For our second full day in Paris we had grand hopes of working through the last of our "must see" list. We started the day early at the Eiffel Tower. Tim decided he would wait for us since he had been up a few times to the top already. We would meet him about an hour and a half later.
So it was us and about a million of our closest friends. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that early (9:45) and maybe it wasn't a million people, but we did wait in line for an hour to get to just the ticket counter. Once there we were told that the top was closed and we could only get tickets to the second platform. When we talked to the ticket agent he said we could by tickets to the top when we reached the second platform. Oh goodie, another line! Once our tickets were purchased we waited in another line for another hour to get into the car that takes you to the second platform. In this line we were serenaded by a young boy (around Alexanders age) who was having a monumental tantrum while he, his mom and his brother were in line. And he did not stop screaming for the entire hour of this second line. On one hand we felt bad for the mom, it is a hard situation being in line for something like this with a child who is melting down. But my goodness was it the most horrible hour to hear him screaming all around us. We were hoping and praying that he would not be in the same little car as us when we went up to the top. Thankfully he wasn't!
Once at the second platform we headed right over to the line for tickets to the top. Unfortunately that line had closed about 5 minutes ago and wasn't going to open for another 30-45 minutes. So we waited again, in a 3rd line. At that point the time to meet Tim had passed by 30 minutes so Michelle stayed until the ticket counter opened up and then headed down to the bottom. Brenda and Greg bought tickets to the top. We were to meet up in another hour.
When Michelle got to the bottom she found Tim and they opted to grab a quick lunch at a small cafe. We enjoyed sandwiches on french baguettes and watched the locals and tourists go by. One group of 3 Romany girls caught the attention of a number of people. They were walking past our cafe when someone walking by on the sidewalk next to them bumped on girl with his shoulder. She turned to yell at him and our maitre'd came flying out of the back part of the restaurant yelling at them and physically blocking them from the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. He did not push them but used his body to steer them into the street along the restaurant, then continued to follow them all the way down to the corner, past 4-5 other shops. We detest discrimination, but for people who prey on the innocent like they seem to do it is hard to argue with the reflexive defensive state that people seem to be in when they are around.
Once finished with lunch we met up with Brenda and Greg and walked around the base of the Eiffel Tower. Rick Steves had an interesting 20 minute podcast about the history of the tower. We had known that it was built for the worlds fair and that the French hated it, but we didn't know that after winning a contest to design a building for the fair Eiffel ended up having to finance 80% of it (4 million dollars) when the French government backed out on their promise to pay for the construction. The government ended up financing around 1 million.
Originally, when the French were going to pay for the construction the tower was going to be removed a few months after the fair. When Eiffel had to finance it he negotiated for it to remain up for 20 years so that he could have a chance to recoup his money. The government agreed. Once it was finished it took Eiffel only 6 months to recoup his initial investment. But with the agreement with the government he was able to keep it up for another 19.5 years. That is a great investment! With that timeframe Eiffel began to think about how he could get it to stay up permanently. He rented space to scientists for various explorations and created a restaurant on top complete with a grand piano. But what saved it was the radio. The French installed a radio tower at the top, and during WWII it intercepted a number of German radio transmissions from the troops just outside of Paris. These interceptions allowed the French to move their positions and defend the city. And the tower stayed.
We had our second lunch with the Smiths in the 4th district near some shopping that Michelle wanted to do. There is a french store called Le Kilo (now 4 different locations) that sells vintage clothes by the kilo. You make your selections and the price you pay is based on the weight. It sounded like a fun quirky place. Michelle found a skirt and a scarf that she liked. She would have bought a bubble gum pink leather jacket if it had been real leather. It wasn't, so she didn't make the splurge. But it was tempting!
Back at the hotel the men opted to rest while the ladies went to the train station to buy train tickets to Brussels. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Le Chemise. It was on the expensive side but we were meeting one of Tim's former clients for dinner since they were in town to watch a french open match. Michelle had pork wrapped in philo dough with an amazing mushroom sauce and Tim had a filet mignon with an onion sauce. The menu had 20 items and 6 were desserts. My kinda place! Everything was delicious and the company was great. A perfect final evening in Paris.
Back at the room we facetimed with a very sleepy Alexander and selected a hotel room for Brussels. It didn't seem like we did all that much when compared to our first full day in Paris, but we were all pretty tired. A semi early night for us, in bed by 11pm! Au demain!
Monday, June 2, 2014
6 days until we return - the countdown begins
Well the first full day in Paris and we were off and running. In the metro we made sure to buy 2 day metro passes (so much easier than buying the small 10 ticket packs). We came early to the Notre Dame cathedral prepared to buy the 2 day museum pass as well and found that the counter we bought it at last time was no where to be found. Yikes! Michelle asked a guard at the front of the chapel if he knew where to buy it, all in French. :) He indicated that when you climb the tour of the Notre Dame you can either buy a pass for just that venue or you can buy the whole museum pass. Great! Except that the line for the Notre Dame was now almost 100 people deep. We had a feeling that lines were just going to be the theme of Paris for us.
