Aye Yi Yi Yi Yi

Good evening,

Left Burgos this morning.  You drop down from a hilly area into a rolling type prairie kind of like the foothills around Calgary or Denver.  Lot of grain farms the fields are bigger here ( a woodpecker would have to pack a lunch)  LOTS of wheat fields, they're larger but its almost like the strip type farming that they used to do in southern Alberta.  No zero tillage they plow everything and seem to rotate the crops and keep the crops seeded in the fields to about 40 acres max.   Not much cattle in this area at all.

About mid morning we pulled into a travel stop, lo and behold there was a McDonalds. About 2/3 of the bus made a beeline for the McDonalds and had a burger, fries and onion rings.   Its great trying all this different food and culture but it was nice to taste food that your used to as well :)

As we got closer in to Madrid we rose out of the prairie and drove into treed hills, saw a few cattle but not too many at all.  Madrid is a very modern and urban city lots of factories and distribution centers.   Once in the city center we went to the Prado museum (NOT Prada sorry) and saw a lot of paintings from the spanish masters, El Greco, Velasquez and Goya.  Went to have a drink afterwards at the Ritz Hotel Madrid across the street.  They are pretty proud of the place 18 Euros for a drink.  But we showed them we cleand out the bowl of cashews and almonds they put in front of us.

Here is a snapshot of our tour companion Brian, his daughter is following the blog back home in Australia!

This evening we went to a restaraunt that featured the local fare.  Had our choice of lamb, suckling pig, salmon or paella.  It was all delicious great little restaurant for dessert they brought out this huge baked Alaska and lit it on fire in front of everyone!

Then the big surprise a trio came out playing traditional Spanish music but we recognized a lot of the songs. (Blue Spanish Eyes, Guntanamera, and as I called it the Frito's Bandito song)  Tried our hand with trying to video it so hopefully you will be able to see a bit of it here.Larger video is here

After dinner we took an evening tour of the city a lot of the traffic circles have beautiful fountains in the center of them with statues.  (Good thing I didn't see these prior to Scott building our fountain at the new house)!  Their post office here dates back to the 1800s and looks like a cathedral.

Off to Toledo (setting for Don Quixote) tomorrow then back to Madrid to be on our own tomorrow afternoon and evening. 

Talk to y'all tomorrow night.

D & D

Ola Espania!

Good evening everyone.

Had another great day weather and people couldnt be nicer. 

Stopped in Biarritz (note to Joan its pronounced bee air itz NOT bar mitzvah)!  Anyway what a beautiful place its right on the bay of Britany, surfers were out.  Peter, Deb and I took off our shoes and went in the Atlantic for a while. We stayed in the shallow part as there was some surf out there with at least 10' waves.  Had lunch at a great little restaurant and had the lunch special, poisson (fish) that was loaded with garlic and safron rice.  Very scenic would be a great place to spend a few days. Topless beaches hubba hubba.

Then we crossed over into Spain, quite twisty roads going through the mountain passes reminded me of the Fraser Canyon in BC in some places also a lot like the interior.  Then into the plains and stopped for the day in Borgus.

This is the home of El Cid and the Castille that was started to be built in the 11th century and took about 400 years to complete.  I guess our timeline isn't too out of whack huh Scott? :)

Now to the gyspy story, when we were at the Eiffel tower Peter was approached by a couple of gypsy girls, however when he waved them off one of them pointed her finger at him and hissed!  I laughed and told him that she put the whammy on him.

Well tonight when we got off the bus Deb hit her head on the overhead door getting her bag out.  Then one of the ladies walking down the stairs slipped and fell spilling red wine on Debs white pants and top.  Then the waiter serving Deb hit his tray on the wall behind Debbie and jammed his elbow. 

I said the gypsy had shitty aim as all three things happened around Deb.   I also informed everyone to stay clear of her in case she got hit with a lightning bolt! Oh well everything happens in three's lets hope that is the last of that. 

We are off to Madrid tomorrow and will be spending two nights there I believe that is where we are going to the Prada museum, (NO girls thats not where you buy purses and shoes at).

Anyway until tomorrow.

