2014 EUROPE to St Hippolyte du Fort, France 5 - Uncle and Aunt

The ride to my Uncle Bob's (my mom's younger brother) and Aunt Terry's home was about an hour. Only 30 miles but very twisty, turny and narrow two-lane roads. In some places only one-and-a-half lanes.

I have to say right off the bat, I was impressed by Terry's driving. Throughout our visit I felt safe in the car. Sure there were a few close calls, but she was in control and it seemed the norm under the circum- stances. I'm just glad I was not the driver in these stressful conditions.

Their small town of Saint Hippolyte du Fort had recently suffered a huge flood or "tsunami" as Uncle called it. B&T were not home when it occurred, but returned a few days later to find the devastation on the "prairie" area of their 50 acres.

The river in front of their home is a bit unusual in that it is normally fed by underground springs. The river on the upstream side of the bridge is usually dry rock bed. The springs surface under the bridge and so water trickles from there downstream of the bridge in varying amounts depending on the rains.

On this recent occasion the heavy rains caused the river to start raging far upstream from the bridge. It had widely overflowed its banks, leaving rock walls collapsed, sand covering much of the grass prairie. Trees and shrubs uprooted and ruined vegetation wrapped around the trees that were still left standing.

Along the drive to their house, was a lovely garden carefully tended by a neighbor. But it had completely disappeared into a pile of rubble and fallen stone walls. No sign of its previous idyllic beauty.

The saving grace of the situation was that the bridge over the river to their home was still intact and holding strong. It continued to rain pretty heavily off and on during the drive to their home and we hoped they would not experience more flood problems.

The sight of the 350+ year old stone structure with French blue stutters was impressive as we crossed the bridge. (More on the house in the next blog entry.)

After unloading our luggage, Terry recognized that we needed a few minutes to wind down. We sat in the cozy kitchen while Aunt served hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies. It was a nice warm up because the air was damp from all the rain.

Next we were shown to our very private quarters. We had time to unpack and freshen up with a shower and tooth-brushing. We felt human again. Not tired at all. For some reason (maybe pure excitement) we did not experience jet lag on this trip.

Next was an elegant treat to tide us over until dinner --fresh figs split at the top and stuffed with blue cheese, all baked in a tiny oven and then served over greens. I am not a fig fan, but this combination was absolutely delicious. Mike was already in heaven with this delicacy.

Terry left to teach an English class to two French students. It was in a nearby town and she would return in two hours or so. In the meantime, Uncle, Mike and I chatted about old times on the open veranda outside the blue kitchen doors.

Uncle pointed out the nearby mountain named Montagne de la Fage, which has been the muse for many of his art projects. Today it was overcast and mysterious.

At maybe 19:30, Terry returned and started dinner--a warm egg-drop style soup with chopped fresh mushrooms and potatoes, French bread (just lay it on the table when not in hand), and a fabulous bottle of 2009 Crianza Riojo wine. Nice call. I think this was the best wine of our visit with them. 

The table was just big enough for four to eat and chit-chat about family news, politics, traveling, Stewart / Colbert / Oliver (they are fans also), the sights of the area, and everything else under the sun.

We chatted a bit more and then to bed. Our room was a little more dampish than we are used to, but after a few minutes the duvet warmed us up. The bed was king-size so quite roomy and we were able to leave the shutters and windows wide open. Even though it was raining, the roof overhung so far, that it did not rain inside. No mosquitoes or bugs came in either. We sleep very well that night.

2014 EUROPE Paris to Nîmes, France 4 - Eurail Express

I felt sorry for those aged or disabled--no moving walkways, lots of up and down stairs, a long stretch to get from plane to Customs. We were huffing a bit ourselves when we finally arrived at Customs.

The officer was pleasant and even smiled as I said, "Merci" on my way through. We breezed through baggage inspection with the wave of an hand. Another helpful officer directed us to the arrivals area for our driver.

The distance between CDG airport (control tower photo above) and Gare de Lyon (Paris-Lyon railway station) was 20 kilometers (a kilometer equals .62 miles). As time was tight for this plane-train connection, rather than take the Paris metro system (with 2 transfers), we had pre-arranged on the Internet in the USA for a personal car to meet and transport us. That was a good thing because we found the metro drivers were on strike and service severely reduced that day.

