France Day 8 of 18 - Albi, Carcassonne, Nimes

I did fail to mention that we stopped in Albi before heading over to Carcassonne on Day 7. One of our friends was actually from this town, so we thought we would swing by and see what it was like. Albi was a cute town with a carousel where we stopped and looked at a museum were Toulouse Lautrec had some of his paintings in an old Abby. I enjoyed the museum more than I thought I would.
Now on day 8, we headed to Carcassone which was a beautiful walled medieval city. I think Kevin Costner's Robin Hood was filmed there. If it wasn't, it should have been. Carcassonne, was somewhat touristy, but was fun to explore none the less. Check out the old and beautiful Hotel there. Very fitting for a medieval town, could not believe the prices! Maybe schedule a lunch in their exquisite medieval restaurant. We ate at a restaurant down the way where I thought I ordered duck and salad, but my basic French translation did not realize that it was actually duck gizzards! Whoops! My husbands insisted that I eat it any way not to offend the owners, but I was not in the mood, and I decided that I wanted to eat alot and what I wanted on my vacation, so I reordered. Note: Canard confit is not what I imagined either... it is duck preserved in its own fat...yet another reorder...Lesson learned... even if you think you know what something is... do some food research ahead of time just to be sure...

Then we were off to Nimes which was a pleasant surprise. Nimes is where they actually invented denim... which in French translates to " of Nimes" I thoroughly enjoyed Nimes. There was beautiful bull fighting area that looked beautiful lit up at night.
I also enjoyed looking at the roman temple there which was one of the best preserved I have seen and the Jardin de la fountaine (Roman water gardens). As you can see we are in a unique location with Spanish and Roman influences. The water gardens were absolutely beautiful. You walk over bridges and paths with water, ducks geese, and fish under neath you. The Romans showed here how they knew how to capture both architectural and natural beauty in one.

Phew what a full and beautiful day in Southern France!

France Day 7 of 18 - The Pyrenees

On our 7th day, we had a big drive a head of us.
Uncle Map likes beautiful landscapes and was determined to drive through the Pyrenees.
I think it took us about an hour and a half to dive "into" the Pyrenees after driving a while to get to them since you have to drive in and out and around the mountains. We passed cute little streams and some waterfalls as the greenery got thicker. I remembered it seeming so clean and not overgrown. We found a small parking lot where we were able to take a ski lift to a stopping point. At this level we walked around and took some fantastic pictures of the mountains around us and a waterfall. We then got brave and decided to take another ski lift and then hike a bit to a beautiful lake surrounded by mountain peaks. I was not sure if I wanted to go, but then I saw not only a two year old go up, but then a full sized dog get up on the ski lift! Little did I know that a heard of cows had been through the same walking path to lake, so we had to be careful where we stepped! Some French teenagers got brave or dumb depending on how you look at it, and decided to jump into the lake that was well... freezing...we heard some of them yell.
We then decided to head back to the car, to make sure that we had enough daylight to get out of the mountains and to our next hotel. Pretty big day for some non-outdoorsy folk!

France Day 6 of 18 - Biarritz and Bayonne

Biarritz sits on the west coast of France and the views are nothing short of majestic. Seafood is very popular, and we decided to have dinner close enough to shore to hear the massive tide bring in the strong waves. Afterwards, we drove around the rocky shoreline and just watched the lighthouse reveal the beautiful ocean as we listened to the waves.

Biarritz is a beach town where the prominent, well off French go to vacation. We looked around the massive and rich Hotel du Palais which use to be where Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III) built a palace on the beach. The beach is littered with families and and people sun tanning, surfing, and having a good time. Beware... the water is still cold!
Biarritz's casino was well.. pretty much a let down after seeing Monte Carlo and Vegas. Granted we went in during the day, but it was very unimpressive. We were, however able to go get some southwest authentic French food that was quite delicious. We ate some type of chicken and fried cheese dish in a restaurant that seemed to be run out of a home which was extremely popular. We were almost completely depending on my French at this time since we were practically the only Americans in the area. At places like these, most people (waitresses excetra don't speak English, and English menus are very rare).

