To Summarize...

Summary: The Shuttle got us to Heathrow with plenty of time (2½ hours) before the flight. We are the breakfast the hotel had put together for us and killed time until 8:45 boarding. We were on a plane with individual touch screens in front of each passenger offering an array of TV, movies, music and games. Other than a male flight attendant with a bad attitude it was an easy, uneventful ride home. Detroit had a light layer of snow and temps in the mid-thirties. Quite a shock after the fine weather we had for the trip! After all, in the two and a half weeks we were gone we had only had a bit of light rain while driving to and then from Mont St. Michel and the temperature stayed mainly in the sixties and seventies. We breezed through customs and had an hour and a half wait before we could take the Michigan Flyer back home. This had been a wonderful trip with no glitches to speak of at all. We saw and learned so much covering over 3000 years of history. The Euro was about $1.43 most of the time and the Pound was $1.65. We paid €1.52 per liter for gas for two fill-ups of the rental car in Normandy. We left things undone and places not visited in Nice, Paris, Normandy, and London so, should we ever have the opportunity to return, we will have plenty to do.

An interesting addendum: While we were gone it was bothering Marv that our Federal Income Tax refund, which we had filed before we left town in March, never got deposited to our account. He checked on it as soon as he could only to see that we hadn’t actually submitted it after we printed it and the Michigan form. As luck would have it, the IRS gave us until midnight TONIGHT to submit since the 15^th was on a weekend. Disaster averted—we have now filed it for real and have the paperwork acknowledging it. WHEW!!

Our Journey Draws to an End

Sun. Apr. 17: Palm Sunday. After another hearty Continental Breakfast, our plan was to get to Westminster Abby, which is closed to tourists on Sunday, in plenty o time to make the 10:00 Matins Service. But they had a new schedule up by then and directed us to the smaller St. Margaret’s church next door for what had been changed to a 9:30 service. So we attended it with a small group of worshippers and enjoyed the cozy service but thought it would have more music than it did. We regretfully decided we didn’t have time to wait for the big West Minster Abbey Palm Blessing and Processional at 11:15 and went to Westminster dock to take in our ”free” boat ride on the Thames. It proved to be interesting with some new information and some new views of London from the top deck, sitting in the sunshine. They were holding the London Marathon (after the Paris Marathon last Sunday!) and things were pretty crazy with streets cut-off by crowds and the race path. We got off at the Tower of London and decided not to spend the £40 (over $60) to tour the Tower. Marv had seen it and I didn’t care that much, especially since there were other things we wanted to see on such a beautiful day. In effect, we traded his not seeing Versailles for my not seeing the Tower of London and we’re both okay with that. After wandering around St. Katherine’s Dock area, looking for a “loo” and trying to get a good shot of the Tower Bridge in the sun, we fought the Marathon crowds and got to the starting point of our final Rick Steves Podcast walking tour, “Historic London”. This took us through the square mile of twisting streets and alley ways of the true, 2000 year old, City of London, which has only about 7000 residents! The area had been devastated in the 1500s by the Black Plague, in 1666 by the Great Fire, and in the 1940s bombing raids of the German Blitz s, but it has always come back, bigger and better. A highlight of the tour was when he led us to “Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese” the favorite haunt of Dr. Johnson, the eccentric who wrote the first English dictionary, and Charles Dickens, who described the tavern on page 147 of A Tale of Two Cities, an original copy of which they have on display. That seemed the perfect place for us to have a Sunday midday dinner. Marv had Bangers and Mash and I had a buttery sauced chicken breast. We each had a pint and for dessert we shared warm pudding (Butterscotch and Ginger, not Dickens’ favorite Spotted Dick) with custard sauce. The whole experience was just perfect!! We finished in time to dash to the nearby St. Paul’s Cathedral for the 3:15 Evensong, which was quite simply spectacular. It was a Stations of the Cross service with the full choir, many clergy carrying a 20 foot rough hewn wooden cross to the four points of the nave and the amazing organ playing with all the stops out, quit literally. The leader of the processional was swinging a large incense ball and the fragrant smoke floated ethereally up towards the towering dome. Part of the time the sun shone through the windows, showing its rays through the smoke. As we all faced west for the beginning of the Processional, a full length purple cloth was suspended over the railing of the whispering gallery 30 meters above our heads, reaching to the floor behind the altar. It hung there waving slightly in the air currents during most of the service. The service was a mix of readings, anthems, hymns and prayers that took us through Passion Week until the crucifixion, with a “glimpse” of the joy of Easter Sunday. During the part of the crucifixion, the purple cloth was released, so it fell with a loud whoosh to the floor of the nave. Later it was draped all over the cross that was now leaning on the later, so that it covered the cross, strongly invoking the image of a covered body. The choir was amazing, with their beautiful sound echoing through the cathedral. It was a very moving and powerful service that ended with a thundering organ postlude. I thought of how much my dad would have enjoyed the postlude and hope that at some point he had a chance to listen to that organ. Back out in the sunlight we completed the Historic Walk, ending with a visit to Christopher Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire. The fire had destroyed more than 70 churches in London and he had designed 50 churches to replace them, 23 of which remain today. Enough time remained for us to find our way back to the Cartwright Garden area where Marv lived the summer he studied Humanities in London with Maury Crane, who told them, “You might as well study Humanities in London because the English have stolen all the artifacts and brought them there.” Much had changed but Marv managed to recognize the dorm where they lived and a bit of the neighborhood. It was getting cooler but was a nice evening so we bought a sandwich (again at Pret) and a salad to share and took them to eat on a bench in Green Park. There were many people enjoying the end of the day, lots of soccer balls being kicked, and even a football being tossed around. The sun was setting as we made our way back to Earl’s Court to buy Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bars (Don Filcek’s recommendation) and pack for our 5:50am pick-up Monday Morning

