And the Hiking Begins

Breakfast this morning was in the garden, so typically French!  Cafe', croissants, French breads, yogurt, fresh fruit, and juice. As much as we would have liked to linger there most of the morning it was time to get started exploring the vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape. Our hike today was approximately 8 miles, we came across some workers harvesting the grapes by hand. Tammy asked them if we could come into the field to get a closer look at how the grapes are picked. They seemed delighted and gave us a bunch of grapes to eat as we walked. We got back to the village around 2 pm and had lunch in a little cafe by the fountain. After lunch we decided to look for the chocolate factory but after a long walk along the highway we were not able to find it so went to the museum of wine instead. Dinner was at La Maisouneta, just a short walk up to the center of town. Everyone in the restaurant were talking with each other giving full attention to the conversation, not a cell phone in site. Each night we go to bed anxious to see what the next day will bring.

Rhone Valley Wine Here We Come!

This day started in a whirl of panic for Tammy and Joanne as they overslept and our train to Avignon left at 9 am. Then to make matters more stressful, we took the metro to the wrong train station. We did make our train, however, with a whopping 5 minutes to spare. Which brings me to the subject of riding trains in Europe, if you have not done this yet let me give you a few tips  1. Travel light, lugging a suitcase on and off a train with little time to spare can be cumbersome and you almost always have to climb several flights of stairs. 2. Read your train ticket carefully, it will tell you what station you leave from, what car number your seat is in, and in which class of service you are booked. 3. Don't be afraid to ask for help, many people in Europe speak English. 

We arrived in Avignon and took a taxi to a predetermined meeting place to wait for our ride to the wine B & B in Chareauneuf du Pape. During our wait time we walked into the center of town and had some lunch. Out ride to the B & B was with a little Frenchman who was happy to share some of the local history. He was quite playful and teasing as we have found many of the Frenchmen to be.

Then we met Danielle Raulet-Reynaud, Sommelier and proprietor of the B & B. She was the first female sommelier in France and once a finalist as best sommelier in France and travels the world teaching her craft, so we were about to learn from one of the best. She started our evening explaining the wines of the Rhone Valley in her wine cellar below the B & B. There are four classifications of wines in this area, the one produced in Chateauneuf du Pape being one of the best, the wines can be crafted from just one grape or up to thirteen different grapes combined .We were then joined by six young Germans who were here only for the wine. They had just spent three days with Danielle wine tasting in the area and were headed home the next day. Danielle prepared an evening of wine and cheese pairing with at least 15 different wines. One of the last wines of the evening was from her private collection and cost between 450 and 500 euros. At 1 am we were finishing up with dessert and tastings then stumbled into bed for a good night of sleep before our first big hike if the trip. 

We made dessert first as it should be!

Did you know in France whole rabbits are sold with their heads still on the carcass, the reason is, during the war when food was scarce the butchers sometimes sold cats as rabbits. The practice is not necessary now but is still done as tradition. We met our chef, Emily at the open market this morning and she took us all through the market educating us about foods, letting us decide what we wanted to cook. We learned melons are ripe when you see some cracking around the stems, dill, parsley and other such herbs should stand erect when you hold them up, to determine if fish is fresh within 24 to 48 hrs. The skin should be slimey but firm and the eyes should be clear. There are only 56 cheeses protected by the government. After gathering all the food we walked a short distance to the cooking school, there we had coffee and tea while Emily set up for our lesson.  When we started each of us were given a duty and sometimes multiple duties. As things began to cook the smells became incredible, it wasn't long before we were sitting down for cheese, bread, wine and salad.  Then the main course of rabbit and roasted vegetables. Our dessert was figs and biscuits. It was a devine meal with wonderful lessons about cooking and food. After our lesson we were each given a "La Cuisine Paris" apron to take home.  

Our lesson concluded about 2 pm, Sue and Renee headed to the Louvre and the rest of us set out to find the catacombs. After many miles and ending up in a homeless camp we decided to give up the search and go to the Luxembourg gardens. We sat on the grass with the rest of the Parisians for awhile then decided

to really act like Parisans get some cheese, wine, and bread and sit by the Siene River for the evening. 

We leave Paris in the morning but we will take with us many wonderful memories of "the most visited city in the world"

WE WE we're in Pari'

We left Brugges behind us at 10 am this morning and arrived in Paris by train at 2 pm. We then took the metro ( no asking for directions) to Au Royal Cardinal Hotel. There we were held captive by the front desk man who insisted on a question and answer session for a half hour on Paris and informed us multiple times that Paris was the most visited city in the world. After we broke free from him we took the city bus to the Eiffel Tower and started our afternoon and evening of standing and waiting in line. If you ever want to punish someone for bad behavior make them stand on concrete for hours on end. Because "Paris is the most visited city in the world" everyone wants to see the Eiffel Tower at once I think. Of course once you got to the top the view is spectacular but looking at postcards is a lot less painful. Then we took a wonderful boat ride on the Siene. The structures along the river are breath taking and we timed the ride so just as we finished we were at the base of Eiffel Tower when it is lite up and sparking. So beautiful. Then we had to make our way back to our hotel after dark. A little more challenging, but we made it and finished our day at 11:00 pm with a delicious meal and a bottle of French wine.

Strolling and Boating in Brugges

We started today with Tammy bringing Melissa and Mary Belgium coffe in their room and then having a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. After strolling the streets we floated the canal and saw some beautiful buildings. We went into the Church of Our Lady and saw the only sculpture of Madonna done by Michaelangelo that is outside of Italy. The next very ornate church was St. Saviour's Cathedral which had beautiful stained glass windows and tombs in the floor. After all the churches it was time for a beer so we went to a local brewery called Die Halve Maan, the only local brewery left in Brugges. To work off the beer, Tammy, Joanne, Renee and Sue decided to climb 366 stairs to the top of the bell tower. Mary and Melissa didn't care to work off their beers so stayed below. Of course we had to buy some Belgian chocolate and Melissa bought a beautiful Belgian lace scarf for her dresser. Now we have gathered in one of our rooms and having a glass of wine to celebrate our day

Planes, Trains, and automobiles

After two movies, a little sleep, and some reading our 9 1/2 hour flight to Frankfurt was not half bad. When it came to train travel it was a good thing we were all women because it required multiple times of asking directions. The first train we had to ask several times until we felt that we were waiting on the right track for the right train. The second train we had a little better feel for how to figure things out and by the third train we were back to getting lost and having to back track to get to the right train. We have been traveling for 17 hrs so far and are still laughing and having a good time. After arriving in Brugges, Belgium at 8:45 pm local time we decided to take a cab to our hotel instead of walking and met a very nice driver  Tammy gave him a pin from North Pole, Ak. to share a bit of Alaska with Belgium. Dinner was at a little local Italian place called Carlitos, right across from our hotel Oud Huis de Peellaert, wonderful dinner to finish our day!

Day of take off