Last day of vacation

There is so much to see in Paris, one could easily spend their entire vacation here and probably still have things left to see. But instead of feeling rushed and trying to cram it all in, we wanted to relax and actually be on vacation. So grabbing a daily transit pass, we headed over to some further sites and continued to walk around.

We saw:

• Arc de Triomphe
• Palais de Chailot
• Tour Eiffel
• Musee de l'armee
• Pont Alexander III
• Grand Palais
• Petit Palais
• Place de la Concorde
• Jardin des Tuileries

And while that list seems small, that's actually quite a bit of walking.

Tomorrow we'll have plenty of time to rest our feet on the long plane ride home.

Day of honking, sirens, and tents
The day started with honking, as we watched the traffic disaster that is the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe. We still have no clue how people actually survive the circle, but considering we saw a cyclist make its way through, this must be par for the course.

There must be festivities around the corner, since there were many white tents and stages being set up throughout the areas we were visiting. As well, there have been many police escorted vehicles weaving throughout traffic. If it means more people in the city, we are happy to be leaving when we are.

Home for a rest
The time has come to wrap things up in Paris and head back for home. We look forward to our bed and pillows, and other Canadian comforts. But we'll certainly miss life here in France and Catalonia. The wine, warm weather, scenery, food, cafes, boulangeries with its pastries, bouchers, chateaus, wine, and the list can go on.

Now we'll have to get back to the daily grind and get used to our old time zone once again. À bientôt!

Wandering around l'Île-de-France

Paris is much like New York, in that it never sleeps. Or at least that is what we can tell from the street below our hotel room that was noisy all night long. Ah, life in the big city. It actually makes you appreciate Winnipeg's slightly slower step in life.

Le Louvre
Abso-fricken-lutely huge. We spent half a day, trying to cover as much as we could, and were absolutely exhausted by the end. We started early in the day and thankfully had no line-ups to face. Upon entering the museum though, there were throngs of people throughout the exhibits to battle.

We saw the biggies and not-so-biggies, including, of course, the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the Venus de Milo. The building itself is also gorgeous, so definitely worth the trip.

Travelers Cheques
One of the tasks of the day was to acquire more Euros since we were running out. The plan was to cash my travelers cheques, which had proved to be useful on trips past. Well useful they are no longer, as every bank we went to refused to exchange them. Instead, the only option was the crappy exchange bureaus, which we had to settle for. Note for future travels - cash is the way to go.

Notre Dame Cathedral
The next stop on our walk was at the Cathedral, which again was packed with camera flash-happy tourists. (Even though the signs clearly state not to use flash...nevermind that flash in such a huge building is useless anyways.) Certainly not as impressive as other churches I've seen, but it certainly holds its own and is worth the trip.

Patios
When the weather is so lovely as it has been in Paris (20C+ temps), the tendency for Winnipegers is to find a patio, get a beverage, and enjoy life. And that is what we did - rest our feet, drink some beer, and have an afternoon crêpe.

However, there are two challenges when trying to sit on a patio in Paris.

1. Smoking - this has been banned inside restaurants and cafes, but patios are fair game. Much like Spain, this is not a great experience after being smoke-free for so long back home.

2. Being approached for money - it can be someone begging, looking for a light, selling flowers, or busking. The closer you are to street level, the greater the risk for being approached by some stranger looking to take your money.

Overwhelmingly huge
Paris is beautiful, full of culture, busy and full of life. The pace it keeps though, is a bit too much for us. In the smaller towns it was so easy to find a boulangerie, a boucher, or even a grocery store to buy some fruit, yogurt or even wine. I wonder how locals around this part of town survive.

By the end of the afternoon, we were finished with the hectic pace and overloaded from seeing so much. So we walked down to Luxembourg gardens to slow down and relax, and take in some greenery. There were benches and chairs littering the place, and many Parisians were also slowing down and enjoying the beautiful day.

From there we kept exploring the left bank, coming across some higher-end clothing stores, some antique shops, and finally making our way back along the Seine for a bite to eat.

Drinking now means less wine to pack
The theory is that the more wine we drink now means the less wine we have to transport back to Canada. So deciding on an Alsace gewürztraminer that could be drank alone easily, we were faced with the common wine white challenge in Europe: how to chill it.

Since we're in a lower-class hotel, we were without access to a beer fridge. Asking for ice is like asking for the hotel staff's first born, so the paltry ice we do receive only helps to make the wine less warm. Determined, we drank the wine anyways, and as less wine was left in the bottle, the wine got cooler and better to drink. It just makes my love for red wine that much stronger, as white wine is just too high maintenance.

(I should note that I don't mind white wine, but since it is the only wine mon mari will drink, it is our compromise.)

The final stretch

Knowing that we had to be at the train station before noon, we woke up early to get some breakfast and wander around town. It was another sunny day, and since it was Sunday morning, the streets were empty. A much better pace to view the town.

With time to spare, we decided to haul our bags back to the train station and get on our way.

The journey to Paris
The only train available to Paris is the fast train, which departs about every hour. Filled with people who are assigned seats, it was a different train experience from others I've had. The train also went a lot faster than any of the other trains that I've ever been on.

The trip also wasn't as scenic as others we've seen throughout the trip. Sometimes flat, sometimes rolling, but mostly used for agricultural purposes. Perhaps traveling this fast is too much for the delicate vineyard grapes.

The final hotel
Spending three nights at the hotel, we were looking forward to not having to move our luggage anymore. Usually by the end of the trip, knowing that soon you'll be at home, it gets to be exhausting to deal with moving bags and unpacking and repacking.

Luckily we were able to connect from the train station to the metro, which got us within minutes walking from the hotel. Soon we were checking into our small room, throwing our bags off our back, and setting off to explore Paris.

Paris
We strolled aimlessly around Paris, heading for the Seine and pushing our way through crowds of people. Paris, in a nutshell, is huge, busy, and filled with people. If this is the tourist off-season, I would hate to see what it would be like at peak season. Traffic is insane, and thankfully we have no car to deal with.

