Tuesday, May 24, 2016 – Lourdes – We left Spain under cloudy skies and crossed the border into France in about ½ hour. Joe had found a restaurant on-line in a little French town near Pau. When we went in, we found out that you had to have reservations and that they could not accommodate us. So, we went to the next little town and found a place where they spoke a smattering of English and we had a very good lunch. From there, we continued on the Lourdes, getting closer and closer to the snow-covered mountains of the Pyrenees. We check into L’Hotel du Paris, www.hotelparislourdes.fr Once again, Joe did an excellent job of selecting a location for our hotel. We walked about two blocks to enter the grounds of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, www.lourdes-france.org Rick and I went into the Sanctuary and were awed by the many mosaics depicting the life and death of Jesus Christ.
Then we went into the Grotto.
We met back up with Joe and Casey and proceeded to the Underground Basilica of St. Pius X – it is a huge place of worship. We saw part of the Blessed Sacrament procession before returning to our hotel.
We ate supper of roasted chicken and fries before returning to the Sanctuary grounds where Joe and Rick participated in a torch lite procession. We left Joe and Casey exploring and returned to our hotel. When we checked our e-mail, we were distressed to learn that Rick’s 91-year-old mother had fallen and broken her leg.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 – Villandraut –We had two nice rooms. They don’t use numbers in this hotel; we were in the “medieval room” and Joe and Casey were in the “school bus” room. We asked the proprietor, Ronan Talbot, if there were any wineries close by and he suggested two. We visited Chateau de Budos where we met Lawrence, 4th generation wine maker, who gave us a tour and a tasting.
Then we went to Sauterne to taste the sweet white wine produced in the district.
5/26 – We set off from Villandraut taking small country roads – this time through the heart of the Bordeaux wine making country. There were villas and vines everywhere you looked. We saw a sign for a winery and took a left turn. Just around the corner, we found the Chateau du Payre. We were greeted by the secreatary, Dauphine, who that her boss, Valarie Labrousse, was not there at the moment, but she knew a little English and would take us a tour and tasting. www.chateau-du-payre.fr The property has been in the family since 1888 and we met the grandfather, Arneaud, while we were tasing La Perle Payre, a very nice red merlot. I thought the cork was unique because it has the name of the wine on it as well as his e-mail address. Alas, he did not speak or understand English.
Saint-Sulpice-et-Cameyrac
Thursday – Saturday, May 26-29, 2016 –
After purchasing a bottle of wine for supper, we continued on our journey and arrived at the Chateau du Lamothe du Prince Noir B & B. Chateau Lamothe was built in the 14th Century. The Chateau takes its name from the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock, who used it as a hunting lodge. The three-towered Chateau overlooks rolling fields and forests and is surrounded by a spring-fed moat, home to swans and ducks. The castle is now a B & B. This castle is to be our abode for the next three nights.
After checking in, Joe and Rick went to a grocery store and bought some bread, salad stuff and a roasted chicken which we ate for supper in the chateau’s dining room.
5/27 –We started our day with a lovely breakfast which included fresh fruit, yogurt, assorted breads/pastries, a warm bread pudding, fresh orange juice, ham and an assortment of cheeses as well as coffee and eggs cooked to order. We asked the Chateau owner for a suggestion for a winery tour. She made an appointment for us to tour the Chateau de Reignac. www.reignac.com
We toured the area where their small amount of white wine is stored in concrete vats in the shape of eggs. This was the first time we have seen these type of vats. The chateau has won several awards – the latest was for a special scent garden that has been planted next to a greenhouse that was designed and built by Gustave Eiffel, who later built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
After smelling the scents that we might expect to find in the taste of the wine, we proceeded to a three-story restored pigeon tower for our wine tasting. Of course, the pigeons are long gone.
Next, we travelled to a town well-known for its wine, St. Émilion. Wikipedia says, “Saint-Émilion’s history goes back to prehistoric times and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets. The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. The town was named after the monk Émilion, a travelling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.”
