Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 final post (#23)
Day 32 - Friday Oct 6
We went back to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon before breakfast in an attempt to take more photos with less people there. There were less people - but not much. The fountain was being cleaned of its abundance of coins thrown in by wishers and wasn’t even flowing. After doing a short video recording with St. Peter’s Basilica in the background, we had no other scheduled plans for the day. Phew! we could take it easy and just wander around and prepare for the travel-back-to-Winnipeg day tomorrow. Still a very hot and humid day though. Our flight was to leave Rome at 1:30 the next day, and we had to get to the airport 4 hours early. When exploring the ways to get from the hotel to the airport 30 km away (named, of course: Leonardo da Vinci airport, in the town of Fiumicino), we found many ways. I vetoed the one where we walked 40 minutes with our luggage over those cobblestone streets to the termini train station, even if it brought us directly to the airport. I was tired and didn’t feel like having more adventures. The concierge at the hotel suggested more ways, and we realized that the train tickets for the both of us would be close to the cost of a regular taxi. That’s the way! The concierge booked the taxi for 8 am sharp the next day to pick us up just 50 m from the hotel.
Day 33 - Saturday Oct 7
We ate breakfast and headed out at 7:45ish am and waited. The cab was late. We could see that just another 25 m up the street was a taxi stand with taxis waiting for fares. Norbert walked back to the hotel to tell the concierge that if our taxi doesn’t show up right away, we were taking the other taxi. The concierge was on the phone with our driver and said “no, no, he’s coming, just another 5-10 minutes - otherwise the hotel has to pay”…. Hmm, not our fault he was late but he did show up within another minute and we were off. He got us to the airport in less that 20 minutes… I think he was going faster that normal but in Rome, how can we tell? The plane ride was 25 minutes late but we weren’t worried because we had a 4 hour layover in Montreal. They fed us a hot meal but in the centre aisle on a Boing 777, trying to eat was actually quite funny. My elbows were inside the armrests and I couldn’t bend forward enough to bring food to my mouth so I had to stick out my neck as far as I could. It was very good food though. I managed to nap at the beginning of the flight and after eating I watched 3 movies. And we still weren’t in Montreal. It was the longest flight I had ever been on - 8 h 50 min. In Montreal, we waited the 4 hours and got on the plane and found that I had more room than the last flight. Unfortunately, I had restless legs and just couldn’t get comfortable so that 3 hour flight felt much longer. Landed early in Winnipeg at about 10:20 pm and glad to be home.
P.S.
One movie I watched on the plane was Book Club 2. The first part was set in Rome and they walked exactly where our hotel was. I had no idea that our hotel: Coronari Palace, was on such a famous street - Via Dei Coronari. It has its own Wikipedia page which says: “Via dei Coronari is a street in the historic center of Rome. The road, flanked by buildings mostly erected in the 15th and the 16th century, … and is one of the most picturesque roads of the old city, having maintained the character of an Italian Renaissance street” I had picked this hotel for its location - walking distance to everything and surrounded by cobblestone streets and charm. Along this street, I had seen a little shop along that street that only sold rubber ducks! I didn’t take a picture because I thought there must be more like it but according to the web, that is the only store. Hmm it was called Rome Duck Store. The walls were lined with yellow rubber duck on shelves lit from the back.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #22
Day 31 – Wednesday Oct 4
The Papal mass for the synod of bishops was at 9 am and the ‘gates’ opened at 7 am. It’s a 30 minute walk to St. Peter’s Square and the complimentary breakfast at the hotel started at 6:30. Hmmm. I had and instant coffee in the room at 6 and as we left at 6:30, we grabbed some packaged panini and crackers. Walking through Rome before dawn was cool and quite pleasant. The traffic was subdued and sidewalks were mostly empty, until we got to the LINE. It was about a block and a half long and not moving yet. It started to move after 7:30. We went through an initial screening where security looked through bags and took away Norbert’s water bottle but left mine alone. When asked they replied that you could have water but not in that kind of bottle ??? My guess was that Norbert’s bottle’s lower half was not transparent. (?) Anyway, after another security, metal detector scan, we could go choose any seat that was still open. We got to be about 15 rows back in the public section and on the aisle so that I had a line of sight to the Pope! The mass started with the procession of bishops which took at least 15 minutes. The Pope was brought out by wheelchair for mass. I thought he would be frail but when he said the homily, they had him on jumbo screens and he looked very healthy to me. Communion was very confusing, but it seems like everyone who wanted communion, got it. After mass, Norbert wanted to see if we could find where to go found our 1 pm entry to the Vatican Museum. We found that after 15 minutes of walking no problem. We stopped for lunch very close to that Vatican Museum entry spot, hoping that by the time we were done it would be time to enter BUT we still had 2 hours. Norbert then wanted to look for the location that a bus to the airport would pick up passengers so we walked some more in the shade and sun, through crowded streets to a castle with a huge, dry moat but didn’t find it. Then it was time to go to the museum. Good thing we had Skip-the-line tickets! More security scans and then we did our sheep imitations. We were made to go through the museum in a certain direction and where there were no exhibits, the guards were saying ‘don’t stop, just go’. (At one point the people ahead of me were not ‘go’ing, they had ‘stop’ped so I couldn’t ‘go’.) BAAAAA (sheep sounds) The Vatican Museums were housed in what used to be papal palaces with some very ornately painted rooms and ceilings and had a huge collection of all kinds of art and antiquities etc. The Sistine Chapel – very famous and very painted! Well, we saw it. Along with at least a hundred other people at the same time. It was also not air-conditioned in any way so, yes, shower time afterwards. We didn’t get to go into St. Peter’s Basilica, but we saw lots. On the back way to the hotel room, Norbert noticed that one place had milk-free gelato so I had no excuse! I had some chocolate looking one that tasted WONDERFUL! Back at the room, after the shower, I had a beer from the free minibar.
We found another restaurant with a special: bruschetta, a drink and either pizza or pasta for a set price. Yummy. Then we figured we’d do some more walking (!!) We followed a 73 minute audio walking tour by Rick Steves and it says a good time to go is after sunset. It took us to many fountains in many piazzas as well as many amazing embassies and churches. One piazza was the actual location where Julius Caesar was stabbed and another was in front of the Parthenon. It is HUGE. The famous Trevi Fountain had a huge crowd so we snapped some photos but we plan to go back early another morning for more. The tour ended at the Spanish steps which I seem to remember motorcycles or cars careening down in some action films. It had been 31 degrees today with 50% humidity and no wind (again). We ended up with…. Drumroll please… 29,200 steps today! A total of over 12.6 miles! On cobblestone streets on top of it! – No issues falling asleep!
