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Week ending
8 Jul 06 (Bob)
Paris - Ah, back to gay Paree! We spent 2
days sightseeing and sharing one of our favorite cities as Bob walked the city with Denis, climbing the Eiffel Tower,
sprinting by the Louvre, and biking through the streets to see the
highlights. Then Judi's sister, Sharon and her friend Linda
arrived and we did it again, but with less emphasis on speed and a
little more on culture with a visit to Montmatre and the
omnipresent artists. One of the surprises of their visit was a
French-American parade on the Champs Elysses and listening to a band
playing the Star Spangled Banner under the Arc D'Triumphe on the 4th
of July!
Meeting Sharon - But first, we had to meet
Sharon and Linda, and all we had was a 3-week old email that hinted
that they might arrive in Paris on the evening of July 3rd at Gare
d'Nord. After days of unsuccessful attempts to establish
contact with them in Germany we went to the train station - where
thousands of travelers were rushing to and from trains. Judi's
instincts took over and she went to meet a train from Cologne, and
sure enough Sharon and Linda walked off just as if we had planned
it.
Denis returns to US - Denis had made his
original booking to fly from Tallahassee to London and so had to
return to London for his flight (rerouting would have tripled the
price of his ticket). By way of excitement he missed his
Eurostar connection from Paris to London but caught the next one and
spent his last night in another 14-person to the room hostel in
London - and the rest of the trip was uneventful.
 Versailles - After 5 days in Paris we moved
to the country,
Versailles in this case, an extraordinary palace
built in the 17th century by Louis XIII, a symbol of decadence that
was finally abandoned after the French Revolution. We roamed
the rooms that are open and can only imagine what else may be hidden
in the scores of rooms that are still closed to the public.
Versailles as where the Allies signed the peace treaty with Germany
after WWI - and thus set the stage for Germany's resentment and
return to warfare in WWII.
Week ending
15 Jul 06 (Bob)
 Brittany and St. Malo -
 After the heat of
Paris and Versailles we drove north to the Brittany coast, a
beautiful coastline with green farmlands and rugged cliffs.
Our stopover point was St. Malo, a picturesque tourist port town
with a caravan park wrapped around the base of a 700-year old fort
strategically placed to defend the harbor. In fact, the harbor
is now protected by a set of locks so that most of it remains at a
constant depth despite the 20' tide swing along the coast. We
just happened to be there during a stopover of a Tall Ship race that
was due to leave for England the next day. Judi and Sharon got
to show off their Polish heritage by posing beside one of several
Polish ships in the race while the streets were busy with shoppers
and performers. We could see why this is such a popular
destination for British tourists.
 Mont St. Michele
- One of the images we saw by accident turned out to be a
world-famous monastery, so we decided we had to stop for a visit.
Mont St. Michele is a city/fortress/monastery built on a small
island connected to land by a causeway at low tide. It also
attracts thousands of tourists these days so although it was
interesting it was quite crowded. There was the promise of
excitement in the afternoon as the tide was due to rise and cover
some of the parking areas where hundreds of cars were parked - but
we left before the exodus started.
  Normandy
- One of the stops that Sharon really wanted to make was at the
beaches of Normandy, site of the D-Day invasion which began the
final downfall of Nazi Germany. Utah Beach, Omaha Beach - they
were all there and we could understand how the Germans might have
been surprised since the cliffs seem unclimbable - yet the Allies
managed to scale them in short order despite taking many casualties.
The thousands of soldiers who died in the invasion are commemorated
in an American cemetery near the beaches - it was a sobering visit
for all of us, especially given the current state of affairs in the
Middle East.
Medical checks - We crossed the English
Channel on LD Ferry lines from Cherbourg to Portsmouth in England,
unfortunately arriving late in the evening so we introduced our
guests to the joys of spending the night in a service area on the
motorway - not too bad if you can ignore the traffic noise.
Bob had a follow-up exam with his surgeon and dermatologist and all
seems to be order - another one in 3 months.
