For our international trip for 2013 we decided to spend three weeks exploring France. We spent two weeks with an organized tour with Grand Circle Travel and then another five days on our own in an apartment we rented in Paris. Even though the weather did not cooperate, it really was a great trip.
There is much to be learned from experiencing other cultures - and the French culture is very rich indeed. I only wish that I had been able to have these experiences when I was much younger. Throughout American history, the French have had a large impact on the development of our country. One can easily imagine the impact of visiting Paris must have had on Jefferson and Franklin.
I must comment on the food. The French are famous for their cooking for a very good reason. The food is simple and it is very good. The French stay fit by walking a lot. I am afraid that I must now walk more and also eat a bit less.
One of our fellow travellers, Peg Meier, wrote an article about the trip for the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis.
This is a link to the article which ran July 8.
Below is a day-by-day description of our trip with links to all of the pictures. Just click on day title (Day 1, etc.) to be taken to our Picasa website to see the pictures in a separate window.
Enjoy. And we welcome your feedback.
Gary and Vina
Left home around 9 am
when the Lexus guy came to pick us up and take us to the airport. (It is
another story for another time why the Lexus dealership picked us up.) We flew from Phoenix to Detroit
where we had a 3 hour layover. We were
positively impressed with the Detroit
airport. We then boarded an Air France flight for the long flight to Paris. Despite Gary's
best efforts and confirmed aisle seats for both of us, Gary ended up in a
window seat. We arrived at Charles
De Gaulle airport around 11:30 am French time Thursday morning.
We went through immigration, got
our passports checked and walked for a long way through the maze that was the airport, to find our way to our local flight to Nice. We arrived at Nice around 2:30 p.m.
Thursday. We retrieved our luggage (with
some relief) and found a taxi for the ride to the hotel. Once we got settled in
the hotel, we had our first meeting of our travel group, enjoyed a glass of
wine and got to meet our travel companions.
Our travel guide, Jean Philippe Ruiz was quite enthusiastic.
We joined David and
Karen Schwalm for dinner at a nice restaurant close to the hotel. Even though all four of us were suffering a
bit from jet lag, we had a really nice dinner sitting outside.
We awoke early and had
breakfast in the hotel. We packed up our
stuff (hadn't really unpacked much) set it out for the porters to pick up and
we headed out for a walking tour of Nice lead by Jean
Philippe and a local guide.
The weather was not our
friend, with rain interrupting our walk, but we persevered. Nice is a really interesting place. The Mediterranean beach here was all rocks - no sand. We walked
around the old walled city and went to the flower and produce market. After the walking tour was over, we left the
group and took a narrated "train" tour of the city that included
going up to the old castle on top of the hill overlooking the city. A great view and some good pictures.
We went back to the
market on the way back to the hotel and bought a large sandwich with tuna,
tomatoes, lettuce on a round French bun which we cut in half and shared for lunch.
We made it back to the
hotel and finally boarded our bus around 2 p.m. for the trip to Arles
and our ship. On the way, we stopped for a visit at the Rhone American cemetery
where American soldiers from WWII are buried.
Once we arrived in Arles
and boarded the Chardonnay, our ship, and unpacked a bit, we enjoyed the Captain's welcome dinner. After a two
hour dinner with wine (which was always included with dinner onboard) we went to bed around 10 p.m.
We woke up and enjoyed
breakfast on board the Chardonnay. After
breakfast we headed off the ship for a walking tour of the walled part of Arles, the Roman coliseum and ruins.
After lunch we boarded
a bus to visit a farm were they raised bulls known for their
aggressiveness. The less aggressive bulls are sent to the slaughterhouse. The bulls are used in the French version of bull fighting where
the bulls are not killed. The matadors
are required to remove small little ribbon-like things from between the horns
of these aggressive bulls.
