We are an adventurous couple in our 70s who love to travel, meet new folks, take lots of pictures, eat great food, drink delicious wine, and enjoy the outdoors.
We’re back now, back in Montpellier from our excursion to Paris. Four days, what a difference! The trees fronting our terrace that held off the fierce rays of the sun all summer long have few leaves now, and none of them are green.
Ah, but this blog is about Paris, where we’ve just spent four days feting our birthdays, Paula’s this month, mine a few months ago (August). We had no clear idea of what we’d do, but we’ve been to Paris any number of times so that didn’t matter, as there is always something interesting going on!
Window display at a Paris shop selling pétanque balls; the "tree" is made of the small cochonnet balls.
We took the train; it’s 3-1/2 hours from Montpellier to Gare de Lyon. (We’ll note here that there are five train stations in Paris, each serving a different part of the country, so where, exactly, you arrive in Paris depends on where you’re coming from.) Arriving in the rain (yes, it rained!) was not pleasant, but we found the right bus and were soon at our cozy apartment, home for the next few days.
A rainy day: boats in the Bassin de l'Arsenal, where the Canal Saint-Martin meets the Seine.
A Visit to the Cemetery
Our apartment was in a quiet neighborhood, close to the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery; and that was our first stop. A cemetery? Yes! We enjoy wandering along the wooded alleyways, appreciating the finest in 19th-century funerary architecture, and examining the names and dates on the tombs. We missed Edith Piaf (well, her tomb), but I always make it a point to find Oscar Wilde. (I remember visiting it in the early 70s, where my friend from high school and I marveled at the wild stone angel, and the many lipstick kisses that covered it. It has been cleaned, and these days is protected by a high glass barrier. Wilde—or at least his tomb—seems to be very popular with young ladies.)
Scenes in Père-Lachaise
It's very quiet at Père-Lachaise...
The tomb of Oscar Wilde with it's strange angel; now protected from random lipstick kisses by a glass shield.
Inscrutable face of the angel.
Christmas in Paris
This being the start of the Christmas season, we expected the major department stores—Au Printemps, Galleries Lafayette—to have their windows decorated. So that afternoon we headed there to see them.
Au Printemps at night.
The metro exits in front of the Palais Garnier, the classic opera building built in 1804. And as we came up the steps to street level there were some German tourists looking very excited (as well they might! It’s a magnificent building.) But when we turned towards the building itself… scaffolding! Oh dear. Some of the finest sights we’ve gone to see on our travels have been covered in scaffolding. But this was, er, different. The screen covering the construction was painted to look like rock, but open in the middle, suggesting a… cave?
Opéra Garnier on a sunny day (not when we were there!) (From Wikipedia)
Opéra Garnier with scaffolding.
It was only later that we found what this was about, thanks to a blog posting by Chris O’Brian, an American journalist living in France. It was a stage setting for a dance routine ("Chiroptéra") that, apparently, was done only once. For the full, interesting story, including a video of the routine, here’s a link to Chris’ blog:
As for the store windows… well, they weren’t ready, the big unveiling would be at 6PM. So we took the many escalators to the roof of Galleries Lafayette for the fine views of the city. Along the way we enjoyed the wonderful decorations of the huge interior space under the Galleries Lafayette dome.
The magnificent tree under the dome at Galleries Lafayette.
The tree-topping angel.
The, er, nut cracker?
A... flower?
Sound and Lights at the Atelier des Lumières
Some years ago we visited a truly remarkable light show experience at an abandoned quarry a few hours from Montpellier, the Carrières de Lumières near the historic town of Les Baux. (Read about that trip here Carrières de Lumières at Les Baux.)
Huge interior space at the Atelier des Lumières, a former foundry in Paris.
Thanks to its success, other such shows have opened, including in… yes. Paris: the Atelier des Lumières. Which happened to be just a few blocks from our lodgings. There were two shows; we opted for a morning with Chagall.
Title page for the show.
Yeah. That's a real guy sitting on a cable spool; the show is projected on the wall behind him.
You've gotta show the Tower if you are in Paris!
We can’t say we really know more about Chagall now than we did before, but we sure did like being immersed in the lights and colors of his works! Our preference remains the much vaster space at the quarry near Les Baux, but the show in Paris was well worthwhile.
For a more dynamic view of the show, check this brief video sampler:
Classic Paris: Concert in a Church
L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine on a normal sunny day. (Again, from Wikipedia)
La Madeleine as we saw it, at night in the rain (and from the back... at least, no scaffolding on this side!)
