HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN JIGGITY JIG

Ahhhhhh.......the joy of good internet.  Europe needs lessons...truly they do.  It is wonderful to be home.  And as the first hours pass, the better moments in my memory float to the top.  What a fantastic time we had.  Looking back though I just don't know how we packed so much into two short weeks.  We covered seven countries.  And April drove it all, at an average speed of 140 to 160 klicks.  Crazy!! She says she loved it though!

Monte came down from Port and came out to the airport with the truck to pick us up.  It was so good to see him.  He seems to be doing pretty well.  We visited for a while and we tried to stay up as late as possible, to get back on track, but I just couldn't make it past 7 pm.  But....I woke right up at 11 and couldn't go back to sleep until 3 in the morning.

Kevin phoned this morning with great news!!  They sold their house and they are moving to the Okanagan!!!  This is so good for them.

Okay...I have to confess something here.  I was typing that last night and I literally fell asleep with my head on my chest and my hands on the keyboard.  Hahaha!!  So I went to bed!

It is now five in the morning and I am wide awake.  The kids downstairs are busy leaving for Sheridan Lake.  They are going dirt biking.  Andrew's family owns a very rustic cabin up there and they have packed up their dirt bikes and all the paraphernalia that goes along with that sort of thing.  April is sick and I am worried about her.  I hope she doesn't overdo it.

Now we are immersed in grocery shopping and unpacking and repacking.  On Tuesday we will be following Monte in our truck to Kevin and Tandy's.  They are getting rid of everything except their beds and K's desk.  And Monte is taking it all.  So we are going to rent a u haul trailer and help haul it all over to Monte's.  He can sort out what he wants and take the balance to the women's shelter there.  I am sure his across the street friend will help him out.  Most of the furniture, in fact ALL of the furniture originally came from our big house we last owned.  Its all high end gorgeous stuff and I think it will make him feel at home having it around him.  Plus, Kevin is giving him some music equipment (both my boys are music makers) and over 600 cd's!  And...for those of you that were in Bamfield with us, you may remember the red dry sink that was in the kitchen.  When we sold the log house up there, that piece was the only piece we kept.  Kevin and Tandy have used it as a change table.  Well, I have reclaimed it and it will be replacing my lovely new baking cart in the kitchen!  I am stoked!

Now its time to sign off.  I have flagged about 60 pics, the highlights.  I will spread them over at least two entries.  Some of them might have been on facebook but I think most of them are new.  TTYL

ONE OF THE MANY SPECTACULAR CEILINGS IN PARIS BUILDINGS

THE RICKETY STAIRS IN OUR PARIS HOTEL

THE AMAZING LUNCH WE HAD AT THE MUSEE D'ORSAY

BACKSIDE OF THE ROSETTA STONE

SACRE COEUR ON TOP OF PARIS

MY FAVE TIME...HANGING OUT IN THE BEDROOM CHATTING

THESE ARE ALL OUT OF ORDER...TOO MANY CAMERAS!!!  THIS WAS IN CAMDEN TOWN

GIVERNAY

LAFAYETTE SHOPPING CENTRE

AN APRIL PHOTO BOMB IN FRONT OF CAPTAIN COOK'S COLLECTION FROM AROUND BAMFIELD AREA

IN CAMDEN....I THOUGHT THEY LOOKED ALIKE!!!

LOUVRE

THAT LITTLE PAINTING BACK THERE IS THE MONA LISA

LOUVRE

MUSEE D'ORSAY ON THE SEINE

MUSEE D'ORSAY...USED TO BE A TRAIN STATION

GIVERNAY

I CAN'T KEEP TRACK!!!

Again, no wifi!  Truly they need to get with it here.

We picked up our car at the airport and headed off.  Bill, having trouble feeling his feet (due to type 2 diabetes) was simply unable to drive the standard, so April took over the driving.  She is amazing!  The highways in Europe generally travel at 140 to 160 kilometres per hour and she did it very very well.  She has never driven long distances before and for sure not at those speeds and she did it like a pro.

