Tag Archives: France

A Long Train Day

Posted on by
Reply

We were nearly packed last night, but today we finished our packing by a little after 8:00. We had coffee in our room. And we were ready to go. At close to 8:30 we walked over to the train station. A nice, easy walk.

But as an aside (since today’s entry will not be terrifically exciting, as our train ride is nearly five hours), I find it interesting to see what different hotels offer in their rooms. Sometimes you get the gamut: shower cap, hand lotion, sewing kit, eye makeup remover … it really does run the gamut. Some, though, just sort of crack me up. Like the Montpellier hotel:

Yes. A wooden comb and a shoe horn. That’s was it. And no, I didn’t take them. (Confession: I’m sorely tempted by the free stuff. Most of the time, though, I know better than to take things. Emphasis on MOST of the time.) I think I’ll have to start taking photos of what goodies (that I rarely need) are offered. Just for fun.

Oh … and then there was the hotel floor. If you looked at it with the very dim lighting you might think it was wood. But no. It was carpet. Sort of like indoor/outdoor carpet:

It sure felt weird under stocking or bare feet!

So … back to the train station. We arrived.

We bought breakfast. (I ordered a cappuccino but the person behind the counter said, “no” so I guess either the machine wasn’t working or I looked like I didn’t need one. Or something.)

Getting to our track, we found the chart to show us where our car (car two) would be. Well, sort of … they are never exactly where I’m standing.

We boarded, and are sitting across from a family: man, woman, two teen (I’m guessing) daughters. I think they are speaking Chinese, but how would I know? I am horrible with languages. The woman was sitting on her knees and mumbling while listening to something. The man was holding his phone to his ear and listening to something but I could hear it and it was sort of bugging me (I’m easily bugged), but Dan said it didn’t bother him so I worked on my attitude. But other than that they were quiet. We were quiet. And the only other people in this car were quiet (I saw only four others at the start of our journey). I love a quiet car! The seats were comfy, so while it was a long ride in a not-so-fast train, it was certainly comfortable.

We went past large bodies of water, and saw birds that Dan thought might, perhaps, be flamingos. It was difficult to tell from a distance. We saw a huge castle (or what I assumed was a castle) in Beziers. And then mountains covered in snow.

Our final stop in France was at Perpignan. Next up? Spain!

So au revoir, dear France.

Once we passed Perpignan the train really picked up speed. Prior to that I just assumed we were on a slow train but I certainly changed my mind! We also went through one incredibly long tunnel, whoever fills us in on things over the loudspeaker only spoke Spanish (prior to this it was French, then Spanish, followed by English), and the Spanish police came through the train. Mostly I was happy to realize I hadn’t chosen a slow train after all! (I didn’t think I had: I always compare times and check the train, but I was starting to worry that I’d made a mistake.) This is an “Ave” Spanish train. Hm. Maybe they just can’t go fast in France? Dunno!

Onward we went. When we reached Barcelona a lot of people got off and a lot got on. The latter are, I’m guessing, not going to our destination, but the final one on this route.

Our train began at 9:33. It ended at 2:24. Hello, Zaragoza! Aside from our flights, our long journeys are now finished. But then all of our train journeys but one are finished. So it goes … trips tend to speed by faster and faster.

We had a short and easy taxi ride to our hotel, where I checked in, and learned that my passport had been saved from our visit in Porto, but that was my old one. I didn’t realize they would keep that on file. Hmm.

Our room is just fine. Very simple, but with lovely windows that look out at a fine view!

The biggest news is that my tights now had to come off, and I only needed one top (I’d been wearing a merino wool Uniqlo turtleneck underneath a cashmere sweater.) The temps were in the 50°s when we arrived. Amazing!

And yes, I took a photo of the free items in the bathroom. More extensive here, but another comb and shoehorn are in the mix. (News you can use.)

After sitting around a bit so Dan could post a photo and do whatever he does we went downstairs for the glasses of cava we were given due to my booking directly with Catalonia hotels. (Always good to check for little perks and discounts … I compare several booking places and the direct booking and direct nearly always wins. When it doesn’t I write to ask if they will match a price.) A couple from Alaska, that we saw on the train and then saw go into this same hotel came down and we chatted a bit. They’ve traveled tons, and have done a number of walks. I was impressed!

