Tomorrow we take off for Puglia – the heel of the Italian boot. Mary, Beth and I are adventuring to parts of Italy hitherto not explored!! This will include Sicily, long on my list. We’ll be enjoying good wine, Mediterranean cuisine and dawdling in the small cities of Italy’s countryside – with a large dose of laughter and bonhomie. We leave at o’dark hundred to be early for our plane and meet Mary. So I’d better try to close my eyes. Buona notte!

Random observations and ponderings::)

Covid negative at trips end and

still at 14 days!! I masked in museums and public transportation and such and the weather allowed mostly outdoor dining (my preference anyway!)

Read JOAN by Katherine Chen – the newly published take on the Joan of Arc storyline. And For the Sake of the Game – stories inspired by the Sherlock Holmes canon.

I really had no interest in the Champs-Elysees – eschewed it entirely.

Mary noticed that the homeless we saw didn’t have shopping carts – a function of the smaller neighborhood markets and frequent shopping the French do. Sadly, everywhere we went there were many houseless individuals. It’s a worldwide problem that seems destined never to be “solved”. It does seem worse there, just like here. Another contribution Covid has made to the world.

Mary suffered through a cold during our post-Gene days. Guess the thing to focus on is it was only a cold.

My passport is good to 2026. I’ve got some traveling to do – the Covid travel drought needs to be over. Fingers crossed.

Need to get more serious again about traveling light. My lack of packing practice showed. Sadly there are additional things to bring along now – doubt I’ll ever travel without masks again. And then there’s the growing rx supply, toe supplies for walking and such.

Driving for the first time after a month away was a trip in itself! Not bad really, but I knew to pay special attention.

Coming home to my “birthday shrine” was fun. Taking it down I was reminded of the people in my life – I’m lucky.

And at the same time I noted that coming home felt a little lonely. Mom, Vicki, Gaia. The house is empty without even a kitty. I plan to make a winter adoption of a cat that needs a home.

When I say that it rhymes. Not so much when the French do!

Back to Paris for the final few days of Together In France, though Gene is enjoying the trip through Mary’s eyes now. We used Eurostar through the chunnel which turned out great, though there was no perceptible or lengthy period of under ocean travel. Really kinda mundane for such an engineering feat. Our experience was much enhanced by Mary’s approach to agent Stephane upon arrival to St Pancreas Station. We were early, quite early, to be cautious about possible National Rail strike influence and observe the recommended arrival time. When Mary showed Stephane our ticket he quickly took us to Priority Class, booked us on an earlier flight and moved us to that security line. We were golden!!

We seem to have a knack for arriving to destinations in rain. But it didn’t last long. Our trip in from the train station was delayed by a peaceful protest of Muslim nations in the center of Paris in support of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman recently in the news, believed beaten she died while in police custody – arrested by the morality police for failure to wear her hijab. A sobering reminder of the freedoms I have (hope to keep) and threats to women everywhere.

Checked in and a bit disappointed in our Rick Steve’s $$$ hotel recommendation again (more in a post script later on this). But the Marias neighborhood has things to recommend it, Place Des Vosges for one. Had a outdoor cafe drink here and returned to Cafe Hugo for a nice dinner. We’re back in Paris!

Paris Sans Gene! 10/3-10/6

Really does feel and look like fall our first day here. Got ourselves to the Louvre and gave up, but persevered in our museum quest with the jewel that is L’Orangerie. We weren’t exactly early arrivals to the Tuileries or the Musee du Louvre grounds and palais, but there was still a fog that hid the Eiffel Tower from us until well after noon.

Having expended as much energy as we had, we walked back to the hotel and a nap overcame me!! Did wake in time to eat once again …… no surprise. Walked to Ile St Louis, one of two islands in the Seine near us.

We had a delightful time at dinner – lovely food and a most personable gay waiter who exclaimed “Let’s go” each time we made another decision about our meal! It was gourmet dining and beautiful food even in the “no reservation” section of the restaurant. 🍷🍷

We woke to the sun again!

Even the City of Lights looks better with sun and blue skies. Our day was steeped in beautiful art at Musee D’Orsay. As Mary appreciated the Impressionists, I went to the newly arrived Edvard Munch show since I’d already been on our arrival to France.

