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Crossing Flores Island at 30 mph.

Coffee break at a Café overlooking rice fields.

Being driven around is not our ideal way to travel. But Flores Island, with its one National Road and many smaller off shoot roads to attractions and villages, has only a few motor driven options. Scooters are obviously the first choice among locals, but we’re not scooter or motorcycle competent and these roads would be a bad place to learn or practice many folks told us. So, drivers and cars it was. Yes, there are buses, but with the bus trips you can’t stop and enjoy the view or take photos, and apparently they go as fast as they can which makes for a bumpy ride. Not good for anyone prone to motion sickness. We did spot a solo bike tourist but didn’t get to chat.

Indonesia is the world’s third largest rice producer.

Rainy season means plenty of water and so much green!

From Moni to our next overnight stay, Ende, the journey shows up on Google maps as 1 hour and 22 minutes driving time. With a few stops along the way to snap photos and have a coffee it was about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Our second driver, hired just for the day, was named Nopi, and he was a lovely calm driver. He got us to Ende in time for a late lunch.

A few of the twists and turns of the National Road. This keeps speed down for sure.

On the outskirts of Ende. The steep volcanic mountains are so dramatic.

Would we be able to handle days of being driven? We are so used to traveling on our own and at our own pace. Add in the heat at the stays near the coast and you have a recipe for cranky travelers who aren’t getting enough exercise.

Ende is a long volcanic slope of a town. 86f/30c isn’t too hot, but the 80% humidity gets you.

A cold drink in the shaded PariKoro Resto. This great lunch stop was only a 12 minute walk from our hotel.

Ende is not a good walking town. The sun and heat, the long slopes, and the noise from traffic and scooters combine for an unpleasant experience. Until Rich got us off the main roads with a little help from MapsMe.

These young women were practicing a dance and chased us down for photos.

And then I got a photo of the photographers.

The shady small streets were scooters and pedestrian only. The kids came out to wave hello.

After just one night in Ende we were picked up by our third and final driver, Nyoman, who would take us all the way back to Labuan Bajo over four more days of driving and stops for lunch and to see sights, and one two night stay in Bajawa.

A view from town of your friendly neighborhood volcano. Flores has numerous volcanoes, 14 of which are considered active.

First stop, the optical shop so Rich could get his reading glasses fixed.

A few things made the driving not just tolerable but fun. First was of course nice, safe, calm drivers. Second was saying no to air conditioning and just leaving the windows down. Our first driver started this practice, he asked if we would be ok with no AC. Well, we’ll try we said. What a difference it made to be able to see and be seen by the locals. With the tinted windows up they couldn’t see us, and we couldn’t make eye contact, wave and say hello. And we said hello or selamat pagi (good morning) a lot! The kids call out Bulay! when they see a foreigner, or yell Hello Mister! Traveling at 30mph or less because of the twisting roads we got to see a lot. And the experience of driving along seeing the locals and the amazing jungle was unlike any other trip we’ve made.

Lunch stop at Blue Stone Beach. I love my puddle of shade.

When dry the stones are not so blue, more gray.

Shade break and time for viewing dramatic clouds.

A view back towards Ende and some volcanoes.

The blue is most likely due to volcanic minerals such as sulphides and rock-forming feldspar. So thank you for that, volcanoes.

Still not blasé about volcanic mountains.

Nyoman asked if we wanted to stop by the Mangeruda Hot Springs, and although hot water didn’t sound too appealing we said yes. But first a stop at a huge regional market.

The weekly market was in full swing so Nyoman dropped us off and we walked through.

We only stayed on the primary street, but the market stretched back quite a way.

So many greens for sale. Without our driver as a guide we didn’t feel as welcomed at this market. We made one pass through and headed on.

Mangeruda Hot Springs and Rich heating up. Thank you again volcanoes.

Rich says the water was about 95-100f/35-37c.

There was also a big, deeper and cooler pool, with rather sharp stones in the bottom.

