Prague Recap

September 26

So if it is Monday, I must be in Vienna or Wien as all the signs say. And to paraphrase what I heard in “Don Giovanni” last night, I have had many experiences since we last “met”.  

On Thursday morning (9/22), I got up very early for my 5:58AM train to Paris. Nicole and Jacques came back the night before so we could have dinner, but especially so they could take me to the train. It was an uneventful train trip to the Montparnasse station in Paris, and then the Air France shuttle to Charles deGaulle. It would probably been smarter, not to mention cheaper, to take the Metro rather than the shuttle, as there was bit of a traffic jam, but I still had plenty of time to check in for the Easyjet flight to Prague. Easyjet is a much more civilized airline than Ryanair!   

I had sent out some couch surfing requests to meet for coffee or a drink, when I was at Mimi’s the previous week. Three people responded, and one of them offered me a “pristine” room to stay in. I was able to cancel my hotel, so I stayed with Steve, who is a retired teacher in international schools. He is originally from Dayton and spends six months in Denver. His profile sounded great, and he had a good reference on the site, as he is slightly new to CS. (NOT TO WORRY!!!) He met me at the airport holding a sign reading, “Toppan”, which was lucky, because I would have had trouble finding his place. We went to his flat to drop off my stuff, and then we to Grossetto’s for some very tasty Italian food. We walked around the downtown and stopped at the Hotel Rokoko, where my friend Nancy was staying; her trip to Prague and Vienna was why I added these stops to my itinerary. She had just arrived from Denver that morning, and was off to a concert. She is taking an Allegro musical tour and also going on to Budapest. I left her a note saying I would be by the next day for dinner.

The next morning (Friday)  I had signed up for a free city tour which would meet in front of Starbucks(!?) in Wenceslas Square; it turned out there were at least two Starbucks, so I never found the tour. I walked over to the train station to see how to get there for departure day. (Shades of our Spain trip, Carol!) I was supposed to meet Eva, who is a Czech who does local tours, for lunch and a visit, but we could not meet up because she had a last minute tour in addition to the fact that my Blackberry is not letting me send emails. So I went up to the famous Prague Castle, which had four parts: St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George Basilica, and Golden Lane, where Kafka (an others) lived. It was all very interesting and fun to see. The Czech alphabet is so different, so all the signs were a BIG challenge! At 4:30 I met couch surfer Jed, a retired English and German teacher from the UK, who now makes Prague his home. We met at the vintage and charming Café Louvre, where Kafka and other famous people met over the years. It was another interesting couch surfing exchange!
I met Nancy for dinner at 8; I had invited Steve to join us, but he could not, so she and I found a nearby restaurant with some live jazz playing. I did not want to be too late, as I had no key, so Steve would need to let me in. I headed home via tram 9 to his neighborhood about 10. WELL, NOW I know how Charlie on the MTA felt….(Remember I had only been there a little over 24 hours….) I kept watching the signs (I don’t have a terrible sense of direction.) NOTHING looked familiar….YES! I took the tram going in the opposite direction-ALL the way to the end of the line….So I got to his place about 11:15, to get him out of bed to come down to let me in….

Saturday I headed off to visit the Old Town and the famous St. Nicolas Church. First I popped into the very sweet little St. Thomas Church first, as I walked right by it! These were both near Nerudova, a street which was renamed after famous writer and journalist Jan Neruda. This is a very touristy street with lots of shops. There is only a sign on the house where he lived. (READ: not worth walking up that street!) Next I wanted to walk across the Charles Bridge, which ALL the books talk about. It is lined with some thirty statues, vendors, and musicians. It was BLOCKED with tourists, so I could not get across it fast enough! I went to two exhibits in the same hall of Dali and Alfons Mucha, a famed Czech artist “Master of Art Nouveau”. I really liked seeing Mucha's work; it reminded me of Maxwell Parrish! The Old Town Hall has an astronomical clock which has a “show” every hour on the hour. I was due to meet Steve there at 3, and I did, but there was a huge crowd, so I caught up with him afterwards. We then walked along the river; the weather was really spectacular! Steve went back to his flat; I went to meet Nancy for dinner. We found a great little Thai noodle bar Modry Zub (Czech for Blue Tooth, unless someone was pulling my leg") nearby. I headed back to Steve’s about 9:30. I had to call him so he could let me in; his phone was busy…. (Well, I was getting SOME kind of message in Czech!) I tried for maybe 25 minutes; I figured he was on the phone, but briefly I did have visions of sleeping on the door stop. I was ringing every button at the front door with NO response. FINALLY Steve answered my ring, so he let me in!

