2. I forgot to mention...

Three camo-clad very young soldiers with rifles and handgun at both train stations and airports. Why didn't that make me feel safe? or safer? or less anxious w/ guns in public crowded spaces?

Posts with "I forgot to mention..."

Christina driving us to the airport yesterday...Mike had to close his eyes a couple times. People coming at us from all directions - egads! She says she drives a tank - BMW :)

Departure lane in front of the airport, sign says "Kiss and Fly" Extremely descriptive. She was surprised we had never heard that, nor use it here.

Watertown!

AND...we are safely (and tiredly) home. Woke at 3 a.m. (10 a.m. European time -- of course), at Jill and Brian's this morning. He needed to go in to work early to accomplish a particular project today, so we took off way before rush hour. Worked well. Uneventful if very windy drive the last 200 miles. The Maple tree is spectacular in it's autumn yellow, orange and gold. Very showy :) Tomatoes look kinda' sad, but we have two trays that mostly ripened while we were gone. Still a bunch downstairs which are green.

Wonderful adventure -- we're both glad we went. No need to prove to myself that I can deal with French; I did. Michael picked up quite a lot as well. Amazing how having to cope helps the ability to cope. I think he had fun with it :)

Very grateful to be able to use the tablet, but desktop is so much easier. I can just type and not argue with the stupid mindless machine. Yay!

Will make note of the things that particularly struck us, but the most important that bears repeating is how genuinely warm and helpful and interesting the French (and other countries) people we met and interacted with. Highly recommend staying in B&Bs; we felt we got to know some people more than just in passing. Highly educational, and fun.

3rd and final for Fri am

Talked and talked w J&B on arrival, slept well. 3 am now. 10am for us, Brian has work to finish. We're headed home this am, prolly when Bri leaves for work. Said he enjoyed relearning manual transmissin on truck while we were gone. Understands saying about bicycle riding now :) Fun *g*  French Cats la- la apron a hit. Couldn't resist it :) I did resist the gorgeous dark orange pottery teapot, lasagna casserole dish,  etc. Wouldn't fit in suitcase. :( Someday maybe.

Headed home on last stretch shortly. Back to my REAL computer. Tablet useful- would never become my first choice.

Later...

Home cont.

Security o.k. Every village & street in France at least 2 bars; NOT ONE IN TERMINAL close to where we were. No water in bottles :(  Plane delayed 1/2 hr - difficulties of one sort or another w/ passemgers boarding.  Londoner next to us said was media exposition all week. No wonder few vacancies and endless wait & line. Arr Amsterdam w time to spare. Passport control. 3 stamps on passports now. Flight home eternal w/ seemed nonstop food. Pesto tortellini was good. Salad (lettuce) back to ordinary. Movie ' Australia', then music till I couldn't stand earbuds anymore. Neither of us slept. Arr about 7:30 in eve. Nice to have phone to call & text :)

Bloomingtom Fri am

Home in the US. Long day again yesterday. 2 Thursdays in essence. Magnificent breakfast of Italian ham (kinda' like prosciutto), cheese from Pyrenées ( kinda' like brie) fruit juice nectar, espresso & green tea, croissants (choc & apricot) and a couple over easy scrambled almost eggs. Delicieux! Saw basement studio. Too heat for art world. I said pix not fit in suitcase. She had a couple numbered lithographs. No way would I even try to carry home. Would have been royal pain. I like her more abstract work. I'm so not a horse person. Frantic drive to terminal 2 and long lines to check in. Older French woman said she had never seen such before. To be cont...

Good morning

Last day. Plane leaves @ 12:30 from Nice. Boy do we have stories to tell. Fantastic meal w/ Christina & Jose on the spur of the moment! Magic *g* Room on the terrace w/ water running in pond, incredible. Garden to die for - no freeze here. Zucchini vines are permanent fixtures, herbs, flowers and ripe tomatoes.

We are both fascinated by the magnetic curtain (rideau) on the door -slick! Watched the sun set, planes come in over the Mediterranean, lights come on along the Baie des Anges (lighthouse ((le phare)) on the point). Like jewels.

The couple are artists Jose Curti & Christina Jagow if you want to look them up. Studio down below. She trained horses in haute école like the Lippizaners. Passionate stories of her experiences. Airs Above the Ground - that's what I was trying to remember.

