The highlight of the day was an outing to Saint Germain, a small and very charming city between Triel and Paris. The grand city of Paris sits in a big topographic bowl, crossed by the river Seine, and is surrounded by a number of hills, one of which the fortress of Saint Germain was built, around which the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye grew. The fortress was started in the Middle Ages, by Louis XI (aka Saint Louis), and went through several stages of destruction and reconstruction until in the mid 1500’s the first draft of the château was started, famous because a 100 years later it welcomed to the world the future Lous XIV. You would think the little ingrate would have cherished the place of his birth, but no, as soon as he came into power he ordered the construction of Versailles and moved the court there. He did use Saint Germain as an Air B&B for deposed monarchs (such as his English cousin James I), but ultimately it fell into disrepair. Finally, in 1862 Napoleon III reconstructed the château to serve as the seat of the French Museum of Antiquities, and so it remains to date.
When Géraldine and I got there it was
approaching 2 pm, and our tummies were grumbling, so the first order of
business was to walk into the center of town, looking for a place to have déjeuner.
Since to most of us the idea of having breakfast at 2 pm would seem very odd,
let me tell you that there is a large difference between petit déjeuner
(the equivalent of our breakfast, and normally a light meal of croissant and
coffee) and déjeuner (which one could call lunch but is more the
equivalent to our dinner, with soup, salad, main course, and dessert). If you
are feeling peckish at 7 or 8 pm you would have a light dîner, and if
you go out carousing and get back home at 11 pm you might warm something up for
souper. Géraldine tells me that to make friends in Bergerac I need to
add a visit to the bar around 11:30 am and take the apéritif with the
other old men that go there every day (I fully intend to be there and see if I
can convince someone to take me along to play pétanque).
Anyway, we went for déjeuner in
the Old Market Square (delicious!) and afterward had a nice stroll through the
center of town, which is quintessentially French with its small shops and
meandering streets. From there we went to see the château from the
outside, and from the edge of the esplanade we enjoyed a magnificent view of
Paris. As I said, we were on top of a hill, and the city extended forever at
our feet, with its many parks and forests surrounding La Defense (the
cluster of skyscrapers where every major corporation has its headquarters) and
the beautiful neighborhoods of the city. We also took the opportunity of
walking through the gardens, which are magnificent if not as extensive as those
in Versailles.
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