Almost Over.....

I'm having a hard time finishing this blog.  Somehow, it ends my big adventure all over again.....  

Stirling Castle

Outskirts of Fort William

Meg, the Macaskill's sweet collie, comes in to greet us and nudges us to get up again on our second morning in Skye.  So sweet!  We're greeted by beautiful blue skies and warm weather again today. Danny Facebooked me when I got home and said it's rare to have weather like that in Skye, but in my mind, Skye will always be sunny and blue!  Anne's porridge and toast & marmalade is welcome again today.  She makes us salmon sandwiches for the road trip back through the Highlands to Edinburgh.  The Scots I've encountered are so kind and generous.  The Macaskills have been so hospitable - taking us into their home and treating us like family.  Just lovely.  We say our goodbyes and hit the road.  I do a bit better keeping within the lines and staying on my side of the road.  We stop for gas somewhere about 20 or 30 miles away, then get coffee a bit farther along in Kyle of Lochalsh.  The next major town we encounter is Fort William,a nice town situated along a waterway.  We share our sandwiches and an apple in a little park with a view of the water.  We go to Tesco and buy some candy and yogurt for the rest of our trip.  We visit several shops and I get a few souvenirs to take home.  Back on the road again, we pass Ben Nevis, the highest point in the British Isles.  We run into some road construction.  We've encountered quite a bit of road work on our trip, this is the longest delay so far.  Soon we head onwards to Stirling.  The amazing castle here was used in the movie Braveheart, which I watched before my trip. I want to watch it again now to look for familiar sights.   

Dinner at Foodies

Stirling is crowded, lots of traffic, limited parking.  We want to make a pit stop here, but can't find parking downtown.  We drive up to the castle and take some pix.  There are horses and cattle grazing in a pasture below the cliff holding the castle.  Picture perfect.  We're only about an hour from Edinburgh, so we press on.  We hit rush hour traffic and Ariana gets stressed because she doesn't know her way around by car.  Very few of her friends have cars - they get around on foot, by bus and taxi most all the time.  She's trying to map our route on her iPhone and her battery is quickly running out.  We want to go to Foodies at Holyrood.  She's been telling me about their yummy poppyseed cake for months and tonight is our last meal in the 'burgh, so it's now or never for me.  Foodies closes at 6:00 and it's after 5:00.  With a bit of luck, we make it just as they're closing up but they graciously let us in. I order a smoked salmon plate and Ariana has a curried chicken sandwich.  Both delicious.  We order the cake to take away to eat later.   


We go back to her flat to drop off our luggage and plan the rest of our last evening together. Since we have the rental car until we return it tomorrow at the airport, we decide to go to the large Tesco grocery store so Ariana can load up on necessities which she won't have to lug home like she usually does.  We drive down to see the beach area - we're trying to use up the gas in the rental car.  We go past a second castle in Edinburgh, smaller than the more well known castle that defines the skyline of the city.  Once we make it to the big Tesco, we have fun perusing the aisles and must spend an hour there.  I find a few things to bring home and Ariana buys groceries to stock her pantry.   


Since dinner at Foodie's, I've been fighting back tears thinking about leaving in the morning and saying goodbye to my wonderful kid.  I refused to think about it while here so I wouldn't spoil the time we had together, and now it hits me hard.  I didn't think it would be this tough.  We go back to her flat and eat the delicious poppyseed cake and pack and get ready for bed.  We have to pick up Lauren, a friend of Ariana's originally from Kansas, at 8:30 - she's going to the airport with us.  They scheduled a trip to Portugal for the weekend and are flying out about an hour after I do, on Ryan Air.  We arrive at the airport in plenty of time, so Ariana gets us porridge and coffee at Eats. a neat cafe chain we've eaten at a couple times.  The porridge is delicious, but by now, I am sobbing and can barely eat.   My stomach feels like it's being sliced open from the inside and I feel like I'm going to pass out.  Parenthood.  Such a wild ride.  I say a final goodbye to the girls and head down the jetway.  The flight to London is not crowded and takes less than an hour, my seat-mate is not a talker, so I listen to music until we land in London.  

I expect to go though security again like the first time I flew though, but they release us right out into the airport, thankfully - they didn't even swab my hands for explosives!  I want to go to Wagamama, a popular UK noodle house, for some lunch since I have 3 hours before I board. As I approach the restaurant, the very friendly manager tells me they have a problem and will be closed for about 20 minutes.  I go across the way and blog for about 45 minutes and head back over when my stomach begins to growl.  I expected to order at a counter and pick up my food, but they seat me at one of the long community tables and a server takes my order.  A very nice woman across the table talks to me.  She's originally from the US but has lived in England for many years.  Her husband has been in Newport for business and she has three college-aged kids, so we chat away until she's finished and leaves.  I order a seafood soba (buckwheat) noodle dish which is delicious but loaded with garlic.  I feel sorry for whomever ends up beside me the entire way across the Atlantic.  


I head to the gate.  It takes an ETERNITY to board the 747. I always wait until the very end - don't really want to sit in there any longer than I have to, especially given that it's an 11 hour flight.  Once aboard, I find my seat.  Ariana selected it in the car on a mobile app the day before on the road.  She did a great job - it's by the exit, so has more legroom than anyone (except maybe Angus Macaskill!) could possibly need.  I should interject here, that she did a fantastic job orchestrating the entire trip. Her choices of restaurants and things to do and see while there were amazing.  It's so wonderful to see how much she has grown as an individual.  She's a much more adventurous eater nowadays.  She is kind and polite and thoughtful in her dealings with other people.  She's intelligent and wise in the decisions she makes for her future.  She's the best daughter any mom could possible ask for.  No wonder it's so hard to leave her!


