France~Paris Winter Cruise~December, 2012

Mon, Dec 10 Depart EWR 5:55 pm on LH7960

Tue, Dec 11 Arrive at Charles de Gaulle Airport 7:35 am

Wed, Dec 12, Paris Exlusive Heart of Paris walking tour

Cruise the Seine to Hotel de Ville, from which you will begin your “Heart of Paris” walking tour of the Île de la Cité. This natural island is the epicenter of Paris and, literally, of France (all distances are calculated from the isle). It is home to the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame, with its grimacing gargoyles and impressive sculpted facades, made festive with a giant decorated Christmas tree. Walking through the labyrinth of alleyways, your guide will bring the famous stories of Notre Dame back to life. We heard more about the history of the City at the Conciergerie, where many prisoners were held over the centuries, including Marie Antoinette and the man who sent her to the guillotine, Robspierre. Following the tour, we climbed aboard a boat for a look at Paris from the Seine. We had some free time to explore the neighborhood around the Eiffel Tower before returning to the ship for lunch. Shuttles between the ship and the heart of Paris allow you to spend the afternoon browsing the Christmas Markets along the fabulous Champs-Élysées. Paris is always beautiful, but at this time of the year when it’s decked out in holiday finery, t is particulalarly magical. The largest of the markets runs from the Champs Elysees roundabout to the Place de la Concorde, so you can do Christmas shopping and enjoy some of the city’s most famous landmarks at the same time. In the evening, the ship sails to the next port, Les Andelys Normandy.

Thu, Dec 13, Les Andelys, Rouen

High atop the cliffs here, we see the ruins of Chateau Gaillard. After docking at this countryside port, you will stroll through the streets of Les Andelys village. As we walked through the charming streets of this historic district wich seems not to have changed for centuries. The half-timbered houses are grouped around Saint-Sauveur, a church erected in just four years, for the workers who were constructing the fortress.

We took an invigorating climb to the hill of Chateau Gaillard. This fortified castle was built by Richard the Lionheart late in the 12th century. The castle was completed in little more than a year by 3,000 workers (or 6000?); its keep was carved out of the natural rock, making it one of the most secure castles of its age. One imagines the site swarming with thousands of laborers working relentlessly to achieve such a feat. Construction began in 1197 and was completed in 1198. Richard-who had spent a huge amount of money on it-could then exclaim: "How beautiful she is, my one-year-old daughter! What a 'gaillard' (well fortified) castle!"

The fortress was meant to impress King Philip Augustus of France, whose lands expanded as near as Gaillon, about ten kilometers away. Chateau-Gaillard was the stronghold intended to prevent him from invading Normandy. Richard carefully chose the site for his fortress. The Seine takes a sharp curve at Les Andelys. In the curve in front of the peninsula, a cliff 100 meters high juts out like a boat prow over the river. A strip of land links this rocky spur to the plateau beyond. Richard took maximum advantage of this strategic position. The castle could only be attacked on the plateau side. Thus, a complete system of concentric defenses was erected on this side. The donjon, the last retreat, was entrenched at the top of the cliff. Facing the plateau, a triangle shaped outwork, flanked by five towers, constituted the first defense of the fortress. A ditch 12 meters deep surrounded it. If the enemy managed to gain control of this bastion, he would come up against high outer walls. He would have to get over this rampart to get as far as the courtyard, then he would face the castle itself, which is to say the second outer wall surrounded by a second ditch. This second rampart is the most original feature of Chateau-Gaillard. Richard the Lionheart hit upon the idea of making an embossed wall rather than a smooth one. The rampart was made of 19 arcs of a circle pierced by arrow slits.

