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Southbound to the Loire River I awoke to the prospect of a gorgeous day this morning and resolved to get out into nature. It is harvest season and a great time to head off on a day trip to the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 12 photos.
From Orsigny to Viltain Sunday – The late summer weather around Paris has been spectacular: low humidity and cool temps with warm sun and blue skies. Today, I could not resist taking a few hours for myself and heading out on … Continue reading
Washington: A National Zoo?
There is something other-worldly about Washington. Power, wealth, poverty, urgency and complacency are in the air. It is disorienting, amazing, distressing. I got a chance to experience this world up close in July thanks to a month-long mission to Planet DC.
Although I travel there often, this was my first extended visit to the city in a couple of decades: a chance to settle in, observe and swim in the sea of local life. It left me in a funk that has continued after my return to Paris. I am still trying to process all that I saw and experienced.
During July, I had the opportunity to pursue my economic research agenda in Washington, DC, operating as a visiting scholar based at a Federal government agency. I was struck by the dedication and competence of my colleagues there as they pursued their duties.
They believe in their mission and are seeking to improve policies and government operations. In the same spirit, they generously took time to provide me with constructive input and suggestions for advancing my policy research.
Time and again their positive energy amazed me. Theirs is not always an easy lot. Federal employees encounter many daily challenges including consequences of budget cuts, periodically hostile press and politicians, arbitrarily compromised objectives, and stakeholder conflicts, among others issues.
My agenda involved a series of interviews with experts (government, private sector and academic), collection of data, and research to track down various reference materials. I had the opportunity to travel far and wide across the city and to meet folks from various walks of life. To say the least, the city exhibits quite some cultural and economic diversity.
As a young Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso (West Africa) broiling under the intense mid-day sun of the hot season, I discovered the joys of pulling up a chair in a shady spot outside of our mud hut and reading. Not much else was going to happen until things cooled off. It was during such a season back in 1983 that I found the time to read Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I had never read anything like it. The book describes a motorcycle trip across the United States and an inquiry about values. A central theme for me concerned the importance of the quest for excellence, a message that has stuck with me since.
As the political capital of the largest national economy in the world, Washington is certainly in the position to cultivate excellence. There are some impressive manifestations of this. To cite a couple of examples from my recent mission:
Of course there are many, many more examples across the city. Such examples demonstrate that there can be a positive role for government in contributing to our advancement directly or in partnership with the private sector and non-governmental organisations.
Despite encounters with excellence as I wandered through the world of Washington, there were nonetheless some concerns nagging at me everywhere in the background. These concerns started with the impression that part of the infrastructure is in poor condition. They grew as various contacts and news items pointed to social challenges, civil rights issues, undue impediments to legitimate businesses, environmental degradation and other pressing issues. Some are local, while others are a reflection of national malaise. Although Washington came through the Great Recession with less damage than some other parts of the US, it is not fully insulated and the challenges are visible.
Storm Clouds over the Old Executive Office Building
My concerns deepened after an admonition from my host to be careful during my commutes into town. He had been stabbed in a mugging a while ago and held up at gunpoint another time. As an economist I am concerned with such problems and their many social and economic roots, but I am not used to facing them as a personal threat on a daily basis.
Then, there was the metro. I recalled the system with an initial sense of pride, thinking back to my days in DC during the 1980s. Nowadays, however, it is only just getting a much needed makeover after years of relative neglect. In July, during a brutal 10 day heat spell, I discovered that the system operators were no longer maintaining the air conditioning on the cars where it had broken down. Commuters were faced with the choice of running from car to car in search of A/C or potentially having to tough it out in a crowded, non-air conditioned carriage.
Next came political issues. A few weeks after my arrival, Bill Moyer’s had an interesting show on Washington, DC, based on a very troubling interview with Mark Leibovich. Leibovich recently authored “This Town“, a book about the workings of the place. He highlights the problem of the rotating door in DC between policy making and lobbying, political fund-raising and interest peddling. He highlights what is essentially a disconnect between the objectives of many of the powers-that-be and the national interest. The insiders with ties to either of the main political parties have access to potentially large incomes if they work on behalf of various vested interest groups. Thus, there are disincentives to tackle issues head-on. Unfortunately, in the interview Leibovich does not offer much in the way of solutions.