Finally we went outside. It was still pleasant out, and we just took a leisurely stroll to a spot where a small Christmas market was, looking, along the way, for dinner ideas. Nearly every restaurant was closed, though. We knew people ate later here, but it seemed it was even later than we thought. What we did see, though, were loads of people have churros and chocolate! I guess that’s what one is to do in the early evening. Who knew? I suppose if all else failed we’d order something from this pizza kiosk. Crazy!

We continued walking, and ended up on a fairly busy street. At that point the weather was cooling down and I regretted not dressing more warmly. We went inside a place that had things like churros and Dan picked out some tasty treats that looked somewhat like skinnier croissants, but they were sweet as well. I asked for hot chocolate — or at least I think that’s what I asked for: they didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish. Alas, no chocolate available, so I had a cappuccino instead. (I hope I sleep tonight!)

While there I made reservations for a tapas place since I could at least see they would take a 7:45 reservation and I wasn’t sure if it would be difficult to get in if I didn’t make one.

We went back to the hotel since we had a bit of time to kill and we definitely needed to put our warm things on again.

Then it was off to Viñedos de Cinegia. Where we weren’t asked if we had a reservation, nor was it needed. After all, we were there for an early meal, being as it was “only” 7:45! We figured out how to order our tapas and drinks, and then sat down and enjoyed them tremendously! So we ordered a few more. And paid so little at the end I was quite surprised. I’d forgotten how little one pays here in Spain.

The walk back to the hotel was quick and easy.

Now back in our room we will soon attempt sleep. Who knows, when eating so late, how that will go!

Side Note: I’m not sure, now, why I opted for Zaragoza. I know I’d heard about it somewhere, but so far it doesn’t have the charm of the other smaller places we’ve been. I’m hoping I figure out what it was that grabbed my attention some time ago, because at the moment I’m coming up empty, aside from thinking there was something similar to the cathedral-mosque in Cordoba, maybe. But here we are, so we will enjoy it as best we can!

Final Full Day in Montpellier

Posted on by
Reply

I’d say we got up a bit late, but since we have been pretty consistent getting up and moving around 9:00 I guess that’s our normal time at this point! We had our coffee in the room, got ready to go outside, and headed down the stairs.

Our first task of the day was to see how the trek to the train station would be, both for time and, because we have our roller cases, what the road surface was like.

On the way to the station we spotted a Protestant church:

Turns out getting to the station should be a very easy, maybe ten minute max trip. We checked out the station too, although we don’t yet know the track we’ll be on. (I like to know as much as possible as soon as possible, but track numbers don’t appear until shortly before the train arrives.) Our upcoming ride is the longest one we will have, mostly due to the number of stops, I think.

After that we wandered more, as we are wont to do. From the train station we sort of exited the old part of town for a bit. If we had more time in the city I suspect we’d have investigated more of this since there is some interesting architecture in Montpellier.

Eventually we went back into the center, and ended up at a small pop up art exhibit. There we enjoyed coffee and a small snack since we’d not yet eaten.



We knew we wanted to see the Montpellier Cathedral so we went in that general direction, enjoying a variety of sights on the way.

Across from the cathedral is the university, but we didn’t really see any of that.

Unfortunately the cathedral itself was only open for mass since it’s Sunday, but as we walked by we could hear the organ. It wasn’t mass time, so I could only guess that perhaps the organist was practicing. Whatever the musician was playing sounded somewhat modern to my ear, but who knows? I’m not familiar at all with solo organ works. I really wish we could have gone in to listen. From outside it sounded quite powerful. The cathedral itself is quite impressive from the outside, but there aren’t that many places where one can get photos and one side is really inaccessible.

We then ambled around and ended up in the Jardin des Plantes. It was fun to wander, and I’m especially fond of gardens where everything is labeled. I am betting the gardens is amazing in late spring and summer. But even now I really enjoyed it.

Then it was time to head to lunch. Of course that does take us a while, what with finding more things to photograph! Dan realized his battery was running low so we knew we’d have to go back to the hotel to recharge it, but we both knew, too, that we would also need recharging!

