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Barcelona
Statue to Columbus. Most countries lay claim to him. This statue is enormous. His pointing finger is 1/2 metre long.We haven't had good access to the net since we arrived in Barcelona, so this blog covers a fair span. We stayed in Barc 2 days, then onto Toulouse for a day, then Bordeaux for a longer visit before finally arriving in Paris last Friday, I think. My day to day jottings follow.
Barcelona is deceptive at first. Looks like a big business city and it is, but it is also a mecca for tourists and they cater for them very well. The city is clean and the people are obviously proud of their city and very welcoming. The government put on the tour busses and keep everything beautiful. The tour busses cover most of the city in 3 rings. We managed to do 2 of the 3 circuits. They were the hop on/hop off sort with double decker busses open top variety. The first thing that hits you is the architecture. The city was heavily influenced by a chap named Gaudi from the 1920’s through to his death in the 70’s. The cathedral built for the Sagrada family. The building is still continuing 25 years after his death and he devoted the last 30 or so years virtually exclusively
Placa d'Espagne
This is where the water show set to classical music was performed. There were 1000'sof people watching and the spontaneous applause at the end really made your skin tingle. to this building. The photos will show his unusual style and there are many other buildings in Barcelona which were designed by him also showing that style. I don’t know if the style extends to the rest of Spain or not as Barcelona is our only stop in Spain. I was blown away by the Cathedral and have added a few photos at the bottom. The man, Gaudi was not an architect as he is described! He was a dreamer who turned his dreams into reality. His devotion to the task of continuing the Cathedral, knowing that he would not be around to see it completed gives testimony to his faith. He was unpaid for many years and lived as a hermit inside the Cathedral. He was asked why he was producing a building that was taking so long and one he would not see. He said his employer was patient.
After seeing the first bit of Barcelona, we regretted not booking more nights, both in Barcelona and other cities in Spain. (next trip) The city, as you know was host to the 1992 Olympics and huge changes have taken place and are still being done. The city is constantly
Carcassone 2
Part of the walled city from afar. trying to make the place user friendly, by adding parks and facilities all the time. We ate at Hard Rock Café in Catalunga Square the first night. The square is amazing with 30 - 40 statues surrounding it and in the middle is a big roller skating surface. We sat down to eat at dusk 10:30pm! There was a Euro Cup match on so the square was alive. The following day we did another circuit. This one encompassed all the facilities used in the Olympics and also the dock area. The Bus got hit by a water bomb. Second time that has happened. This time was not as bad as the first time in Rome where a girl sitting a few rows up from us was absolutely drenched from head to toe. Good fun for the youngsters throwing, not so much for the recipient or their camera. In the evening of that, our last night, we were told by a guy on the tour bus that we simply had to go to the Placa d’Espana. They had fountains to spare lining two sides of an avenue leading up to a Palace, I think. In front of the Palace was a
Carcassone 3
Inner and outer walls. very large fountain lit from beneath. Just as we got there the display started. Set to classical music, the fountains began their dance. The light colours changed hue as the water jets shot water high into the air. When the show finished, there was spontaneous applause from the huge crowd. Truly awesome!
We went down to the harbour and had to have a paella. T’was great.
All in all, we would definitely visit Barcelona again! Apparently Barcelona is now the most visited port in the Med by cruise ships.
Our next stop was not so beautiful. Toulouse in France was a city with rubbish and graffiti problems. The city basically looks dirty with mush broken glass on the sidewalks. Hard to take pics of landmarks as the surrounding buidings are so close. There must be a link with Lebanon as there were so many kebab shops. We were only there on a stopover anyway so no matter.
The people at the Bordeaux B & B had asked us if we could check in late so we set GiPS to avoid motorways and toll routes for the trip to Bordeaux. It was beautiful traveling the back roads of south west
Carcassone 4
These ports in the wall for archers. France. Arrived late there after a struggle to get GiPS to find the place. Luckily she’d sent a mud map which after the 5th time, we eventually worked out. A lovely 18th farm built of stone. We are actually in the piggery section. Well it was a fair while ago. Nice self contained cottage now surrounded by vineyards on all sides and about 20km out of Bordeaux. Went into the city of Bordeaux the next day by tram. Very modern and clean city, flowers everywhere, again designed to cater to the pedestrian. Beautiful shops. We did a tourist walk taking in a few of the major monuments and also visited the tourist bureau where we booked in for a couple of Chateaux tours. One in Medoc and the other in Saint Emelion.
