Paris does not disappoint

 It was a long 12 hrs to get to Paris. We had arranged a driver from the airport and it was so helpful to find our Airbnb without stress after the long day in airports. 

Our air bnb is in the Latin quarter and very close to most of the popular sites. Brigitte was our host.  This bnb was in her home. She lived up a flight, we had one bedroom and bath, we shared a common room and the kitchen.  Still  very private and Brigette, a very cute 70 yr old who loved showing off her city.  She was happy to walk with us to places. 

Our first tour was a "Free tour by foot". Its a great co using local guides and asking only for tips. You pay what you wish. Our tour of the left bank started about 1/2 mile from our BNB. The guide gave us a history of the area. The left bank since the middle ages has been an area for higher learning. Universities started in the 10th century and continue up to present day. The Sorbonne is the most recognized. We heard stories about Dante, Cyrano De Bergerac, various Kings, beheadings, night life etc. The tour was 90 min and very fun!

Our second day had had us using the Hop on Hop off Bus. It was a beautiful cool day and we saw all the most famous sites. We choose the Arc de Triumph over The Eiffel tower tour and Im so glad. French history involves a lot of Napoleon wars and of course the first and 2nd world war.  These people experienced war in the most personal way and these monuments tell stories. 

The food is everything you've heard about. Every meal was amazing, from French onion soup that made me praise all French cooks to the daily fresh Baguette from our host Brigette. The French have a corner on wonderful food.  Mostly because they emphasize slow deliberate process and real ingredients along with fine meal prep found in every café.

My first meal was the simple onion soup. Each mouthful was full of homemade broth, rich parmesan and sourdough bread. Truly the best Ive ever tasted. 

Paris is where you'll find the best in fine art, from the Louvre and Orsay museums, to the streets of Paris and the beautiful neighborhood shops and street markets.  The variety and overwhelming sense of art in everyday life is down each street.

A memorable experience for me was renting a bicycle one day.  We where scheduled for a bike tour of Versailles on Sat so I ventured out to find the bike shop, which was just a short walk over to the Right bank of the Seine.  After a bit of fumbling around I managed to find the bike store. The store was managed by Americans who where very encouraging to this cyclist with a free day to discover Paris on a  bike.  So off I went on my bike for $20Euros for the day.  Paris has wonderful paths along both side of the Siene river for miles of fun. I spent the whole day exploring museums, parks and "our neighborhood" on the left bank on great protected bike lanes.  

We loved Paris.  There is so much to discover and enjoy about this city.  It is well worth everyone's bucket list!

Preparing for my next trip!!

 

Anita moved to Italy with her dog Daisy a year ago.  She has been a cycling friend for several years.  We cycle toured Italy in 2012.  She invited me to come visit her in Italy and introduced me to her friend Patricia (PC) who wanted to visit as well.  

October worked well for all of us and crowds should be less.  We planned our start in Paris followed by heading to Milan and northern Ialy.

Traveling to another country is always an adventure.  It helps if you have planned and made sure to have time to relax and enjoy the culture.  I hope we can do that.  We're getting help from a local tour agent who has been in the business for yrs.  She has connections that have made all my trips enjoyable.

It's not going to be cheap but we'll keep the tours to a minimum and picnic whenever we can.  Anita has rented Airbnb for the trip that  are all very centrally located.

Airbnb's are a new addition to travel options and I've had mostly great experiences.  

We're also going to use the trains for transport and Anita has suggested some great apps for maps.  We're going to use

1. Whats app

2. Rome2rio

3. Citymapper

4. Down loaded Google maps

The packing has started and I'm keeping my bag to one carryon and backpack/purse. It's hard to leave so much behind. The magic of travel is also the challenge of how we move forward in life.  Take all things in our heart, the memories, "things", people and we come to realize all "things" are temporary, appreciate the now.  

 

Morning Coffee

 

 

Planning has begun

I'm planning a trip to Italy in Oct. I found my old  blogs from previous trips and It's so great to review the great adventures!  This trip will be a bit different.  Yorgos won't be our tour planner and of course I'm older!! I'm not going on a bike tour but I plan to do some bike rides. Basically here is my trip: 

Italy 2022 Oct 4-21

Oct 4th 10:13 am from Spokane-Paris 8:10 am Charles DeGaul airport

Return Oct 27 Thurs from Rome 10:05 am

Oct 4- Spokane-Paris.  Delta

Paris Oct 5-Oct 10.....   

Milano

Thurs.-Sat  10 - Oct 12

Bergamo  

Sat. Oct 12 13

Verona

Mon Oct 14 -  16

Bologna Oct 16-18

Venice Oct 18 - 20

Assisi with Anita Oct 21-25

Rome for Flight home Oct 27

The planning process is so fun, but getting the details and an plan together is so important. Flight is booked, lodging is planned (Airbnb) and paid for, yeah! I've got my bag out and Rumple has already had his assessment. So I guess I'm officially on my way!