After Rich had a good soak and I took photos we headed to Bajawa, where we had a two night stay booked at the Bajawa Roo Hotel. Bajawa was our favorite stop on the drive across Flores. Part of that was the town, it was cool at 3,900 feet/1,200 m above sea level – we got to wear our down jackets and long trousers – which made them not ridiculous to bring along. The Bajawa Roo Hotel was a fantastic travelers hotel run by a super friendly and helpful couple, Sri and Moses.

Rich and Martin, who was from Poland and a surfer.

We were happy to walk to dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Nyoman offered to drive us to and from dinner but we always prefer a walk.

Bena Traditional Village was our first stop of our non travel day.

Kitty greeter. They look less than delighted to see us.

It can feel awkward to wander around the village, but the scarfs we are wearing show that we have registered and made a donation.

And I always buy something- this time it was traditional textile.

Nyoman showed us the trail to the next traditional village, Tololela. It was an hour walk through stunning jungle. We would meet up with Nyoman again after walking down the very steep road from Tololela.

The roads are in a constant state of repair, especially in rainy season. Hati hati translates as be careful!

A woman and a child carrying firewood back to the village.

It’s not easy to navigate the jungle with an umbrella. But I did.

So much intact jungle. Such steep slopes.

Rich added for scale. The bamboo plants were massive.

Tololela Village. Again, you stop by the first building on the right and make a donation. It helps the villages stay viable in these modern times.

Deep overhangs for shade and rain protection.

Wood carvings. I’m not sure why a horse, we didn’t see any.

I was glad that we visited both villages, they had different feelings to them, and I noticed more details at the second village.

A chicken strutting past drying candlenuts. The sun was so hot we could hear the nuts sizzling. The nut is used in cooking, and the oil for hair products or illumination.

We headed down the very very steep road, marveling at the scooters taking the sharp turns loaded with several people, met up with Nyoman, and headed back up the mountains for a view restaurant for lunch.

Volcano view at Heaven’s Door Bar & Restaurant.

Rich finally got to try the smoked barbecued pork.

Dinner with a fellow traveler, Ramon from Catalonia.

But first a walk into town. Must navigate puppy lane without scooping one up.

Bajawa was setting up for a festival and folks were using the walking track in the park.

A Catholic Church and a Muslim Mosque across the street from each other. Ramadan was starting in a few days.

Nyoman and I stayed in the car while Rich snapped photos.

When you look at the route, the twists and turns, it’s really amazing this road exists. And it does suffer from land slides and fallen trees, but it’s the one cross island connection, so when it’s blocked there is a fast effort to reopen it.

Our first stop on this almost four hour drive was a Moke home distillery. An alcoholic beverage made from palm tree fruits.

A rather simple distillery after the harvesting of the sap from the fruits.

The tasting room. Left is the clear very high proof Moke, middle is the same but flavored with spices and sugar, and right is the thick sap condensed down to sugars.

The owner and distiller. We are on the coast again and it was hot.

Her retail stand on the side of the road.

The drivers always know the good lunch stops. Tuna steak, veggies, fries and plenty of sambal.

Passed by a local bus. There were usually a few guys riding on the top, and some poultry hanging from the back rack.

One night Ruteng at the Ara Garden Inn, 1,100 m, 3,800 ft elevation meant the jackets came out again.

An early breakfast so we could get on the road – one final day of driving!

A stop at the lingko (circle) rice fields and Rich with our two little guides, 12 and 14 years old. Similar to the traditional villages you make a donation and then are guided up to the viewpoint.

Sheno and Clifford explained that the villages which share the field originally each had a pie shaped plot, divided further by families – which makes a spiderweb formation.

The National Road has good asphalt, and is shared with a lot of scooters, some cars, and big trucks hauling manufactured goods from other islands and mostly agricultural goods from Flores.

