Journey To The Loire Valley

We slept in today.  We have been busy ever since we arrived, so we decided to take it easier today.  I actually slept until almost 8:30 a.m.  Unheard of!  I must have been tired.  After a nice breakfast at our B&B (Les Vieilles Digues) we headed out.  We have a GPS and a map.  I also wrote directions I got from the Via Michelin site.  Even so, we second guessed ourselves more times than I can count.  We would be on a highway, then it would take us down a small country road.  It just didn't seem right.  I don't see why there couldn't have been a more direct way.  And the tolls.  France is full of toll roads.  Driving from Paris to Bayeux in Normandy we had to stop at least 4 times to pay tolls.  In Europe they use chip & pin credit cards, and our old school cards don't work for tolls, gas pumps and ticket machines. That means we have to pay cash.  For gas we have to go somewhere with an attendant.  Some stations don't have anyone there.  For train tickets, etc., we stand in line for the person at the window.  And tolls, we have to spot the one booth that has an attendant.  I've had to back the car out of more than one line.  Today the tolls were different.  When we got on the toll road we got a ticket.  At the end the ticket goes into the machine and calculates your toll.  There wasn't anyone to take money.  There were credit card booths, a couple of Fast Pass type booths, and one cash booth.  I didn't figure that out until I drove up to the wrong one.  Not again!  I had to back out and figure out which was the cash booth.  I didn't feel as bad when I saw three other people do the same thing while I was waiting.  I've figured out that if there's a long line of cars it must be the cash line.

We drove into Amboise and tried to find the parking for the chateau.  We have rented an apartment on a pedestrian street and we were told to park in the chateau lot.  There are some very small streets in the area and it took us some time to find the parking.  But the sign said it was 2 hour maximum pay parking.  We decided to just park there for the time being.  We walked around to get our bearings.  We found the apartment and we found a free lot between the two chateau in town.  The apartment has quite a few restaurants within less than a 5 minute walk.  There are also 3 places within 2-3 minutes to get our morning pastry.  We will be here for 3 mornings, so maybe I will have to try all 3 to see who makes the best Pain au Chocolat.  We moved the car and trekked back to the apartment with our luggage to wait for the owner.  Sophie showed us where the little grocery store was, and we bought some provisions.  And then we did what we had been waiting all day for.  Laundry!  We need clean clothes and we need them fast.  Our apartment has a washer/dryer.  With one machine only one load can be done at a time.  The wash cycle isn't too bad, but the drying cycle takes 3 hours.  And we have 3 loads.  Clearly it's not all getting done tonight.  When we started the first loads drying cycle we went around the corner and had dinner.  

This was the view from the restaurant -

This is the Amboise Chateau.  It's not as impressive as the places we will be going to, but I'm sure it's pretty nice inside.  After all, French Kings have lived there.

Mont Saint Michel

We went to Mont Saint Michel today.  It is one of the top 4 Christian Pilgramage sites in the world.  That's not why I wanted to go though.  I thought it was historic and unique.  It was those things, but Jim and I were both a little disappointed.  Maybe I was expecting too much, but it was basically a steep uphill climb past souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants.  There was scaffolding on the front and noisy construction was constant the entire time we were there.  The tide was out.  I was hoping it would start coming in while we were there, but no such luck.  There is only one other place in the world with a more extreme tide than MSM.  We will check it in the morning before we leave.  I had looked for a hotel there on the island, but found them to be expensive for what you get.  We are staying for just one night at a B&B very close to the island.  "They" say it's better to stay on the island so you have it to yourself after all the tourists leave.  Frankly, I was okay to leave before night time.  Since no cars are allowed on the island we walked a mile or so to the shuttle bus that would take us over the causeway.  We wanted to walk back before it got too dark,

Tomorrow we leave for the Loire Valley.  But first, we plan to sleep in.  For once.  I think I've had to set my alarm every day but once since we got here 2 1/2 weeks ago.  

Normandy

We arrived in Normandy on Friday, and we have been exploring as much as possible for the last 2 days.