Partly as a consequence of the insiders game, progress to obvious problems comes slowly. Outside of the political realm, I have the impression that many average folks are hunkered down living busy lives and, in many cases, dealing with some financial stress. Several news items came up during my stay that underscored the problem. One item showed labor income declining as a share of national output while inequality increased: see this article from the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland. After progressing somewhat in the 1990s, median household has been falling significantly. Another item came from a study by the Economic Policy Institute, showing US workers putting in more hours in a effort to maintain incomes. Then, more recently, Robert Putnam presented an op ed on Crumbling American Dreams using his home town as an illustration.
There were other national news items that added to the gloom:
These matters are serious and getting clear information about each issue is not always easy. One cannot rely on the evening news for balanced reporting and it takes a bit of digging to identify a reliable source of factual information. Still, the cumulative effect of this news flow is daunting. I can certainly appreciate the urge to keep one’s head down and to press on with more immediate daily challenges. Unfortunately, a failure to respond to some of these issues will entail heavier costs if one waits to address them later.
This is not to say that I am pessimistic. I was encouraged to find people inside and outside of government working to assess problems empirically and seeking a factual basis for discussing policy options and responses. In addition, there is an emerging debate in the United States that recognises the limits of empirical assessment and the need to have an open debate about the subjective aspects of some policy questions such as dealing with inequality. For example, see this paper on income inequality by G. Mankiw, a former Bush administration official. I don’t agree with all of his suppositions or conclusions, but it is a useful starting point recognising the role of preferences. It has unleashed a helpful debate.
I think we also need to be open to consideration of the role of government as part of the solution. This was underscored to me upon my return to France. I spent my Saturday here running errands on foot, using public transportation and walking to shops past some wonderful public spaces: a forest park, a new fountain, newly repaved roads, and a public-private redevelopment zone downtown. France has many economic problems of its own. For example, the state is large and weighs heavily on entrepreneurship. But, the French example does underscore the benefits of having some public investment in areas where there is a need for a coherent system-wide plan or where there is a market failure. We should not rule this out now in the United States. There are positive examples in the US as well: for example, the initial development steps for the Internet. Government has contributed on occasion to attainment of excellence!
Reviewing the list of issues discussed above, I certainly seems that there is need for action. In the United States, we need to break out of our complacency. We need to challenge the system to do better and to be more responsive to unmet needs. We should not accept business as usual in “This Town”. And, once we have decided that there is a role for government in provision of a given service, then we should insist on government’s quest for excellence in the matter. Why should we the citizens and taxpayers accept anything less?
In 1984, we moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, settling into an apartment right up against the boundary line with Washington, DC. Recently, I had an occasion to visit again and took the opportunity to set out on a walking tour around our old haunts in the downtown.
Our home was right around the corner from the site for which the town was named: the Silver Spring. Although the town is often called Silver Springs (and, on rare occasions, even “Silly Springs”), its actual name refers to a singular spring. The spring still exists on the edge of town in a small patch of green called Acorn Park. The poor spring struggles on, forlorn and neglected, producing just a tiny bit of humidity. In the decades since we moved away, developments and paving all around have cut off the replenishment of its aquifer and nowadays the Silver Spring is nearly dry.
The Silver Spring
According to the historical marker on the site, the spring was discovered in 1840 by Francis Preston Blair and daughter Elizabeth while touring the woods on horseback. They saw sunlight reflecting on mica sand in what turned out to be the spring and named it accordingly.
Silver Spring has been transformed in the years since we lived there. Downtown has been rebuilt with new housing, shops and commercial activity all around. On a recent Sunday part of the downtown was blocked off, vendors were selling food and kids were running around in a fountain that sprays water up from holes in the plaza pavement. Funky music played via a PA system and the atmosphere was festive.
Further on I came to an area where there has been an influx of Ethiopians. Although it is near downtown, parts of it have some resemblance to Addis Ababa with signs in Amharic and passersby conversing fluently in the language. Ethiopian flags, coffee and food are all around. The Addis Ababa Restaurant on Fenton Street has a good reputation. However, on my visit this weekend, I had another destination in mind.
