First off, we are home. Arrived Tuesday the 16th around 11 pm after a very long day of travel. 8.5 hour flight from Paris to Atlanta. Three hours in Atlanta. 2.5 hiur flight to Albuquerque. We had close to a 24 hour day.

On a bright note, I watched 3 French movies on the first leg, all of which I enjoyed. Then a Korean movie on the second leg, though I slept through parts of it.

Bastille Day…we didn’t even attempt going to the parade. We did go Place de la Bastille to see a dance performance but it was so crowded we couldn’t get close enough to even see much of the performance on the big screen ,never mind, live. We did get to see part of the Olympic Torch relay, and even a quick glimpse of the torch. Whoopee!

That night we went out to dinner, the one bad meal I had in all of France ever, and then to the Eiffel tower for fireworks at 11pm. By 11:15 we were still waiting. We left. It’s not like we don’t have plenty of them in our hood following baseball games.

We said, “How can Paris expect to pull off the Olympics if they can’t even get fireworks on time?” I mean, even Albuquerque has it that much together. Game ends. Lights out. Fireworks 🎆!

The crowds were, of course, massive and expected, but we were glad to get to the subway before them. Especially as many subway lines were closed. I don’t understand how they expect that to help with crowd control.

The night before we went to 3 of the firefighters balls. Well, one that we actually attended. It must have been in an unpopular arrondissement. Hardly anyone there. But I did get to boogie a bit to pop music, which quickly became boring so we attempted other balls. Each was crowded with wait lines two blocks long and  equally wide. We heard the big base beat from one of them that was not appealing, nor was standing in line, so we didn’t hang around.

Otherwise, in our two.5 days there,  this is where we went:

Saturday afternoon…

It’s still closed, but there was a fascinating exhibition of the work to rehabilitate it post fire. What an undertaking! The photos and descriptions were clear and provided key information without being too wordy. One good thing as a consequence of the fire – statues and paintings and brasswork are being cleaned. I definitely would return in future for that. Scheduled to reopen in September.

On Sunday:

This, above, is a one block street with pretty pastel homes. It’s quiet too.

Below are photos from La Compagne à Paris, a neighborhood in the 20th arrondissement, that is an oasis of calm. No shops in sight, just a quiet residential area. It’s located on a butte, accessed by one street or steep steps.

The gardens are quite expansive with paths and trees and a pond upon which you can launch toy sailboats.

On Monday:

Montmartre restaurants

Then, the major disruption with Windows platforms that affected so many flights and banks… Home just in time!

Café de l’Eglise was a perfect choice. The maitre d’ was warm and welcoming, and our waiter very kind when I asked about the proper way to eat steak tartar. No worstershire sauce. Did he bring it because we speak English?

Irony:

So, that’s it, folks! It was a grand time. We are thinking about our next Camino or Chemin with smaller packs. The women we met from the Perigord invited us to join them next June!

Thanks for joining me.

Yesterday, Tuesday the 10th, we took a long walk along the Loire, from Tours to Rochecorbon. It was sort of like being on the Chemin, as the route follows the GR 3, a Chemin to Chartres. We did not see anyone that looked like pilgrims, though there were many bicyclists.

We left the riverside to go through the village of Saint-Georges and saw homes carved into cliffs.

Do you remember calling someone who was hopelessly out of tune with whatever was current a ‘troglodyte’? That’s the term for ancient peoples who lived in caves or dens.

Rochecorbon seems like a great alternative to living in Tours. It’s a pretty quick walk, especially if you stay riverside. The bike trail is paved and makes an easy bike ride. The village center is small. The homes and properties around were clean and good looking.

Another great day trip today was to Chinon by train. Larger than Rochecorbon, smaller than Tours, and also on a river, La Vienne. Wouldn’t mind living here, especially since it’s on a train line – one hour to Tours, Tours to Paris is an hour and 15. A charming town, “Every street corner resembles a painting from the fifteenth century…” said Henri Guerlin in 1911. That holds true today.

We had a late start and so didn’t spend as much time in the town as we could have. The fortress took up a lot of time and included a free wine dégustation. Plus which we were hungry, but it was too early, 5:30, for the restaurants to be open. Smaller towns abide by the hours of service, whereas cities do not.

A trick from the French to stave off hunger until the dinner hour – have something sweet like ice cream or a pastry. It really works.

Lest you think our diet consists of bread and pastry, a word about peaches. They are so good here! And beautiful.

On the plate with the peaches is Charlie’s brainstorm for using up some food items: bread, eggs, cream, yogurt, and blue cheese. We made a mix of the wet ingredients and soaked bread cubes in it overnight. Then we put blue cheese on top and slow cooked it on a low burner. (These small apartments rarely have ovens.) Result – a savory French toast for breakfast.

We often create novel dishes when traveling. Pasta often, as it lends itself to easy sauces. Last night I came up with a sauce of butter, cream, yogurt, blue cheese, paté. The paté had walnuts in it. With a side of spicy provençal olives…yum!

We leave Tours today for 3 nights in Paris, home on Tuesday the 16th.

A friend asked if I had a difficult time transitioning from Chemin to touring. Yes. It wasn’t as critical as last fall though, perhaps because we were on Chemin for 31 days vs 12 last fall.

