ON TO TUCSON - July 12, 2019

We slept very well Thursday nite, some arising early to a surprise sprinkle that late risers didn’t believe, as it had already evaporated in Anthem’s dry humidity. The temperature was already on its climb to over 100 F by 9:00 AM. We had breakfast of poached eggs, sausage, toast, juice and coffee and then lazed around while Deb worked for an hour or two. Del and I went to the car wash, Karen to the pharmacy and then Del and I took the Mustang GT for a test drive - boys and their toys.

At noon, Del made a wonderful lunch of roast beef sandwiches and fruit salad. Deb and I packed our bags and loaded the car for the final push to Tucson. We left Anthem around 1:30 for the “quick” drive to Tucson, some 115 miles away. Phoenix metropolitan area is some 10 million souls, 2.5 million of which live on I-17 and I-10, going at least 70 mph and cutting in and out of lanes for sport.

Not my best type of driving, particularly in a strange city, never knowing for sure which lane to be in for an upcoming route change. Since you are reading this, you have correctly guessed that we survived this bumper-car-o-rama, but we have noticeably aged.

Tucson is surrounded by mountains, again in the high desert. Temperatures are the same as in Phoenix, that is to say hotter than hell, but a “dry” heat, just as in an oven. Seeing the mountains all around, with their promise of moisture above, must bring some solace to the citizens. Tucson metropolitan area is just a bit larger than Omaha metro - some 1.1 million people.

We arrived at Tom, Kevin & Liam’s rental unit around 3:30 and unloaded the car trunk and our bags. Little did we know of the fresh bottle of Johnny Walker Blue label in the trunk. Of course if Kevin had told us, it might not have survived the trip. TKL have rented this 2-bedroom condo on a golf course community for 3-4 months while they search for a permanent residence. It is nice, well located and accommodating for their needs. A good base from which to start.

After a few cocktails and gold fish snacks, we headed to dinner at a restaurant called Harvest, of which Tom had received a recommendation. Food was good, a salmon risotto, a chicken salad, a cheese burger and a truffle burger, all washed down with a couple of excellent bottles of Pinot Noir. Only sour spot was their inability to tell the difference between medium hamburger and mostly rare hamburger. I sent it back and when it returned it was hotter but not any better cooked - just spent some more time under the heat lamp.

We were in bed by 11:00 after a night cap. At 4:00 AM on Saturday morning, our alarm went off, we dressed and gulped some coffee. Tom had mapped out the route to the airport, and, after a few quick wrong turns, we arrived at 5:45. Not a lot of traffic on Tucson’s freeways at 5 AM on a Saturday morning. We hopped on our Southwest flight, headed to Denver and then on to Omaha. We arrived at 12:50, right on time, and Abigail picked us up from our excellent adventure. Our thanks to our hosts along the way. We saw friends and places we had not seen before. We now have multiple reasons to head to the southwest in the winter; so be prepared.

ON TO TUCSON - July 11, 2019

Mesa Verde to Phoenix

We started the morning by having a very good, but typically expensive breakfast of biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage and fruit at the Far View Cafe. Again, as captives, we paid the $15 per person price, but it was decent food. Next we headed for the park entrance and the Visitor’s Center to make a few minor purchases and get our National Parks Passport stamped (it’s a thing with seniors.)

Now on the road again by 8:30. Our route today is to cross northern Arizona on US 160 to Tuba City, turn south on US 89, and drop past the Grand Canyon to hook up with I-17 at Flagstaff, eventually into Phoenix by 4:30 PM.

Not overly ambitious but we are on vacation, or at least I am. Deb of course is working, between dropped phone calls in the mountains from spotty service and not too bright reservation agents, she manages to solve a few booking problems and discuss some issues with clients.

We stop at Four Corners National Monument, now operated by the Navajo Nation. $5 per person entry for the opportunity to take a picture and perhaps spend some money at the native kiosks surrounding the central point. Bathrooms were filthy but necessary as our coffee intake from breakfast was catching up with us.

At Tuba City we stopped for gas and then headed due south. Curious about the name Tuba City, we looked it up on one of our gadgets. Originally named for a Navajo Chief Tuuvi, it morphed into Tuba City. It is the most populous city on the Navajo Reservation and is the headquarters of the western portion of the reservation. The main headquarters is in Shiprock in New Mexico.

At Flagstaff (elevation 7,000 ft.) the temperature drops to about 87 F outside and clouds start to form. As we hop on I-17 for the last leg of today’s journey it begins to sprinkle. As we pass south across the plateau and near San Francisco Peak, we run into a thunder storm. Rain on the windshield quickly clears the bugs, and the temperature drops to 63 F.

We start our descent into Phoenix from 7,000 feet down to 1,000 feet. The drop in elevation was inversely matched by a raise in temperature. We went from 63 F to 113 F. Although we expected to arrive by 4:30, we failed to account for an extra free hour due to Arizona’s refusal to play the daylight savings game. We gained an extra hour and arrived at 3:20. Good drive.

