13th October Chateau Country, Loire Valley France

13th October Chateau Country

Today we headed to the Loire Valley to visit some of the Chateau's in the area. A Korean girl travelling alone has decided to become my travelling companion, and doesn't stray far from my side! Our first stop was Langeais Chateaux which is one of the best examples of late medieval architecture. Anne of Brittany married Charles VIII here, a political alliance to unite France with Brittany.

Next we stopped at Amboise for lunch...but who stops for lunch when there is a chateau to see? So I skipped lunch and went up to see the Chateau d'Amboise. This chateau has fabulous views of the Loire valley, buildings from the 15th and 16th century, two impressive cavalry towers and gardens planted with Mediterranean plant species, including a Lebanese cedar. This chateau was the first where Italian tastes were introduced into the Loire Valley. This is also where Leonardo da Vinci died on 2 May 1519 and is buried in the St Hubert Chapel. And of course as I got out to explore the gardens...it began to rain! I quickly grabbed and apple pastry for lunch ;) and headed back to the bus. Here I had to change buses as my original bus was going on for another day. Yesterday we had discovered this 'change bus' phenomena when those doing a two day tour got off our bus and onto another bus bound for Paris that night, then those on the three day tour (me) changed buses today onto the bus bound for Paris tonight, and my original bus continued on for another day. I wouldn't have minded but it was bucketing down rain so I was a little wet getting across to the other bus. So I farewelled my new friends and the lovely tour guide Paschal and joined the new tour bus.

Then off we went to visit Chateau de Chenonceau. Did I mention it was raining? It was about a 10 minute walk up to the chateau from where the bus drops you off. Yes Mum, the 'Rainbird' is getting a VERY good workout. I bought a travel umbrella before I left...don't bother, I should have learnt my lesson from Bali! It was useless and broke...so I'll be buying a real umbrella when I get to London! We were drowned rats by the time we reached the chateau!!! The Chateau of Chenonceau is also known as 'The Ladies Chateau' due to six particular women who lived here.

Diane de Poitiers - renowned for her beauty, intelligence and sense of business, was King Henri II's 'favourite lady' and was given the chateau by him in 1547.

Catherine de' Medici - was Henri II's widow who removed Diane and governed France from the Green Study in the chateau and established the authority of the young king.

Louise of Lorraine - was the wife of Henri III and after he died, went into mourning in white (as required by court protocol) but her bedroom was all black.

Louise Dupin - who managed to save the chateau during the revolution.

Marguerite Pelouze - who was a descendant from the industrial bourgeoisie and spent a fortune on restoring the estate for it to resemble the way it was during the time of Diane de Poitiers.

Simone Menier - was the matron in charge of the hospital installed in the chateau's two galleries. Over 2000 wounded were looked after here, up to 1918.

Inside the chateau there are many of the original pieces, particularly the beds, of the people who once lived at different times in the chateau. There are also many tapestries hanging on the walls including 16th century Flanders tapestries. This chateau has beautiful gardens outside and is surrounded by a moat...it is very 'Disney Princess' like!

Our last Chateau...thank God...was Chateau Cheverny. By this point I was over being drenched by rain and walking around damp and was looking forward to just getting back to Paris! Despite being 'over' Chateau's, this place was worth a visit. It is located in Sologne near Bloise and was one of the first stately homes to open to the public in 1922. This estate has been in the same family for more than 6 centuries: the Huraults, a family of financiers and officers who became famous in the service of several kings of France. Today the chateau is lived in by the descendants of the Hurault family, the Marquis and Marquise de Vibraye, whose apartments are located in the right wing. Again there was so many things to see, a nursey with rocking horses from the time of Napolean, the wedding dress of the current Marquise de Vibraye, and lots of furniture and tapestries. The plan of Cheverny was new at the time it was constructed and inspired by the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. It's style was to become typical of classic French architecture. The grounds are magnificent and include many gardens, lawns and an orangery. Cheverny is an important hunting venue and the kennels house about 100 French hounds with the V for Vibraye shorn into the right flank of each hound.

While I really did enjoy the 3 day trip to Normandy, I was really happy to get back to my hotel in Paris and climb into bed!