From Ruteng to Labuan Bajo the road climbs over passes and down to the coast twice. The difference in heat is very noticeable. When we finally reached Labuan Bajo Nyoman even shook his head and said “So hot.” He is from Moni which is at 700m/2,200 feet so a bit cooler than the coast. I was pleased to hear that even a local found the weather hot.

The happy travelers in Labuan Bajo again, after 8 days exploring the island.

Crossing the island at 30 mph (or so) was amazing. That is a slow enough speed to leave the windows down and not be wind blown. It’s the right speed to spot things and ask to stop. The jungle goes by slowly enough that you can marvel at the mix of trees and plants. See the cows grazing at the sides of the roads. Laugh at the dogs asleep in the middle of the road (drivers always carefully avoid the dogs). It may not be our favorite mode of travel, but for this trip our more car decision was the right one. Next up: Pirate Island!

And a map! Hearts are where we spent the night.

And a larger map. The hearts across Java are from a trip in 2017/2018. The blue dot is us in Dalat, Vietnam right now.

Labuan Bajo. Come for the dragons, stay for the sidewalks.

In the taxi from the airport to our hotel in Labuan Bajo Rich looked out the window and said “Sidewalks. There are sidewalks.” If you’ve traveled in a developing country you will understand his surprise. Walking in a lot of places – India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Mexico – can be challenging for a multitude of reasons, lack of sidewalks being a big one. Or, big holes or incomplete sidewalks. And, places that do have sidewalks, like a lot of Thailand, will come with a lot of scooters and street stalls to block your way.

Sidewalk! Complete with tactile guidelines for visually impaired folks.

Labuan Bajo on Flores Island is one of the “Five New Balis” the Indonesian government has identified and put money into. Technically it’s called the Five Super Priority Destinations Program. The goal is to get travelers to visit other parts of Indonesia, not just Bali. And some of the money has gone into infrastructure. I can’t find when the sidewalks were built, but they have definitely been a good investment for locals and tourists. We picked our hotel because it’s close to the commercial area. We always prefer to walk to dinner and around town instead of taking taxis.

Sidewalks are so important for children. Walking and playing.

Children playing on the waterfront promenade. Recreational paving stones.

Some lovely views from the road leading up from town and to the airport.

So many boats and construction projects.

This is what we expected of the streets. All this walking is before 8 am.

We spent a day just exploring town and debating a trip out to Komodo Island to see the dragons. Our intent in coming to Flores Island was to explore the island, not specifically to see the dragons. Komodo Island is firmly on the tourist track and offers of trips to see the dragons, visit the pink sand beach and walk to the view spot on Padar Island are ubiquitous. Also, so many dive shops and folks offering live aboard boat trips.

The Indonesian government has a plan for periodic shutdowns of Komodo Island beginning in mid 2025 to not only to help the island regenerate, and hopefully to rewild the dragons, but also to encourage tourists to visit other sites and spread the tourist visits to more attractions. We read enough about dragons being fed (and possibly drugged?!?!) to keep them on the beach and easily visible to tourists to give us pause about visiting. At busy times of the year the scrums of folks getting dragon photos looks pretty awful. This isn’t the busy time of year since it’s the rainy season, but we still just couldn’t find the motivation to visit Komodo Island. Maybe on our way back through Labuan Bajo. Maybe.

An alley suitable only for scooters and pedestrians.

Kitty tenderizing a scooter seat. Handy scratching post!

Lots of cats out in the coolish morning air.

Street side stall. Colorful snacks whose wrappers sadly end up everywhere!

Farmers come down from the hills to sell good in town. There is a market street further up town but this farmer has a mobile market.

No egg shortage here. (The USA has an egg shortage due to avian flu.)

I arrived in Indonesia without an umbrella! Mistake corrected.

Lunch at a locals spot, Kantin Primkopal. Rich happy with the Ayam Goreng Sambal specialty.

And dinner out on the end of that pier, the fanciest spot in town.

Heading to the restaurant we saw turtles and had a good chat with some young Indonesian tourists.

