2014 EUROPE by Rail 11 - Nice at Nice

We arrived in the beautiful Nice Ville station, anxious to get to our hotel. We had checked Rick Steve's book, a second travel book we purchased from Barnes and Nobel, and online reviews for our accommodations. But booking online you never can really tell what you're  getting until you get there in person.

We had a bare bones Google map of Nice showing the location of our hotel, so we thought we knew where we were going. It turns out our hotel was only about 1-1/2 blocks away from the train station, but you had to cross the street and then take a down ramp kind of underpass. That wasn't clear on the map.

Instead I thought Durante Street was a bit to our left then down the street toward our right. In reality we were getting no where fast. Finally we stopped to get our bearings. I guess we looked confused as an older gentleman with his dog on leash tried to help us, but he spoke little English. He enlisted the assistance of another young man and between the two of them we knew which way to go ... generally. But it was enough to eventually find our hotel.

The hotel sign was prevalent, but the actual entrance was off the main street. It took a little looking to find the front door. The Durante Hotel was a charmer. It was painted in rich stucco orange with colorful decorations. Check in went smoothly and the tiniest elevator took us up two floors. It was so tiny, the receptionist took the stairs and met us at our room.

The room was on the small side but had a good-sized private bath with shower. It had the minimum of furniture--a queen-size bed with two side tables, two chairs, and a table. It was all we needed.

A great feature was the Juliet balcony opening onto a beautifully green and private courtyard. No sea in sight, but no industrial concrete buildings either. It was peaceful and just as we had pictured. It did not disappoint.

We dropped off our belongings and freshened up. We decided to back track to the station to verify the information and procedure for getting to Monaco by train the next day. This short jaunt was not included in our Eurail Pass.

We tried buying tickets through the automated machine, but got held up on the first screen. It was in French and we did not know which type of passenger we were. No option seemed to match "adult" or "senior," only adult with infant, student, some unknown others.

We did not seem to fit in any category, so we went to the ticket office. Long line, but fast turnover. They did not accept AX (we are trying to earn points so use that first) and said our MC card was no good?!?  Paid cash of 14 Euros round trip per person. Seemed like a bargain! They advised the train ran about every 15 minutes to and from Monaco.

Next we headed south for about ten blocks to the seaside. It sprinkled rain the rest of the evening, but not enough for the umbrella that we had in hand. The buildings along the way were spectacular. I wanted to live in every one of them!

Once by the sea we walked the boardwalk along the beach as night closed in. There were wood pillars draped with colorfully lit awnings to protect people from the weather.

The beach here was not the white sand we had seen early, but was rocky / pebbly in nature. I do not imagine that it is too comfortable to lounge on directly, but there were plenty of spots to sit on the boardwalk and beach chairs and beach umbrellas to rent. 

We stopped first at Queenie at a sidewalk table. Mike had Leffe, the French beer he discovered while dining with B&T. I had a vin rouge (red wine). We relaxed and absorbed the air, sights, smells and sounds of the coast. A bit rich atmosphere for our taste, but nice to have been in the lap of luxury for a little bit. Queenie's also had a separate Russian food menu posted. That surprised us a little.

We walked down the boulevard and beach a bit until we were hungry enough for dinner. We just did not have a clue which place to choose. Everything look great. We decided on a restaurant on the beach side of the street, but they said, "Too rainy, we're closed now." I think we didn't look "prosperous" enough for them.

We ended up at Gustave 5 which was open air, but we sat on the edge of the inside to keep from getting rained on. Marc (with a "C" he stated) was our pleasant and capable waiter.

Mike ordered a cold-smoked (lox style) salmon appetizer, while I had a scrumptious shrimp salad. Our entrees were langostino risotto. Mike had a framboise (raspberry) cream-white layer cake torte and I had the best ever in my life creme brûlée (served warm). Magnifique!

At one point a group of six Russian tourists sat at the table next to us. It started with smiles, but before long we were laughing and toasting each other with "Spasibo" meaning "to your health" or "thank you." They were sophisticated in taste, yet down home in manner. The tour leader spoke perfect English and we had a great time comparing notes and asking each other things about our countries.

We enjoyed watching them order and eat. For six people they ordered three huge platters of raw oyster appetizers. They doused them with salt, pepper, and vinegar. I mean really doused. Not sure how you could actually taste the oyster itself with all the condiments. They were drinking champagne in abundance. 