When we arrived we expected to see a driver in white shirt and black suit displaying a sign with our last name. It was on our bucket list, to be met in this manner. It seemed opulent and made us feel a little richy-richy, even though we are not. We even had camera ready to take his photo. But alas no such thing. No sign, no driver, no car.

Thankfully a very nice fellow recognized our confusion, looked at our paperwork, and called the company for us. Because of the rainy weather, there were multiple accidents on the highway system and our driver was delayed. We hoped this was not a ruse of some sort on we trusting Americans. But, yahoo, about 20 minutes later our driver showed up.

Traffic WAS horrible and we were still unsure if we would make our plane-train connection. It was imperative, because we had no way to contact my aunt and uncle who were driving 30 miles to meet us at the Nîmes train station. Our iPhone and iPad Internet hook-ups were not working in spite of all our preparations.

Traffic was slow and harried. Motorcycles used the lane line as a lane. Our route included many entrances and exits on the major highway, lots of lane changes to anticipate the fastest route, tight corners, impatient drivers, bold pedestrians, police cars with their blue lights and EEE-AAA European sirens still attending to accidents. But our driver was fantastic. I am normally a nervous Nelly unless I'm the driver, but I felt very safe all the way and complimented him at our destination.

The sights along our route were mostly commercial and industrial, dreary looking on this rainy day. But in the last 15 minutes we passed by the lovely old and ornate buildings so reminiscent of classic movies, with wrought iron Juliet balconies, cafes with sidewalk tables, and lots of statuary and fountains adorning the streets.

Gare de Lyon is beautiful and typically what you dream of in Paris. Classic white granite (?) building with ornate decoration and tall clock tower. Once inside we saw "Eiffel" steel work framing the glass canopy protected people boarding the multitude of trains. If you have seen the movie "Hugo" you will get the picture.

Entering the station, we were overwhelmed (hence no photos). We had 35 minutes to catch our train and stymied as to where to head. We had Eurail passes in hand, but needed to get them validated before embarking on a train. We got vague directions from the info counter, but managed to find it anyway. There was a long line in that office, but we discovered the person giving directions could validate our tickets.

Next we had to figure out exactly where to catch the train. We happened into the right hall (there were three), but did not know which of the many tracks to wait by. We saw our train number on the info board, but no track number. We discovered the track number shows up on the info board only about 20 minutes before departure. Its display "announces" it is time to board.

Our tickets not only showed seat numbers but also a coach number, so we were still a bit bewildered. Our coach number was 03, but which train car was 03. Another kind lady took pity on us. It turns out we were traveling on the same train, but to different destinations. She showed us the pictograph near each track that indicated coach numbers and their line up on the train. She walked us to coach 03 and continued on her way.

She said it was important to board the right coach because they did not connect with a walkway. You couldn't just walk between each car. And later some cars would split off--ours going to Nîmes and hers going to Montpelier. She was a tremendous help, as we used that information for the rest of our train journey.

Departure time was 10:07. We had first class for our first Eurail leg--Paris Gare de Lyon to Nîmes in south central France. There were two stops en route--one I can't remember and the city of Lyon. The train was very nice, especially compared to what we had experienced on Amtrak from Elkhart, Indiana to New York City last year.

There were "wings" on the sides of the seats to rest our tired heads without awkwardly twisting our necks. It was clean and spacious, but the best part was the smooth, quiet ride along the tracks. You could hardly tell you were moving on this high-speed train except you could see the countryside whizzing by. The only drawback was that we were sitting backwards--a little distracting to our sight-seeing. Also photos taken were just a blur.

The geography at the start was very flat and reminded us of Ohio. As the lightly rolling hills replaced the flatland, there were herds of white (or light beige) cattle roaming. As we passed the quaint little villages in the distance we saw ancient towers, cisterns, and occasional castle ruins on hilltops. We spotted higher and more rocky terrain the further south we traveled.

In passing we commented on how fun it would be to live here in Europe. Then we thought of the TV show "House Hunters International," which we often watch at home. It shows the process of buying homes in a foreign country and the difficulties involved ... maybe not!

At some point along the way the gray clouds disappeared and sunshine took over. We thankfully arrived at Nîmes on time at 13:06 to the smiling and loving faces of my Uncle Bob and Aunt Terry.

