SWISS ALPS MEMORIES

            Years ago my first trip to Europe was an “If it’s Monday you’re in Belgium, Tuesday you’re in Italy.” At that time I thought that would be my only trip overseas, never dreaming how many more  times I’d be going across the pond.

            Each of my experiences in the Alps took me to different places and mountains. My first  left me with wonderful tender memories at 6000-feet. The first cable car took us about half way up to a platform where we changed into another car to reach the top of Strasserhorn. On a gorgeous sunny day the panoramic views at the top were awesome. We walked a short path to admire the wildflowers in bloom.

            From the large plaza we entered the gift shop/café where I spotted a hot plate with a carafe of coffee and another with hot water. I hadn’t had a cup of coffee for ten days or so as my palate finds European coffee way too strong.

            I asked the young man behind the counter for a ½ cup of coffee and then to fill it with hot water. Appalled he said, “No, no, this coffee we make to put liqueur in. It is good”

            I was insistent and finally he relented and did as I asked. Today, over twenty years later, I smile remembering carrying that cup of coffee out onto the patio, sitting in the sun and listening to the serenade of the cow bells tinkling in the meadow below. What a memory!

    A few years later I made a hiking trip to Switzerland where we rode cog trains, lots of gondolas, cable cars and other conveyances.  Our first hike on a drizzly day was to Mt. Pilatus where the mountain was named after a holy man who had slayed a dragon living on the mountain.

            The cog railway, built in 1889, with a 48% incline, is the world’s steepest. When we exited at 7000-feet we were completely fogged in. The original plan was to start down the path and eat along the way. Charlie didn’t want his ‘angels’ to eat in the rain so he approached the empty restaurant and talked the management into letting us eat our picnic lunch inside.

            They were most accommodating and most of us ordered soup or a hot drink. We also were very careful to take all our mess with us while offering heartfelt thanks.

            As we headed down the path 2-3 people popped up umbrellas. I started to giggle as the last thing I would have put in my pack was an umbrella and it seemed so crazy to me to hike with an umbrella. As it turned out the canopy in the wonderful scenery kept us from getting very wet plus we did have raingear. That was the only rainy day we had the entire two weeks.

            On another day we took a train to Grindlewald; then it was a ten-minute walk to the gondola station. This gondola is Europe’s longest and it was a half-hour ride for the 6 kilometer 300 meter ride to deposit us at 7317 feet. My travel companion and I shared our gondola with a young Japanese couple on their honeymoon. We conversed some, but we all wanted to listen to the cow bells as we passed over the meadows.

            It was a gorgeous warm sunny day. We stopped part way down at Kleine Scheidegg for a typical Swiss lunch. After lunch we continued our hike to Wegan and somehow as we started a cute little goat was determined to find what was in my pocket. He was not convinced there was no food. It was some time before I could shake him loose. Iit was awesome to be walking in the shadow of the famous Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

FRENCH REFLECTIONS continued

                                          Other Memories

 License plates were long and the last two digits designated the province or region.

Water was drinkable everywhere.

The lack of protective gear/devices/rules was noticeable and most prominent at the Cognac cooperage.

Most bike paths were about a meter wide and could be scary when meeting an oncoming biker.

In the French countryside we never saw a McDonald’s---had to get to Bordeaux for that.

On another trip to France I learned quickly how important it is to always greet someone with Bon Jour before any further conversation. It is considered very rude to just approach someone and start talking. Twice I forgot this courtesy, did get my answer, but in a very curt way.

Public transportation, especially the metro/ trains, are convenient, quick, clean and prompt and easy to follow. Doors on the train do not automatically open when stopped. One needs to press down the handle. Sure felt stupid the first time we went to get off standing in front of the closed door. An old-timer helped us out.

Site/museum tickets are easily obtained from cigar shops.

     We saw young people in jeans but older women were always in a skirt or dress even in the gardens or fields.

     One scarce item was toilets, and when we did find them they were not all that clean or well equipped. We ran into a couple male/female  water closets equipped with both male and female urinals in the same open spaced room. We learned early that female urinals are very common and there is a technique to flushing them!

    People outside the big cities who were involved in the tourist industry spoke enough English to get by, but others spoke little or no English. Generally the French were pleasant, helpful, friendly and honest. Often they were talkative with a desire to improve their English language skills.

