Celebrating 5 years - Day 2

The morning after the most wonderful meal I have ever laid eyes on was followed by a perfect breakfast of breads, croissants, meats, cheeses, fruit and coffee.  We looked through our brochures, searching for a vineyard to visit that would be on our way to our next destination....a B&B in the country.

Before leaving, though, we roamed around the town and visited the old church.  The tour of the underground church was in the afternoon, so we decided to just view the church above ground (besides the fact that Lyle isn't a fan of caves!)

 

We left the remains of the old city wall and headed out to visit a vineyard.  The problem was, though, that very few were open on Sunday....and finding one that gave an English-speaking tour was an added challenge.  After driving by several chateaux, we gave up and decided to just head on to the B&B, past a windmill and a beautiful tree filled with wisteria....

 

......and through the small town of Gensac to an old home that was once the center of the surrounding vineyards.  When we came upon this driveway, Lyle wondered where I was taking him to THIS time!

 

What a relaxing and enjoyable place!  A delightful British couple greeted us to their recently-renovated inn and let us unwind in the yard with a glass of wine.  

 

We enjoyed the stories of how they had a busy restaurant and deli in the heart of London, then decided to sell and buy a place in southern France.  Their love for fresh and home-made cuisine was shown to us with another wonderful 4-course dinner, designed just for us!  It began with an oriental ginger-spiced soup, then shrimp and scallops, followed by a huge breast of duck that tasted like a steak, and then a yummy flan.  It was hearty and another memorable meal.  I heartily recommend it if you are ever in southern France: www.closdessaveurs.com/

 

The rooms were beautifully decorated and spacious.  We woke up to the sounds of the birds chirping in the flowering trees, views of vineyards, and another breakfast filled with home-made jams, breads, and cereals.  She even had rhubarb sauce, which I hadn't had since my mom made it!

 

 

It was hard to leave that next morning as I could have stayed another few days to relax, but we had Day 3 in Bordeaux ahead of us.

Celebrating 5 years in the wine country-Day 1

Lyle works for a wonderful company that has rewarded hard work......and he works hard!  Five years ago, he earned a week-end trip to New York City.  It was a time when we were searching for a place to get married. Voilà!  Why not do it there?

And that is what we did.....in Central Park....with my two dear friends Larry and Jan to support us and marry us....

You would think just celebrating 5 years in Paris would be enough, but we had been holding on to a Relais & Chateaux gift certificate for over a year to use somewhere special. These are special hotels!  Begun in 1954 with chateaux from Paris to the Riviera, there are now over 500 hotels around the world that include castles, resorts, and 5-star hotels....the places we dream about but are out of our price range.  Our time in Europe was running out...this seemed a perfect time. And again, complements to his company.

We have visited a lot of areas of France, but one place we really kept our eyes on was the wine region of Bordeaux, home of some of the greatest red wines of the world.  I searched through our book of hotels and chose one in St-Emilion, a village famous for the wines of the same name.  Medieval.  Walls. Narrow streets.  Perfect.

But it's a long way.  After checking trains and rental cars, we decided on driving there and taking the fast TGV back, a decision that worked out perfectly.  It is a 6-hour drive through the yellow colza (safflower) fields south of Paris, through the Dordogne Valley (where the prehistoric caves were discovered), and on to the beautiful rolling hills filled with over 100,000 vineyards (just beginning to sprout their leaves).

We arrived at our hotel in the heart of St-Emilion, a 200-year old stone building standing on the foundations of an underground church, built by monks during the 9th to 12th century.

This hotel is THE place where wine tasters and buyers from around the world stay.  It felt luxurious, but was not ornate.  Just beautiful.  Though we weren't in the most expensive rooms in the hotel, our room was spacious and comfortable, with an incredible bathroom and toiletries.   The view from the terrace of the hotel looked over the town below us, filled with cafes, shops, and narrow streets.

But what was the most incredible about our stay was our dinner, also included in our gift certificate.  As Frommers puts it, "This cuisine served here is the best known and most praised in the area."  The dinner was amazing, probably the best I have ever had as far as unique, delicious, and beautifully presented.  Most of the time we did not know what we were being served, but at each course a waiter explained in English what it was.  Sometimes that didn't help, as I had never heard of some of the foods.  Jabuga 5 jotas?  Tobiko with wasabi asparagus?  Poached egg in a serving plate made just for it.  But when I tried to cut the small parmesan cake with a knife, the famous chef  Philippe Etchebest came over to our table, grinned, and told me to use my fingers!  "We are simple here!", he said.  Then he asked if everything was to our taste and went to greet others.  Totally amazing.