We loaded into Del and Karen’s home; Deb unloaded her computer into their home office and went to work while I poured myself a cool drink. Around 6:15 we braved the heat and went out for a good hamburger, beef brisket sandwich, pork chili verde (stew) and a chicken salad. Wine and more water topped off the evening.

Back to the house and into the spa pool to cool down. 84F in the spa but still over 100F in the air so it felt wonderful. Added a glass of wine and then back inside for some fresh fruit and ice cream for dessert.

Tumbled into bed in an air conditioned room and a hard sleep. Tomorrow we take the short drive to Tucson for the penultimate day of our journey.

ON TO TUCSON - June 10, 2019

Well, Wednesday started auspiciously with yours truly losing track of the time change and hence up at 5:15 AM local time in Colorado Springs. My error was quickly noted, so I hopped in the shower and searched out coffee while the better looking portion of our duo caught up on not needed beauty sleep. LaQuinta breakfast, although standard fare of powdered scrambled eggs, sausage, bagels, home fries, waffles, fruit, etc. was above average and very tasty. We wolfed it down, stoked up on coffee and hit the next door gas station before ramping on the I-25 South by 8:30. Traffic was heavy, but not unduly so.

We were quickly through the city and headed south to Walsenburg, where we dropped off the freeway and turned west on CO 64 towards our westbound artery of US 164. We switched drivers somewhere in the middle of the state (Pagosa Springs,) and continued westward towards Mesa Verde. In Mancos, we gassed up and switched drivers again, arriving at Mesa Verde National Park around 3:00 PM.

As we already had a firm reservation at the Far View Hotel on property, we began a couple of loop drives to look at the archeological sites of the Puebla Ancestral Peoples (formerly referred to as Anasazi) and marvelled at the ecology of the high desert area. We drove, then walked, drove then walked. What we found was that we flatlanders (old and not in very good shape) take quite a while to become accustomed to the thin atmosphere. Likewise, even though the humidity is low, the sun is still very hot. Luckily we brought hats. Deb was happy to be viewing things that were older than she is!

Around 6:00 we checked into the hotel with a gorgeous view to the north overlooking the arroyos. We had our cocktails on our balcony and at 7:45 headed to the restaurant for our dinner reservation. Dinner was less than spectacular - a house salad and “ancient” grains risotto for Deb and house made chips and a cheese tortellini and mushroom dish. Deb had a local Cinsault wine that was quite good, and I a local porter beer that was also good. However the $100.00 price tag was not.

We walked back to our room and sat on the balcony waiting sunset and the star show in the clear, unlighted sky. Gorgeous! The park was wonderful, the scenery and weather were spectacular, so we agreed to overlook the food issue as we were captives. We did find later that the lounge next door served hamburgers and fries, a much better choice and one we will recommend in the future.

Tomorrow we head on to Phoenix. 

ON TO TUCSON - 6/9/2019

Tuesday’s Start

The dawn broke in Omaha with a short rain, the temperature still moderate, but threatening to soar. Deb and I rousted out and I started preparing the car. Deb stepped out of the shower to the ringing phone. Clients wanting to go ahead and book the huge cruise they had discussed the day before. She talked them through it, sitting in her bathrobe, contacted the cruise line, booked the trip and then called the client back to explain the necessary info, along the way explaining to one of the couples how she needed to get her passport updated immediately. Directions to the passport office were given.

Before she could finish the phone rang again with another client wanting to book their cruise. That done, she finished up and got dressed, two major bookings completed and another small crisis solved.

We loaded the sleek Toyota Avalon sedan that was the purpose of this trip, and headed out at 10:30, about 2 hours behind our intended departure. We texted our traveling partners, Tom, Kevin & Liam (TKL) to let them know of our late departure. They were only about 15 minutes ahead of us so not so bad. (By the way, Liam is the wonderful black Scotty Terrier who is the third person of this trio moving to Tucson.)

As we reached Kearney on I-80, traffic slowed to a crawl and we learned that Kearney received 8.5 inches of rain overnight, causing the Platte to overflow, flood parts of the city, and cause the closing of the main exit into Kearney. The flooded banks of the Platte continued on, past Lexington and further as we traveled west.

We passed TKL just west of Kearney and agreed to stop for gas, a stretch and driver change in Gothenburg.

After Gothenburg, with Deb now in our driver’s seat, we continued our western run. Just west of Ogallala, we dropped onto I-76 for the run towards Denver. Having made this trip before, and given the time of day, we opted to avoid the traffic around Denver, getting off the freeway at Ft. Morgan, dropping due south on US 71, then at Limon to US 24 on our run into Colorado Springs. Tom had told us in Gothenburg that he had booked at LaQuinta in Colorado Springs, so we made the call and secured a room. Who knew there were multiple LaQuinta hotels in Colorado Springs?

