Home Again

Well, we arrived home on Thursday afternoon…. a long non-stop flight from Paris to Seattle on Air France…. I was really impressed with Air France, both over and back.

The last few days of our trip were a few more historical stops but we were both ready to be done traveling and head home.  One day Garry opted not to do the side excursion to Monet’s home and gardens and when I got back to the ship he had been shopping… he bought himself some new pants (I told him his nice slacks he took were dated in style), a french hat (not a beret) and a beautiful scarf.  He looked quite the dapper Parisian man.

Our excursion to Chateau Malmaison, Napoleon and Josephine’s summer home, was interesting.  The tour was crowded because the home is quite small and hallways were tight but we learned a lot so it was worth it.  Did you know that Napoleon really wasn’t short?  He was average height for a man back then.  Unfortunately for him, the other leaders of the day were unusually tall and of course his guards were tall and muscular so he appeared small when next to them.  We also learned Josephine had rotted teeth and horrible breath.  All of her portraits she has pinched lips to hide her teeth.  She was raised in Martinique on a sugar plantation and chewed sugar cane growing up, hence the tooth and breath issues… But he loved her anyway.  They divorced because she could not provide him with an heir, but even though he remarried, he provided her with anything she wanted and whenever he bought something for his new wife he got the same thing for her.

We really lucked out on the weather on the cruise because rain was predicted most days but with a couple sprinkles here and there all the heavy rain happened at night when we were asleep.

We met some great people on the cruise.  The cruise manager, Rachel, was amazing.  Our favorite server, Alexandra was a crazy fun person.  We met tons of great people, but we spent several meals with Elizabeth and Sharon from Bellevue, Teresa from Vancouver, WA, and Mildred from southern California.  There was also a fun foursome from the east coast who did most of the bicycle excursions… Three people from our ship were on the same flight home as us.

We are slowly adjusting to the nine hour time difference.  The first night home we both got up at 3:30 in the morning…. just couldn’t sleep anymore.  Today I slept in to 5:30….Garry even later.  We should be back on track by tomorrow.

Scarf just peaking out

Josephine, lips tight

Napolean (duh)

Napoleon’s bedroom

Our bicycling friends

 

Cheesy picture with Alexandra

Our Captain (right) and his second in command enjoying wine.  Who is running the boat?

Best server ever, Alexandra

Amazing cruise director, Rachel

Elizabeth, Garry, me, Sharon, Teresa and Mildred

 

Au revoir to France Soon

It seems hard to believe that our six week trip is almost over. We have seen and done so much and would hardly change a thing.

Our four day drive from Nice to Paris was wonderful. Following backroads we followed what is called Route Napoleon or Napoleon’s Road. Part of it is a fairly major highway not but most is a scenic through mountains and villages following the route Napoleon took in 1815 in his escape from Elbe to Grenoble and before his defeat in Waterloo a few months later.

We turned our car in at a major train station in Paris but not quite in the worst area the city traffic. It was bad enough on a Sunday afternoon, but we did it! A long-ish taxi ride in traffic got us to our hotel in Paris, the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel, just a couple blocks from the Eiffel Tower. Rebels that we are, we did very few touristy things but the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off was really good. Our hotel made Eiffel Tower reservations for us and that sure is the way to go. We went right up to our entrance with no one in line before us and several hundred in a line to buy tickets. We went all the way to the top, then walked down from the second level….our legs paid the price for a few days after that. When we were leaving the area there was a short line of maybe 10 people for the reservations line and probably 600 or more in line for tickets.

I can say I got my hair done in Paris… ok. It was just a little trim but I needed it. We also had at great dinner at Fitzgeralds, a restaurant our hotel recommended. There are two bars and the one in the back had a mixologist who really knew his stuff.

After four days in Paris we were ready to get on our river cruise ship. We have been cruising now for four days on the AMA Lyra (AMA Waterways cruise line). Our route is Paris to Normandy and back. The highlight for most people who book this trip is a full day at the beaches of Normandy where D Day took place. It was amazing, emotional, and another couple days there would have been wonderful.

