After staying in the cutest French farmhouse last night (that had at least 2 neighboring kitties) and having a fantastic dinner at Hotel/Restaurant Baudy, we made for the gardens and house of Claude Monet. I can see why he was inspired by the lily pond and the gardens...the place was pretty magical. Not to mention it really is in the middle of nowhere.
That was the end of our Luxembourg, Belgium and France driving adventure. All in all we packed a lot in during the two weeks. So it was nice to be able to drop off the dirty rental car and check into a nice comfortable, modern hotel for our last two nights in Paris.
And since we had all already 'done' the city, we were under no pressure to visit any particular sights. It was great to be able to stroll and just take in the atmosphere, the Eiffel Tower, the gardens, the arc d' Triumph and to be able to stop for a cider or glass of wine or lunch at any given time:) And as a bonus we even had sunshine! A fantastic way to end our time in Europe. Next up our flight home in business class on a huge Air France A380. Should be an interesting experience!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
On the road again...to Caen
Friday we hit the road - heading east with the first stop in Caen...which was basically destroyed in June of 1944 by American bombers going after the surrounding bridges. Ironically they missed those targets and leveled the city. The city isn't anything to write home about (at least what we saw of it), but they have a stellar memorial...Caen Memorial which is a huge amount of information about WWII and the events leading up to it. Again not exactly remembering all that we learned in our history classes...that this segment of time (1939-1945) cost the lives of 60 million people and a staggering amount of these (35million) were civilians. Talk about not being able to wrap your head around something. Just for comparison purposes, Russia led with 21 million...and the U.S. came in at 305k...with all the other major players (China, Germany, Japan, Poland, France, Italy, the U.K.) coming somewhere in between. 60 million. Unbelievable. It's sinking in why so much of the messaging in regards to anything/everything WWII and that time is 'we will not forget'. We can't afford to forget.
St Malo and Mont St Michel
After touring all the memorials and cemeteries, it was a nice break to just walk the ramparts, the jetty, and do some shopping for a day. And we made a new food discovery...Gallettes. They're crepes -but not sweet- and they can basically be filled with what you want. Usually with an egg and cheese to start off with as a base. Pretty yummy for a lunch time snack.
Thursday we got an early start to visit Mont St Michel - the second most visited site in France after Paris. It's a pretty impressive site with the abbey and tiny town built on a big clump of rocks that in its heyday was surrounded by water at high tide. Because they had built a causeway to allow easier access to visitors, it shifted what happened to the sand and the silt. So now they're in the process of building a new bridge so the area and water can return to its natural state. Got to love progress.
Place was neat, but happy too to leave the crowds behind. Plus, I think I've decided that Mont St Michel is better and more spectacular from afar.
After MSM, we decided to visit another German Military Cemetery that was just a few kilometers away. This one was entirely different from the two previous ones that we had visited. It still had a staggering amount of names - 12k- but instead of headstones, these graves were done in a vault style...in a circle with 2 levels. This was the first time too that we found the name Wachholz in the mix. Theodor...born in 1901, passed September, 1945.
Am thinking I may need to explore this a little further.
Felt it was important to end the afternoon on a high note, so decided to revisit Cancale - and make sure that the oysters from the previous visit weren't a fluke...nope - still the best they've tasted! Good thing we didn't waste the trip;)
Thursday we got an early start to visit Mont St Michel - the second most visited site in France after Paris. It's a pretty impressive site with the abbey and tiny town built on a big clump of rocks that in its heyday was surrounded by water at high tide. Because they had built a causeway to allow easier access to visitors, it shifted what happened to the sand and the silt. So now they're in the process of building a new bridge so the area and water can return to its natural state. Got to love progress.
Place was neat, but happy too to leave the crowds behind. Plus, I think I've decided that Mont St Michel is better and more spectacular from afar.
After MSM, we decided to visit another German Military Cemetery that was just a few kilometers away. This one was entirely different from the two previous ones that we had visited. It still had a staggering amount of names - 12k- but instead of headstones, these graves were done in a vault style...in a circle with 2 levels. This was the first time too that we found the name Wachholz in the mix. Theodor...born in 1901, passed September, 1945.
