Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 5

Vineyards @ Epernay near Reims

Today we traveled from the western part of France (Bayeux in Normandy) through Paris, to Epernay.

Epernay is in the heart of the Champagne region (notice the vineyards in the pic I took from our hotel room) in Northeast France.

More importantly for our purposes, Epernay is near Reims, where we will journey tomorrow.

We were traveling most of the day and there wasn’t time to see any sights.

So, I thought it a good time to address an issue that has been lurking in the background since I began this travel journal. Continue reading “Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 5”

Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 4

Mont St. Michel

Today we began at Mont St. Michel, one of the most visited and photographed sights in the world.

Mont St. Michel is a monastery built in the 8th century on a rock off the coast of Normandy, France.

It is completely surrounded by water and is connected to land only by a causeway.

The monasteries were vital contributors to the Carolingian Renaissance because they were where manuscripts (books) were copied.

Although Charlemagne never learned to write (he could read), he recognized the importance of literacy and required each diocese to establish a school.

During the reign of Charlemagne, and for 650 years after, the fastest way to produce books was by copying manuscripts by hand. This was a job performed by monks in monasteries, and it was tedious work. It took a monk 2-3 months to copy a manuscript of average length.

The monks at Mont St. Michel copied such works as the Bible, commentaries on the Bible, Augustine, Plato, Seneca and Boethius. Monks at this and other monasteries not only helped facilitate the Carolingian Renaissance but they are the reason  many such works have survived to this day. In fact, but but for Church and the Christian Byzantines there truly would have been a dark ages following the fall of the Roman Empire. Continue reading “Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 4”

Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 3

Church @ St. Mere-Eglise

We were in Normandy today.

And if you are American, you cannot go through Normandy without visiting the D-Day beaches, memorials and museums. We are American; so we did.

I recognize this was not consistent with the theme of this travel journal, but I want you to know I tried.

I told our tour guide she had two missions today: 1) find us something from the 8th-11th century, preferably related to the Crusaders or Carolingian Renaissance; and 2) find me a crepe.

She failed in the first objective. In fairness to her, she did point out that a small part of the interior of the church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise was from the eleventh century, but I don’t count that because I believe she just stumbled upon it and she couldn’t tie it to the Crusaders or the Carolingian Renaissance. Continue reading “Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 3”

Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 2

Paris, or rather Charles de Gaulle Airport, greeted us at 7:45 this morning.

The wife, a/k/a Cindy, and I arrived before Ann and were met by the guide and driver our travel agency sent to take us to the Paris train station.

Our guide, Robert, is a former model, and our driver, Angel, bore a striking resemblance to Antonio Banderas.

I couldn’t figure out why our travel agency sent us two such extraordinarily good looking men, but somehow it made me feel important . . . or insecure.

Robert and Angel took us to the train station and to our first class seats on the train to Normandy. I use the term “first class” loosely because the term has to be loose enough to include 2 1/2 hours without any food or water and with only one amenity–a seat. I don’t travel well, but if you follow this blog you know that. Continue reading “Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 2”

Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 1

Well, we are off on our journey.

The pic is from my seat on the plane as we prepare to depart on the second leg of our flight, this one from Newark, New Jersey to Paris.

The most eventful part of our trip thus far began after we boarded the plane on our flight to Newark and the wife turned and said to me, “Oh no, I forgot the charger for my iPad!”

I said, “Not a problem. You can use your iPhone charger.”

The wife said, “Oh no, I forgot the charger for my iPhone!”

What the wife didn’t forget was the olive juice to make her dirty martinis on the plane. She has it in a small plastic squirt bottle. If you are wondering how she got it through security, she had the foresight to ensure it was less than the 4 ounce limit imposed by the TSA. Continue reading “Carolingian & Crusader Travel Journal: Day 1”