We wondered who had won the Russian Formula 1 race in Sochi that morning. Several of the guys got on their phones and reported that it was Louis Hamilton. We gave a great hurrah for that. (Thinking of you Ron and Dixie, we know you were watching and will report out the details!)

We told the Russians about Queenie's and the Russian menu. They said, "No way, we get that every day!"  Finally we said our "do svidaniya" meaning "good-bye" as we left them to their festivities.

As we left a couple from New Orleans, stopped us. They heard us speaking English and wanted to say, "Hi." We enjoyed hearing some true American voices. We stated we loved Commander's Palace in New Orleans. They said it was good but to check out Irene's next time. They talked about enjoying Michigan's smoked white fish. We laughed and took pleasure in the moment. 

After eating we walked down the boulevard a ways and viewed the silhouette of the magnificent houses on the bluffs and along the sea. 

Per our usually modus operandi, we headed back to the hotel on an alternate route to see some new territory. We, of course, got lost. Why didn't we bring the map? When are we going to learn that lesson?

Anyway we found the train station and then knew the direct way to the hotel from there. We settled in for the night at 22:23. We read and blogged ourselves to sleep.

Approximate Nice walking route:

2014 EUROPE by Rail 10 - Next is Nice Ville

We woke at 08:30. I looked out the window and saw Uncle walking down to check the river. I surmised the bridge was holding strong from his expression as he returned. So good to see his smiling face. We exchanged hellos from the window.

Soon we were mostly packed and down to breakfast. A real treat. It was a concoction of pancake mix and eggs scrambled into what looked like fat noodles. Then you sprinkle with sugar. It was umm-umm good and hardy. (Terry also gave us two packets of mushroom egg drop soup to take home.)

I must add that we have been so impressed with Aunt Terry's cooking throughout our visit. All was fresh ingredients and combinations of things that I would not have thought go together. Simple and rustic farm fare, but often elegant at the same time. 

Before leaving we closed all the blue shutters on the house. It is a way to say "nobody home."

We left at 09:45 for Nîmes. Our train departure was 11:32. Roads and streets were bare on this Sunday morning.

B&T wanted to see us settled with good directions for departure before they went on their merry way. There was only one chore in town before boarding the train. That was to get some Euros from the ATM machine.

Aunt helped us find one at a nearby bank, as there was not one in the train station as expected. Our MasterCard worked. Yay! Always a worry at the start of a trip.

We have a hard time with good-byes, so they did not linger or wait for the train to depart. Some quick kisses and a few hidden tears on my part and they headed home. We had enjoyed our time with B&T tremendously, but we were also anxious to see new sights.

As we waited in the great hall, two kids played (fairly well) on the piano open for anyone's use. It echoed beautifully. I visited the restroom (.50 Euro collected by an attendant). Mike bought the NY Times in hopes of finding news of the Russian Formula 1 race. While we waited a half hour or so, we reminisced about the wonderful memories we had already made at B&T's, loving every minute of our visit so far.


The train was delayed only five minutes. It was not high-speed, but fast enough and comfortable.

The terrain inland was mixed, but mostly rolling green pastures and white rock "mini" mountains. EVERY house had a red tile roof. Although some commercial buildings had flat roofs of gravel or tar.

In fields train-side we saw a few futbol (soccer) games playing. There was lots of graffiti along the tracks, too, but mostly words rather than artful paintings or stenciling. Don't know if it is political, name tagging or what. We saw the word "Brume" at every station.

People on the train were dressed in every attire. One lady wore sparkling "diamonique" (those huge stones could not ALL be real diamonds), tight leather pants with zipper cut outs filled with black lace, silver and black tiger stripe sweater and black leather boots. On the line of sexy / risqué / fashionable. There there were students in very casual wear (t's, sweats, layers of jean material), and everything in between.

Dogs on leashes are abundant in France, mostly little chihuahua, beagle or miniature poodle types. But others also. Many traveling on the train with their owners. Some dressed in little coats. All are well-behaved.

At the Arles station a man overheard us wondering about the mural on the station wall. It included farm herders and flamingos (not shown on this photo). He politely broke into the conversation and said flamingos lived in Spain, but not France. The flamingos here puzzled him also.