Lunch itself was nice and relaxing. And warm for a time, as the sun was shining in on us, as you can see (not a great photo, but in that sun it was the best we could do!) for much of the meal.

(You might shake your head at my goofy food photos, but it does help me remember the day so I try to take them when I remember.)

Then it was back to our hotel. Which is when I starter writing this (as is typical each day). No nap this time, though: I’m hoping I’ll sleep more soundly if I don’t nap.

Once we were ready to go out in search of dinner we donned our incredibly fashionable jackets (NOT) and went out. It really wasn’t terrifically cold, but I’d rather be too warm than too cold, so there you go.

As is typical, we walked a lot to find the right spot for dinner. We didn’t do much photographing (I’m not sure if Dan did any), but of course with an iPhone it’s easy to snap a few things.

We ended up about as close to our hotel as possible at, maybe, the most mediocre restaurant we’ve been at. And yes, I could have done better than to order fish ‘n chips at a restaurant in France! But we just weren’t in the mood to wait until more places opened, and we really just needed to get some food and head back so we could make sure we were mostly packed and ready for tomorrow’s 9:33 train. (This means, for us, that we want to leave here by around 8:30. Not early, I realize, for most folks, but considering how relaxed we’ve been on this trip it’ll probably feel early to us!)

Knock, knock …

… and goodnight!

Saturday, December 14

Posted on by
Reply

Our day began with our hotel room coffee and some research about restaurants in the area. I narrowed things down to five that had been on the hotel’s recommendation list. Whether going by what they say is wise or not depends on who you ask, I suppose, but we went with their recommendations so there you go.

Our first task when we got outside was to visit each one. I had mapped them out so we went in a good order. (And doesn’t it just warm your heart to see McD’s there. Argh!)

But first … wait! What is this BLUE STUFF I’m seeing in the sky? Why am I squinting? Heh. Yes, we had blue sky and it was sunny enough I contemplated coming back for sunglasses. That was a first!

Restaurant #1, La Chistera, looked fine, but didn’t exactly grab me. #2, Le Paresseur, was one we’d seen last night. I thought it looked nice, and it had a small menu that did include things we’d eat. (We don’t eat beef.) #3, L’Alchimista, was a bit confusing: we saw the address and the name of the restaurant but you couldn’t see in the windows or anything. Walking around the corner we saw, in a different building, the same name. I’m not sure what that was about. But in any case we decided to nix that. #4, RoseMarie, just didn’t hit me. Maybe my problem! But also they have no web presence that I could find other than social media and I’d have to call to make reservations. #5, L’Angelus, looked nice. Three options for a plat (our main), one being vegan and the other two worked as well. We narrowed it down to #2 and #5 and finally settled on #2, primarily because we had a bit more choice, as well as knowing we had to choose something! Reservations were made. They will limit our stay, they say, what with our early 7:30 reservation. People eat later in Europe, and I find it a bit of a challenge to adjust to that.

But enough of that! No one even really needed to read that paragraph. Hah!

From there we walked in a rather random manner, thinking maybe we’d eat lunch soon.

But then there was a shop that caught our eye and we grabbed croissants for the time being. At least we didn’t go crazy and get the really sweet stuff! (Okay, maybe mine was a chocolate croissant.)

More walking randomly when, ta-da!, we arrived at the Christmas market I thought would suit us best. Go figure. Before entering, we stopped to take in the view, an aqueduct, and more.

Then it was Christmas market time.

And vin chaud time.

And lunch. Could Dan finish all of this? (I had a pretzel with brie.)

No, he couldn’t!

Walking back we first heard a bunch of very loud drumming which we attempted to catch, but didn’t manage: there were too many things we wanted to stop and photograph.

But then we heard singing and came across this wacky group.

Following that was the not wacky group in a pro-Palestinian protest.

More walking…

… and we got back to the square near our hotel. There we saw a Syrian celebration.

There was a photography show nearby about Gisèle Freund, a photographer I’d never heard of. It was quite interesting, but I finally totally lost it — I simply needed to close my eyes. So back to our room we went.

(Side note: I hate that I don’t have the energy I used to. Stopping in the afternoon drives me nuts as I know it means I am doing less than I’d like. But so it goes. Age does its thing.)