Our stroll involved a search for the ice cream famous on St. Louis – took us some time (and a 20+ min sit down waiting for ice cream at the wrong place that didn’t arrive – it was “too hard”????) but we did eventually find the most excellent Berthillon’s and thoroughly enjoyed our cones on the walk.

And then either a nap or some downtime depending on which one of us you are!

Really our last day in Paris.

The weather gods took pity on us and the overcast sky turned to a gorgeous blue while we were in the Louvre. From dark to sunny we could see the Eiffel Tower today.

We visited our favorites, but I believe the crowds or our “end of trip weary bodies” meant this wasn’t the top experience of our travels in Europe this time round.

I left satisfied, but with the thought that cell phones haven’t been good for art experiences. We watched one man simply walk the length of a huge exhibit area with his iPhone taking video without ever pausing. Art monetized by tourism is discouraging. Perhaps just symptomatic of hoards of travelers unleashed by the subdued Covid pandemic.

We had a nice, rather refined white tablecloth lunch and drinks just next to the Louvre. We’re winding down.

We picked up the few things we’re willing to bring back in our luggage on the way to the hotel. For me that meant chocolates mostly.

Our last evening in Paris found us back at the convivial Place des Vosges for a simple outdoor meal near our hotel. We kept meaning to make it to a jazz supper club, but somehow never found the excitement or energy to make it happen. Tonight we didn’t manage to get a table where the trendy, younger Parisians were settled as we’d set out to do. I might’ve felt old there anyway! But we walked about the Marais Arrondissement (neighborhood), saw the Jewish District and found we would leave without seeing all the quaint, high end shops and streets. There is always something to make you think you can come back and find new adventures to engage or simply settle into being a make believe local.

Had creme brulee and glace desserts, were chatted up by some men at a nearby table, waited out the surprise rain and went back to the hotel to pack.

Our earlier airline changed itinerary causes us to leave at a god awful time in the morning. But we survive and live for another trip!!!!

PDX

After a long flight, Gene’s limosine service was a dream! Nice to see him, chat briefly, watch Mary check her fish and garden and I left with tomatoes and basil. The aroma filled their backyard sanctuary as she picked it!

Home to fall crocuses, sunny warm weather, wooly caterpillars on my walks and the furor of mid-term campaigns!

Together in France was a Covid delayed promise fulfilled. To live through the pandemic to begin to explore the joys of life again and travel while Covid tenaciously stays with us is a small wonder. Part science, part humanity. That Gene joined us was special – international travel isn’t really his thing. I hope he enjoys the memories he is part of. I’m fortunate to have friends who will travel with me. I think the “Lucy’s” will travel again:)

I’m ready to plan my next trip . . . . . destination unknown! 70’s not so bad.

Courtesy of what I assume was diminishing bandwidth as the week extended into more guests at our hotel, this will be a mash up of memories and adventures.

CULTURAL EXPERIENCES

I’ve already shown you some of the iconic highlights and architectural sights in Central London we quickly amassed upon arrival. Couldn’t see them all even in the six days we were in London, but enough to satisfy Mary and I. You just have to plan to come back if you miss something important to you. This is my fourth visit to London and there are still places and experiences I wish to have one day.

The best of our entertainment choices was the West End production of Hamilton at the Victoria Palace. The glamour of the old gilded theatres can’t be denied! Mary loved the play – inspirational dancing, educational and creative are ways she described it! A redux for me, I am struck again with the strength of the lyrics against the various musical genres, the beauty of some of the music (Unimaginable) and the energy of it as a whole.

To that we added a play we picked up at TKTS called Eureka Day at the Old Vic, a work that used a mumps outbreak in a private school as a proxy for the current Covid vaccine cultural wars. Helen Hunt was the lead. The production used display of texting conversations on the background set during a Zoom meeting to great effect ala Dear Evan Hansen style (hilarious, but conveyed opinions, misinformation and science bias very deftly). The Old Vic, a traditional cultural icon, is near The Vaults I’d visited with Brian and Scott last time around – an alternative artistic space (think Banksy style graffiti artists with social justice and charitable endeavor overtones, a creative space, bars etc under Waterloo Station). We had a nice small plates tapa and wine experience in the neighborhood at a spot called Unwind.