Next we were off to Bayonne which is know for their chocolate. Well, I consider myself a bit of a chocolate connoisseur, so we found the oldest chocolate shop and found a table. I decided to order a chocolate and cinnamon drink, and Uncle Map ordered the basic chocolate drink. A few minutes later, our drinks arrived, mine in a little espresso looking glass with a full glass of water that came with it. I was somewhat disappointed as Uncle Map's drink was a full cup. Then I sipped mine....good grief!!! this was the most intense chocolate experience I have ever had! One sip and then I had to gulp down some water. Whoa!I was determined to try to finish my little espresso cup, but after about an hour, I finally gave up. Yes, this was the only chocolate that beat Aunt Venture.

The we decided to check out Saint Jean de Luz. This quaint fishing village was where Louis XIV, (the sun king which was very important to France and which you will hear about later in my blog) was married to the young girl at the time Maria-Teresa, of Spain in 1660 which tried to unite the countries. We visited the church where they were married and saw the wall that was built up over the door they left out of so that on one else could leave through those doors again. Most notable about this town was the extraordinary macaroons that I could not get enough of!

Destination Idea - Nazareth, Israel

When I was trying to decide what to post this special Christmas week, I knew it had to be our trip to Nazareth, Israel. Of all of the places we have been around this remarkable world, this by far touched me the most. Most people think that back in biblical times people lived in homes built above the ground, but most of them that lived in small remote communities really lived in cave like dwellings. We were able to see the old biblical town of Nazareth where just a few families lived over 2000 years ago.

It was then I understood what the Romans and Jews really meant when they referred to Jesus as “Jesus of Nazareth”. They were basically saying, “Jesus of not even a one stop light town – and this guy from the middle of nowhere is going to save the world?” What a humble and patient God. He knew the power that would be revealed; he knew the plan that would save even those that mocked him.

Words nor pictures can describe the peaceful but overwhelming experience of walking into this place where it is believed that Mary lived when the angel came to tell her she would birth God’s Son, Emanuel – which means “God is with us”. What a small quaint rocky place, but this place is where it all began. This place is where an angel came. This place is where Mary was shown a piece of the plan. Wow. Can you try to imagine? Even more exhilarating, this place is where the spirit of God came down to become flesh to save me. To save you. What a holy place. My spirit knew that. I wanted to stay there all day and night. So peaceful. So calm. So secure to know that God finally gave man a peek of his plan and to know it would come to fruition. Some groups were singing hymns in another language I did not know, but I think my soul was singing as well.

I will try to remember during this special season this place and that God has a plan. I may not know every detail of it, but I know his plans are great and good and will happen and most of all more perfect than I could ever imagine.

France Day 5 of 18 - Bordeaux Vineyards

As mentioned in my previous post, I took French a very very very long temp ago...
After talking with a friend who is sommelier, and browsing through a French vineyard catalog, I personally wrote to about 20 grand cru vineyards (majority in French) asking to set up a tour for the day that we would be in the region. Granted it was harvest season, very busy time for a vineyard to give tours, but only one responded yes.

A little history for those of you who like historical random facts:
Back in 1855, Napoleon II demanded that the French vineyards be classified (since all seemed great). This classification differentiated the premier grand cru (great first growth wines) which there are only 6 today (majority from the Medoc region in Margeaux in Bordeaux, the duexieme crus ect ect. There are only 66 classified as grand cru wines (great growths). After these classifications, the vineyard that got a classification of grand cru and especially premier or duexieme status were set for life. Since that classification, I do not think a wine had jumped up a level (maybe one - some may argue that it was a huge political reason act). In short, premier wines are tres tres expensive due to their status, duexiem are tres expensive and so on and so on. The good thing is even some of the ones that did not have a superb classification are excellent wines that you can get for practically nothing. Now you see why it was hard to get a private tour.

Now back to the blog - so we felt extremely lucky that one vineyard -Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou which is in the Sait - Julien region (which has 11 of the 66 1855 classifications) along the Girone estuary (which keeps the perfect atmosphere for the wines dry but access to water). It is 25 miles northwest of Bordeaux in Haut Medoc between Margaux and Pauillac. The vineyard is named after the stones in the ground that contribute to its flavor. It is also still owned by a family and not a well well known company like Channel.

