Monday, 30 June 2014

Portafino

Today we caught a  train from Monterosso to Santa Marghereta which is about 40 minutes away. What a beautiful place it is with a georgeous harbour, stunning views, and hanging baskets in flower. Very picturesque. From there we caught a boat to Portafino, the place of the rich and famous (and tourists). The shopping is high end, as are the prices to eat there.  It would have to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is absolutely stunning. We climbed up the hill to the castle and got some fantastic photos, then settled on a resturant on the waterfront where we managed to spend a couple of hours and several hundreds of euros on lunch (between the 7 of us). Lisa started off with an order for each of us for a lemoncino which is a liqueur which originated in Portafino.  It is very strong, and because Lisa, Kev, and I were the only ones to drink it we ended up drinking everyone else's! It wasn't conducive to staying sober for me, although Lisa and Kev weren't affected to the same extent. With the hot sunny weather a girl really needed an afternoon siesta after that, however the salt spray from the boat ride back to Santa Marghereta did the trick. We were back to Monterosso by 7 PM and some hearty souls (not me) went for a dip in the sea. A good day had by all.

Sunday, 29 June 2014

Day trip to Lucca and then up north


It was a normal start to the day for the Fraser/Browne & McCormack/Burney crew, but an early start for the Simpson/Pyett team.  We planned for breakfast at 8am and on the road by 9.  While this is not an issue for the majority of us, Lisa takes the fact that she is on holiday to a different meaning. Nevertheless the Simpson/Pyetts were ready and waiting not too far off the mark. We had to start with a photo session of us with our Fiats, which of course included the six adults (Reb doesn't consider herself an adult when she is with us, even though she is nearly 26!) squashing into one car. Very juvenile, but nevertheless funny at the time.

We visited Lucca which is about an hour away and hired bikes for an hour to go around the town wall  It was all very leisurely but still only managed to take us half an hour. We then knew where to access the market so wandered along. It was stinking hot but we managed to part with some euros by buying essentials like socks and other bits and pieces required when you don't have daily access to a washing machine. Lunch was some very nice pasta dishes and obligatory water, or was that wine?

Back at the resort our plans for lounging by the pool were thwarted by a private function being held poolside. Therefore, it was lounging on the terrace drinking mojitos and piña coladas with Lisa, Trish and Michael. The late afternoon nicely rolled into the evening and we managed to see the penalty shoot out between Brazil and Chile in the World Cup.

Sunday
Today we said good bye to the Renaissance Tuscany Resort and headed north. The last four nights have flown past in a blur. Michael, Reb and I headed to Pisa on our way to the Cinque Terre village of Monterosso. Reb was keen to see Pisa which was understandable seeing this is her first visit to Italy. We took the obligatory photos, had a drink, and continued north. By the time we arrived at Monterosso the others had already arrived and ready to go exploring. This village is the one of five villages that were originally fishing villages but now provides a walking track (or via train)  for tourists to get from one village to another.  The villages are all very picturesque and should provide some fantastic photos (well that's what I am hoping anyhow).This afternoon was about exploring Monterosso, and minimising the time spent getting wet. It is hoped that this cooler spell will pass today leaving the next two days perfect for further exploring.

Friday, 27 June 2014

Renaissance Tuscany - first two days

Okay, the first day at the resort stayed out admiring the spectacular view from the breakfast balcony across the valley. It is fantastic. The day started out not as warm as we would have hoped and deteriorated in fits and starts throughout the day. By the time we had consumed a very late and leisurely breakfast and mucked about admiring parts of he resort half the day had gone. In the afternoon we piled into two of the three cars (they are all small, as is necessary in this part of the world) and drove to the nearest golf course to see what we thought. It doesn't appear that there is the ability to hire clubs so that is out. We then headed on to the nearest village called Braga. It is not a tourist destination of any significance and we had trouble finding a suitable place for lunch that didn't have a photographic menu (these have been ruled out as potential places to eat as they end up as duds. If you have to show photos of the food then it is no good). To cut a long story short we went back to be resort and settled in for several hours commencing with lunch at 4PM, with accompanying coffee or alcoholic beveridges. This continued with afternoon drinks, and then was followed up with dinner......