Back on the 747, there are only two seats in my row.  My seat-mate is a moody Israeli woman.  Our exchange is brief.  I ask where she's from, she says Israel, I say I understand it's beautiful, and she says, "You should go," and wraps herself up in her blanket and curls up into a fetal position.  She only peeks out for beverages and meals and as far as I know never left her seat the entire trip!  I needn't have worried about my breath. The captain comes on to make announcements and it's a woman.  I'm a bit unnerved at first, then reason that there's no brawn needed to pilot a plane, she must be well-trained and talented.  As we wait to get towed out of the gate, I make small talk with a nearby steward and mention that we have a female pilot. He says it's unusual and that "Things will be a bit different up there today."  I ask what he means.  He replies that it's a bit crowded in the cockpit and on long flights like this, the pilots sometimes take off their trousers and fly in only their "underpants."  He says, "I guess there won't be any of that up there today."  Hysterical!   She tells us we should be in LA in 10.5 hours, which is great.   I watch three movies.  The first, "J Edgar,"  is just okay - TMI really - more than I ever wanted to know about the guy.  Dicaprio did a great job, but I'm glad I didn't pay money to see it.   Also "My Week with Marilyn" - not thrilled about that one either, the actor who played the main character is totally unlikeable and Michelle Williams overdid it a bit as Marilyn.   War Horse is terrible and I've seen pretty much every horse movie ever made.  It's so violent and too sad.  Maybe that's why they're all available as airplane movies.  Anyway, they help kill the time because we end up being half an hour late getting in to LA.  We hit lots of turbulence and strong headwinds, especially over the midwest.  The approach over LA is beautiful, just after sunset.  I see the USA Bank Bldg and AON, which I've climbed multiple times, and the bell tower at the Chapel on LMU's campus, Ariana's alma mater.


I'm so happy to be back on the ground, to be heading home to my pups and warm, dry weather.  I truly had the time of my life.  


I've had fresh flowers on my table every day since my return.  Just geraniums clipped from my yard, but influenced by our time in Paris.  I pulled out some fabric from the closet and have it draped over coffee tables to add a bit of color to the house.  Everything was so colorful and fun there.  


I'm allowing myself a few more treats these days.  I've had a slice of pizza and more desserts since I've been back.  We ate like piggies for 14 days and barely gained weight since we walked so much.  It won't kill me to indulge every once in a while as long as I keep moving - there are so many wonderful things out there to try!


I also need to remember not to let myself get into a rut.  I told Billy Ocean that I'd rather be sitting on my couch with my dogs chilling out because I'm so comfortable, but God forces me to get out of my comfort zone and when I do I really enjoy myself.  I don't think I would've ever gone to all the trouble and expense to go to Europe if Ariana wasn't there.   Now, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Good thing, 'cause the kid told me today she's applying to school in Italy for next year.   :0)   Arrivederci!!!

The Beautiful Isle of Skye

The Fairy Pools

Dunvegan Castle

We awake Tuesday morning at the Macaskill's to a lovely warm, sunny day without a cloud anywhere in the magnificent blue sky.  Ah, this is so nice - no rain or gray skies here on the Isle of Skye!  Anne has made porridge for breakfast and locally baked bread, toasted.  On the table, her homemade marmalade (my favorite!) as well as strawberry jam made by a friend.  Everything tastes wonderful!  Ariana had found some "Fairy Pools" on the internet about 25 miles away and wants to go there this morning.  I'm in no hurry to drive again, I was hoping to just walk around Dunvegan and take in the sights.  By the way, they use miles and MPH in the UK, thankfully - at least I have something going for me on the road.  The kid is persuasive, so we head south to Glen Brittle.  We encounter a few errant sheep on the road and stop to take photos of some of the bazillions of sweet baby lambs dotting the landscape.  The last 8 miles of the trip take us off the main two-lane road onto a single lane.  It's very nerve wracking wondering what's over the next hill or around the bend.  Ariana snaps a photo of one of the amazing long-haired Highland cattle calmly chewing his cud right along the road for my sister, Joanna, the farmer.  We joke if she was with us, she'd be screaming, "Pull over, pull over!!!" to see the cattle, like she did on a road trip to Virginia years ago.   We make it to the parking lot for the fairy pools unscathed.  There are 8 or 10  cars in the little lot, a group of hikers sets off just ahead of us.  I imagined lovely little turquoise pools alongside an idyllic path.  Not quite.  We hike about a mile on an easy path into a mountain backdrop like something from"The Sound of Music" but have to climb down small cliffs to see the pools.  Ariana asks me to take a photo of her with sheep in the background and I point the iPhone camera backwards - at me!  We laugh so hard we're crying and can hardly stand up.  She is trying to tell me that all she could see was my big fat eye on the screen facing her but we're both laughing so hard we can't even breathe.  My brains are so scrambled from driving on the wrong side of the road - I blame it on that, anyway!!! I used the toilet just before we left, but thanks to my large water intake, have to climb down a small crevass to tinkle in the woods for the first time in a few decades.  The fairy pools are just that - amazing little pools of liquid turquoise that look so perfect it's hard to believe they're real.  I feel privileged to be able to enjoy something so few people get to experience.  On the trek back out, we pass some guys in swim trunks in the water.  It's nice out, but not that nice!  From there we head to Portree, one of the largest towns on Skye, about 25 miles away.  We grab a sandwich at a hotel then walk around town.  It has some very cute little shops where we get a couple of items for me to bring home.  There's a gorgeous harbor that reminds us of Avalon on Catalina Island, but with colorful Mediterranean buildings ringing it.  We have coffee nearby, then two scoops of ice cream to share.  We get blackberry and cranachan - ice cream with oatmeal & raspberries.  The blackberry was the better of the two. We take a shortcut back to Dunvegan and go to the Giant Angus Macaskill Museum next to the Macaskill's home.  Peter gives us the low down on Angus, a relative listed in the Guiness book of World's Records as Scotland's tallest man at 7' 9" and the world's largest true giant  It has some of his clothing and lots of articles about him when he travelled with TomThumb.  We pose for pix with his statue, then head to Dunvegan Castle. We had driven by when we first came into town, but the castle can't be seen from the road.  It's a couple of miles from the house, so we get to see most all of tiny Dunvegan on the stroll.  When we arrive, we buy tickets and find that we can take a seal boat ride for 6 pounds more if we take our tickets to the boathouse below the castle.  We roam the lovely gardens surrounding the castle for a bit and buy tickets for the boat before entering the castle.  Once revealed, we discover that it's well kept and regal, elegantly poised atop the cliff overlooking the water.  The man of the castle, Chief of the MacLeod clan, was quite handsome in his day.  He's shown in one photo greeting the Queen here in 1956 - looks like a movie photo, they were both very good looking at the time.  We run down the hill to catch the last seal boat - we don't really know what to expect.  It's a small boat with a couple and the pilot on board.  He takes us out to some rocky little formations in the harbor.  We see a bunch of rocks, but nothing moving, as we approach. As we get closer, we realize the "rocks" are actually harbor seals!  They're happily sunning themselves and allow us to get pretty close.  We putter around for about half an hour watching and are treated to some pups jumping and frolicking in the water.  It's a lovely, lovely day to be out here - we enjoy the sun on the short trip back into the dock.  As we exit, we visit some of the bloom filled gardens we missed on the way in. 

