A Rainy Day in Lyon

Dear Friends and Family, Rain! Yes, for the first time on our whole trip is rained. It does make touring a bit more difficult, but you just push on, especially if you are from Oregon. I do apologize for not getting a blog in yesterday. When you are in a place this size and with a limited amount of time, you need to get moving. It is very different than the leisurely pace of Greece. Despite the weather, we got out about 10 am yesterday and headed to what was one of the more highly rated sights of Lyon: The Museum of Miniatures and Décor of the Cinema. It was fascinating. The first part was some life-size rooms that were created of period films. The most featured was a film called The Perfumery, which apparently starred Dustin Hoffman. The details were amazing. Beyond that were miniature stage sets that were created to appear to be life size. Here was a scene of the destruction of a German city.

The scale was miniature, but when filmed, it all appeared realistic. Here is another: the façade of a tenement building

All in miniature, but, again, life size when filmed In addition to the cinema miniatures, they featured artists who created miniature settings, simply as works of art. This is a sort of bric-a-braque store (Brocante in French)

Here is a miniature replica of the famous Maxim’s

Each individual glass, every flower, all the detail was hand-blown. Amazing. There also just miniatures of things. Furniture, famous paintings in miniature, every day items, etc. Here are miniature items, including dueling pistols, a clock, jewelry, musical instruments, etc.

We were even able to catch one of the major miniature artists, Don Oldham, at work in his studio

It was fascinating and certainly deserving of it’s popular reputation. After the tour of the museum, we wandered around Old Lyon, with its picturesque, narrow, cobble-stoned streets. Apart from the weather, it was a lovely day. We, of course, stopped for some wine and headed home for lunch and a nap. It was a greater deal later than usual. That evening we wanted to eat at one of the famous Lyon “Bouchons.” These are bistros that are specifically certified to serve typical dishes of the region. We ate at an out of way place, that was on a little side street. It was called “Fourchettes et Camisole (Forks and Camisole).” We could make little sense of the name and no one in the place had English. We actually discovered the place, while we were looking for another place that had been recommended. It appeared closes. So we tried Fourchettes et Camisole. It was terrific.

Maybe my favorite thing about the place, initially, were the water glasses.

Aren't they a kick! They are a bit disconcerting when you first pour water into them. You swear they will fall over. They don't! We shared a prix fix offering. We had the regional salade Lyonnaise, a salad of greens, bacon, tomato and croutons. Then we had as our main course, a Quenelle of Brichot. We had no idea what it would be. It turns out to be a kind of fluffy fish dumpling, traditionally made with Pike. It sits in a sauce, often made from crawfish. I looked it up when we got home and got a better sense of how it is made. Does not look too difficult, but apparently with various times to let things set, you need to make it over two days! Finally, we had the dessert option of something called a “Moelleux au Chocolat.”

It was a warm, soft cake covered in a very rich, dark chocolate, with both whipped cream and cream fraiche to dip in or pour over. A lovely meal from start to finish. It was nearly 11 by the time we arrived back in the apartment. We now realize that Lyon is a big city with a great deal to offer, next time, perhaps, two weeks might start to be enough. Our last day tomorrow and, I promise, pictures of our mouse hole.

We are in France

Dear Friends and Family, I am pleased to be back with you again. This time, from France. We arrived in the city of Lyon yesterday afternoon. But before I get too far ahead, let me catch you up. Sunday was our last day with Yorgos and Ingrid. It was a lovely day, with lunch at the Kastraki bay. We had our final helpings of fried potatoes and small fish. We will certainly miss those regardless of what the French can offer. That evening we enjoyed Nikos Tavernetta for the last time. As we were finishing a delicious small appetizer plate that Niko warned us was not small (he was right!), we were somehow befriended by a quite drunk Greek at the next table. I bought him a ¼ litre of the wine he was drinking and the next thing we knew, he was at our table. He had very little English and we, less Greek, but somehow we managed to understand. As we left, he insisted on a photo

