A Semester in Fontainebleau, France

November 19 - 22 I accompanied Manoj on his trip to Tilburg. He was giving a talk at Tilburg university. We took the Thalys train from Paris to Rotterdam and from there a local train to Tilburg. The trains in Europe are very fast and efficient. It took us only 2.5 hours to reach Rotterdam. We met up with my cousin Diya's husband, Sarin, in Utrecht Centraal station. The railway stations in Netherlands are very clean, organized, and modern. We found this interesting mobile device charging device at Utrecht Centraal. If you want to charge your mobile phone, you just sit on a swing and start swinging. The power generated by your swinging charges the phone. They call it Play for Power. Getting to the university from Hotel Auberge du Bonheur involved walking through these lovely woods. It was quite cold, and you can see the frost on the leaves in the picture below. But at least, the trees still had some leaves unlike the trees in the U.S during winter. I sat in a c...

November 15 - 16 We were in Paris for the weekend, this time for wine tasting at O Chateau . This is one of the few places in Paris that offer tastings in English. We signed up for the Tour De France of wine tasting. We learned about the principle wine regions of France, tasting techniques, and tasted 3 sommelier recommended white wines and 3 red wines. Quite unexpectedly, we also learned about some of the not-so-pleasant discussions in the French society. When we landed up in Paris that weekend, we were oblivious to the fact that it was the anniversary of the yellow-vest movement. There were protests organized in various parts of Paris. Here are some pictures and video of everything Manoj and I clicked this weekend (Nov 15 - Nov 16).     1. This is the Fontaine de la Victoire. This was on our way from the Chatlet train station to our hotel in Latin Quarter. This fountain had Spinx's facing the four directions spewing water from their mouth. This appear...

This Saturday (November 9th) we booked an airbnb experience Latin Quarter Highlights . The tour started at the Thermes De Cluny (ruins of Gallo-Roman thermal baths) and ended at the Colosseum Arènes de Lutèce. Paris was inhabited by the Parisii, a celtic tribe before the romans conquered them in 52 BC. Lutece is the Roman name for Paris. This is what we learned along the way: 1. Paris is considered the twin city of Rome. This Roman wolf in the Latin quarters in Paris, a gift from Italy in 1962, symbolizes the common heritage of the two cities. 2. Sorbonne University - one of the oldest universities in Europe - was established in the 12th century by the church. It started off as a theological university. 3. College De France - The College of France, founded in the 16th century, is a higher education and research establishment in France. The first picture shows a sculpture of Claude Bernard, who established the use of scientific experiment method in medici...

City of Orleans  Mon Mari and moi rented a car Friday evening (Oct 25th) and drove to Orleans to start out trip of the castles of the loire valley. After checking into the hotel we walked around the hotel and found this magnificent cathedral. This is Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d'Orléans. Next day we went into the cathedral and walked around the place.      The streets of Orlean are beautiful. The interiors of this cathederal are majestic. Chateau 1- Chateau De Chambord Built by Francis 1 to show off his wealth and power to his archenemy the Holy Roman emperor at the time, Charles V of Spain. This is the largest of the castles we visited. This castle is breathtaking in its splendor and the beauty. Chateau 2 - Chateau Du Royal Amboise We spent the night in Amboise. I could not get a good picture of this castle because it is in the city. We had dinner and sampled some good treats at the biscuiterie here. And we strolled through narrow streets of t...