Madrid

Madrid

August 6th and 7th

Our first long bus ride in Spain turned out to be a more pleasant experience than anticipated. In fact it was better than the train system. The buses are super aerodynamic space age looking, new and air conditioned with nice comfy seats and we even got to watch a couple of movies in Spanish of course. Unbeknownst to me the hotel owner in Bilbao forgot to give me back my passport so what started out as a relaxed ride to Madrid turned in to shear panic. Thankfully our new friend Charlene had given her number to the hotel when she booked the room for us and he called her to let her know he still had it. She then emailed me. Thank God for my blackberry and the great cell reception in Madrid because we were in a very remote area when I received word. After a few desperate emails and a phone call to Charlene when we reached Madrid, we were able to coordinate having her mail the passport to Sunseed where we were doing our volunteer work in a few days. Now all I had to do was stay out of trouble! Charlene was a godsend and I owe her greatly. So lesson learned always make sure you get your passport back from the hotel clerk before you leave.

After a 4 ½ hour bus ride we arrived in Madrid which is a very unusual bus station because it is all underground. It actually takes a good 5 minutes of walking and stair climbing to reach daylight and fresh air but we were heading to the metro which was even further underground. ( we have been amazed how far down some of these systems are). Charlene and Manuel were extra special to us and even gave us free metro tickets for Madrid and directions on the metro line to take to get to our hotel. So no need for the tourist office in Madrid. We were locals now-except for those backpacks-they seem to give us away.

Our hotel was located in the center of old town Madrid right near the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor. It too was a very nice place. We have been improving our hotel picking skills. We arrived early evening and quite hungry so we were on a mission to find the local calamari sandwich restaurant Charlene and Manuel told us we could not miss. After a quick stroll through the Puerta del Sol and stopping to watch the street performers who seem to flock the city of Madrid, we found the restaurant outside the Plaza Mayor, exactly where they told us it was located. With my excellent Spanish I ordered us a couple of sandwiches and cold beers which come in juice size glasses. It epitomizes exactly what you would expect from a local bar with a short order cook/bartender. They are grumpy and serve you immediately without a smile and you better know what you want because they will pass over you without hesitation. I guess the Spanish version of the soup Nazi. The sandwiches were delicious, absolutely stuffed with fresh fried calamari and really hit the spot. We were famished after the bus ride and only a Dunkin Donut pastry and the nastiest “American” coffee for breakfast. Spain does not have nearly as great of pastry as France so we have had to resort to American pastry. Once we replenished we did some more site seeing and the street performers started coming out by the dozens and attracting sizable crowds which really animates the street scene. We got a full on flamenco dance recital. The girl even brought her own piece of wood to act as her stage and several Laurel and Hardy type acts. Many of the actors/performers painted themselves in silver or gold paint from head to toe and acted like statues. No need to spend any money on tourist attractions we had them all for free on the streets. While enjoying several performances in Plaza Mayor we enjoyed a couple of sangrias and paella. We were still hungry after the calamari sandwiches.

The next morning we were on a mission to find as many parks and gardens as we could. We only had a full day in the city so we had to cover some ground and quickly. First stop El Parque Rentir- Madrid’s large central urban green space that actually gives central park a run for its money. Roby was amazed by the large parkways through the area for pedestrian travel. It had a small lake and beautiful flower gardens throughout the park. The rose garden was incredible. Not only did they use the French Parterre style but now we learned about the Madrid style of garden which included more trees in its design. While taking our morning stroll we happened upon a par course park - you know those little workout stations that are normally located at about half mile intervals along a jogging path. Well this one had all of the workout stations clustered together in one spot in the park and was this little local gym like social scene so we had a great little impromptu workout with da boys. You just never know when you will get your exercise in. Our nice morning stroll turned into a 5 hour tour!! Worrying we were going to run out of daylight we headed to the Sabatini Park near the Palace and proceeded to take a nap in the shade. On our way back to the hotel we came across several guitar stores but we were on Spanish time so they were closed. We would have to return after their siesta. Roby wanted to find a small guitar to travel with so he could continue to practice.

It was Saturday night in Madrid. We took our shower in our own bathroom (yea) put on our party clothes- actually a skirt and new shirt for me-and proceeded to enjoy a good cheap bottle of Spanish wine and cheese in our room. Our own happy hour. Charlene also let us in on the little secret that the First Run movie theaters showed movies in English with Spanish subtitles. So after a little wine we decided to brave Bruno and then experience Madrid nightlife. They say it is the city that never sleeps. There must not be a copyright on that phrase because several cities seem to claim that right. We found several cute pubs in the old section of the city to enjoy a few sangrias, beers and wine. Thankfully we did not have an early bus the next morning. With a little bit of a wine hangover we proceeded to venture back into town and found the guitar store and were able to purchase a reasonably priced guitar for us to schlep around Europe. Now we needed to find us a place to settle down for awhile so Roby will actually have time to take it out of its case. Making record time we headed to the bus station for our next two day stop-Granada.

