Traveling France Sept 5
We said goodbye to the crew of the Luciole and boarded the bus with some of the other guests headed for Paris in drizzle and cold weather. The bus dropped us at the Eurocar location outside of Auxerre and we told our new friends goodbye as they headed for Paris.
We picked up a rental car and headed for Sisteron. This would be spread over two days as we were avoid the toll roads as much as possible.
When GPS came to aviation, I embraced it with open arms. It really lightened the work load and tension of flying. Seldom did you hear "do you know where we are" any more. They were great pieces of electronics and did wonderful things. When they came to the ground I was drug into them kicking and screaming all the way. I preferred maps. I am still disappointed with them. Garmins have the brain of a gnat, in a box bigger than a smartphone. Compared to other electronic devices we have map programs, be it Google or Garmin, that are stupid compared to aviation GPS's. The car in Spain at least had a nice one. It worked OK, but it also gave you proper warnings for turns that made sense and it said "please". We pitted the Garmin against the Google the first day and neither was a clear winner.
We did however, against GPS odds, arrive at our destination of Macon, France. We checked into the Hotel d'Europe et d'Angleterre, a Best Western branded property. We don't stay at things like Holiday Inn's ect. as we are not here for American familiarity. However, some of the old hotels of France have joined BW for internet marketing purposes. If you ain't on line you die, is what they tell me. Anyway, it is a lovely old hotel and told them to give me the biggest room you got. After a week in a room I could touch the walls with my elbows I want room!
Vicki decided, after a week of eating the finest foods we have ever experienced, (have I mentioned that yet), she wanted to get down in the gutter and have a plain pizza. Of course she picked a pizza parlor in Rome, because she liked the on line picture of the pizza, and we started the walk. Halfway there, she asked how much further. I said "a lots". So, she reversed course to one of the five pizza joints we had passed and choose one of those. The pizza was excellent.
The next day we continued our journey south. Once we entered the alps near Grenoble, I jumped on the Autopista to straighten out the road for Vicki who gets car sick. That only lasted 40km and we were back on the twisty roads. Fortunately, there was usually slow traffic in front of us so we were able to travel at a slower speed. The scenery was fantastic.
We arrived in Sisteron at our friend Gavin's apartment. It is part of an old church complex and they have just finished the restoration. It is our home until Friday the 11th.
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| We shared a pizza. Europeans eat one each. |
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| Since Puritans founded America, we are afraid of sex. The rest of the world embrasses it as seen by this ad on the placemat at pizza parlor, seen by children and the world. Guess what, they have less sex crimes and abortions. All that stuff that the holy than thou christians, not all christians, say will happen. |
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| Gas stations are hard to find on Sundays. However, almost everyone sells gas via cc or cash. In the past this has been a real hit or miss thing for us foreigners. Funny instructions in a strange language, hard to figure out what next and so one. Welcome to the new world, Stick your credit card in and all the instructions change to english. This has just happened in the last year. Sure takes the tension out of a low fuel light. |
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| Lunch a Chez Vicki |
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| Our fine Toyota ride |
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| Our home |
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| The rock over hour house |
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| Dinner |
Sisteron for Five Nights
Sisteron is a little medieval city with lots of history. It has a fantastic citadel perched high on a rock mountain looking down over it. Vicki made me walk up there and I enjoyed the place and the walk.
Sisteron has great history. Even Napoleon slept here on his return march for Elba. The town and the Citadel on the hill were heavily bombed in 1944 as the allies were trying to hit the bridge in the narrow crack between the two stone mountains.
We had leisurely days walking back and forth to town and touring some in the car. The walk is perfect. It is about half a mile from the apartment and is up hill both ways. We have to climb lots of steep steps from the river to get up to the main street in town. It is closed to traffic and is mainly a walking street. There are a percentage of store fronts empty and some closed for the season. Three attempts to get into the Time Museum were met by locked doors. A sign that said "closed for the season" would have been helpful if that is really what is going on, as opposed to being out for coffee.
