Listen to Marie

Since leaving Normandy we have made an overnight stop in Nantes to avoid too long of a drive to Bordeaux. We slept in what was little more than a closet, had a very disappointing breakfast at the hotel, and had to fight with the GPS. Not good! The GPS would not accept the address I inputted, a call to the hotel to find the name of the district was fuitless as the person who answered could not speak English. So I had the bright idea of inputting Le Petit Bordeaux. Just get me there Miss GPS who we have by this time named Marie,and off we go! Marie guides us through Nantes and onto the highway. We travel along at speeds of 110 to 130, I know you're thinking wow! Take your seat please, that's kilometers per hour not miles per hour! Driving on French highways isn't so bad. For the most part people drive the speed limit and aren't the obnoxious idiots we find on American highways. Maybe the fact that the gendarmes levy fines on the spot if they stop you has something to do with it. We drive along through fog and rain following Marie's directions. She tells us to turn right, we turn right, she tells us to turn left we turn left. Finally she tells us to take an exit and the screen shows we are only 30km away from Bordeaux. We take the exit, pay our toll and are prepared to meet the fair city of Bordeaux. We drive on minor roads, past roundabouts wondering where is our destination. A doublecheck on the map doesn't show us anything useful, we're just confused more than before. So we figure that Marie knows what she's doing, even if we don't and so we follow her directions. We drive along all the while counting down the distance to our destination. Finally the screen shows 600 meters to our destination, but a quick around shows us that something is terribly wrong. This is not the Bordeaux we have been expecting. Le Petit Bordeaux is nothing more than a hamlet out in the middle of vineyards and approximately 130 km from the Bordeaux we seek. So we look at the map again, find a town close to Bordeaux, feed that information to Marie and off we go secure in the knowledge that Marie knows what she is doing, even if we don't. We eventally find the REAL Bordeaux and are by this time relying on a combination of Google map directions as well as some directions printed on the hotel confirmation. We make a few wrong turns, go past the inevitable roundabout and finally locate our hotel --- we think. The directions say to park in a public garage and then walk 150 meters to the hotel. So we do as directed, schlep our luggage to the surface street and look for the hotel. No hotel in sight, leastwise none that I would want to spend a minute in let alone a night. We decide that Gerri should stay put while I go off in search of our humble abode for the night. Finally I find the hotel and go back to lead Gerri back to my find. A turn here a turn there and I will close in on my life partner! Wrong!!! Where is my wife?? With visions of her sitting on a French sidewalk looking like a hapless traveler surronded by sympathetic eyes, I turn a corner and there she is! I have found her and off we go with a turn here and a turn there we finally close in on where we will spend the night, the Hotel Gambetta. Looking down the street that is teeming with pedestrians mon fair ami tells me that she could see the hotel from where she head been waiting for me all the while. I find that hard to believe, but she later proves me wrong. Mer! Entering the heart of Bordeaux we had been amazed at the number of people in town squares and appearing to be out for the day. It turns out we arrived at about the time that the nightly social ritual begins. Many of the streets are closed to traffic including the street our hotel is located on and people are just walking, shopping and sitting in sidewalk cafes as they have a beverage and socialize. There are throngs of people everywhere. We trek up to our hotel room to secure our luggage and then hurry down to join all the action. We walk around and then try to find a place for dinner. The first place we choose the waiter looks at us as if we were complete idiots and conveys to us that we should come back at 7:30 if we want dinner. OK, we can do that, let's just walk around some more. Luckily we find a place to buy a smoothie to tide us over for a couple of hours. As Americans we just don't get it, this is the hour to socialize and then have a leisurely dinner. Dinner time comes and we go in search of a place to eat. In France restaurants are required to post a menu outside of their establishment so people can peruse it to decide where to eat and at what price they can expect to pay. We settle on a restaurant in another plaza teeming with people across from a church. A scan of the menu revealed various choices so I settled on a dinner comprised of a sea food salad and a salmon filet, Gerri chose calamar espangole and of course we had to have a bottle of wine. Dinner was served and we reveled in what was the best dinner that we had in France. The main course was prepared with the best of ingredients and the most creative, tastiest sauces I have ever had. We sat there for a couple of hours enjoying a leisurely, unhurried meal topped off with a cup of espresso. Something we just don't indulge in home in the USA. We should all take a lesson from the Europeans and tear ourselves away from the television, video games and garage time visits and sit down and smell the roses, even if that rose is a good cup of espresso. For all the people that were walking, talking and visiting, never once did we see anyone with any kind of attitude or belligerence. Just people out to have a nice time as they got caught up on the news of the day. A great time to be here!