Our First Full Day in London

Sat. Apr. 16: We tried to get an early start and were the only ones in the breakfast room but it was still about 9:00 when we hit the Tube to go from Earl’s Court to St. Paul’s. We thought we’d take a little time to do Rick Steves’ walking tour there but the high admission cost included an IPod with an audio/visual guide to the Cathedral so we did both. And it was worth it as different things (the IPod included footage from Prince Charles and Princess Di’s wedding and a virtual tour to the highest level of the dome) were highlighted and they were very different in tone (Rick’s is lighter and funnier). The cathedral is the 4^th biggest in Europe, and was constructed by Christopher Wren beginning in 1667, after the big fire burned London pretty much to the ground. He lived to see his masterpiece completed and his son put the cross on the top of the towering dome. We climbed, not all the way to the top, but to the second of three levels where we could walk around outside and look down across the vast city. By the time we had explored it all, including the crypt in the basement, it was after 1:00 and we were well past the time we had hoped to be on the Hop On/Hop Off Tour Bus so we climbed aboard for an overview of the town. It was partly sunny and nice to sit up on top once there was a spot for us. The sites of London are far more spread out than Paris so it was good to have this chance to be driven and have the route explained to us. After quite a long time we got off at Buckingham Palace, just as a minor guard change occurred (not the big pageantry that happens once a day) for us to film. The area is in full bloom but partly barricaded in preparation for the Royal Wedding in two weeks, with Press Stands blocking off the entrance to St James Park. We walked to Victoria Station and took the Metro to the British Museum. In between as some point we found Linda Filcek’s recommended restaurant for sandwiches, Pret A Manger, or “Pret” as the new ones seem to prefer. Marv had a grilled chicken Panini and I had a FABULOUS brie, basil, and tomato on a baguette. We were therefore ready to take on the huge museum with the help once again of Rick Steves. He took us to the Rosetta Stone, followed by the ancient Egyptian exhibits, with the mummies, Assyrian, Roman, and Greek exhibits. We ended with the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, so named for the procurer (he says he saved them, the Greeks say he stole them). Once again we closed the place down; as Rick Steves was closing they were shooing us out the doors. With a little extra wandering we got back on the Tube and returned to Westminster Abbey to get pictures and find out what time the services would be on Palm Sunday, because it looked like that would be the only way we were going to see the Abby. We dropped in at the Red Lion to have a pint. As we sat, it was getting dark. We decided that it would be nice to get pictures of things lighted, so we had a Sharing Platter of wings, sausages, potato wedges and garlic bread for dinner and then walked down to get our pictures. There was a full moon between the Parliament towers and Big Ben so we got some pretty spectacular pictures and even a movie as the bells chimed for 9:45. By the time we returned to the hotel we did some emailing and called Marv’s mom (with limited success) and went to bed.

Getting to London: Read and you'll see why there are no pix!

Fri. Apr. 15: It was an early morning to a full day of travel for us today! We got up at 7:00, finished packing, and enjoyed another fine breakfast. First Challenge: Getting from Honfleur to the Le Havre Train Station—After checking out, Marv went to get the car so we could load our bags without taking them so far. We had rush hour traffic but no problems getting to Le Havre to return the car. After checking the car and finding all was in order, the young woman told us her colleague could drive us to the train station. What a wonderful surprise that was! So we were at our first Gare of the day an hour before the train took off to return us to Paris. This time our (very unnecessary) First Class ticket gave us a little cabin of 6 seats to ourselves for the first hour. Two women joined us in Rouen for the next hour of the trip. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Second Challenge: Getting from Gare St. Lazare to the EuroStar—While we waited for the train in Le Havre we found our Metro schedule and figured out how to get from Gare St. Lazare to Gare Du Nord to take the EuroStar bullet train through the Chunnel to London. When we arrived at St. Lazare Station we followed the signs to take RER E, the intercity commuter train, found a change booth, and then bought 2 tickets. That led us to what we thought was the right platform but we weren’t positive until we looked in a door and could see the route the train was taking. WHEW! We were correct. The next stop was Magenta, where we followed signs to Gare du Nord. Then we could follow signs to EuroStar. Not knowing what to expect on the train, we bought sandwiches and drinks for lunch before checking in for our train. After going through French and British Passport checks we waited only about 10 minutes and boarded the train. And everything had been accomplished without ever going outside! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! On board the train and underway, they let us know they would be serving lunch in about half an hour! Oh well, live and learn! The GPS showed a top speed of 192mph! When we passed another bullet train going the other way the combined speed made it flash by in seconds. It was awesome. They served a light lunch of salmon pate and couscous with lemon mousse and choice of beer, wine or other beverage. The French countryside looked similar to Normandy but mostly a bit flatter. We passed quaint villages and lots of farm fields for an hour or so. We were in the Chunnel about 20 minutes and came out in England where the countryside looked very similar but everyone was driving on the wrong side! Before we knew it (a little over two hours, we think) we arrived at St. Pancras Station in London.
Third Challenge: Getting from St. Pancras Station to our hotel—We had pre-paid Oyster cards in our packet of materials which were good on buses and the underground in London. After we studied a map for a while we figured out how to take the blue Piccadilly line to Earl’s Court. Away we went, rolling our backpacks for this trip. A friendly “assistant” showed us how to scan our cards getting on and getting off each trip. We got off at Earl’s Court, went up the stairs and came out just around the block and about two blocks away from the hotel. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! We got signed in and settled and decided to head right back out. We took the underground again and went down to the Westminster/Parliament area and did a Rick Steves Podcast walking tour called “Westminster Walk”. It started on Westminster Bridge, nearly under Big Ben, and then walked us by Westminster Abby and up Parliament Street and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, pointing out #10 Downing Street and other famous spots along the way. What made this a bit different was that Marv had decided he didn’t need to carry the backpack for this short trip. But that meant he hadn’t brought a camera, which was very unlike him! He was quite unencumbered and could perhaps pay more attention to what we listened to and didn’t have to figure out how to line up his next shot. After wandering around the area at the square we walked around the theater district for a bit. It was all very busy on a Friday night with lots of traffic and noise. The London Marathon is this weekend (after being in Paris for their Marathon last weekend!) and things were being set up for that. After we had enough of being part of the “scene” we took the underground back to Earl’s Court and found a typical corner pub where we could enjoy—what else?—fish and chips with a pint!! It was around 10:00 here and it had been a long day, so, after removing the requisite duvet from the sheets and setting it aside (too hot! We have done this at nearly every hotel) we went to bed.