After our rest time we went back out and enjoyed a walk before dinner. First we went to the Plaza de Comédie, and I asked Dan why it was called that and I realized we need to look that up, which I have since done. Duh: the Opéra de Comédie is at one end of the plaza. Shoulda thunk it!

It was fun to see the lights, as well as the kids on the carousel.

The crowds are fairly crazy at this point.

We finally made our way to dinner. Le Paresseur wasn’t open when we arrived, but a few minutes later they opened the door and we, along with a family of three, went in. They disappeared into another space, so we never saw them again and I wondered if it was a private area, but who knows? Our table was chosen and we sat. Then we managed to figure things out from the French menu (thanks to Google translate!), and ordered things. Our appetizer was fabulous. (We shared, but I could easily have eaten it all myself.)

Our mains arrived and, again, absolutely fabulous food!

Side note: at one point the lights went out. I’m not sure if it was during the appetizer or the mains. But it appeared they knew exactly what to do as one of the servers ran out the front door and another followed and soon all was well again. It was funny, though, how quiet it got when it first went dark! I rather liked it.

And yes, we had dessert as well. (It’s what I think of as our fancy schmantzy meal out, after all.)

What a night this was! Many thanks to the lovely restaurant for a memorable meal.

From there it was a quick walk to the hotel. We even managed without using our phones!

So now goodnight … we have one more day here (with no plans, really), so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Moving Day, December 13

Posted on by
Reply

We began our day by showering and packing. Our cab met us at 9:15 and we were going to Gare de Lyon. We were driven past the Opera Bastille which reminded me that we were supposed to be there in 2020 until Covid Times hit. I do hope we can get back to Paris sometime to see an opera there.

Goodbye, Paris … this is from our taxi, as we passed by the Louvre:

Of course we arrived at the train station plenty early: we never take chances and we always have had time to spare. We had our last Paris breakfast at the station, and were on our train and in our seats well before it departed, at precisely 10:56 as scheduled. Our car was nice and quiet, and not completely full. Then I stared at this guy for 3 or so hours:

The start of our trip:

I’ve been surprised to see people leave bags unattended, both on trains and in coffee shops.

After leaving the station and getting out of the city we, for the very first time on this trip, I think, saw a truly blue sky. Despite being on a very fast moving train I had to make a few photos!

I did a few things on my iPad (yes, I’m still managing to play all of my word games most days) and then shut my eyes for a brief time. I find it very difficult to stay awake on a train. Heck, I find it difficult to stay awake any time I’m in a moving vehicle that I’m not driving! I also find it difficult to let myself sleep, though, only because I don’t want to miss anything! But the train lulled me to nap and I was out for a short time. When I woke, I woke to no more blue sky, but lots of fog.

Later it was fog and frost on the ground. It was so beautiful from my nice warm train seat!

The first stop was Valence, for a whopping three minute stop … except not really: it looked like some people wanted to get on the train and I don’t know if they didn’t have tickets or if it was the wrong train, but the person from the train who was talking to them clearly wasn’t going to let them on for some reason. So the stop turned out to be ten minutes.

Second stop: Nîmes, where a lot of people exited and we stopped for all of four minutes.

Finally our destination. Hello Montpellier!

Before getting off the train my blood sugar issue hit: it’s the first time for this trip, so I was rather surprised. If I eat breakfast (which I’ve been doing on this trip) I sometimes, a few hours later, get the shakes, my heart races, and I get very warm. Well, I guess I was due for this. So before getting a taxi to the hotel we went into a place at the station and bought water and I got crackers while Dan bought chips. We sat for a while as I recovered. Dan had nearly finished his water and I still had much of mine so I suggested he pour his into my bottle. He was not seeing clearly so I took his bottle and then proceeded to pour half of it on the table! Too funny that I thought I’d do better!

We caught our cab and got to our hotel in fairly decent time. The place is an older one, and pretty spacious.

Now I confess I didn’t know much about Montpellier. I had chosen it because it fit between Paris and the next destination. We could have opted for one other city that would have fit, but this one seemed to be more about food and the other about the beach life, I think. When I read that it had great food I figured we’d enjoy it. Of course I then neglected to research any eating spots.