Nice Wed

Arrived, couldn't find our host @ station. Taxi to the top of the hill. She looked for a long time as did we. C'est la vie. Encore too many tourists. Tomorrow we return. Uncle - enough. More tomorrow.

TGV Avignon

In the train station headed to Nice. Didn't get lost or use the toll road -  hah! 1/2 hr to departure. Good thing we brought 2credt cards. Train station cannot read magnetic, even though many Italians & Germans don't have chip card either. Fortunately we didn't have to use the PIN number which we don't know. Waiting for us @ home along w/ new mastercard.

All will be well. If it isn't, it's not the end. *g*

Wed a.m.

Can't seem to get to comments early this am. The crespeau was layered. Top orange, then green, then white, then a dark almost purple. At first thought salmon, maybe spinach, chicken, then a beef.meat thing. Nicely seasoned and tasty. Could very well have all been veg. Carrots, green beans, cauliflower, eggplant? Will ask Jean-Michel what is typical. The quiche was moist (zuke quiche :)

One more Tues post

So our last day of wandering draws to a close. Suitcase and half  of dirty clothes. Must get olive oil and 4 other soft purchases in for travel to TGV in Avignon tomorrow. Be nice to get both raincoats in too. Haven't needed them since Paris. Train to Nice, then plane Thurs. am to Amsterdam and Minneapolis. Some observations: Opel Corsa  has horrendous blind spot on left hand curves :( Hosts said much easier to get to TGV in Aix-en-Provence rather than Avignon. Oh well, it is what it is. We're allowing 3.5 hrs for 45 min drive, gas fill, check in car, and buy train tickets. Not the last train to... But hosts there will be waiting. Saw electric bikes in another small village. Maybe solar electric...

Tuesday Tuesday con't!

So to eat for entrée Mike had. Tuna salad (actually salade Niçoise w/ FRESH not canned vegs, I had terrine St. Jacques, basically a gelled dosh w/ fresh mayo and always spring salad mix. F9r the plat Mike had proc w/ pepper sauce, roasted & grilled potato. I had the local fish - excellent. I want to say they called it angoulème - fresh fromthe sea :) Both had ratatouille. The  white cheese (soft) on a parfait dish covered w/ a colis of raspberry (sauce) & mint leaf. Old dog obviously resident of restaurant. Espresso, too. Parfait! Them we walked on around to complete threcircle back to car, stopping @ kitchen store (yes, I bought things- but not the lovely orange teapot or lasagna dish or or... Wouldn't go in suitcase :( Forgot to mention @ butcher shop bought quiche provençal and crespeau. You'll have to look that one up :) Basically looks like layers of veg. Older lady shopping for her meal said is excellent. That's tonight's meal.

Apt, Luberon

We found it. The ideal small French municipality. Charming, winding mountain road past lavender fields. Trimmed for winter  -one newly planted & cultivated. An entire valley of stone/ochre colored buildings. Into the town - yikes, parking difficult. Found immersible *g* parking down below street level. Waited an worker pulled out, we pulled in. Van asking ng please could we move over. Mike looked & there was room, so he did. Walked back into the centre ville.
Lots pf shops: cheese , bakery, candied fruits, butcher on corner. Several wine & beer bars. Benches for on avenue; we watched people for a while, then went around corner down walking street. Patisserie - we finally had elevenses! A raspberry mousse and a grapefruit citrus flavored Schweppes soda. Kept on walking. Sign for La Platane restaurant just @ midi. We went around the corner and up some stairs. Lovely small restaurant. Specials of day (plat du jour) soumded great. To be continued...

Beaumes de Venise - First village

Can't share or copy paste text from when I could not get on Thurs Oct 9. Our favorite place, best wine, 2nd best meal. Paris tops best list. Stayed in studio w/ young family through laundry, out back door down stone steps to courtyard next to pool.  Stone sink on counter.  Kaki tree in town square: neither orange nor peach - looked like combination. Walked 500 meter's for dinner(fair walk) so Mike could have wine. Côtes du Rhône from Vaqueryas and duck on brochettes w/ aubergine purée, thickened and shaped in loaf pan, sliced. I thought was warmed; Mike said heat from plate. Very bland as veg.

Monday in la place

2€ for one hour wee fee (g) in the central area. 2 bars connection instead of only one. Patience Jan!