Yesterday we started at the D Day Museum in Bayeux.  It was very well done and informative.   Then we started exploring the sites at Arromanches, where we saw the remains of the artificial harbor made for the D Day landings.  Nearby we saw the German defense batteries at Longues-sur-Mer.  It's the only German battery to still have it's guns.  After that we went to Omaha Beach and the American Cemetary.  It was very moving to see row upon row of gleaming white crosses and Stars of David.  At about 4:30 we noticed that one of the two flags was being brought down.  We walked over just in time to hear a 21 gun salute and then the  second flag started coming down.  There were hundreds of people there from all over the world, but everyone stopped.  And I mean everyone.  It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.  The quiet continued as the flag was carefully folded. Then they played taps.  It was quite emotional.  I was impressed that even the non-Americans were so respectful.  It was a very powerful experience.

Today we started the day by going to see the Bayeux Tapestry.  It is a 230 foot tapestry that depicts war, but not World War II.  This was the Norman conquest of England that took place in 1066.  It was very impressive.  Fortunately there was an audio guide that explained every scene.  Without that I would have been totally lost.

Then it was back to WWII and more D Day sites.  We went to Utah Beach first.  After that we went to Sainte-Mere-Eglise, where one of the people who parashooted in the night before the beach landings got hung up on a church steeple.  They have a replica of that still hanging on the church.  Inside the church they had the typical church stained glass, except one window was different.  It pays tribute to what happened there on June 6,1944.  We saw American flags hanging everywhere, as well as British and Canadian flags.  They have never forgotten here the people who gave them back their liberty during the dark days of WWII.

We finished off the D Day sites by going to La Pointe Du Hoc.  It was stormed by elite U.S. Rangers who used ropes and ladders to scale the cliffs.  There were heavy casualties during the fighting.  This was a strategic point for the German fortifications.  We saw the remains of the German artillery battery.  The ground there is full of holes from the allied bombs.

On the way back to Bayeux we stopped at a German Cemetary.  There was a plaque at the entrance that reminds us that not everyone that gave their life for Germany did so because they believed in what Germany was doing.

We saw a lot, but there was much we didn't see.  For me, seeing all this first hand has been a reminder of how terrible war is, and how many people are affected by it.  WWII has always been an interest of mine, mostly related to the Holocaust. This is the first time I've seen the evidence of battle.  It was very sobering.

We went out for a nice dinner.  Our last with Sarah and Dave.  Tomorrow they leave for Paris, while we head down to Mont Saint Michel.  It's been so nice having this time in London and Normandy with them.  I hope they love Paris as much as we do!

The Longest Day - Or Our Journey To France

On Friday, September 26th we woke up very early.  We had an 8:30 a.m. Eurostar train to catch.  Why wake up so early?  We were already mostly packed, so it wouldn't take an extraordinarily long time to get going.  I'm sure Jim would have loved to sleep later, but I always worry about being late.  We had to walk to the overground train station at Blackfriars, then wait for the train.  I didn't know how long that would be.  We ended up getting to the St. Pancras (Eurostar) station at about 7:30.  It was too early to check in, so we went to eat breakfast.  When we went back to go through security we caught up with Sarah & Dave.  After security came Immigration, then we had to wait to board the train.  Finally it was time.  We were in Coach 18, the very last car on the train.  I thought maybe we had to walk to Paris, it seemed so far.  Okay, that is a slight exaggeration.  Then we were off!  It's only a 2:15 minute train ride from London - Paris.  There is an hour time difference between them, so we were scheduled to arrive in Paris at 11:47.  We had plans to meet up with some people for lunch before driving to Normandy.  Sarah and Dave decided to take the train to Normandy and meet us there.  Everything was going fine.  As we got into the Paris suburbs the train started slowing down.  Slower, then slower...the next thing I knew we were stopped.  What the heck was going on?  Well, apparently there was a bomb  scare at Gare du Nord, the station we were going to.  We ended up sitting there for about 30 minutes, until it got resolved.  Then we were on our way again.  While we were sitting there I texted Darcy to let her know we were running late.  I wasn't sure if waiting for us would cut into her afternoon plans.  She said they would wait, and she and Pam caught up with me at the car rental office.  After the car paperwork was completed we had had to leave the station and walk around the corner to a parking garage where the car was waiting for us.  The garage was dark and the car was dirty.  It was hard to determine if there was any damage.  We did the best we could, stashed everyone's luggage, then went back up to the train station area.  Sarah and Dave took off to find their bus to take them to Gare St. Lazare, and Jim, Darcy, Pam and I went in search of somewhere nearby to eat.