To celebrate the Christmas season we wanted to attend a concert in a church, of which there are a great many in Paris. We were particularly drawn to revisit L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (or simply La Madeleine). From the exterior it resembles a Greek temple, with 52 massive columns, each 66 feet high, surrounding the building. This night, though, it was dark and rainy, and the front was covered in… yes, scaffolding. But the concert was wonderful, five women violinists and a cellist playing Vivaldi’s "The Four Seasons." The acoustics in these huge stone churches is fantastic, and we really appreciated the event.
Interior of La Madeleine, ready for the concert.
The altar, and the musicians.
And Finally, a Church on a Hill
A distant shot of Montmartre and Sacré Cœur from the roof of Galleries Lafayette.
From the roof of Galleries Lafayette we had caught a glimpse of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, the huge white cathedral topping the hill of Montmartre. It had been a good long while since we’d been there, and that became the goal of our final outing.
It was stunning...!
...as were the crowds!
It was stunning to come around the corner and see the basilica, huge and white and gleaming in the sunlight. It was also stunning to encounter all the tourists! The neighborhood around our apartment is pretty low key; most of the people we saw were locals going about their business. We hadn’t visited any of the usual tourist locales, and, after all, it was November, cold and rainy.
The wet but still crowded Place du Tertre, behind Sacré Cœur.
And if there's crowds, there's artists selling their work!
The domes of Sacré Cœur seen from the Place de Tertre.
But Montmartre seems to be a draw all year round. We wandered through the crowds on Montmartre, reminiscing of our last visit when we’d run into an excellent pizza restaurant (it was a great find then, as we were hungry and everything seemed to be closed!). Was it still there? Could we find it again?
Wandering through Montmartre.
And it's still there!
Yes it was, and thanks to Paula’s excellent memory and unerring sense of direction, yes we could. And, just as we paused to congratulate ourselves on having found it, the sun vanished and raindrops began to fall, instantly answering the question if we should eat there or not. No sooner where we settled at a table inside than the rain began in earnest, and the few people outside popped out umbrellas and hurried for shelter.
So very glad we were sitting inside!
We were very pleased to… well, first, to be out of the rain! But also to have found this same restaurant, so many years later. Talking to the server I learned that while the place had a new owner, the head cook had been apprenticing under the former chef. As our waiter put it, it’s all the same food!
And...same place, same food, different name: December of 2015.
Our final view of Sacré Cœur.
Our train back to Montpellier left the next afternoon; the day dawned overcast and wet. I braced the elements and brought back croissants and pain au chocolat (by now we’d found the best boulangerie in the neighborhood), made some coffee, and spent the morning reminiscing about the last few days
The bus ride back to the Gare du Lyon train station was now familiar and simpler. Being a bit early we snuggled into the café at the station for a coffee (bad, overpriced coffee! But the seats were comfortable...).
Before long, though, we were settled on the train and speeding through the overcast but still very pleasant French countryside. And I do mean “speeding:” for long stretches we were moving at 300 km/hr (185 MPH!). Our trip was a bit over three hours; it takes a good seven hours in a car!
And after a quick walk, we were settled back home in our apartment in Montpellier.
Up next: our daughter Nina is visiting us later this month; we are very excited to welcome here here!And after that we will be flying to Sevilla for our usual end-of-the- year stay.
It’s autumn again in Montpellier. The weather is decidedly cooler, the colors are changing; leaves are falling. We enjoy the changes here; it seems California has just one climate all the time! (Not a complaint, mind you, but we do find we enjoy the seasonal differences!).
Anyway, we’re glad to get away from the hot humid summer days… although we’re not keen on the cold weather! We have had some gloriously sunny, dry days, though. That’s truly a joy!
Droning on...
On one such day recently I went out with a friend, John, to practice with his drone. He is getting into vlogging—video blogging—and these days views from on high are essential for any real video blog.
Because drones are carefully regulated here in France, John had to have his drone licensed, and get himself certified, before he could legally fly it. And that means, no flying over houses! For our practice session we rode the tram out of town towards the beach, then walked to an isolated spot along a canal.
The Étang de Pérols, near where we were droning.