The round shape gave less hold to projectiles, which had no salient angle to catch. In addition, it allowed for shooting slantwise through the arrow slits from any point of the wall, and thus the rampart had no dead angles. This structure was completely new in 12th-century France. A single gate was pierced in the embossed enceinte. It was not directly in line with the plateau, but on the side, forcing the enemy to advance along a part of the ward before standing in front of the gate. It was protected by a drawbridge and portcullis. Visiting the inner part of the castle reveals another architectural feat: the two wells. The first one is located in the yard; the second one not far from the keep. It is 100 meters deep and was dug through the rock down to ground water. The well-diggers had to dig the stone by torchlight though flames would burn what little oxygen was available in the pit. Then they had to haul out tons of debris using ropes. This achievement is worthy of admiration. The keep stands inside the embossed ward. Richard gave it walls five meters thick and formidable machicolations copied from those he had seen in the East. They would not have the opportunity to be of any use. Beside the donjon stands the Governor's house. One can still see the mullioned windows bordered by stone seats affording a wonderfully panoramic view. Richard saw his castle completed, but the intrepid warrior did not see it fall, having died just a year later, on April 6, 1199. His brother John Lackland succeeded him. John's first move was to sign a treaty with Philip Augustus acknowledging that he was the French king's vassal for all his fiefs except England. The sly Philip Augustus was farsighted: He would have the right to confiscate the lands of his vassal if the latter behaved badly.

This was what happened as soon as 1202. John was judged in absentia by the French nobility for disobedience to the King and sentenced to seizure of all his belongings. There only remained to enforce the verdict: Philip Augustus launched the conquest of Normandy. The French army needed little time to gain control of the appended defenses of the stronghold, in the loop of the Seine, on the island below the castle and in the village of Andely. The 1,700 inhabitants and town defenders fled to the castle. Considering that the citadel was too strong to be taken by storm, Philip Augustus chose to lay siege. His troops sat down outside the castle, but John Lackland did not react. Inside the fortress, Governor Roger de Lascy did his best. His food supply was sufficient for a year, provided that the villagers did not stay within the castle. The French army let a thousand villagers through, which annoyed Philip Augustus. The last refugees were expelled from the castle, yet as they were prevented from crossing the lines of the besiegers, they roamed for days between the two camps, until dying of cold or starvation. This tragic episode was called 'the useless mouths to feed'. After seven months of blockade, Philip Augustus chose to storm the fortifications. He built a covered road from the plateau to the advanced bastion. Under this shelter, men could bring bundles of wood and earth to fill the first ditch. They reached the bottom of the walls and mined the tower. When the hole was large enough, they kept a fire burning in it. A part of the tower eventually collapsed in a cloud of dust. The defenders of the stronghold had to withdraw behind the first enceinte.

According to the chronicle written in praise of Philip Augustus, the victorious King of France, the besiegers easily wrested control of the outer walls. Walking around, one of them noticed a small window three or four meters up the wall. The Normans gave no thought to defending it, as it was the window of the latrines. On March 6, 1204, a few French soldiers climbed up through the window and entered the fortress. Judging by the noise they made, the Normans imagined there were many of them and hastened to light a fire in order to bar their way, but the wind blew the smoke back in their direction. The defenders were forced to hide behind the second enceinte. Historians have doubts about the veracity of this story. The most probable assumption is that the assailants penetrated the castle through the badly protected chapel that had been added by John Lackland, who did not have his brother's mastery of defensive design. As the French could not boast of having defiled a holy place, they invented this episode of the latrines. That same day, Philip Augustus bombarded the second wall with a great catapult. Enormous stones fell on the ward and eventually opened a breach. The defenders had no time to escape into the donjon, as they were too busy defending the breach. They were soon overwhelmed by the numerous assailants. The inner court was too narrow for them to fight in line. Roger de Lascy and his 129 knights were made prisoners. The brave defenders would be set free in exchange for a ransom some time later. Once Chateau-Gaillard had surrendered, Philip Augustus was free to invade the fiefs of the Plantagenets, which spread southward as far as the Pyrenees and the Auvergne. In 1204, Normandy was made part of the Kingdom of France.

The castle was repaired and still played a defensive role, especially during the Hundred Years' War, passing from one side to the other several times. Henri IV eventually had it demolished at the end of the 16th century, after a two-year siege, allowing monks who dwelt nearby to take stones to repair their abbeys. Today, the ruins of France's finest and most famous stronghold still exert a strong evocative force. Visiting botanists may notice peculiar flowers on the site. Some of the plants were brought back from the East by the Crusaders. They became acclimatized and have been reproducing there for centuries.