A Tribute to Heros

Friday, May 15th and we bid adieu to Bayeux, but first a stop at the local patisserie for a fresh pain au chocolat for me and a great raisin treat for Gerri and 2 cups of great coffee. A stop at the local market for picnic supplies and we are all set for the next stop, the Normandy coast and the D Day beaches.

I set the GPS for the shortest route instead of the fastest route, what a great choice that was! Our drive takes us into the heart of the French countryside through narrow rodes wide enough for one vehicle, past ancient farm houses and fields tended by hard working farmers. We are thrilled to get close to the typical French farmer, something you just can't see or feel from through the window of a bus.

Enjoying this part of the trip, set the stage for a broader comprehension of the purpose of what was the greatest military action of the world, the D Day Invasion.
We arrived at Utah Beach, site of bloody fighting by American and British units. The beach is long and flat with high cliffs at either end and guarded by Nazi heavy weapons. The weather is cold and wet as we walk the beach each in private thought of events so long ago.

We then head to Omaha Beach, a name that is known to so many people because of the heroics depicted by actors. Walking here you can almost feel the chaos and anguish that was felt by real people, not actors.

Our next stop was to the American Military Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. Entering the building one must go through a security check point. It seems so incongruous that the final resting place of 9,000 fallen GI's should have to be so zealously guarded against possible damage or abuse. We walk through the memorial reading the stories of ordinary people called to arms to rid the world of an evil menace. We read the story of the 5 Niland brothers, all serving at the same time in various military units and all killed in action at the same time. They were the basis for the movie, "Saving Private Ryan."

We then walk outside to get a better mental picture of Omaha Beach and the obstacles it presented to our troops. We finally get to hallowed ground, the final resting spot of 9,000 of the service members killed in this battle to free Europe. The wind is cold, wet and biting, typical for this time of year in Normandy. Yet this is only a small sample of what our troops faced and of what the war planners had to consider in making the decsion to invade. As an Army veteran, my thoughts were of the odds faced by these guys and also of the Army nurses who went with the invasion to tend to the inevitable casualties, many of them also lost their lives on these sands. My thoughts turned to the uncle I never knew who survived the invasion only to lose his life a few days later in a nearby village. Heros all, eternally at rest in the land they fought for so valiantly.

We left Normandy and set our GPS course for our 2 hour ride to Nantes, our overnight stop before heading to Bordeaux.

Adieu Paris

Thursday, May 14th and we are on the way to our next stop, Bayeux. But first a quick cab ride to the Peugeot delivery center to pick up our leased car. The cab ride give me a first hand experience of a ride through a Parisian roundabout. That is an experience in itself, if you can imagine having a can of marbles, shaking them up and then throwing them in a bowl with exit cut outs yet somehow none of the marbles touch each other then you have a good idea of a Parisian traffic roundabout. No stop sign for what could be 6 or 8 streets converging together and everyone getting there at the same time it's a marvel to watch. Somehow everyone gets through without a scratch. In fact in our entire stay in Paris we only saw 2 cars that had bashed in doors or a fender.

We pick up our car, a very fancy model 407 with all kinds of bells and whistles. I almost feel like a Frenchman. I am driving a French car with French license plates and it's registered in my name. Mon dieu! We head out for what should be a 2 and a half our ride to Bayeux. But it takes us an extra 90 minutes because ---- because?
you guessed it, a serious car and truck accident shut down the freeway. We detour around that and make it to our destination later than we had anticipated.

Before arriving at Bayeux we paid a brief visit to Caen, the site of the D-Day memorial museum.The museum is a moving memorial to the soldiers and sailors who participated in the D-Day invasion. There are artifacts of course, but the things that are most moving are the stories of individual heroes and probably the most impressive are videos of the invasion and of the effect that the Nazi occupiers had on the French.

Bayeux is one of the first towns liberated in the D-Day invasion. Walking around the town you get a sense of old Europe with ancient buildings and cobblestone streets. As in most French towns there is a hugh cathedral there that somehow escaped damage from the war as did most of the town. If you ever saw the movie, The Longest Day, the bridge that the Allies had to hold is located in Bayeux.

We wandered around like a couple of locals, or should I say lost tourists, and headed back to our hotel to catch up on some much needed sleep. Ever since we got to France we hit the ground running and kept going.

A Time to Reflect

Wednwesday morning finds us up bright and early. First order of the day is breakfast in the hotel, jeez those croissants are good! I also have to take care of my next best friend Othello. I bought him some treats last night, this my effort to improve Franco-American relations. As you know they've gone to the dogs in the past.

