst’s own theater and watch Charlie Chaplin mug for the camera. (Definitely take advantage of the outstanding 40-minute documentary about Hearst’s life in the five-story theater before or after the tour.)

In many ways, William followed in his father’s footsteps.

George was a self-made millionaire, starting as a prospector – he owned interest in three of the largest mines in the U.S., including the Comstock Lode in Nevada, the Homestake gold mine in South Dakota and the Anaconda copper mine in Montana, plus the Ontario silver mine in Utah, then acquired large portions of land throughout the United States, especially in California and the West. One acquisition was 48,000 acre Piedra Blanca Rancho at San Simeon in 1865, when William was two-years old. He later purchased the adjoining Santa Rosa and San Simeon Ranchos – amassing 250,000 acres. This place became a retreat for lavish family camping trips.

*Only a small portion of the vast estate – once 250,000 acres – assembled by Hearst © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Late in his life George Hearst served as United States Senator from California from 1887 until his death in 1891. It was during this time that he acquired the small San Francisco Examiner as a repayment for a gambling debt. Although he had little interest in the publishing business and wanted his only son, William, to take over the family’s mining and ranching holdings, William wanted to run the newspaper.

The newspaper business was William’s passion, and he ultimately amassed a huge publishing empire, and even when he was living at this remote castle in San Simeon, he would get the pages each night by teletype by 1 am, and make editorial changes by phone, well into the night.

William Hearst is probably best known for “yellow journalism” which pressured President McKinley into the Spanish-American War (that also made Theodore Roosevelt’s reputation with his Rough Riders.

And following in his father’s footsteps, he was elected to Congress but unsuccessfully ran for Governor and for President.

In 1919 when he inherited the estate, William Hearst, then 56 years old, hired architect Julia Morgan telling her, ““Miss Morgan, we are tired of camping out in the open at the ranch in San Simeon and I would like to build a little something.”

For the next 28 years, the project that we know as Hearst Castle became his life’s work, his creation and hers and unbelievably, was never actually finished, even though the mansion and villas now comprise 165 rooms atop the 1600 ft. high summit of a hill. Hearst, they say, was never as happy as when he was on his “Enchanted Hill.”

*Once this pasture would have held the largest private zoo in America © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From the bus, we look out over the vast lands where Hearst had assembled exotic animals from around the world, ultimately creating the largest private zoo in America – you would have seen African and Asian antelope, zebras, giraffes, camels, sambar deer from India, red deer from Europe, axis deer from Asia, llamas, kangaroos, ostriches, emus, Barbary sheep, Alaskan big horned sheep, musk oxen and yaks. Though most of the animals were removed by 1937 (when Hearst was near bankrupt during the Great Depression), some that remain are descendents of the original herds, like the Oudads, and get still have 200 head of cattle on the ranch.

We drive the winding road that Julia Morgan designed so that the castle appears, disappears and reappears as you drive around the bends, climbing higher and higher to the hilltop.

Hearst’s guests would have come by private train, but some of Hearst’s guests – like the Vanderbilts, who flew in on a private plane in 1935 to an airstrip below, then would have been driven up these roads.

Hearst created a mile-long pergola of fruit trees, and would ride on horseback through the canopy, “the longest pergola in captivity” Morgan would joke. The fruit trees including oranges and pomegranates, yield 2000 lbs of citrus that are donated to local food bank.

All the food the castle used was produced on site; water was piped in, so the castle was completely self-sufficient.

As we get off the bus, our guide, Gregory Anderson, encourages us to take photos as we see them, because the tour goes in one direction But to a really excellent degree, what we see is what it would have been like to visit in Hearst’s time.

*One of the three villas at Hearst Castle where movie stars, industrial moguls, and political leaders would have stayed © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We stop in front of the first villa, Casa del Sol, “medium sized” at 3600 sq ft., built for a sunset view, Bob and Delores Hope honeymooned here; Edward Hubble, who originated the Big Bang Theory, stayed here; Actor Cary Grant requested a different room every time stayed (came 40 times)

We come to the 2500 sq. ft Casa del Mar cottage, where David Niven (“The Pink Panther) and Winston Churchill stayed (in 1929). Up until 1976, this was the villa that Hearst family members would stay. (William had five sons between 1904-1918, and there are some 70 descendents today and the family – the 20^th wealthiest in the US – now when they come, they stay at the Senator’s House which the Hearst Corporation still owns).

King Vidor, Howard Hughes, Charlie Chaplin, buster Keaton, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Harpo Marx, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo were among the celebrities who came.

Hearst loved to take his guests on grueling horseback rides – delighted in seeing how silver screen cowboys would handle real horse.

Our guide tells us that Hearst Castle was Morgan’s 503rd of 700 projects and was one of the few architects who knew how to work with steel reinforced concrete (important for earthquakes).

Notably, she designed a new Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, still an architectural jewel, which opened within a year after the 1906 earthquake, and propelled her career and her own practice.

Morgan had already designed the block-long Spanish Mission Revival Hearst Examiner Building (1913–15) in Los Angeles. In 1919, following his mother’s death, Hearst inherited the full Hearst estate and decided to build a “modest bungalow” on the hilltop of the ranch at San Simeon – which evolved into the castle.

I find it interesting that Morgan negotiated her commission from 6 percent for architectural services to 8.5 percent to cover the costs of “running the job.” She was providing what today would be called “design-build” services and was responsible for managing workmen, artisans, material suppliers, and warehouses of artifacts – it is fascinating to see the “home videos” of her directing the workers.

*The magnificent Neptune Pool. Julia Morgan had to design and build it three times © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The most spellbinding features of the estate are the two pools – the Neptune Pool which has Grecian feel, is actually the third incarnation: 104 feet long, 58 feet wide and 95 feet wide at the alcove. It is 3.5 feet deep at the west end, 10 feet at the drains, and holds 345,000 gallons of water. Other notable aspects of the Neptune Pool include the oil-burning heating system, the Vermont marble that lines the basin, gutters, and alcove, and four Italian relief sculptures on the sides of the colonnades.

*The magnificent Roman Pool in Hearst Castle © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The indoor Roman Pool tiled indoor pool decorated with eight statues of Roman gods, goddesses and heroes. The pool appears to be styled after an ancient Roman bath such as the Baths of Caracalla in Rome c. 211-17 CE.

Be sure to make time to see the “Building the Dream” biopic in the 5 story theater (plays every 45 minutes) about William Randolph Hearst’s childhood, his travels to Europe, construction of the castle estate, and his architectural collaboration with Morgan. “They built castle but also created legacy.”

Hearst Castle, which first opened for tours in 1958 and gets 600,000-700,000 tourists/year (in the 1980s, its heyday, a million tourists would come each year), is now a California state park.

There are no individual visits to Hearst Castle – you must be registered for a tour. Ticket prices start at $30/adults, $15 children (5-12). (https://hearstcastle.org/tour-hearst-castle/daily-tours/). Reserve tickets online up to 60 days in advance; Reserve online (https://www.reservecalifornia.com/Web/Activities/HearstCastleTours.aspx)

Every year from the end of November through the end of December, Hearst Castle offers a “Holiday Twilight Tour” to experience the estate as Hearst’s guests enjoyed it during the 1920s and 1930s during the Christmas season.

Hearst Castle, 750 Hearst Castle Road, San Simeon, CA 93452-9741, 800-444-4445 (8 am-6 pm PT), hearstcastle.org.

More visitor information: visitcambriaca.com.

Next: Cambria is Great Base for Pacific Highway Roadtrip

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Camping/Glamping/RVs, Ecotourism, Historic Places, National Parks, New York City travel, Places of History

Governors Island: a Destination, a Getaway, a Retreat from/in New York City

June 16, 2024 krubin723

*Enjoy biking or pedaling around Governors Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Governors Island has become a destination all its own, where just 8 minute ferry ride away from Battery Park or Brooklyn, New Yorkers can feel as if they have traveled far, far away in both time and place.Just 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan, the 172-acre island is a world away.

*Governors Island, a short ferry ride from Manhattan or Brooklyn, affords the best views of Manhattan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You can rent bikes, pedal coaches, visit the 200-year old Castle Williams, a 22-acre National Monument managed by the National Park Service and learn its history (it helped save New York from British Invasion during the War of 1812 and was used as a prison during the Civil War and Fort Jay. The island had been a military base – my father was based there during World War II, and now is a Coast Guard headquarters). Biking around the island, you have the best view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.

*Tour the 200-year old Castle Williams, a 22-acre National Monument managed by the National Park Service and learn its history on Governors Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Governors Island was originally an egg-shaped rock covered in nut trees, utilized as a fishing and ground for the Lenape tribe and early New York settlers. Governors Island’s long military history began when the colonial militia constructed an earthen-work fort, later to become Fort Jay, in 1775. Castle Williams, the second of three historic forts on the Island, was built in 1811, and with the other two forts that defended New York’s Harbor, successfully discouraged the British from invading during the War of 1812.

The island is in the midst of a transformation from an abandoned former military base to a year-round destination for recreation, culture and innovation.

*Volunteers maintain the gardens on Governors Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Today, Governors Island has been revitalized as an award-winning park and laboratory for sustainability and cultural enrichment, with year-round educational and cultural facilities and programming.

A key area is The Hills, rising 70 feet above sea-level, offering breathtaking – and never-before-seen – views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor.

*Governors Island, just off the tip of Manhattan, affords the best views of the Statue of Liberty © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Slide Hill, rising 40 feet, has four slides, including New York City’s longest slide at 57 feet. Grassy Hill, rising 25 feet, offers gentle slopes and views overlooking 30 acres of the new park. Discovery Hill, rising 40 feet, features ornamental trees and shrubs, as well as Cabin, a permanent site-specific installation by acclaimed British artist Rachel Whiteread, commissioned through Governors Island Arts. Outlook Hill, rising 70 feet, offers both a winding, accessible path to a plaza at its summit, and a granite ‘scramble’ for those who seek a quicker ascent, and be rewarded with 360-degree views of the Statue of Liberty, New York harbor, Verrazano-Narrows bridge and city skyline.

Collective Retreats Glamping on Governors Island

And now you can even stay on the island and turn the adventure into a real getaway.

*Collective Retreats offers a variety of luxury glamping accommodations on Governors Island including tents and tiny houses © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Collective Retreats, based in Colorado, operates a luxury glamping retreat with tents and tiny-home-style accommodations, enhanced with morning yoga; spa offerings at QC NY (located adjacent to Retreat); live music every evening; cocktail hour on the sunset terrace; chef-driven farm-to-table dining; and Historic Governor’s island adventuring by bike.

Accommodations have everything you’d expect from a five-star hotel: from plush beds with high thread count linens to bathrooms with luxury bath amenities. Daily continental breakfast baskets, filled with yogurt, fresh fruit, pastries, juice, and protein bar is delivered to your tent, and farm-to-table, wood-fired dinners are available every evening at its Three Peaks restaurant.

The retreat features a variety of accommodations: Summit Tents, with king-size bed or two single beds made up with high-thread-count linens, private en-suite bathrooms, plush towels, boutique bathroom amenities, and private decks with Adirondack chairs; smaller Journey Tents with king or two twin configuration, fine linens, plush towels, various in-tent amenities and communal bathrooms; Outlook Shelters, which are like tiny homes fully sheltered from the elements with climate control, with bedroom, en suite bathroom with luxury spa soaking tub, a living/lounge space with coffee table, as well as mini bar / mini fridge and two private decks with Adirondack chairs.

Both overnight and non-overnight guests are invited to enjoy its Wood-Fire Grill menu and a la carte menus in addition to an extensive selection of specialty beer, classic cocktails, and wine offerings. Walk-ins are welcomed for dinner. Pair any dining option with a classic cocktail, wine, or beer from The Sunset Terrace Bar.

More info: https://www.collectiveretreats.com/governors-island/

You can see massive restoration going on all around the island, with a goal to expand year-round public access by enlivening it with transformative public art and culture, extraordinary recreational and open space, and research and education dedicated to addressing the global climate crisis.

*Once lodgings for military officers, Governors Island houses are being restored to house art , cultural and educational programs © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Governors Island is open to the public daily year-round (pay attention to the ferry schedule). From Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, the Island is open from 7am-10pm Sunday through Thursday and 7am-11pm Friday and Saturday, with the South Island Park (including Picnic Point, the Hills, Hammock Grove, and the Play Lawns) closing at 6pm every day. All other times, the Island is open daily from 7am-6pm.

From Manhattan: Ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run daily from the Battery Maritime Building, located at 10 South Street in Lower Manhattan. Click here for schedules and tickets. Evening ferries are available for Governors Island tenants and guests, which includes visitors to QC NY, Island Oyster, Taco Vista, and Gitano. Tickets to evening ferries can only be purchased in person at the Battery Maritime Building.