2014 EUROPE by Rail 3 - Over the Pond

We woke up with great anticipation to start our trip to Europe. Our departure was not until 1:34pm, so we casually finished our packing and prepped ourselves. We had arranged for our niece Teshia to meet us at 10am for breakfast and she would then give us a lift to the airport. Her dad arrived with her.

We treated them to breakfast at Food Dance, an expensive but special event breakie place we enjoy. Tom just had coffee as he was meeting friends for lunch shortly. Teshia and I had huevos rancheros (eggs on black beans and flour tortilla with avocado slices). Mike had a scramble with a large fresh-squeezed OJ. Teshia ordered a bloody Mary and I had a mimosa. We all toasted to a wonderful and safe trip.

When we got to the gate in Kalamazoo, there was a delayed flight to DTW that we asked if we could move up to. They said, "No." Just as well as that flight ended up leaving after our own flight. We left a few minutes after the posted time of 13:34 (switching now to the 24-hour clock used in Europe), but we still had plenty of time to catch our flight out of Detroit to Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. 

We had not departed from the Detroit airport in years. It was completely rebuilt. It is so huge now, that you take a long colorful hallway from one terminal to another (similar to Chicago-O'Hare).

Mike and I worked at Detroit Metro in the early 80's. That actually was where we first met. It seemed odd that those original terminal buildings appear abandoned now--no planes parked there or cargo carts nearby. We also looked for those we might have worked with way back when, but saw no familiar faces.

Our flight left DTW on time at 17:56. We had a window and aisle seat in Coach class, so fairly happy. Just wish Mike had a little more leg room. Shortly after take-off, it was announced that this was little Sara Somebody's 11th birthday and her parents were taking her to Paris.

Mike reminisced on his 11th birthday trip--a cruise to the dining room table. But to his mom's credit, it was usually a full Thanksgiving dinner as fulfillment of is birthday meal request.

But today I had ordered a veggie meal in advance, which seemed a bit pointless as one of the two normal options was the same meal. Only difference was I got fruit instead of a cinnamon brownie. Mike got the chicken and mashed potato option. A bit before landing they also served "breakfast." It was a mini miniature (not kidding) egg mc (with little m) muffin, a bit of cheese, and a biscotti. I guess you can't expect much from airline meals these days. At least it was warm.

The electronics on the aircraft are really great now. Each person has their own "theater screen" with numerous options--several current and older movies, music videos, TV series for binge watching, games, etc. I tried to watch "How to Train Your Dragon 2," but was too excited and lost interest fast.

We both ended up scanning the flight tracker most of the time. It gave all kinds of graphics and statistics. 

Here was the flight info at the very middle of our trip. It is hard to imagine that at over 38,000 feet we actually experienced temps of -70F degrees, had tail winds of over 100 miles per hour, AND we were traveling over 650 miles per hour. These tail winds helped us arrive about a half hour early into Paris. Incredible!

As we flew the sunset was lovely and the city lights below sparkled when we passed. In the dark of the night and over the Atlantic, the stars lit our way. When we arrived in Paris at 07:00, it was still night skies, rainy and dreary, but we were happy to get our land legs back.

2014 EUROPE by Rail 2 - Communicating with the Outside World

OK, so it didn't go the way we planned with WiFi or Internet access. Couldn't do the travel blog as we went along in Europe. I thought I had properly prepped, but ...

We got a European SIM card for our iPhone through our Eurail pass. It was free and good for 18 minutes of talk time. Figured if we got messed up with train schedules or something I could call the next hotel and adjust arrival. No problem in physically installing the card, but directions to activate did not work or maybe it was operator incompetence.

In Brugge, Belgium we actually found an authorized Apple dealer to help us. The tech guy was able to get the SIM card working (for free), BUT only in Belgium. I guess each country needs a little something different in firmware.

Thank goodness we did not have any delays or major snafus. And we had enough time in this access window to arrange dinner in Berlin with Cory, our niece's significant other. So we used the phone mostly for an alarm clock(!!), with sketchy WiFi hotel access for local information. Next time we will get a burner phone to avoid all these communication issues.

We also set up our iPad for cellular access, but apparently Sprint does not work outside the U.S. because we had no luck there either. The Apple dealer sent us to another vendor to fix this problem. But same deal, they could only set it up to work while we were in Belgium.

