Lyon

We had done a little bit of research for our stay in Lyon, but we are still really surprised and impressed by this city. It isn't full of museums, but it has beautiful buildings and bridges, plus it has an incredibly well-preserved Mediaeval town centre.

In Mediaeval times, Lyon made a lot of its money from the production of fine fabrics. To get the massive bolts of fabric through the city without soiling them, the merchants used a passageway system that connected streets through courtyards and tunnels. These passageways (called traboules) are still in existance and some of them are open to the public. Finding the traboules is a bit like a treasure hunt. The doors that lead to the traboules also lead to the apartments that line them (it is all a residential area). The button to push to gain entry is on a different place on every door, so we may have inadvertently been buzzing residents all day. Once through the door on the street, a passageway would lead to a courtyard or another passageway. There are also passageways underground, but these are not open to the public. The traboules were also utilized by the resistance to avoid capture by the Nazis in WWII.

There are amazing restaurants here and they serve everything from caviar to pig's feet (we have had neither). It is an evening activity in which everyone seems to participate: wander from restaurant to restaurant, reading the menus, then make a selection. Too bad we can't have a different dish in each place, but we would explode!

Last Day in Arles

We hired a driver to take us on the "Stone Monuments" tour. It is supposed to be a group tour, but today it was only the two of us and a lady from New Zealand. Even though it is normally quite touristy here, we have been very lucky with not running into crowds.

We went to the Pont du Gard, which is the remains of a Roman aqueduct, built about 2000 years ago. This is the largest aqueduct remaining, and also has the largest arches. We both were expecting that it was built over a raging river, but the supports are all on dry land. This makes bit more sense, since it probably wouldn't be standing if the supports were constantly being eroded by water. We also saw the remains of Glanum, a Roman/Greek/Gaul city and the small town of Les Baux, which was abandoned in the middle ages.

Even though the driver kept apologizing for how late the growth was this year, we also saw what we considered to be fields full of growth and trees full of friut, and that seems pretty early to us!

Highlight of the day in Arles

Today we participated in a march by the Communist Party of France! It was the only way to get to where we wanted to go, so we just slipped in and walked along. Now we can say that we are "politically active"!

Recap: Greece Top 5 List

Now that we have been here for long enough, we can start to rank what we have seen. Here is our top 5 list for Greece:

1. Greek Salad. No Greek Salad we ever had oustside of Greece compares to the ones we had in Greece. The onions and peppers were so sweet they tasted like fruit. Tomatoes and cucumbers as fresh as can be. Goat cheese magnificent. All throughout Greece the salads were excellent. We could consider becoming vegetarians if we could have these salads all the time.

2. Yacht Cruise. Yes it was pricey, but worth every penny. Stunning scenery. A splendid way to see the Cyclades.

3. Delphi. Lovely mountain town with rich history. Only wish we could have stayed longer.

4. Epidaurus. Our choice as the most magnificent ancient ruins in the Peloponnese.

5. Chania. Great town on Crete with rich history. The beach rivals any we've been to before. Our hotel selection didn't hurt things either!

Arles Photos

Roman Arles

Today we explored some of the Roman sites in Arles. Arles was the great reward for Roman soldiers who served out their duty. After a whole bunch of years slogging across Europe and fighting whomever they were told to, they could look forward to retirement in the south of France. We should all be so lucky!
Some of the Roman sites were harvested in the middle ages and their stones were used to build other sites, usually churches. The most surprising thing in Arles is that the arena was never destroyed or buried, but had its arches closed in, and it became a fortress. There are still a couple of walled in arches and three towers are still standing from mediaeval times. In the 1800s the walls were opened back up. The arena is now in use for bullgames and bullfights. In bullgames, the bull is harassed a bit but lives. In bullfights, the bull dies. The bullfights take place twice a year and have something to do with the rice harvest. We did not discover the connection between rice and bulls, but it probably makes sense to somebody. We wanted to see a bullgame, but there was one in Avignon on the day that we arrived, but none in Arles. In reaction to this news, we ate bull for lunch that day. (Bull meat is very common in this part of Provence...it tastes like cow.)