Guggenheim Explored

Bilbao Spain
August 4th and 5th


Better late than never, we were finally heading toward Spain. Due to our extended stay in Paris and Tours our anticipated arrival time in Spain was about a week late. No worries though we have become speed demons and have learned to cover quite a bit of ground in no time. We had 6 days to make it from the northern tip of Spain to the southern tip and had three stops along the way. We almost did not even make our first stop in Bilbao due to some logistical problems with the train in Tours. A group of us entered the train marked for Bourdeaux unbeknownst to any of us that the car we sat in was going to disconnect from the rest of the train along the way and head in a different direction. Of course the conductor made an announcement but none of us spoke any French. Thankfully the young ticket taker came through and in his broken and best English explained to us we needed to move up four cars or we were not going to make it to Bourdeaux. It was funny seeing the mass exodus at the next step. The train even gave us an extra few minutes due to so many of us needing to change. We were a bit concerned because in France you have about 2 minutes to disembark/embark or you get left behind. With the security of knowing we were in the correct train we enjoyed the 4 hour journey from Tours to Bourdeaux watching the beautiful wine country pass by. Once in Bourdeaux we had to change trains to Biarritz which was the final destination for the French train before we entered Spain. This area is a “beach town” for all the Parisians to head in the summer so it was a bit crowded and you found quite a few more backpackers in this area. Feeling confident we got off the train expecting to see the bus station nearby to catch our bus to Bilbao. Well we did find a bus but it was only a local bus and no one at the train station had any idea what I was referring to when I asked for the bus to Bilbao. That is what I get for trusting that internet site!! The train attendant told us we had to take another train to Irun which is literally the border and that is where we could pick up the bus, and of course the only type of train that goes there is the high speed train. Taking our precious euros from us we caught the train which turned out to be better because we would be getting to Bilbao earlier but I still think he was trying to scam us for our money since he could tell we were Americans. Nevertheless we made it to Bilbao unscathed. Even better we had exact directions on how to take the Metro to our hostal and then explicit instructions on how to get to our hostal which turned out to be very much appreciated. Our friend John Newell’s sister Charlene and her husband Manuel lived in Bilbao and they helped get us our hotel room and provided us with the wonderful directions. It was relaxing not to have to worry about how to get to our destination.

Having arrived three hours earlier in Bilbao we had plenty of time to check out the area. We were staying in the City Center in the old section of town. It is the last section of the Middle Ages and is known as the 7 streets. A very unique urban plan with windy cobblestoned streets intersecting at 45 and 65 degree angles. Although not a large area you could easily get lost for hours if not days trying to find your way out. I am very thankful I have Roby because he can even find his way out of a paper bag!!! It does not seem to matter how many old sections we go through they each have their own identity and impress us more and more. Bilbao was going to be our first experience of Tapa eating. Each bar or restaurant has a bar area with trays and shelves loaded down with appetizer style food or smaller portions called raciones of their full meals and you just go up and order whatever you want. Some of the establishments will give it away when you buy alcohol or at reduced prices. All the Spaniards stand at these Tapas bars and eat, drink and smoke, many with a Tapa or fork in one hand and cigarette in the other. Spain still allows bars and restaurants to decide whether they want to be smoke-free. None of them have taken them up on banning smoking so each one is just filled with this wonderful layer of grey smoke as you enter. A wonderful ingredient in their food. We also realized that in Bilbao especially the people just party out on the streets outside the restaurants. They do not all have tables and seating available so they sit on curbs, corners of store windows, or just stand in the middle of the street. The night was beautiful so we got our tapas and drinks and “when in Spain”. . .

The next morning was the big day. Roby was going to the Guggenheim. After watching a documentary on it almost 10 years ago he has been wanting to go and we were finally here. It is almost like when we saw the Statue of David in Florence or the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we were finally in Spain. After a quick pastry (which was not nearly as good as in Paris) we met up with Charlene and she took us on a tour of Bilbao and to the Guggenheim. We walked along the Bilbao River and suddenly upon us was this pronounced structure.

Everything about the Guggenheim was fascinating - the structure, the site, the surrounding park and sculptures and the interior exhibits. This immense fluid piece of polished aluminum was like an exotic sculpture in and of itself and just seemed to rise up from the banks of the Bilbao river where industrial steel factories use to be. It was truly hard for us to take our eyes off of it. A photograph could not do it justice but we tried with dozens of attempts from every angle. Aside from the building we enjoyed seeing the huge metal spider sculpture and the 3 story whimsical floral puppy dog in the common areas around the building. On the inside the first major exhibit was the dozen or so full size matching white sedan cars hanging from the foyer ceiling and exploding with light in protest to the overwhelming way that cars have shaped the world and society. Our favorite exhibit was by the same artist that produced the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. He and a small team of artist produced several dozen life size clay sculptures of Chinese pre-industrial laborers at work. The exhibit depicted the process of creating the sculptures and the exhibit itself. Some subjects were just wire and wood frames, others had some clay roughed in others appeared to be freshly completed with and amazing level of detail to facial expressions, tools, and clothing. But what was amazing is that most of the clay subjects were being allowed to simply and naturally dry out, crack, chip, fall apart and disintegrate back into dry clay dust on the floor of the exhibit. It was amazing to see how the work of art evolved and at the same time how the laborers aged throughout their lives and symbolically became part of the earth again.

