The road to Cinque Terra goes thru LaSpezia

Good Evening from LaSpezia!

Yes I'm using English again because we are so excited to be heading back to the land of those that speak English - the UK!  Heading to London tomorrow afternoon/evening.

We left Florence yesterday and our GPS of course put us on the boring freeway full of tolls so we decided to detour thru the Tuscan countryside.  We had pretty much no idea where we were going and it really was just off the freeway but it was AMAZING.  The sunflower fields were in bloom and the rolling green hills and quaint little villages - something out of a storybook. 

Then we decided to go to Pisa to see the leaning tower - yeah I know kinda cliche' but it was on the way to our next destination LaSpezia.

As we entered Pisa we noticed that have those darn "no drive" zones like Florence does so we were super paranoid to drive too close but we found a parking lot that was really not far you just have to be really careful which street you turn down. 

Literally once we got to the "park" that the tower was in we were there maybe 10 minutes - yeah you see it, you take some photos and "boom-ok time to go".  It really looks as if they have totally painted it or something considering it's almost 1000 years old.  It probably was more fun to watch the people doing photos of themselves looking like they were pushing it back up rather than seeing it.  But like we agreed - we can say we saw it in person.

We got into LaSpezia around 3 pm and literally drove up a mountain to our hotel (well not really a hotel we found out it's a B&B). It has an INCREDIBLE view but I don't like B&B's.  Something about communal living is just not something I enjoy.  We have our own bathroom and everything but it just feels weird and we both agreed it's the worst as far as amenities go for what we have stayed in on this trip.  Another reason to look forward to London - a REAL hotel....:)

We spent the evening planning our next day to Cinque Terra.  Got the scoop on the boat and train and then drove to Porto Venere for dinner.  It was a nice area out on the point of the bay.  Definitely a resort town.  We were on the hunt for real Italian Lasagna because I had not had any and we found some.  I know you think it would not be hard but in these seaport towns it's mostly fish on the menus.  LaSpezia we decided is more of a working town and a cruise ship port.

Cinque Terra Day - We got up super early so we could find parking (not a lot of tourist parking here - tons of special "yellow" marked off areas for residents).  From the lot we found we had to walk about a half hour to the docks.  We got our tickets and then went over to a little coffee stand that was in the area.  Nick was so freaking excited because he FINALLY found the doughnut he remembered as a child when his family would camp in Italy.  It's a filled doughnut with sprinkled sugar on the outside and the filling is a vanilla custard.  I have to admit it was pretty good and he was so cute when he took a bite.  His words were "this is it"!  He had tried several on other stops on this trip and he would always say "something is not quite what I remember".

When we got our tickets they didn't tell us where to catch the boat they just told us wait "out there" and pointed in a general direction - well we don't speak Italian and apparently someone must have made an announcement we didn't understand so we were one of the last ones to load onto the boat so we were in the bottom which I knew was not going to work for me because I have been known to get seasick.  So as we stopped at each town and people got off I found us a spot up on top of the boat outside - yeah for me - fresh air!

Cinque Terra is a National Park made up of 5 small villages all built into the hillsides/cliffs along the sea.  All the buildings are painted in different colors and the seaports are all unique for each one.

The file villages are:  Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.

The boat stopped at each one on the way up the coast and we stayed on until we got to the furthest one out (Monterosso).  We walked around the city, took pictures and just enjoyed the culture and then found the train station to buy our day pass so we could just ride the train from town to town.  We considered at some point of doing the hiking trail - more on that later.

We did Monterosso and Vernazza traveling by train and then while eating lunch in Vernazza decided that at the next town of Corniglia we would do the hike since it's only supposed to be an hour and 25 minutes long.  Yeah well we found out it's now 3 hours long because of a landslide and we say no way. 

So we took the train to Corniglia which is the town with the landslides.  We get off the train and immediately notice you cannot get to the town unless you climb this MASSIVE staircase - when I say MASSIVE I mean it.  It probably took us an hour to climb it because it was so steep and yes we had to stop several times. 

After that we decided our "hiking" requirements or ideas were now fulfilled.  As we got to the top Nick said "this town better be worth it" and it so was.  It was completely different than the others in that the buildings were really tall and really close together.  It was definitely unique and had a much less tourist feel. 


We took the train to Manarola which is the next town and thought we saw another staircase and said "NO WAY" - so we traveled on down to the last town of Riomaggiore.  We were both so hot and sun drenched we found a spot in the shade to rest for a while which helped us mentally and physically so we hopped back on the train and went back to Manarola with the idea that we can conquor any staircase!

Low and behold there was no staircase just a really long tunnel that took you into the town.  We worked out way to the water and we could not believe the water area.  Like nothing I have never seen before that is not Disney produced.  It is a natural stunningly beautiful swimming/playing/lazy river type area.  We just stood there for the longest time and people watched.  Then we found a place for dinner and headed back to LaSpezia on the train. 