Am thinking I may need to explore this a little further.
Felt it was important to end the afternoon on a high note, so decided to revisit Cancale - and make sure that the oysters from the previous visit weren't a fluke...nope - still the best they've tasted! Good thing we didn't waste the trip;)
Bayeux to St Malo
So we're running a tad behind in our blogging exercises...oops. Take that as a sign that we're having a great time and too tired at the end of the day to write about it!
Tuesday was a travel day...driving from Bayeux (after visiting the Cathedral in the morning) west and then around the coast via Cancale - where Graham and Owen could slurp down a dozen freshly shucked oysters (huites in Francaise) and then onto St. Malo, in Brittany. Old Town St Malo is only about a mile wide and long, but is all enclosed by a sea wall. Wouldn't necessarily be my cup of tea as the place doesn't get much sun unless you're on the ramparts or the beach, but it will work for a couple of days;)
Tuesday was a travel day...driving from Bayeux (after visiting the Cathedral in the morning) west and then around the coast via Cancale - where Graham and Owen could slurp down a dozen freshly shucked oysters (huites in Francaise) and then onto St. Malo, in Brittany. Old Town St Malo is only about a mile wide and long, but is all enclosed by a sea wall. Wouldn't necessarily be my cup of tea as the place doesn't get much sun unless you're on the ramparts or the beach, but it will work for a couple of days;)
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Omaha Beach
Utah and Omaha beaches are vastly different. Whereas the area behind Utah is low-lying (which was flooded by the occupying Germans to slow the Allied invasion), Omaha has steep bluffs. Most of the D-Day stories we hear are about the difficulties the US forces had overcoming the strong German defenses, advancing across the beach and over the bluffs. It was sobering to be standing on that very spot and attempt to comprehend the effort and the individual sacrifices made on that beach in 1944. However, none of that prepared us for the emotion of our visit to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer.
It is very hard to put into words what we felt during our time at the memorial and amongst the stark white marble headstones that seemed to have no end. The sheer scale, combined with the beautiful setting, can make it very easy to lose perspective. The magnitude of the sacrifice only made sense to me when I envisioned each of the more than 9,300 soldiers standing in front of his headstone. The weight of that image will be with me forever.
There are few places in this world where we 'need' to visit during our lifetimes. This is one.
It is very hard to put into words what we felt during our time at the memorial and amongst the stark white marble headstones that seemed to have no end. The sheer scale, combined with the beautiful setting, can make it very easy to lose perspective. The magnitude of the sacrifice only made sense to me when I envisioned each of the more than 9,300 soldiers standing in front of his headstone. The weight of that image will be with me forever.
There are few places in this world where we 'need' to visit during our lifetimes. This is one.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
D-Day Touring
October 21st...So I can see how WWII buffs could spend days or even weeks in the Normandy area alone! There are monuments and/or memorials in almost every town - and what seem to be random roadways/places. It just emphasizes how much the French people still live and breathe the ramifications of the German regime occupying their country for years and the subsequent liberation.
We decided to head West and work our way back with our first stop at the German Military Cemetery...and final resting place of 21k soldiers.
Next was Utah Beach and the memorial there to learn about the efforts of the thousands of American soldiers who arrived that June 6th morning and fought throughout the summer. We learned a ton - including more about the 101st airborne division/Easy Company which inspired the 'Band of Brothers' series.
On to Omaha Beach...
We decided to head West and work our way back with our first stop at the German Military Cemetery...and final resting place of 21k soldiers.
Next was Utah Beach and the memorial there to learn about the efforts of the thousands of American soldiers who arrived that June 6th morning and fought throughout the summer. We learned a ton - including more about the 101st airborne division/Easy Company which inspired the 'Band of Brothers' series.
On to Omaha Beach...
Dieppe, Bayeux and Juno Beach
October 20th...
Dieppe is a cute little coastal town...with a Sunday market (over 200 tents - including a fish market), a big church (albeit one that's in need of some repair) and a number of memorials to Canadians who fought in WWII there in late 1944 which gave the Allies much intelligence to help with the D-Day effort. And in October, it's a little quiet vs. what I'm sure it's like in say, August.