Late Mon. Afternoon

Lunch in small village. Restaurant on both sides of narrow road along basin. Platane trees lining whole plaza. Crappy croque monsieur but the wine wasn't bad. Hard rolls. Mike developing taste for limonade which always costs more than glass of wine. Sightseeing half dozen villages, mostly riverain (residential I think). Beautiful fields, vines of every age and height &  hills/mtns. Wanted to mention public WC/toilettes. BYOTP :) And smell of fermenting wine everywhere. Have seen 6-8 pickups.  I swear we saw Rivière's pickup today (Year in Provence) complete w/boar cages. One small ice tray in fridge. Save for this time of day. Sitting in courtyard enjoying oranges, chocolate & hard rolls. C'est beau la vie!

Chocolate croissants

Thinking of Annie & Paula as we eat breakfast. Tea for me and espresso every morning for lui :) And every morning except today - chocolate croissants blech. Papa loves them. This morning's breads were brioche (sweet muffin bread) and baguettes and plain (?) croissants. And fig jam. I like it. Very kind to share limited supply of homemade goodies :)

Today's plan - tourist bureau to fix blog, then wander countryside in search of wine and sights/people to see. 3 or 4 small villages w/i 5 km which we have not gotten lost in yet. Cadanet we checked out on Sat. to locate church, then road blocked because of horse festival/parade. 10 minutes to town,  45 min to find the church again. Mon Dieu!

Forgot to mention 'k' cups. Everywhere! Paris, here... universal I guess. But a.m. coffee in actual espresso pot. I'll wait for elevenses - hopefully. Seem to have missed that everyday along w/ lunch. A toute à l'heure (later).

Monday Monday

Thundering out there. A light rain during the night. :) Forgot to mention we have a little fridge - nice. Don't think we'll be having breakfast in the courtyard this am. French bread is so crumbly. Will make mess of crumbs in room.

Don't have email for Stepps. Don is in better place. Rest in peace. Annie please let them know we are thinking of them.

Love to all...

Le meteo

People keep asking if I need a jacket when we go out. Mostly been in 70s except for this evening. No I do not need a coat. Been using a/c in car. Mike saw one girl today dressed for January!

Chante France!

I heard my French radio station twice on Friday. No need to ask if real.

Hunting

Tim, This morning we heard shots. Wild boar apparently invasive. They dig holes &wreak havoc. Tonight we heard shots & what sounded like boar calls.

Sunday ps

More food notes: mille feuilles are layers of phyllo interspersed w/ eclair cream and topped w/ thin icing. Everything but restaurants close noon - 2 or maybe 3. Food except for drinks (wine/espresso and dessert) not served after 2. Meals can be a la carte or plat du jour. Most meals cost between 15 -25 €, w/ some higher. Gas ~ 1.56/ litre. Again we forgot to write beginning miles. Oops.

Vegs aren't served whole unless raw (crudites). Carrot/green bean & eggplant were puréed & thickened like pâté, onlynot jelled & served warm, called flan. Not much flavor. Lettuce (called salade) is loose leaf.

Mike hasn't read his book since we got off the plane. That's a record! He's falling asleep now trying to read *grin*. Needed some time w/o driving or searching for place to stay. Only drawback here is weak wi-fi. Guess we'll live w/ that.

Just discovered laying down sideways keyboard is bigger! And found Euro symbol. I am teachable!

Miscellany

Health all better. Filtered water @ pharmacists'. She's a masseuse for fun - lots of feng shui :) I had to tell her their home felt healthy. Plants, fish, stones etc. Today w/ natural spring water ( Think "Manon des sources" - French film.)

Michael so observant of clothing & mannerisms, changing into Frenchman in front of me. He's the right height - just needs longer nose (grin). I'm mostly oblivious except for hosiery. Gone from SD. Still here, along w/ tights, leggings, a few boots. Good to have quiet evening; no need to walk to restaurant to drink. Bottles & glasses here :) Mike not drinking if he's driving at all, which is wise. Won't even take a sip @ the "caveau de degustation." He has to trust me to pick well. I'm a better navigator than driver; all who wander are not post! :)

Vehicles

Mimi -hundreds of transits & like. Tim/Roger: 6 pickups - last one was big Ford big honker!

