European Trip Summary, Part One

After about 14 hours of travel and 24 hours awake, we arrived at Portland and gladly took the shuttle to the Howard Johnson's for sleep, sweet sleep.  Max picked us up the next morning and we were glad to see home, complete with Freddy and the cats.

Construction and remodeling halted while we were away but quickly resumed, and I (Kathy) am now back at work in the basement.  Europe seems like a wonderful dream.

So it seems like the perfect time for a wrap-up of our trip.  We also have a lot of cool pictures we'd like to post.  Starting with Best and Worst:

Best Viewpoint: (Kathy) So hard to choose.  Number one would be looking across Lake Lucerne.  And it's a close call, but I'd say standing in the cow field in the shadow of the alps is number two.  But the rooftops of Berne are close.  (Jeff)  Taking our cruise on the Wolfgansee in Austria - warm sun, cool breezes and views everywhere that could grace a postcard.

Best Country:  (Kathy) England is my favorite because of the friendliness of the people and not having to speak another language.  Holland (Amsterdam).  There was a electric feel to the city, very alive but with a citizenry that was mellow, friendly and devoted to a "no stress" lifestyle.  Walking the canals and marveling at the architecture was such a treat.

Best City:  (Kathy)  I loved Amsterdam.  Number two would be Vienna. (Jeff)  See above but Berne is second in my estimation - a nice city to stroll.

Best body of water: (Kathy)  The Wolfgangsee. Closely followed by the canals in Amsterdam.  (Jeff)  The Wolfgangsee and Lake Lucerne in a dead heat.  Both of those days were special, very special.

Best Dinner:  (Kathy)  We had such delicious food in so many amazing settings.  The tapas in Bristol were varied, unusual and sumptuous.  So was the dinner we had in Lucerne (spanish food).  (Jeff)  Very hard to choose a "Best" as there were so many Bests.  Meals that stand out was the Curry restaurant we went to near Malmaison - totally unexpected and my mouth still has a tingle from all of the spices.  Close 2nds would be our last dinner in Paris and our lunch at the top of the Jungfrau - what a view!

Best dessert:  (Kathy) Apple struedal in Salzburg.  (Jeff) Chocolate mousse  in any number of locales.

Best Ice cream: (Kathy) Above and beyond--Paris!  Close second--Salzburg.  (Jeff)  Got to say ditto, ditto

Best Hotel:  (Kathy)  The hotel in Vienna was great.  It was a really old building and had high ceilings, air conditioning and a good bathroom.  But the Ibis in Bristol was pretty good too.  (Jeff)  Amsterdam, old world flavor with a great location

Worst Tourist Trap: (Kathy) Weston super-Mare in England.  And most of Interlaken.  (Jeff)  The Jungfrau for it's inability to limit the number of people at the top of the mountain.

Worst Idea either of us had: (Kathy) Trying to find Sand Beach in England.  (Jeff)  Taking the train from Amsterdam to Vienna - we should have flown!!!!!

Worst Bed:  (Kathy) The Cambrone In Paris.  Small and hard.  (Jeff)  Brussels - the room we were scheduled to stay in was so bad, (the bed reminded me of a sway back horse) that we forfeited a days charge and found a different hotel.

Worst Bathroom:  (Kathy) They were all tiny.  Again, the Cambrone. (Jeff)  Ditto on the Cambrone but the hotel in Berne is a close second.  The showers were about 24" X 24" - a very tight squeeze.

Worst Food:  (Kathy) The McDonalds on the way to Vienna or the buffet at the President in London (Jeff)  Most of the food we had in Salzburg - a town that lives up to it's name - Salt town.  I get thirsty just thinking about it.

Best sunset:  (Kathy) Amsterdam:  The reflection of the sunset on all those old tilting buildings with the canal in the foreground.  Wow! (Jeff)  Interlaken with the hang gliders framed with the towering snow capped Alps behind them - talk about Alpenglow!

Things that I learned which I should reread before our next journey: (Jeff)  No cotton clothing - takes way too long to dry!  Also, bring less clothes - we thought we had cut things down but we could do even better - 4 pair of underware, 4 - 5 shirts, no jeans.  Finally fewer countries - we saw so much but I would have enjoyed digging deeper into the culture and ambiance of the countries we visited..
(Kathy)  Yes, fewer stops with more days in each so we could get out in the country and explore.   Also pack less stuff:  I never wore makeup....just sunscreen.  But I packed it all over Europe. And for clothing, light layers is the way to go.  Forget anything heavy and hard to dry. Also, although it's fun to learn on the fly, a little study of each town's transportation system would be helpful BEFORE you had to find your way to somewhere.  And make sure the hotels have air conditioning.

Things I was glad I did and would do again:  (Kathy)  Pack light and take it easy.  That's what we did and it made the trip so much better.  It was great that we got our hotel reservations before the trip so we always had a destination.  It was one less thing to stress about.  And having a good breakfast included in the price was great.  You always knew you could start out well fed.

And last but not least, The thing I was most glad I did and would definitely do again is travel with Jeff.  We did not have one fight or major disagreement on this trip and it was an amazing journey to add to our past journeys.  As we come upon 5 years since we first met, Jeff continues to surprise me with his knowledge and adaptability, and humor-filled, optimistic attitude.  He talks to everyone, no matter what language they speak and makes a good impression wherever he goes.  It is a pleasure and privilege to travel though life with him.

(Jeff)  Before the trip, I had purchased an electrical adapter/transformer which has room for 3 plugs and room to plug in 2 computers/phones - great device!  Protected the hardware and plenty of room for all of our needs.  Thanks Kat for the plug but you are the one who should take a bow.  Your ability to navigate strange towns, willingness to try new things, adventuresome spirit made this a truly wonderful journey.  I love a minimum of stress/drama and there was next to none and over 5 weeks, two days and countless miles - that really is an amazing testament.

