Freiburg and the Intersolar

We arrived in SW Germany after traveling east across northern France in mid June just in time to arrive at Intersolar 2007, an annual international solar electric conference and trade show. Not the type of event we usually frequent, Don and I were a bit blown away by all the 'corporate' $$$ lavished on booths ... from multiple flat screen tv's to leather couches and enclosed rooms within the booths themselves .. we got over it quickly and just absorbed the feel and sights of the many innovative solar designs.

Don's camera was startled yet recovered quick enough to catch this photo of one of
the naked hand painted ladies that were strolling, barely noticed, throughout the
conference.... something you would never see in the USA.
They got Don's attention though.
Not only do the Germans have more solar electric installations than anyone else in the world, they also seem to understand that getting around can be mass transit or individual bicycles.. something that is not done too much in many cities in the US. We saw lots of trams and street cars all over European cities this one in Freiburg.


Don and I both brought our own cameras and although some of our interests dovetail in photography these two shots showcase some of the doors and metalwork that Don has enough for 2 books on... The first is a charming downspout
the second a door dated 1457.....hopefully Don will do some pages on doors/ signs or stonework... more on that later..

Laon and Reims Cathedrals

We had chosen this area for an overnight because of Riems. When we arrived we were certainly impressed by this early cathedral, which had been started in 1211, 9 years earlier than Salisbury. There were many similarities although most of the original stained glass here had been replaced since WWII. There was an entire section of glass which had been done by Marc Chagall and these were beautiful but impossible for me to photograph. This photo is of the western portal which was where knights on horseback would enter during the early years. We would come to know this same entrance at many cathedrals over the coming weeks.


Once inside we were taken with the quiet, the coolness, the scale, and height of the interior. Massive doors, incredible carvings and replacement stain glass done in a much more modern style, but reverential none the less.

I do not think we saw any cathedrals, doms, or basilicas which were not undergoing massive restorations. Some of them had not had much work done in many years/centuries and the stone was quite damaged. These were major undertakings mostly with private funds as no one has the money for the upkeep on these very old centers of community.
After leaving Riems we drove on the back roads ( narrow and twisty) to find our incredible overnight farmhous/garden accommodations in the tiny village of Orgeval (see traveling across N France) where Bernard's 14 year old daughter was the only one who spoke English, at least until Bernard, her father got home.


The next day we decided (based on Bernard's recommendation) to visit Laon, the first capital of France. Don and I spent the day touring the walled city
and the cathedral which was the precursor to many of the more famous cathedrals of Europe (Reims, Bamberg, Chartres) which all came after Laon.


The stained glass has mostly been replaced, but one on the north side, the rose window complex was original!!.. and were done to highlight the liberal arts philosophy of the day... with a WOMAN as a sign of wisdom in the center.... the 8 areas that a person was to be accomplished in to be considered educated and sophisticated included, astronomy, geometry, mathematics, medicine, dialectic, grammar, the stain glass is done with this woman in the center with 8 additional rose circles around this center each indicating these 8 areas of study. Very progressive for 1170...

Crossing Northern France in mid June

Upon arrival in Calais, France after our EuroTunnel adventure we pushed our clocks ahead one hour and went in search of French coffee and bread. We were moving toward Orgeval where we had a gorgeous b&b for 1 nite and since we were so early we overshot and headed to Reims to see the well known cathedral.



We must talk of the French Motorway first. Speed not a problem, motorway very new and modern.. but expensive.
Very expensive. And we did stop to use the restrooms and were thrilled to see they were so very new...not a bad design package but were we in for a surprise

New but barbaric. Not sure where the idea came from that the French are so
sophisticated with their bidets and all.. their public bathrooms.. everywhere we
stopped from Versailles later in our trip to the public bathrooms in cities..
if they were free, you could count on disgusting and beyond anything
I have experienced...

Check out this photo.. This was the womens...
and it was open to the world in the rear....Can you imagine your grandmother
trying to perch.... oh.. well nevermind...

Final Day in UK June 2007

On our final day in England for the June part of our trip (we would return on the last day of July for the remaining 2 weeks of the trip) we went to the Royal Pavillion, the Brighton hideaway home of George IV. For all its scandalous history, it now brings in quite a pretty penny yearly to the Royal coffers, although its building and George's attachment to it were filled with great derision for years. The kitchen and dining rooms were the most ornate as he loved to entertain and spent lavishly to impress his guests. No photography allowed inside so this is all you get here.

Before leaving Brighton we did manage to walk around areas that were not so close to the Pavillion and found the world where paint is in generous supply. Bright colors felt so clean and vibrant.... bright for Brighton I guess

That afternoon we drove along the coast to Folkestone where we would pick up the EuroTunnel the following morning on our way to France. This was an interesting, somewhat claustrophobic experience as one drives onto a train car...



a traffic director motions you as close as possible to the car in front of you, then your tires are chocked... narrow, tight, one stays in ones car... and then voila.... in 25 minutes, you find yourself in France!!... amazing...

The Adventure Begins in England

So Don and I had arranged to go to Europe and due to the lovely Fund for Teachers grant that I was awarded we decided to really do it. It was to be an 8 week trip, with 2 wks in Germany for the Fellowship part. We managed to get the best airfare and nonstop flight by flying into Heathrow and that was how we decided we would get to go to Stonehenge. We arranged to pickup the Peugeot at the airport and we were off, driving, of course, on the opposite side of the road. We had had some experience with this a few yrs back in St Thomas, where we constantly would say to each other, keep to the left, Mon.. so we could remember.



After a 10 hour flight, which was really wonderful due to British Air having an abundance of recent and classic movies, HBO shows, games, music etc.. the time really went quickly. We were rather exhausted and then Don drove for 2 hours west of London where we were staying for 2 nites at the Thatched Cottage in Lacock... Darling.. just darling... and came with a huge English breakfast.






So of course on our first day we do Stonehenge AND the Salisbury Cathedral. No time like the present to try to cram it all in. Amazing tour of the spire after seeing the cathedral itself which was begun in 1220. They pride themselves on the fact that theirs did not take hundreds of years to complete ( and therefore it is actually all of the same architechtural style.. altho the spire was the piece that came later.) Our intro to the cathedrals ( which of course as we were walking toward it and I told Don where we were going, before we could actually see it... " I am not much for churches" and I kind of looked at him and just said, Um we are in Europe, there will be lots of cathedrals.. and yes we did see and go into many cathedrals during the next 8 weeks.

Blogging

So I am very happy to have learned how to set up this blog and look forward to adding photos and copy from Don's and my trip from this summer. So called the 'trip of a lifetime'. We were in Europe for 8 weeks, rented/leased a very cool Peugeot that got 45 mpg on diesel fuel... they have increased the fuel efficiency and cleanliness over the past 10 years so that their Diesel is cleaner and more efficient than our unleaded.... but of course our car manufacturers can't seem to get beyond 28 mpg... more on this later.....The car had this red license plate.. which invariably in every town and village in Italy, France, Germany and England brought stares, and double takes that Don likened to us having a rotating flashing lite on our heads that screamed "Foreigner"... We did love this car tho.. and managed to put 7,000 miles on it...