Since it was raining,
we took the tour of the farm in Land Rovers rather than the normal open air
trucks. Four of us piled into one
truck. Ours was driven by the owner (grandfather) of
the farm. He spoke French and Spanish
but little English, so they asked for Spanish speakers to go with him. Vina and another member of our group served
as translators for the two of us who were not fluent in Spanish. Vina really enjoyed the opportunity to use
her Spanish. This was a family run farm and all of the family - the son and his wife and their kids - took pride in the aggressiveness
and longevity of the bulls. Some of the bulls were even commemorated
with mounted heads as you can see in the background of the picture. Vina and I had our picture taken with the grandmother and grandfather
-really interesting people. We enjoyed
our visit.
We woke up to another
rainy day. I am sure that we would have
enjoyed our visit to Avignon
a whole lot more if the weather had been better.
A highlight of the day's tour was a visit to the Pope's Palace. During the 1300's, the Popes left the Vatican in Rome and for seven Popes, they were headquartered in Avignon. The wealth of the Church was evident in what they built. They remained in Avignon for around 70 years before returning to Rome.
In the afternoon, we
took a bus to Provence
to see the castle and visit the area where there were many different
shops. Unfortunately it rained quite
hard and we were not able to see or do much.
But all was not lost.
We went to see the
Cathedrale d'Images which was an amazing multimedia show of the works of French artists projected onto the
walls of old limestone quarry caves. It
was truly amazing and the pictures do not do it justice. You have to experience it to truly understand it.
Got up early this
morning to go on a walk through the town of Viviers.
The weather did not want to cooperate with us - it was in the 40's and
raining during our walk. Gary
bundled up wearing seven layers and was glad he did. But the walk was well worth it. We were treated with some really picturesque
views of the old town and after climbing a hill we arrived at the
cathedral. To the surprise of our guide
and to our delight, they were about to have an organ concert in the
church. We enjoyed the concert and the
respite from the rain. The concert concluded with the William Tell (Lone Ranger) overture.
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| Gary making crepes |
We got back to the ship
by 10:30 am and the ship left for Tournon.
A relaxing rainy day cruising the Rhone. The ship's chef gave a short cooking demonstration on how to make crepes suzette and even showed us how to flip the crepe in the pan. A lot of fun. We have the recipe if you want it. The cooking lesson was followed by a tour of the ship's kitchen.
That evening we went to
visit a local couple for dinner in their rather extraordinary home. It was an old flour mill (moulin) that had
been converted into a restaurant and bar. It was now being used as their private home. We had a great dinner with our hosts, Odile Bouyon and Gerard Poirier, and after dinner they lead us downstairs to the area that served as
a bar and Gerard proceeded to put on a cabaret show for us. A remarkable and very enjoyable evening.
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| Vina, Gary, Dave and Karen |
Docked in Lyon this morning.
After breakfast we took a bus tour of the city. The weather started out overcast, then turned
to rain and, as we returned to the ship, to partly sunny.
On our tour we visited
the cathedral on the hill where we spent about half an hour before heading down
to walk around the old city. Like so
many of the churches we have visited in Europe,
it reflected the wealth of the church.
The view from the top of the hill was quite impressive.
The walk through the
old part of Lyon included "secret
passages" called something that sounds like "trouble" in
French. The outside looks like a regular
door but when you open it, it leads to a hallway between the buildings that can lead to another street with staircases
leading to apartments. Very interesting.
We also visited a silk
screening shop where they made some very nice scarves and other silk
items. Interesting to see them printing the different colors and designs on the silk fabric.
After lunch on the ship, we rested, caught up on email and wrote in this journal. Then it was time to get ready for an
afternoon cocktail reception at 4:45 pm.
Life is good.
We enjoyed a hosted
cocktail reception because this is our third Grand Circle trip and we are members of
the "Inner Circle." After the reception, we had dinner. Then we enjoyed a classical piano recital
(mostly Debussy). It was a perfect
ending to the day as rain and lightning filled the skies.