The courses that followed included red mullet looking like a small boat, with citrus fruits, coriander, fresh mint and pureed lime and nut-brown butter.  Then free-range duck, somehow cooked as a mousse, with sugar peas, turnips, dates.   Followed by a pre-dessert and then chocolate.  And each course, naturally, accompanied by a local wine.  How do I even remember?  Our personalized menu was given to us on our way out onto the moon-lit terrace to enjoy a cup of espresso.

C'est magnifique!

Our last trip home.....

We had a quick trip home for Easter and it was like a whirlwind.  Trying to juggle seeing our kids, grandchildren, and friends proved to be difficult in just 10 days.  Throw in a holiday and some birthdays and it really gets tricky! Time was precious and the calendar was full.  But this was our last trip home and we knew that some things would have to just wait til we were home permanently in July....

Highlights of our visit......

Easter began with coloring some eggs with Ava and Katelyn

......and then an egg hunt and Easter dinner......

....Easter dinner now fills two tables!

Six of our seven grandchildren....what a feat getting them to all sit for a picture!  Ava is holding brother Jude, Anna with brother Emmett, and Katelyn and sister Amanda

Patrick and Tanya arrived a few minutes later with Tyson

But the week was full of many other grandparent moments, with Lyle putting together a bike for Anna, celebrating missed birthdays with Amanda and Katelyn at the Mall of America Nickelodeon park...

and going to the circus for Ava's upcoming missed birthday....

The week was full of other fun times with our own kids, family and friends, but it wore us out just a bit (an understatement?).  Three of our kids are in the process of moving, which involves their putting up places for rent and sale.  With sadness I will be coming back to Minnesota with one son who has moved to Lincoln for a job change.  That will be a huge change for me!  I guess that's why I tried to spend so much time with them while I could....

So we left the wild turkeys in our yard, heading to the pigeons of Paris, for one last trip back.  The next few months are already getting filled with small and huge (Greece!) trips out of Paris.  But we are also going to savor each and every day that we have here, trying to take in the cafes, a few museums, and walks through the neighborhoods.

Frustrations with (the) French

Maybe it is the language barrier and my frustration with not being able to communicate very well, even after two years of French lessons, but yesterday I had a not-so-untypical experience with customer service.

Amy and I met for our usual walk by the Seine, but deciding it was too cold, I suggested going for some hot tea  at a well-known restaurant on the river which gives a great view of the Eiffel.....a touristy place, but one Lyle and I enjoy in the evening for a glass of wine with a view.  I had noticed that they had a "Tea Time" menu for 8 euros which included a cup of tea and patisserie (pastry).  We headed over there and asked for the Tea Time menu and to sit indoors.  After telling the second hostess we wanted Tea Time, she guided us to a table right by a window.  Then a young waitress took our order for tea and gave us a menu.  We told her we wanted the Tea Time special and she pointed to the desserts on the menu, which were all over 10 euros each.. and we decided this is a pretty good deal!

So we ordered green tea and two creme brulees. The tea arrived, hardly hot, and two huge creme brulees. And a bill for 34 euros!  Translated into dollars, this is around 45 bucks!  I was angry.  Did they not understand my wonderful French?  Or were they trying to play dumb and stick some dumb tourists with a huge bill?

I refused to eat my 17-dollar dessert and instead we split one, shoving the uneaten one to the edge of the table.  Sweet Amy was ready to chalk it up to "a learning experience", but I was in no mood.  While I was trying to figure out the correct French words to use to argue with, Amy just got up and went to talk to the hostess and explain what we wanted.  The hostess understood, pointed to a huge tray of tiny french pastries, and told us THAT is what we should have chosen...we'd have to talk to the waitress. 

Well, the only words I could come up with were "trop cher"  (too expensive), pointing to my uneaten creme brulee and glaring at her.  She quietly took the bill and came back a few minutes later, deleting the 12 euros for the dessert and then gave me a lecture in French....something about NEXT TIME we should know what we are ordering, etc. etc..  I nodded and told her that I had said "TROIS FOIS" (three times!) that we wanted the tea menu.  It was about all I could say to argue in French.  I am not there yet. 

So we ended up paying 24 euros for two cups of  luke-warm tea (no refills) and one dessert.  A compromise, as the customer is not always right in France.

And to top it off, Lyle tells me that my second attempt at sending in our application for visas was not accepted because Lyle was smiling in his pictures.

Ski trip with Matt

Father and son walked all over Paris the day after Matt arrived.  After looking down on Paris from the top of the Eiffel, hiking down the Champs-Elysses and into the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the street of St. Germain, a relaxing train trip to the Alps was a welcome rest.

 

Penny the travel agent again hit the internet and travel books to try and figure out how and where to ski in Europe.  France takes skiing seriously.  They divide the whole country into 3 areas and rotate their annual 2-week school winter vacations so that they keep those resorts busy all season!  And most French ski areas are booked well ahead of time.  France was out.

