Restaurant Fournaise: Location of the Luncheon of the Boating Party

Just before Pascale and Yves visited Boston, I had read Susan Vreeland's Luncheon of the Boating Party. It is a historical novel about Renoir and his painting by the same title. As an avowed "Francophile", it had certainly captured my imagination! While it gets mixed reviews by Amazon readers, I loved the story of the people in this famous painting. So you can imagine my delight when I realized that the restaurant where it was painted is still in operation! I DEFINITELY  wanted to visit the Restaurant Fournaise! Luckily it is probably not five minutes from Pascale and Yves' home!
Before we went to lunch, Pascale and I took a good walk through the wonderful park near their home. We were joined by many runners and walkers. In this park thirteen French Resistance workers were shot, and there is a memorial to them. There is also an American cemetery there as well.

Pascale and Olivier

Our reservation was for 1:30; three of Pascale and Yves' friends were coming as well, including Olivier and Anna whom I had met on Friday night. Once again the weather was VERY co-operative! We selected an outside table near the river, and the whole event-food, company, ambiance-DEFINITELY met my expectations! I had a wonderful veloute (sort of a cream topping) pumpkin soup garnished with purple potato chips and bacon to start. This was followed by lamb shank with carrots and tasty chocolate dessert! Of course, we had a nice white wine and French bread to add to this "channeling of Renoir"!~
THANK YOU, Pascale and Yves!!!really nothing of great interest to this group!

And so another trip comes to an end....I certainly have many wonderful memories of everyone I saw and everything I did....Many thanks to each of you who helped to make this a truly memorable journey!

Paris and Suresnes....

The Ryanair flight was short and sweet, except for our landing in Beauvais (for my first time) which was with a  BANG~really a thud. What did I want for about $15? Plus my luggage cost and internet fee and yaddah yaddah yaddah-still very cheap!
And I was on to see my friends Pascale and Yves, who live in Surenes, just outside of Paris. I had met them several years ago when they stayed at my house with Yves' two lovely daughters. They now live just outside of Paris in a very charming home in a quiet neighborhood. Pascale was in a play on Friday night, so I had to take the Metro and walk to the theater. Luckily they had just finished when I arrived. They were starting to wonder if I would make it! So with about eight of their friends and the director, we went to have a drink and a bite nearby. Most of them  had been in the play. It was fun, in spite of the fact that I could not understand much of the discussion. It was about 2AM when we got back to their home.

Saturday morning I went to the market in Surenes with Pascale, and Yves watched the rugby semi-finals. (Sound familiar?) France did win! After lunch we went into Paris and parked in the garage at the Hotel de Ville. We walked around; Pascale wanted to buy some boots, as did many others, so she decied to give up. We walked around the Marais and went into an art gallery of an artist whom Pascale likes. It was a spectacular fall day! We ate a falafel sandwich as we walked back to the car with the intention of going to a movie (silent with animation), but we were really too late. So we just watched "Harvey Milk" with French titles, which none of us had seen. It was a very relaxing day!

Short FUN Time in Turin/Torino!

So it was good bye to Gloria and my delightful stay with her in Alessandria! I am so appreciative of her very generous hospitality-especially with such a busy schedule and life style! Hope to see her in Boston one of these days-or at least Miami!
So with my last train ticket for this extended trip in hand, I was off to Torino. Cinzia had offered to host me for another great chapter in my couch surfing experiences. www.couchsurfing.org When I arrived, I checked my suitcase at the train station. 

Frankly I knew nothing about this grand old city, until I looked around on the internet, especially www.Tripadvisor.com The number one spot on that site is Mole Antonelliana, home to http://www.museonazionaledelcinema.it The Mole (pronounced Molay) houses the fascinating National Cinema Museum,  and it was originally intended to be a synagogue. The building was gutted and is a fascinating museum about the history of cinema, especially Italian cinema, but also much was about Hollywood films (with Italian "voice-overs"). But first I went up in the elevator to see Torino from highest vantage point in the city. In the busy season, the reports said long waits, but now there was no wait. Then I started to wander around this amazingly interesting museum! The "temple" is the location where you can view clips of old movies projected onto two different large screens, where you can lounge in these wonderfully comfortable chaise lounges with built-in head phones.

Around the outside there were various "movie sets" so you could pretend that you were there! My favorite was this Western saloon AFTER the fight!

On the ramp and upstairs there were explanations about special effects, old posters, etc. There was also a display, dedicated to Robert Altman.
It was definitely one of the most interesting museums I have ever seen!