We did a couple of drives through the country which involved narrow winding roads up the side of rock mountains. It was beautiful. One road we took we had traveled about an hour with the ambition of driving over the top. But, when we checked our progress we had just been about twenty five percent of the way and turned and came back.
The weather has been perfect. Dark blue clear skies and temperature in the 60"s. One day was a little overcast with a short sprinkle of rain but still great.
We ate a couple of meals out but mainly dined on lettuce after the gourmet meals we had on the boat.
Gavin's apartment was very comfortable and we enjoyed. We met a couple of the neighbors who were very nice. One, Neil, was a Port Chaplin in Dakar Senegal for ten years. I saw him passing out religious pamphlets on the street, but I guess he no I was a lost cause as he them in his hand but never tried to pass them off to me.
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| If you look hard you can see a snow cap out on the horizon |
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| The rock over our house |
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| The little peak on the right is what she made me climb up to. |
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| Look hard and you might see Vicki. She is a speck. The place was really really big. |
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| No we can not escape it even here |
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| Fantastic rock structures here |
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| Lavender fields. About two months to late. |
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| Half a deer. The other half was just around the corner on a table being cleaned by about 6 hunters. Traffic, the only we saw, kept me from stopping for a picture. |
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| Dinner at home |
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| Lunch out |
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| With left overs |
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| Lunch but neither of us finished. It was good but we had a lot more walking and did not take left overs. Ten years ago they looked at you like you were from Mars if you asked for take away. |
Aix en Provence Oct 11-14
The route took us through the hills/mountains with mostly deserted roads. It was beautiful scenery and thanks to Mr Garmin taking us down narrow one lane roads to meet its' algorithm of saving thirty seconds on the route, we got see even more interesting country. Driving through one valley, the Patrouille Acrobatique de France, the equivalent of the US Blue Angles, came roaring down the valley with their smoke on. They are based close by and just made the one run to our disappointment.
For one loong stretch we entered a developed area and about every 500 meters for a loong time Mr. Garmin kept saying "at the next round about take the.....". It was so annoying I just let him talk helping to increase my dislike for him. He took us a very small winding road up the backside of the mountain to the Carrieres. He saved us 45 seconds on that one but showed some great scenery.
The caves are having a Van Gogh show. Also, once a day they show a oriental exhibit and we timed that right by dumb luck and got to see it also. Next year is Dali and I think that would be fantastic in the caves.
From the caves we headed for Aix. The original plan was to go cross country but at the last minute I punched in as fast as possible and Mr. Garmin took us direct to the Autopista.
But not before lunch. We found a great little stop on the side of the road in an olive grove looking out at the valley. This may be our last lunch at Chez Vicki. Slight chance when we move from Aix to Nice via auto, but we will see.
I am glad I punched in go direct. As we were nearing Aix, the fuel light came on. Usually no big deal but it was here. We followed Mr. Garmin in circles burning precious fuel, looking for a gas station. Finally we switched to Mrs. Google and with some struggle she found us gas. I big sigh of relief and we were off to the hotel. I had looked on google street view to be sure where we were going even though we had been there before. Nothing told us that the street was now closed. Google showed cars on the street so I was caught off guard when I came up on a bearer to the entrance to the street. In the old towns it is not as easy as just circling the block. We passed a sign up an alley with the name of our hotel on it, but too late to make the turn. So, twenty minutes later we were back at the spot and made the turn. This got us nowhere as there were no more signs and all the streets to the hotel were blocked. Finally we stopped about a block from the hotel and sent Vicki off like a pack mule with the bags as I wandered the streets to return the car.
I walked back to the hotel....twice. I was two thirds there and realized I had left my phone in the car. Back I went. With recovered phone I made the trip again.