I continued my walking tour of our old neighborhood and, based on a recommendation from local friends, wound up in the Adega Wine Cellar and Cafe. ( Sadly now closed, Feb. 2017.) The cafe serves up some interesting sandwiches and I had quite a decent crabcake. As it was a hot and humid day, I parked myself at a table in the air conditioning to sketch and enjoy a glass of Koina Riesling. I received a generous pour and savored the cool, refreshing wine, which had a nice acidity, with a hint of citrus and sweetness on my palate.
The Velvet Devil and a few other selections at the wine shop
While sketching, I was intrigued by the wine selection on the shelves around me, including a bottle labelled The Velvet Devil (which I placed on my agenda to try on a future visit). Although the shop is not particularly large, Adega’s has an interesting range of wines with selections that appear to offer good values from key wine regions around the world.
On a lazy Sunday afternoon, Adega’s turns into a kind of wine bar as folks come in for a glass and conversation. Next to me sat a few young Frenchmen quaffing a bottle of a big red. I enjoyed hearing their banter blend with the Spanish, English and Chinese being spoken by some others around. It seemed that although these folks were quite diverse, they would all agree on at least thing: a cool glass of wine on a hot day was a splendid idea.
Stop Sign – Takoma Park, MD
Setting out to continue my walk, I had a feeling that perhaps there was some hope after all for most folks around this world to get along, at least as long as the supply of Koina Riesling and big red wines holds out. As I headed back to my friends’ home in Takoma Park, a stop sign gave me some further advice for helping along the cause of peace: STOP EVIL. Makes sense to me!
Despite a French transportation strike, I managed to fly out of Paris this week for meetings in Berlin and Geneva, with a side trip to Lausanne. While some transport workers proclaimed opposition to further European integration, it felt to me as if they were actually promoting European dis-integration. Airline has cancelled all of my original flights. But, Lufthansa staff kindly worked with me to find alternatives that got me where I needed to go. In the end, I came away feeling pretty good about the world. I’m pretty sure that the arrival of warm and sunny weather also contributed to my positive disposition.
I get to Berlin every couple of years and with each visit I feel a little more attached to the city. This sentiment is actually helped along by a personal connection. In the 1880s, my great grandfather emigrated to the US from Berlin. He had been an organist in a large church there. So, the city figures somewhere in my family lore.
Berlin is a city with bountiful green space, lakes and flowing water, cultural opportunities (reasonably-priced opera tickets!), history and world class museums, plus quality food and drink. Not to mention shopping for those so inclined. It maintains an excellent public transportation system.
Whenever I visit I am struck by the dynamism of the place. Following reunification of East and West Berlin in 1989, the city set to work transforming and integrating itself. Two decades later the community has accomplished substantial renewal. Areas that were formerly cut off or disrupted in the communist past have revived as cultural centers (e.g., around Potsdamer Platz), pedestrian zones (e.g., around Nikolai church), or tourist zones (e.g., around Brandenburger gate).
But, parts of the city remain large construction sites as the renewal continues. Cranes dot the skyline. A controversial project to rebuild the Berliner Schloss — a former royal palace in the city center (ruined in WWII) — has just gotten underway after several years of debate. The metro system is expanding. New commercial construction continues apace. Alas, leaving much still to explore, my schedule indicated it was time to depart for Geneva and Lausanne.
I have written about Geneva in an earlier post, but there is more. This time I had business at several international organizations including the World Trade Organization (WTO).
I am always amazed at the wonderful headquarters of the WTO, the William Rappard Center, which was built in the 1920s to house the International Labour Organization (ILO). At a time when communist revolution was in the air, the ILO was developed to address labor concerns and demonstrate that market economies could deliver better quality of life for workers. The original building has some palatial features, without being too extravagant. Nonetheless, the fountains, sculpture and murals reflect a blend of expressionist and classical art that honors the value of labor in fueling economic growth and well-being.
