Report on Travels in France

Transcription

1 Report on Travels in France I undertook my trip to France during Easter break, along with another scholarship applicant, Charlotte Griffin. We went from the 14 th to the 29 th of April in Much of the travelling was undertaken by train travel, through the use of an Interrail pass and both Eurostar tickets. I received 400 of scholarship money from the University of Leicester. Much of this money was spent on my Interrail pass, which cost 202. The scholarship money was also used to purchase our Eurostar tickets, which came to a total of 79, for both an outward and return journey, as well as paying for a coach ticket in order to get to London from Leicester, as well as a coach to return, which came to 20. We also used 40 for reservation deposits to book our hotels and hostels in all of the different places we stayed at and paid 48 altogether for train reservations to Arles, Carcassonne and the return journey to Paris. The remaining funds were used to cover travel expenses while we were in Paris, such as a taxi used to get to the hotel immediately upon arrival in the city which was 4 each, and also for travelling on the Paris Metro, we brought daily tickets twice, which were 6 per day. Table of Scholarship Spending: Money Spent on: Cost: Total: Interrail Pass Eurostar Tickets Coach Tickets Hotel Deposits Train Reservations Taxi 4, or Metro Tickets 12, or Figure 1: Detail from a mosaic in the Islamic collection in the Louvre. Own PARIS: 14 th to 17 th of April We arrived in Paris in the evening of the 14 th of April. On our first full day in the city, on the 15 th, we primarily did a lot of sightseeing, visiting some of Paris most famous buildings and sites. This included the Palace of Justice, the river Seine, Notre Dame de Paris, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. Fortunately, many of France s main attractions offered student discounts or free entry to EU members for some of its most popular tourist sites, providing that you had a valid student card or passport to show upon entry. This included the Arc de Triomphe, and so we were actually able to go inside the famous arch. We visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris as it is one of France s most well-known medieval religious buildings, as well as exploring the more recent Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre. The 16 th of April, our second day in Paris was spent the entirely at the Louvre. Though we saw some of the museum s most familiar pieces, such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, we also made the visit relevant to our specific interests of study, targeting the Roman and Greek rooms in 1

2 Figure 2, left: Palace of Versailles Own Figure 3, right: Marble statue of Athena. Own particular, as well as exploring the remnants of the medieval Louvre underneath the present-day structure. After the museum closed, we walked through the gardens outside, most of which would have originally been part of the palace s vast estates. Our final day in Paris, the 17 th, was actually spent at Versailles, which is only a 30-minute train journey from the city, where we explored the palace. Though this site was not specifically related to my area of study, the Palace of Versailles is still an important part of modern French history and it was a beautiful and fascinating site to see. We used our Interrail pass to get the train to Versailles and spent the day at the palace before travelling back to Paris and then getting another train to Rouen. ROUEN: 18 th to 19 th April We chose to go to Rouen because it was one of the largest and most successful cities in Europe during the Middle Ages. Unlike most urban centres today, a significant amount of Rouen s medieval structures still stand today, so you could really see the features and distinctive nature of medieval streets and housing. On the 18 th of April we visited the Notre-Dame de Reims cathedral and various other medieval structures, as well as wandering around the medieval streets of Rouen s historic city centre. We also went inside the only remaining tower of the castle of Rouen, where Joan of Arc was imprisoned during her trial in On the 19 th of April we visited the Musée départemental des Antiquités in Rouen. Though fairly small, the museum contained an interesting variety of artefacts, which were generally, though not exclusively, local finds from the medieval era. Later in the day we also went to the site where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake, which had several memorials and structures dedicated to her memory. Figure 4, left: Close-up image of the Joan of Arc Tower, Rouen. Own Figure 5, right: An example of the medieval streets in Rouen. Own 2

3 ARLES: 20 th to 21 st April The 20 th of April was really a travelling day, as we had to navigate our way from Normandy to Provence in a day. As it turned out, on the following day, the 21 st, and our only full day in the town occurred during the Feria d Arles. We were initially disappointed as this meant that we were unable to visit the amphitheatre of Arles, due to the fact that bull fights were Figure 6: Detail of the Roman theatre at Arles. Own actually being held in the arena. However, we decided to see the event, and it was definitely a surreal experience in being able to witness a blood sport not dissimilar to what would have been held during the Roman era. The amphitheatre itself was an impressive structure, much of which still survives today and it was built during the late 1 st century AD. It is still used for special occasions such as bullfighting, but also for concerts, plays and other events too. Later in the day we also visited the Roman theatre of Arles, which built sometime during the late 1 st century BC or 1 st century AD. I particularly loved the visit to the theatre as the site itself was still reasonably well-preserved and it was such a fascinating place to explore. A lot of the stonework from the theatre was discovered when it was excavated, and though not all of it could be placed back into its correct place, much of it remained on site in random piles. Though it sounds terrible, the rubble piles actually looked amazing and it was really thought-provoking as it was a huge reminder what is still not archaeologically understood today, and how the process of excavation cannot reveal everything about ancient structures. Afterwards, we walked to the train station and boarded a train that would take us to Nimes in the evening. Figure 7: Image of Arles prior to watching the bullfight. Own 3