After our tour we met up with Manuel Charlene’s husband and went to have our first Spanish lunch. (El menu del dia) This is a pre-fixed menu including salad, meal, dessert and beverage (water, coffee or wine). Now I know why they need a siesta in the middle of the afternoon. Manuel told us that the siesta is Spains yoga. We were stuffed and a bit tipsy. Apparently these drinking lunches are the norm-I guess that is why Spain was not very good at ruling the world. I think we might be able to get used to it though. (twist our arm!). We decided to get out of the city and took the metro out to the suburbs where they lived. A great little section of town overlooking the ocean on high sea cliffs. Before Roby fell asleep they pumped him full of tea and sugar and we headed out for a walk which turned into a three hour interpreted tour of this old fishing village and several waterfront beach areas with many Spanish female topless sun bathers to Roby’s delight. Lifes simple pleasures. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees with a nice breeze and they had such wonderful views. Before we knew it the time was 10:00 pm so we headed back into town had a quick Spanish dinner (tapas again) and went to sleep. The afternoon with Charlene and Manuel was priceless. It is so much more meaningful when you have people who know and live the experience and can give you the insight and history. We will be forever grateful to them for such a lovely day. A special time in our journey.

Cinderella's Castles

Tours France

August 1st-3rd

The trip to Bayeux was quick but memorable and we were now on to our next adventure. This portion of the trip was going to be fly by night excursions because we needed to make it from Northern France to Southern Spain within 9 days and we still had 4 places to stop along the way. We had to go back to Paris to switch trains for Tours. Since we were experts at Paris we knew how to take the metro to the other station and how to read the train schedule. Other than our backpacks you would never have known we were tourists as long as we kept our mouths shut.

The ride to Tours was about 2 and a half hours and when we arrived we were happy to see the information booth right away. Unfortunately it was not the general information booth but a tour guide company disguised as the information booth. Great marketing on his part. Not only did we get directions for our hotel but we were hook line and sinkered into signing up for a tour of the Chateaus. The day was perfect, sunshine but a cool breeze and we only had a two minute walk to our hotel. It was literally right behind the train station and aptly named Terminus. More important we had a real bathroom.

The next morning we met up with the tour guide bus and headed to the chateaus. We went and saw two one known for its gardens called Villandry and the other called Chinon which is owned by the Country of France after it went into foreclosure. (seems like the economic crisis is hitting all housing markets!!) The gardens at Villandry are designed using the French Parterre style (I learned from Roby). Although it is not his favorite style for he prefers a more organic flow instead of the formal design he was still amazed by the gardens and details. The vegetable garden was perfect and our favorite section was the sun garden. It had brightly colored flowers throughout and an abundance of different grasses. The layout of the gardens had fountains throughout and terraces for different viewing angles. A truly incredible site. You must take a look at the photos much too difficult to describe.

After a bit of site seeing we figured out how to get bicycles and decided to be adventurous and ride to the Chenonceux Chateau a quick 12 mile ride through the countryside. This ride was going to require some good navigation skills because the trail along the Cher River was not a direct route. Many portions of it went off track and we would have to ride through town streets and highways. The first few minutes tested us because we could not figure out how to get from the highway down to the trail. After some frustration we realized the only way down was to carry our bikes down a set of cement stairs. Why would they put a pathway from the roadway that would be too logical. Once on the trail it was beautiful. In fact it was a world heritage site because of the reclamation of the wildlife area. We had cool breezes, a view of the river and the most quintessential French village homes in idealistic French neighborhoods. We were riding in a fairytale. With such a beautiful ride we did not realize we had traveled 12 miles. Upon arrival we were stunned by the enormous castle at the end of the double tree-lined path. This chateau was frequently visited by King Louie. You could easily see why the rich and famous of France and England depending upon who was in power at the time. You had the river, green rolling hills and cool weather.

Our visit took longer than expected and we were running out of daylight to ride home so we figured we would take the train back to Tours. The train never arrived which was unusual for France. Thankfully a German lady who know how to speak French called the train company and they informed her that the train was not coming because a man had thrown himself under the train and was blocking the line. The German couple also had bikes so the four of us set out for Amboise a small town about 4 miles away. We were excited because we were now going to get a tour through the wine country without having to pay for it. No cars in site we had the country road to ourselves flowing through the hills of grapevines and beautiful scenery. The German couple led the way which was a godsend because maneuvering through Amboise turned out to be a bit tricky. With minutes to spare we all made the train. Along the way we had a great conversation with them and told them they had a free place to stay in Phoenix for getting us back to civilization.

Luck seems to be on our side lately.