I enjoyed Prague very much and found the people very helpful, even those who do not speak English. One woman sitting outside the train station was having lunch, and she drew me a map to help me. It has become very popular with tourists, especially on the weekend!

Sunday morning I was up early and off to the Hotel Rokoko to meet up with Nancy to catch the train for the next adventures in Vienna….

Au revoir Saint Pair sur Mer...

September 20^th

Sadly my time here in Saint Pair sur Mer comes to an end….What a lovely respite this has been, before I return to the more traditional tourist mode of trying (maybe) to rush around and see as much as possible in a short amount of time….

Yesterday, Monday, I did a wash and hung it outside in the gray skies. Later I walked into town for some groceries, including a cake mix for dinner tomorrow; en route I totally wasted money going into the Casino to play some .02 slots in Saint Pair sur Mer. BUT the VIEW!!!! What a boring thing to do….I went for another walk after I dropped off the groceries to enjoy the beach again….I am reading a William Boyd book, Stars and Bars, I found in the house …It is about an Englishman who has gone to New York City from London to continue his work in procuring works of art to be sold by his company. The book says it was made into a movie with Daniel Day Lewis?! I’ve read other Boyd books; one was recently on PBS, but this is from the mid-‘80’s, so it is not one of his best….

Today I invited Mimi to come for dinner, as I have eaten at her place so much!!!  In the morning I walked into town to buy some chicken for dinner to have with the apple cake which I planned to make. The Mamie Gâteau cake mix directions called for three eggs and 20 cl de crème liquid. Hmm…how much liquid WAS that exactly? I looked on the Blackberry browser, so I learned that a liter has 100 cl, so 20 would be 20% of a liter. But the only measuring container was a multi-purpose (for dry as well as liquid ingredients) one that made it hard for me to figure out how much liquid. (I used milk, not cream.) I peeled and cut most of the apples in the house, thanks to Chantal’s mother, to put in the bottom of the cake. I had turned the oven on when I started this process, and finally realized that it was not getting hot!? Mimi didn’t get my SOS email, so I called Nicole who explained how to do it. But I had actually done what she said, except that I had pushed the wrong button, so I DID get it to work….

When in town I had wandered into the Tourist Information office, and I learned about a small monastery in town which sold pottery and a seven minute walk from the house according to Google Maps. With my cooking behind me I walked up there. There was no pottery of interest, but there was a very small, interesting chapel I really liked.

Mimi came about 7. The menu consisted of baked chicken breasts stuffed with broccoli spears and lemon slices with a mustard-lemon spread on top. I made ratatouille with eggplant, mushroom, garlic, onion and tomatoes. I also served a tossed salad with the traditional French salad dressing of one tablespoon of vinegar to two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of mustard, salt and pepper. (Mimi had never had this with mushrooms, but I had bought some really nice looking mushrooms at the market, so it was a good addition.) And the cake, well, the cake was quite tasty! It was really like a sponge cake with apples in the bottom, so I will try it again sometime at home!  

Today I am preparing to leave, as my train tomorrow will leave Granville just before 6AM. Nicole and Jacques are returning from Caen about 6 tonight, so we will have dinner. They are returning to take me to the station and close up the house!!! (I had planned to take a cab….)  I’ll take the Air France bus from the train station to Charles DeGaulle Airport to catch a 2:30 Easyjet plane to Prague with 4:30 arrival time. I have arranged to meet three Couch Surfers, so I will have more CS stories! 

Mimi has picked me up to go meet Lydie for tea at Picorette in Granville at 2. I’ll do my final Saint Pair sur Mer blog post here at her house. (I cannot upload any pictures right now, but I will later, if you want to check back.) Now she has to come back to Boston to visit me sometime! We’ll have drinks with Nicole and Jacques when they arrive so they can meet. What a delightful time I have had here In Saint Pair sur Mer!! 

Rainy and not Rainy Sunday in Normandy

^{Weather predicted 30% chance of rain on this Sunday. I look across the bay and see the Old Town shrouded in fog. The rough sea in varied shades of green is moving in; the serious rain showers come and go. I’ve no idea} if the winds are 16 mph as weather channel forecasted. Blue sky is trying to come through and then hides behind the clouds.

Mimi will take me into the Brocante while she goes up in the Lighthouse on the Roc, at the end of the Old Town which we visited on Wednesday. I’ll probably not be able to go into the Lighthouse, as I am not French. If a friend of Sebastian’s were there, perhaps I could go up, but he is sick….