We arrived around 6:30 (7:30 body time due to time change) and settled into our room after a 9 hour drive. We texted TKL and learned they were still 30 minutes out. Not sure if they stayed on the freeway the entire way or made a second Liam stop. 

As we had polished off our sandwiches for dinner, we opted to stay in and dine on a snack of goldfish crackers and red wine. How haute cuisine we are. We walked around the hotel grounds a bit to stretch our legs, marvelled at the 14% humidity and fell into bed around 10:00, tired but glad to be on the road again.

Tomorrow we separate from TKL as they continue direct to Tucson and we head across Colorado towards Mesa Verde National Park for a look see.

France, Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Bonjour mes amis. Today starts with a drizzle outside, but we troopers suffer through our fruit compote, ham, cheese, baguettes and croissants with our normal stoicism and plot a day of museum trekking.

First off towards Notre Dame to survey the damage from the previous evening. The entire area is cordoned off, but we are able to take a picture from the bridge. People everywhere! We stop at a pharmacy for some ibuprofen to restock our supply and then head towards our first destination of Musee L’Orangerie, a long trek through the Tuileries garden to near the Place de la Concorde. We arrive around 11:30 and there are no lines! Because, of course, it is closed on Tuesdays, which we knew a day ago, but then forgot. Next we tromp back across the Seine to the Musee D’Orsay. Here lines snaked around the blocks.

As we sit to reorganize, realizing that with the Musee L’Orangerie and the Louvre closed on Tuesdays and now Notre Dame closed, the crowds of tourists must go somewhere. We opt not to stand in this queue as 3 of our 4 had been to the museum on previous trips. So, off we go towards the Musee Rodin. The lines here are not so long, and we enter. As we have now logged nearly 9,000 steps, and having visited this museum three previous times, Deb opts to sit in the coffee shop while the other three of us tour the grounds viewing the marvellous sculpture. We return to Deb at 1:30.

Disaster has occurred; Deb discovers that her wallet is missing. Our only choices for recovery are that it was left at the pharmacy or left in the Hotel this morning. The other possibility is that, when accosted for signatures to a petition near the bridge over the Seine, her pocket was picked. Deb and Mark head back to the pharmacy while Howie and Lee continue their tour of the Museum.

The pharmacy had not seen the missing wallet, so on back to the hotel. The wallet was not at the hotel, hence the arduous effort to cancel the credit cards and plan anew. Being good travelers, Mark, held a credit card not in Deb’s wallet and money was evenly split between the two. We will get by for the next few days, but a story to tell to all future clients with even more power.

Howie and Lee return after undertaking a further death march, going to Champs Élysées, Place de la Concorde, Palais Royale, and then back past Notre Dame for a final few pictures. They returned to the hotel shortly after 6:00, having logged a total of 25,000 steps. Mark and Deb’s 18,000 was a mere pittance. All 8 feet were in protest.

We finished the evening with an 8:00 dinner reservation at the Metropolitan Restaurant. We picked up this recommendation from Rick Steves’ book and this was easily the best meal of the trip so far. Appetizers of gnocchi, asparagus with a panko dipped, fried coddled egg, and a ceviche. Main courses of duck or veal and desserts of chocolate mousse, a flan, and a cheese platter. All washed down by and excellent Loire Valley wine. Lovely end to a somewhat crappy day.

France, Sunday, April 14, 2019

Fitting that this morning, Palm Sunday, we arise to look out over the square of Rouen Cathedral and see palm sellers lining the courtyard entry to the church, huddling in 32F chill. We pack our bags and head down to a wonderful breakfast, cereal, fruit, toast, yogurt, juice, coffee and the obligatory croissant. All while a grey long haired cat, almost a twin of our Sushi, wanders around the dining room looking for a scratch or rub.

We struggle with the bags to our car park and load up for the days run. Our only stop today before Paris is Giverney, the village of the home of Claude Monet, and the site of his home and gardens. We arrive at 10:30 and secure a parking place. Deb had, the night before, secured online prepaid tickets which allowed us to skip the entry queue and head for the group entrance where, after fumbling with the technology of tickets on a cell phone, we were through the gate.

There are two gardens, the famous lily pond gardens, which are across the road from the main grounds and then the beautiful beds surrounding the home. We start with the lily garden. If you never visit another garden, this is the one you must see - put it on your bucket list. Monet planned and planted this by painting with plants and then he famously painted the plants. The colors are wonderful, and blooming all year long as the early hyacinth, daffodils and tulips give way to the azaleas and rhododendrons, giving way to the roses and summer bloomers. All underplanted with a verdure that provides a base. All this surrounds a pond and stream crisscrossed with bridges and paths.

Next we stroll through the tunnel under the roadway to the house garden. Again painted with plants, but in a more orderly fashion. Row upon row of solid colors of tulips today, which will give way in a few weeks to the next wave of color. We eventually make our way into the house to walk through his gallery, studded with his own paintings and the hallways and other rooms hung with those of his friends, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet. All are reproductions, as otherwise there would be armed guards everywhere, but the illusion is masterful. The background of the yellow walls or the blue walls makes the home itself a work of art. Once arriving at the obligatory gift shop, we end up spending as much time as in the home itself.

