29. Wrap-up...we're home now

Getting home is always a little hectic, a little disappointing, and fantastic, all at the same time. Lynn got a  frenzied welcome home from our newest dog, Sheldon, when she came in the door yesterday, and a similar welcome from Newman when she picked him up this afternoon. We had a ton of mail from the past month,  3/4 of which could have been thrown away BEFORE being delivered to us. The cars still work, we bought some basic groceries to get going again on our normal lives, and unloaded our stuff from suitcases. BEST NIGHT'S SLEEP in a month, being back in our own bed!

Unusual things on this last leg of the trip? Well, we've never been confined 12 hours in an airplane with a barking dog before, but it happened this time! The dog was usually quiet, in a carrier at its owner's feet, but occasionally would break into a prolonged barking spell...if we'd been on the ground, the other passengers would have thrown them out the bus door or window!

Ferrari Store Rome Airport: Sure, I'll take one!

 Waiting for our flight to board in Rome, we found a Ferrari store in the opulent businesses in the airport Mall. They don't sell Ferraris per se - but you can buy any kind of Ferrari clothing or lifestyle accessory you can think of at inflated prices, because it says "Ferrari" on it. My favorite was the Ferrari Formula 1 car on display. The flight was much longer than we're used to, but that's because we took off from Rome I guess, so no complaints. Got a new technique for hauling luggage all through the airport ... rent one of those three-wheel luggage carrying carts. Wow, why didn't we think of this before! We have been eating so healthy and such good fresh food the past 3+ weeks that we found airport snack food was bad for our insides. Maybe we are totally cured of bad eating habits?...Nahhhhh, but we've slowed it down for awhile.

Once we got home to Jupiter, computer access is back to what we consider normal. So, I spent a few minutes updating our photos in blogs number 25 and 26, if you are interested. We're doing it to keep our diary straight, so we can read about our trip later after we forget the details!

Thanks again for following our adventures - we had a lot of fun, and are ready to go back already.

LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104261232464745572476/ProvencePhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink

28. NICE and ROME

This was another stellar day, starting with our home made breakfast by chef Jean Bernard at his home…our B&B  last night. We were again flabbergasted by the spread of food he put out just for us, a full French/Continental type breakfast, PLUS fresh scrambled eggs from the chickens he keeps in his yard, and all kinds of other stuff we didn’t have room to eat. Lynn had many more conversations in French with Jean Bernard, during and after breakfast. If you ever go to St. Paul De Vence, you HAVE to stay with Jean Bernard, is all I can say! And be sure to make friends with his wonderful cocker spaniel, Vicki…the dog is a dear.

Another  beauty of our B&B was it’s closeness to the NICE airport. As our son-in-law Art would say, it’s in the NICE part of France. It took us only 1/2 hour to get to the airport, in morning rush hour traffic, and to find our rental car return garage. You can’t believe how free the feeling is when you finally get rid of the car!!! No more worrying about damage, parking, theft, or all the other concerns you have traveling with someone else’s car. We walked our bags in to the airport, checked the big bag and my bicycle case through to Miami, then settled down at our gate for the plane to Rome. More fun people-watching and reading, then we finally flew on Air Atalia to ROME. High point for us on this flight: Lynn's seat partner was a retired French lady heading for vacation, who spoke no English, so they jabbered away in French a long time. Lynn’s last opportunity to practice her second language on this trip, and it was fun.

Why go to Rome? Well, to get a direct connection flight to Miami the next day...21 hours later! We arrived in ROME in early afternoon, and checked into our room at the airport hotel just in time to catch the shuttle to downtown ancient Rome. We ran for it! Grabbed a map from the concierge and made it just in time. The bus was so relaxing, as the driver had to wrestle with horrid traffic and tight streets while we just watched the sights go by. We wanted to see the Spanish Steps, because we never saw them on previous trips to Rome with students. The bus driver just pointed straight ahead when he let us all out near the Coliseum … we were about 300 feet from the Steps! We took some pics of both sets pf steps we saw there. One of them is sure to be the ones Bob Dylan sang about in “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, or Guy Clark in “Dublin Blues”!  UPDATE: NOW, back in the room, Lynn points out that we have been BAMBOOZLED…the steps we saw weren't the Spanish Steps at all. Anybody can see on the internet that the Spanish Steps are much cooler than the ones we photographed. Oh well, refer to my next sentence regarding this goof-up!