Notes on terrain

Fields plowed & rocky. Rained even harder here than north a bit. Erosion in the mountains and even more we saw today driving around. Mud had to be flowing pretty hard. So sad on west side of Rhone. Haven't figured out how to add accents - sorry. 4 times they've been under water in 1 month. :(

Sunday afternoon

Today we got to try a new fruit - fig confiture. Mme makes it from their tree. Can't remember if I got to post yesterday, we had homemade cherry, orange and peach jams in Malaucene. Then we drove through the Vaucluse mountains and the Luberon mtns. Came finally to Lourmarin, east of Avignon about 3/4 hour. Found Office of Tourisme in the centre ville. Florence , the young staffer, called 6 places. No vacancy. She said let me try one more - et voila. Les Oliviers. M. has 300 olive trees :) We'll stay here until Wed. am and drive around region during daytime. Less stressful not thinking about lodging. Only peob here wi-fi (wee-fee) spotty @ best :( Have I said tired of tourists (lots German) and mediocre touroat foos. First 2 days exceptional, others not so much. Canned beans for salade nicoise? I don't think so.

Lovely location outside the village, gracious hosts, spring fed muni water, king bed (all have been good & on the hard side). Showers get bigger @ each B&B. Grocery shopping &gas @Super U (box store). 3 categories: Express, Super U & today in a larger place something like mega u - already can't recall. Mass at small village. Priest probably 80, maybe 50 people there. Male Margaret O'Brien asked me to read a prayer of petitiob - of course I said yes. :) Leaving church a lady in car stopped us to say she loves my accent (SD French maybe?) She said it was delightful :) &  was I from Strasbourg? Don't I wish. Parade of buggies & horses and donkeys passing by church when we came out. Fun. Another village had a kind of go-cart festival -w/o motors. Towed...

Interesting variety of hosts. Paris older couple, Roger headed to work in am, she helps w/ grandkids & hates the metro. Not many older people use especially during rush hour. Not ADA for sure. Second night young family; he teaches mechanical stuff @ local tech school, she works in mayor's office, 2 elem. school. 3rd night 2 pharmacists who sub when asked, he hosp & she pharmacie. Huge garden & chickens. Tried quince (coeng) & jujube. Big  trees everywhere r plantane (plane) trees dying from cancre brought from US on bullet casings WWII. Sad :(. Last couple retired, back @ family home. B&B tax deduction if I understood. They don't accept lots of folks, dogs or kids :) Cool pool, fish pond, terraces. We have front row view of Luberon.

Today we have more bread, gruyere & sausage (w/ wine of course) mille feuilles & chocs for answers

Sat am

Rested this am. Wanted to tell about lunch w/ GADLP ☺ Roadside stand sorta'. Tables of workers obviously their spot. Encountered southern accent too. Andouillet sort of bratwurst and chevre tomato panini. Dinner was an aubergine (eggplant) flan. (Think warm veg pâté) and ratatouille and rice and a veal sliced, seasoned and rolled. Baguette w/ every meal. Wine not as good - light. Rained hard most of the night.

The nexus is left-handed. Argues w/ me much less if I only use left. Curious. I rant about it a lot. We will reach an accommodation yet! Pardon typos. Think I should write in am -much less tired. Almost too much to tell each day - all the people we interact w/. Papa's 'un brave homme'. He smiles and gestures and watches.

Malaucene Provence

Things to remember:  I think my mind is blank. Wish I had sandals and capris. It's very warm and humid. All day dark clouds and thunder to west. We're up in mountain foothills. Getting kinda' tired of tourist crowds. I have lost count of how many charming French we have met and how often they say you speak French very well and DON'T add for an American. A little knowledge is dangerous! What did they say? I have no idea -but keep smiling 😊 Michel is a good sport! Host today calls him MIKE rhe 'chef'(meaning boss) Aprops -he is☺.

A good case of dehydration plus Montezuma's revenge, heat rash. Walked thousabds of km and my knees don't ache at night. Yay.

Bonne nuit!

Mike's blog:  That way no dups maybe

Paris B&B

To sleep by 10 local time. Awake @5 am like normal. It's 11:30 pm @ home, 6:30 am here

Michel says he can hear my French improving 😊

See Moon's Musings for update on pm. Too doggone exhausted to deal w/ tablet quieks. Have I said I hate it yet? I DO!!! Mike will post pix too. But I will echo what I have said for 40 yrs. The French are lovely people - even in the big city!

More tomorrow as we train south to Avignon and rent Peugeot to tour vines and Roman ruins (Mike's interest.) Ciao!