Just a street away from our hotel is a street filled with restaurants, that are generally cheaper since it is also near the university. Fixed menus with three course choices are very reasonable, and while the food is simpler, it is much cheaper than what we've seen in the rest of France.

Tonight I had the onion soup, tartiflette (reblochon cheese, bacon, onions, and potatoes), and crêpe with chocolate. Mon mari had bacon salad, talapia, and crème brûlée.

British propaganda network

When living in Poland one of the only english outlets for me was the American propaganda network - CNN. If you think CNN is bad at home, it is ten times worse when overseas. 24 hours a day you get some the story bludgeoned to death. Back then it was the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Of the english channels we've received here, only once have we seen CNN. Instead, it has been replaced with the British version - Skynews. Or CNN with an accent, and slightly more balanced. The flavour of the month this time has been the crashing economy, sprinkled lightly with the US elections.

Seeing the economy from a European perspective is actually quite interesting. As far as I can tell, the average American doesn't really get the full impact of how badly wounded their economy is (including the super sale-style spending of Bush). When at home, you hardly hear about it on the news. Here you hear about the EU leaders working to address the issue head-on. At the back of my mind I hear them silently cursing the americans for this jam that they've been put in.

Our last day by car

We started our morning wandering through the market, which happened to be on the doorstep of our hotel. Besides the usual fruit, veggies, cheese and meat, you could also find clothes, jewelry, shoes and kitchenware.

In the stores you could find pretzels - although they call them brezels - in many different shapes and forms. I had a sugary donut version, while mon mari had the traditional kind. We also picked up some local meat, and two types of cheese, including the mountain town Munster cheese.

Riquewihr
Driving a bit south we came to the picturesque town of Riquewihr, which was a bit more medieval than where we stayed. Once inside the fortress gates, the town looked pretty identical with its pretty buildings. So we wandered the streets, trying some more wine, picking up some munchies, and then went on our way.

Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg
Veering off the wine route, we drove up the mountain to a large castle situated on top. The road wound its way through the colourful forest, filled with all sorts of moss-covered trees. Getting near the top we parked our car along the road and hiked our way to the castle. Packed with tourists, we walked around the walls, through the forest to our remains, and continued hiking back to our start. A great place to enjoy the fall weather and scenery.

The last leg of our car-guided trip
Getting back on the wine route, we made our way towards Strasbourg. After seeing a few more picturesque towns, we decided to speed up our trip and find the main road. With the blink of an eye, the mountains and vineyards were no longer, and instead we were driving through prairie fields of corn and an odd cabbage field.

For most of our trip by car, we've been able to make our way without much difficulty with the signs set in place. However, when going off the beaten-path, the country-provided maps are very much useless. As are the road signs, as they point to the next small town, which isn't on the map.

In hindsight we came across a very useful tool for when driving in Europe - Michelin maps. They are much more accurate than google maps (which, to note, can be very wrong), and their website can even give you directions from place to place. Highly recommended for those who want to drive in Europe.

Traveling in a big city by car
We quickly arrived in Strasbourg, and within the same amount of time became very confused. A much busier city than we were used to driving in, we tried to make sense of where we were and how to get to our hotel.

By far, Strasbourg was the worst city for driving directions. Unlike all the other French towns we've been in, there was not one hotel sign listed to help us find our way. To make matters worse, our hotel was situated in the old part of town, which meant we had to cross the channel circling the town on only a handful of bridges that actually allowed cars to cross.

Finally finding a bridge, we weren't even sure whether we were in the old town or not, and felt like we were traveling in circles. We knew our hotel was by a church, but since there were enough in the old town, it didn't really help as a landmark.

Since we were able to stumble upon the train station and our car rental agency much more easily, we decided it was less stressful to drop off our car and just walk to our hotel. As much as we liked the freedom and ease of transport our car provided us, a big city was not the place to have one.

Strasbourg
Once we finally arrived at our hotel, no longer having to worry about dropping off our tank-filled car or finding our way, we were starving. We broke open a bottle of wine and brought out some previously bought rations and had a relaxing feast.

Finally unwinding, we made our way through town to check out the train station to purchase our airline-priced train tickets to Paris. Knowing that we were leaving at noon the next day, we planned out the rest of our stay in Strasbourg and prepared for the last days of our trip.

After seeing the beautiful, smaller towns of the wine route, Strasbourg was a bit disappointing and overcrowded for our taste. The buildings looked mostly the same, and the only thing that was outstanding - and quite outstanding at that - was the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Ridiculously huge, it dominates the square and its bells ring throughout town. Inside was just as beautiful and the amount of work done is simply amazing. With such beautiful buildings it is hard to conceive how much work must go into something so magnificent, especially since most of our buildings now-a-days are so plain. I wonder what the impact of creating such a beautiful and grand building now would do to the economy.

Contrast between two regions

We awoke to hear rain once more, only to discover someone was taking a shower on the floor above us. Unfortunately it seems as if the sunny days of Provence are behind us, as it is another cloudy day in Bourgogne ahead.

Meursault
We started our day driving back south, since we heard the market was in town. In the small town's main square you had a market, and stores, of everything that we needed: meat, cheese, fruit, a boulangerie, and a small supermarket so we could buy some yogurt. We ate our breakfast right in the square, looking at the foggy vine-covered hills and the distinctive burgundian glazed roof tiles. A perfect start to the day.

Bourgogne wine
We made our way back to Beaune, passing through many other wine villages, including those of Volnay and Pommard. Vines and wineries are again everywhere, and you could sense that wine is the raison d'etre here. There was one big difference from the other wine regions - they have massive wine "plants" here. They must make, and ship, so much wine here, that these seem to be the manufacturing sectors of the area. It is crazy to think of wine on such a grand scale.