A Salute to Our Soldiers

Normandy

July 30-31st

We caught the train in Paris heading northeast toward the battle ground beaches of Normandy. Our destination for the next two nights would be Bayeux - a small village about 10 km inland from the coast. The train ride was pleasant and uneventful until the conductor announced our stop was approaching and the train started to slow rather quickly. Patti leisurely put her pack on and headed toward the door. I fussed around for a bit putting things away as the train came to a stop at the station and finally got my back on before strolling up to join her at the door. As I approached I noticed that she was trying to figure out which lever to pull or which knob to push in order to open this strange tri-folding door to get out. Of course I being the man said - here let me do it - so I firmly pulled on the knob and then forcefully pushed on the lever but still with no luck and all at about the same time that we heard a whistle go off and the damn train started moving again. We both just looked at each other standing there with our packs on exasperated and confused and said - shiiit! - Oh well, I guess we’re not getting off in Bayuex. Luckily the next stop was close by where we let a young girl open the door for us. After several frustrating minutes trying to communicate with the ticket agent about what had happened and if there was another train going back to Bayuex that afternoon station worker that knew some English helped us out and got us on the next train back to our stop less that an hour later than our original arrival time -sheewww.

I grabbed a map at the train station and after a short walk along the riverside pedestrian path we made our way from the station on the edge of town to the older medieval portion of the village center with narrow cobble stone streets, mills with water wheels, flower boxes and towering cathedral spires. It was a beautiful cool sunny day fairly busy with tourist and locals but a much welcomed contrast to the hustle & bustle of the streets of Paris. We found our hotel on the corner the second story above a bar/restaurant on the main corner of the village with a view of the cathedral at the end of the block. We checked into the room right at the bar and walked up the narrow stone spiral staircase with heavily worn wooden steps. The room was small and nothing fancy but more private than a hostel with our on bath. The hostels are o.k., cheaper and more lively but we seem to be gravitating toward the discount hotels at about 40 to 50 euros a night or $50 to $70 american. After resting for a bit we headed out to see the town, take a few pictures, find a place to eat and hit the tourist information office to find out about getting to the Norrnandy beaches the next day. We did a quick self guided tour of the town with interpretive signage along the way explaining the local history. It truly was a medieval village established before the first century and became known as the lace making capital for French royalty. In the invasion it was the first village to be liberated by the allied troops that stormed the beaches and was spared from the destruction of aerial bombing because the German troops had receded to Caen - the next larger town inland from Bayuex. Caen was completely leveled. We originally wanted to rent bikes to ride to the coast but there were no paths or lanes and the roads were very narrow and fairly busy with tourist headed to the battle monuments. We ended up finding a bus that would drop us off right at the American memorial and cemetery above Omaha beach and returned that evening. The memorial monument was fascinating with a complete timeline of the events leading up to the day of the invasion and a collection of video footage and war artifacts that kept us there and speechless for more that two hours before heading over to visit the cemetery. Just a note for those of you that may visit this site in the future - don’t even think about walking through the almost 10,000 white cross headstone of the American soldiers that lost their lives in Normandy and read some of the inscriptions without a hand full of tissues. We could only handle it for so long before taking a walk on the path along the cliffs edge and finding the stairway that headed down to Omaha beach. We couldn’t have asked for a better day on what is really a beautiful beach. It almost reminded us of the many days we had on the beaches of Kauai with puffy white clouds, blue skies, warm sunshine and a cool breeze. It was surreal though - to be standing right there so peaceful but with these vivid images of what it must have been like on that day. It was sparsely populated so it didn’t take long for us to find a piece of sand to sit down or rather lay down. Within minutes Patti was fast asleep but I just laid there looking up at those puffy white elongated clouds slowly sailing in from offshore like the ghosts of the battle ships 65 years earlier. I rolled over with my face a few inches above the sand and looked up toward the bluff and could see the old German concrete gun batteries still there right above us and could almost hear the bullets hitting the sand all around us, grenades going off, fighter planes buzzing overhead all with the white noise of the surf in the background. What a retched day that must have been I thought for a moment as I rested my head and also fell off to sleep comfortably next to my wife.


After an hours nap we finally stirred to our feet and thought we should make our way to the bus stand. We climbed the trail up the slope to see the gun battery up close and actually walked through it and some of the remnant tunnels before walking back to the memorial and catching the bus. Back in town we had a beer at the bar downstairs from our room and then walked a few blocks down to a nice restaurant for a perfect French diner and a few glasses of wine to end our visit to Normandy.