Upon return from our hike, we enjoyed a treat of traditional Normandy pancakes and cider onboard the ship. In the late afternoon, we admired the Seine’s tranquil landscapes from the lounge.

Fri, Dec 14: Rouen

Despite being invaded by the Vikings, conquered by the English, taken by the French, and bombed during WWII, Rouen, the historic capital of Normandy, retains a remarkable number of beautiful structures from the Middle Ages. It has been called “The Town of a Thousand Spires.”The city where Joan of Arc was sentenced to death has inspired many, from native son Gustave Flaubert to Claude Monet, who spent two years studying and painting the famous cathedral at various times of the day. We were charmed by the historic Medieval quarter with its half-timbered, slate-tile roofs, and the Gros Horloge, a Renaissance clock tower that arches overhead. The walk ended at Vieux Marche, where Joan of Arc was punished for her defiance. In the square outside of the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral, a captivating Christmas crèche honoring the birth of Christ adds to the enchanting atmosphere of the Marche de Noel.

The scent of Norman cider and calvados filled the air as we perused the artisan ceramics of Normandy, the classic nativity figures of Provence, called santons, and hundreds of other specialty arts and crafts from all over France. Aitre Saint Maclou: The history of this strange place dates back to the Great Plague of 1348. Thousands died in Rouen and a new cemetery had to be opened: the Aître Saint-Maclou. Plague victims were buried here in large communal graves. For a macabre thrill, check out the courtyard of this curious ensemble of half-timbered buildings built between 1526 and 1533. Decorated with lurid woodcarvings of skulls, crossbones, gravediggers' tools and hourglasses, it was used as a burial ground for plague victims as recently as 1781. Aître St-Maclou now houses the regional École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts). Musée des Beaux-Arts: (Fine arts museum): a rich collection of impressionist works, sculptures, drawings and objets d'art from the 16th to 21st centuries, including, in particular, the magnificent impressionist collection (Monet, Renoir, Sisley...) and works by David, Véronèse, Rubens, Caravage, Velasquez, Poussin, Géricault, Delacroix, Corot, Degas, Dufy, Modigliani, Duchamp-Villon.Abbey Church of Saint-Ouen (14th and 16th centuries) : organs and choir screens (18th century). Fine stained glass. In the afternoon we returned to the Marche. Later we pushed open the cathedral’s heavy doors to attend a choral concert. The St. Evode choir school singers were extraordinary and the church’s acoustics let us hear this liturgical music as it is meant to be heard.

Sat, Dec 15: Mantes la Jolie (Versailles)

During the ride to the Sun King’s opulent Palace of Versailles, a local guide will share a glimpse of the rich and opulent world of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. The beautiful Palace of Versailles is a famous symbol of the system of absolute monarchy. It was the official residence of the kings and queens of France from 1682 until 1790. As if we were members of a delegation visiting the monarch, we climbed the stairs and passed through the heavily painted corridors and lobbies. Once we entered the Hall of Mirrors, we could see why Versailles established the European standard of palatial opulence. Seventeen huge beveled mirrors reflect the glamour of the hall lit by 17 arched windows and resplendent chandeliers. Here the absolute ruler of France met the ambassadors of the kingdom of Siam, the shah of Persia, and the king of Turkey. The treaty ending WWI as signed in this exquisite corridor.

The Grands Apartements showcase the king and queen’s suite of salons. The royal décor of each room is complemented by a masterful ceiling painting, dedicated in theme to the heavenly bodies and their Roman deities. The Queen’s bedchamber looks the way Marie-Antoinette left it in 1789, when she fled the revolutionaries. The King’s Bedchamber has been in the exact center of the palace since 1701. The Royal Chapel, where their majesties and attendants attended daily mass, gleams with its astonishing gilded-brass altar and white marble interior. Opposite the Royal Court are the Royal Stables, which once housed the king’s 600 horses. The Grand Stables were reserved for the animals used by the kings and princes, while the Lesser Stable were for the nobility of the court. Today, the Royal Stables are an academy of equestrian arts with a specialized theater for equestrian performances.