The french believe that bourgogne wine is one of the best, if not the best, in the world. So of course the price reflects that. I took a stop in one of the bigger wineries and tried several wines, which were more reasonably priced. Alas, they were some nasty tasting wines. So I bought the one that was actually palatable, curious to know if aging it will actually bring more life to the wine. Not too sure what the french see, but I certainly wasn't going to pay the big bucks to find out.

Beaune
The rest of our morning was spend in this historical city, wandering the streets and looking at some of the old buildings. Many narrow alleyways, more of the typical glazed roofs, and some buildings being restored and hidden from view. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and were soon on our way.

The fast route
We continued up north for a bit to Nuits-St-George, when we decided we didn't have enough time to spend in Dijon. Besides, aside being famous for its mustard, we couldn't really figure out what else there was to visit that we haven't already seen variations on a theme of. Further, I doubt it would compare to my favorite polish mustard.

So we turned our car east, away from the vineyards, and through the quiet countryside. We finally found an entryway to the autoroute and quickly made our way to our next destination.

A different world
The autoroute helped us speed along and get to Alsace in good time. As we entered the region the sun broke through the clouds, and we saw mountains and fall-coloured trees, and life was good again. Soon we saw the mountainsides covered in vines and turned to take our last wine route for the trip.

When researching where to go, I heard that Alsace was very different from the rest of France, and it is true. This area is a hybrid of French and German cultures, where it looks and tastes like Germany - right down to their food and wine - but they speak French.

Alsace wine
We started the route in Turckheim and made our way north through many different villages. Instead of stopping we decided to get to our hotel early and spend the evening walking through Ribeauville.

Ribeauville
A very quaint town, it didn't take long to locate our hotel, check in, and start touring the town. The buildings were more house-like, with wood on the facades and flowers hanging from window baskets.

We ended the evening with a dinner of "pork knuckle". At least that's how it was translated, although we're still trying to figure out what part of the pig that is. But whatever it was, it was delicious, even though it meant that the skin of the pig was still on. I had the better version with plums and honey, while mon mari had the version of beer and honey. Side dishes could not be any more German: sauerkraut and potatoes. This was all washed down with a pitchet of riesling. Absolutely filling!

By car will travel

Rising early with news that our pickup to Avignon would be about 9:30, we were eager to get to our car and continue with our journey. We were also especially happy to not be riding out bikes, since the rain has since continued from the previous day.

Our drive back to Avignon was longer than expected, especially when our cab driver told us that he had planned poorly and that we had to divert to his home so that he could drop his kid off at school. Luckily we had time until we had to pick-up our rental. Thankfully he also went out of his way to ensure he had the right pick-up destination, as we insisted it wasn't at the train station, so he ended up calling the company to find out where to go.

Getting out of town
Since we had so much road to cover, we decided to head out of the bigger city as quickly as possible. Thankfully the road signs in France are generally easy to follow when looking to get to your next destination. What will be interesting is to see how easy it will be to drive ourselves around a town, where we had more troubles in Spain.

Taking the long route
Instead of hopping on the Autoroute with its pay tolls, we took the National road instead. Certainly longer, as you have to go through every town, but also more scenic. Making our way up north, there were a lot more towns to make our way through than when we were in Catalonia. This made more of an impact on our travel time than anticipated. But mon mari drives better than some of the Europeans! Good thing it is him driving and not me.

Nuclear
On one of our bike days we noticed that the air was a bit smokey in the morning, but didn't really think much of it. When driving by we noticed what caused the cloudy air - a nuclear plant. Two huge Simpsons-like stacks billowing out smoke, dominating the area. We passed two in the Triscastin area, and I wonder why their grapes aren't as well-loved.

Hermitage
We passed the other most prestigious wine area in the Cotes-du-Rhone region, with its hilltop vineyards stretched as far as the eye can see. This was the first time we saw so many vineyards sculpting out a mountain-side, it was an incredible difference from what we've seen before. Of course knowing that it was going to be more pricey we didn't waste time stopping for a sip.

Lyon
We also drove though this large city as fast as we could, as we didn't have the time to try and navigate even for a brief look. (You do have to pick and choose as best you can when traveling, as it is impossible to see everything!) we hopped onto the main route, only to find that there was a car accident that slowed traffic right down.

Beaujolais
Since I'm not a huge fan of the grapes, along with the fact that they're esteemed enough to be overpriced, we made only a quick jaunt through the Beaujolais region. Very picturesque, there were rolling hills covered in vines and wineries. In fact, this was the highest concentration of wineries we've seen yet. Every second home seemed to be a winery, that it seemed odd to stop at one for a taste.

So instead we took a quick stop along the wine route for a quick swish, only to confirm that it not my grape of choice. Riding on the even more scenic route, rolling through the small towns, was a nice break to stretch our legs. Considering the wine area is so small, you could probably bike it one or two days.

A dark ending
Getting back on the main road, we kept driving past Macon, entering the Burgundy region. Unfortunately, since it was already a continually grey day, it made sightseeing more difficult. So we drove as quickly as we could, navigating through the dark to find out hotel outside Beaune. While enjoying the fall weather, we certainly miss the summer daylight!

The pink room hotel

Normally the places we end up are nice enough, or mundane enough, that they aren't worth writing about. However, our stay here was much longer, since we had no where to go except on our bikes out in the rain. As well, it seems to be an accumulation of overall questionable hotel things...and then some.

The fact that it is pink (a colour I detest) is the icing on the cake. The fact that it is paired with a dark grey tile just looks like a design disaster.

Open concept
When you hear of an open concept house, you normally think of an open area that captures the kitchen, the dining room and the living room. Here, because it is a hotel, you have only a small glass cube wall that divides the bedroom and the bathroom.

Bathroom concert hall
Since the bathroom is made mostly of tile - except for the shared glass wall - it acts like a mini concert hall. Nothing like going to do some business and having it echo throughout the place.