We got settled in our room, spent a short time relaxing, and when rain had subsided decided to go out and see what we’d find. We first headed to Place de la Comédia, and then continue wherever our feet took us.

Neither of us realized just how many small streets and alleys we’d find, and this, um (sorry) right up our alley. Dan was enjoying the rainy streets for photography, as was I. (But I’m still using only the iPhone. I think I’ve decided vacations are for the iPhone only.)

So we walked. And walked. And walked some more. We were surprised to see a large number of tapas places. I guess that’s a thing here. Montpellier is closer to Spain than France (Dan informed me — no, I don’t know those sorts of facts!), so maybe that’s why?

It was getting to the point where dinner sounded like a good idea, so we went to look at a place that was recommended at the hotel. Alas, they didn’t open until 8:00 and we weren’t wanting to wait that long, so we headed back to another spot where we had looked earlier. I had mussels and Dan had fish and chips.

When we left the restaurant it was raining, but not terrifically hard, so with umbrellas we were just fine. Had I followed my instincts I would have gotten us far away from the hotel. It sure is handy to have phones that can tell us where to go!

Getting back to the hotel I did something I also did for the past two nights that I probably haven’t done in eons: I took a bath! What can I say? They have these lovely tubs, and it just seems like the right thing to do. But am I becoming my mother? She took baths all the time. (I don’t know if she ever took a shower in her life!) Hm. We’ll see if this trend continues.

So now it’s after 9:00 and I should post this before I fall asleep!

Until tomorrow —

A Museum Day … About Time, Right?

Posted on by
Reply

Today we again had our small breakfast downstairs. Then back upstairs we went to dress for our excursion.

About 25 minutes later we were at the Louvre, where we had made reservations to enter at 11:00.

Now museums and I don’t always get along: my back can hurt, and my eyes finally have had enough. But today was not that way. We were there for nearly five hours, I think. I didn’t take a lot of photos, as a photo never does them justice and I’d rather look at them than look through a phone at them. But here are a few I shot just to show we really were there. And yes, we saw good old Mona, and no, no photo of her. But a photo of the crowd peering at her.

The walk home took us past a lot of stores again.

At one store I pondered … just which thing will Dan be buying me? Hmmm.

We saw a carousel and went to watch and take photos. The majority of people on it were adults. Some were perhaps a bit too large for the seat, but whatever. I saw no place to purchase tickets, so I think it was actually free but no, I didn’t ride it. Maybe next time. Or not.

I love that some street decorations spell “MOM”. How kind of them to honor all of us, don’t you think? ( You might have to look carefully.)

Back in our room we researched dinner spots. We settled on Les Clos Bourguignon, a mere minute from our hotel. The one and only server spoke no English. We speak no French. But it’s amazing how all of us can manage somehow.

Tomorrow morning we say our goodbyes to Paris. We’ve enjoyed our experiences here very much, but time marches on.

December 11 in Paris

Posted on by
Reply

We arrived downstairs late enough that the breakfast room was closed. That wasn’t a big deal since there is no way we want to pay 21€ each for a buffet breakfast, but we’d actually thought we’d get the “petite déjeuner”. Ah, but the man there said we could still order that, so we could eat at the hotel. But “petite”?! Heh — that was a lot of pastry for petite if you ask me.

Our hotel is decorated nicely. While we were having our breakfast the staff was having a photo session in front of this tree.

After breakfast it was time to get out and walk. Down the elevator we went. I know you’ll appreciate my red headband. HAH!

We just rambled, and took photos on the way (as usual!).

If I see a window that grabs my eye for some reason, I have to take a shot.

This glass building caught our attention:

We wound up in Le Marais, and found the area where we stayed on a former visit.

More Le Marais, and we even happened upon the street where Dan made one of my favorite photos. We also located a restaurant we loved when we visited earlier (but I forgot to take a photo. Oops!), but I doubt we’ll get there this time.

We ate lunch in Le Marais, and then it was time to journey to Notre Dame. We made our way slowly, taking time, of course, to shoot other things and go inside a church we had taken exterior photos of last time.