But since we have some distance to make today (to Bayeux), we need to get driving. The great thing is, is that we are able to drive close to the coast a good part of the way there. And pass through a ton of cute little French seaside towns. Broke my heart...or not;)
Besides stopping at a tourism office to quickly pick up a Normandy guide, the only stop on our way was the Beny-sur-mer Canadian WWII Cemetery....just up the road from Juno Beach with 2049 marked graves. Was fitting to start there as after we checked in/had a bite to eat, we headed to Juno Beach memorial. Again, we hear so much about the U.S. involvement (which makes total sense), it was good to learn more about Canada's role - and just how key it was in addition to Britain's and France's was.
Dieppe is a cute little coastal town...with a Sunday market (over 200 tents - including a fish market), a big church (albeit one that's in need of some repair) and a number of memorials to Canadians who fought in WWII there in late 1944 which gave the Allies much intelligence to help with the D-Day effort. And in October, it's a little quiet vs. what I'm sure it's like in say, August.
But since we have some distance to make today (to Bayeux), we need to get driving. The great thing is, is that we are able to drive close to the coast a good part of the way there. And pass through a ton of cute little French seaside towns. Broke my heart...or not;)
Besides stopping at a tourism office to quickly pick up a Normandy guide, the only stop on our way was the Beny-sur-mer Canadian WWII Cemetery....just up the road from Juno Beach with 2049 marked graves. Was fitting to start there as after we checked in/had a bite to eat, we headed to Juno Beach memorial. Again, we hear so much about the U.S. involvement (which makes total sense), it was good to learn more about Canada's role - and just how key it was in addition to Britain's and France's was.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Remembering WWI
So much emphasis is sometimes placed on WWII, that I'd kind of forgotten the history of all that took place in regards to the first World War. But today we had a big refresher course!
We spent the morning visiting the Flanders area (which inspired of course the famous Flanders Field poem) in Belgium. We started with the Tyne Cot (Commonwealth) Cemetery with 12k graves...and the names of almost 35k who weren't able to be given a proper burial. Not far from that was the German Military Cemetery with over 44k buried there. Whoa...and that's just the beginning. There are monuments and memorials all over as we were driving. One we visited was a Cemetery with mostly Canadians - including men from the Princess Patricia light infantry - with whom Graham and Owen's maternal grandfather fought with back in 1915. Again - whoa!
Our last stop of the day was Vimy Ridge (now back in France)...a massive memorial honouring (the correct Canadian spelling) all the Canadians who fought (and especially those who died) in WWI. It's amazing how important it was to have the advantage of height or being on a hill/ridge during the battles. Close by there is a ton of land cordoned off due to live munitions still in the ground. Scary. As recent as 1994, someone was killed when he accidentally tripped/stepped on one.
A full day ending at a cute converted farmhouse avec restaurant in Dieppe - finally the French coast!
We spent the morning visiting the Flanders area (which inspired of course the famous Flanders Field poem) in Belgium. We started with the Tyne Cot (Commonwealth) Cemetery with 12k graves...and the names of almost 35k who weren't able to be given a proper burial. Not far from that was the German Military Cemetery with over 44k buried there. Whoa...and that's just the beginning. There are monuments and memorials all over as we were driving. One we visited was a Cemetery with mostly Canadians - including men from the Princess Patricia light infantry - with whom Graham and Owen's maternal grandfather fought with back in 1915. Again - whoa!
Our last stop of the day was Vimy Ridge (now back in France)...a massive memorial honouring (the correct Canadian spelling) all the Canadians who fought (and especially those who died) in WWI. It's amazing how important it was to have the advantage of height or being on a hill/ridge during the battles. Close by there is a ton of land cordoned off due to live munitions still in the ground. Scary. As recent as 1994, someone was killed when he accidentally tripped/stepped on one.
A full day ending at a cute converted farmhouse avec restaurant in Dieppe - finally the French coast!
Friday, October 18, 2013
Car trouble and Bruges
So with any road trip you're bound to have some adventures - or encounter things that you don't expect. That for us on Wednesday morning included a flat tire. Can I say how happy we were that Sharon is fluent enough in French to have it not be a huge deal?!
Unfortunately it did put us back a few hours - so any/all side trips to Bruges were canceled.