4 NIMES: 22 nd to 23 rd April Figure 8: Image of Nimes amphitheatre. Own Nimes was a particularly great place to stay at, as it had a lot of Roman history, due to being a Roman colony from the late 1 st century BC, and the remaining Roman structures that still stood today were overall fairly well-preserved. The city itself was also very beautiful place in general and we both felt unbelievably safe walking around, even when it was quite late at night. On our first day in the city, the 22 nd, we explored the Nimes arena, one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres found within the empire, it was built sometime during the late 2 nd century AD and it was one of my favourite Roman structures that I saw on the backpacking trip. Later that day we visited the Tour Magne, which was part of the Roman fortifications which were built during the Augustan period. Even though only the tower itself survived to the present day, we were still able to climb to the top and view the city of Nimes below. Lastly, we saw the Maison Carrée, built around c.16 BC, which is also one of the best-surviving Roman temples found within the empire too. Unfortunately, the inside of the temple contained no traces of its use as a temple, so inside there was a short film about the Roman history of Nimes instead. On the 23 rd we went to Pont du Gard, by getting a bus from Nimes. It is one of the best preserved Roman aqueducts, built sometime during the 1 st century AD, the aqueduct was originally built to supply water to the Roman colony of Nemausus, or Nimes. This was another site which I would definitely visit again, as the Pont du Gard was absolutely spectacular to see, and the surrounding landscape was particularly beautiful. Figure 9: Sketch made of Nimes amphitheatre. Own sketch. 4

5 CARCASSONE: 24 th to 26 th April Figure 10: Detail of the medieval castle at Carcassonne, taken from standing on the walls of the fortress. Own The trip so far had been amazing but also pretty much continually on the move. We had quite a lot of different things to do and see, and so when we got to Carcassonne on the 24 th of April, we spent a couple of more relaxed days in the town. The famous Cité de Carcassonne, the medieval fortress which surrounds the old town is obviously the main point of attraction for many who visit and it was incredibly interesting to explore the castle. Though the citadel was originally founded in the Gallo-Roman period, since then the fortress has undergone countless alterations, particularly during the Middle Ages, when it was used as a military fortress, as well as significant restoration work during the 19 th century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his successors. Despite the controversy over the current form of the citadel, and the possibility of it being historically inaccurate, as an authentic (sort of) medieval and Gallo-Roman fortress, it was still amazing to see and worth the time taken to visit. PARIS: 27 th to 29 th April Figure 11: Detail of the human remains in the catacombs of Paris. Own 5

6 The 27 th was another long travelling day, going from Carcassonne to Marseille, then from Marseille to Paris. On the 28 th we went to the district of Montmartre again, visiting some of the shops in the area, as well as some of its most famous buildings. On our last day in France, the 29 th of April, we went to the catacombs of Paris. The catacombs were slowly filled with the remains of Parisians between the late 18 th to the middle of the 19 th century and today the ossuary currently holds around 6 to 7 million individuals. The catacombs themselves are incredibly long-lived, as they were originally used as quarries in the Gallo-Roman period from as early as the 1 st century AD. In the Middle Ages, the stone mined from these quarries were also used to construct some of Paris most famous buildings, such as the Louvre, the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and the city s ramparts. Despite the long queue to get inside, the catacombs were well worth the visit and they were incredibly atmospheric and creepy. In conclusion, the trip was an amazing and incredibly worthwhile experience. Not only did I learn some French, I also learnt about the country and the various customs of France too. The trip was useful for my studies too, especially as I focused on visiting a lot of Roman archaeological sites, and in the museums I would pay particular attention to Roman and Greek artefacts. Lastly, the travelling helped my planning and organisational skills too, as it required a lot of work to plan out the trip and the methods of travel, book all of the hotels or hostels and making sure that we had enough time in each place we visited. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in France and I really appreciated the help from the university that allowed me to undertake the trip. Figure 12: Pont du Gard. Own 6