From Brooklyn: Seasonal ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run Saturdays, Sundays, and Holiday Mondays from May 25-September 2, 2024 from two Brooklyn locations: Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park and Red Hook/Atlantic Basin. Click here for schedules and tickets.

The Trust for Governors Island operates theseferries, and you can purchase tickets on the Governors Island website https://www.govisland.com/plan-your-visit/ferry.

NYC Ferry, the City’s public ferry service, also serves Governors Island daily year-round,with stops on the Lower East Side, Wall Street, and along the Brooklyn waterfront..For to the NYC NYC Ferry site (click here) for NYC Ferry information, ticketing, and schedules.

For more information, www.govisland.com, [email protected].

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Cultural travel, European travel, Historic Places, International Travel, Museums and Exhibits, Places of History

Visiting Colmar, France, is Like Stepping into a Storybook

May 7, 2024 krubin723

*Maison Pfister is a centerpiece of Colmar, France and has become the historic city’s symbol © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Colmar, in France’s Alsace-Lorraine region, is a storybook village – its buildings literally decorated to tell a story. And when you wander around its narrow, twisting streets, you walk through 500 years of history, lose all sense of what century you are in and fall totally under its spell.

Almost miraculously, the city has managed to remain mostly unscathed through centuries of wars. So as you stroll around, you come upon architectural jewels from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. (You can follow a self-guided historic walking tour of silver Statue of Liberty figures in the pavement.)

I became curious about visiting Colmar when I saw a short report about it being the childhood home of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor who created the Statue of Liberty, and the images of how colorful and charming it was. I had to see if for myself.

So I take advantage of the ease of visiting Colmar from Strasbourg, the starting point for a European Waterways canal cruise through the Alsace Lorraine on its luxury hotel barge, Panache. It is just 45 minutes on the train, every half hour, a most enjoyable, comfortable and scenic ride, 28E roundtrip, no need to reserve – and join the hordes of day-trippers exploring this fairytale-like place.

It’s a short, pleasant walk from the Colmar train station into Le Petit Venise (Little Venice), the historic district (really similar to Strasbourg’s Le Petit France), and I am immediately enchanted.

Colmar is famous for its half-timbered houses and richly decorated merchants’ mansions. Some date from the Middle Ages, such as the Adolf House, the oldest in Colmar, built in the second half of the 14^th century; and the “Huselin zum Swan” on Schongauer Street.

*Maison Pfister, built in 1537, manifests exquisite art and design of the Renaissance© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Renaissance is on display in one of Colmar’s most magnificent structures, Maison Pfister with ornate bay windows (oriels), long wooden gallery and exquisitely painted murals, which has become a symbol of the city. Maison Pfister was built in 1537 for Ludwig Scherer, a wealthy hatter from Besancon. The paintings that decorate the façade, attributed to Christian Vacksterffer, represent 16^th century Germanic Emperors, Evangelists, Church Fathers, allegorical figures and biblical characters and scenes. It is named for the merchant Francois-Xavier Pfister who acquired the mansion in 1841.

*The exquisite paintings that decorate the façade of Maison Pfister © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I come upon a house at 34, rue des Marchands with a plaque dated 1435 and a note that says this was the residence of master painter Caspar Isenmann “(Zum Grienen hus”). Another marvelous structure is “Cour du Weinhof,” at 12-16 rue des Marchands, which is a medieval 14^th century granary.

*A plaque says this was the residence of master painter Caspar Isenmann “(Zum Grienen hus”), dated 1435* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*A 14^th century granary in Colmar © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

So many of the buildings are adorned with beautiful, even playful, whimsical decoration – as if there is a competition for who can have the prettiest or cleverest or most festive, or perhaps a public ordinance that requires everyone to be incredibly festive and clever. I wonder.

*The whimsically decorated buildings make Colmar seem like a storybook © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I go in search of the intriguingly named House of Heads. Built in1609 in German Renaissance style, it has a three-story bay window, and a façade embellished with 111 heads and masks.

*The intriguingly named House of Heads, Colmar © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You walk through a fabulous pedestrian zone -a listed “protected sector” – that takes you from the Middle Ages to the 18^th century, from “Little Venice” to the Tanners district with its grand white-fronted houses.

Similar to Strasbourg, there are districts, or neighborhoods, built around trades.

*Colmar’s Poisonnerie quay where fish caught mainly in the River Ill were stocked and sold, dates from the 14^th century © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Poisonnerie quay where fish caught mainly in the River Ill were stocked and sold, dates from the 14^th century. Part of this district was damaged in a major fire in 1706 but some houses were rebuilt. The whole area underwent urban revitalization from 1976 to 1981.

The Tanners Quarter, rounded by the Rue de Montagne Vertne, Rue des Tripiers, Rue des Tanneurs and place de l’Ancienne Douane, is the epicenter of the protected old town center. Its tall, timber-framed houses built during the 17th and 18th centuries, often have a final open-worked level which was used by craftsmen to dry their pelts. The district was restored 1968-1974.

*The Tanners Quarter has been restored © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Koifhus (Old Customs house) completed in 1480, is the oldest public building in the city. The ground floor was used as a warehouse, where imported and exported goods were taxed. The floor was used for meetings of the deputies of the Décapole, the federation of the 10 imperial cities of Alsace, formed in 1534 and for the Magistrate. When the Revolution abolished commercial privileges, the building was used for other purposes. Around 1840, the building was used as a theater and in 1848, the first office of the discount bank. The Koïfhus was occupied by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1870 to 1930 and by a Catholic boy school and an Israelite school in the late 19th century. Today it is used for various public activities.

*Colmar’s Covered Market: what is old is new again © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A marvelous place is The Covered Market, especially to pick up picnic fixings for lunch or snack. Designed in 1865, this building is made of bricks, with a metal frame has had several functions until being returned to its original purpose of market hall. About 20 merchants offer high quality products: fruits and vegetables, butchery, cheese dairy, bakery and pastry, fish and other terroir delights – yet another example of what is old becoming new again. (13 rue des Ecoles, Quartier de la Petite Venise).

I find a sensational patisserie that has the best croissants, which I munch just outside in a tiny park.

Musee Unterlinden

I wander a bit aimlessly, just soaking in the atmosphere, and find myself at one of Colmar’s most important museums, Musee Unterlinden.

Founded in 1906, Musee Unterlinden is housed in a 13^th century convent building that was linked to the former municipal baths building by architects Herzog & de M Meuron, who added a contemporary extension. Within you wander through 7,000 years of history, culture and art from the prehistoric era to 20th century.

The museum is mainly known as a showcase of Rhenish Art, displaying a remarkable collection of paintings and sculptures of the Colmar region of the 15th and 16th centuries, a Golden Age for the Upper Rhine.

*Musee Unterlinden’s star attraction is the celebrated altarpiece of Isenheim* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But its star attraction is the celebrated altarpiece of Isenheim, an exquisite polyptych created between 1512 and 1516 by the artists Niclaus of Haguenau (for the sculpted elements) and Grünewald (for the painted panels). It was created for the Antonite order’s monastic complex at Isenheim, a village about 15 miles south of Colmar, where it decorated the high altar of the monastery hospital’s chapel until the French Revolution.

The Isenheim Altarpiece is housed in the museum’s Medieval cloister, where you find the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with works by Martin Schongauer, Hans Holbein and Lucas Cranach. The former baths building that opened in 1906 is used for special exhibitions, while the works of major 20^th century artists including Monet, de Staël, Picasso and Dubuffet have a new showcase in the contemporary wing.

I wander down to the cellar of the former convent, and am fascinated to see its extensive archaeology section, with artifacts of the Haut-Rhin region dating back thousands of years. The collection has been expanding because of ongoing regional excavations. One section is devoted to prehistory and protohistory, the neighboring rooms to the Roman and Merovingian periods.

The extensive collection of historical objects and artifacts from domestic life and funerary contexts, mostly from the northern Haut-Rhine, presents an almost complete overview of the different stages of the region’s cultural evolution.

*Musee Unterlinden’s* *collection of historical objects and artifacts presents an almost complete overview of the different stages of the region’s cultural evolution.© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I find it interesting to learn Unterlinden was founded by a man who was convinced of the importance of “making a contribution to forming and developing a sense of taste and beauty” and of “providing the lower classes with an opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and pleasures they are so often denied.” In 1847, Louis Hugot, archivist and the city librarian of Colmar since 1841, was inspired by his love of graphic art to establish the Martin Schoengauer Society with other local scholars. Two years later, the society published its plan to transform the Unterlinden Convent into a museum.

Musee Unterlinden, Place Untrlinden, https://www.musee-unterlinden.com/en/home/.

Musee Bartholdi

The climax for my enchanting tour of Colmar comes when I (finally) find my way to the Musee Bartholdi (I seem to have overshot it a couple of times, even though everything is really close, even though there are metal markers in the street leading to the museum). The museum is housed in the childhood home of sculptor Frederick Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), who created the statue we know as the Statue of Liberty, but was actually named “Liberty Enlightening the World,” unveiled in New York in 1886.

*Bartholdi’s inspiring statue, “Grand soutiens du monde” – four women holding up the world © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Bartholdi was the son of a councilmember who died in 1836 when he was just two years old. The family residence was built in the 15^th century and transformed in the 18^th century into an elegant hotel particulier (town mansion).

When Bartholdi died, his widow defied his wishes (he wanted her to create a museum for sculpture) and turned his Colmar family home into a museum as a tribute to him. Opened in 1922, the Bartholdi museum is entirely dedicated to presenting the artist’s work as well as his process, so you see models, drawings, engravings and photographs. You also see family furniture and personal mementos.

*Going through Bartholdi’s childhood home, you feel you get to know him © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You enter through an inner courtyard, where you see Bartholdi’s inspiring statue, “Grand soutiens du monde” – four women holding up the world (bronze 1902).

The collection is presented on three floors of the mansion and walking through the family’s rooms lets you see Bartholdi as a person, how his idealism was manifested in his art, and you realize that his true genius is how his art inspires that same idealism in the viewer.

*A portrait of Frederick Auguste Bartholdi in the Bartholdi Museum, Colmar © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A whole room (surprisingly small, but that makes it more intimate) is dedicated to the Statue of Liberty – you see his inspirations and some early designs, and fantastic historic photos of its production in Paris. It is thrilling to see Bartholdi’s process for the Statue of Liberty, which he titled Liberty Enlightening the World.

Indeed, Bartholdi’s colossal Lady Liberty famously celebrates freedom, and most Americans believe his symbols refer to the American Revolution and independence from tyranny, especially since it was dedicated in New York 1886, a little over a century after the Declaration of Independence. But Bartholdi intended Liberty to commemorate America’s abolition of slavery as a result of the Civil War in 1865 – the idea for the monument originated in 1865 but was pursued only after the Third French Republic was established in 1870. We see a model of the statue that has Lady Liberty’s foot stepping on chains, as if to crush the chains of bondage.

*A model of Bartholdi’s “Liberty Enlightening the World”shows Lady Liberty crushing chains of bondage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Lady Liberty stands 151 feet tall, and the top of her torch brings the statue up to 305 feet – the largest statue that had ever been completed up to that time.

There are also his models for Bartholdi’s monumental statue, Lion of Belfort, which is as precious to France as Lady Liberty is to America. Bartholdi served in the Franco-Prussian War and took part in the defense of Colmar. I read that Bartholdi was distraught over Alsace’s defeat and over the years, constructed monuments celebrating French heroism in its defense against Germany. Lion of Belfort, which he created from 1871-1880, symbolizes the French resistance against Prussia’s assault during the 103-day Siege of Belfort, December 1870 to February 1871.

*Bartholdi’s “Le Martyr modern,” reinterprets the tragic myth of Prometheus© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Colmar had always celebrated its native son, Bartholdi, and he had erected statues in the city, including his earliest works. But in the 1890s, German authorities restricted Bartholdi’s residency permit in Alsace, because several of his public monuments demonstrated support for a French Alsace. The sculptor found it increasingly difficult to travel to Colmar. In light of this, the Schoengeuer Society’s decision to set up a Bartholdi Room in the Unterlinden Museum in 1898 was a courageous move.

Bartholdi collaborated with the Schoengauer Society early on – his first major sculpture was created for the Unterlinden Museum when he was just 18 years old – a plaster statue of the founder of the Unterlinden Convent, Agnes de Hergenheim (1852), as well as the monumental fountain in honor of Martin Schongeuer, erected in the cloister of the former convent (1863). Bartholdi donated several works to the society which were transferred to the Bartholdi Museum when it opened in 1922.

Following the re-annexation of Alsace and Moselle by Nazi Germany in June 1940, Colmar was once again under German rule. The museum was shut down. The German forces destroyed Bartholdi’s monuments in the city – the statue of General Rapp was smashed on September 9, 1940; the Bruat fountain was dismantled. Figures of the four continents in red Vosges sandstone were crushed.