One of our highlights of the cruise so far was the day we opted not to take one of the planned excursions and explore the town of Le Havre ourselves. The ship got us a taxi to take us to a Saturday market, then we explored cathedrals, shops and the beach. We found out taxis are scarce in Le Havre, so after waiting 30 minutes for our taxi that was called for us we decided to walk back to the ship…. according to Google Maps it was only a 38 minute walk….EXCEPT the poor map didn’t know there was a huge sailing regatta in town and parts of our walking route were fenced and chained off. Somehow we managed to talk our way into the closed off area hoping to get back on our route….EXCEPT the other end was fenced and locked too. Some really nice municipal police got someone to let us out and offered a ride to our ship…..oh, no…. we will be fine. And we were but just a few minutes from our destination here came our police friends again and they insisted we get in, so with blue lights flashing, but no sirens (darn) we arrived back at the ship. Our cruise manager, Rachel, says she has never had that happen before and thought it was pretty funny.

I am writing this while in Rouen which is the capital of the ‘county’ of Normandy. We are docked just a few minutes from the main part of town. Rouen is known for the place that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and of the Notre Dame Cathedral that Monet painted so many times.

Our view of the Eiffel Tower from our hotel room.

View from top of Eiffel Tower

Our hotel to left of soccer fields with blue square on the roof

Green tower one night

Fancy drink making at Fitzgeralds

Welcome on board the AMA Lyra

Saturday market seafood place

Nothing like pizza in 3 minutes from a vending machine

Beach view in Le Havre

Sailboat regatta

Our friendly ride home

Getting out thanks to police help

American Cemetery at Omaha Beach

Memorial at Omaha Beach

Cemetery

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

Driving through village near Omaha Beach

75th anniversary of D Day was this past June

German bunker

Looking right into it

Part of artificial harbor at Gold Beach

Village by Gold Beach

Notre Dame cathedral in Rouen

View in Rouen

Joan of Arc burned to death right here

In Joan of Arc Memorial

Our ship

Monet’s favorite cathedral to paint

Pensees du jour

Thoughts of the Day

Bidet or no bidet

All our hotels in Italy had bidets. None in France have. Still haven’t figured out a not-awkward way to use one. I watched YouTube but the ones they showed didn’t work the same.

Cars

We have seen very few cars older than 5 years pretty much anywhere. Old trucks, yes. Cars, no. But the bigger the city we have seen an occasional older car but no old beaters at all.

Roads

Roads in Italy and France are much better than expected. Sure, in small towns things got narrow and interesting to navigate but mostly roads were great. Back roads traveling sometimes meant no other cars for miles and miles.

A guy thing

At least I think it is a guy thing. Our last car we prepaid for gas when we turned it in so Garry was determined to bring it back empty. We had to make several stops the last two days to just a few euros in each time, almost completely running out once. It doesn’t help that on a Sunday you can’t find a manned station…just ones that would take a European credit card. Finally at one place a guy said to pay him the euros and he would put it on his card. We turned the car in with about 1 or 2 gallons in the tank, at the very very most.

Italy or France

We have really enjoyed both countries but in my mind I did not expect to like France as much as I do. The stories you hear about how rude they are to Americans had me worried. The stories are so far from the truth. France is so nice and friendly. All you need is a couple words in French (bon jour, merci, au revoir, ) and a smile and it makes all the difference. France is cleaner and more organized. Paris seems so much easier than Rome to figure out. And so much less horn honking.

Restaurant observations

No one pushes drinks on you like in the states. Here we usually order a glass of Prosecco or wine and water (still (natural) or with gas (bubbles))and if we wanted another it took some time… so we usually didn’t. But they like to take your food order quickly. We are used to waiting a bit to order. And there is never a rush to have you pay. Stick around and enjoy your time.

Google Translate App

What would I do with out it! Love it. If I got a web site and it was in Italian or French I would copy and paste whatever I needed translated to the app and like magic, I knew what it said. Voila!

Sheets

Ok, the bedding is really different. Usually a bottom sheet and then a comforter. No top sheet. So you often get too hot so throw everything off. Then you freeze, so cover up, then you over heat and it starts all over again….some of the comforters are kind of in layers so you can sort of take them apart even if your not supposed to.

Calls locally from cell phone

For me to call a French or Italian phone number from my cell phone I have to do the + then country code, then the number. Did you know if you hold down the 0 on your cell phone it changes it to +. Very nice.

Coffee or tea

If you don’t like strong coffee figure something else out if you ever visit here. I am a good old Folgers type of person….not even Starbucks…so espresso, Cappuccino, etc are just too much for me. Even ordering Americanos is too strong. If there is coffee in the room, though, it is usually a granulated coffee like Sanka and if lucky there will be some type of milk substitute. I have had tea several times.

