Normandy Trip

Normandy Trip

First off, let me say that this trip was executed at a very very fast pace, so if it seems like I am jumping from place to place…it’s because we were. The first stop on our two day Normandy trip was Giverny, the home of the well-known impressionist painter Claude Monett.  Here we were able to see the beautiful gardens that he made himself. You will probably recognize the famous water lilies that were his muse time and time again.

 From here we traveled all day to a little village in Normandy where we stayed at a fantastic B&B. Needless to say we all loved it. We all sat down to a home cooked meal after our long day in the French countryside. None of us had trouble sleeping that night. We woke up the next morning to a breakfast equally as good as the meal from the night before. Fresh coffee, coffee cake and sunshine made for perfect travel conditions.

 And travel we did. Our first stop was Mont Saint Michel. This was quite a sight to see. Set on an “island” it was unlike anything I’d seen before. Unfortunately we were pressed for time and were unable to go inside, but we were all happy to be able to finally see it. I should mention that our professor Britton Lynn had waited 15 years to see it, he was ecstatic to say the least.

 Forty minutes after seeing Mont Saint Michel we were off again, our destination, Sainte Mere-Eglise. Famous for being a battle zone during Operation Overlord on June 6^th, 1944 it was liberated by the 82^nd Airborne Division. Now there resides an Airborne museum in the town along with a manikin paratrooper hanging from the church steeple.  We then set off for the American landing beaches. Utah and Omaha beaches were the beaches where the American Allied forces invaded France on D-Day. Standing there on the beaches, knowing what had taken place there less than a century ago, it was moving and sobering place to be.

 After spending half an hour per beach drove to our final stop before catching our train back to Paris. We visited the American War Memorial site. I have never seen so many grave markers in my life. The loss of lives during WWII is mind blowing and again very sobering. Standing there among the head stones you realize how much a sacrifice is made during war and how short life is. Sadly we had a train to catch back in Caen, so our stay at the memorial was also very short. I have always had a love for WWII history, and seeing these places was one of the best times of my life. I am glad the I and everyone else on our trip was able to experience it as well and maybe one day we will get to go back.

HIP 2012 on Utah Beach

~Andrew Hervey

Mont Saint Michel

Claude Monet

82nd Airborne Division

HIP Hits the Big Screen

By now, you probably could tell that HIP students are pretty cool...

but did you know they are also movie makers?

Check out HIPster Emily Owen has created a collection
of magical moments from our semester.

From frolicking in Marseilles....

to a mad dash around Paris...

to castle hunting in the Loire Valley...

to the first day on the ski slops....

It's all here!

Reims

Reims

Reims may be my favorite city in France.  Sure, the south of France was great, but they were big (and sometimes windy and/or cold!).  Just walking from the train station to Reims Cathedral – and what a sight that is! – gave me the feeling of openness without enormity.  Our first stop in this quaint city was Reims Cathedral, begun in 1211.   On the same site where the cathedral stands today, in 400 AD, Saint Remi crowned the first king of France, Clavis I, as depicted in the tympanum on the northern side of the church.

 The legend says that the church at the time was so crowded that no one could get the anointing oil to Saint Remi; after a quick prayer to God, a dove descended from Heaven and dropped a vial of holy oil into Saint Remi’s hands.

When we see a cathedral, our immediate assumption is that the building was built with stone and other trappings but there was no decoration besides that.  Well, we discovered that cathedrals were actually painted during their early years!  Wear and tear of weather, war, and time have removed most of this beautiful artistry, but some figures still bear a slight coat of the color, as seen here in one of the famous “Smiling Angels.”

 In fact, Reims celebrated the cathedral’s 800^th anniversary (2011) with a light show that put color back on the facades of the cathedral for a short time.   Here, take a couple of minutes to watch a clip from the illuminating experience:

If you’re famished for something that is fancy and filling but won’t break the bank, try Le Gaulois: 

Heading west from Reims Cathedral, you won’t have to walk more than ten minutes to find this place (factoring in weaving through various stores and shops).  On the day that I went with the Lynns, this place had a special deal for a “Plat du Joir” and a dessert for a little under 13 euros.  Take a look!

The first dish is pork in a mushroom gravy/sauce and (I think) scalloped potatoes with melted cheese.  The dessert was a rich and creamy crème brulee.

And if you want to see a piece of Roman architecture while you’re in Reims, be sure to stop by the Porte de Mars, an ancient Roman triumphal arch, dating from the 3^rd century AD.  This arch was the widest in the Roman world.

If you happen to be in France, make a point to visit Reims!

By: Marcus Bellamy

Let Them Eat Cake: Versailles, France

by: Jessica Boyd

We took a day trip to Versailles, which was one of the trips I was looking forward to the most while in France. It is only a short ride on the RER out of Paris.

 It was built during one of the turning points of French history and played a pivotal role. Imagine the most opulent space you’ve ever seen and then multiply it times 100; that is what Versailles looks like. The palace alone is impressive. Every surface that can be gilded in high quality gold is. The place almost doesn’t need lights because the gold sparkles so much. Everyone talks about the hall of mirrors and how amazing it is, and they are definitely right. The space serves little functional purpose but to connect the King’s apartments to the Queen’s. However, the Louies did not see that as an excuse to create a boring space. During the 1600s, mirrors were only made in Venice. However, Louis wanted to show off and decided to lure some of the craftsmen to France to make the mirrors (which are made from mercury) for his hall.

If you think the palace is impressive, just wait until you walk through the “gardens.” They go on for miles. We walked around them for about 3 hours and only made a dent in seeing all there is to offer. Marie Antoinette hated Versailles and Louis and the French court so she demanded her own house built on the grounds. You can tell that it was a space made for a woman; the entire outer facade is made from pink marble. In comparison, this space is but a mere cottage with only one or two bedrooms and about 5 sitting rooms/parlors.

We also stumbled upon the peasant’s village that Marie had built so she could experience how the other half of the world lived. The cottages and barns are in a romantic style with thatched roofs and perfectly manicured gardens. It is said that she would go there to work in the garden and would even collect chicken eggs from the coop.

Louis XIV was a strange bird. There are several fountains and statues in the garden of Apollo, whom Louis compared himself to. He is known as the Sun King and all over the palace you can find the symbol of his reign: his face inside of a starburst. 

The trip definitely did not disappoint. I only wish that we could have gone later in the spring so that the gardens would be in full bloom, but even surrounded by dead shrubbery, you cannot deny the majesty, grandeur and extravagance that is Versailles.