How Eileen got her Groove Back

Nice, France and Buonconvento, Italy
October 11-19

When we last left our heroine, she was tied to the railroad tracks with a hand to her forehead crying, "Who will SAVE me!!"

Just kidding. But I was in need of saving of sorts. I needed to get away from all the big city noise and crowds and lights. I needed someplace quiet for a few days that didn't involve subways or train stations or hotel rooms (next to train stations). So we scrapped a few plans to stay in big touristy cities in Italy in favor of a place that neither of us had ever heard of, a small Tuscan village called Buonconvento. We were heading to this small town because it housed an Agriturismo called Podere Cunina that looked like it would be the perfect place to relax for a few days. But first we had to get there!

In order to get from Avignon to Buonconvento we would have to take the train across Southern France to the Italian border (using our Eurail pass) then take an Italian train to Genoa where we would go to the airport to pick up a rental car. Then we needed to drive down the middle of Italy about 4-5 hours to Buonconvento. Sounds like a day trip right? Nope. Not possible. We needed to split the trip up and I had the perfect solution- Nice, France!

I first went to Nice in 2004 on my sabbatical and I still vividly remember how shocked I was to find these gorgeous Caribbean Blue waters in the South of France. I wanted Shaun to get a taste of it as well and since Nice is pretty much the last stop before Italy, it would be perfect for us. We booked one last train station hotel, the Ibis in Nice and then boarded a train from Avignon to Nice early Tuesday morning. We arrived in Nice around 1:30, checked into the hotel, threw some bathing suits on under our clothes and headed toward the water. First we needed to eat something though, so we stopped for a pizza and a salad at a cafe. Finally at around 2:30 we stepped onto the beach and laid out our towels on the rocks.

Shaun in the beautiful Place Massena in Nice, France

Yes, rocks. I should mention that most of the beaches in Nice are covered in rocks not sand, but it isn't as bad as it sounds. The rocks are fairly small and smooth from the water so once you settle in you can get pretty comfy. The weather that day was gorgeous, hot and sunny, so after a little while Shaun went in for a swim while I watched the bags. He said the water was a little chilly, but clean and beautiful. The rocks were a bit difficult to walk on though. So now it was my turn. The water looked so inviting but walking on the rocks looked like not so much fun. There was only one solution- I wore my sneakers in to the water. It may not have been fashionable, but it sure was fun! And really, who will ever know I did that? (Oh, except you. Right.)

Shaun swimming in the waters off Nice

See, you can't tell that I have sneakers on!








We stayed on the beach until around 5:30 and then headed back to shower up. We walked into the Old Town for a quick dinner and then headed back to the hotel early. We had to catch an early train the next morning if we wanted to get to Buonconvento by dinnertime. Between the ocean swimming and laying in the sun, it was a fabulous day in Nice.

On Wednesday morning we were on the train by 7:30AM headed to Ventimiglia, Italy. We were using the last day of our Eurail pass to get out of France so when we got off the train in Ventimiglia we bought two tickets to Genoa and boarded the train for the next leg of the journey. Both of those train ride were beautiful. These trains run along the coast of France and Italy and for much of the ride you have beautiful views of the water. When we didn't have water views we were both reading so the time flew by. Next thing we knew we had arrived in Genoa. That's where things got interesting!

The train ride to Genoa. We had no idea what awaited us.


We got off the train and immediately left the station looking for the bus stop. We had researched the buses and knew there was a cheap one that would take us to the airport. I was looking at the schedule when Shaun called my name. I told him I was just trying to figure out the schedule and I would only be another minute. He said "Eileen, you better take a look at this". I looked over and saw two paddy wagons and at least twenty policemen, all in black in full on riot gear. Behind them we could hear quite a bit of noise but we had no idea what it was. I motioned to Shaun that we had better get on to the median where the bus was. As we walked over, we heard an Australian gentlemen rather urgently telling two other women that no buses were coming and asking if they wanted to share a cab. I stepped up and told him that we would definitely share a cab. He told all of us to follow him and we walked up the street just as a huge protest turned the corner into the train station. It was loud and angry and scary and I was very glad to be walking away.

We walked around the corner and the Australian told us to wait there. He said he would take the elevator up to his hotel and see if he could get us two cabs. In the meantime, one of the women who was actually from Genoa, told us that they had closed down a factory and these were the factory workers protesting the closure. She talked about how hard things were in Italy right now and how some people were very angry with the government. Finally, our friend the Australian came down and told us he had gotten one big cab. We needed to take the elevator up though. He had arranged for them to let us all on this strange elevator. As we got in, he explained that this was the only elevator in the world that goes both vertically and horizontally. I felt like we were in some sort of Batman scene as the elevator went horizontally for about 100 feet and then stopped and went vertically for another 100 feet, dropping us off at the top of Genoa. On the way up, we learned that we were made up of one Australian, two Americans, a woman from Greece and one from Genoa. The five us us squeezed into the cab and headed to the airport the long way, avoiding the protest area.

The cab ride was insane. Shaun and I were in front and we could barely speak because we were fearing for our lives. This guy made NYC cab divers look like newbies. By the time we got to the Genoa airport I was ready to kiss the ground. In all the craziness, our only regret is that we didn't get the Australian guy's name. We would have liked to repay him for his kindness when we went to Australia this winter. Looks like we will need to pay it forward instead.

I was fairly nervous about having a rental car in Italy. The Italians are known as much for their crazy driving as for anything else. There's a reason for that. They are insane. Soccer may be the national pastime, but tailgating has to be a close second. And if you are on a hairpin turn on the edge of a cliff but you are deemed to be going too slow, they will pass you even if there is a semi coming in the opposite direction. Thank God Shaun was driving, not me. My job was "Map and Sign Girl". I would try to spot the turns ahead of time so that we didn't need to slow down at all, lest we be killed. After a little while we were both pretty comfortable in our roles with just the occasional "Holy Crap!!" or "Save me Oprah!!" escaping us when someone decided to pass three cars at once on a blind curve or something like that.

So on we drove down through Italy. Silvanna, the woman at the Agriturismo had told me we should stop in Pisa along the way to see the tower. Vanda had told us that the tower was cool but the rest of the town was a Sh**hole, so we decided we could make that a quick stop! We did and we're both glad we stopped. It's true that Pisa doesn't have much to offer, but the tower is kind of unbelievable to see in person. It truly looks like it will topple over any minute! But more surprising to me was how beautiful the actual square and the tower are. I'd always pictured it like it was all decaying and dirty, but it is actually quite pretty. We were both glad we went and happy to head back on the road knowing we weren't missing anything else by skipping the rest of Pisa.

The famous leaning tower.

