End of the road

Day 31-37

Gee, where to start?

I have been reading and eating instead of writing and will have to summarize the past several days.

We spent our last day in Avignon going to a very cool English language book store where I purchased a book on Napoleon and Carol found something interesting also. Then we ventured across the river on the ferry again and found a secluded spot right at the edge of the Rhone nestled amongst tall trees and long grass that allowed us to do some sunbathing at last. Of course we had our cheeses, fruits, and wine with us.

After returning home we sat with our two hosts and a downstairs neighbor on the terrace and nibbled on canard, olives, bread, fruit, and the local wine. Our host had chosen a much better wine than I and it was only 7€. She had the home town advantage as my choices are scattershot, determined by price and location. We spent most of three hours together and it was very touching to be the special guests of such lovely people.

We then moved on to Besançon. A city of about 150,000 situated near the Swiss border. We were staying with a couple and their 19 year old son in an area called the ‘buckle’ or oxbow because the Doubs river warps around it making the shape of a belt buckle within. This area like most of our previous stays is in the historic area and includes The Citadel, which was completed in 1676. It’s base towers more than 100 meters above the historic center.

We walked up the steep narrow streets to the gates and then to the top of the two towers that offered protection and vantage points to spot approaching armies. Julius Caesar recognized it’s technical advantage as far back as 58 BC. It also housed a museum dedicated to the French resistance in WW2. We took the more than hour long audio tour through twenty different rooms featuring stark black and white photos and artifacts from the war. It was difficult to see and hear of the Nazi atrocities and in the very area where we stood local men, women, and children were tortured and murdered.

As sobering as that part of the tour was the Citadel offered spectacular views of the area and offered other museum experiences that helped bring us back to contemporary times.

The area is known for it’s cheeses including Franche-Comte and a number of delicious blue cheeses. We purchased several and ate them in quantity while we were there. We had a very good time with these hosts as well and spent an evening with them learning of the local history.

Day 34, Friday, found us in Paris for our last stop. We had been there two years previous and had hit all of the major sites then so we concentrated on learning more of the neighborhoods, called arrondissements. Of course there were still many more sites to see besides the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and the recently burnt Notre Dame cathedral that we covered last trip and we were busy everyday.

We spent a couple of hours at the Musèe D’Orsay, picniced along the Seine, checked out the Marais, Picpus, and Bastille neighborhoods, and ate our way through some of the best food in the world. Food in France is taken to the highest level and is as much of their culture as fine clothes, art, and wine.

We again had a perfect host. A young musician/producer who supplied us with all of his favourite spots nearby. They were all winners and we even played pool together and hit the bars until 3 am one night. If I had more time I could recount special times that filled every one of the four days that we spent in Paris, including today’s visit to Galleries Lafayette, a series of three buildings housing one of the most fascinating shopping experiences anywhere!

I’ve reached my limit of superlatives and would need to break out the thesaurus to find loftier words to describe our exciting experiences going back to our landing in Madrid onward. Despite only a two year absence this trip continually brought new surprises and we can’t wait to give it another shot, possibly in two more years and build on what we’ve picked up in our travels. Maybe some of you might meet up with us next time and share a villa, or a road trip, or something else to add to your life experience.

We’ll see some of you very soon as we expect to be home Wednesday morning. Thanks for your interest and for putting up with my silly nonsense. From the six of us, AU REVOIR!