Lawn chairs in London

This hedge was very moving

The Thames

Kew garden

A tree at Kew garden that was wrapped in a patch quilt of knitting done as a project by a group of special needs individuals.

A Bristol convenience store with a sense of humor

Restaurant next door to our hotel in Bristol and no, I did not order escargot there.

Guard at Roman baths

A proper English breakfast with baked beans and broiled tomatoes

We are here...

Tourists dwarfed by the stones

A fine English brew

Wonderful gate at Salisbury --Note the sheep on the awning

Holy Water fountain

Detail on Salisbury Cathedral

Wonderful backyard in Salisbury, note the chicken in the background

Wall painting in Bristol

A Duck fan/van in England

Bristol wharf at sunset

Tiled floor in one of the churches

Fancy Door into the market in Bristol

Getting friendly with a local in Bristol

We get to Brussels, turn on the TV and what is on...a track meet live, from Eugene, Oregon

Featuring Brussel's Mussels

In Belgium, a candy store on every corner.

Food with a revolutionary attitude.

Portrait of Freddy?

How to escape a train.....find the hammer, etc.

The plane went behind the tower

More pics in another post.....

Sunday, August 17, Josephine's Home: Malmaison

I (Kathy) had talked to Jeff about going out of Paris for one day of our visit.  I wanted to go to a garden like Versailles or Giverny.  But in the book was information for a trip to Malmaison.....The country mansion of Josephine, Napoleon's first wife.  I was already familiar with Malmaison because, as a rose lover, I knew that Josephine had grown a famous rose garden there.  She devoted part of the property to preserving old roses, and some of which would have not survived except for her patronage.  There is even an old Bourbon rose dedicated to the mansion....."Souvenier de Malmaison". 

So I was stoked to get out there.  The book said it was about 15 miles outside of Paris.  But not having a car meant we had to take the metro and a bus to get to where we caught another bus to get to the road that led to the mansion.  Quite a lot of trouble.  We went to the Bistro for breakfast, but Frank was no friendlier than usual, Maybe the service was a little quicker though.  

So we got on the subway to begin our journey.  Then we got on a bus that took us to La Defense, a huge business district with the tallest buildings that we have seen since London.  It's Sunday, so the whole place is deserted except for a few travelers.  We finally find our way to the stop for bus 258 and wait for the ride to Malmaison.

Tall buildings of La Defense through the bus window

The deserted bus stop.

Bored on the long bus ride with many stops

We finally got to our stop with the help of a little grey haired lady who was also going to Malmaison and spoke French and English (thank you, Emma).  We were walking up the road to the mansion when a little tram, decorated like a train, came by and we gladly took a lift.  Soon we were at the gates at last, paid our fee and found out that the whole place closed for lunch in a half hour!!  Bad lack of planning on our part, but we got to tour the garden at least.

Beautiful Malmaison

Panorama of Malmaison with Jeff playing Napoleon.

The rose that was named after the mansion.

Bright and lively garden beds

The refurbished rose garden

This cedar tree was planted in 1800 by Napoleon to commemorate a military victory

The garden was closing, so we got directions to the village nearby to see if we could find some lunch.  French towns pretty much close up on Sunday, so we weren't very hopeful.  But the walk was gorgeous. 

House on the road to the village

Tree lined street

The church where Josephine is buried

Old city hall

And when we got to the village, we were surprised to find the Church where Josephine and her daughter were buried, and a big old city hall building.  But still no food.  Then we met Allain. 
Jeff asked him if he knew of a restaurant that was open and he said he did, but we had to walk through town.  Such a pleasant little village, but nothing was open except bakeries.  Trusting our guide, we walked and walked until he said, "there it is".  It was an Indian restaurant.  We were skeptical, but ended up having one of the best meals of the trip......great curry!

After lunch we decided to explore the town a little bit more.  We walked back through the village and availed ourselves of some dessert.

So many ways to enter a sugar coma

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Then we went to see Josephine's tomb.

Imbedded in the walkway

This door was locked

Josephine amidst her flowers

Hanging out in the town square, nice, very nice

But we found an open door.  Most churches are open unless under repair.

Josephine's tomb

The tomb of her daughter, Hortense

After our dessert and the tour of the church, we decided to walk back to Malmaison.  We thought we were on the right road, but it turned out we were on the other side of the grounds.  After walking uphill for about a mile, we finally found the right road and got to the the mansion.  The little tram back to the bus stop was coming in 30 minutes, so I took a quick tour of the mansion and we caught the tram and got to the stop just as the bus was leaving.  We flagged down the driver and we got on the bus headed for Paris.

Napoleon's pool table

The sitting room

Bust of Napoleon

The little tram to the bus stop.

We made it home by bus and metro and had our nap and shower.  But we wanted to have a nice dinner our last night in Paris.  We walked up Commerce street, but it being Sunday in Paris, nothing was open.  Finally after walking about 5 blocks, we found an open sign and walked in.  It was amazing.....all the people who weren't on the street were in the restaurant.  It was three stories with an open roof and it was packed.  We asked for a table, waited 5 minutes and were seated upstairs. We had a delicious meal that added to our great memories of Paris, and found out later that this restaurant is one of the most difficult to get in to....usually you need reservations.  Lucky us!

Three stories filled with diners and an open roof......lovely.

Check out that smile!

The restaurant folks must have really liked us!  By the end of the meal, our name was hung on the wall

Enjoying our last meal in Paris.....almost

The next morning, we had our breakfast at the Bistro as usual before catching the shuttle to the airport.  As a last pleasant surprise, we got a smile out of Frank and even took a picture to remember him by.

Maybe the big tips softened him up....but he did smile!