Normandy

This will be my last post while in Europe, at least on this trip! We have just returned from Normandy and really enjoyed our time there. It is a solemn place and we felt the presence of all those soldiers who were there 66 years ago.

We were gone for 5 nights. The drive from Sablet to Arromanches, the beach town where we stayed, is quite long and we didn't try to do it all in one day. The first night, we stayed in the Loire valley, just outside the little town of Vouvray. We stayed in a large country house and enjoyed a delicious dinner in town with a local white wine, of course! The next day we drove to Caen, the regional capital of Normandy. It has a wonderful museum that shouldn't be missed! One could spend a day there easily. There are many movies and audio visual effects, plus pictures, objects and written commentary. Our GPS got us off the freeway and into the parking lot just fine. We spent half a day there, becoming informed and being appropriately prepared for what we would see on the coast.

When we got to our hotel in Arromanches, we were impressed with the community. The town is at the site where the British established an artificial, floating harbor so that men, vehicles and supplies could be unloaded quickly after D Day. Some of the harbor is still there; some far out in the water and some on the beach where it can be closely examined. The town still has posters up thanking their liberators and there is a well done museum, mostly about the Mulberry project (artificial harbor). This engineering feat had never been done before - it is quite amazing!

On our first full day there, we went to the museum and also to a 360 degree presentation in a special facility nearby. It concerned D Day (Jour J, as they call it) also. Then we drove down the coast toward the American beaches. Our first stop was at the best remaining German gun battery. It was unsettling to see the gun bunkers and to imagine their power. As we walked around, we observed the pattern that we would see repeatedly. The adult visitors were quiet as they carefully looked at each bunker, weapon etc. They were respectful and thoughtful. The young children saw cannons as things to climb on and the hills above to jump on. Even they however did not scream and shout at each other. They knew that something important had happened there.

After the German guns, we drove further and arrived at the American cemetery. Again, a very subdued place. A wonderful movie, featuring three soldiers who gave their lives on June 6, 1944, is shown and there are visual displays worth seeing inside the building there as well. Then we went outside. We walked to the overlook to Omaha beach, where 1200 Americans died. Their marbles crosses and stars of David were behind us and we walked through them to the small chapel in the middle of the cemetery. Then we went back to the major memorial and arrived in time to see the American flags retired for the day and to hear taps played. Visitors from all over the world stood at attention and Jon and other veterans saluted. A very moving moment. We were ready to drive back to the hotel.

The following day we drove directly to Omaha beach. We walked from a parking lot until we were underneath the cemetery and could see the flags. We found small pieces of metal; even though hundreds of tons were removed right after the war, many more small pieces still remain. It felt like hallowed ground, where so much blood was shed. We didn't talk much. I could sense what it must have been like for my father who arrived in Normandy a couple of days after D Day. What he must have seen there, and in the rest of Europe. He would never talk to us about it much. I felt him with me there that day.

From there we went to Point du Hoc, the steep cliffside that the Army Rangers scaled in order to wipe out the devastating German guns there. The ground has been left as it was then, with deep craters from the intense aerial and naval bombardment there in the soil. Three fourths of the Rangers were either killed or seriously wounded in that struggle.

We went on then to Ste. Mere Eglise, the little town made famous by "The Longest Day" as the place where the 101st. Airborne division paratroopers landed in support of the beach invasion. On that day, one soldier got caught on the top of the church and was shot since he was in plain view of the Germans. A parachute and mannikin hang from the church today to remind visitors of those brave airmen. There are also banners over the streets and shops full of military objects and clothes as well as another museum.

As we drove back to the hotel, we noticed how few buildings survived the heavy fighting of the Allied invasion. Some churches, walls etc are there, but most have had to be rebuilt. Only seven buildings were left standing in Arromanches, for example. The French people suffered terribly and rightfully claim to have contributed in a major way to the Allied victory in Europe.

On Monday we drove from Arromanches to Le Mont St. Michel, the famous abbey on the little island just off the coast. We did not go completely across the 2 mile causeway to get to it, but did stop and take photos. It is very picturesque and causes one to stare as though it is not real! We had a delicious Bretagne crepe lunch and then continued on to the city of Poitiers for the night.

