Catching up.... We're back

Yes, we are alive well and living in Paris.....

Yes, we are back to blogging after a two week hiatus... Have had many tech access challenges in Austria and Germany plus a bit of "Oh, we can do that tomorrow".

Yes, we are alive and well in Paris. Dropped the lease car off yesteday and will be spending 6 days in Paris  simply wondering around. We were excited to arrive after 8,300 kilometers in 43 days with no accidents or even really weird incidents. We loved it.
So here we are in a city we love.... Lots of crazy people, many fashionists and art, art, art. Not sure how folks make a living selling  150 euro scarves, 200 euro shoes and 300 euro purses... but they appear to be. And yes, we have returned to French food.  Plan to so lots of walking, visit the d'Orsay Museum (home of the French Impressionists) and have lunch with an old family friend of Leslie's. Then on to Dublin and family in Dundalk.

So, what have we been up to during the past three weeks? Left Barcelona on October 10th and travelled to Carcassonne via Andorra.  Here are a few photos of the Andorra area.  We came to believe that is wasn't really worth the detour but we have seen it and those travel brochure images have been obliterated. Not really much to see but we did it.

Into Andorra

Here are a few mountainous areas and hillsides along the way......

And back into France and into Carcassonne

Carcassonne's walled medieval city( Romans were here first) is quite a visual experience. Below are a few photos but it was hard to capture its depth and breadth. We spent about three hours walking its streets.... a truly amazing place with rich, rich history.  That afternoon we continued are drive to Sablet and the Cote du Rhone region of Provence. Weather was outstanding... 24 C (about 75) and blue skies.  We didn't see our first rain until Mira (near Venice) on October 19th so we have been extremely fortunate. Only rained a day and then no rain until Salzburg, October 25th.

Entry to the medieval city of Carcassonne--- Les on the right.

New city was built just to the north across the river.

The interior "road" which was used for daily markets, festivals and jousting tournaments.

A view from outside

A view inside

St. Nazaire Bascilica

We listened to a men's chorus from Russia.  They were called the "Doves" in Russian and had beautiful voices. 

Exterior of the basilica

Here are a few photos of its interior. Enjoy the art and images.

The Pieta of St.Nazaire

A sleeping bishop--- note the marble

Some stained glass

A painting of the pace of Christ

On to Provence..... an thousands of wineries and labels.

We arrived in Sablet, a small village of 350 inhabitants set in the foothills of the Dentrelles about 20 kms from Orange.  This is truly a magic place. The photos below will tell the story.  We had rented an apartment thanks to the suggestion of friends, Jon and Beth Schneidler.  It is at the top of the hill just below the church (see town photo). Les loved the bells that chimed every hour from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. 

Sablet and its church tower

Steps to the church---- our apartment was to the left.

Village of Seguret just north of Sablet, 2 kms

Castle and monastery near Sablet

Countryside around Sablet

Met two ladies from Virginia who were staying the week and had the apartment near us. Spent one evening watching the sunset from their roof top terrace, drinking vin rouge, eating cheese, pate, and spanish black olives.  Wow... it was amazing scene.

During our stay, we visited the week day markets in the local villages, drove to the top of Mount Ventoux (3,000 meters), drove the Canyon d' Ardeche, explored the Cave St. Marcel, and hiked in the Dentrelles de Montmirail.... AND yes, even visited a winery or two and the local "Caves" which provided taking of many wines.

To give you an idea of the "wine challenge", we visited a  "Cave" (place were vintners displace their wines usually like to the village tourist office) in Gigondas to taste wines. There were at least 80 choices for tasting that were presented in small 4 oz. bottles, labeled and dated. The first challenge was to figure out which wines to try from the list.....Life should provide such challenges.  The majority of these wines were a mixture of Grenache, Syrah,  Moutornie (sp?) and Carignan grapes with bottling years from 2004-2010,  Again, life should provide such challenges.

Local market day in Nyons, France

Market day in Malaucene

Typical countryside home

A visit to Mount Ventoux

Top of Mt Ventoux looking south toward the Mediterranean Sea.

The French Alps in the distance

Top of the top of Mt Ventoux---- note the contrail across the tower..... Cool or what?

A day in the Canyon d'Ardeche area...

The d'Ardeche Canyon.... Summer fun spot

Natural archway in the canyon

Cave Saint Marcel d'Archeche 

The cave is 100 meters below the surface.

Teacher Leslie down under.

Water pools in the cave. 

More pools......

An the real beauties of Provence and the Cote du Rhone

Vineyards (Vignerons) 

and more vignerons

The way they used to do it.

Great winery

Bottles at the ready.

And into the mountains for some hiking... Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Provence.

An afternoon hiking in the Dentrelles de Montmitrail... We drove to just below the bottom of the V and hiked in the area on the right.

The end of the trail....

And yes, it's all about the happy hiker.

We arrived in Sablet on October 11th and left on the 17th. It was truly seven special days in a special place. If you ever go to Provence, spot by the Sablet area, you won't be disappointed.  So, how we were off to Venice in our Clio (see photo below) but first we stopped in Menton (10 kms from Monaco and much cheaper hotels) and Bergamo on our 850 kilometer journey to Venice.  We have found that driving 300 kms per day is about max. Takes 4 or 5 hours even if you are driving 140 k on the autostrada......Lots of trucks and "crazies". 

"On the road again....."

Hope you are enjoying the sharing of our travels. Be back soon to share our adventures in visit Venice and Salzburg, including a dinner in the Salzburg castle and evening of Mozart.