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Home again

Traveling for Gary and I is about the experience of learning new things, meeting new people and living in a space that is unique to us. Like so many travelers, we want to see the highlights which fall into the tourist category. We also want to move off the path to one less traveled and meet people that are local and in their element. We are often thrilled by the little things that are not found in a Rick Steves book or a travel show. Things like:

• Your morning wake-up call from the bells from a 10th century church just outside your window.
• Learning that your new friends are also interested in good food and drink and not afraid to show the results.
• Seeing the local feathered and four legged residence.
• Tasting the foods that the locals eat.
• Discovering the art on the street in unexpected locations.
  

We look forward going back to Europe, seeing the areas that we did not have time for on this trip. The UK, Greece and more of Spain are on the short list for our future travel. We have friends that we hope to visit in the Nordics and hope they visit us in America. This is my last entry for this journey but we plan on many more.
Stay tuned,
Gary and Delys

Journeys end, for now.

October 24, 2008

This has been the journey of a life time and we have enjoyed the well wishes, comments and suggestion from many of our friends and family. The connection with everyone has made the trip even more special. I hope that our journal kept you informed and entertained, it has been fun to keep a record, even though writing is not my strength.
There are many people and resources that we have tapped to make this journey possible. My brother Dave and wife Diane were kind enough to take care of our four legged child, Tigger. Two of my former co-workers at Kodak that live in Europe, Jes and Thomas gave us great advice, “you must go to Prague” and we were very glad we did. Our neighbors, Tracy and Jay, Shaila and Arun watched our house and plants. Something that’s very stressful when traveling. My last blog will contain some of the little details that were missed during our travel, so please check back in a few days to see our final notes on this trip. Please do not hesitate to send us our comments on this blog or at garydelys@gmail.com
Thanks for traveling with us!
Gary and Delys

Count down

October 22, 2008
In our last two days in Europe we’re moving towards Paris where we will fly out of on the 24th. Today the train takes us to Rouen, a short train ride into Paris. Rouen was bombed extensively during WW2 but has been restored, when possible, to its medieval roots. We have a nice little hotel next to the Cathedral. Rouen is also the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
Three days until we are home with family and the Tigger reunion.

Bayeux France

October 20, 2008
After spending the night traveling on the train we arrived in Paris in time to jump on another train to the Normandy town of Bayeux, our headquarters to explore the beaches of D-Day. We walked from the train station toward the large church steeple towers. We have learned that this is a sure sign for the center of any town and found a charming little Bed & Breakfast. On further exploration of Bayeux we learned that the little town, so close to the action of WW2, was left intact while most of the surrounding towns were destroyed. This explains the beautiful old houses and 10th Century church. Amazing.

D_Day and Normandy

October 21, 2008
Our trip to the beaches of Normandy was both beautiful and sobering. We took a van tour that included the Arromanchesles museum, German Battery near Allemandes, Omaha cemetery, Omaha beach and Pointe Du HOC. Much of the areas surrounding HOC and Omaha beach have been left intact. You will see in the pictures the holes made by shelling of the German battery in HOC and the hills around the beach have been restricted to keep the area close to what it was on June 6, 1944. We shared the tour with another couple, Mary and Dave from NY. Mary’s father also landed at Omaha beach around the time my father landed. Her father was injured near the town of Bayeux. The trip is deep with emotion and I’m glad we went.

Barcelona

October 19, 2008
Our last day in Barcelona was a beautiful day with the whole day to explore the 1992 Olympic area and parts of Barcelona we had missed the first day. We stumbled down the old streets of the Gothic area and found some great street performers and musicians that were very talented.
We left Barcelona on a night train, this time in separate cars. Gary with a group of 4 guys and I with 4 ladies. My roommates are from New Zealand, Chicago and a former journalist/photographer from Barcelona. Surprisingly three of my roommates are traveling for two months in Europe (not the women from Barcelona). Very interesting ladies and it will be interesting to learn how Gary’s group was.

For Hunter and Mary Beth

October 18, 2008

Barcelona has been a little rainy but I snuck in a few photos anyway. The first are for Hunter as he was learning about architecture, Hunter this is a big one, please do some research and share what you know. Mary, no fair helping. I think you may have visited this building earlier this year while you were in Spain. A few other shots should bring back memories of your trip. We were pleasantly surprised by Barcelona. The town is stylish and clean, the metro system is one of the best we have seen and overall it is a great city with good cuisine.
We’re not sure where we will go in the next few days in Europe, but we will take a night train to Paris to get us back in the region for departure. Paris is a major hub with easy day tripping to many areas. Perhaps Normandy’s Omaha Beach where my father landed during WW2.

Hola

For those following our blog, this is Mr. Tigger who I miss very much. My brother Dave and his wife Diane have been taking good care of him and as you can see, he is not suffering at all. In fact in the picture he is reclining on the back of Di’s white leather sofa and not missing me one bit. Looks like he is living the good life.

Tour De Provence

We ventured from the train today with a van tour taking in one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Provence, Les Baux in the Alpilles mountains, and in the Luberon region the tiny town of Gordes. Des Baux is perched on a mountain surrounding the remains of the Chateau Des Baux De Provenc, pulled down by the king of Monaco to stop the locals from fighting over the structure. The village is small with around 300 residence which according to our guide accounts for the 300 tourist shops.
Gords is well preserved because of strict standards for building construction that have maintained the style of the stacked stones for hundreds of years. We have not seen the film “It’s a wonderful life” with Russel Crow but understand it was filmed here.
Next stop, Spain.

A bit of Rome in France

October 16, 2008

One of the best preserved roman aqueducts in Europe can be found France at the Pont Du Gard. Only the span that crosses the river remains today, but it is a site to see and an amazing example of engineering and architectural splendor. We learned from our guide that the aqueduct was saved by the French resistance during WW2 at the last minute by defusing bombs set up by the Germans to destroy the aqueduct because the lower level was still in use for transportation.

Heart of Provence

October 15, 2008
The fields of Lavender are long gone from the September harvest, but the heart of Provence is alive and well. We were shocked to see the walled city of Avignon with the Palace of the Popes, the largest Gothic Palace in Europe and the Pont Saint Benezet (bridge over the Rhone) built in the 12 century with a small chapel dedicated to Saint Nicolas. Tomorrow we will travel to Pont Du Gard (the best preserved Roman aqueduct) Les Baux de Provence and the village of Gordes. The weather is fantastic we could not ask for better and hope our good fortune continues. Tonight we are winding down with some crackers with Chevre and watching the BBC. I hope to talk Gary into buying a small bottle of Chateaunuef Du Pape, a very famous wine of this region, very expensive in the US but not here in Provence.

From the Cote D Azur

We have had three great days stationed in Nice at a funky little hotel with two friendly house cats, Blanche and Max. In my photos you will see the court yard, look closely in the upper right, on top of the one room is the Blues Brothers dancing above the square and another has a tin cat walking in the gutter. Our room is an eclectic mix of Mediterranean, sea villa and antique. We have enjoyed the satellite TV with new from home (CNN) and full access to the internet.
From our location in Nice we have made day trips to Monaco and Cannes. Monty Carlo is a city of wealth, even the rail station is clean with the passengers comfort in mind. Reminders of the late Princes Grace are everywhere. We climbed up to the castle in time to see the changing of the guard. The views of the harbor below are spectacular.
We even took a quick dip in the Mediterranean which was cold but refreshing. The water is a color unique to this part of the world. Mediterranean blue is special and unlike any other body of water we have seen in our travels.