During this visit, construction had blocked the main entrance and I wound up being channeled through the Chinese garden that is on the grounds. This was my first visit to the garden and it provided a pleasant and unexpected entry to the facility. That evening Geneva was radiant in the late-day sun and early summer weather. I took advantage of the fine evening to stroll along the Rhone and Lake Leman, before deciding to eat outdoors at a local Chinese restaurant in honor of the WTO garden.
During my stay, I made an afternoon visit for a meeting at IMD, a prestigious business school in the city of Lausanne. After all of the transportation disruption in France, the train ride over to Lausanne on the Swiss rail system provided a welcome contrast. The trains over and back departed in a timely fashion, traveling quickly and sailing along the rails with remarkably smooth suspension and quiet interiors. So nice!
Lausanne is a small city set in gorgeous countryside on Lake Leman. The Alps rise from the water on the opposite shore. Between Geneva and Lausanne, vineyards and farms dot the lake shore amidst various small towns. I took the metro from the Lausanne train station down to the lake. Due to the slope of the hill the metro is built on quite an angle, which was rather surprising to a flat-lander like me. I stopped for a soft drink at a local cafe on Lausanne harbor. Inertia nearly got the better of me and I had to strain against the warm, sunny, lazy afternoon feeling in order to get to my meeting on time.
My return to Paris proved mercifully uneventful. The transport strikes had passed and the grey, cool dampness had moved on in favor of sunny weather. I pulled out the grill for a BBQ with friends and took a fresh look at Paris. As usual, after disrupting my life and travel once again, Paris turned on its charm and won back my affection.
Berlin Cathedral and TV Tower, Photo (C) Doug Lippoldt, 2006
Justice, by Luc Jaggi, 1925, Geneva, Photo (c) Doug Lippoldt, 2013
Lausanne Harbour – 52 swans, (c) Doug Lippoldt, 2013
(Copyright, Doug, 2013, 2021)
Thanks to a kind invitation from a friend in Brittany, the possibility to escape for a few days from the wet, grey Parisian Winter and Spring beckoned. And, so, we set out from Paris for the Rhuys Peninsula on the Atlantic coast on the south side of Brittany. Our home base would be the little village of Penvins, which is surrounded by gorgeous countryside and sea. This proved to be an ideal starting point for exploring the nearby towns of Port Navalo, Saint Gildas, Sarzeau and Vannes, as well as the nature preserve and castle at Suscinio and the old tide-powered grain mill at Pen Castle.
Notre Dame de la Cote – Penvins: This little church stands on a modest spit of land jutting out into the Atlantic. The builders chose a design resembling a Greek cross, which enabled it to better resist the seasonal winds. According to a marker by the church: on this site previously stood a Gallo-Roman chapel, which superseded a even older iron age religious site.
One is never far from water on this little peninsula, a fact that heavily influences the environment. The air is clean and fresh, at times windy. Several old windmills and a number of immense new ones are strategically located to take advantage of the gusts. From hiking and bird watching to swimming and sailing, people orient their free time to the coastal outdoors. Fresh local seafood can be found in the open-air markets and on the restaurant menus. Wetlands have been preserved. Development is generally of the low-rise variety.
The connection to the sea is present in the culture. Via their harbors, the coastal towns face outward towards the sea. Casual conversation often turns towards boats, seafood or water-related activity. We visited several old churches with model ships or other art with sea motifs.
Penvins: The city hall is a little building at a crossroads in the center of town. A sign out front directs visitors to the beach!
The legacy of long human settlement — spanning thousands of years — is also very present. Neolithic people left behind numerous rock monuments such as menhir and dolmen. They appear to have thrived here, prior to the arrival of the Celts including the Bretons. The waves of subsequent immigration brought further development. Today, many towns boast expansive historic centers dating back to the early middle ages.
The Celtic culture blends with the French. A minority of folks still speak the Breton language, which is related to Welsh. While the language suffered from suppression by Francophiles during the past century, it is now enjoying a modest revival thanks to educational efforts and cultural programming via the media. More broadly, the Breton culture continues to influence the atmosphere through its music, cuisine and other cultural presentations (including the proudly displayed Breton flag).