Meringue, Berries & Mackie's

Anne is home from work when we return and busy in the kitchen.  She makes a casserole with layers of fresh salmon, pasta, veggies and cream sauce topped with cheesy bread crumbs baked in the amazing oven that stays on 24/7 and heats their water. We devour a big plate of the pasta and some broccoli, then a beautiful bowl of ice cream & berries atop a delicate meringue.  I'm thrilled with the meringue - I didn't get one in Paris.  What a treat!  

Neist Point Lighthouse

Sunset on Skye

Anne says she wants to take us to see a lighthouse, so we hop in her car.  She drives us through rural areas narrating as we go.  We stop at Peter's 2nd museum where visitors can experience how folks lived back in the day, to close up shop.  We pass a fresh water lake adjacent to the coast where eels live and come to a parking lot at a dead-end.  She pulls up into the lot and tells us to go to the top of the hill to see the lighthouse.  It's almost sunset, windy and cold by now, so we run up the hill as fast as we can.   My shoe gets sucked off in the muck and I step back into the muck - I scream and we both laugh so hard as I pull my slimy shoe back onto my slimy foot.  Hard to believe, but I have to pee again.  I wonder if there will be a place up top to duck off the path, but as we reach the crest of the hill, there are photographers everywhere, rimming the horizon capturing images of the amazing sight before us.  The lighthouse is perched at the tip of a finger reaching out into the Minch Straight that separates Skye from the Inner Hebrides Islands. The word 'breath-taking' doesn't begin to describe the view here.  I feel like I'm on the edge of the world (even though I live on the edge of the world back in Newport), so AMAZING!  I've never seen anything more beautiful anywhere.  If it hadn't been so brisk, I'd probably still be up there just drinking it all in.  Exhilarated, we run back to the car and jump in out of the cold.  We wind back towards Dunvegan where all three of us photograph a gorgeous, gorgeous sunset over the sea. I wonder aloud if the island was so named because the sky is so beautiful here.  Anne tells us 'skye' means wing.  We pass a herd of about 20 deer and many more sheep.  It's so peaceful and serene here, I tell the girls if I won the lotto, I'd move here and open up a Bed & Breakfast.   

I wanted to finish this blog tonight, but will have to do one more installment about our road trip back to the 'burgh.  This blog is taking longer that the trip did!

Goodbye London

Russell Square Park

Floury Bap

Dunvegan, Isle of Skye

Sunday we rise early to use the last couple of hours of our 24-hour bus pass.  As we drive through central London again we see the royal guards on horseback on their way to Buckingham Palace.   
We get off in  Marlyebone, the area of London where Paul McCartney married Linda.   Ariana had found a farmers market on Baker Street there that works with our schedule.  It's raining lightly, 