The rest of the drive to Buonconvento was beautiful. It was the end of the day and we were driving through these Tuscan hills just following the signs. Silvanna had told us to follow the signs to Florence, then to Siena, then towards Rome for about 30 minutes and we would eventually see signs for Buonconvento. It was just as she said. At around 6:15pm we reached the sign that pointed toward Resta and took a left hand turn onto the dirt road. We drove up and up into the hills on a winding dirt road following the little hand-made signs that said "Podere Cunina". Finally after about 10 minutes of slow driving we arrived at the farm. We were both awestruck by the views from the place- gorgeous pink skies over miles and miles of hills and farms for as far as the eye could see. Podered Cunina lies in the middle of the Sienese Clay Hills in Tuscany and is a farmhouse that had been turned into an Agriturismo with 6 apartments. Every apartment is named for a type of tree and ours was named for the Pine tree. It was called Pinus. Yep, Pinus. We've had lots of fun with that.

The road that led to the Farmhouse was long and winding

The stairs lead up to our apartment. In the foreground you cann see the herbs that grew everywhere on the property. Huge rosemary, sage and mint plants everywhere as well as lavender and even cactus.

At that point we finally met Silvanna, who I had been exchanging emails with for the last few days. She was just as sweet and helpful as all the reviews had said. She gave us a local map and showed us all the best towns to visit and how to get there. She gave us a list of restaurants in all the nearby towns that they recommend. Then she showed us the apartment. Shaun said it best. Sometimes you rent an apartment online and they make it look so big and beautiful and then you arrive and realize it must have been the way they photographed it. This was just the opposite; the photos online did not do it justice. We had a big dining area with an invection stove and oven and a washing machine in the corner. Off to the side of the dining room was our bedroom with a queen sized bed and a twin on the side. There was a big downstairs bathroom with a shower and another half bath as well as a sitting area and couch upstairs. Outside, each apartment had their own little patio with a table and chairs. Ours just happened to be closest to the outdoor brick oven that anyone in the apartments could use. And did I mention that she had cut us a deal because they were going into Low Season? We had rented the apartment for 5 nights but I think we both knew at that moment we wanted to stay longer.

Our bedroom with the view of the Tuscan hills that we looked out on every night and morning.

That first evening was hilarious and wonderful. We had brought a few things from France, salt, pepper, chocolates and some jam, definitely not enough to make a dinner! So we headed to the grocery store, but it was closed. Actually, the hours were pretty funny. It was the Coop (which you may remember from our stay in Switzerland) which is a full-on Supermarket, but the hours were very Italian. They were open from 8:30AM to 1:30PM and then again from 4:30PM to 7:30PM. It was the same everywhere in Tuscany, all the shops and restaurants closed for a few hours in the afternoon. For Shaun and I, it would end up shaping our days. But first, we needed something to eat, so it was off to downtown Buonconvento for dinner at Ristorante di Mario.

This was one of the restaurants that was recommended by Silvanna and there were lots of people eating in the dining room downstairs and on the terrace. When we told them we didn't have a reservation she pointed upstairs, where there was another dining room. What we didn't know then was that the guy who ran that dining room was insane.

Everything started off fine, if a little fast. He very quickly asked us if we wanted Vino (yes) Rossa or Bianco (Rossa) and then Aqua (yes) gazzetto (yes). Then he walked away and came back with a pitcher of Sparkling water and an unlabeled bottle of Red Wine. he put both on the table and walked away. Similar to some parts of France, they would just charge you for how much wine you drank.

Things got really interesting when it came time to order. He just started in speaking VERY fast italian. I caught a few words like Tagliattelle, Ravioli and Spaghetti so we knew it was the pasta course. I didn't know how to ask him to repeat it so I made a sort of hand gesture and he just said it all again, only louder. Still staring at him blankly, he gave me his little notebook. I think his other career was a Doctor because there was no deciphering the notebook. So Shaun just said Tagiatelle and I said Ravioli. That started him in on what appeared to be sauce options- he loudly recited 8 or 9 types of sauces. Once again I tried to ask a question and he just rifled them off again, louder. At this point, the girls sitting near us were laughing quietly and Shaun and I were very close to bursting out in hysterical laughter as well. We both ordered the Ragu because we knew it was a meat sauce and prayed for this to end. But no, it was time for the main course. Same deal. He bolted through the options in manic Italian. Shaun ordered vitello and I ordered bistecca because they were literally the only things we could understand. He went to put in our order and then came back and said something else, "Contorno". I had no idea what that meant but thought it was probably about dessert and would lead to another showdown, so I just said No Grazie. (We later realized he was asking what we wanted for side dishes).

Once the food came, we were both relieved. The pasta portions were very small and along with the main course, it was a perfect sized meal. Some vegetables on the side might have been nice, but it probably would have broken us to order them. The best was watching everyone else that came in go through the same experience! Even the Italians seemed thrown off by his crazy speed reading of the choices. Each new group had their own experience and then got to chuckle at the next group. We finished up our dinner, paid the very reasonable tab and headed back to the Farmhouse. We settled into our comfy bed, amazed at how dark and quiet it was in this little corner of Italy. We slept better here in Tuscany than anywhere else we had been so far.

The days we spent in Tuscany were so relaxing. We were in a great spot in the middle of wine country. We were about 90 minutes from Florence and just over an hour from San Gimignano and Chianti. Montalcino was 20 minutes away and Siena was 30 minutes. We had a car so we were on nobody's timetable but our own. We wanted to eat dinner at home most days and lunch if possible, so most days we made breakfast at home, read a bit, did some laundry and headed into town to get something from the butcher for dinner. Shaun would usually go running in the hills sometime in the morning as well. I was content to relax here as these were some serious hills!

An evening drink under the gazebo by the pool

The sunsets were just gorgeous. We always tried to get back in time for Sunset

In the afternoons we would go exploring. Silvanna had warned us that the tour buses were still coming and that most of the towns could get pretty crowded and unmanageable when the buses were in town, so as long as we waited until around 4 go arrive in a town, we would have it mainly to ourselves. San Gimignano was a favorite of ours. Like most of these towns, it was built way up on a hill and still had the ancient city walls. It was gorgeous and quaint and full of little shops and restaurants. We walked around the city for a few hours and then found the museum of wine where we did a little wine tasting. As we walked back through the city, we passed a butcher shop and decided to stop in. One look was all we needed before deciding we would make a Steak Florentine for dinner.

Steak Florentine is basically a T-Bone or Porterhouse steak from the Maremma cows that is cut in a really thick portion for two and grilled over an open fire. We had already tried the brick oven and thought this would be a perfect food experiment. We drove back to Podere Cunina all excited about our giant piece of meat. Back at home, Shaun got to work on the fire while I prepped the steak. Silvanna had herbs growing all over the farm and she said I could help myself, so I picked some rosemary, chopped it up and seasoned the steak with just Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil and fresh Rosemary. While Shaun grilled the Steak, I prepped some side dishes. (Silvannas husband, Pier Giorgio actually came out to see what Shaun was cooking because he said it smelled so good!) In about half an hour we sat down to perfectly grilled Steak Florentine, sautéed mushroms, chickpeas with a garlicky broth and steamed zucchini. We had a bottle of local wine, a Brunello di Montelcino that we had purchased the day before after a lovely wine tasting at the Altesino vineyard. It was a meal we will remember for the rest of our lives. Shaun says he has never had a better steak. I agree, and something about having made it ourselves in this amazing spot made it even more special.