Next morning we were up bright and early to get to the first Chateaux in Medoc. It was a Grand Cru quality vineyard meaning they were very wealthy and had a guaranteed income from a strictly limited amount of production. They only made 2 types of wine, both made of the same varieties of grape. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. One was the high quality version,
Carcassone Stitch
The whole city from afar made from only the best parts and the other was the same but made of younger vines. The guide there was a young French guy who had actually been to Australia and New Zealand. There was no pressure whatsoever to buy and he spent quite a bit of time with us explaining their processes. The wine was excellent. He actually told us where we could buy the wines cheaper than he could sell it to us for and that place was owned by an Aussie with a French Wife. We spent more there than we should have, lol, but he also arranged the shipping, so that was good. The next Chateaux was in another appellation, south of Bordeaux. This Chateaux only did Merlot wines with a small percentage of Cabernet Franc. We weren’t as keen on this wine as the other. Might have been cos we had already blown the wine buying budget. The most memorable aspect of this Chateaux was the quarry. We were led up the garden path… to an opening in the side of a hill. Oh, ok, I thought. They’ve dug out an area for the tastings, which they had and an area for some barrels.
Toulouse
Water skiiing in front of a UNESCO protected building This then opened out into other tunnels, then more and so on. The quarried out caverns went on for miles. They had built all the buildings on the estate from the limestone quarried there plus many more. The guide showed us a vent hole up to ground level and you could see about 3 metres of solid limestone and then about ½ a metre of dirt to ground level. You could actually see the roots of the vines as they passed through the top layer of soil and then into the solid limestone rock. The guide said this was why the wine was so good in that the vines were stressed, thus producing less juice, but more concentrated and finer wine.
By this time it was nearly 6pm and we took a leisurely drive through the countryside wasting time before arriving at a recommended restaurant. 8 o’clock would be the earliest you would arrive for dinner and even that was a little early. Luckily we were early because when we arrived, it was closed on Wednesdays. Hmmm, ok, let’s check out the restaurants listed in GiPS! Next one, closed, next one, closed. Eventually found one open in a little town
Toulouse 2
After dinner stroll. called Cadillac (Cadeeyac) near to our cottage.
Last day in Bordeaux. The tourist bureau on the first day had told us about a wine fete held every 2 years on the banks of the Gironde River and for the first time we hadn’t arrived just after it had finished. It was starting for 3 days on the last day of our stay in that city. The 11 areas of the Bordeaux area were showcasing their wines. We bought a pass which included 11 tastings, one for each area, plus some free water and some other little treats. We arrived at midday and by 3 pm had got through half of the tents on the quay. Stopped for lunch, I had oysters with some of the sparkling white from one of the areas. Fran had sausages which she ordered without knowing what they were. We skipped the Fois Gras, which we’d tried before. It was just slightly flavoured fat really. Then we decided to have a break and walk into the city for a spot of window shopping. I managed to finally replace my hat. Then back to work at the tastings. We met up with a couple of groups of
d'Artagnan
A lot of towns in south west France lay claim to the origin of the Three Musketeers. Aussies during the day. First was 3 girls doing 3 months in Europe and the second was a couple doing a year backpacking. Dinner was back in the city at a nice little place with a young mad Irish waiter who was really funny. I wasn’t particularly hungry, unusually.
Next morning, we made arrangements for the long trip to Paris to meet up with Lib. I still wasn’t hungry in the morning, so we set off. As the trip progressed, I felt worse and worse.
Damned oysters!!
Arrived in Paris late afternoon and had a joyful reunion with Lib but I headed for the toilet and then to bed. Fran and Lib went for coffee and when Fran returned, I told her to head off for dinner without me. She mentioned that she thought the river stank, but I wasn’t up with things at that stage. The B&B was an oldish 2 storey house right on the river. Lib was on the 1st floor and we were on the 2nd. About 11pm I woke and after visiting my old friend the toilet, realised the place was full of mozzies and as hot as Hades. No fan, so I
Bordeaux
This and a similar one on the other side in front of a massive tree lined square. went down the stairs to see if there was any fly spray or fan downstairs. I got to the first floor and found that I was locked in. Funny, I thought…. I gave Fran a ring and she said she’d left the door open but was coming home immediately. When she and Lib arrived, they found they were locked out. They managed to get in and Fran imparted her major misgivings about the B&B and the owner whose first impression to me was that of being a bit slimy. The place was not too clean either and I’m pretty sure the sheets weren’t clean. We told the owner we were going out again. (Fran secretly wanted to check out other accommodation.) The owner said “You can’t go out! Fran said we were and we did! After getting a key (which didn’t actually work, so we left the door unlocked for our return) The lateness of the hour made it impossible to make other arrangements that night so we returned but were up at six for an early flit. We’d paid for one night as deposit from home, so we left another nights fee and a note and were very glad
Bordeaux
The Music and Opera Theatre. Atop are the statues of the Muses. to be out. My tummy was better by this stage. We managed to find a hotel which was very reasonable in their rates and in a much nicer area. The people at this hotel were so obliging and helpful.