The shower
This part actually looks the best, as you have two options: a huge shower head sprinkling from above, or a hand held arm. But since it is open, spraying on tile, it makes the entire floor wet. At least when I was in Greece with this type of concept, we were provided a squeegee. Here, we just get a really wet floor, all over the place.

And since the whole room is open, the whole room also steams up.

I should mention that this is the third time we've come across this open shower concept. The last two, however, had a tub that ended up capturing most of the spray. Although, we had to laugh at the first, which actually hung a picture in the shower - guess they didn't mind it getting wet.

Beautiful vs functional
The french seem to prefer beautiful room, versus functional rooms. (And keep in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.) For the higher-rated rooms you tend to find fancier bedspreads, elaborate light fixtures, or some nice tiling. Nothing about better beds, pillow, or more shelf space in the bathroom.

Dinner
Normally our included dinners have a menu a carte, which means we get to choose between two options for dinner. (This is a very popular, and cheaper, way to eat dinner here in France.) However, tonight we were demi-pension, which means we had no real choice, nor any paper that I could try and translate.

The first course was great - a pumpkin soup. Actually, we've usually found that the first courses are usually the best.

The main course was poisson, or fish. At least I remember reading that if there was only one choice that I could request an alternate, so I did. Viande, or meat, was going to be my mystery option.

What irritated me at this point was that our tour company specifically asked for allergies or eating restrictions. Obviously this made no lick of difference...

Especially when we received our main course, pork with a mini quiche. I can't eat eggs. So again I became the problem customer, as I really wanted something besides a plate of meat. (It was just cubes of pork, nothing else, and nothing particularly yummy.) So my plate went back and thankfully good ol' potatoes made an appearance.

The finally course was one we were looking forward to - chocolate cake. We made a joke that it will probably be something really small, knowing the french. Well it was no joke, and we got a wee cake about the size smaller than a hockey puck. At least it was very yummy and rich, so it ended up being a nice way to end the evening.

Discothèque
...That is until we got back to our room.

We were up for a bit watching after the meal, and when it came time to turn the lights off, it was lights off, lights on. Lights off, lights on again. Lights off, lights on a few more times. I started laughing, saying that I wasn't in the mood for a discothèque. We both had to laugh at how our room just wouldn't stop giving us surprises. But this one took the cake - the lights wouldn't turn off.

Phoning front desk, no one answered. So instead of getting dressed and trying to find someone to deal with our problem, we removed the lightbulbs from the offending lights. Unbelievable! And the next morning they were still on.

Mont Ventoux

Our final day of riding gives us the option to climb Mont Ventoux. As brave as we may be, we certainly didn't come here to climb a mountain - or at least I'm not. So instead we worked our way through by Mont Ventoux and a smaller set of mountains to Bédoin.

Pluie
While we were able to avoid rain for most of our bike trip, today we awoke at 6:30am to the sound of rain on the roof. The rain kept a steady pace even as we made our way down for breakfast. Forecast - rain, and lots of it. So after delaying as much as we could, we got on the bikes for the last time and were on our way.

As much as we like riding bikes, we certainly don't like riding on the rain. Stopping at our first city on the map we realised how drenched we were after only 10 kms. Knowing that we wouldn't enjoy any scenic route - nevermind the slight headwinds - we chose the quickest route possible to get us to our destination.

Looking up at Mont Ventoux we couldn't even see the top of the mountain, since it was covered in clouds. In fact all the mountains around us were covered in a thick grey, that mirrored our spirits.

Côtes du Ventoux
Just before noon, we found a wine cave that we could have a brief break from the rain. We are now in the region of Côtes du Ventoux, and it never dawned upon me until now why it was called as such (ie. the region at the foothills of the mountain). We had two quick glasses, which were actually quite nice, so we purchased one and made our way.

Things that crawl
Yesterday's surprise was finding a grasshopper on our window of our hotel. First note that we were on the second story of our hotel, so quite a ways up for a grasshopper. The second, and most horrific note, was its size. The guesstimate before escorting it out of our room was about 7cms long at minimum.

Today's surprise was found on the road amidst all the rain. Like habit at home, the tendency is to be on the lookout for earthworms. Instead, we saw what seemed to be an earthworm (I say it looked more like a stick, while mon mari says it looked more like a snake), but only it was slightly thicker and about 40 cms long! No wonder their crops do so well here with such irrigation.

The final nail in the coffin
Just when we thought we couldn't get more frustrated with our tour company (especially with the rainy squeaky, creaky, ill-shifting bikes), we got to Bédoin to try and find our hotel. The rain had gotten heavier, so we were soaked through to the bone and just wanting to rid ourselves of our sponge-filled shoes and shorts.

We find a map, only to find out that our hotel is located several kms outside the city, in the middle of nowhere. It was only about 1pm, but we had no desire to hang around town, so only had the option to make our way to the hotel. Thank goodness for our pannier filled with bread, meat, cheese and wine, as it was going to make for a delicious meal.

Unfortunately we were so early that we beat our luggage for the first time, but that didn't stop us from cleaning ourselves from road grime and warming ourselves dry. A lazy afternoon hid in our hotel room, listening to the sound of rain.

Back on the saddle again

We finally leave Grignan and hop on our bikes again. But before doing so, we partake in the local market - yes, we finally time it so that we hit one!

The weekly market
Some towns have markets once a week, sometimes twice in higher season. In these markets you can find fruits, vegetables, herbs, meat, cheese, fish, flowers, plants, crafts and other artesian treasures.

The cutest part was watching this petit chat that was the roadie for the fish stand. It just sat there, looking up at the fish, and even refused to move when a dog came by. That's dedication.

After our browsing we ended up with some cheese, cured meat, figs, lavender oil and herbs du provence (much cheaper than the tourist stuff). A great start to the day!

Ooooh, I squished it
Snails are everywhere, which means that they're in fields where there is no water. They're found on tall grass, fences and the ground. They're nothing grand, but are only smaller white creatures, sort of like barnicles - certainly not worth eating.