Ice

France believes in ice! Found some at a supermarket. Hotels have willingly provided it and the our hotel in Paris has ice machines on odd numbered floors.

Great country road in France

Wonder how long it’s been here

Don’t touch it, Garry!!!

Paris

Backroads to Grenoble

Wow, the car we got leaving Nice is really nice. We got a free upgrade to a Toyota hybrid with free gps. The car we had before was a really nice BMW small suv but this Toyota is great!!

Between the car navigation with a British lady’s voice and my iPad navigation with an American lady’s voice we had a fun time finding lots of back roads on our way toward Paris… we have 4 days to go about 350 miles so we are meandering. The French countryside is beautiful, the roads nice and very little traffic when off the beaten track. At times the road would narrow going through a little village and you had to take turns with a car going the other direction but mostly we were the only car for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. France has lots of pullouts and picnic areas to enjoy the views but no restrooms along the way, so I am now really good about spotting a supermarket that has public restrooms. We love wandering the supermarkets anyway to see what is different or the same as home.

The history and ruins that we have seen is mind boggling. The mountains must be incredible in the winter. We passed several snow chain up pull outs.

We are currently in Grenoble…. home of the 1968 Olympics but so much more! We are in a fabulous small hotel right in the center of the old town, the Le Grand Hotel. They are super friendly and funny here. The breakfast this morning was the best European breakfast so far and the best coffee. We took the cable car way way way up to the Bastille fortress from back in the 1600s. I kept my eyes open on the way up and down… really… I did.. We spent several hours up there and took the audio tour of the Mountain Troops Museum. It was fabulous. It is an army established in 1888 and of course it is all about the mountains…. from war times back then, plus WWI and their part in the resistance in WWII. They do rescue missions here but also are involved these days in more current conflicts in other countries if it involves mountains, snow and harsh conditions.

As we wandered back to our hotel this afternoon we found a couple barber shops so Garry was able to get a trim. We (I) had a totally embarrassing mishap there. I got up from my chair to take Garry’s hearing aids from him, completely forgetting I had just purchased a bottle of Absolut Vodka. My shopping back hit the floor with a splat… and vodka ran everywhere. Well, the Foreign exchange student sitting next to me spoke English and he was totally cracking up. In fact everyone there did… all the barbers, the owner, people waiting. As we were leaving they were all laughing and shouting ‘Vodka!’. Yes, we had to stop so I could buy another one.

Tomorrow we will go most of the way to Paris… we have no idea where we will stop, but our goal is a short day for Sunday when we turn our car in and go to our hotel somewhere near the Eiffel Tower.

Tight roads

Typical town

Had lunch here and watched an art class

Almost looks like snow

Lake along the way

A different lake

View from room in Grenoble

Cable car view in Grenoble

Me taking picture of person taking pic of me

Cable car ride

Haircut time for Garry

Laying brick below our hotel

Garry taking pic of me

Monaco

Our day trip to Monaco deserves its own post. Garry felt well enough to trust me on how to get there and it was a great day.

We were advised not to keep our car in Nice, not because of it hard to get around in, but the scarcity of parking…and that the bus and train and tram systems would be all we need. Boy, was that the truth! Nice is super easy to figure out with great signage and convenient locations all over the city.

We took a short underground ride from right by our apartment to downtown where we caught a tram to the Garibaldi stop. We walked a very short distance to the port and caught a bus to Monaco.

The bus to Monaco was 1.5 euros each and it was a spectacular 45 minute ride along the beautiful French Riviera. We spent several hours wandering around there; had a very expensive lunch and looked at mega yachts in the marina. You could walk right up to them…..just don’t try to board one!

All boats Med tie which means stern to the dock and lots of fenders between boats. We met a man as he was docking a boat the same size as ours and we got to see the complicated way they do it, but like he said, if it is what you are used to it is easy. We asked the cost of moorage but he said since he was born in Monaco and lives there it is like a gift. He only pays €5000 a year but he said in a marina like in Nice it would be more like €25,000 to 30,000 a year.

The bus ride back was during early evening commute time so it was packed and lots of traffic so it took a lot longer. The tram was packed too but it all was part of the experience.