We were able to get a private tour of the vineyard, cellars and a wine tasting. We even ended up buying a bottle of their cru in our wedding year. What a fascinating experience. Thanks to our friends at Ducru Beaucaillou for being such great hosts! We also bought about two cases of wine to get shipped back to the states to drink at their "premium" time. Shipping from Margaux saved us at least 3 levels of mark ups.
We even had time to do a quick tour of Saint Emellion, after taking a lovely leisurely boat trip, which was more of a touristy wine town.

France Day 4 of 18 - Ribeauville and Bordeaux

That morning we woke up early in Colmar and drove to Ribeauville which is on the "Route de Vin." One day a year they have a wine harvesting festival where they turn their small village fountain into a wine fountain!! The streets were crowed with lively medieval characters from monks who cut their hair to girls that were dressed as vines! Cheery bands played and wine vendors lined the streets. What a unique place to be! Floats were lined up just outside the village, preparing for their debut at the end of the day. The floats and characters almost put Mardi Gras experiences to shame. Empty wine bottles surrounded the floats and it wasn't even 10 am yet(secretly I was glad that we were leaving before the parade)! After enjoying the people watching and the sweet white wine, we headed out just after 10 am to the airport for Bordeaux (another wine region, but completely different ambiance.
When we landed in Bordeaux, we decided to check out the city right away and have dinner. The building that surround Bordeaux are magnificent white places built to hide the less visual builings on the interior.

Bordeaux is a bustling big city with nice walkways full of shops and businesses. I had planned to eat some traditional French cuisine from the region and even had a spot picked out, but after the celebration that morning, the overpriced exotic food on the menu did not seem appetizing. In fact, the pizza place down the street did! So, that is where we ended up - just to save cultural face, I did try a pasta dish that included some local French mushrooms that were delicious!

France Trip - Day 3 of 18 "Alsalce -Route de Vin"

Our third day in France we drove the beautiful Route de Vin which stretches from Strasbourg to just past Colmar (no more than ~20 miles). As we drove through rolling hills covered beautiful vineyards that were screaming to be harvested, we stopped at adorable German looking villages that had a distinct French flair. As we drove we made a game of spotting castles on the hilltops. What a unique place to visit! Each town was gorgeous and had plenty of local wine to try from Rieslings to Gewurztraminer. Beautiful colored flowers hung in baskets out each window of the German style houses. Kaysersberg had a cute craft fair with a meandering stream that ran through the town. We ate crepes in the most visited town in France outside of Paris, a walled city called Riquewihr. The main drag was full of small cute shops with German/French knickknacks to buy as souvenirs. It even had a Kate Wofhart shop (German Christmas Heaven)! We ended the day in Colmar. What a wonderful picturesque day!

France Day 1 and 2 of 18 "Alsalce -Strasbourg"

So I haven't blogged in a while, but with good excuse.... We took our trip to France!
Unfortunately my family has a traveling curse. This curse involves weird things happening on trips, but things usually end up good.
This trip started off shaky as I got in a car accident with a little ol' lady the day before we left when I went to get luggage...
It was super hot outside and the old lady turned out to be a real pill.
Needed less to say it took a couple days to unwind.
We had a friend take us to the airport which was nice not to have to pay parking for 18 days. The flight there was not bad at all.
We flew direct to Frankfurt via Lufthansa on points. They include a bus ride to Strasbourg. We like Lufthansa since they are very clean, detailed, and know where your baggage is at all times.
Our tv didn't work, and after trying to reboot a few times, the airline attendant offered us some euros to spend on the in flight magazine.

We took advantage of our brief time at the airport by going to our favorite chain German pastry place, Kamps. Germans rock at making the yummiest pastries. My hubbie snuck in a pretzel too. We slept on the bus which was a "no no" making our time adjustment a bit harder.

Strasbourg was absolutely beautiful and cute. We walked all around France's "little France." I enjoyed this town much more than I thought I would. After seeing ornate churches all over Europe, I was not expecting to enjoy Strasbourg's church as much as I did. It had an interesting astronomical clock inside.

We picked up our car and headed for Obernai which is the first town on the Route de Vin. This adorable walled city had a beautiful square, church, and well where we took lots of pictures. We learned here that The French like carosels in their towns. This cute town even has a WWII plack explaining when it was liberated. The Alsace region has been fought over by the French an Germans for centuries. The Germans specifically spared some towns from war destruction on the Route de Vin because they liked them so much. These towns resemble German towns, but have a French flair.