Normandy & D-Day

Thu. Apr. 14: For this stay the breakfast buffet has been included so we started the day with the biggest breakfast we had had in two weeks. We were therefore well-fortified for our day exploring the many sites centered around the D-Day invasion 67 years ago on June 6. Marv knew a great deal about it already but I learned so much! Going from our Rick Steves book, the GPS, and some other maps we had, we drove through lovely countryside and through tiny villages that hugged the winding road for much of the day. Our first stop was at the “Disembarkment” Museum in Arronmanches. This tells the story of the remarkable artificial harbor, called Port Winston, which the Allied Forces built in just 2 weeks immediately after taking the beach heads on D-Day. The harbor allowed the Allies to get supplies to the troops on the ground quickly and safely. We were lucky enough to arrive just as an English speaking guide began a group tour so we could understand everything as we watched the movie, heard her explanation of the display cases, and watched the slide show. We took a bit longer there as Marv had left his jacket in the theater and had to wait for another showing to let out to get it. From there we drove to the American cemetery. This has a wonderful Visitors Center with a very moving film highlighting some individuals as well as the general sacrifice that resulted from the D-Day invasion. There are many displays as well which are all in English (and French) because it is administered by Americans so we spent a long time there. The exhibits funneled us into the cemetery with its rows and rows of perfectly aligned whiten crosses and Stars of David. It is sobering, inspiring and memorable. We learned that the cemetery was established in 1956, with soldiers’ remains brought from temporary graves all over the area. Families had the choice of having their loved ones buried there or returned home, which about 61% did. Throughout the day the light cloud cover was burning off so that it was mostly sunny but cool as we wandered and contemplated the ultimate sacrifice that each grave represented. Omaha Beach is nearby so we drove there next to walk the famous landing site known as Bloody Omaha for the great number of casualties incurred by the Americans. As opposed to the many reminders left in the water of Port Winston at Arromanches, little remains here but there are a few markers of rusting hulks that we could see in the water, and one we could walk to and examine because it was low tide. The beach was chosen partly for its width at low tide so we walked a ways after we had eaten our lunch of a baguette and some cheese and tuna. By then time was running short so we drove back towards Arromanches to be able to watch the 360° movie that had been recommended to us. However, on the way we managed to find the best preserved German Battery site, which retains some of the original guns. We made our way around there on the long circular path that stops at 4 concrete gun sites with their low rounded roof that, with the help of camouflage, would have concealed them very well from bombers. The path also shows some of the underground ammunition bunkers and one large, two leveled machine gun nest right next to the cliff down to the sea. We left there in time to see the last showing of the movie, which is very well done, combining movie footage from the time of the invasion with footage taken in the same areas in 1994 for the 50^th anniversary. Afterwards, Marv realized that the camera had been on the wrong setting for much of the day. We returned to the German Battery to get new pictures while there was still light and then followed the coastline to return to Caen before getting back on the freeway to go back to Honfleur. By the time we had returned and found out we still couldn’t use the Wi-Fi, it was after 10:00 and restaurants were closing. Knowing we still had to pack for an early departure and that we would have a full breakfast the next morning, we settled for sharing our last packet of tuna and some trail mix for dinner; it was quite a long cry from our lovely meal the night before!

Normandy & Mont St. Michel

Wed. Apr. 13: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SALLIE!! Like the seasoned travelers we are now, we walked with our suitcases down to catch Bus #21 to Gare St. Lazare and boarded our train to Le Havre in Normandy. The gentle farm lands flowed past the windows and the slightly foggy landscapes had a distinctly Monet feel to them with budding trees, lilacs, and spring flowers lending color in every scene. Two hours later we arrived and, with the GPS to guide us, we walked 1.7 kilometers to pick up our rental car. We got on the road with Marv at the wheel and again followed GPS directions but we missed one exit which took us a ways down the road before we could retrace our steps. After checking in at Le Cheval Blanc Hotel in nearby Honfleur we immediately drove 2½ hours to Mont Saint Michel. We drove mostly on freeway with a bypass around Caen. The countryside was rolling and checkerboard-ed with bright yellow fields of what looked to be thigh high mustard in full bloom. It was thrilling to see Mont Saint Michel in the distance from about 20 kilometers away! There was some light rain as we approached the causeway and we kicked ourselves for not bringing our rain jackets from the hotel. But as we walked across the causeway after parking, the rain stopped and didn’t appear again until we drove away a few hours later! Once again we were grateful to take Rick Steves’ advice on how to avoid the crowds (which were not too bad since it was 4:00 by then) and get right to the Abbey. It seems to float impossibly high above the mudflats and it is hard to imagine one can really make it up there by foot. But pilgrims have been doing it for over a thousand years so we could, too! The one street village of 30 residents at the bottom of the hill is completely devoted to tourism and since we had already seen several very old villages with narrow streets we chose to go straight to climbing the ramparts and then the many, many stairs that seem endless up to the Abbey. Rick Steves described each part of the Abbey and it was very enjoyable to walk around and marvel at this engineering feat put up by the bishop of Avranches who heard the voice of Archangel Michael saying, “Build here and build high.” Today’s abbey is built on the remains of a Romanesque church, which stands on the remains of a Carolingian church. We were pretty exhausted by the climbing and walking, particularly because we hadn’t had anything but some cookies to eat since our yogurt and croissants at 7:30. But it was all worth it to have seen such a beautiful place. It began to rain again as we drove out of the area but by then it didn’t matter. At Caen we stopped at a McDonald’s for coffee and made it back to Honfleur and bought gas. After parking in the free lot several blocks away, we dropped things in our room and went to find some dinner on foot. Off the waterfront we came upon “les Fontaines” where a good-natured waitress spoke only French to us and insisted that Marv try to do the same. It was very jolly and our dinner of Normandy specialties like the local “cidre” to drink and the delicious cream and cidre sauce on our chicken made it one of the most enjoyable dinners of our time in France. It was quite reasonably priced, as well! We got back to the hotel about 10:30 and were disappointed to find that we couldn’t get on the internet for some reason that the man at the reception desk couldn’t figure out for us. But it is a charming hotel. The building was erected in the 1500s on the water front and it has always been a hotel. It was also a postal stop for the sailors to come to and pick-up their mail when they were in port. It has been beautifully decorated in period Normandy style and our room overlooks the small harbor from which Champlain left with an Honfleur crew to explore and settle Quebec, Canada. I sat at the desk in the window with lights shining on the water and the sound of infrequent cars rumbling over the old cobblestones to write this entry and we went to bed.