This spring the Rhuys peninsula was a particularly wondrous sight for us. We were restored by the sunshine, wildflowers, clean air and hikes in nature, not to mention local cuisine and cider. Even in the course of a short visit, such a place can help one to regain some perspective on what matters. I suspect that given a bit more time there, one might rediscover a sustainable feeling of serenity.
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Former Artillery Position – Chestnut Grove
(Ancienne batterie de la Chataigneraie)
Today was a grey, drizzly kind of day around Paris, so we set off to do some exploration of the Forêt de Verrières outside of the city. The forest sits atop a hill (172 meters, or 574 feet, high) located just alongside Paris’ outer beltway, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of the Eiffel Tower.
It is an ancient woods. There is archaeological evidence of human activity dating back into prehistory. Over the centuries several chateaux have stood on these grounds. At various times the land belonged to the nearby Abbey of Saint Germain. King Louis XIII set the area up as royal hunting grounds in the 1600s. After a couple of battles with Prussians (1815 and 1870), the government set aside part of the grounds for artillery defenses. The military still holds a small parcel of land near the middle of the forest.
Urbanization and road construction have gobbled up sizable chunks of the original forest. Nowadays, the forest covers about 576 hectares (ca. 1425 acres), which is about half of its historic size. This has had an impact on wildlife. Big deer species and wild boar have disappeared in the face of fragmentation of the forest land and increased use by people and their dogs. A few smaller deer (chevreuils) may inhabit the woods, as well as foxes, rabbits, weasels and smaller critters. These animals benefit from the ban on hunting in the woods that has been in place since 1818.
Today we did not see any such wildlife, rather it seemed to be a day for the birds. There were all sorts of song birds, woodpeckers, ravens and crows, among others. The drizzle cut down on the number of people in the woods and, with springtime in the air, the birds were singing joyfully. I stopped to record a bit of their chorus: Forest Birds-Verrieres (click here to hear some of these birds).
Verrieres Forest is characterized by a biologically sheltered situation in an urban environment; 42 hectares of the forest have been classified as an integrated biological preserve, meaning that the land will be protected from human intervention for a long period. This will permit scientific study of the development of a natural ecosystem, one that differs from the surrounding managed forest.
We soon discovered a further reason why the birds were so happy. In the middle of the forest is a 42 hectare (100 acre) section that the National Forest Office set up in 2005 as a biological reserve (réserve biologique intégrale). All forestry operations are prohibited and entry is discouraged. A dense growth of oaks, chestnuts, ashes, beech and birch has developed.
Such protection for flora and fauna is extremely rare in France. Only just over 1% of the forests in this nation are set aside as preserves. The difference with typical French forests is striking. In the preserve, the underbrush is growing throughout, old trees lay where they fall, birds are everywhere, and it is dark at ground level. It is amazing how much the forest has been transformed in less than 10 years. This stands in contrast to a typical working forest in France, where nature is kept in check.
Prehistoric people gathered and worked flint in this area.
Our hike carried us from the center of the woods to a former artillery position at the north-east corner of the forest, which has a beautiful view of Paris. We continued along the eastern edge of the woods, where rocks are exposed on the slope and prehistoric people are known to have collected flint to make tools and arrow heads.
As we turned onto the path leading back to our car, we walked along the edge of the biological preserve. When a place combines historical interest and ecological innovation, then it has a good chance of grabbing my attention. This was such a place. The establishment of a biological preserve in the center of a forest just 10 miles from the Eiffel Tower seems almost audacious. It is still in its early days and clearly evolving at a rapid pace. Nature is taking advantage of the offer of peace. I’ll be watching to see what happens next.
(Verrieres Forest = bouncing icon; Eiffel Tower and Paris = fixed icon)
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The transition to Springtime continues to lag here in the Parisian suburbs. Today was cool and a little breezy, with poofy clouds alternating with sunshine. It seemed a perfect time to go out walking, so I loaded my iPad into a day pack and headed out to see what I might find worth sketching in Viroflay.
