June 29 Giverny- Paris

 Today we went to Giverny , and I think it was my fourth time there! It is a perfect time of year, and the flowers looked spectacular. After the visit we returned to Paris to spend our last night before flying out Friday. I will attach some pictures from the gardens  

I have noticed quite a few things seemed to be different from when I was in France previously. First, I expected all women to be wearing a scarf and that was absolutely not the case anymore. Secondly, everybody dressed like Americans now! It was hard to tell the Europeans from the Americans, because they are more of the same type clothes. In the past that was absolutely not the case. 

. So anyway it was a good trip but I don’t think I’ll do Rick Steves again. 

Here are my pictures. Au revoir!

June 28 Normandy Wednesday

 I am writing this on Thursday because last night I got into bed and suddenly remembered I hadn’t done the blog!

Today was our visit to the World War II sites in Normandy. I had been here before with Roger, but we did not have a personal local guide and this time we did. He was excellent.

 He took us to the German cemetery and at first I was resistant to honoring them. But then I remembered how Vietnam war veterans were treated, and the war was not their fault, and I was able to objectively look at the cemetery and hear the commentary. Next we went to Omaha and Utah beaches, including a museum and a short film, which was very informative. we completed our day with a visit to the American cemetery. I have to leave now, so I will add pictures later.

June 27 Mt St Michel- Bayeux

 So this (mont-Saint-Michel, ) is not the place you come for a good night’s sleep.! When I went to bed at 11 last night, the birds were still squawking and people were still outside being noisy. Then at 4 AM the deliveries and the workers started. Because of the cobblestones, when they transport materials on carts, everything about it is loud. And the workers only shout at each other. Truly, they must have sore throats every night! Extremely noisy! I managed to get a little bit of sleep, but as they say, you don’t go on a tour to get sleep. 

This morning was a walking tour of mont-Saint-Michel but I decided that running uphill on cobblestones to keep up with the group was not going to be fun. I was not alone. Quite a few others in the group decided to skip that.

This is clearly a distinction with the Road Scholar group. This group moves much faster. I consider myself a pretty fast walker, but not carrying a suitcase and going uphill! Well, enough of my complaining. I really just want to remember the differences between this organization and the other. I don’t think I would want to do another Rick Steves tour although overall, it is well run.

So we took our bus toward Normandy and stopped on the way for lunch in another charming town called Ville Dieu. 

We reached our hotel in Bayeux about 4 and after a short break, we headed off to the Bayeux tapestry. This is something I have wanted to see for a long time and it did not disappoint. An amazing artifact from 1066 chronicling the Norman conquest of England. Besides seeing the tapestry, we visited the museum there and watched a short film about the story of the tapestry. Finally, it all started to make sense to me.

We then had a brief walk around the downtown area and popped into the beautiful cathedral, long enough to hear the organist and a flutist practicing. The sound quality was amazing! Michelle and I then joined two couples for dinner. One couple was celebrating their anniversary and the six of us had a lovely dinner together.

The Churchill hotel here is gorgeous. Especially when compared to last night! I have a beautiful updated room and I’m very happy because I’m very tired. Tomorrow will be a long day going to the beaches of Normandy and the American cemetery. I have been there before with Roger. However, I did not have a local expert guided tour which we will have tomorrow.  

June 26 Mont St Michel

 We left Amboise this morning and headed toward Brittany . We made a stop in.Fougères in Brittany for a galette lunch. We then continued to Normandie, and. Mont-Saint-Michel. When we got here, the hordes of people made it extremely difficult to navigate the street and stay with our group to find our way to our hotel. However, at this moment it is 10:15 PM and the streets are very quiet! There is still sunlight, and the streets are quieter, except for some tourists & the seagulls! Spending the night here is quite unique, and an experience that few people have. There are several tiny hotels that are very old with tiny rooms but fortunately we have bathrooms in our rooms. 