 Bath
 and
Wales - Traveling north we decided to introduce Sharon and Linda
to the cute town of Bath before continuing to Wales and it
unpronounceable names and beautiful mountains. We drove
through the Snowdonia National Park with its lofty mountains and
lush green valleys and tarried half a day at Carphilly Castle so
that Sharon and Linda could get a taste of medieval living - they
enjoyed the outing but were disappointed at the lack of luxurious
furnishings - so we promised them a visit to Blenheim Palace in
London!
Week ending
22 Jul 06 (Bob)
Dublin - It was too quick, but we notched
up another country in our passports! With Sharon and Linda on
a tight schedule we decided to go to Ireland for the day, and the
ferry crossing from Holyhead, Wales, to Dublin, Ireland only takes a
couple of hours so on a bright Sunday morning we boarded Stena Lines
for breakfast and a smooth crossing of the Irish Sea. In
Dublin we took a city tour, wandered the streets, visited a pub for
a Guinness stout and generally had a pleasant day. Dublin seemed
like just another big city; nothing special and no real Irish
'feel'. Next trip will have to be longer and go deeper into
the country.
 Stratford-Upon-Avon
- After returning from Dublin we spent a day touring the castle and
town at Conwy and then turned south to the place made famous
by Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon. It was a cute town with
every imaginable gimmick to extract tourist dollars by using the
great Bard's name. Shakespeare's home, a museum, an animated
entertainment center, bookstores, and gift shops - Stratford had
them all! We walked a bit, the ladies took a boat tour on the
Avon river, and by late afternoon it was time to move on.
Blenheim Palace - Sharon and Linda had a
hankering to see a 'real' palace, complete with furniture and
paintings and Blenheim fit the bill. In 1704 John Churchill,
the Duke of Marlborough lead British forces in the defeat of Germany
and
 France
at Blenheim in Bavaria, Germany. The Crown was so grateful
that they gave him several thousand acres and built him a Palace
that cost �20M, a fortune in today's money. The palace had splendid
paintings, carpets, furniture, and sculptures. Winston
Churchill was born here (prematurely as his mother gave birth after
a party) and spent much time at what was his grandparents home while
his parents partied in London. The palace had an interesting
display of Churchill historical documents and memorabilia - and good
ice cream cones to recover from the very hot day.
Salisbury and Stonehenge - Back to the
South for a final medical check for Bob and then a day of history
study as we visited the Stone Age site of ceremonial stones known as
Stonehenge. It is certainly unique and our guests enjoyed
wandering about the 4-5000 year old mystery. There are 100's
of stone circles and similar sites in England and France, but none
as impressive as this one.
Week ending
29 Jul 06 (Bob)
London - The
final stop on Sharon and Linda's 1st European Tour - London is our
favorite city in Europe and we tried to wear them out with bus
tours, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the
Guard, walks through the Tower of London, Big Ben, and SHOPPING!
We stayed at Chertsey, a small caravan park near Heathrow and caught
the train each day to London and spent all day being tourists.
By the end of the 3 days muscles were sore, suitcases were full, and
the ladies were ready to return home and relax for a bit - wearier
and perhaps a bit wiser.
Sharon and Linda return to US - On 25 July
we got up early and a taxi conveniently took us straight to their
terminal. Since we are used to muscling our bags onto buses,
train, and up and down stairs in the Underground, this was a bit of
decadence that might spoil us for future flights! Their flight
was uneventful and by the end of the day they were back in Oregon
and familiar surroundings.
 Preparing to sell our 2d home
- Now that our European travels are nearing an end, we need to
prepare for our migration across the Atlantic so we will need to
reduce our fleet of vehicles. First to go will be our 2d home,
the Hymer motorhome that has taken such good care of us for the last
3 years. If any reader wants an aging but excellent vehicle
for touring Europe feel free to visit our
Hymer For Sale website
and check it out.
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