We dipped through some little French towns, intensely followed the map, not always successfully, and eventually made it to Brugge.  April fell in love with the place instantly.  We found our hotel, (again I say so easily), unloaded and then drove the car to the parking parkade several blocks away.  We then strolled the beautiful cobbled streets of Brugge, to the scent of chocolate, listening to the clip clop of horses hooves as the carriages swept by, carrying happy people.  We dined at one of the many little restaurants on the big square, mussels, frites, seafood pie, flemmish stew, salmon and beer beer beer.  We laughed and ate and had so much fun.  We then slowly made our way back to the hotel and put a tipsy Bill to bed and April and I went out again.  It had started to rain again and everything was closed and very few people were about.  The canals were all lit up and it was truly magical

The next day we got up and packed up and checked out, after having an amazing breakfast down in their wine vault in the bottom of the hotel.  The hotel used to be an aristocrats’ house that has been converted, a truly wonderful place to stay.

We put our stuff into the car and went out and about again.  This time we  found the canal boat tour place and hopped onto one of their boats for a forty minute ride through the canals.  Our guide was hilarious, in several languages, and the sites were truly beautiful and interesting.  We then did some shopping and then back to the car and out of Brugge.  The rest of this day wasn’t so great.  We were zooming down the highway, heading in the direction of Freiburg, where we were to meet Emily the next day, when Bill mentioned he wanted us to swing into Zele, his ancestral town on his dad’s side (rightfully so, I would want to too)but it took us so severely off our route and we couldn’t get back to the right freeway.  We ended up downtown Brussels, (a hell hole for driving) going in circles.  Poor poor April.  It was traumatizing.  And one thing we have learned here in Europe, unless something is within six blocks of where they work and live, the Europeans have absolutely no clue of where anything is.  They don’t even understand simple words like hotel, which is actually written on every hotel here in Europe.  But if you say Hotel?  they shrug and say “no english...can’t help”  Useless.  The only people we have found so far that really tried to enthusiastically help were a bunch of Arab guys in a gas station we stopped at....and they actually helped, with no english.  (I was going to apologize here to any Europeans reading this but they don’t know English so there is no point)

Anyway, we finally got out of there, but now severely behind schedule.  We only made it to somewhere near Bern (I think).  Then we discovered we had been looking at the wrong Freiburg (there are three with a variety of spellings) and the one that Emily had actually told us to go to was only two hours away!  Bonus!!!!  Even then though it took us from 9 in the morning til four in the afternoon to get there.  And how wonderful it was to finally see her, sitting at MacDonalds having coffee!!  We were so excited to see her!

We left Freiburg and headed for Lausanne...getting as far as Basil.  We stayed in a very odd place, a casino in fact.  But it was the only hotel we could find with two rooms, and they actually were lovely rooms, if a little off.  Breakfast was a wonderful buffet and we visited for a while before pulling up stakes and heading, once again, to Lausanne....which we finally did reach.  We had such fun there!  Thanks to April insisting on driving and driving and finally finding the most beautiful little spot along the lake.  We hopped out and took lots of pics and then onward.

We drove for hours, towards Zurich, past Zurich and into the dark and the rain.  Zurich, the part we drove through, was pretty ugly and sad.  Graffitti everywhere.  We finally, after driving around several little towns looking for hotels, found the perfect one along a lake.  We took in our stuff, then went downstairs to have a few drinks.  The big football game was on a tv in one of the big rooms along with a few very vocal and hugely fun older German couples.  Oh did we ever have fun with them!!!  We didn’t need language to enjoy each other and the game.  We also had a great time with one of the fellows that worked there.  He gave us some tips on what to do the next day on our way to Munich and......told us that at that particular spot we were in was Austria, not Germany as we thought!!  Crazy!!

The next morning (this morning) we left for Munich....stopping at an awesome little town by the name of Landau on the way.  It was on a lake and totally beautiful.  Everything was closed unfortunately but it was still well worth the stop.

We then drove on to Munich and, in the driving pouring rain we walked around the centre..which was very very beautiful.  We sat at one outdoor pub, under umbrellas, and had a beer, along with some very very exuberant very happy sport fans.  They were shouting, singing, chanting, dancing and entertaining!  Gave the place a real crazy cheerful atmosphere.  