Hillsong London

Platform 9 3/4 

but not as bad as Saturday.  We walk through the market then go to get cash at a nearby grocery store.   They don't open until 11:00 and it's about 10:45, so we have coffee at Patisserie Valerie.  They have gorgeous pastries including tiny marzipan animals, but we stick to coffee.  There is an amazing gourmet shop on the street with so many unique items.  They have a very imposing, separate cheese room with three guys in it (cheese sommeliers?), a bit too serious!   The farmers market has gorgeous fresh baked goods, vegetables, homemade cheeses and one stall with amazing hot dishes, including pork in an Armanac sauce!  We sample lots of delicious items, but have to stick to baked goods that will not spoil, so get two loaves of bread and head to Hillsong London for Sunday service.  It's a little over a mile walk through very nice shopping areas and we have plenty of time since they have 5 services. We intended to go to the 11:00, but don't want to hurry, so will do 1:00 instead.  We browse a chain called Aldo and each get a pair of sunglasses, despite the weather.  We're starving at this point (aren't we always!), so once we find the Dominion Theatre where church is held, we double back to a cute little place called Wasabi and have sushi and sashimi.  Fresh, tasty and inexpensive.  We go to queue up for church and find that the line wraps all the way around the back of the theatre!  I'm worried we won't get in, but they say the line isn't really that long.  Shortly after we line up, they let us in and we have a good choice of seats.  The venue is beautiful. Christine Caine is there and I wonder for a minute if we've come half way 'round the world to hear her speak (she lives in Newport and runs A12, an organization that rescues women from human trafficking around the world).  Christine makes some announcements but Sheila Walsh speaks and is very good.  After church, we head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage - we have a train at 5:15.  We stop in Russell Square Park near the hotel to have a snack at a little cafe there.  I have a piece of focaccia and wine and Ariana has a bruschetta.  There are dogs playing all over the park - we're in heaven watching the little buggers chasing balls and one another.   There are gorgeous flowers all over as well.  Now that we're readying to leave, the sun comes out and it's gorgeous!  We go to King's Cross Station to catch the train back to Edinburgh. We pose for photos at the '9 3/4' platform from Harry Potter while waiting. The train is nice, we have a little table for two.   We pass through lovely little English villages, past so many beautiful fields of yellow canola flowers and see lots of flooding in fields along the tracks.  We bought first class tickets, so get dinner (sandwiches, crisps [chips] and cookies) and plenty of coffee and water.  They come around with food twice during the 5 hour trip, so we are happy campers.  It's blowing and raining back in the 'burgh. Ariana calls a taxi so we don't have to walk the ten minutes home.   

King's Cross St Pancras

Monday we get up early and take the bus to the airport to pick up our rental car.  We eat breakfast, scrambled eggs and toast, at Kilimanjaro Coffee in Edinburgh - so delicious!  A good start to the day. We're going to the Isle of Skye off the west cost of Scotland.  It's about 300 miles from Edinburgh.  We have been offered lodging in Skye by the parents of Danny Macaskill who I met when he stayed in Newport.  Danny has some extremely popular videos on YouTube (20 and 30 million views!) showcasing his amazing talent as a street cyclist - at least I think that's what it's called.  I call it defying gravity and physics.  Did I say amazing?!?  Anyway, we pick up the little VW Polo and I try my hand at driving a stick shift on the wrong side of the road.  This is so weird!!!   I can't explain the sensation of having to tell your mind and body not to do what its been doing for about 40 years.  It's so hard.  I do okay on the main roads (after almost getting T-boned in the first roundabout) and figure I'll get better as I get more comfortable.  We go first to Inverness, which is lovely, tiny and has a nice castle. We eat at a tavern at the foot of the castle. I have fish and chips (my fav, can you tell?) and Ariana has a burger on a "floury bap,"  a bap being a yeast roll.  Both are yummy.  We walk a bit, take a few pix at the castle and head to see nearby Loch Ness.  Loch Ness feels more like a river than a lake, it's very long (23 miles) and winds along a very narrow road.  Ariana is really not happy about how close I am to the curb on her side.  They do not have big wide shoulders on the side of the road here and I am not doing a very good job keeping the car between the lines.   We pull off quite a few times to check out the Loch and some castles along the way - Urquhart Castle, which is mostly ruins, and Eileen Dornan, like a real life fairy tale.  So gorgeous!  I cannot imagine what it felt like to live back when these castles were built - the only structures anywhere around, so majestic and regal.  And more green!  Beautiful landscapes.  One must pay to go into these castles, so we just walk around and take photos.   As we approach Skye, Ariana is barely speaking to me because of the quibbling about the driving.  I am so stressed - for the first time in my life I doubt my driving skills - I've always been an excellent driver.  I feel old and stupid for not being able to adjust, which doesn't put me in a very buoyant mood.  Now on the Isle of Skye, the roads are even narrower and windier, so we are not talking at all - just gasps from her side and groans from mine and we pass buses and tractor trailers on the narrow two-lane roads.  On the upside, Skye is magnificent. I have never been anywhere more beautiful.  Pastoral green fields and rolling hills dotted with sheep and lambs in one area, craggy mountains in others, Mediterranean-type harbors with colorful houses in the next.  It's like a trip around the world all in one place.  Some areas remind us of Utah, Colorado, then Arizona.  Just as I think how much like another planet the landscape is, Ariana speaks it. It's hard to even absorb the magnificence of all we see.  Our destination is Dunvegan, a tiny village along the coast and we arrive there a bit ahead of schedule around 6:30.  We find the Macaskills house easily, it's next to the Giant Angus Macaskill Museum run by Danny's dad, Peter.  He and Anne welcome us to the house.  She makes a delicious meal of lamb stew, neeps & tatties (turnips and potatoes) and cabbage, followed by a wonderful Apple Crumble (pudding) with ice cream for dessert.  We sip wine and yak like we've known one another for ages.  We sleep like babies and wake early Tuesday morning anxious to explore Skye.  

Pouring Down in London Town....

We arrive via train in London at about 6:00 Thursday evening.  Our seat mates have been a very nice couple, Allison and Mark from outside London, great to talk to during the hour plus trip. As we arrive at the station at St Pancras, she mentions that the hotel there will give you a 2 for 1 deal on a glass of champagne if you show your ticket stub.  We find the bar at the lovely station hotel and start off our London visit with a nice glass of bubbly.    

