The French Finale - Almost

Today is Friday and our final day to play. We traveled from Argens back to Homps and found a slip for our boat. We went into the little town to discover the local sights. Judging by the looks of most of the buildings and, having seen quite a bit of this country's architecture, this is a well-preserved medieval town.








We know for a fact it's been around since the 7th century because we found St. Stephen's church dating back to that era. We also found the ruins of Chateau Knights of the Maltese Cross. Along with these old places we walked along cobble-stoned streets; some lined with apartments and businesses. There are some cute cafes lining the banks of the river; one which will be our dinner destination.







We found a local marche and purchased some lunch meat, baguette, and souvenirs (all in one store!). Then we found another store where they sell wine and gourmet foods. We all bought gifts to take home; hopefully, TSA won't have a problem with what we're trying to bring with us.

Our dinner reservation is for 7:30 this evening. It is 5:18 PM here and some are reading, some are napping, Kath is doing crossword puzzles, and me... I'm happy to be sending you a snippet of our journey.

Tomorrow we leave for the airport at 8:00 AM. Tour de France 2011 is about to come to an end. It has been a major success; most of our trip went rather smoothly which is remarkable considering the size of our group. However, none of this was by luck. We have been talking about and planning this trip for almost a year. Julieanne, Susan and Linda researched Prague and it's glorious sights. Kathy, Amelia and Karen led us through Paris and the canal as if they've lived here all their lives. My hat off to all and a deep sense of gratitude.

It has been my absolute pleasure and honor to bring you some of our most memorable moments. Thank you for clicking in and following the adventures of these 7 Broads Abroad. Stay tuned - who the heck knows where we'll go next.






Au revoir!
BBB

Sailing the Ocean Blue (Not really)

It's more like put-putting the canal brown!

Me again, BBB, broadcasting from Homps (the last little town we will visit today and the place where we say adieu to our boat The Magnifique).

I am a day behind so I will catch you up to the last two days. We were motoring up river towards our turn-around point; maneuvering the locks and enjoying the quiet. The scenery was beautiful and we were all reveling in our leisurely cruise. Please travel with us for a little while...








We are in the Languedoc region of southern France; not too far from the Mer Mediterranee (yea, yea...the Mediterranean Sea). They produce a lot of wine here and have been doing so since the 8th century B.C. The Romans came here around 118 B.C. but after the fall of the empire wine making declined. Afterward, most of the wine being produced was coming from abbeys and monasteries. Trying to avoid heavily taxed Roman roads through Bordeaux, the wine-makers had to ship their products around Spain. Both options were not very profitable; as a result, wine production was at a stand-still. The opening of this canal, the Canal du Midi, in 1681 that gave winemakers better access to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. (I'm sure you didn't need this little history lesson but it's important that you get the whole picture of the place...these villages are ancient). Traveling this canal requires boats to pass through a series of locks.





Most of our day's journey was quiet and uneventful; if you can call squeezing into a small space with two other boats and being lowered or raised about 10 feet uneventful. Actually, the lock system is very fascinating for those of us (like mois) who've never seen them up close and personal. As a matter of fact, many people stop at the locks to watch all of the maneuvering; some of them waiting for someone to fall into the murky, filthy water. It is a harrowing experience if you're on the boat clinging to a rope to hold the boat steady or at the helm trying to figure out if you're too close, too far, or too anything. I hope you all know what a lock is; if you don't, read about them because, as I said, it's a fascinating process.

I will add this now: my boat mates were not experts at bringing a boat through a lock before we got here but you would have been proud of them. Julieanne (in this picture shielding herself from the disgusting spray) and Susan expertly slung the bow and stern lines to our ground people, Linda and Karen. Our hooker, Amelia, made sure we didn't hit the wall with the side of the boat and Kathy maneuvered the boat in and out of the chambers. It got to the point that it became a fun game for all of them and they handily got us through with only one mishap (we lost one bumper - a big plastic tube that cushions the side of the boat from being smacked - but were close enough to retrieve it). Everyone had a job to do and they all did it well.

The tranquil scenery and hot weather lent itself to sleepy lounging and game playing. On Wednesday we pulled over on the banks of the canal near the town of Argens-Minervois and under the shaded canopy created by the sycamore trees that line both sides. It was a perfect spot for us to be away from the hub-bub and yet close enough to walk to the small marche (market) for fresh bread and fruits. Susan started us off with appetizer platters of different cheeses, salami, fennel and baguette. Kathy made us an incredibly delicious dinner of cassoulet and au-gratin potatoes. Linda made a tomato and onion salad and we cut up lots and lots of baguette. Twas magnifique!!!