After leaving Munich we travelled on to Erding where Emily lives.  It isn’t far from Munich and she is in a “homestay”.  She lives with a fantastic family where she feels comfortable and at home.  The home was lovely.  Tonite we went to dinner in a true Bavarian restaurant and had the most amazing schnitzel dinner.  So good.  The girls are now at Emily’s and Bill and I are nearby in a lovely hotel.  Tomorrow we visit Dachau.  I think that will be hard but good for the kids, as well as us, to see.  Then Emily will be coming back here by train and we shall wing off for Paris, ready to fly home.  This trip has been amazing and I am so glad we took the time to do everything we did.  I think we did pretty well, and I do believe that at times its been hard for April to be with us, a couple of old farts, one way too slow and deaf and the other way too loud and filterless.  Poor Emily I think it was hard for her too.  But what can I say?  We are who we are!!  TTYL  ps:  I can't post pics here.....its just too slow  .....I will try but if there are no pics you will have to look on facebook if you are my 'friend'.

THIS WAS A LAMP I SORELY WANTED IN A WINDOW OF A VERY UNOPEN STORE!

EMILY'S BACK GARDEN

SKYPING WITH MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND

AND MY BROTHER

OUR HOTEL ROOM TONIGHT...SO BEAUTIFUL..IN ERDING GERMANY

IF ITS TUESDAY I MUST BE IN BELGIUM

Anyone remember that movie?  I am kind of feeling that right now.  The wifi here is sooooo bad.  The cruise ships are better and that is kind of shocking!

So...where did we leave off?  I think we had one more day in Paris.  We caught a taxi down to the hop on hop off bus stop.  There were hordes of people waiting.  And, it was raining.  Not tons but enough to wreck your hair and cover your glasses.  So, when the bus finally showed up, there was a mad dash to get on.  I finally shoved my way in and made straight for the upstairs and scored the very front seats, shielded a little by the front window.  Totally pissed off a large lady who had come up behind me.  I slung my back pack onto a seat and grabbed the other two.  Too frecking bad.  I am tired of pushy older women (hahaha  nothing ironic about that statement!) We rode around the most important loop, getting cold and wet and then we hopped into a cafe and warmed up.  We then rode around the second loops, getting even colder and wetter.  We got off up in Montmarte just several blocks away from our hotel.  And promptly got horribly lost.

I am noticing that when we are lost we go to mode nasty.  Instantly.  Bill is the king of redundant stupid comments.  April gets extraordinarily cranky.  And I just get plain nasty.  So theres the three of us dragging our sorry asses down the wet street, snapping at each other and completely clueless as to where we are going.  That afternoon a lovely lady came along and took us in hand and led us to our street.  That was the second time a lovely Parisienne led us home.  We were very grateful.

After resting up we got a cab down to the Eiffel tower.  Up we went and spent some time surveying this very beautiful city from above.  Sooooo amazing.  When the elevator descends, it stops at the second level and you walk across to the second elevator that takes you to ground level.  I thought it was up two stories, thus its being called the 'second' level.  April and I decided to take the stairs down and meet Bill on the bottom.  Long story short....we descended approximately 20 stories on foot down a very very long set of stairs.  Holy Crap!!!  I did not think we were ever going to hit the bottom.  Our legs were shaking by the time we got down...and then we couldn't find Bill.  Eventually we did find him and we walked another mile or so to where we could get a lovely dinner, including escargot, one of my most fave things to eat.  What a wonderful evening.  After seeing the Eiffel tower all lit up and getting pics, we got a taxi home.   So tired that nite!

The next morning we got a shuttle (I say so easily, the French are the most complicated, disorganized,  and at times obtuse people, as they will tell you themselves with a shrug..."Zat is zee French way!") out to the airport and rented a car (I say so easily, the French are really not the most practical easy people...seriously).  For now I am going to put a comma in it here and write another chapter in the morning.  This will get too long and with my luck I will lose it and will have to write it all over.  I am going to put some pics on here....this internet seems to be okay, so maybe I will be able to load a few.  Right now I am trying to recharge my camera battery, using a converter and adapter and it is smelling suspiciously like our brakes did on the car  earlier....another story for tomorrow!  TTYL

OBLIGATORY BAD HOTEL IN PARIS

Alright, I am even more tired tonite than last night.  I am obviously getting old.  We went downstairs for a breakfast, an awesome one at that.  It was a buffet that involved bread choices, hash browns, vegetarian sausages (to die for) pork sausages, ham, eggs two ways, fruit, jams, marmalade, yoghurt, cereals, cold cuts, cheeses and on and on. 