Ariana dressed to match
the train

Ginger Pudding at Workshop

Our hotel, the Jesmond Dene, is literally across the street from the station, one street back.  As with the hotel in Paris, the place is spic and span, but tiny.  The hotel has 23 rooms, the one in Paris had almost twice that number.  Ariana had made an 8:00 resie a few days before for a place called The Workshop that she'd heard about through a friend.  We walk about a mile and cannot find it.  I am starving and tired and so is the kid, so we start grouching at one another.  We can't figure out the street numbers, they don't work like in the US.  After backtracking, we spot the neon sign and enter a neat, trendy coffee house.  They have an inventive menu, very gastro-pub-y.  Ariana has a delicious beer, I order wine.  We start with eggplant dip and bread. They charge you for bread here in London - weird.  The dip is delicious.  We decide to share a burger and a bresaola salad as an entree.  Both terrific.  We have ginger pudding for dessert - ginger sponge cake with raspberry mascarpone and toffee.  I promise we did not walk off the calories from just that mascarpone, but it was so worth it - absolutely delicious.  Our server was very nice, as well, passionate about the food there.  


After walking back to the hotel, Ariana realizes she is not wearing her flower ring.  She made it while a student at LMU and never wears it, but wore it for the trip.  It's very distinctive, beautiful, made of silver.  She's really upset.  We try to trace back the evening, a photo I took of her three hours earlier at the train station shows the ring on her finger.  As a mom, I struggle with wanting to make everything better.  This stresses me out during times like this and I have to tell myself to let it go, I cannot fix it, there's nothing I can do.  I ask Ariana if we can pray about it, so we pray that we will find the ring since it has such personal, sentimental value.  Ariana leaves a message at the restaurant and emails them as well.  The room has these great flat radiators that make it toasty and the bed is super comfy. We've walked almost 11 miles that day so I sleep like a baby again.   The next morning when I get up, I peek outside to see what the weather is like.  Something under the window catches my eye and there lies Ariana's ring between the bed and the window!  I am so happy to wake her up and tell her it was there all along.

We start Friday with a “full English breakfast” provided at the hotel served from 7:30 to 9:00 am. We get an egg, piece of sausage and two pieces of English bacon, which is really more like ham.  It also includes baked beans, but we pass.  I tried it once, not for me.  They bring toast to the table in a little caddy and have marmalades and fruit jams on the table, all pre-packaged food service-type stuff.  They also serve us juice and coffee.  The staff works very hard here.  I notice Darren from the front desk at least one morning washing dishes back in the tiny kitchen.  Breakfast is not remarkable, but it’s included in our room charge, is hot and tasty and served by very pleasant young women each morning.  We have to call when we’re ready for breakfast and the desk calls us when a table is available. There are only 6 tables in the little dining room in the basement directly below our room, seating 20 people. We learn to get up early so there’s no wait and notice that we can also have some Activia yogurt, which we ask for the last two mornings.   

Oxford's Great Hall

Windsor Castle

We walk (in the pouring rain) about half a mile to the Royal International Hotel to be picked up by our Evan Evans Tour bus.  The big gleaming red bus pulls in right on schedule and we hop on, after guzzling the Starbucks coffees we grabbed on the way, which we are not allowed to bring on board.   We pick up passengers from 3 or 4 other hotels and head out in busy early morning London traffic. Trevor, our guide, is not exactly warm and fuzzy, but is knowledgeable about the area and keeps us amused and informed as we travel towards Windsor Castle, our first destination.  It was at least an hour drive outside London, and we arrive there just as a train drops its passengers at Windsor Eton Central Station there, so it’s a bit hectic.  We have about an hour and a half to tour the massive castle and grab lunch to bring back to the bus.  The castle is lovely, lots of original art and the miniature dollhouse belonging to Queen Mary.  I am most taken by the views from the castle; green, green and more green.  Serene green.  Lovely.  The chapel is also wonderful. We scoot out after to a place called ‘Eat.’, a chain with good fast food and pick up sandwiches and fruit which we eat back on the bus.  Now we’re on to Oxford.  By the time we get there, it is raining hard.  We have about an hour.  Trevor takes us into the great hall where students eat their meals, which was used as a model for the dining hall at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.  It’s great – really feels like Hogwarts, just smaller.  We walk through the village at Oxford with Trevor narrating and enjoy the local flavor as the rain lightens up just enough for us not to get drenched.   We booked this more expensive bus tour solely because it allows us to visit Stonehenge at sunset.  At this point, it looks as though we won’t see any sun, so we’re a bit disappointed.  As we near Stonehenge, Trevor tells us about the burial mounds surrounding the site, each of which was excavated and found to contain a single body. We notice many in the distance once we know what to look for.  Happily, the weather clears and there is no rain at all for our visit.  We are the only tourists at the monument, about 25 of us.  They ask us not to climb onto or touch the rocks, otherwise, we are free to roam the grounds.  There is a security guard on site, who I expect to be strict.  Happily, he is extremely friendly, even regaling us with tales of strange lights, shadowy figures and the scent of roses that he’s witnessed while guarding the site. We spend about half an hour there.  Words cannot express the emotions I feel at the site, I don’t want to leave. I read about this place as a kid, and here I am posing for photos among the stones. A tremendous experience – it's very peaceful, regal.   

