Day 6 - Viviers

Viviers' biggest claim to fame in the modern world is that it is home to Lafarge Cement Works, started in 1833 and still in operation today.  Its considerable architectural heritage testifies to its intense religious and commercial past from the 3rd century up to now with both Medieval and Renaissance buildings.  The cathedral was completed in the middle of the 12th century but has been altered over the years. 

Restoration to return Viviers to its original appearance is underway.  We observed many buildings being "stripped" of their stucco to expose the original stones used for building.  Their intent is to turn it into a vacation destination as an open air architecture museum.  But it is certainly not in "disrepair" and is a lovely little village on the banks of the Rhone.

We walked this avenue from the river into town.  The Sycamore trees get "a haircut" each year to keep them from growing too large.  This old, log lentil caught my eye.  Soon all the buildings will show their basic structure as they are restored.

An example of the stucco that has been put on many of the houses and is now being removed to expose the original stones underneath.

 

This is just one of many archways over alleys that we took as we climbed up to the cathedral.

St. Vincent Cathedral, patron saint of wine growers.

The tapestries surrounding the altar are from the 17th century and represent Bible scenes.  The altar is from the 18th century.  Below shows the massive carved wooden doors of the cathedral.

The views were spectacular from our vantage point on the hill overlooking the river. And the wisteria was in bloom here too.

Our next stop would be Tournon where we would not visit the city but would have dinner with a local family.  We were driven by Jean in his car to his home to meet his wife Nadia.  We were served three kinds of sausage, ratatouille, scalloped potatoes, salad with quail eggs, cheeses, pastries, wine and coffee.  It's a nice touch that GCT does to acquaint you with just not the locale but its people.  The house dates back to I believe Jean said 950 when the road outside was an old Roman road.  He has restored and expanded it over the years.  What is now their master bath was the original one room structure.  There is a framed drawing on the wall from the 12th century (pre-cursor to a survey I suppose).  Jean said the dining room window was the window shown on the front of that small house in the drawing.



Easter Sunday - Avignon

Avignon was first recorded in Roman texts from the 1st century BC. Central Avignon still encloses in its medieval walls a very well preserved medieval town with endless impressively decorated buildings, ancient churches, chapels and convents. The first picture is the old city gate.  The second show repairs now underway to preserve the wall.

Avignon hosts the Palace of the Popes, almost a warlord's stronghold.  The building's heavy fortification reflects the violent nature of 14th century religious life.  Strife in Rome sent Clement V to Avignon in 1309 and the papacy remained there until 1377 with seven "official" popes reigning until 1377.  Since the furnishings and works of art were destroyed or looted following the French Revolution of 1789, the palace is empty of the luxurious trappings of 14th century court life.

To understand our US constitutional "separation of church and state" it really is helpful to study European history.  Of course "of" does not mean "from" which is where we seem to be heading.  What is that old saying?  Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.

Because it was Easter, Ted and I chose to go to Mass in the cathedral next to the Pope's Palace and we missed the inside tour of the Palace.  It has only a few things inside and we were told we didn't miss much.  I just couldn't skip church on Easter once the opportunity presented itself.

Outside, along the Rhone River, are four of the original 22 arches of the Avignon Bridge, abandoned in 1660 after the constant struggle to keep it in good repair from the ravages of flooding.  It was 350 years old at that time, placing its construction around 1300. I'm not sure why I don't have a picture!

The balance of the city consists of many buildings and the ever present sidewalk cafes.

There are many carousels around France for the children. This one had a second level (note the lit up stairs), something none of us had seen before but we did encounter it again in our travels.

We happened upon this organ grinder and Ted could not resist the modern awnings displaying my name.

We left Avignon, heading to Viviers.  We traveled through 15 locks during our river cruise; however, we went through 66, crossing the European Continental Divide in 2006, so Ted took pictures at just this one of 33 feet.  We shared the lock with another boat which allowed Ted to capture the sense of where you are before the water comes into the lock, raising up both ships.

I've made more progress than I thought I would - 5 days down, 11 to go.  I hope I am imparting the sense of wonderment we enjoyed throughout our diagonal journey from the southeast corner of the French Riviera to the beaches of Normandy in the northwest.  Stay tuned.