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
The mean streets of Paris
7 days until we return. This morning we woke up bright and early in the morning so we could make sure to catch our train to Paris. We had a 3 hour drive, we needed to return the rental car plus find some lunch and our train. All before 11:25. We were shooting for a 7:00 departure from the house and almost made it out on time. Traffic was great and with the help from the GPS in the car we made great time. It helped to not have pouring down rain!
Once at the car rental place we dropped off the car and made the short walk to the train station. We were almost a full hour early, which is always nice. Tim and Brenda headed off to grab lunch (kebabs at one of the train station restaurants) and Greg and Michelle guarded the bags. Once our train bin was posted, we all headed that way, only to have a very small train pull up in the bin. There were far too many people for the size train that was there! Thankfully an announcement was soon made that the bin had been changed from bin 8 to bin 1 and we needed to move to the new bin. Upon arrival, there was a sufficiently large train for the group of people traveling.
The train ride was uneventful, which was great. There was a mom with her two children who would speak to them in fluent French, but when she had enough of their antics and wanted to get their attention she would say something stern to them in English. And they knew, when mom switched to English, you better pay attention. :)
Once in the train station in Paris we debarked and searched out the metro. passes in hand we looked to board a very packed train. And then something happened. Tim, Greg and Michelle were on the metro, but there was a french lady who began yelling next to us. The next thing we noticed was the French lady pushing two girls off of the metro and still yelling in French. Brenda was on the train, but something had happened between her and the two girls. And the zippers on her day pack were open.
It turns out that the three of us got on the metro and she was going to get on last. Then a girl came and stood right in front of her as if she was going to get on the metro. Brenda went to walk around her and felt a buzzing sensation on her shoulder. That was enough to distract her and apparently the two girls used the opportunity to get into her bag. The French woman saw what was happening and yelled at the top of her lungs at them. Brenda finished getting on, the girls were shoved off and we all stood there shocked. Seriously, we were in Paris all of 15 minutes. Then the French woman proceeded to lecture Brenda in french about being careful and watching out for herself. Thankfully they zipper they had almost open had a hairbrush on top and the other one was not down far enough to get into. So they got nothing, but we got a good scare. And thankfully we were all ok.
We headed over to our hotel room and decompressed there for a while. Not wanting to waste the day, we headed out for a walk around town. We saw the Seine river, walked across Pointe Neuf, walked around the Louvre museam (which is the former palace) and the Champs Elysse. At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triumph which Brenda and Greg wanted to climb at some point. After a great dinner at a local chain steakhouse (called Hippopotomus :) we headed off to bed. We are hoping to make tomorrow a full day of site seeing so we can check off a number of our "must dos". It should be a full day of adventure!
Once at the car rental place we dropped off the car and made the short walk to the train station. We were almost a full hour early, which is always nice. Tim and Brenda headed off to grab lunch (kebabs at one of the train station restaurants) and Greg and Michelle guarded the bags. Once our train bin was posted, we all headed that way, only to have a very small train pull up in the bin. There were far too many people for the size train that was there! Thankfully an announcement was soon made that the bin had been changed from bin 8 to bin 1 and we needed to move to the new bin. Upon arrival, there was a sufficiently large train for the group of people traveling.
The train ride was uneventful, which was great. There was a mom with her two children who would speak to them in fluent French, but when she had enough of their antics and wanted to get their attention she would say something stern to them in English. And they knew, when mom switched to English, you better pay attention. :)
Once in the train station in Paris we debarked and searched out the metro. passes in hand we looked to board a very packed train. And then something happened. Tim, Greg and Michelle were on the metro, but there was a french lady who began yelling next to us. The next thing we noticed was the French lady pushing two girls off of the metro and still yelling in French. Brenda was on the train, but something had happened between her and the two girls. And the zippers on her day pack were open.
It turns out that the three of us got on the metro and she was going to get on last. Then a girl came and stood right in front of her as if she was going to get on the metro. Brenda went to walk around her and felt a buzzing sensation on her shoulder. That was enough to distract her and apparently the two girls used the opportunity to get into her bag. The French woman saw what was happening and yelled at the top of her lungs at them. Brenda finished getting on, the girls were shoved off and we all stood there shocked. Seriously, we were in Paris all of 15 minutes. Then the French woman proceeded to lecture Brenda in french about being careful and watching out for herself. Thankfully they zipper they had almost open had a hairbrush on top and the other one was not down far enough to get into. So they got nothing, but we got a good scare. And thankfully we were all ok.
We headed over to our hotel room and decompressed there for a while. Not wanting to waste the day, we headed out for a walk around town. We saw the Seine river, walked across Pointe Neuf, walked around the Louvre museam (which is the former palace) and the Champs Elysse. At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triumph which Brenda and Greg wanted to climb at some point. After a great dinner at a local chain steakhouse (called Hippopotomus :) we headed off to bed. We are hoping to make tomorrow a full day of site seeing so we can check off a number of our "must dos". It should be a full day of adventure!