At the hotel there were problems. The room smiled like sewage. Vicki had visited the front desk and so I made a visit to no avail. It was full and they had no rooms to move us to. Went in doubt, go drink. So off we went. We found a nice location on a small square and ordered. They had one my favorite drinks, Caiporuski. It was not cheap but nothing is on this trip. I liked it so much I had a second. It came with a charcuterie platter that made up for the expense.
Back at the hotel, the staff had gone and sprayed the room and dumped stuff in the drain. It still smiled. The very kind desk clerk, Lea, did have on room left and she offered it to us. She was very embarrassed to do so. She said it is small and noisy and really did not want to offer it We looked at it and decided we would open our window and leave the A/C. We had all determined the A/C was where the smell was coming from.
Saturday was market day. We wandered the streets looking at all the clothing, cheap chinese knockoffs, and great food vendors. We have seen the museums here before and felt we did not need to them again, so we just roamed the old town for hours with the other tourist and lots of locals on their Saturday outings.
The food gods decided today was the day I would begin my diet. We decided to have lunch today at a Vietnamese restaurant. We sat down about two and got up about three and left. We got our tea and egg roles. Then we sat and waited as people around us that came in later, got their food. Despite assurance from the staff it would be right out, it did not. We finally threw in the chop sticks and got up to pay for what had been delivered. Be assured this was not a cultural shun or impatient Americans. We had to wait behind a very infuriated French woman doing the same thing despite her husband trying to calm her down. So, for lunch we had ice cream and it was just what we wanted.
We went back to happy hour at the Caiporuski bar and had another with another charcuterie that came with the drinks. I admire Vicki as she did not touch hers. We both decided we wanted moules and frites for dinner. We had passed a restaurant advertising moules and we headed for it. Instead of the house wine we ordered a nice bottle of white wine and moules. Into our first glass the waiter advised they were out of moules. We refused an alternate dinner and grabbed our bottle and hit the road. We had seen other restaurants advertising moules but of course could not find them. The waiter had recommended Le Cintra and we made our way in that direction searching as we moved.
Le Cintre was a very nice restaurant. I was a little worried as it is open 7/7, 24 jours. Something you do not see often in France. It had a older professional wait staff indicating to me that it must busy and good. We ordered the moules and frites and a house white wine. Everything about the service was professional. We watched several groups come and be served. Next to us was a birthday party of about a dozen people. They ordered several dinners that were prepared table side and it was fun to watch as the waiters mixed the steak tarter ingredients and flambaied dishes at the table. This was all accompanied with live piano music. This had been a fine dinner at a fair price and it lasted for almost two hours. All this and the price was the same as the other places. Way past my bedtime. We meandered back to the hotel trying to walk off some of the dinner. I was glad that we both left food on the table.
Sunday most shops were closed leading to less people on the streets. On the main street was "borcanti" or junk for sale at high prices. But as we wandered town away from the old town we found a yard sale street with the same type of "stuff" but I am sure a lot cheaper. We listened to some great music performers in the squares. After happy hour Vicki chose a pizza restaurant to travel to, but when we arrived via the Mrs. Google blue line it was the same place that did not have moules last night, so we wandered off. The next place was a jack pot. Consisting of just a few tables we got the only free table even though the rest were empty but reserved. The manger was not happy when we ordered a pizza to share but he quickly got over it. The tables slowly filled up. On the left was five Americans. A couple in this group used to live on a boat in St. Pete. On the right was a international group speaking english as that was the common language among them. We all interacted during the dinner. Free grappa came afterwards. An added bonus.
