Vienna

Last New Years Day, we watched a concert in a spectacular concert hall on our French TV.  Lyle told me then....."Find out where that is and let's go!"  Well, after googling it, I discovered it was the Golden Hall in the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna.  It's an annual thing and tickets are well over 2000 euros...if you can get one! After researching some quick get-aways to Vienna, we spent 4 days there last weekend, NOT New Years!

  We arrived on a crisp, sunny day, took the train into the city, marvelling at their shiny efficient subway and train system.  Problem was, we somehow got on the express train and didn't have the correct tickets.  Oh well...the conductor just asked for 20 euros and went on his way.....

Vienna is the musical capital of Europe....full of concert halls, opera houses, and musical events everywhere.  We spent one evening at the famous Musikverein and looked forward to a Haydn concert.  The problem was....it was an opera...in Italian...translated into German.  But it was a pleasant surprise, and we throroughly enjoyed it.   Sitting next to us were two friendly women who were both opera stars and tried to tell us what was going on, but conversation wasn't welcomed well into the play.  We just sat back and enjoyed the Concentus Musicus playing "L'infildelta delusa", whatever that was......We were where we wanted to be and the evening was wonderful!

Earlier that day we walked around central Vienna on a walking tour, learning about the Hapsburgs, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Maria Theresa, and the confusing Franz Josephs and Joseph Franz's.  I was just starting to understand a little of the French monarchs...but now this?  All I could relate to was that Marie Antoinette was one of Maria Theresa's 13 kids who were all married off to further the Austrian empire.

We visited Marie's winter home and summer home.....Hofburg in central Vienna

.....and a short train trip out to the country side on a beautiful Sunday to Schonbrunn, similar to Versailles....

Besides serious concerts, Vienna has plenty of "touristy" shows with music and waltzes from Strauss and Mozart.  Lyle gave in to my longing to do that too, since I didn't totally understand the concert the night before.  We got some tickets off the street for another enjoyable concert in a small "salon" and were entertained with more classical music and dances.  I loved it!

It was a relaxing weekend of  music, walking, and just relaxing in coffee shops, which Vienna is famous for.  But we couldn't believe the food portions (I guess we are used to the French sizes?).  Our weiner schnitzel covered the entire plate, the bratwurts were huge, and the breakfasts were full of carbs!  And we had to bring home the famous sachertorte from Demel's.

 

 

 

 

Julia Child I am not

I have been enjoying reading "My Life in France" about Julia Child and her husband, living as ex-pats in Paris in the late 40s to 50s.  I know where she lived and the streets that she walked, but the identifying with her ends there.  She was a newly-married wife who plunged herself into Parisian life, learning the language quickly, and adored the shopping and French meals.

I am not there.

My speaking French still sucks, even after 18 months of working on it.  I shy away from the fresh markets because the overwhelming selection of fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, and cheese totally intimidate me.  I have a hard time asking for what I want, and am embarrassed about my child-like French.  I am not sure whether I am getting a bargain, or just getting "taken".  I know that not speaking French is the main problem.  I can't communicate what I want very well.

So, I'm afraid that much of my shopping is at the small little grocer's around the corner, or the bigger "Carrfour City" a few blocks away.  Neither are huge supermarkets, but the selections are clear and I can load up my bag with just enough to carry home.

I need to take a cooking class.  I have tried recipes from a French cookbook written in English, and have found some good ones that I can handle.  But when I sampled some "potimarron" soup (kind of like a pumpkin) and boeuf bourguignon at our last Bloom workshop, I wanted to try these recipes at home. Peeling the pumpkin was a bit of a challenge, especially with our dull knives, but it turned out well. By the way, all of their soups are started in the food processor.  No clear soups here!

Promising to make the "B.B" for Lyle, I went to the boucherie down the street and told the butcher, in French, that I needed 1 kilogram of beef for the B.B.  He smiled and brought out a beautiful chunk of beef from the refrigerator, cut it up, asked if I wanted a bone too (sure, why not...maybe that's the bacon part I am supposed to get?).  Price: 15 euros.....yikes!  Then headed over to my little store to buy some cognac and Burgundy wine (another 12 euros).  Add to that the mushrooms, veal stock, carrots, onions....well, that wasn't very much....but it was adding up.  All this for the two of us?  We needed to ask someone over to share it.  Frances and Steve could come Sunday evening.

