Rising to Leaving It is really hard to do

Leaving our little spot in Bordeaux at 7:30 a.m. was sad.  Sadder yet, because last night, I got up to find the bathroom and before I knew it, down on the ground, banged into the large stone in the bottom of a four foot cave.  I just stayed there for a moment before I realized that I was hurt.  The ribs had smashed into the stone and just bruised and injured before I had a grasp on the wall!

Sorry that I fell, but teeth were yet to be brushed, so I limped to the bath, which has a sink bath combo in one room and a loo in the other.  The entry way to get there is four feet tall.
while the cave feature is a lovely idea, there are some things that one wants to be aware of.

Our room is basically the wine cellar in an old (European Old) home.  The wine is in a glassed off section and locked.  The beds look at the wine and the door to the loo is four foot and wide and wooden like a castle door. And heavy and leads to a four foot high tunnel.  All was well till I missed the step.  Drats!

View from the Bed

View from the Bed to the reading wall

the way out

We left our humble wine abode and cave and headed back to Paris.  Walking back through the Christmas market sort of felt like home.  For the Tallahasseean's it is like having the Market days of Tallahassee on every street of the plaza and then some.  Into our lovely hotel at Champs Elysee, the friendly staff and the interesting atmosphere.  I would say the large part of the residents tonight are of mid eastern descent with lots of special arrangements for them.  Their own reception area in the lobby, quite nice and healthy.  The long outfits that they wear are sure to keep them warm as well.

We checked in, cleaned up and took off for the shopping district.  The whole place is decorated head to toe.  It is more fun to watch people that buy things.  The shopping centers have open to the street doors.  The mall guards are everywhere and the people are 6 deep in every direction.  It is amazing the nonchalance of the parents about the children.  They hardly look back as kids run behind ahead and drift through crowds.  Perhaps too much American TV has turned us paranoid.  Or perhaps, I don't understand growing up in a big city where crowds are the norm.  Either way, the whole city is bustling and alive and shopping.

We had a fabulous lunch at the LaDurre, home of the macaroon.  It was tasty, fancy and French all at the same time.  Morgan had the fanciest sandwich I have ever seen and I had lobster.  The lobster was half the price of the sandwich!  I think I got the better deal.

The walk to shopping was pleasant and day was crisp, but not cold.  I enjoyed the walk after the long train ride in from the "Provence" The scenery was so like Indiana except less wind turbines and more castles, and of course more vineyards.  But lots of wheat and corn growth happens here, remarkable.  And beautiful.

But once on the streets of Paris, one is obliged to stay focused on the streets of Paris.  All around you announcements to avoid pick pockets and tricks and you are warned by every hotel agent.  I didn't have any trouble, but then I have a nifty little handbag with hidden pockets in it (thanks to my husband :) )

The Christmas decor is totally extravagant as you can see.

The buildings are all the old opera or archives or palaces and have been transformed for modern use.  All of the stores are beautiful.. All I have to say is that your wallet better be beautiful too!

For our massive entertainment for the night, we attended a show by Olivier Giraud.  I saw his ad as the only all English speaking comedy show in Paris.  I asked Morgan and she said yes.  Once again there was tension as we could not find our way to the show.  Looking forward and looking down did not allow us to see it was on our left the whole time!  Geez, what kind of fuddy duddy fusses over the show directions?

The guy was great fun and to our surprise, when he asked what cities of America are here, there was only one: Tallahassee! Four of us in the audience and all from Tallahassee.  What fortune! So the show goes on and I will not spoil it for you, but the trailer is on youtube.  He was very funny and all of it ringing with some form of truth.  Towards the end of the show, he picks the Tallahassee lady Rainey to come to the stage.  She does extremely well and applauds abound. 

 When the show was over, they graciously waited and we got to meet Pierre Vivier and Rainey of Chez Pierre, in Tallahassee.  We enjoyed their story of love and adventure.  Pierre, that daring rascal, went to Macon, Georgia with the Allman Brothers Band in the 60's and then off to Tallahassee with his love who was in FSU.  How fun, on this trip around the world, I have met two people with Tallahassee connections (not counting my daughter)!  I couldn't find a lot on the internet to share with you about them, but they apparently sold the restaurant to a relative, who had to sell for health reasons.  That was why Chez Pierre became the Front Porch. But apparently, Pierre is still the king of chocolate. As a funny aside, Morgan said she was backpacking through Europe and Rainey said, yep, I did that in 1966!  What a great connection for life.  Awesome choice young Morgan, awesome choice.