Cinque Terra was definitely worth it just the for beauty, culture and uniqueness of it - like Venice is.  We highly recommend it and loved how we did the boat one way and the trains back.  Gives you a great perspective from the water that you don't see on land.

Needless to stay we are tired/sweaty and our feet hurt - my Fitbit says 20,083 steps for the day and I think at least 5,000 of those were straight up that damn staircase.

I cannot believe our trip is almost over - just one more destination.  I was afraid we might not be able to do 24/7 together for this long as we have never done it before - but it's been great.  I am married to the most wonderful, patient man in the entire world and he has been a blast to be on this journey with.  

We are heading out early tomorrow to go to Lake Como before hitting the airport in Milan and then onto London!

Love Nick and Barb
XX

Florence aka Firenze

Saluti from Florence -

No I do not know any Italian but I have a translator app on my phone!

We are ending our two night stay in Florence also known as "Firenze" which was super confusing to me while watching road signs on our drive here.  I said to Nick "why do you keep taking the Firenze exits....ahh he knew what it meant and I obviously did not.

Speaking of our drive - We picked up our new rental car at the Venice airport and knew we needed GPS (no way to drive without it here).  Our rental car guy failed to mention that the car had a navigation system so now we get to try to talk the return location into refunding us for a GPS that we never used - wish us luck!

Driving here is not fun - nothing about it is fun at all.  I know it's because we don't know the area but it's not just that - it's the speed trap camera's, it's the rules in and around Florence, it's the crazy ass motorcycle riders that just show up on the side of your car, it's the one way streets, it's the road signs you cannot read and yes it's just not going to happen again with us.  We already decided that next time we are traveling by planes and trains only.


Again this trip has been about the journey which even if it is stressful we have enjoyed it because we are doing it together.  I would be in tears if I was trying to navigate this on my own.

Our hotel here the "Mulino Di Firenze" is a beautiful Tuscan style hotel on the outskirts of Florence.  We chose it because it had parking, a shuttle to and from town and also because of it's style and it's on a very beautiful part of the river Arno.  It's was an old water mill way back when and it's been so fun to stay in.  They have a beautiful restaurant with excellent food and a fun bar with an old Italian man as their bartender who I made friends with.  Love him and want to bring him home.  He calls me "beautiful American woman".  You don't tip here so I know it's not for tips!

Our room is pretty cool but very very small.  It's two stories with the upstairs having the bigger bed but it's a pull out so we were like - yeah no that's not going to happen.  The downstairs is a small double size bed - yes double which was super cozy given the fact that we have been sleeping in much larger ones the entire trip.



The first evening we were here we were exhausted from the drive.  Not sure how that can make you tired but the mental stress from it wiped us out and we are staying outside of town so we decided to stay here and have a nice dinner then go to town in the morning fresh and relaxed.  Plus a bottle of Prosecco was delivered to our room and yes we drank it....:)

We had an amazing dinner out on the patio overlooking the river and then walked all around the property.  There are different pathways that give you different views of the river including a small waterfall type portion.  There were men fly-fishing which was fun to watch as well.

I did even get Nick to practice our dance routine on this big grass area.  Our instructor would be proud although it was a little rough given the wine we drank before and during dinner...lol.  I'm sure the Italians think we are crazy but we will never see them again right?

I got woke up (because it was like 4 am here) to my phone blowing up with text messages.  I thought what in the world is going on.  Well it was about the terrorist attack in Nice and it was friends  and family checking on us.  We love you all and it was very sweet to know we were worried about.  It just saddens me this world we are living in.  I just don't understand why there are these crazies out there wanting to harm others.  But like I said in my Facebook post - we must go on living our lives to the fullest and you cannot live in fear. 

We had a taxi pick us up the next morning because there is no driving in Florence (the city part) and we honestly never saw a parking lot to even park in on the outskirts.  We had a check-in time for our cooking class so we knew we didn't have time to mess around looking for where to park.

We signed up for a 5 hr We Tuscan cooking class and all I can say is WOW!  I have never taken a cooking class (obviously for some of you) and it was a blast.  We were at a work station with a family from.....Seattle....yes very small world.  They apparently travel on huge trips every summer with their two young boys so you know me I had to Google the husband when I got back to the hotel because I knew no way could a "normal" family have the time or money to take the length of trips to the locations they said they had been to every summer.  Sure enough I found him.  He is a travel writer and writes books on how to travel with children.  I just had a feeling....They were super nice and the wife and I enjoyed sharing stories on kids, travel and doing laundry in hotel rooms!