Then I visited the Palazzo Reale, another grand old building filled with artifacts of "days gone by". It included a tour in Italian which I took so I could see another floor. There was information in English in each room to read.
Before I went to meet Cinzia, I retrieved my suitcase  the train station. With the help of various folks along the walk, I found the correct bus, where she was going to meet me. She greeted me with a hug as I got off. However, THAT was when I realized I did not have my phone! We made the five minute walk back to her house, when she got right on the computer to try to find some phone numbers she could call, as I thought I might have left it at a shop at the station. We gave up, and I decided I would go back in the morning to see if I might find it. I met and talked with her delightful children, 17 year old Guilia and 18 year old Ricardo. They both have very heavy and impressive workloads at school with multiple languages, math, history, etc. 
Cinzia prepared a delicious dinner of potatoes, zucchini, and beef scallopini with fruit and cheese for dessert. Her husband Remo would be coming back from his work later. In fact, as we were finishing dinner, Cinzia's phone rang, and someone called to say she had found my phone on the bus! (She had seen me leave it, but I left so quickly she could not give it to me.) We could pick it up at 11 or 11:30 that night, so Cinzia asked Remo to stop by to get it on his way home, as it was very close to their house. Remo arrived about 11:20 with the phone. However, it turned out we were supposed to pick up the phone in the morning, so the father of the girl who called was quite angry!!!
The next morning I visited the Palazzo Castello, which was more of a museum with many paintings as well as pottery and glassware. Cinzia and I met about 1:30 for lunch, which was another delicious slice of pizza. Torino had many small restaurants which sold pizza slices and calzones, which they passed through window storefronts!

Cinzia and Remo, who are serious bikers, had visited the US several years ago. At that time she thought that perhaps Torino could use a bike rental shop, so she opened one! http://www.torinoinbici.com We had a great visit, and I was happy to have met Cinzia and her family! ONE more great couch surfing experience! I headed back to her house for my luggage-except she forgot to tell me about the security system, so, of course, I set it off! She came back-"in a flash"-, on her bike, of course!
When Melissa and I had been in Saint Raphael two years ago, we had met Anna, Bruno, and their son Andreas from Torino. They were, in fact, the folks who helped us pick up the collapsed wall oven for those of you who know that story! Anna had offered to take me to the airport, which gave us a chance to visit briefly over a cup of tea. It was fun to see her. They have a new home in Agay, so they no longer visit Saint Raphael!
I checked in for my 7:05 Ryanair flight two hours in advance; my suitcase weighed about 13 kilos (15 is the limit), so I was okay there! This time they did not even check the weight of the carry-on, which was under 10 kilos anyhow. And I was off to Paris for the final leg of my journey!

"Field Trip" with Gloria

As a result of EXPO, Gloria has a number of new sales leads. Wednesday(October 12) she had appointments to meet with two of them. One in Genoa has a very large successful shop; the other was about an hour away heading towards San Remo, and she did not know much about him. I went along so we could visit, and maybe I could do a little sightseeing while she was on her calls. In Genoa there was nothing around to see, so I sat in the car and worked on my Pavia blog post. When she came out we agreed that we were both hungry-no, starving! She said she knew a perfect place nearby to eat.

Well, she was "right on"! The trattoria we went to has been in this family since 1930!!! Bettina and her husband run this small twelve table restaurant right along the harbor. Gloria requested their delicious, homemade pesto for our "first" on a special type of Genoan pasta called for which is a little like fusilli.The waitress Sarah said that her eighty-four year old grandmother comes in every weekend to make the pasta. For our "second" I had chicken cacciatore with fries, and Gloria had an onion "tart" (I did not get the Italian name for it) with tasty fresh salad. There was plenty of fresh bread and olive oil through out the whole meal. For dessert we had homemade strawberry and vanilla gellato and coffee. For several years in a row they have won the Best Pesto award in a local event. This "oh, SO tasty" meal included a small (50ml?) pitcher of white wine and bottle of water. The bill for this tallied 26 euros. Thanks, Gloria, for taking me to this fantastic place. Thanks also to Bettina and her family for this DELICIOUS meal!

There are also many wonderful old buildings all over Genoa (or Genova when in Italy) which I had not seen on Sunday. Here are just two "drive by" examples!
On the way back to Gloria's we stopped at the train station, so I could buy my ticket to Turin (Turino) for the next day. That night we had another excellent meal-albeit only one course!-at a wonderful restaurant in Alessandria.

