Au revoir Paris, Allo Passau

Our time in Paris whipped by, but we did get to see one more day of stereotypical Parisian scenes, including another guy making Nutella crepes, this time at a street market.

Juliet was quite taken by this flower-inspired hand-blown glass sculpture-chandelier.  Several famous artists worldwide who have now carved a niche in this area.  Our own friend/artist Eric Hopkins has created several exquisite glass pieces, while the daughter of our cousin-by-marriage, Phoebe Heap Stein, is doing graduate-level art/sculpture training in hand-blown glass work.

Along with the ceiling art, Juliet took one look at the menu in this contemporary little cafe and nearly wept with joy.  Real fruit juices (she's enjoying a mint-infused lemonade)... 

...and - oh dear god, yes! - Juliet-style salads.

So stereotypical it's hard to believe it's real. 

"Love locks" at the bridge near Notre Dame.

Not pictured, but noteworthy, is that Phil spent a couple of hours each evening hanging out with his friend Dermot at an expat bar called "The Local", trying to help Dermot make a crossword puzzle. Man, it is hard to make a crossword puzzle. At one point we thought about having something like "SNTAZJQ", for which the clue would be "tough Scrabble rack." 

Jardin de Luxembourg was right near our hotel - my (Juliet's) last shot before leaving this morning...6:30 am is the only time it's empty!  Another quintessential Parisian park...and a small haven in the busy city.  More workers per square foot than I've ever seen - grooming, planting, tearing up flowers that have withered, raking the gravel and sand walkways...maybe a BIT of overkill in the maintenance budget - but wish we had a fraction of this investment in our parks.   My favorite spot every morning - jogging the perimeter trail with sweeping gardens and classic architecture all around, stairs for my plyo workouts, a huge range of Parisians and others doing tai chi, playing tennis (public courts), walking, sitting, enjoying...

Finally, though, it was time to leave Paris.  Via train.  Gare de L'Est...

As you can see, Phil is SUPER-excited to be taking the train. 

We went via TGV to Frankfurt (train in photo above), then caught a regular express train to Passau, Germany, the starting point of our bike trip.  TGVs are one of the fastest train fleets in the world, according to the train brochure.  Apparently, France is very very proud of this fact, because it is highlighted on most pages of their magazine, as well as billboards along the way, and random train cars, station billets, etc.  And in fairness, the trains are still as good as their reputation.  You can go anywhere across the continent, anytime, and in total comfort.  Train stations are spotlessly clean and easy to get to and trains are on time...oh, it's just too good to be true.  But it is.

My only complaint: WHERE WERE THE FLASH MOBS???  C'mon, people - one of the biggest train stations in Europe, and we got NUTHIN'.  My personal feeling is that anytime you see women walking in bright red dresses and large silly hats (note photo, above), flash mobs ought to be an obligatory follow-up.  

  Juliet is now examining our very useful railroad map of Europe. Even in the internet age, it's nice to have a big map you can spread out.

A shot of the pedestrian plaza in the picturesque town of Passau, Germany, where the Ilz, Inn, and mighty Danube come together.  Juliet rented her bike, and Phil assembled his, which he brought in a suitcase. We took a short out-and-back ride to make sure the bikes were in order, then spent the rest of the day walking around charming cobblestone streets, tiny little alleys, and along the riverfront walkway. 

Views of the riverfront bikeway in Passau; here looking to the west, below looking east along the historic city center section (which, by the way, is home to the great Cathedral of St. Stephan, site of the largest organ in the world.  Seriously.  I never even knew that was a title that could be aspired to)...We bike east tomorrow, into Austria, and from what we've been told and read, the scenery and towns are going to be like this - and  better - for the next several hundred miles, as we head on to Vienna, and then Budapest.   