In our class we learned how to and successfully made delicious, Tagliatelle (fresh pasta from scratch), a meat sauce, a cherry tomato sauce, Ravioli and Tiramisu.  It was all simply the most delicious fresh food I have ever tasted.  Prior to the actual cooking we went on a tour of the San Lorenzo market to buy the fresh ingredients.  Let's just say I am throwing out all the crap olive oil I have at home and possibly never buying pasta in a box again since the instructor told Nick his pasta was "perfecto".  Yes Nick wins and gets to be our chef from now on....:)

After our class we took on exploring the city center of Florence and also some of the outskirts of town.  Of course we added to our miles of walking and enjoyed every moment of it.  There are lots of beautiful buildings, museums, churches, the Ponte Vecchio bridge which is full of jewelry shops and the massive marketplace.  It is a very good thing I have zero room in my luggage because I probably would have come home with 50 scarfs and a few leather bags.  It was a great day for exploring as it was overcast with a nice breeze.

We were stuffed from our cooking class but did go find the two food places that were  recommended to us.  One was a sandwich place that Michael had been to when he was here "All' Atico Vinaio".  We knew we were in the right area when we saw people just sitting on the street curbs eating sandwiches.  We couldn't even muster up room to buy one and just taste it we were so full.  We also found the "Golden View" restaurant that Michelle and Lizzie recommended but again so full and we were exhausted by the time we headed over to that side of the river.

We grabbed a taxi and came back to the hotel and had a couple of drinks on the outside terrace overlooking the courtyard of the hotel.  I made friends with the old Italian man bartender like I said above so he made me a "special" drink which was yummy.  It consisted of vodka, lemon juice, champagne and some ingredient I did not understand.  For those that do not know Nick drinks Crown whisky and we have not found it anywhere so he asked if they had any Canadian whisky and low and behold that had some.  So rather than beer he had that and said it was very good.  I really want to just bring this old man home with us - I'm sure we could find something for him to do right?

We are headed to La Spezia today to explore the Cinque Terra area.  Hoping to see some Tuscan countryside on the way since our entire trip from Venice was spent on freeways and in very very very long tunnels.  I wonder if Bertha dug those because it would have been quite a job they were seriously each one miles long!


More later -
Nick and Barb

Water - Water - Everywhere - Venice

Ciao!

First I need to finish the tail end of France because we have the greatest little side trip on the way to the airport in Nice. 

Our friend Chris had given us the name of two small towns she loved when she lived in Nice.  One of them was Villefranche.  We had lots of time to kill so we plugged it into the GPS and off we went.  What a crazy drive - windy one way roads and very narrow ones at that.  If you saw my Snapchat you saw it was like a live version of Super Mario! The houses were so cool and there were lots of flower window boxes which I love. 

The town is actually partially built into a hillside and stunningly beautiful.  There is a cove that holds a marina and a beach.  It's not far from Monoco.

We had lunch down at the marina at a table on the water side.  The restaurants are on the main side of the street and there are tables on the water side so the waiters actually walk across the street to wait on you.  While we were sitting there we watched a Bently and Rolls Royce pull up....yeah we didn't pick that restaurant - we picked a small pizzaria!  There was a small boat rental company right by our table so we had fun watching renters come and go - especially the young ladies that ran their rental boat into another boat - why I always laugh when I see stuff like that I will never know.  Bad boat Karma - I better watch out!

After lunch we hiked back up the hillside to our parking spot and headed to the airport.

We got thru the French security super easy - I really don't get why some airports are so security minded and others are not but the security guy gold me "good job" for following the directions (pictures) on what needs to go into the bins so I was fine with it - then we had to wait and wait and wait.  We had got thru car rental check in and security way faster than expected and figured we would catch up on Facebook etc on our phones - yeah well NO the internet connection in Nice was horrid.  So we literally just sat for 2.5 hrs until they announced our flight to Venice.  They don't announce the gates until the last minute so I kept busy going to look at the departures board to see what gate we should shit by.

We gave our boarding passes and then they shuffle us into this holding area which I'm not sure why since our plane was not even there yet!  The highlight (again bad karma for laughing) was getting to watch the luggage handlers drop a container of luggage while taking a corner too fast on the tarmac.  I called that one because they were just piled up with no sides...he he he.  Short 50 minute flight to Venice and yes we slept the whole way - I guess we should just fly short hops from now on if we want to sleep.

We had gate checked our bags (for earlier boarding - little trick we learned) but the payback was then waiting for our bags which took about an hour.  Nick waited while I tried to figure out from these vending machines how to get our water transportation into Venice.  They offer multiple choices - Private Taxi Boat for about 100 Eur one way (yeah no), Public Water Bus for 50 Eur round trip.  We chose the later but wanted to talk to a person to make sure we got the right one so we went thru "customs" which was a man waving at us (lol) and found the human occupied ticket desk.  We found an angel on earth because she actually highlighted on a map which stop for us to get off and and how to "find" our hotel.  "Find" being the key word as you will see below.

We had to walk to the water bus which felt like a mile in flip flops and with our bags but Nick says it was only 1/2 a mile then load onto this holding container type thing which I thought was the boat.  Then the boat shows up and we all load onto that.  They make you sit down in the bottom of the boat which was stuffy (very humid here) and leave your luggage up on deck.  We were so tired and hot and sweaty that it was not a fun ride - you couldn't see anything as you were packed like sardines in a can.  We were very thankful once we got off at our stop and could actually see Venice itself. 