*Nazis crushed Bartholdi’s Figures of the four Continents but residents saved the four heads* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But some Colmar residents managed to get to the site to save the four heads and a part of the foot, which they hid in their cellars. The fragments were returned to the city after the war (they are on view in the museum) and a new version of the fountain was erected in 1958.

The museum reopened in 1979, very likely spurred by preparations for celebrating the Statue of Liberty Centennial.

*Metal images of Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty embedded in Colmar’s walkway lead the way to the Bartholdi Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

(We can see his works in the United States also: Marquis de Lafayette in Union Square, NYC; Bartholdi Fountain in the Botanic Garden, Washington DC.)

There is also a 12-meter high replica of the Statue of Liberty, sculpted to commemorate the 100th anniversary of sculptor Auguste Bartholdi’s death, located at the northern entrance to the town.

*“Fontaine Schwendi”, depicting Lazarus von Schendi (1898), in the Place de L’Ancienne Douane, is one of Bartholdi’s works that can be found around Colmar* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The museum has a brochure (in French) with a map of where you can find Bartholdi statues and monuments around Colmar: Monument du Général Rapp – 1856 (first shown 1855 in Paris. Bartholdi’s earliest major work); “Fontaine Schongauer” – 1863 (in front of the Unterlinden Museum); “Fontaine de l’Amiral Bruat” – 1864; “Fontaine Roeselmann” – 1888; “Monument Hirn” – 1894; “Fontaine Schwendi”, depicting Lazarus von Schendi – 1898; Les grands soutiens du monde − 1902 (statue in the courtyard of the museum).

(Musee Bartholdi, 30 rue des Marchands, 68000 Colmar, https://www.musee-bartholdi.fr/)

*Much of Colmar is a protected district, © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Another site I miss is the Synagogue. Built 1839-1842 on the site of an old farm, the synagogue of Colmar is the seat of the Israelite Consistory and the Grand Rabbinate of the Haut-Rhin.

I learn that the Jewish community was expelled in the 16th century, but returned to Colmar during the Revolution. The Rabbi was transferred from Wintzenheim to Colmar in 1823. The synagogue of Colmar was renovated in 1885 and an annex added in 1936. Used as an arsenal during the German occupation, the synagogue was restored after the war. It is the only synagogue in the region which has a bell tower. (3 rue de la Cigogne,)

*Enjoy a boat ride to see Colmar from the river © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear*

Unfortunately, I leave Colmar before seeing its Illumination. The town is illuminated from nightfall on Fridays and Saturdays year-round and every evening during major events in Colmar such as the International Festival, Regional Alsace Wine Fair and Christmas in Colmar.

Another reason to look forward to returning.

For more information about Colmar’s museums: https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/en/visit/presentation/museums

For more visitor information, contact Tourist Office of Colmar, Place Unterlinden, +33 (0)3 89 20 68 92, [email protected], https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/en. The website is really helpful for planning: https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/en/visit/presentation/discover

TIME-TRAVELING THROUGH STRASBOURG IN FRANCE’S ALSACE-LORRAINE

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Arts, Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Historic Places, Hotels & Resorts, Museums and Exhibits, Places of History

Time-Traveling through Strasbourg in France’s Alsace-Lorraine

April 28, 2024 krubin723

*The spectacular panoramic view of Le Petit France from the terrace atop Vauban Dam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Staying over in the historic city of Strasbourg in France’s Alsace-Lorraine region, means that you can go out in the early morning, before the daytrippers crowd the streets, and soak in the atmosphere.

*A cyclist rides through the Tanners Row, empty of people in the early morning © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I walk through Tanners Row, which in this early morning hour, is peaceful. A guy on a bike rides through, a reminder that this is still a neighborhood, a community.

I go to explore Strasbourg’s Les Ponts Couverts and the Vauban Dam, located a short distance from each other.

*Strasbourg’s Les Ponts Couverts* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Les Ponts Couverts (covered bridges) are three bridges spanning the River Ill, dominated by three imposing square towers, vestiges of the 13th-century city walls. A bit further, there’s a fourth tower nicknamed “the executioner’s tower.”

While I fruitlessly look for covered bridges, I finally realize that they were replaced in 1865 by these stone bridges without a roof (so not covered),where I am standing. As I observe the beautiful views from the bridge, a fellow tells me you can walk on the Panoramic Terrace on top of the Vauban Dam – in fact, the views from there are spectacular.

*Statues stored in a cell within the Vauban Dam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A short walk from the bridge is the Vauban Dam. “The Great Lock” was built between 1686 and 1700 based on plans of Louix XIV’s military engineer, Vauban. Built with 13 arches, it was constructed so that they could flood part of the city to defend against an enemy attack. It is fascinating to walk through – some sculptures just hanging about gathering cobwebs – but most marvelous is a rooftop terrace, laid out in 1965, which you can walk over for a spectacular panoramic view of the old city.

*Looking out from the interior of the Vauban Dam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From here, you can see the fingers of the River Ill coming together below you. (Pro tip: though amazing to see in the morning light, you are looking into the sun – the reflections on the water are amazing – but check it out in the late afternoon.)

*The view of Le Petit France from the terrace atop Vauban Dam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Palais Rohan

One of the many jewels of Strasbourg is the Palais Rohan. Constructed between 1732 and 1742 from blueprints by Robert deCotte, First Architect to the King, it was built for Cardinal Armand-Gaston de Rohan-Soubise, Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg, modeled after Paris’ grand mansions.

Following the French Revolution, the palace became the Emperor’s royal residence, and after 1870, a museum. Today, the Palais Rohan houses three stellar museums: the Archeological Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Fine Arts Museum – just walking through the palace to the various rooms where the exhibits are displayed is a phenomenal experience.

(I have to rush through in the couple of hours before I need to get to the Regent Petit France Hotel where we are getting picked up for the European Waterways canal cruise aboard the Panache. It would have been better to have four hours.)

The art and artifacts are gorgeously presented in an exquisite palace. Definitely follow the helpful “My First Visit…” brochures which detail where to find the highlights.

*The Museum of Decorative Arts is set in the historical royal apartments in the Palais Rohan, today with the juxtaposition of a modern art exhibit © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Museum of Fine Arts presents a fascinating overview of European painting up to 1870. Located on the first floor of the Palais Rohan, the museum offers a tour through the centuries and schools: Italian and Flemish Primitives (Giotto, Memling); Renaissance and Mannerism (Botticelli, Raphael, Veronese, Lucas de Leyde, El Greco); Baroque, Naturalism and Classicism in the 17th and 18th centuries (Rubens, Vouet, Zurbarán, La Belle Strasbourgeoise de Largillière, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Goya); 19th century (Delacroix, Chassériau, Corot, Courbet).

Among the highlights is La Belle Strasbourgeoise, from 1703, a portrait of a woman from one of Strasbourg’s important families in the time of Louis XIV with her imposing two-cornered hat in black lace, painted by one of the best portrait painters of the time, Nicolas de Largilliere. Though the woman has never been identified, the painting has become a symbol of the museum, much as the Mona Lisa is to Le Louvre.

Museum of Decorative Arts is set in the historical apartments – so you visit the chambers of the King and the Bishop-Prince, with exceptional examples of “the princely style of life under the monarchy.” It continues into the wing of the old stables with a tour of rooms housing decorative arts collections tracing the diversity and development of applied arts in Strasbourg from 1681 to 1870 – world-famous Hannong ceramics, furnishings, sculpture and paintings, timepieces, metalwork, silver and goldsmith art, and a selection of mechanical toys from the Tomi Ungerer Foundation.

The most interesting section is the Chamber of the Bishops – the suite of rooms forming the King’s apartments. Originally, there would have been portraits of bishops but in 1793, the paintings were burned by revolutionaries who replaced them with allegorical figures of the Civic Virtues, which is what we see today. One of the paintings dates from the First French Empire and displays the monogram of Napoleon I and the Empress Josephine.

*Louis XV is said to have slept in this bedchamber during his visit to Strasbourg in 1744 and Marie -Antoinette in 1770 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Among the notable occupants of the King’s bedchamber were Louix XV, himself, who stayed here in October 1744, and the Daughines Marie-Josephe de Saxe in 1747 and Marie-Antoinette in 1770. The wood paneling is among the masterpieces of the French Rocaille style. Elaborately stylized shell-like, rock-like, and scroll motifs, Rocaille is one of the more prominent aspects of the Rococo style of architecture and decoration that developed in France during the reign of King Louis XV (1715–74).

Here, there is a disorienting melding of the old with the new: You go through the Royal Suite – bedchamber, Assembly Room which have been complemented with anachronistic modern art displays.

In the Decorative Arts Museum in the Palais Rohan, a room full of fascinating clockworks, including a cock clock and an astronomical clock, designed in the 16^th century © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Seeing my interest, the guide directs me to a room with clockworks – the cock clock originates from the first astronomical clock dating from the 14^th century of the Strasbourg Cathedral; in the center of the room are parts of the second astronomical clock designed in the 16^th century by mathematician Conrad Dasypodius.

I visit a room that originally was the Prince-Bishops’ bedchamber, but when it was refurbished in the Imperial period, the bedchamber became Emperor Napoleon’s Morning Room and the antechamber of the Prince-Bishop became a small dining room. The decoration was damaged during bombing in 1944.

*Emperor Napoleon’s Morning in the Palais Rohan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The entire Palais Rohan is an exhibit of decorative arts – it was built by Armand Gaston, Prince de Rohan Soubise, Bishop of Strasbourg from 1704-1713 who initiated the work. He wanted a building in the style of the Chateau at Versailles and commissioned plans from the King’s chief architect, Robert de Cotte. Construction, decoration and furnishing lasted from 1732-1742.

Archaeological Museum, the oldest of Strasbourg’s museums, was founded in the 18^th century. It is fabulous. Housed in the basement of the Palais Rohan, the diversity and wide chronological range of the artifacts on display make it one of the most important archaeological museums in France.

*The Archaeological Museum in the Palais Rohan has burial sites from the Bronze and Iron Age© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Archaeological Museum has fascinating exhibits that date back, remarkably, from 600,000 BC through the early Middle Ages (800 A.D.) You get insights into the daily life of Paleolithic hunters and the first neolithic farmers, Bronze Age and Iron Age burials, the everyday life of Gallo-Romans, and jewelry and weapons unearthed from Frankish and Atamanic graves.

*Among the highlights in the The Archaeological Museum in the Palais Rohan is this chariot for traveling through the world of the dead © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Among the highlights: A chariot for traveling through the world of the dead, taken from tombs of Celtic princes from the Iron Age (750 BC-050 BC). And you can see the oldest tool in Eastern France – a chopper made of rock used for slicing or scraping, that was found at Achenheim and dated about 600,000 B.C. There is also a funeral headstone of a Gallo-Roman farming couple wearing their everyday clothes, that dates from the late 3^rd Century A.D.

Palais Rohan, 2 place du Chateau Strasbourg, +33 (0) 3 68 98 50 00, www.musees.strasbourg.eu.

Musée Historique de la Ville de Strasbourg

After returning from the canal cruise aboard the Panache and before taking the afternoon train back to Paris, I find my way down this really colorful street off Cathedral Square (that’s saying something in Strasbourg) to the Historical Museum of the City of Strasbourg. It is also not to be missed (and try to see early in your visit).

You wouldn’t believe that the museum, founded in 1920, is housed in what was the Grande Boucherie (the city’s slaughterhouse) built 1587-1588; it was renovated and reopened in 2013.

Entering the Musée Historique de la Ville de Strasbourg is like entering a time machine that transports you to exciting, dramatic periods of France’s history: Gutenberg’s printing press and the rise of a printing/publishing industry in Strasbourg, and what that meant. The French Revolution. The 1870 Commune Revolt. World War I. The Nazi Occupation and resistance. The museum offers an engaging tour lets you discover nine centuries of Strasbourg’s existence through 1700 works on display –paintings, artifacts, possessions – and interactive and digital devices.

Strasbourg was a free city of the Empire, which meant it had its own walls and enjoyed the privilege of holding a market and minting its own coins. Strasbourg did not take an oath of loyalty to the sovereign and did not owe the sovereign taxes or military, except for an escort for his coronation. Such a “free city” was rare. On this basis, Strasbourg had an independent constitution that was considered highly democratic by the standards of the day.

*A display of Jewish ritual objects on view in Strasbourg’s City Museum. Jews were expelled from the city in 1388. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

However, among those excluded from burgher status were servants, the poor and Jews, who were massacred in 1349, and after 1388, the survivors were denied the right to live in Strasbourg. The only activity Jews could lawfully engage in was usury (money lending), and certain trades. They could pursue these occupations in the city by day but had to leave in the evening. There is a moving display showing Jewish ritual objects (and as I had seen at the Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame, a collection of Jewish tombstones).

There is an excellent display about Gutenberg, who developed his printing process in Strasbourg between 1434 and 1444 (legend has it he was inspired by seeing a wine press), then returned to his hometown of Mainz where he published his first printed volume in 1454. Gutenberg’s technological revolution spread with lightning speed. In Strasbourg some dozen printing houses sprang up between 1460 and 1480. The first publications were religious books (bibles) , classical texts and calendars.