Friday, May 30, 2014
The Last Week - A Cliff Notes Version
Day ? - Well, this is officially the time in the trip where we loose track of the days. They all start running together and it becomes harder to keep up with the blog on a daily basis. But for now know that we are all well. We have spent the last week in the Bordeaux region of France in a little house we rented through VRBO. Ironically the person who owns the house lives in California, so after contacting them online with some initial questions about the rental Tim was able to contact the owner directly via phone. About 2 hours later we had a rental for this week. Once we made the confirmation we read articles about some rentals in foreign countries being a scam and people showing up having rented a house that did not exist. So being able to call someone in the states was a bit of a relief, although we suppose it could still have been a scam.
Our Bordeaux adventure started with a quick plane flight from Milan, Italy to Bordeaux France. We said goodbye to Italian and delicious cappuccinos and prepared ourselves for cafe au lait and crepes. The flight went well and we were able to pick up our rental car with only minor hiccups. Brenda and Greg both had international drivers licenses so that they could switch off the driving duties as needed. Brenda started as the navigator with Greg behind the wheel. Just getting out of airports sometimes required a PhD to do it right, so after one wrong turn in the parking lot we were off. It had started raining as we arrived, so Michelle was a little nervous about the car ride. It is hard enough to know where you are going when it is not raining, add in the rain, the foreign city, the stick shift (which Greg had not driven in a while) and it could have been a recipe for disaster. Plus, our house was 3.5 hours outside of Bordeaux. The GPS system in the car was a life saver. Brenda would double check the car's suggested directions as we went and Greg was an excellent driver. Thankfully, once outside of the city we were able to navigate easily without impatient drivers around us. And during the entire week we were only honked at once and yelled at once. Success!
When we arrived at the house we were instructed to meet the neighbors, Rinnie and Ton who were Dutch transplants to the area and the caretakers for the house. They were a sweet couple who invited us into their home for a drink. Their home was the old parish for the church next door. They had renovated much of it during their time there and were happy to give us the tour. The house was originally built in the 1600's and had various parts added on over the years. The stone steps up to the second floor had deep wear marks where many feet had walked up before. When they bought the house they said it was a mess. It certainly isn't a mess now! They quickly became friends over a glass of wine and had some great suggestions for wine tasting and restaurants in the region.
After drinks Ton took us over to the house. It was a charming property, perfectly suited to our needs. The main house had a small kitchen and dining room attached to a larger living room. There were also a set of stairs that lead up to the second floor where there was a large bedroom, full bath and toilette. There was no door to the upper floor though, which was not an issue for us. There was a porch off of the dining room that offered a wonderful view of the valley and plenty of chairs to use for the 4 of us. Outside there is also a separate room from the house called the chambres des amis (bedroom for the friends) that had its own shower and toilette. Michelle and Tim were in the main house and Brenda and Greg were outside. One of the other amenities was the fast wireless internet and the phone which made free international calls. The latter were especially nice for Tim and Michelle who enjoyed many good FaceTime calls with Alexander.
The week was spent with various drives through the region and seeing the local attractions. We spent one whole day doing nothing but reading (the house had a great library with lots of English books) watching movies on our ipads, napping and eating good food we had purchased from the local grocery store and bakery. It was the perfect lazy day.
Another day we took a 28km canoe/kayak ride down the Dordogne river. From the river you could hop out and explore some of the local villages and see 5 great castles. It was a fun and exhausting day.
Another day was for wine tasting. Ton and Rinnie had a few recommendations in the area which were excellent. If anyone ever sees wine from the Clos des Verdots label or Montballziac type wine buy it for Michelle. She will pay you back. It was delicious. We were able to make it to 4 wineries, which was great since we didn't leave until around 1 in the afternoon. The French still often do close up shop around lunchtime, so it is hard to find places that are open between 1-3. And since we were in such small towns, they often closed by 5 or 6. The kitchens of two of the dinner recommendations we tried were closed when we came around 8pm. And the grocery store also closes from 1-2:30. So hitting things when they were open was always a bit of a challenge.
One whole day was just spent driving, which was so much fun. We are sure that Michelle's mom is just dying laughing at that since their family used to go on "drives" all of the time. The parents thought it was the best thing in the world. The kids thought it was SO boring. My how the tables have turned. What made it to enjoyable were all of the hidden surprises around every corner. In this area of France there are a lot of random roads that weave you in and out of the various small towns. None of the roads are named, they are only numbered, and there are signs for the towns that are coming up. But you could take 15 different roads to get to a specific little town. Some of the roads look like the driveway to a house, but around the curve you see that it skirts by the house and continues on. Again, love the GPS, have no idea how people lived without it. Add to the roads all of the houses (new, old, old refurbished, old falling down, houses for sale) and you have a veritable candyland for the house lover. Brenda joked about buying something. At least I think she was joking. I did see her looking at places online . . .