It was getting dark as we got off the water bus and we thought - ok no problem, let's find our hotel.  He he he....if we thought the alley's and streets were crazy in other cities we were in for the surprise of our lives here!  It was seriously like being in a crazy maze.  Our hotel from the water bus drop off is several alleys, past a church, down another alley, take a right at the restaurant down another dark narrow alley, thru a gate and "ureka" there it is.  Mind you it was DARK, there are stairs EVERYWHERE (super fun with luggage - even small stuff) - and nothing is marked except for tiny signs every once in a while if you are lucky.  We got there after the front desk closed but I had spoken to the manager earlier in the day so he gave us the code and had left us our check in information on the front desk. 

For all the craziness it took to find it- nothing can quite describe this boutique style hotel.  It's simply amazing.  Full of charm, super clean and our room is right on a canal.  I mean you could touch a boat from our window.  Every key is big - (we got one to the room, one to the front door of the hotel and one to the gate in the alley) don't know why I find that charming but I do!

We were starving and we found that most restaurants close earlier than they did in France but we found a super fun Jazz Bar and had amazing food and drinks.  Another win was it was just around the corner from our hotel.

Breakfast came with our room so we got up the next morning and had the most amazing breakfast up in the salon/dining area.  So fun to sit and listen to people talk in different languages.  They had a croissant filled with vanilla creme that Nick is "this close" to what he remembers as a child.  They would go camping in Italy and go to Ravenna to get donuts that had this same creme in them.

We walked all over Venice which for us was about 9 miles yesterday.  I'm not quite sure how to explain what it is like here.  It's got a very whimsical/magical feel.  Canals everywhere, charm, history, and awesome architecture.  One hotel we found out is Marco Polo's family home and was built in the 1300's.  This place is just so incredibly old it's crazy to imagine what it was like when it was being built.

Everything comes and goes by boat - even restaurant and hotel supplies.  We opened our window in our room and watched boats delivering supplies and Gondollas touring thru the day - it was like real life "Pirates of the Carribean". 

There are street vendors, painters, musicians and of course tons of tourists.  At moments it got very stuffy in some of the alley ways so we crossed the Grand Canal and went to the other side for a while.  I told Nick Disney and Las Vegas have done a very good job recreating the feel but you can tell this is real - it's gritty and dirty and real life.

We took a gondola ride and no they don't sing like they do in Vegas - I suppose if you offer to pay them they will but our young captain was a really nice guy - he loves to travel so we talked to him a lot about that.  Apparently it's really dead in the winter time so there is no work which is when he travels.

San Marco square is something to see - absolutely huge and full of restaurants and shops,old buildings and the most beautiful church that we didn't go in because the line was so long.  In the afternoon when we came back thru we noticed water like it had rained but we knew it had not.  We figured it must be "high tide" and they actually closed the church due to the water (people would have to walk thru to get inside).  Very crazy that this is what they deal with living on an island.

We went up the tower in San Marco square where you can see the entire area.  So incredible to see what a bustling area it is.  Many islands and so many buildings it's crazy.  My fear of building heights was fine up there because there was a wall thank god but it was so windy.  We had heard rain was coming but we never felt any.  It was so incredibly humid that the wind felt so good!


The food here is good - the Pizza we have had is really good and we had pasta at this "to go" place that was recommended to us.  It was pretty tasty and super fresh which was nice.  Of course Gelato is everywhere and I tried it for the first time.  Some people swear by it - to me it's just ok.  I'm definately more of an ice cream snob. 

The things we have noticed about restaurants here is they are not as "service" minded.  They are not asking if you want refills on anything (not even drinks) and it takes forever to get your check, you have to ask for water (still or sparkling) and at times Nick we felt  like we were being ignored but I think it's just the different culture.  In France you do not tip and here you don't have to but apparently they expect it from Americans.  Every food bill here has had a 12% service fee added to it.  I don't know if that is just a Venice thing since it's so super tourist oriented or an Italy thing overall.  We shall soon find out!


You would all be so proud of me - I have learned how to do laundry in your bathroom sink or bathtub.  Yes there is nowhere that we have found to do laundry so I'm just winging it - everything dries pretty fast and yes the hairdryer works like an iron - quite crafty and proud of myself for this one!

We are packing now and headed back to the water boat to go back to the airport and get our car - then onto Florence for two nights!

Florence - La Spezia (Cinque Terra) and then London to meet our friends Mike and Yvonne!

Ahhh....The French Riviera

Bonjour one last time from France!

We left Grenoble days ago (seriously losing track of what day it is) - I keep having to look at my phone to find the date - vacation issues...:)

Our road trip started out with a total "Nick and Barb" moment when we got in the car in Grenoble to and went to put the address in Antibes into the GPS.  Nothing would come up - we tried and tried and then low and behold we figure it out - our GPS was still set for Switzerland and they apparently do not have a city named Antibes!