Day 32 – Thursday Oct 5
The only thing planned today was to visit the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We had a booking for 2 pm but we had to go exchange the voucher for the tickets. We decided to go find location for the tickets after eating breakfast at the hotel. It was a 30 minute walk and when we arrived, the ticket person said we could go right away or come back for 2 pm. Well, we didn’t have water or my camera, but I had a phone and we didn’t feel like going back to the hotel and walking back again so we went to the Colosseum. It is crazy huge. Across a ‘compound’ was the entrance to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Basically, it was the centre of ancient Rome and its closest hill. Lots of ruins, columns, cobblestone streets, rubble, carved marble piece of columns and cornices on the ground. We had two other Rick Steves’s walking tour on Norbert’s phone that we followed, or tried to, for all these locations. It was interesting. There was some ominous looking dark clouds that hid the sun a little but no rain – just more heat – 28 degrees with its usual friends (humidity and still air). We stayed in the room cooling off and typing in the lobby where there were some tables. Steps today: 21,500.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #21
Day 30 - Tuesday Oct 3
Civitavecchia, Italy, disembarkation and on to Rome. We had booked a train from Civitavecchia, where the cruise ended, to Rome. We had wanted to walk from the shuttle bus drop off to the train station, and the cruise ship lady said that it was closer just to walk from the pier to the train station. The shuttle would have cost 6 euros each, but we know it was only about a 30 minute walk. A couple beside us (turned out they were from Ontario) followed us. Although the lady said it was only 20 minutes, it was more like 30. We got to the station – no issues but we were 3 hours early. Norbert remembered the church where we had gone to mass in that city before getting on the cruise so we went to mass for 9:30. We got back with an hour and a half to spare. We got on the right train which was on time and got to Rome. We got off at St. Peter’s station, very close to the Vatican. As we got off the train, we spotted St. Peter’s Basilica poking up above the trees. We have arrived. Our hotel was a 30 minute walk from the train station. I had read that Rome is the most visited city in the world and I believe it! Traffic is nuts! People are everywhere. Motorcycles weave between cars at lights, there doesn’t seem to be any lines indicating lanes on the street. Ambulances have a very different, sound. About 6 of them passed us within 30 minutes, going in different directions and trying to get through impossible traffic. Out hotel is in amongst ‘pedonale’ zones – pedestrian only- with cobble-stone streets that was a true test to the sturdiness of the little wheels on our rolling carry-on suitcases. Of course it was another hot sunny, humid and no-wind day so it was shower time when we got to the room. We went exploring after we cooled off. We had to collect our tickets to the papal mass tomorrow. We walked about 20 minutes and got to St. Peter’s Square! It was very confusing where to go afterwards. There were barricades all over the place and where we had to collect the tickets was behind barricades. Everyone we asked answered in such a way as to make it seem like it was obvious and weren’t especially helpful. The square was in the hot blazing sun and the line through security to go somewhere was snaking around in the middle. I didn’t want to go in that line. Finally, we asked enough people that we found that one of us could cut to the front of the security line (me) and get into another for tickets. That one was no where near as long but people were sitting down and not moving. As soon as I texted Norbert ‘this was going to take forever’, the line started moving and I thought I’d give it a shot. We were in the shade thankfully and it only took 20 minutes to get the pre-booked, free tickets. I passed some Swiss guards and noticed that they are very young. I was going to take a photo of the hallway I was in but they said no pictures so I said ok and put my phone away. Once I got those tickets, I looked at where the line had been and, there was no longer a line. (?) We went back to room and rested then went to a local restaurant in the pedonale zone whose tables in the cobblestone street. I had linguine with home-made pesto. We found-out that it seems to be customary that the restaurant offers a shot of digestive liqueur after dinner. They offered home-made limoncello and it was very tasty! Steps for the day: 23,100.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #20
Day 28 – Sunday October 1
Livorno, Italy. This is the port where I had reserved a tour to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower but because we sometimes got into port late, I was afraid that we would miss the bus. We would have to take a shuttle to the centre of town and be there by 9:45 when we were scheduled to dock at 9 am. Good thing I cancelled. We were late into town and hoards of people wanted the shuttle so we would have missed this one. If we were really set on going, we could have gone by train. It’s a 30 minute ride by car and 15 by train but we decided that we can’t see everything so we stayed in Livorno. We got a phone message in our stateroom that the show we didn’t get to see the end of, was rescheduled for the last night of the cruise (Monday). We did our usual breakfast and left the ship in our own good time. We needed to take a shuttle bus for 7 euros roundtrip to the center of town because we were not allowed to walk where we were docked. Norbert headed for the first church and low and behold, it was a cathedral with the bishop saying mass and confirming 6 people. It was all in Italian so all we understood were the parts of the mass but it counts! We wandered around and found two forts, one was basically filled in as a park but it had an impressive water-filled moat around it. The other one was still somewhat intact and still had opening onto the water for ? supplies by boat? Within the fort (castle?) found two areas being used as concert venues, one open-air and one completely enclosed by stone walls and an arched stone ceiling. It was another hot and sunny, humid and no-wind day so – showers and pool time back on the ship.
Day 29 Monday Oct 2
Cannes, France. For this port, we had to book tender boats to get off the ship. Ours was number 2. The ship docked in Cannes at 7 in the morning and when they announced that they were ready for shuttles number 1, 2 and 3, we were still in pyjamas. We took our time getting dressed and eating breakfast because we didn’t have any time-important thing to do. Norbert found a church online so we went to see it. It was beside a school and was fairly high up a hill. There was a good view and a cool sign of Cannes in front of it. It was closed but he found a really close one that was having mass a few minutes from then. It was a little chapel that was very plain and simple in the middle of a residential area. After mass we wandered around. There happened to be “the duty free & travel global summit” happening there and we passed many companies with their yachts operating as a sales booth along the waterfront. Rich people stuff. Then I walked off the sidewalk onto sand and into the clearest seawater yet! It was cooler than the water a little more south but it was more refreshing. This is actually the “Cote d’Azure” or the French Riviera. With that beach, perfect weather and beautiful sea, I get it! (the yellow lines in the water are sun-rays on the BOTTOM of waist-deep water)
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #19
Day 27 - Saturday Sept 30
Naples, Italy. We got to visit Pompeii! The bus ride took about 30 minutes from the port of Naples to the ruins of Pompeii, another Unesco World Heritage Site. The tour guide, a young Neapolitan (Italian from Naples) with a huge mass of red curls that must have been hot, was very entertaining. On August 24, 79 A.D. (1,944 years and 6 days ago) Mount Vesuvius erupted and rained down ash and lava onto Pompeii, capturing it in a very thick, preserving layer of pumice. The city was ‘frozen’ in time. At that time, it was a Roman, middle-class, harbour town with small and large homes next to each other. We got to walk into some homes that still have frescos (paintings) visible on the walls and fancy mosaic tiles on the floors. We looked for the casts of the bodies that were found there but we didn’t find any. The map had symbols to where they were but we found out later by talking to a first generation Canadian (his parents were from that area) on our same tour that Italy was pressured by the E.U. not to leave antiquities out in the public so they were all brought to the museum. Oh well, we were not the only ones looking for them and it gave us something to hunt for. It is a huge place. There were restaurants that acted the same as our fast-food ones today and apparently not many people would cook in their homes back then. The streets were paves with huge stones and is some areas there were even grooves in the stone made by chariot wheels. The homes apparently all had lead pipes bringing running water, as well as lead pipes taking away sewer water. Back on the ship, after a late lunch I had a shower and a long nap.