Early the next morning (4:45 am) Ingrid and Yorgos, who made the effort to get up and see us off (actually Yorgos had just stayed up with a very lively German Punk Rocker from Cologne, who had come to stay for two weeks, arriving the night before – Ingrid’s will be a very different spot for two weeks). We sadly bid adieu, with all us promising to see one another again, but not knowing if that will really occur. We made a mad dash for Athens, as the rental car was due at 7. 10 minutes before. we were there, and sorted out the return of the car. We waited for the Air France desk to open, checked in and waited some more. About 9:45 we took off for France. All went smoothly on the flight, but I will admit to being somewhat disappointed in the quality of the food served by Air France. They are usually so good, but it was clear that they felt they were not serving a very demanding audience at that time of the morning. AT 11:30, we were in Paris, but only for a short time. I had arranged for a driver to meet us to whisk us to Gare de Lyon as we were due to catch the TGV for Lyon and the layover time was not extensive. Well, this driver certainly took his job seriously as he nearly flew into Paris. By 1:15 we were at Gare de Lyon and half an hour later were heading south. By regular train it is 5 hours to Lyon, the TGV does it in 2! We caught cab and by 4:15 were at 12 Rue d’Anvers, our digs for the next four days. I will get some shot of the apartment. It is very tiny. We once lived for a year in a converted goat stable, 15’ x 22’. After seeing our place in Lyon, it now seems spacious. I expected to see a warning sign on the front door, “Caution, things may be smaller than they appear!” We did very little towards moving in. We were wacked. We got a few necessities, had some wine at the little café down the street, enjoyed the “Green Cross” pharmacy sign that appeared to suggest Heinekin for your health

And went back to the apartment to kill an hour as the same café did not serve food until 7. We were there at 7 on the dot as we were not sure we could last much longer. We ate there and it was very good. We may not venture much farther as there menu looks fascinating. We just had a rabbit and Thyme Terrine, but it was very flavorful and just about all we had the strength to eat. It was back to the apartment. I have neglected to say it is a fourth floor walk-up. The French call it the third floor, but in terms of your legs, it is 4! After a pretty good nights sleep, we got up. I did my initial exploratory walk, getting a sense of where things were, then came home and gathered Polley and we went out for our first morning in Lyon. Lyon has two rivers coming into it, The Rhöne and the Soäne. Here is Polley as we cross the Rhöne.

As we finished crossing the river, we notice this brightly colored sculpture, a bouquet of flowers

We were heading for the tourist office. It is situated in Bellecour (beauful heart), a kind of park/promenade in the center of the island between the two rivers. It is fronted by this bell tower.

I had purchased two Lyon “City Cards.” This give you entrance to all sorts of museums, etc. and provide you with free transportation throughout the city, for 3 days. It looks like a great deal, even for the transportation alone. Lyon appears to have a metro, a tram line and bus service. After a brief rest on a square, we headed across the second river, with the Basilique Nortre-Dame de Fourvière in the background.

You apparently reach it by funicular. That will be tomorrow’s adventure. For today, it was a visit to the Cathedrale St. Jean located in old Lyon.

It is a classic French cathedral with impressive Gothic arches and beautiful stained-glass windows

There was a service going on in the church so we spent very little time there as I always feel a bit uncomfortable allowing a place of worship to be treated as only a tourist destination. We did sit a bit in the square outside the church and, I am sure, will return to Old Lyon and its charm. I did take this photo of an old Lyon building that was just near the church.

So, now, it is Tuesday afternoon. We found a marché and bought some salami and some cheese and had a wonderful French lunch back in the mouse hole we call home. Picture tomorrow.

A Last Greek Roadtrip and a Last Greek Blog

Dear Friends and Family, Our days in Greece are fast disappearing. I think this will be the last communication from Greece unless something amazing happens today. We leave early on Monday, about 5 am to make the two hour drive to Athens Airport and get the car turned in. It’s funny, but as we wrap up this visit to Greece, I think our 7th, I can’t help but wonder if this will be the last time we see our good friends here. I don’t want to sound morbid, but Greece is minimum of two plane trips and Crete takes at least 3. We begin to wonder if it is worth the distance and expense just to find the sun! We’ll see. I do apologize for not doing a blog yesterday. We had done so little and were trying to get on the road for a trip down the “index finger” of the Peoloponnese. The Peloponnese is really three fingers and Ingrid’s sort of sits between the first two. So yesterday we planned to head southeast to that first finger. Thursday we made another trip to Napflio. We just enjoy sitting in the square and watching people pass by. It is such a pleasant spot. From there you can look up at the old palace that sits atop the hill

Also, as it was very hot on Thursday, we noticed a kind of cool invention. As we were drinking our wine, we suddenly felt very cool. It turns out that they have fans that have a water element mounted on the front that distributes a refreshing spray of water along with the moving air.