Still, I do miss the ease of meeting people and having conversations  in French. I miss the small towns – which is why I search them out when staying in a larger city like Tours. We maintain the meditative nature by walking and stopping in churches, cathedrals,  chapels, basilicas.

However, I was quite content in Biarritz – ocean! And we still manage to walk 8-11 miles a day.

Tours has the added bonus of being on the Loire with ample riverside trails, walls to sit on, grassy areas. It is so easy to leave the city behind.

Rest your eyes on that!

It took the better part of a day to fly from Budapest to Paris. The Ryanair experience was much better this time, Budapest airport being more organized than in Bordeaux. We spent the night near the Montparnesse train station, not a great neighborhood, but for one night who cares. We did come across this apartment complex which I couldn’t stop looking at. So many windows and such a large flat industrial look.

The train ride to Tours is only about one hour 15. Not much to look at out the window. Arriving on a Monday reminded us of rural France. So quiet. So many businesses closed. It gave the impression of being much smaller than it is. Post Monday and wandering around gave us an idea of the vibrant and lively city of over half a million that it is.

Our apartment overlooks a quite lively street.

Here’s a photo from the old town area which was PACKED with fans watching on any available tv.

We spent the day yesterday at Chateau Chenonceau on the Cher River.

Catherine de Medici and Henry II lived here along with Henry’s true love Diane de Poitiers. Diane had the bridge built, those arches you see crossing the river, for access to hunting grounds. When Henry died, Catherine booted Diane out. She then had the upper levels of the bridge built.

Aside from the formal garden in the photo above, there’s also a very large floral, vegetable,  and herb garden. The stunning flower arrangements throughout the Chateau are all created in another building on the premises.

We arrived around 9:30 and were ready to leave by around 3. Then we discovered that there wasn’t a train until 6. Thank goodness for large grounds! We also wandered to the quaint town of Chenonceau and visited the church and the tabac. Not much happening in Chenonceau.

Chenonceau will likely be the one Chateau we visit, because really, how many can one take in? Chateau Chambord is the great big splashy one in the Loire Valley. We opted against it because it is so big. Chenonceau was big enough. Also it had too many bedrooms! I can only imagine how many Chambord would have. Though it is beautiful.

Left Biarritz last Sunday, 30th June. Took a bus to Bayonne, train to Bordeaux, then a bus to Bordeaux airport. Ryanair employee not helpful. Ryanair app not helpful, yet it all worked out. We arrived in Prague (Ryanair doesn’t fly to Budapest,  but they do have a flight out,  to Paris.) around midnight. Stayed at Marriot by the airport as it was so late. Had a great breakfast there before heading into Prague for the day and one night before getting the 6:15 train to Budapest. Prague is as beautiful as I remember it to be.

The 6 hour train to Budapest was comfortable – and pretty inexpensive – just 50€ for both of us, and it included a bottle of water and free coffee on board. I recommend Regiojet! They also had a lounge in the station for ticketed passengers with free coffee and ice cream, but the ice cream maker was out of service. Too bad. I was rather looking forward to an affogato at 5:30 am!

Our apartment in Budapest is centrally located on the Pest side of the Danube, the more lively area with shops and restaurants/cafés galore. It’s also a short walk to the Danube, a metro, and the bus we’ll need to get to the airport on Sunday. 

So, we arrived Tuesday in Budapest. We were pretty beat after a long day. Walked around a bit, found dinner, and turned in. Wednesday found us on Margaret Island, basically a very large park.

We visited the market.

Went to another park. These large European cities sure know the value of green space. There’s always several large green spaces. This one has a castle, now housing an Agricultural Museum.

The famous Chain Bridge was closed when we were here in Fall 2022, but open now!

Ed came down with a cold on Thursday afternoon, so I’ve been on my own some. Took a walk to Parliament.

Visited the bronze shoes again.

I sit there, contemplating, imagining these people standing by the river. I imagine the n@zis, gruff, devoid of feeling. The bodies tumbling into the river. Were they all shot at once, or did some of them have to endure seeing others fall, listen to shouts and cries?

This morning I took to the healing waters of Szechenyi thermal baths. This is the iconic bath house in Budapest. It’s magnificent. So many pools, indoor and outdoor, a salt inhalation chamber, several saunas. I spent four hours there!

We are finding Budapest to be more expensive than it was two years ago. Or maybe we don’t remember having to pay to visit a church, to use a toilet. At least this apartment is a good deal.

Last night, Friday, Charlie was feeling better so we went to a ruin bar – the original ruin bar, Szimpla Kert in the old Jewish quarter. Four partners bought an old, dilapidated building to create an inexpensive meeting place for community and artists. It opened around 2002. Free entry, free concerts three times a month, Sunday market and brunch. It’s two levels with eclectic grunge decoration and furniture.

I’ll finish this long thread with a photo from the Budapest ferris wheel, which is a very tall one.

And last word before I get on to a new post…Budapest is beautiful and I’m glad to be leaving. It’s too big for me, especially in July. We failed to factor in the high season. This trip just might be two weeks too long. Still, I look forward to our return to France 🇫🇷 and seeing what the 9 days brings.