So we had access to WiFi / Internet only for about 12 hours in Belgium. That obviously was not enough to enter our travel blog diary. So I will start updating now. Just pretend it is coming out in a timely fashion. Hope you will still enjoy our delayed adventures.

2014 EUROPE by Rail 1 - Happy Trails to Us

We have been planning our trip to Europe for months. How can it possibly be today and I still have a hundred things to do?! Well, the flight doesn't leave til 1:35pm U.S. or as they say in Europe 1335.

Bags are mostly packed and Bella is on to us. Sits first on one bag, then another. I guess we'll look a little hairy when we get rolling with wisps of fur she leaves behind. I'm so glad we have two great cat whisperers to watch over B while we are gone. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Dixie.

Here is our itin. It is not tentative because everything is non-refundable, if we change. So we're not going to change.

8 Oct - Depart Kalamazoo, Michigan
9 Oct  - Arrive Paris, train to Nimes, pick up by Uncle Bob and Aunt Terry, to our final destination today of St Hippolyte du Fort, France
12 Oct - Train to Nice, France
13 Oct (Mike's BD) - Spend the day in Monte Carlo, Monaco
14 Oct - Train to Brugge, Belgium
16 Oct - Train to Berlin, Germany
19 Oct - Train to Amsterdam, the Netherlands
22 Oct - Return home to Kalamazoo

I will try to keep up with the blog as we go, but not sure how accessible Wi-Fi / Internet will be. Not sure how that will work. We have a lot of train time, so I'm hoping much of that will have Wi-Fi. We are not taking the computer, so will try is transfer photos from the iPad to the Blog. If I can't figure that out. I'll just add the pix when I get home.

Alright friends and family, think positive thoughts about all our transportation connections as they are many between plane and trains. 

2014 Deb's WEST COAST Drive 11 - Homeward Bound

The flight I was shooting for left at 7:20am. So my get up was officially 5am, but I tossed and turned all night with flight fright. Would I get on or not?

Again I was ecstatic to see my name KIL/D appear on the cleared seat board. I got a window seat (my fave) and there was even an empty seat between me and my row partner. The weather outside the window was foggy and cold as we left the terminal--typical for SFO in summer.

My connection city today was DTW (Detroit), rather than Minneapolis. The ride was pretty bumpy and we had to skirt south nearer to St. Louis because of thunderstorms on the traditional air route. It is always a thrill to cross the mighty Mississippi (pix below), be it over a bridge or in the air.

Not sure where, but I also saw a wind turbine farm from the air. That was cool.

The movie was Million Dollar Arm, but I was busy finalizing paper notes for this blog. You could buy a sandwich if you wanted, but I figured I could wait 4.5 hours rather than get airline food. The time went by fast.

I did have a bit of luck in the beverage department though. One of the first class flight attendants came walking down the aisle with a glass of red wine asking if anyone wanted it. I piped up pretty quick to say, "Me, me!" Apparently he had poured the wrong color for an up front passenger and rather than throw it way, he passed it on to the lowly economy folks. Actually no one else spoke up, but I'm not proud!!

After a short snooze I opened my eyes. The movie was over and there was a travelogue thing showing. Moments later they were showing the famous Bixby Creek Bridge (in lots of car commercials) and then cut to an aerial view of Half Moon Bay beach. I almost jumped out of my seat. A cool good-bye treat to end my trip.

At DTW, I transited through a colorful tunnel to my next terminal building and gate which, again, was quite far away.

We had been a little late arriving here because of the detour, but I still had time to pick up a Caprese (sun-dried tomato and fresh mozzarella) sandwich.

I wasn't at the gate two minutes when I saw my flight had cancelled due to heavy thunderstorms in Kalamazoo. And they were headed this way. There were two more flights to AZO, but both around 8pm. I had no hope of getting on standby, because all these cancelled revenue passengers would be put on first.

I called Mike with the bad news. I was stuck in DTW. I had a couple of choices--rent another car or Mike could drive the two hours to come pick me up. He opted for the drive.

We were not really familiar with the nuances of DTW, so I took the Sheraton shuttle to the hotel. We had stayed here before and it was a way easier way to meet-up for the pick-up.