Very neat! Polley also got a very nice black and white scarf/shawl that I will no doubt photograph during one of her fashionable Parisian nights. Yesterday, as I mentioned we took a day trip. Our intent was to head to east coast, but we missed a turn (there are many unmarked road: TIG: “This is Greece!”) and end up going to our last destination, first! We stopped in the little coast town of Porto Heli. It is charming and the bay is filled with some rather impressive boats (yachts?).

We found a little café bar and enjoyed the sea breezes and the calm waters on this sunny, but cooler day

From there we headed east along the south coast road that ran right along the sea. It was a beautiful, but challenging drive with the seemingly endless twists and turns (not to mention the big, black German cars riding my butt).

After about an hour and a half, we came to the town of Galatas. It is not much to speak of, but across the water, maybe a quarter of a hour is the island of Poras. In looking across at it I was remind of seeing Venice

And, like Venice, it is a water taxi that ferries you there and back

So, as we prepared to catch a “cab,” I caught Polley in this pose with Poras as a backdrop.

For 1 euro each you get over in about 5 minutes. As we jumped out, I ask the “cab driver” for a teverna recommendation. He sent us to the OASIS. What a choice. The place was packed (always a good sign), many of them Greeks (an even better sign!) and we felt fortunate to get a table. We were not really very hungry, but they had a Dip Sampler Plate. Seemed like just the right amount. It was delicious, with a very garlicy tzatziki, a spicy cheese dip, a creamy white cheese dip and a very uninteresting eggplant dip (3 out of 4 did not seem bad). We then wandered about a bit, but knowing we had another 90 minutes to get back home, we caught taxi back, with the town in the background

Like our visit to Agia Galini on Crete, this is a charming town that I would certainly like to return to (if we ever return) and can’t believe we have not visited it previously. Anyway, it was home by about 5. We were very worn out and decided to make it an early evening. We did chat with Yorgos and Ingrid for a while and then went down the little Plaka taverna for a light meal before falling down for the night. Driving in Greece is exhausting and with a manual transmission on the windy Greek roads, it is truly a workout. It has been a good month in Greece. The weather has been great and we have enjoyed the meals and the sights. Very relaxing. Monday it will be on to France and I think that, after two calm, rural settings, we will be ready for 4 days in Lyon, France. We will fly to Paris and catch the TGV (fast train) to Lyon and should be in our apartment by about 4:30 pm. Only 9 hours difference between Paris and home. We will be closer to all of you. More from France!

Greece Time is Winding Down

Dear Friends and Family, Our time in Greece really is winding down. We are at the point where we are giving thought to which tavernas to get back to, which Greek dishes to order, how to get one more shot at the beach and what to finish up in the refrigerator. So, yesterday it was once more to Karathona Beach for a dip in the Mediterranean. It is not only a nice setting, but the place we go has lovely beach chairs and tables all for free. You are just sort of obligated to by a drink or two. For us, we share a large Mythos beer over about an hour an then head to a taverna. The Greek sun is so hot at this time of year that an hour is really more than enough. Yesterday we did our hour and then it was time to decide which taverna. Polley selected the little, very traditional taverna in Drepano. I have pictured it before as it looks out on the bustle of activity of this very small village. The lady now knows what we want to order (the guy at the beach also greets us with, “One Mythos, no glass!) and it is almost on the table before we sit down. Then it was over to Maria at the grocery for another tomato. The tomatoes are going to be sorely missed upon leaving the country. We can only hope there are some in France. We had a lovely lunch of Tomato, flat Green Beans and Kalamata olives, washed down, of course, with a bit of Retsina. Then it was siesta. After getting up, it apparently siesta time for the youngest kitten on the premises.

