Sunday, August 14, 2011 – Paris France, Night Bicycle Tour and Seine River Cruise

We heard about a fun night bicycle ride and Seine River Boat Tour and decided to take it since it was a beautiful Sunday evening.  Sunday is a good day because the traffic is much less that other days.  It  is August now and most Parisians leave the city for vacations.  We have notice many restaurants and shops with signs “Ferma Aout”  or “Closed for August”.  Jeff told us that in July they had about 10-12 Night Rides and tonight there were only 2.  The tourist areas are still crowded this month but other areas of the city there are very few people on the streets and the apartment windows are all closed with shutters.

To see Paris at night is completely different than in the daytime. Riding throughout the streets was so much fun.  After the initial bike ride starting at the Eiffel Tower; Academie Francaise (the official authority of the French language  (If there is a new English word created then they will assign a French word for it or at least pronounce it differently); Berthillon Ice Cream (famous ice cream of Paris); Princess Diana’s Flame near the tunnel where the accident occurred in 1997; Ile de la Cite, the Ile St. Louis, St. Chapelle, the Latin Quarter, and the Pont des Arts.  At  10:00 pm we all boarded on a Seine River boat cruise for about 1 1/2 hours.  The bike tour included wine so we had a good time on the cruise. We met several people from the USA.  Fat Tire Bike Tours is a company from Texas. When you call they answer in English.  One lady from Canada told us she phoned them and spoke French and they told her to please speak English.   After the boat trip we got back on the bicycle and rode back to the bicycle shop.  Edward and I and a few other people in our group walked to the subway station and we finally got back to the apartment about 1:30 pm. 

    Crowds under the Eiffel Tower go to the meeting place for the bicycle trip.

    Jeff, our leader, giving us instruction.  Jeff is from Dallas and went to Hillcrest High School and Texas A&M.

Here we are ready to hit the streets of Paris at dusk.

Edward and Elaine attaching their “Love Lock” to the bridge on the Seine river.

Edward is holding the “Love Lock”

The padlock with the pink letter has Edward + Elaine on one side and our anniversary date 5/12/1072 on the other side.  We threw the keys in the river.

Bridge with all the locks on it.  There are several bridges in Paris you can do this.  Also, couples sit on the bridge and have a picnic and wine.   It is so romantic.

Sunset on the bridge across the Seine

 

Louvre Pyramid at sunset

Louver Plaza and Pyramid at sunset

Notre Dame at night with the lights is beautiful especially from the River Seine.

A great day for a bicycle tour and cruise.  Thank you Paris.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011 – Chenonceaux France rescheduled Hot Air Balloon Trip

Well, this morning the hotel owner told us the balloon trip has been cancelled due to high winds and would not be able to schedule until Friday.  We decided to drive back to Paris and check to see if we could do Fontainebleau or somewhere closer to Paris.

As we were leaving Vezelay to go back to Paris we saw this beautiful rainbow. The picture does not give it justice. It was extremely bright colors.

We drove back to Paris and since the rental car office was closed for their usual 2 hour lunch, we had the pleasure of trying to find a parking place in Paris. We found one and then was told by a neighbor walking by “No pay parking in August”. Everyone leaves Paris for holiday so there are plenty of parking spaces and parking fees are waived at the meters. We went back to the apartment and unpacked. In the meantime, Edward called the balloon company to reschedule. When they answered, they jokingly wanted to know if we could be in the Loire Valley that evening for a balloon flight that had been confirmed with good weather. We quickly looked over our maps to see how far we had to go and much to the shock of the balloon agency, we decided that since we still have the car, why not? The lady commented that she had never dealt with Americans who could be so spontaneous! So, off we went to find the small town of Chenonceaux, France. We got there a few hours later just in time to check into another small hotel and meet the scheduled flight time. We call to tell the France Montgolfieres we have arrived. They tell us they will pick us up at 6:45 pm to take us to the meeting location.

We did the sunset hot air balloon ride over the Loire Valley of France passing over chateaus, vineyards, orchards and picturesque villages. It was magnificent. A cool pleasant evening and a beautiful sunset. The Loire Valley is referred to as the Garden of France due to the large amount of vineyards, fruit orchards, artichoke, asparagus, cherry and sunflower fields.

The motorways in France are really pleasant to drive. The trucks, motor homes, cars with trailers, etc. stay in the right lane unless they are passing or have a left exit. On the toll road they have a separate exit at the main stations. I used the cruise control coming back to Paris and didn’t have to take it off but a couple of times in the really heavy traffic areas. The recommended speed is 130 km or 80 mph. A consistent 80 mph makes a trip go by fast. Also, there are very few places to get on the toll road and most entrances and exits are for food/gasoline/rest areas.

 

“Chase truck” to take us to and from the take-off and landing areas.

    unloading the gondola from the trailerEdward and our pilot Pierre.

blowing air in the balloon with fans and fire

Elaine between the 2 balloons getting ready to take off.

There it is ready to lift off!

Our Pilot Pierre giving instructions to us.  There were 14 people on board and the pilot.

Now we are lifting off tether has been untied.

