A second trip to Europe--Germany, Paris and Central France

What a joy it is to see a country through the eyes of a native. After a year Jan and I were privileged to return to Europe. This time we had niece, Hannah, with us. The natives that helped us in Germany were Sandra and Jens. We had met them in the Jumentoes, Bahamas and formed a solid friendship. Since we last saw each other Sandra had had a baby boy, Noah, who we want to see. We all flew into Berlin. Jens took us to his favorite lake front restaurant on the Havel river/lake, where he leaned how to sail. How far it seemed from this small, quiet lake to being able to circumnavigate the Atlantic.

Noah and Jens

Quiet afternoon on Lake Havel

Jens and Sandra showed us their Berlin including their home and where they went to eat. We were able to appreciate Berlin so much more than the usual tourist fare. But as for tourist stuff the East Side Gallery, Check Point Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate were terrific. We found a riverside beer garden and spent a lot of time there.

Most famous mural at the East Gallery. The East Gallery is made up of murals painted on the old Berlin Wall

Check Point Charlie is now a T-shirt shop

                                               Brandenburg Gate without the wall

Hannah had a particular interest in museums. I was surprised to learn that Berlin has a rich museum culture all concentrated on Museum Island, an island on the Spree river.

Museum Island

The Pergamon Museum in particular had a awesome display of antiquities from the ancient middle East. The Ishtar Gate was reconstructed with 5000 crates of artifacts gathered from old Babylon. I think that Abraham may have passed through this gate at one time. The Miletus Gate, a Roman artifact was almost as overwhelming.

The Ishtar Gate

The Miletus Gate

Hannah gets ready to board the fast train to Paris

We took the fast train to Paris. It was remarkable to see the speedometer in the railway car read 250 km/hour as the country side whizzed past. This was our second visit to Paris and it seemed familiar. It was Hannah first visit so we hit the usual haunts—Montmontre and the Sacre Coeur Basilica, the hop on and hop off bus, a walk along the Left Bank, and a river boat tour on the Seine. Regrettably the Nortre Dame remained closed after the tragic fire of several months previously.

The hop on hop off bur

Scaffolding over Norte Dame

However, for Hannah, the high point was a visit to the Louvre. While she took off at high speed to see as much as possible in 8 hours, Jan and I were able to take a leisurely second look at the Louvre. In the basement is a remarkable display of 6000 year old pottery. There were artifacts from Ur, which is possibly the first empire that ever existed, over 5000 years ago. On the third floor is a display of famous impressionist paintings. I estimated that in one particular room alone the auction value of the paintings on display was over one billion dollars—and not a guard in sight.

The Lecture by Renior

6000 year old pottery

After seeing Hanna off on the plane, Jan and I took the train to Paray Le Monial in central France to meet our friends—Gillian and Philip. They had moved their converted sailboat/canal boat, Zubenel, this far along the Bourbince River.

Zubenel

 

The plan was to lock over the mountain pass and gain the Rhone River on the way to Lyon. This remarkable lock system was completed in the 1880s. It connected the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean. This canal was once a mighty artery of commerce in 19th century France.The drought and lack of water in the mountain canal put a stop to this plan. We were able to travel to Genelard and then Montceau-les-Mines before being brought up short by low water. Since the trip to Lyon was canceled we explored the surrounding countryside. I was very interested in our trip to Cluny. Cluny was a monastery that figured very prominently in Medieval history. The first crusade was launched from the pulpit of Cluny. Sadly there is almost nothing left of what was once the largest church in Christendom. It was dismantled by the French Revolutionaries. A trip Beaune was interesting. Beaune is a tourist stop in the heart of Burgundy country. The entire town is devoted to the wine trade. The town of Montceau-les-Mines put on a dynamite Bastille Day fireworks display that went off directly over the Zubenel.

This is all that is left of the entrance to the Cluny cathedral

Ladies in France wear red, white and blue ribbons in their hair on Bastille Day

At this point a serious illness intervened. I became quite ill with an intestinal infection. We were able to get to Lyon by train. From there Jan dragged me across the Atlantic. Back in Texas I had to go into the hospital for 3 days to get my kidneys restarted after some sepsis and dehydration. Thus was the sorry end to an otherwise wonderful trip.

Very ill in Lyon