The next day we drove south via Toulouse, and west via Carcassonne, Montpelier and Nimes and finally back to our own village of Sablet. I wish we could have explored the Dordogne, known for its Cro Magnon cave paintings, and Carcassonne, the incredible walled city from the 11-13th. centuries. The latter caused us both to gasp as we saw it from the highway - it looks too perfect! We were glad to arrive "home" though and enjoyed ribs for dinner in our favorite restaurant in the center of town.

Today we have been packing, doing some laundry and turning our attention to the homeward journey. My final post will let you know that we made it!

Photos, from top left: the view from our hotel window in Arromanches; "Arromanches the key to the victory in Normandy"; low tide reveals the remains of the floating dock; the German gun placements; craters in the earth at Point du Hoc; Omaha beach today; the American cemetery; signpost; small pieces of metal on Omaha beach; Point du Hoc; Ste. Mere Eglise church and the paratrooper; the abbey at Le Mont St. Michel.

Switzerland

We have just returned from spending 6 days in Switzerland and we are so glad that we took the opportunity to go there. It is what the stereotypes say it is and so much more!

We divided our time between 3 places. Lausanne is a large city of 150,000, Murren is a tiny mountain village of 400 plus tourists, and Murten is a lakeside community of several thousands not far from the capital of Bern. Three very different experiences but all very Swiss!

We drove first to Lausanne which is not far from Geneva. We made out way to our hotel, following the driving directions from the hotel. It was centrally located in the old town and very near a metro stop to the waterfront. When we arrived, it was late afternoon and very warm. We had a wonderful dinner later that evening and then walked around the old town a bit. We saw people of many races walking together and heard various languages being spoken; we had the strong impression of a multicultural, international city. The predominant language here is French, but German is heard everywhere and is the first language in much of the rest of the country.

The next day, we took the metro to the waterfront and went to the TI immediately to see what options we had for a boat trip on Lake Geneva. The lake is long and roughly crescent shaped. Lausanne is along the long north edge about 2/3 of the way toward the east tip. Boats leave there to go to various points on the lake, including Evian, famous for it's water and spas. We wanted to spend several hours on the water and to see Chateau Chillon (made famous by Lord Byron) and Montreux, the upscale town with a famous jazz festival. We ended up taking the train to Chillon to have lunch and tour the castle and then taking a 2 hour boat trip back to Lausanne. It was the perfect way to spend a hot day. The castle was cool and it took us 2 1/2 hours to see it all. Then we walked a short distance and waited for the boat. We sat upstairs by an open window, sipped wine and watched the beautiful scenery go by.

When we got back to Lausanne, we walked on the promenade along the lake to the Olympic museum and sculpture park. We knew the museum would be closed since it was late in the day, but the sculptures were beautiful and fascinating. All were donated by various national Olympic committees, including a Haida pole from the Vancouver group. Some celebrated specific athletes but most interpreted the spirit and goal of the Olympic games. After enjoying the park, we walked back toward the metro and found a restaurant for a delicious dinner of fresh fish.

