Paris by Bike

Bonjour, Ya'll!
After living here for almost 10 months, you start to realize that public transportation can be "iffy" at times...here in Paris, there are many protests, so your bus may not show up.  Or, waiting for the train to Saint Cloud (where my girls' school is located), there was some sort of accident, (or protest) and no train ever comes.  So, you have to be ready and willing to try other forms of transportation--in fact, most days, I use the bus, metro (subway), walk,  and now I'm riding a bike.
YIKES!!!!  But, no, it's a great way to get around and so far, I haven't hit a car or wrecked.

Velib is the fantastic program introduced in Paris to make it easy (& cheap!) to bike all over the city.  Here's a brief explanation of how it works from Eleanor Beardsley of NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14429468

We live about a 15 minute walk from the closest metro station at Pont de Neuilly, so the bike is a great option to get to the metro quickly.  The Parisians are more aware of bikes and pedestrians, so I don't feel as nervous to ride my bike as I did in Houston.  Paris also has many dedicated bike lanes, so it's a nice way to get around and see the city.  Not to say it's not a bit nerve-racking--I haven't yet ridden on the busiest streets and not yet around the Arc de Triomphe!  That would be pretty scary!!

You use the Velib app on your smartphone to find a bike, then use it again to park the bike.  You have 30-45 minutes to ride each time you check a bike out.  There are hundreds of Velibs all over the city, so it's easy to plan where to find a bike for your journey, then a place to park it when you are finished.  You just swipe your card to take or leave a bike after setting up an account online. You can also purchase a ticket at the kiosk without an account, so the service is available for anyone to use--great for tourists, too!

So long as we're talking bikes here, a really fun thing to do is the Fat Bike Tour.  Even for those of you who haven't ridden a bike for a while, it's easy riding and you have an English-speaking tour guide.  We have taken the night-time ride that begins at the Eiffel Tower around 7:00 and ends close to midnight.  It doesn't get dark here until around 10:00 in the summer (right now, it's getting dark about 9:00), so the last hour or so of the bike tour is in the dark, but no worries, your bike has a light & you wear a safety vest to be more visible.

There are Fat Bike Tours offered at Versailles, Monet's Garden in Normandy and around Paris during the day.  Here's the link for Fat Bike Tour if you are planning to visit:  http://www.fattirebiketours.com/
Until next time, au revoir, ya'll!!

Paul & I rode home from the symphony a few nights ago...yes, in high heels!

The Rain in Spain is Mainly in Paris

Bonjour, Ya'll!!
While it's true my French is not fabulous, my Spanish is actually, um, a little better!  So I was very excited to journey to Spain on our recent spring break trip to habla espanol & bask in the sun!!

 Spring break around here is 2 weeks (gasp!) so Paul planned a wonderful trip for us to see several great Spanish cities by car.  It's all perspective, really, for Texans, a 9 hour drive is going from Houston to Big Spring, so what's the fuss?  Our travel plans got a little complicated as Katherine was traveling to Bali, Indonesia, with her Habitat for Humanity group.  We missed having her with us, but enjoyed Laura's friend Noa, who was able to make the trip with us.

Day 1:  Paris to Bilbao, Spain.
We left early to drive 8 hours from Paris to Bilbao, home of the Guggenheim Museum.  We took the dogs to stay with The Lovely Rita, our awesome pet sitter, the night before.  Katherine took a taxi to the airport, met her Habitat group there, and flew to Bali.  (*Aside:  what a bummer my girl is getting so grown up, SOB!!!)

We found the yellow brick road!  Actually a crop called rape seed--it produces canola oil.

Since most of France takes spring break during this same time frame, finding accommodations can be tricky!  Paul found us a beautiful place to stay in Bilbao--The Melia.  The location was fabulous--just a short walk to the Guggenheim, close to downtown for restaurants, and breakfast included.  It was pretty great!