Bruges is exceptionally nice...and we really enjoyed our two nights(and full day) there. The first one included a stellar Italian restaurant, Carlito's - and swans in the canal beside our hotel. I mean how often do you get that on a holiday.
Our full day there offered up quite the variety - starting with a walk to the square and a climb up 366 stairs to the top of the bell tower. Wouldn't be so bad except the stairs were extremely narrow - and could be quite challenging when passing people going the other direction! So of course the answer to that was having our first pint of the over 500 types of beer that Belgium brews at the one brewery in the city center of Bruges. Followed up by some sightseeing (the canals are great - and are quite different than those in Venice) and another brewski. I love being on holiday...and made even sweeter since our government is going back to work! Finally!! Which means the U.S. sights will be open. Yea us!
Unfortunately it did put us back a few hours - so any/all side trips to Bruges were canceled.
Bruges is exceptionally nice...and we really enjoyed our two nights(and full day) there. The first one included a stellar Italian restaurant, Carlito's - and swans in the canal beside our hotel. I mean how often do you get that on a holiday.
Our full day there offered up quite the variety - starting with a walk to the square and a climb up 366 stairs to the top of the bell tower. Wouldn't be so bad except the stairs were extremely narrow - and could be quite challenging when passing people going the other direction! So of course the answer to that was having our first pint of the over 500 types of beer that Belgium brews at the one brewery in the city center of Bruges. Followed up by some sightseeing (the canals are great - and are quite different than those in Venice) and another brewski. I love being on holiday...and made even sweeter since our government is going back to work! Finally!! Which means the U.S. sights will be open. Yea us!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Reims, France and Luxembourg City
Go figure...we're not in a 3rd world country (just Luxembourg),
but we are still having Internet connection issues. So suffice to say
that we made it to Paris just fine after a really long day of
traveling. Though I have to say that if you are going to have a long
day of traveling, it's nice to be in business or first class!
Met
up with Owen and Sharon at CDG before driving to Reims, checking into
our hotel before immediately heading to where the WWII surrender was
signed (in Reims...who knew? I know that wasn't taught in my history
class). Followed by a walk to the cathedral where at least 26 French
kings were crowned and then a well deserved cocktail and dinner.
Had
a semi early start so we could get in a champagne tour and tasting in
at Tattinger (would totally recommend for any one visiting the
Champagne region...they make the caves in the states look like starter
sets!) Then made our way to Luxembourg City, (where we got extremely
frustrated because we couldn't get into the U.S. Military
Cemetery...thank you Congress...or not!!!), but we were able to pretty
much do the rest of the town...including a fantastic dinner at more
caves (caves gourmand) which was entirely fantastic! (Thank you Brian E
for the recommendation!)
Due to our cemetery experience
today, will likely skip Henri Chapelle Cemetery tomorrow, so Jan doesn't go
all rogue and try to storm the fences. She was close today.
Hopefully we can post tomorrow evening when we hit Bruges.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
The 5 year anniversary
We had an incredibly busy day today (Thurs)! Jumped a bus to Lugano to catch another funicular up to Mt. Bre' (925 meters up). Then came the hike down! Keeping up with Lori was no easy feat. All 10 of us met up at a cute little lakeside restaurant in Gandria before splitting up with some of us walking the Olive trail back and some of us taking the ferry back to Lugano. The walk had stellar views of the lake...and the many lakeside villas!
Tonight was the big anniversary party that included a private boat tour of the lake (complete with many bottles of Prossecco and some antipasti). From the boat we were evenable to see the castle where Brian and Karen were married 5 years ago:) The boat then dropped us off at a restaurant lakeside called La Palma for the anniversary banquet. Great food, great wine, heart-felt toasts and a ton of laughs...an evening to be remembered for sure!
Tonight was the big anniversary party that included a private boat tour of the lake (complete with many bottles of Prossecco and some antipasti). From the boat we were evenable to see the castle where Brian and Karen were married 5 years ago:) The boat then dropped us off at a restaurant lakeside called La Palma for the anniversary banquet. Great food, great wine, heart-felt toasts and a ton of laughs...an evening to be remembered for sure!