We had to stop for this old Medieval house which has been restored.

A few more photos:

Notre Dame was, well, not as thrilling as one might think. There were barriers around it. There were police with huge guns, and there is scaffolding and more around it. There was also a line for what I can only assume were people with reservations to go in (visits are timed), but one confusing sign kind of implied maybe you could get in without a reservation if you had a code. I suspect, though, that it was just a language issue that made it confusing. In any case, we knew we weren’t going in.

Walking over to the other side of the Seine we walked a bit, heading in the direction of our hotel.

I’ve now figured out that the Palais Garnier isn’t the only building with advertising to cover building work. I guess this is the thing places do. I realize it’s ugly to see scaffolding up and all, but I really don’t like these giant commercials.

Continuing our walk and continuing to take photos (btw, I am only using my iPhone so far), I included a few windows that caught my eye … thinking maybe Dan wanted to buy me something new (and perhaps also pay for a complete makeover!).

This poor woman was struggling to walk. Why anyone would want to wear shoes like that in Europe is beyond me. But then wearing them anywhere on planet earth is also beyond me! (But hey, I’m old. And I like comfort. And don’t like sprained ankles.)

Getting back to our hotel was easy since I had put our hotel into the map app and it guided us. (Who knows where we’d wind up otherwise?) Soon we had our feet up and were checking things on our iPads. By then we’d walked over six miles and the break was enjoyed.

Since our dinner reservation (just a minute away!) reservation was for 7:00 and we had two hours to kill we went downstairs for a drink. I mean the elevator poster suggested it (and shows potato chips and olives by the drinks) so why not?! I ordered “Peter’s” since we are at Hotel Saint Petersbourg but was quickly informed that that was no longer an option. Dan ordered a Manhattan, and I then ordered an Old Fashioned. Well … um … maybe hotel drinks aren’t really a good idea! The bartender (if that’s what he really was) had to look up the ingredients. I think it took him at least 10 minutes to make them (and we were the only ones there), and they were the Most Boring Drinks Ever. Live and learn. Sadly we can’t say, “We won’t pay for the Most Boring Drinks Ever” as I don’t believe they’d care. When we were going down for those Most Boring Drinks Ever the reception area was crazy full: it looks like a business group. The people who then went to the bar ordered beers. MUCH better option, I think.

But I ramble about such an insignificant thing. So I will stop now or this blog will become the Most Boring Blog Ever. (Or maybe it already is?!)

Once surviving the Most Boring Drinks Ever (oh dear … I did it again, didn’t I?), we killed more time in our room (yours truly spent time typing some of this) and then walked to our restaurant. It was a very small place, and there weren’t many there when we arrived for our 7:00 reservation, but by the time we left it was full and someone was coming in the door. Dinner was quite nice.

It was not a fancy meal, but felt more like what someone might have at home, really. Until dessert — we couldn’t choose between two so we had to have both. Such a rough life.

We got back to the hotel, and I took a bath. I’m normally not a bath person, but this tub … well … it’s so big and clean and called my name. So I answered. Okay, no name calling. But last night my legs were bugging me in the middle of the night and I am hoping a bath might help me sleep. We shall see.

Tomorrow is our final full day here, and our train leaves in the morning of the 13th so, really, tomorrow IS our final day here. We have plans, but if I told you what they were I’d spoil the story, right? (Hmm. Maybe “you” is only me and of course I already know our plans! Hah!)

So goodnight to all. Or good afternoon. Depends upon where you are!

A Whole Lot of Walking & An Opera

Posted on by
Reply

We started quite slowly today, which is probably a theme on this trip.

Our first goal was to make sure we knew how to reach Palais Garnier (easy!), and if the restaurant I’d made reservations for was what we wanted (no! — and why is a fast food place asking us to make reservations anyway?).

I’d been warned that the Palais Garnier had a horrible huge ad and false facade on the front … sure enough, it’s still there. Too bad.

Since that fast food restaurant spot wasn’t going to do it for us we walked back to the hotel street and checked out places there. The opera begins at 7:30, so those that opened at 6 or later just seemed too iffy, so we found something that will be open earlier and we’ll just hop on over there. I am guessing we’ll be early enough that it will be easy to get a table. I saw this tile work on the corner nearby … felt like we were back in Portugal!

