Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Paris is very big, and there's lots to explore. According to Julián Carax, a character in Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel The Shadow of the Wind, "one can't see Paris in two days, or in two months, or even in two years". There's too much!

Even so, it can be nice to get out of the city once in a while and explore the rest of France. After considering several options, last weekend we decided to take a day trip to Saint-Germain-en-Laye. This is a small town in the Île-de-France region and accessible by commuter train from Paris. Saint-Germain-en-Laye's main claims to fame are its fabulous chateau and grounds, and the fact that many royals made it their residence. Louis XIV, France's favourite king, was born there, and the chateau was also home to James the VII of Scotland and II of England (the same king) after he was exiled from Britain for being too Catholic.

"Louis XIV was born here". Apparently this is a big deal.

Most of the town is seated on a hill, so you can get a good view of the Paris region, including the skyscrapers that constitute the business district (la défense) and the Eiffel tower.

The Eiffel tower is that little blip in the distance beside the hill on the right.

The gates to the chateau.

Inside the chateau, naturally, is a large archaeology museum, with displays from the palaeolithic to the Roman era. It particularly focused on French archaeology, with displays of neanderthal burials, cave paintings from the south of France, and Gaulish settlements.

A neolithic carving - this one was barely bigger than a fingertip.

A bronze-age Zodiac calendar.

The museum was fascinating, really a lot of information in there. About a third of the exhibits were translated into English, and the rest we slowly puzzled over. When we were ready to leave, we just hopped on the commuter train and were home in 45 minutes! It was very pleasant to find this town. It was far enough from Paris that it didn't feel like Paris (being on the hill and being able to see far helped with that, I think), but also close enough that a spontaneous day trip was not full of travelling. Perhaps we'll take more day trips in the future.

La Toussaint

Yesterday (November 1) was La Toussaint, the French name for All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows). Despite France being a secular country, this Catholic holy day is also a national public holiday. (Yeah, French secularism is weird, and feels less consistent than American secularism, but that's probably just a matter of perspective. It's quite rare to see French politicians talk of their personal relationship with God, for instance.)

Most people from Anglophone cultures will know All Saints' Day as "the day after Halloween". After all, Hallowe'en is a contraction of All Hallow's Eve(ning), in other words, "the evening before All Saints' Day". However, Halloween celebrations as we know them in Anglophone cultures were quite missing on Saturday night!

Although the tradition of "trick or treating" is often regarded as being American in origin, it actually finds its roots in Scotland. Still practised today, children will go "guising", that is, going around the neighbourhood in disguise. They knock on the door of a neighbour, are invited inside, and have to perform a "piece" to get their reward (fruit, nuts, and sweets). The piece can be a joke, a riddle, a poem, a song, or some other performance. Apparently this practice in turn can be traced to traditions around the celtic pagan festival Samhain, the traditional harvest festival.

Okay, back to France. So, we didn't get to dress up, or give (or receive) any sweets, but instead, we got a public holiday with excellent weather! Yesterday was also the first Sunday of the month, which, as you may recall, means that many museums are open for free. We took advantage of this and visited the Musée du Moyen Âge (Museum of the Middle Ages).

Wow, the middle ages were pretty grim. Here's a statue of a martyred saint.

Yep, still pretty grim.

There was also some Roman artefacts, like this statue of Emperor Julian the Apostate.

Luckily, the middle ages weren't all doom and gloom. They had unicorns too.

And bunnies!

And books with pictures. Or maybe this is a colouring book?

After the museum, we visited Grom, an Italian ice cream shop. They have a variety of sorbets (milk-free, of course), and all of their cones are gluten-free. This is a winning combination for a happy Talia.

Apple and lemon sorbet!

We also visited the Panthéon, a huge mausoleum which houses the bodies of many of France's most famous men. (Yes, men. There is the body of exactly one woman in there: Marie Curie. However, two more women - Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz and Germaine Tillion, both heroes of the French resistance during WWII - were added recently. Their bodies were not physically moved into the Panthéon (at the request of their families), but their names are listed among the others.)

Voltaire's tomb.

We also spent some time cycling around in the sun - the weather was really fantastic! (Unlike today, which is grey, cloudy, and barely more than 10C (50F).) Unfortunately, the camera battery ran out, so no pictures. But it was very pleasant.

So, while we may have missed out on the candy explosion of Hallowe'en in the USA, or more traditional Hallowe'en activities in the UK like apple dooking, a day of free museums, ice cream, and relaxing in the gentle sun definitely makes up for it. More of this, please!