We were late leaving port due to a passenger needing medical attention. We had a 10 pm booking to see the musical “Six” which is about Henry the 8th’s six wives. We had seen it before another cruise but we figured why not see it again. During the performance, halfway into the third wife’s ‘story’ they announced that a medical team had been summoned and to stay in our seats. During that song, I noticed that the people seated right in front of use had gotten up and were attending to someone in the first row. Another passenger needing medical attention. When they ended up putting her in a wheelchair and wheeling her out, she was able to sit up. I expected the show to resume but they said, no- show will not resume, so we went to bed.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #18
Day 25 – Thursday Sept 28
Valletta, Malta. An island, a dot on the map of the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tripoli, Libya. A book I started reading on the ship was called The Shores of Tripoli, was about ships sailing in the area between 1798 and 1805 approx. In the story, Americans went to Malta to get supplies because it was, at the time, neither French nor British. From watching many historical documentaries and TV shows, Norbert and I had learned that Malta was a British colony and protectorate during the world wars and they spent a lot of resources building fortifications for defense. Malta is positioned as a type of gateway to Europe from the south and Britain didn’t want the Italians etc. to have control of this area. We saw the evidence of it’s military history in all the huge stone walls when entering the harbour. This Island has been populated for eons… (since 5900 BC) …Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Moors, French and British. Valletta is apparently the sunniest city in Europe and has a huge harbour. From the top deck of our ship we saw at least two huge ships in dry dock there.
We were told that we were docking at Boiler Wharf Pier and passengers could book a tender boat if they wanted. We booked one but realized that we were actually docked at a pier and could just walk off anytime we wanted. The tender boats took people to the other pier where cruise ships usually dock. It was obvious that we couldn’t have docked over there because it had a bunch of work being done to it. We docked at about 11 am and waited for our tender boat number (10) to be called. They hold 300 passengers each. We went for lunch then decided that we wouldn’t wait for our boat – we just walked off and saw the sights on that side of the city. We saw a much less touristy area, passed by an elementary school and many very old stone buildings rising up out of the bedrock. None of it on flat ground again, the city is built on a rocky island. We found a place by the harbour to have a coke and beer 0 and enjoyed the sights. This IS a rich person’s place for there were many yachts alongside the tiny rowboats. The boats are moored along floats in the water. My questions is, how do the people get to their boat without swimming?? It was very sunny and humid and hot again, and of course when back onboard we did our usual shower and head for the waterfall pool to cool off. While heading out of port, I was watching the sea we were passing through for evidence of the scary whirlpool that was mentioned in the book. The water did not look like it was calm under the surface and it even sounded funny as we passed through it. In the evening we went to see a singer named Laura Burford from England. She was very good.
Day 26 – Friday Sept 29
Messina, Sicily (Italy) We docked right in Messina and could walk off the ship into old town. We headed for the highest domed roof with a cross figuring it was a church. Well, the internet said there was a church but all we saw was a memorial for soldiers of WWII. Very impressive building and bell though with a great view! We found two other churches and a fancy fountain with a big statue of Neptune. It again was a hot, sunny day so back on board was the waterfall pool area and shower. Mount Etna would have been cool to see but it would have been a fairly long bus ride and since we actually witnessed Hawaiian lava flows close-up, we decided we didn’t need to see it. When we got to our stateroom, a bottle of Merlot and 6 chocolate-covered straw berries were waiting for us compliments of the excursion director. Hmm I guess I looked really disappointed about the Acropolis tour fiasco. I drank a couple of ounces and didn’t react badly. I wasn’t going to chance more though – over the past 6 months or so I’d begun to get an allergic-type reaction to any alcohol.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #17
Day 24 – Wednesday Sept 27
Katakolon, Greece – gateway to Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic games.
I had a tour booked from an outside tour company to go to the ruins of the Olympic games area but was afraid that the ship would arrive late and we’d miss it so I cancelled it two days earlier. It would have been fine. We were docked so we could get off the ship anytime we wanted without scheduling a boat. We walked off the pier early in the morning into the small village along a sandy coastline. We wandered along the street then made our way back to the ship along the beach. Of course I walked in the water. It was very clear and shallow with dark fine sand. I only stepped out of the water close to the ship when I saw fish in the water. By the time we headed back to the ship along the main street, the shops were all open and many ship passengers were shopping. I found the souvenir I had been looking for. This little village seems quite poor but authentic. There were little fishing boats tied up along the pier and no big yacht club around. It was again very humid and got hotter as we approached noon so we got back on the ship. I had gone to the pool yesterday but the brine water was so warm it wasn’t as refreshing as I wanted. I found that the ‘spice H2O’ adults only area at the back of the ship on the very top deck (16) had a ‘waterfall’ area constantly dripping fresh, cool water so I cooled off there. Norbert found a shady, open-air spot on deck 8 with comfy chairs to read. The show that night was called ‘Burn the Floor’ showcasing different styles of ballroom dancing to all kinds of music to a mostly live, all-female rock band. They were all very good.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #16
Day 23 – Tuesday Sept 26
Athens! (well, Piraeus, the port of Athens) We were supposed to be docked in Athens by 7 am but we didn’t get there until about 8:30. Which meant that our excursion of 7:30 am didn’t get to board the tour bus until 9 am. Then we had to wait an extra 15 minutes for a large party of 15 who were late. It was supposed to take us to the Acropolis, one highlight I was very excited about. Once we all got on the bus, the tour guide told us the bad news that we missed our timeslot to go to the acropolis and instead we would go to the bottom of the hill so we could take pictures and we would get half our money back. The bus took us through tons of traffic and sometimes slowed down as the guide told us of whatever statue we were passing. They only gave us 20 minutes to walk at the bottom of the hill and take photos. They let us out to shop in the old town and buy lunch for 2 hours but by the time we got served our food from the recommended restaurant, we had almost left because they were serving people that had arrived well after us. Directions to meet the bus were mostly confusing at all stops and we had to wait for that large 15 people party a second time at one of the stops. At the final stop, in the middle of Athens, a huge city of millions, everyone got the directions correct and the bus basically stopped at a light and opened the doors for us all to get on. It was a frustrating and disappointing day. We happened to see some ruins in the middle of the shopping area and got photos of that. I was hoping to be close to some really ancient ruins and that kind of happened. I went to speak to the excursion people and asked why we were so late arriving. It was because we had left Santorini late. The reason was unavoidable: Fira lost power for an hour and a half and the cable cars were not operating. We had been scheduled to depart at 9 pm so it was dark and the stairs were not lit so there was a whole bunch of people stuck at the top of the cliff with no way down until the cable cars could bring them. I did express my disappointment that we were not given the option to cancel our reservation since it did not do what it was supposed to do and the gentleman at the desk did exactly as he was supposed to do and I felt heard. I am okay now. I did find some souvenirs to buy in the old town and the magician had another show.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #15
Day 20 - Saturday Sept 23
The day is finally here! We had originally booked this 10-day Mediterranean cruise for September 2020 but there was that annoying worldwide pandemic. Everything went well for boarding and getting our stateroom. There is always something to do on a cruise, the most difficult part is planning time to rest and trying to not eat too much. We saw a magic show and some other singers and UNPACKED!