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| left over smoke from the jets |
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| just like in the movies |
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| entrance to the caves |
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| the streets of aix |
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| last time we were here we ate at a restaurant and were very surprised when the garbage truck came around the corner and they did not have to move the tables. We did not remember the name of the restaurant but when the garbage truck came down the alley we said lets just follow it and wha-la here we are at the restaurant |
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| this was at the street market. within 90 min. it was empty |
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| the best chicken stand with the best looking sellers. this is when they opened |
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| the same stand 90 minutes later with a long line |
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| the french do not take politics laying down. they still own their country. |
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| The bite end off law |
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| these guys were doing a photo shot for the guy on the right eating pasta. they were kind enough to pose for a picture of my own. |
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| protesting against meat eaters |
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| dead baby pigs |
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| Lea, the kind front desk clerk that actually cared. She is quitting this dump at the end of the month. |
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| Yep, I can live there |
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| famous chinese star as indicated by the giggle girls who just had their picture taken with him |
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| famous french chef who cooked ........ |
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| ......this! |
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| just another chef. |
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| people who live in small places come up with great designs |
Nice Oct 14-19
Since this was the last night in a hotel and Lisa had kindly thrown in free breakfast buffet to sort of appease us for the legionnaire disease infested A/C, I decided to make the most of it. I really did not do it justice as I am still full from the barge. The big item is they have real bacon. Something you do not see often and a fresh squeezed orange juice machine. I love this thing.
That done, we loaded up and walked the three km's to the Europcar office. We had three ways of getting to Nice; car, train, or bus. First choice is train but it is 44 euro plus a 20 euro taxi to the station that is out of town. There is one in town but it won't get us there. Bus is cheap, about 10 euro, but Vicki does not like buses. Then the car. I got a heck of a deal, 22 euro. Even the Europcar computer could not believe it. It kept saying the price was 22 euro, but the final coast would come out at 44. After several attempts the agent finally got it to come up with the 22 total. A nice Peugeot was presented to us. I went through the check list: mirrors, checked; how to open gas tank, checked; nav/radio in english, checked; spare tire location, checked. And we were off.
We hit the Autopista from Aix to Ferjus, where we exited to take one of the most beautiful rides on the riviera. From St. Tropez, which we missed, to St. Raphael, (where I studied french) to Cannes, to Antibes to Nice. The road hugs the coastline. Some of it is beautiful and some is just beautiful people and those other people (cruise ship )
On the Autopista, lost in our thoughts, we came up with the same conclusion about dinner last. We had asked to split a pizza and the waiter had resisted but agreed to do it. We took that to mean they did not want to sell just one meal to the two of us. But upon reflection and thought of the situation he was not saying that. What he was saying is, they do not like to divide meals themselves, but would like to let you divide the meal. When you are talking to someone, and english is not their first language, you have to remember that they may understand the words but not the thought behind. This really shows when you try to say something cute to a non-native speaker as a joke and they look at you like you are stupid. Which you are for trying that in the first place.
Back on the coastal highway we reminisce about the many times we have been here before, and saying "remember when we came to the street market in this little town and bought books in English?", or "we ate there and it was great". I have even ridden this route on a scooter with Walt on his first European adventure on a scooter. You are welcome Walt.
Arriving at the train station, following the very, very small signs to rental car parking, they dump you in a car park with no more information. We circled out, free for the first fifteen minutes, and back in and just put the car in a space. A short walk to the office in the train station and we were done.
Off we go to the apartment which fortunately is just a few blocks away. This will be more important when we leave early in the morning via train. This is an area of just normal 7 to 8 story flats that line the street. Juliee meets us at the door and I zip up to the 5th floor in the elevator while she and Vicki climb the stairs. This is just a regular one bedroom flat, but is extremely well organized for rental. Everything is laid out just so, including a notebook on the flat and a notebook on the area attractions.
Settled in, Vicki heads for the grocery for basics and I head for the Kebab shop for lunch/dinner for emproter.
Tuesday. We had major booms and lightening lasting into most of the morning. Blue skies appeared about noon so we set out in search for lunch. We found a small restaurant, Le Tchitchou, around the corner. It is recommended by the landlord so we gave it a shot. There were wonderful things on the menu but we were only hungry enough for a Nicoise Salad each. It was big and neither of us finished our meals, much to the dismay of the waiter. In Europe, if you order it, you eat it all no matter what.
