France
Lagrasse, France
With only one day left in the Minervois wine region of France, where else can we go? Based on Monsieur’s recommendation, we choose Lagrasse. First, we putz around in the morning, drinking coffee, reading our Kindles, blowing our noses, waiting for Monsieur to come and return our damage deposit. (We haven’t done any damage). Then, […]
France
Carcassone, cassoulet, and a corkscrew
Today’s destination is Carcassonne, about a 35-minute drive from our personal paradise. A completely walled city in the Aude department, Carcassonne is one of those places that has changed hands many times, since the Romans planted stakes in 100 BC. After some driving around through the newer part of the city looking for parking, we […]
France
Getting to know the Cathars in Minerve
Today’s destination is Minerve, a tiny historic town in the heart of wine country known for the massacre inflicted by Simon de Montfort during the 1210 crusades against the Cathars. It takes some time and switchbacks to wind slowly up the valley. Eventually, we see the big blue “P” for parking and pull into a […]
France
Market day in Valras-Plage, France
Fully fortified with a morning’s worth of strong coffee, we make our way to Valras-Plage, but not until after the daily pounce from neighbors who are here to tell us, yet again, that we can’t park HERE. (There seems to be no clear system of what’s acceptable for the placement of hapless tourist rental cars.) […]
France
Villa Pouzols-Minervois: We like our new home
Nobody has ever heard of this place, including us. But now we are here in the Languedoc and happy to be. A short hop from Orly Airport to Toulouse and we are united with Jim and Jane, who have been sick in Portugal and are ready for a rest. A short negotiation at the Hertz […]
Paris
Same day, different destination: Île de la Cité
Before moving on, we decide to restore ourselves with a bit of lunch. Everyone else is eating outside, but we opt for the quieter space inside. Our waiter is pleasant, and we order sandwiches on crusty bread that scratches the roofs of our mouths, washing them down with beer, wine, and Orangina. Jane has the […]
Paris
Paris boat tour by night
When a person is in Paris for the first time ever, and a person has purchased a thing called The Paris Pass, which gives one unlimited access to far too many things to see and do, and a person has walked 18,000 steps in one day but is still not willing to give up, clearly […]
Paris
First real stop: the Musee d’Orsay
Since we are staying only inches away from the Musee d’Orsay on the left bank of the Seine, we decide to make it our very first serious museum stop. If you are looking for the largest collection of Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist art in the world, this is it — Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, […]
Paris
Welcome to Paris
After a long crossing of The Pond through the night, and a near miss by Charlie and Jane — whose Icelandair flight was delayed long enough to make their connection kind of a nail-biter — we checked in to our Air BnB and crashed for the night. Ten hours later, we were ready to see […]