The next day, our plans took us first to the town of Gruyeres where the delicious cheese is made. We took a tour of the plant, which was entertaining and then enjoyed cheese fondue in their restaurant. From there we drove to Interlaken and then into the hills to Lauterbrunnen. There we left the car in a parking garage, gathered our luggage and took a cable car up a couple of thousand feet! We then took the Panorama train to the little Alpen village of Murren. Here we found the Switzerland of Heidi! Towering mountain peaks surrounded us, including the famous Jungfrau and Eiger. Valleys had tiny hamlets of farm houses. Bells could be heard tinkling from the necks of cows and sheep in fields high above us. Wildflowers and waterfalls were everywhere. We had a reservation in the Hotel Bellevue - perfect name! - in the middle of the town. Our room was in a corner on the third floor and our views from two balconies were awesome. The weather was perfect when we arrived and we were fortunate because that did not continue. There was a short storm with rain, thunder and lightening, but that passed. Jon had a nice swim in the sports center with the free pass given us by the hotel. The next morning was also nice although our hotel host told us bad weather was expected. We decided to go right over to the funicular after breakfast and go up another two thousand feet. There were trailheads and a restaurant there, and of course more spectacular views. We wandered around just taking it all in for a while and then hiked a bit. When we were ready for lunch we went back to the restaurant. I had a remarkable carrot and coconut soup with bread and a sausages - yum! At that point, the clouds were coming in and we decided to go back to Murren. We ventured an extended walk through town, looking at the various shops and overviews. By dinner time, it was pouring with more lightening and thunder and we were happy to enjoy dinner in our hotel's restaurant. We happened to be seated next to a family of four who spoke English. When we enquired about where they were from, they responded "Seattle"! We found out that the adults, Barbara and David, were both doctors at Group Health, one an internist and the other a family practitioner. Of course, they knew our personal docs and Chris and Pat Killien from our river cruise. Their daughter, Abby, is a 7th. grader at Bush and the son, Jacob, an 8th. grader at University Prep. We really enjoyed getting to know all four of them and hope to see them at some point when we are home. There is a picture of them on this blog.

The next morning was very foggy and drippy and we felt blessed to have had the spectacular views that had been there for us. We checked out of the hotel reluctantly and took the train and then the cable car back to Lauterbrunnen. It was still raining as we got into the car and started driving to Murten.

The rain continued for almost all of the drive. It made us remember how lucky we had been with the weather for most of this year! We followed street signs when we arrived in Murten and found our hotel without delay. Again, we had lovely views of lake Murten from our room. By the time we had checked in and unpacked, the sun was out and we decided to explore the one main street of the old town. We asked for advice about buying chocolate and were told also about Nidelkuchen, the cake for which this town is known. We were told that we HAD to taste it! So of course we bought a piece at the recommended patisserie and shared it. We also bought some chocolates and enjoyed the architecture and trimmings of the city. That evening we had an unexpectedly delicious Chinese dinner and took a lovely stroll along the lake front as the dark clouds gathered yet again. We decided to drive back to Sablet a day early since our plans to take another boat trip and go into the mountains on a cable car didn't seem good with the storms.

It was good to return to our little apartment where the temperature has moderated to the mid 80s and the wind keeps things even cooler. We will spend a few days here this week and then on Thursday begin our final side trip - to Normandy by way of the castles of the Loire valley. More on that when we return.

Photos, from top left: a very Swiss building in Lausanne; Lake Geneva surrounded by mountains; another lake photo; Castle Chillon at the edge of the lake; fountain at the entry to the Olympic park; a 35 kilogram (77 lb) Gruyere cheese; one of the views from our room in Murren; Mont Eiger at sunset; Jungfrau close up; Jon and I on the trail!; Mont Blanc variety of eidelweiss; wildflowers; a view of a nearby valley from a trail; sheep grazing on the hillside; soup and sausages for lunch; our new friends from Seattle; Nidelkuchen - somewhat like maple bars except it has a dense cake below the maple frosting; one of the streets in Murten; pastry display in the chocolate shop; and finally, the view through the screen in our window of Lake Murten at sunset.

Sablet

We have been here in Sablet for two weeks now. It is a small wine village in the Cote du Rhone area of Provence, near Avignon. It has been a wonderful time! We have seen a lot of the countryside, eaten delicious food and drunk bottles of amazing wine! We have also seen family for the first time since last September; Peter and his wife Tammy and their kids Claire and Jonathan were with us for 9 days! So this time has been a treat!