We awoke to overcast
skies and light rain again. Our ship was restricted from continuing up the Saone River
because high water from runoff from the Alps requires that the locks be left open. The rest of our “river” trip shall be by
motor coach (bus). The ships would not be able to get under the bridges.
Our adventure this
morning was to visit the local outdoor market.
Gary
took lots of pictures of the wonderful looking food and flowers for sale. After looking at the pictures, you will
probably be hungry! Everyone was given 2
Euros to purchase some food to bring back to the ship for a pre-lunch
tasting. The rain stayed away while we
visited the market but returned after we returned to the ship.
In the afternoon, Gary went on a bus trip to visit a village in the hills of
Beaujolais.
Vina was not feeling well so she stayed on the ship and took a nap. The village we visited was very
picturesque. All of the buildings were
constructed of a golden colored limestone.
They views from the top of the hill were wonderful.
Then we headed to a
winery run by Etienne and Mireille Blanc - an enthusiastic couple. They took us into the vineyard where they
explained the grape growing process.
This was followed by a tour to their cellar where we tasted four
different Beaujolais wines - one white and
three different reds. Gary bought two of the reds to bring back to
Vina.
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| Beaujolais countryside |
The weather had turned
nice and even sunny for our visit to Beaujolais.
We went back to the
ship for the Captain's farewell dinner which was a bit fancier than our other
meals with several courses including roast beef and baked Alaska for dessert.
We were supposed to
have sailed to Macon last night but because the
river had been closed to traffic, we took a bus ride (about 45 minutes) to Macon. Not too much to see - a nice small town with
a church we visited.
We came back to the
ship for lunch. After lunch was free
time to explore more of Lyon or do whatever we
wanted. We walked around the town and
visited the shops on a sunny day. We stopped at a sidewalk cafe to have a Perrier
and people watch. The French certainly
know how to do some things very well!
We returned to the
ship, freshened up and sat on the sun deck before going down to the library to
enjoy some wine with fellow travelers.
Because of the ship's
being (nicely) stuck in Lyon, GCT offered us an open
bar before dinner. The cocktail hour was
followed by dinner.
We packed our suitcases
in preparation for leaving the ship in the morning.
We got up early (6 am),
finished packing, had breakfast onboard for one last time, and boarded the bus
with all of our luggage for the drive to Paris. Once again the weather was not our
friend. There was a good rain and the Saone River
was very high.
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| Hotel Dieu |
Along the way we
stopped at Beaune, one of the main towns of the Côte d'Or region. We were in the Burgundy region of France where
they produce some really great wine. In
Beaune, we visit a 15th century charity hospital called Hotel Dieu. It was an example of some wonderful architecture
of the period and also gave some insight onto the practice of both charity and medicine at the
time.
Lunch was on our
own. We joined Dave and Karen at a
quaint French restaurant for an enjoyable lunch. We boarded the bus to continue our trip north
to Paris.
On the way to Paris we had a rest stop or "technical stop" as Jean Philippe would call it. We thought it was for us - the passengers on the bus. But no. French law requires truck drivers - including bus drivers - to take a 45 minute break, no less, every three hours. The vehicles are equipped with timers. So we stopped at a very nice truck stop for 45 minutes.
Back on the bus, Jean Philippe gave us a long description of the French
social security system which includes unemployment, health care and
retirement. The French system is much
more generous and comprehensive than in the U.S. It is also much more expensive - with higher taxes,
especially on upper income groups.
Dinner in Paris was on our
own. We walked a few blocks and found a
nice bistro where we joined the Schwalm's for a nice French dinner.
We woke up this morning
in our hotel in Paris a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower. After breakfast we headed out for whirlwind
bus tour of the city. Paris is a big small city. It is organized into 20 districts called
arrondissements which are laid out much like a snail.