 Rainey had the gleam in her eye as she said that to Morgan.  Wondered if there was more to the nod and and the wink than, yep I know that.  There was definitely a pride thing of, I did it myself.  But I secretly wonder if there was a little community of souls that says yes, I did that.  Just that.  And I made it.

And maybe that is why the bistros in Bordeaux, small with 10-12 tables and limited menus still do well.  Do a few things really well and let others do a lot of things sort of well.  There are many big chains that have the chain thing down.  I just think that we have lost the focus of do less, but do it well.  People will pay for quality, if it is known (Tiffany's of Bern's Steakhouse).  People will pay a lot less for psuedo quality that is known (Steak and Shake or Walmart or Best Buy).

And speaking of doing things well, but in a limited space, I have thoroughly enjoyed my trip. The people were fabulous, the food is wonderful and the time with my daughter is priceless.  I will always appreciate my husband's support.  And I hope that the secret wink and nod, "I did that community" for my daughter will eventually be something she looks back on and maybe even writes about.

I love you Morgan Higman and I love you France!

Rising to Saint-Émilion Vineyards and Gare Saint Jean Jaux

Lolly gagging as usual, we headed off to breakfast at 10:30 a.m. too late for a breakfast reservation and too early for lunch.  We walked town square and ended up at the Christmas Booths along the park.  We ate a lovely ham and onion sandwich on a baguette and it was wonderful and warm.  Followed by Chocolate Chaud (hot choc) and the Morgan had Vin Chaud (hot apple and orange in wine with spices).  Bellies full, we strolled the water line and found the mirror of the City.  It is a place on the park where the water is kept very shallow and reflects off the original brokerages of the town.  The town centers around the river which brings in cargo and takes out wine.  It is a very important part of their history.  After waiting for the food to digest and buying Morgan's friend a Christmas present, we head to the tourist bureau.  Most tours are controlled by the bureau.  There are a few exceptions, but very few.

We sit at the station waiting and looking to see who is going with us.  There are two groups: twenty English speaking (this includes others who do not speak French, but whose English is limited as well) and 10 French speaking.  This makes the tour interesting for on the bus, the guide gets to do it twice. She is obviously French and the English is not her favorite part. I can tell you from my limited French, she did not deliver the same information.  For example, she included the price of wines in some circumstances for the French, but not the English.  Curious.  Our arrival at the Chateau in Saint E'million was greeted by hectres and hectres of vines.  They are planted in very straight rows and range from fifty years old to three years.  They are very reminiscent of the corn fields of Indiana.  But also in a sad way, if you have seen a national veteran cemetery, from a distance it made me think of the ones I have seen.

Back to the vineyards.  The skies were blue and cooperative, but up in the hills, the winds are stronger and whoosh will make you cold all through.

The vines up close look like they are sleeping in the cold.

The young tour guide, who is an employee of the Chateau is a young Asian person with a British accent and fluent Chinese.  She was very professional and very scientific about her presentation.  My only comment was that with such a large group, it was very hard to hear her at times.  But she was most gracious about repeating.

Once inside the vat room, we learned how the grapes are washed and turned and then poured into the vats

The vats are emptied into barrels and the barrels are turned and refilled every two weeks.  It is a very precise set up.

The tasting was chaotic with people struggling to get glasses and then return for another.  It is definitely not a professional tasting.  More of a tourist gets a little extra for the buck kind of tasting.  The ceiling was lined with empty bottles that was very eclectic.

For me the fun part (aside from learning about Chateau life), is the mix on the bus.  There was one Asian guy who spoke little English but flashed peace signs and went into the Dame bathroom even when asked not to.  There was a very American white guy with a huge gut wearing a dirty sweatshirt and pants and a cast on one foot.  He was quite loud.  Then there was a group of French women in their sixties who brought lunch to eat with their wine.  And last was a group of eight or so American college kids from Northern Illinois.  One guy was from Texas and he asked, "where y'all from?"  Made my heart jump a little.  Morgan ended up talking with them as they had a lot more in common.