We drove past some beautiful lavender and sunflower fields along the way and ended up with a pit- stop in Avignon about 50 euro lighter due to the blasted tolls on these highways - Where is my "good to go" pass when I need it?

Avignon is in the middle of a huge summer festival and there were small cruise ships along the river that is just outside the city so it was packed.  The city is ancient and surrounded by what appears to be a large original castle wall.  We both felt like we were entering "Kings Landing" (for our GOT friends).

There were musicians everywhere and tons of shops and cafes in super old buildings like we have seen in most all of the city centers that we have gone to.  But something about the wall surrounding the city gave it a really different feel.

We decided to get a drink at a cafe where a street performer type band was playing and here is where the fun began.  We have been doing pretty well with translation or we thought we had until I ordered my wine (I swear I pointed to the glass) and yes we got an entire bottle of really good Rose'.  So Nick had to help drink it and then we had to walk it off before we hit the road.  It was really hot and humid there so it didn't take long to "sweat" it out.

As we drove away from Avignon we once again had to get a toll ticket - which later down the road did not want to work in the machine.  Picture us dumb American's not speaking any French at the toll booth with cars lined up behind us trying to insert that damn ticket every which way lol.  Finally we decided to push the button for help and thank goodness someone answered (in French of course).  Nick asked if they spoke English and they spoke enough to ask us where we had come from with the ticket and then just charged us a flat rate.

I know I keep talking about the tolls but they are INSANE.  We seriously have a plastic bag of EUR in our glove box of the car and I'm the "counter of coins" (quickly I might add) as we get to a toll.  There were some tolls on this drive though that cost us close to 14 eur each.

We arrived at our hotel in Antibes (well just outside in Juan-le-Pin) 4 hours after our planned arrival time which was fine since we had a great time along the way.  Nice place and our room is really big compared to the others we have stayed in but SUPER dated.  Like hot pink and orange worn out chairs dated.  I told Nick it kind of reminded me of the places my grandparents would take us at the ocean as little kids.  We are only 4 blocks from the beach though so it's a win!

We walked around the first night and found a fun outside patio/bar with good music and the most stunning view of the sunset.  The entire beachfront is lined with restaurants in the sand (one of my favorite things - my feet in the sand).

Nick started reading up on the beaches and we discovered there are two types - public and private.  The private beaches are these restaurants during the daytime.  In the morning they pull the tables and chairs and put out beach chairs and umbrellas. 

A down day is what we needed after being in the car for so long the day before so the entire next day was beach day.  We picked one of the private beaches and rented beach chairs/towels and an umbrella.  It was a really fun day.  Just relaxing, people watching, and swimming in the ocean.  You could go up to the bar/cafe and order food and drinks which was a really nice perk.  We did eventually find the public beach but we had no towels and no way to travel with them afterwards so this worked out really nice for us.

That night we had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset again - it's so warm in the evening and the food here has been as good as it was in Paris - lovely salads and seafood.  The funny part was you really don't here current music in the restaurants.  It's like one singer (a girl) and she does cover songs - so you recognize the words and the music but yeah it's like bad elevator music lol.  We knew we had sat there for a while when it started repeating!

Antibes is just a short 30 minute walk from our hotel so we did that early in the morning.  It's just like the other cities/towns we have seen with a more modern part and then you get into the old town part which is my favorite.  Tall buildings with living quarters up on the tops and shops/cafes on the bottom.  Really cool windows and doors and either really true French people or exchange students and of course tourists. 

We walked back and decided to go to Caan for lunch.  It was a short 30 minute drive and it's so funny I'm not sure what we expected - like there should be the red carpet and huge yachts like we saw on Entourage when Vince and the gang went to Caan but no it's just a city.  An obvious city with money but just a city.  We ate at the most AMAZING Italian restaurant where Nick got his favorite thing here Mussels and I had a really great salad recommended by the waiter.  It was seriously the best cantelope I have ever had with Italian shaved ham and green salad.  I could eat that again in a heartbeat. 

Nick had read about a town called Grasse that is supposed to be the perfume capital and just be really cool which it was.  It was way up in the hills and we took a wrong turn so we had to drive on these small one way roads up further and further.  It was like driving the road to Hana.  I loved it but I know it was a little stressful for the driver...:)  You could tell they must have a small university up there because there were a lot of students gathered in bunches.  Very fun to see.

On our last night here we walked the beach down to where we could hear music.  It was a band playing a super large outdoor concert that people were lined up for.  It's the beginning of the Bastille festival and the area was packed.  We were glad we were not staying in that part of town but down in the more quiet area.  Like like little old people :)

Today we are packing and heading out for more adventures before we catch our 5:30 pm flight to Venice.  We are hearing the weather is not going to be great so let's keep our fingers crossed that it changes!  Italy here we come!

We both agree France has been incredible.  The people have been very friendly and understanding of our lack of knowing any French other than Merci' and Bonjour...:)

Adieu!

