For my Christmas break, my sister Rosie visited me in France. We stayed in Aiguillon for a few days, then we traveled to Paris and the Normandy region. Below is a map of our route:
Bordeaux
We stayed in Aiguillon for the first couple of days of our trip, so that meant we could explore Bordeaux and the surrounding area. One of the first things that we did when we arrived in Bordeaux was visit the Cité du Vin, which is one of the most popular attractions in the city. The Cité du Vin wine museum was inaugurated in 2016 with the goal of celebrating wine and educating people about its production and history. Its shape is inspired by the movement of wine in a swirling glass.
Wine lover or not, this museum is a must-see. It's an interactive journey into the wine world offering everything from videos, touch screens, sensory tables, and more. As we walked throughout the museum, Rosie and I learned all about the important wine regions of the world, the different types of grapes, the fermentation process, and the history of wine in different areas across the globe.
Here are some of the interactive displays and entertainment at the museum. In the first 2 photos of the top left, you can learn about wine regions in the world and the process of how grapes turn into wine. The top right photo depicts other industries that wine is involved in throughout the world, like film and advertising. The bottom left photo depicts a room that talks about the history of wine, from antiquity to modern day. And the 2 photos on the bottom right show my favorite part of the museum: the “buffet of the five senses”. Plenty of different food items from fruits to honey and cookies are presented in front of you on two big tables, allowing you to explore different wine aromas.
The last part of the wine museum is the wine tasting on the 8th floor of the museum. The floor is called the Belvedere and offers a panoramic view of Bordeaux.
The next day, we took a day trip to Saint-Émilion, a cute medieval city only a half hour away from Bordeaux by train. Here, we visited a vineyard, and then explored the town until sunset.
These pictures don't capture the beauty of this town. There are many vineyards and châteaux we walked by as we made our way to Châteaux Coutet for our wine tour.
With more than 800 wine producers, we knew we had to visit a vineyard and do a wine tour in Saint-Émilion. So, we decided to do one at Château Coutet, which is a 20-minute walk from the center of Saint-Émilion. The property has a 400-year history as it has been handed down from generation to generation since at least the early 17th century. Today, the family’s 14th generation lives in the property and runs the winemaking business. The family uses no pesticides and chemicals on the vines -- they do almost everything naturally. Some of the vines are hundreds of years old, and they make sure to take special care of these vines as those grapes make really good wine. In the pictures above, you see Rosie with the family's dog (top left); photos of the machinery and barrels they use to make, ferment, and store the wine (top middle photo, top right photo, bottom left photo); and the original wine bottles found at Château Coutet which still have wine in them (middle bottom photo). The bottom right photo shows the glass cork that the family recreated to show the original glass cork found in one of the first wine bottles at Château Coutet.
The town of Saint-Émilion and the breathtaking sunset.
Paris
The next portion of my journey with Rosie was in Paris. To get there, we took a train which was a 3-hours from Aiguillon. For the first three days in Paris, we stayed at an Airbnb in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, and for our fourth day in Paris (Christmas day), we stayed at an Airbnb near the Gare de Lyon (Lyon train station) in the 12th arrondissement.
When we arrived in Paris, we explored a little bit before checking into our first Airbnb. While looking at some shops, we stumbled upon a public park called the Luxembourg Gardens, Le Jardin du Luxembourg.
The large pond and the museum at the gardens. It was a really cold day!
We continued exploring after getting settled in our Airbnb. Our place was located in a lively student center.
Ernest Hemingway's first apartment
About a 20-minute walk from our Airbnb is the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Thank you Lisa (Rosie's friend) for showing us around!
A lively Christmas market we went to that night with Lisa.
The next day, we made our way to Rosie's grandmother's house, who lives outside of Paris in a town called Savigny-Sur-Orge. We ate at an Italian restaurant near her house.
After that, we went to a monument some of you may recognize...
The Eiffel Tower
On our third day in Paris, Christmas Eve, we made our way to the Louvre Museum -- it was my first time going and Rosie's second time.
Touching the Louvre! (Hehe not really)
Once entering the Louvre, we beelined for the Mona Lisa (la Joconde), because that's the most popular exhibit at the museum.
