Seville Spain

June 29 Seville, Spain  (oops wrong date)

Took a scenic tour by city bus today!  The long way to the city centre!  Met a woman from Scotland on the bus.  Chatted until she got off at La Macarena.  Not sure if related to the dance or not!

Took a walking tour of  Alcazar, a tour recommended by Rick Steve's.  The tour guide, Conception Delgado, is actually pictured in the Steve's guide to Seville.  She was great!  On one mention of your name, she had it.  And any questions you had later in the tour she brought another site to your attention, by name!  It was well worth the tour and I do very much recommend her.  She also does city and Cathedral tours.  I spent another 2 hours just wandering around the site.

It is a Royal Palace and at times they stay on the second floor.  The building itself was initially Moorish, about 900s sometime, but when the Christians took over in 1200, expansions took place.  More additions in 1500 and 1700, I think.  Lots of information!  I needed to have a note book with me!

The one painting is supposed showing Christopher Columbus with the Virgin Mary as well as showing the New and old worlds.

Found out that the marble on the floor is a recent addition, about 4 or 500 years, from Italy.  Much was probably recycled.  The floors were initially clay brick.  The gardens are huge.  Even with peacocks.

Yesterday I thought I had the Coke thing figured out!  Found a place where you could get a full sized bottle for 1.45 euros, cheap!  And cheaper than beer too!  But went for a beer at bar around the corner, damn, 200 ml beer for .80 euros, so moral is, beer is still the cheapest!  Tough break!

Lisbon and back into Spain

June 28 Seville, Spain

Did not do much today but walked a lot!  

Went to the Plaza de Espana.  A huge place that is made of brick and decorated with many many tiles.  Around the lower part are benches with tiles representing various cities around Spain.  Very nice.  Much of the walls, ceilings and columns are also tiled!

Walked around some of the parks near by and then headed to a shopping/restaurant area.  Interesting as not many people out today, not like yesterday as it was Sunday.

Seville sidewalks are mostly made with small rounded river stones.  Must have taken forever to put down.  Very different from the 2 or 3 inch cobbled marble (I think) stones for almost all of the sidewalks and many of the streets.  Both very attractive.

June 27 Seville, Spain

Arrived early afternoon after a relaxing morning.  Only a 1 hour trip.  After a call to hotel for room, but do not know if they had one or not, as no one spoke English, and my Spanish is not enough yet to figure it out!  But found another place, just took the taxi driver a while to find!  Could be a problem!!!!!

But not.  Fairly close to everything.  

Dumped the bags and off to wander around the city.  Walked through a park, and then onto the river front.  Took a 1 hour cruise along the river,  huge boat, maybe 10 people!  But nice, and wind was cool.  Actually an ok trip.  Saw the 1992 Expo site, and a few other sites.  Just very relaxing.

Then hit the bullfight arena.  I had hoped to see a bull fight tonight but there is not one this week.  Took a tour around the arena!  Amazing, prices range from 30 euros to 150!  Also did not know that there are really 6 guys to a team that are fighting a bull, 2 teams of 3, only one is called matador.  That was news.  Now I really want to see one!

Stopped for beer on way back to hotel.  I have given up staying off the beer as it is so much cheaper, and better than Coke.  I am sure I am getting nutrition from them!  

Seems that Seville also has very fancy entry ways into houses.  Many very nice ones.  Lots of tile work as well.  But again there are some streets that are very narrow.  And I swear that streets that are just wide enough for a bike to go down, and have a name!  That is my excuse for missing so many of them!  Believe it or not!

June 26 Cordoba, Spain

Well went for the luxury and caught a taxi after giving the hotel a call.  Turn out to be great.  Quick shower and then off to bar for a drink.

Up this morning and off to the Mesquita - a mosque that had been converted into a Cathedral.  The orginal Mosque part was built in mid 900s with the Christian part built over the Muslim in mid 1200s.  The arches of different stone a brick and the size of the place is difficult to describe.  Not sure how many arches but there were a lot.  Many little chapels around the outside with some remaining Muslim parts to building.  The courtyard was huge as well with orange trees everywhere.  Also 1 old olive tree, not sure how old but the trunk did not look in great shape.

