We've been blogging with pictures on our Flickr account for the last few months, but it seems like time to put another text entry down. Our time in Paris is coming to an end -- I stopped working at the end of June, and Dennis stopped in late July, so we've been enjoying Paris together, and taking a few small trips to other regions of France.
A few weeks ago we visited Brittany and Normandy, then we returned to Paris and went to the Cinema en Plein Air (the outdoor cinema) and visited the carnival in the Tuileries, and saw the chateau at Fontainbleau.
Yesterday morning we took the train to La Rochelle on the mid-Atlantic coast of France. You should take a look on a map, because this area really neato. It’s at the top of a long estuary, called Guerande. It’s just beautiful! There are a few islands off the coast that protect the inland from the direct effects of the ocean. The one we went to (which I’ve wanted to visit pretty much since we’ve been here) is called Ile de Ré, and it’s famous (as is this entire area) for salt harvesting. The salt is rich in minerals, and is prized by chefs everywhere.
Here’s a map: http://redirx.com/?7thl
Small houses, bridges, boats everywhere, cool temperatures, open skies, clear water and delicious seafood make this pretty much the most attractive place I’ve been in France. It’s one of those “let’s sell everything and buy a cottage here” kinds of places. We climbed a tall lighthouse today at the end of Ile de Ré, called Phare de Baleine, and got amazing views of the coast, the ocean, and the salt harvesting areas. We saw a lot of vines as we drove around the island, so we tried the local wine, which isn't great, but it's certainly drinkable.
It was supposed to rain today, but instead it rained all last night, and we haven’t had a drop since 10am. Everywhere we go we're surrounded by a ring of tall puffy clouds, but none are overhead. Rain is steadily in our forecast; it’s been a wet summer for us. 90% chance of thunderstorms tonight – hopefully they’ll hold off until after we have dinner. Tonight’s dinner is almost definitely going to be mussels and fries, outdoors in the old port at La Rochelle.
Our schedule for the next few weeks is super complicated:
Tomorrow we drive south to Bordeaux and stay there for two nights. Then we drive to Biarritz, stay there for two nights, and come back on the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse = High Speed Train) on the 24th.
Then we’re home for two nights and a day, and on the 26th we fly to Ireland to see Caleb and Tricia and their new baby Ruby. Tricia is taking her mom to Ireland for her 60th birthday. We fly back on the 29th, stay home for two nights and a day again, and then fly to Germany on the 31st for D’s grandmother’s funeral. She was 97 or so -- I'm so glad I got to meet her a few times.
We get back from Germany on the 3rd of September, and they’re coming to pack and move our stuff on the 4th of September. I sent a registered letter to our landlord on Thursday saying we’d evacuate the apartment on the 30th of Sept. We have a friend visiting from the UK the week before we depart, but we haven’t made any other plans for Sept.
I’m a little nervous about having time to gather all of our crap into one corner of the house so it can be packed, but I’m sure it’ll work out. I’ll do it on our two free days at home, while we’re busy doing all of our laundry.
We still want to visit Champagne, and maybe the Rhone Alps, and *maybe* Malta, if the airfares drop substantially in Sept. Otherwise it's just too expensive to justify.
I'm looking forward to seeing our friends again, and to Tommy's Mexican, truffled caviar from the Ferry Building, Ebisu and Angelfish sushi, and getting a big bottle of sake anytime I want it. I'll really miss the foie gras, the fresh baguettes, the dirt cheap delicious wine and being able to take the metro and the train to so many magnificent places.
--Aimee
A few weeks ago we visited Brittany and Normandy, then we returned to Paris and went to the Cinema en Plein Air (the outdoor cinema) and visited the carnival in the Tuileries, and saw the chateau at Fontainbleau.
Yesterday morning we took the train to La Rochelle on the mid-Atlantic coast of France. You should take a look on a map, because this area really neato. It’s at the top of a long estuary, called Guerande. It’s just beautiful! There are a few islands off the coast that protect the inland from the direct effects of the ocean. The one we went to (which I’ve wanted to visit pretty much since we’ve been here) is called Ile de Ré, and it’s famous (as is this entire area) for salt harvesting. The salt is rich in minerals, and is prized by chefs everywhere.
Here’s a map: http://redirx.com/?7thl
Small houses, bridges, boats everywhere, cool temperatures, open skies, clear water and delicious seafood make this pretty much the most attractive place I’ve been in France. It’s one of those “let’s sell everything and buy a cottage here” kinds of places. We climbed a tall lighthouse today at the end of Ile de Ré, called Phare de Baleine, and got amazing views of the coast, the ocean, and the salt harvesting areas. We saw a lot of vines as we drove around the island, so we tried the local wine, which isn't great, but it's certainly drinkable.
It was supposed to rain today, but instead it rained all last night, and we haven’t had a drop since 10am. Everywhere we go we're surrounded by a ring of tall puffy clouds, but none are overhead. Rain is steadily in our forecast; it’s been a wet summer for us. 90% chance of thunderstorms tonight – hopefully they’ll hold off until after we have dinner. Tonight’s dinner is almost definitely going to be mussels and fries, outdoors in the old port at La Rochelle.
Our schedule for the next few weeks is super complicated:
Tomorrow we drive south to Bordeaux and stay there for two nights. Then we drive to Biarritz, stay there for two nights, and come back on the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse = High Speed Train) on the 24th.
Then we’re home for two nights and a day, and on the 26th we fly to Ireland to see Caleb and Tricia and their new baby Ruby. Tricia is taking her mom to Ireland for her 60th birthday. We fly back on the 29th, stay home for two nights and a day again, and then fly to Germany on the 31st for D’s grandmother’s funeral. She was 97 or so -- I'm so glad I got to meet her a few times.
We get back from Germany on the 3rd of September, and they’re coming to pack and move our stuff on the 4th of September. I sent a registered letter to our landlord on Thursday saying we’d evacuate the apartment on the 30th of Sept. We have a friend visiting from the UK the week before we depart, but we haven’t made any other plans for Sept.
I’m a little nervous about having time to gather all of our crap into one corner of the house so it can be packed, but I’m sure it’ll work out. I’ll do it on our two free days at home, while we’re busy doing all of our laundry.
We still want to visit Champagne, and maybe the Rhone Alps, and *maybe* Malta, if the airfares drop substantially in Sept. Otherwise it's just too expensive to justify.
I'm looking forward to seeing our friends again, and to Tommy's Mexican, truffled caviar from the Ferry Building, Ebisu and Angelfish sushi, and getting a big bottle of sake anytime I want it. I'll really miss the foie gras, the fresh baguettes, the dirt cheap delicious wine and being able to take the metro and the train to so many magnificent places.
--Aimee
See our photos on Flickr!
About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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