Today
Rebecca wanted to see Florence while she is in Tuscany so the three of us, with Kev in tow, piled into our little Fiat 500 i.e. Bambino and drove a couple of hours south into Florence. It was a scorcher as we wandered around the tourist traps admiring the buildings and statutes. We didn't venture into any of the museums, it was enough to walk around to get a good feel for the place. We walked up to the lookout over the city and was able to appreciate the fantastic view. Michael and I had good memories of the view from when we stayed in a nearby motor camp which overlooked the city back in 1987. I managed to buy a new leather jacket so it was a productive day. Michael is a bit of a whiz driving around in the baby Fiat. It surprisingly manages 120kms no problems (on the flat) but is pathetic on the hill where you need to drop into first gear at times!

We are eating in the nicer resturant at the resort for dinner tonight and Lisa has ordained that we put on our dresses for the occasion.

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Sometimes you have to take the bad days in your stride when you travel

Well it's been a pain in the rear end the last two days, however it finished with meeting up with Rebecca in Florence, and Lisa & Kev at the resort we are all staying at in Tuscany. On Tuesday our flight to Genoa was cancelled due to a strike by workers over French airspace. That was ok because we stayed in an AC Marriott hotel near the airport which was a lovely hotel, and we managed a stroll along the beach the following morning. The sand had already been manicured for the day and was incredibly soft and you just sank into it.  We were back at the airport at about 1100hrs to stand in a queue for an hour to put our bags through. We were due to fly to Florence now at 1PM, however this was delayed by several hours. Boring! We finally boarded at 3.30PM only to sit on the tarmac until 6PM. Boring, and the 4 of us were scattered randomly around the plane. It was one of those occasions when half the plane claps when we finally lifted off.

So we finally get to Florence, now needing to get to the car rental before it closes. There was one taxi at a time servicing two flights that had come in so we ditched that idea and caught the airport shuttle.  Fortunately the bus was going to the train station which is where we needed to pick Reb up from. Unfortunately it was 8.30 by now and the car rental place which was nearby was closed.......
so we had to take two taxis (because now there are 5 of us with luggage) back to the airport to another car rental place that was still open. Instead of a 7 seater as we had originally planned we ended up with 2 Fiat Bambinos (how very Italian!) and we zoomed off into the darkness for an hour until we finally arrived at our destination at midnight. By this stage we hadn't eaten since breakfast and were feeling a tad hungry. Thankfully we were able to access food until 1AM so there we were drinking wine/beer, eating pizza for dinner and chatting away waiting for Lisa and Kev to arrive. We had decided that they were probably lost, having driven several hours from Rome. They finally arrived at 1.30 AM and we finally decided at 2.30AM that it was time to go to bed. It all ended fine. The resort is spectacular.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Day trip to Montserrat

Monday
Today was a day for exploring beyond the boundaries of Barcelona. We jumped on the metro, transferred lines, and headed west for an hour. Once off the train we caught a gondola up a steep hillside to Montserrat. Grant did very well with eyes focused on the horizon, and no doubt toes clenched to the floor and hands gripping tightly. It would have been a very long 5 minute journey!

There has been some significance to the Virgin Mary here since 880 AD and is now home to about 100 Benedictine monks, although we didn't see any sign of them. We visited the museum which has amongst it some very good pieces of art, including some from Picasso, and Dali. There is also a beautiful basilica (of course) which had thousands of people in it watching a very public wedding take place. Montserrat is apparently also famous for its boys choir who sing daily in the basilica, record their music, and travel internationally.

There was an opportunity to travel higher up the hill, which is incredibly steep, however we opted not to in respect of Grants fear of heights. Our tickets included lunch at the restaurant, which was probably slightly better than expected for mass production of food.

On the way back we stopped to see the bullfighting arena that Michael remembered from when we were last here in 1987.  However today only the facade remains and inside the former arena a shopping mall exists. Grant, who loves gadgets, bought himself a travelling iron. We thought we would let him practice on our creased up clothes when we get to Italy. Along our travels back to 'La Rambla' we also come across the Univeristy of Barcelona. What a beautiful building. If I studied there I would never want to leave.