Nick and Barb

Driving in Europe - Thank God for GPS

Bonjour from our 2nd city in France - Grenoble

We arrived via bullet train from Paris on Thursday around 10:30 am.  I have ridden on one in Tokyo but Nick had not.  It was super comfortable and we were glad we upgraded for assigned seats as we watched this one guy go from seat to seat as the "assigned" passengers came on so he was obviously not happy with his choice of "coach".  We were so incredibly surprised given the world today that there was absolutely no security.  You could pretty much take anything you wanted on the train and no one cared.

Our hotel in so opposite from our one in Paris.  Nick picked this one out and it's very nice just very modern.  However we both agree it's the most comfortable bed we have ever slept in....like we want to ship it home comfortable. 

We walked around town and found where to catch the "bubble/tram" that goes up the mountain side to Fort Bastille.  You can see all of Grenoble from up there.  We even spotted the old Olympic Village (1968).

They have a zip line which looked fun except once you do the first run you then have to climb up the face of the mountain to get to the 2nd line so we said "yeah no".  They had a very cool "ropes" course for kids that some schoolchildren were doing which was fun to watch.  We made dinner reservations at their nice restaurant for our last night as the view are amazing.

The part of town we are staying in has all the older more "European" feel buildings just like the area of Paris did that we stayed in.  Tons of alley ways with shops and outdoor cafes.  The part I love is that there are apartments above all the shops and cafe's.  Each building has a unique main door that the tenants use to go in and out - they are all shaped different and are different colors.  I just love this "old world" charm they have.  We saw the military police again with the machine guns - I am kinda starting to think they are following us.....

We walked around and found a fun Pizzaria and sat and watched all the people stream into the bars and cafe's for the French soccer game.  It was like participating in a Seahawks tail-gate type atmosphere.  Flags, 6 packs of beer, pizzas, noise makers, just like an American football game.  The bars all had big tv's setup and we even saw one guy that brought his own bar stool (smart man)!

France won for those that don't follow it and the town went crazy.  Fireworks, sirens, horns, people screaming and cheering - gotta love good sports fans!

That night Nick asked me "hey want to go to Switzerland tomorrow".  Like I'm going to say no - right?  So we planned out our trip to Lake Geneve.

Friday morning we got up - went to the market to get picnic supplies, plugged the address into the GPS and took off.  That is when the fun began.

All we can say is THANK GOD FOR GPS.  With all the one way streets and twists and turns of the older parts of these towns there is no freaking way we would have not just turned around and gone back if we had to use a regular old map.  It was bad enough that you have to deal with weird turn lanes, bikes, motorcycles and scooters that come out of nowhere and watch your GPS all at the same time.  Nick did great and by the time we got back he seemed much more calm with all of it.  I just kept giving him water and snacks and trying not to back seat drive....I do admit there was more than once where I was telling myself to shut up.  He is such a patient man...:)

We had planned on going straight thru to Geneve but on the way we stopped in the most beautiful city called Annecy.  It has a huge blue/green fresh water lake and the older part of town has a canal running thru it that feeds into the lake.  I would come back here in a heartbeat - I loved the charm of it.  Think Leavenworth with a canal and tons of outdoor cafe's and shops.  There were boat cruises on the lake and paddle boats you could rent.  So we found a shady spot in the park on the lake and had our picnic.  The entire drive there and back was so beautiful - mountain peaks and rolling hills of green fields below. 

Then onto Lake Geneve.  We crossed the border without even having to show our passports.  All they did make us do was buy a Swiss highway pass for 40eur.  Total rip off since we were only going a few miles but after paying all the tolls in France to go from Grenoble to Switzerland and back we decided that 40eur was not bad at all.  We hit 3 toll stations on the way to Switzerland and 2 on the way back and really lost track of how much it cost - the machines do give change which is nice but we do remember one of them was 8 eur and we swear it was only a mile long stretch.  The roads are really nice though so I guess that is how they pay for them.

Lake Geneve was cool - it's huge and the area is very nice - like super rich it seems.  We were in a very fancy parking garage were we saw a Ferrari, multiple Porche's and Mercedes - our rental Renault looked pretty sad next to them.  The coolest thing about it that makes it stand out was they lit up their stalls so if you saw a green light it was an empty stall.  Nick was quite impressed!

They had the weirdest traffic signals though - one signal is for cars, one for taxis, one for buses and one for bicycles all on the same pole.  You had to be really careful and pay attention to which one was turning green because they are not all at the same time.  We are so used to seeing green and going - yeah you can't do that here or you will smash a bicyclist.

The Lake itself is beautiful -  We were mainly in the marina area so we could see all around town but our hearts were back in Annecy where the pace was just so much more relaxed.

It was cool to say we went to Switzerland and we would love to go back someday and really visit the country more.
We got back to Grenoble just in time for our dinner reservations we had made the day before.  It was beautiful up on the hillside watching the sunset but we are not as impressed with the food so far in this outer area.  Probably because the food in Paris was so amazing.  I think the best thing we have had here is our picnic lunch!