One of our final days was spent touring two castles. The first was famous because within the last hundred years it was Josephine Bakers former residence. Before that it was the second castle for a number of former French kings and queens. Josephine Baker was an American born entertainer who came over to France and became a huge superstar. She fell in love with the castle she bought when a friend of hers (the former owner) described the residence. When he decided to sell it she bought it, sight unseen. She and her 3rd husband adopted 12 children from all over the world (eat your heart out Angelina Jolie) and they all lived at the house. Towards the end of her life she ran into money troubles, lost the house and was taken in by Brigitte Bardot. The current owners turned it into a museum complete with 15-20 of her original stage costumes. It was quite the collection!
The second castle was one that was not taken care of, so many of the walls had fallen in, there was no furniture or stories of life in the castle. This castles main purpose at the time it was built was for defense, and you could see that in its placement on a high hill, the high walls and the small spaces for archers to shoot arrows at any who would attack it from below. On one side was a sheer cliff with the Dordogne river below. In the various rooms of the castle they presented the tools of war and described how it was made and used. Arrows, hatchets, swords, cleavers, trebuchetts, battering rams, you name something used in war it was likely there. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
On our last day we had drinks again at Ton and Rinnie's house. It was a great place to visit and rest for a time. We would definitely come back to this area if we were looking for rest, relaxation and a more intimate time with the French people and culture than a big city can bring. Our next stop is Paris, which will be a very different experience than we have had. Next is Paris, last is Brussels and then we are headed home. Looking forward to our last week, it seems like it has gone too fast!
Our Bordeaux adventure started with a quick plane flight from Milan, Italy to Bordeaux France. We said goodbye to Italian and delicious cappuccinos and prepared ourselves for cafe au lait and crepes. The flight went well and we were able to pick up our rental car with only minor hiccups. Brenda and Greg both had international drivers licenses so that they could switch off the driving duties as needed. Brenda started as the navigator with Greg behind the wheel. Just getting out of airports sometimes required a PhD to do it right, so after one wrong turn in the parking lot we were off. It had started raining as we arrived, so Michelle was a little nervous about the car ride. It is hard enough to know where you are going when it is not raining, add in the rain, the foreign city, the stick shift (which Greg had not driven in a while) and it could have been a recipe for disaster. Plus, our house was 3.5 hours outside of Bordeaux. The GPS system in the car was a life saver. Brenda would double check the car's suggested directions as we went and Greg was an excellent driver. Thankfully, once outside of the city we were able to navigate easily without impatient drivers around us. And during the entire week we were only honked at once and yelled at once. Success!
When we arrived at the house we were instructed to meet the neighbors, Rinnie and Ton who were Dutch transplants to the area and the caretakers for the house. They were a sweet couple who invited us into their home for a drink. Their home was the old parish for the church next door. They had renovated much of it during their time there and were happy to give us the tour. The house was originally built in the 1600's and had various parts added on over the years. The stone steps up to the second floor had deep wear marks where many feet had walked up before. When they bought the house they said it was a mess. It certainly isn't a mess now! They quickly became friends over a glass of wine and had some great suggestions for wine tasting and restaurants in the region.
After drinks Ton took us over to the house. It was a charming property, perfectly suited to our needs. The main house had a small kitchen and dining room attached to a larger living room. There were also a set of stairs that lead up to the second floor where there was a large bedroom, full bath and toilette. There was no door to the upper floor though, which was not an issue for us. There was a porch off of the dining room that offered a wonderful view of the valley and plenty of chairs to use for the 4 of us. Outside there is also a separate room from the house called the chambres des amis (bedroom for the friends) that had its own shower and toilette. Michelle and Tim were in the main house and Brenda and Greg were outside. One of the other amenities was the fast wireless internet and the phone which made free international calls. The latter were especially nice for Tim and Michelle who enjoyed many good FaceTime calls with Alexander.
The week was spent with various drives through the region and seeing the local attractions. We spent one whole day doing nothing but reading (the house had a great library with lots of English books) watching movies on our ipads, napping and eating good food we had purchased from the local grocery store and bakery. It was the perfect lazy day.
Another day we took a 28km canoe/kayak ride down the Dordogne river. From the river you could hop out and explore some of the local villages and see 5 great castles. It was a fun and exhausting day.
Another day was for wine tasting. Ton and Rinnie had a few recommendations in the area which were excellent. If anyone ever sees wine from the Clos des Verdots label or Montballziac type wine buy it for Michelle. She will pay you back. It was delicious. We were able to make it to 4 wineries, which was great since we didn't leave until around 1 in the afternoon. The French still often do close up shop around lunchtime, so it is hard to find places that are open between 1-3. And since we were in such small towns, they often closed by 5 or 6. The kitchens of two of the dinner recommendations we tried were closed when we came around 8pm. And the grocery store also closes from 1-2:30. So hitting things when they were open was always a bit of a challenge.