Quite a lovely spot, Le Bajo Restaurant. One of three new higher end restaurants on the pier.

Best Waterside table, low season perk. What a place to watch the sun set.

And some local food – octopus! This restaurant is ready for the folks who will be coming to the new resorts being built.

So what did we do instead of a Komodo Island visit? Well, a big downside to Labuan Bajo is that there are almost zero beaches at which to swim. One public beach close to town is a bit of a mess with trash, and the only other close by beach has been privatized by a fancy new luxury collection Marriott resort. We want to spend our tourist dollars visiting attractions so we hired a driver for the day and headed out to visit two caves.

First up: Mirror Stone Cave, Gua Batu Cermin.

Our guide from the park. You need a guide to go in the caves. They are unlit and have no walkway once you are inside.

Not many photos from inside the caves. It was a muddy scramble complete with hardhats and headlamps (provided by the guide.).

Cave portrait thanks to our guide. Not pictured- many many bats!

Another locals spot thanks to our driver, we could watch the school kids pour out for lunch.

The food was good and I was surprised and delighted to find a bat in the toilet cubicle! They flew about a bit before settling down to keep me company.

After lunch we went to Rangko, the small village is the launching place to visit Rangko Cave. A cave with swimming.

The path to the beach complete with cute goats.

It’s pretty hot and the water looks so tempting.

Group photo! I like how effortlessly our boatman sat cross legged to drive.

A five minute walk to the entrance of Rangko Cave.

And into the seawater! Amazingly clear. You could hear the gurgle as fresh seawater entered the cave.

And a swim at the beach before we left. The water at the beach was warmer, not as refreshing.

The highs of Labuan Bajo were the sidewalks, the views, the two good restaurants we ate dinner at, Happy Banana and Le Bajo, in addition to the local lunch place. The lows were the lack of a swimming beach and the missing mid range small locally owned resorts which you find on Bali. Labuan Bajo had a few fancy expensive resorts (one of which had privatized a local beach), but Rich couldn’t find a good small resort. A swimming pool would have been nice since there was no beach access, but there is a water issue in town. All water is delivered by truck filling large tanks, and drinking water in 5 gal/18 liter bottles.

The water tank at our small 3 room hotel, The Blue Parrot. Once we learned about the water situation and saw this I immediately started taking shorter showers!

The happy travelers. Under our umbrella.

How we spent our days in Taipei.

Barely a toe over the line in a Taipei Metro station. Metro riders are very orderly.

Right before we left San Francisco for Taipei someone asked me “How do you spend your days when you’re traveling? What do you do with your time?” It’s a good question, and not an easy one to answer since our days are so different depending on where we are. When we’re bike touring the answer is easy- we spend the days cycling and eating. If we’re house and pet sitting the day is structured around what the animals need from us and what we can explore in our free time. When we’ve pitched up in a new place though, or even a place we’ve been before, it’s harder to answer that question. So I decided to keep track of what we did on our second and third days in Taipei.

In a downtown metro station at about 10:20.

Day Two (after our first nights sleep, day one was 6:30 am arrival day). We slept until 6:30 or so, had coffee and tea in our room and went down for breakfast at 7am. After breakfast we hung about our room doing a little travel planning and catching up on emails and texts until 10.

Walking to our museum destination and admiring the neatly parked rows of scooters.

In the basement of an office tower is one of those quirky specialist museums.

Amazingly detailed miniature houses. I won’t call them dollhouses.

Each diorama or vignette had a creator credited, and often a small backstory.

This pre-war typical Japanese street was just infused with nostalgia and sadness for what was destroyed and will never be again.

Astonishing miniature Hall Of Mirrors, Versailles. You can see my reflection at the end of the hall.

Definitely worth a visit if you’re in Taipei for a few days, we spent about 90 minutes there and headed off for a restorative caffeinated beverage at a coffee shop we spotted on our way to the museum.