Here is a link about the history of Bilbao:  https://www.digipen.es/about/history-of-bilbao/  It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited.  The Guggenheim Museum is just about THE best museum I've ever seen--and I go to a museum every week. (Must make me an authority, right?!) Seriously, SO worth a visit!!  We were really lucky to see the Ernesto Neto and Yoko Ono exhibits while there.

Noa & Laura in Bilbao, Spain

Jeff Koons' puppy sculpture made of pansies in front of Guggenheim Museum

Engineer Pablo tries to figure out how it's made!

Ernest Neto exhibit in main atrium of Guggenheim...very "Clockwork Orange"... Remember the scene in the Milk Bar?

The Guggenheim was designed by Frank Gehry

After 2 days in Bilbao, it was onward to Madrid, the capital city of Spain.  After another scenic drive, we arrived there in 4 hours.  Madrid reminded me of a much more laid-back Paris...cafes & bars on every street corner, but a slower pace.  We took at walking tour offered by the city for only 5 Euros each, which was a great way to see the city.  We stayed at the Paseo del Arte Hotel, which was a terrific location--near the old town (lots of restaurants) and close to the Prado & Reina Sofia museums.  The Prado is a museum that is almost exclusively paintings, and holds "Las Meninas" by Diego Velazquez, considered by many to be the world's finest painting.  The Reina Sofia is modern and contemporary art from 1900 on--more to my liking.  Both museums offer the last 2 hours free each day--what a deal!  The most famous painting at the Reina Sofia is Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" which I found deeply moving.  More about "Guernica" here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUK8BAoWe-s&sns=em

Plaza Mayor

The official symbol of Madrid 

Noa translated for us at an Israeli-Spanish museum we visited. She speaks Hebrew, French, and English.

Did I mention we were in Madrid the night Real Madrid beat FC Barcelona?? Everyone was up all night celebrating!!

Next stop:  Barcelona, which was about 6 hours from Madrid.
We arrived in Barcelona on Good Friday, which was very crowded with Christians there to celebrate Easter.  We decided to "live like a local" and stay in an apartment right on La Rambla, which is the main pedestrian mall, with every kind of store, shop, food and street performers.  It is the most famous street in Barcelona and being such a high holy day, there were beautiful religious processions through the street all day and night.

We were worried these people were Ku Klux Klanish-types at first, but whew!  They turned out to be Jesus people--very moving to see the celebrations of Good Friday & the Crucifixion.

The biggest thing (literally, gigantic!) to see in Barcelona is the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia and it did not disappoint!  What a masterpiece of art and architecture it is! Even though it is unfinished, over 2 million visitors a year visit this gorgeous landmark.  I would love to see the images my friend & pro photog, Norm Lanier, could take of this place!  I have attached a couple of links since my shots really do not do it justice.  Paul & I saw it about six years ago, so we were pleasantly surprised how far the construction has come since our first visit.  The inside was almost completely empty then.

Many cranes all around...

Here is a short video with animation showing what it will look like when completed.  The estimated date of completion is 2026.  

 

After 2 days in Barcelona, it was off to the beach to recover from the vacation...haha.  We drove from Barcelona to Denia, about 4 hours.  We met Paul's parents there, who flew from Fort Collins, Colorado, to spend the week with us.  We enjoyed a relaxing week at the beach! (*Books read: Fort of Nine Towers; Who I Am:  A Memoir by Pete Townshend;  Maus II A Survivor's Tale and Here My Troubles Began; How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia: A Novel;  and last but not least, Rick Steves' Spain.)

Guess you can tell Laura has been dancing since about 18 months old!

Yoga with Peeps, who is 83 years young!

Last day:  Got up early and headed back to Paris--drove all the way from Denia for a grand total of 13 hours that day and over 4000 kilometers for the entire trip! We were glad to see Katherine & hear all about her work in Bali. But, the most important reason we had to get back...

these girls had an important date with this guy:

Emily, Sara, & Katherine...

& Jessie, Noa, & Laura at Justin Timberlake concert


Well, back to the ho-hum existence of living in Paris...May has a holiday EVERY week with the exception of the upcoming. week.  Poor us, wink, wink!