We had lunch on the patio of Le Bistrot due Clocher bistroduclocher@yahoo.fr The patio was next to a bell tower and we could see a fort from here. If you enlarge the picture below, you might see the flags flying on top of the fort.
Unfortunately, we missed the 2:30 English tour of the town,so we went to the cathedral on our own, walked around the town, and tasted some wine before getting back in the car and continuing on our way. Pictured below is the garden of one of the establishments where we tasted wine.
On our way back to the castle, we made one more stop for a wine tasting at Canon Fronsac. The woman didn’t speak any English, but I was able to communicate with her with my smattering of French. You can learn more about the Fronsac district wines at www.vins-fronsac.com
5/28 – We lingered over our breakfast, much the same as yesterday’s, but, with the addition of a bottle of sparkling wine that Casey bought yesterday in St. Émilion (added to our fresh orange juice). Today, we travelled north of the city of Bordeaux to the Medoc district. It started raining just as we left the chateau. Our first stop was at the Chateau Dauzac Margaux where we paid €6 per person for a wine tasting as no tour was available on Saturday.
Our next stop was in Cantenac where we took the 2:30 English tour of the Château Prieuré-Lichine www.prieure-lichine.fr The chateau was a Benedictine Abby until the French revolution. From that time, it passed through a number of families until purchased in 1951 by Alex Lichine. Afterhis death, his sone had to see the Chateau/vineyards after paying 50% inheritance tax. But,the new owner’s kept the name. Our guide explained that they use the best farming practices. One of those practices is planting grass in between the rows of vines. It helps to regulate the soil’s water content and when they mow the grass, it helps to fertilize. In the winter, they put sheep in the fields to eat the grass and leave their own type of fertilizer. She also said that they take the water left over from the wine making process and put it on bamboo that they have planted on the edge of their forest. The bamboo acts as a natural filter for the water which goes back to nature. The picture below is from Wikipedia and is attributed to Prieuré Lichine.
From here we drove to Lamarque where we took a ferry across the Gironde River to Blaye.
At this point, we headed south. Our chateau owner, Carla, told us later that if we had continued north, we would have seen many fabulous châteaus – including Chateau Richelieu. On our return, we drove along the riverside and kept our eyes open for road signs advertising chateau with dégustation (wine-tasting). We followed such signs to find Chateau LaCouture chateaulacouture@orange.fr We arrived a few minutes after 6 p.m. As we pulled into the open gate of what looked like a private home, we saw a sign saying they closed at 6. But, Joe saw a woman and asked if we could have a tasting and she agreed. Then, a young man came whizzing in to help his grandmother. He brought along his English workbook from school to help him translate. The wine was good and since they went to such an effort or us, we bought a bottle before leaving.
On Sunday, 5/29, we ate another magnificient breakfast and then said adieu to Madame Carla and le Chateau du Lamothe du Prince Noir and headed into the city of Bordeaux. Joe’s handy Google Maps got us to the train station, Gare St. Jean, in plenty of time for us to say goodbye to Joe and Casey (who are flying to Belgium this afternoon) and to find our way around the station and get to the proper place to board our train to Paris.
Paris – Sunday, May 29 – Friday, June 3, 2016
Sun. 5/29 – We took a non-stop train from Bordeaux’s Gare St. Jean to Paris’ Gare Montparnasse which lasted about 3 ½ hours. From there we took a taxi to our lodgings for the next 5 nights, the Hotel Eiffel Seine. The lobby is pictured below.
The River Seine is at the end of the block and the Eiffel tower is just a few blocks away. We had booked a sunset tour o the Eiffel tour, so we set off walking just before 6 p.m. We only walked around the corner where we foud a nice restaurant and had our supper. IOLANDA at 105 Quai Branly 75015.
Rick ordered the plate of the day which included ¼ roasted chicken with french fries and salad. I had a bowl of French onion soup. We got to one of the Fat Tire Tours’ Office just before 7:30 and met our guide, Sandra. She gave us all headsets to make it easier to hear her as we walked to and around the Eiffel Tower.