We visited all but one of the arrondissements (districts) on the bus tour. Paris is also
split by the Seine
River - the right bank
and the left bank. Our hotel was on the
left bank. We saw the Eiffel Tower,
the Champs Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, several bridges, several impressive
parks, the U.S. Embassy and more on the bus tour.
We returned to the
hotel and went searching for lunch. Gary thought it might be
fun, since we had little time, to try the French McDonalds. Vina was neither happy nor impressed. To go to Paris for McDonalds?? No more Mickey D's!
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| Hall of Mirrors |
After lunch we got back
on the bus for a trip to visit the Versailles
Palace. It makes W.R. Hearst and San Simeon seem like a piker. The palace was incredibly crowded although we
were told by our guide that this was a light crowd. The size and scope of the property has to be
seen to be believed. A private Disneyland for a privileged few. It helps one understand the French revolution.
We arrived back at the
hotel tired but enriched by the activities of the day. We headed out to find another brasserie for
dinner. We had a really good but simple
dinner.
Today we got up early
and went to visit the home of Monet in Giverny which is about an hours drive
outside of Paris.
The gardens were absolutely magnificent.
The spring tulips were in bloom and the place was a riot of color. We were amongst the first groups to enter the garden that day. We visited the pond by the house where Monet
got inspiration for some of his more famous paintings Even though Gary took a lot of picture, the pictures
can't really do it justice. As we
visited Monet's studio, I couldn't help but think of our good friend Bob Serrano
whose studios were not as grand as Monet's but were similar in many ways. Enjoy the pictures, Bob.
That evening we boarded
another bus for the short trip to the Champs-Eleysees and a nice restaurant for a farewell dinner with the entire group.
Today we were on our
own to explore Paris. We joined the Schwalm's and decided to visit
the Louvre. We caught the local bus from
about a block away from our hotel. It
was a positive experience to learn how to navigate the Paris public transportation system. The bus dropped us off next to the Louvre,
which is housed in a very large and impressive building arranged around a
courtyard with the iconic I.M. Pei glass pyramid in the center. It serves as the entrance to the museum. We spent several hours touring only a part of
the museum. We fought the crowd to see
the Mona Lisa but also saw several other galleries of paintings and sculptures -
some famous, some not. It was overwhelming
in some ways.
We enjoyed a light
lunch at the museum, and then visited the Flemish paintings before leaving the
museum. We walked toward the Notre Dame
cathedral. We stopped and enjoyed a
sweet treat and then went to visit the 850 year old cathedral.
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| Inside Notre Dame Cathedral |
The architecture was
hard to believe. The arched ceilings
were stunningly high. The stained glass
windows were magnificent. The scale of
the church left me in awe today and I can only imagine the impact it must have
had on people more than 800 years ago.
Today we visited the
Musee d'Orsee. We took the city bus to
get there. By now we are old hands in
riding the public transport to get around.
We walk over a bridge with padlocks with the names of lovers written on
them, locked to the screens on the sides.
There are hundreds of them. The D'O
is another one of the many museums in Paris. It holds works from many masters including
Monet, Renoir, Rodin, LaTrec and many others.
We were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, so I don't have
many pictures to share.
I did take some shots of the Eiffel Tower at night.
This morning we took a
trip to Montmartre in the north part of Paris. It is the highest spot in the city with a
magnificent view overlooking the city.
On the way we saw the famous Moulin Rouge (literally the red mill) and
the red light district. The church at
the top of Montmartre - Sacre-Coeur Basilica - was built in the early
1900's so it was more modern in construction than many of the churches we have
seen. It rivaled Notre Dame in its
vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows.
The gargoyles were fascinating, especially in the rain. We were having another rainy day.
The village of Montmartre
has been an artists’ colony in Paris
for many years. It is quaint and
picturesque. We took some time to sit
at a sidewalk cafe, have a cup of cafe ole and watch the people go by. Terribly French and wonderfully enjoyable.