Wine Tour

Today we did a wine tour in the area around Arles. We had a guide who took us to two wineries, an oliverie (is this the right word?), and to a lunch spot in the chic town of Maussane. She normally guides larger groups up to six, but today it was just the two of us.
We started out at a vineyard called Chateau Romanin on the north slopes of the Alpilles Mountains. The cellars are built into the mountain side, on the site of an ancient cathedral. The Chateau doesn't exist anymore, but there are a few vestiges that are visible from the parking lot. This place was architecturally amazing. It really shows their passion, and not a penny was spared when building it.
At Chateau Romanin , we began by watching a short video about grape harvesting, then toured the crushing and storing area, then we tasted the wine. The French take wine tasting much more seriously than we do in North America...we even had written instructions for how to properly taste wine!
We had lunch in a small town, then went to an oliverie, where we again were walked through the production process, then tasted 7 different olive oils. Jim gave up after four, but Joanne carried on for all seven. The best olive oil was one that was made from lightly fermented olives. The biggest thing that we learned: 90% of the oil from an olive comes from the stone (aka pit), not from the fruit. Who knew?
After that it was one more winery, this time on the south side of the Apilles, in a Provencal mas (big stone house). It was a traditional winery in that their process was purely organic...no pesticides, artifical additives, etc.
We also learned that in order to obtain the AOC notation (apellation, declaring that they are a "correct" wine of a certain region), a winery must adhere to some very strict rules, including that they are not allowed to water the vineyards! Regardless of how dry the summer is, and it can get to 40C, they cannot irrigate their vineyards. They also have rules about fertilizer and how and when to harvest. If a winery loses the AOC verification, it gets called "table wine"...which still tastes pretty good to us schlubs!
We had fantastic wines and it was really nice to have someone drive us through the country side and take us to places that we never would have found on our own, all the time providing informative and interesting commentary.

Arles Photos

Arles

We are now in Arles, in Provence. We are staying at an older hotel and the internet connection is REALLY slow, so no photos posted for now.
We only have a couple of weeks left before we head back to Canada, so we spent the last couple of days in Nice mostly just lounging. Since we have arrived in France we have had perfect weather, so we are hoping to keep the good luck going for the rest of our time here.
We will be going on a wine tour in the next couple of days, as well as getting ourselves to Pont du Gard and seeing the Roman ruins in Arles. There is plenty to see!

Antibes

Another easy day trip from Nice is the town of Antibes, which is famous for Picasso setting up shop there for a time in the mid-1940s. The town itself is quite picturesque and, like many places around here, has a harbour full of multi-million euro yachts. We looked at the sales ads and saw one that we both liked for a mere E55MM. That was the sale price, as it was originally for sale at E67.5MM. Always being suspicious of used items on sale, we just walked away.

In the evening we went to a fabulous restaurant a few blocks from our hotel. We listened very carefully as the waiter went through, in very fast French, all of the specials on the menu (written on a blackboard), then asked us, still in French, if we would like an aperitif. Jim said very quietly, "Let's ask if they have Prosecco" and the waiter responded, in a very proper London accent, "Sorry sir, only champagne". He then spared us the agony of having to speak French to him all night...and spared himself the agony of hearing us. (There were other anglophones in the restaurant and everyone was initially addressed in French. We always start by speaking French, not English. He probably knew by the way that we walked and our complete lack of style that we were not French, but we like to think that we have completed nailed the correct accent in "Bon soir".)

Monaco, Villefranche sur Mer and Cap de Ferrat

We started in the morning by taking a bus to Monaco, which is a 35 minute ride. Monaco-ville, where the palace is, is very beautiful and pristine (of course), with absolutely no garbage anywhere, no peeling paint on the houses and not a thing out of place. We walked around the upper town and then made our way past the finishing area for the Monaco Grand Prix (top photo) that was held the previous weekend, past the Monte Carlo Casino, and hopped on a bus to Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Villefranche-sur-Mer (middle photo) is a former fishing village between Nice and Monaco. There may still be some fishing going one, but mostly we saw gigantic yachts in the harbour. The town is quite charming and has skinny little streets that wind down to the harbour, and we had lunch in the marina, looking out over the yachts and Cap-de-Ferrat in the distance.