I sat in comfy seats in the lobby, sipping ginger ales, reading my camera manual. I was sure I was going to get kicked out at any moment, but I guess they took pity on me for whatever reason and did not grill me as to why I was there for so long. I for sure did not look like a hooker or a homeless person, but someone in between that seemed OK, I guess.

The normal 2-hour drive took Mike three hours as he traveled with the storm every mile of the way. Traffic was heavy and slow, roads wet or semi flooding, winds fierce. 

The Sheraton has a tall glass atrium and I could see and hear the intense downpour on the windows above. Leaves and branches were flying around and hitting the glass. I was surprised there were no leaks, it rained so hard. 

I was so happy to see Mike's smiling face when the car pulled up. I was worried because of the storm, and his marginal eyesight did not help. We kissed and hugged. Happy to be home.

I drove the miles back, but not in rain. It was all behind us now. It was fresh and clean and sunshiny. It was perfect. Home sweet home, as they say. And it is true.

2014 Deb's WEST COAST Drive 10 - Devil's Slide and Beyond

Suzi called to announced I should ditch the rent-a-car today, as James would be the early bird hero and drive me to the airport for my pre-dawn departure tomorrow. Phfew! That was one stress off my mind regarding the trip home.

The coast towns of Pescadero, San Gregorio, HMB, El G, Princeton, Montara, and Moss Beach were sprinkled along Highway One up to Devil's Slide. The Slide is an area north of all them. It used to be the least reliable of two roads from the coastside towns to the more populous part of the peninsula where most people worked. We traveled each day from home to the SFO airport--only about 20 miles, but about 45 minutes in time.

The slide area was prone to rock and mud slides and total "implosion" into the ocean on a few occasions. I remember one time when Mike and I were driving separately to work. As I drove by the area I noticed a few pebbles trickling down the rock side toward the ocean and thought to myself "I've never seen that before!"

By the time Mike arrived in his car, a few scant minutes later, boulders and  rubble had spilled down the hill to completely block the highway. To get to work, he had to turn back round to our alternate route on Hwy-92. Devil's Slide was closed down several months after that for repair. 

Now 11 years later, Cal-DOT had drilled two traffic tunnels inland and through the mountain. This would avoid constant closures and maintenance and a reliable route for travelers into Pacifica and beyond to San Francisco. The project was completed earlier this year. The original, abandoned roadway was replaced by a park and narrower bike-walk trail. I didn't see that, but here is the tunnel.

Rather than driving directly to the Kennedy compound, Suzi met me at the Kiss-And-Fly lot near where I returned the rent-a-car. We cruised to her place and proceeded to chatter at 100 miles per hour while sipping from a bottle of wine that Suzi had saved for a special occasion.

Had we really been gone for 11 years? It seemed like only yesterday that Suzi and I worked for United at res and then the airport. She was my first real girlfriend on "west bank" and a mighty cherished one. There are so many work and personal stories I could tell about this cute little red-head and her debonair hubby (looks soooo good in a tux), but I'll save those for another time.

James and Suz had done a lot of reno/redecorating since our last visit--new windows; new mixed verde green granite in the kitchen; new rich caramel-colored granite, luxury shower and heated floors in the bathroom; colorful paint throughout the house; and "evergreen-no fret grass and glass pebble landscaping outside. And, James had presented Suzi with a fit-for-a-queen settee lounger. Just perfect! Wished I had gotten her photo on it.

Jamesie freshen up after work, while Suzi (always the hair dresser and most up-to-date on product) gave me a mousse treatment to brighten up my gray to silver. I was transformed from drab to dramatic in a split second!

Now that James was in chill mode, we tippled a couple more. Then off to a new (for me) San Francisco restaurant, Aziza (website).

An aside: This was the first time EVER that James did not get a parking spot within a few feet of the restaurant door, but he dropped us off and we snagged a good table. 

The place has a Bohemian look--bright and rich colors, arches, private cubby-hole seating, and lighting that is reminiscent of old candle chandeliers.

The chef was born in Marrakesh so the menu has a Moroccan flair. Foods were colorful, with interesting blends of spices, a nice selection for veg-heads, and delightful presentations.