We next stop at a nearby restaurant for our afternoon meal; memorable only in that the servings of quiche were nearly two inches thick and as large as a piece of pizza. Only that the flavor would have matched the size. The omelette on offer was also large and as tasteless as a 1/2 inch thick piece of fried cardboard.

Onto the highway and heading to Paris. As we are required to return the vehicle fully fuelled up, we stop on the outskirts and top off with €100.02 ($112.00) of diesel fuel. Sticker Shock!

We fight our way around Charles DeGaulle airport, at least twice until we discover our rental car drop off sight. Unloaded we walk to the nearest taxi stand for the long ride into Paris proper. Even on a Sunday, traffic is heavy, but we finally arrive at our hotel, Les Tournelles, around 6:00. We leave the bags in our rooms, rest for a few minutes and then off to explore the area of the Marais. By 8:30 we are ready to eat and so head back to the hotel and a nearby brasserie for a bite. Soup, crepes and sandwich with some wine and beer. Then to bed for our next days’ exploration of the City of Light.

France, Saturday, April 13, 2019

Mes Amis, today we are up and packed and at the breakfast table by 8:30. As today is another travel day, we put our belongings in the big blue beast and head out to look for a last museum in Bayeux. Alas, it doesn’t open until 10:00 and we have to get down the road. By the time we find our way out of the byzantine one-way streets and road construction zones we could have probably made the visit! Shades of Omaha during road construction season - lots of orange cones.

Finally on the highway and headed east to our eventual destination of Rouen. We take a slight detour to check out the village of Cabourg and its hotels along the beach. After negotiating a pedestrians only road along the beach and escaping before the Gendarmerie find us to issue a ticket, we are back on the road. We make a pitstop for coffee at a roadside restaurant called Flunch (not a typo) and pull into Rouen around 12:30. Again, we encounter construction and pedestrians.

Rouen is a nearly 2,000 year old city that has been ruled by Romans, Normans, English and French over the ages. It is famous as the death spot for Jean D’Arc and for its cathedral. After finding the cathedral parking garage and squeezing the beast into a very tight spot on the first underground level, we abandon our luggage and go looking for our hotel, The Cardinal Hotel. Amazingly, we have found the nearest parking spot to the hotel, as the place is directly across the square from the Cathedral. However the square is under reconstruction , so there are some twists and turns to be navigated on foot.

Rouen, in the old central city, is pretty much confined to pedestrian ways so we will not need the car during the visit. We check into our hotel and solicit a recommendation for lunch. We walk a few blocks and alight at The Studio cafe. Pictures of French and American movie stars adorn the walls. We have an excellent lunch of andouille sausage with apples, or sea bass and salmon over cheesy risotto, or braised pork cheek with mashed potatoes. Dessert is cheese or a shared creme brûlée. All accompanied by some wine and beer. A most satisfying luncheon.

We make haste back to the car park and unload our luggage, dragging it through the construction zones back to the hotel for a quick unload and break, then off to explore this city. We are first looking for the Ossiary of the Church of St. Maclou. This is an area were they have excavated bones from the early Middle Ages, which were buried under the church. Unfortunately the display is closed on the weekends, so we strike out. As we wander the little streets around the cathedral and environments, we pop in and out of little shops, finding items that we nearly purchase, but nothing sticks.

We wander into the Cathedral, which is huge, under reconstruction and apparently all set up for the throngs of people expected tomorrow for Palm Sunday. Very nice but, our taste for cathedrals is waning. this is our fourth, or maybe fifth on this trip. They tend to blur together.

Our next quest is the site of the burning at the stake of Jean D’Arc. We find it via our tourist map, next to the ugliest church imaginable. This Eglise Jean D’Arc is an upswept modern structure covered in what appear to be imitation slate tiles. The church was not open, so there is no way to report on its interior, although, given the large number of stained windows apparent from the exterior, it may have looked much better from the inside. The actual burning site is marked by a large cross outside the church entry and is surrounded by a park, under construction.

Next we want to find the Couronne Restaurant, reputed to be France’s oldest, founded in 1345. (Jean D’Arc was brûlée in 1431, so this restaurant, if dated actually, was not playing off her notoriety.) We google it and set off, finding that we are taken around the block and back to our starting point. We had already passed it and didn’t know it! It faces the Jean D’Arc church. This restaurant is the one that Julia Child first dined in the day she arrived in France, and it awakened her to French food and her entire career, setting the stage for TV stardom and millions of American aspiring cooks and chefs. There was one reservation available for 8:00, but this seems too late for us. We have had enough of getting up from the dinner table at 10:00 and struggling back to fall asleep.

We split into couples and head back separately exploring for awhile. The Coverts find a supermarket and secure a bottle of wine, a baguette and some cheese and crackers to share in their hotel room. Needelman’s shop a bit and then find a creperie for an omelette crepe and a glass of beer.