We really enjoyed our short time in Nice and it is definitely a place we could see ourselves coming back to again… beautiful city, wonderful beaches, friendly people, tons of restaurants and hotels…

Lunch choices

Basketball, anyone?

Perfect name for a Northwest boat

Casino

Week 3 plus

We are a little bit into week four of the trip and past time for an update. We left off on our way to Rome, right?

Rome was fine. Garry liked it more than me and I didn’t hate it, but it was hot and lots of people. I can’t imagine how it is like when it is hotter and even more crowded. I didn’t know where to book us a hotel and we were warned not to drive in Rome so I just got us a place at the Hilton Garden Inn by the airport and we took the free shuttle to the airport then the inexpensive train to Rome. It worked out great. Oh, on the big plus side it was much cleaner than I expected and we had some great food.

We did take a page out of some Rick Steves travel advice that friend Robin sent us before we left and so we avoided some long lines and sometimes just found a nice cafe and sat, had a beverage or snack and people watched. In addition to some of the usual sites we came across a big celebration of 150 years of Italy’s gymnastics federation, a motorcycle rally and a band in a small square. The Trevi fountain was packed the night we went to see it so went back the next morning early but all the water was turned off while they were hosing it down and cleaning it.

From Rome we headed to Florence and stayed at a gorgeous hotel in the old part of town. Driving into the city was tricky. There are many streets you cannot drive in unless you are a residence and the signage is very clear. Google Maps got a real workout. We found the hotel and they recorded our license plate so we were legal and they parked it for us in a secure garage….only 50 euros a night. Good thing we were turning it in the next day.

Florence is beautiful and much easier to get around on foot or by taxi. Our hotel got us ‘skip the line’ tickets for various museums and arranged for high speed train tickets for fast one day trip to Venice. Even though Florence is easy to get around, streets don’t go in a direct line to destinations. One small turn the wrong way takes you way off course.

Timing is everything! This past summer two of my best bank girlfriends did trips like we are doing. They missed seeing each other by days. And I got a Facebook message from a boat racing friend that we were 2 or 3 days ahead of her trip to Rome and Florence. But in the best of timing two Des Moines Yacht club friends of ours, Rob and Melanie Cannon, were going to be in Florence one night when we were there. They were on a one week trip to Tuscany and were going to meet friends in Florence for dinner so the six of us ended up having dinner together. The restaurant was only 800 yards from our hotel if you followed the right directions. We missed it by a street and got redirected 3 times before we found it. It was a great night….good food and friends.

Our day trip to Venice was great. The train is super efficient…just a 2 hour ride. We walked and walked all over with no real plan and it was perfect. We stumbled onto a cathedral with a Leonardo de Vinci display of many of his mechanical inventions. He was a brilliant engineer. We spent quite a bit of time there. Venice is confusing because all the canals pretty much look the same so we flagged down a water taxi to get us back to the train station to make our way back to Florence.

We were super sad to leave Florence. One reason was the great hotel…the other was that Garry came down with a bad cold and felt horrible but we had airline tickets to Nice, France. Not a fun day to travel.. a short flight from Florence to Rome, change planes and a short flight to Nice. Our pre-arranged taxi took us to the wrong address and I went into a hotel and they were able to get us another taxi that got us to our correct location.

We are staying in an apartment owned by good friends of Robin Millers that they rent out. It is in a nice neighborhood and is perfect for us right now with Garry sick. I could go to little markets nearby and stock up some comfort foods and he could just sleep. We tried to see some of Nice yesterday on the tram but Garry started feeling bad again so took a taxi back to the apartment. Hopefully he is feeling better today. It is our last day here and we haven’t really seen Nice or Monaco or Cannes. But the apartment has some movies to watch so last night we watched two Grace Kelly movies…To Catch a Thief, with Cary Grant and High Society with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

We pick up a car tomorrow and take a few days to drive to Paris, and then our next big adventure.

Find Garry at the bottom. White tennis shoes, blue shirt.

Love these types of ruins

Dancing and gymnastics

Ditto

The Coliseum

Welcome gift at hotel

Ice cream at the airport on Rome

Ponte Vecchio

Dinner with old and new friends

Cloudy and comfortable in Venice. Few crowds.

Making deliveries

Floating food market

Da Vinci display

More Da Vinci

Yep… David

See anyone you recognize?

Stradivarius

Hurdy Gurdy

Balcony in Nice