He introduced himself as Tony and added the mural depicted local folklore. He said this area was known for rice-growing and black cows. There were also wild or free (liberté) horses living nearby.

His English and our French are minimal, but somehow we understood what was necessary. He pointed out a huge lake (Etang de Bolman, I think) that we might have mistaken for the Mediterranean sea. We saw a few water-skiers. He commented his daughter lives on its shore.

He had never traveled to the U.S., but maybe in two years he might. He works for Shell Oil and lives in Marseille. He said Marseille is the second largest city in France. We offered him a granola bar and he took it. Later he asked if we were staying in Marseille. I think he would have asked us to dinner or a tour, if we were.

The travel time to Marseille St. Charles Gare (or Station) was 1-1/4 hours. Tony got off in Marseille and we connected to another train there. We said our good-byes. We soon missed his continuing "travelogue."

The next train was older. It was more crowded and we could not reserve a seat for this leg. We found two seats with a little table and they were facing forward. A treat, as up til now we had been facing backward (a little disconcerting and not great for photo taking).

Around Marseille, we began spying our first glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea. It was the beautiful azure blue with sugary white sands you see in all the movies and photos of the French Rivera. It looked warm and inviting.

Seaside homes were perched on the ends of little red rock jetties slicing into the water. Others were high on the cliffs. All had a wonderful view. The train stopped at Cannes and Antibes. Way out in the sea, we saw floating aqua culture nets probably raising fish. As we got closer to Nice we began seeing yachts of every size in harbors. Ah, the Riviera!

Up until now everyone we had met was gracious, helpful and happy. On the train we got a glimpse of some grumps--two sourpusses sitting across from us. One across the aisle hogged two seats with all her luggage, while folks stood. After many stops a young gal asked her to move her luggage so she could sit. The sourpuss reluctantly did so, but still took up more than half of the two person seating.

The gal above departed, so her seat was empty. The gal across the table from us had an empty window seat next to her. A couple with a baby in a car seat boarded. The mom asked and gestured could this girl move across the aisle so the mom, dad and baby could sit together. It was an aisle for an aisle swap, but this sourpuss acted like she did not understand and stayed put.

An older couple across the aisle, said, "Just put the car seat on our little table." The couple was so thankful. The young parents were pleased to be together even though they stood the whole way. The baby got admired by all and was perfectly smiley and quiet until near their stop.

For awhile a young fellow sat across from us in the window seat. As soon as he was settled, he took out paper and pencil and started writing equations. Like a young Einstein might do.

That seemed odd to us, but it must have been something he was trying to memorize. After a while he got out a second sheet of paper and began comparing them and making a few extra notations. He inspired me to do some note-taking myself about our trip.

After 2-1/2 hours on this segment, we arrived on time at 17:06 to lovely Nice Ville (the name of the station). It was dry and sunny on the whole trip today until we got to Nice. Very over cast there and off and on light rain showers. We managed to step between the raindrops for the most part.

I was sure I knew where the hotel was, so we started walking with our roller bags. After about eight blocks in the direction I thought we should go, we realized somewhere along the line we made a wrong turn and were lost.

2014 EUROPE by Rail 9 - More Thrills

Thrill two was the quaint walled village of La Couvertoirade, where we had lunch. In the twelfth century, it was founded by the Knights Templar (one of the most wealthy and powerful of the Catholic military orders). 

There is much history behind these protective walls, but the village currently is inhabited mostly by craftsmen working with enamel, pottery, weaving, etc. There are a number of shops to show off their wares.

It was fun to explore the many nooks and crannies and winding streets. The stone architecture was spectacular, especially the interior of the Catholic church (or eglise). I would love to hear a choir sing hymns there with its excellent acoustics. For more info on this ancient and interesting little village, see: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Couvertoirade  and www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar

As we meandered toward the car park just outside the walled village (no cars allowed inside), we came across another sweet kitty, napping in the warm sun. We were missing our Bella cat back home. It was hard not to scoop this one up for a quick cat cuddle, but we restrained ourselves. We also saw a honey stand and could hear the buzzing of the busy bees in the orchards behind it.

