Planes, Trains, Boats, and Automobiles!

La Belle France ~ September 30 ~ October 13, 2019 A new European adventure begins!  The plan is to go up to Boston on September 29th to spend the afternoon and evening with Bethany and Jeremy, leave our car at their house while we fly from Logan to Bordeaux by way of Madrid. We will spend 4 nights in Bordeaux with Peter and Betty Lou Bowles.  Our plan is to spend a day exploring the medieval village of St. Emilion, a day exploring Bordeaux, and perhaps a day exploring a village on the coast, Arcachon, which is famous for oysters.  Then on Saturday, October 5th, we will drop Peter and Betty Lou at the train station so that they can head north to Paris for a visit with the Tirets followed by their Viking River Cruise "Cities of Light" which takes them from Paris to Prague, with much of the trip being on the Moselle.  We will then continue on to the airport, drop the car, and take a short flight to Lyon where we will spend the night before embarking on our Viki...

September 30 ~ October 1:  They Say Getting There is Half the Fun .... Jeff and I left our house on Sunday shortly after Jeff returned from Quaker Meeting.  We arrived at Beth and Jeremy's shortly after 3:00 p.m.  They had been out practicing their golf as they will play at the Terradyne annual golf outing on Monday.  We had a truly delightful visit catching up with them followed by a delicious meal of baked potatoes, grilled pork tenderloin, and green beans.  An evening of tv and chat. Monday morning Beth and Jeremy were up and out early.  Jeff and I walked into town to have breakfast and then relaxed before catching an Uber ride to the airport at 2 p.m. The first leg of the trip was uneventful -- Iberian Airlines is comfortable - the "premium economy" seats make the journey a bit easier.  The crew was less than what I would call attentive, but not a big problem.  We landed a bit early in Madrid and then had to walk fo...

A Visit to Bordeaux ~ October 2, 2019 We got a late start this morning -- the plan to be up and out by 8:30 was foiled by the fact that Jeff and I did not wake until 9:30!  Maureen popped over to give us a multitude of directions for our day's activities, and by the time we left Les Vendangeurs it was close to 11 a.m., and while we attempted to go to the market in Créon, we failed to find a place to park and before we knew it, it was noon - the time that Maureen had told us the market tends to close up.  So we simply drove on to Bordeaux.  After finding the parking garage that Maureen recommended, we found the restaurant that she had suggested because it served oysters - Betty Lou's favorite.  The restaurant, Brasserie Des Douanes (literal translation = Customs Brewery), was right on the river and across from Le Mirroire.  It was fun to people watch as we ate our lunch Jeff enjoyed a French beer, 1664, and I (of course) had a great glass of wh...

Saint-Émilion ~ October 3, 2019 The morning dawned late for Peter and Betty Lou (yesterday was our day for waking late), but vacation is lovely, and we had no "drop dead out of the house" time set.  Our agenda for the day was to stop in Branne at the "market" -- truly a farmer's market -- and then go on to Saint  Émilion for the day. As we entered the market, there was a boulangerie selling all types of baguettes on our left, and one of many butchers or charcuteries selling various types of sausages and meats.  Several stalls were selling vegetables, others had fresh fruits for sale, and still others had dried fruits.   A woman and a man displayed a young goat and were soliciting donations for the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).  They spoke no English and chattered away at Peter and Betty Lou, showing them some "lozenges" for a 40 Euro donation.  There was a clear lack of communi...