The incredible Steak Florentine. Best. Steak. Evah.

I think that was also the night we decided to stay longer in Tuscany. We had rented to apartment for 5 days but we didn't want to leave that soon. There was plenty to see and do in the surrounding towns, an we also wanted to spend a few days doing nothing. We spoke to Silvanna who was happy to extend us for two more days as she was going into her slow season. We were thrilled to have a full week in this amazing place.

We really had a nice mix of up and down time during the week. We spent one morning and afternoon in Florence, which gave us plenty of time to see the city and to go to Accademia to see David. If you haven't heard of Michelangelo's David, it is widely considered the most important sculpture in the world. It is a truly incredible sight. The statue, which depicts David (from the story of David and Goliath) standing at rest with his sling over his shoulder and the rock in his hand. It was created between 1501-1504 from a single block of marble (!) when Michelangelo was only 29. It is 17 feet high and the detail is incredible. You can see every vein in his hand and every muscle in his leg. Shaun and I were both taking pictures from all sides when a museum guard came up and told us photography is not allowed. Well, I guess ignorance really is bliss because I'm so happy we got some photos of this masterpiece!

David. If you are ever in Florence it is something you must see for yourself.

I don't love Florence, and I think Shaun felt the same. Even its most famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, seems a bit cheesy and touristy to me. It is just wall to wall gold jewelers and wall to wall people. The downtown streets of Florence always seem crowded and somewhat dirty. The Duomo is beautiful and David is incredible, but in my opinion the best view of Florence is from up on the Piazza Michelangelo, high above the city. We started and ended our day trip to Florence from there. This was my second visit and I'm not sure I will be back.

The view from Piazza Michelangelo

The smaller towns were what I really loved. Montalcino, Montepulchiano, Castellina in Chianti, San Gimignano and even little Buonconvento. I loved their little town squares and the ancient walls. I loved the old ladies chatting in the streets, the old men on their bikes and how everyone seemed to stroll in the afternoons. I loved the butcher shops where we found a way to communicate by pointing to something and saying "Per Due" (for two). I loved the small vineyard we went to in Chianti where we drove up and were greeted by a man who clearly worked the land. He immediately told us he spoke only Italian and then he and Shaun proceeded to "talk" to each other, both in their own language but somehow understanding each other and what the other person was trying to say.

More than anything though, I loved Podere Cunina. Practically every night we pulled out the cameras and we took shot after shot, but there was just no way to capture the beauty of the area on film. It was mid-October so all the fields had been turned over but somehow the miles of overturned dirt just added to the charm of the area. The newly overturned soil must have been full of worms and other treats because we saw pheasants and rabbits and even deer grazing along the hills. There were olive trees all along the hillside by the house and little patches of forested areas dotted the hills in the distance. The Tuscan sun was so warm that even though it was only in the 60's, you could sit by the pool in shorts and a T-shirt.

The beautiful pool. It was too cold to swim, but not to sit in the Sun and enjoy the view

Shaun with Silvanna and Pier Giorgio, our wonderful hosts at Podere Cunina


After a week of living this charmed life, it was time to go. We exchanged hugs and kisses with Silvanna and Pier Georgio, who had been such gracious hosts. We promised to come back someday and to tell everyone about their beautiful home in the Tuscan hills. And we got into our little car and took our final drive down the long dirt hill that would lead us away from Podere Cunina, away from Buonconvento and Tuscany. We were headed to Rome, back to big city life for a few days. After our stay in Tuscany, we were well rested and ready for all the city had to offer.

Farewell Podere Cunina with your beautiful Sunsets.

Food, Wine and a Case of the Blues

Lyon & Avignon
October 5-11

The city of Lyon, France


When we arrived in Lyon, we had to find our way to the apartment we had rented. Evasion Loft is situated in the heart of Lyon, and it is made of up of four bedrooms in an old converted factory building. It is on a main road and should have been easy to find, but we didn't have a city map and Shaun had written down the address, but not the directions from the train station. Usually there is a Tourist Info Center right near the ttrain station so that isn't a problem, but in this case there was no TI in sight. We were determined to walk so Shaun started to lead us down the streets. We were able to get a bus map but things were still fairly unclear and Shaun was walking faster as he got more frustrated. Finally after a few bad turns at an intersection we all stopped thinking he was going to figure it out and tell us which way to go. Instead he went behind some construction and next thing we knew he was gone from sight. We couldn't figure out what had happened. He had the only map, so we just stayed where we were for a while. We assumed he had just gone ahead to find the place and would come back for us. Finally, after about twenty minutes we realized that he wasn't coming back. Worse still, I realized that he had given me the piece of paper with the exact street address. So now he had the map and I had the address.

Two people stopped and asked if we needed help, but they didn't know where the street was that we were looking for. We thought about hailing a cab, but none came by. Finally, John remembered that he had an Ipad app that had a download of the Lyon city streets. He pulled up the app, we found the street and walked about 10 minutes. As we walked up to the nondescript building that housed Evasion Loft who did we find wandering the streets? Yep, Shaun, who did not, in fact, remember the street number. Apparently he couldn't find us behind the construction and thought we had walked ahead. By the time he realized we hadn't he didn't know where to find us. Everyone thought I would be infuriated with him, but I knew he didn't purposely lose us and I could see he was flustered too. I gave him lots of crap that afternoon, but he felt bad enough as it was.

Once we got into Evasion loft, everyone was really happy. The place was very cool, and it fit only the seven of us, so we basically had the whole place to ourselves. The owners of the loft, Therese and Olivier, were a wonderful French couple in their late 50's. Therese spoke very good English and was outgoing as can be. She immediately launched into lots of helpful tips about the city and gave us a map they had marked with the things we might want to see. Olivier spoke less English than Therese and seemed to be much more shy as well, but he had a quiet sweetness about him. My French was pretty good at this point so Olivier and I chatted a bit when I would see him and he always smiled and tried to make a little small talk with the others. I must admit, I had a soft spot for Olivier and his quiet ways.

Therese and Olivier, Our wonderful hosts at Evasion Loft in Lyon.

That afternoon we all just settled in to the place got our bearings. Our friend Lynn was also joining us in Lyon and we knew she was arriving shortly. If you've been following since the beginning, you may remember that Lynn was the one who is living in Germany right now. She graciously lent Shaun and I her apartment for six weeks after we sold our house, but before I had quit work. We were both looking forward to seeing her as was everyone else. Lynn was also one of the founding members of their "wine club" and she loved to bring interesting wines for everyone to try. When she arrived she came in with a whole bunch of cool wines, just as she always does!

That evening, Therese suggested a place for us to go to dinner. It sounded like a Lyon bistro with an Asian Fusion twist, which was fine for John, Vanda, Shaun, Lynn and me. Kathy and Kevin opted to do dinner by themselves which was probably a good idea since the menu was definitely on the more adventurous side. It was really good, but definitely a little out there. By the time dinner had ended everyone was tired so we headed back to the apartment. As I went to bed that night I was getting a sore throat and just generally feeling lousy. I think the long nights and all the travel had finally caught up with me. I knew this would probably happen to us at some point on the trip so we had packed Tylenol Cold Nighttime and Daytime tablets just in case. I took the nighttime tablets and settled in to sleep.