View looking up into the balloon

vineyards and villages

  

Chateau de Chenonceaux – it is very unusual for a Chateau to be located on a river. 

View from our balloon to the other one that was next to us.

Our shadow on the ground.

A vineyard and the location where we met for the trip.

The village of Chenonceaux

  There were about 12 other balloons in the area around us.

 

Of course, I had to check out the propane tanks and instruments to make sure Pierre was paying attention to what he was doing.

The other balloon landing behind us.

Our first Hot Air Balloon Ride was a great success.

Edward, Pilot Pierre Barre and Elaine

Pierre gave us a Certificate for our trip:

• French: Je certifie que le detenteur de ce certificat s'est eleve dans les airs a bord d'une montgolfiere en faisant preuve de courage et de sang froid.

         09 Aout 2011. L'aeronaute Pierre Barre

• English:

  • I certify that the holder of the certificate has risen in the air aboard a hot air balloon by showing courage and composure.

    August 09, 2011. The Pilot, Pierre Barre

A map of the places they have the balloon trips

A great celebration at the end of a trip. Champagne!

A toast to a wonderful day

Elaine in a field of wild flowers.  They were so beautiful.

Sunset after a beautiful day

Dining Room of the restaurant where we ate dinner that evening.  We were lucky to find them still open – nothing else was open in the small village after 9:30 pm on a Tuesday night.

Leaving Chenonceaux I stopped to see the sunflowers. 

Thanks to all the wonderful people at Weingarten Realty in Houston, Texas for making this Hot Air Balloon Trip possible.

Monday, August 8, 2011 Vezelay, France for Hot Air Balloon Trip in Burgundy Wine Area

This story will take a few minutes to tell.

It all started with a reservation for the hot air balloon ride for August 9 in the town of Vezelay in the Burgundy Region of France. We rented a car in Paris with Elaine as driver and Edward navigator (with help of Tom-Tom) we drove to Vezelay. As we got about half way there it starting raining and it was difficult to see with all the water splashing up from the cars and trucks. The forecast indicated the weather would be clear and sunny the next day so and we thought we could have the balloon ride. Well, the weather cleared, but due to the high winds, the flight was cancelled for the next day and probably would not be able to do it until Friday.

The trip to Vezelay was not for naught. The town is over 1,000 years old and dates from the Gauls and Roman Empire. It is famous for two reasons.  First, the church at the top of the hill was, for a period of time, the resting place of Mary Magdalene (yes, that Mary). It was also the gathering place and point of departure for the Third Crusade. Richard the Lionhearted spent the night in a home in the town that is still marked for his stay. The Benedictine abbey church of Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene is of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture, though much of its exterior was defaced during the French Revolution. The church and hill at Vezelay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.

We walked to the top of the hill, past all the quaint boutiques and galleries, cafes and restaurants and courtyards with geraniums all along the street.

     

We found a pleasant small hotel to stay for the night. The hotel owner spoke. English and was very helpful by calling the balloon company about our trip and also telling us some history of the village which is over 1100 years old. He pointed out to us a house that is more than 900 years old. Our room had a very beautiful view of the valley. It is August 8 and the high today was 64 and the low is expected to be 47 degrees -- that is WINTER to us in Texas!

Our hotel and the vineyards.

Our room window has the red leaves are around it.

 

View out our window at the vineyards.

Sitting area in the hotel.

We split a snack of “fruit salad” which consisted of cucumbers, red bell peppers, onions, etc. but no lettuce in a oil and vinegar dressing and croque-monsieur, a hot ham and cheese (typically with emmental (Swiss) or gruyere cheese) then grilled.  This one was one of the best with the herbs and tomatoes on top.

The wines in this area are wonderful and the prices are really super deals. At our hotel got wines by the glass for 3.50 euros and in Paris this best price has been 5.50 euros and it did not taste as good as these wines. We had a Burgundy Vezelay Chablis that we really like and plan to buy some bottles to take back to Paris to enjoy there.

Shopped in several wine shops in the village.

 

These are some the the signs outside the hotels and shops  “Cave” in French refers to a wine cellar and is usually associated with a store that sells wine or a tasting room.

We had dinner at a lovely quaint ( I know I use that term too much but I can't help it) restaurant La Bourgainville. I read some reviews and it received 6 out of 6 stars. The reviews raved about the beef bourguignon which is Edward's favorite so off we go. The restaurant is located on the Main Street that goes to the Abbey and we didn't even notice it was a restaurant on our trek up the hill earlier on the day. It just appears to be a small snack place from the street but as we go inside it has several rooms going toward the back. The staff was very accommodating and helped us with understanding and describing the menu items. Edward had the beef bourguignon and I had a veal dish. They were both awesome. For dessert I had a chocolate mousse cake with pistachio ice cream and Edward had a cherry and almond tart with a scoop of cherry sorbet. Both were delicious!!!

La Bougainville Restaurant – just looks like a snack place but NO!

Dining Room

They also had a cheese cart with several types of cheese. We had already had so much to eat but that cheese cart looked so delicious we were tempted but decided to forgo that part.

Just a few types of cheese to chose from

Menus at La Bougainville Restaurant