Mr. Brown Coffee Nanjing Store, billed as Your Urban Living Room. That’s hot chocolate for me.

And coffee for Rich. We ordered on the ground floor and then went to the 3rd floor hang out space. The second floor was the work zone.

We read the home news (yikes!) and chatted and messed around on our phones for about an hour. Then headed out to find an adapter at a big electronics mall.

Goodbye Mr. Brown. Very chic you are. Rich said his Americano was excellent.

Wandered into an event space beer hall at the Taiwan Brewery on our way to the electronics mall. Stopped to take a picture.

There was a pop up shoe and clothing event on the ground floor. Very popular.

And eleven floors of all kinds of electronics and electrical lifestyle products. Rich thought it was pretty awesome.

Surrounded by small streets of electronic and gaming stores.

I checked my google map and found that a shushi place I had marked on my map at some point was nearby. It’s now almost 2pm and definitely time for lunch.

Conveyor belt sushi! One of my favorites. The Taiwanese aren’t too rigid about eating times, but many small restaurants do close between 2:30p and 5ish.

While Rich is figuring everything out, trying the app based order system and identifying dishes, I’m scooping plates off the conveyor and chowing down! With unlimited pickled ginger.

The little train delivers your app based orders. Good sushi and very reasonably priced. We had a good feast for about $20.

Back to the hotel by metro and we showered and chilled until evening when we headed out with two things to accomplish: find Rich’s favorite shirt at the Wufenpu Shopping District, and eat pork buns at Renhoe Night Market. If successful it will be the third time he has bought this shirt in Taipei. The market is a ten by ten grid of small streets all filled with shops selling clothing, shoes, and handbags. Rich is looking for one specific shop that for two years in a row had a shirt that he loves for Asia travel. The first one, purchased in 2023, was destroyed by sweat and sunblock and retired in Sri Lanka. The second was purchased in 2024 and is in France. It failed to make the trip back to the US for this onward hot trip to Indonesia. Rich had a good idea of where the shop is (and yes, this time we dropped a pin on Google maps), but it takes some searching, and the shops do change a lot.

On the way from the metro to Wufenpu Shopping District we stopped at some Lunar New Year lights.

Ok, which way? And mind the scooters! 5:45 pm.

Found the shop! They had the shirt in his size, but not in white. So he got it in blue.

And by 6:30 we were at the Rahoe night market to get some black pepper buns. That $65 Taiwanese dollars is just under 2.00 American dollars right now.

Find a place to stand and try not to burn your mouth on the piping hot pork.

Just before 7:00 it was on to dessert, vanilla ice cream in a pineapple bun, with a fresh watermelon juice in between.

No pineapple in the pineapple bun. The crosshatch top and crumble topping give it the name. It’s a sweet delicious bun.

One last stop at our favorite Taipei bar, the Tipsy Dragon. The first time we came here they had a bar cat. Didn’t see them this time.

We got wrapped up in China versus Chinese Taipei badminton match! Really fun to watch – super fast speeds. One drink each then home on the metro.

Day three was another fairly early wake up, about 6:45 am. Pretty good after dealing with a frustrating and hilarious early morning hotel experience. Our room had a tv in the bathroom , so you could watch TV from the tub, and it inexplicably went on with full volume at about 1:30am. It took us a while to figure out how to turn it off, but we did and went back to sleep. But 45 minutes later went off again! We called the front desk and a staff member came up to our room with a remote control and did something. The tv thankfully stayed off the rest of our time at the hotel. But, it wasn’t the most restful night.

There’s the shirt. Over a yummy savory breakfast at the hotel.

We decided to hike the mountain trail across from our hotel. We felt in need of some good step climbing. We headed out about 8:30 am.

You will notice that photos of me are taken as I’m trying to keep up. Usually of my front. And his are of his quickly retreating back as I hurry to catch up.

We think this branded signage is new. Taipei Grand Trail. 92 kilometers along Taipei’s scenic peaks.