After breakfast we make our way to the Hop On Hop Off bus. Our destination is the Lourve. After a short ride we arrive and walk through the first archway and into a big courtyard, we continue walking to the main courtyard and entrance. Going through a second archway we find ourselves in the second courtyard which is a grand plaza. You can just imagine French royalty and their court traversing the cobblestone roadway as they arrived to revel in their opulence. We purchase our tickets and enter the public gallery which has been constructed underneath the courtyard. We make our way to the Denon gallery which houses the Mona Lisa. Entering the gallery we soon find ourselves in the Italian art wing. Entering that wing is like entering a time warp that literally takes your breath away. You are standing among works of artists from at least the 15th century! There aren't enough words to describe what you see and feel as you walk the hallways filled with the works of masters beneath the gilded ceiling that are in themselves works of art. We walk and gaze at paintings by so many artists known only to true art buffs. On the way to the Mona Lisa we walk past works of Da Vinci. Finally we come to the gallery housing the object of our search. Many of us have photos and caricatures of this famous painting, but nothing can describe the feeling that you get when you see the original Mona Lisa! We spend 4 hours at the Lourve and leave with the realization that our brains are on overload and that you would need at least a week to see everything. After resting our fleet feet for a moment or two we head to our next destination, Notre Dame Cathedral.

Notre Dame, the onetime worship place of French royalty and now the main cathedral in France is at once striking. Taking in it's majestic presence you realize how mortal we are and are like a grain of sand that forms the mortar to bind the stones of man's aspirations. You walk into the cavernous vestibule and make your way past countless side chapels. You look at wood carvings that were carved centurys ago and then you come to the main altar and have to reflect before it in silent thought. Our only regret is that we were not able to hear the famous organ that belongs to this grand cathedral.

We decide to end our day because we are dog tired. And besides, we have an Italian restaurant to find!

Bonjour Paris!!!

May 11th and we are finally in Europe! We landed in the City of Light at 12:30 p.m. after a trip of more than 11 hours from San Francisco. Our trip was uneventful, French passport control was a breeze, a computer scan of our passport, an official stamp and we're soon on our way to collect our bags and go through customs, except none was there. I can only imagine what kind of contraband could have been smuggled in with out anyone there to inspect. Our answer to the missing customs officers question was soon to be answered. We made contact with our shuttle driver, I never have had someone waiting for me at the airport with my name on a sign. Jeez, I felt so special - yeah right! Anyway, the shuttle driver went to retrieve his vehicle as Gerri and I waited along with two other women passengers who had already waited for an hour. The driver soon came back and said that security would not let him move his vehicle because of a package. We understood him to mean that there was a package in his vehicle and his vehicle was impounded. But that was not the case, the package was actually an unidentified package left in the parking lot and was soon to be blown up by the assembled police and military units on the scene.

Soon after the dispatch of the errant package we're on the way for a 40 minute trip into Paris itself. We head onto the peripherique autoway amid all the traffic and my mind is immediately thinking of all the horror stories that I have heard about driving in Paris. Shoot, this is no worse than driving on the LA freeway in the perennial rush hour traffic. Piece of cake or so I think. I will soon be proven wrong, extremely wrong.

We check into our hotel and take a long needed nap. Airplane travel is not the most conducive to sleep, especially when you're faced with a 9 hour time difference. After our nap, we awaken somewhat refreshed and venture out to see what lies in store in this, our first leg of our journey. First stop is around the corner to Rue Cler which is a popular tourist destination. We soon find a vendor making authentic crepes and settle on a banana crepe garnished with Nutella. Good stuff!

We explore the local area and take in our first hand view of the Eiffel Tower. After sitting and marveling at the creation of Gustave Eiffel, we head back to our hotel for a nights rest.

Tuesday morning we awaken to the sound of rain, pouring rain. Rats!! No matter what, we are going out, rain or no rain! After breakfasting on the specialty of the house, homemade croissants and jams, we head out to discover Paris as many have done before us. First stop is the Eiffel Tower where we stand in line with many other brave souls with undampened spirits. A quick elevator ride in 2 different elevators and we are at the top. We are so high, that we are literally in the clouds and have little to see but mist, mist and more mist. Oh well, at least we're here!

We head over to the Hop On Hop Off bus where we avail ourselves of our quasi self guided tour to explore this enchanting city. The nice thing about using this bus is that it goes on a fixed route to all of the sites and provides a recorded narrative to explain what you're seeing. Anytime you feel like gettig off to explore a site, you just get off the bus and then wait for the next bus to resume your sightseeing.
A great way to go, better than just wandering off by yourself to explore. We hit all the highlights of L'Arc de Triomph, the Champs de Lysee, Notre Dame, the Louvre and countless other sights to see. A full day of sightseeing, a disappointing steak dinner and we are settled back into our hotel to rest up for another day tomorrow.
Our goal tomorrow is to see the Louvre and Notre Dame and to walk by the Seine River. And to have dinner at that elusive Italian restaurant that we were looking for when we had to settle on that steak!!!