In the morning I woke up and knew immediately that I was sick. It never turned into anything horrible, it was just a sore throat and that general fatigue and body ache you get with a bad cold, but it was enough to make me feel lousy. The rest of the troops headed out biking while I took some Tylenol Cold Daytime. We were only here for two nights and I didn't want to spend the whole day in bed so I decided to go out walking and find a place to lie in the Sun.

It was the best decision I could have made. Once I showered and got outside I felt a little better. One thing I had decided was that that I wanted to have Pho for lunch. Pho is basically an Asian beef soup with lots of broth, noodles and vegetables that comes with a spicy sauce on the side. I figured it would be just what I needed to clear out my head and throat. We were in a very cosmopolitan city so I knew I should be able to find a place that served Pho. Imagine my surprise when I walked out the door of the apartment and saw a place called Viet Nam about 50 feet down the road. It was only 11am so I made a mental note to get back in time to have some Pho before the restaurants closed at 2:30PM. (It's very common over here for restaurants to close down between the lunch service that ends at 2:30 and the dinner service that starts at 7PM).

So off I walked with no destination in mind. I had a map that Therese and Olivier had given me so I walked in the general direction of the Rhone River. Lyon is a beautiful city, and like most old European cities, it is built around water. There are two rivers in Lyon, the Rhone and the Saone and they both had cool pedestrian bridges so I decided I would do both crossings. The views from the first bridge were beautiful and it felt good to be out in the sunshine and fresh air. I walked through the city down to the main square called Place Bellecour and stopped in at a bookstore. I needed a new book, but their selection of English books was very limited so I continued on. After crossing the second river I started wandering through the hills on the other side of Lyon. I came around a corner and found a saw a staircase that seemed to go on forever. If there's one thing I've learned on this trip its that you should always take these staircases! So I did.

The Rhone river in Beautiful Lyon

One of the lovely pedestrian bridges that crosses the two rivers


It was a long hike up to the top of the stairs but when I got up there I saw some signs for a park so I knew I had made a good choice. I followed the signs for the park, only stopping to grab an orange juice at a convenience store. Now that I was this high up, I knew I was heading in the general direction of the Notre Dame Cathedral at Fourviere, which you could see from down in the main city. I thought it would be great to check that out so I kept walking. Finally I came around a corner and to my astonishment, I had stumbled upon what basically amounted to the ruins of an ancient Roman city! The city of Lugdunum is over 2000 years old and was a center of commerce and entertainment for the Gallo Romans. There are two amphitheaters on the grounds that are shockingly well preserved. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but it was quite amazing. Best of all there was practically nobody there. When I got there there were three young women wandering through and a you guy who was napping in a sunny corner. I thought that was a great idea so I settled myself into the opposite corner and laid in the sun for a while before continuing on.

Just your everyday 2000 year old Roman Ruins on the outskirts of town!

This is the amphitheatre where I took my nap! It was warm and toasty in the Sun.

Next stop was the cathedral. Once again, it was completely quiet and peaceful so I lingered about in the chapel below and then upstairs. The church was built in 1872 as a tribute to the Virgin Mary so it is relatively new for France, but it was quite beautiful. The paintings inside all had a gold leaf trim that looked gorgeous in the afternoon Sun. After leaving the church I walked around back to find an amazing view of the city. I took some pictures and then realized it was 1:30. If I wanted Pho I needed to get a move on!

The outside of the cathedral

The beautiful gold leaf paintings inside


As I started walking back I realized I had gone very far from the apartment and I needed Public Transport if I was going to get back by 2. I found a spot where there was a funicular to take you back down to the side of the river, and it looked like it connected to the Lyon Metro. I bought an all day pass and took the funicular down. The metro is just like every city so I took one subway to Place Bellecour and another out to the B&B and arrived back at Viet Nam at 1:50. I ordered my Pho and some Green Tea and settled in by a window seat where I could people watch. The Pho was yummy. Strips of beef in a mild broth with scallions, sprouts, chili peppers, noodles and cilantro. I loaded it up with the hot chili paste and dug in. I figured I would kill this cold one way or another.

After lunch I was exhausted so I went back to the B&B and laid down for a nap. By the time everyone got back I felt pretty good. We decided to do some snacks at the apartment so Shaun and I walked to Les Halles (the covered market) and picked up some bread sticks and local dips. When we got back everyone had contributed something so we had a really nice spread going. We all relaxed in the main living area and snacked on cheeses and breads and olives and dips and some wine.

Vanda lounging on the giant beanbag chair in the living room of Evasion Loft

That evening Olivier and Therese suggested a place for Chicken down the street that was family run. Shaun, John, Vanda and I went while Kathy, Kevin and Lynn stayed behind to finish the bread and cheese and other snacks. The chicken place was a good call. After all the rich food it was nice to just have some plain roasted chicken with homestyle sides like mashed potatoes and carrots. We headed back early and went to bed, glad to have a "down" night.

The next day we had to leave for Avignon, but John and Vanda had rented a minivan so for the first time in about seven weeks, Shaun and I didn't need to catch a train. The plan was to drive to Avignon slowly, stopping for one, possibly two wine tastings on the way. (Don't worry, the driver wasn't drinking the wine). By the time we got to the first stop I was feeling bad again so I laid down in the Van and took some Tylenol Cold while they did a tasting at a place called Charpoutier. I could tell they all liked it because they came out with a few bottles. A quick lunch and then we stopped in town at the Valhrona Chocolate factory. Now that was a tasting I could get into! All through the store they had bowls of the chocolates that you could sample. The best part was at check out! We purchased a few bars of dark chocolate and they threw in all sorts of samples. Yum!! Next we stopped at a place called Cave de Tain. I didn't want to miss both tastings so I came in for this one. The wines were inexpensive and everyone liked them wines so we picked up a few botttles. With seven people traveling together we figured we would go through it.

Wine tasting on the way to Avignon. That's Kevin, Kathy, Vanda, John, Shaun, Me and Lynn

That evening, the others dropped Shaun and I off in Avignon. The apartments they were looking at during the planning were either out of our price range or couldn't sleep 7 so we had opted to just get a cheap Ibis hotel room. We figured we could still cook at their place and we would just sleep at our place. They headed to Saint Remy for the night and Shaun and I checked out Avignon. Its a very cool city that is encircled by a Medieval Wall with lots of shops and restaurants. Avignon is mainly known for the giant "Palace of the Popes" inside the city walls where seven Popes lived from 1309 to 1423 after Pope Clement V moved away from the dangers of Rome to a new palace at Avignon. This move would eventually cause a schism in the church and lead to a double papacy (one in Rome, one in Avignon) in the early 1400s when the Romans insisted on having the Pope in Rome. But enough about religious conflict, back to our story...