Days 3 and 4, Nice to Arles

Enroute by bus to Arles, we made a stop at the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan.  Servicemen who were killed in action during the southern offensive of France are buried here, 861 in all.  There are 294 names of Missing in Action on a retaining wall.  Also, there are 61 graves with a Roman cross that state:  Here Rests in Honored Glory A Comrade In Arms Known Only To God.  Recently, remains of one serviceman were identified and removed to the U.S. for reburial by his family.  We had a moment of silence for our fallen comrades.

We continued on to Arles where we boarded our riverboat.  The next morning we took our guided walking tour into Arles.  This city provided grain for most of the western empire, was a crucial port and ship building center and in the 4th century was capital of Gaul, Britain and Spain.

The most impressive remaining architecture is the Arenes, built in the first century, originally seated 20,000 and is still used today for bullfights.  It is being cleaned and I tried to get a picture showing the clean versus the dirty.

Wisteria was in bloom in almost all of the cities we visited.  And I took pictures every time I saw them.  I'm a sucker for purple flowers - wisteria, lilacs, irises, pansies, etc.  You'll have to bear with me.

Arles' other claim to fame is Vincent Van Gogh.  He spent time here n 1888 and 1889 including time in a hospital being treated for what we would call depression.  He painted some of his finest works during this time. 

Cafe Terrace at Night, then and now.

The Asylum Garden at Arles, then and now.

Van Gogh also painted The Starry Night Arles which is housed in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and The Yellow House Arles on exhibit in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, that we visited in 2006.

Days 1 and 2 - USA to Nice, France

We had an overnight flight to Charles De Gaulle Airport with an hour to connect to our flight to Nice.  This airport is more than huge and we walked almost 3/4s of a mile to our next gate.  Of course we had to do Passport Inspection and go through security AGAIN before being allowed at the gate.  But we made it and the next flight was a short one.

We were met by a Grand Circle tour guide who handled our baggage, gave us each a bottle of water and took us to the Hotel Massena where we would spend one night.  We had wanted to go to Monte Carlo but the afternoon slipped away and we stayed in the area enjoying the ambience.  There are small sidewalk cafes in most European cities and Nice is no exception.  We loved just strolling in the hotel neighborhood.

The next day we were treated to the food and flower market on our way to the Promenade des Anglais that led us to the park overlooking the coast and beaches of the city.

Nice is part of the French Riviera and you can see why it is such a popular vacation destination.  We were totally enamored with the area. 

The next morning we boarded a bus for our trip to Arles and to meet up with our riverboat on the Rhone River.

Back in the USA

We arrived home yesterday about 3 pm and have been quite busy since.  I have the laundry done, mail tended to and Ted has been to the grocery and bank.  That means that shortly I will be able to sort through the pictures to put them on the blog.  For now I'll let you know that I will start with our time in Nice on the French Riviera!  So beautiful - sunny and warm.  From there we traveled by bus to Arles, home of Vincent Van Gogh in 1888, visting many familiar scenes he painted that are Masterpieces today. 

In Arles we boarded our ship and traveled for the next week on to Avignon, home of the "French Popes" in the 14th century.  It was Easter Sunday and we attended Mass in the Cathedral next to the Pope's Palace which we didn't get to tour because of leaving the group for that hour.

Then on to Viviers, a river town that is being turned back in time by restoring its buildings to their original form several hundred years ago.  The views were marvelous and the most beautiful wisteria vines were blooming.  We spent the night docked in Tournon but didn't go into that city.

Our next big town was Lyon (pronounced Lee-Own).  I was under the weather the first day and missed the tour but was able to rejoin them the second day.  Lyon was very important to the Romans because of its size and proximity to the Rhone River.  Silk is a major production and I bought a hand painted silk scarf signed by the artist.

During the two weeks, we traveled the French countryside through the Provence, Burgundy and Beaujolais wine areas with one stop at a family winery.  Their vines are kept shorter than those I've seen in the U.S.  They claim it makes a more concentrated taste in the grape!  We saw beautiful chartreuse fields of canola, of all things.  I never really thought about where canola oil comes from and now I know!