The time seems like it's flying by but we are loving the fact that we have many more adventures ahead of us!

Oh and yeah we have walked another 12 miles in the last two days - it adds up fast!

Tomorrow we head off for Antibes for 3 nights and then Venice..:)

More later....

Americans In Paris

Bonjour!

We landed in Paris on Monday afternoon and checked into our amazingly cute hotel - The Hotel Grand Hommes which is at the doorstep of the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter of Paris.  I love boutique type hotels and this one fits that definition!  The"lift" (aka elevator) is so small that we were glad we had only carry-on luggage (see we are happy already), the key to your room is so huge you have to leave it at the front desk and pick it up when you come back as there is no way you could carry it around and the staircase is a very steep spiral one that could be dangerous after a night out on the town.  The room is very small but decorated in a very eclectic way which makes it feel very "Parisian".

Sights - 

The Seine River Boat Cruise - We caught this at the base of the Eiffel Tower.  It takes you down and back on the river under many bridges that are all different architecture and ages.  All along the river are walkways where people hang out, play guitars, drink wine, eat and wave at the boats going by.

Eiffel Tower -  We walked from our hotel which the front desk gal told us was about an hour walk - it took us about 2 because we stopped at Luxembourg Gardens.  When we got there our plan was to walk thru this large park-like area but it was all closed off for the "Euro Cup" 2016 Fan Festival so we had to go around and enter on the river side.  Massive security everywhere - police with machine guns.  It does make you feel safe but at first it kind of puts you on edge like "what do they know".

Lines for everything - tickets, elevators - lots of standing around but so worth it.  What amazing views.  But I do have to confess I was fine on the 2nd level but on the top I could not go to the edge - I'm petrified of tall building and glass - The 2nd level was ok because there was a solid piece in front of me - not all glass.  So on the top level I should have known it was going to be bad as I could not even look out the elevator on the way up.  Once we arrived I did try and head outside.  At the Space Needle I can do it if I hug the wall so I tried that and no freaking way.  The tears came and I had to go inside.  Nick stayed out and got some great photos but I was ready to head back down.  I'm not afraid of anything height wise other than buildings - very strange phobia.


Luxembourg Gardens - Very beautiful buildings and grounds - there was a really cool pond in the middle where kids could rent these little wooden sail boats and push them around.  In fact there are lots of parks and gardens everywhere that are very well maintained.  Security was tight - we had to get our bags checked to even go into the gardens and again there were machine gun toting police around the buildings.

Museums -
There are way too many museums to do in a few shorts days but we did a few.

The Louvre was pretty cool.  You enter into this huge courtyard where you can just hang out and then once you buy your tickets to get inside it's like another world - you start by going down that glass dome you always see pictures of and then into different buildings that you see from the outside.  We are not super big art fans but there were things there we wanted to see.  The Mona Lisa for one and it was like Nick remembered - small and old but tons of people taking pictures of it.  I enjoyed the sculptures the most.  When you realize what it takes to make these and they did everything by hand - amazingly detailed work  I think the super cool thing was to realize there were works from very famous artists and sculpturs that were very very old.

The Pantheon was right outside the door to our hotel.  It is right next to a University so there are lots of people just hanging out on the steps and even a car commercial being filmed while we were there.  It was very cool inside - definately a lot of history and very famous people buried there.

Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe - You travel down the Champs Elysees to get to the Arc and I have to say I thought it would be more charming of an area.  It was super ritzy and a ton of people but once you get to the Arc it is pretty amazing how huge it is.  The round-a-bout is crazy that goes around it.  We actually saw one couple cross it by foot (nut jobs).  Now when we watch the Tour de France we can say we were there.  Also on the way they were setting up the seating for the finale' of the Tour so that was pretty awesome to see.

Food & Beverages- 

We have so enjoyed our small cafe' dining experiences here.  We always ask for an outside table and on the first night got serenaded by two accordion players while dining in an alley-way type pedestrian only street just watching people go by.  I told Nick it felt like we were in Las Vegas - like it was all fake but it was so incredibly real and such a surreal experience!

We both have decided this is some of the best food we have ever had on vacation - I was actually kind of afraid of eating here not knowing if menus would be in English and I'm not super adventurous when it comes to food but everything has been spectacular and yes the menus are in English or you can figure it out. 

Nick's favorite were french onion soup, mussels, and creme brulee - not all at once but over the course of our trip.  Although anyone that knows him knows he might have tried all of those at once!  He has tried a couple of types of beer but I thought his "specialty" beer tasted like Rainier from home!

My favorite has been crepes and the roasted chicken which we had last night - to die for.  All the sauces they make have amazing flavor.  I have also fallen completely head over heals for Bordeaux wines.  It is my first look on the wine menu now - so incredible.