The first night was great. We found a little restaurant through Lonely Planet called Au Tout Petit. (The Teeny Tiny) It was inexpensive, the food was great and the owner was just wonderful. The wind had gone crazy that day which we knew was the mistral, but he explained lots more about it. He told us that it usually lasts 3 days to a week and it is a very cold wind, but it never rains during a mistral. He also gave us in depth descriptions of the things on the menu, including the history of certain dishes. If you are ever in Avignon, stop in at the Teeny Tiny, you won't regret it.

The next day was nice. Shaun and I slept in and then had a little breakfast. I had slept poorly and I was still feeling crappy so I went back to lay down while he went for a run. Then we both went to check out Les Halles (Yep, same name as the market in Lyon). We were going to make dinner at the apartment the next night so I wanted to see what they had. There were lots of great stalls selling meats, fish, cheese, charcuterie, breads and vegetables. It was clear we could get everything we needed here.

When we walked outside after that, it was gorgeous out. There was also a blues festival going on and there was a guy playing the blues in the square right outside Les Halles. The food for the festival was a big plate of sausages and ham with Sauerkraut and a beer, so we settled in at a table and had lunch with the Blues Man. It was appropriate music for Avignon and me, as I will tell you later.

Lunch in the square listening to the Blues. We felt like we were back in Germany with the big plate of Sauerkraut and Meats

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area around the Palace of the Popes which was absolutely beautiful. Beyond the palace is a scenic overlook that looks out on Villlenuev Les Avignon, the sister city of Avignon across the water. We were up on a hilltop and the Mistral was blowing like crazy so it was very cold, but very cool.

The Palace of the Popes, right inside the city walls

There is a vineyard at the top of the hills beyond the palace.

That evening the others arrived in Avignon. They had a nice time in Saint Remy but it was quick visit so they were a little harried. We left them to unpack and make dinner at the apartment while Shaun and I had dinner together and headed back to the hotel. That night I had another bad night's sleep and woke up feeling crappy. I think that night was the impetus for getting homesick. You can only feel crappy in strange cities for so long before it catches up with you. I was down in the dumps but at first I didn't say anything about it. Nobody likes to admit that they're in a bad mood, especially when you are with lots of other people.

So the rest of Avignon was filled with highs and lows for me. One fabulous afternoon Kathy and I took a walk across the city to see the Palace of the Popes. We decided since it was so nice, we would walk across the bridge to Villeneuv Les Avignon. As we came across the bridge we stumbled upon a full on Medieval Festival! We had to go check it out. Everyone was in full Medieval regalia and people were hawking goods and food and there were sword fights and a medieval wedding ceremony and it was just insane. We had a good laugh and took some pictures before wandering on.

This is Kathy trying desperately to take a picture of the river. The Mistral was blowing so hard we literally had to brace ourselves against the wind wo we weren't blown off the bridge

We thought this was hilarious when we took it. Kathy was trying to get just the right moment when the guys behind us were in full sword fighting mode!

Villeneuv Les Avignon was much quieter than Avignon, which was nice. We wandered the old streets and chatted until we realized it was getting late and we were very far from home. It took a while and some faith that my French translation was good, but we managed to figure out the bus system and get back to town. Thank Goodness because we had been walking for hours and had no idea how long it would take to get home!

You've never seen two people happier to be on Public Transportation!

That evening I made dinner and had a meltdown. In that order. Dinner came out great; a nice hearty meal of chicken piccata with salad and pasta and bread. The cooking and the dinner were fine but by then I was exhausted from the long day outside, my cold and three bad nights of sleep. Avignon is a little bit sketchy so I couldn't really walk back to our Hotel (by the train station) by myself and the Pats game was on so I was stuck waiting for half-time. I won't go into the details, but just suffice it to say that if you're feeling blue and homesick you should talk about instead of holding it in. Otherwise you may end up crying in the streets of Avignon to the utter bewilderment of your wonderful husband who doesn't know why you just went from normal to crazy in two quarters of football.

Dinner was quite nice...

The best thing that came out of that night was a complete 180 in our planning. We were headed to Italy next and we were going to try to do hotels for 3 days in multiple cities like the Cinque Terre, Florence, Seina, Rome before heading to Venice on the 22nd. I needed a break from big cities and all the running around though, so we went online and found an Agriturismo in the middle of nowhere in Tuscany and e-mailed to see if they had availability. They did and she was willing to give us deal for the last minute booking. We used some of the money we saved on lodging to book a rental car. We would have an independence we hadn't had for 7 weeks, with no reliance on train schedules or metros and most importantly, a chance to just chill out.

With all that decided, we had a nice end to our stay in Avignon. Lynn and Shaun and I had done two days of shopping at Les Halles the day before so we had all we needed to cook again. We had one final meal at the apartment with everyone. Pork Tenderloin, vegetables, bread, cheese and wine. It was a very nice night, but very low key and easy. Shaun and I headed back early to pack. There was no way to get to the apartment from Avignon in one day so we were off to Nice the next day to split up the journey. I left Avignon feeling bittersweet. All the books I had read about planning these long journeys prepared you for the fact that you would get homesick at some point, but it still took me by surprise. I think it was a combination of a lot of things. Seven people is a lot to travel with regardless, but when you are sick and not sleeping well it is even harder. On the go forward though I will be sure to deal with it head on, because it doesn't just get better if you say nothing. I will tell you though, that a few days in Tuscany will do wonders for whatever ails you. But you'll just have to wait to hear about that!

So goodbye to France for now. I'm sure we will be back.

Last Tango in Paris

Paris, France
October 1-5

For our last five days in Paris we were once again joined by friends. For years now, Shaun has been meeting up with John, Vanda, Kathy and Kevin to taste wines. They had done multiple trips to wine country in California, but they had never done anything outside of the US. When we told them about our trip, they decided to join us in France for their first ever International wine tasting trip. Paris was just the first stop. From here we will go to Lyon (considered the food capital of France) and then Avignon where the real wine tasting will happen. But first, it was time to close out our month in the City of Light. A few observations though, before we get to that.

Shaun and I are very glad that we scheduled this long stop in Paris at the beginning of the trip. Since we knew we would be here for a month, we didn't make too many real plans beyond Paris. That is a good thing. We learned so much in the first two weeks that will now play a role in our future travel plans. In those first twelve nights we did two nights in Munich, two nights in Salzburg, two nights in Luzern, three nights in Freiburg, two nights in Grindelwald and one night in Strasbourg. Our desire to see so many places meant we were constantly packing and unpacking, checking in and out of hotels and taking train after train. We both agreed in retrospect that we were trying to do too much. Going forward, we are going to plan differently. We want to spend at least three nights everywhere we go and even more if we can. That means we will see fewer places on the trip, but we will get to know the ones we do see better.

We also pared back our things. We mailed one box home and Kathy brought an extra bag to take some more of our things. Some of it is seasonal; we are heading into fall and the clothes we need are a little different. Some of it is just the usual realization that something you brought probably won't get much wear. Some of it is because I went shopping and now have something I am replacing with something else! Either way, it's always nice have the chance to organize and consolidate.