Day 21 - Sunday Sept 24
Day at sea . Ate and slept and ate and slept some more. Read and did some puzzles. I think I was a little tired from all the adventure so far.
Day 22 - Monday Sept 25
Santorini!! Wow took a ‘Let’s take a selfie’ tour. Santorini is a group of islands that used to be one big volcano but in the distant past, the volcano had a couple of explosive eruptions and the caldera (crater) formed is filled with sea water. These islands are like mountains rising up out of the sea with no vegetation on the sheer cliff sides so you can see all the layers of solidified volcanic ash (pumice) and other rocks (I think they were silt first compressed as slate or schist then baked and twisted by volcanic forces).
There is no dock large enough for big ships so the cruise ship just stopped and did something like ‘dynamic positioning’ (didn’t actually anchor) and we got off on tender boats. I like going on tender boats because you have to step off the cruise ship via a little platform attached to steps on the ship to the comparatively tiny tender (shuttle) boats. I get to sense how huge the ship is and to actually be close to the surface of the sea and its movement. The boat moves up and down with the waves while the ship seems to stay still. There is always at least one person on the tender boat holding your arm as you board.
Because I booked an excursion through the cruise company, the tender boats dropped us off in another port where there is a road for a bus. The passengers who did not book an excursion had to book a tender boat, and get dropped off below the capital city of Fira. Then they either had to climb the 688 steps to the town or wait (sometimes for hours) for a cable car costing 6 euros or pay something for a donkey ride up the steps. Oh, and because the donkeys go up and down the steps all day, they leave behind ‘calling cards’. I did my homework on research and chose the excursion well!
The road up the cliff is full of hair-raising, hairpin turns up the cliff. Our excursion took us to ‘the most beautiful spots on Thera’ (the actual name of the island) for us to take selfies. They actually provided us with a selfie stick too. We went first to the town of Oia (pronounced Ee-ah) apparently voted the most beautiful town of something… It was very pretty with the blue ocean and the white buildings and blue trims and roofs on crazy slopes. We then went to a wine tasting. The tour guide explained that this wine, I think it was named Vinasanto, is made on the island from two different white grapes put into dark barrels where it becomes dark red. It tasted very sweet but very good and I had no adverse reaction to the alcohol which was surprising. We then went to the capital city of Fira for more selfies. There was some confusion as to the ending of the tour. Our ticket said that it ended in Fira and that we had to take the cable car down to the dock or walk down the steps. Our tour guide assured us that we got a ride back to the other dock to catch the tender boat back to the ship. She was right. Later in the evening we notified the excursion staff about the confusion and she said that the ticket information was wrong and that particular excursion was the only one that did not end in Fira. A very enjoyable day!
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post 14
Day 18 & 19 Thursday and Friday Sept 21, 22
We had a few hours in the morning to pack up and walk to the train station – at least 10 flights of stairs – downhill at least. The trains heading south like our train, were all 10 -20 minutes late. Our journey to La Spezia was only a 10 minute one! But we had over an hour before our next train to Civitavecchia left so we were WAY less stressed than last train travel day. We arrived safely and our hotel room was ready when we got there. The plan was to get close to the Cruise port in plenty of time for our departure on Saturday the 23rd. We did. Now we take it easy for a day and a half, eat spaghetti and fruits, walk around and see stuff. Just chill although the humidity and temperature are up again… I foresee more showers… [Photos: of course me with my feet in the sea; a street scene just outside our hotel (if you look closely you can see a bag being lifted to an open window on a rope); proof that this part of the city is as old as the medieval times and the biggest maple leaf we’ve ever scene we just happen to see on the sidewalk.]
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #13
Days 15, 16 & 17 – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Sept 18, 19 & 20
Riomaggiore. If you can’t climb stairs or steep roads, you almost can’t be here. There are no flat areas. We learned that this area – Cinque Terre is not only a National Park but a Unesco World Heritage Site to preserve the terraces on the steep slopes carved by the river. The farmers from the surrounding areas built these starting a thousand years ago for agriculture like grapes for wines and vegetables. This leg of our journey I had planned as a rest from travel – a place where we could just ‘be’, unpack a bit and not have to go anywhere. Our spacious hotel room has a balcony with a sea view if you look sideways, but I am sitting at the little bistro table looking at it right now as I type this. The weather on Monday was 25 degrees and just as humid as before even though it was cloudy. It was a two shower day. There are little shops and restaurants where we get our food. We walked the 7 minutes to the pebbly beach on Monday where the waves were about 1.5 feet. I could walk in with my shorts to my ankles and the waves would reach above my knees. Tuesday, the sun was out but so were the waves – about 1.5 METRES. I wore my bathing suit this time and didn’t dare walk in. I sat on a rock – or tried to – and let the bigger waves some to me. Well, a few of them almost knocked me off the rock! They say that waves above 1 m is dangerous to swim in but there were some strong swimmers out there. As I sat on the rock and looked at the swimmers’ heads, they bobbed up on wave crests and disappeared way down in the troughs. The temperature of the water was apparently 24 degrees so it was not cold. I sat on the rock until the 10 km/h wind started to make me cool almost cold! First time this trip I get almost cold! They have showers in the cliff by the beach so I rinsed the salt off and dried myself in the sun. There is no sand here, just rounded pebbles and rocks so getting my runners on afterwards was easy. We logged 56 flights of stairs on Monday and 39 on Tuesday just in the village going to get food and going to the beach. The town is like a maze with tiny streets and stairs everywhere. There are many streets that not only don’t allow vehicles – they would not fit. We are doing a few pieces of laundry every day to freshen our wardrobe and have them dry on the balcony. The room has a great air conditioner so we are very comfortable here.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #12
Day 14 – Sunday Sept 17
A full breakfast buffet was included in the price of the room. This was the most expensive hotel room on our trip! We walked mostly uphill to the train station early and figured out where to go and waited. That train ride to Milano Centrale station Italy was exactly on time all the way. I’ve since learned that to be compared to a Swiss train conductor is a testament to precision timing. Swiss train don’t have assigned seats but there was a lot of room for everyone. We had 3 HOURS to wait in Milano for the next train. The 25 degree heat, no winds and 90% humidity followed us! The trains are air conditioned but even they have trouble keeping it comfortable. Well, us being non-Italian speaking and nervous about missing our train, we stayed in the station – it was covered but outside with no places to sit. It gave us a chance to verify that we were in the correct place and which platform our train would likely be on. The we waited and sweated. Norbert found a little chapel where we could sit and do some quiet prayer. That was a God-send! When our train arrived, I was grateful that we had assigned seats because the train was full. We had 21 minutes scheduled to change trains in Genoa, so I was watching the live tracker on my phone and we were getting later and later. Then we made an unscheduled stop (according to my app anyway). When we finally arrived to Genoa, Italy, we crawled through the city and lost more precious connection time- we were down to about 4 minutes. We got off as quickly as we could, flew down the stairs read the departures board and ran to the train. If we had tried to reach our coach - #7 we would have missed it! We got on coach #5 and the doors closed behind us and the train took off. The coaches are all connected inside so walked to our seats and got our hearts started again. Phew! We both didn’t believe we made that one. Italian trains are not Swiss trains.
