Walking in the Steps of Van Gogh: Artists and Cowboys

This morning, May 19, we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning in the town of Arles. Our boat, the Swiss Emerald, was docked shoreside in Arles, with lovely views of the Rhône. This is the furthest south our boat trip will venture, and although it doesn’t seem like it, we are very close to the Mediterranean at the place where the Rhône splits into two smaller rivers, forming a giant estuary area known as the Camargue. This area is home to thousands of migrating waterfowl, such as flamingoes, and also the white horses and bulls tamed and domesticated by the Camargue cowboys.  Wow! There’s a lot to be seen and done here!

Our walking tour of historical Arles ranged from the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages and into the late 19th century.  For starters, Arles was an important center of commerce and civilization even before the Roman Empire, but in 100 A.D., the Romans constructed an immense amphitheater and an arena and Roman baths. The amphitheater  is incredibly well-preserved, in Arles’ historic center. There is a very good museum on the Roman period in town, as well.

Then, during the medieval period, the town expanded around the old amphitheater and arena site and amphitheater, and the city built on the walls which still stand. During that period, the lovely Romanesque church and cloister of St. Tropheme was constructed. We visited the church and were amazed by the architecture.

Finally, interspersed among it all are the medieval streets and the yellow house where Van Gogh lived, all of which became subjects in his paintings. Van Gogh painted about 88 pictures during the year he lived in Arles, and there is a very good Van Gogh Museum, and also a Van Gogh foundation located here.  We also saw the cafe, which became the subject of the famous painting, “Starry Night”.

The afternoon was devoted to a bus trip to the Camargue region (only about 45 minutes away), where we enjoyed a traditional Provençal lunch, with a local ranching family. The cowboys in the Camargue are called gardiens, and they compete in bull games similar to bull fights, except that the bulls are not injured or killed. The family we visited raise these traditional black bulls, and we were entertained by a demonstration of the herding abilities of the white Camargue horses, also raised on the ranch. Then it was back to the ship.

Our little group reconvened on the upper deck as we sailed away. Jay and Sue had opted to stay in town to visit the Roman museum, and to raid the local food markets, so we all enjoyed some more local delicacies, including a great bread made with olive oil, and lots more sausages. Jay now has a new name: le Roi du Saucisson!

However, because we clearly hadn’t had enough to eat this day, one of our tour directors did a tasting of many varieties of French foods that we might have lacked the nerve to try ourselves, including some incredibly stinky cheeses, escargot, and the local anise-flavored aperitif called pastis.  Most of it was really good (OK, except the pastis), and we even got Jim to try an escargot (probably because he had had a fair amount of wine by that time).

While all this was happening, we sailed back upriver to Avignon, and arrived just after sunset, so we had some spectacular views of le Pont du Avignon, the ancient partial bridge into the old town made famous in the children’ song sung by all small French schoolchildren.

Jim and I walked into town to burn off some of our sins, but the town was pretty quiet and shut down for the night. We returned to the ship looking forward to another great day tomorrow!

Veni, Vidi, Viviers

Today, May 18, we woke up at a respectably late hour and pulled in to the town of Viviers, which is a lovely small medieval town along the Rhône. We did a walking tour in the old part of town. followed by a petanque lesson from the Fanny Petanque club in town.

Petanque is basically like boules or bocce ball, except that it uses steel balls instead of wooden ones, and the players who are furthest away from the ball keep pitching until they become the closest.

Since we were still docked in town for a few more hours, Jim and I borrowed a couple of bikes and rode along a path by the river. Parts of it were like riding in a forest, and some of the views of the medieval ramparts from the trail were stunning. One of the coolest things here in Provence at this time of the year, the red poppies are blooming everywhere: on the roadsides, in the fields, in the vineyards, and even at town dumps.  I’m a little bit obsessed with the beauty and happy ambience of these hardy little flowers, so expect to see a bunch more pictures of them.

Our afternoon’s entertainment involved another wine tasting from a vineyard called Chêne Bleu onboard the ship. This turned out to be a very good thing because we had a good rain while we were tasting. Then it was time to sail down the river to Arles.  Our little posse headed up to the upper deck to watch our sail, but the gale force winds, and the fact that the whole deck had been flattened down  to allow passage under several very short bridges. Bummer, so we regrouped later. However, tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful clear day in Arles.

Lyon-The “Stomach” of France

Yesterday was primarily consumed with getting from Paris to Lyon on the high speed train (the TGV). Our train trip was greatly enhanced by meeting two new friends from our tour, Jay and Susan. However, by far and away the highlight of the day was a special dinner at one of the restaurants of Paul Bocuse, chef extraordinaire! We ate at the Abbaye de Collognes, near Paul Bocuse’ birthplace, which is a large catering facility. The meal was mind-blowing! We started with the famous black truffle soup (served with a cap of puff pastry), and then had an amazing roasted Bresse chicken with a potato galette. Dessert just kept coming in waves, and we rolled out of the restaurant full and very tired.

