Posts from — June 2013

Not too long after we got home Jeff, Lindsay, Zachary and Oliver arrived on Thurday night for the start of Oliver’s birthday weekend.

It’s hard to believe that Oliver turned 1 year old this past weekend and we were so lucky that they came to Kamloops to celebrate.

One of the main reasons that they all came here was because their good friends Jill and Mark and baby Emily from Calgary were in town so Mark could compete in the Canadian Disc Golf Championships Held at the Rose Hill and Logan Lake courses.

Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad arrived Saturday afternoon and pretty soon it was time for the Birthday Party.

Oliver enjoyed opening his presents with help from the other kids and then it was time for cake………. Yummy!

On Sunday we went to the Kamloops Wildlife Park and both boys loved seeing all the animals and especially enjoyed riding the miniature train.

It was a fun, busy and tiring weekend.

June 14/13

This morning after breakfast we headed of to see Sacre Coeur Basilica that is located in the area of Paris known as Montmartre. We started by trying to figure out bus and transit routes. We then used Google Maps to see how long it was estimated that it would take to walk there. Well according to Google Maps it should take about 1 hr, one way. Heck that’s just a warm up walk considering the amount we have done on this vacation.

Sacre Coeur is quite beautiful and even though we did not fight the line ups and go inside we enjoyed our time in this area and discovering another part of Paris.

From there we packed a picnic lunch to take over to The Eiffel Tower. A fresh made Jambon et Fromage Baguette from a local Patisserie , 2 small bottles of French Rose and cherries.

Today it started rainy and stayed that way for most of the day. We went for a couple walks to see the sights. However it was cool, we got a little wet but made the most of it. We walked down to Notre Dame Basilica, had a coffee at a small cafe right next to Notre Dame and I did a crossword from Kamloops Daily News; check off one of those things I had planned to do when we started planning this trip.

We also bought a lock from a street vendor, added our names and date to it, then locked it on the Pont des Arts and threw the key into the Seine River.

By late afternoon the weather was improving and after dinner we head out for a walk. Right across the street is a small cafe/ bar and we saw about 12 people all dressed in white. At first we thought it was a wedding and then we noticed more people arriving and standing on the opposite street corners.

Many had little carts with collapsible tables and chairs and bags with what appeared to be wine and food. After about 1/2 hr there were about 75 people standing around visiting. It was about this time we met a very nice older couple that were also visiting the city like us and happened upon this event; whatever it’s was.

As far as the large randomly assembled group, they all of a suddenly started on the move and were headed towards the Seine River. Well we decided to follow them to see where they were headed, not too far away is a bridge across the Seine that heads towards the Louvre Museum. It was then we noticed large groups/lines of other people all dressed in white all heading in the same direction. This included one group coming down the boulevard that just did not end, it was continous, people all wearing white and all carrying supplies of some sort.

Tables were set up, men on one side women on the other, and they were all having dinner, partying, and enjoying each others company. In the end we found out that this was called “The White Party” which was started by a group of 10 friends 25 years ago. They wanted to have a group dinner in a forbidden place and have a set of rules round attendance. You must wear white, must be invited by a friend, you must bring someone, use public transportation, bring a table, chairs, white table cloth and dinner/wine.

June 12/13

Last night we made a list of things we want to do and things we want to see, so this morning we walked over to the Jardin de Tullieries and from here to the Champs Elysses.

We took our time strolling the Champs Elysses and poked around in many of the stores; lots of high end stores and prices out of this world. But, what fashion, style and new innovations.

Once at the end of the Champs Elysses we walked right around the Arc de Triomphe. It has 12 converging boulevards and it is a traffic and drivers nightmare. But it seems to work and we’ve never seen an accident, although the horns and yelling can tell you when something has gone wrong.

We visited the memorial at the base  of the Arc de Triomphe and then strolled down the opposite side of the Champs Elysses. We stopped at a McDonalds for a look and they have self serve/order machines prior to where you line up for food pickup…….. boy was it busy.

After an early dinner we headed off to visit The Louvre. WOW!

First off, there is physical size of the building and the grounds, there is no other structure we have been that is that large. We visited the Denon Wing and saw 4 paintings by Leonardo da Vinci; including The Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptiste. Also in this wing are many, many, many other great paintings, sculptures, etc.

From the Denon Wing we went over to the Sully Wing where we saw The Venus de Milo which was carved around 120 B.C.

June 10/13

Shortly after 12:00 p.m. we caught the bus to our new accommodations for the next 7 days and while we waited we visited the local cafe that is about 3 doors for where we are staying.

Just before the per-arranged time of 2:00 p.m. we walked over to the entry to the apartment building. Well, the time ticked away and we almost started to think we had been scammed and that we would be looking for alternate accomodations for the night. Around 2:00 p.m. a very nice lady in the business next door came and opened the main door for us and explained that our contact was always late and that he would be here shortly. Well sure enough 5 – 10 minutes later Mr. Demery arrived.