We left the hotel on a 9 am shuttle for the airport and got through to the secure side pretty painlessly.  There was a log of shopping in this terminal so took total advantage  of that and shopped a bunch.  So much fun.

The flight over was short and bumpy.  And Paris is magnificent, at least the part we can see.  We can just see the Eiffel tower out our window!

The only draw back is the actual hotel.  Once again I picked a bad time to come.  This is a four day weekend here in France and the city is full to the bursting seams.  When I tried to book this hotel I had to end up going further from down town than I liked and in a very colourful neighbourhood.  (Montmarte)  The hotel itself is awful by our Canadian standards.  The room is reasonably large, with the third bed being in an alcove opposite ours, with a little sitting area in between.  The hotel itself is ancient and it shows.  The added on later elevator is about three feet by four feet.  Bill and I can’t fit in it and get the door shut...I was so claustrophobic I wouldn’t use it.  So, I climbed up the spiral rickety sloping stairs all the way to the top sixth floor.  I thought I was going to die.  I have done it twice already today!!!

The whole hotel is run down and ragged and slopey and OLD!!!  But what fun!  We checked for bedbugs, and there aren’t any that we  can see and thats what really counts.  The cupboard door is broken, and April just hollared from the loo that when you shower water gets everywhere...oh well...you get what you pay for!  We can see the eiffel tower so what more could you want!!!

We stepped out at around five to find food.  HUNGRY!!  And the only place serving food at supper time in France is asian..and we found a wee Thai place just around he corner.  So in  we went and had the tastiest thai dinner ever.  We went back to our room and had a heck of a good time, sitting on our beds, gabbing, doing our pics etc....Bill conked out by 7:30 and April and I around 10.

This morning we were up at 6:30 and downstairs for breakfast by 8.  Croissant, jam, cereals, fruit salad, buns, cheeses, salamis etc...OH, and the best part....French butter.  We got a taxi and headed down to the Louvre.  There was a line up but not a seriously bad one.  About forty mintutes.  The moment we got in there we made a dash to see the Mona Lisa.  I am glad we went so early, the crowds were agathering!!  It was pretty exciting to see it with someone new.  We toodled around and looked at other stuff then left and walked along the Seine to a bridge, crossed over and got into a forty minute line at the Muse d’ Orsay.  This was the museum I have really wanted to bring April to.  Oh My God.....we saw Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Toulouse Letrec, Renoir and on and on and on.  So much to take in.

Before the galleries though, we went to a very beautiful dining room in the M ‘O and had the most amazing lunch ever.  I will explain it in the pics below.  Unbelievable experience.  We left there and walked freaking miles to the Place D’ Concord and got a taxi up to the Sacre Ceour, on the hill.   

Our wifi is so sketchy here in this hotel.  I am not going to be writing a very good critique of this dump on travelocity.  People should be warned!

Yesterday we made a trip to Givernay, honestly I think its the most beautiful place in France.  The flowers, in spite of the rain, were amazing.  We hired a private tour car and the guide/driver was really good.  I think I could almost paint beautiful things there and I can’t paint a straight line!

We left Bill in the hotel (he is having trouble walking) and April and I went down to Lafayette, the largest and most expensive busy shopping centre in Paris.  Such a beautiful place, but waaaaay to busy for us.  We got out of there and found a wonderful little place to get some very French lunch.  We then wondered our way back tot he hotel.  We rested a while and then went out for a neighbourhood walk.  Bill went back after a few blocks and April and I wandered around and eventually found a little cozy bistro that had wifi.  So we sat and drank beer, ate little olives, and wified.  Ahhh...the life of Riley!!!  I am going to try to post some pics here but not sure they will go.  TTYL