The first thing that caught my eye was the garden behind Viroflay city hall. It was peaceful and the statue of Hippolyte Maze seemed radiant in the afternoon sun. Hippolyte was at various times an academic historian, an elected representative in national government and a regional administrator (préfet). He also dabbled in economics. Among other achievements, he wrote a book entitled the Republic of the United States of America (1869). In addition to some facts about Hippolyte, his monument has three words inscribed on the side: science, humanity, homeland. I’m not sure why these three words were selected, but I read somewhere that Louis Pasteur (i.e., the guy who invented pasteurization, who also lived in the 1800s) once said that “the homeland of science encompasses all of humanity.” Coincidence? Perhaps. But, I’m not so sure.
Next stop came in the center of town. There sits the small church dedicated to Saint Eustache. Dating back to the 12th century, the structure is in good shape, having benefited from a couple of restorations over the centuries. Across the street is a small two-story building that became city hall and the first public school in Viroflay after the French revolution (in 1794, actually). Some other buildings from that period and some of the cobblestone pavement also survive. There is a former water trough for horses and the town has planted a few flower beds. In the sunshine this afternoon, it was a perfect spot to sit and sketch and soak in the historic ambiance.
By now it was getting to be late afternoon and I was about to head home, when I noticed an interesting half-timbered home up a little cobblestone dead-end lane. The home is now rather old and weathered, and the shutters are closed tight. But, what caught my eye was that someone long ago had marked the facade of the home with the symbols for the four suits of cards. It turns out that the four suits (hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds) were first used in French card decks in Rouen and Lyon in the 15th century and later were taken up by the English-speaking world. I am not sure what the connection is to this old home, but it lives on in the facade.
With that, the time had come to get back home. Our old stone house was built just outside the Viroflay city limits in the late 1800s, around the same time that Hippolyte Maze passed away (he died in 1891). As I headed around to our side yard to do a bit of weeding in the garden before sunset, I was struck by the important role that the various historical sites play in this community. They provide a sort of bridge across the centuries, offering glimpses into the rich history and a measure of continuity across time in this place.
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(Doug, ©2013)
Champagne is a glorious place, even in lousy weather. It has class. Not the pretentious kind, but rather a classiness that comes from attainment of quality and competence in wine-making and cuisine. The region can take on rustic and down-to-earth airs. But, it can also manifest excellence in presentation, for example in serving a fine meal based largely on local supplies. There is a sense of history and tradition, though this contrasts sometimes with the innovation and technological progress that are also in evidence (where appropriate). The scenery is bucolic and lush. And, of course, there is champagne!
When folks think of Champagne they tend to think first of Reims and Epernay, with the splendid mountain between them surrounded by vineyards, with a branch stretching south to Vertus. But, there is another stretch of authentic Champagne vineyards further south, in the Aube region around Troyes. Long producing champagne-style wines and supplying grapes to the big name houses in Reims and Epernay, the Aube region was officially recognized as being part of the Champagne district in the early 1900s (after a series of revolts known as the Champagne Riots).
Troyes is the main town in the Aube region, as well as the historical capital of Champagne. Already settled in Roman times, Troyes has long been surrounded by wine production. While much of the city was destroyed by various fires in the Middle Ages, there are quite a few half-timbered houses and churches remaining from the 1500s. Looking at a map of the old town, one may notice that it is appropriately shaped like a cork.
The town has had a difficult history with various wars and social upheavals leading to troubles. Attila the Hun was stopped outside of town by a combination of force and compensation. The Jewish population, once thriving (e.g., the famous scholar Rashi established a center there for Talmudic studies in 1070AD), was abused and expelled in Medieval times. In later centuries, a Jewish population was reestablished but then fell victim to terrible oppression during WWII (see photo of the memorial below). After WWII a new synagogue was established in some Medieval buildings in the old town.
The vineyards of Montgueux spread across a small enclave to the west of Troyes, producing chardonnay grapes. The area is recognized on official maps showing designated zones for Champagne production. Montgueux is a small island of production at some distance from the next officially recognized zones.
Heading north from Troyes one comes to the southern area of the Reims-Epernay champagne district. There is a wonderful chateau in the village of Etoges. It is now a bed and breakfast. A fine dinner can be had at the chateau, served with style in the former orangerie.
