We took a train early in the morning from Venice to Forni Di Sopra. As we were chugging along the mountain side I started reading a new novel called I am Blade. The mountains here were like nothing I have ever seen, little towns scattered here and there among the rock and rubble that came down from the mountains. I was able to spot a funicular going up a mountain.
We were greeted by our friend Sue Sherwood who’s parents live on Cortes. Everybody but Sue felt car sick as we drove up further into the mountains to her home. Forni Di Sopra is an old and quite and ski village. Once we were settled we had a chance to appreciate the view of the mountains from the window. There were snow peaked mountains all around the house. The mountain peeks were very jagged compared to the mountains we know in BC, they rose straight up and reminded us of the barnacles we find on the beaches of Cortes. We went for scrumptious Italian pizza and ice cream with Sue and her husband Dino at the village restaurant. I had a chance to skype with my good friend Forrest also and we talked about school, soccer and plans for next year.
One evening we took, further windy roads down to another town to hear some Chamber Music. There were three musicians playing the violin, cello and harpsichord. I have always wondered what instrument made the unique sound that I have often heard in the background of many period films I have seen, it was good to see close up the mechanics of this instrument. Dino took us on a long hike up one of the mountains near their home. The steep hike had padded ground from all the fallen leaves. We reached a rest area with a small shrine or chapel which had a small bell. I lifted Mia up so that she could reach the ropes to ring the bell. On our way down the mountain I ran ahead and I think that I saw a bear moving among the trees.
We said our good byes to Sue and Dino. It was exciting to board our very first night train. We had a sleepless night all the way to Paris. Arriving in Paris we pulled our luggage through the rain to the house of our SERVAS hosts. It was amusing to play with the small children, Naomi and Miriam. It was fantastic that they had a neighboring bakery that made delicious croissants and pan au chocoalt.
I liked the modern entrance into the Lovre, with it’s glass pyramids. We had an interesting tour of the Louvre. We learned about the history of the Louvre. At one point in time, this amazing structure had been a fortress. The name Louvre may have come from the Latin word lupara, a kennel for dogs trained to hunt wolves that would have prowled about the forests of Europe or possibly from the French word, loup which means wolf. In the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. We saw the Greek statue of The Victory of Samothrace, she stands on the bow of a ship. My favorite part of the Louvre is the Sully Wing. This wing held one of my favorite subjects, ancient Egypt. There were Egyptian treasures, statues, mummies and hieroglyphs. One of the Egyptian Pharos who had his name written all over his chapel tomb was named Akahethetep, which translates The God of The Horizon is Satisfied. Can you imagine naming your child that today? “yeah, Paul and George was on our list of names but we had to go with, The God of the Horizon is Satisfied, because it totally suites him”.
We visited Notre Dam, I was impressed by the pure genius of the architecture and the beautiful stained glass. We had chance to see the Eifel tour at night, it had light flashing and sparkling. It was excellent to see this famous structure first hand after hearing so much about it. After spending two days with our first SERVAS family we moved on to the home of Francois. It was great to visit her, she was the ideal host for Mia and I, as she made fresh crepes for us and gave us coke a cola and potato chips. With smiles on our faces we entered the Musee D’Orsay. Here we saw many beautiful and famous paintings. Artists like klimt, Degas, Van Goh and Monet. It was interesting to see the different styles and ideas that different artists can come up with. On the way to the Arc De Triumph we almost got crushed to death on the Metro by the French, they pushed to get on and shoved to get off the metro, it was like nothing the Greggs had ever experienced before! To add to the intensity two ladies fell backwards in a heap on the escalator leaving the metro.
Early, early, early in the morning we made our way out of Paris for England.