The recipe actually was fairly simple.  I was a little hesitant about lighting the cognac, though, and told Lyle that was his part.  He did it with a match, as I did not want to spend another 10 euros for one of those torches.  Cheap and Cheaper were cooking!  Well, the fire from the cognac was tame, not flaming 3 feet high into our kitchen, just a little blue flame in the pot...

Mission accomplished....

It turned out great, except a little salty (did I really put in 2 tablespoons of salt in it, or was that my imagination?).  Lyle told me he would love eating it every week!

Not.

So, yesterday I thought I would try fish.  I found an easy recipe to follow, using leeks as a sauce, so I headed to the poisonnerie on Rue Cler.  I needed sea bass, which is "loup de mer" in French.  Looking over all of the fresh fish on ice, I didn't see any, so had to ask the fish man.  He pointed to a whole fish, which I wasn't expecting.  Nor did I want to cut off the head and fillet it.   Julia Child would have known what to do with that whole fish.  But my seventh grade cooking teacher  never taught me how to fillet fish, even though my mother did it often (my other cooking teacher).  I bought some salmon instead.

So.....I am a bit disgusted with myself that I haven't embraced this wonderful part of French life.  I guess I need to take the plunge and actually take a few classes before I go home.

Walking around town

If you ever get the chance to come to Paris in the fall, do it!  The weather can sometimes be a little unpredictable, but for the most part it is beautiful.  Crisp, sunny days that can be up into the 70s, with cool nights in the 40s and 50s.  As Lyle says...."the best time of the year!"  And I agree. 

After a dry summer, we have had a few rainy days, which for some reason has brought out....MOSQUITOES!  Yes, we wake up during the night with that wonderful buzzing sound around our heads....and in the morning we are observing a few more bites on our arms! We sleep with windows open in this wonderful weather, but as you may know, the French do not have screens.  Now I am beginning to understand why they have shutters!  We don't, though, so have to put up with a few mosquitoes or shut the window.  It's a toss-up.

We take the opportunity to walk around Paris, either on our own or with the help of a walking tour.  Each time we go out continues to be a feast for the eyes.  There is always so much to look at....familiar sights take on a new view with each season.  Here are a few snapshots of what we have been enjoying lately:

Seeing the old Roman ruins underneath the plaza by Notre Dame...where Paris began

Visiting the Carnavalet Museum to learn about Paris history

Can you believe these are pictures from the courtyard of a hospital?  The "Hotel Dieu" is across from Notre Dame and was the first hospital built in Paris, in the 7th century.  Rebuilt over the centuries, it was begun and still is open to the poor, but also a top center for research and emergency medicine.

There are LOTS of pigeons here and for some reason people think it's fun to let them land and poop on you! 

 Every Sunday hundreds join in rollerblading through the city.....(too bad my rollerblades are back home!)

 

The fall flowers are in bloom all over the city

 Sunsets come earlier now as we have gone off "daylight time" a week earlier than the U.S.  It already is dark now around 6:00.....

 

Rome solo

I still "pinch myself" on a Monday morning that I do not have to do the routine of so many.....get up and go to work.  To say I have been enjoying my 2-year "vacation" is an understatement.  I am counting my blessings, as well as getting reminded by my dear husband that my days as a barrista at Starbucks is just around the corner.

Meanwhile, I will enjoy Rome.

Which is what I did while Lyle worked all the next day.  It was a beautiful morning and I headed out early on the hotel bus to the center of Rome, getting dropped off by the ruins.  Armed with my map, I headed to Palatine Hill and the Forum, this time splurging on an entrance fee, complete with a narrated tour on headphones.  It started out well.

 But, the skies turned dark....

......and with no trees to hide under amid centuries-old stone columns, I was soaked.  No umbrella, no coat.  My headset also did not fare so well....it stopped working.