12th October - Mont Saint-Michel

Today we visited Mont Saint Michel. It is thought to date back to 708 when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, had a sanctuary built on Monte-Tombe in honour of the Archangel Michael. The mount soon became a major focus of pilgrimage. In the 10th century the Benedictines settled in the abbey and a village grew up below its walls. It was an impregnable stronghold during the Hundred Years War and its ramparts and fortifications resisted all the English assaults. As a result, it became a symbol to the French of national identity. Following the dissolution of the religious community during the Revolution and until 1863 the abbey was used as a prison. Today visitors can view the splendour of the abbey that people of the Middle Ages regarded as a representation of the heavenly Jerusalem on earth, and image of Paradise. Yes it is paradise, although to some in our tour group, the steps on the way up were purgatory! But thanks to my personal trainer Kristy...I barely raised a sweat :). Did I mention the rain? Again it began to bucket down just as we arrived, but once we got into the abbey it soon cleared.

After Mont Saint Michel we travelled to St Malo. Here I had lunch with my new friends Jodie from Chicago and Laurie from St Louis, two friends who had been planning a trip to Paris together since their college days and who finally decided to take the trip to celebrate their birthdays. We all had Jambon and Champignon omellets!

11th October - Rouen to Omaha Beach

This morning I was up early to start my tour of Normandy. I had to be down at the Cityrama office at 7am (no sign of Bruce Willis this morning) ready for departure. Our first stop was the city of Rouen. I pronounce it Roooo-en, but in French it is more like Raaaghwn...apparently when you can say the name of this place correctly...you can speak French!!! We went first to look at the Cathedral but were unable to go inside as they were renovating the bell tower and had closed the cathedral for the week. It was ashame because this was something I had been interested in seeing...I'll just have to come back! We then moved along to view the city hall....and then it started to sprinkle. Paschal our guide took us through the streets to explain the Norman architecture of the city...and then it began to rain...really rain! Many of the group had been caught out without raincoats and umbrellas. We made our way to the clock and took shelter under there for a few minutes and then ran down to the St Joan of Arc Church. We saw the large cross built on the sight where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431. We then had free time to wander the streets and buy a coffee. Thankfully the rain stopped so I was able to walk around and snap a few pics.

Next we visited the town of Honfleur for lunch. This town is known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterised by its houses with slate-covered frontages. It was painted by many artists including Boudin and Monet. The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France. 

After lunch we headed for Omaha beach and the sites of the D-day landings in 1944. Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the allied invavsion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II. From what I heard about this mission on the tour, was that it was a bit like Gallipoli where nothing went right at the landing, and many US soldiers were killed. The American's on the tour were very interested in this area and the American War cemetry. I have to say that Americans do military cemetery's very well! There were thousands of marble headstones of soldiers that had been killed on D-day, some stones had names on them, others merely read 'Known only to God'. It was incredible to see. We stopped overnight at the Novotel in Caen. 

Paris & Giverny

I got to sleep in this morning till 9am. I slept for 12 hours!! Yesterday I felt awful so it was good to be able to catch up on sleep. Through the night I must have been feverish because I could feel the bed warming up...and I thought that's what beds in Paris did...warm up automatically...I was feverish! Thank goodness I had retrieved that nasal spray at Barcelona airport. 

My plan for today was a tour of Giverny in the afternoon, so I thought I would take a walk down to the Seine River in the morning....if you can call 11am morning ;). I found myself at Pont Neuf and took a few photos from the bridge. I found a cafe and ordered a Parisienne Baguette (Ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce) and a cappucino. Cappucino's here are 80% froth and 20% coffee! It was still good! The weather here is cool but overcast. I then wandered back to Cityrama to pick up my tour. On the way back outside the Hotel Regina I could see some huge big lights so of course I took a photo to show Jess. The badges of the crew said 'Red 2'...whatever that meant! I went and picked up my Giverny tour ticket and had some time to spare so I thought I'd walk back up to the Hotel Regina and watch the action taking place as some kind of movie was obviously being filmed. I didn't recognise the actress so I just watched as she got into a cab, which drove off and then the two bald men who were standing outside the cab wandered off in the opposite direction. Then I noticed the paparazzi...so I took photos of them, because to me that was more interesting, but I figured they must have been there to photograph someone famous, so I took a couple of pics of the actress (thinking Jess may be able to identify her). When I zoomed in with my camera, I then realised that the bald guy she was standing with was Bruce Willis!!! Who would have thought!