Time was getting short on this excursion due to our leisurely lunch, so we would bypass our third "planned" thrill at Cirque de Navacelles. To see what we missed, go to: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirque_de_Navacelles

Instead we cruised past the Moulin Le Caylar. This is an old, but nicely restored traditional windmill.

Next was the French version of a grand canyon at Gorges de la Vis (Vis river). No match with our Grand Canyon (capital G, capital C) in the state of Arizona USA, with its multicolored gold and red rock layered walls. Instead this one had rocky white boulders with lots of green scrub decorating its deep cuts into the earth. It was not as wide or deep as the C.G., but still impressive.

Last stop of the day was in Saint-Laurent-le-Minier. Here was a palace-like structure that was divided into a four-plex. B&T had considered buying one of the four plus the tower before seeing Mas Baumel. This was the site of an old mine (hence town name of Minier) and the chateau was the home of its chief engineer.  It was splendid I must say, but not as much so as the one-family, 50 acre home they ultimately chose.

A surging river could be seen from their would-be windows as well as our current vantage point. It was quite imposing due to the torrential rains experienced here lately. There was also a mighty gushing waterfall. B&T said they had never seen it this huge before. Quite impressive!

Alas, we had to head home. On the way, casual conversation lead to Robert Crumb, known for his creation of "Mr. Natural" and the phrase "keep on truckin'." Mike has been a faithful fan for years of this American cartoonist of the "underground" comics era. It turns out he lives part-time in this area of France and is friends with B&T. Even though we did not get to meet Robert in person (that would have been an ultimate thrill), we got to know him a little through the fun Crumb tales told today. (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crumb)

We stopped for gas in Ganges on the way home. It was 65 Euros to fill their tank with diesel. A cheap price for a "personally guided tour for two."

That evening B&T were off to the opera (movie version) of Macbeth staged by the NYC Met. It was showing in Nîmes. Mike and I had been invited to join them, but we opted to stay home an enjoy a quiet evening.

It had been a lovely day. Sun shining with temps ranging from 14C to 23C (16c is about 61F). And it was a lovely evening, sitting on the open veranda enjoying the sun and the sounds of nature.

We were still stuffed from lunch, so dinner was grapes for Mike. I had the ripe red tomato I had been eyeing since we had arrived. It did not disappoint. Both good and healthy.

Uncle Bob had left out some albums of his art work of the mountain La Fage and some other books which we perused. It was so cool to have see the mountain in person along with Uncle's interpretations.

We had an early to bed hopefully to fully get us into time zone / body zone synch. I worried about B&T coming home in the rain which had started again. It was so dark and so late. No city lights or even stars to brighten their way home. When the car pulled into the drive I was relieved and could finally fully close my eyes to sleep.

Approximate southwest France driving route:

2014 EUROPE by Rail 8 - Day of Thrills

This morning the sun was bright and the mountain LaFage that Uncle has made an art study of over the years (a la Cézanne and Mont Sainte-Victoire) was in clear view. Its falls colors in full glory. Uncle said he has in one way or another (through drawings, collages, etc) chronicled that particular mountain over a hundred times.

But the weather quickly disintegrated into an overcast gray. We rechecked the weather forecast. The foreboding of the previous night's report had not fully resulted and the river level in front of their property was down a few feet. We felt comfortable motoring to nearby sights. Departure was 09:16.

We passed through Ganges (a town I had often heard B&T speak of) and Montpelier (location of the regional hospital). This town is also known for being in the silk trade in the past because of its many mulberry trees.

This is the Languedoc area of France. We drove mostly on narrow two-lane Hwy. 999 toward the south and caught a "freeway" type road near our first destination. On this wide and straight road the speed limit was 130 kph. 

We saw some of the Cévennes mountains, a scrubby plateau area, and a very high and impressive cascading waterfall (due to the heavy rains, I suspect). It was narrow, but at least twenty stories high. We wondered the size of France. Aunt said "smaller than Alaska, but bigger than Texas." For that size area (compared to the size of the U.S.) there certainly is a wide variety of topography.

In contradiction to the photo above, overall there was not much color on the trees at this time of year. A little yellow, leaves lightly scattered on the ground, but mostly shades of green.

Our itinerary was not laid out for us in advance, but Uncle said it would be a day of three thrills. Just after the caves of Roquefort (must stop here another time), we arrived at our first thrill. It was a new bridge spanning hill-to-hill over the town of Millau.