Frustrated and wet, I was determined to see Palatine Hill, since I paid for the ticket, right?  Now I had no idea what I was looking at, so just tried to enjoy the clearing sky and new sunshine in the old gardens.

All I knew is that is was the are of imperial palaces, even Nero's, and fairly recently being excavated.  But without a map (it was my umbrella in the rain) and the headset, I didn't get to understand the whole picture.  I wished that I was on a tour, like many schoolkids there, getting the story.  I turned in my headset, frustrated that they wouldn't refund my money, but this is Italy.

My other objective of the day was to see the Vatican.  Too tired to walk, I walked to one of only two metro lines in Rome (how can they dig a lot of tunnels in this land full of ruins?) and arrived across the river in time for a quick lunch at a small cafe.  Again, it started to pour.  But I ran through the streets and arrived at the Vatican museum, this time not bothering with the headphones.

I wish I would have had them.  This museum is like the Louvre.  By this time, my tired legs were just not ready to walk the 4 miles of displays....ancient statues, frescoes,  and paintings from throughout the centuries.  It was overwhelming.  But the Sistine Chapel is at the end of the museum, and that is what I came to see.  There it was....Michelangelo...."The Last Judgement" on one wall and "The Creation of Man" on the ceiling. I was surprised at how small it was, and how difficult to spot amid so many other paintings surrounding it.  There were plenty of security people telling people not to take pictures, although many still did.  I tried to keep from it, but did take a blurry one with my iphone from my pocket.  It's not worth sharing, but I was able to take some other photos of Raphaels frescoes....

As I sat there and soaked in the paintings, it was a God moment.

I headed on to Raphael's and Michelangelo's "project"....St. Peter's Basilica.  Another huge church, unlike anything I had ever seen before.  To say it is huge is an understatement!  It is immense.  Side chapels, marble statues, paintings, gold......it makes the churches of France look quite plain.  But this, after all, is THE church of all churches. After seeing Michelangelo's Pieta at the entrance, I just walked through the church and gazed at it all.  There was even a procession that came through, with choirs of all ages singing a familiar hymn.

Beautiful sunshine greeted me when I walked St. Peter's Square, but it was just one of those days.  The wind picked up and I honestly thought we were going to experience a tornado right there!

I had to run for shelter, again, and wait it out.  The temperature dropped and I found a shop to buy my only Italian souvenir....a sweatshirt.  It was getting dark and I headed back on the Metro to get on the bus to take me back to the hotel.  Both of us had a long and exhausting day and a romantic dinner in Rome was not on the agenda.  The hotel would have to do.

I flew back to Paris the next day,while Lyle had to stay another day to work.  I decided that if I ever get back to Rome again, it would really be good to be on a tour!  This is one city that is just too hard to see on your own.

Two of us in Rome

It was exactly a year ago when I was able to visit Rome on our way back from Sicily.  It was just an overnight stay, tagging along while Lyle had to work.  At that time, I arrived with an upset stomach, probably from something I ate, and after some Immodium, I did get to squeeze a few sights in before having to leave less than 24 hours after I got there.

Then I missed the planned trip in April with Susie and Gary because my mom was in her last days in Florida.  So, when Lyle told me he was going again, I strongly hinted that I really would love to spend a little more time there.  We arrived on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, and started our walk through the plazas.  This time HE was the tour guide, as he had seen most of it before.  The one things he DID want to see was the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel.  But it was closed on Sunday.

Lyle isn't big on ruins.  I told him I would check those out the next day while he was working, which suited him fine.  Armed with our Rick Steve's guide on how to see Rome in two days, we started with a pizza and a glass or wine at the Campo d'Fiori,  lined with outdoor restaurants.  We then found Piazza Navona.  It used to be the center of Roman life back in the 1800s, with beautiful fountains, and is still crowded with street muscians and artists.

We found plenty of crowds on the Corso, the famous shopping street, and Lyle was on the hunt for some good Italian shoes.  He has worn out the soles of his shoes with all the walking we do in Paris.  But, this is not the place to shop with shoes costing far more than even he would pay (I look at the prices and think I would rather spend the money on a trip!).  He did find some on a side street, though, so he was happy!