Our hosts Mary and Tony Byrne met us in the large upper apartment when we arrived. They also own a smaller, two person apartment which is underneath and where we are now. The house sits at the top of the hill upon which the ancient town of Sablet was built. It is directly across from the ancient church and we enjoy the bell which chimes on each hour and half hour, except blessedly during the night. The upper part is a good size house all on its own. It has 3 bedrooms (master and 2 others, 2 with king beds), 3 baths, a large living and dining room combination, and a kitchen and laundry area plus a small deck on the roof from which we enjoyed a 360 degree view! The entry is into the living room and stairs lead to the bedroom areas with another flight of steps to the roof. We had originally only rented the smaller apartment but when we learned that Peter etc. would be able to join us, we were able to switch places which worked out well. Claire got her own bedroom! We moved to the smaller unit after taking the kids to the train station yesterday morning and we will have this place until the sixth of August when we begin our trip home.

Before Peter and family arrived, we had four full days to explore. Of course the first two days were spent in settling in, doing laundry, exploring the village of Sablet and buying groceries at le petit marche, meat at the boucherie, and wonderful bread and croissants at the boulangerie! Doing laundry was fun! The smallish washer had an efficient 30 minute cycle and on the roof was a clothes line and drying rack. No dryer needed! Everything dried beautifully in the fresh air and 95 degree heat (more on that later). We spent Tuesday at the weekly market in the nearby town of Vaison la Romaine. Rick Steves claims it is one of the best markets in France and we agree! It was HUGE and packed with folks. Clothing - new and used - as well as food, household goods, souvenirs, and restaurants lined the streets for blocks and some of the side streets as well. We found a few things that we couldn't live without and enjoyed a great lunch. All the stalls shut down at about 1:30 which is when we had lunch and afterward we wandered our way back to the car. On Wednesday, we did a driving tour of some of the wine villages around Sablet (Sah blay), picking up a bottle or two at each, of course. That was a great opportunity to see the fields and landscape up close. Wine grapes are the majority crop but we also saw lots of wheat, lavender and some sunflower fields. This is certainly a region for artists; Van Gogh spent years in the nearby towns of Arles and St. Remy. It is beautiful here.

As I mentioned, the weather has been hot. During the first couple of days we were here, the Mistral wind blew fiercely - probably a good 30 mph constantly. That helped the temperature issue. It has been over 90 in the shade every day, with most days being around 33-35 (quick conversion = double the number and add 30, so 96 to 100). Two days ago, it was 37.5 on a time-temperature sign I saw in Arles (105). Since Peter and Tammy arrived, the wind has been minimal, leaving just the heat. We tried to drink lots of liquids and to stay out of the direct sun. We refused to just sit around in the house though; for one thing, since we had no air conditioning only ceiling fans, being in the cool car was more comfortable.

On the day after they arrived, we just relaxed, doing lots of catching up and playing with the kids. We met our newest grandson, Jonathan, for the first time! They needed time to do laundry too, since they spent several days in Germany prior to arriving for our visit. We also planned our days together. Jon and I had done a little research as had Tammy and Peter and we pooled our ideas and made a calendar. Months ago, I had made a reservation for all of us in the city of Vence, which is near Nice but inland a bit. I wanted us to have time playing in the Mediterranean and happily the hotel had a pool too. That turned out to be very important! On the day that we drove back, we drove through the tiny country of Monaco, right past the huge, famous casino! Antibes provided us with a great lunch on the beach with swimming in the Mediterranean afterward. We spent one night and two days on that trip; the other traveling we planned were day trips. The first was a trip to 6,000 foot Mont Ventoux where the temperature was a lovely 75 degrees. We traveled beyond the summit to Sault for lunch and where Tammy and I did some shopping and then onto to Gordes and the nearby abbey where we sat in on a service. Over the next days we went to the beautiful city of Arles which we loved and saw ancient Roman ruins and then on to Pont du Gard, the largest Roman ruin of them all! It is a huge 2000+ ft. aqueduct bridge over the Gardon river. It is the second highest Roman structure that survives, being only a few feet lower than the Colosseum in Rome. It has beautiful arches and a lovely river where we did some refreshing swimming and wading! We also visited the city of Avignon with plans to see the Palace of the Popes and the famous bridge of children's nursery rhymes. The Palace was home for hundred of years to the head of the Roman Catholic church when Rome was considered to be too dangerous. We saw the Pont d'Avignon while driving; the huge structure goes about 2/3 of the way across the Rhone and then stops, which is why the nursery rhyme says "they dance" on the bridge. Unfortunately, there was a festival going on in the city and parking was impossible for our 9 passenger van. It was way too hot to have to walk a long distance with the kids, so we drove toward Sablet and then on to Vaison and the Roman ruins there. It turned out to be a good choice, since the trip was shorter and the walking much easier. Tammy and I also got a bit more shopping in. Saturday morning we were up very early (5:00 am) in order to leave the village at 6:30 to take Peter, Tammy, Claire and Jonathan to the TGV (high speed train) station in Avignon. It was hard to say goodbye to them, so we didn't. We used the French "au revoir" which means "until we see you again".