Pavia on October 11

The destination for my first “field trip” from Alessandria was Pavia with the emphasis on the last syllable. The weather was forecasted to be warmer than yesterday. I had already purchased my train ticket with an 8:17 departure. Gloria had suggested Pavia, and when I looked it up on Virtual Tourist, I got some more specific ideas on why it was worth seeing. Pavia is an incredibly old city, going back to the 600’s according to Wikipedia. There is great variety in the architecture, which, of course, meant seeing some more churches!

Certosa Monastery

Fortunately when I arrived I went into a hotel right across the street from the station. They gave me better directions on how to get to the Monastery by bus and gave me a map of the town. So I walked down the street to the bus station to buy a ticket for Milan, and I would get off at the first stop. (Bus stations, by the way, do have the most vile bathrooms imaginable, in case you have missed this experience recently! At the least they serve a function even if it is like what you would imagine in a third world country.) The very helpful hotel map said that the monastery would close at 11:30. The Monastero Cistercense della Certosa di Pavia is referred to Certosa-WHEW! I walked a kilometer down a peaceful street to see it. I laughed as I asked a little old lady where Certosa was, and she said, "diretto, diretto"; this is what everyone told me as I asked for directions to include Gloria when she explained how to get around Alessandria when I first arrived.) It was an amazing building and looked to be made all of mosaics. On this day it was very quiet with one tour group listening to a monk describing the actual church.  It was so non-commercial that they did not even have a sign for the gift shop. I did find it, but the monk-clerk not only did not seem to understand my usual question ("do you speak English" in pidgin Italian), but I do not think he could hear me. There was one big garden area I could see, but it had only some sad boring begonias in it, so they spend more time making a variety of things to sell-teas, soaps, liqueurs, etc.. The detail of the frescoes and the mosaics were impressive!

My next stop when I was back in town was to buy a pizza slice for lunch, which I enjoying sitting in the sun! I did not see any interesting restaurants around, and I was starved, since tea was all I had had so far! Ponte Coperto, the Covered Bridge, was reconstructed after WWII, when the original 14^th century bridge was destroyed. I walked along the Ticono River to see the bridge in the beautiful sunshiny day!  There were some four other churches I had planned to see for the different styles, and I won’t elaborate, because I am certainly NOT an architectural student! I did end up visiting more than that because I just walked by! The Romanesque S.Pietro in Ciel d’oro (St. Peter in the Golden Sky) is where St. Augustine is buried. The University of Pavia has a definite presence in the city with many old buildings and young students! I walked by a smiling young woman wearing what looked like a crown of mountain laurel and carrying a beautiful, huge bouquet of flowers. She was walking with maybe a professor, followed by what looked like her well-dressed, very pleased parents. I should have stopped to ask what she seemed to be celebrating!

Pavia used to be called the “City of a Hundred Towers”, so I went looking for the Medieval Towers listed on my map, and I found three right in the middle of the campus. The Municipal Museums, founded in the late 14^th century, are large, but unfortunately by the time I found them were closed until 3. They were advertising an exhibit about Montmartre artists to include Lautrec. BUT I was DONE! I had to find my way back to the train, and I got there minutes before to get on the 14:39 which arrived in Alessandria at 5:10. It took twice as long to get back to Alessandria, because it stopped at many small towns where students got off! But it was another very interesting day to get to know more about Italy!

Orientation to Alessandria

Duomo

 Garibaldi Piazza-market was on the left.

View from
the balcony.

Gloria, of course, works full-time, so she will be working while I am here. Today was no different, and I went off to find the train station (statione di tren) and Garibaldi Square. The square was my first stop, as the weekly market was being held. I STILL had no plans to buy anything to add weight to my luggage, but it was fun to look around. It was mostly merchandise like clothing and household goods (all from China, according to Gloria). As I tried to find the train station-which was a challenge-I wandered into the Duomo, where there was a huge funeral mass being said for the Archbishop, it turned out. There had been 6 or so gendarmes outside and some on walkie-talkies, and their presence had aroused my suspicions. I FINALLY did find the station, where I purchased a train ticket to Pavia for the next day and a map of Alessandria to help me get home! Pavia is about an hour away and is supposed to have wonderful variety of architecture, and I will let you know!

Genoa and Arenzano

Genoa beach

Campo Ligure

Tower overlooking Campo Ligure

Gloria and her dog Willie as we left Arenzano.

Sunday Gloria proposed we drive south to Genoa, largest Italian seaport, and Arenzano, which was where her maternal grandparents lived, so she visited often during her school vacations. It was a spectacular day, and the world was in agreement, as we saw many families in the squares and on beaches-some were even in the water. On our way down-about 1:30, we stopped into the very small and old town of Campo Ligure, famous for making filigreed jewelry. It was very sleepy with little activity. There was only one table of men in the square. Our lunch was a very tasty foccacio typical of the town followed by gellato! We walked around and enjoyed the lovely day, which Gloria said is unusual for here. It sounds like the weather is unseaonably warm in many places this fall!