This section was quite popular on this Friday morning with other retired folks. We were glad it wasn’t a weekend.

And little signs to hold up as you took photos. It says The Usual Place.

Near a graveyard, a place to sit. It’s being consumed by the tropical foliage.

And a lovely woman feeding the feral cats.

I had to get involved. Caused a bit of a cat fight though.

Noodle lunch at Captain Wang’s Sauce Sauce Noodles again. So good!

We got back to our hotel after walking about 7 miles. After afternoon coffee and tea in our room we hit the hotel gym. The rest of the day encapsulated why we know it’s time to start looking for a place to be able to return to. A place with our stuff. With a kitchen where we can cook good healthy food. And where we can get enough exercise and do the kind of work outs we want to do. After the gym we showered and hung out, and then started the search for dinner. In my previous working life if you had told me “you will eat out every night. You won’t have to grocery shop or cook.” I would have been thrilled! But it does get to be a chore. And it is a struggle to eat healthy when you’re eating out so much. That evening after a bit of a struggle, we ended up at a lovely little family run Hong Kong style restaurant close to our hotel. No photos since we were both a bit burned out and wanted to just eat and go back to the hotel. It was good to have a check in with each other and confirm we are on the same page about finding a home base.

Early next morning at the metro station to get to the airport.

Very thrilled to see that our Eva air flight is Hello Kitty branded.

Taipei – staying awake on day one.

Happy to be off the 13 hour flight from SF and in Taipei.

Wednesday February 12, 5:30 am. We left San Francisco on Monday February 10th near midnight. Look at those happy but tired faces. We love Taiwan, and this is our third trip here. Transitions are tough and stressful and leaving San Francisco, sneaking in one more catch up visit with friends, putting stuff back in storage and making notes about where things are, is tiring. We were both looking forward to, and dreading, the long plane ride.

How lucky are we to have so many friends to catch up. A walk and dinner with Anne and Vic, and the Golden Gate Bridge view from Tunnel Tops park.

I have to be quick to snap a screenshot of the city mascot in CityMapper, still the best transit app we use. I love this little dude holding his Boba Tea and a lantern to send into the sky.

Less than 3 hours left of the 13+ hour flight, flying over Japan in the early hours of the morning.

On the express train from the airport to Taipei Main station – Rich using the magnetic wireless cell phone charger on the train. Such a fun convenience.

Heading to our hotel on the rush hour metro escalators. Metro is trying to get folks to stand on both sides of the steps, instead of standing right and walking left, to increase capacity at rush hour. Yes, the escalators carry more people when everyone stands.

Dropped our bags at the hotel (check in is at 2pm) and walked out for breakfast at a nearby cafe. Rich looking slightly dazed.

Mine is a peanut butter, ham, and cheese on a croissant. A tasty combo. My expression doesn’t make it look so tasty, but it was.

Rain was threatening so we borrowed umbrellas from the hotel and walked around a bit waiting for rush hour on the metro to ease off before heading to the Taipei Zoo. This is in the Shilin District of Taipei.

The lanes have numbers and names, and are too small for cars, but scooters and bikes abound.

Day one was all about staying awake! And what’s a great way to stay awake? Head to Asia’s largest (or one of the largest, depending on who you ask) zoo. Taipei Zoo.

The Shiba Inu is the safety and politeness poster mascot dog.

Public transport for the win again, Metro right to the zoo.

This Lunar year is the year of the snake, so snakes on the zoo tickets. Save them for the mythical scrape book.

The map. Do not be fooled into trying to walk the grey line, that’s the train route.

Zoos can be problematic. They promote conservation and awareness, but a sad depressing zoo is just awful. Thankfully the Taipei Zoo is quite good. It moved to its current site in 1986 and has 90 hectares (222 acres) open to the public with more land available for expansion. We walked our poor jet lagged feet off – almost 9 miles total on day one, probably 5 of those at the zoo. The tropical vegetation is really lovely, the animal habitats are good sized, and boy do you get your walking in as the zoo is huge.