    The people in the Normandie area are very pro American and never have forgotten what we did for them in WW II. They are very friendly to Americans. We ran into and talked to some really interesting people as we traveled around the area in our van

SOME FRENCH REFLECTIONS

                                      Remembered well

     On two of my trips to France I experience a strike of Air France pilots. Fortunately I had arrived in country both times. It was on the second strike when biking the wine country that I got quite peeved at my roommate who got spastic over the strike. I listened to her fuss one time to many when short of yelling at her I told her I didn’t want to hear a thing more about it. There was absolutely nothing we could do until we were ready to leave anyway. And sure enough when several days later we arrived in Bordeaux we all had been rerouted home on other airlines.

     Because disease will strike rose bushes before they attack grape vines, all the vineyards in Bordeaux had a rose bush at the end of each row of grapevines in the vineyards. The roses were a colorful addition and a safety precaution for the growers..

    To get to where we wanted to be we had to cross Archachon Bay. The fellows formed a chain to pass the bikes down several steps to  be boarded onto a small boat.  It was a rather rough water day so all the bikes were securely lashed down before we boarded another but larger boat for the twenty minute crossing. Disembarking at the end of a very long pier we walked the bikes to solid ground.

     Our mesquite-lined bike path winding through forest and sand dunes was covered with lots of sand and pine needles and cones as the wind was blowing close to a gale. This is where I had my only flat tire on any of my bike trips. Darn those mesquite thorns!

    We learned more about wine from a couple lectures on this trip than we ever wanted to know. But the best part about the wine was that it flowed generously every night at dinner. All of our facilities were small boutique hotels or B & Bs, and since the president of the company was along on this trip we figured the facilities were just saying thank you to him for his business. We all benefited from that and the fellows were not a bit shy about holding up an empty bottle for another. It is the only time in all my travels that wine flowed so generously and for free.

    Our local city guide in Bordeaux was a flamboyant little fellow who spoke English with a very heavy accent. Whenever we  crossed the street during the 3-hour walking tour he would run into the street, stop traffic  by madly waving his hands and yelling ,”Hurry, hurry” at us. Watching him was a show in itself and you couldn’t help but smile.

    Stopping for a picnic lunch in Malconx I was most fascinated in the center of the small town

where some trees  were covering a large ‘patio’. The numerous trees were trained to follow overhead wires to fill in and create a canopy. I’d never seen anything like it nor have I seen anything like it since. I do not know what kind of trees they were. It was a very clever idea.

    The produce we bought at the open markets was vine ripened and absolutely delicious! However, I would not want to shop daily as the French do. They all carry their own basket or bag to carry home their groceries----way ahead of us in the US.

     In the countryside, where we spent most of our time, homes and yards were small, but flowers were everywhere. Window boxes were very popular. Besides the cultivated flowers, wild flowers were in bloom all along the roadsides and in fields. Lovely! Bright red poppies were a marked contrast to the white Queen Anne’s lace in the fields.

A COUPLE FAMOUS PARIS HIGHLIGHTS

                                     Really Must See Sites

        Like London, there is so much to see and do in Paris, with many of the sites being very popular and well advertised, promoted etc that I am only going to briefly mention a blurb on the couple below.

The Louvre

            In the 13th century the renowned Louvre museum was built as a palace and remained a royal residence until Versailles was built in 1793. In 1887 the palace was turned into the world's largest museum. Today famous pieces of art reside there. Leonardo daVinci's Mona Lisa hangs in the new entrance.

A large spiral staircase that can handle large crowds leads up to the Louvre’s entrance----a stunning glass pyramid containing 700 glass diamonds. It was built in 1989 amid a lot of controversy. Alp mountain climbers clean the glass every two weeks.  No ordinary window cleaners here! The floor is limestone which looks like marble and fools most people. However, there are 136 colors of marble in the Louvre. The ceiling sculptures are stucco, not marble, because of the weight, but who would know? The Louvre originally was divided into seven sections and those areas essentially have not changed. The U shaped building is a mile long on its sides.

       The Louvre is huge and it is very easy to get lost, especially if it is crowded—which is most of the time. My advice is to do a bit of research before your visit so you know what you want to see and then hire a local docent to get your around. Otherwise I can almost guarantee you will see a lot but probably not the things most important to you. Like the Smithsonian you cannot see it all in one visit!