To end the day, we were referred to a restaurant called "Tete du Lard."
I told the waitress,"it was funny since your restaurant name translates to "fat head."
She told me that was their specialty... Pig's head....
And so our French adventure began......

Baggage Claim

This past week we were thinking about which baggage we wanted to bring on our trip to France, and I thought this would be a good topic for blogging.
We have tried every which way of baggage.... let me give you a recap.

Tahiti: Packed one huge cloth bag with wheels - we waited at baggage claim for a long time and never saw our bag?!?, but we did see a garbage bag that was duct taped up that no one had claimed. After everyone picked up all the bags, we went over to the garbage bag and duct tape ball, opened it up and sure enough it was our bag inside.

Lesson Learned: Don't trust cheap cloth with a big bag in an overseas flight, and never underestimate the duct taped bag that keeps going around and around....

Italy: Decided to pack 2 smaller bags. Took an Air Italia Flight (only 40 min flight from Rome to Nice...) Bags never made it. Still not sure how that happened. I don't think they even were put on the plane! We ended up backpacking across Italy not intending too (I think it was 14 days without our bags?)... I spent hours arguing with the baggage claim lady in Naples, who did not feel like helping. She kept telling me " you are American so you must call the US office to help you." Wow. My husband had to hold me back. I ended up just saying calmly, "Let me see the lost luggage room." She finally showed me and it wasn't there, so I asked to see the next room. It wasn't there either. I asked to see the next room, and she answered that was all of the rooms, but after seeing the lost luggage line, I insisted that there was another room, and sure enough, she finally showed me.... and there they were. After months of negotiating about the cost incurred while backpacking across Italy, I finally got a check for ~ $128.32 from them. I think I still have it, and am going to frame it.

Lesson Learned: There is always another lost baggage room in Italy!
Also, I have small carry on bag that can be worn on the side, as a back pack or actually put around me in front. I keep all essentials in this bag I need to survive if my luggage never comes. This bag can be unloaded during the trip and used trekking around for anything anywhere.
Consider taking a picture of what is in your luggage before you zip it up. This is easier to have proof if something happens.


China: I packed a bag that can zip up into a small 5" square patch into my larger bag. I put all of my travel treasures in this bag and bring it on the plane with me home to ensure nothing brakes.

Lesson Learned: Pack a carry on collapsible bag for souvenirs. Make a copy of your passport especially if you are going to a country that would like a passport. Never have your passport and your copy in the same bag.

Verona, Italy: We went to see a opera in an old Roman Colosseum. My hubby went to take a picture of the beautiful site, and when we went to go inside... no tickets.
He had put them in his back pocket to take the picture, and ... gone that fast. Never felt a thing. I think we ended up buying the same exact tickets twice. :(

Lesson Learned: Front Pocket Wallets - This is a must for guys. They are shaped like a front pocket to make wearing them comfortable as well as safe while still organizing things you want to keep on you with you.
Money Belts: Tried this too... This is just for emergency because we could only fit one paper bill in there!

Los Cabos: We bought a souvenier ceramic tequila decanter in the airport thinking we would carry it on home to ensure it was safe. What we didn't know was since we had to switch planes and we were coming from a different country, they make you go through customs at the stopping airport, and they insisted that we had to check the decanter since it had a small bit of tequila in it. We smelled our luggage before we saw it...and my beautiful decanter was broken.

Lesson learned: Tequila smell eventually comes out. Down your tequila before going through customs.... Then you can bring your decanter with you, and you will know your tequila will be in good keeping too.

Chile: My hubby wanted to maximize the amount of wine he wanted to bring home from this famous wine region of the world. When he came home he only had (4) bottles in a wine carring case (the max they would let him bring). I told him I was sorry he couldn't bring more home. He just smiled and opened his luggage. I took out a very heavy rolled pair of pants. Sure enough there was a bottle of wine in them. We ended up with (20 bottles).

Lesson learned: My husband is lucky and strong. I would have not risked my wardrobe on some wine, but I am sure glad he did. Oh, and clothes can be used as bubble wrap substitute. (Note: this was attempted before the tequila incident.)