This weekend is Les Journees du Patrimoine in France to celebrate their heritage. All the towns have a number of different things planned. That was why we were able to enjoy the wonderful Gospel concert last night in the church of St. Jean with “testimony of eleven centuries of history” in the village of Saint-Jean-le Thomas. Sonya Pinçon was the leader of the eight singers and one pianist. All the songs were sung in English; most were unfamiliar, but they did sing some like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”. It was a real hand-clapping event!

Now it is pouring, and the rain comes at the house in sheets like a New England northeaster! Sitting at the dining room table, I can watch the rain from the sunporch window. Maybe my walk around the Brocante is not such a great idea! Well, I have another pair of shoes when-NOT if-my shoes get wet! Now a small patch of blue sky has come out again. The rain has let up some, but the howling wind moans on. Yet people walk and run by the house on allee de la corniche….

I went to the very sad Brocante with (luckily) few options, as there were maybe twelve vendors. Any Quimper they had was either cracked or chipped; nothing was worth staking my life on getting it home in one piece! Mimi and Chantal had waited in line to visit the lighthouse, but then it was closed before they could visit. This afternoon there will be an organ concert at the church as well as a talk on the Granville Newfoundland link. In French it says My poor, very awkward translation says, “Once upon a time Newfoundland from Granville”. Mimi translated it as, “ Once upon a time, the people from Granville going to Newfoundland". The concert was a choral and organ concert in the grand old church. The rain stopped briefly, yet another shower followed; I stopped at Mimi's to post my update. Hard to be believe that my time here winds down, as I plan for Prague on Thursday and then on to Vienna next Sunday!

Enjoying Saint Pair sur Mer and Granville....

Wednesday, September 14^th

High tide (Plein Mers) was at 9:06, so about 8:45, I took the key marked “Mer” and walked across the street, where I unlocked the white gate and went down the path to see what high tide looked like. Low tide (Basses Mers) is VERY far out! www.weather.com on my Blackberry said it was 59° with winds at 10-15 mph. It certainly did not feel that cold, as I only needed a fleece. But you really never need to comb your hair here, because the wind always takes over!

Mimi had told me a story the other day about her friend’s five year old daughter who had a wonderful playing on the beach and in the water one day. The next day when she went down to the beach, she burst into tears. “What is wrong?” asked her mother. “Someone has taken the sea!”, the little girl wailed.

As I mentioned in my last post, there are many English books here. Some of my choices are/were: Stars and Bars by William Boyd, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (talked about  in David McCullough's The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris), A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier, who wrote Girl with a Pearl Earring. The Kindle has Phil Cousineau’s non-fiction Art of Pilgrimage, which I like alot; it is very interesting, but a bit intense. So, which book would you have chosen?

“Tractors” was my choice because the reviews said “mad and hilarious”, “extremely funny”, “an extraordinary read…nothing short of amazing.”, etc., etc. ….Two sisters try to help their 84 year old father from marrying a 36 year old Ukrainian "bombshell" divorcee, but he married her anyway!  Perhaps the Daily Telegraph was most accurate “yields a golden harvest of family truths”.  Interestingly enough towards the end I read that one of the daughters had lived with the mother in Zindelfingen, while the mother had worked at Mercedes Benz. That, of course, is where Babs lives (now Sindelfingen), and was my first Couch surfing stop!  Well, I finished it, and it was somewhat entertaining, but I would not recommend it. The reviewers' exaggeration is clear!

So I read and went into Granville with Mimi at 3; she only has a half day on Wednesday. We toured the charming Old Town and met Chantal and Lydie, another of Mimi’s friends who has done home exchanges in Canada and California. And speaking of Mimi’s friends, last night her 39 year old neighbor Sebastian and his nearly 6 year old son joined us for dinner; it was fun to meet them and to watch the father-son dynamics, even in a language I could not fully understand! The Old Town was charming…spectacular views of the sea and the town interspersed with WWII memorabilia, as the Germans were here from 1940-1944.

Thursday, September 15th

Mimi picked me up at 7:30 to go to Institution Sevigné to meet three of her English classes. Two of them had had English last year. Most of them have had it since they were little, but only maybe once a week. Now they have it 4 or 5 times a week. Two classes had it last year; the third is having it “full time” for the first time this year. Some of the questions were quite predictable. Do I have children, brothers and sisters, etc. Have I been to Las Vegas? New York? Colorado? San Francisco? (One of the boys was wearing a shirt about San Francisco, and didn’t realize it.) Did I like Barack Obama? Had I met Barack Obama? One boy asked about the recent hurricane, so I told him about the tree I lost! Someone asked if I was in my car. Stan asked about 9/11, and commented after my answer, “Too bad.”  It was very interesting and fun to be in the classroom again. One boy asked me to come back!