In the afternoon we took
the underground train to the Arc de Triomphe. Today
was Armistice Day in France
(France
has many, many holidays and both today and tomorrow are paid holidays for
French workers) and the French President had been to the Arc to lay a wreath and give
a speech in the morning. We arrive in
the afternoon after the ceremonies were over but the area was still crowded.
After visiting the Arc,
we took a walk down the Champs Élysées past all the nice stores and tons of
people.
We were treated to a departure drink that evening by Jean
Philippe before we headed to the bistro Lionois for dinner with Dave and
Karen. The rest of the group were headed home early the
next morning.
We got up, had
breakfast at the hotel, said farewell to Jean
Philippe and checked out of the hotel. We got a taxi
to take us to the apartment we had rented and had seen only in pictures. It was located in what we might call an alley
off of a major street and right close to the Rue Cler
- a pedestrian street
with lots of shops and restaurants. You
entered the building through a green door, then through another security door
and then up a small circular stairway to the second floor (which the French
call the first floor because the ground floor is level 0).
We hauled our luggage
up the small staircase and, because the apartment was still being cleaned, left our luggage in the apartment and went to explore the neighborhood. We walked
over to the Eiffel
Tower and explored a bit
of Rue Cler before returning to get unpacked and ready for the evening.
We had booked a gourmet cooking class for that evening over on the right bank of the Seine. We decided to leave a little early and try to
take the Metro to get there. We discovered the Metro station close to us, Ecole
Militaire, and after changing trains once, successfully found our way to our
destination. The cooking school was
great and we both enjoyed being actively involved in the preparation of the
meal. We ate the results of our efforts with great pleasure. We have the recipes if anyone would like them.
We then found our way back
using the Metro and didn't even get lost!
We crashed for the
night in our little apartment.
We woke up and fixed
some instant coffee. Gary threw on some clothes and walked to the
corner boulangerie to get some croissants and to the fruit market for some
strawberries and bananas. We enjoyed a
French breakfast.
We then set out
exploring. We walked to the Rodin museum. We walked past the National War
Museum (Hotel National
des Invalides) and Napoleon’s Tomb on the way there.
The Rodin museum had a
very large collection of Rodin's work. We started by visiting "The Thinker" which was in the garden. We then spent the next few hours touring the
museum and gardens. It was fascinating because they had the clay workups and plaster casts of his work. Amazing talent.
After leaving the
museum, we had lunch at a local brasserie.
Gary had
a French hot dog, which is on a baguette and covered with cheese. Very good.
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| Napoleon's Tomb |
On our way back we
decided to visit the War
Museum and Napoleon’s
Tomb. At the War Museum we never have seen so many suits
of armor in one place. It was
interesting at first but got tiring after a bit. Napoleon’s tomb was a monument to ego.
We made our way back to
the apartment where we collapsed after doing all of that walking. We opened a bottle of the Beaujolais wine Gary purchased in Beaujolais before heading
out for dinner at the corner bistro.
For desert Gary had this chocolate creation
with vanilla ice cream stuffed inside of 3 choux
pastry like we had made in cooking school. To die for...
Vina had an upside down apple pie.
We slept well.
Got up this morning and
had some cereal we bought at the local store (along with milk and orange juice)
for breakfast. We decided that we wanted
to visit the Musee de l'Orangerie located in the Tuileries garden. We again took the Metro and found our way. It featured a panorama by Monet and several
neo-impressionist artists. Photos
weren't allowed.
We caught bus 72 for a
ride back to the Eiffel Tower where we purchased tickets for a future boat
ride on the Seine. We then walked from the Eiffel Tower
back to Rue Cler where we had lunch. We
then headed back to the apartment for a little rest before starting the evening
activities.
Had a nice dinner at
the corner bistro, came back to the apartment and retired for the night.
Mother's Day.
Woke up and fixed
ourselves some eggs and ham, fruit salad and croissant for breakfast. Decided to go exploring.
