Mt. Rainier

We spent six days in Mt. Rainier with Justin.  See my post here for more pictures.  www.candyce54.blogspot.com

Rainier is 14.410 feet.  It is covered with glaciers, spawns 6 rivers and is an active volcano.  10,000 people attempt the summit each year.  We enjoyed many of the surrounding trails, wildflowers, waterfalls and pine forests.

What We learned about France and travel

First, we found the French people to be delightful and easy to get along with, especially if you try to speak a few phrases and make an effort to understand their language.

Other travel notes:

• Get your Stair-master going beforehand.  Lots of steps to see the great sites

• Learn a few French phrases:  hello, goodby, thank you, where is?  I don't speak French, do you speak English.

• You will learn to eat late but take some Maalox

• Get a Eurocard loaded with Euros and use it.  Easier than credit.

• Take only good shoes which you can walk in forever.  Forget fashion, even if the French women can walk in those heels, you can't.

• Buy a museum pass - well worth the money and saves waiting in longest lines.

• Plan out trip routes on bus or metro and write them down so it is easy peasy.

• Take or buy a good map of wherever you are - especially a road map if you are driving.  Driving is not impossible but takes planning and a good sense of humor. 

• A good travel book is essential - we loved the Rick Steves Paris and Provence.  I would take them on my ipad or a Kindle next time to save the weight.

• You can learn to get by on fewer clothes.

• Save your subway tickets in Paris!

• Enjoy, absorb and most of all take lots of pictures.

Candy and Tom

til the next trip

Last Day in Paris

We traveled on the TGV (the bullet train) from Aix-en-provence to Paris and arrived to find warm cloudy weather.  Quite different from the sunny warm of southern France.  We thought we might catch one last look at the Eiffel Tower so we caught a subway there.  When we got off the subway we were challenged to present our ticket.  Because we kept confusing used tickets with new ones we got the habit of throwing away the old ticket.  Well...don't.  The subway police accosted us and made us pay a fine on the spot for not having a ticket with us.  Curious that there is no sign in English, only French, and they only positioned themselves at the Eiffel exit.  Do I smell a tourist trap? 

We got to the Eiffel and climbed up to the second level.  Quite a haul up there.  669 steps.  All of our stair climbing the past two weeks had been in training for this.  It is the way to go in order to avoid the long lines. 














From there we caught one of the elevators to the top.  The view was fine with all of Paris laid out below us.

We knew the next day was a long one so we had dinner and retired early.

We hope you have enjoyed our little story about two Mid-westerners traveling to Europe.  It was a great experience and we hope you can make it there someday and enjoy it as much as we did. We will do one final post about some of our impressions.   Au revoir!

Calanques of France

On our last day in Provence we returned to Cassis and caught a boat tour into the Calanques.  These are small narrow fjord-like bays off the Mediterranean sea around Cassis and Marseille, France.  The cliffs rise 1000 feet out of the water and are popular with rock-climbers.  The water was several beautiful shades of blue, the cliffs are white.

 After our boat trip we picked up picnic things from a local grocery and headed down to the beach at Cassis.  There is little sand on the beaches there, mostly small pebbles and rocks.  For one last time we wanted to dip our toes in the clear blue water of the Mediterranean.  Tom didn't do any nail polish.

 

 We took one last drive up the steep little road to the top of the cliffs overlooking Cassis and wandered around taking pictures.  We wanted the images to last a long time.  We have never seen such beautiful blue water from so high.

 We found a great little restaurant in Aix, called Pasta Cosy.  Great food and a great owner.  It was Candy's birthday so everyone in the restaurant sang Happy Birthday (in French).  And, for dessert, a kiss from Fabien!




And now, back to Paris!

Did I mention the poppies?

The poppies were beautiful and blooming everywhere.  Can't you see from the artist eye the great little splotches of red?

Teaching the children to .... Sail

When our kids were growing up they learned to shoot bow and arrow or play t ball or soccer.  We saw these small boat/tubs bobbing around in the bay and later saw the class.  They were learning to sail.  I would guess they were 8-10 year olds.  They would lash all the boats together and haul them out into the bay behind a zodiac and practice.  This was some of their "on land" learning.  Can you imagine how good they will be by adult hood?

Another Lousy Day in Paradise

After seeing Roman ruins and losing our way in multiple narrow streets we headed for the Mediterranean and we both thought this was the highlight of our trip.  We even went back a few days later.

Cassis is a small coastal town 30 minutes south of Aix and we drove there to spend the day.  It knocked our socks off.  Imagine driving down a steep valley amongst vineyards and flowers.  Suddenly there is the Mediterranean and this massive cliff above it.  This is a picturesque fishing village and although there were lots of tourists it hasn't been completely overrun.  Parking was tight - it is everywhere.  Be thankful you can just pull up and park anywhere you want to.  Not so here.  The walking was steep but what a view. 

View from la roue des Crestes

 Before we went into town we drove up the fabulously windy la route des Crestes to the view from Cap Canaille.  This is a 1000 foot cliff (no guardrails) above the Mediterranean.  Even Tom had to step back once from the edge.  Every viewpoint was breathtaking - literally.
Climbers love the area.  The sea has multiple colors of blue - hard to capture in a photograph. 

Down to the harbor

Seaside lunch - local wine

Perfect day.

The Italian Connection

Back a few days we toured Pont du Gard, the third largest aqueduct and the longest surviving one built by the Romans in France in 19 B.C.  The engineering ability was staggering.  This was a rich, thriving part of the Roman empire and we have felt many times a connection to Italy:  sun, food, environment, wine.  (Sorry if this offends but it is not meant to).  The Romans built roads, bridges and aqueducts.  These still stand while many other structures do not.  Then Rome fell, the Barbarians took over and everyone moved to the hill country.  Now we have Medieval towns built around protective castles or churches. Then the French Revolution changed everything.  French History 101. This is the France countryside and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing it on this day a few days ago...