Low tide in Granville harbor....

Christian Dior lived in Granville as a boy, and his childhood home is now a charming museum with lovely gardens. It is just several blocks from the school, so I walked over “after school” for a visit. Every year the theme changes; this year it shows how different artistic periods of the 20^th century influenced Dior’s designs. It was interesting, but pictures were not allowed. The grounds including a pergola and small pool with fountain overlooking the ocean are very well maintained. Around the grounds they had displays filled with different perfumes.

After tasty lunch of cheese and egg crepe, I visited the interesting and small Old Granvile Museum, with much about its fishing history. (I do need to look up where the Granville fishermen fished in Newfoundland.  It is “ringing a bell” after last summer’s visit….) Jacques’ great grandfather Gauthier had fished in Newfoundland! They had some clothing displays, especially many showing the varied headgear or toques the women wore. I asked Nicole why she thought they wore them; tradition was her answer. I guessed it was because it is so windy here, and she said they all had very long hair.

I walked back to the school where I waited for Mimi to give me a ride home. Nicole and Jacques were coming from Caen, and we were going to have dinner. We had delicious dinner in the St. Pair sur Mer square. Jacques had pork, and Nicole and I had chicken terrine; very tasty crème brulee followed.

 Friday, September 16th

Jacques took Nicole and me to the Marine Terminal so she could buy her ticket to go to Jersey with me. Ah ha! Sylvain told us that the boat wasn’t running, as it needed to be repaired. He said he had tried to reach me five times, but it never rang, so I must have given him the wrong number. I think NOW I have it after this; calling numbers in Europe still confuses me! It will be (at least) three days for the electronic problem to be fixed. Of course, Nicole and I decided that it would be better NOT to go than have you see an article in the paper about the boat to Jersey capsizing!

So Plan B took us to Avranches, which is another charming French town. Along the way we stopped and got some good views of famed Mont St. Michel. (If I had not been there twice, we would have gone back. However, to get there you always need to consider the tides, as it is an island.) We walked around, got a good view from the rampart (under repair), and had lunch. She had huge tuna, egg, and palm salad; I had three cheese fondue with cold cuts, salad and bread. Both were delicious, of course. We had coffee back home, and Nicole and Jacques returned to Caen. They (VERY KINDLY) will return on Wednesday to take me to the 5:50AM train to Paris on Thursday.  (They will also close up the house afterwards.) I headed off for a two walk on the beach and into Saint Pair for a few items at the grocery store.  I had a light supper, and Mimi came over before 8 to enjoy a wonderful sunset!

Saturday September 17th

This morning I took the 9AM bus (for the first time) into Granville to go to the Saturday market. I picked up a few things, but none of the delicious food they were selling. Tomorrow will be the monthly Brocante (flea market), where Nicole and Jacques thought I might find some Quimper pottery (!)  I will walk to Granville, as there is no bus on Sunday. The weather will determine whether I walk back! Mimi picked me up in Granville, as she had an errand there. I'm back at her house where she is having eleven friends and children for tea at 4....She just ran over to Chantal's to get more apples for the Apple Crumble she is making. There is a Gospel concert tonight at 8:30 which a group of us is going to...I will let you know how it is!~:))

LAZY Day in Saint Pair sur Mer

I had arranged to rent a car prior to my departure, but Nicole said there is a bus handy as well as the train in Granville, so I did not rent a car. This is good, as it gets me walking more....Today I walked into Saint Pair to look around and pick up a few things I had forgotten yesterday.It is about a 15  minute walk and VERY pleasant! This afternoon Mimi came by, and we walked the beach. Tonight I am having dinner at her house, and I have brought a salad to contribute. She also has internet, so I can catch up on-line as well. There are some English books in the house, and I have my Kindle, so I have plenty to read! You will be surprised by the title of one of them, which I will include in my  next post, so I will list the EXACT title.

Serendipity in Saint Pair sur Mer

The newspaper in the house is Ouest France. The headline for September 10 and 11 read, “Le jour qui a changé le monde” The day which changed the world….This sure says it all! The entire paper was dedicated to the aftermath and included articles by 18 different Americans-their memories and their reflections about the state of America today. I have tried to read some…French dictionary in hand. The horror of it all remains.…The only slim piece of hope is the goodness which many have brought to this through the good works after the horror.