Milan EXPO....or a day in the life of a Very Successful Rep

Gloria is a manufacturer's rep with lines of doors and windows which she sells to shops. She had to work in the booth of the window company at the world famous EXPO in Milan. I was delighted to go with her to see first hand what EXPO is! I "met" Gloria through the home exchange website we both use; we have stayed in touch since I first contacted her about swapping her place in Genoa. I visited her last summer in Nice, when we had a great time! It was about an hour's drive to Milan; from the minute we entered the booth where her clients were waiting for her, she did not stop for a minute!

This 18,000 euro waterfall stairway was my favorite!

I walked around exploring; I was amazed by the incredible variety of items for sale-just door locks alone-intrigued me. WHY do we have such a boring selection of doors and windows in the US? I loved watching all the people...this show was for the trade as well as end users, so there was a huge crowd there!

Transport Update or...Beginning the Italian Leg of my Trip

Well, on Friday the transport gods were with me! Since the email of the previous day which announced the strike, I did not know how far I would get once on the train to Strausbourg. Marcel had pointed out that I really did not have much time to connect-21 minutes at the most under even “normal” circumstances. But I made the connection from Strausbourg to Basel, Switzerland, with enough time to buy a delicious pumpkin seed “bretzel”. The train actually pulled out for Milano a minute early, and I watched a most distressed woman talk (calmly) with the train employee on the platform about her missing the train. (Yes, I could relate!)

We were late arriving at Milan, but that did not matter to my schedule. All I needed to do there was buy a ticket to get to Alessandria to meet Gloria. Oh, easier said than done!! Huge crowds and long lines blocked the information/ticket booths. I spotted some machines to buy tickets, so I thought, that should be easy enough to figure out! Plus there a guy nearby who helped me at least to know that the machine would not take credit cards. (I could have figured that out!) When I had my ticket in hand, he asked for some change or at least a euro (today equal to $1.33)  for a coffee for his "help"! “Come on,” I said, “I thought you were just being a nice guy!” THEN I remembered the women at the train station at the Rome airport last summer who helped hoist people’s bags onto the train with the expectation of a tip. 

Now where would this train leave from? There was no one in sight to ask, so I asked fellow travelers with no luck. (One man tried to send me towards Torino, but also said I had the “simple” ticket, which was only good on some lines. Had I followed his help, I would have been going in the wrong direction.) Finally I spotted the board which listed the stops, as Alessandria was not showing up on the board. So I found the Asti line which left from Platform 23. I knew this was not right place for my “simple” (I beg your pardon!?”) ticket, but I did not care at this point. It was nearing 6:30, when the train was going to leave. I was really tired by now, and charged ahead to the train. Once on board, several people said stay on; I knew that I would be really delayed trying to find the correct platform. I was supposed to meet Gloria at 8, which was when this train was due to arrive. The train pulled out of the station, and I waited for train conductor to come check tickets….There was a spectacular sunset to watch-I took THAT as a sign, as I also envisioned him screeching at me and making me a “Grey Panther” Amanda Knox! (ALL I could have said was no parlo italiano!) He came; he punched my simple ticket; he proceeded on without a word. WHEW!

An accident delayed Gloria in Milan at the EXPO, so her lovely daughter Valentina and her boyfriend Antonio picked me up at the station and took me to Gloria's flat, where I was so happy to have the end of a long "travel day"!

Wonderful Visit with Renee and Marcel in Metz, France

The TGV sped me to Metz in the Lorraine region of France in less than two hours. The French train system is not known for its reliability, but the TGV was great! Its workers are notorious for striking at the proverbial “drop of a hat”! Smiling Marcel met me at the train station. Marcel Megel was the exchange student in my senior year in high school as part of the Weston-Rombas Affiliation. Thanks to the internet, we reconnected about fifteen years ago. He and his delightful Renee have most graciously hosted me on three previous occasions. (The first time my friend Carol and I went!) I was looking forward to spending three nights at their house and hoped to see their (local) grandchildren as well.
As an aside, I had gone to Stuttgart, as I thought that my mother's family was from there originally. Johannes Hench had emigrated to the United States in the mid 1700's from Stuttgart. Thanks to Susan Bradford's help, I learned that his family had left Metz, France, due to religious persecution! Marcel could find no Henches in the local telephone directory.