*Johannes Gutenberg is said to have invented his printing press in Strasbourg, which became a major center for printing and publishing © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The invention of printing, arbitrarily dated 1440, was celebrated in Mainz (as of 1837) and in Strasbourg, which raised the statue by David d’Angers honoring Gutenberg in 1840 (the statue we see today in Place de Gutenberg).

In the early days, printing was used to diffuse knowledge as well as criticism of the Church and of society in general. But authorities soon started printing decrees. In Strasbourg, the population was divided into six social classes – the first included servants and unmarried women; second class were day workers; third class were gardeners, and up to the sixth class, representing nobles, the Magistrate and jurists.

Laws promulgated by the municipality from 1531 onwards touched every aspect of life – religion, education, marriage, burial, use of inns, dress, begging, Jews, financial matters, games, behavior in the street, defamation, publishing.

One could say that the printing press enabled the “Rule of Law”.

*Historical paintings of Strasbourg are on view in the City Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is fascinating to travel through time – through the Imperial period, the French Revolution, the Commune, the back-and-forth between being part of France and the German Empire, World War I, World War II and Nazi occupation.

I learn that 22 Novembre – the name of a main boulevard where my hotel, the Hannong, is – was the date in 1918 when the French Army entered Strasbourg. “For President Poincare, the enthusiastic reaction of the population was equivalent to a plebiscite. French became compulsory in schools and the civil service. Strasbourg, the regional capital, had to re-adapt to the French system of departments. Religion, important in both educational and political terms, had to make concessions to the secular state.”

The extensive exhibits focused on the World War II period are intense.

In July1940, once Petain had signed the armistice, Alsatians were encouraged by the Vichy regime to return to their homes – exceptions were Jews, “Francophiles” and French civil servants (30% of the population) – their property was seized, and what followed was “Germanization” of the population (again, since Alsace had gone back and forth between Germany and France).

In November 1944, Strasbourg was liberated from the Germans by General LeClerc. Strasbourg was bombed by both Allies and by Germans after being liberated in 1944.

The European Union was founded in 1992 – three of its institutions are based in Strasbourg: the European Parliament, the European Mediator and the Schengen Information Service.

“A day will come when war will seem as absurd and as impossible between Paris and London, St. Petersburg and Berlin, Vienna and Turin, as today it would be impossible and seem absurd between Rouen and Amiens, Boston and Philadelphia,” Victor Hugo said in the inaugural speech at the Congress for Peace, Paris, August 21, 1849.

I don’t even remember how many hours I spent here – the displays are really captivating.

(Information and portal to collections: https://en.musees.strasbourg.eu/museums)

Strolling around the historic district of Strasbourg to take in the fabulous architecture and ambiance takes on new dimension after visiting the City’s museum of history © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

More information at https://www.strasbourg.info and https://www.visitstrasbourg.fr.

Next: Stepping into the Storybook that is Colmar

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© 2024 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, European travel, Historic Places, International Travel, Monuments, Museums and Exhibits, Places of History

Discovering Strasbourg France’s Cultural Riches

April 21, 2024 krubin723

*Strasbourg, France’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, as seen through the windows of Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

I’ve come to Strasbourg, France, for a European Waterways canal cruise through the Alsace Lorraine on its luxury hotel barge, Panache. It is my practice now when connecting with a cruise or bike tour, to arrive at least a day early, especially when you have the opportunity to overnight in such a charming historic city as Strasbourg. That way I don’t have to worry about flight or weather delays and I can experience the destination in the morning and evening light, in peace and calm without the daytrippers, and have the time to really explore, discover and become immersed in its cultural riches.

*The TGV train from Paris to Strasbourg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The TGV train ride was absolutely gorgeous. (Less than two hours from Paris, you go from Charles de Gaulle Airport into the Gare de Nord, then take an easy 15 minute walk to Gare L’Est – glad I pre-purchased my train ticket and reserved seat on raileurope.com). It is surprising to see how soon out of the bustling metropolis you are in pastoral countryside. We whisk passed solar arrays, wind turbines, cows in pasture, and see traditional villages at the far end of fields. It’s cinematic.

*Leaving Paris for Strasbourg by train, you are soon in the pastoral countryside © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

And I still get into Strasbourg in the afternoon with plenty of time to explore.

There is much to experience in Strasbourg and I will actually have part of four days here. We will be picked up in Strasbourg on the first afternoon and taken to Krafft to board the barge hotel, Panache, and actually cruise back into Strasbourg on its first full day when we will have a walking tour and overnight on the canal. I will have much of a full day again at the end of the cruise, when we are delivered back to Strasbourg from Niderviller, before I take the train to Paris. I do a calculation and decide on my only full day in Strasbourg, after exploring the old city in the early morning, to hop on the train for a 45-minute ride to see Colmar, and still get to enjoy Strasbourg’s beauty at night.

*Hotel Hannong is perfectly situated, walking distance to Strasbourg’s historic sites* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I must say I am clever about seeing Strasbourg, beginning with choosing a charming boutique hotel, the Hannong, which I find on hotels.com, right in the historic district and walking distance from the train station, so walking distance to everything I want to see, even walking back late at night. I am able to book a room ideal for a single person (it’s as big as a walk-in closet but has everything I need) for a very attractive rate. The pleasant stay, hospitable staff, and location add immeasurably to the way I experience Strasbourg and make the best of my time. (Hotel Hannong, 15, Rue du 22 Novembre,67000 Strasbourg, +33 03 88 32 16 22, hotel-hannong.com).

*Strasbourg’s old city © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

So when I arrive, I find my way to the Hotel Hannong (I’m disoriented and finally find someone to point me in the right direction (I’ve already downloaded directions but I don’t have internet), I drop my bag and go off to immerse myself in the old city’s charm.

*Strasbourg’s picturesque Le Petit France is a UNESCO Heritage Site © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It’s just a couple of blocks to where Le Petit France begins, and I wander the narrow cobblestone streets, over bridges over the River Ill, where every turn reveals a picturesque scene of quaint quays and colorfully timbered structures from the Middle Ages, reflected in the blue water. The River Ill, which divides into five arms, is what spurred the construction of mills and the installation of tanneries centuries ago.

*The Tanners district in Strasbourg’s Le Petit France dates from 1572 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

So charming and tranquil today, even with the crowds of tourists in midday, Le Petit France, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in its day would have been the stinkiest, filthiest, poorest part of town, inhabited by tanners, fishermen, and animals, but as you get closer and closer to fabulous Cathedral, the residences become nicer and fancier and is where the wealthiest merchants and officials would have lived.

I come upon Place Gutenberg with a striking monument created by David d’Angers (1788-1856), erected in 1840. It commemorates that the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg developed moveable type that revolutionized access to the Bible, news, information, books, and even the law to the masses, while living in Strasbourg from 1430-1440, spawning an entire printing and publishing industry based in Strasbourg. The bronze statue stands on a granite base with four fascinating bronze relief panels that commemorate that Gutenberg came upon his idea for moveable type inspired by how a wine press worked, and how his invention influenced every corner of the globe.

*The statue for Johannes Gutenberg in Strasbourg’s Place Gutenberg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

One of the reliefs, “Detail of America,” depicts Benjamin Franklin and other signatories to the Declaration of Independence along with other famous liberators including General Lafayette and Simon Bolivar. Another, “Africa,” portrays Wilberforce and other abolitionists bringing freedom and enlightenment to the slaves. The third relief, “The Printing Press in Europe,” portrays important figures of the Enlightenment – Erasmus, Chaucer, Milton, Molière, Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant and Schiller (the original plaster panel, which gave prominence to Martin Luther, caused an uproar, I learn). The Asian panel is more weathered, but includes Brahmans exchanging manuscripts for books, and Chinese people reading Confucius

*Strasbourg’s Guttenberg Plaza © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In this plaza, there is also an old-timey Carrousel 1900 that is a delight in the day, enchanting at night.

*A traditional Punch & Judy show © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

When I get to St. Thomas Church, I come upon an outdoor Punch & Judy puppet show, which traces back to Commedia dell’arte tradition in Italy in the 1660s. (I’m not a fan of the too accurate re-creation of its traditional slapstick humor and the tragicomic misadventures of the characters but the kids love it.)

*Families enjoy the traditional Punch & Judy show © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Notre-Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg

The Notre-Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg dominates the city, in fact the entire region since it can be seen from great distances. Cathedral Square is a vibrant hub of musicians, vendors, and is ringed with some of the most important sites in the city – reminiscent of St. Marks Square in Venice. I will visit multiple times, and in the course of my visit, experience most of the important sites around the Cathedral. The streets that radiate from it are also full of colorful activity.

*Chasing bubbles in Cathedral Square © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Construction of the Cathedral started in 1015, but came into its own as a monumental Gothic structure in the 1260s because of Erwin von Steinbach who designed the Cathedral to be the most modern building of its time in the whole of the Holy Roman Empire. It is still one of the most beautiful examples of Gothic architecture in the world. The hundreds of statues that decorate the Cathedral are incredible.

*Strasbourg, France’s Notre-Dame Cathedral © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Finally finished in 1439, the Cathedral, built of pink sandstone from the Vosges, features a 142-meter-tall bell tower, making it the tallest medieval building in all of Europe.

It is an imposing structure inside, as well, with 12^th and 14^th century Romanesque stained glass windows in mesmerizing geometric patterns. You can climb the 332 steps to the top of the bell tower for a spectacular view and explore an 11^th century crypt below the main cathedral.

On Saturday night, after I have rested a bit after coming back from Colmar, I stroll out of the hotel to Cathedral Square for the 10-minute Illuminations de la Cathedrale de Strasbourg, a free laser light show which begins nightly at 10 pm and runs continuously until midnight (in July and August). I find the neon colors jarring, but I love when the white fluttering strobe light gives the Cathedral a ghostly quality.

*Strasbourg, France’s Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Illumination © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame

Just across the square from The Cathedral is the Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame, an absolute must-see, where you walk through seven centuries of art in Strasbourg and the Upper Rhine. Its medieval and Renaissance collections show why Strasbourg is considered one of the most important artistic centers of the Germanic Empire from the 13^th to 16^th centuries.

During the 13th century, the construction of Strasbourg Cathedral produced some of the most exceptional sculptures of the medieval world. Many of them – such as The Church and the Synagogue statues on the south portal, and the west façade’s Tempter and the Wise and Foolish Virgins, the Virtues Crushing the Vices, and the Prophets – were removed from the edifice in the early 20^th century to protect them from bad weather and pollution, and replaced by sandstone replicas. But here you see the original sculptures that decorated the Cathedral. To see them so close, life-sized, so you can really appreciate the artistry in a way you simply can’t by gazing up at the Cathedral, is astounding.

When I visit, the museum is featuring a virtual reality, augmented reality, holograms, videos and touch screens to situate the works where they had originally been set in the Cathedral.

In one grand room, I focus on the two sculptures known as “The Church and The Synagogue,” which I would not have known to look for, just walking about the Cathedral.

So much is embodied in these two statues, and why they were chosen: Positioned on either side of the south transept portal, the statutes of The Church and The Synagogue “each personify a covenant binding God to his people: the New Covenant of the Christian Gospel and the Old Covenant of the Jewish Torah, respectively,” the notes say.

*Church Triumphant and The Synagogue Vanquished* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

On the left, the Church Triumphant, “wearing a crown and holding in her hands a chalice and a banner surmounted by the Cross, fixes her self-assured gaze on the Synagogue. The vanquished Synagogue, blindfolded and holding a broken lance, averts her head, expressing her inability to recognize the messiah in the person of Jesus. She appears to let fall the tablets of the Law of Moses, symbolizing the supplanting of the Old Testament. But the extreme humanity and beauty of the young woman’s features suggest an awaited revelation rather than the stigma of blindness” [as if to suggest, Jews will come into Christianity’s fold].

Now that I know where to look, later I go out to see the figures at the Cathedral.

*Church Triumphant and The Synagogue Vanquished* *statues as they are position on the Cathedral’s south portal © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In front of these two statues is a relief representing the biblical episode of “The Sacrifice of Isaac” at the hand of his father Abraham. The notes do not mention that this event for Jews, established the covenant with God and Jews as the “Chosen People”.

*A relief depicting Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, Isaac © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Besides the statuary, there are incredible paintings, triptychs and religious art – some of the most magnificent in the world – as you walk from room to room, floor to floor.

*Jewish tombstones on view at the Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame. Jews were expelled from Strasbourg in 1349, during the Black Plague © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I follow an interior staircase all the way down and come to an interior courtyard in which tombstones rescued from a Jewish cemetery are displayed respectfully. The notes say that in 1349, Jews were expelled from Strasbourg because of Black Plague.