The streets in this city are quite something.  The sidewalk, on each side of road, are about 6 inches wide!  Have to be careful and not have your toes sticking out in the street or you would loose your toes.  They are so narrow!  But very interesting!  I have found that the doorways into peoples houses are very fancy!  Have tried to take some pictures but they do not seem to do them justice! 

A lot of Roman ruins in the city.  Columns, bridge, walls and mill. 

Then in afternoon off to the Medinat Al- Zahra.  An ancient Muslim site.  Built in the mid 900s, and was only occupied for about 75 years.  After this the town of Cordoba grew, with many of the artifacts and then later many of the building stones were taken.  Not able to see the Royal section as under reconstruction but pictures make look great.  Interesting that the arches are similar to the Mesquita.  It is a huge place and they say that they have only dug up about 10% of it.  Many places are still being dug out and many pieces laid about, looking like they are trying to piece together.  The interpretation centre was also an interesting building.  Made of white concrete and iron sheet, with a very low profile.  Think maybe they were trying to replicate the 2 to 1 rectangle of the Al-Zahra.

On way back saw 1/2 of a round about!  A new subdivision that has streets, lights but no buildings.  The half of round about did not go anywhere, and only had 2 streets running out of it.

Cordoba is a must see in my list!  Great place!

June 25 Madrid, again, and Cordoba for about and hour, Spain

Well the earliest train I could catch to Cordoba is 9.35 PM!!!!  So a day in Madrid.  So off to the Prada Art museum.  The line up was huge.  Turns out they have a temporary exhibit of Turner's work!  Ok.  So spent a couple of hours wandering around the rest of museum.  Many arts pieces as well as sculptures.  Goya, Rembrandt, Mori  etc!   The interesting part was the vault in the basement.  Here they had "decorative art"  which means pieces of table ware and decorations to be placed about the house.  Very nice.  Much crystal, precious stones, but also some large jade and some other dark stone pieces.  Must be expensive!

Then spent more time wandering the street, sitting in a park.  Very nice.

Then back to train station.  Will be interesting to see what happens with a 11.30 pm arrival.

June 24 Lisbon, Portugal

What a great bed and breakfast!  Mercada!  Was able to keep key and leave bags in room for the whole day!

So off to the Belem tower!  Great place, but again many stairs on small spiral staircase!  5 floors!  And remember the Europeans count the first floor as 0, so that is really six! 

Tower has great views of river, and was built in the 1100, I think, way too much information!  Over loaded.

After walked along the river.  The stone sculpture of a boat and people is huge.  Inside is a video presentation of the history of Lisbon.  "A city of cities".

As the city was occupied by many different people, the Muslims, the Crusaders, Arabs and the list goes on.  Some of each has been retained in different parts of the city!  Was a great video as explained why the area around the Plaza Commercial is completely on a grid street system.  This area was destroyed by the earthquake in 1755, and this is how it was rebuilt.  Most other areas are still streets going in every direction and many round abouts!

Spent most of afternoon in a park!  I had a 10.30 pm train back to Madrid.  The overnighter again!  But not so bad, talked to a guy from San Francisco for about an hour and then to sleep, most of the way!  Interesting as there was an elderly couple with their bags and not one person offered to help.  I did, and everyone clapped!  Too funny!

June 23 Lisbon, Portugal

Caught the train to Sintra, a small city outside of Lisbon.  Here went to visit the Castle of the Moors. 

This castle was built in about 800 AD and then added to in about 1100.

It sits on top of the hill overlooking the city.  You can also look up to the Pena Castle.  The Moorish Castle was great!  Interesting that many of the castles are similar.  Towers with look outs, and many port holes facing the various directions.  Would have been tough to attach this castle as the ground is steep and very rocky.  Yet again, many steps, up and down, and along the various walls.  There is currently an archeological dig going on in the Church cemetery and a couple of other places in and around the Castle.  Interesting that it was much cooler, yet only about 500 meters above sea level.

Pena Castle was used during the mid 1800s by the royalty of the Portugal.  All the rooms had a lot of furniture of the time!  Many rooms with separate rooms for the King and the Queen.  The ballroom/dining room was actually fairly small with ceiling that may have been 9 feet!  Certainly not like the Palace in Madrid.