After settling in, we headed of on the subway for the centre of Paris. Ended up spending the afternoon in a departments store, didn’t we. Hahahaha, well it was a helluva store. Printemps was 3 separate buildings, each with about 7 storeys. One of the buildings had a restaurant in it with a massive stained glass dome. Lib, however, had heard about another restaurant in the same store, albeit another building with a restaurant outside on the roof. This was where we had lunch overlooking Paree. Eiffel Tower on one side, temples, churches, monuments, domes all around. As I was feeling much better by his time, I had a nice salad. Arrived back at the hotel around 5 and had a rest and we decided to eat local. Tomorrow’s Sunday and we’re going to a market on the Left Bank, I think.
Sunday 29th June
The three of us set off for the markets on an overcast and quiet Sunday morning.
Bordeaux Sights
The fountain in Bourse Palace Square. Two changes on the Metro and we were there. Bottle shops, cheese shops, cherry shops, pâté shops and patisseries abounded. From there we went to the Paris Pantheon. Paid our way in and entered this huge building where Voltaire is interred. In the centre of the Pantheon is a pendulum reaching almost to the floor and it tells the time by the swinging of the gold orb on the bottom. Don’t exactly know how it works other than something to do with the rotation of the Earth. Downstairs is the Crypt where Martyrs of the Republique are kept. An interesting display there is about Zola (a journalist) and his court cases in the early 20th Century.
Outside again, we went down the hill to the Latin Quarter and past the hotel where Fran, Lib & Kathy stayed on their trip. Onto the Metro again for a trip to Bon Marche which wasn’t open unfortunately. We diverted to the Luxembourg Gardens instead, set around the Luxembourg Palace. These gardens are where the apartment dwellers come to play with the kids, eat, sleep, read and generally relax. The place was pretty and well utilized. From the gardens, we went back into the
Chateaux Franc Mayne
Our first Chateaux. It was not spectacular but the wine was divine! Beautifully landscaped gardens surround. Latin Quarter for a drink and to decide where to have dinner. We went past two free concerts being held for the people in separate locations (viva la Republique) and into the Odeon Square where the cinemas are. The French certainly love their cinema judging by the fast moving queues. We selected a restaurant close by and hoofed it there and met the owner, who seemed very nice. We had high hopes as the book hadn’t let us down. We have found that French restaurants send the meals out like bullets and if you’ve ordered a bottle of wine, you have finished the meal before you’ve drunk half the bottle of wine. We mentioned this to the owner and said we required at least 20 min between the entrée and the main. Fully 1 minute after the entrée dishes had been cleared and our mains arrived. We were not impressed! The meal was delicious, though, but the lack of being able to get water and the attempts to speak to the owner, who obviously did not care, left a bad taste. We have been warned about this. When they realise you are tourists and once you are in the door,
Franc Mayne Cellar
They change these top of the range French oak barrels every 2 years. $1000 a pop is nothing to the Grand Cru rated Chateaux good service ends as they know they won’t see you again.
Ten thirty by the time we left and still light. The river Seine wasn’t far so we strolled along the banks watching the sight seeing and restaurant boats ply their trade at dusk. A really special time to remember! We talked to a nice young couple oalong the way.
When it was dark, we left the bank and entered Saint Michel Square. Spain had just won the Euro Cup in soccer and there was absolute pandemonium in the Square. The Fountains were a favourite place for the revelers. Judging by the celebrations, I cannot imagine what it was like when Alicia was here when France won the World Cup.
We were all very tired by this time and somehow we managed to get the train home. Wrong Metro line, though, but close.
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brettnfran
Brett and Fran
Paris
Oo La La what a beautiful city. Deb I was priviliged and I mean that to spend these wonderfull days with Fran and Brett. We did all the non touristy things and loved them all even the bloody Metro - thanks Brett!!! - kept us fit and able to have that extra croissant!!!!!!