Let Them Eat Crepes

Paris

July 24th-30th

The alarm watch went off at 4:30 am for our train to Paris from Annecy. This was going to be a long day. Thankfully we had conversed correctly with the cab company the day before and the driver arrived on time to get us to the station We had a four hour ride to Paris. I tried to make the best of the trip and got in some writing on the blog but after about 30 minutes my eyes got a bit heavy and I was in a deep sleep for a good 2 hours. After disembarking from the train it hit us-we were in Paris. Of all the cities we have been in we would have to rank Paris as being the most beautiful. The architecture of all white stone buildings with ornate carved details, flower boxes filled with red or orange flowers on every window which were encased by black decorative iron railings along with the double rowed tree-lined streets make this a remarkable city. The amount of open space and parks for the people is undone by no other. Also we were thankful Paris was a bit more accommodating to tourists and they had English speaking guides to provide us with the Metro information and directions to our hostel. Once you get your bearings though, Paris is a very easy city to get around. The Metro is great and if you want Paris is very walkable and safe. Our hostel, ironically named the Aloha Hostel, had a lockout period so after dropping off our bags we had about 8 hours before we could get in our room. No luck in taking a nap so we decided to torture ourselves and go do the 4 hour guided walking tour of Paris. It was free! Our guide was a young college graduate from Scotland. A funny young lad. We started in the Latin Quarter (which is not named because Latin people live there but because the students at the university nearby only spoke latin), we went by the Louvre, the Museo d’orsay, along the Seine River, the Champs Elysee, and over several of the famous bridges in town, even the one Mr. Big and Carrie stood on for the final episode of Sex and the City. I guess it is considered the “romantic bridge.” Our guide gave a complete history of many of the buildings and told us that Paris was saved from destruction by the Nazi’s because Hitler thought it was the most beautiful city and did not want it destroyed if he was going to be its ruler. Unfortunately toward the end of our tour it started raining. (I think the rain is following us). It did not last for very long and we were able to finish the tour. At this time my feet were going to fall off. I was so exhausted and just wanted to lie down. We still had to make it back to our hostel which was about a 20 minute metro ride. What seemed like an eternity we finally made it back and got the key to our room and immediately proceeded to our respective bunks and crashed! After a couple of hours we arose from the dead, took a shower and headed out in search of dinner. Our hostel was in a very cool neighborhood in the Monumental District. This was our first encounter of sticker shock and we quickly found out why Paris is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world. (examples: coca-cola $6, one beer $10, load of laundry $10) even Mcdonalds was expensive. I guess they do not believe in the 99 cent value menu. We got smart and learned how to eat like a local. Sandwiches and crepes on the street, buy snacks and fruit at the markets, and eat lots of pizza. Actually one night we thought we did well and bought a rotisserie chicken from the butcher for 6 euros, but when you do the conversion that is closer to $10 and twice the amount you would pay for one at Costco. It was good though and we used the leftovers for our sandwiches the next day.

Once we got settled and started reading the guide book to determine our plan of attack we realized that the three days we had tentatively scheduled for Paris was not going to be enough time to even scratch the surface. Paris is definitely a city of sensory overload and has way too much to see and do. We decided to stay three more nights because we knew one day was going to be dedicated to the finish of the Tour de France, so I got on the computer to find us another hotel for the other days because our hostel was going to be full. Once we secured a reservation we headed back out on the town. I told Roby I wanted to take it easy. We decided to only do the Eiffel Tower and the park nearby. We decided to walk to the Tower which was about 2 miles away but it allowed us to venture through the city and see the neighborhoods. Instead of waiting in the 2 hour line for the elevator to the top of the tower we chose to climb the 800 plus stairs to the viewing deck on the tower. My Mt Rainer “rest step” training came in handy. Being at the top of the Tower is somewhat like seeing the statute of David in Florence, you know you have arrived.
Only having had a half a day of site-seeing we had enough energy to go paint the town red. We hit the showers and even had the luxury of a hair dryer at the hostel. Having read our guidebook and listening to our guide from the previous day, we went and bought our own bottle of wine and enjoyed it in the confines of our dorm room before going out on the town. We felt like we were back in college sneaking alcohol into our dorm and drinking it as fast as possible not to get caught. Feeling good, we put on our fancy clothes and headed to the Latin Quarter. What an awesome place at night. Everyone is out and about of all ages. The Notre Dame is in the area and is beautiful all lit up at night. Street musicians line the area whether down on the walk near the Seine or across the street from the church. All the restaurants line the narrow cobblestone meandering streets and they are all outdoor seating. Everyone just hangs out and enjoys the night. We noticed the best cafes were on the corners of the street intersections-better for people watching, so we settled down at one for a few beers and enjoyed the view. The only bad part about Paris is that everyone especially the women all smoke and when you are seated outside the tables are right on top of each other and they don’t mind blowing their smoke in your face. I do not understand why Paris is a no-smoking city inside their buildings, restaurants and trains, because everyone smokes. It is funny watching them get off a train and within seconds are lighting up a cigarette. Unfortunately it is still cool to smoke here. Nevertheless, we did not let this hamper our perfect evening because we were going to indulge in our first Nutella Crepe. They were made right in front of us on a hot stone and lavishly filled with Nutella. We were hooked. It was going to become a staple in our diet and for only 1.50 euro you couldn’t beat it. One of these crepe stands would make millions outside a bar in New York-(hint hint Miss Jules). We crawled into bed about 2:00 am knowing we could sleep in a bit because we were doing the Tour de France the next day.