I met Darcy through the Rick Steves travel forum.  She lives in Idaho, but came to Sacramento a few years ago.  When she was in town Eileen and I had a VERY long lunch with her.  She is very sweet and was very supportive when I was going through a difficult time.  Darcy met Pam through the travel meetings they have in Idaho.  It was nice seeing them both.  We were having such a nice time talking with them that it was hard to tear ourselves away.  My plan had been to leave Paris at 2:30 to make our 3 hour drive to Bayeux.  We ended up driving away at 3:00.  Who knew that it would take us an hour just to get out of Paris, because of the traffic.  I guess Friday traffic is bad everywhere.  It took us 4 hours to get to our hotel in Bayeux.  Check-in had to be before 7:00 p.m., so Sarah and Dave got our key for us.  Phew!  I was worried about that!  We are staying at La Tour Louise Guesthouse.  It's 200 years old.  Our room was fine and we have an incredible view from our bathroom!  Check it out below.  We took our bags to our rooms and then we set off to find a place to get some dinner.  That took awhile, and meals are never fast in France.  We got back to our room after 10:00 and crashed!

The Final Two Days In London

Our last two days in London have been jam packed full of activity.  

On Wednesday morning Sarah and I went to the tkts kiosk in Leicester Square to see if we could get discounted tickets to a play.  It was going to cost too much to get the seats that Dave would be comfortable in (he is very tall), so Sarah and I just got tickets for the two of us.  The guys can hang out by themselves tonight.

Jim and Dave then met us at the British Museum.    There are some incredible things there, including the Rosetta Stone.  We took a break for lunch, then returned to the museum for a little longer.  Then it was time to go to Trafalger Square.  It is quite the scene, with music, performers, and people just hanging out.  The National Gallery is there, so Sarah and I went in for a quick peek at the Impressionist paintings that we both love.

The guys walked us to the Theater for our play, after stopping for dinner at Wahaca.  It was really good food.

We saw War Horse.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Of course they couldn't have real horses on stage, so the horses were puppets.  Well, they called them puppets, but they were unlike any puppets I'd ever seen.  Each horse had 3 people controlling the movements, but it was so realistic that it was easy to forget the people were there.  I highly recommend this play.

Afterwards we went to the flat that Sarah and Dave are renting for their visit.  The guys were waiting for us there.  It was very late, so we didn't stay long.  Jim and I got back to our flat and collapsed from exhaustion.

Today, Thursday 9/25, is our last day here.  We decided to take the West End walking tour that Rick Steves has in his London guidebook.  We walked, and we walked, and we walked some more!  We started in Leicester Square, then walked to Covent Garden.  There we discovered a Laduree.  We had to get a head start on French goodies, so we each got a macaron.  Delicious!  We walked through Soho Square, and saw Paul McCartney's offices.  We also saw Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, where big name acts have performed for 50 years.  Jimi Hendrix's last performance was there, just a few days before he died in a London apartment.  We walked down Carnaby Street, and then Regent Street.  The length of Regent street was festooned with banners for the NFL game being played here on Sunday, September 28th.  The Oakland Raiders are playing the Miami Dolphins. 

The walk ended at Piccadilly Circus.  From there we jumped on the Tube and headed for Little Venice.  Why is it called Little Venice?  Because there are canals there of course!  It was a nice neighborhood, where it didn't feel like we were still in the city.

We took a canal boat, called a narrow boat, from little Italy to the Camden Lock Market.  It was very enjoyable.  When we got to the market area, it was very lively.