As you can see, we are still figuring the whole baggage thing out.
I did have a fear of checking luggage for a while (tried to pack every thing in carry-ons), but after seeking help at Carry - Ons Anonymous, I am getting better.

Good luck packing!

France preparation

This past week we did a few things to help with the preparation of out trip to France.

We try to have fun preparing and even make it into a date night - an inexpensive one at that!

1. Pop some yummy popcorn and top it with your favs
2. If you have comcast cable, they have a website called xfinity.com. After going there click TV at the top and type in Rick Steves.
3. Scroll through and pick from 85 different episodes where he goes all over Europe.
4. Have a note pad handy to write down things you want to make sure you want to see or do.
5. Enjoy the rest of the evening talking about what you liked and can't wait to see/do with your spouse at your next traveling spot!

Another thing worth mentioning that I did this week was download Rosetta Stone and brush up on my French which I learned many, many (and I think I need to add one more) many years ago. I have been impressed with the program and will do a few more and see what happens!

I also have been skimming trough the travel books that I bought at Borders the other day. I skim through it at night, or at the pool or even on my lunch break. It is important that doing your research is fun and enticing you to read up more and become excited about your trip. It should not feel like work or preparing for a final exam!

Booking our trip to France

It hits us just as it always does... the travel itch.

We can't help it; the itch starts and we start planning our next adventure!

To start with, when we begin to plan a trip we search for travel deals. Think of it as shopping for that special item you want to take home and treasure, but this is even better since you can keep your memories from this deal forever. This time in particular, we knew we wanted to go to France during a specific time period (maximizing holiday time, minimizing vacation days, and for other plans we have already committed to) and no crazy good deals were available, so we decided to book with our airline points.

One good thing about Continental now is you can book separate legs of a trip going to a particular destination, and along the way have a "layover" in a city for a few days to see the sights all for the price of a one way trip. For example, we decided to go to Frankfurt, get on a bus (covered also by continental) to Strasbourg, tour the Alsace region, go back to Frankfurt and continue on to Marseilles, our final destination for the first portion of the trip all for 30,000 miles. Lufthansa, a star alliance member, has a great interactive destination plot to help get you started.

My husband is the the detailed thorough deal and option finder. He scoped every way to get to Europe with saver points in the time we wanted with the least amount of stops (excluding the "layovers" we wanted). Sometimes getting to Europe is good enough, as you can book EZ jet cheap. In short, there are LOTS of options, but sometimes with limitations, you have to pick the route which has the least nuances.

Meanwhile, while he was routing every way you can imagine, I heard that Borders was going out of business. I was ecstatic and sad at the same time. You see, my main role in trip planning is activity coordinator. Our favorite travel book is DK Eyewitness traveler. We like the layout, pictures and the detailed information that is high-grated by region. They also serve as great collectors items and mementos from your trips. However, they come expensive, so I rushed out to try to get some on sale. I was in luck and proudly brought home the DK France book and Rick Steves' pocket book Paris. The man with two first names is known for his knowledge of Paris, and I have learned from other trips that you want to use a small but very informative book to keep on you when you are moving from sight seeing place to place in a city.

I got home to find that my hubbie found the best route for us. We would end in Paris and have one layover home on the day we wanted. Perfect! I quickly skimmed over the various regions in the book and we consulted with some French friends of ours to sketch out our rough draft travel plan. My husband went to book the trip, and an error sign appeared. NOT GOOD. Now what, after all that searching and a HICCUP? Ring, ring....the continental travel helpline was well the least bit helpful.. just said that the seats were booked even though they showed open online . It all depends on who you get to help you on the other line. We got frustrated and my husband tried again...MIRACULOUSLY it worked!

So as of now, we are booked to go to Frankfurt with one stop, catch a bus to Alsace region to start. Then our rough draft is to catch a train to Marseilles, tour Provence, then by car tour the Pyrenees up to Bordeaux. Then go to Loire valley, St. Malo, Normandy and end with a few days in Paris. This way we can get a strong taste of the different Provences of France. All this is a little over 2 weeks. Phew! Most of our friends say we are crazy! But that is the way we like it - crazy! Stick with us and you will see how we make it work, and have a blast!

I am going to try to post once a week, so if you like this let me know and until then ...Avior!