This part of the Mediterranean coast is low lying, sandy with lagoons separated from the Sea by long sandbars. These lagoons, called étang here, look like long, narrow lakes. Some are deep and support considerable aquaculture, notably oyster and mussel farming; others are quite shallow and support pink flamingos (real ones, not the plastic kind!). The canal we visited was on the edge of a shallow étang. The canal itself, the Canal du Rhône á Sète, connects the Canal du Midi that runs through the southeast of France to the Rhone River, and thence to the canal networks to the north. Here, though, it's just a narrow tranquil waterway.
John making pre-flight checks.
Our goal for the day was to gain experience in using the drone to make the kinds of shots John was interested in. He'd brought a list of 10 different exercises—following, circling, and so forth—for us to work on.
The drone on its landing pad, ready for flight.
While it was fun playing with the drone, I was really struck by the location. I had passed by this area many times, but had never stopped to look around. It was a glorious day, clear and bright, and the views of Montpellier, and Pic Saint-Loup, on the horizon were great. But I'd never paid much attention to the area itself; the terrain, the waterways, the landscape. Seeing it from the air was really magnificent!
It's a bird! It's a plane! No it isn't...
I enjoyed our foray, but kept thinking of that canal. And a boat... a boat on the canal, heading to the town of Aigues-Mortes; and maybe on the Rhône River. And flying the drone off the stern, giving us a great view of our slow progress through that flat but oh-so-interesting countryside.
Back in the city…
A few days later Paula and I were out walking through Montpellier and passed through the Promenade de Peyrou, a park located on the highest spot in Montpellier and site of the water temple, the terminus of the aqueduct built in 1765 to supply water to the growing city.
The magnificent Chateau d'Eau, the water castle (or water temple ,as we call it); end of the aqueduct bringing water to Montpellier.
Looking out from the chateau d'eau to the rest of Peyrou on a quiet, sunny fall day.
It was a Saturday, and people were out and strolling about or relaxing. We've been there many times, yet always enjoy the scene, and the view of the city and the Arc de Triomphe, the entry to the city put in place more than a half-century before the aqueduct.
Up next
This is our fifth autumn in Montpellier, and we are still thrilled to be here. And, as Paula's birthday approaches, we realize that this is our seventy-fifth autumn on planet Earth. Seventy-five!
To celebrate our 75 years—it's Paula's birthday, but mine, too, really (August)—we're going to Paris.
We have just arrived, and while we haven't done much yet, there are certainly no end of interesting things to do in Paris.
The territory: the island of Sardinia showing our route and stops. Area to the left of the orange line was our first week (previous blog); area to the right of the line was our second week (this blog). And to the north is the French island of Corsica.
This
is the second week of our two-week trip to Sardinia. For the first
part, look here.
After
the
Chiesa di Santa Sabina (we talked about that in the last blog)
our next adventure was driving through the town of Orosei to our
lodging—it gave us a chance to practice our precision driving. We
crept through a very narrow street, pulling the mirrors in just in
case. Meanwhile our host blasted on ahead of us in his much larger
car. But we made it unscathed!
Orosei
Another
pleasant but not extraordinary town. For us the best part was the
view from our vast terrace, directly above the town church. We
caught a glimpse of the sea to the east, and the distant hills south
of us. Very satisfying!
View from our vast terrace. The back of the church façade is on he right.
And, the front of the church, at night.
North
of town we found some wonderful beaches with lucid, aqua water.
Although, as it turned out, we did little beach lounging on this
trip: too much to see and explore!
Paul finds alien life forms.
We are very happy at this beach on Baia Lu Impostu (Lu Impostu Bay)
Palau
After
a few days of exploring this part of the north-east coast we moved
further north to the sweet port
town of Palau. It’s claim to fame, in addition to more wonderful
beaches, is the island archipelago just to the north. The major
island of La Maddalena is only a couple of miles away, so one morning
we took the quick ferry trip over.
From on-board the ferry in Palau looking across to the island of La Maddalena.
We
asked among the information booths along the waterfront and found
that while there were several companies giving boat tours, the routes
and times were all essentially the same: leave at 10AM, visit several
beaches, have lunch, visit some coves, then return around 4PM.
We
weren’t up for an all-day trip; we
strolled around the town (also called La Maddalena) for a bit,
located the tourist office, and found that the there was a bus that
took visitors to the national park on the neighboring island of Caprera.
The remains of a long-abandoned dockside crane on Caprera.
We found this concrete map of Italy! That's Sicily at the lower left; Sardinia & Corsica are mid-left.
Even here on remote Caprera, a bicycle as object d'art.