Wanted to go to the National Palace, but closed on Wednesday.  Others on the bus found out the same thing on arrival.

Went for a wander around another part of the city today when I returned.  This is a very hilly city with many of them very steep.  I walked up one street, but on the return trip down a different street, found a tram that is designed to go up and down the steep parts.  Apparently there are 3 or 4 in the city.

For dinner went back to the same restaurant I went to last night!  Last night, steak, fresh raw carrots, fries, soup (large) and a beer for 8 euros!  What a deal.  Tonight.  Different steak.  Thought that I ordered the special of the "cafe" but turns out it is 'cafe" or coffee!  Had coffee beans in the sauce.  But also came with jumbo shrimp, with mushrooms and roasted garlic!  Interesting combination, but was very tasty even if the cut of beef was not that great!

Tonight, 10 euros, including the beer of course!

Started to upload new pictures to Picasa, but the internet shut down on me.  Not sure what happened.  Guess it will have to wait until I get back to the Madrid train station.

Spain and into Portugal

June 22 Lisbon, Portugal

Caught the train to Sintra, a small city outside of Lisbon.  Here went to visit the Castle of the Moors. 

This castle was built in about 800 AD and then added to in about 1100.

It sits on top of the hill overlooking the city.  You can also look up to the Pena Castle.  The Moorish Castle was great!  Interesting that many of the castles are similar.  Towers with look outs, and many port holes facing the various directions.  Would have been tough to attach this castle as the ground is steep and very rocky.  Yet again, many steps, up and down, and along the various walls. 

There is currently an archeological dig going on in the Church cemetery and a couple of other places in and around the Castle.  Interesting that it was much cooler, yet only about 500 meters above sea level.

Pena Castle was used during the mid 1800s by the royalty of the Portugal.  All the rooms had a lot of furniture of the time!  Many rooms with separate rooms for the King and the Queen.  The ballroom/dining room was actually fairly small with ceiling that may have been 9 feet!  Certainly not like the Palace in Madrid.

Wanted to go to the National Palace, but closed on Wednesday.  Others on the bus found out the same thing on arrival.

Went for a wander around another part of the city today when I returned.  This is a very hilly city with many of them very steep.  I walked up one street, but on the return trip down a different street, found a tram that is designed to go up and down the steep parts.  Apparently there are 3 or 4 in the city.

For dinner went back to the same restaurant I went to last night!  Last night, steak, fresh raw carrots, fries, soup (large) and a beer for 8 euros!  What a deal.  Tonight.  Different steak.  Thought that I ordered the special of the "cafe" but turns out it is 'cafe" or coffee!  Had coffee beans in the sauce.  But also came with jumbo shrimp, with mushrooms and roasted garlic!  Interesting combination, but was very tasty even if the cut of beef was not that great!

Tonight, 10 euros, including the beer of course!  Hey it is usually cheaper than Coke!

Started to upload new pictures to Picasa, but the internet shut down on me.  Not sure what happened.  Guess it will have to wait until I get back to the Madrid train station.

June 22 Lisbon, Portugal

Arrived!  And actually slept most of the time.  Funny as woke up when the train stopped!

Found the Bed and Breakfast quite easily!  And I think I am in luxury!  Mecado Bed and Breakfast.  Huge room, although the bathroom is down the hall, but I have patio doors onto a big deck!  So nice!  And cheaper than Madrid!  And turns out I am probably the only guest!  Lucky as found last night on the FREE internet at the train station - that is a first!  At least the free part!

Had some coffee, a shower and headed out!  

Caught an old famous tram, #28, and head back towards the city.  The streets are so narrow in places there is only a couple of inches on either side of the tram mirrors the streets are so narrow.  Arrived at the water front and wandered around in the shopping area for a bit and then headed off to the Castle of Sao Jorge.  This is a climb and a half!  But interesting!  Some of the faces of the houses are completely tiled.  

Built in 1100 by the Muslims and added on over the years!  Great views of city.  Was a guitar player there selling CDs, so bought one.  Sounded very good.