I am pretty sure that Morgan's favorite part was the purchasing of the macaroons (almond cookies that are full of chocolate) and eating them as she walked.  The ham sandwich had long faded for her.  The tour ended with us back at the station.  We caught the metro to Gare Saint Jean Jaques as we needed to have train reservations for the trip to Paris.  The trains were very full.  After leaving the metro, we ended up getting lost yet again (this would not happen if we had wi-fi), eating Thai food and coming back to pack.  Out the door at 7:30 a.m.  back to Paris, only one more day to be here.....

p.s. Someone commented on Morgan's hat (and the way she chooses to wear it).  Her Father told her she looks Swedish, I didn't think so.  She says it gives her street cred with the hostel crew.  She has other adorable hats, so for the record, this is her choice, her head and we will love her anyway!

Rising to the French Attitude

One never feels so dejected as when one is totally ignored.  And the French ignore you better than anyone.  Today presented challenges and not so much of the confrontational kind, but of the non existent kind.  I will give you that proper French etiquette is not followed when you don't know for sure what it is.  But if you stand in a restaurant long enough you should hear, "Je suis désolé, nous avons réservé aujourd'hui" We are booked or come back later, "Je suis désolé, pouvez-vous revenir plus tard?"

And just about when you are ready to starve, you stumble on The Breakfast Club.  Friendly, warm and gracious.  The waitress/hostess is fabulous and I am sure she is part owner.  She switches from Brittish English to French in a second and is comfortable all the way around.  She is so welcoming.  She tells us she has reservations for three of her ten tables.  If we will eat within an hour, she will let us have a table.  We tell her, Americans eat and run all the time and we sit.  The breakfast is fabulous.

And as promised, we were out of her hair in less than an hour and off to tour the streets.

The cold can be a bit piercing when you have just left a warm meal and space.  So the winds told me to not ride bikes, which was our plan.

Skateboards and scooters are considered transportation; bicycles always have right of way.  Pedestrians can cross anytime on their dime, but en masse they can cross anytime.  The preferred way of travel is the less costly.  Better to have good boots and a good coat and ride on the public transport than to have stylish plastic boots and ride a scooter.  Quality is a life thing here. So we walked and stumbled on Notre Dame number two ( the original being in Paris, there are twelve in France).

 Then off to town center and back through the Christmas market. I am scouring the City windows for boots or shoes, surely I cannot leave France without a new pair.  So we are vigorously window shopping for boots when we pass an exclusive leather store for bags and purses.  Oh my.  We duck in and the lady is so friendly and spends 20 minutes telling us how she lived in London and New York, how she hated Miami loved the Keys and how Paris is only a place to visit and it is expensive and crowded.  She explained that Bordeaux is the new Paris.  We talked of the people and the issues that Morgan and I have faced.  She told us the French are secretly jealous of the Americans and their vast country and that is why they are aloof. She said she did not even fit in the the French place even thought she is a French person. She was a lot of fun and her products are fabulous.  I took a moment to be thankful that we met her.  She explained in twenty minutes the culture we had been in for five days.  Ahh to have her as a friend to escort us to restaurants.

We decided to tour the Wine Museum ( Musee du Vin) and Modern Art Museum (Musee Maritime Beaux Arts).  Both were interesting in their own way.  The modern art Musee was really a modern film exposition and it was rather interesting to go through in English.  The Musee du Vin was very interesting as they explain the history of the region, the wines, the labels, the merchants, the fighting.  Money and good wine always brings out the best.

I have never seen wine bottles the size of my body, but I have now.  I understand labels, chateaux and merchant and picture.  I understand blends and regions.  Wow, what a great tour and this is only the musee!

The wine tour tomorrow is the best part of the day.  Morgan and I will strike out early (that has been around 9 or 10) for food and walking before the wine tour.  we are going to Saint-Émilion.

It should be fun and a learning experience. 