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She gave us the history of the surrounding park and told us that the tower was built as a result of a contest for the World’s Fair of 1889. Mr. Eiffel won the contest, but he had to contribute 90% of the cost of building it. Because of that, he made a deal with the government that he keep the proceeds from tickets sales for the next 20 years. He spent, in today’s equivalent approximately 27 million euros and recouped that amount in less than one year! From the ground, you can see names in gold, around the base of the first floor. These names are people, of his time, who contributed to the French people – like authors, poets, scientists, etc. We proceeded up the two-level elevator to the second floor. (Once up there, you can buy another ticket for €6 to go to the top.) Sandra then took us out to each side of the tower and pointed out other places of interest. Unfortunately, it started raining really hard and our views were obliterated.
After the tour of the 2nd floor, we were on our own, but we were wet and tired, so we waited about 15 minutes to catch the elevator down and just went back to the ground level. We walked back to our hotel in the rain and were very glad to “hit the hay” at 10 p.m.
Mon. 5/30 – We awoke to more rain, so decided to take it easy this morning. Rick went down to the desk to make arrangements to be picked up on Friday morning to get to the Orly airport in time for our 7 a.m. flight to Barcelona. Ann, at the desk, was very knowledgable and gave him some options. He chose to have a private car pick us up at 4:20 a.m. (cost €50.) He also made arrangements to have a taxi pick us up this afternoon for our tour of the Louvre. I was happy to have this quiet time to update my diary and let my tennis shoes dry. We took a taxi to the Rue des Pyramides to the Vision Paris tour office for our tour of the Louvre which Fat Tire Tours had booked for us. Even though we didn’t have the correct voucher with us, they quickly found our names on their list and issued us our “stick-on” tour numbers. Then they said that we had an hour to wait and feel free to walk around the area. We tried the bistro across the street but it was full, so we walked down the block to the El Tonel Bar and had a glass of wine while waiting. At 2:00, we met our tour guide and discovered that we were just around the corner & two blocks down from the Louvre. So, we “put on our running shoes” and followed our guide to the Galerie du Carosel (underground shopping mall) entrance. Even though she walked faster than we liked, it was wonderful to have a guide take us through the maze of people and halls to gain quick entrance to the museum. Since we entered in the lower area, the first thing we saw were the centuries-old foundations of the original structure on the site. Then, we passed under the inverted pyramid
and into the Sully Wing where we saw the sculpture of aphrodite, known as the “Venus de Milo”.
In the Denon wing, we saw many great paintings, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Of course, we saw many other beautiful works of art—too many to name specifically. We left the Louvre (in the rain) and walked back to El Tonel where the bar tender called a taxi for us while we had another glass of wine. Later, we went on an absolutely fantastic dinner cruise on the Sein on the BateauxParisiene. Even though it was raining, we could see the sites easily through the plexiglass. We had a table for two right at the “window”.
They gave us some paperwork that identified the twelve sites that we would be passing, but our waiter often came to our table to tell us what we were looking at. Our 8:30 dinner started with champagne and cheese puffs; then an appetiser of our choice served with a bottle of white wine; followed by our entrees – Rick had veal and I had a filet of beef for which they gave us no steak knives (because they weren’t needed). With this, they opened and served a bottle of red wine. This course was followed by a cheese course and then desert. We high recommend, if you are coming to Paris, you check this out www.bateauxparisiens.com While cruising the river, we were able to see the 10:00 light show at the Eiffel Tower as well.
They ask that you dress nicely – and most did – but we saw a few pair of jeans. There was also a live singer who was very good. Note: The next day, the River Seine reached flood stage and all boat traffic was stopped for the rest of our visit.