Well, lest you wonder, the travel gods have smiled on me again! As I headed off to Granville yesterday afternoon,  I saw a young woman, and I asked, “¿Parlez vous anglais?” [Do you speak English?] “Well, yes I do,” she said smiling at me. I asked her the fastest way to walk to Granville, and she said she was walking there herself. (Remember google maps said it was 5+km to get there.) Early-almost in the next breath-I learned that she teaches English, has been to Boston, and said, “Oh, I LOVE Boston!” This was my new and most interesting friend, Mimi Lemaitre, who presently teaches junior high English and German in Granville. She told me about the walk, and that part of it was UP and DOWN, etc. So off we went to Granville. She lives quite nearby, and has lived for ten years in her cute house which she had built. Early on she had also asked me if I would come to talk with her students, and, of course, I said yes! So we walked and walked and talked and talked. In Granville I wanted to post my blog and buy a ticket to go to Jersey on Friday. Mimi just wanted to go into the Marina in Granville for a drink and walk home. We walked by the Cyber Café, which was closed, and then I bought my ticket for Jersey. We had our drinks, and we started back. Mimi had invited me for supper and said I could use her computer. Our walk was two different routes; the one home was really the UP and DOWN one, but I quite managed. Coming home was much more scenic, as we walked along the sea. It probably took us 1¼ hour or so each way. By my calculations, I would guess I walked more than 7.125 miles to be (somewhat) exact. I posted my lengthy blog and met her cat! On the way home we stopped to meet her friend Chantal, who had lived in England for ten years.

Thursday Mimi will pick me up at 7:30 to go to her school, where I will meet with three of her classes. Since it is early in the school year, she said they may be shy, but it will be fun for a former English teacher to meet her students!

Today was a pretty lazy day. I did a wash, hung it outside, and took a lovely walk towards Avranches along the beach. At 5:30 after school Mimi picked me up after school to go grocery shopping. I'm going to check on renting a car perhaps for the weekend of early next week. Granville seems to be an interesting place with some different things to see. This is really a tourist area with lovely beaches.

Au revoir

From Berlin to Saint Pair sur Mer via Paris

Berlin is an amazing city with so much history and so much to see. There was not enough time to see that much. Perhaps I will return? Tuesday was a full day. I started at the Kaiser Wilhelm Church which was badly bombed during the war, but they decided to leave “the hollow tooth” as a memorial. A new church was erected 1957-1963. However, like much of the city-or at least my choices, it too is undergoing renovation, so "the hollow tooth" was hidden. It was so well hidden that I didn’t know there was a church under the aluminum covering. About twenty yards across the plaza the vestibule of the old church stands to commemorate the war and its horrors, which I could visit. The actual church was closed for the day as they were filming. So I was on to my next stop…Hackesche Höfe (psyched that I could find the ö!!), my (wonderful and only guide book) DK Eyewitness Travel Top 10 Berlin describes as a “complex of 19^th century warehouses of nine interlinked courtyards “. Decorated in the Art-Nouveau style, it was totally renovated in early 1990’s, as it was totally ruined during the war. There is an interesting great variety of unusual, artisan type shops on the first level and apartments above.

I had a quick €3 lunch of rice, chicken, and veggies, cooked in a wok before me at China Box. Passed a gelato store-Amorino, which may have been where Gloria and I stopped last year in Nice?-and succumbed to a multi-flavored, of course DELICIOUS, €4 dish (sure cheaper than Rome!).Then I visited the Neue Synagogue, once the largest in Europe. Presently its congregants are predominantly Russians. Damaged during the war, the tour only allowed me to see the small museum on the first floor and walk up to the Dome for the “view”. Interesting, but not worth it for me….

Berlin has such MANY museums, and one I did want to see was the German Historical Museum. My usual museum time is 2-3 hours so I was delighted to stay at least 3 hours! Starting in 100BC, it was, needless to say, MOST comprehensive! I especially like to see the different elements of life at a given time. So I was quite intrigued by the Writing Case which 72 year old Goethe had given then 17 year old Ulrike von Leventzow. Two years later he proposed marriage through his friend, which she refused, as she only loved him as a “father. There was an excellent video with English subtitles-the better to sleep through also! Wending my way back to the bus (somewhere!), I climbed the stairs to visit the Berliner Dom(Cathedral), the “largest and most lavish in town”, which was closed due to a concert….