FAKE Spanish Steps! Next trip to Rome we WILL see the real thing..."When I paint my masterpiece...

This was the fastest, lamest and most un-recommended tour of Rome ever conducted…if you go there, do NOT limit yourself to two hours and a fast lunch at a cafe like we did! In our defense, we have been here before, and were just killing the afternoon before flying home tomorrow a.m. BUT it sure felt funny to be almost running past these famous ancient sites, without exploring and thinking about them. Also, we found the Coliseum and the huge construction in front of the ancient ruins of the Forum were all covered with scaffolding, for renovation or reconstruction. So, it was hard to see some of the stuff we hoped to explore. And we were tired, too…so we headed down to catch the 5 p.m. shuttle back to the hotel. You should’ve seen Lynn hot-footing it through the crowds of tourists, to be sure we made it to the shuttle bus pickup site on time. If we missed it, we would’ve had to wait another 2 hours for the next shuttle. Two more hours of Rome crowds might have killed both of us. We got spoiled by our time in small, uncrowded places the past weeks.

We’re in our room, getting ready for the last flight of our trip. Flying home tomorrow is as big a drag as there can be - 8 hours or so from here to Miami, then drive home to Jupiter. Nothing exciting to report on there, so no post tomorrow. I’ll probably just write a final wrap-up later. Thanks so much for all your interest, and all the good wishes we’ve received during our time away. We sure are blessed with wonderful friends, family and experiences. Now, YOU go do something and write about it so WE can read it, OK? 

LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104261232464745572476/ProvencePhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink

27. GORGES DU VERDON to St. PAUL DE VENCE, and FONDATION MAEGHT

We had another great breakfast at our Moustiers B&B, including Martine’s homemade yogurt, said heartfelt goodbyes because she and her husband have been so pleasant and accommodating to us, then hit the road for a (we thought) relatively quick trip to St.Paul De Vence for our last night in France. What a misconception! 

It turns out you can’t come to remote mountains and canyons, and be close to straight-through highways at the same time. Since we’ve been navigating mostly by the GPS unit in our car, we hadn’t taken the trouble to actually LOOK at the roads/route we were going to be driving. The trip was a LOT longer, and a lot more fun driving, than anticipated. We had to go through a lot of the same type narrow twisty roads, tunnels, climbs and descents as we did yesterday in our grand tour of the Canyons…for about three hours! Lynn was a little queasy after we finally straightened out near the destination, but it was a fun drive. The scenery was again spectacular - these mountains and valleys take on completely different appearance as the sun angle changes during the day. We had very little traffic, but some motorcyclists and sportscars were out playing on the mountain roads and passed us like rockets. Once, two guys wearing race helmets and chasing each other in Lotus 7 sportscars screamed by us, throwing themselves into the twisties ahead, having a blast. I loved it, was jealous, and noticed they were both sporting Czechoslovakia emblems on the rear deck. This must be what people feel like when a couple of us nuts in Cobras come screaming by, chasing each other on the twisty roads n North Carolina. 

ANOTHER Hill-Top Village - the best one yet! St. Paul De Vence

Lynn's favorite French car ever, Citroen 2CV, being used as a luxury hotel shuttle

We arrived in St. Paul De Vence from the BACK way, leaving the mountains permanently behind, and officially arriving on the Cote d’Azur of France. This is probably the most beautiful hilltop town we ever saw - forget all those other ones we earlier said were the best! What a magnificent place, all twisted in upon itself  with narrow streets, narrower stairways climbing to hidden courtyards and villas, and (of course) hundreds of shops selling outrageously expensive stuff. The cool part was, all the commerce took place on a couple of central streets, so when Lynn and I hiked all the teeny side streets and the ramparts, we had the place pretty much to ourselves, almost no other tourists at all. The residents of this ancient walled village have beautiful homes, with lots of greenery and colorful flowers in abundance. I guess this shows the wealth and mild climate present here along the Mediterranean Sea coast. We ate some lunch at a cafe overlooking the homes strung out along the near mountainsides, took photos, and kept moving!