One whole day was just spent driving, which was so much fun. We are sure that Michelle's mom is just dying laughing at that since their family used to go on "drives" all of the time. The parents thought it was the best thing in the world. The kids thought it was SO boring. My how the tables have turned. What made it to enjoyable were all of the hidden surprises around every corner. In this area of France there are a lot of random roads that weave you in and out of the various small towns. None of the roads are named, they are only numbered, and there are signs for the towns that are coming up. But you could take 15 different roads to get to a specific little town. Some of the roads look like the driveway to a house, but around the curve you see that it skirts by the house and continues on. Again, love the GPS, have no idea how people lived without it. Add to the roads all of the houses (new, old, old refurbished, old falling down, houses for sale) and you have a veritable candyland for the house lover. Brenda joked about buying something. At least I think she was joking. I did see her looking at places online . . .
One of our final days was spent touring two castles. The first was famous because within the last hundred years it was Josephine Bakers former residence. Before that it was the second castle for a number of former French kings and queens. Josephine Baker was an American born entertainer who came over to France and became a huge superstar. She fell in love with the castle she bought when a friend of hers (the former owner) described the residence. When he decided to sell it she bought it, sight unseen. She and her 3rd husband adopted 12 children from all over the world (eat your heart out Angelina Jolie) and they all lived at the house. Towards the end of her life she ran into money troubles, lost the house and was taken in by Brigitte Bardot. The current owners turned it into a museum complete with 15-20 of her original stage costumes. It was quite the collection!
The second castle was one that was not taken care of, so many of the walls had fallen in, there was no furniture or stories of life in the castle. This castles main purpose at the time it was built was for defense, and you could see that in its placement on a high hill, the high walls and the small spaces for archers to shoot arrows at any who would attack it from below. On one side was a sheer cliff with the Dordogne river below. In the various rooms of the castle they presented the tools of war and described how it was made and used. Arrows, hatchets, swords, cleavers, trebuchetts, battering rams, you name something used in war it was likely there. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
On our last day we had drinks again at Ton and Rinnie's house. It was a great place to visit and rest for a time. We would definitely come back to this area if we were looking for rest, relaxation and a more intimate time with the French people and culture than a big city can bring. Our next stop is Paris, which will be a very different experience than we have had. Next is Paris, last is Brussels and then we are headed home. Looking forward to our last week, it seems like it has gone too fast!
One day more in Como (aka Milan becomes a day trip)
Today was the day we were supposed to go to Milan for one day and night, then catch a flight to Bordeaux France the following afternoon. But Brenda and Greg were so in love with the Lake Como region that we decided to stay one extra day. But since there was a science museam in Milan that Greg and Brenda also wanted to see we opted to make Milan a day trip instead. And it all worked out, kind of. . .
The first hurdle was where we would stay the extra night. We tried to book another room at the hotel we were at, but they were not sure if they would have two doubles available. They had one, but another was booked by a couple who gave a bad credit card number to confirm their room. According to Italian law, the hotel owner has to notify the couple that they have until 9am the following day to supply a valid credit card to keep the room. So we decided to roll the dice and wait until 9am.
The only issue was that the train to Milan that we wanted left at 8:30am. Since Tim and Michelle really don't like Milan (it is our least favorite city of everywhere we have traveled) Tim opted to stay and figure out the room situation, and Michelle went with Greg and Brenda to Milan. But finding Tim once we got back (which hotel, a new or the old?) and getting our bags all in one place was still a bit of a mystery. We had faith though that it would all work out.
Brenda, Greg and Michelle easily made the train into Milan. The train was pretty full though with other commuters making their way into the city. Once on the ground again they found a little cafe to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a sweet treat before the science museaum opened. This museaum is actually pretty cool, housing a history of a number of different technological inventions. Once inside the museam a lovely docent proceeded to tell us all of the areas of the museaum we should see and estimated it would take 2 hours total to work through the exhibits. We thought this sounded great as we had about 3 hours before we needed to head back to catch the right train home in time to meet Tim. About an hour later we had only walked through one small part of the museaum. We had not even started on the small real life models of some of Michaelangelo's most famous inventions. There was no way we could make our way through the rest of the museaum in 1 hour, let alone the 2 hours we had remaining. So we had to prioritize and probably only covered about 1/3 of all of the offerings.
Navigating back to the metro we made our way easily back to the train station and onto the right train. Once back in Como we headed over to our old hotel, figuring that we would either see Tim along the way or we could see if our bags were still at the old hotel. If he had found a new one he may have also moved our things. We could also still connect to the internet at the old hotel and see if he had messaged us. We did not see him along the way, but we did find him sitting at the cafe in front of the old hotel when we walked up. We had a new space for the night, it was just down the road. We grabbed our bags and made the trek to our new home.