I’m very tired and I’m not going to write much because I have to get up early so I hope that tomorrow I can elaborate on my experience today. In the meantime, I will attach a couple pictures. Tomorrow the group is having a walking tour that is uphill and has my body is getting tired, so I think I’m going to skip the walking tour!

More tomorrow. 

Well, the Internet is very slow and I don’t think I can attach pictures so if they don’t work tonight, I’ll try tomorrow.

Sunday, June 25 Amboise

 Today we went to my very favorite Château only 10 miles away: château Chenonceau. I went there when I was in high school and again when I spent a week in Tours. The group also loved this one. I think it’s the best. Fortunately, our guide had us go early so that we were the first people in the door this morning. We were ahead of the crowds and the heat. We had plenty of time to go on our own. Wonderful visit! 

We then returned to our hotel in Amboise.  I had a yummy galette / crêpe for lunch then a gelato. We had the afternoon free —or some people walked over to the small Château, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years. I actually would have enjoyed going, but I needed to take a couple hours to myself. So I cooled down in my room for a break from the heat. 90degrees + 

When we pack tonight, we have to pack one small overnight bag that we will take with us tomorrow when we arrive at mont-Saint-Michel for 1 overnight. Staying at the Mont is something I have looked forward to. I visited there before, but not to spend the night.

Our hotel had a wine tasting before dinner this afternoon, and then we were on our own for dinner & the evening.

It has made my day each time someone has complimented me on my French, and today it happened twice! Mostly it’s because I have good pronunciation, but my grammar stinks! But it still makes me happy.😀

With the Rick Steves tour, I find we have to get our own meals more often than with Road Scholar. That’s OK but it’s additional expenses along the way which are paid for upfront with Road Scholar. I found out that our tour guide has done many Road Scholar trips as well, as he’s a free lance tour guide. Interesting.  

We are very excited to go to cooler climate for the next few days. It should be in the 70s for the next few days and that is a far cry from the 90s! And that means we can wear different clothes! 😀  We are headed to Mont-Saint-Michel then Normandy.  Bon!

Saturday June 24 Bourges-Amboise

 Well, the consensus was that Bourges was beautiful and we wish we had more time there. It was very very quiet, especially compared to Paris. Everyone said they slept well because there were no sirens! We had a bit of free time before leaving in the morning and we were told to go to the Saturday marché and buy our own lunch for a picnic later. Of course, I bought cheese, a croissant, an apple. 

We got on the bus and headed for a privately owned château, where the owners grow and make their own wine. The owner explained about the château’s  history and how he came to acquire it. He was very smart, because he has placed some large dinosaurs in various places on the grounds, and that has attracted families to stop there. Very clever!  We then tasted 2 Sauvignon Blancs and a red which was too bitter for me. But I loved to the whites! I managed to get a glass of it to take outside while I had my picnic lunch so it was a perfect accompaniment.😉

Our next stop was château Chambord.  From a distance it is spectacular. I did not take any pictures and I don’t know why. We had a short visit here and I didn’t feel like walking too much so I took it easy stroll around.  

From there it was about an hour drive to our hotel, in the city ofAmboise.  We are in the Loire Valley now, and things are starting to look familiar to me. We crossed the Loire river several times, and it is so beautiful! I noticed in the hillside a few places where people had built buildings into the rock. I recall seeing that on a much larger  scale when I was in the south of France, going to the prehistoric caves, and also when I spent a week in Tours many years ago.  We are very close to Tours now.  It’s possible I will see more of that tomorrow when we see another chateau. 

We had a delicious dinner at the hotel, and we will stay here two nights.  Tomorrow is supposed to have a lot of free time and I look forward to that because the pace has been pretty rushed. As I mentioned before, the people in this group are very friendly and get along nicely.The weather has been very warm, in the upper 80s, and we’re all pretty sweaty by the end of the day! Fortunately, all of our hotels have have AC  which is not always the case in France.  