Another large city was Macon (pronounced Mah-Cone).   I told our director it looked a lot like Macon back home in Georgia!  This is where the Soane and Rhone Rivers join together with the Seine coming in just north of this confluence.  When we left our ship we stopped in Beaune for lunch and a visit before arriving at our first hotel in Paris.  From there we visited Versailles Palace and Giverny, home of Claude Monet (where I bought another silk scarf with his water lilies on it and the name Monet).

Our last three days we moved to a different hotel on our own and spent time in Normandy from Utah Beach to Caen, the major offense area during D-Day.  The fellows loved this trip, especially the history buffs.  Our last day we visited Napoleon's Tomb and the World Wars museum in Paris.

We were apprehensive because of all the stories we've heard about the French people but I'm happy to report we had absolutely no problem the entire two weeks.  Everyone was as pleasant and helpful as they could be.  The hotel clerk helped me on a French genealogy site and I learned four people named Boudot were taken to the guillotine!  Now I have to study up on my French to see just what information I have on this site.

I've had so many people tell me there is too much here in the US to see to bother traveling abroad.  I've been to 46 of the 50 states, never having been to North Dakota, Nebraska, Vermont and New Hampshire.  But I've been to South Dakota, in Iowa across the river from Nebraska and in Montreal just north of VT and NH so I have been in those areas.  None of what you see here is anything like the experience of a European vacation. 

My biggest regret?  That we don't have metros and trains to take us all over.  It would make traveling to Austin, Galveston, San Antonio, Dallas just a day trip away.  And once you arrive, there would be more trains to take you where you wanted to go. The systems are all clean, safe and run like a clock.  I loved getting around Paris on our own using these routes.

A few things are still calling my name.  Next time I'll have some pictures and we'll do this a few days at a time. 

Since it is before 4 pm, I'll wish you Bonjour!

The Last Time I Saw Paris

That will be tomorrow. We depart mid-morning and have a direct flight back to the US. It will be good to get all this laundry done and the mail handled. Other than that I can't think of a single reason to leave other than the expensive food over here and their inability to cook a good American breakfast. But the breads, pastries, wine and cheeses make up for that.

Oh how wonderful trains and subways would be. We could travel to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas or Galveston so easily.

It has been wonderful and I would return in a heartbeat. The people have been absolutely super. I was concerned about that but there simply were no issues. How delightful.

An American in Paris

I can't wait to share all my photos of this great city. Such beauty and history to share! We have moved to a new hotel away from the cruise group. The 12 of us head to Normandy tomorrow. We did a dry run of the two Metro lines to the rail station to be sure we are where we need to be at 7 a.m.

Giverny was incredible and Versailles is mind boggling. Photos to follow in later posts. Continued thanks to Chris for keeping the home fire burning.

We had our cruise group farewell dinner last night. It was the very best onion soup and creme brulee I have ever eaten!

Checking in from Macon, France

I have my blog page but the Goggle directions are in German! But with trial and error I managed to get this far. We are getting off the ship tomorrow and will travel to Paris by bus with a stop for a tour and lunch along the way. We will visit Versailles on Saturday, Giverny on Sunday and Normandy on Tuesday. Monday and Wednesday are not determined yet.

I have lots of pictures for later. Tom and Terry both had birthdays this week. Right now we are on the Soane River watching swans before going into town. More later.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

I went, I played, I won!! For the first time ever, I not only won, I won first place at Last Thursday Canasta. With a whopping 27,400 points I came out on top. I guess Canasta is like Life ... showing up is half the battle. I won $25 for my efforts.

I finalized my packing for Wednesday's departure and think I will get by with one large suitcase. If we check two and have only one carry on that will be terrific. I have a YSL leather shopping bag type piece that is great for medicine, jewelry, paperwork, reading material, etc. I'll carry that on and let Ted take the small suitcase. We have to change planes in Paris to go on to Nice and the less we have to drag the better.

Ted was working a Corporate Outing Shoot for Mike at the gun club on Friday and Saturday. I took the dollies to the Marriott on Saturday morning as promised and then had a beauty shop appointment. We didn't have time for church in the afternoon because we had to be at the hotel by 6 p.m. to work the Wine Pull. I did that until 7:15 with Ted pulling the wine bottles when people chose their corks with numbers on them. We perused the Big Board and walked around the Silent Auction Item tables. There just isn't hardly anything we need or want. Ted was looking at a Keurig coffeepot and I bid on a child's baking set and a jade necklace. When the bids went way over what we were willing to spend, we gave up.