Ok, three connections down, one to go. We were getting off the train in La Spezia, so it was only a few stops into the train’s route, but we had only 11 minutes to change trains there! Well, we were late again and this time I think we had about 2 minutes. There was a hoard of passengers going down the steps we were climbing and they didn’t seem to realize that they should leave room for passengers going in the other direction. We again just popped into some seats (no assigned seats this time) and caught our breath and the train took off. This ride was only about 8 minutes and uneventful.
Riomaggiore is a little coastal village in the Cinque Terres National Park. These villages are along the sides of a valley in the mountains leading to the Mediterranean Sea. The recent cartoon ‘Lucca’ was set in one of these villages. To get to our hotel, the concierge sent me a map with a route but google maps said to go a different way – shorter. BUT up the longest, narrowest staircase I have ever been on! We had to stop a few times because we were carrying our luggage and backpacks. I asked the concierge it this was normal weather she said absolutely not – they had had a couple of September-like weather in August so she figured this weather had been displaced from August. It isn’t usually this humid. We got to the room and thank God! It has air-conditioning. I had a cooling shower then we went to find supper. If this is shoulder season here, I can’t imagine how crowded it gets in high tourist season. In total, we climbed 13 floors that day.
Photos: two from our balcony and stairs that were much wider and straighter than those we took that first climb.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post 11
Day 13 – Saturday Sept 16
Well the coffee machine was a great idea but it was all in German so I got the only thing I recognized: cappuccino! We walked across the crazy busy street to the train terminal and our 9:05 train to Lugano was on time. I sat facing the direction I though we would travel – the direction the train came in – but I wasn’t. Later, after a stop or two Norbert asked if I wanted to switch sides with him so I could face forward. I reluctantly did and as soon as we started moving, I was going backwards again! We basically travelled through Switzerland from north to south except for some sidebar trips. We passed many beautifully green slopes with grazing cows and sheep and small towns tucked into valleys. We did not, however, see the huge mountains that I was expecting to see. Oh well, maybe tomorrow when we go to Italy.
It was drizzling rain when we got into Lugano, but we walked the 1.7 km to the ‘Hotel de la Paix’ where luckily our room was ready early. Wow what a fancy place. Our windows open up- like really open up to a view of the city and lake! Wow. We went for a late pizza lunch and a walk along Lake Lugano. There is a long walkway lined with mature basswoods along the lake. Beautiful! Even though it was mostly cloudy, the soft blue-grey hues of the sky and lake contrasted with the green of the trees. Got some great pictures. We went to a grocery store (the big chain in Switzerland we found is called ‘Migros’) to get a salad for supper and a sandwich for lunch for tomorrow’s train ride to Riomaggiore
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #10
Day 12 – Friday Sept 15
Today we had lots of time to get to the next stop. The original plan was to drive into Switzerland, to Gruyeres, but because of the landslides blocking the French-Italian train line, we opted to drive from Kientzheim to Basel (Bale) on the border of Switzerland, France and Germany. It was about an hour’s drive so we asked the Google to find a park in which to spend time. Well, the first one was right in the middle of old Colmar- very tiny streets and lots of traffic so we got out of there and found another tiny park in the suburbs. Well, there weren’t even any benches to sit on, it was more of a treed green space between houses. Norbert then found one with a trail called 3 castles. Wow – the trail was a hike up a ‘mountain’ for 45 minutes to three castle ruins on the top, and then back down the switchback trail for 20 minutes. My apple health app said we climbed 44 floors that day. We actually had to use the parking brake in the car where we parked. We had opted out of the breakfast at the hotel so after the hike, I needed food. We wanted quick and dependable – McDo. As we were driving into the parking lot, hoards of high school students were clumping in. They were all very French and quite respectful. BTW – the McDonalds here are using real dishes (plastic but reusable) that customers have to sort into bins when they are done. After lunch we drove to the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg EuroAirpart where we would drop off the rental car but we needed to fill the tank with gas. We checked at the airport, but there was no gas station there. It took three tries, but we finally found a station where our credit card would work.
There was no issue dropping off the car in the French side of the airport. We could walk to the Swiss side to get a free bus ride to our hotel because we had a booking. Areas of Switzerland give free public transportation to tourists who stay in the town whoohoo! Our hotel is right outside the train terminal in downtown Basel Switzerland. We checked out this train terminal and it is huge – 35 gates. They also had a good grocery store where we bought supper and breakfast – salad and a pack of 3 huge brownies :D This b-smart hotel has no front desk – you register at a kiosk which gives you your room key and inside your room, your Basel Card (free public transport) with your name on it is waiting for you. Tomorrow morning, I plan to get a free coffee from the machine in the ‘lobby’ and we walk to the train station for our 9 am train to Lugano, Switzerland. It was about 25 degrees today and quite sunny. I haven’t gone a day yet where I didn’t need to take at least one cooling shower!
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #9
Day 11 – Thursday Sept 14
After breakfast at the hotel, we drove about 15 minutes to Fleury-Devant-Douamont which is a village destroyed during WWI. It had 422 people. In 1916 it changed hands between the French and the invading Germans 16 times. As a result, it was so destroyed with the land around it too polluted to rebuilt or resume farming that the officials decided to have it remain as a ‘village that died for France’. We then drove to Belval-des-Vosges which is the little town that Norbert’s grandfather grew up in. Stopped and ate some sandwiches in a little park then looked for the nearest church to see if we could find some graves with the family name. We did! Three of them!
We were actually in the area of France called Lorraine but it was hard to get a photo of a sign that said that.