Our Last Day in Paris

Tue. Apr. 12: How to make the most of our last day in Paris?!?! We still had much to do! Our arrondisement’s Farmers’ Market was set up just a block away so we went there and got bread, cheese, olives and oranges for lunch. We began by taking the Metro to Museé d’Orsay and assessing the crowd. As we had read, because the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, the lines we long so we went on to the Museé de Rodin. There, our museum pass (SO glad Aram and Judy told us to get this!) got us right in with no wait. The museum is in the “hotel”(villa) that he rented at the end of his life for a Paris home. It has fabulous gardens with sculptures such as “The Thinker” and “The Gates of Hell” outside and drawings, paintings and sculptures such as “The Kiss” from throughout his life inside. One room is devoted to his protégé and mistress Camille Claudel. She was an artist in her own right who depicted Rodin’s struggle between his devotion to his long time companion, Rose, and herself in her works entitled “Maturity” here and in the Museé d’Orsay. (I was happy to find out the old man ultimately gave up the sweet young thing, Camille, to stay with the aged Rose. Sadly, Camille slipped into insanity and died in an asylum.) We learned that “The Thinker” was actually Dante overlooking his Gates of Hell in the Divine Comedy, a piece Rodin worked on for over 30 years and never really finished. We also found that he was friends with such other artists as Monet and Van Gogh. They used to trade pieces of their art so there are paintings and sculptures from them as pieces in Rodin’s museum. After seeing the museum and grounds we walked toward des Invalids and found a lovely park in which to ea our lunch. The day was partly sunny, but breezy and cool with temperatures in the fifties. We returned to the Orsay, where the lines were much more reasonable. In some ways we were disappointed by it though. For one thing they kept making announcements in many languages warning of the pickpockets working the crowd. Also they are working on the building, which is the old train station, and there were scaffolding, barriers, and banging noises that were distracting. One nice thing is that they had all the main Impressionist and Pointillist artists’ works lining two long hallways so it was very easy to walk up one side and down the other and see it all. But there were no benches or seats to allow one to linger and contemplate and we had seen so many masterpieces by then that we made short work of the place and got back on the Metro. Back at the Ile de Cité we bought VERY expensive coffees to drink at a street side table in the sun. We returned to Notre Dame for the fourth straight day, this time to take pictures of the Pieta and the three rose windows which we couldn’t get on our other visits. At the other end of the Place we finally found the Crypt Archeology Museum open. One of most vivid memories of my high school visit to Paris was of going down some narrow, steep stairs and bending down to get a glance at the oldest parts of Paris, ruins from the Romans’ time here. The area has now been developed into a museum, all underground, of the ancient main road that ran across the Ile and through the Left Bank, and foundations of the ramparts and homes that were here. They have extensive explanatory panels with English translations and we spent quite some time enthralled by antiquity. Back in the light of modern day Paris we had an expensive misunderstanding at shop, which resulted in, not a piece of apple cake (Gateau de Pomme) but potato cake (Gateau de Pomme de Terre), and not tap water but bottled water sans gas, but since it was the only problem we had we couldn’t complain and even the potato cake was delicious, just not sweet.

Loving it in Paris

Mon. Apr. 11: Most of the museums in Paris are either closed Monday or Tuesday so we had to plan our stay accordingly. From our travels yesterday we had a better idea of what to expect with lines and so forth. So after yogurt and a croissant we went straight to Notre Dame to get in line to climb the 430 steps into the towers to look over the city of Paris. After about a ten minute wait we were in the third group to ascend after they opened for the day. It’s a pretty rugged climb but it’s broken up twice with flat places to stand and recover while peering over the edge and it was really thrilling to see nearly 360° from that height. It is also awesome to note how worn the spiraling stone steps have become after so many years of people going up to have a look around. Equally enthralling is to consider the effort it must have taken over two hundred years to build the cathedral with the day’s technologies, and much of it was done with volunteer labor from the people of old Paris. The detailing and sculpture included all to the Glory of God and without consideration that most of it wouldn’t be seen by the common people is breathtaking, right down to the carved “sleigh bells” surrounding the belfry holding the biggest bells and, of course, the iconic gargoyles and chimeras. After plenty of time to look around and take pictures we made our way back down the 430 steps of the south tower and considered what to do with the rest of the day. The Museé de Cluny was just up the street from our hotel so we went back to our neighborhood to visit this display of Medieval relics. The museum is housed in a “hotel” built long ago on top of the nearly 2000 year old baths built there by the Romans when the city was known as Luticia. They have many of the original stained glass windows from St. Chapelle, fantastic tapestries with a lady, a unicorn and a lion, original wooden choir seats from a cathedral, and the original Kings of Israel statues that were from the portico of Notre Dame. Revolutionists, thinking they were French kings, removed and decapitated them. Someone had the forethought to bury them in their yard where they lay forgotten until 1977 when they were discovered! From the Cluny we picked up giant gyros for lunch and then took our first bus to the Louvre to walk in the beautiful Tuillerie Gardens. It was a sunny day in the seventies and there were lots of people out strolling, playing and sailing a few boats in the concrete ponds. We rested in a couple of the green chairs that are everywhere and enjoyed the scene before going into L’orangarie. They have a modest but very nice collection of Impressionist Paintings there including 8 giant canvases of Water Lilies given to Paris by Monet after World War I. As we took pictures outside at the Place de la Concord the battery went dead on the camera. So we took the Metro back to the hotel to get another and rest a bit On the way we picked up a sandwich to take with a bottle of wine we purchased way back at the Bacchus Festival to have a picnic at the Eiffel Tower. Let me say a little bit about the hotel here. We have a very nice and impeccably clean but small room. The hotel is “green” and saves energy in many ways, the most interesting of which is that the hallways have motion detecting lighting so that each time the elevator doors open the hallway is dark until you step out, and the room electricity is turned on by inserting the door key into a holder next to the door every time you enter. They have you leave the key at the desk each time you leave thus insuring that the electricity is off whenever the room is not used. The buffet breakfast they offer is apparently local product and free trade but at 15€ a person per day we didn’t avail ourselves of it! Rested and re-energized (new battery) we took the Metro back to the Champ de Mars to have our picnic supper in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Around 6:30 we got in a short line for security and to buy tickets and then rode the elevator up the East Tower (leg) to the second platform (not the summit) of Eiffel’s engineering marvel. We had a marvelous view of all Paris at a level low enough for the landmarks to be recognizable. (That way we also didn’t have to wait in what we heard was a line over an hour long to get to the top.) From there we watched the sun set and the lights of Paris come on. It is a magical sight!! It was also fun to listen to all of the languages on this Tower of Babel! At 9:00 we enjoyed the five minute twinkling light display on the tower. Then we walked down to the first platform to look around some more before taking the elevator to the ground to have a different perspective of the 10:00 display. It was late when the Metro delivered us just down the block from our home away from home for the night.