Tuesday
Unbeknown to us until two days ago, today is a public holiday. This means that our plans to visit the Picasso Muesum have been thwarted. Only a fraction of the shops are open, but there are enough bars and restaurants open to keep the tourists happy. After a late breakfast, domesticity in the way of doing the laundry, we spent a couple of hours wandering around the waterfront and ordering bad tapas. We are catching a plane this evening to Genoa, so we say adios to cervcerios (beer), sangria, and tapas. During our time in Spain the football team has been eliminated after defeat in their first two games in the World Cup, and there has been the inauguration of the new Spanish King.

Post script - we didn't make it to Genoa. The flight was cancelled, probably because all flights over France airspace are not happening due to a strike in France.  Presumably this has impacted in the ability for planes to get into other airports. We are slumming it in a quite nice Marriott hotel near the airport, drinking outside near the pool. It could be a lot worse......  We have flights to Florence booked for tomorrow which works well because we are meeting Rebecca at the train station tomorrow night.

Sunday, 22 June 2014

Day 2 Barcelona

As it it Sunday, Trish dug into her old roots of Catholicism and made a brisk pace to church this morning. The church is a famous landmark of Barcelona known as  Sagrada Familia. This church was designed by Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect, and it become his life long work. It was built to draw people back to the church following a period of rapid industrialisation whereby the people had increasingly become decadent and living against the values espoused by the church. Building commenced in 1883 and still continues today. It had a period during the Franco years where no work was done to assist towards the it's completion.The aim now is to have it completed by 2026, which will mark 100 years since the death of Gaudi.

Inside it is absolutely beautiful. The stained glass windows are outstanding, as are the pillars and vaulted ceiling. The combination of contemporary and ninetieth century architecture works well. We could see a Sunday mass taking place down stairs but Grant, Michael, and I didn't have our Catholic passes to get in there!

On the way back we came across a rally for Catalan independence. I guess there will be more of these as this area of Spain heads towards their referendum for independence.

Barcelona - a city of 5 million people and 5 Kms of beach

Our first full day in Barcelona was started with something we have done before - a bike tour of the city. However this time we took all of 5 minutes to arrive at the bike shop. We seem to be close to everything here on the 'La Ramblas', or the main pedestrian shopping area in Barcelona. The shopping area around us is fantastic, with everything from a multilevel Nike shop across the road to the most amazing market place down the road. We even have a laundromat around the corner.

The bike tour was good in that it gave us a perspective to the city, however it wouldn't rate it as good as the two previous bike tours in Madrid and Valencia. It made Michael and I realised what a good area we staying in for location and proximity to what we want to see. The beach area has only been cleaned up and become a mecca for locals and tourists alike since the city won the rights to hold the Olypmics in 1992.

Our tour guide provided some interesting information, for example that Catalonia (which includes Barcelona) lost its separate identity 300 years ago in 1814, hence there is going to be a referendum in November this year to see how many of the 7 million Catalonians vote for independence from Spain. They have their own language and customs which remain of upmost importance to them.  Yesterday in Girona, and here in Barcelona, we noticed the Catalonia flags hinging from balconies.

Earlier this morning we had booked some tickets to a concert for this evening. Having previously had a successfully cultural / musical appreciation shift in Prague back in 2010, we had the opportunity to attend a concert by four well-known and respected classical Spanish guitarists. The concert started at 9PM in the most beautiful building that was acoustically perfect. The concert turned out to be much better than any of us envisaged. The four guitarists were incredibly skilled and their performance was full of humour which had the audience laughing and clapping throughout. It was truely amazing.  We left feeling it was well worth the money.  Embracing more of the Spanish culture we dined after the concert at 11PM. A good first day.

Friday, 20 June 2014

Pals to Barcelona

What can you say about yesterday - it was more of the same as you would expect staying in a coastal resort. It was hot, sunny, we played 9 holes of golf in the morning, lay on the beach for a while,  had an afternoon cocktail by the pool and then Michael and Trish went out for a second 9 holes at 5pm while I read my book. The four of us meet up again when the golfers returned for another drink by he pool before heading to the resturant for dinner.