Eiffel Tower

            The Eiffel Tower is undoubtedly the Paris landmark and a must-see monument. Standing 324 meters (1050 feet) high, it weighs a total of 10,000 tons. It is so well designed that the amount of pressure on the ground on each tower leg is equal to an average size man sitting in a chair!

Built for the 1889 World’s Fair, it took two years, two months and five days to complete, and at the time was the tallest building in the world. The Chrysler building replaced it as the tallest building in 1930, and now it is dwarfed. There was a great deal of controversy over the tower’s building, and construction was actually delayed for awhile.  Originally slated to be torn down after 20 years, it was saved from demolition in 1916. One can take three flights of stairs, 669 steps, up to an elevator to reach the top or walk up a total of 1262 steps to the top. There are a series of three elevators to the top and a wait of about two hours to get onto the first one. Today 6 million people visit it each year. On the hour every evening the tower shimmers with 20,000 lights. The Eiffel Tower is repainted every seven years, taking two years to complete and using 70 tons of paint.

Mysteriously during WWII and German occupation, none of the elevators ever worked. The Germans tried to fly a huge flag from the top, but the winds shredded it every time it was put up.

 Souvenir shops are on the first level, while the second level offers an opportunity to enjoy a gastronomic menu at the smart Jules Verne restaurant, 125 meters above ground level.

Walking under the tower provides some unique perspectives of the erector set-looking tower.

If you wish to go to the top or to eat in the tower, do a little homework to find out wait times, reservations etc., as  you’ll get nowhere by just showing up and expecting to walk right in.

Both sites are certainly worthwhile, but plan plenty of time to really see and enjoy them.

AVIGNON

                                     An Ancient Walled City
        We boarded the high speed TGV train for the trip to Avignon, the capital of Provence. We were seated upstairs. There is a specific protocol for riding the train. First, one is very quiet, any talking is done at whisper level. Talking on a cell phone is considered rude---yea! If a phone did vibrate, the person immediately got up and left the car. Doors were not automatic; one had to push a button to open them.

            The seats were comfortable for the 2 ½ hour ride to Avignon. Our guide gave us a 10 minute warning so we could be ready to disembark. European trains do not stay in the station long. The train transfer was quick and easy and in less than 15 minutes all the luggage had been transferred and the bus was pulling out of the parking lot.

            Olive trees, grapes and lavender fields decorate the outskirts of the city. A row of cypress trees makes for a good wind break for crops.    

            At Old Town we boarded a trolley-car train for a ride inside the walled city. Inside the ancient wall the area is amazingly big, and walking is the best way to get around the cobbled, narrow, winding, one-way streets. Situated on the left bank of the Rhone River, Avignon is a wonderfully well preserved ancient walled city of history, refinement and culture. Twisting streets turn around ancient buildings filled with modern shops in Old Town, all within the three miles of the medieval wall of the ancient fortress. The wall is complete and has 12 towers and 14 entrances.

The city is often referred to as the French Vatican or City of Popes because the pope moved here from Rome in 1309, and for the next 70 years Avignon was the center of European religion and art.  During the 14^th century the presence of popes drew hordes of princes, dignitaries, poets and raiders to the city.

For centuries the city has been the major art center of France as well as the economic, administrative and cultural capital of Provence and Camargue. It is one of the most active and beautiful cities in France. Thanks to its architectural and artistic heritage, this old city is one of the most important gothic ensembles in Europe.

During the summer the city of 90,000 is crowded, but the many spectacular monuments, museums, decorated buildings, ancient churches, chapels and convents are worth a visit and coping with the masses.

             Only four of the original 12 arches of the 11^th century Benezet Bridge remain. In the old city when a merchant set up shop, the street was named for the type of shop, ie: carpenter street. The 18^th century theater is now a museum. The synagogue is round with a dome as the architect was influenced by mosque construction. The Palais of Papel, city hall, cafés, boutiques and a carousel are all around the main plaza.

            I walked down to the Palais but did not climb the many steps to go in it. It was a very warm afternoon and the line to enter was in the sun. I returned to the shade of a tree where I left my friend and bought an interesting mint ice cream cone. It was a bright chartreuse shade of green.

            Avignon was just a stopover for us. We saw a lot in a limited amount of time, but it is a city that deserves some time to really see and enjoy.