We then walked over to Cap-de-Ferrat and took a pathway that went all the way around the peninsula.

The walk around Cap-de-Ferrat (bottom photos) is easily the most beautiful and spectacular hike that we have been in on the entire trip. The part from Villefranche-sur-Mer to the lighthouse (halfway) is very rugged and natural, with the second half much more of a paved promenade. In addition to the natural scenery, the multi-million dollar mansions that jut out overhead are well-worth the walk, too.

Nice, France

We arrived in Nice on Tuesday afternoon and absolutely love it here! We are staying in a 6-room villa that is an easy walk to everywhere that we want to go. The weather has been perfect and we spent the day yesterday going to the Chagall Museum, walking around old Nice and Castle Hill, and going to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Nice seems like a fairy-tale kind of place. The public spaces are so well looked after and the buildings and grounds are pristine. This may have something to do with the amount of wealth in this region, since really rich people seem to like really nice things. Nice will make an excellent base to explore the French Riveria.

The food has been excellent, of course!

Pisa

We did a day trip to Pisa when were staying in the Cinque Terre. Although we can't see staying there for a couple of days, it is a fantastic place to visit on a day trip if all one is interested in is seeing the big sites (and that suited us to a "T").

The Leaning Tower, Duomo, Bapistry, Museum and Cemetary are all in one small area called "The Field of Miracles". It is a 20 minute walk from the train station to the sites, and each one is within a 1 minute walk from the next one.

The Leaning Tower is impressive because, and this seem obvious, it really leans! It is not subtle, there is no argument, this sucker could fall over one day! The best part was seeing how many people pose as though they are holding the tower up. It is worth the trip just to see 50 people holding their arms out at awkard angles. We just stood and smiled in our picture...how boring are we!

The most impressive part was going into the Bapistry. We were lucky enough to be there when a guard was singing. The dome of the Bapistry has a perfect acoustical shape, and every half hour a guard stands in the centre and sings a single note. After about 3 seconds he sings another note and is actually singing in harmony with himself. He carries on like this for about a minute and it is a really amazing thing to both hear and feel, as the vibratons from the sound go through everything.

We also went into the Duomo, which is nice on the outside but spectacular on the inside, and the Cemetary, which is a bunch of carved tombs and grave markers set in the floor, and is really just kind of neat. There is also a frescoe in the Cemetary that was done in the 16th Century to give the Pisans hope that they could make it throught the Plague. The frescoe was bombed to pieces in WWII but has been put back together and is still impressive.

Neither of us would recommend Pisa as a main destination, but it makes an excellent day trip from the Cinque Terre or any of the Tuscan towns.

Cinque Terre Wrap-Up

We did one other big hike while we were in Cinque Terre, the high secondary road between Corniglia and Vernazza, both ways. We hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza and took the train back to Manarola, then two days later, took the train to Vernazza, hiked to Corniglia and then took the train back to Manarola. This was a beautiful hike. The distance on the coastal pathway between the two towns is 4km, and this hike is 8km...4 up and 4 down. But it is a very quiet road and we saw less than 2 dozen cars between the 2 days. The views are spectacular and, although it is a road, we were constantly descending through vineyards. This was the best hike and one that we would not have found if the coastal pathway was open.

The place that we stayed in Manarola was very nice. It was a bedroom and bathroom on one level, separated by two terraces from a kitchen. We cooked our own meals on two nights, and did laundry. It is amazing what becomes a treat on a long vacation.

The Cinque Terre is a beautiful area. It has history that goes back almost 1000 years and the natural landscape can't be beat. The five towns are places where people actually live and carry on with their lives, it is not just a bunch a crappy restaurants and trinket shops. The towns are quiet and they are still trying to function within their lifestyle. Manarola did not even have an internet cafe or public internet access!

This area, however, has become overrun with tourists. The people who are willing to hike up into the hills are still able to take advantage of this area, but the people who get off the Disney Cruise ship or big bus tour are really a burden on the area. We saw so many people who were not capable of walking more than 50m downhill complaining about the steps and pathways, and it really sets a bad tone for the area.