Then off to the Se Cathedral.  Very nice inside.  Walked back to the city, and headed out to the 1998 World Expo site.  Wanted to take the cable car ride!     Short, but still was a great view of the river and the Expo site.  On way back on Metro, guy took my map and showed me another church that I had to see,  Not much outside he said, but a surprise inside.  Built about 200 years ago, but then about 60 years ago he said there was a fire!  

Domingos.  Well he was right!  Could still smell the fire!  The stone had been cleaned but you could still see the black.  The roof had been repainted.  Some of the columns had huge chips out of them.  It was very impressive!

Then went to a concert!  A Portuguese traditional music "thing".  A guitar, mandolin and 2 singers.  The guitar and mandolin were great and the singers were good but preferred just the instrumentals.

June 21 Madrid, Spain

Went out to train station to buy ticket for Lisbon, only to find out that it is a slow over night train.  Leaves Madrid at about 10.30 and arrives in Lisbon at 7.30 (hour time difference).  Left suitcase in lock up and headed back to city.  Decided to hit the 2 museums that I missed yesterday!  And there were free on Sunday!  But only to find out that they are closed on Mondays!  Oh well.  Wandered around some more, just putting in time!  It did go by fairly fast!  There are so many people to watch!  More pedlars but also some that are statutes of various people/things, and also perform small acts!  Very interesting to watch.  Walked towards the park and saw the 'famous' wall that is completely covered in vines and flowers!  Very nice.  And the Arches of Independence.  Then headed to park.  Some amazing trimmed trees.  Interesting that in Madrid many of the street signs are of tiles.  All street signs, if there is one, are on the sides of the buildings on the street corners.

Went out to train station and ended up watching Spain in the World Cup.  That explains why all the Spanish flags were flying all afternoon.

June 20 Madrid, Spain

Just more wandering!  But stopped for coffee and a guy stopped to talk to me to practice his English.  It was a bit rough to start but he improved as we talked.  He then decided that I had to meet his English speaking friend, and his English teacher.  First stop, bar!  The Spanish way, have a beer or 2 on Sunday afternoon with some tapas with friends!  That was good, but turned into more than a couple!  Then off to meet the English teacher, for the same thing!  A lot of beer on a Sunday afternoon!  But was good!  Then we went out for dinner.  Fish, tuna steak and some smaller fish that had a light batter and deep fried!  With the heads!  Was good, but just ate the sides of the fish, not the heads!

June 19 Madrid, Spain

Slow start to the day!  Walked through plaza Mayor again, and then off to the Royal Palace.  Not lived in anymore, but is used for official ceremonies and dinners!  Very impressive, with all the marble on the floors, around the doors and on the pillars.  Mosaics on floors were beautiful!

Red is a very over used color, right down to the velvet on the walls!  Still great to visit.  Also went into the Royal Pharmacy, about 4 rooms of jars of herbs, floor to ceiling.  Also the Royal Armory, which showed several years of armour.  Some of the full suits were for some very short men!

Just spent the rest of the day wandering through the small side streets and around in circles on the round abouts!  There are so many!  Each with character of their own, and about a million streets heading out of them!

I guess I will never figure out the traffic!  Now I have been in a round about, with traffic heading in both directions, and stop lights!

June 18 Santander to Madrid, Spain

Not much done today.  Have a mid afternoon train to Madrid, about 2 1/2 hours.  And the weather is looking great, no rain!

Arrived in Madrid, actually found hotel, no problems.  Actually a Hostal,  in between a hotel and hostel.  Room about 6 feet wide and 10 feet long, and then a small bathroom!  At least there is not part cut out of door to make room for toilet, but close!  But is it in between the 2 main plazas, Del Sol and Mayor.  Took a stroll around the area in evening.  Lots of people out and about!  Interesting as police everywhere, and so are all the hookers!  But the police only seem to harass the hackers of sunglasses, hats, horns and flags!  Watched them chase one around with their scooters!  He got away!  He ducked down the stairs into the Metro station!

Into Spain

June 17 Santander, Spain

No rain today, but still overcast, with a cool wind.  Temperature about 17 to 19.  Not great, but ok.  Went and bought train ticket to Madrid for tomorrow and then off to find the Prehistoric museum.  Well I think it is (or was) the 2 holes in the ground!  Stopped to have lunch at small little cafe.  Ordered a 'tortilla', not really know what I was going to end up with!  Well turns out that Spanish tortillas are really omelet like!  Was good thought, except everything seems to come with fries!