Buenos Noches
D & D

Au Revoire France

Good Evening everyone,

Another day of beautiful weather, left Bordeaux this morning and drove south.  Stopped in a little town about 11 called Aire-Sur-l'adour for coffee and a break.  Cute town right along the river very small maybe 2000 people but it was nice just to sit, buy some fruit from the market, have a drink and people watch.  At noon the church bell rang and all the shops rolled up their doors and shut down until about 3.  Still a lot of farms but small lots and LOTS of rocks :(

We left there and motored on to a town called Pau which is right in the foothills of the Pyrenesse mountains.  It was of course a lot like being in the Rocky Mountains had a nice lunch there. They are ready for a Grand Prix for this weekend so there were all kinds of booths and tents set up there.  They had a replica Grand Prix car cut out of hardwood we called it the Fred Flintstone mobile.

Got into Lourdes about 4:30 and it is right in the middle of the mountains here.  They get millions of visitors here every year to visit the grotto and do the candle light procession in the evening.  While I was talking to Alex he said there was a Ukranian Catholic church here and I checked it out sure enough they have a cathedral here.

Tomorrow we are off to Biarritz to drop a toe in the Atlantic at the Bay of Biscay. From there on to a town called Borgus, Spain.  Its off to Madrid from there for two days.

G'nite

D & D

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round

Bon Soir!

Man did we put on miles today (almost 400), with the first stop being Chartres.  Quaint town with a moat still around the old part of town (Gives me a idea will, have to talk to Scott about putting that around the new house), the church there dates back to the 11th century over 20,000 square feet of stained glass.  The crusaders would stop here on there way to the crusades for blessings and supplies. 

From there on to Amboise in the Loire Valley.  Dad I saw some barley crops that were already turning color should be harvesting in a month here on some of the crops. Nice rolling hills but very rocky not a field bigger than 80 acres and usually those are planted in different crops.

Amboise has the chateau where Leonardo da Vinci is buried right along the Loire river.  Had a nice lunch in the town square and strolled a bit.

Folowed the river to Bordeaux and came across a town where people for ages have mined out homesites in the limestone hillsides with just a window and door showing and a chimney 50' higher in the limestone cliff.  The people that have lived here are called Troglodytes.  I always thought that was the name for a real ignorant person or a fossil that was found in seabeds, but upon looking it up it means cave dweller or hermit.  It was really neat to see these homes alongside massive chateaus.

Carried on to Bordeaux and had a nice dinner here at the hotel. Off tomorrow morning to end up in Lourdes.  Maybe I can slip the guard a 20 and see if I can bathe in the blessed waters and it can cure all my ails!

Bonne nuit mes amis.

D & D

Ooooh la la!

Good Morning!

A busy day yesterday started with the Eiffel tower tour.  Went all the way to the top and because they have restricted the height of buildings in main Paris you have a great view of all the parks and the way the streets are laid out.  If I am not mistaken they used the same type of street planning in Washington, DC.   The engineering for elevators uses both hydraulic and cable making it quite a marvel to watch  as it operates like a finicular prior going vertical for the rest of the journey.

Then on to the Versailles the gardens alone are worth the time, quite massive we rented a golf cart there and we barely got to see just the perimiter of all the gardens.  The palace itself is massive, 50 years and 20,000 workers to build it, then 400 to keep it staffed when it was in full operation.  The candles in the chandeliers only lasted 40 minutes and at the time were the equive
equivalent of a months salary.  No wonder the people revolted.

You know when you see pictures of cobblestones how picturesque they look well I can tell you they are a bitch to walk on, I cant imagine what it was like riding on wooden wheeled carriages.  Its a good thing I started the tour with a new pair of sneakers as I will bet money they will be worn out by the time this trip is over!   (looks like someone found a quick nap time, yup those shoes are going to be worn to the threads!!!!

)

For the evening we went to the Moulin Rouge and I have to say what an enjoyable evening.  Almost like watching an old Ed Sullivan show only topless (I forced myself to watch). :)

The costume changes, intermediate acts, a juggler, a husband wife acrobats the strength they had was nothing less than amazing.  The final side act was a ventriloquist who was quite good the best was a dog he had trained to open its mouth to coincide with him throwing his voice it was all quite entertaining.  Oh of course the Can Can was enjoyable :)

I ordered a 7 UP or Sprite the Saturday night here and both in London and Paris they call it Lemonade. In case you cant read the label its called Pshht.  NO I am not making this up.

Of course there are a lot of motorcycles here and here is a picture of how frenchmen take their dates out for a ride!