We headed out in the
direction of Notre Dame. We got on the RER train but we got on going in the
wrong direction and started heading out of Paris. By the time we recognized our mistake
and got off the train we were a few miles outside of Paris.
We bought a ticket to take us back in the right direction. We arrived at Notre Dame and got off the
train to begin our LONG walk around the isle of St. Louis.
We walked all around
the outside of the Notre Dame cathedral and took lots of pictures of the
architecture. There was a bread baking
exposition going on at the church and we bought ourselves a small pizza which we enjoyed while
listening to the bells toll. (Play the video).
After doing some
souvenir shopping, we started to walk toward St. Chappell church. We got lost several times but enjoyed seeing
things "up close and personal.” We
ran into a street market selling pet supplies, pets (mainly birds) and
flowers. We found the church but decided
not to go inside.
We started to try to
figure out how we were going to get back home.
We ended up walking all about this island in the middle of the Seine. Finally we
stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a tea and coke to rest and try and figure out
which bus, subway or train we needed to take to get back home. We finally decided to go back to where we
started and retrace our steps. We walked
from the southern end of the island to the northern end and caught the RER back
to the station closest to our apartment.
We left at 10 a.m. and returned at 4:30 p.m.
Back at the apartment, we opened a bottle of
wine and watched Meet the Press on CNBC.
For dinner we went to a
bistro and enjoyed a nice dinner. Everywhere we ate, we were surrounded by English speakers. Since the tables were always very close together, conversations between tables would usually ensue.
Our last day in France...
We slept in a little
later than usual, had some coffee and started to pack some things up. After a breakfast of cereal and fruit, we
decided to head out one more time. We
had earlier purchased tickets for a boat ride along the Seine
and had planned on using them for a sunset cruise but since the sun doesn't set
until around 10 pm, we never went. This
was our last chance to use the tickets.
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| Notre Dame from the river |
We walked over to the
boat pier next to the Eiffel
Tower and boarded the
10:30 a.m. ride. The Paris sky was overcast as was the case for us
for the whole trip. Cool but nice. We enjoyed seeing all of the major bridges
and historical buildings and sites from the perspective of the river. It was good to see it in the daylight.
We returned to the boat
pier and started to walk back to the apartment and in search of lunch and some
souvenir gifts to take home.
We stopped at a
sidewalk crepe cafe and got some fresh crepes for lunch. Vina had ham and cheese and Gary got their special which had ham, two
kinds of cheese, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and an egg. Good stuff.
We went back to the
apartment where we finished eating our crepes and started to get serious about
packing for the trip home tomorrow.
Although we have really
enjoyed ourselves for the past three weeks, we were ready to head home.
We headed to our
favorite bistro, Bistro Bouquet, for our last French dinner. Vina had a lamb shank and Gary had cunard confit. We have really enjoyed eating on this
trip. A nice ending.
Today lasted 33 hours
for us as we gained 9 hours flying home.
We get up early -- 5 am Tuesday (8 pm Monday night Arizona
time). The driver comes to pick us up at
the apartment at 7 am and off we go to Charles De Gaulle airport. Having heard many horror stories about the size and confusion of Charles De Gaulle airport, we were pleased to readily find our way to our gate.
We had an uneventful
flight (the best kind) to Minneapolis where we
make a connection for our Phoenix
flight.
We arrived at Sky Harbor
around 3:40 pm where our friendly Lexus dealer picks us up for the ride home.
It took about 18 1/2
hours of travel time from leaving the French apartment to opening our Tempe front door. It is an amazing world! It was a great trip.
At the end of April and first part of May we had a wonderful experience discovering southern France and Paris. It was a great trip. For a blog about our trip with day by day pictures click here. 
In September we went to the San Diego Symphony Pops Concert where they played Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture complete with cannon firings. It was a wonderful evening. 
In September we went to the San Diego Symphony Pops Concert where they played Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture complete with cannon firings. It was a wonderful evening. 
