France Day 12: Bike Tour (June 28, 2012)

We did it!  We biked 61 kilometers today!  I am so proud of us for deciding to buck up and finish the bike tour.  While today was long the biking was not difficult.  There were no hills really to speak of and it rained last night and so it was cooler today by quite a bit than it was yesterday.  We were on our bikes and going before 9AM.  Angela woke up feeling poorly this morning.  Her stomach was not feeling well.  So we waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to be well enough to do this.  We started a little later than we had planned but it was still our earliest day.  We had planned to leave by 8 AM and arrive in Avignon by 2PM.  We arrived at about 3PM.  We would have met our goal but we spent an hour trying to figure out the directions.  There was a loop that took you into a little town that was optional.  We decided not to go on that loop but the directions for not taking the loop were wrong.  After we had biked up and down the road a couple of times trying to find the right way we finally decided to do the loop which then put us back on track and made the directions make sense.  Unfortunately by that time we had lost an hour of morning coolness and had biked an extra 5 or 6 km.  But we did glimpse a couple of great vistas in the village.  Unfortunately we were so worried about getting back on track that we didn’t stop to enjoy them or take pictures.  We just glanced that way as we biked on.

Other than that the day was pretty uneventful.  The directions took us on to what they called a “dirt track” but it was actually a grass road.  It didn’t look like it was driven on often enough to be a dirt road.    We were blessed because it wasn’t as hot.  We had plenty of water.  We started earlier. And we didn’t have any stops longer than 15 or 20 minutes.  It was good and we both have a great sense of accomplishment.  It was a triumphal way to end our 3 week vacation.

So we arrived in Avignon at about 3 PM but our luggage didn’t arrive in Avignon until about 5:30 PM.  We were expecting it at 5PM.  After we turned in our bikes and equipment we went and used the restroom and then walked to the train station to get our tickets to Marseilles.  We then sat in the shade talking and drinking our victory Orangina until it was time to go get our luggage.  

We got on the 6:23 PM train to the Marseilles Airport station.  It took about an hour and a half to get there.  We didn’t see nearly as lovely as countryside on the train as we did on our bike tour until we got closer to Marseilles and then we saw a few beautiful glimpses of what looked like a bay.

When we got off the train, we knew our hotel was very close by, but we weren’t sure how to begin walking there.  We were standing looking at the tiered parking lot and all of the stairs that we would most likely have to  carry our luggage down when a man came and spoke to us in French.  I’m sure he asked us where we were going.  Angela told him where our hotel was.  He pointed and talked somemore and then said that he would take us to the bottom of the parking lot.  Somehow I understood that last bit.  He is the driver of the shuttle that goes from the train station to the airport and he took us to the bottom of the train station and to a sign with our hotel on it and an arrow pointing in the right direction.  I managed to say, “Mercy bouque, Monsieur.”  And we got off of the shuttle.  As we began to walk we said how kind that was of him and how grateful we are.  I hope that God will bless him for his kindness. 

First thing in the morning.  We saw lots of sun flower fields today.

This is the "dirt track" we biked on for about 5 km. It was pretty rough.

This is the bridge that took us off of the dirt track.

This was the last sun flower field of the day and it was finally a field where the flowers were facing us. All day we had been seeing field of sun flowers but we could only really see the backs of the flowers.

Drinking our Victory Orangina.

We found our hotel room and it was almost 9PM.  We went into hurry mode.  We needed to shower and repack our bags for our journeys home.  We are showered, packed, have downloaded and looked at our pictures and are ready for bed and it is only a few minutes after 11PM.  We have our alarms set for 3:30 AM.  My flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning and it is always suggested that you arrive 2 hours before an international flight.  We have a cab coming at 4:30 to come and get us in the morning. 

France Day 11: Bike Tour (June 27, 2012)

Well, we almost died on our bike tour today, but we pressed on and made it all 46 km.  We biked over the Alpilles Mountains.  That was the part that almost killed us.  We actually walked up the Alpilles Mountains and rode our bikes down the other side.  I think this is considered an easy bike ride because the hill up over the mountain never got very steep, it wasn’t even ever as steep as a 45 degrees but it was a long slow incline, that was what was killing me.  I think I could have handled a few sharper but shorter inclines, but not the long ones.  We also biked for a while on a dirt road.  Well it started out as a dirt road and then became gravel.  We could ride through the dirt, but the gravel was too slippery so we had to get off and walk through that as well.  It was also incredibly hot today.  So all of those things combined together made me think that I might die.  All of this happened in the first 20 km of our ride.  