An early evening for all as we wind down this penultimate day of driving around France. Tomorrow, we go to Giverny and then to Paris to drop the car.

France, Friday, April 12, 2019

Bonjour again my friends. We arise this morning to a sunny but cool day. We breakfast again on croissants, butter, jam, baguettes, juice and coffee. A pattern seems to be developing?

First on foot to the Bayeux Tapestry museum that we missed yesterday. We arrive early, 9:15, and miss the first rush of crowds. What a wonderful piece of history. This tapestry, created between 1070 and 1080 gives a contemporaneous history of the 1066 Battle of Hastings and the events leading up to William the Conqueror’s ascent to the throne of England. The entire tapestry is some 70 meters long and is displayed in a continuous glass case at eye level in one light controlled room. You are accompanied by a handheld audio device that narrates what you are seeing. What a way to learn history. It was one of the most educational trips to a museum I have ever experienced. We recommend that, if you are not familiar with this piece of history, take a moment to google it on your devices.

Next we mount our vehicle for the drive to the town of Arromanche, the site of the WWII Normandy landings. We view, again the museum with a wonderful guided tour of the displays outlining the incredible engineering feat required to create a man-made harbour here, under enemy fire, in order to supply the invading Allied forces. 70 ton concrete breakfronts towed across the English Channel, 100 old ships sailed across the channel and sunk stem to stern around the harbour to creat a barrier for the harbour, huge steel roadways that would float up and down with the tides to allow the loading of the trucks, one every 5 seconds, that would bring all the supplies ashore for the troops. Our second most educational museum stop of the day.

From there, we traveled a short few kilometres, stopping first at the American Military Cemetery. Truly magnificent; row upon row of orderly white crosses, interspersed with an occasional Star of David; monuments to commemorate over 25,000 troops that lost their life on European soil during the D-Day invasion. 9100 troops are buried here. Howie said that the scope and view of this cemetery is even more moving than that in Arlington National Cemetery.

Next a few more kilometres to walk Omaha Beach. This, along with the adjoining Utah Beach, was the landing point for the U.S. landing force. This point was the toughest fought battle along the landing points. A crescent shaped beach front in cliffs upon which only 500 German soldiers in 11 concrete machine gun emplacements on the cliffs mowed down thousands of invading soldiers. As the literature says, the beaches ran red with blood. Seeing the area in person brings it all to reality. We stop at the nearby restaurant for a snack of wine, beer and frites.

Next we travel another 10 kilometres to the German military cemetery. This also, in a different way, was a moving place. Here some 21,000 soldiers are buried, two to a grave stone marker set flush to the ground and interspersed every few rows with a series of 5 squat black basalt crosses - no Star of David here - in row upon row. The contrast of the liberator (orderly white gleaming markers for the American cemetery) and the low dark humility of the conquered (German cemetery) creates for us a sad commentary on the human race and all the misery we perpetrate upon one another.

We drive back to home base, Bayeux, scoring a primo parking place near the hotel. Then off to dinner at Le Florentine, a nice Italian restaurant, for some of the best pizza, with a crisp thin crust and light tasty toppings we have ever enjoyed, accompanied by house wine and some local French beer, the only thing to top it was the dessert of caramel covered ice cream with a whipped cream dab on top. We poured into bed around 10:00 and prepared for another day of travel tomorrow.

France, Thursday, April 11, 2019

Note to all: You may eventually receive this post with pictures, but for now I am sending without photos as the various wi-fi systems in the hotels we are staying do not always transmit pictures well.  I will resend with photos when we get to good wi-fi places - i.e. Paris.

Bonjour mon Amis! We arise this morning to a much more comfortable day than yesterday. After packing up and schlepping our bags down the two flights of stairs, or across the garden, we stop for another lovely breakfast from our hosts. Today, again we had croissants, butter, jam, baguettes, coffee and egg cream - which is a cold creme brûlée without the burned crust on top - very tasty but a bit sweet.

We pack up the beast and head this morning to Mont Saint Michel, on the north coast of France, just at the edge of the region of Normandy. For those who have never heard or seen pictures of Mont St. Michel, it is an island mount some 100 yards off the coast, isolated at high tide. This is quite the tourist production now, huge parking lots some 3-4 kilometres from the attraction- you walk to the shuttle bus loading areas. Parenthetically, these shuttle buses are unlike any seen before. There is a driver’s position at either end. When the driver pulls in for pick up of a load, he steps out of the vehicle, walks around to the other end, and assumes his new position. No turning around and quite efficient.

The original purpose is as a monastery and abbey. It is still a functioning church, and we witnessed a service in progress as we wandered through. The winding streets as you make your way up to the abbey are flanked by myriads of small shops and restaurants, all catering to the throng of tourists - and throng is the only word to use. Even this early in the season, with the cold wind blowing, there're people everywhere - young children bored out of their heads, old people struggling to climb the steps, and every age in between.