Our dinner was delicious - salad, focaccia, beef tenderloin, chicken breast, green beans and rebaked potatoes. By then I was really hungry and ate everything but the chicken which I gave to Ted. Then I helped Janeen get into her Fairy God Cow costume. The Fund-A-Cause auction went really well and I would guess that all the books needed for next year's program have already been bought and paid for.








After the auction was dancing and then the start of getting the Silent Auction items ready to be picked up by their winners. We located one of our dollies and saw the other one going out the door with boxes on it so we had to wait for its return before we could leave. One of the organizers' husbands came up and thanked us for the use of both of our dollies all day because they came in so handy.

Today we went to church early and then to Denny's to have breakfast. Ted let me out to put our name in then hollered out the window "Look for Randy in there. I see his truck." Sure enough he and Brenda were in there so we sat with them and had a great visit. It amazes me, considering every other vehicle down here is a pick-up truck, that guys can recognize their own and everyone else's truck. They all look pretty much alike to me, including ours.

Ted has gone off to shoot in his league and I have a free afternoon. Tomorrow is the nail salon and last minute check lists with Chris before we take off on Wednesday. I'm playing Shang Hai on Tuesday and then we're out of here!

♫ ♫ “April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom, holiday tables under the trees.” ♫ ♫
~ E. Y. Harburg

A Little Light Music

It's been a nice week without too much hustle and bustle. I've messed with the I-Pad quite a bit and have a few kinks worked out but there is so much more I don't understand yet. Of course each new APP brings its own set of questions! I have four people I've been able to Face Talk with because they have I-Pads or I-Phones. I don't know if those people set Face Talk up on their instruments or if it comes that way. I've tried calling other people who have I-Pads but don't get anywhere. More research! Ted is getting increasingly frustrated with Angry Birds. He is stuck at Level 2 in the second set.

Monday I had the whole day to myself and cleaned out under my vanity in the bathroom. The accumulation of make-up, lotions, hair products, etc. is amazing. They say those things harbor bacteria and should be tossed ... so I did. I also put together two large plastic bags of my old clothes to be picked up on Tuesday by the Texas Paralyzed Veterans. Now it's Ted's turn!

Junior Forum had their last New Member Coffee on Tuesday and I picked up Suzy who I am sponsoring. She had her application and dues already to go and gave it to the Admissions Chair as soon as we arrived. I'm so pumped about her enthusiasm. The big gala is Saturday night. I am taking our two dollies over in the morning for them to use bringing all the auction items into the hotel. We have to be back at 6 pm because I am working the Wine Pull at that time. The Junior Forum Board, the Advisory Board and other higher ups are invited to a special party before the gala so I might be busy. I'll have the rest of the evening free to spend with Ted and our table of 10 until they do the Fund-A-Cause auction. Janeen has to dress up as the Fairy God Cow and she asked me to help her dress. It will be a busy day but so much fun.

I met Teri for lunch yesterday to give her the bunco bag. I'll miss the April gathering and she missed the March one so we made arrangements to eat and pass the bag off. We chose Sweet Tomatoes so she could get a salad and she was so impressed with all they offer to go with your salad. It's one of my and Ted's favorite restaurants for lunch.

Then I spent a good bit of time finding a Dazzle Doo Zooble. Toys R Us offered to order it if I would pay $7 shipping for a $20 toy. So I went to Target where two very disinterested clerks didn't think they had that and couldn't be bothered to look.

I came home, checked on the computer and lo and behold, the Target I was at had five of them. So back I went, bought the toy and voiced my complaint about employees who just didn't seem to care much about customer service. If I had my I-Pad with me I could have looked it up while I was still there. Note To Self: Keep the I-Pad handy.

Since I was out I decided to drop by Happy Hour at the country club to see my friend Sherida who is still waiting to finish her reconstruction surgeries from cancer surgery last summer. I hadn't seen her in awhile and probably won't have too many opportunities between now and next fall. I'm glad I went because only Teri and I joined her. Sometimes there's over a dozen, sometimes one or two. We had a great time taking pictures with our cell phones to put with each other's phone numbers.