Our roommates-two young girls woke up before us and with the clamor of the hostel we were up with 15 minutes to spare in order to get our breakfast. As mentioned before the French breakfast consists of bread, jam, and coffee and juice. I don’t get it where is the protein Don’t they know if they eat too many carbohydrates it will only make them hungrier sooner. Oh well-it was free. Now that we were Tour de France experts we decided to arrive around 12:00 noon and chose to walk down to the Champs Elysee because the metro was going to be a mess. When we initially arrived Lance Armstrong’s “Live Strong” organization had set up a zone along the Seine River where you could go and write words of wisdom in yellow chalk on the sidewalk. Roby decided to adorn the area with a “snobyscape” and he drew his version of the Tree of Life. His first piece of art on exhibit in France!!! We wondered around the Tour version of “Deadom” but did not have as much luck finding a good spot to watch because there were many more people for this stage and a much more limited area. The biggest obstacle was finding a bathroom or toilette. No public restrooms exist in the city nor do they have them in the metro stations. How do you have an event for over 100,000 people and not have rows of j-johns set up. Over half of those in attendance were women and the other half was men drinking beer. Poor planning, but it seems the norm. We went to a restaurant and they demanded that we be customers so we went to the bathroom and sat down at a table and were going to order a couple of beers. When we did not order a meal, they kicked us out. No problem we did not want to have to spend $20 for two beers anyway. Thankfully the riders were going to be coming through soon so we picked a spot with a bit of a grade so we could see over those in front of us and Roby could get some pictures. When they come through the Champs Elysee they do 5 laps around so it is not the 5 second blur like in the Alps. However, when the riders make the turn and are on the same side of the road as you are standing, they are going so fast they almost look like when you draw a cartoon on the bottom of several pages of a book and flick the pages to make it look like the character is running. It is that fast. After watching several loops we walked down to the big screen to watch the finish and the awards being handed out to the winners. We were very near the stage but the crowd was too large for us to get a real close-up. Roby did his best getting pictures. Once the Tour ended the mob scene commenced. Everyone was hurrying for the Metro. We decided to let the crowd settle and hung out in the grassy park, took off our shoes, and relaxed. After being on our feet for 6 hours we needed a break before our 2 mile walk home. As Bill Bryson said- “We DID the Tour de France”.

We were supposed to leave the next day but instead we moved to our new digs on the other side of town in the Bastille area. It is supposed to be a hip-part of town. Our hotel was not as nice as our hostel nor were the staff members as nice or helpful, but we made due. After climbing the 6 flights of stairs with our backpacks (our butts would be getting in shape if it weren‘t for all the pastries), we headed to the Louvre. It was the perfect day because it was a bit grey and rainy; a perfect day to be inside. The place is unbelievably huge and cannot be done in one day unless you run through it. The amount of people who go through is also too much to count. People were fighting their way up to see the Mona Lisa, crazy!! Most of the artists are neo-classique. The Louvre would not permit impressionists (Monet) into the museum so most of them are housed over at the Musee d’Orsay. The scale of some of the paintings are over the top-about 40x15 feet that is. We saw the Venus de Milo and some of Rembrandt’s paintings and we were really going to see the Lace Maker by Vermeer, however, when we arrived at his location it was missing. They had sent it out on tour to Japan. Roby was crushed. The Louvre had a section for Egyptian artifacts and a sculpture room. A truly amazing place. After 4 hours we made it through the sections we were interested in and ventured out of the museum. The clouds had parted and the sun had come out. As we were walking from the Louvre we entered the Touilleres Gardens and came upon a large 60’ diameter fountain encircled by movable lawn chairs where people were just hanging out. With our weary feet, we decided to join them. Probably my favorite part of Paris. We sat in a couple of reclining chairs put our feet up on the edge of the fountain and shared our last French “Juice Box” and some cheese and crackers. (We found these 8 ounce juice boxes filled with red wine in the grocery store and took them with us-the best invention by the French and really not bad tasting). We talked, read our books and just enjoyed “being” in Paris with her 70 something temperatures.

The fountain scene was topped the next day by our visit to Versaille. As our friend JP always says “It is good to be the King.” This castle is humungous and the gardens go for miles. No attempt to describe it would do it justice. We chose to do the garden tour only which took us 4 hours in and of itself. We walked through the different sections and marveled at the landscape but our favorite was our afternoon nap on the lawn next to the Grand Canal with a view of the Castle and the boaters on the water. Although we had another day in Paris, this would have been a perfect way to end our visit.

Our last day was somewhat of a hodge podge. We had to go and see Jim Morrison’s grave which was actually in a very cool cemetery near our hotel (if a cemetery can be cool). It is like a small village of old world tombs and crypts almost little houses lining cobble streets with huge old trees and signage outlining where all the tombs are located. The cemetery has quite a few famous people in it-Chopin, Bellini, Wadsworth and of course Jim Morrison. Roby thought for sure Morrison’s grave would be one of these ornate house-like structures but of course with cool Doors on it. It is probably ½ a mile in each direction. Next on our list was the elevated garden, only the 2nd one in the world-the other being the one we saw in New York. Both are renovated rail lines. This one is more of a gardenesque walkway rather than a useable space like the one in New York, but nonetheless just as beautiful. We completed our 8 mile loop and came home for a rest. Our next conquest was going to be the Couer de Sacre-Church of the Sacred Heart in the Montmartre district. This was the “crazy” end of town near the Moulin Rouge and red light district of Paris. Although not as good as Amsterdam, it had its fill of pleasurable places. We were going to see the Moulin Rouge show but it was beyond our budget even beyond our splurging budget!!! Instead we climbed the stairs (a feat of its own) of the Sacred Heart and had the most spectacular view of the city. The sun was going down, the breeze was cool and we enjoyed the music from the local musicians. Our farewell to Paris!!

Le Tour de Alps

French Aps-Tour de France
July 20th-July 23rd

We woke the next morning barely in time for breakfast. I think the last few nights in New York were catching up with us. Our hostel provided a free breakfast which consisted of bread, coffee, juice and yogurt and did I say bread. We were quite shocked when we saw several of the guests taking 6 slices of bread each. Do they not know about the Atkins or Zone diet!!!