Morgan currently has her phone connected to my computer for battery, so I will show you some photos from Saint Michel that I did not include in the last blog.  These cows are at a store in Mont Saint Michel

No One Can Rise to Saint Mont Michel

We left our tiny flat of 90 square feet and headed out to Rennes at 5:45 a.m. in the cold.  The bus that we were to catch was departing as we crossed the street and we watched it go.  Standing on the side of the road freezing for the next 16 minutes, I reminded myself that this is a vacation!  I can rest in Tallahassee.

Miraculously, we made it back to the Gare Nord in time for the train.  And then off to sleep while we rode to Rennes.

So Caen is the center of The War Memorials and Rennes is the center of industry.  I picked it because I thought it would be lovely to see the region.  I also thought that it would allow us to see more of the life styles.  Rennes is very different that Paris or Caen.  It is a working class environment and has the feel of Baltimore, right before a game of the Orioles.  The City is fast moving but has the feel of people that hang at the line of just making it.  The factories are large and the whole city seems to revolve around where they were built, not unlike the city center of other cities.  It is just different when the feel is newer, and by newer I mean 1950s forward.  For Europe, 1950s is a blip.  I can't tell you I was happy to be in Rennes.  I can tell you that from Rennes, you can take a bus to Mont Saint Michel which I can tell you - you have never seen the likes of before...

Aside from being an island off the shore of Normandy, it is truly unique.  Tide going out adds new meaning as it goes out for miles.  You would not know that it is an island on low tide or even near low tide.  it is surrounded by grey sand and grey water and in winter, grey skies.  Mont Saint Michele sits out in a bay of sorts  and stands alone as a majestic monument to things past.  It will humble you with its steps (over 300) and its steepness.  It will awe you with its chambers and staircases to seemingly nowhere.  The men who lived here were much smaller and the people who waited on them smaller still.

I cannot tell you how glad I am that I did not live here in it's peak.  I cannot imagine the loneliness and isolation that they felt and the cold and the lack of fresh water.  I can only dread the waiting on the King or the Bishop and the total servitude it took to allow their position.  Thanksgiving means never having to have been a serf.

On the up side, Morgan and i truly know what ramparts are.  We also know she likes to walk them and I do not.  So I stand below and take pictures and she goes to the high places and looks beautiful!

Back to our little flat in Rennes, where the only problem is the owner forgot to give us the code to the building.  We stand outside waiting for the post person to open the door, except guess what, she can't so we wait until another person comes down to check his mail.  I now the feeling of "we might be sleeping in the bus station tonight."  The apartment was very cute and considering we were there less than 12 hours, it would have been perfect, if not for the code issue.  Up again at 5:45 a.m. (is this a Morgan Higman thing or what?).  Off to Bordeaux.  If Rennes is the bastion of industry, Bordeaux is the haven of youth and professionalism.

Entering the city is like walking into Portland times two centuries.  There are certain people I can see as Parisians, but there are so many more that I can see as Bordeaux-ins.    The City is old and young, cobblestones and wi fi, cafes and Apple stores.  It has seven musees within walking or biking of Town Center.  There are two colleges on the map.  I am so excited!  Off tomorrow for tour on bikes then Sunday off to a tour of three vineyards.  Sunday night, back to Paris.  But let us not think of that.

For the few who asked what happens after my interview: I will be sent a preference of assignment.  I have several days to accept.  If I do , then all is well.  If I do not, then they write me with offer two or I write them with offer two.  Only three offers are permissible.  So, very structured interview with very structured responses.  We shall see what we shall see, eh?

By the way, we are staying in a "atypical apartment" which is not an apartment but a very old building turned into offices and living environments.  The walls are old stone.

You have to go out a very old four foot door to go to the bathroom and then you share it with the hosts.  the toilet is not in the same room as the sink.  The challenge for me is remembering where I am at three in the morning and not falling or getting lost.  Oh to have had money and opportunity when I was young!

Our hosts are very nice and properly distant.  He is in mergers and acquisitions ( I will talk to Beth later)  and she appears to stay home, though not clear on that.)  And it quite close to city center and all things important.  I am very Thankful that Morgan let met be part of her trip.  And that I had an interview.

Happy and giving Thanks from France!