Un grand message....

"Aux armes, citoyennes..."

Zizou, before the incident...

Dinner while we waited...

Random but beautiful field of wild flowers...

"Our" chateau...that's me on the balcony.

Relaxing at the pool, looking up (past my toes) to the chateau.

Bonjour!

First, a small report on the world cup...it was crazy, to say the least, and at times a bit overwhelming for these two Americans...we were told by the folks at the chateau where we were staying that the nearest big city, Tours, would have a big-screen showing, so we headed out there about an hour before the game. The crowd was gathered already and got bigger and bigger....lots of air horns, French flags painted on faces, and of course real flags on cars and being carried and waved in the air. I took a movie of the singing of the national anthem, complete with fists jammed in the air at the call to arms part (aux armes, citoyennes, formez vos battaillons...) Yikes!

The roar was deafening whenever Zidane did anything, (including shots of him just standing), and his goal sent the place over the top. Interestingly, though there was booing and bird-flipping at the Italians, it wasn't too out of control. One brave sould in the crowd was even waving an Italian flag. Then, when the infamous head-butting happened, the crowd applauded, though a bit subdued. The penalty kicks were agonizing....cheering, then hands on heads, then cheering, then...silence. Tears. Drooping flags. Then, at the very end, when the team was shown for nearly the last time, big applause. The French press is saying that while Zidane should never have done that, it was because Materazzi called him a terrorist and accused his Algerian father of collaborating with the French, using the term "harki". In any case, a very dramatic evening.

In non-sports news....we stayed at a lovely old chateau for just one night. It had suits of armor, tennis court, pool, library, and a lovely garden. We could barely afford to stay there, and thus couldn't eat dinner or the full breakfast available (just eggs and toast for us, please!), but it was a nice treat nonetheless.

We're now in a lovely little place with bungalows and a pool just above the very quaint town of Sarlat...dinner and breakfast are included in the price of the room, so last night we had white asparagus, roasted lamb, cheese course, and pear clafoutis. A great meal by our standards, but it seems to everyone else there to be tres normale. We seem to be the only Americans, which is strange for a Rick Steves recommended place.

Tomorrow we are on a quest to see the Cro-Magnon cave paintings...until then,
E

ps - finally, pictures!

Un petit message

Bon soir from Sarlat, in the Southwest of France...

we are in an internet cafe that is about to close; therefore I promise more tomorrow on the following topics:

-brief visit to Paris,
-watching the World Cup final on a big screen with thousands of screaming, excited, and then screaming, heartbroken French folks,
-our stay in an honest-to-goodness chateau,
...and more!

till then,
e

Bruges, the Medieval Carmel

post-brewery tour tasting - so good!

les frites....avec curry ketchup et un petit fork

this chocolate shop offered chocolates flavored with lemongrass, cuban cigar, cola, passionfruit, and all the usual goodies. Hazelnut was my favorite...

Greetings from this wealthy little corner in Belgium...this town really does remind us of downtown Carmel - just replace the wealthy Californians with wealthy Europeans, and add a few quite picturesque, swan-filled canals. We have again been biking through the cobblestone streets and have done our best not to get hit by the Audis as they fly by. So far so good!

Some notable gastronomic delights:

-best chocolate ever! We bought some from a woman today who assures us that the special thermal bag we got it to protect it will make it last all the way through the 100 degree southern Spain part of our trip. But the hazelnut praline was so, so, delicious.

-lovely beer! We went on a brewery tour with possibly the most taciturn guide I've ever had: "On the next part of our tour the stairs are very steep, and mind your head. I hope you will survive it." But the large glass of light, slightly sweet beer at the end was worth ALL of the danger.

-fries...they really are quite good: I wasn't brave enough to try the mayo option, but there was an interesting meat sauce. I had curry ketchup. Yum. Good think we are biking and climbing lots of stairs in the face of such good treats!

tomorrow, France. Allez les Bleus!
e

Riding the Rails...

As our train today was gliding slowly through the flower-dotted fields of Holland, I had the rather unoriginal thought that sometimes cliches really are spot on.

The countryside was exactly what I would have imagined it to be...fields of all colors green, dotted with sheep and cows throughout. The cows were even the classic white and black splotchy types. :) And, since it was Holland after all, canals snaked through the fields, complete with small boats maneuvering about. Lovely.

We met two interesting folks today...I talked for a bit with a shy and softspoken African man on the train; he is from Mauritania, and our most common language was French, which was fun for me to practice; he was very patient! Luckily the World Cup was an easy common subject to discuss. (He assured me that South Africa will be ready to host in 2010, "except maybe le securité". Hmmm.)

Then, we decided to splurge and take a cab to our hotel in Bruges, and had the pleasure of being driven by Amir, the Iranian-Belgian who has also lived in Los Angeles and Chicago. I was a big hit with Amir since I knew how to say useful things in Farsi like do you want cheese, water, milk, etc, and also "naughty", his favorite. Thanks Negar! He listed various world famous Iranians, discussed the terrible racism he encounters in Europe, and when he dropped us off and I warned him about my heavy suitcase he said: "For me it is no problem, I am Iranian, not Belgian!"

Anyway, not so much about G & I today, but just some little pictures of the moments that fill our days. Europe is certainly the uncomfortable, multicultural, racist mess of the French riots and similar, but it's nice to find friendly people who help us along, and to feel like we're making some small effort to break stereotypes of Americans. But even if all that becomes a bit much to think about, it's nice to know that there are also green fields with flowers and pretty cows.