But I do have to say that riding down the other side of the mountain was joyous!  The last half of our ride was either down hill or flat so it was much better.  After we got back down into the valley and were in a little town we found a bench where we stopped to rest for a few minutes and there just happened to be a tap there with cold water!  That was a blessing and a bit of a life saver.  Also, when we were shopping for food the night before I suggested we buy so me potato chips so that we had something salty.  As we were sitting there eating our chips Angela said that I was inspired.  We had other things to eat but the chips were tasting really good. 

We did see some very lovely scenery!  It really is amazing to be here doing this.

I have to confess that as I was sweating to death and walking my bike up the mountain I was wondering if this was such a good idea and if trying to go on an even longer day tomorrow would be possible.  But after a shower and a little nap I no longer felt like I was going to die and could probably attempt to go 55 km tomorrow if we started earlier, had more water.  So we have resolved to start earlier in the morning.  Our goal is 8 AM.  And we bought some more water so we should have plenty of water, but it won’t be frozen or even refrigerated when we leave in the morning.  But hopefully we won’t be biking during the hottest part of the day like we were today.  I am really proud of us deciding to finish it out.

Angela walking her bike down the dirt road.

Vineyards and the Alpilles Mountains, before we crossed them.

Our first view of the valley!  We were so excited.

 

Down in the valley after coming down the mountain.

The valley...

By the looks on our faces this has to have been taken before we crossed the mountains...

We had a great French dinner tonight.  I would tell you what we had but the menu was all in French so I am not really sure.  But it was fabulous.

France Day 10: Bike Tour (June 26, 2012)

Today was the first day of our bike tour in southern France.  We made it!  We biked 25 kilometers from Avignon to St. Remy.  It wasn’t bad at all.  It only took a few hours.  We left close to 11 AM we stopped in a village en route at about noon and that was about 14 kilometers into our trip.  Our stop at noon was for about 2 hours.  We ate lunch and then pulled out our books and read for a while.  It was quite nice.  Then we got back on our bikes and finished our journey.  We arrived in St. Remy at about 2:30 PM our hotel room was ready and our bags were waiting for us.  It was great!

The first 5 km were a bit nerve racking.  We had to start into the tour on busy roads and neither of us are experienced bikers.  But once we pass that first 5 km we were on quiet back roads in rural areas.  It was just lovely.  We road past orchards of olives, apples, pears, plums, figs, and cherries although the majority of the orchards were olives and figs I would say.  We saw fields of sunflowers, horses, cows, and freshly cut alfalfa.  All day long we could hear the cicadas chirping (it was quite loud).  The wind was blowing, it was a warm wind but it was welcome because it was quite hot and dry.

At one point during the afternoon I said to myself out loud, “I am in Southern France...on a bike!”  Part of that was with the feeling of “Wow!!!! I am in Southern France on a bike!!! How did this happen?  This is amazing!”  And another part was complete awe and wonder.  This is not something that I have every really aspired to and yet here I am.  Sometimes our lives take us in surprising directions – good directions, but unexpected.  That is how I feel about this whole experience in Europe.  I never expected that I would be able to have this kind of experience.  But here I am biking in Southern France.

There are historic things to see in St. Remy but we didn’t see any of them. Niether of us slept well last night so we rested when we got to our room and then showered and then decided we better go see if we could find a grocery store so that we had some food to take with us tomorrow for lunch.  We have found this cheese that we really love.  And we have discovered salami.  But the cheese and salami go well together and with a little bread makes a great lunch.  I have managed to find gluten free bread and have been able to carry it around with me.

When we got back from the store we had our picture sharing time and then we went downstairs to the restaurant where our dinner has already been reserved and paid for with our tour.  It is quite a lovely restaurant and the first nicer restaurant we have been too in France.  We had a three course meal that was very lovely.  The only hinge was that what we ordered for me came with pasta which was not listed on the menu so Angela and I traded dinners since hers looked like I had a pretty good chance of avoiding gluten.  We both enjoyed what we ate.