All of us enjoyed Rome

 We all managed to make it to our Rome hotel.  This was a small apartment with a kitchen and two bedrooms.  It was centrally located close to Termini station and the Coliseum.  We all signed up for a wonderful tour of the Coliseum.  Well worth the time.  We then spend the day roaming around, took a tiring tour on the Hop on Hop off bus and walked, and walked and walked.  Thanks to our phones we manage to make it back to the apt. and a wonderful dinner.

  The next day we have an early scheduled tour of the Vatican.  We marvel at the scope of it all. Michelangelo and Rapheal at there finest.   The Vatican is worth seeing and the early tour helps limit the amount of people.  As we end the three hour tour we are surrounded by tourists and heat.  We walk and walk and pleasantly find a nice place for lunch.  We jump on the Hop on Hop off bus and ride around for another few hours but it was a bit better then hiking back to our apt.  We've probably made 10-15 miles a day. 

 Back out after we rest and have a wonderful dinner from the local supermarket.  Cheese, ham, wine, bread, olives, tomatoes.  We all finish the day with some wine and an evening stroll to the Spanish steps. Great memories.   

We're leaving on a Jet Plane!

Rome

This is going to be my third tour with Yorgos and each one has been wonderful.  We've been planning all year for this trip and 8 of us will be going. There will be 5 of us from Lewiston/Clarkston area: Myself, Sally, Jennifer, Sarah, and Denise.  We've all cycled together over the paths and hills on the Palouse, but are we ready for Italy's hill country and Umbria region?  We'll see.  We will be joined by 3 other cyclists who have cycled on other tours and with us.  

Here's our itenary briefly:

Sept 6-9: Arrive in Rome, recover from Jet lag and tour!! We've set up a tour of the Vatican, and a hop on hop off bus tour. We'll catch a train to Spoleto, to begin our tour with Yorgos on Sept 9

Sept 9: Arrive in Spoleto, meet Yorgos and get our bikes followed by a short ride.

Sept 10: Ride (53km)  the beautiful Umbrian countryside around villages, sights and return back to Spoleto.

Sept 11: (43km) We're off to Bevagna and pass through the hill town of Trevi. Picnics etc.

Sept 12: (48km)Via Flaminia a Roman road, lunch in Montefalco.. winery  and lunch visit in Montefalco.

Sept 13: (42km) Ride to Assi via a medival walled town of Spello, stop for cappucino before CLIMBING to Assisi along the pilgrimage route "Via degli Ulivi". Optional ride to Mt. Subsio!.

Sept 14: We stay in Assisi today. We can have optional rides today including a visit to the Hermitage of St. Francis. Rest day today.

Sept 15: (45km) Ride to Deruta, famous throughout Italy for classic Italian ceramics. Along the way we"ll visit another winery in Lungarotti.

Sept 16: (45km) Ride to Todi today, another classic hilltop village.  I'll have to compare all these hill rides with the MacIntosh grade!!!  The toughest grade in our area, for me!!

Sept 17: Up and down more hills and in Orvieto!  Orvieto is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Umbria! 

Sept. 18 End of tour with Yorgos.

Linda, Jennifer, Sarah, Sally and Denise will head towards Florence!

Sept 18-22: Fun around Florence, including a day tour hiking the Cinque Terra, visit to the Academia to see the David and a city bike tour.

Sept 21-22: Jennifer and Sarah will return home.  Linda, Denise and Sally are renting a car and driving to Lake Como! After a night in Lake Como, we'll drive to Biella and our next stop at the Sanctuary Oropa in the Italian Alps!!

Sept 22-25: Sanctuary Oropa and hiking or mountain biking in the Italian Alps!  Our stay will be with monestarystays  They have monestarys and convents in Italy at very reasonable prices, similar to a hostel cost!  

Sept 25-27: Linda, Denise and Sally drive to Turin and who knows what adventures we'll have!! We're open to almost anything, including a nap!

Sept 27: Our group flys home to family and friends and Rumple Kitty!!

Another Bike tour with Yorgos

I'm busy planning another trip with Yorgos. We're off to Italy Sept. 9-19.  There will be 8 of us. We'll meet Yorgos in Spoleto, Italy and he'll guide us around Umbria for 9 days. We're all so very excited!!!

It's easy to imagine myself as a grand seniora in my country villa this afternoon. I've just finished biking a very hilly Spanish countryside, with very little traffic, forested and only a few cyclists from guess where???? Surprise, surprise Clarkston, Wa , Lewiston I'd and two from Anchorage Alaska.

We biked 61 k fron Figueres today. It was a beautiful ride over rolling steadily rising elevation. Mostly country lanes with very little traffic.

Figueres was a layover day and offered many sights. This is where David lives so he offered a great extra ride yesterday towards the foothills of the Pyrenees, some old ruins and a beautiful secluded waterfall. After our ride most of the group toured the Salvadore Dali museum, full of interesting and strange things . I spent the afternoon shopping and going to the other art museum in off the city square. I saw a wonderful showing of the Spanish painter Maria Vil???.  We had a wonderful meal with fish, the owner brought us a plate of fish caught that day... hmmm, Ill have that one, yummy.