I climb the staircase to an attic room, where the innovations in architecture and engineering are explained. You also see some of the original architectural drawings of the Cathedral – the oldest architectural drawings of their type – as well as a video.

La Nativite de la Vierge. At the Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame, you see works that show why Strasbourg is considered one of the most important artistic centers of the Germanic Empire from the 13^th to 16^th centuries.© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The museum is housed within La Maison de L’Oeuvre Notre-Dame, which has been the home of the Foundation of the Oeuvre Notre-Dame (the body responsible for administering work on the Cathedral) since the Middle Ages. It is actually two buildings: a Gothic house with its crow-stepped gable (1347) and a Renaissance wing with a scroll gable (1582). Just walking through the rooms is an experience.

*Musee de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame* *is actually in two buildings: a Gothic house with its crow-stepped gable (1347) and a Renaissance wing with a scroll gable (1582) © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Fondation de l’Oeuvre Notre-Dame (Our Holy Lady Work Foundation) was established in 1224 (!!) to improve the administration of donations and legacies for the construction of Strasbourg Cathedral. Every since construction ended, the Foundation has been in charge of restoration and conservation of the monument, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.

Plan on spending several hours wandering around this museum (I actually did it twice).

Musee de L’Oeuvre Notre-Dame/Aarts Du Moyen Age, 3 place duChateau, Strasbourg.

From here, I walk across the square to see the Church and Synagogue portal, before walking back through Cathedral Square (which reminds me of St. Marks Square in Venice) to the fabulous Palais Rohan.

Ancient: La Maison Kammerzell, built in 1467, and converted to Renaissance style in 1589, boasts exquisite carvings, with secular and religious themes, After refurbishing, it became a restaurant celebrated for its lavish frescoes painted by Leo Schnug © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

What is so interesting (and fun) about Strasbourg is how the historic city seamlessly integrates – and respects – what is ancient and what is modern: the virtual reality in the Musee de L’Oeuvre Notre Dame, the neon laser lights that bathe The Cathedral for the nightly show, the modern art in Cathedral Square, the really modern art exhibit incorporated into the 18^th century Royal Chambers of the Palais Rohan’s Decorative Arts Museum, the light rail that rings the Old City along cobblestone streets.

Modern: *Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art* *in Strasbourg’s historic district* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

So much to see, experience and appreciate. My exploration continues.

More information at https://www.strasbourg.info and https://www.visitstrasbourg.fr,

Next: Time Traveling Through Strasbourg

EUROPEAN WATERWAYS ALSACE-LORRAINE CANAL CRUISE: STRASBOURG’S CATHEDRAL, WINE TASTING ON ROUTE DES VINS

EUROPEAN WATERWAYS ALSATIAN CANAL CRUISE: MYSTERY OF THE NECKLACE IN SAVERNE, LALIQUE IN LUTZELBOURG

EUROPEAN WATERWAYS ALSACE-LORRAINE CANAL CRUISE: A BOAT GUILLOTINE, TWO TUNNELS AND A MONUMENTAL CHAGALL

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© 2024 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Arts & Entertainment, Cultural travel, Destinations, European travel, Historic Places, Jewish Heritage Travel, Museums and Exhibits, Places of History

4 Days in Paris: Wandering the Marais District Highlights Day 3

March 10, 2024 krubin723

*Paris’ Marais District is a colorful combination of the venerable and contemporary, trendy cafes, a mélange of architecture and street art, and historic, heritage and cultural sites* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

On the third and last full day of my stay in Paris, I could have planned a visit to Versailles, but I just want a day to wander without a plan. Still, I have on my list several places that I keep seeing street signs for in this fascinating Marais district where I have cleverly chosen a hotel.

*Paris’ Marais District is a delightful mixture of venerable and contemporary © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Marais District is a colorful combination of the venerable and contemporary, trendy cafes, a mélange of architecture and historic, heritage and cultural sites, all packed into a relatively small (walkable) area. It is particularly wonderful to wander because the narrow, winding streets are a bit of a maze, and you keep coming upon architectural jewels – even a medieval tower – that span the centuries, trendy cafes and shops, street art, and historic places, especially sites that recall that the Marais was once a Jewish neighborhood. The main thoroughfare is Rue Vielle du Temple, and another is Rue du Temple. I had already come upon the Memorial de la Shoah, and have yet to find the Square du Temple-Elie Wiesel, le Carreau du Temple, a former clothes market that was transformed into a cultural center in 2014, or the Jardin Anne Frank.

I go in search of Place des Vosges, described as the oldest public square in Paris and an “early urban planning marvel”.

*Parvis des 260 Enfants is a reminder that Le Marais used to be a Jewish neighborhood* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I get lost and instead come upon Parvis des 260 Enfants – a plaza where a marker recalls 260 Jewish school children were deported and murdered in the Holocaust. Behind a locked gate is the “Ecole Primaire Commudej Garcons Israelites Mode Mutuel.”

I finally find the Places des Vosges – which strikes me as reminiscent of Gramercy Park in Manhattan with townhouses all around. It was built for a king for jousting and festivals – the townhouses came later. It isn’t what I expected.

***Places des Vosges*** *is the oldest public square in Paris and an early urban planning marvel. One of the townhouses is now the Victor Hugo Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Though I have on my mental wish list to visit the Victor Hugo Museum, I don’t realize that it is actually one of these townhouses on Places des Vosges. (Years ago, I actually visited Victor Hugo’s “home in exile” on the quaint Channel Island of Guernsey and found it fabulous). But I get distracted and forget to look for it when I leave the square.

This is a huge regret – “Discover the private world of Victor Hugo. Get to know the man, the visionary artist, the proactive thinker and, of course, the writer of genius,” the museum promises. The museum incorporates the apartment that Victor Hugo rented from 1832 to 1848 is located on the 2nd floor of 6, Place Royale (now Place des Vosges). Its layout takes you through his life by means of the furnishings, objects and works of art that he created himself, owned, or are related to his writing.

While living in this apartment, Hugo wrote some of his major works: Mary Tudor, Ruy Blas, Les Burgraves [The Commanders], Les Chants du crépuscule [Songs of Twilight], Les Voix intérieures [Inner Voices], Les Rayons et les Ombres [Beams and Shadows], a large part of Les Misérables, and the beginning of The Legend of the Ages and Contemplations.

*The Marais District is full of surprises, like coming upon this medieval tower © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

More than the writer’s house, the Maison de Victor Hugo is an important museum with a collection of 50,000 works of art- paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, photographs, objects, a library, and collection of manuscripts and archives, all bearing witness to the life and work of Victor Hugo.

(Booking in advance is not required but is recommended. Admission to the museum’s permanent collections is free; an admission is charged for special exhibitions.)

Maison de Victor Hugo, place des Vosges, 6 place des Vosges, 75004 Paris,
Phone : 01 42 72 10 16; open 10-6, Tuesday-Sunday, https://www.maisonsvictorhugo.paris.fr/en/paris/museum/visit-apartment-today

(Add to my regret: I discover too late that in the Marais district is an Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, celebrating the ground-breaking photographer and founder of Magnum and photography, at 79 Rue des Archives, 75003 Paris, www.henricartierbresson.org)

Musee Carnavalet

But leaving the Square in the opposite direction from Maison de Victor Hugo (why I didn’t see it), I happen upon the Musee Carnavalet, dedicated to recounting the history of Paris and its inhabitants. It is absolutely fabulous – for the story, the artifacts, the art it presents, and it answers the question I had been wondering about: how Paris, as fabulous a city as it is, came to be.

The museum occupies two neighboring historic mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet, was purchased by the Municipal Council of Paris in 1866 and opened to the public in 1880 (the oldest of Paris city museums); and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau which was annexed and opened to the public in 1989. Both are exquisite.

The Carnavalet, which dates from the 16th century, contains stunning furnished rooms from different periods of Paris history, historic objects, and a huge collection of paintings of Paris life depicting the city’s history and development, as well as its notable characters. There is a huge collection of antiques and artifacts from the French Revolution that bring this era to life in your mind (I note a portrait of Ben Franklin); from the Second Republic of 1848, and the siege of the commune in 1870 (the era depicted in Hugo’s “Les Miserables”). The horror of the Nazi occupation is also represented.

*Paintings arranged like a 19^th century salon, at Musee Carnavalet © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You come to a grand room that looks like the 19^th century art salons the painters would exhibit in, with its walls filled with works by artists including Joos Van Cleve, Frans Pourbus the Younger, Jacques-Louis David, Hippolyte Lecomte, and Simon-Auguste.

*Dramatic historic paintings on view* *at Musee Carnavalet help tell the story of how Paris came to be © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“At the crossroads of archaeology and history, the decorative arts and fine arts, urban history and social anthropology, the museum provides the keys to understanding the history of this unique city-capital-metropolis.”

It houses both well-known masterpieces along with little known treasures that tell the complex story of Paris, from its origins to present day, spanning 8,500 years and holds a mind-boggling 625.000 objects, presented in 85 permanent exhibition rooms

You need to spend at least two hours here. (Tuesday-Sunday, 10-6)

Musée Carnavalet, 23 Rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris, http://carnavalet.paris.fr/en

*So much fun to get lost in the Marais District © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Carnavalet Museum, which proves a highlight of my Paris stay and the best reason for just wandering around, is one of the 14 City of Paris’s museums that have been incorporated since January 1, 2013, in the public institution Paris Musees. Others include: Catacombes de Paris, Crypte archéologique de l’Ile de la Cité, Maison de Balzac, Maison de Victor Hugo – Hauteville House (and in Guernsey), Petit Palais City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée Bourdelle, Musée Cernuschi, Museum of Asian Art, Musée Cognacq-Jay, Musée Galliera, Museum of the General Leclerc and the Paris’ Liberation – Jean Moulin Museum, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Zadkine Museum

The Musée Picasso-Paris

*The Musee Picasso-Paris boasts the world’s richest public collection on Picasso © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I set out next for the The Musée Picasso-Paris which is also in the Marais district – housed incongruously (considering Picasso’s art) in another classic historic mansion. The museum makes the claim to “the world’s richest public collection on Picasso” with 297 paintings, 368 sculptures and 3D works, 200,000 archived items, 92 illustrated books by Picasso. It also boasts a collection of 50 pieces of furniture by Diego Giacommetti.

Musée National Picasso-Paris, 5 rue de Thorigny, 75003 Paris, https://www.museepicassoparis.fr/en

Museum of Jewish Art & History

From the Picasso Museum, I find my way to the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme (Museum of Jewish Art & History).

As I walk up Rue de Place Republic to Rue de Temple, I find a marker that says 76,000 Jews were deported by Nazis to concentration camps; 2000 returned. Among those who were deported were the residents of 71 Rue de Temple, a 17^th century historic mansion which today houses the Jewish Museum (mahJ), and when you first go in, there is a sort of tribute to them.

*A statue of Dreyfus is in the courtyard at the entrance to the Museum of Jewish Art & History © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The museum traces Jewish artistic and cultural heritage, focusing on the history of the Jews in France since the Middle Ages to the 20^th century, and evoking the communities of Europe and North Africa. Its collection, which it boasts is one of the finest in the world, comprises religious objects, manuscripts, textiles, and archival documents, such as concerning the Dreyfus Affair. (A statue of Dreyfus is in the courtyard at the entrance to the museum).

*A painting by Marc Chagall on view at the Museum of Jewish Art & History © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Special emphasis is given to the Jewish presence in the arts. The museum’s collections include works of art from painters of the School of Paris, Marc Chagall, Kikoine Soutine and Amedeo Modigliani and contemporary artists such as Christian Boltanski and Sophie Calle.

*At the Museum of Jewish Art & History, art and religious ritual come together as in this historic shul © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I find the exhibit more about Jewish ritual objects and such, than it is about Jewish history, culture and art – but I am really at a disadvantage in understanding since there are no English translations.

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, 71 Rue du Temple, 75003 Paris, France, https://www.mahj.org

Next I head toward the Place de la Bastille where the notorious Bastille prison once stood, until it was stormed and destroyed between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution. No vestige of the infamous prison remains. Instead, the July Column (Colonne de Juillet) commemorating the July Revolution (1830) at the center of the square and the Opera house.

*The Place de la Bastille where the notorious Bastille prison once stood is nothing like I envision © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

And while the square is now the site of concerts, cafes and nightclubs, it is also often the centerpiece for political demonstrations.

Another square, the Place Royale, which is close to my hotel, Le 20 Prieure Hotel, is also important for France’s history, but today is a place for skateboarders, misting station who seem to be completely unimpressed by the fabulous plaques, reliefs and inscriptions that decorate the statue at its center.

*The Place Royale © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Many of these attractions are included in the Paris Museum Pass, http://en.parismuseumpass.com/ and Paris Pass (ParisPass.com).

More planning help from the Paris Tourist Office, https://parisjetaime.com/eng/. Online ticketing at https://parisjetaime.com/eng/tickets.