Important note: as of today, Juliet is taking a vow not to use the words, "picturesque," "quaint," "charming," or "delightful" more than once a week on this blog (and will not use any of those words to describe elements of the photo below). You can hold me to that, everyone.  Honestly, after walking through allees in Paris, cooing over colorful flowers tumbling out of window-boxes lining the streets, and now wandering through the captivating historic center of this town, those words start to pepper every damn sentence.  Really - it's just how these places look.  

Phil finds many of the signs amusing, like this one from Paris.  Juliet wants to know:  is the sign emphasizing the fact that dogs are not allowed at all?  Or that dogs should not be carrying their own leashes?  You be the judge...

From Germany, here's a tiny-headed man slouching downstairs. Nice fedora. 

Juliet imagined Pippi Logstocking leading a younger child to school.  Or maybe Beezus and Ramona.

The tiny-headed man is back, on a bike this time. Not sure where his other leg could be, or why the cranks are so short. No helmet (or fedora) but he does have a light. 

...And then in the "wow, OK just did not expect this..." category - a couple of my shots from Passau's main pedestrian mall & shopping area.  As in, where kids, parents, you, me, the world all strolls, blithely looking into storefront windows, checking out shoes, cool European clothes, and...um...whoa!...

...women's bondage-style underwear?... (part of me is wondering how I'd even get something like that ON - well, I'm pretty sure there would be some scary and possibly dangerous moments involved in that process - but I digress).  Clearly the question of the moment is: why the oversize gold rings in the mannequin's hand (top photo)?  Marriage offering?  Other?

...Needless to say, Phil was very sorry to leave this particular stretch of the mall...

And back to our regular programming: tomorrow we start our ride! We may do as few as 30 miles or as many as 70.  But it's going to be fun no matter what...

Juliet with her newly rented Velib. There are hundreds of stations around Paris; pick up at one, drop off at another. Us tourists have to buy tickets online; residents buy a card that lasts all year. For a day, it's about $2 and if each individual rental is under 30 minutes you don't pay anything else; that's a reflection of the intended use of the system, which is for commuting and short trips. We took ours out for several hours, to ride through the Bois de Boulogne, so we had to pay a little extra. Still, for cost and convenience these are the best way to get around Paris.  And you get to ride in the dedicated bus lanes - or along special bike lanes - wherever possible, which is pretty awesome.

Juliet waiting for a dedicated bike signal to let her cross the busy street. The guy behind her is on a Velib too, as is the woman behind him.    

And here's me, with my helmet safely in my basket. Juliet and I might be the only two people who wore helmets on our Velibs yesterday.

Juliet comments: Best part of day was biking in the huge city park, Bois de Boulogne.  Quiet, rambling woodlands and creeks, bike paths and walking trails throughout, lush and green.  Birdsong and birds! You wouldn't know you're in one of the biggest, densest cities in the world.  Confirmed our standing travel conclusion that the places we immediately head to in any cities we visit are the parks - think Central Park in New York, Stanley Park in Vancouver - and they are always among our favorite experiences there.

Oh, and Roland Garros tennis center sits at the southern end of the park.  Vainly looked for signs of Roger Federer, due to start playing in the French Open this weekend.  No luck.  Not that I'm stalking or anything.  Will have to wait for the US Open in New York this fall.

Worst moments of the day:  biking the Champs-Elysees on our way TO the Bois de Boulogne...capped by navigating the massive rotary at the Arc de Triomphe.  Multiple lanes of crazy, hectic traffic, no dedicated bike or bus lane on this stretch, and a lot of really REALLY angry drivers who clearly don't subscribe to even the most basic road rules. My Boston natives and friends will understand:  the sensation was much like driving at rush hour on the Southeast Expressway (before the improvements of the last decade) - except that you are on a BICYCLE.  Yeah.  That's right.  And trying to outgun one of these motorists to get across three lanes in relentless rotary traffic, using pedal technology?  Um...fun if you're into the whole death wish thing.  Single best reason for being geeky enough to wear helmets (noted above).

We took some photographs of each other photographing each other on this happening spot on Rue Moffetard.  Lots of students, plenty of tourists too. 