I have my clothes for our next trip laid out on one of the twin beds in the guest room. Ted can use the other one and then Chris' room and bed won't be bothered. He'll be coming down next week to stay while we "jet off to Gay Paree." Actually we are flying to Nice, taking a week long riverboat cruise to Paris and spending a week there with a side trip to Normandy. Ted's two brothers and their wives along with the Judge from Illinois that we travel with and his two married children will round out our group of 12. There are only 42 passengers so we will get to know everyone rather quickly I think.

I have four baskets of flowers outside and Chris is apprehensive about taking care of them. In the summer when we leave, Gerre takes the plants so Chris doesn't have to worry about them. But for two weeks, I'm not ready to give them to her just yet. He can't be any worse at keeping them alive than I am. Last summer, in all that drought, Gerre kept my plants alive. Within two weeks of coming back I had killed the Wandering Jew. She said it got too much sun where I put it. So if Chris fails at gardening, so be it. Lowe's has another basket pretty much just like it.

I have to play Canasta this afternoon. When I e-mailed my RSVP I got a message back "Who are you?" Good thing I can read a sarcasm font when I see one. I don't think I've ever won in this group but they keep reminding me I have to actually show up and play to win. Wish me luck.

Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~ Michael P. Garafalo

iPad is making me crazy

I need a 10 year old to help me when I'm stymied. If this posts, I'm making progress.

Catching Up

We took our company to the airport after one last look at two western stores for a shirt for Cindy. Everything has been picked clean because of the rodeo and she went home empty handed. We arrived at the airport with no problems and they flew home without incident. The ironic thing is it was 66 when they left here and 86 when they arrived back home! They missed the best early spring weather ever in Indiana.

It wasn't but a day or two and we received an e-mail telling us they are all set up to spend a week next February with us in the valley. They have a casita reserved in the park we stay in, airplane tickets and a rental car. I think Karen and Ron are going to come too. Sweet!

I spent Wednesday getting my desk cleared off and Thursday doing laundry. Rebecca cleaned on Friday so we were all back in order very quickly. I attended a Junior Forum meeting on Friday. It required me to get up very early because I had to take a brunch item to serve. Our big gala is next weekend so the meeting was longer than usual as the gals made their pitch about the auction items. There is a raffle for a trip to Hawaii and three different auctions - silent, Big Board and live. There are some great travel opportunities on the Big Board - a week at a house for eight in Colorado, a week for six in Destin, FL, a "yachting" cruise (value $14,000!), jewelry, etc. It will be an exciting night. The theme is Diamonds Are Forever and we are to wear our "bling." I have bling on my shoes, my belt, my necklace, my bracelet, my earrings and my jacket! It will be fun to see everyone all dressed up.

Ted's shooting buddies were all in San Antonio this weekend so he went to a different gun club to shoot. Later we went to church and then to sub at bunco for a couple from church. This group is a mixture of younger folks with kids at home and a few older couples mixed in. Our neighbors who attend our church were also there. It was a fun night but I didn't win. I did somehow end up in charge of dispensing the winnings since Jeff was not there. First we had too much money because a husband and wife had both put in money, there wasn't enough change, there was a tie for most buncos, we had to determine who had the bunco baby about four people back and everyone kept moving my sheets around as I tried to figure this all out! It all worked out in the end. We're due to sub again in April and I'll just let Jeff deal with the money. I'm not at all sure how I ended up with it other than I do it for my own group.

Today we met Tommy and Susan for lunch at Sawgrass Steakhouse. They have been unable to use their motorhome because Susan's mother has been ill and is in a rehab facility. They need to stay close to home. Tommy brought along his IPad to convince me and Ted that we need one. We had been thinking about a new laptop and after talking to our granddaughter Ally, and being able to see her while we talked, we were convinced an I-Pad would fill the bill.

So off we went to the mall. We stopped at Dillard's where Ted bought some shirts and sleep shorts and I bought an undergarment I needed. Then we went to Apple and our lunch turned into an expensive outing. From there we went to Best Buy to get the type of cover we wanted. Now I'm messing with it and learning how to use it. I have both e-mail accounts set up. I can FaceTalk with those set up for that. I can find my house on the Map App. Right now I'm working on Skype! Wish me luck.

"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." ~ Paul Ehrlich.