For Olympics planning (and where you can purchase tickets that become available), https://www.paris2024.org/en/

Next: Day 4 in Paris: Montmartre

VISITING PARIS THIS YEAR? PLAN IN ADVANCE

4 DAYS IN PARIS: MUSEE D’ORSAY HIGHLIGHTS DAY 1

4 DAYS IN PARIS: LE LOUVRE HIGHLIGHTS DAY 2

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© 2024 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Destinations, European travel, Historic Places, Jewish Heritage Travel, Museums and Exhibits, Places of History, Tips for Travel

4 Days in Paris: Le Louvre Highlights Day 2

March 5, 2024 krubin723

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Le Louvre is SOOO big, so famous and so very popular – in fact, the world’s largest art museum at 652,300 sq. ft., housing some 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19^th century – the best strategy is simply to just surrender to it, go with the flow, and be surprised.

In 2018, the Louvre welcomed 10.2 million visitors, 3.5 million more than the Vatican Museums which is the second largest in Europe. The collection is valued at well over $35 billion plus another $10 billion for the building!

Once the home to French Kings including Louis XIV, this monumental palace, Le Louvre was converted to a museum during the French Revolution in the late 18th century © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Once the home to French Kings including Louis XIV, this monumental palace began as a fortress built in the late 12^th century under King Philip II. It was converted to a museum during the French Revolution in the late 18th century. (Hence my observation that such magnificent structures that make Paris so fabulous could only have been built by a monarchy, but opened to the public by a democracy.)

The galleries span 15 acres, which is why, except for the Mona Lisa and some of the other majorly famous items, it is possible for 15,000 people a day to come through and you can still have some areas almost to yourself.

*The grand lobby of Le Louvre is at the base of the glass pyramid © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is massive and overwhelming – like culture shock, really, especially after having visited the comparatively calm Musee D’Orsay the day before. The connecting rooms through three wings of the palace that surround the massive courtyard seem to go on and on and on.

Considering that it would take 100 days to see all the art in Le Louvre, I decide the best thing is to just go with the flow – and get the Mona Lisa out of the way – and then just wander and be surprised. (Besides the Mona Lisa, the other blockbuster attractions are Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory.)

It is also one of the most fabulous buildings you will ever have the chance to visit, and just going room by room (be sure to look up at the decorated ceilings), is thrilling.

I follow the signs –and the crowd – into the hall with the Mona Lisa, “La Gioconda.”

*The scramble to see Leonard DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It’s a bit of a jungle to make your way to the painting (they could have alleviated by putting up ropes that guide you along, like they do outside at the ticket counter, which would also give everyone their turn at seeing the painting from all angles). I move through the middle, row by row.

The sitter for the portrait is believed to be Lisa Gherardini (1479-1542) who lived in Florence, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant. “Leonardo aimed to bring his portrait to life by depicting Lisa as if she were naturally turning to welcome us. Her upper body is in three-quarter view, but her gently smiling face is frontal,” a poster analyzing the painting notes.

I learn that Leonardo da Vinci used the afumato painting technique of applying multiple layers of pigments bound in oil to create subtle transitions from shadow to light, which is how he brought his model’s gentle smile to life.

DaVinci never finished “Mona Lisa” but took the painting with him everywhere until his final trip to France in 1516 at the invitation of King Francois I. The king bought the painting, which is how the “Mona Lisa” entered the French royal collection. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I also learn that the landscape is imaginery – “Leonardo mastered so-called ‘atmospheric perspective’ using different shades of blue to blur the outlines and give the scene a striking depth. A path on the left draws our gaze to mountains bordered by lakes. This wild majestic landscape suggests the slow formation of the Earth, the battle of the elements and the erosion caused by time.”

Leonardo began this partially experimental painting around 1503 and never finished it. Yet, it is intriguing to learn that he took it with him everywhere he went, until his final trip to France in 1516 at the invitation of King Francois I. The king bought the painting, which is how the “Mona Lisa” entered the French royal collection.

*Monumental paintings at Le Louvre provide a record of history, or at least a version of it © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Near to where you exit from Mona Lisa is a great hall lined with monumental historical paintings.

There is one where Emperor Napoleon is crowning the Empress Josephine. Another depicting Napoleon at the Battlefield of Eylau (9 February 1807), a battle Napoleon’s troops won against Russians and Prussians but paid a high price in lives.

“For the purposes of propaganda, the artist Antoine Jean Gros (who painted it in 1808) depicted Napoleon as a compassionate conqueror ensuring aid for the wounded enemy soldiers. The zeal of the doctors and the emperor’s serenity temper the horrors of war.”

There is also Jacques-Louis David’s a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) painted when he was a young dashing fellow (1797-1798).

*Jacques-Louis David’s portrait of a young Napoleon Bonaparte © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You realize that such paintings (as well as statues, busts, coins and stamps) were the only way people could record what someone looked like or a historic event (and therefore eminently exploitable for propaganda).

After getting the Mona Lisa under my belt, I just kind of wander, with no specific plan, just being surprised as I go through palatial rooms. (As a general rule, the further away from the Mona Lisa you get, the less crowded until you find rooms that you can have almost to yourself.)

As it happens, I practically fall upon another of Le Louvre’s famous statues, “The Winged Victory of Samothrace,” that graces the top of the monumental Daru staircase. Dating from 190 BC, “Winged Victory” is of major importance because it is one of the few surviving examples of original Hellenistic sculpture.

*“The Winged Victory of Samothrace,” that graces the top of the monumental Daru staircase, dates from 190 BC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But at one point, I decide to search for the Venus de Milo – the third in the triumvirate of Le Louvre’s iconic works – get lost, and, instead, find myself amid Mesopotamian, Greek and Roman artifacts, instead (I never find Venus).

Just being in Le Louvre, housed in a fabulous palace built for kings, is thrilling enough, but coming upon the Code of Hammurabi, makes for an incomparable experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

In fact, I am stunned when I stumble upon the Code of Hammurabi – in fact, one of the most exciting works in the Louvre. This black stele of basalt stands over two meters high and is engraved with the earliest collection of written laws in human history. It was engraved in Babylon (today’s Iraq) around 1760 BC and recovered in 1901 in Susa (present-day Iran). (The Ten Commandments is dated between 16^th and 13^th centuries BCE.)

*The upper part of the stele depicts Hammurabi himself, symbolically receiving the laws from the sun god Shamash, the patron of Justice © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hammurabi was the first sovereign who decided to convert rules formerly passed on through oral tradition into an actual code of laws. The upper part of the stele depicts Hammurabi himself, symbolically receiving the laws from the sun god Shamash, the patron of Justice. The lower part is the text documenting 282 laws. The most prominent (famous) is establishing the legal standard of retaliation – the right to inflict damage in equal measure on those who intentionally harmed you (“an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” though equality of punishment took into account the same social level), according to an article by Stefano Zuffi e Davide Tortorella (https://mywowo.net/en/france/paris/louvre-museum/hammurabi-stele-richelieu-wing-hall-3)

*Le Louvre is a fabulous palace © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Le Louvre is really a palace – one of the grandest you have ever seen or have the opportunity to be in. Just walking through the galleries, so opulently decorated from floor to ceiling, the ornamentation is quite fabulous.

You need at least 4 hours to visit.

If your schedule allows and you book early enough, visit the Louvre Museum at night when the vibe is less frenetic and the famous pyramid is illuminated. (Wednesday and Friday, open until 9:45 pm.). Otherwise try to book a morning time as early as possible.

There are several ways to avoid waiting in a long line to get into the Louvre: purchase the Paris Museum Pass (you still must book a time slot in order to guarantee access into the museum; you provide the serial number of your Museum Pass, https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/pmpevent/eventCode/PMP, here); book a timed entry ticket online in advance at the official Louvre website, €17 (https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/hours-admission); or take a tour (https://www.getyourguide.com/louvre-museum-l3224/).

Le Louvre, https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/.

*All the bridges across the Seine become venues for “love locks” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Ile de la Cite

I cross the Seine on the Pont Royale and walk along the Quai Voltaire to return to the Isle de Cite for another look at Notre-Dame Cathedral, hoping to see workmen on a Monday.

*A photo exhibit documents the destruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral, as well as the reconstruction © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The tragic fire in April 2019 destroyed so much of the iconic 860-year-old limestone and the latticework of ancient timbers that formed Notre-Dame’s attic, melted the roof’s lead sheath, and endangered the stability of the stone structure. The cathedral’s spire was sent crashing into the interior. It has since been raised again, “one of the most visible and most potent symbols of the cathedral’s rebirth,” a newspaper account states.

There is an outstanding photo exhibit by photographer Tomas van Houtryve with notes documenting the dramatic story of Notre-Dame’s restoration.

“I trained with teams of rope technicians, perched on ancient stones above the abyss, to access the heights of the cathedral,” Photographer Tomas van Houtryve relates. “It felt more like being on an alpine expedition than in the center of Paris. Bit by bit, the technicians carefully removed debris and consolidated stones.”

*Getting a glimpse of the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

While I am standing in front of this exhibit, I learn that Jean-Louis Georgelin, the French general in charge of Notre-Dame’s reconstruction, had died just three days before, on August 18, in a fall while trekking in the Pyrenees mountains; he was 74 years old. Regarded as the architect of Notre-Dame’s rebirth, “The nation has lost one of its greatest soldiers,” President Emmanuel Macron said of him.

In an interview with the newspaper Le Monde in April, General Georgelin had insisted that “everything is being rethought.” Innovations include “cutting-edge” fire prevention technology like misting systems, thermal cameras and fire-resistant doors, as well as a recovery system to treat rainwater running off the lead roof before it goes into Paris’s sewers. “We are rebuilding Notre-Dame identically,” Georgelin had stated. “But we are building a 21st-century cathedral.”

I wonder if this tragedy would also put a monkey wrench into the restoration efforts. So far, the plan is to reopen in December (it would have been a miracle to reopen in time for the Olympics this summer). But renovation work — especially on the exterior — will continue for years after the cathedral reopens for religious services and visitors (12 million used to visit every year).

There are signs that acknowledge and express gratitude to the worldwide community that has contributed to the restoration.

(Friends of Notre Dame publishes updates on the restoration: https://www.friendsofnotredamedeparis.org/)

*Zone of the charming cafes on Ile Saint-Louis © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From Île de la Cité, I cross Pont Saint-Louis to Île Saint-Louis – more of a residential neighborhood with pleasant boulangeries, quaint cafes and delightful ice cream shops, and find a small park overlooking the Seine to enjoy my ice cream.

For a different Parisian experience, I had checked out my junior suite in the five-star boutique luxury historic Hotel Napoleon just steps away from the Arc de Triomphe in the tony 8^th Arrondisement, and took an Uber to my hotel for the second part of my Paris visit, Le 20 Prieure Hotel, a modest but pleasant three star in the Marais district which I find on hotels.com (my booking includes breakfast).

From here the Ile Saint-Louis, it’s a mostly straight shot walking across the bridge and up Rue Vielle du Temple Boulevard to my hotel, Le 20 Prieure Hotel (20 Rue du Grand Prieuré, 75011 Paris, https://www.hotel20prieure.com/en/) about two miles through the Marais District.

Today, Le Marais district is considered “trendy” with charming streets full of hip cafes, boutiques, and bookstores, Gay Pride flags and rainbow-painted crosswalks, and street art.

The Marais, though, was once a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, that still has the marks, remnants, and scars of being uprooted in the Holocaust.

*Memorial de Shoah in the Marais district © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I come upon Allee Des Justes Parmi Les Nations, which I quickly realize borders the Shoah Memorial Center, a museum, information and research center on the history of the genocide of the Jews in World War II.

*Allée des Justes at the* *Memorial de Shoah in the Marais district records the names of the righteous © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This 60 meter section of the rue Grenier sur l‘Eau was transformed into the ‘Allée des Justes’ 12 years ago, and refers back to the “Righteous Among the Nations,” a title awarded by the World Holocaust Center in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, to non-Jews who risked their lives during World War II by helping Jews to hide, flee or survive. The memorial lists the names of the French ‘Justes’ and the locations of their deeds. One side remembers the Jewish victims on the ‘Wall of Names’ and the other side, the “Wall of the Righteous,” the French rescuers of Jews. Since Yad Vashem still awards this title to people throughout the world each year, French names continue to be added. On January 1 2012 France counted 3.513 Justes. (The Netherland has 5,204, Poland has 6,339).

As I walk about the district, I note on schools and certain public institutions, France’s credo, “Liberte, Equalite, Fraternite” (so much better than America’s relatively recent motto, “In God We Trust” adopted in 1956 in reaction to Communism.)

On one building, there is also a plaque dated December 2001 which I translate, “Arrested by the police of the Vichy Government, complicit with the Nazi occupiers, more than 11,000 children were deported from France between 1942-1944 and sent to Auschwitz because they were Jews.”