On Thursday morning we walked into the little village. There was not much to see other than an old castle that is being converted into homes. However, Susan found the remnants of an old church from the 10th century as well as the town cemetery. After our walk, we went back to the boat, and proceeded down river. We had breakfast on the boat as we headed toward Chateau du Ventenac-en-Minervois, our final destination westward and turn-around point. It was a fun stop where we purchased some good wine and even had one of our large water bottles filled with their local swill. Later we commented about the inexpensiveness of the great wines we'd been buying.

 

Again we stopped at Argens-Minervois for the night. We dined at a lovely outdoor cafe right on the canal and had scrumptious food: prawns, duck, mussels, beef and lamb. We shared some desserts and, 3 hours later, got back to the boat.

We had our night caps and recaps at the cafe and were ready for bed. Lights went off, we closed our eyes and all was right with the world.

Flying Pigs and Knights of Carcassonne

First, I apologize for bombarding you with three blogs at one time. You see, we're in southern France, on a boat, cruising the Canal Midi at about 5 MPH, and have very little access to Wi-Fi. Did you miss them? I thought so....

As I mentioned previously, we were driven to Trebes, our final (now starting) destination. We woke up early on Tuesday, ate a quick continental breakfast, ordered a taxi and 20 minutes later we were facing a well-preserved castle dating back to the Romans and the place where Charlemagne was fooled into retreating from a three-year siege. Let me 'splain, Lucy: the lore surrounding this place is that, many moons ago, Carcassonne (then called La Cite) was under attack by Charlemagne and his knights. At one point, after three years of mayhem and close to starvation, a certain Madame Carcas (don't know what importance she had in this small village) had the brilliant idea that she would fatten up a pig with all the food they had left and have it tossed over the walls onto the enemy camp. Charlie's peeps were taken aback; if these people had so much food left over that they could fatten a pig, there would be no end to this siege. They left.

You can believe what you want; but it's a pretty clever story and there is a statue in one of the squares dedicated to Madame Carcas.

Picture yourself a knight or lady back in the medieval era. More often than not, those pictures come from a movie you once watched. This place looks just like a movie set. Everything is old, older, oldest. There are walls with arrow slits, moats, a drawbridge, iron gates, cobble stone streets as narrow as my driveway, the requisite church, a torture chamber (that we didn't see), and many shoppes selling a variety of wares. If not for the throngs of tourists, it was a step back into time. Two quick notes about that church: One, it has not been prettied up like the rest of the churches we visited in Paris. It is rustic and medieval and "looks" old and very cool. Two, there was a choir of five male voices that sang for the crowd. AMAZING!!! We bought their CD.

While it seems like it, it was not our intention to specifically visit mostly churches in Prague and France. However, because of their religious, historical and architectural importance, Europeans have and will always show them off to the world and we were just 7 Broads ogling at their beauty. The added bonus was that, in Paris, there was music, incredible music; the kind that touches your soul and blesses you with it's beauty.

We had a quick lunch within the castle walls (cassoulet is their specialty - a delicious stew with duck, sausage, and white beans - yummmmyyyy!) and headed back to boat. Our captain gave us our instructions, different jobs and we are off!!

We came upon our first lock; which is when I paused in the previous blog. Unfortunately there was an accident with a boat ahead of us; a man broke his foot when the boat smashed it against the locke wall. This was not a good thing to happen but it helped as a lesson to the rest of us on what NOT to do.

The first leg of the trip was full of locks; Amelia counted 13 chambers that we had to prepare the boat. Let me introduce you to the "lockers": Kathy at the helm, Amelia and Linda in charge of the stern, Karen and Julieanne in charge of the bow. Susan and yours truly on stand-by. We were trying to get as far down river as possible to find a place to moor for the night. The ride down the river (where there are no lockes) is rich with vegetation, quiet, warm and breezy. Truly serene.