After exchanging rental cars - gigantic for small - we drove back to Sablet to begin our move from upstairs to downstairs. We like our cozy, cooler place and slept well last night. Tomorrow we are off for 6 days in Switzerland. We will spend 2 nights each in Lausanne, Murren and Murten. We'll report on all those adventures next time!

Pictures, from top left: the little village of Sablet; Jon outside our first home in Sablet; Mary and Tony Byrne, our landlords - go to www.houseinprovence.net for more house info; locally grown, delicious tomatoes on display at the market in Vaison; wine at the market; Elizabeth, quilter and wine expert at Domaine des Girasols winery; wine grapes on the vine; a window in Sablet; the Sablet church steeple at sunset; looking at the sunset from our roof top deck; Grandpa with his newest grandson; Jonathan feeding himself; lavender fields near Sault; the valley farmland near Sault; the beach at Antibes; Jon and I - and Claire - at the Pont du Gard; Peter, Claire and Jonathan in the Gardon river; and Claire and Tammy in their matching Provencal outfits!

Great Rivers of Europe, part 2

We are now off the ship, having finished our wonderful cruise two days ago. We are in our final "home away from home", an apartment in the little wine village of Sablet, in Provence, France. I am finally able to do a post about the second half of our river trip which was from Vienna to Bucharest.

As I ended the last post, we had arrived in Budapest. What a wonderful city! It is beautiful with many bridges, interesting architecture and many sights to take in. Jon and our friends Chris and Dennis spent a morning at the Terror Museum - their wives Pat and Eileen and I decided that we'd had enough of the Nazis and communists for the moment. The guys said that it was very good, with lots of handouts in English and interesting displays. I enjoyed a peaceful morning which included a chat with my friend Madeline, a fellow educator. Of course during our time in Budapest we also had a half day bus tour and we also took some optional tours including one to several sights in the Jewish neighborhood. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved 35,000 of the city's Jews during WWII by issuing them Swedish passports, is one of my personal heroes and there were several memorials to him in the former ghetto. On another tour we went to Esztergom, a town which stands on the site of a Roman fortress and has a beautiful basilica. From the hilltop, we looked down on the Danube Bend where the river is the boundary between Hungary and Slovakia. After seeing Esztergom, we continued to Visegrad where we also had beautiful views and watched a recreation of a knight tournament which demonstrated the weaponry and combat of the 1500s and enjoyed a delicious medieval feast. On yet another optional tour, we went to the nearby town of Szentendre which had wonderful shopping! We found several items that we couldn't do without. The timing was perfect since most of our treasures went into the last box that we mailed home later that afternoon. We also went to the baths in Budapest with Eileen and Dennis, which was an interesting experience and one that we very much enjoyed. We wore our swimsuits and didn't see any nudity, although there were areas where it was allowed. That evening our ship left Budapest at night so that the captain could show us the lights of the city. It was lovely! We went past the huge Parliament building and under several bridges - breathtaking!

On Saturday, June 26, we stopped at Kalocsa, a rural town on the Great Hungarian Plain, where we saw a horse show, went to a paprika factory and saw lots of beautiful, ornate embroidery items and listened to an amazing organ concert performed on the third largest organ in Hungary where Franz Liszt also played.