The night before we had purchased our bus tickets to Annecy (Ann Say) France so we had the morning to enjoy. However, instead of taking the 1:00 pm bus we found they had one at 11:00 am so we decided to head to the mountains early. What a gorgeous bus ride. It took about 2 hours through the greenest valleys and hillside towns. It was a fairytale. Feeling a bit cocky about maneuvering through the city, we exited our bus and thought it would be easy to make our connection to our hotel. Guess again, even fewer people spoke English in Annecy. In fact none of the staff at the bus station spoke it. We were not only trying to find our way to our hotel which was on the edge of town, but we needed to make arrangements for our trip to La Grand Bornand for the mountain stage of the tour. Thankfully a local French lady took pity on us and showed us where the local bus stop was and which one we needed to take to get to our hotel. She was a godsend. We still were in the unknown about La Grand Bornand other than what we picked up from the bus station attendant that only the morning bus was running tomorrow because of the Race but it was not going to return from La Grand Bornand. A bus from St Jean de Sixt was the only one running at night to get you back to Annecy and it was about 2 miles away from where the race was staged. No big deal except the last bus was at 6:15 pm and the race was going to finish around 5:30 pm or later. We planned this trip around the Tour so we were going to chance it knowing that if we missed the 6:15 pm bus we were hoofing it 18 miles back to Annecy or sleeping behind someone’s barn. Game On!

After grabbing a quick bit to eat and experiencing French bus station rest rooms (why do they not have seats?) we headed to our hotel. Having made our reservations last minute our hotel was on the outskirts of town and not much happening around it. In fact it was in an industrial area so our dining options were limited to non-existent. Also, the last bus to our hotel was 7:00 pm, therefore, if we stayed in town for dinner or activities, we had at least a mile walk to get home. We were hoping the hotel staff would speak more English to make sure we understood the train station attendant correctly regarding the bus schedule. No luck. With only a 50% comfort level of our arrangements and only one shot for making the Race, we decided to dine at the little restaurant at our hotel and turn in early. We were going to have to catch the 7:20 am bus back into Annecy in order to make the only bus to La Grand Bornand at 8:15 am. This putting us at the race 7 hours before the riders would come through town. Needless to say, we did not get much sleep that night just stressing about whether we had the correct information along with the tight schedule we were going to have to meet.

Morning came sooner than we thought. Although we set our alarms, there was really no need because the jack hammering started at sun-up. As we left our hotel room, we gave each other a kiss and said we loved one another just in case this little adventure turned into a fiasco and we said things we were going to regret. The local bus arrived on time-1st step accomplished. We arrived at 7:45 am at the bus station-bought ticket to La Grand Bornand and made bus. Step two accomplished. As we drove to La Grand Bornand we passed through several French towns through the Alps. Talk about picturesque. Everything you would expect and more. The gorgeous towering mountains all covered in flowers with the white chalets speckled throughout the hillsides. We were also taking note of how long of a walk we might have if we missed the last bus home. Before reaching La Grand Bornand we had to pass through St Jean de Sixt the town where we would have to catch this bus so we made a mental note of where it was and the route we would have to take. Once we arrived in La Grand Bornand we had a sigh of relief. We were there and going to see the Tour. We know had 7 hours to kill. Initially our thought was to trek it to the top so we could see them summit. We began the long climb upward and made it about half way (4 miles) when we ran into a couple of cyclists who were riding the route and they informed us that the riders would not be reaching the summit until about 4:00 pm. This was not going to work with our plan. We could not make it back to St Jean Sixt if we had to walk 10 miles and not start heading down until 4:00 pm. We had to bag it and settle for a spot along the route down in town. (in hindsight it turned out to be a better plan because we were hit by an unexpected rain storm and it poured for quite awhile. Sidenote-the guy we met riding up was from Texas and he went to Texas Tech. Small world.

We found a short cut back to town and grabbed a bite to eat and found a cool little café which was right on the race route and had a few beers where we could watch the approaching tour on TV. Having to score my friend Tami a t-shirt we braved it in the rain and found the souvenir wagon. Roby got one also. After 2:00 pm the rain stopped and the sun came out for a glorious afternoon and a perfect day for a bike ride. You would not believe how many cyclists come out for the tour and ride the route the morning before the racers. It is just a stream of bikes going by in all directions at all times. It definitely made us wish we had brought ours. A good goal to get in shape to be able to ride all the stages of the Tour. We will put it on our List. After a few hours and a few beers the parade of sponsor cars came through the town. They arrive an hour before the riders and toss out trinkets, cheap hats and some snacks from their vehicles. We went down and fought the hordes of people all grabbing for the items. We got several biker/painter style hats. Now we had lost our seats at the bar so we decided to head toward the finish because it was getting late and we knew we would be cutting it close to our bus departure. We found the perfect spot at the 2k mark right up front with a perfect view of the riders and no other people around us. At 5:30 pm the riders started coming through and we got some great photographs of Alberto Contador and the Schleck brothers along with many of the others who came through at the beginning. They whiz by so quickly it is difficult to identify them. In fact we did not even know it was Alberto in the front when we took the picture. It was not until later when we reviewed them. After about 5 minutes many of the racers had come through and we were cutting it down to the wire for our bus, we decided it was time to go. Thankfully we were close to the exit area and we decided to run. We figured we could do the 2 miles in about 20 minutes since we had to run uphill we needed to give ourselves a little more time. It was brutal but we made it to town with 10 minutes to spare. In retrospect we did not need to run because our bus was an hour late because it could not reach St Jean Sixt until all the traffic cleared the area. Step 3 accomplished. The only snafu turned out to be the last bus ride back to our hotel. Due to the tardiness of the St Jean Sixt bus we missed the last connection but it was only a mile walk. Our first stage of the Tour de France in the beautiful Alps was a success.