There is a street sign pointing the way to the Museum of Jewish Art & History, and I put it on my list to visit.

Many of these attractions are included in the Paris Museum Pass, http://en.parismuseumpass.com/ and Paris Pass (ParisPass.com).

More planning help from the Paris Tourist Office, https://parisjetaime.com/eng/. Online ticketing at https://parisjetaime.com/eng/tickets.

Next: Day 3 in the Marais

VISITING PARIS THIS YEAR? PLAN IN ADVANCE

4 DAYS IN PARIS: MUSEE D’ORSAY HIGHLIGHTS DAY 1

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© 2024 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Historic Hotels, Historic Places, Hotels & Resorts, International Travel

Romance is at the Heart of the Hotel Napoleon in Paris, City of Love

February 11, 2024 krubin723

The Hotel Napoleon, a boutique five-star hotel just steps away from the Arc D’Triomphe in the fashionable 8^th Arrondisement, began with a love story that continues to this day © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Romance is at the heart of the Hotel Napoleon in Paris, the City of Love. Romance is in its genes.

The Hotel Napoleon, just steps away from the Arc D’Triomphe off the Place d’Etoile in Paris’ fashionable 8th Arrondisement, began with a love story that continues to this day.

Built on the site of the former Tolstoy family mansion in Art Deco style in 1928 by architect Henri Porteau, shortly after its opening, it was bought by Alexander Pavlovitch Kliaguine, a wealthy businessman from Russia, as a wedding present for his bride. A young Parisian student of literature, they had met at a salon, and fell in love at first sight. Kliaguine wanted to provide his bride a place to entertain Parisian high society (she later became the Baroness de Baubigny) and both resided there all their lives.

*A portrait of the bride who stole Alexander Pavlovitch Kliaguine’s heart, in the Hotel Napoleon lobby © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

To this day, the Hotel Napoléon Paris is owned by the Kliaguine family, and a new generation Kliaguine, now the general manager, still lives in the hotel with his family. Indeed, the hotel, a member of Historic Hotels Worldwide, was named to its The 2022 Top 25 Historic Hotels Worldwide Most Romantic Hotels

And as Kliaguine had promised his bride, the Hotel Napoleon became a popular gathering place for Paris’ social elite and illustrious artistic and literary expatriates (“The Lost Generation”): F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Orson Welles, Errol Flynn (who nicknamed the Napoleon “The Place”), Miles Davis, Josephine Baker and Ella Fitzgerald, who signed its Golden Book.

This all prompts images of Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” (where a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight), and the Algonquin Hotel in New York (famous for its Algonquin Round Table of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits) to dance in my mind.

The hotel has appeared in movies, such as Jean Gabin’s 1930’s movies and even had a star turn in, Le Cave se rebiffe (1961), where the character played by Jean Gabin, one of French cinema’s greatest stars, declares he is staying at The Napoléon, “as always”.

*The grand Empire décor of The Hotel Napoleon transports you back in time © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The exterior of the seven-story hotel may be Art Deco, but the atmosphere of this luxury boutique hotel will put in mind not of the Jazz Age or Art Deco, but the elegance of the Empire Period of Napoleon.

The Napoléon Bonaparte opened in 1928 as a “hôtel de charme” (a small distinctive hotel or boutique hotel) and only a year later, in 1929, reached the grade of “petit palace” and was renamed Napoléon Paris for its location steps away from the Arc de Triomphe. It was designated a five-star hotel by the French Agency of Tourist Development in 2013.

It is perfection that the historic Hotel Napoleon is just steps away from the Arc D’Triomphe, along Avenue de Friedland, one of the 12 boulevards that radiate from the Place Etoile and just one over from the famous Champs Elysee in the toniest of Parisian neighborhoods, you might as well be in “Midnight in Paris,’ the way you feel transported back into France’s Empire period of Napoleon with its furnishings and collection of 400 historic paintings.

*The gracious lobby at The Hotel Napoleon, once a gathering place for Parisian social elite and the “Lost Generation” of literati and artists © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The boutique hotel is elegant, yet intimate and comfortable. You feel more like you are invited to into a gracious mansion or even that you are occupying your own grand Paris flat in the toniest of Parisian neighborhoods, the fashionable 89^th Arrondissement. The Napoleon has remained an undeniably romantic retreat, offering private terraces with views of the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe and an enviable location in the Triangle d’Or.

You can’t help but swoon at the collection of art which is also featured in the sumptuous guestrooms and suites inspired by Parisian Empire design by interior design firm Malphettes & Biz.

*One of the suites at The Hotel Napoleon. Each is individually decorated family © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Napoleon boasts more suites (57) than hotel rooms (39), recently refreshed and renovated. Each is individually decorated and blends the extravagance of Empire design with contemporary elegance. Each has fine furnishings, sumptuous linens, grand drapery, lush fabrics and wallpaper, striking artwork, and luxurious marble-and-mahogany bathrooms, stocked with Nuxe luxury skincare products.

Some of the terrace suites overlook the Arc de Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower, while others provide views of Avenue de Friedland or the flowers of the inner courtyard. Seven of the rooms have a terrace and four have a balcony.

Suite 319-320 is opulently decorated with Chinese black-and-gold wallpaper. The most luxurious suite, 618, is named for Josephine – not Napoleon’s wife, but Josephine Baker.

There are niceties including a refrigerator stocked with snacks and soft drinks and juice that are replenished each day at no charge and free WiFi.

A battery of concierges who are members of the prestigious Les Clefs d’Or readily share knowledge of the city, make you feel really at home and get the most of the precious time you have in Paris. The hotel can even arrange child care. And small pets are welcome.

The Napoleon has a gracious lobby, a lovely dining room (which before COVID served as a restaurant, but is where breakfast is served), and a lovely bar, the 1807, with outdoor terrace which serves as an outdoor café.

Enjoy breakfast in the lovely dining room at The Hotel Napoleon, you may meet Mon. Kliaguine, the general manager and owner of the hotel, who lives in the hotel with his family © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The tradition of celebrities staying at this intimate hotel is maintained, with a photo gallery of autographed photos of sports heroes– some who stayed here, some who were friends of the owner – outside the 7^th floor fitness room (and what a fitness room it is!).

The Napoleon Hotel offers a selection of massages and treatments, available in the spa or in your room (daily from 9am to 9pm) and can be booked before your arrival or directly with the concierge.

There is also a very pleasant (and private) courtyard and for convenience of guests. Another luxury: a number of parking spots in front of the hotel (41E/day) and EV charging stations.

*The Hotel Napoleon makes available parking and EV charging for its guests © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hotel Napoleon Paris offers packages, such as Romance in Paris includes Champagne, chocolates, and flowers; the Family package features connecting rooms.

The hotel is walking distance to everything on the first part of my four-day itinerary.

And so, on this first afternoon after I arrive by train from Strasbourg at the end of my European Waterways canal cruise through the Alsace Lorraine and pop out of the metro station at Place Etoile, I drop my bags in my room and set out to explore the Arc d’Triomphe, stroll the Champs Elysee, and walk along the quai of the Seine for the exquisite views of the Eiffel tower at sunset into the night.

*Paris, the City of Light (and Love), is magical at night © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I stroll back to the hotel along the grand Champs Élysées– the view up to the Arch at night is so dramatic – and for my brief time in the city, live a very Parisian experience. And the Empire ambiance completes the fantasy.

Midnight in Paris, indeed.

Hôtel Napoléon Paris 5,40, av. de Friedland 75008 Paris, Direct phone +33156684480, www.hotelnapoleon.com, https://www.historichotels.org/hotels-resorts/hotel-napoleon-paris/ https://preferredhotels.com/hotels/france/hotel-napoleon-paris

Historic Hotels Worldwide

The Hotel Napoleon is a member of Historic Hotels Worldwide since 2011, the sister collection of Historic Hotels Worldwide®, a prestigious collection of more than 350 legendary historic hotels including many that were once castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries spanning ten centuries. Historic Hotels Worldwide recognizes authentic cultural treasures that demonstrate exemplary historic preservation and their inspired architecture, cultural traditions, and authentic cuisine, and in this way, preserves them.

To be nominated and selected for induction into Historic Hotels Worldwide, historical lodging properties must be at least 75 years old; utilize historic accommodations; serve as the former home or be located on the grounds of the former home of famous persons, or be a significant location for a historic event; be located in or within walking distance of a historic district, historically significant landmark, place of a historic event, or a historic city center; be recognized by a local preservation organization or national trust; and display historic memorabilia, artwork, photography, and other examples of its historic significance.

The Empire décor and a collection of 400 historic paintings make you feel you have slipped back in time, at the Hotel Napoleon, a member of Historic Hotels Worldwide © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

These historic hotels are in diverse cultural settings: a 12th-century castle set among the rolling hills, prehistoric monuments, and Celtic landmarks of Ireland’s Ancient Eastin, (Kilkea Castle, Castledermot Ireland, circa 1180); a medieval village nestled in the Tuscan countryside that dates back to the 11th century (La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort Siena, Curio Collection by Hilton, Siena, Italy circa 1081), a 1650 manor house which was the former summer residence of Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of France and wife of Napoleon III (Hotel Claude Marbella, Marbella, Spain).

Travelers can find and book these historic hotels them at HistoricHotels.org, which since 2012 has served as a global travel website, or call 1-800-678-8946. The Annual Directory can be found by visiting HistoricHotels.org/Directory. More information at HistoricHotelsWorldwide.com.

Must Plan in Advance

The days of just showing up in a city as popular and as culturally rich as Paris are over – and not just because the Olympics are coming to Paris this summer. There is no longer a “shoulder” or “off” season. Lines for tickets at attractions can take literally hours, or you can be shut out altogether as capacity is reached. And this caveat is especially the case this year: Paris (with 85,000 hotel rooms) is expecting about 15 million visitors as it hosts the Olympics (July 26-August 11) and Paralympics (August 28-Sept. 8. Other events to keep in mind: Tour de France, from June 29 to July 21; and Tour de France Femmes, from August 12 to 18.

As soon as you know your dates for travel, book your hotel, and pre-purchase timed tickets directly with the attractions you most want to see.

Walking back to The Hotel Napoleon, I get to appreciate this gorgeous night view of the Arc D’Triomphe. *To visit during the day, best is to pre-purchase the Paris Museum Pass* © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Even better, purchase a Paris Museums ticket, which provides admission to 55 different museums (34 within Paris and another 11 in the Paris region), including the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Le Louvre and Musee d’Orsay – but you still need to pre-book a timed ticket and go through security (which also takes time). You can purchase the pass according to the number of days: 2 (E35), 4 (E70), and 6 (E85), which not only saves time (priceless), but money on buying tickets individually (https://www.parismuseumpass.fr/t-en).

There is also a Paris Pass through GoCity.com, which adds on attractions and experiences (the Paris Museum pass is included) for a total of 90. Among the experiences: Seine river cruises on the famous bateaux mouches (E18 if purchased separately); Perfume mini workshop by Fragonard (29E); French wine tasting at Les Caves du Louvre (E36); and even Ballon de Paris Generali, where you fly over Paris on the world’s largest balloon at 150 meters altitude (E20 ticket value).

The pass can save up to 50 percent off purchasing tickets individually. It comes with a GoCity app that lets you plan your visit and book your ticket. You sync your All-Inclusive Pass with the Go City app and download your Paris Museum Pass (parispass.com).

More planning help from the Paris Tourist Office, https://parisjetaime.com/eng/. Online ticketing at https://parisjetaime.com/eng/tickets.

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© 2024 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Attractions, Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Culture, Heritage Travel, Historic Places, Places of History, Road Trip

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Exploring French Acadia’s Culture, Heritage by Bike!

October 11, 2023 krubin723

*Biking the beautiful boardwalk in Shippagan, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman & Laini Miranda

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our New Brunswick roadtrip that has so enthralled us with the natural wonders of the Bay of Fundy, now takes us to the Acadien Peninsula, where its French heritage is most pronounced and you really feel you are in another country. We are also excited to explore a portion of a marvelous new cycling trail, the Veloroute Peninsule Acadeienne, which opened in 2019, consisting of 14 cycling circuits, totaling 379 miles, that go through 14 coastal French fishing villages and communities.

Because the Veloroute is so new, it seems, it is not well set up for a supported, self-guided multi-day trip, so we stitch together our own, with the help of Neil Hodge at New Brunswick Tourism. Neil arranges a multi-day bike rental for us from the Villegiature Deux Rivieres Resort (more geared for day rental), and an itinerary that follows the C15 circuit. Fortunately, Laini prefers to spend the day painting, so volunteers to drive the car to the next stop and then take my bike for a shorter ride with Dave at the end of the day. And we have to ferry the bike back to the rental shop (not really difficult, it is less than one hour’s drive back to Tracadie, and we’ve prepared by taking our bike rack). It is exciting to feel like we are pioneering a new biking destination.