You can climb into the big yellow poo to experience life as a maggot. We passed.

A capybara in front of the Pangolin Dome.

The dome has multiple species all out in the open to experience and was quite well done. My favorite were the Cotton-top tamarins wandering the enclosure.

A common marmoset saying “hey.”. If you do go to a zoo, go early in the day when the animals are most active and about to be fed.

One of the two pandas at the Taipei Zoo, snoozing with an appreciative audience.

And the second one (I think) wandering their outdoor environment.

After the zoo and a quick snack of Onigiri from the 7-11 we headed to our neighborhood and had a noodle lunch before checking in to our hotel and having a much welcomed shower. There are showers at the airport, near baggage claim carousel number six (in T2) but we decided against using them since there is one for men and one for women and the men’s was occupied. We changed into a few new clothes when we dropped our bags at the hotel that morning.

Rich’s beef noodle soup. Not visible to the naked eye – all the garlic!

My cold braised noodles at 王艇長酢醬麵, which Google translates as Captain Wang’s Sauce Sauce Noodles. Address: No. 18, Qiangang St, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111

Post shower and coffee and tea, still awake and out to the Shilin Night Market.

The Lunar New Year fire crackers helped wake us up! They are meant to scare away evil spirits and monsters. So much smoke.

The small streets of the night market have some charming small restaurants in addition to street food stands.

Noobtent – a camping themed bar. Yes, there are camp chairs and tents inside for you to enjoy. So cute. I love these themed places. No, we didn’t go in, a cocktail was not going to keep us awake.

Dinner was a cold noodle and spicy miso sauce dish. Delicious.

We walked back to our hotel, awake enough to enjoy the New Year’s decorations.

Mission accomplished, we stayed awake until 9 pm and slept quite well. More Taipei to come!

The Happy Travelers on the Taipei Metro.

UK to USA.

Definitely one of our favorite views in the UK. The harbor at Tenby, Wales.

When we were both working our vacations were at most three weeks long, and were in search of new places and new experiences. Now that we’re in our fourth year of constant travel we still love new places and experiences but also love to revisit familiar places.

Arriving from Norwich to London, Liverpool Street Station.

And back with our good friends Erik and Hannah in Tenby Wales. One of our happy familiar places.

Headed to lunch in Laugharne which is famous for being Dylan Thomas’s home for the last four years of his life.

The garage of the boat house, where Thomas wrote a lot of his most famous works.

It’s set up as if he walked away for a cup of tea. He died while on tour in New York City, so in a way, he did just walk away.

I requested that the guys look “moody and poetic”. Rich is used to my requests, Erik laughed!

I first visited Laugharne in 1984 or so, it’s nice to see that Dylan Thomas’s popularity is still strong.

Laugharne Castle. Such an imposing site. Such a tough place to find on the map when you’re looking for “Larn”.

Rich packed up and ready to leave Tenby.

After a delightful stay in Tenby we headed off to Bristol, another of our favorite UK cities. This was our third stay in Bristol. It’s always fun to chat to a local and see their sometimes puzzled delight over our love of Bristol. It’s an easy train ride from Tenby, and easy to get back to London from Bristol, thanks to the Great Western Railway which linked London and Bristol in 1841. Engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Yes, we are fans of his work and highly recommend the SS Great Britain museum ship, which he also designed.

Bristol Temple Mead station. Plenty of bikes in Bristol.

A swan and a view over the Floating Harbor, a lock controlled off shoot of the tidal River Avon created in 1809.

The hydraulic equipment at Underfall Yard Visitor Centre, which explores and explains the elegant engineering behind the Floating Harbor, and its importance in the development of Bristol.

Artsy shot out of the historic building.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Bristol without a visit to a Banksy artwork.

The Bag O’Nails pub. My favorite pub. Another must visit place for us.