When dismounting our bikes on the side of the rode to take a picture, I heard a big crunch. Looking down I saw a larger snail squirming beneath me. Zut!

Closing the loop
Making our way back down the loop towards our starting point, we ended up in Vaison-la-Romaine. The day was slightly windy, slightly cloudy, and slightly sunny. There were more rolling hills and picture-worthy moments around every corner. Moving away from lavender fields, we were back in wine country.

We tried stopping at several caves. The first we hit was just fifteen minutes after noon, and the last one we passed was about thirty minutes before two, so I was out of luck. Still trying to figure out french time, it turns out the wineries were closed from noon to two pm. At least there was one cave in town to quench my thirst.

Must make sure to hit the wineries first thing in the morning tomorrow. And yes, that still just sounds wrong.

Vaison-la-Romaine
This was a much larger city than our previous night with much more to see and do. (Yes, we are again questionning our tour company's wisdom as to why we wouldn't have our rest day here.) Since Romaine stands for Roman, there are many Roman ruins about the town. There are also a lot of tourists, which is odd after being in such a quiet town. Our night was spent away from the tourists in the medieval part of the city, falling asleep to the sound of the fountain outside.

Rest for the wicked

Today we had an option day to rest, and with the pattering of rain on our windows in the morning we decided to do so.

The daily grind
One of the more frustrating parts of our day is getting our bags ready for a potential early morning pickup. (Yet another beef with our tour company.) We've been told to have our bags down by 9am, but each day we've had our bags still sitting there by the time we've left the hotel. So we try to sneak some extra time in our morning, so that we have a less hectic pace to our vacation.

Staying at the same place tonight was highly anticipated, since we were able to go down to breakfast without the normal morning rush.

French time
We are still trying to figure out french time, as there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason. The only grocery store in town opens relatively early, and then closes before 11:30am for the day. Boulangeries will keep their own hours, closing on whatever days suits them. Same goes for other general stores.

Lunch is usually after noon and until 2:30pm. If you're hungry, you generally have to wait until 7pm for something to open. Unless you're able to find a crêperie, which usually provides a nice in-between snack. The favourite so far has been nutella filled.

Beer
We've also tried partaking in some beer throughout our trip, but unfortunately this has been a bit of a challenge when trying to find something locally. Most beer has been foreign, but there has been a bit of a local twist.

The first is panaché - a beer, mixed with lemonade. Surprisingly quite refreshing. You can either find it served in a glass or pre-mixed in a can. Apparently after some googling I've found out this is the same as a shandy.

The other variation is monaco - a mixture of beer, lemonade, and grenadine syrup. Google tells me that this is after the colours of the flag of Monaco. If you can get past the bright creamsoda red look, it actually also is quite nice, but sweet.

The third variation we've yet to discover is picon bière - a mixture of beer and alcoholic syrup.

Châteaux Grignon
Since we had time on our hands, we decided to visit the local historial site. One of the reasons it is famous, as well as why Grignon is well-known, is because of Madame de Sévigné. She was famous for writing letters to her daughter about her experiences of the time.

Writing letters? Put that into today's context, and basically she's famous for writing a blog. Ah, how times have changed.

The châteaux was nice enough, even though a good chunk of it was rebuilt. The worst part of it was that we had to go through with a tour, which spoke only in french. We were told it would only take an hour, but instead the tour guide went on and on and on, and by the end we were another half hour later. To make matters worse, we only had an english coles notes version to follow the tour, which didn't match the order of the rooms we toured nor went into the depth the tour guide went into.

By the end we were nearly running out of the châteaux, back to our room where a bottle of wine, cheese and bread were waiting for us.

Olives
The end of the day was at another restaurant with simple salads. The french seem to love olives with their salads. So if the menu tells you that there are olives on the salad, there will be plenty of them. If the menu doesn't mention that you'll have olives on your salad, odds are likely that you'll still get some.

I guess I should note that with the vineyard and lavender fields, there are also olive trees. But since it ranks much lower in my priorities, I just have forgotten to mention it.

Fields of Lavender

Since we covered some of our scheduled trip the day before, we (thankfully) had a more lazy day ahead. Checking the weather things were looking up: sun, warm weather, and the best part - no wind!

Picnic
Since we were making wonderful time, we stopped by the side of the road to have a mini-picnic to map out the rest of our day. Not too happy with the directions that our tour company has provided, we've basically thrown out their directions and are figuring out our own way to our destinations. Of course this is much easier to do when the weather co-operates.

Lavender
Enjoying the ride again, we were able to stop and smell the lavender. (Well, as close as past-bloom herbs smell.) Back home you'll only find the odd bush or few of lavender. Here, they are planted row upon row like you would find vines. In fact, you'll often find them besides vines! Life is good, filled with lavender and wine.

Stupid bike tires
Day 3 and one tire pumped, one tire tube changed, and one tire tube patched. For all the months commuting, never has the tire maintenance been so bad.

Oak juice
French think their wine is the best, often looking down at new world wine...if not every other wine. In one of the dégustations I was conversing with our host about oak in wine, and how some of the new world wines tend to over oak. She knew exactly what I was referring to, and said that the french call this stuff "oak juice". A new wine term is born!

Côteaux du Tricastin
This is the wine region we're currently situated in, where thankfully the wines are cheaper. However, the quality of flavour also has gone with the price. We decided to buy a bottle of cheaper white wine to have for the night, and we both agree that there are many better out there. We'll have to look for some cheese to pair it with, as that should make it more palatable.

That being said, I did find a great white wine in my tastings today, but since mon mari didn't like it and it was quite a bit more pricey, it was passed on. So there are some great french wines out there - it is just a question of its value when comparing to some of the other countries that produce great wines as well.

A nice night out
The evening ended at an average provençal restaurant. Nothing too fancy, but delicious and filling. Provencial grilled steak on a skewer, bourgogne chicken, salad, and yes, french fries. I'm surprised with the amount of french fries being served with average meals, as I thought it was a north american thing. Apparently not!