Renee welcomed me in their still colorful garden. She was a German teacher and says she does not speak English! But, of course, her English is much better than my French! (Nonetheless we did fine communicating between my pidgin French and my dated dictionary which I will replace when I get home...EXCEPT when I was too tired to understand!) They eat their “big meal” mid-day, which makes so much sense! So she had a delicious roast pork dinner with salad waiting for us. She always served a big bowl of fruit with four cheeses. (Luckily there was a bathroom scale! The damage so far has been negligible.) Renee is a wonderful cook so I always looked forward to enjoying her très delicious cooking!

That afternoon we took a delightful walk along the Moselle. It is called the Chemin des Corporation, which means that in the 1400’s each group of tradesmen-shoemakers, carpenters, etc.-was responsible for a particular section of the walk and wall. (They were ahead of the times of "naming the stadium", as each section did belong to each trades" group!) It was a bit overcast but it never rained.

Wednesday after breakfast of the always wonderful fresh French baguette (Marcel walks every morning to pick it up) and jams, Marcel and I went to nearby Imneville. VERY interesting! This multi-faceted resort serves all ages and interests. The Snow Hall was most unusual, as people can ski there year-round! The temperature is -3° Celsius on this 600 meter ski run. Many of the French ski team practice there, but on this no–school Wednesday, there were few skiers. Most people were in one of the there swimming pools, on the ice rink, or in the casino. They also have a very comprehensive spa and exercise facility. With a doctor’s prescription, you can go to the spa for 10% of its standard cost, as the government reimburses the difference! It was a most amazing place; it all started because springs were found there!

We returned in time for our-of course!-delicious dejeuner of veal and mushrooms in a white sauce with rice, followed by apple tart, fruit and cheeses. In the afternoon we went to a newly renovated château Montbrouck à Manderen, which also had a wonderful exhibit of the works of  German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol, whose work is done in wood. It took ten years for the renovation, and because much of the château was in ruins, they had to follow the rules of the Convention of Venice which detail how that sort of work has to be done. It looked great! Of course, the wonderful “look out” vantage point gave us spectacular views of the entire area.

Shortly thereafter, Marcel pointed out that inside of five minutes we were in three countries-France, Germany, and Luxembourg! We also passed Schenken, where the countries all signed the agreement for the European Union. And then were parked in Luxembourg center. We walked around the square, saw HOW EXPENSIVE everything really is, stopped for a drink, and returned to Metz. There were some wonderful buildings to enjoy, but Marcel, who had not been there for forty years, still said-as he had before-there was not much there! STILL I am glad that I have seen Luxembourg.

Thursday was the day I would see their grandchildren Louise and Charles again-after many years. Louise is now 14; Charles is 12. They came for the steak, potato, broccoli, salad, dinner and then returned to school. Renee and I went to the new Pompidou Metz Museum for a few hours; Marcel needed to take Charles back to school. The museum, which specializes in modern art, featured an exhibit around labyrinths and mazes. It was strange. The only thing I could take away from an exhibit like that is; it is just ASTOUNDING how many different ideas people CAN come up with! One large space featured all the notes which a deaf man had saved over his life? This was in English, so at least I could read it! The third gallery was a new exhibit to open the next day of furniture by two Italian brothers and designers. This was most interesting to both of us. Then Marcel picked us to go to the 76^th annual regional fair, which was similar to what we know as the Home Show, except there were many booths with various wines and foods. It was very interesting to hear the various sales spiels in a fast and furious French! We ate at an Italian restaurant there. Marcel thought it was pretty funny that my last meal in France before I would get to Italy was Italian!
On the way home I had a message from the SNCF, the French train system, which said there was a strike of the conductors, and my train to Strausburg in the morning would not be running! With three connections-tight ones at that-to Milan the next day, getting to Italy the next evening looked most unlikely! However, we got up as planned, and Marcel and I went to the station. HOW lucky he was there! My French would have been sorely tested talking with Christian at the information desk! No one really knew exactly what was happening. Marcel had thought it would be over by mid-day. Then I spotted Strausbourg on the board! It had not been listed before; the 7:48 train was coming through. I got on it easily-although Marcel had to run to get my ticket stamped or “composter” to validate it. Thank you for that! And thank you and Renee for a wonderful visit!