More about Bruges tomorrow, and pictures asap!
e

Amsterdam, Part 2

me in the window of our room, overlooking the canal...from whence I viewed the swans ;)

our whole neighborhood was full of views like this...

the bike parking lot at the train station...so MANY!

taken by me while riding at full speed through the park....

our delicious Indonesian rijstaffel dinner

Hallo again!

We are leaving in an hour or so for Bruges, Belgium, but I made a special trip to the internet cafe to send along this final Amsterdam update....

yesterday was another very full day. The Van Gogh museum was done chronologically according to what was happening in his life at the time. Tragic man, beautiful paintings that got more beautiful as he got more tragic. We also made a trip to the tiny Amsterdam Tulip Museum...not in Rick's guidebook but should be. I'm going to write him and let him know.

So, the Red Light District....well, to me, mostly very sad. Yes, there are women in the windows, though they're not naked, which somehow I was expecting. Several of the women looked sad or bored, or were talking on cell phones. Many looked very young. There are red lights in the windows that go off when the ladies are occupied. There are many drunken British men, but also several touristy families (!) from various backgrounds, though perhaps no American ones. Lots of coffeeshops (MJ supply), and greasy fried food. Strangely though, the main streets are right on a very beautiful canal with lots of old Dutch Elms lining the sides. It was a strange experience....not altogether positive, but wouldn't have wanted to miss it. And no, Bora, I haven't heard Puff the Magic Dragon at all the whole time, though parts of the Red Light District made Telegraph Ave. seem like Disneyland.

So anyway we finally finished all those 400+ things we had to do...quite an accomplishment! Then, for dinner we had gyros, french fries, and two candy bars each. :)

Onward we go,
Erin

Amsterdam, Part 1

Gretchen on our neighbor's bike, just for fun (we didn't steal it or anything)

so very, very many bulbs. (I'm reading a book about the tulip craze in Amsterdam in the 1600s...some bulbs went for the price of a canal-side house!)

there were beautiful hollyhocks everywhere...

G made us stop and take this picture in front of some little travel agency. I admit that now I'm glad we did.

Hallo, all!

We've been in lovely (but quite hot) Amsterdam for two days now...

Here are some random thoughts and moments from the trip so far, beginning at the beginning:

*magazines Gretchen and Erin bought for the plane: G - O! magazine and People. E - The Economist and The New Yorker. Gretchen is such a nerd.
*number of hours of traveling time, from my door to the Hotel New Amsterdam: 19
*most interesting and touching thing (to me) about the Anne Frank House: Since most if not all of you are pretty familiar with her story, i'll just say one small thing. After you go through the infamous bookcase that hid their hiding place, you climb incredibly steep stairs to get through to Anne's parent's room and then her small bedroom. On the wall are several picture postcards and magazine cutouts that she pasted there to brighten her days. I noticed a very small picture called "The Chimpanzee Tea Party" that is just what it sounds like...three chimps dressed up and having tea. I thought it was charming and also was delighted to note that Anne and I both like the primates/humans connection.
*best way to get around Amsterdam: BIKES! G & I have rented some old beater cruisers that are just like the ones the locals use to get around. This city is absolutely the most bike friendly you could imagine...even the busiest intersections have large and safe bike lanes all through them, and we've been cycling all over town today. We've got little bells to announce to poor toursits who don't know any better to hop out of our way in the bike lane, and we're not afraid to use them. :)
*biggest disappointment so far: the Dutch don't seem to care much about the World Cup. In the words of our hotel guy, "Once Holland was out, I don't care anymore who wins." Sure, there are bars and places that show the games, but it's hardly the mania I expected. I sleepily watched the Germany v. Italy game last night in our hotel room. (Thankfully I was awake for the last two minute of overtime!)
*best food experience: it's a tie. both dinners so far have been great...we just finished having a huge Indonesian feast called a rijstaffel, which was various little dishes over coconut rice, but yesterday we had these huge crepe pancackes with tomatoes, bacon, and mushrooms topped with fried cheese. No lo cal meals here.
*quietest and most beautiful moment so far: around 4 o'clock this morning, I had a combo of headache and jet lag and couldn't sleep. I got up and sat in our 3rd story window seat, overlooking the Herengracht canal....just in time to see two huge swans gliding peacefully along. Combined with the beautiful old street lights and the many other lights strung along the canal, it was a very happy travel moment.

I think i'll leave it there for now...i just had to go through and edit out several gleeful quotation marks and don't want to go on and on. Suffice it to say that we're having a great time so far; in fact, i was thinking as we walked dazedly out of Amsterdam's Centraal Station yesterday that one of my favorite things about travel is the way that feeling of complete unfamiliarity with a place changes in just a few short days....at first you can barely find your hotel, but next thing you know, you're biking around, ringing your bell, and, when you successfully navigate through a strange city back to your hotel room, announcing, "This is our street, we're home!"

More tomorrow; we're going to try to hit the Red Light District, the Van Gogh Museum, AND do some shopping....it feels like we have over 400 things left to do or more!

Cheers,
E

Packin' light...?

...or actually not so much. Those of you who read last year's blog will remember that my suitcase eventually got so heavy that she earned the name "mama", as in "come on, mama, you can make it up the stairs," or "time to get in the car, mama", and so on. In any case, we're off tomorrow, mama and I. Rick Steves would NOT approve of the amount of stuff I have stuffed in her.

before....


...and after


the good news: everything is in!
the bad news: mama already weighs 50 lbs. :(

at least she rolls!

next stop, Amsterdam...
erin