Carpe Paris!

Sun. Apr. 10: Yogurt and coffee in our room and a pastry from a patisserie along the way and we were ready to seize the day. We started once again at Notre Dame to do the last bit of our Historic Paris podcast. There was a Mass just beginning so we explored with a musical and Latin accompaniment. There was a long line to climb the towers when we left the church so we’ll try that tomorrow. There was a “Les Cars Rouges” bus sitting beside the Place so we began our hop on/hop off tour right then. It was sunny but a bit cool and breezy sitting on top as we went past Museé d’Orsay, Opéra, Champs Elysée-Etoile, Grand Palais and the Trocadéro before going to the Tour Eiffel. All along the way streets beside the river were closed off and full of the 40,000 people from all oer the world running the Paris Marathon, which starts and ends along the Champs Elysée and the Arc de Triumph. We got off at the Tower to see what we wanted to do about going up the tower. The lines were very long and, although that’s probably almost always true, we decided to follow Rick Steves’ advice to go up late in the afternoon and watch the lights of Paris come on as evening falls. We would leave that for Monday. After sitting in the grass for a while in the sunshine we set off to find the Museé du Quai Branly, a new (2006) museum of Indigenous People’s Art museum from cultures all over the world. It is very dramatically presented and lighted, which adds to the mysteriousness and power of the displays. One begins by climbing a long, wide, spiral ramp which has tumbling words projected like waterfalls down the sides and then onto the ramp like a river stream that you are walking upstream. It is very effective at moving the visitor away from the streets of Paris and into another world. The museum was a very unexpected pleasure! We hoped to find some food by then but had arrived at the dead time between lunch and dinner. We finally found a Creperie open where we shared a ham crepe and a tomato salad. Fortified for the rest of the afternoon, we decided to take on the Louvre. We were shocked to find it crowded but not to the point of having lines to wait in. We used another Rick Steves Podcast to make our way around. In about two hours we had seen the “Big Attractions” of the Denon wing and then ventured off on our own to see the Germanic, Holland, Flanders and Netherlands painters in the Richelieu wing. By then we were pretty much overcome with art and felt like we had absorbed about as much as we could for one afternoon. We ended up walking to the pedestrian only bridge to get pictures of the Pont Neuf and the point of the Ile de la Cité. Even though we were pretty exhausted by then, we strode on towards the hotel but stopped under the gargoyles of St. Germaine des Pres to have dinner at an outdoor table. I had the more expensive daily meal so I could have an appetizer of escargot in memory of my dad. He would have approved!! We were seated outdoors next to two other tables of Americans, including a couple who had come to Paris just to run in the Marathon! They were from Minnesota and the other couple was from Syracuse so we all traded snow and basketball stories. It was all very fun but we left first and made our way back to the hotel. After a short rest we took another evening stroll around the neighborhood before falling exhausted into bed.

April in Paris

Sat. Apr. 9: We left Nice shrouded in haze and low clouds and brought the perfect weather we had all week in Nice to Paris! Bus #98 took us right to the Nice airport where we checked our bags, got our boarding passes and got online with free WiFi, the only annoying thing being we were there much earlier than necessary. Before we left home, Marv had downloaded about 8 Rick Steves walking tours and radio shows. While in flight we listened to one of two of his radio show podcasts about Paris. When we arrived at Orly we got our bags and called for our transport shuttle, which was waiting at the door with our name on a sign. He whisked us into the city to our hotel, La Jardin de Cluny, which is in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, about a two minute walk from Notre Dame. It is very nice and will be a terrific home base while we explore the city. We dropped our stuff in our room, walked to “Point Zero” in the square in front of Notre Dame, plugged in two sets of headphones, and began our Historic Paris walking tour. Steves suggests you take about 4 hours to do the tour and it took us at least that long, even though we skipped Notre Dame because it was so crowded and we can come back at a better time. His narration took us around the Ile de la Cité and the Left Bank including extended stops at Sainte-Chapel, where we bought our Museum Pass that will get us into many places over our time here, and the Conciergerie, where over 2000 prisoners, including Marie Antoinette, were held before going to the guillotine. We looked at both islands from many perspectives and hung our feet over the edge of the point of the Ile de la Cité near Pont Neuf. It means New Bridge but is actually the oldest bridge in town because it was built around 1600. The weather was absolutely perfect, with temperatures in the 70s and not a cloud in the deep blue sky. The tulips and flowering trees are in full bloom and add immensely to the beauty of every little plaza and park. They are having a bit of a heat wave for the next few days so we won’t see normal high 50s until our last day in Paris. So at the end of our tour we were happy to sit by a small playground in the shade of the flying buttresses and leering gargoyles of the by now closed Notre Dame. On our way back to the hotel we bought some provisions to make a supper in our room and relaxed for a while before going back out to explore our near neighborhood after dark. We are both already feeling confident about the streets around us and are ready to branch out further. It is so magical to just wander the streets of Paris after dark, still teaming with people who appear ready to make a late night of it! We however got back to the hotel to call Ken, as he had requested, finished the blog, and went to bed by midnight to get an early start tomorrow.