We stood in line for nearly an hour to buy the tickets and enter the abbey itself. Prices of entry was €10.00 but free if you were a family of 4 with children or under the age of 26. Curious but we suppose designed to encourage education.

Once inside the huge abbey, the crowd was swallowed up and it was unusually sparse - it was a huge building. We finished our self guided tour and then out and down the hill to find a restaurant (by this time 1:30 in the afternoon) and stood in another line for 1/2 hour. The food was so-so but the problem was that half of our foursome received food, while, after 30 minutes the other half had not we finally spoke up and then received the food, although not really worth it but conveniently, touristically over priced!

We took our leave, walked down the mount and waited for shuttle buses back to our car park. Off then to the city of Bayeux, our headquarters for the next two nights.

Along the way, on the four lane highway, we discovered a McDonalds! We pulled in for a rest break. Marvellously modern and unlike any we had seen before, although, admittedly, none of us are habitue’s of the establishment. A Coke and a few chocolate sundaes later and we were back on the road.

We arrived around 5:45, and then beat feet to the tapestry museum to get that off our list. We arrived at 6:00 to view before the 6:30 closing. Unfortunately the doors close at 5:45 for clearing of the museum. Oh well, we get an “A” for effort.

We check into our abode, the Hotel Churchill, city center but again no parking lot, which means secureing a metered spot on the street. Finally a room on the first floor with a nice shower, TV and a king sized bed. We find the recommended restaurant for what we thought would be a light meal. Soup and Charcuterie/cheese board with a bottle wine. We received all off this, but we arrived at 7:00 PM and finally took our leave at 9:15 PM. Speedy service is a foreign concept to the French, as is an early bedtime. We were exhausted, but agreed that it again was a good day.

France, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Bonjour and Happy Birthday to Lee. As we step down to the breakfast table this morning, we are beginning to catch up on our body time changes. Wonderful croissants, coffee, baguette, juice, yogurt and butter. We lift a proverbial glass to Lee and threaten to sing Happy Birthday, but, with protests from the surrounding guests, decide to leave it at best wishes.

This morning the weather is raining/drizzling and cool so we head out to the historic city of St. Malo, some 30 kilometres up the road. St. Malo is an ancient city that eventually displaced Dinan, on the river Rance, from its economic power - St. Malo is at the mouth of the Rance and boasts a much deeper harbor. Again, this was originally a walled city and is now surrounded by suburbs. However the original city and its walls (ramparts) are still intact and it has become much the tourist destination.

Small winding streets are, due to the inclement weather, rather uncrowded this morning. We wander the streets, looking in all the shop windows and reading the historical signs around and about. Around noon, we spot a creperie restaurant up on the rampart wall boasting a sea view. As the classic food in Breton is a crepe filled with either savoury or sweet fillings, we head up and secure four places at one of the communal tables. As we survey the menu, the youngest member of the threesome at our table suddenly stops her french discussion with the waiter, and addresses us in perfect American English.

We find out that she is an American from Louisiana here in France teaching English. She is today accompanying her aunt and uncle from Indianapolis and suddenly we seven Americans are chattering away about basketball, travel and luckily for us, the menu and what to order. We find that hard cider rather than wine, is the drink of Breton and order a pitcher of this 2% alcoholic beverage to go with our sausage, chicken and andouille galettes. We end with some coffee and a sugary crepe with whipped cream for dessert. A wonderful and native lunch in a bit of a touristy restaurant with a marvellous view of the sea (although cloudy and rainy, so much is left to our imagination, view wise.)

We head back out with the intent of walking the rampart around to our starting point. Soon, the wind and cold drive us off the wall and back down to the city lanes. We retrieve our car from yet another underground car park and head south back towards Dinan. We take the scenic route through the old port city of Dinan, gazing at these wonderful stone homes clinging to the cliffs overlooking the river Rance and its journey towards the sea. The scenery is very reminiscent of Cornwall and its rugged sea coast and small villages. It is easy to see that this was once a British colony and how the citizens of Breton cling to their Celtic heritage and ways.

We return to our hotel around 3:00, secure a parking lot stall and repair to our rooms for some rest and reading time. We reconvene at 6:00 and head to our restaurant of choice in the old city; Les 3 Lunes - The three Moons - is our restaurant of choice. A gourmet menu establishment owned and operated by Chef Thierry Teffaine and his wife Magali. (The third moon is their child who was not in attendance.) Our choices for the evening were lamb, pork loin and steak. The amuse bouche was a gelatin of salmon with small tomatoes topped by creme fraise. Vegetable on offer was asparagus accompanied by a creamy buttery sauce with a poached egg submerged. We dipped and spread the sauce over the properly cooked white asparagus! We selected a Loire Valley Pinot Noir as our wine and ended the evening with three desserts - a blanc manger fraisboise (raspberry), a baked Alaska and a selection of cheeses. A long and leisurely dinner.

We sauntered back to the hotel and were tucked in by 10:30. A relatively easy but interesting and educational day.

France, Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Bonjour! We waken today to sunshine and moderate temperatures. It rained a little over night but the day looks to be mild and liveable. We pack and make multiple trips down the mountainous stairway with our luggage and then are treated to some tea accompanied by toasted croissants and brioche prepared by our hostess Madame Auvary.

Following our long goodbyes, we begin the trudge back to the underground car park with our luggage in tow. Two blocks along, here comes Madame Aubrey, chasing after us. A confused conversation in French (ours not good) we come to understand that she believes we may have made off with her cell phone as she can’t find it. She had been showing us pictures and thinks one of us may have picked it up by mistake. We show her our phones and eventually she seems assured that it must still be in her kitchen where we were all sipping our tea and scarfing our croissants. A quick adieu and we are off again.

We navigate out from the car park and head north and west toward the city of Chartres. We eventually arrive and again find an underground car park, this one adjacent to the famous Cathedral, which is our goal this morning. This massive structure was originally built in the 8th century. A major fire in 1076 destroyed half of the cathedral, bringing down one of its two spires. A 30 year process of rebuilding (amazingly short time considering the size of the structure and the technology available) it was rebuilt but the newer spire in a Gothic manner, hence the two different looking spires as noted in the picture attached.

Although the interior is stunning with over 975 stained glass windows soaring above us, the real piece de resistance (at least in the minds of the church) is a silk veil reputed to belong to the Virgin Mary. This treasure was saved from the fire and can be traced to this church from at least the 5th century. According to the information given in the church, the silk threads can be scientifically dated to the 1st century. Evidently the church believes in some science!

After our church meanderings, we step across the square and find a Rick Steves recommended cafe - Le Serpentine. Here we lunch on omelettes, croquet monsieur/madame sandwiches, frites and some passable Bordeaux wine. By 2:00 we are back in the rolling beast with Howie at the wheel and Lee in the navigator’s seat heading again northwest towards our destination city of Dinan in Breton, our home for the next two days.

This is a long drive of nearly 4 hours, accompanied by sunshine, and sometimes heavy rain showers. We arrive safely and by 6:00 have located our next inn, the La Villa Cote Cour Hotel. No parking lot again, but Deb and the landlady secure a parking spot on the street out front of the hotel as Howie and Mark circle the block, eventually, to pull in. Once more a charming old home, this one converted to a hotel. Howie and Lee are assigned a ground floor room with a patio and outside hot tub/jacuzzi. Mark and Deb get to climb again to the third floor for a sumptuous suite overlooking the town, although with an ensuite tub, not shower.

After a short unpack, we convene in Deb and Marks aerie for some rose wine we had picked up along the way and a bottle of champagne donated by the landlady. Also Mark sliced up the first of the two salami sausages we had scored a few nights earlier at the Antidotes bar in Orleans. We talked over the day and discussed the rest of the trip.

We soon head out for a dinner, finding a restaurant within a few blocks. Plat du Jour on offer was baked Dourade (white fish) over vegetables, an accompanying salad (quite good) and a dreadful “bland manger ala biscuit” for dessert. Not our best french meal. We troupe back to our rooms and fall into bed again exhausted, around 10:00.

France, Monday, April 8, 2019

Bonjour, mes amis. As we struggled downstairs this morning with luggage in tow, Madame offered tea in the garden. We accepted and she then asked why we were leaving. She has a Google translator app on her phone in order to try and help with the language barrier. After much discussion, it was established that we were allowed to remain one more night. As we had prepaid and thought we would have a tough time receiving a refund , we chose to stay so we grumblingly hauled our bags back to our aerie and headed out for the day. Howie and Lee’s room was truly under the eaves, with a slanted ceiling surrounding the bath, and a curious dropped box in the floor that must be traversed to reach the bath, we were not sure we wanted to stay. Despite the zebra rug (not faux) on the floor, the loss of $$$ was a deciding factor. Turns out we are pretty American.

Today we headed some 70 kilometres down the road through Blois (say that three times) to begin our site seeing, arriving at Chateau du Chambord, the 440 room palace begun by Francois I, the first king of France and continued by his heirs. Louis XIV spent a lot of time here, and his reign was much in evidence. One amazing feature of the palace was the double helix central stone staircase, designed by Leonardo da Vinci. This massive central tower allowed two intertwined staircases, constructed so that those ascending could not view those descending.

The grounds from the upper floors were magnificent. It would take an army of Master Gardeners to maintain. I think in those days they were just indentured servants. Seeing the scale and obvious opulence, we quickly understood the French rebellion.

After this, Howie took the drivers position, with Deb still providing navigation while Lee and Mark offered encouragement from the rear. We proceeded to the town of Amboise. This town sported three Chateaux, and was once the second capital of France. We parked and ambled, opting not to enter any of the Chateaux but trying to score a lunch. We quickly learned that french restaurants only serve lunch from 12:00 to 2:00 and then shut down. It was 3:00! We finally found a small pasta place in which to have a glass of vin, some pasta and bread. Not exceptional, but serviceable. We wandered and shopped a bit, then headed to our last stop of the day, the village of Chenanceaux.