From Etoges, the Champagne route can be followed through the hills and vineyards to the town of Vertus, which is home to a number of champagne houses. Heavily damaged over the centuries, Vertus still has a number of remarkable old buildings and some nice parks well-suited for picnics, all set in the ambiance of a successful champagne-producing town. Heading north toward Epernay, the road hugs the cote des blancs district with famous wine towns such as Oger, Avize and Cramant.
Epernay is a wonderful town, home to some of the finest champagne houses, many of which are located along Champagne Avenue. Smaller and calmer than Reims, Epernay still radiates class. Many of the producers offer tours of their cellars and tastings, which can make for a very pleasant morning or afternoon, especially when paired with a fine meal at a local establishment.
The Marne River flows along the northern reaches of Epernay and its valley is home to some spectacular vineyards including a number of grand cru and premier cru areas (i.e., top-notch). The abbey in Hautvillers was home to the famous cleric Dom Perignon, who is sometimes considered the legendary father of champagne wines. While that has been challenged, he did in reality develop improved techniques for wine production, making a contribution that is still worthy of praise. We paid hommage to him at the former abbey church.
The vineyards skirting the hillsides to the north of the Marne are some of the best. From Cumieres to Ay to Mutigny one sees famous vintner names inscribed on low stone markers on the edges of their acreage along the roadside. In springtime, the countryside is verdant with forest land and crop fields bordering the vineyards. This week the vines were beginning to bud, a bit later than usual.
Heading west from Mutigny, we drove along the Marne through beautiful countryside. Flowering trees added splashes of color in the forests, as did the various orchard trees in farms and gardens along the river. The various species of early-leafing trees and plants displayed many contrasting shades of green, making the scenery look like an expressionist painting.
Finally, as we passed through Chatillon-sur-Marne, we knew our Champagne meandering time was coming to the end. As we headed toward the highway home, a statue of Pope Urbain II loomed above us pointing the way and perhaps raising the question as to why anyone would be heading back to the metropolis after such a short visit.
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1) From Troyes to Etoges
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2) From Epernay along the Marne
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(Copyright: Doug, 2013)
Today was the day to return to the forest trails. Seven weeks after a bad fall while working in the garden, it was finally time. So, out I went from Chaville, into Meudon Forest, along the trail to Versailles, and then back along the old road through the town of Viroflay. What a gorgeous environment and what a privilege to live in the middle of it all!
A few blocks from our front door I found the trail head and started up the hill, through the working forest of mostly deciduous trees. Some substantial cut oak tree trunks lined the path, ready to be hauled to the mill. But, thanks to the selective logging approach used in this forest, the hike still offered the prospect of immersion into nature.
The trail gained a bit of altitude and through the winter forest I had some great views of the valley leading to Versailles. After rounding a low rise, I approached a clearing and there — after doing a double take — I realized were a couple of kids practicing tight rope walking between the trees. And, they were pretty good at it. Not your typical forest activity!
Coming down the trail towards the Versailles city limit, I turned and took the old road through Viroflay. Parts of the road there were already in existence in Roman times. Later on, the road served as the route taken by the royal guards traveling between the Louvre Palace and Versailles. A couple of stretches of cobblestone still provide a hint that the road has been around for a while.
The town of Viroflay has preserved some nice bits of architecture pre-dating the French revolution. The manor of the Lords of Viroflay remains, nowadays serving as a music school. The former city hall and first school building are still there, next to the medieval church and several proper homes from royal times or shortly thereafter.
Before modern transport gave us all access to citrus fruit, the wealthy sometimes built a special structure called an “orangerie”, which is a sort of green house for keeping citrus trees year round. Today, I discovered that the town of Viroflay had installed solar panels on the roof of the local orangerie, proudly displaying the power production on a monitor on the side of the building. They re-purposed the sunlight!
With that, it was time for me to return home. I walked along the rail line back past the recently completed apartment complex for university students (also with solar cells on the roof). The new blends in well with the old. I came home feeling restored, ready to plot a future hike, perhaps going even further into the forest next time.
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