The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. --Augustine (354-430)
"The Road Not Taken"
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could.
To where it bent in the undergrowth,
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost
Visited Countries Map
The trip to Chartes was magical. Not only is the medieval cathedral something beautiful to behold with its gorgeous stained glass and intricate stone carvings...but...we arrived in time to participate in a wedding! The organ resounded through the church as the bride walked the aisle; following the ceremony the bell tower peeled joyously for ten minutes as the wedding party (including uniformed gendarmes) posed for pictures outside the ancient portico. Yes, it was worth the trip just for this experience. Our drive to Paris was uneventful, but the drive through Paris to the rental return was frightening. Sunday was spent at the Louvre, walking every gallery. Our final dinner in the Latin Quarter was a high-calorie feast of French fondue followed by a dessert of (yes) chocolate fondue. We talked about Weight Watchers on the plane
... read moreVoila! We left Ansouis at 10 am and checked into a hotel in Sancerre at 7pm....but the adventure has been marvelous! When we began the journey our plan was to travel to Orleans, near Chartes, but a major accident on the autoroute near St. Entienne moved us onto the N7 roadway through the heart of France....driving through hills dotted with farms and dairy herds. Here is where the best cheeses in France are crafted. The scenery is gorgeous! As we headed further north we began to notice the vineyards. In the south we saw vines bearing grapes for red wines; now the vines are smaller and more dense...here they grow the sauvignon grapes for white wines. Sancerre is a small hill town about two hours south of Paris, a tourist destination with an amazing view. In
... read morewe have left ansuois and have started our adventure drive to Paris. We decided almost on impulse to leave Provence and weave our way through the french countryside. We dont know where we will be staying tonight but that is part of the charm. Right now I am at an internet cafe and out the window I see the 2000 yeqr old Arc de Triumph built by the Romans to celebrate their victories in their first province outside of Italy. Next stop Chartes to see the famous cathedral...and then Paris
... read moreWe've been staying in the lovely Provencal town of Ansouis, in the Luberon hills region. Wine country and small beautiful hill towns. We are sharing a maison (small home) with our family - Roy's brother and sister and their spouses. The home is large, comfortable and located on the main street of this tiny place. One boulagerie (fresh baked croissants every morning), on bar across the street (Bar des sports) and one local Tabac (for daily English newspapers)....but alas, no internet cafe in this town. I'm currently using my brother-in-law's dial-up connection to post this quick note. very s-l-o-w, so no pictures posted until we arrive in Paris on the weekend. Each day here is a wonderful adventure...we toured the wine caves (cah-vaz not kaves) yesterday - even met a woman who was selling wine in
... read moreWe are having a great time on the rough Northern coast of Spain known as the Costa Brava. For our friends still residing in Minnesota think of the North Shore of Lake Superior but the natives here speak Catalan rather than Minnesotan. Even though there has been rain each day we have been playing in the surf a bit & enjoying the local hill towns such as Pals with a 9th century church (including an alcove with an automatic candle dispenser that we mistook for a Coke machine at first. The picture of the madonna on the front was our first clue), a rebuilt castle, and lots and lots of nice shops. Next we visited the seaside town of LLfranc & had a cafe con leche & choclat. We sat at the same chairs that Sophia
... read moreWe have the corner room overlooking the Meditterean Sea and the beautiful little costal town of Calella de Palafreugell. The ocean waves are breaking just below our room and quite close actually to the houses and bungelows built right down to the sea. We are on our beach walk now stopping at this combination dive shop (owned by germans I suppose because all they are speaking here is Deutch) and Internet cafe. We plan to take a hike up to LLfranc up the rocky coast and stop off every few minutes for a little contemplation and possibly a little refreshment. We hope is well with all our friends back hope! Adieu!
... read moreThis is our second day in this wonderful city and we are starting to master the layout and the Catalan language. For instance: dos cervezas, si us plau! seems to be well understood here. We visited Sagrade Familia a few minutes ago. This is one of the most strangely designed cathredals in the world. It is a project start by Gaudi in the early 1900´s and is not scheduled to be finished until 2020. We are heading up to the Parc Guell in a few minutes in the Bus Turistic (hop on & hop off.) We expect the park to be just as weird as the cathedral. That is all for now so in Catalan: ADIEU!
... read moreDid Roy say that the train was Gran Classe...well...we didn´t sleep much at all during the 12 hour trip. Arrived here at 9am and we have yet to check into the hotel. We took a bus tour of the city which was awesome. Wild and Weird architecture...after we shower and rest we´ll tour again to see the city lights at night. Gaudi is the famous architect who designed many of the crazy structures we´ve seen today. going back to view Sagreda Familia (a famous church) later today. Yes, we love the adventure....and especially the tapas and cold beer...more later from us, with photos...
... read moreIt is a city for lovers & we are renewing our love for one another here in this beautiful city! We made it to Paris safe and sound. We have been all over the city already and stayed up until almost 9:00PM last night. Of course, we had a beautiful french dinner at a lovely little restaurant. The 2002 Bordeau from Margaeux was great, too. We are off to the effiel tower today & a possibly a few other places as well. We will be leaving on an overnight hotel train (gran glasse) to Barcelona about 8:30PM this evening.
... read more We are on our way! to Paris! to Barcelona! to the Costa Brava! to Provence! We wish all our friends well as we start our vacation. Please wish us 'Bon Voyage' and look for more entries in the near future!
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