We drove on to Kientzheim (very close to Colmar) where we stayed in a converted convent inside the ramparts of a medieval town. It was very pretty and tight quarters to drive. Some buildings dated back to the 1600’s. Most either made of stone or exposed half-timbres. I had noticed that almost every house in France so far has shutters on every window. I googled the reason: to keep out the heat during summer and out the cold during winter as well as to keep out the dust since many houses are along roads – like right along the road. Many houses don’t have air-conditioning. I also read that to shut your shutters in the evening is a sign that you have turned in for the night, and when you open them in the morning, you are receptive to visitors. This privacy ‘code’ must have been helpful to live in a small town peacefully. I also learned that insurance companies nowadays insist that houses have outer shutters and that they be closed when the house is vacant. Hmm.
We strolled the narrow streets and came across a concrete lined ‘moat’ or small canal about 5 feet across running along one side of the town. The area is in Alsace – a huge wine region and we were surrounded by vineyards and hills. We ate the rest of our picnic food in the courtyard of our hotel surrounded by hanging baskets overflowing with pink and red flowers and green vines trailing over walls and stone fences. Beautiful. The reception deck is reached by climbing a few steps of a curved stone staircase that I am sure dates a few hundred years since the stone is worn and uneven. The room actually had air conditioning that worked – I had the best sleep since Winnipeg. (photo - the dog in the window barked at all cars passing)
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #8
Day 10 – Wednesday Sept 13
We had a great breakfast with fresh pastries, home-made butter and jellies, local farm-made cheeses and delicious coffee. We set out for Vimy Ridge WWI Memorial. It took 10 minutes. There is a huge monument that Hitler didn’t destroy during the WWII German occupation of that area of France. In 1917, the Canadians were sent to capture hill 145 (Vimy Ridge) after over 150,000 French and British soldiers died trying to do so. They managed to do so and in 1922, a grateful France granted to Canada Vimy Ridge and the land surrounding it. The most haunting thing there though is the preserved trenches. This area had the smallest ‘no-mans-land’ between the opposing trenches because it was more of a lookout area for both sides to spy on the other. Norbert stood in the Allied trenches and when I stood in the German trenches, I could not only see him, we could talk to each other. The entire area is pitted with craters now growing trees and grass but it is protected by an electric fence because there still lies under the surface undetonated ammunition. The site is managed by Veteran’s Affairs Canada and the interpreters are again University students from Canada. The Visitor’s Center was very well done. There was a glass case in which was a framed portrait of a soldier before the war. I noticed the frame was facing the wall so we couldn’t see the photo, so I mentioned that to one of the interpreters, and her response was: “I know- we don’t have a key for the exhibits, no one here has a key to the exhibits and sometimes the photo faces the wall and sometimes it faces outwards… we don’t understand” …. Spooky!
We headed over to our next stop – a little hotel in the north-east of France, very close to Verdun – not too far from Germany in Vacherauville. We had a great supper there and the hotel room had a FAN! Which I had blowing on me the entire night. It had still been a warm and fairly humid day.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #7
Day 9 – Tuesday Sept 12
We had a wonderful continental breakfast of fresh breads, homemade jellies and coffee and juice. We drove about 10 minutes to one of the Canadian Cemeteries here in Normandy. This was a WWII cemetery. We noticed that many graves were of young men from the Winnipeg Rifles. We then continued on to Juno Beach where the Canadian contingent of the D-Day landings were. I hadn’t known that the centre there is only about 20 years old even though there had been a few memorial things there before. It is apparently plated in titanium. We paid for a tour in French since the English tour was only in the afternoon. The interpretive staff are all Canadians who have recently graduated and are about the same age as the soldiers who were involved in the D-Day landings. Our guide was from Quebec and he took us into the German bunkers located there. At the end, we walked to the beach where they landed. It was a moving moment to stand there.
Afterwards, we drove to our next bed and breakfast place. Google maps gave us a route that took almost 5 hours through many little roads and what looked like paved farm tracks. We discovered that, if you don’t want to pay 10 to 50 euros in tolls, that was the route to take. It was very peaceful and picturesque among the corn fields and barns. It sometimes took you through little villages where the road is very close to the buildings. In some areas, there is only room for one vehicle to pass on a two way road. The buildings are almost all made of stone with high-pitched roofs. There were many farmers harvesting corn or driving their vehicles on the same roads we were on. Along many roads, we saw workers cutting back the vegetation beside the road (there are no ditches) and the hedges.
When we finally arrived at our bed and breakfast, named Plumes et Coton (Feathers and Cotton) there was no one there. Both yesterday’s and today’s ‘inns’ were accessed via a central courtyard. We decided to go for supper – McD’s – it had been a long day – When we got back, our very lovely host was there and we had a wonderful room with a sitting area. It was again made of stone and could have been outbuildings for the manor-like home in front of it. We noticed that no place we’ve seen so far has any screens on the windows. The only place we saw mosquitoes were while we were waiting for the shuttle at Mont-Saint-Michel but to be fair, there they were mowing the hay in the trenches right beside us so I imagine the mosquitoes were being scared out by that. The air was still very humid and still but slightly cooler at night (22 degrees).
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #6
Day 8 – Monday Sept 11
We left the hotel and the ramparts to walk to get the rental car close to the train station. We were given a hybrid Renault CAPTUR. We drove less than an hour to get to Mont-Saint-Michel, an island connected by a causeway with a medieval monastery and abbey. You cannot drive up to it – you have to park and take a shuttle included in the price of parking. WOW! This could be the setting for a French Hogwarts! We got a tour of the church and abbey. That must have been what castles looked like between the 900’s to 1500’s. The whole island is a rock in the biggest bay of Europe and the church is build at the top of the rock with exposed rock inside as well. It is surrounded by other tiny buildings that used to be houses but are now little shops, restaurants and inns. The narrow streets looked like Diagonally from Harry Potter books. Although it was mostly overcast and only 23 degrees, it was 95% humidity with no winds – it still felt very hot. We were also there at low tide so there were some tour groups walking over the sands. There was also a human hamster wheel (treadwheel crane) that apparently was built in 1819 when the abbey was used as a prison. I read that 2 prisoners would walk inside the wheel which would haul up to 3 tons of supplies.
We then drove an hour or so to a small town (commune) called Fleury (my maiden name) and took some photos. We continued on to our bed and breakfast place which was converted from a carriage house. Very cute! We are our baguette and cheese etc. in their garden and listen to the birds and the bells of the church next door. It was very peaceful. Our room had a lower level with the bathroom and sitting area and an upper level with the bed accessed by a ‘stone’ spiral staircase. Unfortunately, sleeping was tough with the humidity and no air conditioning. No windows in France have screens so an open window let in a mosquito (there aren’t very many here) but I closed it since there was no wind at all anyway.