So off to walk to the other restaurant areas.  Could not find them either so kept walking!

Ended up at the Bull fight arena!  And open, but with an Octoberfest going on!  And I thought it was still June!  German ompa music and German food everywhere!  Walked back to hotel.

Not much done tonite except went out for something to eat, kabob, from an East Indian run restaurant, and he spoke English!

June 16 Santander, Spain

Well the morning started off with some monsoon type rain!  And lots of wind!  But by time I had breakfast, and I now have the Spanish coffee figured out, I think, the rain had reduced to just a drizzle!

 I had decided I was going to the beaches today, and that I did!  In the wind and the rain!  They were very nice and it only took about an hour to walk there!  Walked around the Palace of Magdelaina, a peninsula which is very rocky, and then to the neighbouring beaches.  Quite a few of them.  All very nice, I am sure, when the weather is good!  Saw what looked like a search and rescue exercise out on the lighthouse island.

Also walked by replicas of what I think are the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, the boats that followed Columbus' crossing to NA.

Caught the bus back to hotel.  Thought I was doing great, and thought I would get off on the next stop, but the bus went underground!  Not sure where it was going to end up!  But it continued straight and the next stop was not that much beyond the hotel.  Actually had a nap, the first is ages!

June 15 Santander, Spain

Up and on the go by 10!  Headed to the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao.  Caught the tram which stops there and then continues on to the bus station.

The museum is great, another must see!  There is not a straight line in the place!  Even the stair ways have a curve of some sort!  Very impressive.

And that is both the inside and the outside!  Not sure which I enjoyed more the building or some of the exhibits!  Decided I had to see as the building was designed by Frank Gehry, a Canadian.  With the metal and glass structure with titanium panels covering the building and the white walls.  Outside other artists work, the big spider, the fire fountain (only on at night), the dancing fountain, with the fog.  Lots to experience.

Interesting as well is that he tied the building into the river and a bridge that run very near.  Near the bridge there is a stair case to no where!

Inside  some impressive displays.  The best were the one that played with the visual and mental comprehension.  A LED display in several columns, the advertising type ones, but were at least 30 feet high.  Red on one side and blue on the other.  Visually looked like they were up against a wall but you could walk behind the display as well!  Weird!  Then the large, very large steel plates laid out in several maze type things.  And the various mirrors which play with your perception of the reflection of the space around you!  Really great stuff.  Did not get much out of the machine made piles of cement!  Looked more like dog do than anything!   I know, I am so descriptive!  hahahahha

Then caught the Bus to Santander, this one comfortable and only 2 hours.  They do not announce the stops so asked the guy next to me.  Not much English, but again he made sure I got off on the right stop.  People are very helpful.  

I walked to hotel, and the map I drew should have been better.  I wandered around the area of the hotel (I know that now!) but could not find it.  I was still looking when a lady stopped and asked me if I needed directions, and of course I did, so she told me where I need to go.  She was going to show me but it was so close did not think necessary!  I was on the right block and it was just around the corner!  Again, thanks to the Spanish for their friendliness.

Checked in and off wandering the streets.  Many, many squares, with townhouses, bars, and restaurants everywhere.  Few churches mixed in.  A very nice city.

What I have noticed though, is that Spain seems to have more graffiti than France.  Not sure if I just did not notice or was not it the areas where it would be.  Maybe it is the fact that I have been on local trains, rather than intercity ones!

June 14 Bordeaux, France to Bilbao, Spain

Tough day!

Spent 3 hours on comfortable train to Hendaye, France, which is on the border with Spain.  The time passed very quickly just watching out the window.  Everything is extremely green, which is not surprising considering all the monsoon like rains that seem to happen each day!

Arrived in Hendaye, walked out the door of train station, made a few steps into another train station, very small!  I am now in Spain.  Amazing!  No passport checks, nothing.  Just a young guy in the station selling train tickets!

This train is a local train, so for 30 minutes on it from Hendaye, the Spanish side, to San Sebastian, Spain.