We would 100% recommend to friends that they visit this place, but we would have to encourage everyone to get off the beaten trail. These towns deserve more than a Disney tour!

Manarola - Corniglia

The hike that we did from Manarola to Corniglia took us up a series of stairs cut into the mountain side (340m elevation gain from Manarola to Volastra, all on stairs), then through terraced vineyards and down a mountain path. The vineyards are all functioning and they were being worked while we were walking through. Many of the terraces in vineyards are connected by a trolley that will carry one person and some gear, but mostly the owners just walk from one terace to the next. The terraces are separated by dry stone walls that were built over the last 100 or so years.

If we had taken the coastal path, it would have been about 2km from Manarola to Corniglia. This hike was closer to 10km. We took the train back, of course!

Cinque Terre - The Coastal Trail

It isn't not quite correct to say that ALL of the coastal trail was closed during our visit. The path between Manarola and Riomaggiore (between the pinkie-ring finger town and the ring fnger-middle finger town) was open. It is called the "Via dell Amore", or Pathway of Love.
These villages are quite close to each other, but, without the pathway, are really quite isolated. Most villagers married amongst themselves (although we did not see any three eyed people while we were there), but the pathways enabled villagers to "interact" (wink, wink) with each other. The Via Dell Amore cuts through the mountain and is completely covered in some places. It was secured with the help of climbers from the Dolomites in northern Italy, as the mountains here are almost vertical. As the Via dell Amore is covered in the most tenuous places, it remained open during our visit (see the top picture).
It is only about 1km between Manarola and Riomaggiore, so we walked to Riomaggiore a couple of times for dinner. The pathway is lit up at night and the most spectacular inlets are lit from above, and it is another bum-clencher to stand on a path and stare straight down into crashing waves, 20m below. The best part about this walk, is that at this time of year there are hundreds of fireflies. So it is very nice and romantic to stroll along a dimly lit path after dark, looking down at the waves and looking up at the twinkling lights of the fireflies, flitting from bush to bush on the mountain side.
In the lower picture, taken from the south side and above Riomaggiore, you can see Riomaggiore and it's breakwater in the foreground, then the pathway snaking along to Manarola. Corniglia is the town that is perched up on a bit of a headland, then Monterosso is in the background. It is not possible to see Vernazza from the towns to the south.

Milan Photos

The front of the Sforza Castle; the Duomo

Cinque Terre

We have just finished our week in the Cinque Terre. If you are not familiar with the Cinque Terre, it is on the Ligurian coast, between Pisa and Genoa. It is an area with a very rugged coastline, highlighted by five towns in ravines. If you spread out your left hand, the sea is away from you. Riomaggiore is the web between your pinkie and ring fingers (pretend your hands are webbed), Manarola is between the ring and middle fingers, Corniglia is on your middle finger, Vernazza is between your index and ring fingers and Monterosso is between your thumb and index finger. There are two other towns, San Berdardino, above Corniglia and Volastra is above Manarola. We stayed in Manarola.
The big attraction in the Cinque Terre (a world heritage site) is hiking along the coastal path, which connects all five towns. Unfortunately, most of the coastal pathway was closed when we were there due to landslides...landslides caused by more rain in a month than they have ever had before! Being the intrepid individuals that we are, we found the high pathway system and followed that (actually we stalked a bunch of Germans who looked liked serious hikers and figured out what they were doing, then followed them). The high pathways give a completely different view of the Cinque Terre. It was not crowded, it was not paved and we walked through vineyards and olive groves, and scaled little rock ledges next to rabid waterfalls. The difference is the "high" part. We had to walk up mountains, rather than on a nice path system, and we had to find our way on our own a bit more than we would have on the coastal path. It is also much longer to take a high path, usually twice as long. From these high paths you can see the coastal paths down below.
We went to each town at least once, as well as a day trip to Pisa.
We are now finally in Nice and will update with more Cinque Terre and Pisa stories (and photos) over the next few days!