Return to Paris

I was early and eager to get onto the sleeper, the Cassiopeia City Night train from Munich to Paris, to see how this was going to work. I had googled to get some info…"train sleeper etiquette" to be precise. The only info I found was to wear loosely fitting clothes and that it would be “close”. On my bottom bunk #32 there was a folded sheet and blanket, and pillow. I stowed my suitcase and backpack under the bed-oops make that bunk. I heard a baby crying insistently in the distance, but soon that crying was in my compartment! His apologetic parents from Long Island explained that he had been asleep and had just woken up. He did go to sleep quickly! A young couple came in and each took a top bunk on either side. The train pulled out of the station at 10:48; we were due to arrive at Gare d’Est in Paris at 11:15. (It would normally have arrived two hours earlier, but construction on the lines caused a detour.) I tried to sleep….The bunk was very narrow-maybe 30”? I did feel like I was leaning into the center of the compartment, but I never fell out of my bunk! I did finally fall asleep in an on-again off-again sort of sleep! At Stuttgart a man stumbled in to spend the night in the remaining open bunk. At maybe 8, someone came through passing out boxes of (Nesquick) chocolate milk and packaged croissants. There was NO coffee to be found anywhere! We arrived in Paris on schedule, and I bolted to get to my destination, as much to move forward as to get out of the compartment. I’d rate the experience a B-; the Orient Express would have been better, but that was not an option!

Frederique painted this blue cow!

I had directions to take the bus 47 to rue Pascal 87 in the 13^th arrondisment. It was all quite simple. Couch surfer Frederique met me at the door of her charming flat on the 1^st floor. My room with a shower and sink was on the 1^st floor; the WC was just down the hall. She and her friend Bruno were having lunch, and she asked me to join them. I showered, did a wash, and took a nap, as we were going to the Nuit Blanche. This translates as White Night, but means endless night.  http://www.paris.fr/loisirs/les-grands-rendez-vous/nuits-blanches/p6806 about 7PM. This fabulous event has been held every year for the past ten years. Frederique had told me about this when I first emailed her, and that was one of the reasons I opted to stay with her. This year it especially took place around Montmartre and Pigalle. We saw maybe eight different things. One was a short film called "No Man is an Island", a wonderful three minute film, where a variety of men in a bar end up all singing, “Crying”. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJw2HsNR8kE&feature=share

There was group of people dancing all sorts of dances in a square-tango, rock and roll, Big Band. Each group came in and danced around the outdoor space; then the next group came in; etc. Each group was dressed appropriately for the respective dance and wearing head phones listening to the music for their dance. It probably did not last more than ten minutes and was great fun to watch! We stopped to eat in an outdoor bistro (not great food on that street) about 10 and continued on. We were back at her place by 2!!!  It was not unlike First Night in Boston but with much more original and creative pieces and WARMER. The weather was spectacular for an event like that on October 1^st! Frrederique said that there had been nights when she had gotten home at 4!

Sunday morning I slept until 10, when I got up and headed off to take advantage of Paris free first Sunday of the month museum event. First stop was the Orangerie, as I had not been there since my first trip to Paris with Melissa and Peter. The line in the sun looked daunting as well as hot, but it only lasted twenty minutes, so it was worth it. I visited all the Matisse and some of the Modigliani, and moved on. (They also have many of the Renoir “Water Lilies”, but I passed on those as I have seen them in different places, including the MFA. Plus I figured those would be very crowded.

And it was another wonderful day, so I really wanted to be outdoors, so I figured out how to get to the Rodin Museum. Google maps said it would be twenty minutes, but it took me longer. (Tough to go west as the directions say without a compass!)  I had visualized sitting outside enjoying the gardens and statues….They have an outdoor cafeteria, which WAS my first stop. THEN I saw the sign apologizing for the gardens being closed for renovation. (Is there a pattern here? How many things have I tried to see so far that were closed or partially closed?) Anyhow it was not too crowded, and the gardens were not totally closed, so it was really a pleasant stop. Lunch of the traditional ham and cheese baguette was great!

I had never visited the Bois de Boulogne, and again wanting to savor the sunny day in Paris, I headed that way. The Metro was a bit of a challenge, but I did get there eventually. What I didn’t factor in was that I would be “running out of gas”! So I really did not get the true experience there….Back to Frederique’s for a pasta veggie dinner, and I was off to bed to have a full Monday!