From there we went to recon the train station for our Saturday departure and then headed down the hill to the Med. Things are not as crowded here as the small town of Aix and it was late in the day and the cruise ship guides were headed home with their big follow me signs tucked under their arms.
A way overpriced drink, setting on the waterfront, led us to the Mini-U on the way home to pick up a bottle of gin for less than the two drinks on the waterfront. But then again, we were paying for the view.
Wednesday. We have a rule of only one museum a day. Today we busted that rule and saw two.
The reason for the bust is that we wanted to go to the Chagall Museum and the Matiss Museum. The problem was that the Matiss Museum was on top of a hill and the Chagall was halfway up the hill. I had no intentions of walking up the hill/mountain twice. So we stopped at the Chagall museum and I was again reminded that I really don't care for his work. It only cost money to find that out again but I was worth the stop. We trudged on up the mountain to Mr. Matiss's museum. Interesting that most of the people we saw here, we say also at Chagall. They just took the bus. I enjoyed Henri's museum better than the Chagall. It was a beautiful day so we started the trek back down the mountain.
Since we had missed lunch we made reservations back at Le Tchitchou (means "small" in Nice talk).
The restaurant sets about 20 in a very small area. By the time we left it was full. The meal was substantial and very good. Again I did not clean my plate, but the waiter did not comment as he had done when we left some our lunch the other day.
Thursday. We were off to see several sites in old town. This town is not crowded at all and that makes it a lot more enjoyable. It is also very beautiful. We found the church on Vicki's list, locked tighter than a coffin. We found the decoration of the side of the building with Adam and Eve beating each other with clubs. We found the musical instrument museum in an old palace. The second most important collection in Europe. We circled the port, which is small. Mid-afternoon we started a search for lunch. In the old town we came uponst a Thai restaurant and decided that would be great for today. The owner, an early 30's, 300 plus, Thai gentleman was very nice and spoke perfect English. I have met people who learned English from various sources, but his was a new one. He learned his english from online gaming. Who would ever guessed that. The food was excellent. We met the chef's, his Mom and sister, and unlike him did not speak english and where, after 12 years in France, still very much Thai.
fresh orange juice machine
Driving along the Rivera we visited with this crew from the London School of Film
making a short movie. They would block the road and drive to the next turn around.
dinner kabob
lunch
the end of the day expensive view
entertainment at the Matiss museum at the top of the mountain
dinner
cooked by him
served by him
talking to god on a cellphone
more movies
adam and eve with clubs
That done, we loaded up and walked the three km's to the Europcar office. We had three ways of getting to Nice; car, train, or bus. First choice is train but it is 44 euro plus a 20 euro taxi to the station that is out of town. There is one in town but it won't get us there. Bus is cheap, about 10 euro, but Vicki does not like buses. Then the car. I got a heck of a deal, 22 euro. Even the Europcar computer could not believe it. It kept saying the price was 22 euro, but the final coast would come out at 44. After several attempts the agent finally got it to come up with the 22 total. A nice Peugeot was presented to us. I went through the check list: mirrors, checked; how to open gas tank, checked; nav/radio in english, checked; spare tire location, checked. And we were off.
We hit the Autopista from Aix to Ferjus, where we exited to take one of the most beautiful rides on the riviera. From St. Tropez, which we missed, to St. Raphael, (where I studied french) to Cannes, to Antibes to Nice. The road hugs the coastline. Some of it is beautiful and some is just beautiful people and those other people (cruise ship )
On the Autopista, lost in our thoughts, we came up with the same conclusion about dinner last. We had asked to split a pizza and the waiter had resisted but agreed to do it. We took that to mean they did not want to sell just one meal to the two of us. But upon reflection and thought of the situation he was not saying that. What he was saying is, they do not like to divide meals themselves, but would like to let you divide the meal. When you are talking to someone, and english is not their first language, you have to remember that they may understand the words but not the thought behind. This really shows when you try to say something cute to a non-native speaker as a joke and they look at you like you are stupid. Which you are for trying that in the first place.