 

Today, May 17, was an INCREDIBLY full day! We spent the morning in old Lyon, followed by a visit to Les Halles Paul Bocuse (the luxury food halls of Lyon), before going wine-tasting in Beaujolais in the afternoon.  First, we went to one of the two main hills in Lyon called Fourviére. When I say “old”, I mean really old, as in Roman times. On Fourviére hill, they have excavated lovely Roman ruins of a theater.  The views from the top of the hill were great, and we visited the cathedral, as well.

 

Then it was off to the heart of the old city, which lies to the west of the Saône river. The Saône and Rhône rivers meet in Lyons, and form an island of land between them called the Presquisle.  The old town lies at the base of Fourviére hill, and is riddled with ancient walled passageways (over 300 of them) called traboules. We got to walk through several of these traboules, which are secret passageways to medieval age buildings, complete with towers.

After walking through the old town, we headed over to the new town (to the east of the Rhône river) to enjoy a paired food tasting in the gastronomic wonder known as Les Halles.  If you can imagine a type of gourmet food, chances are, you can find it here.  We experienced a salami and cheese tasting paired with wine, and then we were set free on our own to buy whatever gourmet treats we wanted to bring home.  Then it was back to ship for a quick lunch, before we set out for Beaujolais.

I don’t know about you, but Jim and my combined experience was limited to a couple of times we decided to try the nouveau beaujolais when it first arrived in the United States, which produced two of the worst hangovers in memory. Vive la France!  We were hoping there was actually some wine produced in the Beaujolais region which didn’t make you wish for death!

We went to the vineyard and winery of Chateau la Chaize, in the town of Odenas, which produces some award-winning Beaujolais Cru (the good kind of Beaujolais).  Jim had brought his Vin Valise (wine suitcase) for exactly this type of opportunity, so we were hoping to score at least of couple of bottles worthy of being carried home to America. We were not disappointed!  What we learned was that wine in France, much like in Italy, is really made to pair with food, and is at its best when paired with food.  Jim scored two bottles of “vin valise worthy” Beaujolais, and the collection begins.

Then we headed to another small medieval town, Salles Arbuissonas en Beaujolais, to visit a priory and former convent. Many appropriate photos later, we jumped back on the bus and went back to Lyon, in order to set sail.

Finally, we returned to the ship, for our sail away down the Rhône. It was a perfect evening, and as we sailed, swans floated gently by.  The water is really high this year, so all the superstructure of the ship has to be laid down and we are cautioned repeatedly to stay seated, lest we be brained by low bridges. We even got to experience several locks (écluses, in French), and the boat fits through with just inches to spare on each side. We also met the second set of new friends for our trip Ken and Jean, and the six of us pretty much formed a posse for the remainder of the trip. WE stayed out on deck ’til the sun went down and then went to dinner, ready for another full day of adventure tomorrow.

 

Eating Your Way Through Paris

Today, Sunday, May 15th, we started off with a foodie’s tour of Paris. We left for the area of St. Germaine de Pres, which is the gastronomic center of Paris. Our day started with a guided tasting at Un Dimanche á París (a Sunday in Paris), where we sampled olive oils, macarons, tapenade and single origin chocolates. This restaurant, cooking school, and tasting facility was first opened about six years ago. Jim’s cousin, Kathy Donovan, treated us to dinner here when we visited about five years ago. The signature element of all the items on the menu is cacao, which they use in infinitely creative dishes. Jim and I were happy to return. Yum!

 

Then we walked through St. Germain de Pres, window shopping and visiting a street market.  We also made a brief stop at the cathedral of St. Sulpice, made famous in the Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown.  The highlight of our morning, though, was a a pastry cooking class at Lenôtre, where we learned to make macarons. The cooking school, located right on the Champs Elysées, is a marvel, and they broke us up into very small classes for our instruction. Our class was assigned the task of making raspberry macarons, and we had a blast. However, even with expert guidance, I don’t think our finished product met the standards of perfection which prevail throughout Paris.

After the class, Jim and I walked back from the Champs Elysées, to our hotel, and had a very pleasant lunch in the lobby.  After such a couple of active days, we were happy to have a relaxing afternoon, and to get ready to leave tomorrow for our cruise down the Rhône river. First stop — Lyon, gastronomic center of France.