After scoping out everything we could find in the old walled village, we headed to the Fondation Maeght…an unbelievably impressive art museum, containing sculptures, paintings and other creations by a variety of 20th Century modern artists, like Miro, Calder, Chagall, Braque, Giacometti. We toured the inside galleries, and liked the paintings and exhibits, but were totally blown away by the OUTSIDE works! A huge entry garden contained many larger than life sculpture works, an enormous kinetic fountain work, and so much more. The rear of the Museum was full of fantastic sculpture works as well, mostly associated with MIRO’S LABYRINTH, where an assortment of his sculptures and other works were displayed among fountains, pools, ancient trees and majestic mountain views. The setting was as tranquil and respectful of the art as could be, and invited you to stand or sit and quietly look at and absorb the works. Lynn remembered being here 22 years ago as a student, and having her photo taken at one of the big Miro scupltures in the Labyrinth garden. We wanted to recreate that picture, but photos are not allowed, so we passed. Instead, we bought a book of photos of the Museum, and have photographed a couple of the pages to give you an idea of this place. The photos are truly accurate, showing the museum and exhibits as we saw it today, with the same lighting, conditions and beauty.  Remember: THESE ARE PHOTOS OF PHOTOS...Hope you like them! 

We are now at our B&B, getting ready to enjoy a home-cooked supper by our host Jean Bernard. It smells incredible in here while he is cooking! He’s a delightful host, has a friendly cocker spaniel named Vicki (a boy) which is already in love with Lynn, and is playing the most wonderful music on his stereo while he cooks. This is the best “last day in France” we ever had! Tomorrow we fly to Rome, then a direct flight to Miami the next day, and we’re home. I’m already figuring when and how we can return.

P.S. We just staggered back to our room after dinner. What a special wonderful last night here! Jean Bernard and his girlfriend dined with us on the patio, with homemade bread, ratatouille made from veggies harvested from Jean Bernard's yard, roast chicken, wine,  and cheese for desert. And lots of French and English conversation for a couple of hours. This has been the best! We are on the receiving end of some good karma lately, I hope we are worthy of all this good fortune. 

LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104261232464745572476/ProvencePhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink

26. PARC NATUREL REGIONAL DU VERDON, GORGES DU VERDON, ROUTE DES CRETES, BUNGIE-JUMP SURPRISE!

We woke from deep, quiet, uninterrupted sleep in our country B&B, a nice change from the urban sleeping lifestyle we had in L’Isle. The most wonderful breakfast of the trip happened here: it was in a common room where everyone ate together, totally usual food fare, with Martine's homemade yogurt and hot chocolate . The gentleman in the room next to ours ate with us, and spoke only French. Lynn had an hour or so of conversation, covering (among other things) our trip, his trip, his home in Brittany, cycling, Lance Armstrong, Greg LeMond, the 1992 Tour de France finishing stage in Paris, plus vivid descriptions  and suggestions for our drive today around the Gorges du Verdon. What a treat, he was so open and interesting, and was so happy with Lynn’s abilities in French. So was I … I caught the gist of the conversation, but missed a lot of nuance for having no French vocabulary! 

Our breakfast friend produced a map and exact directions for touring the Gorges, which we promptly followed, not expecting much of a thrill. What a smashing surprise - this place really grabbed us! The roads were twisty and climbing, not crowded at all because of our early start, and scenic as could be. We stopped at overlooks, and were constantly amazed as the scenery just kept getting better. DEEP canyon gorges have been carved by the River Verdon over the eons of time, like in our Grand Canyon. The rock and mountain formations are just fantastic, and not susceptible to description in words. Pictures will have to suffice, and they are a poor replacement for what we actually saw. The Gorges goes on for MILES, photos don't show the side canyons and immensity of this place. Crystal turquoise-colored river water WAYyyyyyy down at the bottom of the canyon, flowing fast enough for white-water stretches visible from our high viewing points. Tall majestic limestone mountains jagged and jutting randomly from the earth, with roads and tunnels cut through to allow us to drive and see. Small towns spaced far apart, with working farms growing hay and other stuff in the open fields back from the Gorges. TONS of sportscars, motorcycles, cyclists, mountain climbers, hikers, kayakers, and every kind of outdoor person you can think of enjoying this place. I can’t think of enough to say, it is just so wonderful. OF COURSE it’s not the Grand Canyon, nothing could match that size, power and majesty, but holy cow, this is just awesome,  and for us was totally unexpected. Who knew? 