This morning we were up for another early breakfast and over to the golf course for another 8am tee off. This time I didn't play as  I am nursing an injury. Under the tutelage of Michael trying to help me with my swing yesterday I damaged one of my intercostal cartilages therefore making any swinging today rather painful. I made a very efficient score keeper though.

Following golf we packed and left the resort. It has been a lovely three days here but it is time to move on. We headed east towards Girona which is the closest city to Pals.  Here we had a wander around the old part of the city. It obviously still has some strong connection to its Roman past and there was evidence that they stil hold festivals / street parades in remembrance to their historical roots. There is part of the old Roman fortification surrounding the former city which you can walk along but it isn't anything like that of Dubrovnik. It was a mild 36 degrees and we were sweltering until we could find a suitablely shaded place to have a late lunch.

From Girona we headed about an hour south to Barcelona where we will be residing for the next 4 days. We have ditched the rental car and are back to beating the feet.

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Tossa Del Mar to Pals

Tuesday

We left our beautiful accommodation and headed for the township of Tarragona. Although the area was better than what we had encountered the day previously, it is not a great tourist attraction. The only item it can boast is a ruinous Roman amphitheater.

We popped into our trusty VW, this time with Grant behind the wheel and Michael navigating (never a couples things because that causes marital disharmony) and headed north for a couple of hours. On our way to La Costa Golf & Beach Resort we deviated to a coastal town of Tossa del Mar. It is situated 100ks north of Barcelona and 100ks south of the French border. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering through the cobblestoned narrow streets, eating lovely pizza, and walking up to an old fortification on the hilltop. The weather was pleasant, at around 23-25 degrees. The beach was lovely, dotted with boats out in the tranquil water. It wasn't hot enough for me to swim but there were some hearty souls out there, including a couple of extra large older ladies who had numerous people gaping in surprise as they stripped down to their underwear without a care in the world.

From here we continued for an hour north to our final destination. We are now ensconced in a resort setting for three nights. It ticks many boxes with an excellent sized swimming pool, being adjacent to the golf course (with 50% discount to play), and being 50m from the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately around 5pm the clouds burst open and there was some decent thunder as well. The temperature plummeted which wasn't on my agenda!

Wednesday

Today is a lazy day at the resort - a quick visit to the beach only to discount it as too cold for swimming (who said the Mediterranean was warm). We spent a couple of hours by the pool improving our tans (Trish is looking like a bronzed Goddess)  before heading off for a half  hour golf lesson (Trish and I) followed by the four of us playing a late afternoon 9 holes. We were the last to tee off, finishing in perfect time around 8PM which coincides with when the restaurant at the resort opens.


Monday, 16 June 2014

Valencia to Tarragona

We left Valencia this morning after a sumptuous hotel breakfast and continued on our adventure. We are heading back up north and had decided to stay in Tarragon which is close to the sea. We headed straight for a golf course we had located nearby and had a very enjoyable nine holes. The weather was perfect - about 24 degrees which meant it wasn't overbearingly hot. Trish and I managed to play our best game yet - it must have been the influence of our husbands!

Following lunch at the club house we headed for our accomodation. It was not as easy as you would think, even with the use of our Tom Tom, and Trish's google maps. It appears that since new roads have been put in there has been difficulty accessing this place. We initially ended up in some dodgy parts of town, and even at an empty lot. Eventually Grant was tasked with ringing up the hotel and we managed to get there on verbal instructions over the phone.

What we eventually got far exceeded what we thought we might be going to end up at. This hotel is nestled into olive trees, and caters for weddings as well as couples. There is an immense garden, a pool, and an olive oil press. The rooms are spacious, and very tastefully decorated. This place is a little gem in an otherwise ugly city (from what we have seen so far when we were lost!). By the time we settled into our salubrious accommodation we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out and enjoying our surroundings.