Our final day in Nice

Fri. Apr. 8: Our last day in Nice was unplanned except for a few foods we all wanted to try before leaving. So we walked over to the Market at 10:00 and found Teresά’s stand, where she was warming and serving her socca, a crepe made of olive oil, flour, and ground chickpeas. It is served very hot and sprinkled with pepper and was the traditional breakfast for fisherman before they set off. It was delicious with a small cup of espresso. Next we wandered the streets a bit and found the Church of Réparate open so we looked around there for a while. More wandering and strolling and we came upon a patisserie where we each had a decadent pastry. On a whim, with plenty of time left to our day, we decided to ride the bus to Vance and St. Paul de Vance two of the so-called “perched villages” in the hills surrounding Nice. Coming around the curves as we approached them, it was immediately apparent why they are called “perched”. The ancient walled towns seem to hang from the hill side overlooking deep valleys. Most of the afternoon was spent in Vance, where they have a self-guided walking tour that takes the visitor to explanatory plaques which include an English translation. The villages with towering walls seem both self-sufficient and impenetrable and it is possible to imagine why they have lasted for 2000 years and linked with other equally ancient towns since the Romans set them up along their roads that stretched along the valuable coastline. What is harder to imagine is what life would be like in a town where the “roads” needed to be only wide enough for a hand pulled cart and sometimes went up and down the hills with steps. We had pizza for lunch on a quiet main square before leaving Vance for nearby St. Paul de Vance. St. Paul is much more tourist-y and was much busier so we made quick work of it. But we did enjoy the magnificent views from its ramparts and visiting the grave of Chagall. After walking about halfway around the walls of the city we cut back through the central plazas on the main road before getting back on the bus and returning to Nice. We used up wine and other food for a light dinner and began to pack up to leave Saturday morning. Heidi and Kris had an 8:30 plane to catch, which meant they were taking a cab at 5:30 to the airport. Marv and I could take the 98 bus to the airport to catch our plane to Paris at 11:30 to continue our adventure. Nice had been everything we could have hoped for and more!

Thursday in Nice

Thu. Apr. 7: Today we all bought day passes for the buses/tram and spent the day exploring within the city again. We had breakfast across the street for the third day and then took the tram and a bus to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. It was the first built outside of Russia to be consecrated as a cathedral and was built to serve the large population of Russian aristocrats that would winter in Nice at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s. It is quite lovely. There was a service going on (which runs for 2 hours!) and is supposed to be closed to tourists during the mass. But we didn’t realize it was happening until we were inside so we got to experience the ethereal worship with a choir singing in response to the priest. We stayed a while and left after donating to the offering for the poor. The same bus we had taken there took us to Las Planas where we took the tram back to Old Town. After having coffee and buying more bread and wine to go with yesterday’s leftover cheese, olives and sausage, we set off to climb Castle Hill and enjoyed our picnic once again with 240° panoramic views over the “Bay of Angels”. Kris and Heidi were as taken with the setting as we had been our first day. This time we went down the east (Port) side and then strolled back along the Promenade d’Anglais. Back in Old Town we went our separate ways to do a bit of shopping and agreed to meet back at the hotel to go out for dinner. After showering and resting a bit we took the tram north once again and got off at the Valrose Université stop and found Lou Pantail’s Restaurant and Pizzeria. Kris and Heidi had pizzas, Marv had slivered beef with artichokes and olives, and I had beef ravioli. I was happiest with my meal of the four of us. After dinner we walked a ways to see church of Saint Jeanne of Arc again, this time all lit up for the night. The tram took us back to Place Messena where we got off and walked to one of the Casinos on the waterfront. Kris changed a 5€ and we each tried the slot machines, with no luck. Then we strolled back up the Promenade where we saw the biggest waves of our time here. Back at Place Massena we found that someone had added some sort of sudsing agent to one of the fountains and it was billowing with white fluff which young adults were having fun with. Before heading back to our hotel we sat by the larger fountains to the west of the plaza and talked about what a nice day it had been.

Wednesday in Antibe & Biot.

Wed. April 6: After yesterday’s trip east, nearly to Italy, today we headed west to Antibe, aka Juan de Pines. Despite not leaving until nearly 10:00 the 4€ train ticket assured that we would get there in time to enjoy a full day before we returned by bus. Once again we found our way to the Vielle Ville (Old Town) and we roughly followed a Rick Steves walking tour combined with one they suggested at the Tourist Information. On our way we passed along the “Billionaires Quai”, lined with many, many yachts from modest to outrageous. From the waterfront one can look east and see pretty much the whole coast line, with Nice and Monaco, the protective foot hills, which keeps the cold air away from the coastline, and the snow covered Alps beyond in the distance. It is a stunning view!!! We entered the Old Town through the ancient gate that was the only way to get within the fortified city walls from the Port for centuries. First stop was at the outstanding Marché Provençal (farmers’ market) where we bought cheese, olives, bread, marinated artichoke hearts, sausages and wine for our lunch. Winding our way through streets and passageways we found our way to the west embankments along the water. We found a park looking over the bay and shared our delicious lunch sitting on a park bench. A sailing club or school was putting in boats as we finished and they had 5 or 6 dozen boats on the water by the time we finished. Wandering back along the bay we arrived at the Garibaldi Chateau, which is now the Picasso Museum. Picasso worked in the chateau for a few years where, like many artists before and since, he was transfixed by the luminescent light on the Mediterranean. He was also struck by the antiquity of the setting, because the Chateau was built in the 1300s on top of the ancient Greek city of Antipolis which claimed the easily defended area 3000 years ago. The fort on the other side of the bay, which we had hoped to see, closed at 4:00 and so instead of touring it, we made our way down to a protected beach and rested in the warm sunlight while dipping our tootsies into the Mediterranean waters. Passing again through the Old Town, we walked up to Place General de Gaulle and found how and where we could catch a bus up to Biot, where artisans make ceramic and glass pieces, among other crafts. We had hoped to eat dinner there but the timing didn’t work out so we looked around the Old Town up on the hill for a bit before catching a late bus back to Nice. We had a nice dinner of the traditional Niçoisse beef stew at Lulu’s before returning to the hotel, not as exhausted as last night, but well satisfied with our travels.