Transportation -  

We have walked a total of 32 miles in the last three days (17 of which I have done in flip flops - yeah don't recommend it).  There is no way you could drive in this City - the traffic is absolutely horrible and they are not very patient drivers.  Plus the motorcyles and scooters are fearless weaving in and out of traffic and up onto the sidewalks.

We had a metro pass so we took trains as well which was interesting and we decided we would probably fail horribly at The Amazing Race because we are not very good map readers - Michael was always our map guide and we needed him!  Of course there is the obstacle of everything being in French.  We survived though and only got lost once on our way home from the Eiffel Tower.  This sweet guy must have felt sorry for us and he pointed us in the right direction.  I think us standing at a street corner staring at a map probably tipped him off we were in trouble. 

People - 

We have found the people to very friendly to us when they realize we don't speak French.  Sometimes you can tell they are a little annoyed but we understand.  The owners and workers in the smaller cafe's are the nicest.  In the larger more formal places they seem to be a little more annoyed.

We had the absolute best experience last night with a sweet old lady.  After the guy helped us find our way we both swore that from now on in Seattle when we see a tourist looking lost we are going to "pay it forward" and help them.  Not 5 minutes after we said that we came upon this small street corner with a cute cafe and this probably 85 year old woman trying to cross the street.  She was super shaky and we asked if we could help her because the drivers are not patient at all.  She said yes and handed us her house keys!  We each helped her get across and then she had me help use her keys to get her into her building.  Nick was holding the main front door open as we didn't know if we would get locked in (too many scary movies lol).  She told me "thank you" and kissed me on the cheek.  Then she said "please tell the Mr thank you".  It made us realize how good it feels to pay things forward and she was adorable.

We both loved Paris and agreed we would like to come back.  The last thing we did before we headed back to our hotel to pack was attach a lock to the bridge of locks with our anniversary on it.  Awe....sweet right?

Off on the bullet train tomorrow to Grenoble!

Nick and Barb

It's Not The Journey-It's the Destination

That is definitely the correct title for the beginning of our adventure.

As most of you know when you plan a trip it all looks great and logical on paper right?  Well we tend to forget things like Nick and I DO NOT sleep well on airplanes and we did 2 red-eye flights back to back...yes 2 of them.  Needless to say we were beyond exhausted when we finally arrived in Paris. 

So a few things we learned:

Red-Eye flights - In the future we will avoid them at all costs!
Delta Sky-Club at JKF - heaven on earth when you have a 14 hr layover - that shower was worth every penny.
Taking all carry-on....well let's just say that we jumped at the chance to "gate-check" our bags at Heathrow.  But will probably be a great idea as this trip moves along.

SEA-JFK - We were very excited to be starting our trip and thought we would sleep fine since Nick had worked all day and I had gotten up early to get stuff done around the house.  A very nice dinner at the airport and a few glasses of wine - yeah no problem.  WRONG. 

I love Alaska Airlines but dang "coach" seats are not comfortable on their aircraft to sleep in - we both tossed and turned for hours even though we were exhausted.  We were welcomed to New York by the most beautiful sunrise and the reality that it was 5:30 am and we had hours until we were to head into NYC for the day. 

We bought a day pass into the Delta Sky-Club (like I said worth every penny) and ate breakfast, took a shower, stretched out, read - just plain relaxed and napped on and off.

We stored our bags and took off into NYC to see "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway. 

We both love NYC and we have been there enough that it kind of feels like coming home. We had an awesome brunch at "Lillie's" which is directly across the street from the theatre.   The show was amazing.  We laughed so hard and were only 11 rows from the stage so we could see everything.  So incredibly fun and I'm glad we chose that to do for the day. 

After the show we walked around Times Square - had cheesecake at "Junior's" at then hailed a cab back to JFK. 

JFK-Heathrow

We upgraded our seats on our Delta International flight which was way more comfortable.  I had NO problem sleeping this time but Nick only slept maybe an hour he said. 

Landed at Heathrow which is a nice airport except their version of "TSA" does not have the same rules ours does.  I had to prioritize my carry on "toiletries" and had to throw away the rest.  So ladies you will understand when I say it was all about what cost the most.  Face lotion - no freaking way that crap is expensive!  Sun tan lotion - bye bye.

Heathrow-Paris

After a short 45 minutes flight to Paris which Nick passed out on - he he - we hailed a cab and headed to our hotel.

We love seeing new places and the drive thru different areas of Paris was fascinating.  Tons of motorcycles and scooters zooming in and out of traffic, flower boxes in windows, old-old buildings.  Very fun to take it all in. 

We are now at the "Hotel Des Grand Hommes" in Paris - which is directly next to the "Pantheon".
Cutest little hotel in a beautiful area - I love these types of places. 

So our "journey" was definitely worth it once we got to our first destination of Paris

.  We must have looked pretty worn out because the gal that checked us in said "wow you guys look tired"...:)

Hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July - they really don't care about that over on this side of the world....:)