I usually put somewhere in my blog to please forgive any mistakes as I write these quickly, and may not catch typos  

Time for bed now…💤

Jane 

Friday June 23 Paris-Bourges

 We packed up and departed from our Paris hotel in a large bus. We are a group of 26+2 guides. After a couple hours in the bus, we stopped at a fantastic attraction. .Guedelon is project where about 50 employees are building a 13 th century medieval castle using tools and techniques from the period. This was a part of the trip I was really looking forward to and I was not disappointed. 

A lovely British lady gave us a tour and then turned us loose to wander around the property on our own. There were Masons, carpenters, basket makers, potters, etc. They use the materials locally available, including wood from the forest & stone they shape as needed.  

The project has been underway since 1997 and they expect that it will be finished in the next decade. The employees dress in period Clothing and they are happy to answer questions and interact with the visitors. 

This was a super experience, and I’m so glad that I got to be a part of it. We then drove to the center of France to the city of Bourges where we will spend the night. The drive was beautiful, passing farm lands and vineyards and small villages. Such a wonderful change of pace from the hectic Paris!

Bourges is an absolutely picture postcard town with a large number of houses from the 14th century. I took a bunch of pictures and I’ll post a few but every place you turn it is gorgeous. There’s a very famous cathedral here—St Étienne.  We had a walking tour with a local guide who was originally from the US, but who has lived here for many years. She is very knowledgeable about the city and about the cathedral and it was an excellent tour. She pointed out a house where Joan of arc spent a winter. For real! And lots of famous things happened in the church here, such as famous coronations and baptisms.  

We then had a delicious dinner. The city will have a light and sound show at dusk but Michelle and I know that that is not until 11 PM and I’m not going to last that long.

So we only have the morning here and will walk around a bit before we leave town. But this would be a very nice place to visit again.

Here are some pix from today. The last pic is the view from my hotel window. Jackie the drink is for you.   

June 22 Paris

 This morning we woke up to rain. The plan was to go for a walk in a neighborhood in Paris with a local guide. I decided to pass! I stayed back and did some laundry, and did not get drenched!

I met up with Michelle and the group at the Louvre midday. The place was insanely overrun with way too many people. It was not fun. Fortunately I’ve been there several times so I didn’t feel cheated when we left after an hour or so. Fortunately rain was gone. 

I have been looking forward to galettes and tonight had one for dinner on Rue d’Odessa near our hotel. 

Wednesday June 21 Paris

 Our guide, Jerome, began the day by giving us metro passes and showing us how to use the metro. I didn’t mind the refresher course because it has been awhile for me. He took us to île de la cité for a bit of a walk around, ending at the church of St Séverin. Then  next we went to St Chapelle where a choir was singing. Today in Paris, is  a music festival all over the city in the day and evening. So around town, we saw various musical groups performing on the street. 

Our group had lunch on our own independently and then we met at the Musée d’Orsay where we visited  the museum independently at our own pace. I very much appreciated that. We headed to directly to the fifth floor for the impressionists, my favorite.   The rest of the day we were on our own.  

There are several thingsthat I have noticed which are different from the road scholar trips I have taken. First, the average group age is much younger here. There are 4-5 young people between 18 and 25.  There are more married couples. And I am only aware of one woman traveling alone. Another difference is that they build into each day a great deal of independent time. We are not with our guide all the time unlike the Road Scholar. I can say there are pros and cons to that.

My app says I walked over 6 miles today! Wow! I did much better when I was walking, but standing to listen to the guide, or in the museum was tough.  I forgot to take my back brace with me today, but I will definitely take it tomorrow.

After the museum, Michelle and I walked back to the hotel in Montparnasse.  We noticed musical groups in several locations and ultimately stopped at a Cajun restaurant on.Boulevard Saint-Michel.  A Cajun band was playing.  There was a festive air all over town with the music festival going on.

We returned to the hotel with some snacks we purchased at a nearby market, and to our surprise there ended up being more than a dozen from our group, sitting in the dining area, downstairs, talking, having wine, eating.  The group is very friendly and communicative and we have enjoyed meeting new people.