We had been in Switzerland our first year here in May and wanted to return someday, so that was our choice.  I searched for a ski area where we could take a train....and one less than 6 hours and a bunch of transfers.  I found Lauterbrunnen, a town nestled in the Jungfrau Region of Switzerland, in "a valley of 72 waterfalls".  The speedy TGV took us to Berne in three hours, a transfer to another train to Interlaken, where we transferred again........

....and headed for a beautiful ride along the two lakes up into the mountains.  Then, the brown hills turned white with new snow.  The ride was a delight for the eyes!  And so was the view from our hotel window!

I am not a skier. I gave it up after a two-hour snowplowing experience down a slope in Colorado over five years ago. I wish I had learned when I was young, but I convinced myself that I would be just as happy gazing at the beautiful scenery, reading a book, while the guys hit the slopes.  The weather was perfect, warm enough for just a light jacket, perhaps a little TOO warm for the bundled up skiers!

They got up early the next morning to catch the rack train to the ski runs,  above Wengen, all the way up to Kleine Scheidegg at 6,762 feet  ......

.....and a few hours later I got a call telling me to get on that train and come on up!  The views were fantastic and I shouldn't miss them, even if I DIDN'T ski!  He was right.....

 

  

  

  

 Even higher at over 11,000 feet, was the "Top of Europe", a complex of restaurants, an ice castle, shops, and views to die for.  But when I learned that it cost 180 euros round trip to get there, I quietly told the tourist office woman: "It costs less than that to go to Paris!"  We passed on that one and instead enjoyed a bowl of soup and hot coffee half-way...

Our trip was going to be a short one.  We had one more day to go up the other side of Lauterbrunnen, to Murren.  Lyle and Matt took the cable car behind our hotel right after breakfast to get a half-day of skiing in before we had to head home.  I followed an hour later and met them in the picturesque town, full of chalets, small hotels, shops, and beautiful ski runs.

 

  

And on top of THIS side of the mountain was another famous restaurant, Schilthorn,  which was in the James Bond movie "In His Majesty's Service".  We were tempted to to up there for breakfast, but...well, maybe another time (in the summer?).

The trip was too short, of course.....I know we all could have stayed many days longer.  But it was a good introduction to Alps skiing, and maybe one that we are fortunate enough to do again someday.  We love the mountains, and think about hiking them one day too.

Back in Paris, Matt was able to take in a few more sights, some French food.....well, mostly Italian I guess, and time with his dad.  We are glad he was able to come!

Special times at home

Oh my gosh, where did January go?  It has been quite a month, and one NOT spent in Paris.  Instead, we headed back to Minnesota for a number of good reasons: family, friends, and ......

 

SNOW???  This is what we arrived to on our deck....

.....and it just keeps coming as I write.  I think I have had enough of winter for one year and am looking forward to being able to take walks again, without the ice, knee-deep snow, and bitter cold.  I have become spoiled, I know.  I thought I would at least walk to the grocery store a few blocks away, but I have not done it once.  Oh, how I didn't want to be so car-dependent!

But we didn't come for the weather.  We have had very special times around here......

  

Enjoying four little granddaughters...

.....like making cookies, having tea parties, sleepovers.  Precious ways to spend winter days!

But there are also the grandsons.....

Emmett celebrated his first birthday, with his sister Anna helping him blow out his ONE candle....

 

......meeting a new grandson, Tyson, just a month old .....

 

But, we had a double blessing with another grandson born a month later!  Jude joined his sister Ava and that now makes SEVEN grandchildren for Lyle and me.  How did that happen?

 

 

It doesn't get much better than this!  So, I am home basking in the many blessings of having them all nearby, shopping, lunches, baby showers.  Lyle had to cut his visit short and return to Paris three weeks before my return.  Well, somebody has to make a living, right?

Being home for a month has brought lots of mixed emotions.  I feel like I have two lives.  I miss the new friends I have in Paris, the exciting adventures we have there, the mild weather (of course), and the healthy lifestyle of walking and healthy eating.  I have all the intentions of carrying that back to my home when I am here, but have found that I easily slip into the American lifestyle of driving everywhere, eating readily available snacks, and not exercising.  I am watching more TV...another consequence of cold, lazy evenings.  But I have also loved getting together with dear friends I have known for many years and catching up on their lives over breakfasts, lunches, and coffee.

I marvel that I can wash and dry my clothes in less than an hour.

I can't get over the cheap prices of groceries, clothes, and eating out.

I get impatient with the lengthy commercials on television.

I miss the cafes and French wine.

I have not been practicing my French.

Such a mixed jumble of thoughts.  We have four months left of our adventure in Paris and will embrace every minute of it.  I am thankful for all that we have experienced......and also that we have a wonderful home, family, and friends to return to.