Sheila Spire Travelling Scholarship Report. Tamara Irish. 129022218.
Report on Travels in France
I undertook my trip to France during Easter break, along with another scholarship applicant,
Charlotte Griffin. We went from the 14th to the 29th of April in 2014. Much of the travelling was
undertaken by train travel, through the use of an Interrail pass and both Eurostar tickets.
I received £400 of scholarship money from the University of Leicester. Much of this money was
spent on my Interrail pass, which cost £202. The scholarship money was also used to purchase our
Eurostar tickets, which came to a total of £79, for both an outward and return journey, as well as
paying for a coach ticket in order to get to London from Leicester, as well as a coach to return,
which came to £20. We also used £40 for reservation deposits to book our hotels and hostels in all
of the different places we stayed at and paid £48 altogether for train reservations to Arles,
Carcassonne and the return journey to Paris. The remaining funds were used to cover travel
expenses while we were in Paris, such as a taxi used to get to the hotel immediately upon arrival in
the city which was €4 each, and also for travelling on the Paris Metro, we brought daily tickets twice,
which were €6 per day.
Table of Scholarship Spending:
Money Spent on:
Interrail Pass
Eurostar Tickets
Coach Tickets
Hotel Deposits
Train Reservations
Taxi
Metro Tickets
Cost:
£202
£79
£20
£40
£48
€4, or £3.20
€12, or £9.50
Total:
£202
£281
£301
£341
£389
£392.20
£401.70
PARIS: 14th to 17th of April
We arrived in Paris in the evening of the 14th
of April. On our first full day in the city, on the
15th, we primarily did a lot of sightseeing,
visiting some of Paris’ most famous buildings
and sites. This included the Palace of Justice,
the river Seine, Notre Dame de Paris, the Arc
de Triomphe, and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
Fortunately, many of France’s main attractions
offered student discounts or free entry to EU
members
for some of its most popular tourist
Figure 1: Detail from a mosaic in the Islamic
sites, providing that you had a valid student
collection in the Louvre. Own photo.
card or passport to show upon entry. This
included the Arc de Triomphe, and so we were actually able to go inside the famous arch. We
visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris as it is one of France’s most well-known medieval
religious buildings, as well as exploring the more recent Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre.
The 16th of April, our second day in Paris was spent the entirely at the Louvre. Though we saw
some of the museum’s most familiar pieces, such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, we also
made the visit relevant to our specific interests of study, targeting the Roman and Greek rooms in
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Sheila Spire Travelling Scholarship Report. Tamara Irish. 129022218.
Figure 2, left: Palace of
Versailles Own photo.
Figure 3, right: Marble
statue of Athena. Own
photo.
particular, as well as exploring the remnants of the medieval Louvre
underneath the present-day structure. After the museum closed, we walked
through the gardens outside, most of which would have originally been part
of the palace’s vast estates.
Our final day in Paris, the 17th, was actually spent at Versailles, which is
only a 30-minute train journey from the city, where we explored the palace.
Though this site was not specifically related to my area of study, the Palace
of Versailles is still an important part of modern French history and it was a
beautiful and fascinating site to see. We used our Interrail pass to get the
train to Versailles and spent the day at the palace before travelling back to
Paris and then getting another train to Rouen.
ROUEN: 18th to 19th April
We chose to go to Rouen because it was one of the largest and most successful cities in Europe
during the Middle Ages. Unlike most urban centres today, a significant amount of Rouen’s medieval
structures still stand today, so you could really see the features and distinctive nature of medieval
streets and housing.
On the 18th of April we visited the Notre-Dame de Reims cathedral and various other medieval
structures, as well as wandering around the medieval streets of Rouen’s historic city centre. We
also went inside the only remaining tower of the castle of Rouen, where Joan of Arc was imprisoned
during her trial in 1431.
On the 19th of April we visited the Musée départemental des Antiquités in Rouen. Though fairly
small, the museum contained an interesting variety of artefacts, which were generally, though not
exclusively, local finds from the medieval era. Later in the day we also went to the site where Joan
of Arc was burnt at the stake, which had several memorials and structures dedicated to her
memory.
Figure 4, left:
Close-up image
of the ‘Joan of
Arc
Tower’,
Rouen.
Own
photo.
Figure 5, right:
An example of
the
medieval
streets
in
Rouen.
Own
photo.
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Sheila Spire Travelling Scholarship Report. Tamara Irish. 129022218.
ARLES: 20th to 21st April
The 20th of April was really a
travelling day, as we had to
navigate
our
way
from
Normandy to Provence in a
day.