💤time….

Pix— the  cajun band, St Chapelle, us by the Seine & Notre Dame  

Tues June 20 Paris

 Michelle and I had a free day today before our tour began. I was delighted that I slept in until 9 o’clock! Evidently I really needed a good sleep! We decided to walk in the direction of Notre Dame and we made it all the way. It was heartbreaking. and sad to see the cathedral. But they have done a great deal of work, and the building is surrounded by scaffolding. There are bleachers set up where people can sit and just ponder the cathedral. And along the side street, there are huge posters and photographs showing the destruction and the repair work going on. 

We had a quiche lunch near the Cathedral and walked around ile de la cité. 

As we headed back toward the hotel, I saw a shop with lots of cotton tops, so I could not resist. It has been very humid here and I want something super loose and cool. Well, that was my excuse anyway.

Our tour group met for the first time at 5 PM. There are 26 in our group. It felt very much like a Road Scholar group, although there were more younger people and more men. Actually, it seems the majority are married, couples and several have children who are High school or college age.  Our French guide is very experienced in tourism and I think he will be excellent. He has a second guide with him who is from Hungary, and normally leads tours in Eastern Europe but I believe I understood him to say that his tour in Russia was canceled ( makes sense) so he is joining this one.  The people are very friendly and outgoing and we have already chatted with quite a few at the hotel or over dinner tonight.

Tomorrow, we will see some sites in Paris, which I have seen before, but I always like the musée D’Orsay.  

Bedtime now💤 

Monday June 19 Chartres-Paris

 Our hotel and Chartres —Camponile Centre Gare—treated us very well. The woman in charge on Sunday had taken a liking to us and was very impressed that I was trying to use my French. When the rain storm came last night close to dinner time, she helped us find a place where we could get dinner delivered. Michelle helped her clean up the dining area for us, ( she loved her for it) because there had just been another Rick Steves group hold an orientation in that room. The hotel was in his book of recommended places and I chose it because of that and because of its proximity to the train station. Anyway, the woman last night who was in charge, and the man in charge today both treated us like royalty, giving us much more attention than other guests.  ( because we were needy?!). We were there for three nights, and we were very friendly and easy to get along with which they seemed to appreciate. 

So this morning we had reserved massages at a very nice hotel nearby. Before going for the massage I said we should go to the train station and figure out how to get around there before we were carrying our bags. That was a really good idea because there were things we needed to figure out—-like the elevator.  

Our massages were very good. They only had time for one hour massage and Michelle and I are accustomed to the longer ones, but regardless, it was very nice. For me the 6 or 7 miles I walked yesterday meant my body really needed the massage!

We returned to our hotel to shower & pack our bags. We got an extension to check out time without cost— which was another example of them treating us very nicely.

I asked our guy ( mgr) at the hotel for advice on getting the train tickets and he said oh I’ll go with you and help you get the tickets from the machine! So if you can imagine he pulled Michelle‘s suitcase and walked us one block to the train station and helped us buy the tickets in the machine! I’m sure he was the day manager. I told him that I would let Rick Steves organization know how well we were treated there and we weren’t even a part of his tour yet. He seemed very pleased with that.

We took the one hour train to Paris, and I had envisioned sitting very comfortably, but we had the cheaper tickets which I regret getting, and the luggage rack was full so handling our bags was a hassle. Oh well. It’s all part of the adventure, right?

When we arrived at the hotel, I had the GPS walking directions from the train station that I previously looked up, but I’m not certain that we exited the train station at the right place. It took quite a bit of figuring for us to identify the right streets to take but ultimately we did find our way. This is the street in Montparnasse where Jackie and I had stayed previously. It was familiar to me. The room is tiny, but very nicely appointed. Hotel Lenox Montparnasse. 