We
rode the bus across the island and eventually across the narrow
bridge to Caprera, drove through a thin forest, and
eventually emerged at a deserted dock. After wandering around for a
bit—we didn’t want to miss the bus which came only every 90
minutes—we gladly re-boarded the bus and were back in the city just
in time for lunch, and another fantastic sea food meal.
Debra and Paul with their stern buddy Giuseppe Garibaldi back on La Maddalena. An unidentified bystander looks on.
Once more on the ferry we take our leave of La Maddalena.
By
now the afternoon was well under way; we took the ferry back to Palau
and considered it a good day. There is much to explore among the many
islands and beaches, but spending all day on a boat to visit the
“most liked” sites did not really appeal to us. Perhaps on a
future trip we will find a better way to explore this stunning groups
of islands, islets, and inlets.
We
heard about some natural rock sculptures in the hills around Palau
and one day went looking for them. Well, it. Roccia
dell’Orso—Bear
Rock, to be precise.
The ideal: digital art by Marco Arduino. (Inspired by real life.) (https://pixels.com/art/roccia+dell+orso)
The real: Telephoto from a half-mile away.
Turns
out it’s a bear from a distance, but close up… it’s a rock! It
was a good, short, steep hike up, with fabulous views. The powerful
wind at the top was like to carry us off; there was a lot of nervous
giggling from some of our fellow climbers. We managed to stay
earth-bound, but up close the rock was not particularly bear-like.
Paul under the "bear."
OK, no bears but truly fabulous views!
Our
few days in Palau—and exploring the marvelous beaches and bays
around it—came to an end, and we moved on to our next lodging in
Stintino.
The town of Castelsaro topped by the Cattedrale di Sant'Antonio Abato.
The
Wedding Kurfluffel
Driving
along the north coast we stopped at the town of Castelsardo (the name
may derive from something like Castle of Sardinia). The lower city
was fine, but what we really wanted to do was see the view from the
Cattedrale
di Sant'Antonio Abato, perched
above the town. There was a road, so we drove. There was also a
wedding, so we did not enter the cathedral, and didn’t really stay
long. We did get some great views out over the water, and were
thrilled to see the French island of Corsica off in the distant
distance.
Great view of the Sardinia coast with Corsica in the distance. But see that crowded road on the right...?
What
we didn’t see was a way to get out. The road we came in on was a
dead end, narrow, and jammed with cars for the wedding. It was
impossible to turn around.
We
carefully drove forward, ever deeper into the mess. We finally
were able to turn
around… and faced a long line of cars eager to get to the church
and park.
Nobody
was going to back up; after all, this is Italy, where nothing comes
between a man and his macchina
(motor car).
After
several minutes of us facing off with the on-coming BMW and waving
for him to back up, only to have him wave for us to back up, Paula
decided to set things to right.
And
she did!
It
took a few minutes, but eventually cars backed up; cars found room to
turn around. The path cleared, and we moved
resolutely on
until we were well out of town.
Our arrival at the Basilica, stark against the sky.
The
Striped Church
Once
clear of that mess we turned south to visit a rather extraordinary
church, the Basilica
della Santissima Trinità di Saccargia
(Basilica of the Holy Trinity of Saccargia). Opened in 1160, expanded
over the years, it was abandoned in the 16th
century to be reopened some 400 years later.
Close up of that fabulous façade.
We
found the black and white stripes, and the tall bell tower, highly
reminiscent of the cathedral
in Siena,
although this church is considerably simpler (and built 100 years
earlier!).
Inside the church.
Close up of that great front porch!
Detail of one of the columns.
When
we arrived there was a drummer in front making a music video, and we
were not allowed near. Fortunately, he took a break after a while and
we had full access. Just as we were leaving he started up again. It
was a weird juxtaposition: a modern drum set, this small elegant
church, the stark, isolated setting.
An amazing surprise in this isolated loacation.
Stintino
Our
final lodging on this trip, and in some ways the absolute best. The
weather was not humid but sill warm, the sky was blue, and the view
was several shades of awesome!
View from our hotel terrace near Stintino.
Our
small hotel was on a hillside well above the bay. Boats came into the
expanse of the bay and anchored for the night; to our left was one of
the most famous beaches on Sardinia. We just sat on our terrace,
mesmerized by the scene.
The
Beach, finally!
On
our last day we finally got to Spiaggia
della Pelosetta,
Pelosetta Beach, considered one of Sardinia's finest. Beaches in
Europe tend to be far more commercialized than those in the US (the
wild New World). Large areas of a beach are
given
over to a concessionaire with
mats and loungers
and umbrellas for
rent.