As it turned out, on the
following day, the 21st, and our
only full day in the town
occurred during the Feria
d’Arles. We were initially
disappointed as this meant that
we were unable to visit the
amphitheatre of Arles, due to
the fact that bull fights were
actually being held in the
arena. However, we decided to
see the event, and it was definitely a surreal experience in being able to witness a blood sport not
dissimilar to what would have been held during the Roman era. The amphitheatre itself was an
impressive structure, much of which still survives today and it was built during the late 1st century
AD. It is still used for special occasions such as bullfighting, but also for concerts, plays and other
events too. Later in the day we also visited the Roman theatre of Arles, which built sometime during
the late 1st century BC or 1st century AD. I particularly loved the visit to the theatre as the site itself
was still reasonably well-preserved and it was such a fascinating place to explore. A lot of the
stonework from the theatre was discovered when it was excavated, and though not all of it could be
placed back into its correct place, much of it remained on site in random piles. Though it sounds
terrible, the rubble piles actually looked amazing and it was really thought-provoking as it was a
huge reminder what is still not archaeologically understood today, and how the process of
excavation cannot reveal everything about ancient structures. Afterwards, we walked to the train
station and boarded a train that would take us to Nimes in the evening.
Figure 6: Detail of the Roman theatre at Arles. Own photo.
Figure 7: Image of Arles prior to watching the bullfight. Own photo.
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Sheila Spire Travelling Scholarship Report. Tamara Irish. 129022218.
NIMES: 22nd to 23rd April
Figure 8: Image of Nimes amphitheatre. Own photo.
Nimes was a particularly great place to stay at, as it had a lot of Roman history, due to being a
Roman colony from the late 1st century BC, and the remaining Roman structures that still stood
today were overall fairly well-preserved. The city itself was also very beautiful place in general and
we both felt unbelievably safe walking around, even when it was quite late at night. On our first day
in the city, the 22nd, we explored the Nimes arena, one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres
found within the empire, it was built sometime during the late 2nd century AD and it was one of my
favourite Roman structures that I saw on the backpacking trip. Later that day we visited the Tour
Magne, which was part of the Roman fortifications which were built during the Augustan period.
Even though only the tower itself survived to the present day, we were still able to climb to the top
and view the city of Nimes below. Lastly, we saw the Maison Carrée, built around c.16 BC, which is
also one of the best-surviving Roman temples found within the empire too. Unfortunately, the inside
of the temple contained no traces of its use as a temple, so inside there was a short film about the
Roman history of Nimes instead.
On the 23rd we went to Pont du Gard, by getting a bus from Nimes. It is one of the best preserved
Roman aqueducts, built sometime during the 1st century AD, the aqueduct was originally built to
supply water to the Roman colony of Nemausus, or Nimes. This was another site which I would
definitely visit again, as the Pont du Gard was absolutely spectacular to see, and the surrounding
landscape was particularly beautiful.
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Figure 9: Sketch made of Nimes amphitheatre. Own sketch.
Sheila Spire Travelling Scholarship Report. Tamara Irish. 129022218.
CARCASSONE: 24th to 26th April
The trip so far had been amazing but also
pretty much continually on the move. We
had quite a lot of different things to do and
see, and so when we got to Carcassonne
on the 24th of April, we spent a couple of
more relaxed days in the town. The famous
Cité de Carcassonne, the medieval fortress
which surrounds the old town is obviously
the main point of attraction for many who
visit and it was incredibly interesting to
explore the castle. Though the citadel was
originally founded in the Gallo-Roman
period, since then the fortress has
Figure 10: Detail of the medieval castle at Carcassonne,
undergone
countless
alterations,
taken from standing on the walls of the fortress. Own
particularly during the Middle Ages, when it
photo.
was used as a military fortress, as well as
significant restoration work during the 19th century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his successors.
Despite the controversy over the current form of the citadel, and the possibility of it being historically
inaccurate, as an authentic (sort of) medieval and Gallo-Roman fortress, it was still amazing to see
and worth the time taken to visit.
PARIS: 27th to 29th April
Figure 11: Detail of the human remains in the catacombs of Paris. Own photo.
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Sheila Spire Travelling Scholarship Report. Tamara Irish. 129022218.
The 27th was another long travelling day, going from Carcassonne to Marseille, then from Marseille
to Paris.
On the 28th we went to the district of Montmartre again, visiting some of the shops in the area, as
well as some of its most famous buildings.
On our last day in France, the 29th of April, we went to the catacombs of Paris. The catacombs were
slowly filled with the remains of Parisians between the late 18th to the middle of the 19th century and
today the ossuary currently holds around 6 to 7 million individuals. The catacombs themselves are
incredibly long-lived, as they were originally used as quarries in the Gallo-Roman period from as
early as the 1st century AD. In the Middle Ages, the stone mined from these quarries were also used
to construct some of Paris’ most famous buildings, such as the Louvre, the Cathedral of Notre
Dame de Paris and the city’s ramparts. Despite the long queue to get inside, the catacombs were
well worth the visit and they were incredibly atmospheric and creepy.
In conclusion, the trip was an amazing and incredibly worthwhile experience. Not only did I learn
some French, I also learnt about the country and the various customs of France too. The trip was
useful for my studies too, especially as I focused on visiting a lot of Roman archaeological sites, and
in the museums I would pay particular attention to Roman and Greek artefacts. Lastly, the travelling
helped my planning and organisational skills too, as it required a lot of work to plan out the trip and
the methods of travel, book all of the hotels or hostels and making sure that we had enough time in
each place we visited. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in France and I really appreciated the
help from the university that allowed me to undertake the trip.
Figure 12: Pont du Gard. Own photo.
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