It was then time for me to head out to Giverny to see Monet's Garden. This was the main reason I had stopped at Paris on this leg of my trip because the garden closes at the end of November and I would have missed it at the end of my Trafalgar tour. I was last in Giverny in August 2011 when it was summer, much hotter and very crowded. Today the bus was only half full and when we arrived at the gardens there was not nearly as many people as had been there in the summer. The village of Giverny is 80km out of Paris on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine. Monet bought the house in 1890 and set about building the magnificent gardens he wished to paint. He lived in this house until his death in 1926 and is buried in the cemetery in the village. It had rained before we got to Giverny so the ground was wet, it was overcast but at least the rain had stopped. I decided to go down to the Water Garden first while the rain held off, to see the waterlillies, the willows and the Japanese bridge. Some of the water lillies were blooming and the garden really looked like one of Monet's paintings. Up in the house garden the garden beds were full of colour and many flowers were in bloom. I loved taking photos of the flowers which still had raindrops glistening on the petals. There were even some sunflowers (my favorite) still in bloom. Even in the overcast, dreary weather this garden spoke of colour and sunshine! I had a wander through the house to view Monet's studio where he had painted the Waterlily series, see his bedroom and other rooms in the house which are mostly as they were while he was alive. The house is full of Japanese prints which Monet loved so much. I had a wander through the shop...only bought a fridge magnet...but last time I was here you could barely get in the shop, let alone wander through it and look at what they had for sale!

I arrived back in Paris about 6:30pm and then met up with Marty for dinner. After a few texts we manage to locate each other! We found a cafe on the left bank and were able to catch up on what we had both been up to since we left Madrid. It was great to see a familiar face! After dinner I found my way back to the hotel to get myself ready for my 3 day tour of Normandy.

9th October - Adios Barcelona...Bonjour Paris :)

Today I left Linda and Barcelona and travelled to Paris. This was the first day of the solo part of my journey! I dragged my bag up La Rambla and caught the Aerobus into the airport. Checked in with no problems, went through security, bought a Barcelona fridge magnet (I had to get SOMETHING from Spain) and then headed for my gate...then realised that it was only 8:45am and not 9:45am so that meant I had time for breakfast. Strolled through more of the shops, then headed for the gate and started to catch up on my blog. I then realised that my plastic 'liquids' bag was missing! It wouldn't have mattered too much except that it had my prescription nasal spray in it and since I was feeling so run down I knew I was going to need it. The last place I remembered having it was at security, so I went back there and the information desk said I had to see the police officers, so I asked the two young police officers if they spoke English...of course only a little bit...they showed me all sorts of bags in their little office...none were mine, then they ran all over the place looking at each of the gates...but in the end we gave up. They were very helpful though. I thought that was it so I headed back to my gate. Then I remembered that after security I had stopped at some seats to repack my bag before I went into the shop to buy the fridge magnet, so back I went again! I asked the information desk near the seats and nothing had been handed in, so at this point I thought oh well that's it and I headed back to the gate. Then I saw on top of the enclosed bins near the seats my little plastic bag with everything still in it!!!! What a relief! Something then made me look at the screen for the flight details and my gate number had changed...so off I trekked to find my gate! I flew Vueling Airlines...bit like a Jetstar, flight was OK but my ears played up at take off and then my right ear did not pop at all on descent so the little I could hear was in stereo! It was awful. The train from Orly Airport was not working so a lady at American Express said I needed to take a bus to a train station and then get the train and metro from there. I had NO IDEA where I was going. Lots of people were gathered at the Orly Bus...so I decided to just get on it and be taken to wherever it was going...I could have been going in the opposite direction for all I knew. After negotiating the ticket machine (better than the Japanese girl who I bought a ticket for because she couldn't) I struggled with the bag into the bus. The bus went to Denfert Rochereau...I had no idea where I was. I went up to the ticket counter at the train station and said to the girl that I needed to get to Paris...her response..."You are in Paris"! At least I was in the right area! She gave me a metro map and the directions for getting to the station near my hotel. So I then caught the train, then the metro (avoiding the circling pickpockets) and found myself at the staion near my hotel. Without lift or escalator in sight I trudged up many steps to the street...and eventually found the Hotel St Anne. I went up to my room which including the bathroom is not much biggerthan my study at home! I then googled...how to unblock your ears!!!! I then pulled myself together and wandered down towards the Louvre to find the place where my tours were leaving from and confirm my booking...which was just as well because the times were different and one location departure was different. Then I wandered up to Galeries Lafayette, huge big shopping complexes which have floor after floor of designer labels....WAY out of my league!!! I couldn't help marvel at the crowds of Japanese lining up outside waiting to be let into Chanel and Lois Vuitton...I'd like to know where they get the money from, because they were not purchasing just one item! I was exhausted and my body was aching and my ears were still not right so I collapsed into a cafe and got some dinner, then picked up a bottle of water and an eclair (I am in Paris) on my way back to the hotel. I was in bed and out like a light by 9pm!