Dinner: “les fondues de la raclette”  in Montparnasse. So this is probably my favorite meal!  After my freshman year in college Mom and I had a week in London. We discovered a place called the Swiss center, which was sponsored by the Swiss government and had shops and restaurants pertaining to Switzerland. Mom and I discovered raclette and both were thrilled! I think we went there for dinner three times in a week! Finding a restaurant in the US that does raclette  is very rare. When Roger and I were in Switzerland, I was in cheese heaven!

 Unfortunately this one was a huge disappointment. I don’t know why, but they served a plate of cheese & meat at first and I said oh, I don’t eat meat so he brought a plate of blanched vegetables, which does not go with raclette! It had broccoli and carrots etc and did not have the tiny onions and potatoes, and cornichons that it should have had! I don’t know if this is the French version of raclette or what but I was extremely disappointed— although I have had it done correctly in Paris before. The cheese itself was OK but not very strong. The tourist variety I guess! So I was very disappointed in the dinner. I will just have to make my own when I get home. Or go to Switzerland.!

I’m in Paris!!!😀

Sunday June 18 Chartres

 Last night we discovered that Chartres en Lumières —which is the special lighting of the cathedral & other city buildings— which they said starts at dusk actually did not begin until almost 11:00 PM!!  So we only saw the cathedral lit. Still was beautiful. As it was, getting to bed at midnight was tough for us both because we had gotten up early .  

It has been very hot & humid here and yesterday I bought something very cool to wear.  But I wanted to wash it and decided I would wash anything I’ve worn so far —-and I will start the trip in Paris with everything clean!

So this morning we went to a laundromat— Always an adventure, trying to figure out how to use the machines.  Between yesterday and today we had the chance to walk through the Old Town and see houses and buildings that were hundreds of years old  —some half timber — which always reminds me of Shakespeare’s times.

Our adventure today was to go to the maison Picassiette. In the 40s,  50s and 60s a man Raymond Isidore  covered every inch of his house inside and out with tiles, making mosaics. It was  unique and interesting.  I’ll attach some pictures. We walked the entire day and totaled between 6 and 7 miles I believe. Whew!  

On our way to the maison we came across a café along the river Eure which served food and rented paddle boats for the river. It was a surprise finding, and we were so happy to have some lunch and watch people go by in the boats.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Chartres cathedral, which, of course was beautiful. I had seen it in the 60s but I was a teen and did not remember much. Late this afternoon we were surprised with a thunder and lightning rain storm! A huge downpour and I was so happy that I was inside the hotel already and not walking miles away from the city center where we were earlier.

Because of the rain we did not want to go out for dinner so we did Uber eats and had a pizza delivered here. Yesterday we had bought a bottle of wine, which was a good accompaniment to the pizza.

Tomorrow morning, we need to pack up and go for our massage at 10 AM after which we will take the train to Paris. Our tour group doesn’t arrive in Paris until Tuesday so we will have a good 24 hours on our own before the tour.

Saturday June 17 Chartres

 We arrived yesterday afternoon, after very long flights from the US. And we were both quite exhausted. We were picked up by our driver, who took us to our hotel in Chartres. I could not resist taking a short nap and shower, which made all the difference. The hotel is one that Rick Steves’ book recommended. It is very simple, but has the basics and is in a good location.

In the evening we had a chance to walk around the town and get our bearings and make some plans for the weekend here. We had dinner outdoors looking at the Cathedral. We did not go inside it yet, but will do that, perhaps Sunday. Today we were looking for a place to get a pedicure and we did! Always an experience to do things we are accustomed to at home to see how they do things differently. We went into some shops, because tomorrow many or most will be closed and we are going to Paris on Monday , so this was our only opportunity. I am trying out my French and getting some confidence back although I still struggle to think of the right word. But it’s fun to try.

Tonight, we hope we can stay up late enough to see the light show at various buildings in town, including the cathedral, of course —Chartres en luminaire. 

The weather is warm and humid. Fortunately, our hotel has AC!  

So happy to be here!!