We spent the rest of our Sunday checking out the Pantheon, first built in 27 b.c., burned and rebuilt between 110 and 125 a.d......

....the Spanish Steps.....

....and Trevi Fountain ("Three Coins in the Fountain")......

"Which one will the fountain bless?"  I think, me.

Let's go to.....Luxembourg?

We saw the movie, "Julie and Julia", last week-end and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I have read that the French really don't know much about Julia Child, so the movie has their curiosity.  We enjoyed identifying with her dealing with moving to France and what she did, as an ex-pat wife, to keep busy.  She cooked.  It made me feel a bit guilty that I haven't learned how to cook "a la francais", except for a few measly recipes.  I haven't even taken a cooking class, which are offered all over Paris.  I am determined to do it before I leave.

But the movie also was about Julie, a blogger who became famous with her cooking hundreds of Julia Child's recipes in a year, and writing about them.  I thought about this blog and have decided I need to write more about my experiences in Paris, which was the intent, rather than posting dozens of pictures of our trips. After all, who really wants to follow our travels?  I was doing it mainly for us, I told myself, and that they would be a journal of what we did while we were here.  But posting dozens of pictures is probably somewhat boring and I am going to make some "smilebooks" albums of our pictures anyway (someday).  I figure that if I didn't have to take the time of posting pictures all the time, maybe I would be more motivated just to tell our stories.

So.....about Luxembourg. I will try to be more brief.  Yes, we did go there a few weekends ago.  We had never been there, but wanted to see what it was about.  It was an impromptu trip that was decided on a beautiful Saturday autumn morning and Lyle had the itch to get away so he wouldn't be tempted to work all weekend.  We found a rental car online,  told them we would pick it up in an hour, and threw in a few things into our suitcases. Cheap and Cheaper got on two metros and walked 8 blocks looking for the Budget office across the river, to save 100 euros over the Avis a block away.  We were on an adventure.

We picked up the car by noon and headed out east out of Paris, taking a map and headed to Luxembourg.  Traffic was heavy and the tolls were mounting up, and after a few hours we decided to take some backroads. We drove through the Lorraine, amazed at the dry, limestone landscape, filled with champagne caves. But we didn't take the time to tour one, this time.   Still, a  two hour trip turned into 4 hours, but we finally got there.  Parked the car, did some exploring and were impressed with the upscale stores in the quaint center of town, filled with a few plazas and parks.  The city is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, being a financial and banking center. But we had no hotel and figured we better find one, only with a few in mind that we had hastily seen on the internet.  We found one, were charged 40 euros more than the internet (lesson learned), dropped the bags and walked to find a restaurant.  And walked.  We were in the mood for Italian and finally found a little place that we both enjoyed.

Lyle kept telling me he wasn't impressed with the city of Luxembourg......until we saw it the next morning.  In the warm autumn sunshine, the town showed off its mix of old and new.

It is set on two levels,  part of the city perched on cliffs above a deep gorge carved by two rivers.  There are high bridges and old viaducts that connect the parts of the city, and you can still see parts of the old wall.  The views were beautiful.

But we didn't stay very long.  Lyle discovered that the Moselle Valley was an hour away, on the border of Germany.  Vineyards, white wines, and something he wanted to see.  We stayed on our journey east, stopping at the American cemetery, filled with over 5,000 graves of World War II Americans, including General Patton.
                                                                                                                                                                        The Moselle River Valley was picturesque.  The banks of the river were lined with fully-ripened vineyards, just waiting to be picked.

 

Of course, we had to stop at a "cave" and sampled the delicious reislings, gevurtztraminers (my favorite white wine), and pinot blancs.  This time we couldn't resist the tempting low prices on the bottles, and brought home a case.

For a quick trip out of Paris, it worked out just fine, without my spending hours on the internet researching cars, hotels, and other travel guides.  I did, however, feel a little uninformed.  I still don't understand what a "duchy" is.