Dessert was the final course, and since the menu was oral, our hostess was nice enough to speak slowly so that we could decide. After the next table's recommendations of tummy-rubbing and "mmm", we both chose a delicious gâteau aux pêches.

A loooooooong day of biking

Since our initial hotel was hosting a wedding, which would most likely keep us up, we were relocated to the next village. This seemed fine at first, until we took a look at the map and saw that our trip was now over 50 kms. We also learned that it was part of another day's loop, so we also cursed our tour company for pushing us so far.

To make matters worse - much worse - there was a nasty strong wind. Of course we were riding into it. And yes, some of the way was uphill.

The wind was so strong that when we were riding downhill we had to peddle to keep moving. And that moving was only about about 25 km/hr, which normally should have been closer to 40 km/hr. Our estimate, and the forecast for the wind was about 50 km/hr, gusting to somewhere about 70 km/hr.

As a frenchman we encountered said, "Wind is the enemy of cyclists." Indeed.

So a long day coupled with strong winds meant riding all day, stopping only to refuel ourselves. The day ended at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in another nice hotel - with a tub. After dropping our bags I started to immediately fill the tub for a good soak. From there it was straight to bed, only to rise for an hour for a small trip into tour to pick up some much-needed food.

With bike will travel

The day started with an early breakfast, a flurry of packing our bags and panniers, and adjusting our bikes for the day ahead.

The bikes
Finally on our way, we started with many f-bombs fiddling with our bike. Trying to remind ourselves that these are just rentals - although relatively decent ones - we still found the gears and general maintenance of our bikes frustrating. We encountered two flat tires, one lost pannier clip and miscellaneous rattling. We're curious to know what Day 2 of biking will hold.

The directions
We were provided two sets of directions - a map, and step-by-step directions. When hitting major towns, the signs are usually pretty decent, so we never really got lost. However, half of the step-directions we certainly did not follow. We still enjoyed the journey, but probably found ourselves more on main routes instead of off-the-beaten path.

The wineries
Today was the day I was waiting for. After starting off with a few kilometers of climbing, I was rewarded with my first winery. (And I say "I", as my dear husband patiently is along for the ride.)

The first winery was Domaine des Bouzons, which was exactly what I expected. A modest counter, vats and barrels and boxes of wine, and a friendly face eagerly sharing his creations with me. I sampled four different wines without guilt and fell in love with the last...and of course, more expensive. Finally I realised that this is what I work for, and purchased a bottle of this treasure. Besides, relatively speaking, comparing with the chi-chi wineries, it was an absolute bargain!

Parlez-vous francais
Surprisingly, I remember quite a bit of my french, which is a lot more than I expected. While I can't converse in french, for the most part I am able to get by. Of course if you run into a snooty french person, knowing even a bit doesn't really help. But more on that later.

Dégustation
For wine-lovers, this is a very important word to know when touring France. Wikipedia defines it as "a culinary term meaning "a careful, appreciative tasting of various foods" and focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company."

What this really means is that this is a place where you can try wines. This can be found either at the winery or in a wine cave. A wine cave can be found in town and represents a winery or more - what a great idea!

Usually you are able to try wines without paying, but usually it is customary to purchase a bottle. However, I went to a few wine caves where we didn't purchase a bottle, just because they were so darn expensive! But don't worry, I've purchased several bottles...and don't even ask how I'm going to get them home.

Châteauneuf du Pape
One of the reasons the Provence bike tour was picked was because it went through Châteauneuf du Pape. Not only do I like its wines (versus the rest of French wines, which I'm still trying to get a palette for), but the town was amazing. No, it didn't look anything extraordinary. What set it apart was all its wine caves! Imagine doing a pub crawl, except you're drinking wine, and it is free. Well, except for the above dégustation notes.

The French
We've learned that the French can be separated into two groups - super friendly, or mightier-than-though outright cranks. The former is happy that you're trying to speak french, willing to share their wine with you, and help you out any way possible. These people have been absolutely great. The latter though, tell you sharply that they do not speak english (in french of course), make it a chore to share their wine, and are quick to end any encounter with such a pesant.

This has actually become a benchmark for me when trying wines - I will only try and purchase from the former. Life is too short to waste time dealing with such miserable people.

Pillows
Pillows are certainly something left to be desired here. They're usually these super-flat, weak excuses for a head-rest. Even more strange was a pillow that I've never seen in Canada - one long pillow across the width of the bed. If you like hugging your pillow at night, this is definitely not the pillow for you.

A fairytale ending
Our night's stay was about two km outside Châteauneuf du Pape, which we were a bit sorry to see, as it would have been nice to wander around the town. But since our panniers were full of wine, and we still had to shower for the dinner ahead, we made our way. On the way we passed over half a dozen wineries! I was sad not to be able to stop at them, but we had a destination to reach.

We turned the corner towards our hotel, when we saw the most amazing place.
http://www.chateaufinesroches.com/
Yes, it was a night in a Chateau! Absolutely stunning, and defintely more pricey than I would usually pay for, but what an amazing treat! Not only did this place have its own winery, but it also had its shower in one of the towers. Yes, I would have to say that this was one of the most amazing showers, simply for its view!

So we ate like royalty at the chateau, drank some fine wine, and then slept in one of the most comfortable beds on the trip. Magnéfique!

An Early Start

With our late arrival into Carcassonne, we decided to wake up early so we could tour the castle. And what a castle! Declared a UNESCO world heritage site, it is fully intact and stunning to see. It overlooks the town and is just massive. It is easy to understand how it attracts throngs of tourists.

Getting ready for the train
Making sure we weren't going to miss the train again, we left plenty of time to make our trek over to the station. On our way we happened upon my favourite - a fruit market! This time my eye was on the grapes. In Canada we have three types of grapes - green, red and purple. Here we chose Muscat! They were so sweet and sugary, I imagined how these little morsels were just short of becoming wine. I was quickly woken when I discovered three seeds within the grape. At least we know they were the real thing.