He was a very scrawny little fellow when we arrived and, in fact, was under nourished. Polley has been on a mission with him. She has continually encouraged him to eat. The result is that he is growing and that he required an afternoon siesta as well

Around 6, we thought we knew the rest of our evening and had planned to go to our little Kastraki taverna. First mistake was stopping by to see Yorgos and Ingrid at the bar. Actually, we do it almost nightly, but tonight it turned out that Yorgos has bought a fish in Nafplio and Ingrid decided the two of them could not manage to eat it. So, we were invited to share. I had had my mouth set on the wonderful fried potatoes at Kastraki, so I got an order to go. Amazingly, Ingrid, who was short an onion of the salad, told me to ask the taverna for an onion to go with my potato order. And they sold me one! I just told them “Crazy Ingrid” wants an onion . . . no problem! When I got back the table was set

And we we sat down to potatos, a lovely salad, a whole fish stuffed with with garlic, oregano and rosemary. It was delicious. Everything was good. I added a bottle of wine we had bought in Nemea and the party was on

Eventually, the young German couple showed up with the husband’s parents. They spoke little English. Another German couple arrived and they did not seem to have much English as well. So, after 20 minutes of listening to strange guttural sounds, we exceused ourselves and went back to the bungalow for a very small ouzo and, hopefully, a very long snooze!

Freak Accident turns Tourist to Freak

Dear Friends and Family, I sit here this morning with a very fat lip. I just returned from a good morning walk. About 100 yards from the end, a wasp flew into my mouth and stung the inside of my lip! Yes, inside my mouth. It stung a bit, but now it has swollen to 2 or three times its normal size. The dangers to traveling! Otherwise all is well. Yesterday, we decided to brave the big city: Nafplio. It is a charming town that we first discovered in 1994 when we spent a week at a hotel in the town. We were so charmed by the place, that we got in the car and hunted out a place to stay another week. That is how we discovered Ingrid’s. We walked through the various streets with lot of interesting shops. The town is a bit more upmarket since we first came to it. Our favorite thing to do is to sit in the square and watch the world pass

WE found a nice café and watched tourists and locals pass by

It was a lovely day. Actually, all the days in Greece have been wonderful although I will confess yesterday was hot and the café was running fans as the square tends to shut off any natural breezes. We were sitting opposite the jewelry store where Polley bought her Disc of Phaistos back in 2004 and has worn nearly everyday since

We spent a couple of hours and by the time we were leaving a cruise ship (or day ferry) was backing into the port.

WE headed home for lunch. We had purchased some fresh, delicious large beans from the market. They were very good. All the vegetables have been exquisite here and so cheap. I think I mentioned that tomatoes have now dropped down to half a euro for a kilo! Unbelievable! In the evening we gathered around Ingrid and Yorgos bar. While Yorgos might say he was working, we actually caught him lying down on the job.

While Ingrid was “manning” the bar

We also had a very nice conversation with a German couple who were staying here. The husband is Greek/German and, of course, is also fluent in English. The wife’s English was even better. Amazing and slightly depressing as I try to prepare for my French coming up in another 5 days. In the evening we went back to Nikos’ Tavernetta. Always great food and a lovely atmosphere, just across the square from the church

We had some delicious zucchini fritters, fried feta cheese and an appetizer portion of Spanakopita. Excellent . . . and it will be part of our lunch today. Nothing else to report. We are planning a day at the beach today and a return to Nafplio for tomorrow. All is good . . . except for my mouth!

What Was It We Did Today?

Dear Friends and Family, Just a short blog today as yesterday seemed to be even less than usual. I did say to Polley, “Well, at least we did the laundry!” However, even that wasn’t true. Some British woman that we paid did it. So there! We just sort of lounged around the bungalow being entertained by the variety of cats. They are a busy bunch. Last year we had as many as 7 on our bed, but they were an older, less lively group. This batch is into everything! If it moves, it is a toy. Actually, they seem to make a game out of things that don’t move. Very fun. Then it was into Tolo to deliver our load of laundry. As is our tradition whenever we do laundry on the road, even if we have to do it ourselves at some Laundromat, we make sure that there is a pub, bistro or bar near by. We tried to stop in at a place we enjoyed last year, Nellie’s Café, but after wandering up and down the street, we could not seem to locate it, even though I have seen it nearly daily on my morning walks. So we settled for the Gorilla Café and Bar. Boy, what a rip-off! We ordered a half liter only to discover (actually the waitress discovered it as well) that they only have glasses of wine. Ok! We’ll have a two glasses of white wine. Only to discover (for the waitress, it was her second discovery of the day!) that they don’t have white wine. So, Rosé. We waited and waited and finally it came. Warm! So we ended up with two glasses of Rosé, watered down with ice to cool it a bit, for 8 euros! In Drepano, we get a half liter of cold Rosé for 2.50! Word to the wise, avoid bars in Greece and stick with tavernas. Home for some lunch and siesta and some more reading. I am really into Wolf Hall. I read it a couple of years ago, but now there is a sequel, so it is back to the original in preparation for book 2. That is the glory of retirement: you can revisit. It was down to Ingrid’s little bar before heading out for dinner. We always seem to get involved in some discussion and drink way more than need be. Same again last night. She even broke into the bottle we had just brought her from our winery visit. Finally, we tore ourselves away and went down to the little Plaka Beach, about ¾ of a mile from Ingrid’s. It is the simple little taverna that we visited for lunch a couple of days ago. Nice people and a lovely setting. Last night it was tzatziki and kalamari. Both were very good. The secret to good tzatziki is to be bold with the garlic. They were very free with it. Home for another drink with Ingrid who was still in a chatty mood, a splash of ouzo on our own porch and then to bed. More tomorrow as we are heading into the town of Nafplio, always a pleasant visit. Thanks for tuning in.