Friday, September 13, 2013
Lugano
Well we made it to Switzerland via train no problem - it's amazing how efficient the Italian and Swiss train systems are!
The house that we're renting is just fantastic - 5 bedrooms, big living room and kitchen area, ultra-modern, view of the lake and an infinity pool as a bonus! Everyone made it in onTuesday except Lori and Marsheila who unfortunately got stuck in Frankfurt - but all are here now.
Wednesday a group of us took the funicular up San Salvotare - just under 3000 feet up witha spectacular 360° view of the surrounding area. After an awesome lunch in town (La Tinera)and some window-shopping, we met up with the full group (19 total) for a fantastic dinner at Grotto al Bosco. The anniversary couple not only enticed 10 friends from the Seattle area to join them, but also 7 family members from Western Wa and Hawaii to make the trek here. Let's just say the stories so far of everyone's different travel experiences have been fascinating! Not to mention include a massive amount of laughs:) Needless to say it's a little surreal to be experiencing this half way around the world...
The house that we're renting is just fantastic - 5 bedrooms, big living room and kitchen area, ultra-modern, view of the lake and an infinity pool as a bonus! Everyone made it in onTuesday except Lori and Marsheila who unfortunately got stuck in Frankfurt - but all are here now.
Wednesday a group of us took the funicular up San Salvotare - just under 3000 feet up witha spectacular 360° view of the surrounding area. After an awesome lunch in town (La Tinera)and some window-shopping, we met up with the full group (19 total) for a fantastic dinner at Grotto al Bosco. The anniversary couple not only enticed 10 friends from the Seattle area to join them, but also 7 family members from Western Wa and Hawaii to make the trek here. Let's just say the stories so far of everyone's different travel experiences have been fascinating! Not to mention include a massive amount of laughs:) Needless to say it's a little surreal to be experiencing this half way around the world...
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Venice Wrapup
The two full days we spent in Venice were almost just enough...not quite though so we'll need to come back. We didn't have a chance to fit in the iconic gondola ride...or get to Lido...or see Paul Allen's yacht (though we did see a massive one named the Phoenix2 which is owned by a Polish billionaire who's only worth 3.5 billion - a measly 20% of Paul's worth;)
But we did fit in plenty...a visit to St. Marks...touring the Doges Palace...climbing the Camanile/bell tower...taking the vaparetto to visit San Giorgio Maggiore... of course making sure we crossed all four bridges across the Grand Canal...doing a little window shopping (and ensuring we didn't bring home a watch that cost €23600)...and of course fitting in a lot of venetian food and wine! All in all a successful visit. Only thing I'd change is the amount of cruise ships that could dock on any given day. Seven is too many! Good thing there are plenty of places on the island to escape!
If you haven't made the trek to Venice, we'd totally recommend it - it's a place like no other!
But we did fit in plenty...a visit to St. Marks...touring the Doges Palace...climbing the Camanile/bell tower...taking the vaparetto to visit San Giorgio Maggiore... of course making sure we crossed all four bridges across the Grand Canal...doing a little window shopping (and ensuring we didn't bring home a watch that cost €23600)...and of course fitting in a lot of venetian food and wine! All in all a successful visit. Only thing I'd change is the amount of cruise ships that could dock on any given day. Seven is too many! Good thing there are plenty of places on the island to escape!
If you haven't made the trek to Venice, we'd totally recommend it - it's a place like no other!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Finally getting blogspot to work. Yea!
Arrived in Venizia and our hotel (Ca' Dogaressa) just fine after a long day of traveling. We love having all this water around -- and only boats, no cars. Having a cocktail canalside, we saw our first aqua/water ambulance. You definitely don't see those everyday.
Amazingly we found the restaurant that night - through quite a few dark alley ways. Though being on an island it's hard to get too lost. Phew! :)
Arrived in Venizia and our hotel (Ca' Dogaressa) just fine after a long day of traveling. We love having all this water around -- and only boats, no cars. Having a cocktail canalside, we saw our first aqua/water ambulance. You definitely don't see those everyday.
Amazingly we found the restaurant that night - through quite a few dark alley ways. Though being on an island it's hard to get too lost. Phew! :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)