Tues. 5/31 – We scheduled a third tour through Fat Tire Tours – this one a “Behind-the-Scenes” tour of Versailles. We met at Café Regalia at 1 Rue de la Convention, 75015 about a half-hour walk from our hotel. Once the group was gathered, our guide told us that we would be catching the train at the station across the street. She explained what to expect and made sure that we all made it on the same train (even though it was very crowded).
This was a 7-hour tour which included skip-the-line access to Versaille; tour of the Royal Gardens; lunch on our own; tour of the Private Royal Apartments and then access to what the general public gets to see. Of course, the gardens, fountains and statuary were stunning (even in the rain).
The part we enjoyed the most was the private tour of the royal apartments. Our guide pointed out what was original, what came from another palace, what had been restored, etc. We were in a small group and it was very interesting. Pictured below was King Louis’ private library.
When we got into the public areas, while overwhelmingly beautiful, the crowds were too thick to be able to enjoy it as much as we did the other parts of the tour.
We managed to catch the train back to Paris on our own with no trouble and went back to IOLANDA for supper after a very long day on our feet.
Wed. 6/1 – Today we took the main line (green) on L’Open Tour Hop-on Hop-off Bus. We walked to the Eiffel Tour and had no trouble getting seats on the upper level. We passed by and learned about: Hotel des Invalides and Museum of the Army with the gold dome under which Napolean is buried;
the Rodin Museum where we could see the “Thinker” by looking over the wall; the Place de la Concorde (where King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette were beheaded – they now have a gold-tipped obelisk in the middle);
the Grand and Petite Palais (constructed or the 1900 World’s Fair); and much more. We rode down the Champs-Elysées and around the Arc de Triomphe
and then around the Place du Trocadéro, from which you have a terrific view of the Eiffel Tower.
We decided to save the other routes for tomorrow so we could get back and ready for our big evening out, celebrating my birthday, at a dinner show at the Moulin Rouge in the Montmartre district.
We were ushered in just before 7 p.m. and seated at a table for 10 people about 3 rows back from the stage. Next to our table there was an open area which looked like a dance floor. Dinner service was started immediately at 7:00. During most of the dinner, a band played and accompanied a couple of singers. After a nice dinner, which included a bottle of champagne, the show began. But first, part of the stage came out to cover the area that I thought was a dance floor, making the stage practically at our elbows. The show was very good and we enjoyed the evening very much. It was, indeed, a memorable way to spend my birthday.
Thurs. 6/2 – The day was cold and the Seine was flooding pretty badly which had many of the roads near the river underwater – causing more traffic jams than usual.
We took parts of the orange line and the blue line along with parts of the green line on the hop-on hop-off bus. Among many other things, we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral,
all sides of the Louvre,
the Museum D’Orsay; the Opera House and so much more. One of the things we saw was the National Library of France which traces its origin to the royal library founded at the Louvre Palace by Charles V in 1368. Today, it is one of the world’s largest libraries containing around 14 million books. Before returning to our hotel, we did some shopping on the Champs-Elysées. We had supper for the final time at IOLANDA and then tried to settle in early for our 4:20 pick up in the morning.
Friday, June 3, 2016 – You know how travel days can be. The car driver arrived early and the plane was late in Paris. We were just happy to have a ride as the air-traffic controllers had gone on strike the day before. (Thank goodness it was only for 1-day.) When we got to Barcelona to change planes, we had to retrieve all of our luggage and haul it around the airport until we could check it in again. We had made arrangements through Princess Cruise Line to fly back to the US on American Airlines. Rick decided to book business class for the 11-hour flight from Barcelona to Miami and it was a dream. The seats laid fully out into a bed and many people slept a good deal of the way. The food and beverages were good and plentiful. We were very pleased with this leg of our journey. Again, we were late leaving Miami and when we arrived at baggage pickup in Tampa, we found our son, JP, asleep waiting for us. (He was sick.) We were very grateful to see him and soon loaded up the car, dropping him off at his home on our way back to the boat.
This was a dream vacation that could never be duplicated. If you’re wondering; I know how very lucky I am.