We appreciated the National Gallery – despite the fact that we initially chose it just to get out of the rain one day. And Westminster Abbey always fascinates me. It’s the biggest cathedral we’ll see this trip as Notre Dame is still deep into restoration because of the fire some years ago. This church mingles the spiritual heart of a faith with secular heroes and martyrs. And is full of history! I appreciate the Poets Corner greatly in that vein. Because the Abbey is the setting for Royal weddings, coronations and burials it felt particularly relevant since Queen Elizabeth’s death just weeks ago. Even so, the concept of monarchy is a bit difficult for me. We enjoyed the Queens Diamond Jubilee Gallery, especially the overhead view of the Nave, despite the circular stairway climb (we took the elevator back down – ha!). It was a worthwhile extra there.

Though the walk from St Paul’s to the Tate Modern over the Millennial Bridge is great with views to Tower Bridge and into the Southwark area, the Tate I’ve been so enamored of escaped us this trip. With rain, renovations that currently close the 10th floor cafe view and one thwarted attempt to gain an evening entry – it was discouraging. And when finally there, the current exhibitions were dark and very challenging in tone. The artist exhibitions were deep into social justice commentary. Cezanne opened after our departure.

We tried to see the Tate one evening (guide books and at least one web site said we could) and ended up in a rainy walking tour of the area before we gave up. It was rainy enough it broke Mary’s 6 pound (as in currently) umbrella. What we’d hoped to see included a Cartier designed choral stage for community choirs (below). We’ve no idea if they performed or not!

NEIGHBORHOODS AND MARKETS

Our first exploration was to the West End beginning with Covent Garden. But we got off the Tube to quite a bit of rain! Had to wait it out with lunch, which wasn’t too bad.

Buskers like those above actually audition for their license to perform in London – even for the Tube. Additionally, I noted they accept contactless credit card tips for their performance.

Mary got us to the the Docklands and Greenwich Market – both so different from where we were staying. And you can see that though we expected an entirely rainy week we got lots of sunny, dry days!! High end modern apartments, financial district and a lovely little park all settled on the recovered docks from the old harbor and warehouse district. We even figured out the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) to get there!!

Barbican – An area I’m not sure I’d even heard of before! And it held some mysteries we didn’t explore, but we were invited there to have lunch with my friend Kaly Soto. Briefly saw her third floor flat and had lunch nearby before that rain that caught us on the way to the Tate set in. She has a lovely little Italian place in her immediate neighborhood (Vecchio Parioli) that provided a chance to chat and catch up with her (she now edits the NYT foreign desk since her arrival from NY just before the world hit Covid shutdown and with prescient aplomb suggested the new PM/Liz Truss would be “run out of town on a rail”). She seems every bit herself still. I enjoyed seeing her. Kaly has always been generous to me since I met her through Vicki.

Kaly encouraged us to walk into the Barbican and we briefly took a peek until the weather was asserting itself. We’d never have guessed there was luxury apartments, shops and galleries inside a nondescript concrete exterior. There was also the Museum of London there, all built on the site of Londonium (also known as Roman London it was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule AD 47–50). Another spot to think about for future. But the best part of this day was the warm hug from Kaly!!

Portobello Market – The venerable, sprawling street market within a mile of our hotel was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. It’s a wildly varying bunch of stalls and shops that provide everything from veg stand to chip cart, antique (?) silver to vintage posters to simple souvenirs. A little wild, but a nice walk after a lovely local breakfast!! Again we walked away without a purchase – guess the “experiences over things” preference is real.

I spent most afternoons walking one way or another and often in our nearby parks – Kensington and Hyde. Here are photos over days – I loved this part of my stay in London!!!!

Turn Left– My first neighborhood walk deeper into our Bayswater surrounds left me feeling the neighborhood had somehow changed since my last visit. It felt familiar, but different – not very welcoming. Some construction and a little less comfortable in spots. Maybe just struggling like all cities in the “since Covid” times. But one evening we “turned left” and found the wonderful part of Bayswater that turns eventually into Notting Hill. One of our best meals at Grainger and Company seated next to a fun couple! There were lovely shops and restaurants within blocks of our place!!! Since then we find turning left pays off.

A travel day for us all, but not to the same destinations.

Gene is heading to Paris for the night before flying home. I hope he enjoyed the travels in France as much as I enjoyed having him as a travel partner (not only for his wine selections!!).