Sign in Metro

The 13^th Arrondisement was new to me, and I decided I wanted to enjoy some of its offerings. Practically around the corner is the Gobelins Museum, where textiles were manufactured long ago. I had looked it up online; their website said it would be open at 11. NOT true….Next stop was the Jardin des Plantes, a wonderful space of gardens as well as green houses, museums, etc. A gym class was using the periphery of the gardens for running practice! The Lutece Ruins are just a few blocks away; they were discovered in the 18^th century which Victor Hugo helped to save. Amazing to think of gladiators in this space! Then on to the Contrascape, a square, where Rabelais used to hang out…touristy, but time for lunch too! Last place on the agenda for the day was the architectural museum overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Well, I really liked this museum and would have found it vastly more interesting had I bought the audio! NEXT TIME….Everything was in French. Back to Frederique, where I worked on this blog, before she and I walked over the L’Alouette, a local restaurant, for dinner.  (And after all the times I have sung “Alouette”, I NOW know that this is the French word for lark…)

Next stop, Metz, to spend four days with Renee and Marcel….

And Two Nights in Salzburg....

Well, I went to Salzburg for two reasons; Vienna was very close, and Melissa had raved about her wonderful experiences there on her trip when she graduated from Duke. It was an easy train ride, and there I was in the proverbial “Sound of Music” area, or as my on-again/off-again “friend” Rick Steves calls it SOM!

I arrived in early afternoon to give me time to check into my not plush but most adequate digs, a three minute walk from the train station. These areas can certainly be “dicey”, but Salzburg is only about 150,000 people, so it was not a problem except that it is all torn up in reconstruction. I checked in and made the maybe fifteen minute walk into the city. The tour books suggest that your first stop is the TI or tourist information center, so I headed right over. Salzburg has an excellent pass, but I needed to mull it over for 24 hours to see the value?! (YES! I should have bought it then!) Instead I found myself buying the four hour €37 SOM tour for the next morning. I did and do love the music and the story, so it was a good start, although I had NOT thought I would do that. Later, as I wandered around the old town, bursting with tourists, I found myself heading back towards the hotel. I saw an interesting garden with fountains and lovely plantings. I saw a sign and learned that Mirabell Palace was having a concert at 5. I bought a ticket and saw the (small) Rembrandt etching exhibit as well. (IF I had bought the Salzburg card, I would have already have been ahead of the game!) There were probably not more than 100 seats for this cello/piano concert, but I sat down and listened to them practice beforehand. While I was sitting there, a boy sitting several seats over started talking to me. His name is Helian; he is 15 years old, loves playing the cello, which he started at 5. He told me that his mother is from Taiwan; his English teacher is from Ohio. (I told him about our three years in Chagrin Falls.) Later, as I looked at the program again, I realized that he would be playing. His mother was the cellist on the program. It was a wonderful concert, and I loved the serendipity of me talking with Helian before! I stopped into the beergarden near the hotel for a bowl of pumpkin soup and huge salad accompanied by an Austrian beer. Tasty and very pleasant experience!

Thursday morning the Panorama driver picked me up for the SOM tour, led by Peter in the quintessential Tyrolean attire minus the hat! (I sat next to Carrie from Chicago, who had just run the Munich Marathon with a friend who was across the aisle with her sister. The bus was packed, and this tour is only given in English. There were five stops, and Peter’s excellent talk included much of the “true” background of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had NO PROBLEM doing the tourist thing….Interestingly enough most Austrians do not know the story at all! YES! The hills are still alive....

In the afternoon I took the Unsterberg Cable Car, with spectacular views of the whole area. (I could pretend I was a mountain climber as there were plenty up there.)  I had dinner at another beergarden restaurant (turns out it was also a Best Western hotel!) DELICIOUS goulash dinner! Then I took the funicular up to the Hohensalzburg Fortess for a night view of this lovely city.

Friday morning, I locked my bags at the train station. (Another advantage of my train dilemma was I had a full day in Salzburg instead of leaving early and having no day. Plus I did not have to pay for a hotel in Paris Friday night!) So I visited the two places where Mozart and his family lived and learned more about his life. But it was a beautiful day, so I opted to go visit the Hellbrunn Palace which had been built by the archbishop in the 17^th century as a day retreat from the city. The Baroque gardens feature a variety of water tricks which I thought was great fun! Back in the city I visited the Salzburg Museum before I went to the train station. I was more than early, but ready to move on…. With minutes to spare I was able to get on the Munich train. I thought maybe there would better places to wait….The train was pretty empty, and I got talking with the young man across from me. He lives in Paris and was going to spend some time in Munich before heading home. He works in IT and gets 3 months vacation!!! Guess he has a good job!

I had plenty of time in the Munich station…ate some Chinese food and had a glass of wine. (The bar where I had the wine charges €1 to use the bathroom, if you are not a customer!) Eventually 10:42 arrived, and I was boarding the sleeper to Paris! The customary 9:15 Paris arrival was changed, because there is a lot of construction, so we would have a two hour detour and arrive at 11:15!