It turns out that Tim had quite a day as well. In between figuring out the hotel issue, he also walked around the lake quite a way and managed to talk his way into a beautiful house along the water that was housing a museaum exhibit. He took pictures of the beautiful chandelier and some of the grounds before making his way back to our old hotel. It was good for him to have a bit of time to explore the area.
Our new space was comfortable and close to the downtown area. Hungry, we asked the person at the front desk for recommendations on places to eat. She asked if we wanted traditional Italian or modern Italian. We went with the traditional recommendation and were very pleased. There were no menus in this restaurant, only the waitress letting you know what the chef was cooking that evening. So there were 3-4 starters, 4-5 main plates and 4 different desserts. That was all. And their food changes every day. We were amazed, so different than how we do things in the states. We opted for a cheese filled crepe to start (Oh. My. Goodness. it was good). Michelle had the ravioli and Tim had some meat on a stick. It was all so delicious that we decided to go for dessert as well. There was a blueberry tart, a strawberry mousse and an apple pie. All of them were delicious.
Tomorrow we are headed out to catch a train to the Bordeaux region of France where we will spend a week relaxing at a house we rented through VRBO. The owner actually lives in California ironically enough. We are looking forward to renting a car so we can jet around wherever we want and seeing some more rural areas then we are used to. And sleeping in. :) Au demain!
The first hurdle was where we would stay the extra night. We tried to book another room at the hotel we were at, but they were not sure if they would have two doubles available. They had one, but another was booked by a couple who gave a bad credit card number to confirm their room. According to Italian law, the hotel owner has to notify the couple that they have until 9am the following day to supply a valid credit card to keep the room. So we decided to roll the dice and wait until 9am.
The only issue was that the train to Milan that we wanted left at 8:30am. Since Tim and Michelle really don't like Milan (it is our least favorite city of everywhere we have traveled) Tim opted to stay and figure out the room situation, and Michelle went with Greg and Brenda to Milan. But finding Tim once we got back (which hotel, a new or the old?) and getting our bags all in one place was still a bit of a mystery. We had faith though that it would all work out.
Brenda, Greg and Michelle easily made the train into Milan. The train was pretty full though with other commuters making their way into the city. Once on the ground again they found a little cafe to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a sweet treat before the science museaum opened. This museaum is actually pretty cool, housing a history of a number of different technological inventions. Once inside the museam a lovely docent proceeded to tell us all of the areas of the museaum we should see and estimated it would take 2 hours total to work through the exhibits. We thought this sounded great as we had about 3 hours before we needed to head back to catch the right train home in time to meet Tim. About an hour later we had only walked through one small part of the museaum. We had not even started on the small real life models of some of Michaelangelo's most famous inventions. There was no way we could make our way through the rest of the museaum in 1 hour, let alone the 2 hours we had remaining. So we had to prioritize and probably only covered about 1/3 of all of the offerings.
Navigating back to the metro we made our way easily back to the train station and onto the right train. Once back in Como we headed over to our old hotel, figuring that we would either see Tim along the way or we could see if our bags were still at the old hotel. If he had found a new one he may have also moved our things. We could also still connect to the internet at the old hotel and see if he had messaged us. We did not see him along the way, but we did find him sitting at the cafe in front of the old hotel when we walked up. We had a new space for the night, it was just down the road. We grabbed our bags and made the trek to our new home.
It turns out that Tim had quite a day as well. In between figuring out the hotel issue, he also walked around the lake quite a way and managed to talk his way into a beautiful house along the water that was housing a museaum exhibit. He took pictures of the beautiful chandelier and some of the grounds before making his way back to our old hotel. It was good for him to have a bit of time to explore the area.
Our new space was comfortable and close to the downtown area. Hungry, we asked the person at the front desk for recommendations on places to eat. She asked if we wanted traditional Italian or modern Italian. We went with the traditional recommendation and were very pleased. There were no menus in this restaurant, only the waitress letting you know what the chef was cooking that evening. So there were 3-4 starters, 4-5 main plates and 4 different desserts. That was all. And their food changes every day. We were amazed, so different than how we do things in the states. We opted for a cheese filled crepe to start (Oh. My. Goodness. it was good). Michelle had the ravioli and Tim had some meat on a stick. It was all so delicious that we decided to go for dessert as well. There was a blueberry tart, a strawberry mousse and an apple pie. All of them were delicious.
Tomorrow we are headed out to catch a train to the Bordeaux region of France where we will spend a week relaxing at a house we rented through VRBO. The owner actually lives in California ironically enough. We are looking forward to renting a car so we can jet around wherever we want and seeing some more rural areas then we are used to. And sleeping in. :) Au demain!