Then it was time to take the bus back to Annette’s delightful and spacious flat. We decided to have a light supper in a nearby Turkish restaurant, and then we walked around her neighborhood filled with many interesting shops. (Ah, but I am NOT succumbing to shopping due to weight constraints!)

Wednesday morning I went first to the Martin Gropius-Bau, which used to house a German arts and crafts museum. ALAS, I did not read the description carefully to see that it is NOW an exhibition hall! So I opted to skip any of the three photography exhibitions there and went next door to the (free) Topographie of Terrors, a photographic show where the visitor comes “face to face with the dark Nazi past of this area”.  Next stop was the (free for the day) Märkisches Museum, the Berlin City Museum, which Babs had recommended. It too was interesting, but all in German….The weather threatened rain, but I decided I needed-and wanted- to walk the famed Unter den Linden, which was especially prominent in Eric Larsen’s book The Garden of Beasts. Many American diplomats felt it was the only safe place to talk among themselves away from the Nazis’. Marlene Dietrich sang, “As long as the lime trees still blossom in Unter den Linen, Berlin will always be Berlin.” It stretches from the German Historical Museum to the Brandenburg Tower, where I started my Berlin visit and met Elisabeth for lunch.  This was a fitting place to end my visit!

I met Annette at a Greek restaurant in her neighborhood we had passed the night before. It reminded me much of an authentic taverna, even if we did eat inside! I stretched my “eating comfort zone” by ordering stuffed calamari….Previously I had only eaten fried calamari, so you can imagine my surprise when my dish arrived, and the calamari was an 8” piece of tentacle-the pointed end-stuffed with rice and seafood! The stuffing was tasty, but the calamari was literally tough to chew.  (My Greek friend Helen said it can be tough if it has not been frozen.) It was accompanied by bread and a tasty salad….

Thursday morning I was up early to finish packing and leave when Annette left for work. Thank you again, Annette, for a wonderful stay in your flat. You are another excellent Couch Surfing representative! (She had commented several times that if I could have been there on the weekend, she would have been able to show me around.) That gave me plenty of time to get my ticket for Granville and explore the HUGE and modern Hauptbahnhof (HPT or train station). And I was off…my 45 minute stop stretched to 2 hours and 45 minutes, as I missed the train! That was a most annoying first! I was on the platform, but I did not realize that there were TWO places on the platform, where a train could stop. By the time I figured it out, the train was just leaving; I could not run fast enough to catch it! Luckily the woman in the office let me get on the next train for free; usually there is a charge. This gave me time to visit the huge and well-known Cologne Duomo right in the same square. My seat mate on the train to Paris was a young Spanish engineer, who had lived and worked in Chicago for a year, but family pulls called her back to Europe. We had a nice visit; she is buying an apartment in Aachen (spelling!), and I told her about www.couchsurfing.org  She said I could stay at her place….

I stayed at a basic hotel very near Gare du Nord; I had selected it, as I wanted to be able to walk to where I was staying. Even though I plotted it on my Blackberry via google maps, I had to ask two women (with a cat on a leash on the table) to point me in the right direction.  10 minutes later I was there going up the vintage, but functional elevator. (When I had walked in en route to Berlin, the sign had said €60, but clerk said it would be €66, but sing now said €70. I paid €66.)

Matisse Sculpture

From top of the Pompidou Centre

I really only had one full day in Paris, which gave me time to get re-acclimated to the Metro system. I visited the wonderful Georges Pompidou Centre for my first time. There was a very interesting exhibit on India which included paintings, exhibits, and photos. There is a covered external escalator, which I took to the top for the view of the ever-charming city. I especially loved seeing the Matisse paintings, as there had been a wonderful Matisse exhibit when I was “cat sitting” for Snagglepuss. I ended this stop with a glass of white  wine, served with bowls of green olives and almonds, as I continued to love the view! Then it was an easy Metro ride back to the hotel. I changed into my flip-flops and walked around the area to find a place to eat. So I picked  “Frenchys” Bar across the street, and ordered a big salad with shrimp (small canned) and crabmeat strips (as anticipated) and tons of avocado and fresh tomato.