8th October Barcelona

We have been on the go for over two weeks now so we decided to have an easier day, so we did not set the alarm today and got to have a sleep in. We thought we would spend some time exploring the shops in Barcelona, particulary El Corte Ingles, a big Spanish department store. I bought a pair of jeans and a new shirt! We haven't done much shopping in Spain, mainly because when we stop for lunch at any destination it is usually siesta and lots of the shops are shut, so we have been going to restaurants and having nice lunches instead. There really has not been a lot of time for shopping in between travelling long distances and seeing the sights. And I know you all didn't want a tacky souveneir anyway! Today we decided to have a 'meal of the day' which is quite common in Spain. For a set price, anywhere between 8-15 Euro, you get a 2 or 3 course meal and a drink (including wine). Being our last day together we decided on the 3 courses!

We were also going to use our museum pass today and go and see the Picasso Museum, but of course it was Monday and it was closed. The only museum open today was the Museum of Contemporary Art so we wandered up there and spent the afternoon looking around and marvelling at the skills of the skateboarders who use the area out the front of the museum to skateboard.

Had churros for dinner! Will try and post a photo later!

7th October Barcelona - Private Tour

Today we had booked a private guided tour of Barcelona. Our documentation said that we would be picked up at our hotel at 8:30 but we weren't quite sure if that was correct. So at 8:30am we made sure we were downstairs waiting in the hotel lobby. At 8:45 I rang the local office (even though they didn't open till 9am) and was told that 'Enrique' had been waiting for us outside the main office, then the girl on the phone realised that we had booked a 'private' tour of Barcelona and that our booking had been entered into the system incorrectly. She said that someone would be by to pick us up from the hotel shortly. Half an hour later she rang back to say Fabian (pronounced Faarr-bi-en) would be coming to pick us up. Well another half an hour later Fabian indeed did arrive to pick us up...and he was worth the wait. He spoke 6 languages - his mother was French, his father was German, he had a Portuguese girlfriend (and he had studied for a year in Portugal), he was living in Barcelona so therefore spoke Spanish and Catalan and he learnt English at school. His English was excellent, in fact it was probably the best for a guide that we have had. So after a shaky start we headed out for a fabulous day expolring the city of Barcelona with Faarr-bi-en.

Our first stop was to get an overall view of the city of Barcelona from Montjuic Hill. It was very hazy which apparently it always is in the morning especially when they haven't had rain for a few days but it usually clears by the afternoon. Then we went to the magnificent Sagrada Familia. Now I know I said this place was amazing the first time I saw it two weeks ago, but today we got to go inside!!!!

When we came 2 weeks ago we were dropped off outside the Nativity facade and were then sent int the shops nearby. Today we went to the side of the Passion facade, which I didn't get to see the first time. Some critics are not a fan of the angular shaped figures depicting the scenes of the passion, but personally I did not mind them. Gaudi worked on Sagrada for over 40 years, living as a virtual hermit inside a part of the church. The building remained unfinished at the time of Gaudi's untimely death in1926, when the artist was run over by a tram on the Gran Via. He is now buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia. Construction stopped during the Spanish Civil War in 1935 but began again in the late 1950's. The estimated completion of Sagrada is 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Inside the Basilica is just as spectacular as the outside. I was blown away by how modern it was, it is more like something that would be designed today, not 100 years ago. The man was a genius, although I could not help think that if he had lived today, would we have thought such a mind and a recluse was suffering from mental illness. I am so glad that others at the time saw the genius of the man and financially backed him and commissioned him to create the works of art that are seen in Barcelona today. It certainly has added so much character to the city.

After Sagrada we were taken on a tour of the Gothic quarter, which we didn't get to do the last time we were in Barcelona because that was where they had had a demonstration earlier in the day. Fabian suggested some lunch spots and we chose tapas...best tapas we had in Spain. We had prawns, calamari, potatoes with a sauce not unlike the perinaise sauce from Nandos and a mozzarella and rocket salad....delicious!!! And we were starving because we hadn't had breakfast!

Lastly we went back up to La Pederera and got to have another look through, this time during the day. Again...everywhere you look in these buildings you see something new!

For dinner we had paella while we were watching Barcelona FC play Real Madrid. Fabian had warned us during the day not to go for the 'white team' (Real Madrid) while in Barcelona. He said he had been out for dinner with his Mum one night while these two teams were playing and Real Madrid scored and she cheered and the whole bar went silent and stared at them...he said it was VERY embarassing! Travelling in Spain we got to hear a little about these teams...particularly Renaldo (also known as "Look at me! Look at me!) who plays for Real Madrid. Being in Barcelona though...we had to cheer for Barcelona! The score was 2-2!

Here are a few pics...I have thousands more but finding it hard to upload on the ipad...so I am just giving you a taste!