Wheel & Big Ben

Fish & Chips at The Fellow

Pork Rillette

We get dropped off downtown London a couple of hours later and go to the Standhope Pub, where we share a steak and ale pie and a beer. Delish. We take the underground, or Tube, back to the hotel. Unlike Paris which charges 1.70 euro per trip, London charges 4.30 pounds. In Paris, you can take as many trains as you need to get to your destination, all for the same charge. London has zones, and each area you enter is an additional charge. Mostly due to this, we decided to do a “hop-on, hop-off” tour Saturday. We get up early and go back to the same hotel to board the bus. A snippy little gal meets us and tries to up-sell us on everything. We want to go to the Tower of London, so buy the tickets from her to save a few quid. The bus tour plus Tower tickets costs over $100.00 for the two of us, but we figure it will save us in the long run. After the first leg of the bus trip, we find out there is some sort of cycling event/protest taking over central London. The entire city is in gridlock. Long story short, it takes us five and a half hours to get to the Tower. We arrive 5 minutes before last entry. We could’ve walked there faster, but it was cold and raining hard and windy. I have never seen so many inside-out umbrellas on the sidewalks. Malcolm, the guide aboard the bus, is a champ. People are complaining, but he refuses to let that dampen his cheery demeanor. He is very entertaining and knowledgeable and makes the time on the bus enjoyable despite the circumstances. We enjoy the Crown Jewels display and other castle areas before running to catch the Thames river tour that departs from the castle. We get there just as it leaves and have to wait another 30 minutes to get the next one. That’s fine because it takes that long for me to find a bathroom. Finding restroom access, or ‘toilets’ as one must refer to them when in Europe, is a challenge. We found it a real pain throughout our trip to find facilities when needed. Interestingly, the toilets flush differently than in the US (mostly all push button) and no one uses paper towels, they all have hot air hand dryers. The toilet I found outside the Tower grounds charged for use, but I convinced the guy to let me in since I had no UK change. Back aboard the boat, the windows are fogged up, so we wipe them off to view the Shard – a huge glass skyscraper reminiscent of the Crystal Cathedral, except it’s about 80 stories high - the London Eye, the Tower Bridge and Big Ben. We grab a bus there in the driving rain and high winds back to Picadilly Circus, where we're dropped off since the bus service had ended for the day. We trudge about a mile and a half back to St Pancras where we find a restaurant called The Fellow. We share rillettes of pork, fish & chips, mussels, soup (potato & garlic). Ariana wants a McFlurry, so we grab two and eat them back at the hotel. Interesting how the rain and cold doesn't deter us from eating ice cream!               

Paris Days Three & Four

Paris, Days Three and Four: “I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it!”  Elf

The Louvre

Laduree

Our second morning in Paris starts with more overcast, rain and gloom.  I can’t wait  to go to the Eiffel Tower.  Ariana suggests waiting until later in the day as the forecast suggests the rain may lighten up.  Sophie is at the desk this morning; she is very nice.  I’m so happy to meet her.  She gave us quite a good deal on the room and says she gave us the only one with a view of Notre Dame.  We have breakfast at the hotel then head to the Louvre via the Metro. We’re not going to go into the Louvre, but want to see the exterior and the grounds.  The lines to enter are really long – so glad we’re not going in.  We take some photos in the courtyard, it’s raining steadily now and the wind is blowing very hard.  We stop at the Paul truck to get a pastry.  We buy a small chocolate Viennese (like a baguette, but not chewy).  They don’t have coffee today, he doesn’t offer an explanation as to why.  I think I’ll drink a gallon of coffee when I get home.  No one makes brewed decaf, and all they serve here is a tiny shot of espresso.  That just doesn’t cut it for me.  We split the pastry and eat it on the run to the Museum de l’Orangerie, where we’ll see Monet’s Water Lilies.  We pass by the Palace, where security is very high, I assume due to the elections that just took place.  There are police everywhere.  We’re so wet by the time we get to the museum, cars splashed us all along the way.  The M d’O has a bit of a line, but we enter quickly, only to wait again in the ticket line.  At least it’s dry.   The art collection on display here is works by artists who inspired the composer Debussy, and it’s wonderful.  It includes many works by a very quirky artist Sautine, several Picassos (he will never be a favorite of mine) and another, Derain, who had about 30 pieces, very interesting.  Also some works by Kandinsky, who I love, and Modigliani.  I copied a Modigliani when I took an oil class years ago.  He has a special place in my heart.  We see several by Renoir, many by Cezanne (saw his work on exhibit in Philadelphia many years ago) and a lovely large Monet, as well as at least one Manet.  It takes us an hour or so to get through all of that, then we go upstairs to see the Water Lilies.  I think of myself as being fairly well educated where art is concerned, so feel like an idiot not having known that Water Lilies is comprised of eight huge panels decorating the walls of two oval rooms in the museum.  I had no idea Monet painted them in large pieces to be assembled as murals.  The rooms are specially designed and have seating on benches in the center with natural light coming from above, just as the studio where they were painted did. One views them as one would from a bench in an outdoor garden.  So relaxing and calming.  Serenity.