Friday, May 23, 2014
Our life on the boat and the bus in Como
On day 2 of Como we weere successful in our quest to get out of the room at a decent hour. We stopped off at a local cafe to fuel up for the morning. Tim and Michelle had their usual cappuccino and sweet treat. Greg ordered a small pizza and Brenda had a cappuccino and a sweet treat as well. At the boat dock we bought tickets for the slow boat that would take 2 hours to get to Bellagio. The nice part of the slow boat is that it makes more stops to the small villages and you can really see the lake houses from the boat. Michelle is facinated by these little houses that are built so close to the shore and have the boat equivalent of a garage on the shorline. So you can open your boat door and pull right in underneath the house. We assume there are steps up to the house from inside the slip. All of the houses and the slips have their own character, there are no track homes, which makes it even more fun.
On th boat Brenda and Greg wanted to sit outside. Michelle and Tim opted to stay inside. Being outside with the wind constantly in your face is a bit draining, and Michelle already felt wind beaten enough after her experience on the boats in Venice. To be inside with the same beautiful views was good enough for her. Once inside Tim and Michelle met two women from Ohio. They were traveling minimally (3 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, wash your clothes at the end of each day in the sink) and were enjoying their trip for the most part. They were having the most trouble with figuring out the train system, so Tim tried to give them a heads up on how to navigate it. It was fun to feel like we could make someone elses trip a little easier.
Once at Bellagio we got off of the boat. Bellagio is a cute small town where the streets are a bit like a checkerboard but it is all uphill. So you have some streets that are flat, but they intersect with streets that are basically stairs going up, up, up. There is some shopping to be had, but most of it is too expensive for our tastes (600 euro leather shoes anyone?). Brenda and Greg did buy a cool wine bottle opener made of olive wood and we did have a nice lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking one of the steep streets.
We decided that instead of taking the slow boat back to Como we would opt for the bus. This is something we did with Tim's parents the last time we were in the city. For roughly $4 per person you can go on the wildest bus ride of your life. Drop off cliffs, quick corners, head on traffic and a bus driver who is not afraid of it all makes for a better ride than anything you can find at Disneyland. :) And if you can get on the right side of the bus when you sit down you can see some amazing feats of engineering as you try to figure out how the Italians were able to build that house on that cliff without it all falling into the lake. This time Tim and Michelle were on the left side, Brenda and Greg were on the right. Which was a good thing, because the view would have been wasted on Tim and Michelle since they shortly fell asleep on the bus. They woke up back in town when Brenda said "Hey guys, isn't this our stop?". "Yes!" we jumped up saying, a bit to loudly and with too much panic in our voices for fear of missing the stop. Only to discover that about half the bus was also getting off, and there was no need to rush.
Back in town we opted to go to the same restaurant downstairs from our hotel again. Tim had a different pizza this time, Michelle had the same salad but with slightly different toppings. It is rare to find a big salad in Europe, so she was not going to miss out on the second opportunity. Once our bellys were full we went back to the room. The original plan for the next day was to pack up and go to Milan overnight so that we could go to the Science museam there. The Milan Science museam is actually a really cool one with replicas of Michealangelo's inventions so that you can see what they would have looked like and how they worked. It also has other exhibits on science and the history of various technologies (phones, electricity, musical instruments, energy, trains, planes, boats etc.). Since Tim and Michelle are not fond of Milan, and Brenda and Greg really liked Como, and the museam was the only real reason we were going to Milan we decided to make it a day trip from Como instead. So Tim would stay in Como and work to find us another place to stay (since our current hotel could not accommodate us for one more night) and Greg, Brenda and Michelle would go to Milan to see the museaum. When Tim was able to find logging then he would email with its location and we would head over that way. Splitting up is always an adventure, so we will see how it goes!
A slow meandering to Como
Well we are happy to report after 3 days of no posts we are alive and well. Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. We have hit the mid point of our trip, which means decompression time. In every trip we have been on there is usually a small town we end up in for the midpoint. In that city the main goal is to do very little except rest and recharge. Como was that city for us on this trip. It was also helpful that Como is on a lake (Lake Como) and the Smiths are in love with all things boat and water. :)
The train from Venice to Milan, then Milan to Como was uneventful. For those of you who know Michelle this is a good thing. We made all of our connections with enough time and went in the right direction on each train. We are taking more regional trains this time, which is fine, but not nearly as luxurious as the high speed rails. Ah the beauty of the Eurorail pass. Small added fees for supreme luxury, but not a practical expense for our trip this year.
Como is another city that Tim and Michelle have been to before, once to stay overnight in a little B and B on the hill portion of the city and once as a day trip with Tim's parents. It makes it a little easier to navigate and find hotel rooms faster since our packs are getting a little heavier with each city. Packing all of your things on your back sounds like a great idea to avoid the problem of the rolly suitcases on the cobblestones but it is also hard once you decide to buy souvenirs and bottles of wine. And since we tend to like glass souvenirs, our packs can get really heavy really fast. We are getting a little smarter though, we are at least waiting to buy most of our heavy things towards the end of the trip. We both have carriers in our back pack for two bottles of wine, which can add some considerable weight, so the longer we wait to buy them the better.