Tuesday in Menton & Monaco.

Tue. Apr. 5: This was our day to visit Monaco. On Steves’ recommendation we took the 1€ bus to its last stop at Menton. We were surprised to find that the entire two hour trip along the coast is densely developed and populated but we had lots of stunning vistas to enjoy. The turnaround is near a Farmer’s Market and a park which walked through and then we found the Tourist Information. Armed with a map we made our way to Old Menton to wander before getting coffee and sitting in a square. Back on our feet, we made our way through the Old Town market and then to the Promenade along the Sea. Nearing the end we stopped at the Mirabella to sit outdoors and have their daily special of “pintade avec artichaut” or Guinea hen with artichokes, which was delicious and came with chocolate mousse for dessert. We walked on to the extensive gardens of lemon and other citrus trees for which the area is famous. They had the biggest lemons we’d ever seen! Returning to the bus line we caught next bus to Monaco and got off to see the Casino. It is pretty spectacular with lovely gardens and fountains outside all surrounded with hip high tulips at the height of their blooms. I wanted to mail a postcard from Monaco to James Sims for his collection so Marv asked the GPS to find a post office. She took us 1 kilometer pretty much straight up the hill. Heidi and Kris encouraged us to go ahead without them because it was so steep and so tiring. We sloughed our way up to the Post Office only to find it was closed. ARGH!!!! So Marv told the GPS to take us to the Prince of Monaco palace. Monaco is built on such a hillside with roads at different levels that the GPS was having a terrible time telling us where we were and where we needed to go. But happily along the way we came across an open Post Office so I mailed the card. Although the GPS ended up going dead we found our way to the bottom of another l-o-n-g hill up that appeared to be the palace. Up we climbed again and we were there! It was 5:25 and they cut off tours at 5:30 but after all we had been through we felt we had to see the palace. We picked up our English speaking audio guide and followed the directions of the tour. About halfway through, we had a uniformed guard hanging around with us and closing off the areas as we finished. He was soon joined by a “suit” (administrator?) and then a second guard but they didn’t rush us or even speak to us. They just closed everything off as we moved along. At the end when we turned in our audio guides the three women who took them followed us out and went home. So we really closed that joint down!! We wandered through picturesque Old Town but it was also closing down so we headed back down the hill, where we found the very bus we needed to get back to Nice. All this time we had no idea where Kris and Heidi had ended up. Walking back to the hotel we stopped to pick up a baguette, some Camembert cheese and two apples which we enjoyed with a packet of tuna and some of our wine from the Sunday festival. As we ate on our “balcony” we saw Kris and Heidi returning from the bus. They had spent their time at the Princess of Monaco rose garden, opting not to do the climb up the hill to the palace. They hadn’t eaten so we went with them to l’Oval, a rugby (and other sports) bar where they had nice salads and we had dessert. Being pretty tired from all the uphill walking we had done Marv and I headed back to our room before they did and looked at choices for tomorrow and caught up the blog.

Monday-Nice museums.

Mon. Apr. 4: Today was the day to visit Museums for us. Following Rick Steves’ directions we actually hiked uphill all the way to the Chagall Museum, which was a pretty amazing climb! But the museum is wonderful and highlights especially his “Song of Songs” series of paintings and his 17 Old Testament paintings. He was instrumental in setting up the museum and is fairly unique in having seen it completed while he was alive. Our admission included individual audio guides in English which were very helpful in our enjoyment and appreciation of what we were seeing. When we were finished we continued hiking uphill until we got to the site of an ancient Roman city called Cemenelum. In a large park atop a hill there is an archeological museum and a Matisse Museum, which is housed in a 16^th century villa. In the park there are the ruins of the Roman Arena for the city, a monastery, an orchard of olive trees, and a large green area. Groups of older people were playing bocce ball and we found it a delightful place to enjoy a small lunch from the vendor set up there. We went through the Matisse Museum, which wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the Chagall, partly because there was very little English interpretation to help us. We had a similar problem at the Archeological Museum; however we could wander the extensive ruins of the Roman baths and look at the many artifacts inside and gained some understanding of the ancient culture. After all our climbing and walking through museums we all welcomed the chance to take the bus back to the hotel. We had a recommendation of a restaurant to try down near the Market area but it was too crowded so we went to a nearby place where Marv and I shared a pizza and a Caprese salad, Heidi had lasagna and Kris had a pizza. Our feet were plenty tired as we trudged back and gratefully hit the sack that night.

Sunday in Toulon

Sun. Apr. 3: This trip to Nice all began when Kris returned to a site he had bookmarked with Festivals held around the world and found that the Bacchus Wine Festival was being held Apr. 1-3 in Toulon, France. One thing led to another, and today was our day to make the Pilgrimage to Toulon. The e-tickets for the train that I had bought online before we left worked perfectly and the two hour trip got us to Toulon without a problem. But when we tried to get information on the festival, the woman at Tourist Information had no idea what we were talking about. Kris found the site again on his trusty IPod and the woman could direct us to the Place (plaza) in which it was being held. After a quick bathroom stop at McDonald’s (clean, free restrooms! Why haven’t we seen that travel tip in Rick Steves?) we continued walking and found the correct plaza and the long white tent of the Bacchus Wine and Food Festival, 2011. About a third of the tent was devoted to foods of Provence and the other two thirds had four rows of wine booths from all parts of France. We bought our tasting glasses for 4€ each and spent the rest of the day sipping and tasting to our hearts’ content. The Vintners and helpers were quite amazed to learn that we had come all the way from Michigan in America for the festival, and everyone was helpful and friendly. We had a delicious lunch at a food vendor set up outside next to the festival tent. It turned out that it was an Alsace dish of melted cheese mixed with thin mashed potatoes, about the consistency of cheese fondue, that on eats with a fork by twisting and scooping. Great fun and fantastic!! We returned to McDonald’s for the bathrooms and then went back to the festival for the last time to make our purchases. We were plenty tired as we rode the train back to Nice but quite satisfied with having completed our mission. Voyageur Nissart was close to the train station so we introduced Heidi and Kris to it. We found it much busier than our first night there but it was equally delicious and made a good ending to a great day.