The hall leading to the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa: The sitter for this portrait was Lisa Gherardini (1479-1542), who lived in Florence in the early 16th century. She was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant. Her elegant, elaborate outfit indicates her social status. Her dress is covered bv a large veil of transparent silk. She is sitting in a loggia - a roofed open gallery - in front of a mountainous landscape.
Leonardo da Vinci used a painting technique call sfumato: he applied multiple layers of pigments bound in an oil to create subtle transitions from shadow to light, bringing his model's gentle smile to life.
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.
We also saw Napoleon's apartments. They are quite opulent.
Here are some other exhibits that caught my eye.
We ended our Louvre day with dinner and dessert at Lisa's apartment.
The following day (Christmas), when Rosie and I were walking to our next Airbnb, we stumbled upon this park, known as Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes. It is the second oldest zoological garden in the world; it was quite interesting to walk around and see the different creatures on display in the middle of Paris.
On Christmas night, we went out to a restaurant with Lisa. Here, I got a delicious potato, meat, and egg salad. We also walked around and saw the pretty Paris lights.
Normandy
The last leg of our trip was visiting the Normandy region. Here, we stayed in a town called Bayeux. This medieval town sits on the Aure river and contains cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, and the towering, Norman-Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame.
Out of all of our Airbnbs, Rosie and I liked this one the best -- it had the most space and there was a lot of natural light. Check out our cool skylight that offers a spectacular view of Bayeux's cathedral!
Bayeux's expansive Gothic Cathedral, Notre-Dame.
On our first full day in Bayeux, Rosie and I took a tour of the D-Day beaches and cemeteries. We visited Point du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetery.
Point-du-Hoc: This piece of land was the Germans' most heavily fortified position along the Utah and Omaha beaches. The cliffs of this beach are so severe that the Germans turned their defenses for an attack from inland, yet US Army Rangers famously scaled the steep cliffs to disable the gun battery. In the bottom left photo, you can see how the land was affected by all the bombs and machine guns. In the bottom right photo, you can see how the Germans used telephone poles to make it seem like they were machine guns from the air to trick the American soldiers.
Omaha Beach: This beach is the landing zone most familiar to Americans as this well-defended stretch was where US troops suffered their greatest losses.
WWII Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial: This cemetery and memorial is a pilgrimage site for Americans visiting Normandy. Sitting just above Omaha Beach, 9, 386 marble tombstones honor the Americans who gave their lives on the D-Day beaches to free Europe. France has given the US free use of this 172-acre site, which is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. When Rosie and I visited, we saw the flag ceremony that takes place at 5pm every day at the main flagpole (4pm during winter months). Surrounding the cemeteries are these trees with the tops cut off — these trees imitate Egyptian pyramids because in Egyptian culture, soldiers who die in battle are buried in the pyramids. So, these trees have their tops cut off to signify that these men all had their lives cut short because they also died in battle. The crosses all face west, in the direction of the United States. There are some Stars of David on the tombstones as well.
During our next full day in Bayeux, Rosie and I took a tour of Mont-Saint-Michel, the most popular tourist destination in France after Paris.
Mont-Saint-Michel is surrounded by a vast mudflat and connected to the mainland by a bridge. The island has 3 parts: the Benedictine abbey, the skinny and crowded road leading to the abbey, and the medieval fortifications below. Today, a group of monks and nuns live in the abbey and exactly 4 people live in the surrounding village.
The legend behind Mont-Saint-Michel is interesting. In AD 708, Archangel Michael told the bishop Avranches in a dream to build a church here. Since then, it has been an important pilgrimage center and abbey that is built on the remains of a Romanesque Church, which stands on the remains of a Carolingian church. St. Michael sits on top of the spire -- he was the patron saint of many French kings.
After our tour of Mont-Saint-Michel, we ended the day with a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. I got my usual favorite, pasta carbonara. It was quite tasty! Rosie ate a veggie burger.
My dinner
The next day, Rosie and I took 3 trains to return to Aiguillon: one from Bayeux to Paris, one from Paris to Bordeaux, then one from Bordeaux to Aiguillon. After a fun-filled and active trip, we were glad to be back at my apartment. Rosie returned to the United States on the 31st, just in time to ring in the new year!
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