We venture back out into the blustery Paris weather and head to the Champs Ellysees on our way to the Arc de Triomphe.  We stop by Laduree to buy some macaroons, some of the best in Paris.  So many beautiful colors and flavors!  We get 2 large (coffee and dark chocolate) and three small (pistachio, sea salt & caramel and raspberry), 
almost $18, American!  We split a baguette sandwich for lunch to try to make up for that splurge.  Chicken & cheese, it was simple, but delicious.  From there we pay to climb almost 300 stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.   It’s wet & windy, as expected, with excellent views of the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, too.  It’s finally time to head there.  I’m not what I consider a “touristy” type person, but I cannot wait to see the Eiffel Tower!  It’s certainly one of the most, if not the most, iconic structure in the world.  There aren’t very many people around when we finally get there and I have an awful feeling that it’s not open! We tried to get tickets online weeks ago and the first available were for June.  They have signs that only one elevator is in operation and the ticket area is closed.  Turns out we are at the base of the “leg” that is not operating.  When we go to another, the line to climb the stairs is short. We go up 300 plus stairs to the first level, which they refer to as the 2^nd level.  Ariana is a very good sport, especially since we are pretty much drenched at this point, and she accompanies me on up to the intermediate level, 670 stairs, total. We find 18 more stairs up to the 2^nd level elevator, so count those in our day’s stair tally as well.  The line for the elevator down is really long, but she insists that we not take the stairs back down.  We finish the macaroons as we wait.  It’s a neat ride down in a large, double-decker elevator.  As soon as we descend, the sun shines brightly for our walk to the closest Metro station.  We now head to Madeleine, known for the little cakes named for the area.  We visit a high-end store called La Fauchone.  Super expensive, all the food there is a work of art.  They have anything imaginable - chocolates, pastries, caviar, pates, seafood, teas, specialty coffees.  This place makes Gelson’s look like Walmart.  We don’t buy anything, but certainly have fun looking.  We walk around Madeleine for a bit, then start back to the hotel.  My hair is matted into a wet tangle of curls, I cannot even get my fingers though the back.  Can’t wait to comb it!  We stop at a boulangerie near the hotel and get two petit baguetttes to snack on, one with olives, the other with dried fruit, herbs and ham.  After cleaning up and researching local restaurants online, Ariana finds one called Le Petit du Benoit.  We’re in the St Germaine area, which is pricey, and this one is supposed to have traditional French fare for reasonable prices.  We walk about a mile to find this charming little old place packed with common/shared tables, and are seated between two couples, one younger than I, the other older.   It reminds me of eating at my grandmother’s house, it’s been operating since 1901.  A room the size of my living room has about 30 seats, all filled, at four tables.  We order a pate en croute to start and 50 cl of Bordeaux to share.  I order duck confite, Ariana orders Boeuf Borguinone.  It all tastes wonderful – the entrees are piping hot.  There’s a basket of baguette, but I’m not sure if it belongs to our neighbors or to us.  After a bit I decide it really doesn’t matter, so I dive in.  The woman from that couple is adamant that the food was not good; she says they have no cook.  I thought it was perfectly lovely – simple, home-style food for a reasonable price and good camaraderie. The older gent to my right has fresh cheese (yogurt) with honey for dessert - so simple, but it looks wonderful. We already have dessert planned elsewhere, so have none here.  They write your order on your placemat, and that’s how it’s tallied!  Cash only, no credit cards.  We walk to Grom Paris from there to indulge in some of the world’s best gelato.  I had a medium with three flavors - yogurt, caramel and coffee.  The coffee was exceptionally good, all were amazing.  Ariana gets the same size, but gets Crema de Grom, tiramsu and chocolate extra noir. Super quality, the place is immaculate.   We grab a coffee to go at Starbuck’s on the way back and call it a day.  We had walked 11.19 miles.  I sleep like a baby.

Creme Brûlée from Day One

We start our last day in Paris with another wonderful breakfast at the hotel.  I am so sad to leave Paris.  We go to the Bastille area and wander around, grab a couple of pastries for the train ride to London and split a ham (jambon) sandwich and chocolate éclair at Paul in St Michelle near La Chapelle.  I would have loved to go inside to see the stained glass at this chapel, but another 18 euro to tour yet another church seems ridiculous, so we just enjoy the walk.  We browse the market back in St Germaine and get some handmade cheese (chevre) and bread for the train as well as a very expensive (1 euro) apple.  We go to the hotel for the last time to pick up our bags and say goodbye to Sophie.  Ah, so sad to leave!   My favorite memories of Paris are getting on the Metro along with a couple of guys carrying brass instruments.  They set up just inside the doors and begin to play “Putting on the Ritz”.  I love it!  Same for the accordion players lining the bridge to the Ile St Louis playing “La Vie en Rose.”  Unforgettable!

We’re on the train to London as I write this and arrive in about 15 minutes.  The Chunnel was uneventful.  London, you have your work cut out for you – Paris is one hard act to follow.  J’taime. 

            

Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is going to be short and to the point.  It's almost midnight here and I've been staying up way too late. Wanted to be in bed by 10 tonight and you can see how well that worked out!

We flew into Paris on Ryan Air last night via Beauvais airport.  Very small, efficient.  I was immediately happy to be in France when the first person I saw upon disembarking was an extremely handsome, smiling Frenchman on the tarmac.  Oh, yeah, now we're talking!  It was rainy but not pouring.  I blogged on the bus trip (1.25 hours) into Paris, raining off and on.  We could see the Eiffel Tower as we approached and the reality of being in Paris set in.  I seriously cannot wrap my mind around the fact that I am actually in Paris!  Me, a little country girl from a town that still, in 2012, does not have a traffic signal! I am humbled and thrilled to be here.  I started to worry that I've romanticized the city too much, that it won't live up to my expectations.  Not a chance - it's AMAZING!!!  It's more amazing than I ever could have imagined.  Bistros, shops, restaurants every where you look.  Incredible patisseries and boloungeries everywhere.  Fresh flowers and meats on display.  I want to go home and fill my house with flowers and decorate Parisian style!

Breakfast!