In Como we rented a 2 bedroom one bath apartment with a small kitchen. When we arrived we were told we couldn't use the kitchen but we could use the refrigerator, which was great. In fact, the "kitchen" wasn't really a kitchen at all. It was a sink and a fridge. No matter, it was clean and bright a
and one of the rooms had a view of the lake. The irony is, on our city guide (a 2-3 page document we create to highlight recommendations from friends and things to do) this hotel was recommended as a place to stay. And we enjoyed it immensely.
After dropping our bags in the room we walked around the town. Of course, we had to try the gelato and thee seemed to be quite a number of places to choose from. Our hotel is petty near the tourist center, so there are a plethora of eateries all willing to overcharge tourists who don't go too far off of the beaten path. After our gelato fill at a hole in the wall place (delicious as always) we headed over to a brew pub we saw while walking into town. We ordered a few of the local brews and a few minutes later one of the servers walks over with 3 plates of food. It turns out, when you are just drinking in Italy the custom is for the house to provide you with some finger foods (similar to the pretzels or peanuts in American bars) to eat free of charge. But these were not your typical finger foods. These were mini sandwiches, pickle relish spears and a small bowl full of chips. When in Rome, eat their finger foods we said! It was a good way to start our time in Como.
We walked around the town a bit more looking for a grochery store. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and all of the grochery stores were closed for the day. So we switched our goal to finding a restaurant for dinner. We soon decided it was easier to simply go downstairs and eat at the bar then trying to find the ideal meal to eat. They seemed to be busy and had two or three different seating areas so we thought we would give them a go. It turned out the food prices were reasonable, the service was great and the portion sizes were huge. Michelle ordered a salad with 7 ingredients of her choice and Tim ordered a large pizza. Greg ordered a bruschetta like meal with tuna on it and Brenda had a monster sized calzone. We went back to the room refreshed and sleepy. We decided that the next day would be a sleep in day (seeing a trend?!) and then we would hit the lake. Hopefully we are able to get up and moving!
The train from Venice to Milan, then Milan to Como was uneventful. For those of you who know Michelle this is a good thing. We made all of our connections with enough time and went in the right direction on each train. We are taking more regional trains this time, which is fine, but not nearly as luxurious as the high speed rails. Ah the beauty of the Eurorail pass. Small added fees for supreme luxury, but not a practical expense for our trip this year.
Como is another city that Tim and Michelle have been to before, once to stay overnight in a little B and B on the hill portion of the city and once as a day trip with Tim's parents. It makes it a little easier to navigate and find hotel rooms faster since our packs are getting a little heavier with each city. Packing all of your things on your back sounds like a great idea to avoid the problem of the rolly suitcases on the cobblestones but it is also hard once you decide to buy souvenirs and bottles of wine. And since we tend to like glass souvenirs, our packs can get really heavy really fast. We are getting a little smarter though, we are at least waiting to buy most of our heavy things towards the end of the trip. We both have carriers in our back pack for two bottles of wine, which can add some considerable weight, so the longer we wait to buy them the better.
In Como we rented a 2 bedroom one bath apartment with a small kitchen. When we arrived we were told we couldn't use the kitchen but we could use the refrigerator, which was great. In fact, the "kitchen" wasn't really a kitchen at all. It was a sink and a fridge. No matter, it was clean and bright a
and one of the rooms had a view of the lake. The irony is, on our city guide (a 2-3 page document we create to highlight recommendations from friends and things to do) this hotel was recommended as a place to stay. And we enjoyed it immensely.
After dropping our bags in the room we walked around the town. Of course, we had to try the gelato and thee seemed to be quite a number of places to choose from. Our hotel is petty near the tourist center, so there are a plethora of eateries all willing to overcharge tourists who don't go too far off of the beaten path. After our gelato fill at a hole in the wall place (delicious as always) we headed over to a brew pub we saw while walking into town. We ordered a few of the local brews and a few minutes later one of the servers walks over with 3 plates of food. It turns out, when you are just drinking in Italy the custom is for the house to provide you with some finger foods (similar to the pretzels or peanuts in American bars) to eat free of charge. But these were not your typical finger foods. These were mini sandwiches, pickle relish spears and a small bowl full of chips. When in Rome, eat their finger foods we said! It was a good way to start our time in Como.
We walked around the town a bit more looking for a grochery store. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and all of the grochery stores were closed for the day. So we switched our goal to finding a restaurant for dinner. We soon decided it was easier to simply go downstairs and eat at the bar then trying to find the ideal meal to eat. They seemed to be busy and had two or three different seating areas so we thought we would give them a go. It turned out the food prices were reasonable, the service was great and the portion sizes were huge. Michelle ordered a salad with 7 ingredients of her choice and Tim ordered a large pizza. Greg ordered a bruschetta like meal with tuna on it and Brenda had a monster sized calzone. We went back to the room refreshed and sleepy. We decided that the next day would be a sleep in day (seeing a trend?!) and then we would hit the lake. Hopefully we are able to get up and moving!
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