Valencia

Our second day in Valencia consisted of another bike tour because had enjoyed our experience in Madrid so much. This was a bit more down scale, with only one tour guide, no bottled water, and no helmets offered. Nevertheless it still remains the best way to see a new city. So much more is covered in the three hours than you could ever see by walking.

Most of the bike ride involved riding in a former river bed. Unfortunately it used to be prone to flooding, although this area of Spain has more a tendency towards drought. In 1956 a multitude of people were swept away into the sea so it was decided to redirect the river. Within the original river there is now 10kms of established gardens, an athletic track, rugby field, softball pitch, science museum, opera house, and even an area especially designed for  dogs to swim in.

Seeing it was Sunday there were lots of people out running, cycling, walking their dogs and generally enjoying the sunshine. Our tour guide a bit of a comedian who was naturally called Jose. The area we biked around was lovely, and besides the former river bed, we deviated into the old city. However, the rest of what we saw of Valencia outside of the touristy bike ride, and along the beach yesterday, looks a bit tired and grubby, probably the effects of the economic recession.

In the afternoon we found a lovely restaurant nearby our hotel and settled in for late lunch which ended up combining to become early dinner as well. The only hassle was that we countered numerous beggars as we were siting outside.

Saturday, 14 June 2014

Weekend in Valencia - the home of the Valencia orange

We have left Madrid in our own four wheels with Michael once again being our trusty driver on foreign roads. The road between Madrid and Valencia is pretty non-descript but does have some quite picturesque areas of olive trees and other horticulture. Trish managed to get a live stream of the All Black game on her phone, so we managed to hear most of the second half. It was a bit close!

Our first stop in Valencia was a fruit and vege market which is reportedly one of the biggest ? oldest in the world. To be honest we thought the outside one in Paris was better. We were starving by this time and unfortunately didn't take the time to find somewhere nice to eat, consequently our lunch was a disappointment but filled a gap. We headed to our hotel down a number of one way streets to find that our rental car was too big for their car park because they use a lift to put the car onto and the car then somehow gets deposited into the car park. The service behind the counter was rubbish. As the guys were parking down the road Trish and I were getting a trolley and lugging our bages on to it ourselves (they only fell off once) - and this is supposedly a four star hotel called Vincci Palace.   Just as well we can manage that but there would be lots of women that would have difficulty.

Anyway we headed off to the area where the America's Cup was held. What a magnificent venue for sailing. Some of the buildings still have the names of the syndicate, for example, Alinghi, Prada, and of course Team New Zealand. Before we hit the beach we waited to watch the largest outdoor spin class imaginable. We estimated there were 1000 bikes set up and when the 3 instructors started up, the place was pumping.

The beach along here goes for miles and is about 200m wide from the promenade to the waters edge. What is interesting is that there are wooden walkways on to the beach and everyone walks up and down these and no one is on vast areas of the beach except for a narrow strip running parrell with the water. It makes it easy of getting wheelchairs down to the water as well. I think they must do this because the sand gets so hot. It peaked at 34 degrees and there were plenty of lobster looking bodies that are going to be sore. Topless sunbathing wasn't anything out of the norm either.

We walked along the edge of the water amongst the hundreds/ thousands of people and then found a different walkway up to the promenade. Once there we headed back the way we had come and found ourselves a nice restaurant which made up for our dismal lunch.

Valencia doesn't seem quite the clean, beautiful city that we experienced in Madrid, although it is the third largest in Spain. We will have a better idea tomorrow when we get to bike around the city.

Friday, 13 June 2014

Bike tour in Madrid

Grant had booked us into a bike tour for this mornings entertainment. We first breakfasted in the hotel which was a more traditional breakfast than what we have been eating. It consisted of two types of meats, two types of cheeses, freshly squeaked orange juice,  fresh water melon juice, beautiful bread, jams, chutney to go with the meats, and of course coffee. The beauty of not understanding Spanish is that it is always an adventure to see what you get given. When we thought we had finished we were presented with trays of freshly cut up fruit.

Once we were sated with breakfast Trish set a blistering pace as we walked to where the bike tour was to commence. Our group of about 18 consisted of people from the U.S, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, us four Kiwis, and a couple of quiet Asian girls. The tour was outstanding.