We walked around soaking up the atmosphere, then made our way to the nearest Tube station.  On the way we went into a shop.  Jim was wanting to buy a tshirt that says "Mind The Gap."  When you are on the Tube it is an announcement that is repeated frequently.  When we asked how much the tshirt was, the guy in the store said £30.  What?  That's highway robbery.  That $49.  For a lousy tshirt! They guy explained that there are two different qualities, and this was a high quality shirt.  Right.  It's a tshirt!  We said no way, and headed out of the store.  He followed, saying that maybe he could reduce the price.  Forget it, we were out of there!

We met up with Sarah and Dave at the London Eye and we went for dinner.  Our last one in Great Britain.  Afterwards we went back to the riverside for a last look.

 

Tomorrow we will be up bright and early to catch the Eurostar to France.  I've enjoyed our two weeks here.  The places we've seen and the people we've spent time with has been fantastic.  I would love to come back another time and explore more of the villages.  But for now, I am so excited.  Tomorrow by lunchtime we will be in France.  I can't wait!!

Bath

Today the four of us went to Bath.  The entire town is designated a World Heritage site.  First we toured The Roman Baths.  It was very interesting.  The Romans built the original baths.  In the 1700's Bath became a destination for Royalty and other posh people who thought that the baths and the water would cure whatever ailed them.  Of course it didn't.  The Roman baths were discovered in the late 1800's.

After lunch we took a 2 hour walking tour.  We learned about the history and architecture of the town.

The picture above is the Royal Crescent.

It was a very enjoyable day.  Bath is definitely worth exploring.

Here, There and Everywhere

Today we did a lot, but I feel like we didn't do enough.  Enough site seeing anyway.  Our first stop was the Imperial War Museum.  It was very well done, and if we had the time we could have spent all day there.  Since we didn't have all day, we focused on two areas.  First, World War I.  Or as they call it here in the UK, The Great War. Since it is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war there was a special exhibit.  There was so much to see, and there were many people trying to see it at the same time. There were a lot of school groups, as well as tourists.  I'm sure plenty of locals were there too.  I learned things about WWI that I didn't know.  My grandfather fought in WWI and I wish I knew more about what he did in the war.  We then went to the exhibit for World War II and the Holocaust.  It too was a well done exhibit.  We've gone to the Shoah (Holocaust) Museum in Paris and the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, and I would say that this exhibit comes pretty close to being as good as the others.  It's interesting to see the perspectives of the different countries.

I always get emotional when it comes to the Holocaust, so after we left we decided to take care of some business.  That got my mind off it a bit.   We took the Tube to Paddington Station, where we will go tomorrow morning to take the train to Bath.  I had pre-purchased the tickets, but we have to pick the actual tickets up at the station.  Not knowing how busy the station will be in the morning, we decided to pick them up today.  After that we went to the Tower of London.  We've been there before, but I wanted to see the installation of ceramic red poppies that have been placed there to commemorate WWI.  It was very moving and impressive.

Of course we had to get some pics of the iconic Tower Bridge.

After that we went to the Westminster area and walked around to see the sites.  Big Ben (people refer to the clock as Big Ben, but it's actually the bell), Parliment, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street...

After that, more shopping - some breakfast food for us and filling part of Jamie's makeup order. Oh, and a London Starbucks mug.  Can you believe that the only things I've purchased in our 11 days here are Starbucks mugs?  It's true.  The London mug is to replace the one I have, that after 8 years of use has a crack in the handle, and I got one in Edinburgh too.

We had a nice dim sum dinner and strolled along the river going home.  It was beautiful at night.  I took some pictures with my phone, but they didn't turn out very well.  I deleted all but one.  We will need to go back with the camera.  It supposedly does well in low light conditions.  We will see if that's true.  We decided to keep one picture because it looks almost like a painting.  

Hello London!

Yesterday we had to leave Edinburgh.  It would have been nice to spend more time there.  We had a great time with great friends, but knowing we were leaving one set of friends and arriving in London to another made it easier.