Awesome overlook, a guy took our pic together - NOT another selfie! 

Perforated tunnel across the canyon - we drove through it later today! 

We spent 5 or 6 hours driving the Gorges roads, including the most spectacular: Route des Cretes. It’s a loop road about 2 hours long, with the most stunning views and 
narrow stretches…two cars won’t fit, so it’s one-way most of the time, except sometimes when mountain guys are going between climbing spots! We saw a group of climbers setting out, with one guy blaring John Denver’s song “Country Roads” from his car stereo - what a surprise! I “spoke” to him about it - he spoke only German, and we finally concluded we both like John Denver, that Denver's real name was German (Dusseldorf?), we’re sad he died in a self-inflicted airplane crash, he was a singer guitarist & amateur marine biologist who knew Jacques Costeau and wrote a song about Cousteau's ship "Calypso", and that this guy’s father built furniture for John Denver … or at least, I THINK that’s what we talked about! See, it HELPS if you know a few words of some languages outside English...but not absolutely necessary.

Another overlook at another part of the canyon

We stopped at a place to see a fantastic sight, we thought. It was called “Point Sublime”, so what would you expect? Well, it was interesting, but mostly a collection of rocky shale walking paths, with an overlook of the Gorges that showed nothing particularly great…we must’ve been missing something. I added a stone to the stacks of memorial rocks sitting there at the Point, then we did the most important thing: bought a sandwich “to go” (a emporter)  for lunch and hit the road!

Adding one more rock to the stacks at Point Sublime! 

We were determined to eat our picnic lunch somewhere on a table where we could sit down, with a beautiful view. The drive kept being fantastic, and eventually we came to a beautifully-designed arch bridge spanning the deep gorge, “Pont de l’Artuby”. It had a workable road pull-off and big stones for sitting and eating. Perfect for our picnic…except while we were eating, I noticed a guy crawl up on the bridge and JUMP OFF into the gorge!!!!!   We’d stumbled upon a bungee-jumping business, dumping people off the Pont into the Gorges du Verdon as fast as they could. The jumper would leap, bounce a few times making all kinds of happy or terrified noises, then be lowered to the floor of the gorge, and the rigging cranked back up to the bridge for another customer! Amazing! Lynn tried to get some pics, hope they came out OK.

See the guy horizontal at the bridge? HE JUST JUMPED OFF attached to the bungee cord! 

Driving through the "perforated tunnel" later in the afternoon

On our way back to our B&B, we passed through the little town we accidentally visited last night, Aiguines. Today, it was charming and the businesses were OPEN, so people were milling about and the town’s beauty was apparent. Fantastic views of the mountains, the lake, and the 14th Century Chateau overlooking it all up on a higher part of the mountain. Not to mention, it had the nicest public restrooms so far in France…with a VIEW just outside the door! We took advantage of the restrooms, because that is our one iron-clad rule when traveling in Europe: ALWAYS use an available bathroom when you see it, because they are usually NOT available when you’d LIKE them to be! 

One of my favorite sportscars of all time: Westfield-Lotus 7. This guy ripped the mountain roads all day, passing us several times! 

Looking down to the 14th Century Chateau at Aiguines. overlooking the huge lake below...notice the intricate beautifully colored tile roofs on the cone-shaped turret tops.

The drive finished, I dropped Lynn back off at Moustiers Ste-Marie, so she could finish looking at the town and all the Faience artists and shops and whatever other stuff there is in the little businesses there! I came back to the B&B, mangled my way through a conversation with our hostess to arrange reservations for supper tonight, and typed this up…while sitting at a shaded outdoor table overlooking the mountains and (the owner SAYS…) the fantastic lake. Supper ended up being a lot of fun, AND we found the only beer Lynn really likes: Leffe Ruby, on draft at our restaurant. Classy! 