We re-visited several places that we had gone to yesterday which highlighted what a good tour guide Grant was. However this time we were provided with a history from our tour leader who was obviously very knowledgeable and very passionate about Madrid. A good deal of the tour was off main roads and it made for easy biking around the narrow cobble stoned streets. Madrid is blessed with excellent artesian water and is therefore a very green city. As a result it has amazing parks, the largest one having been originally designed for the King and cronies to enjoy. Madrid is a beautiful city and biking around it with a guide is the best way to see it. The area we in also contains cycle lanes on the busier roads so makes getting across busy intersections a lot safer. The bike tour took 3 1/2 hours and well worth the money. The temperature was 26 degrees before we even started, and 31 by the time we finished.

Following an afternoon siesta to avoid the heat, although Michael entertained himself at the nearby Naval Museum, we eventually headed out to dinner for beverages and tapas. By 9 PM the restaurant was starting to get busy with the locals settling in to watch Spain play their first game in the football World Cup against Holland. Trish and I nearly made it to half-time before we left for the quick stroll back to our hotel. Spain were up I-0 and looked to be dominate. Michael and Grant stayed to watch the full game and came back to report that Spain lost 5-1 and that the restaurant had quieten down somewhat in the second half. There is likely to many unhappy Spaniards today as they reflect on their     dismal result.

Thursday, 12 June 2014

Shade seeking in Madrid

Today we started the day with a leisurely stroll through the nicer parts of Madrid. There was certainly a time when Spain was a wealthy nation which is depicted in the magnificent architecture. I tried on a top in a sportswear store, only to leave my camera in the changing room, and then Michael and I having to make a mad dash back to the store and up the escalators to the changing room. Fortunately it was waiting there to be re-homed to me so no drama!

We found by accident a lovely building which was essentially a covered in upmarket food stall. Trish managed to buy herself something to eat for breakfast as earlier her order for breakfast had been a dud. Michael was in his element deciding which tart looked the best option (I mean the ones you eat).

As we wandered to the Grand Palace it was getting hotter and hotter. The guy selling fans to the queue waiting to get into the Palace grounds managed to deplete Grant of a few euros and they bought a fan each. As Grant said, he is comfortable in his own skin.

This palace is aptly named as indeed it is very grand, and reflects a period of former glory in Spanish history. Unfortunately the number of tour groups going through the Palace was a bit much.

We had been given a recommendation for a nice restaurant from the receptionist at the hotel. We found  it with the guidance of Google map, and set ourselves up for the next couple of hours. We were outside in a plaza, under shade, with a lovely cooling mist emanating from the umbrella framework. Because we are in Spain we felt it was obligatory to order sangria, which only comes in a large jug. Michael, Grant and I managed to polish that off without any difficulty with Trish sticking to her trusty Chardonnay.

Feeling a tad intoxicated we finished lunch at 3.30 (we are on Spanish time now) and headed to the Prado Musuem, which was one of the things to do on Grants bucket list while in Madrid. The Musuem is massive and we restricted ourselves to looking at the Spanish painters (while in Spain etc....). Some of it was very good, and some of it was probably good art work but not appreciated by me.

Behind the museum is the botanical garden and this had also been recommended because it has a very good collection of bonsai's, which is something that I enjoy. The garden had been established by King  Charles III in 1781, and contains areas of medicinal plants, and edible plants, in addition to the bonsai's. Fortunately, we found the bonsai collection relatively quickly, as by now the temperature was hovering around 31 degrees and it was much better to be in the shade than the sun.

On our short stroll back to our hotel we happened to pass the garden entrance to the Ritz Hotel, so we popped in there and were duely welcomed by the Ritz staff. We order a drink each (I have to add that I was the only one to have a non-alcoholic drink) and enjoyed the ambience of the hotel, with the pianist playing on the balcony.

After a short siesta we had a planning meeting (in the hotel bar - where else!) at 7.45 pm around organising car rentals, and flights to Italy on the 25th. We headed off to dinner at 9 pm, feeling like we were now on "Spanish time".