Paris

OMG. Arrived CDG airport @8:05 this am. Took hour and half to find 'valises' ; customs just a smile & a stamp ☺ Welcome to Paris. Raining and gray just like home. About noon we're finally @ Huegette Brunel's 'chambre d'hote (b&b). I'm sitting infront of a wall of window w/ a cup of white tea, looking out over Paris w/ balconies & terraces and narrow streets & the first place I see in the market area when we surfaced from underground was pastry shop. We must stop on our way to musee d'orsay M says museum? I said art gallery!! I remember.

Flight very tolerabe. Didn't seem that long but I watched the Fugitive, interspersed w/ wine and snacks and a lovely chicken breast salad w/ black beans & corn and tomatoes, side of fresh fruit. Kudos to Delta air - everything complimentary! Breakfast @1:30 -not so good. Egg McMuffin better. :(  Been up since 5:30 yesterday am

We walked a thousand miles in airport, train station and metros. 40 years ago I was a whole lot younger. Fifty million stairs w/ no escalators or elevator.

Off again insearch of food and sites. I have attempted French. It's embarrassing but I will not give up!!

Msp

@ MSP airport. Sail through security. Guy says no check on Tues. I think it's 'cause I use cane. 1st stop is bar tp fill water bottle which squeaks. And of course wine and rum/pepsi☺ Life is good. Flight to board in one hour. Honking bog airbus.

Departure from Watertown

Tuesday - anything but 'normallement'. Tuesday Tuesday definitely. We're set to go - both small suitcases packed (but not overfull), raincoats in the doorway. Looks like rain in Paris (Michael reading about Montmartre - where our first B&B is - he said this is going to be delightful - and hilly :) and rain 4 of the 6 days in Provence. We won't melt...

Lots of anxiety and frustration last night as I sorted out the last details (one of which was voicemail on new phone- political robo calls - no more voicemail. Will reconsider after elections) and getting tomatoes sorted, frozen, sent to new homes. Still a tray of green ones in the dining room and a drawer full of apples in the fridge. They'll be fine for 2 weeks.

We're off - à bientôt! (see you soon!)

Love, Jan

On the tablet now ☺ ready to go!

Saturday - October 4, 3 pm

3 days and counting down! Refrigerator is getting pretty empty. I wanted to make a note of all the obstacles we've encountered in the last month, so I don't forget any of them. We are going on Tuesday come hell or literally high water <g> Except I gotta' wonder if there's a message here.

1. Icelandic volcano affecting European airports
2. a plane from Washington DC to near east encountered problems. Never heard more about that so I guess it went away
3, ISIS
4. Ebola
5. Fire in Chicago airport (we aren't going there but still...) affecting all flights in country
6. German and French pilot strike which could have affected airport functioning. All resolved!!
7. Found out European automatic machines only use chip/pin credit cards (railroads, métro...) Thought that one was resolved: 2nd day expedited cards. Someone screwed up and they sent the same magnetic strip cards we already had. By then - down to 2 working days. To send chip card, they would have had to cancel our original card entirely. What if it didn't get here? We'll make do with old-fashioned go to a bank and withdraw cash. What a concept...
8. Polio virus released into environment in Belgium by pharmaceutical firm. Fortunately we are both vaccinated. Hope it still holds valid!
9. 12 inches of rain inundates southern France near Montpelier Monday - just southwest of where we will be traveling. Most of the time we will spend in mountainous hills. We both have raincoats - just no rubber duckies. If the water is that deep, we'll just have to stay inside and eat/drink. Brian says that's all we do when we travel anyhow. He could be very right <grin>
10. Reservations made in Paris at lovely B&B in 18th arrondissement (not too far from the CDG airport, on the 9th floor (elevator and terrace included). Harder time in Nice (where we leave France from). Finally a lovely vacancy at Eden Cap, up on a hill. I took the time to write my reply all in French and got a lovely French reply saying if I would give her the time the train will arrive from Avignon, she will pick us up. Isn't that 'gentil'? (French for gracious :)
11. Problems with tenant in Gunnison. Management company is on top of it. May have new tenants when we return.

Furniture all moved back into its winter place today. Gathering things we don't want to forget, like passports and camera. All accounts are as current as I can make them before we go, so if we get delayed somehow, returning (or Mike says 'quarantined') no worries here at least. Garden is frozen (30 degrees last night) except for two flower pots and parsley. Interesting what is hardy. Gathered my zinnia and marigold seeds for next year. And house cleaning! Family tradition - leave a clean house. If you don't make it back...

Sorry for the length - didn't want to forget anything :) J