Now we are preparing for bed and for another day of biking.  Tomorrow we are going 46 km.  So almost double what we did today.  But since we don't have to check in get all fitted out with our gear we should be able to get an earlier start.  

France Day 9: Avignon (June 25, 2012)

We got up and packed up our things and checked out of our hotel.  We got to the Gare de Lyon (train station) with out any problems and got our train tickets.  We arrived in Avignon and found the shuttle that goes to the center of town and our hotel was just moments away from where the bus dropped us.  It really was a very smooth travel day and we were able to get where we needed to with out any complications or stress.  

Avignon is a wonderful little town.  It is an old medieval city so it is surrounded by a large stone wall.  At a certain point in history (I don’t know the dates) there was some confusion about who the pope should be and so for a time there were 2 – one that was centered in Rome and one that was centered in Avignon.  So here in Avingon is a palace called Palais de Pape, which is where the pope lived.

Then the Ponte d’Avignon (bridge) and sang the song, "Sur le Ponte D'Avignon" which I used to teach my little Suzuki voice students.

We also did some souvenir shopping, sat and ate some ice cream (it is considerably hotter here than in England, Normandy or Paris).  We had a quiet dinner in our hotel room and then repacked our bags for our bike tour.

The wall of the city from inside.

One of the gates into the city.

The city wall from outside.

France Day 8: Paris (June 24, 2012)

We had an interesting view of Paris this morning as we walked around trying to find the church.  We saw quite a few homeless people just sitting around.  We haven’t seen many of them until this morning.  Then we saw the police escorting a man (I’m assuming he was a tourist) who looked like he had just woken up and was still really out of it.  He had no pants on.  They were ripped and he was holding them around his waist trying to conceal his lower half.  Thankfully, he was doing a pretty good job. One of the policemen was holding his jacket, which had a wet ring in the middle.  There are the facts of what we saw.  You can fill in the details of your own accord about how this man got into this situation.

We did find the church although we were a few minutes late.  It was a sweet little branch.  I love going to church in new places.  It is a testimony to me that this is the Lord's church.  As we walked in they were singing the opening hymn "Come Follow Me" and even though I didn't understand the words I knew the song and knew what they were singing about and so it didn't matter what the language actually was.  There is a universal language of the Spirit that we all speak. 

There are actually enough English speakers that attend that ward that they have translation equipment available, I just guessed my way through Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School but then had the translation for Relief Society.  That was very helpful.

After church we went into the Pompidou Centre, which is the modern art museum.  Neither of us are particularly fond of modern art, but we did see some original Picasso paintings.  The architecture of the museum is actually pretty cool and there is a great view of Paris from the top floors of the museum.  

We also went to the Sainte-Chapelle which is a gothic cathedral built in the 11th or 12th century.  Of all the cathedrals I have been inside of I think this one is my favorite.  It is smaller but quite breath taking.  It is famous for it's stained glass windows.  They tell the story of the world from Genesis to the Resurrection of Christ.  If you are in Paris I highly recommend it.

 This was carved into the wall on the outside of the cathedral.  The fleur de lis  and the little castle are all over the inside of the cathedral as well.  The fleur de lis on a background of blue being the symbol of the King and the castle and the castle on a background of red being the symbol of his mother, the former queen.  This cathedral was once part of a palace.

It was raining today and I decided that I don't like carrying around umbrellas so I just took my rain jacket and I wore my tennis shoes because I don't have any good walking shoes that can also be dress shoes - comfort won out over vanity...

But then I looked at Angela with her umbrella and sandals and thought maybe I should pay more attention to the voice of vanity and find some happy medium...like Angela...

We came home early and have had a quiet evening in our hotel.  We had another picnic on our bed.

 We found a really yummy fromage (cheese) at the grocery store down the street.  It is our favorite.
Say Cheese...

Tomorrow we leave Paris and go south to the Provence area.  Tuesday we start our bike tour.  I have no idea what our internet situation will be like this week, but never fear, I will eventually get it all posted.