Pont du Gard aqueduct

Pont du Gard

Roman Theatre in l'Orange seats 10,000

Mille Bourne revisited

We have skipped a couple days blogging but will be sure to go back and fill in. We are now in Aix-en-Provence.  Aix is a city of about 120,000 in south eastern France.  It's a combination between Key West (party all night), Daytona (college students) and Palm Springs (every expensive store I have ever seen).  It was fabulous to travel on the TGV from Paris and arrive in Aix 3.5 hours later - driving would have taken us 8 + hours assuming we could find our way.  We have a wonderful studio/flat on the 4th floor of a building right in the center of town.  Did I tell you there is no elevator?  74 steps up each time we come up.  I've counted.
Anyway it's a great place with everything we need.  For those who have been around here we are on a street called Cour Mirabeau.  It's tree lined and has fountains and is beautiful.  The bands have been playing all weekend in the square (the high school drum corp was less than appreciated when they went on for hours, but the gospel singers and jazz bands were spectacular.

Today we decided to brave the roads and the French signs and go out of town.  I am a country girl at heart and I really needed to get out of the city, away from tourists and smoke!  Everyone smokes here - it's gross.
We took off with sort of google map directions and a good map and only got lost once.  The "interstate" highway is an autoroute and has few exits.  It is also very fast.  Too bad we were in a little VW.  We made our way to L'Isles Sur-de-la Sorgue - a small village with a huge Sunday market.  We scored some gifts and some great fresh veggies.

Olives

 

Garlic

We then hit the road exploring the small (!!) windy roads leading into the Luberon area.  This is a National Park but has small villages.  Because it is a protected area there has been little commercial development and it still seems like small French villages.  We had lunch in Goult at La Carollin a lovely restaurant run by a woman from Belgium.  Here is my dessert -  I can't believe I took a picture of sorbet.

 This little village has a windmill.  Moulin in French means windmill (get it...the Moulin Rouge)

Oh yeah Tom has to tell you about the title - Mille Bourne.

Did you ever play this game when you were young?  Well, it's not too far from the truth except we haven't had any accidents or flat tires, yet.  But it sure reminds us of the game.  Imagine driving through a beautiful countryside and not knowing what any of the signs say?  Just a few signs that tell you which way to a town.  It's an adventure.  And, that's what we like about it.

Last Tango In Paris

The last day in Paris was an interesting day.  It is strange to know you are leaving a great city and may never be back so you are torn between just wanting to lay back and enjoy the experience and fitting in all the "have-to" places.  So, we went to a cemetery Pere Lachaise (what is it about Candy and cemeteries?) that had very touching and strange burial sites.  And when I say touching I don't mean Jim Morrison "Touch me babe" for you Doors fans, but Chopin, and many Holocaust monuments.

Holocaust statue

Jim Morrison's burial site

Holocaust memorial

Frederich Chopin with fresh flowers

Then, on to the Berthe Morisot exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Marmottan private museum.  She was one of the only female Impressionists and her work was exceptional.  We then went on the obligatory Seine boat cruise at night.  Only, it really was cool.  The sights of Paris at night are really pretty and the boats are the best way to see them.  By then it was late and we took the Paris subway back to the Latin Quarter, stopped by for a quick glace (sorbet) and then to bed.  We saw all of Paris we could see in six days and felt satisfied.  Now, it was time to go on to the South of France, warmer weather, and the countryside.

Sacre Coeur and Montmartre

We started our day by traveling to the highest point in Paris, Montmartre.  This is the place of the artists of the Impressionist period and the last hold out of the occupation by foreign armies.  It is charming and quaint, once you find out where the tourists aren't.  The tourist areas look like Coney Island, but away from the crowds the people are friendly and helpful.

Sacre Coeur is one of the most beautiful of churches and there is much history behind it.  It was narrowly missed in the bombing of Paris by the Germans in WWII.  The parishioners believe it was divine intervention.

The Longest Day...

Arc du Triumphe.  We walked down the Champs-Elysees and found the Arc. Built by Napoleon for one of his great victories but it was short lived.  Several foreign armies have proven that as great as he was he was not invincible. The French survived the Revolution only to have a megalomaniac in the palace. We waited in a side walk cafe for the army band to stop playing under the Arc for some national event and had wonderful food and drink.  Then, we climbed to the top of the Arc and had a beautiful view of the city at dusk.  The French are proud of their military accomplishments and have built monuments to them, but they also honor their dead and this is the place of the unknown soldier flame.  We grabbed a metro train back to the flat and crashed, another successful day and many great memories.

Geocaching in France & finding the WWII Memorial

I love to geocache.  Understatement.  I always try to do it in a new place - especially in a new country.  My dear husband goes along - I think mostly to make sure I am safe.  Well here I really don't want to stick my hands in places I don't know and the muggle count is incredibly high so I went for multis and Earthcaches - ones that take you to different places and not so much about finding the specific box.
I did one at the Obelisque on Concorde Plaza - an Earthcache.  Reading inscriptions, counting marks in the granite.  I also did one call the Heart of Paris and it took us to six different places on Ile de la Cite.  This is the island in the center of the Seine where Notre Dame is located.  By doing this we found a lovely triangle park surrounded by homes and a Memorial to the Jews and others who were deported from France during WWII.  No guide books showed us this memorial - it was quite moving.

 

An older gentleman sitting by the memorial.  I wondered...

The final box was above a roof of a small bistro and graffiti on the wall said GPS!  How cool.  Candy