On the train from York to Edinburgh we were in 1st class.  It was nice.  They brought us drinks and food.  Whatever we wanted.  We had free wifi.  On the train from Edinburgh to London we were in 2nd class.  It was a bit grungier.  We bought sandwiches at the station to take with us.  We got 15 minutes of free wifi.  Not quite as nice.  What was nice were the people.  We were at a table with two seats across from us.  Two girls in their mid-20's were traveling to Newcastle with 2 friends for a Girl's weekend.  The other girls were sitting a few rows away.  It wasn't long before we started chatting with them.  We discussed their feelings about how the referendum had turned out.  One had voted Yes and one had voted No.  Then we discussed their lives in Scotland.  Free healthcare.  Free higher education.  They asked us about the U.S. and California.  Their friends came over after awhile and hung out too.  They were really nice girls.  They got off in Newcastle and new seatmates got on.  They were a group of 5 middle aged and one older woman who were going to York for the day to celebrate the 50th birthday of the woman sitting across from Jim.  Her name was Andrea.  They brought with them 3 bottles of champagne, multiple large bags of crisps (chips to us), plates, napkins, plastic cups... They were ready to party.  And they did!  They were a crazy bunch, and then two more of their group got on the train at another station.  The two women at our table were the quietest of the group (which isn't saying much) and we talked to them quite a bit.  They had consumed all the booze by the time they arrived in York.  They got off the train there, and two other women joined us.  They were 30ish and heading to London for the day.  One of them had business to attend to and the other was along for the ride, so to speak.  They were also quite chatty with us.  There's one thing we have learned after talking to many people in Great Brittain who say they have been to the U.S.  And I don't get this, but for some reason they all go to Las Vegas.  They seemed surprised that we don't live that far from there and have never been.

After a train ride that seemed fast because of all the people we chatted with we arrived in London, at the Kings Cross station.  The woman we are renting a flat from had given me the directions for getting there.  We had problems getting our Oyster cards loaded so we can use the Tube and buses while we are here.  After about an hour we had it sorted out.  We took the overground train to get as close to the flat as possible, then walked about 15 minutes to get there.  

The landlord, Anne, was very nice.  She's originally from Boston, but has been here 16 years.  We have rented many apartments, both in the U.S. and in Europe, but this is our first experience using Airbnb.  I'm not disappointed.  The flat is a studio, but it's big enough.

We are staying on the South Bank, not too far from the London Eye.  It's a good location.  We settled in, then went for a long walk along the Thames River to Burough Market.  We then walked along the street to dinner and a store to buy some breakfast food.

Our dear friends Sarah & Dave arrived in London on Thursday.  They had a busy day Saturday, but we arranged to meet up with them Saturday night at the Waterloo train station, since it's located between the flat they are renting and ours.  Unfortunately they aren't as happy with their flat as we are with ours.  We visited for a little while, but we were all ready to call it a night before too long.  We arranged when we would meet today and went our separate ways.

Today is Sunday, September 21st.  Our 29th wedding anniversary.  It was a very nice day.  We made our way to the Victoria & Albert Museum, walking along the river a bit before catching the Tube.  We spent as much time there as we could, but we missed a lot.  I hope we can go back as there is so much to see.  We had 2:00 tickets to tour Buckingham Palace and the Gardens.  We met Sarah and Dave there and got in line to enter.  Sarah was first and was told the Garden Tour was full and we couldn't go.  Okay then, into the Palace we went.  Unfortunately they don't allow photos, but trust me when I say it is very GRAND, as you would expect.  There was a lot of art and beautiful furniture.  In addition to all the public rooms we were able to tour, there was an exhibit about Royal Childhood.   It focused on the children that have grown up there.  There were displays of their toys and clothes, and they showed home movies of the Royal children at play.  It turned out there had been a mix up about the Garden Tour portion of the ticket, which we had paid for months ago.  They nicely refunded the difference.