Of Trains and Trains....

Wednesday morning I got up to early to finish packing and leave for Salzburg. THAT was when I realized that I could not find my rail pass. I had the reservation slips, but not the actual pass! Momentary panic set in. I had bought insurance, but that would not help until I got home. I HUSTLED over to the Vienna train station, where I had to buy tickets for both Salzburg and Salzburg to Paris. Elke, the most efficient and helpful clerk, told me that there was a six-person compartment sleeper I could take from Munich to Paris for only 13 euro extra! So that is what I bought. I will fill you in on that experience, of course!

Three Nights in Vienna

On September 29 Nancy and I were off to Vienna…I left myself MORE than enough time to catch the train. (Burned once….) There were three tram lines which used the Kavalirka stop; one would be along in 46 minutes-luckily it was not mine!

Once onboard I found out that there was a dining car! I texted Nancy I was going there for lunch, if she wanted to join me. I had a huge chef’s salad and Czech beer. (They are famous for their beers.) The huge windows made the flying by countryside much more visual! My first dining experience since I was eight was NOT disappointing!  It was very relaxing, as I talked across the tables to Todd and his wife and the young family from Atlanta Nancy had met in the train station.

By the time Nancy got my text and came to the dining car, I was half-way through lunch. Melissa from DC joined us, as she was traveling alone on a four month trip in what she described as her second mid-life crisis. It was great fun! 

Eventually I returned to my compartment to join the conversation. In addition to Todd and his wife, there were Julie from Toronto, and a couple about my age from Wayland, MA! How curious to travel to another continent to meet people from the next town! The nearly six hour trip went very quickly!

Sunday night Nancy had tickets to “Don Giovanni” at the famous Vienna Opera House at 6:30. They sell 257 tickets nightly as SRO (standing room only), so I went over with Nancy to see if I could get one of these. The clerk at the first ticket window told me he only had one ticket for €172! Luckily I could buy one SRO ticket for €3.

I am not an opera fan, and I had not even looked on-line to get information about the opera. So I was very delighted at how much I enjoyed it even if I did have to stand for four hours!  There were small screens at each space with the lyrics in German and English. I doubted that I could stand for four hours, but I was very glad that I did. During the intermission, the man from Argentina standing next to me assured that it was a great ending; he was right! Afterwards Nancy (from her loge seat) and I met outside to find a place for dinner. There was an Italian restaurant across the street, where we could eat outside. We were joined shortly by a Canadian couple by way of Croatia, so we got yet another chance to learn about people around the globe. They had moved to Toronto because of the war in Croatia, and Nancy has been to Croatia, so there were-once again-no pauses in the conversation!

Monday I went to the Schonbrunn Palace, which is 8 km from the center of Vienna and was the summer palace of the Franz Joseph and his family. His mother had built it and wanted it to rival Versailles. THIS is the way to learn about history for me! I was especially intrigued by Franz Joseph’s wife Sisi whom he married at 15. While she was his “one true love", she clearly regretted her decision to marry at such a young age! The palace has 400 acres of grounds so there was a lot to see. It even has the world’s oldest zoo! I visited the Carriage Museum with more information about Sisi also. It was a wonderfully warm day, so I even took the Hop On Hop Off locomotive to see more. (South of France, Melissa!)

Afterwards I was considering going to find Beethoven’s home, so I asked a young mother with her daughter Anna and dog Bella sitting in the courtyard if she knew where it was. She didn’t know, but we had an interesting discussion anyhow…She is from Vancouver, and has lived in Vienna for 6 months after 9 years in Scotland. Her mother is visiting from Canada, so she and the other two children were in the Palace. It turns out that Anna has to have surgery (something to do with her spine) every 9 months; her mother said, “She is a very sick little girl.” She was lovely and sweet with a wonderful spirit-wise beyond her 7 years for sure!

That night we had tickets to go to Porgy and Bess, a local jazz club, which had great reviews on-line. A Norwegian group called The Thing was playing….we ate dinner and left. Their “action jazz”-deafening and so far from any traditional jazz-was nothing we could enjoy AT ALL.  We were not the only ones who left, but they did have a local following.

Tuesday morning I went to the Hofburg Palace, which was the “winter” palace near the center of the city. It included the silver and kitchen service (maybe fifteen rooms!), Sisi’s apartment, and the Imperial Apartment. The kitchen display made what is shown in some of the Newport mansions meager by comparison. THEN I was “palaced out”, but it was a lovely day to enjoy Vienna and get ready to move on to Salzburg!