I was up early Saturday morning to allow ample time to get to Montparnasse train station. (You KNOW I am not missing another train, too!) Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door had suggested that using buses is often easier especially when one is maneuvering luggage. This is especially true in the Paris Metro system, as many stations have no elevators or escalators. A helpful young woman helped me get to  correct station, as the bus which the hotel clerk had directed me required a change. I had time to print out my train tickets for my trip to Metz to see Renee and Marcel in early October. The signs at the train station said to get to the platform 20 minutes early. However, that is usually when they post the location.  The train to Granville was leaving from Gate 26 which was a very good walk away…but I had plenty of time!:))

View from balcony at St. Pair sur Mer

Nicole and Jacques were at the station to meet me. It was wonderful to see them again! Nicole was the first Weston-Rombas exchange student in 1955; I did not know her then, but we met three years ago when she kindly invited me to stay with them in Caen. I am now here in Saint Pair sur Mer until next Thursday.  Their wonderful house here,  overlooking the sea, was Jacques’ parents; now Nicole and Jacques and their three daughters and and families all enjoy it. They settled me in and gave me lunch. Then Nicole drove me into Granville to see the town and where I can buy a boat ticket to go to Jersey, as it is an easy day trip from here. We also stopped at the TI, Tourist Information, where I gathered more information. There is a Christian Dior Museum in Granville, where he lived as a child, which I will visit. They have returned to their home in Caen to regroup as they have just returned from a visit with friends in Tuscany.

Today-Sunday- will be a quiet day in town. I’m enjoying the wonderful view and listening to a radio station that varies from English to French and opera to pop American music. I’ll walk in to see if I can buy a ticket to go to Jersey next week and if the internet café is open, I will post this very lengthy post. Google maps say it is 5.7 km…we’ll see!  

Vising Berlin and the Reichstag....

Peryesterday's post: the delicious pork dish which Alf planned was spießraten! Babs probably served the variety of sausages she bought on our way back from the Lake Constance tour tonight!

Speaking of very good meals and other new friends, today I met Couch Surfer Elisabeth for lunch at the famous Theodor’s Schlemmer & Schmoker GmbH just around the corner from the Brandenburg Tower. I had contacted her about staying at her place, but she was away, so I made plans with Annette. Instead Elisabeth and I planned to meet for lunch today. We both selected the lunch special which was a mashed potato terrine with small tossed (Rocket) salad with two slices of radishes, a portion of beef (two delicious very rare pieces)  with parsley and mashed (green from the parsley)  potatoes, and a piece of snapper with risotto. They served this with fresh bread and black olive tapenade. Each of the three selections was served in its own dipping bowl, which was a perfect size! The dessert was like a small brownie with fruit sauce of berries and currants on top!!  

Elisabeth is a civil engineer, and now she works more as a project manager on a contract basis, so she makes her own schedule. In addition she does a lot of photography.www.fotografie-einsichten.de She just returned from 28 day hiking trip from Munich to Venice. The group of ten agreed unanimously that the hustle and bustle of Venice in late July after the mountain quiet was not good! She is looking to either move from her present large flat to a room which is common in Berlin and other European cities, where the rent is only €200 per month, or 

she may start a Band B. You can find these flats in communities in Germany called WG or Wohngemeinschaft at www.wohngemeinschaft.de

She also told me about two dictionary websites: www.dict.cc and www.dict.leo.org Both of them give you the option to find a word quickly in another language, as well as hearing it spoken!

After our interesting lunch, I went over to the train station to see if I could leave for Paris earlier on Thursday, but I had no luck. Unfortunately errands like that DO kill so much time AND energy…trying to get to the right place AND find someone who answers in the affirmative to “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” (Do you speak English?) is most challenging! (NO! Everyone does not speak English.) Then there was the woman sitting at the SBAhn booth (similar to our MBTA) who didn’t understand me when I was trying to find the busses!:)) The woman then who did speak English well, asked me if I wanted to walk, which was the perfect and easiest solution to get to the Reichstag.

I arrived there at 4:30, but I had a 5:45 appointment. Luckily they let me in then, as there were no big crowds on the rainy gray day. I had emailed several weeks ago to get this appointment, as that is the only way you can see it. It is a very interesting building. Tourists walk around the outside of the Plenary Hall, which is where the parliament members sit. It really looks like a large-no HUGE-ice cream cone made of mirror.I cannot fathom how this looks like internally; thee must be some actual shots on-line somewhere. Pictures in this case are really worth a thousand words….

Auf Wiedersehen Stuttgart...