Sacre Coeur

We were STARVING by the time we got to the hotel (about 8:30), the Hotel California St Germain, recommended by my former boss, Louis Laulhere.  He knows Sophie, the proprietor, who we still have not met - she'll be here in the morning.  It's tiny, with small narrow hallways and a small room with little twin beds pushed together, but we have a view of Notre Dame Cathedral from our window!  It is clean and comfy with a contemporary bath.  George at the desk suggests two restaurants nearby that he says will be kind to us non-French speaking foreigners.  We chose Le Petite Prince just around the corner.  Very dark and eclectically decorated, but cozy and warm.  We have three courses from a two course prix fixe menu, our first small faux pas.  It says 'OR' dessert, not 'and' dessert, so we pay a bit more than we planned.  We have appetizers of escargot and pasta and tartine (open faced baked sandwich) with goat cheese, eggplant and red bell peppers. So good!  Our entrees, my sea bass wrapped in fresh bacon with apricots and a honey red wine sauce and Ariana's pork with mushrooms, bacon and red wine were delicious, served with pasta with cheesy cream sauce and potato gratinee and a basket of baguette.  My first mistake is eating about 6 pieces of baguette.  As someone who rarely eats white bread, I knew I was going over the line, but didn't care. We also have a half bottle of Cote du Rhone Villages - lovely. For dessert we have tarte tatine, an "upside down" hot apple tart with caramel ice cream and a chocolate straw, then we also order Creme Brûlée.  The server puts it down in front of us, then lights it on fire!  It caramelized itself!  I've never seen that before.  The man at the table next to us calls it a "three alarm dessert."  Very memorable for our first meal in Paris.  By the time we walk a block back to the hotel, the food settles in and I am so full I think I will die.  I never thought I'd eat again, but of course, by breakfast time this morning, I'm starving.  The hotel serves breakfast and it's included in our room charge, so we go to the little basement cafe - 9:15 by the time we were ready to leave the room.  They have everything one could want - eggs (weird and grainy, don't know why), fresh ham and two cheeses, salami, hot sausages, croissants, chocolate croissants, bread for toast, granola and corn flakes, yogurt, fruit, etc.  Wonderful.  No one has brewed decaf here - I make do with instant.

We leave the hotel and head up to Luxembourg Gardens, a few blocks from here.  Absolutely gorgeous - thousands of tulips and other beautiful flowers and trees.  Lots of people out for a run and many young children playing in the park areas. It's raining steadily.  By the time we leave, my jeans are wet in the area below my raincoat sand above my boots.  We walk to the nearby Pantheon, formerly the church of St Genivieve, now dedicated to the heroes of the country.  Victor Hugo is entombed there along Voltaire and other distinguished past citizens - statesmen, generals and senators.   They have an amazing pendulum in the center under the main dome, so we learn all about that.  From there, we walk to a crepe place Au P'tit Grec that was recommended by one of Ariana's friends.  We ordered one savory (cheese and mushroom with lettuce, tomato and onions) crepe and one sweet (chocolate Grand Marnier).  Amazing!  Ariana said I looked like a little kid with chocolate all over my hands and face and I felt like one - what a wonderful simple delight eating something so amazing is!  I couldn't stop smiling. We left and got about 1/4 mi away when I did stop smiling real quick.  I reached for my iPhone to take a photo and it was not in my pocket.  I panicked and realized I heard a noise beside our table at the crepery.  I had dropped it while we were eating lunch.  We doubled back, running and walking as fast as possible and went straight to the table where we'd been sitting.  A lovely man there said my phone was behind the counter, where the owner retrieved it for me.  I praised God and asked him to bless the person who turned it in - it would've been a disaster to be without my phone for the rest of the trip.  I was so grateful that someone honest found my phone.

Cookies on Ile St Louis

Notre Dame Gargoyle

We headed on to Notre Dame Cathedral, checking out all the unbelievably beautiful shops along the way.  We entered the cathedral with hundreds of others and walked around the inside.  You're asked to remain silent while doing so.  People were not silent, but were pretty quiet.  It's huge and gorgeous, so much stained glass. We went outside to climb to the top, for which you have to pay, touring the chapel itself was free.  We waited for more than half an hour in freezing wind and rain and nearly gave up, but I wanted to see the gargoyles close up so badly.  It was worth the wait!  We climbed 383 stairs (give or take couple - if Stan Schwarz reads this, please don't hold me to that!)  and took photos from several levels and in the bell tower.  Incredible views of the city with the ominous sky as a backdrop.  We left there and walked to Ile St Louis, a chic little enclave of shops and restaurants to the area north of St Germain. We stopped at lovely little shops and stores and had a snack of Bertillion ice cream (suggested as the best in Paris - it was wonderful!) and enjoyed all the colorful windows filled with pastries and confections.  We went to an area to catch the Metro full of amazing patisseries - we walked through and soaked up the beauty of the sweet creations filling the counters and cases.  We sat out another heavy rain under a heat lamp at Nectarine, where we had coffee and shared a rich, thick hot chocolate.  Soooo perfect! We walked back along a narrow sidewalk to catch the metro to the Sacre Coeur and it began to rain steadily.  I hate having my hood up, but my hair was already so wrecked, I put it up and just as I did, an awning under which we passed gave up it's stash of rainwater - right on my head and Ariana's!  We screamed and laughed - it was seconds after we put our hoods up.  We got wet but not drenched, thankfully.  We went into some high-end shoe and clothing shops to check out the local fashions.

Sacre Coeur

On we went to the Sacre Coeur, the sacred heart, the highest point in the city.  The Pope has said mass there.  We chalked up another 294 stairs.  Smaller chapel, but beautiful altar and the surrounding area had lots of shops and store fronts to peer into.  We had a coffee and soaked up some sun when it came out brightly around 6:00.  From there we meandered to a cafe where Ariana had eaten in October - Chez Francis La Butte.  They didn't serve meals until 8:00, so we sat and had wine and pommes frittes and a jar of pork pate served by our rockstar waiter, Adrien.  He was very pleasant and was serving the entire restaurant himself.  We were surrounded by smokers and I can still smell smoke on myself - I was fine for most of the evening, but started to wear down towards the end.  Hard to adjust to after living in CA - Scotland was the same - smokers everywhere!!!  Anyway, for dinner we had steak tartare with fresh ginger (fantastic!) and a very good chicken brochette, which Adrien dropped on his first attempt to serve it.  We shared the tartare while we waited for them to redo it, so it was not an issue.  We were too full for dessert, so we went across the street and picked up an opera cake (my favorite from my LA Vie en Rose days) which we brought back to the hotel to eat.  It wasn't nearly as good as La Vie's - guess we'll have to try some at another patisserie tomorrow!