After heading back to our hotel to put another layer on (the wind was making it colder than I expected), and checking the weather (no rain), we went back out. Our sort of flexible goal was to get to Notre Dame, so we walked in that direction.

We don’t walk fast. It’s more of a casual amble. And we look around constantly. It was a random walk, so if we saw something that caught our eye we’d go there.

Near the Louvre we looked for lunch. Up til then we’d only had coffee, so it was time. We ate tremendously healthy stuff. I can’t say it was fabulous, but it sufficed.

Eventually we wound up at the Christmas market by the Louvre. To me it was more of a carnival than a market: they did have food and drink, but we didn’t get anything. We did love the singing reindeer. That sort of made the visit to the market! Crazy thing is that I used to listen to a guy who did YouTube videos where he sang three or four parts and put it all together and this sounded just like him. I know he’s from France, and I know he’s fluent in English so maybe it actually is …?

And then out we went … and it was sprinkling. WHY do we trust the weather apps? (And why don’t we carry our umbrellas in any case?) Because of that we put a hold on Notre Dame: if the rain got worse we’d be seriously uncomfortable. So we wandered. A lot.

And of course we “discovered” things we’d never seen before! This place: Domaine national du Palais-Royal. We just sort of ended up there.

And roses … in December?!

Getting back to the hotel my watch said I’d walked over 7 miles. My feet said so too. With an early dinner plan I decided a little bit of rest would be good.

We went out to dinner at the place right across the street and had a very simple meal: I had onion soup and Dan had a salad.

Finishing that we went back to the hotel and dressed for the opera.

As is typical we were a bit confused on our directions: I have decided I will never understand this part of Paris! But we got to the opera … and what a place it is!



We had box seats. Not too shabby!

I really enjoyed The Rake’s Progress. The orchestra and singers were super. The great conductor was Susanna Mälkki, someone I really thought was fabulous at SFSymphony. This is our final outing for a performance on this trip. I’m so glad we got to attend so many.

So far no plans for tomorrow, but I suspect we will make our way over to Notre Dame. I’m sorry we can’t go inside, but I gave it my best shot: I checked any time I woke up in the night, and at other times of the day as well. They just never had any I could grab. Rats!

Tschüss München, Tschüss Deutschland

Posted on by
2

… and, so very sadly, goodbye Jan & Greg. Oh how I will miss you.

This morning, after getting nearly everything packed, we went one last time to Greg & Jan’s room and had coffees and pastries. (EEK, I forgot to thank them for the coffee they brought for me … so sorry, you two … and thank you!!)

When it was time for them to head to their train we said our goodbyes and Dan and I went back to our room to kill a bit of time and finish packing completely. After checking out we found our way to the S-bahn and the train arrived in only a minute or two. Have some boring photos from the train:

The train took us right to the airport. But what a place it is. We hadn’t been to this airport before, so we had a bit of navigating to do, but the signs are fairly clear once we look up and find them! We entered one building but our terminal was out the back of that building and into another. First though … a Christmas market between the two buildings!

Part of me wanted to stop and look around, but, more importantly, I wanted to get in and check our roller bags since we knew they were too large and too heavy for the Lufthansa flight.

Security was easy (so very organized), although I trigged the thing again. I saw the image they had and it showed that something was in a pocket. But no, nothing there! So who knows why that happened. Dan triggered it because of his TSA approved plastic belt. So much for thinking that belt could stay on.

We proceeded to the Senator Lounge (a perk of Dan’s, being as he is Star Alliance Gold), and we then knew whe had quite a bit of time to eat, do whatever on our iPads, and relax. (And, for me, walk a bit since I got antsy legs!)

… and yet the time passed rather quickly for me. So much for “quite a bit of time”.

We headed to our gate (a 7 minute walk according to the info provided in the lounge) and, yes, it took a while, especially since all those “moving sidewalk” thingies (what are they called?) were not working. We were boarding group 2 … but they boarded 1 and 2 at the same time. AND we were in the first row after the first class rows (of which there were only 3). Another bonus? No one in the other seat in our row, so I moved over to the window.