There are certain things we bought or brought that really made a difference for us. For me, the two best purchases were my new backpack and my hiking boots. You may remember that we did a practice pack before we left. When we did the practice pack, I realized that my backpack from 2004 was not going to work for this trip. I was having flashbacks to my sabbatical when I first came to Europe and how much that pack drove me crazy. I decided to spend the money to get a new pack and I am SOOO glad I did. The guy at REI suggested this pack to me. I was surprised because it was their least expensive backpack, but he said he had always gotten positive reviews from the women who bought it. I love it. It opens from the top and the front and it has tons of space but fits me very comfortably. It is the most essential item for a trip like this and it is an excellent piece of gear.

I feel the same way about my hiking boots. The weather on this trip has been crazy good, but the two times we were in really heavy rain, my feet stayed warm and dry the whole time. They are also rather stylish if I do say so myself! That's important because shoes are a luxury item for backpacking. They simply take up too much room, so its important for whatever you have to be somewhat versatile. These Ahnu hikers are dressy enough to wear with pants out to dinner, but tough enough to brave the elements. I'm sure I will love them even more if we see any snow in December.

My best purchases in Paris were some scarves, a pair of black pants, a long-sleeved black dress and a little pair of blue ballet flats. The pants and the dress are totally versatile, they can be topped with the scarves, a t-shirt or a sweater to make a million different outfits. The ballet flats work with both the pants and the dress and they pack away in a side pocket of my backpack. They replace some of the summery things I'm sending home this week.

My Ipad has been indispensable as well. (RIP Steve Jobs) It is light as a feather and I bought a keyboard case to complement it before we left. The case allows it to stand on its side so it is very similar to typing on a laptop. I could not have done the blogging without this keyboard. We also loaded some fabulous apps. For $9.99 I bought one called Transport Maps that has public transportation maps for many major cities in Europe. In Paris it had the Metro map, the RER map, the Bus map, a map of the Latin Quarter, The Marais and more. We would pull it up before we left the house to plan our route every morning. Other favorite apps are the New York Times Crossword Puzzles (good for entertainment on trains), Yelp for finding restaurants, Trip Advisor for finding hotels and Skype for staying in touch with my family.

Me blogging on the train while Shaun looks at silly photos we took during the week


Which brings me to the last and favorite indispensable item, my husband! Shaun is such a great travel companion. He never gets stressed out, he's totally up for adventure and best of all he carries all the heavy stuff! (Just kidding, sort of.) I love how excited he gets by an excellent meal, some great street food or a nice glass of wine. And he's either very approachable or very international looking because everywhere we go he gets asked for directions by someone in their native tongue. It happened in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. By the end of our Paris stay, he could actually understand the questions and respond in French! It was quite impressive considering the guy only did about two hours of Rosetta Stone French before we left. Granted I did make him listen to French language CD's every time we got in the car together and quizzed him regularly on common phrases he would need. "Deux Vins Rouges S'il Vous Plait" has come in very handy!

And speaking of Wine, having John, Vanda, Kathy and Kevin was a nice end to the stay in Paris. Shaun and I had lots of loose ends to tie up before we left and these guys were all fairly self sufficient. There were a few things they wanted to do, but mainly they were all happy to just go with the flow. They had an apartment in the Latin Quarter as well, about a 10 minute walk from our house. Their place was very big for Paris and it had an excellent kitchen so we decided as soon as they moved in that we would have to have at least one big dinner there.
The first day and night were classic Parisian fun! When they arrived on Saturday morning it was too early to check in at their place so they came straight to our apartment. After some coffee and croissants, they headed over to check in to their place and we made a plan to meet them in an hour or so. Shaun and I stopped at our local market, Maubert and bought all the supplies we would need for a picnic. We got figs and grapes, brie and goat cheese, french country ham (similar to prosciutto), nuts, olives, wine and a baguette. We met them at their apartment and we all walked down to the Seine where we spread out our feast and had lunch. As the afternoon grew late, we walked them back to their apartment for some quick naps before dinner.

For dinner that evening we took them to Juveniles, one of the places we had gone to with Ted and Gina. At first I thought we had made a terrible mistake. Shaun and I remembered how good the food was, but forgot that it was also somewhat of a stretch for people who aren't very adventurous eaters. Kathy and Kevin's faces seemed a bit horrified as I described the choices for dinner. There was a duck leg, a homemade sausage, a terrine of rabbit, some sort of veal kidney dish etc. Finally, we found a chicken curry on the menu and all was salvaged! Everyone enjoyed their meals and some wine and we headed back out. Our next stop was the Irish Pub right around the corner, Au Caveau Montpensieur. They had given us the original idea for Juveniles so we thought it would be nice to go back and say thanks.

Kathy and I at dinner at Juveniles.

Everyone being silly at Caveau Montpensieur

The same sweet waitresses were working that night, the one from Australia and the one from Britain. This time they gave Shaun and I tips for the UK part of our trip! We had a nice time at the Caveau and then headed off into the night. It was Nuit Blanche and we wanted to see what was happening.

Nuit Blanche literally translates to "White Night", but in this context it means "All Nighter". It started in 2001 in Paris. It takes place every year on the first Saturday in October. It's really an art event, so they have art installations all over the city. They keep many museums, the metro and some bus lines running all night for free. Even the Eiffel Tower had a special light show going for Nuit Blanche. We had no intention of staying up for the real action, which starts at midnight, but the city had already come alive when we were walking to dinner so we knew there would be some action going on now that it was 11PM.

The light show from the Eiffel Tower on Nuit Blanche








The walk back to the apartments was wild. We passed some sort of art installation that took up the entire side of a hotel. There was all sorts of equipment hooked up to the side of the building, presumably for people to rappel down or hang from the sides. We waited a few minutes with the crowd, but finally decided it probably would be starting later, so we continued on. The next thing we came across was a huge parade of drummers. They were all dressed in white, with red bandanas and they were singing and drumming and marching through the streets. As we continued walking, we passed even more things being set up for later, but our guests were beat so we headed back to get some sleep.

The crazy art installation that was set up along the side of a building

The drum parade that came through the streets


The next day we had decided we would do a house dinner at their apartment. As you know from prior blog posts, I love to cook so I volunteered to make dinner. First I needed to go to the market so I asked if anyone wanted to join me. To my surprise, everyone wanted to come to the market! Shaun and I were both glad that they would get a chance to experience what had become one of our favorite Paris experiences.

The market we went to that afternoon was right near the Bastille monument. It reminded me of the Saxe-Breteuil market, only it was bigger! They seemed to have 5 or 6 of every kind of specialty stand. There were fruits and vegetables galore, plus butchers and fish mongers, cheese stands and olive stands, bread and pastry stands. Shaun, Kathy, Kevin and John went off to find Coffees, so Vanda and I ventured into the markets by ourselves. I had already picked up a piece of lamb and some pork tenderloins the day before, so we were on the hunt for side dishes. We picked up some tomatoes and potatoes and green beans, plus some parsley and rosemary. Then we went to see a man about some squash! The huge potimarron is a akin to a pumpkin but has a slightly nutty taste. You have to have the green grocer cut you off a slice after you show him how much you want. It makes for a fun experience at the market!