Today we walked over to Invalides, it’s a military complex and it is where the Great Emperor Napoleon is entombed.

From here we headed off to the Rue Cler district and strolled the market area. It’s not quite as impressive as we thought it would be, especially after strolling the street market in Amsterdam.

Then it was off to The Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero. Even though we have been here before it is still amazing. To think that they built the Eiffel Tower and it was only to last 20 years and here we are over 100 years later and it is still one of the most visited sites in Paris.

Saturday morning we boarded the bus and headed towards the village of Amboise.

Our morning stop was at the small town of Langeais where we visited the Chateau and had a coffee before heading off to Amboise for lunch.

On the way to Amboise you go by villages where people called “Troglodytes” lived. Their homes are tunnelled into the side of the rock cliffs, many are still in use today as evidence by black soot from fires. The history is that at the time they were constructed you were taxed on your property by the size of your roof, so since they had no constructed roof they paid no taxes.

After lunch we boarded the bus to drive to the Chateau Close Luce which is very near the town centre.

Clos Luce was built in 1471 and Francis 1st was raised here. So, when he became King of France he invited Leonardo Da Vinci to come and stay at the Chateau.

Leonardo Spent the last three years of his life at Clos Luce and used it as a teaching academy for other artists. Today the tours takes you through some of the original rooms where Leonardo lived and taught. Much of the furniture is period furniture and although quite worn and tattered it is still beautiful. On display are replicas of 2 of Leonardo’s most famous paintings where they hung when he lived here. The first of course is the “Mona Lisa”and it is said that he was forever changing it as he was never happy with the final results. The second painting is “St John the Baptiste” this painting was the one that Leonardo himself felt was his finest work and most perfect painting.

Downstairs in the Chateau are replicas of many of Leonardo’s mechanical inventions. Outside are more of his larger works Like his double deck bridge and botanical gardens, etc.

From here we drove to Villandry to see the Gardens of Villandry. The Garden’s are amazing and they go on for ever. There is a Chateau that is part of the gardens and all of it is privately owned.

When they first started to develop the gardens the Government assisted the owner financially. However, they were not allowed to sell the vegetables or produce; this went to the locals and what was left over went to the workers. The gardens have become so popular and world renowned that they no longer require Government support and the owner requested that the funding goes to assist other such garden ventures.

The gardens are all organic and tended by only 10 Gardeners. It has become a status honour to be selected as a Gardener at the Villandry Gardens; it’s right up there with being accepted to work at Versailles.

The market square had a lot of people sitting out enjoying the late afternoon, eating, having drinks, etc. in addition people were sitting in their houses/apartments leaning out the windows and visiting with others below. We noticed someone setting up some camera equipment and never thought much about it when all of a sudden there was a large noise and a bunch of coloured balloons were released. Then a girl playing the Oboe started to play and pretty soon she was joined by a few playing Violins, a Harp, a Bass Fiddle and French horns.

Friday morning we woke up just after 5:00 a.m. (with the help of 3 different alarms) and headed off to catch the City Bus to the Cityrama Tour Office on Rue de Pyramides, for the start of our tour to the Loire Valley.

At about 6:30 the office staff arrived, opened the doors and it became a bit crazy as people, jostled to get inside all the while the office staff was trying to get the tours out in a more systematic way. In the end we (being polite Canadians) ended up at the back of the line and last ones on the bus so our seats for the next 4 hrs were facing backwards.

The Abbey is connected to the mainland by a causeway and is surrounded by vast mud flats. Currently there is a lot of work going on to construct a bridge to the Mont and remove the causeway. This is causing a bit of a controversy as everyone has to park about 2 km away and then use shuttle buses.

The shuttle buses are quite unique. Since there is very limited space at the final stop the buses have a driver at each end. So, one driver drives down to the Mont and the other drives it back to the parking lot.

Today was an orientation day and after breakfast we headed off to find the Cityrama Tour Office. We are taking a 3 day tour of the Loire Valley starting tomorrow so we wanted to get ourselves straightened around on buses, the stops and the tour office. It’s an early departure so we want to make sure we know our way rather than scrambling in the morning.

After that we walked down the Seine and across one of the many bridges. The one we chose to cross is called Pont Des Arts and the real neat thing is the number of locks that have been left by couples/lovers over the years. The thing you do is purchase a lock, write both your names on it, lock it to the bridge fence and then throw the key into the river. A symbolic gesture that you are locked together as a couple forever since the key will be impossible to find.

After a bit of a break we headed to Luxembourg Gardens which is a large park in the middle of the city where we had a nice picnic lunch, there were hundreds of people out enjoying the day.

This morning we woke up early had a quick breakfast and headed off to Brussels and the Main Train Station.

Finally we drove up on the sidewalk at the Avis Office and I found a security officer that gave pretty good direction and we found the Avis car drop off location. Once there the Avis guy went over the car looking for new scratches and dents like it was a crime scene; the only thing he was missing was the finger print powder they use. Anyway, no extra charges and before we left he said “Make sure to keep a very close eye on your luggage”.