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Madrid

Breakfast in Paris, and tapas in Madrid - all in a day. We planned to catch a taxi from Madrid airport to the hotel only to find that the taxis were on strike. We jumped on one of those airport buses and headed into the city. We took a punt and managed to get off at the right bus stop. We then walked in the 29 degree heat only to find that we had gone to the wrong (sister) hotel so we had to back track. Picture this  - it is hot, we had missed lunch (flew easyJet), no water (although both Trish and Michael tried to smuggle their water bottles out of  France but without success - you would have thought the other two would know the rules by now!), I was parched and  I didn't have suitable footwear on for traipsing around the streets, so found myself dragging the chain (and suitcase) behind the other three (everyone who knows Trish knows how fast she walks and the boys were walking at the same pace). I was very thankful to finally reach our destination.

Within 15 minutes of getting to our room we were up the road to the nearest bar. Here we quenched our thirst on alcohol, and satisfied our hunger with delicious tapas, all while Trish had us in stitches quoting out of her Spanish phrase book.

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Last full day in Paris

Today was wet, wet, wet.....  Our first port of call was to the area called Mairie which is essentially an area of artists. We found one particular shop with the most amazing sculptures in it. We ended up chatting to the chap in the shop who enlighten us as to how many thousands of euros the sculptures would cost. Let's just say that it would be equivalent to buying a car..... If only money wasn't an issue!

Nearby was the Carnavalet Museum, which presents the history of Paris from it's earliest times until the present day. It was okay. Michael liked the paintings post-Revolution when the king and Maire Antoinette were being executed.

Although the rain dented our plans to visit the Sacre Coeur basilica and Montmartre we managed to fill in the day without any difficulty.  We used the metro, not exactly like pro's, but nevertheless we  managed to find our way to Lafayette, a huge department store which thankfully is accessible from the metro station. It is bedlam inside, almost too big to find anything although we did find a rather nice restaurant with which we settled in for food and beverages.  The ceiling is architecturally beautiful.  Our intention had been to eat in the restaurant on the roof of Layayette which is high enough to provide a stunning view (on a good day), however the rain, and thunder, put an end to those plans.

Unfortunately the weather didn't abate so we had to cancel all plans to visit the Basilica, and Montmarte where the artists have their works on display.  We did however find the Passage Joffrey which we had previously visited in 2010. This is a long passage of shops and restaurants that were built to accommodate the ladies in the 19th century not getting their dresses dirty by the mud and horses on the main streets. The Passage runs  through several blocks and carries on across several roads and makes for a save haven out of the heavy rain. Michael even managed to get his golden locks shorn off  (or maybe I should rephrase that and say that his hair now no longer looks like Friar Tuck).

Back near our "home" metro station we scuttled into the nearest cafe bar in order to wait for the rain to at least lessen before we hit the road back to the hotel. We managed some nice Boudeaux wine to accompany us through the next hour or so.

Monday, 9 June 2014

Day 3 & 4 Paris

Once we were out of the hotel and heading towards the  symbol of Bastile we found ourselves amongst the Sunday market. What a wonderfully professional organisation as it is all undercover  for the stall owners with the crowds wandering down the middle. The display of the vegetables and fruit were done in such an artful way it made you want to buy them. The cheeses and bread were to die for....... This is suburban Paris at its best.

We headed towards the Notre Dame for breakfast. By the time we had breakfasted (about 11am) the crowds to get into the wonderful cathedral looked hours long already. Thankfully it wasn't on our list of activities, although it did amuse me to recall the last time we were here with Trish and Grant when Trish took one look at the queue and marched us up to the front and into the cathedral like we owned the place. Stunned onlookers made derogatory comments about rude Americans, which we thought was funny.

We headed for the Luxembourg Gardens which is impressive, with its obligatory chateau included. The sun was shining, the gardens immaculate, there was a band playing, people relaxing - what more could you want?

From there we visited  a medieval museum which was nearby. - very pious and not my cup of tea, although you had to admire the quality of the tapestries and the stories they depicted.