In fact, renting
is required
if you want to be on that part of the beach. This is quite strange
to us United Staters, so we always opt for the free-range part of the
beach.
Our first view of Pelosetta beach: umbrellas for hire. Ouch!
But
at Pelosetta we still had to pay. This beach is normally so crowded
that an on-line reservation is required; when we arrived we were
issued a wrist band that was checked before we could descend the
stairs to the sand.
Fortunately,
this late in the season (mid-September) and this late in the day
(after 4PM) the crowds were thinning, and we had no trouble finding a
place for our mats, our towels, and, of course, our umbrella.
(Interestingly enough, a straw mat was required at this beach,
something we hadn’t seen elsewhere. At one point I saw some “beach
monitors” come by and talk to one woman who had laid her towel
directly on the sand. She got up and left; I don’t know what the
point is, but they do seem serious abut it!)
Then,
into the water. OMG, magical! Warm, clear, aqua. Nothing to do but
float, or admire the view of the nearby islands, and the boats
anchored in the bay.
It was so wonderful that we even considered squeezing in a dip the next morning before driving on to Porto Torres.
Ah, the water is SOOO nice!!
At
breakfast the next morning, as we discussed packing and leaving, the
beach was far from our minds. But we were to find another, even
better, that afternoon!
Porto
Torres
The ferry port, and our ride home (and that would be the big black and yellow ship in the background!)
Check-out time was 10AM; we
drove off with sad farewells to the
fabulous view and turned our wheels
towards Porto Torres and our
rendezvous with the ferry at 8PM.
We still had a lot of time, so we headed
to the center of town and the Basilica di San Gavino, built in the
11th
Century by craftsmen from Pisa. It was very long and narrow, and had an
interesting story.
Basilica di San Gavino, seen end on.
The front entrance of the long and narrow church.
It was built to honor two 4th Century Christians, Protus and Januarius, who refused to renounce their faith. The Romans weren't happy, and confined them to await execution the next day. During the night, though, the two converted their guard, Gavanus (for whom the basilica is named), and he let them go. The next day Gavanus offered himself for execution in the place of Protus and Januarius. The Romans accepted his offer, sort of, but then caught the other two and beheaded all three a short ways out of town.
A small church marks the spot of the beheading. All three were later canonized and the basilica built to honor them.
Interior of the basilica. Long and narrow; an exercise in perspective!
The unpretentions Chiesa di San Gavino a Mare overlooking the sea.
Well, that seemed to indicate our next
move: we drove out to the small church. And what a find that was! The
little white-washed chapel was very picturesque on its outcropping
over the sea. Even better, it overlooked a very fine public beach.
And when we saw that there was a fresh-water shower available, the
rest of our day was decided!
The public beach right across the cove from the church.
After a few hours of laying on the warm
sand and floating in the pristine clear water—as magical as the day
before—it was time for our late lunch. We rinsed thoroughly and
returned to our car/changing room, then drove off in search of a
restaurant.
Monday, the traditional day off for
restaurants, is a bad day to find lunch in a strange city. But we did
eventually find a good pizza, then drove
to the ferry port. As more cars and
RVS began to congregate, the parking lot resembled
the church we’d visited a few days before; typical Italian chaos.
But we knew it would end; eventually the ferry people would come and
straighten it out.
Which they did, and soon we were all
driving through the enormous doors of the ship.
Ready to depart!
Porto Torres, seen from the deck of the ferry as we leave the dock.
We’d booked cabins for this overnight
passage. They were nothing fancy but the beds were good and we slept
well. Up early the next day, we caught the sunrise and noted that
others didn't have cabins, but found clever ways to pass the night…
An inflatable bed in the dining hall? Worked for this person!
A seafaring solution! Hammocks on the weather deck (outside, that is).
We had breakfast and made our way to our
car, at the very lowest level of the ship. We were early in line for the departure; how
come we were among the last to get off? But get off we did, and were
back home in Montpellier in time for lunch.
We had set out for Sardinia not sure what we'd find. We came back very pleased with our trip!
We've settled back into Montpellier, where fall is definitely progressing. Still lots of leaves on the trees, but more and more are ending up in the streets. We're enjoying daily life here, and making plans for a November trip to Paris and our end-of-year migration to Seville. And something about Norway in March...
A 7AM sunrise; on the horizon are islands off the coast of Toulon.