Before it was built, it took 40 minutes of switchback roads down to the valley through the village and back up the hill on the other side. Now it takes only a few minutes to cross the 1-1/2 mile span.

Ten years ago there was a design contest to determine the style of the Viaduc du Millau. Five construction companies competed. There was a model of each entry in the visitors center. The winner was Eiffage Group (the same company that constructed the Eiffle Tower). We agree it was the clear top dog.

There was a movie showing its construction and mentioning lots of fun facts, like "the Eiffel tower could almost fit under the highest span." Impressive!

It cost 7.30 euros each way to cross and it was so worth it. I thought it would be another great bridge walk, but because it is part of the French motorway system, no walking allowed. More info at: www.leviaducdemillau.com/en_index.php#/franchir-le-Viaduc/

Next was lunch at our second thrill in the small walled town of La Couvertoirade (more on the town in Part 2). 

Since we arrived at B&T's, they had talked about lunch here at their favorite creperie (Creperie Montes at www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1062760-d6975753-Reviews-Creperie_Montes-La_Couvertoirade_Aveyron_Midi_Pyrenees.html). Not only was the food delish, but over the years B&T had become friends with the owners. They especially wanted Mike to try the Grand Marnier infused chocolate crepe dessert. But alas, the creperie was not open.

We wandered a bit further and found another promising spot. It advertised grilled and vegetarian fare. It had a cat-theme going with a cat statue in front and a cat water bowl. Although B&T are not particularly cat people, it seemed like a good omen to us.

L'Auberge du Chat Perche (www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1062760-d6835582-Reviews-L_Auberge_du_Chat_Perche-La_Couvertoirade_Aveyron_Midi_Pyrenees.html) means hostel cat perch per BabelFish.com, or my interpretation is cat hang-out. We saw one cat relaxing and grooming on the cool stone floor as we entered.

Inside was a curved-ceiling, cave-like, cubby hole of a cafe. Lots of character and charm. Two more cats were wandering around the place -- not begging or bugging anyone or hopping on tables. Just content to get a little pet now and then from cat lover patrons.

We ordered another nice bottle of red. After we ordered, I spotted a sign for violette kir. I just had to try it. I've never tasted anything like it. It was pale purple in color, a definite violette nose, and a faint but true violette taste. It was excellent.  

For lunch I had a fabulous hot-n-cold veggie plate with purple (is there a theme here?!) broccoli, black lentils, dipping sauces, and much more. This is one of the most wonderful veggie combos I have ever tasted, if not the most colorful. The others chose the sausage special cooked on an indoor open-fired grill.

Mike could not decide if this or the previous day's sausage was the best he ever had in life. They came in at least one and two between the two of them.

Dessert was creme brûlée and vanilla cake layered with a raspberry creme.  The creme brûlée was served warm (yay!) and the best I ever had. Seems like France has a lot of bests when it comes to food.

Mike let one of the cats lick the rich whipped cream topping from his dessert off his finger. What a happy, purr-y cat that was!!

As we were about to leave, we had an unanticipated surprise. The owners of the crepe cafe had stopped by du Chat to have their lunch. B&T introduced us and then gushed and hugged and chatted in French with their dear friends. They knew we had good intentions to eat at their place and seemed pleased.

Good byes were said and off to more thrills for us.

2014 EUROPE by Rail 7 - Astronomy 101

Over night there was a huge thunder storm, lightning display, and heavy rains. Even so we still got a great night's sleep and felt like we already had adjusted to the 6-hour earlier time zone change.

09:15 was the meet up time in the kitchen. We chatted over French-pressed coffee before our mystery trip departure that morning. It turns out Uncle and his friend Martin host an Astronomy Club in the nearby town of Anduze. A dozen or so folks meet at a tea shop run by British friends. We were invited to join.

The cafe is named Tea Potes with a double meaning. One is obvious in that they serve tea in pots and the other is that potes means "friend" in French. Downstairs they serve tea, coffee and baked goods. There we enjoyed cafe au laits and tea biscuits. 

After most had arrived we ventured up the tiny staircase to the most wonderful little study room. It has become a real cultural center to the community, with classes and clubs of various sorts meeting there.