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #5
Day 7 - Sunday Sept 10
We woke up at 5:30 to get to the Ferry Terminal and ate our snacks onboard. Even though the Temperature said it was 22 degrees, the air was still liquid and all the sweat our body produced to cool us off just stayed there. The ferry ride was about an hour and a half. After getting off the ferry, it was then that I realized that the fishy smell the ocean sometimes has is due to the seaweed – especially decaying seaweed. Talk about humid- it was drizzling rain when we got there. We walked to the bus terminal in St. Helier, Jersey. Jersey is part of the UK but has a French history. My grandfather’s grandfather came to Canada from Jersey where they were farmers producing jersey milk products, potatoes and daffodils. The rain stopped when we took the public bus to Hamptonne’s Country Life Museum. It was a working farm for centuries before being recently turned into a museum showcasing life on a Jersey farm from the 1500’s on. The original buildings were from various centuries. There were some pigs, a couple of Jersey calves, some sheep in a low meadow and wild chickens everywhere – some with little chicks following them. There were a couple of old stone apple crushers an apple press and a little café where I had a scone with ‘clotted cream and jelly’ Yummy!
From there we wanted to visit the Jersey War Tunnels. We could have waited and taken the bus back and waited to take another bus, or walk 40 minutes along narrow, quaint country roads, being sure to watch for on-coming traffic from the opposite direction that we are used to. We walked. It was humid but at least shady and beautiful. The War Tunnels were not but they were chilling – figuratively as well as physically. They were dug by Nazis using prisoner labour. The museum told the story of the occupation of Jersey from early 1940 to December 1944. It reminded me of a movie which was set during this time on another channel island where the same things happened. The movie is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
We caught the bus back to St. Helier and bummed around, eating at an Italian restaurant for an early supper.
Jersey is on UK time so we lost an hour coming back and it took 20 minutes or so to walk back to the hotel…. Shower #12!
Wait for it …. 27,000 steps that day!
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post#4
Day 6 – Saturday Sept 9
Our hotel in Saint-Malo was inside the ramparts where, to me, it looked exactly like a seaport town of the middle ages would look. Everything is made of stone – even the streets. There are only old-type lantern fixtures for lights, and turrets and arched passageways beneath buildings. Since this had been a place where corsairs (pirates for the French crown) were, it makes sense. Jacques Cartier was from here and the name of our hotel was Hotel Cartier. His manor home is not a museum but a ways out of town so we didn’t get to see it. Its church bells still also ring the hour and four times a day (at 8 am noon 6 and 10 pm) they ring 220 times, lasting eight minutes. (Yes Norbert actually counted them the first morning.)
Saturday morning we walked to the ferry terminal to make sure we knew where to go for our ferry to the Isle of Jersey the next day. We had an early lunch of galette – Yum! I want to learn how to make that at home. The atmosphere was again made of liquid air and upon return to our hotel, we needed another shower. Shower # 9.
I went to a more easterly beach by accident (inside the ramparts, the streets are in such a random manner there is no pattern so we exited the gates in a different place) and discovered my favorite beach in the world so far: miles long and maybe 100 yards wide with beautiful mostly coarser sand and no rocks nor seagulls (except for 2 or three). The water was cool and quite shallow and perfectly clear with no floaties or fish. I stayed in the water until I was cool and pruney. After another shower (#10) we went to mass in the centuries old cathedral a street away from the hotel, then had another burger – different restaurant, still French. We bought some snacks for the next day then I think to cool off I had another shower (#11)
13,900 steps today
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #3
Day 5 – Friday Sept 8
Another 34 degree day in Paris
Up at 5:30 (only slept a couple of hours) had coffee and metroed to the train station.
Still extremely muggy. Got on the high speed train (295 km/h) to Saint-Malo. The female train agent on board was using a handkerchief and I had my folding paper fan. She chucked and pulled hers out when she checked our tickets and saw my fan on my tray table. The train system here is another very efficient people mover.
We had seats on the upper level of the train so we could see the light fog in the vales as the sun rose over the corn fields and little hamlets of small stone houses in the countryside outside of Paris. It reminded me of a tv program that described the beginnings of Paris – a small city amidst small farms. Those small farm houses appeared to be still there and it felt like I was back in time. Those old stone house all seem to have about a 90 degree pitch to their roofs – maybe because they used to be roofed with thatch?
Saint-Malo – We thought that because it was by the ocean, the 25 -31 degrees would be a cool break. Wrong! It was VERY humid – the atmosphere was liquid air.
We went to the Hertz outlet to change the car rental booking because of that landslide and it was no issue – phew!. (I had been a little worried)
We bought a map with a self-guided walking tour and started walking the ramparts and was pleasantly surprised that the sea had a BEAUTIFUL beach! It felt like 35 degrees again even though it wasn’t. I didn’t have my bathing suit- it was dropped off in our luggage while we waited to check in. The humidity finally dropped a little and the clouds came in but once we could get in the room, I felt like Bugs Bunny running and yelling ‘Miami Beach here I come!’ (only a certain age group will get that reference)
The water level was dropping since low tide time was approaching but I stayed in that clear ocean water until I was cool! Then guess what – had to wash the salt off – Shower # 8!
Ate some burgers- I know but they were French burgers, not from a chain franchise. I thought it was quite a busy town for September with lots of people were enjoying the ocean and beach until I remembered that it was Friday and the end of heat wave that a French lady called insupportable (unbearable)
15,000 steps today
Moments of Reflection - Europe 2023 Post #2
Day 3 – Wednesday Sept 6
Our devices recorded about 4100 steps on Monday and 14,800 steps on Tuesday.
Another 34 degree day with bright sun and we’ll see how many steps we get today.
Metro to Cathedrale Notre-Dame where Expectation and Reality met! – HUGE and impressive. They are rebuilding it faithful to the original which means they have to find HUGE oak trees from all over France.
Walked to the Conciergerie because it was close and included in our pass. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was part of the Palace for the Kings of France in the Middle ages, and then a prison during the revolution. The medieval kitchen has an enormous hearth for cooking IN EACH CORNER OF THE ROOM!
We then ate our snack as we waited for our timeslot to get in line for the Saint-Chapelle. People in line: shocking: some very brazen ones cutting in front only expecting to be let in only to be told to get to the back of the line. Very pleasantly: one very friendly young lady from London struck up a conversation with us the entire 20 minutes we were in line.
Metro to the Musee d’Orsey. Goal: to see some famous painters’ works and get some pics. Reality: there were wonderful paintings as well as the famous ones. The most famous one was way up on the 5th floor almost at the very end. Goal: get a photo and get out – Reality: once finally up the 5 escalators, turned the corner and saw Paris through a huge glass clock! Wow!
Had shower # 4 of the trip due to heat - see post #1 for the first 3
Had reservations for supper at Le Volant Basque – ate beef bourgingnon with whipped potatoes, polenta and rice, and three mini desserts: tiramisu, fruit cup, crème brulee. Wonderful! But ate too much!