Here's a restaurant right near where I took that last photo, but a couple of hours later, around 10:30 PM on a Thursday night. I tell ya, this area is hopping. 

At restaurant Lucia, in the 5th Arrondisement.  Good, simple Italian food 

After dinner we got crepes, of course. This guy was much more generous with the Nutella than last night's guy was.

After crepes we got gelato, to help wash down the nutella. Three flavors, all good.

On the way home we saw a movie being filmed.  These are people standing around in an odd composition while the film is shot in the background.

In spite of the impression from the above, we did do a little bit besides eat. For one thing, we went to an art exhibit called "Beaute Animale," showing animals in Western art from the 15th century to the present.  No photos of that but we liked it a lot; amazing range of styles and approaches to the portrayal of animals, from the scientific studies and observational techniques of a whole group of artists, to much more stylized and evocative imagery as perceptions of animals changed.  Even had a Jeff Koons poodle sculpture in the exhibit.  Pretty much how you'd imagine a Jeff Koons poodle sculpture would be.

Just in case you were worried (I can almost sense the concern from here), we did make the requisite pilgrimage to the Eiffel Tower ("oooh, aaahhh"), along with accompanying photo of Juliet/Phil with tower in background.  Looks pretty much like every picture you've seen of anyone you know standing somewhere in the vicinity of the Eiffel Tower.  No need to repeat here.  Far more notable is that Phil returned this morning to actually climb up the stairs; got as far as is allowed, which is quite a lot of stairs.  He can come up with an estimate, I'm sure (he's a statistician - it's his job).  In fairness, seeing the tower's engineering and structural work up close is pretty damn impressive.

One more day here, then we're off to Passau and the Danube Cycle Way through Austria and Hungary...  

We made it!  Paris, hotel balcony, great view over the Latin Quarter...we're feeling much better about life after some looong looong travel days (and nights).  Memo to selves:  never fly out of any major airport after or in midst of graduation week/weekends of - apparently - nearly every university in the nation.  Nothing friendly about those skies...

On a more cheerful note:  in the last 48 hours, in aggregate we have consumed champagne,  two large bags of Ghirardelli Square chocolates, a Godiva candy bar, two large crepes "avec oeufs et fromage" (and let me assure you that they don''t go light on the "fromage" over here, nor on the butter saturating the crepes), a nutella crepe (why stop at "savory" when you can also have sweet?), and both a coppa and a cornetto of gelato.  Oh , and some organic strawberries.  But I (Juliet) walked from the hotel to the crepe stand, and then the 20 extra meters over to the gelato store, so I'm pretty sure it's all a wash at this point.

Vive la France!

Layover in Boston

Our flight left almost two hours late yesterday so we got into Boston too late for dinner with Juliet's brother. But we will see him for lunch today before heading to the airport for our flight to France.

Sorry about the lame entry today; wouldn't have bothered but wanted to test the app for making a blog post via cell phone.

Leaving tomorrow!

This is it, we leave tomorrow for three months in Europe, plus a couple of weeks in Maine! 

We start with a few days in Paris, then a couple of weeks biking down the Danube from Passau, Germany to Budapest.  Then a quick stop in Switzerland probably, before hopping over to Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy for a few days of hiking with our friends Brigitte and Hal, and some bike riding in the area too (Hal and Phil are planning on riding the route of one of the stages of the Giro d'Italia, about 120 miles with over 10,000 feet of climbing, almost all of it in the last half). After that is Scotland, then probably Scandinavia, then England (including seeing a couple of Olympic events), then over the Atlantic to Maine.

Don't bother trying to memorize all of that, just follow along.

Here's everything Phil is taking for three months in Europe. (Plus his folding bike in a big suitcase). Surely he's forgetting something?

We're not sure how often we'll be posting; that largely depends on how often we have wifi access in the evening, and on how much time we want to spend hanging around the hotel or hostel rather than being out and about. But probably every couple of days is a good guess.

Wish us luck!