We shared a lot of gorgeous views, walks, gourmand food and special time together. We are even able to say we bicycled two portions of the Tour De France near St Emilion!

Au revoir and bon voyage, Gene!

Mary and I continue on to London. She’s never been and I’m happy to return. Travel goes easily and we left our hotel quickly to get near the iconic sights and begin to explore a little. It’s overcast on and off, we emerged from the tube to rain as we located our hotel. We’re expecting rain over several of our UK days.

Successfully maneuvered through the trains and underground today, we’re proud Oyster Card holders (I even had mine from my last visit and topped it off!). We’re well located in London, but not enjoying the luxury of our previous accommodations in France. It’s Rick Steves funky and still spendy here in London!

THE QUAI DES CHARTRONS MARKET IN BORDEAUX

Europeans know how to do open air markets! And pain!! All I could do not to buy loaf upon loaf.

The market was probably half a mile long quayside on their riverfront esplanade. And it was a truly glorious day! We people watched, walked to the parliament building area, found an open air lunch and ambled back to our neighborhood.

I spent some hours reading at the park just by our hotel near a small museum and botanical garden. Shared a bench with a friendly local man who seemed to know all the young families. Not an empty bench to be found. The park was packed and showed no sign of emptying by nearly 6pm when I left.

Gene and Mary found a lovely local Italian restaurant for dinner, Peppone. Great pasta and pizza for a change of pace.

Nice day!!

Later off the mark today and simply in ride recovery mode – we earned it! Didn’t rain on us after all and we explored our local scene. Nice day!

This was next to a childrens marionette stage.

Mary and I snuck a tasting in at the Cite du Vin ( one up on Gene?). After lunch we headed by tram to the Cite du Vin. We’re on the eighth floor exterior tasting balcony

We were a small, age diverse group of eight cycling oenophiles. A couple of New Zealanders who currently live in London (young man works at BBC), an “engaged on this trip” couple from Oklahoma, a well traveled Canadian retired tech businessman and academic and the three of us! Led by Tim, who lives in St Emilion with his wife and three sons where our cycling begins. He has two business partners we encountered and an office in Bordeaux as well.

Tim is also a 🥝 (New Zealander and I believe Māori) who played professional rugby for 12 years, much of it in London. So, a genial and interesting group.

We had pedal assist electric bikes (thank God). Took me a while to adapt – I’ve only riden Marys once last summer and then the late August day trip on the Columbia Gorge last year. And I may say the cobblestone in town gave me some moments!! But we made the entire trip safely – even with our generous tastings.

This was our first stop. The weather stayed overcast which was perfect for biking.

And we’re off again! This time to a small family owned winery. Chateau Grouprie.

Back into Saint Emilion and a tasting at Rustic Vines. They also operate a wine club.

We turned in our bikes at just before 4pm. Quite a day of cycling! And just to be sure I wasn’t feeling too self assured on my two wheeled steed, the last 50 ft of the ride has a hard, steep right on cobblestone – required my foot brake to be applied! But we all came out unscathed thanks to the wine gods!

Gene requested walking be a feature of our trip and there is a trail next to the river that will take us to Domme. Domme sits atop a hill some 3 miles away from our base in La Roque.

The gate to the city was a welcome site! On our way up the quiet neighborhood we encountered a woman cleaning her balcony who indicated through pantomime we’d be earning our drink at the top! She said “heavee” with a smile and a cup in her hand which we took to mean the walk would be hard or the drink should be large!! Her assessment wasn’t far off – we used the benches now and again on the way up (not needed coming down:)

The meal was again stellar! And we were hungry after the hike! This is the region of foie gras – and I appreciated a starter of the dish poached in rouge wine before my maigre cuit a la plancha (a lovely piece of local fish) and another lovely confection of a dessert. Ouila!

So 8.49 miles and an upward climb of 558 feet that felt like more, but was rewarding for the views, the stillness of the walk at times by the river with the kayaks, canoes, paddle boards and tour bateau’s. A satisfying way to spend our day which earned us ……..

Bon nuit.

Change in seasons, change in cities. Off to Bordeaux- the wine destination of Genes interest! Our travel goes well and we find ourselves staying within easy walking distance of the main place (plaza) where I’m sitting in a tranquil courtyard with water feature.

Fine beginning to Bordeaux!