Storks' nest on chimney

Stein en Rheim

My last full day with Barbara (who prefers to be called Babs) was very full! She loves to swim, so she proposed a trip south to Lake Constance, which abuts Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. THAT certainly worked for me as well. The 1.5 hour trip through lovely country went quickly! Our first stop was in Singen, where we stopped for coffee and a short visit with her 85 year old mother. En route to the lake we made a quick stop and walk through Stein en Rhein, a charming, tourist town, where there were swimmers and rafters enjoying the beautiful warm day on the river. Then we were on to the Lake, where there were several swimming options either from a paddle boat or the beach, which was our choice. Even though the water was quite low, it was a delightful place to swim. It was not too crowded,and, in fact, there were four swans swimming nearby. On our way back, we stopped to visit Rottweil, another charming small German town, which had pretty much closed up at 2PM. We saw the latest young bridal party outside the Catholic church posing for pictures. Shortly thereafter, as we walked around, we saw and heard the tooting horns echoing all over town.
We got back to Babs' house in time for another delicious dinner of pork (the exact name of which I will have to add next post,) spaetzle, and ratouille. Alf had organized this, so the goodies we had picked up were for another night! It was a wonderful way to end my visit with Babs and her welcoming family! Their two sons were in and out during my stay; Arne awaits his German passport to go to San Francisco for a six month internship, and Hendrik is just finishing up his undergraduate work. Alf has his own architectural business, and was busy at work on three projects with construction due to be started this week. My visit with them was a stellar start to my trip!!!
Sunday afternoon Babs took me to the Goldberg stop near her house so I could take the subway to the Stuttgart train station to go to Berlin. At 4:30 I met Annette, my next couch surfing host, as scheduled at Platform 10. She was in Stuttgart for the weekend to celebrate her son's wedding. It worked so well that we could take the same train to Berlin, due to arrive just before 10PM! She lives in the Schoneberg section, which is south of Berlin; she remarked that the train had a stop south of the main station, which would save us time. Well, to make a long story short (HA!), I neglected to inquire EXACTLY WHICH station I should get off at....Yes, while I was watching for her at the first Berlin stop, I did not see her on the platform, so I did not get off where she got off. OOPS!!! I called her to get directions to her house; I took Bus M85 to KaiserWilhelm  Platz and walked to her building. (Once again the Blackberry saved the day, as I could find her address on Google maps!) She was MOST gracious, even though I am sure she would have preferred to get to bed earlier than the hour I was delayed. So, welcome to Berlin! This will be a busy visit with much to see. At least I could see some of the places I will be seeing by day!

Enjoying Stuttgart, etc.

 Barbara in the center today.

 

Well, it was an uneventful trip from Boston to Rome to Paris and then on to Stuttgart via train....Barbara met me at the main Stuttgart station. After 18 hours in transit, I was delighted she suggested a short walk around Stuttgart. We had started communicating via email, when she joined www.couchsurfing.org last January about the same time that I was organizing my Alitalia flight to come to Europe. My mother's family was from Stuttgart by way of Metz. (Interestingly enough that is where Marcel and Renee live, and I will visit them in October.)
Last n ight we had a wonderful dinner of German specialities, which Barbara and her husband Alf prepared. They served a wonderful Secco, a VERY tasty German champagne similar to, but NOT Prosecco.

You hop on the left, ride up and around to get off on the right...

This AM we both slept in. She had just returned from a two day trip back from Croatia, and I, of course, was tired....I was downstairs by 10...she was down shortly thereafter. So today's activities were somewhat shortened by our late start...Nonetheless, we went back into the center, where we visited the Townhall and revisited the Wine Festival, which we had seen last evening. (NO! We had not stopped either time. Last night it was unbelievably crowded, given how early we were there.) In the Townhall we had gone on the Pater noster, which is now outlawed everywhere, but seems to have been grandfathered for this building. It is like an elevator which operated like a small sidewards ferris wheel. The picture explains it better than I can...you hop on and hop off....Interesting, but it is clear why they are no longer allowed!
Then we took public transportation, which was a tram, underground subway, and a bus up to a tower, overlooking Stuttgart. On a clear day you can see to the Alps....which was not today, as they had predicted 50% chance of rain. I saw pretty far anyhow!

The

Pink Pig

Next stop was the Porsche Museum, which was only built maybe 2 or so years ago. As a person who thinks cars are "4 wheels that run", it was very interesting....The "Pink Pig" is pictured, which shows the parts of the car as they would be named on a pig! While we were only there an hour, we missed the rain! Back to Barbara's house for another wonderful dinner of German specialities!
Tomorrow we are off to Lake Constance and perhaps into Switzlerland, where I've never been....Gute nacht!