Shower #5
Walked 2 minutes to the Bir-Hakeim bridge to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling light show over the Seine. Beautiful! The Bir-Hakeim bridge is a double decker bridge for vehicles and pedestrians on the lower level and the metro on the top level. The Bir-Hakeim metro station was literally right outside our hotel door. Great location for a hotel.
I looked at my emails before bed – receive email stating that a landslide blocked the rail line from France to Italy and that therefore the train we booked for the 17th of September was not going to run….
Stayed up way past midnight on my phone looking at options like bussing (24h long – not desirable) and flights (very pricey so late), then tried to book alternate train routes and the website saying – oops we can’t help you - something is derailed. We even went to the concierge to ask his opinion and even on his computer it was giving an error message. Once I knew I wasn’t doing something wrong I was able to sleep.
14,300 steps today
Day 4 – Thursday Sept 7
Another 34 degree Sunny day
Went to the Train Station and even though we waited about 30 minutes to talk to an agent, witnessing another impatient person cutting in on our agent expecting to be helped right away, we got the answer! The agent tried booking it and the same error came up. BUT he knew that the message meant that the Swiss website had a connection issue! We would just have to keep trying later. I was consoled that if no one could book trains in Switzerland, our desired train would not sell out. I was much calmer.
Took the metro back to the hotel, picked up my camera and metroed to the Arch de Triomphe. We walked around the Arche but didn’t go inside. Big, ostentatious, very Napoleon. It did strike me then that this monument commissioned by Napoleon himself to remember victories of battles he led and those who fought and died for France was at one point captured by Nazis and Hitler’s Nazi flag is flying on the Arche. I thought- one not too much unlike the other.
We walked down le Champs Elyssee. Expected: not much – a busy city street – Reality: the first part has lots of shops but then it is lined with a triple row of shade trees – very pretty! I recognized it as being the subject of many paintings I had seen over the years (but those usually showed rainy weather). There also were cute, quiet little parks tucked in behind the trees here and there. We then reached the Place de la Concorde where the Obelisk of Luxor is standing (the idea to transport this from Egypt occurred during guess who’s campaign in Egypt). Interestingly, the entire square (the largest in Paris) was fenced off. There were huge banners about Rugby World Cup 2023. Hmmm. Oh well, I took a picture through the fence.
Took the metro back to the hotel, shower # 6, bought a wrap and an apple for lunch, walked to the Seine dock and took a sightseeing cruise. Metroed to the Louvre where we read that we should start lining up to get in about 30 minutes before our appointed time. When we got there, sun blazing away and me melting again, we were pleasantly surprised when there was no line-up and we were let in 24 minutes early. Expectation: go see the famous pieces first and take the obligatory pic (selfies with the Mona Lisa are almost impossible to get because of the perpetual crowd surrounding it) and then be done – Reality: once we had seen the famous ones we were free to look at other art to see if we appreciate any of them for something other than being famous. WE DID! I loved the Louvre both the art and the architecture! Well worth the 2 hours there!
Metroed back to the hotel – shower #7. Supper back at the Italian place and ordered a salad – this time did not eat too much.
The Train booking site still didn’t work, but couldn’t sleep so at 2 am I tried again and it WORKED!! We won’t be hitchhiking through Switzerland!
My general impressions of the little that we did see of Paris:
subways are a VERY efficient people mover.
I understand why European can be synonymous with ‘compact’ – ‘phenomenal amount of people – itty bitty living space’ (small intense coffees, small compact cars, small apartments, etc..) which adds a reason why they went sailing to seek more lands.
There are tourists from EVERYWHERE it seems.
People are people – the same kinds exist everywhere.
Cobblestone streets and sidewalks are very cool looking but murder on the feet and rolling suitcases.
23,000 steps today!
Photos: Notre Dame Cathedral, La Sainte Chapelle, clock in Musee d’Orsey, Arche de Triomphe, Musee de Louvre, cool painting I liked, outside Louvre.
Moments of Reflection - Europe post #1
(The first posts from this trip will be more like notes jotted down several days after we left because the priority was living the experience. Only on the fifth day did I have a couple of hours to write anything as you will read below:)
Day 1 -Monday
Fear: would the stuff on my phone that said we had a flight actually let us on the plane to go and is this trip actually going to happen after 4 years of planning – Reality : yup!. Flight from Winnipeg to Montreal then to Paris – Monday, September 4 at 3:50 pm Winnipeg time to Tuesday, September 5 at 10:50 am Paris time. Dream: sleep on the plane – Reality: not. Expectation: sheer exhaustion – Reality: not. Expectation: to not have a meal during the flight – Reality: had a wonderfully tasty hot meal for supper (at midnight Montreal time). Normal temperature in Paris: Cool to comfortable – Reality: not (35 degrees C and 45% humidity and bright sunshine.)
Day 2 - Tuesday
Still awake from the night before and managing unexpectedly well, we bought a Navigo Discovery pass which covered ALL public transportation for the week. I had even pre-printed our photos for the card and it was accepted. Wondered if we’d have issues with the language- reality: not a bit.
We took a RER B train to a metro station then a metro to the hotel. Wondered if we would manage – reality: navigated well enough for newbies! Saw first glimpse of Eiffel Tower. Hope: to be thrilled – Reality: was ‘melting’ from the heat and energy tank running on empty- didn’t feel especially excited.
Got to hotel early to leave luggage there but they let us in within 40 minutes - Wonderful surprise! very pleased –While we waited, were witness to two couples whose reservation did not go through and so had no place to sleep. Thankful that ours worked and felt bad for the other couples. The Concierge actually phoned around to find another nearby hotel or them. Amazed!
Took quick shower (#1) We then walked 10 minutes to the Eiffel Tower and Champs de Mars to do some video recording and obligatory selfie shots. Wondered if we would find a good location – Reality: no problem – too hot to be choosy.
Took quick shower #2 and I had a short nap: I did not drink much water during the travel because it would have been awkward for me either climb over or wake up the guy sleep in the seat next to me to go the bathroom. Result: dehydration and nausea. The result of the hour nap was very restorative!
Took the metro to get our Paris Museum Passes
Ate at a pizza place (too much) walked to buy some fruit and cheese for the next day’s lunch then had shower #3 and went to bed.
These first two calendar days were really like one LOOONG day for us so the focus was on doing what was necessary and I would try to do the experiencing and savouring starting the 3rd day.
Photos: Dawn on the Boeing 777, 35 degrees but we’ve arrived! Eiffel Tower behind 2024 Paris Olympics countdown and Bir-Hakeim bridge very close to our hotel
The countdown is on!!
September 4 (Labour day) is the day!
Europe here we come!
Here are the places we plan to visit September 5 to October 7, 2023, by plane, train, automobile, ferry, subway, cruise ship, bus and tender boat!
