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.

France Day 7: Paris (June 23, 2012)

I woke up feeling poorly today.  I’m not sure what is wrong.  I think I may have eaten gluten, Paris may have sucked the life out of me or my body is just done with museums and walking.  It could also be a combination of all of the above.

I tried to be a trooper and not spoil Angela’s time in Paris.  We went to the Musee d’Orsey and saw the Impressionist art.  I enjoyed that more than I enjoyed the Louvre. It was not nearly as crowded as the Louvre and I think that makes a difference in how you enjoy a museum.

We sat on the steps of the museum and had some water and a snack.  Then we decided to go to the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  The line to get into the cathedral was extremely long and the line for the stairs to the bell tower was even longer.  Angela had seen it before and I didn’t feel like it was worth the line.  So we went to find the Deportation Memorial, which is very close to Notre Dame.  This is a memorial to all the French men and women who were sent to concentration camps during World War II.  It is quite a powerful memorial.  It is built to give the feel of what it was like in the camps so there are high cement walls and bars. 

There is a small park near the memorial and we sat there for a while talking about the Holocaust.  Then we decided to go do some souvenir shopping.  We bought a few magnets and then I was done for the day so we decided to go home. 

From inside the Musee D'Orsey.  There are two clocks on either end of the buidling.  Well they are clocks from the outside and windows from the inside.

 The back of Notre Dame.

 The front of Notre Dame.

Angela went to the boulangerie to buy a bagette while I went to the grocery store to get ham cheese and a salad for me.  Then we put some towels down on our bed and had a picnic in our hotel room. 

France Day 6: Paris (June 22, 2012)

Today we were up and out of the hotel room by 9:30.  We went to Versailles and stayed until they kicked us out at about 4:30 PM.  We would have stayed longer but they were closing early for an event this evening. 

It was very crowded at Versailles.  While we were inside the palace there were people everywhere.  In some rooms there was no place to stand and at one point I found my self being pushed by the crowd into the next room.  I had no other choice but to go where everyone else was going.  But in spite of the crowds I have now seen the famous Hall of Mirrors and the King and Queen’s chambers.  

The gates of Versailles...

The Hall of Mirrors...

The grounds are massive!!!  We should have started in the gardens and grounds we enjoyed them much more than the palace.  We had lunch at a restaurant on the grounds.  We were exhausted after the palace and the crowds.  Then we walked to where Marie Antoinette had her hamlet built where her cottage was.  This was my favorite part of the whole place. If I were a queen, I would build a place like that too and live there.  I much preferred it to the garishness of the palace.  We weren’t able to go inside any of the cottages because everything was closing early but we walked around and took pictures of them all.  I don’t think there was much to see inside them anyway.  It doesn’t look like they have spent a lot of money and effort and restoring them.  But as I said, I did really enjoy this part of the grounds.  Not just the hamlet but the grounds and buildings around were just delightful.

A view of the Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.

One of the cottages near the Queen's

There were a few animals at the farmhouse in the Hamlet.  I thought the pig was cute...

The Queen's cottage from a distance.

The walk from the hamlet to the train station was quite a long one.  By the time we got on the train I was very ready to sit down.  We came back to the hotel, put our feet up and rested for a bit.  Then we gathered up our dirty laundry and went to the laundromat down the street.

After our laundry was done, we grabbed some turkey, cheese and bread and then gathered our jackets and walked back to the Champs de Mars and the Tour Eiffel so that we can watch the tower light up.  This is at my request.  Angela has seen it already – the last time she was here.  I think it sounds cool and so she is humoring me.  Sadly, the tower was already lit up as we approached, but we still enjoyed trying to take some pictures of it and we enjoyed our late night picnic along the Seine with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

France Day 5: Paris (June 21, 2012)

Happy Midsummer’s Eve.  Actually in Paris it is the Fete de Musique.  I guess that means that bands and musicians set up all over the city and play music in the streets.  I think Angela and I are turning in too early to see or hear any of it.  We heard a few bands as we were coming home tonight.

We had another great day in Paris although it started out a little disjunct.  We had planned to got o Versailles today and were at the train station trying to buy tickets to Versailles but there was no person at the ticket desk so we had to buy them from the machine however, with the machine you have to have a “chip and pin” credit card (which we don’t have in the USA) or enough coinage to pay for the tickets.  Well, we didn’t have either of those.  We had plenty of money on us, just not in coins.  So we had to regroup and try to find someone who would change our bills to coins.  We made two unsuccessful attempts.  Then we decided to go to the Louvre today instead, since it was already 11:30AM and make some purchases so that we had change enough to buy the tickets tomorrow.

The good news is that when we got off the train for Versailles there was a window with a very cheerful lady working there and we were able to buy our train tickets for tomorrow with our bills.  So now we have our tickets and we just have to get on the train tomorrow. 

As we walked across one of the bridges on the Seine River we saw these padlocks on the sides of the bridge.  Apparently it is tradition to put a lock on the bridge and throw the key into the river.  A romantic tradition started by someone.  Now there are vendors on the bridge selling padlocks to tourists.

 

We made our way towards the Louvre and had lunch in the Tuilleries which is a park adjacent to the Louvre which used to be a palace.  At the end of the Tuilleries is the Place de la Concorde which is plaza that was home to Madame Guillotine during the French Revolution and where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded.  

After lunch we went into the museum.  We spent about 4 hours there.  About half way through we found a bench and sat down and both started dosing.  We had a little power dose and then were off again.  After we had seen all the art that we could absorb we left and found some dinner.  I am not going to starve in France there are salads and omelets at most restaurants.  I will eat omelets but I am not particularly fond of eggs.  I feel like I have eaten a lot of ham, eggs and cheese since coming to France.  But tonight I got a salad with chicken!  The salad dressing here tastes like horseradish so mostly I just eat the salad with out any dressing. I guess I can be grateful for my gluten intolerance.  We walk past boulangeries and patiserries all the time and the window displays looks so yummy – if I could eat them I would probably eat myself sick.  Tonight after dinner we found a health food store and they had some gluten free things there.

Outside of the Louvre...

As we walked home from the store we passed the Eiffel Tower and took some more pictures, this time from the other side in the park called the Champ du Mars.  These are some of our favorites.

Each evening when we get back to our room we have what we call “picture sharing.”  We download our pictures and now video to my computer and look at them all.  Then we make some selections to put into our “contest possibilities” album.  We quite enjoy this hour or so.  It is a really fun way to end the day.