This is an opportunity to take advantage of what is best about cycling (and clearly, this is an extremely popular activity throughout New Brunswick and Quebec): you ride at a perfect pace through local communities, small villages, see where and how people live. And there is such freedom during the day, to stop and explore, and really be immersed in a place.

*Biking the New Brunswick’s new cycling trail, the Veloroute Peninsule Acadeienne, from Tracadie to Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This first day, we bike on the trail 22 miles from Tracadie at one end of the circuit, to Shippagan, riding mainly through woods and then along marshes, arriving at Shippagan at about 2:30. We have a delightful late-lunch in a Mediterranean-style restaurant, Chez Aicha (197 Bd J. D. Gauthier, +1 506-336-8989), then Dave and I continue exploring Shippagan, picturesquely set between Saint-Simon Bay and the Chaleur Bay inlet that goes into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, stopping at its most popular beach, Le Goulet.

*Shippagan, New Brunswick’s beautiful boardwalk © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We discover the boardwalk along Shippagan’s waterfront, and that we can bike all the way to Point Brule, the road that leads us to the cottage Laini has booked for two nights on Airbnb. We calculate we cycled 40 miles for the day.

*Our charming Airbnb cottage on Point Brule, Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Dave and I are giddy with delight when we see the sweet, cozy aquamarine-colored cottage and how it is poised on the tip of Point Brule, perched on a ridge with our own ladder to the beach into the bay.

Who can resist? We quickly change and play in the water (surprisingly not too cold), then set out to watch the sunset on Miscou Island, which sits between the Bay of Chaleur and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at its magnificent historic lighthouse.

*The picturesque Miscou Lighthouse © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We reach the Miscou Island Lighthouse on the northeastern tip of the island, just before sunset. The lighthouse was built in 1856 and designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1974.

It is surprising how long (how far) Miscou Island actually is (24 km long by 16 km wide – small for an island but a good distance by bike), because this is the route we are supposed to bike tomorrow. Even on our itinerary, the route is 26 miles each way, hilly, on a two-lane, windy road. But Miscou is fabulous to explore – for birds and wildlife (we see a family of foxes), peat bogs, and not to be missed.

*Steve of the popular Terasse a Steve restaurant on Miscou Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our plan is to have dinner at Terasse à Steve a fun, rustic place so beautifully set overlooking the Miscou wharf that is legendary in the community, but when we pull up, we discover Steve has closed early (for mosquitoes!).

That means we have to race back to Shippagan before the restaurants close (at 8:30 pm). We’ve called ahead to Pinokkio’s who tell us to just get there by 9 pm. We race back, arriving at 9 pm on the dot, and sure enough, they seat us. The wood-fired pizzas (fungi pizza, margarita), with the freshest, most flavorful ingredients, are fantastic. ((Pinokkio Pizzeria Resto-Bar, 121 16e rue, Shippagan, 506-336-0051, www.pinokkio.ca).

*Sunset from our cottage on Point Brule, Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Instead of biking back to Miscou Island (Veloroute map shows the Miscou route as 41 km just on the island), Dave and I decide to explore Lameque Island, which is in between Shippagan and Miscou (so glad we toured by car).

We set out again from the cottage on the road that leads to the entrance to the beautiful wooden boardwalk and connects to our biking routes, winding passed the colorful marina, then over the bridge to Lameque.

*Biking around Lameque, on the Acadian Peninsula, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We first find a lovely bike trail in the woods that parallels the busy Route 113, cross another small bridge, and then find a beautiful, if short, trail along the water. But when that ends, we ride on the shoulder of Route 113, which serves as a bike path. We come upon an eco-park on Lameque, and explore that before continuing our cycling,

*Enjoying a meal at Steve’s Terrasse on Miscou © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are determined to dine at Steve’s Terrasse on Miscou, which is just on the other side of the (high) bridge from Lameque. Laini pulls away from her painting and meets us there for a late lunch – a sensational meal of lobster with spaghetti, pesto and parmesan; steamed clams; and a whole lobster (9650 route 113, Miscou, +1 506-344-7000)

Biking back to Lameque (back again over the steep bridge!), we follow a route that takes us along the eastern side of the island along the road (with ups and downs, unlike the bikeway) – it is marked in purple on the map – that give us some lovely views of the water as we ride through neighborhoods. (Amazingly, we don’t find actual stores or restaurants, absolutely nothing for the people to do except for some churches).

Each day, our ride begins and ends on the Shippagan boardwalk, my favorite part of the ride.

*Enjoying a second dinner in a row at Pinokkio, Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By the time Dave and I get back to our cottage in Shippagan, we calculate we’ve biked 45 miles. But now we have to race back into town to find a restaurant. The recommended places we call are all booked solid (it’s graduation day), so we (happily) call again to Pinokkio, and sure enough, they are booked too, but make room for us. The mushroom risotto is sensational. (Pinokkio Pizzeria Resto-Bar, serving up wood-fired pizzeria, appetizers, salads, pasta, seafood, steak, international cuisine, wine list, selection of domestic and imported beers, and decadent desserts, 121 16e rue, Shippagan, 506-336-0051, www.pinokkio.ca).

*Biking Shippagan, New Brunswick’s beautiful boardwalk © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We really have to pull ourselves away from Shippagan (regrettably we don’t have time to visit the Aquarium which we keep passing on the boardwalk, 100 Aquarium St., Shippagan, 506-336-3013, [email protected], aquariumnb.ca).

(Shippagan, https://tourismepeninsuleacadienne.ca/en/region-shippagan/, 506.336.3900).

Caraquet

*Biking the new cycling trail, the Veloroute Peninsule Acadeienne, along New Brunswick, Canada’’s Acadian Peninsula, from Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Today’s ride takes us back onto the delightful Veloroute to Caraquet, 20 miles on the trail. Basically we back track from Shippagan 10 miles to a fork in the trail and then back up 10 miles to Caraquet, most of it in the trees (so refreshing).

We find our way to a charming waterfront village of cute shops, a small artist’s collective, eateries and a picturesque wharf and marina, where we have lunch.

*An artisan village within Caraquet © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We consider biking back the 20 miles from Caraquet to Tracadie to return the bikes, but realize we would be doubling back 20 miles on the trail we had already taken, and prefer instead to spend the afternoon exploring the rest of the trail, 7 miles further along Caraquet Bay to where it ends at Bertrand.

*Biking along the shore from Caraquet* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is the best choice! This part of the trail is particularly scenic, hugging the coast along Caraquet Bay (an inlet of Chaleur Bay), passing some gorgeous houses and views of the water, adding about 14 miles to our total for the day. We then drive the bikes back Tracadie, racing to get to the rental shop by closing time.

(Veloroute de la Peninsule acadienne, 506-336-4116, [email protected], www.veloroutepa.ca)

Caraquet is an extremely nice place to live, and clearly, very popular for tourists, judging by the string of hotels along the main street.

My hotel is the Super 8 By Wyndham (9 Avenue du Carrefour, 506-727-0888), is ideally located right in the waterfront village, alongside the coastal trail.

Returning the bikes the afternoon before works out superbly for me, because it gives me time to visit Caraquet’s major, not-to-be missed attraction, the Historic Acadian Village, which proves such a highlight of our New Brunswick roadtrip.

“Leave the 21^st Century behind at Historic Acadien Village”

Historic Acadien Village is an open air living history museum with costumed (fully bilingual) interpreters who recreate the roles of real people. What makes this place so extraordinary, though, is that you walk a 2.2 km circuit through 200 years of history – the 40 buildings represent a different time, the oldest from 1773 up to 1895, then, you walk through a covered bridge built in 1900 into the 20^th century village where the buildings date from 1905 to 1949.

As you walk about, you literally feel yourself stepping across the threshold back in time.

Walking through this idyllic village, looking at the goats, the sheep, the cows which supply the milk, meat, fiber for clothes, the fields and streams for fish, you would imagine they had everything they needed, life was tranquil, sustainable. But I soon learn from my conversation with the interpreter in the 1852 Cyr house that it was a daily struggle for survival.

*An idyllic Acadien village masks how hard life would have been like for the Acadiens Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This arises when I watch her sewing and she says she baked 25 loaves yesterday, enough that would have lasted her family of 8 including grandparent and a farmhand, a week (but actually supplies the village restaurants which serve menus appropriate to the time). I suggest that must be a lot of work. She tells me that her children help. Don’t they go to school? “The children don’t go to school, they are needed at home. It’s a question of surviving. We would have been too isolated to go to school in winter, and they are needed in summer.” Homeschool? “We cannot read; we depend on the priest to read any letter that might come.”

On the stove, she is preparing a pie with pork, onion, turnip, potato. “The pot is on legs so it doesn’t burn; we put wood chips on top so the food cooks from the top and bottom.”

This house came from Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, near the St. John River near Maine/Quebec. I observe that it seems quite large. “We’re not rich, but there was enough wood to build.”

What she tells me next seems to explain why the French Acadiens are so fiercely French (and why, as we travel, we see many flags of French Acadia but few of New Brunswick or Canada):

It was during the French and Indian War, when Britain battled France for control of the New World colonies. “In 1755, the British took the French men in one boat and women and children in another – they didn’t want families together. They felt there were too many Acadiens in same place and would be able to fight British. They made the Acadiens sign a contract to be British, not French, and those who refused were sent away. The boat took them far away – they didn’t know where they were going- some were sent to Charleston, South Carolina, to Louisiana.”

*Seeing how life would have been like over 200 years at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, with France giving Great Britain its colonial possessions in North America, except the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland (which remain French colonies even today). In 1764, the British allowed Acadians to return in small isolated groups, but by then as many as 18,000 had been forcibly removed and thousands more killed. (See: https://www.cbc.ca/acadian/timeline.html)

She says that when the French colonists were kicked out of Nova Scotia, they would send word to each other to come “a Cadia” (“to Cadia”), a name derived from an Indian word meaning “the place.”

Indeed, all these buildings were collected from other places in New Brunswick during the mid-1970s, creating a what appears to me to be an idyllic “Pleasantville” community.

I continue my walk through these fascinating homesteads. You also get to visit the chapel (1831), post office, general store (1889), tavern (1880), blacksmith’s shop and forge (1874), all with interpreters demonstrating their crafts.

*The 1867 printing office at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

My personal favorite: the newspaper/printing office (1867), which had been owned by Israel Londry who had five employees putting out 2000 copies of a four-page weekly paper (delivered to the post office), that would cost $1 for a six-month subscription. There are copies you can read.

There is also a one-room schoolhouse (1869), where the teacher tells me that on any day, she might have 20 students or 2, depending upon whether they were needed at home. “Before 1941, there were no mandates to attend school – children stayed home as free labor. It was a matter of survival.”

*The one-room schoolhouse where the teacher could have 2 or 20 children a day depending if they were needed on the farm © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I love seeing the machinery of the 1895 grist mill. Originally it would have milled flour, sawed wood, made cedar shingles, serving a 50-mile radius. The miller would keep 10% of the flour, which he would trade for something else. “There was not much currency,” the miller tells me.. But in 1918, the miller closed the flour mill over a dispute of $125 from a bill for repair parts that went back to 1890, when new repairs were needed in 1914, and the $125 was again added to the bill, he shut it down, but kept the saw mill, carting machine and cedar shingles.

Cross the Kissing Bridge into the 20^th century to visit the Irving Gas Station at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Then you walk across the covered bridge (1900), called “the Kissing Bridge,” and you are in a 20^th century town. There is an Irving Gas Station with antique cars; a saw mill (1949), general store (1924), tinsmith’s shop (1905) where you can buy a stove, cobbler’s shop (1945), a railroad station (1930). The Thomas Cooperage that dated from 1937 actually made barrels until 1980, employing 60 people who made 200 a day, until plastic barrels made the wood ones obsolete.

*The Irving Gas Station at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You not only visit but can actually book a room to stay at the Hotel Chateau Albert (1910). Albert opened hotel in 1870 but had financial problems from the beginning and was put out of business by Canadian Pacific railroad.. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1955, and restored using the original plans. It now offers 14 rooms (with bathrooms) that you actually can book to stay overnight. (hotelchateaualbert.com, 506-726-2600).

*You can stay over in the Village Historique Acadien, at the Hotel Chateau Albert © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is a really nice café in the (modern) visitor center before you go back in time, plus a restaurant in the historic village serving a menu appropriate to the period.

Plan on staying at least three hours. Open June through mid-September.

Historique Acadien Village, 5 rue du Pont, Bertrand, NB, 1-0877-721-2200, [email protected], villagehistoriqueacadien.com

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: DISCOVERING FUNDY TRAIL PARKWAY, FUNDY NATIONAL PARK, CAPE ENRAGE

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: MESMERIZING HOPEWELL ROCKS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: METEPENAGIAG HERITAGE CENTER HIGHLIGHTS MIRAMICHI VISIT

____________________________

© 2023 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/KarenBRubin

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