We all agree Paris is quite beautiful, it was clean, people were very friendly and definitely we will be returning here in the future.  The only downside are the gypsys and the hawkers trying to sell you knock off merchandise they are so agressive they will climb right in to the bus to get you to buy stuff.

Off to Bordeaux this morning will talk to you soon.

Adieux
D & D

P.S.  Looks like the city of Paris rubbed off on these two couples :)

Ah Oui, Paree

Bonsoir!

My high school French teacher would be proud of me, I was able to say please, thank you and more tanquray sil vous plait without even a stutter.

The day started off at about 4 am in order to pick other travellers from another hotel and get on to the ferry at Dover going to Calais at 9 AM.  The countryside is picturesque with wheat allready headed out and the canola fields past bloom and in pod. Temperature is about 18C or 70 F.

The cliffs at Dover are entirely out of chalk and stark white, during WWII the pilots knew they were going to make it home from their missions when they could see them on their return flights.

It is about an hour and a half ferry ride to Calais and then about 2 hours to Vimy Ridge the WWI Canadian Memorial.  The property around the memorial is still bareing scars from bombing and land mines from the war, fences are up to keep people out as they still find live mines and ammo in the land there.  Aprox. 3400 Canadian soldiers were killed and over 11,000 wounded in the 4 day battle in which the Canadian troops secured the ridge defeating the Germans.  Learned that over 68,000 Canadian troops died during WWI.  The monument is quite large it must be over 500' high and dominates the ridge. Sean will be posting a picture of it here.

From there it was on to Paris, the city of lights. Wide boulevards on the Champs d'elysee, and the other streets leading to the Arc de Triomphe.  Checked into our hotel then back on the bus had dinner at a restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe then an evening cruise on the Seine.  A great way to see all the buildings, Eiffel tower and monuments. Toured a bit longer on the bus and then pulled up in front of the Eiffel tower at 10:00 PM where the light show was quite spectacular as part of the lighting ceremony the have lights blinking all over the tower for about 15 minutes.



OK here is the funny story for the day, after dinner Karen and Debbie went down the street to the phamacie to get Peter some aspirin.  Unknown to anyone the druggest sold Karen the ones that are like Alka Selzer that you are to dissolve in water than drink them.  Well Peter just popped them into his mouth and they instantly dissolved creating an explosion in his mouth.  His cheeks looked like a pocket gopher while he was swallowing them down!  The good news is they sure worked in a hurry.

One last note for the night for all you fans of the movie Pulp Fiction I can confirm that a quarter pounder with cheese at McDonalds is called a Royal Cheese. No we didnt have one but before the tour is over we may have to give it a try.

Tomorrow we are off to the Eiffel tower, Versailles and for the evening on to the Moulin Rouge, and no I will not be impersonating Tolouse Letrec.

Good Night
D & D

Our tour guide this morning aka Nurse Cratchet

Good Day!

The day of Friday May 13th started out great.  It is Karen's __th birthday today and it was a good start to the day..... until we met our tour guide (for those that don't know Nurse Cratchet was the evil nurse in the movie one flew over the cuckoos nest).   I think she got trained in the Gestapo school of tour guides.

"You will do this you wont do that you WILL be on time follow my umbrella NOW!"    :)  First stop was Albert hall then over through Picadilly and on to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  As it was time to leave 3 people were missing, saw them standing on the corner and she goes "well next time they wont be late will they?" After all we HAD to get to the changing of the guard... she had the bus driver drive right by them... bad karma dude..

After the next stop we were done and went to Notting Hill and the Portobello Street Market.  Which is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Lots of neat old stores but also temporary booths with produce, old books, antiques etc.  nice stroll to see all the different items.  Debbie thought that it was a lot livelier and more variety when she was here in the 90's with her girlfriends but at her age memory does funny things!

Tonight we went out for dinner at a restaurant called the Mitre on Holland Street to celebrate Karen's birthday and had a great evening good food and drink,  not in a hurry at all spent about 3 hours and it was a great time.

Going to sign out as we have a 4:45 AM (10:45 PM Houston time) wake up call to catch the first ferry over from Dover to France in the morning. On to WWl battle sites and a stop at Vimy ridge, then on to Paris.

Cheerio London, Bonjour Paris!

Dale & Deb