A leisurely end
Getting back on the train, we made our way to Avignon. With a train schedule in hand, we found a noon train that would take us directly there from Carcassonne. Travelling by train is an experience that everyone should enjoy. It allows you to sit back and relax, and enjoy the countryside. Well, that is unless you're Mike who gets car-sick easily.

We also got our bikes and maps tonight. The dude who gave us our orientation and bikes might be a bike-nut, but not the best in knowing about the tours. We spent the night pouring through our stacks of information, trying to anticipate the day ahead.

On our way to La Belle France

Our departure to France took much longer than expected, as it was the start of our day of foibles.

As mentioned earlier, trying to find major destinations in a town, by car, is a challenge. Our destination was the train station, and the town was Figures. We left in plenty of time, anticipating a challenge to find the station. While it took longer than we liked, and our directions from the Michelin site ended up being completely useless, we managed to get our car to its home on time.

But by the time we found the guy to take our car back, and get our train ticket, we saw our train on the platform away from us pulling away. The next train - 3 hrs later. So we had more down-time than I would like, especially when looking like an obvious tourist with massive backpacks in tow.

Mullets
If you miss the popular 80s hairstyle, then Figures and northward is for you! Yes, the style for young men in the region appears to include a mullet. Whatever the case, it still looks ugly as sin and needs to be banned worldwide.

More Waiting
Once we finally got on our train, we arrived at the end of the line at the border. We got out, showed our passports to the boarder police, and then bought our next ticket. The next train was over an hour away. One would think that with so few boarder trains, that they would try better to coordinate their timing.

La Toilette
We were on our way again, with only a brief stop to change trains in Narbonne. Mike had to use the toilet and ran to the station to use theirs. He came back with a puzzled look on his face (actually more of a wtf look), only to learn that he just had another european moment. The good ol' pay toilet. I never understood the idea of charging people to use the facility at a place you're a patron of.

Vines everywhere
Finally on the last leg of our journey, we made our way to Carcassonne. Of all the fields we passed, about 85% of them were covered in vines! So to keep myself amused after a long day of travel, I just imagined the wonderful wine those little grapes would become.

Our final day in Catalonia

Since we decided to stay another night in Jafre, we planned a busy day traveling around Catalonia.

Cap de Creus

We started by taking the most winding road to the most eastern point in Spain. While the distance isn't far, with many trucks and other slow moving vehicles on the road, it made for a tedious drive. But we were quickly refreshed when arriving, as the wind was unbelievably strong. We took some time to scramble around on the rocks, but unfortunately didn't have enough time to go on one of the many hikes.

Cadaques

Next stop was in a Greek-like town on the Mediterranean. The buildings are abnormally white for Spain, and it dates back to when the Greeks once settled the land. A very pretty fishing village, it is also a resort town during the summer months. While our arrival wasn't in the summer, it was still a tourist trap, so we quickly departed.

Besalu

We were happy to find a town much more off the beaten path. A well-preserved medieval city, it was a pleasure to walk around, enjoying the scenery without throngs of tourists. Highly recommended.

Girona

At the end of the afternoon we made our way back to Girona, this time armed with information to find our way around, and more importantly, park. Avoiding the day-time market, it was much easier to navigate and find a place to put our car. While the city is much more of a tourist destination, there is plenty to see and enough windy alleys to create a quiet town. A lot of history to the town, another recommended stop.

Smalltown Catalonia

I've heard that Catalonia is supposed to be the Toscana of Spain. When venturing off the main roads, I can see how this it true. Old stuff is everywhere - churches, ruins, fortress walls, cobbled buildings. Even the terraced olive groves are ridiculously old.

Beyond the age there is astounding beauty. Mountains often serve as the backdrop, coupled with rolling hills and meandering roads. Little villages are everywhere, and you really have to wonder how places so small will survive.

Ladies of the Night
When traveling by car, sometimes you find yourself in unexpected situations. And while in North America you'll find "ladies of the night" in dodgy areas, this was not the case in Catalonia. Towns in Catalonia do what everyone would love to do in North America - run them out of town. On the outer edge of town, on a main route, you'll find such a lady sitting on a chair, just waiting for some business.

Jafre

We spent two nights in a town that only has a couple of hundred people at most. Oh, and an Olympic futball pitch, along with a local futball team. We were able to walk through Jafre's streets in about an hour, and that also includes stopping to take pictures. The complete opposite of Barcelona, the main sound in the village was the church bell tolling the time.

Yes, leave your watch behind, because the bell tolls every hour and every quarter. And it doesn't stop at night. Plus there are also two extra special bells - 8am, reminding everyone to get to work; and 8pm, reminding everyone that the evening is beginning. On occasion there are even more bells for weddings, baptismals, funerals and burials.

Catalonian cooking
Our hosts offer a four-course meal plus wine for 19 euros, so there was no way we were going to pass that down. What we ate over two nights:

• Salad - European salad has a bit left to be desired, as they basically lay out the salad's fixings (tomato, cucumber, avocado, etc.) on top of the lettuce. For dressing we had a bottle each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
• Beans and Bacon - Absolutely yummy. I wish I knew how to make it, as any dish that makes me want more beans is a keeper.
• Cream of leak soup
• Bread, Catalonian style - Take a piece of bread, rub a garlic clove on it, rub a tomato, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and there's your base. We had fresh anchovies for our topping, which I actually tried...and no, I still do not like it.
• Olives - While I don't mind them cut up in stuff, alone is still not for me.
• Beef in milk curd - A loaf of beef, simmered in a pan of milk.
• Roasted vegetables - Red peppers, sweet potatos, onions, and other types of squash.
• Roasted chicken with spices
• Ratatouille - a veggie mixutre of eggplant, peppers, zucchini, and other veggies.
• Spice cake with caramel drizzle
• Vanilla ice cream with rich chocolate

A more planned route

Taking the remaining plan for Catalonia and pushing it forward, we made our way to Girona. It was another very scenic route, winding our way through mountains and tunnels. It was nice and relaxing, until we hit Girona.