It was a fairly quick flight, and most of it was in the clouds, but I did take a few photos.

We had a bit of a walk and two fun bits on the way to gather up our luggage:


And the … hello Paris! We were planning on doing the train in and then catching a cab at the end of the run, but then we decided the cab wasn’t much more expensive and would be easier than navigating ourselves. But oh the traffic was horrendous. Maybe this is a normal thing: I wouldn’t know. Getting in to the city, though, was such fun. I’m excited to wander tomorrow.


We are staying at the Hotel Saint Petersbourg Opera. It’s not cheap, but it’s Paris and you take what you can get. We have a sweet room, and it’s near a lot of places include it Palais Garnier, where we will see Rake’s Progress tomorrow night.


Dinner was just a short distance from our hotel and suited us just fine. By that time it was getting rather late so we knew we wouldn’t go far. It’s now after 10 PM and it’s been a long day, so off to bed we go.

November 26 & a Birthday

Posted on by
Reply

Today was departure day. But before that … time to go to the bakery with Greg and pick up some yummy breakfast treats. We also walked around Riquewihr, because I had yet to see it in the daylight.



Today is also Jan’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Jan!

After we ate and packed up we drove back to the village (Ribeavillé) where we bought wine yesterday, because Greg was picking up a few more bottles of wine. Of course we had to sample the wine he was buying, too.


Then we drove to another village: Orschwiller. I mean … why not, right? Greg and Jan buy wine from a place there, so we did a good amount of tasting there as well, and Dan and I purchased three bottles to enjoy while we are here (we don’t want to bring anything home since we are hoping for carryon only going back), and Greg will have his bottles shipped since our car was plenty full already!

Also on the way home we stopped in Karlsruhe, saw some of the Christmas market, and ate at a place indoors since it was a bit cool for eating outside and the Christmas market didn’t have any indoor seating until later.

Finally it was time to get to Heidelberg. Greg prepared dinner (fondue). Dan and I had the lovely task of setting up fraud alerts because we received emails yesterday that our social security numbers have make it to places we don’t want them to be. Fun.

Then it was a great dinner and celebrating Jan’s birthday.

Travels for Today

Posted on by
Reply

After our breakfast we all got in the car and went to yet another little town. Ribeauvillé is “one of the oldest medieval towns” in Alsace. It was pretty quiet there when we arrived, and we slowly ambled up (or was it down? Or across? I haven’t a clue!) the main street.

As you see in one of these photos, I did finally get a teddy bear photo. Still, I haven’t gotten one that shows a multitude of teddy bears for some reason. I haven’t a clue why they are a “thing” here in Alsace, but every town we drove through has them. They are hanging outside, they are inside in the windows, and sometimes they are piled up. It’s a big thing, for sure.

Our wandering finally took us to a winery Greg and Jan like. We sampled six wines. You don’t have to pay for tastings here. Go figure. We bought three bottles to share. Greg and Jan bought more — but they have a place to store them. We weren’t up for checking luggage in order to bring some home. I wish I’d taken photos inside, but all I have is the building exterior.

We ate lunch at a place on the main drag, and then Greg went to get to car so he could pick up the wine, and Jan, Dan, and I went to get some other things so we could have a dinner in our little home for one more night.

From there we took a long route home. It was lovely. Until I got restless legs. From then on I was pretty miserable and just had to hang on until we could get home. I’ve not had RLS for a while. But so it goes. I survived. Got back. Took a hot bath, and I was feeling better, albeit a bit queasy from the stress of it all. A short rest seemed to take care of that issue. I think I have to be careful not to eat too much if I have a long sit following a meal, especially if it’s rather rich. (This is one reason the lie flat seats are better for me: if I got this on the plane and was in a different section I’d be toast. If I get RLS on the plane the solution is simply to go to sleep.)

Next up … a simple dinner with the wine we purchased from Domaine Jean Sipp, bread from the same town, cheese from yesterday’s adventures, and sausages of various sorts. It’s our final evening here … and I do hope that we someday return to Alsace, but you just never know.

Tomorrow it’s time to pack up and head back to Heidelberg. Perhaps some adventures between the two places: time will tell. (But when do we not have adventures?!)