A Day in Monet’s Garden

Today, May 14th, we had a very special day!  For some time, Jim and I have both wanted to visit Giverny, home to Claude Monet, and his home from which he painted so many of his epic works of art. A couple of years ago, when Jim and I visited his cousin, Kathy, in Paris, she took us on a great bike tour of Paris at sunset conducted by a really fun tour company called Fat Tire Bike Tours.  Kathy told us they also conducted bike tours of Giverny, and ever since, we have really wanted to do this, so this time I signed us up.

After taking the Metro to Fat Tire’s Paris office, we loaded up a really nice bus and they drove us out to the northern part of Normandy where Giverny is located.  We picked up our bikes (with nice comfortable seats) in the town of Vernon, and then we parked our bikes for about 45 minutes while we shopped at the farmer’s market (and a few food shops) in the town to get the fixings for a picnic.  Today, the market was even more special than usual, and had some specialty vendors because it is officially, the cherry fair (Foire du Cerises). Naturelement, we had to buy some cherries, as well!  Then we mounted up our bikes for a short ride over the river Seine to a beautiful  grassy field on the banks of the river, where we inhaled our picnic selections ( and some really good wine).

Finally, it was time to ride into Giverny, for our visit to Monet’s house and gardens. The bike ride was a couple of miles along a beautiful hillside path, lined with lilacs in bloom. Then we came to the charming village of Giverny, and we parked our bikes on the outskirts of town.

Immediately upon entering Monet’s former homesite, you get the option to see either the gardens he established by his home, which are extensive, and consist of beautifully-laid out formal gardens of mostly flowering plants, or going to the Nympheas, which is the adjacent garden site Monet engineered by dredging to create the famous lily pond and planting it in a fashion influenced by the art of Japanese artists he had admired.  Both sites are exquisite, and are true works of art in themselves!  We could not have been more fortunate in our timing for this list, because virtually every flower in both gardens were currently in bloom, with a riot of tulips and irises the likes of which you would never see outside of the Netherlands.  I was in a photographer’s orgy all afternoon.  The house itself is quaint and charming, but your time is best spent maximizing all your time letting your senses drink in the splendor of the gardens.

 

Finally, we rode back to Vernon and made our way back to the bus. Jim and I then had to beat feet to get back to our hotel and change to go out to dinner and meet our tour group at last. Our dinner is at the restaurant Fouquet’s, which is reputedly another “etoile” (star) of French gastronomy. We can’t wait!

Crypt Kicker’s Rock

Today, May 13th, we started the day by moving from our apartment in the Marais to the hotel from which our tour is going to start, The Grand Hotel Intercontinental, which is right by the gorgeous Paris opera house.  We checked in and then metroed over to the Catacombs of Paris for our up close and decidedly creepy tour of the Catacombs.

Paris, like  many cities, was built on limestone, and the catacombs were created by the quarrying of limestone over the ages.  As the city grew and houses and other buildings grew and added weight to the honeycombed subterranean areas, Paris started experiencing some horrific cave-ins. Some of these cave-ins had the wholly undesirable effect of dumping bones and partially rotted corpses into the basements of people’s homes as what used to be the areas outside of town where the cemeteries were located became inhabited areas. Finally, in the mid-18th century, the king, Louis the 16th, ordered that all the cemeteries be emptied of their bones, and the bones began to be used to fill up the catacombs.

 

For approximately 50 years, each cemetery within the city boundaries of Paris was emptied of its bones, and the remains were not exactly treated with reverence.  I don’t know what Jim and I were expecting, but what we saw was chamber after chamber stacked with bones (some arranged in intricate patterns, but certainly not labeled or kept together in the vicinity of their original groupings. Jim said the Kansas song “We’re all just dust in the wind” kept playing through his mind.  I, however, was reminded of some of the scenes of rampage from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

In any event, there are estimated to be the bones of millions of bodies located here, and many of the bodies from the Revolution, including those of King Louis and Marie Antoinette were also lodged here.  Interestingly, as you can probably see from the pictures, really all that is visible from the path are femurs and skulls. When we asked where the rest of the bones were, we were told that the femurs were used like a retaining wall, and all the other bones were just pitched in behind the ones facing the paths.  The other somewhat shocking thing is that all the bones are right next to the paths, and we were continuous cautioned not to touch the bones, and not to take any samples home. Our bags were packed as we left the catacombs to ensure that pilferage didn’t happen.