Road signs
When hitting the bigger cities, finding your way isn't usually a problem. However, finding your way around the city brings about much frustration.

When lost, the tendency is to grab a map. As logical as this may sound, a map in a bigger city or town is useless when in a car, as it is next to impossible to find street signs. For the record, street signs do exist. But they can only be found on intersection corners, tucked away on a building, in really, really small print. When driving around in a car, this is, well, useless.

Next thought is to look for signs to help you find your way to popular tourist destinations. Again, this would be nice, but instead, most signs in cities either lead you out of town or to a hotel. Once in a while you might find a sign for a major destination, but it is fleeting, as usually only one exists, giving you a general idea of direction at best.

Parking
This is another interesting experience in Spain, if not Europe. First comes the challenge of finding a spot to park, which is big enough for your car. Remember, while cars are small in Europe, space is at a premium. This means you have to squeeze your way out of a car once parked. I don't understand why they don't park on sidewalks like they do in other European countries.

Next comes the challenge of making sure that no signs tell you that you can't park. Finally, if you do happen to come across a sign, the final challenge is being able to try and understand what it tells you. While a car is convenient to drive around, to stop and leave it isn't as easy.

Grocery shopping
Instead of staying in Girona, (since we could not find our destination, nor parking) we decided to head for a grocery store to pick up some munchies. It is always interesting to see how other cultures live, and a grocery store tells you quite a bit.

The best part of the grocery store was the booze isle, mainly wine. Besides having a decent selection, for a grocery store that is, some of the prices would probably convert more people to become wine drinkers in North America! The lowest bottle I could find was 0.79 Euros, which even for me seemed too good to be true. So instead I opted for a slightlier pricer bottle at 2.79 Eu.

Leaving the big town, driving aimlessly

The initial plan was to make it over to Rioja, but after considering the time and the cost, I just couldn't justify it. So instead we pointed our car south and just went.

First stop -Villafranca pel Penendes
Yes, the mecca of the Torres wine family. The winery was impressive, and I even got to touch one of their grapes! But being a big and snooty winery, all samplings were pay by sample (and quite a hefty price...which goes along with their bottle prices).

After waiting (im)patiently, we learned we needed to purchase our tickets at the front. Luckily I was cashing in some karma points, as we were the last to buy tickets for tasting that day (2pm on a Sunday).
Two different wines quenched my thirst:

• Vina Esmeralda, Moscatel and Gewurtz
• Gran Goronas, Cab Sav and Temptranillo

Both super yummy, we even bought the former. Bad planning on our behalf, since we forgot to bring a corkscrew! Luckily we now own with with the Torres logo on it.

Next stop - Tarragona
Nothing really impressive, as the place was especially closed on a Sunday. We did see the old Roman acqueduct and had something to eat.

The scenic route

Seeing how old Spain is, there are a lot of ruins and old buildings - everywhere. The highlight was Montblanc, where their fortress is still intact. But the only hotel we could find was closed, so we made our way through the mountains (and more Torres vines - they were EVERYWHERE) to Lleida for the night.

Barcelona Crime

Scene 1: Buying a scarf
Eyeing these scarves since we first arrived, I finally decided to stop at a street vendor to buy one. I was looking them over, finally settling in on two scarves, I was getting ready to bargain. Out from the left this guy comes running past our vendor, running like his pants were on fire. Then like dominos every vendor on the street pulls up their strings to fold in their wares, and the vendors all follow down to disappear. At the same time we hear the Polica zooming in to where we were, and we were left standing there, laughing at us being dumb tourists. Street vendors almost busted! (Well, the few scarves he dropped were confiscated)

Scene 2: Pick-pocketing

We were in a square, minding our own business, taking pictures, when we noticed these guys circling a couple of other guys sitting at a cafe table. Next thing you know they close in on them, putting them in handcuffs, taking our their stolen goods. Within minutes the cop cars arrive to take them away, while one of the undercover cops talks with the lady sitting at the next table, giving her back her goods. This time the cops got their criminals!

Siesta - The Time Shift

Time in Spain is a challenge for a Canadian's mind to wrap around. Breakfast is small and late. In the middle of the day things just stop. Eating comes late at night. Trying to get used to this different rhythm of life has caused late starts to the day and late finishes as well. While I don't mind trying a new rhythm, the timing with seasonal daylight has been a bit more trying for finding your way around.

Barcelona - Big and Busy

We started our trip in Barcelona, a city filled with people at all hours of the day. Being a "world class city", in the European Union, also means that is somewhat pricey. Apparently it isn't pricey just for tourists, but for the locals as well.

A recap of what we saw and did in Barcelona:

• All things Gaudi, or almost everything. Starting our way in Parc Guell, we made our way to Sagrada Familia (in the rain), then to the apartment buildings. We questioned whether we should go inside Casa Mila, but after seeing the ridiculously long line-up, it was a quick decision to go on our our way.

• Passeig de Gracia was the way we made our way back. Picture it as New York's Fifth Ave.

• Las Ramblas, which was just a few steps from our B&B. Filled with tourists, a market of many things (most popular were the caged birds), and high priced establishments. We took a stroll just to see the place, and to make our way to the La Boqueria (a HUGE fruit, meat and wine market). Definitely would love to have such a place back home.

• Barri Gotic (the old town) and everything in it. Europe at its best, with narrow curvy streets, churches, little shops, and cafes.

• Tapas, sangria and wine. While wine is plentiful, it comes mostly by the bottle. And smoking is also plentiful.

Adventures in Catalonia

Okay, so I'm a bit behind, but read on to get our perspective of our travel adventures!