I then wait maybe 30 minutes for the next train to Bilbao. 

While waiting I meet a young Ethiopian guy that is living in Bilbao and training for the Olympics 2012 in London.  He runs the 5000 and 10000 meter races!  He has some English, enough that I figure out that he is off training for the moment as he has hurt is achilles heel.

I get pictures of family and he tells me of his dream to race in US and Canada.

He makes sure I know where to get off the train as he gets off earlier than me.

After about 2 1/2 hours on hard plastic seat, I made it to Bilbao train station.  Lucky, well sort of, finding most people have some English, which is great as I have zero Spanish, shows me where the nearest hotel is.  60 euros, not good for budget, but for 1 night.......

Guy speaks very good English and shows me on the map where NOT to go!  and also where to go.  He also tells me that I should have taken the bus as it would have taken me only 1 1/2 hours!  Oh well the trip only cost 4.80!  Finding most things cheaper in Spain.

I am very close to the older part of the city so spend a couple of hours wandering around.  Get dinner and wander some more!  The city is very hilly and amazingly and thank goodness, they actually have escalators for sidewalks!  I did climb a big hill the long way around and then took escalator down!  

France 2010

June 13 Bordeaux, France

Out of hotel by about 8.30 this morning.  Have to catch the tour bus.  Signed up for a walking tour of 2 wineries in the area!  As if I need to walk more, but was 40 euros cheaper that they only other choice!

About a 40 minute, 30 km drive out of the city, we were dropped off.  And the walk began.  Turns out that the walk is 12 km long!  A bit of a shock!  Details as the tourist office were a bit light!  Some actually showed up with sandals!

The walk was great. A few hills, to the highest point around, 100 meters!  But it is a limestone cliff.  This is were much of the limestone was mined for the buildings in the area.

Stopped first at a fortress that work began in the last couple of years to restore!  

The first winery was the smallest in the area.  2.5 hectares.  

( http://chateaugrandbranetuk.free.fr )  And for sale, but owner would not say how much!  Very interesting and they produce some very good wine!  Tried a Clariet, which is similar to a rose, but very much better.  Also a couple of their reds!  None were more than 5 euros each.  Wish I could have stocked up at that price!  Lunch was here as well.  Smoked duck breast, which was pretty good, but was not struck with the duck pate!

Few drops of rain but nothing serious.  The serious part was that on the trail it rained fairly hard, and it was clay, so there were a few that wiped out!  Not me!

I expected that we would really follow some trails, but it actually just wound along the edges of vineyards or grass fields!  There were some roads walked on as well.

The tour finished at the largest winery in the area.  Huge in comparison.  This one had about 800 hectares of vines!  Wines here good as well and prices close to the same, but this winery did have some that were 10 and 30 euros!

June 12 Bordeaux, France

Off an running again this morning.  Bought ticket to Spain, I think!  Have to check the city.  I guess I will have to buy the ongoing ticket at the next stop!

Then wandered down the main street along the river.  

Got my hair cut!  Good thing I have an easy cut to explain, with what little French I have and sign language!  Bit worried when he brought out the straight edge!  But he did a great job, the best I have ever had.  He seemed to take great care in trimming along the back and sides!

Walked by a parking lot with a car sticking out.  This is part of an art exhibit.  Seems to be I have seen this on TV, not sure whether here or somewhere else, but still crazy!

Went into the Beaux art Museum.  Interesting, but nothing really caught my eye.  There was works spanning about 500 years, right to current.

Then off to Wine History Museum.  This was great!  Actually the museum is in an old wine cellar, with the history from about 300 AD on.  Mostly from 1100 on.

Interesting that it was the Dutch that introduced the French to using sulfur to clean the wine barrels which allowed the wine to age, more than a year.

This became known as the "the new french way'!  And it was the British that introduced glass bottles.

The best was some tasting at the end.  A white and 2 reds.

June 11 Bordeaux, France

Arrived without incident!  That is a good thing!  

And found the hotel, after a 30 minute walk, straight to it as well, no scenic routes!

Then off to tourist office.  Found it and actually went on a tour bus trip around the city.  Tour lasted about an hour, but took about 30 minutes just to get out of the city centre!  Very busy!  