Saturday in Nice

Sat. Apr. 2: Happy Birthday, Mom!!! We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and turned on the computer so Kris could Skype us when they arrived. When we didn’t hear from them by 9:00 we walked our stuff over to the Hotel Helvetique where they told us that Kris and Heidi were in the breakfast room having a cup of coffee. They had only arrived 15 or 20 minutes earlier. The hotel locked up our bags and we set out together to find the famous Flower Market in Old Town. The flowers there are amazing and there is also a bustling Farmers’ Market of vegetables, fish, bread, honey, etc. We bought olives, bread, cheese, and wine to have later for lunch and wandered around Old Town before we took the Tram back to the hotel to check in. Unfortunately as soon as we got off of the Tram Heidi realized that her purse was open and her wallet was gone. The next hour or so was spent canceling their credit cards and regrouping. When we got together again they did well to throw off the problem and we walked down to the Place Massena fountains to eat our lunch. A little more walk took us to the Promenade for a stroll but Heidi and Kris soon headed back to the hotel to take a nap. Marv and I continued walking and even went down to the water’s edge to see how it felt. The rocks are really painful to walk on barefooted and we were amazed to watch young teenagers running across them and diving into the water! OUCH!!! I did manage to get my feet into the waves and think that the water wasn’t as cold as Lake Superior or even Lake Michigan for most of the summer. Back up on the Promenade we made our way to the Musée Massena, without really knowing what it was. After picking up our free ticket we went inside and found that it was Prince L’Eppling’s villa which has now become a sort of museum of Nice history. There are a few royal artifacts such as Josephine Bonaparte’s coronation gown and lots of photos and festival posters from the 1800s and 1900s. From there we wandered down rue de Massena back to Place Massena and the hotel. Kris and Heidi were ready to eat by then so we took Rick Steves’ advice again and went to “le 20 du Vin” for dinner but didn’t like it as much and found it to be pretty expensive. Since restaurants don’t open until 7:00 for dinner we find ourselves finishing late each night and just going to bed, which is what we did again this night.

And now to France

Thu. Mar. 31-Fri. Apr. 1: Our adventure actually began on Thursday, as we left East Lansing at 8:30. For the first time we decided to take the Michigan Flyer bus to Detroit Metro so we didn’t have to pay to park for 2½ weeks. Carol Roush kindly agreed to take us to the bus, which got us there without a hitch. Other than realizing that the IPod was left at home (which Thelma & Kris remedied for us) the whole trip was routine and without a problem. A strong tail wind got us, via JFK in New York, to Nice, France Friday at 7:45am, half an hour earlier than planned. As per Rick Steve we took the #99 bus to the train station downtown and the GPS told us how to find l’hotel de Madrid, about a 3 block walk away. That was a nice one night’s stay before we joined Heidi & Kris on Saturday. We were surprised to be able to check in right then at the hotel, so we put most of our things in the room and headed out to explore Nice. Our bus ticket was good for buses and the tram the whole day and would prove to be really useful. It is so easy to just wander around the city and we quickly became oriented and comfortable. When we found ourselves beside the Tram line we decided to take it all the way to the end point, Pont Michele, paying attention to stops along the way. We got off at the end, but seeing not much to do there, took the Tram the other way back to Vielle Ville (Old Village) and strolled the narrow winding lanes, charmed with their quaintness and the feeling of having absolutely no agenda. When we noticed a small park up beside a steep street we climbed up to see it. Then we went through a lovely wrought iron and stone gateway and climbed some steps further up the side of the hill. At the top there were signs directing us up a walking trail towards a Cascade and an ancient chateau. The further we climbed the more we realized we were climbing Castle Hill, which we had read about in our Steve’s book. It was an easy climb the way we had done it and we stopped frequently for the great views. From the top one has panoramic outlooks in several directions. After sharing a mozzarella and tomato Panini from the stand at the top, we took pictures of the ruins of the 11^th century chapel and marveled at the remaining walls from the protective citadel that stood guard over Old Nice at its beginning. From one overlook we saw the Port to the east, with some huge yachts pulled up beside one of the docks. High above the Promenade d’Anglais, which runs for 4 miles along the shore, we were surprised to hear the gentle waves lapping up on the rocks. So we made our way down the many steps to the Promenade and did as the natives did and joined the many people walking along the Mediterranean Sea. It was a stunning day with sun in the brilliant blue sky and the temperature was around 70. We spent part of the time on the very rocky shore itself, but the rocks are pretty difficult to walk on so it wasn’t long until we returned to the wide, paved Promenade. About halfway down we headed back up rue Jean Mediçin to take the Tram to close to our hotel. A short nap seemed to be a good idea to help get us acclimated to time. Afterwards we took the Tram to its other end point and got off. Again, there wasn’t a lot to see but we had noticed a sweet park near a University stop so we took the Tram back to it, walked through it and went a few blocks further on foot past the modern looking and very white Church of Jean d’Arc. Back on the Tram we returned to our “neighborhood” and found the Rick Steves’ suggested Voyageur Nissart for traditional Niçoise food. Marv had vegetable soup, a white fish in butter sauce, polenta, and strawberry tart. I had tomato and mozzarella salad, beef ravioli, pumpkin and rice mix, and tiramisu. It was all so yummy and we went to bed full and exhausted from our first day in Nice.