We found La Redort, a small village along the Midi that has a nice place to park your boat. The small restaurant within 20 steps of our landing offered delicious and plentiful dishes. We had our customary carafes of vin blanc and vin rouge and back to the boat for night caps and re-caps; with the world all was right. :-)

Chatanoogois Choo-Choo to Le Boat

Bon jour! Monday was a loooooong day; we had to be up by 5 a.m. to be picked up by the transportation service to take us to the train station on our way to Narbonne. It was a quick four hour trip since all us napped on the way there. Arrived safely and groggy and hungry (what else is new?)

After grocery shopping and lunch, we were picked up by a lovely woman (her name was Katerine) in a very comfortable and roomy van to drive us into Homps where we were to pick up our barge. Honestly, I don't know the diff between boats and barges so I won't even try to explain it to any of you and I don't have Wi-Fi power to look it up. Aaaanyway, on the ride there, Katie told us (under the dome of silence) that our boat would not be ready. She said the rental company was trying to fix it but weren't sure if they could by the time we were supposed to take it over and we may have to be transported to Trebes to pick up a different boat. The bad thing about that is Trebes is where were going to end our trip down the Canal Midi.

Katie suggested that, if they were going to change our plans and send us chasing another boat, we should bargain for a better vessel and free transport. While the turn of events was very disconcerting, the information she offered was incredibly valuable; it gave us time to think about our reactions and options.

And so it was that at Homps we were told our boat was not fixed. We were offered another boat to be picked up at Trebes. And guess what? (Sorry, you wouldn't have any idea.) We were given the Mystique, a beautiful 4 bedroom boat that we had considered renting but decided against it because it was too expensive! We, with our best poker faces, accepted their offer and innocently inquired as to how we would get there. The manager asked Katie to drive us to Trebes and the entire transport would be on the house! Yipeeeeee, not a bad deal at all.

At Trebes, Captain Kathy and co-captain Amelia were given instruction on how this beauty works. In the meantime, Karen and Linda decided they would go to the store for ice and bread by bicycle. Silly them, they woke up with Mal de butt. What were they thinking?

We ate at a small restaurant across from where we were moored. I need to mention that one of the offerings (which I had to try) was Mexicaine pizza. It was a large pie with fresh tomato, cheese, onion, oregano, sausage and chorizo. The only funny part to this story is that the chorizo, while delicious, was not Mexican at all! Is was Spanish; we truly are of one world.

Back at the boat, some night caps and re-caps later; we slept on our boat for the first time. All was well with the world.

Adieu Paree

(Sorry for the delay in posts. We are traveling down the canal and are finding it hard to get an Internet connection. I am posting what I can today and will try to catch up tonight. Also, I will update the pictures later...having some technical difficulties.)

C'est fini! BBB here writing about our last day in Paris. Last we spoke, we went out to dinner to celebrate Linda's birthday. For some reason, a third and fourth gear kicked in for all of us and we didn't go to bed until 4 a.m. Some of us were out dancing, others of us were at the apartment enjoying night caps and reminiscing our previous three fabulous days. It's up to you to guess who was where.

Needless to say, it was a slow Sunday morning. We awoke with a desire to watch news about back home about any memorial celebrations dealing with the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Wait a sec..... ok I'm back. Had to stop for a while because we are moving the boat to another holding position. More on this another time...

Back to my story... we were able to watch a CNN special of the commemoration events. We were all moved and talked about the memories we each have of that fateful day. May God bless America.

After munching on a wonderful quiche that Kathy made for us, we were off on our last adventure. We caught two cabs and were whisked off to Montmartre, another historic (what isn't) part of Paris and the area where the original bohemians, including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, hung out. Our taxi dropped Julianne, Susan and I at the bottom of the butte so we had to hoof it up some cobble-stoned streets. With some huffing and puffing we made it to the front of Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) Basilica at the top of the hill and met up the Karen, Amelia and Linda. What a gorgeous view!!! You can see Alaska from up there! (Can you tell a little exaggeration when you read it?) Ok, maybe you can't see Alaska but you can see pretty far.

We entered the massive structure that was actually built just a century ago (brand new by Parisian standards). Rick Steves' book mentions that France's catholics raised money to build the church as a kind of penitence. They were convinced they were being punished for the country's liberal sins. There was a Mass service being held while we were there with nuns singing and the priest praying for harmony throughout the world. A special prayer was offered for the victims of 9/11.