Back on the coastal highway we reminisce about the many times we have been here before, and saying "remember when we came to the street market in this little town and bought books in English?", or "we ate there and it was great". I have even ridden this route on a scooter with Walt on his first European adventure on a scooter. You are welcome Walt.
Arriving at the train station, following the very, very small signs to rental car parking, they dump you in a car park with no more information. We circled out, free for the first fifteen minutes, and back in and just put the car in a space. A short walk to the office in the train station and we were done.
Off we go to the apartment which fortunately is just a few blocks away. This will be more important when we leave early in the morning via train. This is an area of just normal 7 to 8 story flats that line the street. Juliee meets us at the door and I zip up to the 5th floor in the elevator while she and Vicki climb the stairs. This is just a regular one bedroom flat, but is extremely well organized for rental. Everything is laid out just so, including a notebook on the flat and a notebook on the area attractions.
Settled in, Vicki heads for the grocery for basics and I head for the Kebab shop for lunch/dinner for emproter.
Tuesday. We had major booms and lightening lasting into most of the morning. Blue skies appeared about noon so we set out in search for lunch. We found a small restaurant, Le Tchitchou, around the corner. It is recommended by the landlord so we gave it a shot. There were wonderful things on the menu but we were only hungry enough for a Nicoise Salad each. It was big and neither of us finished our meals, much to the dismay of the waiter. In Europe, if you order it, you eat it all no matter what.
From there we went to recon the train station for our Saturday departure and then headed down the hill to the Med. Things are not as crowded here as the small town of Aix and it was late in the day and the cruise ship guides were headed home with their big follow me signs tucked under their arms.
A way overpriced drink, setting on the waterfront, led us to the Mini-U on the way home to pick up a bottle of gin for less than the two drinks on the waterfront. But then again, we were paying for the view.
Wednesday. We have a rule of only one museum a day. Today we busted that rule and saw two.
The reason for the bust is that we wanted to go to the Chagall Museum and the Matiss Museum. The problem was that the Matiss Museum was on top of a hill and the Chagall was halfway up the hill. I had no intentions of walking up the hill/mountain twice. So we stopped at the Chagall museum and I was again reminded that I really don't care for his work. It only cost money to find that out again but I was worth the stop. We trudged on up the mountain to Mr. Matiss's museum. Interesting that most of the people we saw here, we say also at Chagall. They just took the bus. I enjoyed Henri's museum better than the Chagall. It was a beautiful day so we started the trek back down the mountain.
Since we had missed lunch we made reservations back at Le Tchitchou (means "small" in Nice talk).
The restaurant sets about 20 in a very small area. By the time we left it was full. The meal was substantial and very good. Again I did not clean my plate, but the waiter did not comment as he had done when we left some our lunch the other day.
Thursday. We were off to see several sites in old town. This town is not crowded at all and that makes it a lot more enjoyable. It is also very beautiful. We found the church on Vicki's list, locked tighter than a coffin. We found the decoration of the side of the building with Adam and Eve beating each other with clubs. We found the musical instrument museum in an old palace. The second most important collection in Europe. We circled the port, which is small. Mid-afternoon we started a search for lunch. In the old town we came uponst a Thai restaurant and decided that would be great for today. The owner, an early 30's, 300 plus, Thai gentleman was very nice and spoke perfect English. I have met people who learned English from various sources, but his was a new one. He learned his english from online gaming. Who would ever guessed that. The food was excellent. We met the chef's, his Mom and sister, and unlike him did not speak english and where, after 12 years in France, still very much Thai.
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| fresh orange juice machine |
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| Driving along the Rivera we visited with this crew from the London School of Film making a short movie. They would block the road and drive to the next turn around. |
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| dinner kabob |
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| lunch |
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the end of the day expensive view            |