The afternoon was hot and spent in a couple of cafés. Drinking cocktails in the afternoon on a hot day is a recipe for needing an afternoon siesta, however we managed to fill in the day by watching the men's tennis final at Roland Garros on a screen in a cafe. Trish, being an avid tennis follower, and in love with Rafel, was very pleased with the result.

Monday

Michael and Trish were out running in the thunder and lightening this morning before I even woke up. When everyone was ready we headed off for breakfast on the Champs Élysées. We then walked up one side of the street, window shopping and a bit of retail therapy (Trish and I bought matching golf tops!), until we got to the top. We had seen the Arc de Triumphe up close before but had never been up the top. By the time I had climbed up all those hundreds of steps I felt like I needed bilateral knee replacements, but it was worth it. The view from the top shows the wonderfully planning that is a feature of Paris with all major roads heading towards that one point. All he roads are beautifully tree lines as well.

Once on terra firma we headed down the other side of the Champs Élysées. By this stage it was time for something a little bit special so we popped into the Laduree restaurant which is known for its fine dining and excellent array of patisseries. In other words we stopped for a drink and desert, however it was all very elegant and exquisite.

It was a decent hike back to the hotel, but no doubt good for the body after what we had just consumed. We later dined at a restaurant about 200m from our hotel, and had the most
delicious meal, albeit lacking in vegetables - top class!

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Day 2 Paris

There are several things that I love about Paris and some not so good things. I love the trees and wide open spaces that were obviously planned hundreds of years ago. I love the cafe scene, the fact that it doesn't get dark until after 10PM which means you can walk back to the hotel after a meal and it is still light. And I love listening to the language even though I can't understand it.

What I don't like is the amount of people you see smoking, nor the number of families begging. The young kids are incredibly well behaved and seemed to know that they must stay on their piece of cardboard.

This morning Michael and I headed towards the Grand Palace because Michael was keen to view inside the building and they had an exhibition on. We got side tracked by hundreds of police and a large crowd of people waiting for someone important to turn up. I thought it might have Barrack Obama or William and Kate because they had been at the Normanby celebrations commentating the D-day invasion yesterday. We didn't know it was the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh until they got out of the car.

After a sumptuous French breakfast we arrived at the Grand Palace to find that the exhibition was a real dud. We left shortly after and went to the Museum d'Orsay which had an exhibition of  van Gogh, plus other famous painters that I remember studying at school such as Toulouse Lautrec, Cezanne, and Renoir.  Following that we were a bit cultured out so we headed back to the hotel. Whereas this morning had been cloudy and raining off and on, this afternoon was a stunner. Very warm. Nearing our hotel, which is near the Bastille monument we walked along side a protest march which just happened to be going the same way we were. It was an anti-fascist, anti- capitalist protest march, with riot squad police following closely behind them. Our hotel door was locked and manned, they were only letting in their guests in fear of the protest march getting ugly.

Trish and Grant arrived this evening in time to go out for dinner with us.  We have three weeks until we meet up with Lisa and Kev, and of course Rebecca as well.

Friday, 6 June 2014

Day 1 Paris

5/6 June 2014

Thirty long hours getting to Paris but at least this time we didn't have any of the drama we had last time we flew into Paris which was at midnight and the trains had stopped running into the city. It was all pretty plain sailing this time which is always a bit of a miracle as we are so very monolingual. We arrived early in the day and were thankful to find we could get into our room straight away. We had decided to revisit the Lourve as it was back in 1987 that we were last there. I think the thing that impresses us the most ( i.e. more than the exhibition itself) is the magnificence  and grandeur of the actual building. The wealth and opulence of the building itself is awe inspiring. There were thousands of people - I would hate to be there on a busy day!

It is lovely to back in Paris with the mouth watering pastries and berries (which is always appreciated in our off season at home). Michael doesn't ogle at the young chicks, but rather at the food. He would be a fat bastard if he lived in France!

Not far up the road in Normandy is the 70th anniversary of  D - day 6/6/44. A sober thought.

Fantastic weather today. Absolutely gorgeous.  Early night tonight. Have to make the most of our time here so need to be fighting fit for tomorrow.