We walked around the little square, did some shopping, and even stood outside the small lounge where Edith Piaf first sang "La Vie en Rose". Karen and Amelia did more walking and the rest of us headed back to the apartment to pack and get ready for the third leg of the trip. We asked our cab driver to drive past the Moulin Rouge for pictures; we knew we wouldn't be able to see the famed Can Can dancers but at least we could say we saw the building.

We had pizza for dinner; finished off the rest of the open wine and all was good with the world.

Disneyland Part Deux

Bon soir! Yes it's me again, the BBB, writing a new piece about our past two days in Paris. On Saturday, the seven of us leisurely made our way to Notre Dame where we met our friends from Germany, Magda and Barbara. The line was long but was moving rather quickly; each of us was taking one picture after the other perhaps in hopes that the digital image would better describe the reality in front of us.


We were told that it took 200 years to make this cathedral; and, wow, was it worth every second! I was afraid to ask how much it cost; I don't think I can count that high anyway.


As we entered the famed and mammoth building, it was immediately apparent that this was not your average, run-of-the-mill, medieval church. First, we could hear angels singing (ok, maybe I exaggerate a little, it was music from a CD being piped in through some very modern speakers but it sounded like angels to me).


I am not too proud to admit that after a while, I was on sensory overload and a when I came upon the oldest statue of the Virgin Mary and her Baby Jesus, one or two tears escaped from my eyes. It was a magnificent piece. I tried to recover enough to enjoy the rest of the beautiful art that is housed there and there is much. We were told that THE Crown of Thorns resides at this church. We didn't get to see it because they only bring it out on special occasions; I guess Rome didn't get word we were headed this way... maybe next time.


In front of the church building there is a round marker that designates the center of all France. It is said that all distances are measured from here. Why?


I know I've said this before, so I won't say it again...

After much picture taking and blubbering we left Notre Dame and split up into smaller groups. Our group decided our next destination would be the Louvre. Note to self: when you are looking at a map and the place you want to reach looks like it's just a couple of blocks away, it isn't. We walked and stopped and walked and stopped and walked even more.





Needless to say, we were exhausted and hurting and thirsty but we got there. First impression? Huge. Second impression? Even bigger than we thought; the place goes on forever.


Do the French know how to make anything small? No matter, we got to see some beautiful Renaissance paintings and the Lady herself.


We caught a taxi for home (the apartment) and relaxed for a few hours in preparation for our night out in celebration of Linda's birthday. Bon anniversaire, notre amie! Grand dejeuner, grand vin and all is right with the world.

Location:Rue du Champ de Mars,Paris,France

Misc Pics.....too tired to write!

Linda with her Birthday Scarf!



Julienne and Susan just a hangin' !!



Karen and Amelia saying Bonjour in the morning!



Tish checking out the Versailles!



Gosh, I can't remember who took this picture, but apparently we were going out on the town for my birthday dinner!



Girls on the way to Versailles, via the C RER!



Guess where we are?




And moi with my sultry french look......darleeen!!

More later,
This post by Kathy

What if...

Guess who... time's up. It's me, BBB, coming to you from gay Pariee (ok, I"m getting carried away with myself... I'm in Paris, ok?) So, bon jour or soir (depending on what time of day you are reading this blog).

What if you were the king of a country and you THOUGHT you had all of the money in the world and you wanted a little place (or palace, for that matter) to call your own? Would you Google for the best price on a three-man tent? Would you buy a little cottage by a lake? Would you build a skyscraper in Manhattan? NO! You would build yourself a the most palatial, ostentatious, ego-boosting, eye-popping, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination home (from where you could rule) kind of place you always dreamed of!! Wouldn't you? Well, it was just that place we that we explored yesterday. Amelia, Julieanne, Linda, Susan and I visited Chateau Versailles.




If you have ever been here you will know what I am about to describe; those of you who have not been here will just have to take this humble scribe at her word...the place was FRICKIN' AWESOME!!!

First of all, who has that much money? Secondly, who HAS that much money? Thirdly, what kind of twisted, egocentric, god-disdaining person could ever pull this off? Well... King Louis XIV did; and he did it with panache (I hope that means "with arrogance"). This guy was a jewel; he basically took in tax money from about 18 million citizens of France and surrounded himself with the best of the best the world could offer at the time. He ruled over the country from 1643 to 1715 and he was beloved by his people. There may have been some grumblings from the nobility about how many stairs to climb while wearing those crazy get-ups, big wigs and makeup, but they were his loyal subjects none-the-less. It is printed that Louis XIV was a "polite and approachable king who was a good listener who could put anyone at ease when speaking to them". All this reporter can say is: Really...who in their right mind would ever say anything contrary about a king so powerful that every other king in Europe envied and emulated?



