Going Bush

Today we made it to the Chateau de Vincennes, and then we explored the Parc Floral of the Bois de Vincennes.

We decided to hire the individual auto-guides, as we hadn't done that before, and there wasn't an English tour leaving while we were there. The most interesting part was absolutely the donjon, but it wasn't a donjon until the 16th century; before that it was the keep. It was a lot of fun to make our way up the stairs and across the walk to the inside of the keep. 800 years ago you couldn't enter it at ground level, only from the boardwalk from the exterior wall, on the first floor.

Charles V was apparently an amazing man. He spent 8 hours a day governing and 8 hours a day studying and praying. He always had a chapel and a study built in any of his residences. He was known as The Wise, and would have a discussion about some religious or scholarly text every evening before dinner. He also had ancient Greek philosophy text translated into French, so that people could be better educated.

Another interesting thing he did was to require an extra tower to be built to accomodate a separate private area with a latrine built in. There are latrines on five floors of the keep, each with a chute to the bottom. I was very proud to have my photo taken on Charles V's latrine. One degree of separation, and a very personal one at that. In the small tower next to his private bedroom, there is a small study, the latrine room and the treasury - quite small, I thought. When he went away, only he had the key, and the room would be sealed with wax in his absence. He sounds like a great king, and when he died, the kingdom was strong and peaceful. Years later, the towers in the keep were all turned into prison cells, and some famous prisoners were kept there, including the Marquis de Sade. There is a letter there which he wrote to his wife. I was shocked she stuck with him, actually. I don't think many would.

Napoleon 1 also stuck his confessor, a monsignor in one of the cells. Without reviewing the historical facts, my first impression was that Napoleon must have confessed to some stuff he really didn't want anyone else to know about. Other famous French people whose names I can't remember also spent time in there. Interestingly, there is also tons of grafitti. Dates in the 1600's... so eery... One which I translated said, roughly, "Placed here January 31st, a German, having already spent two months at Chatel, and a month at Bastille for convulsions". There are pictures drawn by the prisoners, and phrases here and there, and I must say that it was much milder than the grafitti I saw on the Boggo Road prison walls when I visited there a while ago!

Unfortunately the chapel was closed, and won't open until early 2009, according to the sign, but we did see other interesting bits, like a sad single white cross in the eastern moat, where the Waffen SS shot 21 Frenchmen and buried them in a pit the prisoners themselves were forced to dig.

Hugo had his dream visit to the gift shop, and bought a wooden sword, a helmet and a shield. He has been, throughout the afternoon, Sir Hotsalots, Sir Christopher, Sir Zessaa and Sir Hugo. When he threatened the Lady Rachel, she rammed his sword into the ground, and he was very cranky about the grass stains which ensued. It was a good thing it wasn't a real sword, or there might have been a disaster of Medieval proportions.

Afterwards, we needed ice cream and some fresh air, so we headed over to the Parc Floral du Bois de Vincennes. It was so pretty, and so large and green. It reminded us a bit of the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane. We caught a kiddy train and took a tour of the park, ate our ice cream, and wandered through the butterfly enclosure. There were other things and botanical displays, but they'll have to wait. We didn't want to walk the length of the Chateau to get back to the metro, so we opted for some above-ground travel, and caught a bus going to Gare du Nord. Several people brought their dogs on the bus. An African lady in an incredible outfit got on with a pram and a baby, and left the pram in the centre of the bus when she sat up the back with her baby. David kept the pram upright the whole trip. We noticed the zoo that is part of the Bois de Vincennes, and we might get back there.

An easy dinner followed - ham, baguette, salad, concombres in creme fraiche, and a curious potato/cheese/ham/ fryup thing we bought at the supermarket, and which the kids love. Once again, it's 9:30, and still very light. It just doesn't seem like bed time!