Milan

We are only able to do a text entry right now, but will post some photos once we get to France next week.
We spent 2 1/2 days in Milan, the shortest stay of anywhere on our trip. We came here because it was close to the Cinque Terre, and we were able to fly direct from Athens. What a great surprise Milan was for us! We really didn't know what to expect and only bothered to copy a few pages from our travel book.
Milan is a fairly modern city and has wide, tree-lined boulevards, a little reminiscent of Rue St. Germaine in Paris. There is a great deal of (we think) art nouveau architecture, with large haute relief stone carvings on many buildings. The train station (commissioned by Mussolini!) is very impressive.
The city is quite clean and, no surprise, the people are beautiful. This is the fashion capital of Italy, and it really shows.
The only thing in Milan that we were anticipating was the Duomo, and it is truly an amazing site. Unlike many other churches in other European cities, the Duomo can't be seen from everywhere. It is surrounded by buildings that are just about as tall as the roof-top, although the spire stands at least another story taller. We climbed to the top of the Duomo in very little time, as there are very few crowds. Milan is big with German and French tourists, but we heard very little English.
We walked everywhere in the city that we could, including the Sforza Castle, partially demolished by Napoleon, but now reconstructed, the Galleria, with incredibly posh shops and coffee houses and the Monumental Cemetary.
For all that, Milan is most memorable to us for being the place where we have had the second greatest meal in all of our European travels (Sostanza in Florence is still number one). We had dinner on Saturday night at an Argentine-Milanese steakhouse called Carne E Dinarto. We had the filet mignon for two, cooked to perfection! Never before have we had meat like this. It was so tender that it could literally be cut with a fork (Jim tried and succeeded).
It was a short visit, but a very tasty one!

Milan and Cinque Terre

We are currently in Cinque Terre, but the internet connections here are few and far between. We will update the blog with Milan and Cinque Terre news once we get to a place with better internet access.

Greek Wrap (with a little philosophy)

After three wonderful weeks in Greece, our time is up and we have departed this warm and sunny nation...a nation that is on the brink of a fundamental and monumental shift in its economical and social structure. It was clear change was in the air. They are headed for some reforms that will seriously affect current and future generations. But, as the saying goes, short term pain for long term pain., and they can't survive without it.

Greece has had a weak economy for years. Why did Greece want to join the EU, knowing what the requirements were, and why were they allowed to join without first making some changes to ensure that they would not drag down the rest of the EU countries? It might be possible to kick them out of the EU, but that would not solve their problems.

From the protests that we all saw, and from conversations that we had with people while we were travelling, the Greeks don't want to change to be more like Europe, but most recognize that changes are necessary to combat the high unemployment, the corrupt/incompetent government and the third world living conditions in which many people are stuck (a situation in Athens that may not exist in other places).

One problem (possibly THE problem) is that very few individuals pay any tax at all, and those that do pay only 4% on average, and that is only on a portion of their earnings. The average in most of the EU countries is well into the double digits, similar to what we pay in Canada.

They neeed to address the early retirement age. Work 30 years, never pay tax and then retire on a full pension...it's a wonder that Greece didn't go broke years ago!

Having said all that, it is easy to see why Greeks have such a love of life that they don't see working at a traditional job as a high priority. The food is incredibly fresh and simple. We often saw men and women out for early morning walks in fields, collecting fresh herbs to use in daily meal. There is a real respect for nature and how to live off the land. Hopefully that will not change.

There is a huge respect for the past and trying to maintain continuity and identity of past civilizations. There is also an appreciation for the grandeur of what has been built in the past and what people are creating now. Buildings and monuments are lit up at night and it really creates a magical atmosphere, whether in a small town or in the middle of Athens.

We really enjoyed our time here. It has archeaology, landscape and fantastic weather. What they call winter here would certainly not register as such anywhere in Canada. We were really surprised by how mountainous Greece is. About 80% of the country is covered by 1000 - 2000m peaks. It is truly a hiker's dream.

We would recommend every place that we visited...Athens, Crete, the Peloponnese and especially the Cycladic Islands, via a yacht tour.

Greece is definitely not "Europe" but has a charm all of its own. It is experiencing some growing pains right now, but it is the kind of place that really gets its hooks into one's psyche. Greece has survived for 8000 years and will probably survive this and outlive the rest of the EU.

It may not be a place that we come back to in the near future, but the positive memories will last a lifetime.

(PS - The picture is of our yacht, the M/S Galileo.)