It is no wonder, after seeing what we saw today, that this king liked his surroundings big, gold, and very ornate. He ruled for so long that, by the time he died, head outlived a son and a grandson leaving the monarchy to his great-grandson, Louis XV. It was during the reign Louis XVI, his great-great-grandson, and his wife Marie-Antoinette that the "people" had enough of the excesses and created a revolution. The king and queen were beheaded in 1793 thus ending over a thousand years of monarchy rule.

But enough about the history and more about the chateau. In the past I have tried to describe to you the many beautiful places we have seen while in Europe. Many times we have discussed amongst ourselves that we feel like we are in the set of a movie or, more descriptively, at an outing in Disneyland. What we saw today was more like ... the French Quarter on steroids times a thousand! I know the pictures we have attached here are no match to what we have witnessed and I apologize for that. However, unless you see it for yourself, no one could ever come close to describing the magnificence of this palace.


There are more statues and hallways and chambers and rooms and paintings and marble than you can shake a stick at. So much to see and so little time to appreciate. Everything here is a true testament of the skill and creativity of man. The intricacate designs in the frescoes, the ceilings, the paintings and the furniture in each of the rooms we visited was, to say the least, inspiring.


Hungry and tired, we sought repast at a nearby Spanish Restaurant. We drank vin blanc and biers and, uh huh, all was right with the world.

Next, Frontierland?

Kiss left, Kiss right... BBB

The City that Never Sleeps, Different Directions and Cemeteries, OH MY!

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but we all made it to Paris and had to have a reunion!

Today, let the games begin!!

They say that Vegas is the city that never sleeps, well Paris is pushing hard to take this title.

Our apartment in on the Rue du Champ de Mars, is a lovely street close to so many places that we want to see, the Eiffel Tower, Rue , the Seine....life is good. We have balconies off the living room and the bunk bed room, whereby Tish, Linda and I share 3 "TWIN" beds, that in itself, is a site.

The Parisians are friendly, despite the lore, and we love being here, but they love to pick up their trash at 3 am, the motor scooters with no mufflers run all night long and of course, because we all "get hot in the middle of the night", imagine that, the door to the balcony has to stay open!!



And then there are the "3 Snooring Tenors", for which I am one, finally, I could not take any more, therefore I used the new noise reduction head phones I got for my birthday, thank you all very much, so imagine Tish and Linda waking up to that picture:)

Finally the sun comes up and we all decide that we have different directions to take.

Tish, Linda, Amelia, Susan and Jules decide to go to the Versailles, therefore I will let the "Big Broad" send that blog.



Karen and I do a "walking" tour, we went to the 6th district and did the "Painters of Paris Tour". Actually it should be called the "Artist" tour, as we walked and strolled among the streets of Paris that the writers and artist lived and breathed.

Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Samuel Beckett, Charles Garnier (who designed the Opera House) all roamed these streets and restaurants. The famous eating places were popular in the 20th century, when the area was a mecca for talented people. They found the eclectic people of this area, much conducive to their free ranging thought process. I personally felt the presence of greatness in a couple of places we went. It was an honor to be there!

Parts of the area reminded us of Sunset and Vine, so Karen and I soon moved to areas less commercial and a little more in tune with what we were wanting to experience.

We found the Cimetiere du Montparnasse, a cemetery filled with amazing tombs. One particular I searched out the tomb of the Pigeon family, depicting a couple in bed (fully dressed). She died before him, and once you see this, you can only imagine that he must of cared and loved her very much.





One place Karen had on her list as a must see is Gertrude Stein's home, she apparently held some amazing cocktail parties with the likes of Hemingway, Picasso and Matisse and we both wished we could just once, have been invited.



Karen reading a Gertrude Stein book in front of her home, was only appropriate!!

We finally ended our walk at a sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875). It symbolizes the Four Corners of the World; four women from different continents are represented, along with horses and turtles.







My feet hurt like hell, but you can't imagine the smile on my face:)

Tonight our apartment is filled with stories of the day and with friends from Germany.

Tomorrow is another day!!

With a smile on my face,
Blogger of the night - Kathy

Location:Rue du Champ de Mars,Paris,France