Our trip is winding down for sure, and we are the luckiest people alive to be able to pull this stunt. Thanks to all our friends, family, and my co-workers who have made this possible. We loved doing a month-visit trip three years ago to Brittany, and believe that this trip has even been better. Thanks for being interested in our trip enough to read this stuff. It is humbling to think we are something anyone would want to read about! 

LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104261232464745572476/ProvencePhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink

25. HAUTE PROVENCE: VALENSOLE, MOUSTIERS-SAINT-MARIE, LAC DU ST. CROIX, and GORGES DU VERDON

Loading up the car this morning, I saw a cool sight: a huge  Petanque (boule)  tournament going on near our apartment in L’Isle! There must have been 150 guys playing, on at least twenty courts, all wearing orange event T-shirts. We don’t fully understand this game, but it is hugely popular all over France (like horse-shoes, shuffleboard, and bowling all combined)  and can be played anywhere there is a flat unpaved space. 

Petanque tournament, L'Isle

More Petanque guys, L'Isle

After saying good-byes to our nice landlords at the apartment in L’Isle sur la Sorgue, we happily hit the road for new scenery. Lynn got us a room at a Chambre de Hote near Moustiers-Saint-Marie, at one end of France’s Grand Canyon du Verdon (Gorges du Verdon). Reputed to be a cool town; we headed for it.

The topography in south France changes in relatively short distances. We drove two hours, roughly 180 kilometers or less, and ended up in a rustic National forest-type area in an alpine setting. In that short distance, we left the Vaucluse region, and entered the Var and Haute Provence regions. Temperatures dropped, mountains grew more high and sharp-peaked, and roads grew even twister and fun. We kept remembering how driving two hours from our home in Jupiter would just get us to Daytona, with the same old south Florida setting. Vive la Difference.

Valensole sidewalk cafe

Lunch on the road is something you have to plan for; there are no fast food joints or convenience stores along the way. Also, remember almost all eateries close after 2:00 p.m.  We were getting hungry around 12:30, so found a sidewalk cafe in a little uninteresting town called Valensole, about halfway to our destination. GREAT lunch, but always in the French manner: no rush, three courses (salad, main dish, desert and coffee if you want it). You HAVE to relax and not be thinking about fast-eating/get back on the road as quickly as possible…that ain’t the way it’s done here, in our experience. Anyhow our lunch lasted til they closed at 2, but the sidewalk setting was fun with lots of local scenery and people to watch.

We arrived at our Chambre de Hote - it’s a set of rooms attached to the owner’s home, like a B & B. We have a nice room and bath, with breakfast tomorrow and the next morning, and MAYBE WiFi for computer use. Computer hookup is always a crapshoot! We checked in, got our directions to town and sites to see, then headed out.

Lynn checks out B&B room - se bonne

Moustiers-St.Marie is quite the beautiful ancient mountain town. A centuries-old stone church (Chapelle de Dame-de-Beauvoir) is built way up the mountain, with loose stone steps up one way, and a prehistoric-looking stone goat path up the other, if you want to climb up and look. Like an idiot, I found the ancient goat path first, and climbed like a fiend to get to this church, only to find some nice people who weren’t even sweaty strolling around there because they knew to come up the stone stairs from town! 

Moustiers Ste-Marie main street...all uphill..look way up at the church

Hang glider off one of the peaks atop Moustiers

NICE part of  trail to mountain top church  - it got MUCH worse! 

Two stone mountain peaks come close together above the town, with a river tumbling into the town center, over some waterfalls and under beautiful stone-arch bridges. Water fountains and pools are all over town with the river furnishing the water for them. Someone strung a cable between the peaks and hung a big gold star from it. We saw some antique plates illustrating a rope bridge up there a century ago. Of course, the place is full of shops and tourist stuff. The area is famous for “Faience”  - ceramic pottery, I think, so Faience artistes are everywhere and their dishes, plates, and creations are beautiful…and very expensive. We thought this would be a typical one-hour tourist town visit, but found we just scratched the surface in our two hour stay this afternoon.We’ll probably go back tomorrow after exploring the Canyon…Lynn can shop some and I can hike some of the mountain trails leading in and out of Moustiers.