Sun, Dec. 16: Paris Featured Excursion: Heart of Paris walking tour of the Opera House and exclusive Paris at night, “City of Light” tour

Our first stop was the magnificent Palais Garnier, also known as Opera Garnier. As we circled the theater with our guide, we heard about the tortured history of its construction—a history that inspired Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. The theater was commissioned by Napoleon III as part of the great Parisian reconstruction project carried out by Baron Haussmann. Charles Garnier, a young, unknown architect, won the national competition to design the structure. Construction of the opera house took 15 years, from 1860 to 1875; it was interrupted by numerous incidents, including the Franco-Prussian War and subsequent fall of the Second French Empire, and the discovery of a subterranean lake under the building that required eight months of continual pumping to drain sufficiently. We entered the theater and took in its lavish adornments. We saw the famed grand staircase, the elaborately painted ceilings, the richly mirrored grand foyer, and, of course, the auditorium itself, which features a colorful ceiling painted by French master Marc Chagall and an eight-ton crystal chandelier.

When we headed back out onto the Paris streets we both saw and heard about Baron Georges Haussmann’s mid-nineteenth century alterations to the Paris cityscape. Charged by Napoleon III with the modernization of Paris, Haussmann molded the city into a geometric grid, dividing it into districts and instituting wider streets, taller buildings, and modernized plumbing. Haussmann and his team of architects also built many new public buildings and shopping arcades; their marked preference for Neoclassical style resulted in a unification of the architectural facades of the city. Rather than treating individual buildings as independent structures, street blocks were designed as homogeneous architectural wholes, creating the unified urban landscape throughout much of Paris today.

Next, we strolled around the Grands Magasins. The department store originated in Paris at the end of the 19th century, and this grand avenue offers two of the city’s shopping gems, Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps.Later in the evening, we discovered why Paris has been named the “City of Light” as we experienced the magical beauty of Paris after dark with a panoramic tour of holiday illuminations starting along the Seine. During the holidays, Paris calls upon her most talented lighting designers to create spectacular displays throughout the city. Traveled along the Right Bank and passed a number of the city’s 37 bridges that dress up the Seine in a dazzling array, from the oldest, Pont Neuf, decorated with grotesque figures, to the most stunning, the single arched Pont Alexandre III, with its elegantly sculpted nymphs, winged horsed and Art Noveau lamps. After turning around the pink granite obelisk and the gilded fountains at Place de la Concorde, the famously fashionable Rue de Rivoli came into view. Then we saw the two most famous theaters in Paris at each end of the majestic Boulevard de l’Opera: the Comedie Francaise (French National Theater) , where the French classical repertoire performed,, at the south end, and, at the north, the Palais Garnier, which hosts the National Opera and Ballet companies. The sophisticated Place Vendome is distinguished by the bronze-wrapped Vendome Column, topped by a statue of Napoleon as a Roman emperor, and by posh designer salons, five-star hotels, and fine jewelers. The tour ended at the Place du Trocadero, where we had a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Mon, Dec 17: Paris Masterpieces and secrets of the Louvre: Now home to the Mona Lise, the Raft of Medusa and the Venus de Milo, the Louvre palace was first and foremost the jewel in the crown of the kings, emperors and republics of France. We learned how the representation of the Nativity has evolved in paintings since the Renaissance.In the afternoon we had leisure time to discover even more about this wonderful city or spend one last day drinking in the festiveness of the Christmas Markets. Stroll down the world-famous Champs-Élysées. View the city from above as you are whisked to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Explore the city’s many museums, including the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Musée de l’Orangerie, on your own. Walk through the enchanting Tuileries Gardens or shop in one of Paris’ haute couture boutiques found on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and Avenue Montaigne.

Tue, Dec 18: Depart Paris Disembark the ship and transfer to Charles de Gaulle Airport for your flight home. LH 7961 departs 9:25 am, arrives EWR 12:10 pm