We shared a pita and 4-dip appi. James chose seared ahi tuna, Suzi tried the beef cheeks (and loved them), and I scarfed down the vegetable "shavings" over couscous. Of course, a red wine was sipped between bites. Dessert was chocolate truffles ... served on a rock. Rock on!!!

And moving on ... James gives the best San Francisco tours of anyone I know (including any tour company around). When he is the driver of an outing, there is always an engaging driving trek with something new included. He did not let me down this evening.

After dinner it was dark, so we enjoyed the City lights as he tip-toed through the traffic. We passed City Hall and the Asian Museum where Suzi works part-time. He braved the famous and steep 1-block downhill Lombard Street, consisting of eight tight hairpin turns. Even under the dark of night photographers were standing at its side taking photos of the heavy traffic.

We cruised along the Embarcadero and stopped for a brief moment to snap shots of the spectacular Bay Lights art installation. It extends 1.8 miles of the west span of the Bay Bridge, is 500 feet high at its peak, and is comprised of 25,000 individually programmed white LED lights. It shines from dusk to dawn in a never repeating pattern. Read more about the project here (website).

Soon after that we headed home, wrapped up the chat, and had a bit of an early to-bed. We all had to get up early-early on the morrow.

2014 Deb's WEST COAST Drive 9 - Artichoke Everything

Today's stats:
Miles from Lisa's to Duarte's to Kiss-n-Fly were about 50 miles
Actual driving time about 1.5 hours
HMB temp range today 59-73 degrees
SFO temp range today 59-68 degrees

Today's haps:
Livvy woke me up with a few doggie kisses to the face. It was Monday, so I did an impromptu weigh-in on Lisa's scale (update coming soon). Lisa was already on her way to work, so Tom made coffee. They have a Nespresso machine, which Mike and I have considered buying, so it was fun to check it out first hand. There were a variety of coffees to choose from and I went with something Italian. Yep, good.

My plan for break-lunch was another fave, Duarte's Tavern (website) in Pescadero. Carole was joining me and offered to drive. This allowed me to take in the sea, the artichoke fields, the pumpkins patches and other old landmarks along the 22 mile route. As it is a windy 2-lane road, it took about 45 minutes. Lots of fond memories passing through my mind as we traveled the coast road south.

Through the cool, foggy drive and breakfast we chatted about it all--coastside happenings, our HMB real estate agent Kathy Caloca (Carole's a Realtor also), Coastal Repertory Theatre, our families, our mother-daughter relationships, Kalamazoo, world affairs, religion, you name it.

I was almost drooling with anticipation by the time we sat down at Duarte's. They serve the very best artichoke omelette at breakfast and the very best artichoke soup at lunch--both loaded with artis.

You have to time it just right to catch the changeover to get some of each (about 10:30am). Those two items, along with the warm homemade bread, are way too much for one sitting, but not when you get it only once every couple of years. It was soooo worth it. I savored every bite and did not leave a crumb behind.

Back in HMB in the Safeway parking lot, Carole and I parted ways. She gave me a book about moms and daughters that she said helped her with that relationship. Maybe it would help mine, too. Thanks, Carole!


Now on to James and Susan's in SFO (San Francisco). I back tracked a little to see the old This Side of the Hill Players Theatre (now the Coastal Repertory). I had worked many a show there, mostly as stage manager, but also set builder, prop mistress, ticket office, etc. It was now painted completely black. Didn't really like that color scheme. But I missed the ol' theatre gang (especially Margaret) and experiences there. Theatre is just not the same in Kalamazoo.

Next side trip was about a mile north and 1-1/2 blocks to the left between Highway One and the ocean. I wanted to see our old house.




At first I couldn't find it, so I counted the third house from the corner and this is what I found. The shell of the house had been totally reno-ed. The arched window decorations had been removed and the two bedrooms extended to where the arches were. The windows were turned into bay windows.

An addition of a windowed atrium was added to the side of the garage, creating an entirely new entry. The house was painted a sunshine yellow. The yard was landscaped in roses with a stone wall. It was almost completely unrecognizable to me. Some folks would probably be shattered, but I thought it looked fine and wished I lived here in this new and improved version.

I was so stunned, I forgot to even look at my neighbors' homes--the Yamane's and Bob Hatcher's.

Now moving north in earnest, things looked much the same except for the newly completed tunnel through Devil's Slide.