We arrived in Paris after a smooth, uneventful and ontime flight. Getting thru the disorganized airport was a different story. Took awhile to get bags, then even longer to get thru the mass of people to escape the terminal.
The car pick-up went smoothly and it was nice to start with a full tank of diesel fuel.
We put the GPS coordinates of our hotel near Millau France into the car and followed the instructions. At one point the system tried to add 100+ Km and on hour to our trip. It gave some warning about a road being closed and wanted to know if we wanted to reroute to bypass that problem. When I answered 'yes' the extra time and distance were added. We put the coordinates in again and this time said we would take our chances with what turned out to be a nonexistent road closure.
We drove South and got to the Millau Viaduct about 6 PM. It is one impressive structure. We had to stop for an hour nap about half way thru the 600+ KM trip or the driver would have fallen asleep. We had an okay dinner in the restaurant next to our hotel and were able to talk with one member of the staff who want to practice his English. The staff earlier had complimented Beth on her French.
Tomorrow it is another long drive along the French Riviera coast, then around the corner to Nicola Italy. The Cannes Film Festival is in progress so hopefully Beth does not see any 'stars' who we would have to stop and watch. I just hope the traffic is not horrible, since we need to get to Nicola before dark so we can relearn our way from the parking lot to the house.
More entries and pictures to follow, when we have access to wifi.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Nearly ready for our trip to Europe
We have been busy getting our house 'staged' to sell. And at the same time we are preparing for our upcoming trip to Europe. We will arrive in Paris the morning of the 14th and pick up our Renault and head for Nicola Ortonovo Italy via the South of France. We spend the first night near the Millau Viaduct. The next day we will drive thru the French Riviera on the way to Italy. We will be staying in the same hill-town villa that we stayed in 2011. We just viewed some of the videos that we took then to review the route to the base of the road up to the town. We have plans to stay a couple nights in Vicenza near Venice to spend a full day or two in Venice. The Giro d'Italia bike tour comes thru that area so we may see them at the end of one stage or the start of the next days stage. We have made reservations in Lauterbrunnen Switzerland for two nights on our way back to Paris to catch our ride home. We have visited this part of Switzerland a number of times and just love the area. We will not have wifi in our house in Italy so posts may be few.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Friday thru Sunday in Banff Area
On Friday, we got up early for a change, had breakfast at our hotel and headed towards Lake Louise. We decided to go to Lake Moraine to get some more pictures beating the crowds to the limited parking. It is neat that we have not had to pay for parking anywhere on our trip, including in the cities and the parks. We found the path to climb the hill overlooking Lake Moraine and took loads of pictures. It is hard to stop taking pictures since this place is so beautiful! We took a hike on the path along the lake and took some more pictures along the way.
We then headed to Lake Louise. We were lucky to find someone leaving a parking space. We took a couple of pictures and had someone take a picture of us. We did not stay long before heading towards Yoho National Park. We stopped at the Spiral Tunnels that are visible from Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway. We were lucky to arrive just as a train arrived. I (Beth went to use the restroom - what timing) was able to watch the train enter a tunnel and a few minutes later see the front of the train come out the tunnel just above it. The tunnel is like a circle all inside the mountain. There are two of these spiral tunnels that every train goes thru to lengthen the tracks to maintain a 2% grade thru the Kicking Horse Pass. They were built by hand over 100 years ago. They used an idea from Switzerland. Prior to these tunnels, many train wrecks and runaways occurred in this pass because of the 4% grade.
We then went to see the Takakkaw Falls, one of the highest in Canada. Takakkaw means magnificent in Cree. They were right, and the path leads right to the base of the falls. The mist felt good on another warm sunny day. We then visited Emerald Lake, very pretty, but not as spectacular as Lake Moraine. On the way home, we stopped to see the natural bridge that had been carved by the fast flowing stream. We decided to follow the Bow Valley Parkway home for maybe a chance to see some wildlife. This road is the original road between Banff and Lake Louise, only two lanes and a 50 KM limit. We saw two black bears on this drive! The first was right by the road but five or six other cars had already stopped so it was hard to get good pictures. But then a few miles down the road I spotted a black bear walking in the woods near the road. This time, we were the only car around. We spent five to ten minutes watching and filming this bear as it loaded up on berries from the bushes not more than 10 feet from the road.
We went home satisfied that this had been a great day.
We then headed to Lake Louise. We were lucky to find someone leaving a parking space. We took a couple of pictures and had someone take a picture of us. We did not stay long before heading towards Yoho National Park. We stopped at the Spiral Tunnels that are visible from Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway. We were lucky to arrive just as a train arrived. I (Beth went to use the restroom - what timing) was able to watch the train enter a tunnel and a few minutes later see the front of the train come out the tunnel just above it. The tunnel is like a circle all inside the mountain. There are two of these spiral tunnels that every train goes thru to lengthen the tracks to maintain a 2% grade thru the Kicking Horse Pass. They were built by hand over 100 years ago. They used an idea from Switzerland. Prior to these tunnels, many train wrecks and runaways occurred in this pass because of the 4% grade.
We then went to see the Takakkaw Falls, one of the highest in Canada. Takakkaw means magnificent in Cree. They were right, and the path leads right to the base of the falls. The mist felt good on another warm sunny day. We then visited Emerald Lake, very pretty, but not as spectacular as Lake Moraine. On the way home, we stopped to see the natural bridge that had been carved by the fast flowing stream. We decided to follow the Bow Valley Parkway home for maybe a chance to see some wildlife. This road is the original road between Banff and Lake Louise, only two lanes and a 50 KM limit. We saw two black bears on this drive! The first was right by the road but five or six other cars had already stopped so it was hard to get good pictures. But then a few miles down the road I spotted a black bear walking in the woods near the road. This time, we were the only car around. We spent five to ten minutes watching and filming this bear as it loaded up on berries from the bushes not more than 10 feet from the road.
We went home satisfied that this had been a great day.
Friday, August 17, 2012
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