That afternoon Shaun and Kevin went running, while John, Vanda and Kathy went out sightseeing. I took over their apartment for the afternoon to prepare the meal. I think having the opportunity to do this helps me to stave off homesickness. I've always found cooking to be something that brings me a sense of calm. Even when work was at its worst, I liked to come home and cook to relieve the stress. The repetition of slicing and chopping and seasoning, the sounds of things bubbling away or searing on the stove is the same here as it is at home. The degrees may be in Celcius and the stove controls may look a little different, but I can drift away the same way here as I could there.

John and Vanda at Luxembourg Gardens

So after a few hours of cooking, everyone arrived back at the apartment and we sat down for the feast. There were wonderful wines and the meal came out great, so I was pleased. We laughed and talked and enjoyed each other's company. At 10:15 that night the Patriots game was coming on and Shaun and the rest of the crew were planning to stay up and watch the game. (John had an internet feed via a service called Slingbox). I was tired from the long day of shopping and cooking, so I decided to head back to our place shortly after the game started. I fell asleep full and happy and contented by a day well spent!

Lamb and Pork Tenderloins, potatoes, squash, green beans, tomatoes with basil and some lovely wines.

Everyone sitting down to our fun group dinner.

The last few days in Paris were a blur of activity for me and for Shaun. We had a bunch of loose ends to tie up before leaving the city so we left the rest of the crew mainly to their own devices. Kathy had brought an extra bag so we needed to figure out what to send home with her. We also attempted to mail some things to John and Doug but the woman at La Poste told us it was "interdite" (forbidden) to mail the jams and mustards so we had to scrap that plan. Since we had already purchased the prepaid mailing box, we sent a bunch of clothes and a few books home instead to make Kathy's bag lighter.

The last night we decided to have a big group dinner out in Paris. We were all taking the train the next morning and we needed to be out of the apartment by 9AM, so it was important that we all got a good nights sleep. So of course, we partied like rock stars instead.

We started the evening off with dinner at Au Fil des Saisons. We had gone there earlier in the trip with John and Doug and loved the meals, the service and the prices. I was really pleased that the same waiter was working when we arrived as he had been so friendly and nice. I went over the menu with everyone, and then we asked him a few questions about the meals and the wine. It became clear by the way he was answering us that he was more than just the waiter. His name was Luic and as it turned out he had bought the place the year before. He was single-handedly running the whole place while his chef took care of the meals. I was even more impressed by how attentive he was now that we understood how much he was doing. The food, once again, was terrific so everyone was really pleased with our final dinner.

The whole group after dinner at Au fil des saisons

The ladies hanging with our new buddy Luic outside his restaurant


From there we should have all parted ways and gone to bed, but instead we ended up at the Galway pub. It must be something about last nights, because it was very similar to Ted and Gina's last night. We had loads of laughs and took a million pictures and chatted up all the people around us. We also stayed out too late and had beers we didn't need to have. Luckily we had all gotten our bags mostly packed that afternoon, because morning would come fast and it would be a rough one!

The whole crew at the Galway Pub about 9 hours ebfore we had to be up!

We should seriously lock up the camera when we go out.

Since each couple had made train arrangements for the 10:50AM train separately we decided we would all just go to the train station on our own time and meet up at the Lyon train station if we didn't see each other beforehand. Shaun and I left our apartment at exactly 9AM, after saying goodbye to Bernard, our landlord. We took a bus to the Gare de Lyon train station and had a little breakfast of Coffee and Croissants. I went to check the train schedule and as I was coming back I ran into John and Vanda. We all went to wait for the train and realized as we chatted that even though we had booked our tickets weeks apart, their seats were right next to ours! After a long morning of lugging bags through the city and the station, the four of us settled in happily for the 2 hour train ride. We were off for a quick visit to Lyon and then it would be on to Avignon.

As we started the train journey, I was thinking about how different every day was in Paris and how I would remember this part of our journey so fondly in years to come. I really feel like I've come to understand this city differently now that we have "lived" here, even if it was only for a month. We've seen the good, but also the ugly side of the city. Just like London and New York, every big city has its dark side and Paris is no exception. I chose not to write much about that because it hasn't played a big role in our visit, but it is part of being a traveler in a strange city. There are beggars and gypsies and your run of the mill drunks. There are some street corners that smell like urine and sometimes you may feel unsafe late at night. There are things you would expect, like homelessness, but even those things take a Parisian twist. In Paris for some reason, all the homeless people have dogs and sometimes more than one. In one case a homeless man even had a dog and a rabbit. So yes, Paris does have its dark side and it is not something you can overlook if you come here.

However, I will probably forget most of those things when I think back on the trip because the beautiful memories will certainly overwhelm those memories. What I'll remember most is Shaun and I going to the markets, and then coming home to cook in our kitchen. I'll remember running in Luxembourg garden and the afternoon we spent at the zoo. I'll remember quiet moments when we laid next to each other in a park and read books and those crazy nights with our visitors when we partied like it was 1999. I'll remember how unbelievably beautiful the weather was for this part of the trip and how every night the sky seemed to turn a beautiful shade of pink like some kind of Monet painting. And I will think again, as I so often do, about how fortunate we are at this moment in our lives to be taking this journey together.

Au Revoir, Paris.

Shaun and I on one of our last nights in Paris. We'll always have Paris...

Lost in Paris

Paris, France
September 25-30


Serendipity: An aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident

My Goal upon embarking on this journey to Walden Pond was to explore the woods with the intent of getting lost.
Henry David Thoreau

In the days after Ted and Gina left, Shaun and I had no plans, no agenda, just a vague idea that we wanted to enjoy Paris and its surroundings a little differently. We knew we wanted to do one day trip and we knew we wanted to see more of this amazing city so we just decided to take each day as it came and see what happened. Some of our favorite moments of the entire trip have happened when we took a "wrong turn" or made a split decision to do something different than what we had planned.

One of our favorite days like this happened a few weeks ago when we headed to the Saxe-Breteuil market around lunchtime on a Wednesday. We took the metro out to the Segur stop and walked down the street, looking forward to exploring this wonderful market. Unfortunately, the Saxe-Breteuil market is on Thursday, not Wednesday. So there we were, standing on a very empty street corner, trying to decide what to do. We thought that maybe we could get to the Monge market in time to at least get lunch, but it was a crap shoot since many of the markets close down early if the day isn't busy. We decided to chance it and walked back to take the metro in the opposite direction. As we rode the subway, I mentioned to Shaun that there was a big garden near there called the Jardin des Plantes. I vaguely remembered something about a zoo as well.

We got off the metro at the Monge stop and as we expected, most stands were closing down. We decided to just grab some samosas for lunch. These little hand made savory Indian turnovers are perfect for a grab and go lunch, and since it was late in the day, the young woman who ran the stand threw in some extras. We stopped by a little convenience store to get drinks and asked if the Jardin des Plantes was nearby. The clerk pointed us in the right direction and we walked just a few blocks before entering the beautiful gardens. Our intent was to hang out in the gardens, but when we realized the zoo was right in the middle we decided to splurge and spend the 9 Euro to check it out.