Walls are surrounded with bookcases and stacks of books in all topics. Three non-matching end tables grace the middle of the room and a mix of a dozen differently styled chairs surround them. There are white boards for sketches and lots of knick-knacks for show and tell. The room was cozy tight, but cozy comfortable. You had to communicate with your neighbor (by eye or mouth) because you practically sat in their lap.

Then the discussion started. Uncle took the floor first, explaining how large distances between planets, sun, and stars are measured. Math terms like parallax and hypotenuse were reviewed. He also explained the 70% theory.

I do not remember this theory clearly so I just sent an email to my Uncle to sum it up in a few sentences. HaHa!! Sorry Uncle. I just looked it up on the Internet. Way too complicated for me or he to explain here, but go to NASA's website for a basic description: www.science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy/ 

Then Neil discussed eclipses and how they occur. We each received copies of the geography of the surface of the moon and he pointed out various famous locations (Sea of Tranquility, etc). He explained how almost perfectly round craters of the moon came to be.

Someone mentioned the changing course of rivers. I vaguely recalled a recent newscast I had heard regarding this situation. It referred to the Rio Grande River border between Texas and Mexico. The group wondered if it was going to be left to nature to decide this international border or to be "corrected" by redirecting the river through man-made maneuvers. I think I remember that it was going to be "corrected."

When I got home I did not find anything about it, but did find this New Yorker Magazine article on the history of that topic: www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/moving-mexican-border

After about 1-½ hours we wrapped up and said our good-byes to Aline, the cafe owner. As we exited we found the schools had been let out early because there was a red weather alert (the worst level). We were a bit worried, but continued to lunch as it was on the way home. Luckily the restaurant had not closed due to the storms.

As an aside, my relatives had not experienced tornadoes (like in Michigan) or earthquakes (like in California) in all their years in France. Seems like a great weather place to be even with the heavy rain storms.

It was a scenic drive to the restaurant. Lots of roundabouts with art work in the center. Some structures were rustic country, while others were ancient and fortress-like. Lots of lush bamboo in this area. There were also a number of "sheep crossing" signs, but Terry said they always seem to cross with a shepard.

Lunch was at a lovely restaurant, La Ferme (farm) de Cordnadel (family name?). The complex consisted of indoor / outdoor seating on various terraces, a hotel and spa. The waitress spoke only French (but of course), so we were glad to have Aunt to translate for us. She seems to have mastered the language the best of my two relatives.

We three had another wonderful red wine and Mike had a beer named Leffe (which began brewing in the year 1240!!). We chose a fixed prix lunch at only 17 Euros. Mike ordered a butternut squash soup for a starter and the rest had greens with pine nuts and deep friend pockets of fresh goat cheese. I was in heaven.

For the main course they chose pork sausage made with rosemary, along with French fries. Mike said the sausage was the best he had ever eaten. I had the butternut squash soup from the first course as my entrée (to make it vegetarian). With the wonderful fresh-baked bread that filled me up.

Two interesting facts: 1) Butter is not served with bread in France. But the bread is so good you don't miss it. 2) Salt and pepper were served in a little pile on your plate (lower left corner of sausage pix).

From there we stopped by the computer repair store to pick up Aunt's computer. I was glad to see that. Later I would check emails and try to set-up our European SIM card. It was mostly unimportant stuff, but we got Cory's contact info (my niece's significant other) to try to set up dinner with him in Berlin.

As time went on the rain got harder and harder, so we decided to hustle back home before we got stuck somewhere. The rest of the evening continued our chit-chat. No lack of conversation as we had a lot to catch up on, and a lot in common to commiserate or appreciate.

We checked the weather throughout the evening and it did not look promising for the next day. We had a driving tour planned. If it continued to rain heavily as the weather report advised, we would cancel. We prattled on until 20:43, said our goodnights, and headed off to our bedrooms. 

At bedtime, I spied a downward bulge in the ceiling right above our bed. I wondered if the heavy rains would break through onto our bed during the night. I thought Uncle might come and check on it, but he said it had been there a while. We had a plan to switch to the upper guest bedroom if something happened. 

A very hard rain continued over night. You could hear the pounding but soothing sounds of it and the river through the open windows. Thankfully we did not have to revert to our back-up plan. We had another wonderful night's rest.