The reason we came is to see the Grand Canyon du Verdon (Gorges du Verdon)… France’s version of our own Grand Canyon. At the base of the canyon is Lac de St. Croix, a huge man-made lake created from a hydroelectric dam across the River Verdon, that supplies most of the electricity for Provence. 

Tonight we checked out the Lake, and couldn’t believe the crystal clear luminous turquoise water. We took some pics around sundown, I hope they show it as pretty as we saw it. Early tomorrow, we hope to drive the famous roads along the upper rim of the canyon. Views are supposed to be spectacular. But, we’ve been warned that on weekends the rim roads are terribly crowded with buses, cars, motorcyclists, and various gawkers (like us). We’ll try it early and see what happens. 

LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104261232464745572476/ProvencePhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink

24. DONE with L'ISLE sur la SORGUE, now Gorge Du Verdon (the Grand Canyon of France ) & Saint Paul De Vence

Last day in L’Isle sur la Sorgue today, so we spent a lot of time organizing for the remaining days of the trip, and I got in one last bike ride out in the beautiful Luberon countryside. It was a grey, windy, rainy-looking day this morning, but I remembered my own old saying “Riders get on the bike and RIDE, posers just talk about riding” … so I got on my bike and RODE ... the weather would take care of itself! 

Heavy headwinds, spitting rain, and mostly uphill riding made it a two hour ride to my favorite destination: the overlook brassiere/cafe at the hilltop town of Bonnieux. This was my third trip through that town, and third stop at the cafe. My waiter-buddy even recognized me, and we talked some with his English and my awful French. Wonderful place for a sandwich lunch, selfie picture with a view, then back on the bike to return to L’Isle. Wow, what a difference! It took me only one hour to make the return ride!!! Mostly downhill, strong tailwind, light traffic, fully sunny, no rain, and no stops for direction-finding made this a super ride. I took a couple of pics, then just nailed it for home. Pretty proud of my one hour trip back! What a great way to end the biking part of our trip. 

Heading for home outside Bonnieux

Tear the bike apart and pack into suitcase by the waterwheel

I spent an hour disassembling my bike and packing it into its suitcase. We found a shady spot by the river, across from one of the waterwheels, and did the job. Lynn had already packed up all her stuff while I was gone. We are ready to clear out of here tomorrow and see something new before flying home in a few days!

Here's LYNN'S take on the day: Today is our last day in the beautiful little town of Isle sur la Sorgue, but NOT the last day of our trip. I thought it would be nice to record some of the typical scenes of the town …. known for its water wheels and antique shops. One of the cars that you often see here in the South of France is the Deux Chevaux ( Citroen 2CV) and someday I would love to drive around in one in the States, LOL , well maybe, cause I have never actually ridden in one! 

Last waterwheel pic, with Lynn's favorite car, a white Citroen 2CV way in the background

colorful, unique artist shops on one of the side streets - we love the colors and design

There is a beautiful square in the center of town that circles, as so many towns here do, a church. This one is truly noteworthy and I’m embarrassed that we waited until the end of our time here to go inside. It is lovely - Notre Dame des Anges - angels are everywhere and it is gorgeous. 

Young students on field trip being led by teachers

Today we had a group of students all following their teachers walking through town. I’m not sure how they do it, but French students are very well behaved…our apartment overlooks a primary school and just a little ways down is the elementary. We have loved the sounds of children playing and being in the middle of an old village…but have to admit we are ready to get a good night’s sleep without street cleaners very early in the morning, one set of neighbors who have pretty loud arguments often, etc… 

One last river-in-town pic

Our next two nights will be spent in much higher altitudes in a French home in an area that comes highly recommended for not only the Gorge du Verdon, but a beautiful lake nearby….stay tuned for pics :-). Our last night in France will be in a beautiful little village, St. Paul de Vence, near Nice….and our last night of the trip will be in Rome….only one day but when the airline was trying to work out our frequent flyer tickets they said they could fly us direct from Rome to Miami if we didn't mind spending the night in Rome…well throw me in that briar patch!! 

LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104261232464745572476/ProvencePhotos?authuser=0&feat=directlink