But did see a lot of neat places that I can go back to and have a closer look tomorrow!

Also made it to the last remaining Roman ruins.  Palais Gallien.  Currently under some restoration work!  Got a great look from both sides.

France

June 10 La Rochelle, France

Pouring rain, coming down in sheets!  And the wind was howling, and loud cracks of thunder!  Remember I am out in an industrial area and I either walk or catch the bus!

Well by time I got to bus stop the rain had stopped, and by the time I got to the city, the sky was blue and it had got hot!  Great!

The bus driver told me that he went to the train station, which was great, but when I arrived, it took me close to an hour to figure out that this was a different train station.  Lost?  Depends on how you define lost!

Well headed off to the Towers of La Rochelle, 3 towers that guard the harbour.  Only 2 were open.  Built in 1100s, the Lanterne tower has about 8 floors, with 2 separate towers at the top.  I walked all the floors using the very steep spiral staircases! 

This tower also was a prison for some time, and many of prisoners carved drawings in the stone walls!  Some of them very intricate.

The Chaine Tower was closed, it is the one in the middle of the 3.  And then there is the St Nicolas tower (on the left), when housed royalty at one point.  The views of city and harbour were great!

Far out the harbour I spotted a beach, so headed towards that!  About 2 hours later found out that it was all rocks, and what looked like cliffs, were, but danger signs all over warning that they may collapse.

Kept walking and ended up on a small beach called The Chef de Baie.  Very nice.  Actually went in the water.  A bit on cool side but, not as cold as that first Okanagan Lake swim!  Still it felt good as was hot!  Caught the bus back and wandered around the Place du Verdun for a bit.  Was going to have something to eat, but the bus schedule said that there were on 2 buses left, so headed back towards hotel.  Stopped at a restaurant and had a French hamburger!  Very good, and huge!

 

June 9 La Rochelle, France

The adventure continues!  Caught the train from Pontorson to Rennes.  No problem.  Had a 2 hour wait for the next train.  Sat outside the train station, just watching people!  Got hit up for money 2 times in 5 minutes!  The funny part is they knew enough English to ask!

Well thought I was catching another train!  Turns out it was a bus!  1 hour on a bus, where the leg room was about 2 inches too short for me!  Good thing not much longer! That was to Nantes, where I did catch a train, and yes I am sure it was a train!  A very nice one at that, reserved seating!

Arrived in La Rochelle, and ended up catching a taxi!  I had booked a hotel out of the city centre, which I thought was fairly close the the beach!  Well, the hotel is kind of neat!  Self check-in!  You get a code for the front door and for your room on this print out!  The location of the hotel is actually in the middle of a light industrial area!  ahhahhah  Will not do that the next time!  Walked to the beach!  Took about 30 minutes. 

On way back stopped for something to eat at La Paillote, a small bar/restaurant on the street.  He was advertising his specialty, Moules Frites!  They were excellent!  Huge!  and I am sure I heard him peeling the potatoes for the fries!

Still here!

June 8 Pontorson, France

Spent an easy day waiting for my 4 o'clock train.  Breakfast and then a walk around this fairly small city.  

Ended up in the country!  Did not take long!  And in order to save a few steps, too a short cut!  This meant climbing up an embankment to the road that was passing over the highway I was on!  Steep but not a problem!  Worked out great as the new road went by a large store, Superstore like, with everything you could imagine!  

Walked back to hotel to have coffee before the train.  Well the train never came.  Turns out that there never was a train!  Not sure what happened, but the lady in the station tried very hard to get me out, taxi, to bus, to train!  But there was not enough time to make the bus.  Oh well.  She put me on the train for 9 am tomorrow, which is weird as I was told that I could not have gone on that one today as I would need a return ticket!  So back to hotel and back in same room!  It is a very nice hotel!  

See what happens tomorrow!

Rather enjoying the small cities.  Very relaxed, not a lot of traffic and people are super, even if they do not speak a lot of English!  And I am not sure whether my French is improving or not!  Must be, got a 'real' cup of coffee today!

And besides, looked at some menus today,  2.80 for a bottle of coke (or should I say Coca Cola) and 3.00 for 250 ml of red wine!  Figure out which one I had!