No rest for the weary. We were up and at it again the next morning. This time we did not have to be up until 8:00 am. The race was in Annecy so we could take the local bus into town which was only 5 minutes away. Lance Armstrong called this region of France one of if not the most beautiful places in the world and he is right. Annecy is called the flower city. Everywhere you turn flower baskets or flower landscapes are everywhere. Literally on every corner or along the canals in hanging baskets along the railings there are flowers. Amazing what a difference a little color makes. This does not even compare to the view of the Lake or surrounding mountains. We even took a break at the little beach next to the lake while waiting for the final racers for the time trial. Took off our shoes, tested the freezing cold water, and marveled over the tranquil view (the best part of the day). The Tour was set up a bit differently in Annecy and for the better. With the race going around the lake you could watch the start and then walk to the finish in enough time to see the same racer. We started the day at the start so we could get some close-ups of the riders before they even entered the oval and then we moved down the raceline to about the 1st quarter mile and then to a roundabout to catch a full-on view after they had gained some speed, then to the finish for Lance and Alberto Contador. All the team buses and the VS stage were in the park area and they allowed people to wander around and see the riders. We got near the Astana bus but no sign of Lance and it was extremely crowded. The announcers for VS were out and about on the open-air stage and they talked to the crowd for awhile. It was cool to hang out near their trailer because they had the race on a big screen TV and it was in English. You knew where all the Brits, Australians and Americans were hanging out!

Annecy our favorite place so far. Why the Tour has ignored it for 50 years is beyond me.

Sweet Geneva

Geneva Switzerland

July 19th


After our adventurous cab ride from Bryan and Julie’s home to JFK we boarded our plane for Geneva. We somehow got lucky and they gave us emergency row exit seats for no additional cost so we took full advantage. You would have thought we had set up shop with all our stuff strewn across the aisle. We decided to purchase smaller backpacks while we were in DC. This way we could carry them on and not have to hassle with baggage or lost luggage. After takeoff we removed our shoes and kicked back with a movie and dinner. A perfect Sunday evening. A quick cat nap and we arrived in Geneva. The flight to Geneva was actually faster than getting from Kauai to Phoenix.

The real adventure was just about to begin. Watching Roby and me in a foreign country without knowing a lick of French and having no knowledge of where we were going was like watching a reality show. We headed straight to the information desk and the lady spoke enough English to show us where to pick up our free pass on the tram to get to the train station which would take us to our hotel. It is really great in Geneva, all public transportation is free to tourists. Once we got to the train station we had this predicament as to which train to take because we had to make a connection. No one at this station spoke any English so we were on our own. We figured it out and even found our connection without any troubles. The walk from the tram station to our hotel was pleasant even with our backpacks. We were experts now. Since we arrived before check-in we dropped off our bags and took to the city on foot. Although we had a free metro card Geneva is a very walkable city. Roby with his trusty map skills led us to some of the city’s most beautiful narrow cobblestone streets lined with old stone buildings and flower boxes in all the windows. We hiked up the steep hills to the Cathedral de St. Pierre. The city is everything you would imagine for a European city. It is bright, clean, and has the most perfect view of the lake from all sides, and oh yea-expensive. We walked down the famous Grand Rue where we found a cute little café for lunch. We figured eating out is going to be an experience for the next two weeks since we have limited ability in reading the menu. Thankfully enough of the words have similarity to Spanish and Italian that I can decipher the majority of the words. The only problem is the pronunciation. Spanish is so much easier. Everything is “silent” in French but we made due. Lots of finger pointing along with Roby attempting French with his best Texas twang accent followed by blank stairs from the waiters .

After lunch we headed toward the park at the Lake. Jet Lag was weighing in and I just wanted to veg for awhile. We found the perfect spot with Mont Blanc in the background, the sun glistening off the Lake and the grassy park just calling our names. We set up camp in the shade and basically passed out for about 1 hour.(ah-BLISS). Just what the doctor ordered. Once the bugs started coming out we packed up and wandered through the park landing at a bistro up on the hill near a museum. We had a beer and enjoyed sunset. Only having one night in the city, we wanted to check out the nightlife. After a quick shower we headed toward the center of town where they were having a festival and live music. The band was from Australia and played some great 70’s music. Knowing we were going to be back at the end of our trip and still feeling the effects of the plane ride we called it an evening around midnight.




Viva la France.