We headed back to the hotel to enjoy some down time in our decidedly more luxurious surroundings, and then it was off to dinner at a restaurant near our hotel recommended by our tour director. The restaurant, la Fontaine Gallion, is a superb seafood restaurant, and we sat on the charming patio in front by the fountain.  As many of you know, Paris is an outstanding city for restaurants, but even I, foodie that I am, have been daunted by the sheer volume of the choice here. Paris has over 13,000 restaurants (at least those identified on Trip Advisor), and it is really hard to find a bad one. None of the restaurants we have eaten in thus far have even been ranked in the top 500 restaurants on TA, and the meal we had at la Fontaine Gallion was probably one of the best top 20 dining experiences of my life; yet it is ranked something like 950 on Trip Advisor.  All I can say is that it is good we are getting so much exercise, because otherwise we’d be in trouble!

 

From Here to Eternity

Today, May 12th, dawned bright and early for Jim and me. OK, it didn’t really dawn, so much as jet lag had us both finally crawling out of bed at 6:00, when it wasn’t even light yet. Never mind, we told ourselves; we would just go get a café au lait. Wrong Bongo! Apparently, Parisians don’t rise all that early, so we found ourselves walking for several blocks and killing time in our neighborhood, the Marais, until a sidewalk café finally opened for business. We had walked over to see the local farmer’s market, le Marché des Enfants Rouges, but not even it was open until 8:00. However, after our walk and wait, we indulged in our coffee and some sinfully delicious pain au chocolat! Another odd fact we noticed: even though some patisseries opened earlier than the cafés, they have NO tables! Just when you’d like to linger and sample the fresh breadstuffs coming out of the oven, there is no place to do so. Still, the smell of freshly baked bread (and croissants) was intoxicating.

Having restored ourselves with caffeine and chocolate, we set off to walk along the Seine. Along the way, we stopped at the square of the Tower of St. Jacques, which had another crazy-gorgeous garden in full bloom! Not only are the lilac bushes in bloom everywhere, but Paris is teeming with blooming horse chestnut trees, which have these pale pink (and white) blooms that look like Japanese pagodas. Throughout our day, the blossoms rainy gently down on us wherever we went!

The walk along the Seine was quiet and serene. Parisians surrounded us on bikes, riding to work.  We chanced upon a couple having a photo shoot along the banks of the Seine, and I snapped their pictures, too.

We totally lucked out on the weather, though. Although rain had been predicted for all day, it held off, and we had a pleasant stroll under overcast skies.  Because it was still, you could see the reflections of the buildings in the Seine.

We walked all the way from the third arrondissement to the gardens of the Tuileries.  Jim and I had never actually walked in those gardens which stretch for blocks.  Once again, the gardens were at the peak of perfection!  Once again, we stalked a young couple having a photo shoot.  Off in the distance, you could see the giant Ferris wheel by the Seine and the ever-present views of the Eiffel Tower.

By this time we had been walking for about four hours, and we decided it was time to head back to our neighborhood and catch some lunch. By this time, we had logged over 20,000 steps, for all our Fitbit fanatic friends.  However, first we had a mission: find a curling iron which wouldn’t burn down our lodgings.  Our landlady recommended that we check out the giant BVH department store.  After wandering happily through all 6 floors, we were directed to the basement. Much to our surprise, the whole floor was like a giant cross between a huge Home Depot and and an Ikea store, and even had lumber and auto parts!  However, the curling iron was elsewhere in the giant store.

We celebrated by having a great lunch at a restaurant near our apartment, le Terrasse du Archives, and then set off again (on the Metro); this time to check out the Musée Marmottan, which is home to a FABULOUS collection of Monet’s paintings.  There are also some other good Impressionist paintings, including works by Renoir and Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet.  Our timing was perfect, as it started raining while we were at the museum.

After resting for a while in our apartment, we walked to a charming restaurant right in our neighborhood, Le Hangar, where we enjoyed a great dinner and contemplated our day tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Vive la France!

Dear Readers:

 

Sorry for the long absence, but the Gringos are back on the road. Greetings from the City of Light!  Jim and I flew out at “o’dark-thirty” yesterday morning, catching a connection in Dallas, and woke up this morning in fair Paris!

although we will be here for 5 days in total, we begin our visit in an apartment in the third arrondissement (neighborhood/commune) of Paris known as Le Marais. We are very close to the Bastille and the Pompidou center, in a charming flat close to all manner of shops, restaurants and bars.  after checking in and cleaning up, ventured out to buy a few groceries for breakfast and to get our Metro tickets.

 

Since it started to rain almost as soon as we headed out on our walk, we decided a small lunch was in order, and as we dined, we watched the rain fall.  And, of course, since spring is here, we decided a glass of rosé was in order!

Even with the rain, Paris is lovely, with all the trees, and especially the lilacs in bloom.  We even saw some of the early cherries at the greengrocer down the street! We finished up our walk with a visit to the tiny park dedicated to Anne Frank. We’re looking forward to another day of explorations tomorrow!