Moving on to Milan

We are now back in Athens after our 7 day cruise. Overall it was a pretty fantastic week. We visited two of the Saronic Gulf Islands yesterday, Poros and Egina, and they were competely different from the Cyclades. The Saronic Islands have colourful houses and made us both think of what the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia must look like.

The cruise was definitely the best way for us to see the islands. While taking a ferry gives one the advantage of being able to control the amount of time on each island and which island to visit, the cruise got us to many islands that we never would have thought to go to on a ferry and we didn't need to haul our luggage around, stand in lines to buy tickets or wait for a ferry timetable to fit our needs. The cruise ship also stopped in small harbours for swim breaks, and we were both able to experience the thrill of stepping off the ship's swim platform and swim out into 20m deep water...yet another bum-clenching experience! The key is to just force yourself to swim out 10 or 20 strokes, then everything is fine. There was also a life saver that was roped to the ship, and it was possible to float along side the ship and just soak up the sun.

Of the 31 passangers, only 1 didn't speak English (he spoke French and German, but his wife spoke English). On the last day at sea the crew came out with a birthday cake for him. We all joined in the singing of "Happy Birthday", which was very boisterous until it came to the point when we all hadto sing his name, which apparently only about three people knew. The volume of the song dropped to an uncomfortable whisper, as most of us sang "Happy Birthday dear mrmrmrmr" and then sang loudly again. He didn't seem to mind...he laughed along with the rest of us.

The islands we visited on this trip were: Foligandros, Santorini, Ios, Paros, Mykonos, Delos, Siros Poros and Egina. Our favourite: Paros!

The attached photos are of Poros, in the Saronic Gulf Islands. And yes, it does get confusing with Paros and Poros and our bad Greek accents!

Delos

The terrace of the lions, close up of a floor mosaic

Safe on Siros

Although the protests in Athens today were extremely violent and deadly (according to the BBC), we did not see anything like that on Siros. Almost everything here was closed, buses weren't running and the ferries seemed to be anchored in port. There was a demonstration from about 10:30 to 1:00, with trucks (garbage trucks, haulers, diggers, etc) blocking the main harbour road and a march went from the city hall to the ferry terminal. The march was well-organized and many people seemed to be enjoying the chance for a weekday walk in the sunshine. No one was wearing a mask or throwing anything. After the demonstration, the trucks cleared off and a couple of restaurants opened for lunch.
Our flight to Milan is Friday morning and we are really hoping that the airport is open and running at normal capacity.

Paros Photos

More Cruise...

We are midway through the cruise and have hit Ios, Paros and Delos, in addition to the islands that we had already visited in our last post. We still have Mykonos, Siros and Egina to go before we dock on Thursday. So far our favourite place has been Paros, which is a really picturesque and quiet island. The islands all have similar looks, with whitewashed houses, blue trim and stark landscape. Right now it is early summer here, so we are lucky enough to see everything at it's most lush.
We have had really smooth conditions for sailing (motoring, actually) and have been incredibly lucky with the lack of crowds. This morning we spent three hours wandering through the Delos archeaological site and were a few of the only ones there for the first two hours. Within two weeks the temperatures will go up by about 10 degrees (we are mid 20s everyday) and the crowds will triple!
For those architectural history buffs, there are arches at Delos that pre-date any that the Roman's made by half a millenium. Pretty amazing. There are even older arches in Iraq (Mesopotamia).
Sorry, no photos right now! The boat WiFi can't quite handle an upload!

Cruising Along

Just a quick update, this internet connection on the boat is a bit laboured. We are now at the end of day 3 on our cruise. So far everything has gone well. We have had generally tranquil seas, although there was a two hour period yesterday when we didn't think we would make it...luckily the Gravol kicked in and we have been fine ever since.

We have been to three islands so far: Foligandros, Santorini and Ios. We are fortunate because we are a small ship (only 31 passengers) and can dock right in the harbour, no transfer boats necessary. We will be going to Paros and Antiparos tomorrow, then Mykonos and then a short stop of the captain's choice on the way back to Athens.

We will post an update once we hit either a good internet connection, or Milan, whichever comes first!