Pre-Tour Du Mont Blanc
As we journey through our family’s travels, we’re going down memory lane, starting with our trip to France in 2017. As seen in the previous post in France 2017, we shared our experience hiking the Tour Du Mont Blanc, which we completed 110 miles in 11 days and crossed three different country’s borders: France, Switzerland, and Italy. But before beginning that incredible and strenuous hike, here are some of the iconic and quintessential sights of France that we enjoyed.
We began our adventure at the Normandy coast, where we took many walks by the beach, usually armed with a fresh selection of pastries. One of our main purposes to visit Normandy was for my brother to pay his respects to the Mother of Normandy, Simone Renaud. He had competed at the national level at NHD with his project* about Madame Renaud’s heroic acts and sacrifices to help the Allied powers during WW2. Other notable experiences from our brief sojourn in northern France were visiting the Manneporte, Mont-Saint-Michel, and Claude Monet’s house.
*This incredible project is under the Projects section.
La Manneporte, Etretat
Claude Monet’s house
My sister and I with Mont Saint Michel in the backdrop.
Then continuing our journey, we explored Paris and followed the typical itinerary of anyone’s first visit to the City of Love. We practiced for the Tour Du Mont Blanc with the Eiffel Tower stairs (674 steps), appreciated the incredible selection of art at the Louvre (my siblings and I not so much, we hated the crowd around the uneventful Mona Lisa, but absolutely loved the painting right across from it: Veronese’s The Wedding at Cana), and got a taxi to go around the insane roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe.
Hmm, maybe just a little overhyped.
Okay, this is amazing. (The Wedding at Cana- also known as the big painting across from the Mona Lisa).
Our family also enjoyed a night of spectacular ballet from Paris Opera Ballet’s La Sylphide, which totally blew my mind. As an impressionable-10 year old girl who was aspiring to be a prima ballerina, watching the ballerinas quite literally fly into the curtains forever changed my definition of a good ballet. I fear even now, I compare current productions of any ballet with that singular ballet performance.
Perfection in the form of Paris Opera Ballet’s La Sylphide.
Also, a moment for the Palais Garnier. Almost as incredible as the ballet.
After a good mix between the peaceful scenery of the French coast to the bustling city of Paris, we were ready to start our 11 day trek. See our Tour Du Mont Blanc post for more. And that concludes the first leg of our 2017 trip to France leading up to our Tour Du Mont Blanc hike. Up next, Annecy!