A Lovely Weekend

Dear Friends and Family, Well, I guess the cats are finally settling in!

Last year we were here for a month and had lured, seduced, and kidnapped them into our bungalow #4, a place we have occupied the last few visits. When we arrived here last week, the cats were still calling Bungalow #4 home. Well, now, with the help of some cat food, they are finding their new home in Bungalow #5 acceptable . . . including our luggage!

We did have a relaxing and very pleasant weekend. Friday night we enjoyed a meal at the little seaside harbor of a village called Vivari.

It is just a couple of miles south of Drepano and seems to be little more than a church and several tavernas, and a number of fishing boats

We had dinner at a place we have enjoyed on nearly every visit here, since 1994: The Mermaid. In fact our waiter was the son of the man who first started waiting on us 18 years ago. The old man is still there, but he spends more time in his chair, than serving tables.

The owner is the man on the right and the son is the fellow on the far left. It is a lovely setting, nearly right at the water. We ordered up some small fish and some fried courgettes. As always, things are very fresh as you might expect. And we enjoyed the lingering full moon over the bay

Saturday was an easy day. We returned to Karathona beach. We just stay out for about an hour, lounging in their chairs and taking the occasional dip in the very peaceful waters found in this protected bay. Nothing very special both day or night. Sunday we took a day trip to the village of Nemea. The little woman, Maria, at the grocery store in Drepano put us onto a wine celebration in Nemea. Her brother owns a winery, Palivou Wineries,

and she sent us there to take part. After about a 35 minute drive, we arrived just before noon. We may not be the “ugly Americans,” but we are almost always the “early Americans.” They were just beginning to open up the wine bar and the tastefully decorated yard

Inside the processing building, there was a bar for the wine tasting. A lovely girl, with very good English, took us under her wing and started us on the wines. There were to be 10 in all. I am a bit ashamed to confess that without any substantial food, we only made it through 7 (actually it was 8, as we had number 6 twice!) Besides the wine, there was a variety of vendors displaying various cheeses, used in some interesting dips,

olive oils (from Crete!) and vinegars

After reaching our limit on wine, we asked the young girl for a lunch recommendation. She told us of a place in Nemea (the winery was in Ancient Nemea), about 4 kilometers down the road. With the help of a couple of locals, we found it; it is called Sophos.

There was actually no identifiable sign, but the owner confirmed that we had found the place. However, any lunch was to be, at least, a 15 minute wait. We said if we could get some wine, we could wait! It was a very nice place. It would be hard to really call it a taverna. It was more restaurant-like with linen tablecloths and very nice glassware. When it was time to order, we were informed that for a Sunday afternoon, there were only two choices: Moussaka and Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers. Since there was Moussaka in our fridge, it was the stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers, which we were quite looking forward to. And they were delicious. It was a great recommendation and while it was in the downtown, it was just far enough removed from the main road, that it was very pleasant. Actually the street sort of dead-ended into a memorial to those killed in WWI, which you see in almost every village in Europe

Following lunch, we stopped back at the winery to buy some wine and to check on the progress of the celebration. At this stage they had a chef who was preparing a number of dishes featuring wine and pork. Unfortunately, it would be a while before they would be ready, so we got our wine, a couple of bottles of their Rosé (one for Ingrid and one for us), and headed home. It was a very nice afternoon. After a brief nap, we spent some time with Ingrid and Yorgos at the bar and started out for dinner. As we drive along, we discovered that neither of us was really very hungry. So it was back to Bungalow #5 and leftovers. A little Retsina and some ouzo and it was a complete weekend.