We walked from the Palace to the Speakers Corner at Hyde Park.  For centuries people have gone there on Sundays to speak about anything they wanted.  There were actually two people, not too far from each other, speaking at the same time.  There was quite a crowd and it was hard to understand them.  We gave up and walked down Oxford St., then caught the tube to go to dinner.

What a special dinner it was.  Sarah & Dave treated us for our anniversary to dinner at The Wolseley.  It was very good.  I had the Plat du Jour, the tradional Sunday Roast with Yorkshire Pudding.  I had the same thing last Sunday and this was so much better.

This was our poor attempt at a selfie at dinner.

It was a very full day, and I loved every minute of it.  I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful and caring husband.  There is no one else I would rather travel through life with, both literally and figuratively.  And to share our special day with such wonderful friends, in London, is something I will always cherish.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Edinburgh

I can't believe we've been here since Wednesday and this is the first chance I've had to blog.  There is so much to do here and we have been so busy!

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  I was told by the owner of the apartment we rented that it was about a 15 minute walk from the train station.  It was more like 30 minutes.  Part of that was having to repeatedly stop and make sure we were still going the right way.  We finally made it and June was there waiting for us.  The apartment is fantastic!

We settled in, started some laundry, and waited for Norm and Georgia to arrive.   After they arrived from the airport we walked up to where some restaurants were, and decided on an Italian place for dinner.  It was very good, but something with my dinner didn't agree with me.  It was a long, mostly sleepless night.

On Thursday there was excitement in the air.  Today was Election Day.  The day the Scots had been waiting for.  A referendum.  Would they vote Yes for freedom?  Would they choose No and remain part of the UK?  There was more excitement and buzz from the Yes camp.  Norm & Georgia were interviewed by a reporter looking for tourists opinions.

Here are some images of what we saw -

The people were gathered in front of the Scottish Parliment building -

This guy was doing his best William Wallace/Mel Gibson impersonation -

We had tickets for four separate Hop on/Hop off (to now be referred to as HOHO) buses.  We did two of the routes that day.  As the day went on it got more and more foggy.  We went to Edinburgh Castle and the weather seemed very fitting.  First we had lunch, then we went to all the different areas of the castle.  The Crown Jewels were amazing, but there weren't as many as we saw at the Tower of London when we were there 8 years ago.  The views from there would have been great if we could have seen anything.  

In addition to the Castle we walked the Royal Mile and soaked up the atmosphere and excitement of being in Edinburgh on this historic day.  It was a long day, and thankfully I got a good nights sleep.

When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was to check the news.  Did the voters that wanted independence win?  No, it was not to be.  As we were heading out today we spoke to the concierge of this apartment building.  He is an older man and he voted no.  He said that in his opinion there were too many unanswered questions about what would happen if they became independent.  Especially with their currency, as England had stated they could no longer use the pound.  England had also offered Scotland concessions in the final days before the vote, hoping to persuade Yes voters to change their minds.  Apparently they were successful.

Georgia wanted to do some genealogy research this morning, so Jim and I sent off to go to a couple of museums.  We went to the National Museum of Scotland first.  It was huge, so we decided to mostly concentrate on Scottish history in the Kingdom of the Scots exhibit.  We then went to the National Gallery of Scotland, an art museum.  We just went to the area where the Impressionists were, as I was hoping to see some Monet's.  There were some really nice paintings, but only one Monet.  And it was a different style than the paintings he does that I particularly like.  Oh well, I will get to see plenty of his work when we are in Paris.  The National museums are free.  I like that, as it's harder to justify paying admission somewhere when you done want to see the entire thing.

We grabbed a bite to eat, then met up with Norm & Georgia.  We took the HOHO that would take us out to where the Royal yacht, the Britannia, was docked.  I decided not to take the tour, but the others really enjoyed it.  By the time we got back into town it was too late for us to take the only HOHO route we hadn't done.  Norm & Georgia had done that route before we met up after lunch and said it was essentially seeing things we had already seen.  We wandered around until we decided on an Indian place for dinner.  It was delicious and a nice way to end our time with our friends.  In the morning we will go our separate ways.  We had a wonderful time with them.