The next day we crossed into Croatia. Unlike our earlier visit to vibrant Zagreb, the city the ship stopped at, Vukovar, is in the extreme eastern part of the country, in a rural area where the Danube is the border with Serbia. This location was the sight of a prolonged Serbian attack during their war in the 80's. The Serbs won the battle and there were many atrocities committed. It still looks like a war zone and was quite depressing. On the other hand, we experienced a wonderful home-hosted lunch with a Croatian family. The food was plentiful and delicious. We had soup, pork meatballs, cole slaw, rice, green beans and two kinds of dessert. We were also served homemade plum brandy, elderberry juice, white wine and water. We rolled onto the bus later!

The next stop was in Belgrade, Serbia. We had the usual city bus tour and then free time. We ventured out to do some shopping and had an adventure involving the city buses, but managed to get back to the ship just fine. Late in the afternoon, two young college students came on board for an interactive discussion. They were articulate, bright and just about ready to go out on their own. The discussion was lively and thought-provoking.

From the beginning, we had found it interesting, in view of this area's recent history, that we had a Croatian captain and several Serbian crew members. When I asked one of the tour directors about it, the answer was that the captain set the tone and that everyone got along just fine. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

For the second half of our cruise, we had two new tour directors. Helmut stayed on board with us, but Cristian and Reka joined us and were the leaders of the other two small groups. Reka is from Hungary and Cristian is from Romania. On the 29th., they presented a fascinating discussion regarding life under communism. Cristian lived under communist control until he was in college. Reka was younger but still remembers it well. Helmut, being Austrian, did not have many memories since the Russians left Austria voluntarily about 10 years after WWII but he did have some insights to contribute. The onboard movies also offered documentaries on Tito, Stalin and Ceausescu, which were extremely enligtening. In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell and there were revolutions in all the former communist satellite countries. That's only 21 years ago. Each country has tried to find it's way forward and some have made more progress than others. There is a huge difference between these nations and western European countries, but they all want to catch up. Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania are part of the EU and so have some financial advantages that the others don't. We wish them all well and hope that the lives of all the people will improve quickly.

On Thursday, July 1, we docked in Varna, Bulgaria. From there we took a bus tour to see fortresses and the general countryside. It was very interesting to realize how much influence the early Greeks and Romans had on this area. The museum had many beautiful items created in ancient times, especially gorgeous gold jewelry.

On the last day of our journey, we docked at Ruse, Bulgaria. At 8:15 we got on a bus to journey to the Black Sea. It was a warm day and when we got to a resort there, we had a fantastic lunch and then could swim or wade in the sea. We waded and the water was surprisingly cool, not cold, and pleasant! There was a beautiful golden sandy beach. We spent several hours and then left at about 3:15 for the return trip to the ship. Jon and I were scheduled for an early morning flight the next day (my fault) so we took a taxi after dinner to Bucharest and stayed in the hotel there that the others would use the next night. The next morning, the same driver picked us up and took us to the airport for our 8:30 flight to Heathrow in London. Helmut arranged for the taxi driver and let the hotel know that we would come a night early, for which we thank him.

Once at Heathrow, we had to transfer to Gatwick for our flight to Marseille. That went well and then we found that our flight was delayed for 2 hours due to a problem in Rome and other issues. We finally arrived in Marseille at about 6:45 instead of 4:45. After more delays, we picked up our rental car and headed for our hotel in St. Remy where we were to overnight on our way to Sablet. We ended up having dinner in St. Remy at 11:00 pm, but we had made it and we happily dropped into bed at about midnight. The next morning we drove the final leg of the journey and reached the apartment here.

Here are some last photos from our cruise. From top left: bust of Raoul Wallenberg in the Jewish museum in Budapest; one of the bridges of Budapest lit at night; Hungarian embroidery, our lunch and our hosts in Vukovar; the gates of the Danube; a small Bulgarian village near one of the fortresses; finally, the Black Sea!; our farewell dinner with our friends - around the table clockwise - me, Chris, Eileen, Dennis, Pat and Jon; Helmut, Jon and I in front of River Concerto as we wait for our taxi to Bucharest.