The Menagerie (zoo) was fabulous! It is one of the oldest zoos in the world, dating back to 1794 and it had everything from Kangaroos to Camels to Panthers. Even better, at least three of the animals had just had babies so we got to see a baby Yak, a baby Camel and a bunch of baby goats. As we walked through the zoo we realized that it is bordered on one side by the Jardin des Plantes, and on the other by the Seine! How surreal to be looking at a baby camel with the River right behind us. We probably spent two hours hanging out at the zoo. A happy accident indeed!

Mountain Goat chillin on his perch

Orangutan just hanging out in Paris

Yay! Baby Camel! Don't mind all the gunk on his back. I'm assuming his parents were spitting on him, because, well that's the best scenario I can come up with!


We had a similar fun day last week when we decided to go check out the Promenade Plantee. It had been really hot in Paris and we thought it would be nice to find a shady park where we could read our books and relax. The Promenade Plantee is an elevated walk that starts near the Bastille and runs about 3 miles. It used to be a railroad, but that rail line shut down in 1969 and they renovated it and put in the gardens in the 80s. Shaun was a little wary of this one. I guess it didn't sound like it would be all that interesting but it was great. You have to know how to find the entrances because its fairly well hidden, but once you get up there it's like a whole other world above the city. There were fruit trees and flowers and little bamboo forests. There were benches everywhere and folks were just sitting and reading or chatting with friends.

Shaun in one of the little Bamboo forests in the Promenade Plantee

Loved this crazy building! The promenade goes right through it!

Reuilly Park where all the locals were hanging out in the Sun. We really felt like locals that day.

We walked the Promenade until we got to the Park Reuilly which had a big green sloping lawn and lots of shady spots. We laid out our towel with everyone else and read our books all afternoon. Finally we decided to head out. I had heard there was a guy who sells really fresh oysters from a stand nearby so we tried to find him, but we had no luck. We could have just jumped on the metro then, but there was a bridge Shaun had read about online and it was nearby so we decided to go find it. Along the way we turned a corner at a stadium and saw hundreds of strangely dressed people and LOTS of photographers hanging out by the entrance. It quickly became apparent that we had stumbled on a fashion week event! We didn't really have any interest in the event, but we thought the whole scene was really bizzare and cool so we jumped up on a low wall and watched the scene unfold for a while.

Crazy fashion week event. At first we thought that was Lady Gaga, but upon closer view we changed our minds.

After that we continued our journey to the bridge, walking through Bercy Park. As we passed through the park we watched some kids doing tricks at a skateboard park and then we came upon what looked like a troupe of circus performers. One was tightrope walking between trees, one was practicing with a whip and one was juggling. Any other time I would have found that strange but by this point in the day I was ready for anything. Finally we reached the bridge. The Simone de Beauvoir footbridge is one of the newest in Paris, dating back to just 2006. It is only for pedestrians and cyclists and it is very clean and modern looking. It leads from Bercy park to the Mitterand Library and it is a fitting way to view the library, which is a series of four buildings that are all glass and were built to look like open books! All things considered, it was an absolutely amazing day. A few vague plans and few missed turns and we saw things most people will never see in Paris. We were both tired and happy by the time we got home.

The Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir with the Mitterand Library in the background

Not everything is unplanned though. One day we decided to go to the city of Reims, which is the home of Champagne. We looked up some info on tastings on Trip Advisor and chose to go to a tasting at the GH Martel Champagne company. We made our train reservations and a reservation at Martel. They could only take us for 4PM so we had the morning and afternoon to explore Reims. The big draw there is the cathedral. Construction began in 1211 and although it was badly damaged in World War I, it is still a sight to behold. The best part of the cathedral is the stained glass windows. Although some of them date back to the 1300's I was really amazed by the more contemporary windows. My two favorites were the Champagne windows (Jacques Simon, 1954) and the Marc Chagall windows from 1974. The Champagne windows were a series of three windows that showed in intricate stained glass the Champagne making process. If you looked hard enough, you could even see the names of the villages that made the wine. The Marc Chagall windows were beautiful blue ethereal windows depicting biblical stories like the story of Abraham and the resurrection of Christ. I wish the pictures could do the windows justice but its hard to capture that kind of beauty.

The Champagne Windows.

The Marc Chagall Windows. So beautiful and ghostly.

After touring the cathedral we walked around Reims for a while. The city was founded by the Gauls in 80 BC and was under Roman control as of around 20 BC. There are still some old Roman Ruins around the city so its great fun to walk around and explore. We checked out the sights and then walked around looking for something to eat for lunch.

After a quick sandwich in a park, we were ready for our Champagne tour. For just 10 Euro we took a really cool tour of the Martel Champagne cellars. The cellars under Reims were originally limestone and chalk mines that were created by the Romans and were co-opted hundreds of years later to house Champagne by the local vineyards. The Martel tour took us way down below the city to their old cellars to show us the process of making Champagne and the history of how it has changed over the years. That was followed by a tasting of three of their champagnes. It was a lovely way to end our day in Reims!

Shaun in the Champagne Cellar in Reims

The old school Champagne making equipment







Another day we ventured outside Paris to the Bois de Vincennes. This is a huge park on the outskirts of Paris with miles and miles of trails for running, walking and biking, similar to the Bois de Boulogne. We rented bikes using the Paris Velib system. Velib is a bike rental program run by the city. For just 1.70 you can rent a bike for a day and as long as you return it within 30 minutes there are no other charges. Even if you take it for longer it is very reasonable. We picked up our bikes at one end of the park and rode for two hours along the paths and trails. We stopped a few times to check out the scenery and eventually came out at the other end of the park where we just dropped off our bikes at another Velib stop and headed home.

Shaun picking up a bike at one of the many Velib Stations in Paris

There are loads of things to see in Paris, but one of my personal favorite days was the day I got my hair cut. It was one of those days when Shaun and I had separated to do different things. I was headed up to read in at the Luxembourg gardens when I passed a hair salon with one woman stylist who was unoccupied. I had been thinking about doing this for weeks, so I had researched a few words that I might need, but I had no intention of doing it that day until I passed the salon. I went in and asked in French if she could cut my hair right now. She said yes and started to ask what I wanted. She spoke no English so I was glad I could remember some of the words I had looked up. We did a good job of communicating with each other and I was really pleased with the cut. When I got home later that day, Shaun started to say something and then stopped mid-sentence. "Did you get your Hair Cut???" he said incredulously. It was a very proud moment for me.

So if I had to sum up todays post, I would say its about Serendipity. It's about opening yourself up to possibilities by just letting things unfold. If you're in a new city and you take a wrong turn, don't go back, just see where that wrong turn leads you. If you get a sudden urge to do something that is a little outside your comfort zone, do it! You will probably end up glad you did. It may seem silly to you, but I know that I will always be a little bit proud of myself when someday years from now I can say, "One day I was walking to a park in Paris and I just decided out of the blue that I was going to get my hair cut. So I did."

Shaun and I getting a drink at a place called La Cremerie. I had just gotten my haircut.