Here, we were to see yet another palace, this one the Château of Chenonceau. (Yes, the Château and the city do NOT share an X). This castle was constructed straddling the River Cher to provide defence against some marauding peasants, we believe. Again an amazing structure, more beautifully presented with a lower tone of ostentation, and truly beautiful rooms and galleries. We toured quickly, and at 6:00, as they announced the Castle was closing and all should be out by 6:30, we wrapped up our day and headed back to Orleans. Again Howie driving and Lee assuming the navigator’s position. Deb and Mark lounged and dozed in the rear.

We arrived, very weary and beginning to bicker, as we secured parking back at the Cathedral. We discovered that, not only was there the small lot we had used the night before, but an entire three story parking garage buried under the Cathedral. We still are trying to figure out how this was accomplished under a 500 year old Cathedral!

Back to our d’Hotes where our landlady secured a reservation at a nearby restaurant, La P’tit Gavrouche. We arrived and experienced a wonderful meal accompanied by a tasty Loire Valley rouge - from Cherveny. Duck loin, salmon tagliatelle, French onion soup, Andouille sausage, and a Cassoulet St Jacques with french baguette to sop up the juices. We dragged back to our rooms about 10:30, sated, traveled and exhausted. Tomorrow we head north and west.

France, Sunday, April 7, 2019

Well, to begin. Your daring doubles, Howie and Lee, and Deb and Mark arrive at Eppley Airfield due to the kindness and driving skills of their respective children. We applaud their efforts at timeliness and remind them of their respective duties in our absence - check the homes, water the pets and/or plants, and we in turn promise to notify them of any untoward changes in plan.

We board United Airlines for our adventure, traveling from Omaha via Chicago to our eventual destination of Paris. Flights were mostly uneventful, on time, and the meals were acceptable. A miracle that we arrive and depart notorious O’Hare from the same terminal - no schlepping our carry-ons in a rush from place to place. The only significant event on the flight was a single call for a medical practitioner while over the water (Howie answered the call along with two others; no real help needed, but he did wish that next time it would be a small newborn upon whom to practice his skills, rather than some middle aged woman with an upset stomach.) All survived.

We arrived safe and sound on Sunday morning at the scheduled 10:00 AM and received all luggage in a timely manner. French authorities chose not to hold our existing administration against us and  allowed us to enter their fine country. We secured the largest vehicle available, a Mercedes 350 GLC with annoying motion sensors and cameras totally surrounding the vehicle, and proceeded to find our way out of the Charles de Gaulle complex.

Mark took the first driving shift, and Deb assumed the navigator’s seat. We headed towards our eventual goal of Orleans, some 70 kilometres south and east of Paris. Around 2:00, we arrived in the town of Fontainebleau, and during a course correction we spotted a nice looking restaurant, Le Patton and decided to stop for lunch. Pulling into the enclosed parking yard, we learned the downside to having secured the Hummer-like size GLC. Luckily we purchased full damage insurance (no first time travellers we) so should not have to worry regarding a paint scrape from an abbuting pylon. We secured the vehicle next to some of its miniature brethren and partook of a lovely French meal.

Refreshed, we headed on to Orleans, arriving eventually about 5:30 and navigating some very narrow streets to our abode for two nights, the Chambers d’Hotes, a charming 1500 era city home housing 2 lovely bedrooms, en suite, at the top of its steep staircase on the third floor. As there was no room to park on the street, the driver idled in a nearby lane while the negotiating party discussed accommodations. Secured, our next stop is to find parking as there was none at available on site.

Four cobblestoned blocks away, we discovered parking on the grounds of the Cathedral Sainte-Croix and then dragged most of our luggage bouncing back to the d’Hotes. The hardest part was ascending to the third floor (narrow and steep.) We may have over-packed!

Next on order was an evening meal. Since it was only 6:00 PM, and the French customarily don’t eat until 7:30 - 8:00, we searched up and down for a place that was not a pizzeria or taco stand for a meal. We were finally directed by a charming young lady who spoke some English, towards a bar down a side street that might have some chacuturie available with our evening vin. A serendipitous find.

Arriving at the aptly named “Antidotes,” the proprietor, Xavier, allowed us to occupy a small high-stooled bistro near the bar of the small establishment, served us a wonderful Ventu cote de Rhone and produced the most amazing sausage slices. He soon decided to practice his rudimentary English on our less than passable French. A wonderful evening, with a production of cheeses, baguettes, butter and conversation about where to go the next day.

We strolled back to our temporary home, to be then served with a glass of Loire valley Vouvray by our hostess, and a history and tour of the house. The only glitch was that the 85 year old woman believed we were only staying one night rather than two. Long discussion ensued and we agreed to take our leave the next day. Off we climbed to bed exhausted but sure we were beginning a wonderful trip.