Pub patrons trying to seem uninterested in the cats.

The cats truly uninterested in the pub patrons.

Just minding my own business by the record player.

Gotcha! Lured in by my wool sweater and scarf and spot near the heater. I failed to look nonchalant when this cat graced me with their presence.

The Left Handed Giant pub, another favorite of ours.

Sometimes it was also a bit cold inside the pubs.

The ceiling of The Cornubia pub. Horse brasses and beer mats. Yes, a lot of pub visits.

It was not cold inside the Cornubia. My favorite pub fire so far. Clean burning coal. Wood fires not allowed in that area, the bartender said, but clean burning coal is ok.

We took the train to Bath to go for a walk in the hills.

Snow hanging on thanks to the cold weather.

We take as many opportunities as we can to meet up with friends, so we shoved off from Bristol towards Hastings, where friends from London had recently moved.

Charing Cross Station, London. On our way to Hastings. Nice digital departure board.

British seaside towns. Love them. They share similarities but are all so different.

The covered promenade with the Hastings pier in the background.

What does this British seaside town have that no other one does? Our friends Joe and Justina!

We had a great walking tour of Hastings. A lovely town well worth visiting.

Where fisherfolk store their equipment and hang their nets to dry. From above the tall narrow black buildings look like toys or monopoly houses.

And no day is complete without a pub stop, this time at The Clown.

And after an easy train ride, back in London for a few days.

The modern skyline in the glorious winter sunshine.

I love the juxtaposition of the Tower of London and the Shard.

It was a super cold and still morning, the reflection of the bridge in the river caught our attention.

Frost on the river walk, and slightly hazy air made the view soft focus and golden.

We were staying right near Spitalfields and the view of City of London with the old buildings in the foreground was captivating.

Modern buildings looming over old buildings.

Museum of the Home, located in a row of old almshouses. Loved the Rooms Through Time exhibit, the evolution of London dwellings from 1630 to present.

Dinner date with young friends who recently moved to London.

When we were in Lyon on our way to Paris we caught an arts update on TV which mentioned the Tim Burton exhibit in London. We quickly booked tickets for our last day in the UK. So glad we did. Our two London museum visits, Museum of the Home and the Tim Burton exhibit couldn’t have been more different. Where one dealt with the practicalities of home, changing styles of furniture and social interaction, the other was the products of one man’s talent and creativity.

Recreated office, the desk blotter doodles were fantastic.

I wasn’t aware what a talented artist he is.

Many of the movie sets and costumes had signs not to photograph them. This Nightmare before Christmas-esque mobil and wallpaper had no such sign.

I’ve been having a hard time with this blog post. We flew from London to Chicago, saw our good friends Michelle and Alan – I have no pictures! – and Rich’s birth mom. From Chicago it was off to Grand Junction Colorado to see my Mom and Sister and Niece, very few pictures. Then Seattle, then San Francisco.

Lori looking out the window on January 20th, 2025.

A lot of Americans will understand the trepidation we were feeling, trepidation that has proved correct. It feels frivolous to do anything but focus on the state of the nation. Watch the news? Keep the news at bay? Focus on family and friends? Yes, that.

Seattle with our favorite Pacific Northwesters. Northwesterns? Cecily and Christine.

41 months. That’s how long we’ve been traveling since selling our place in San Francisco. So many amazing places and wonderful people. Many hotel rooms, wonderful house and pet sits, pensions, apartments. We both realized this winter that we are ready to have a place to call our own. Spring our stuff from storage and move it into our own space. We still intend to travel a lot, but we’ll be able to go home. Cook in our own kitchen. Sleep in our own bed. Host guests! Have parties!

Sutro Tower in San Francisco and the Happy Travelers.

But first we head off to Taipei and then Indonesia. The house hunting can wait until we return to the US in the summer. Stay tuned!

Our month in Paris, Take 3: Museums

Palace of Versailles. 8:30 am on a Wednesday in November.

Museum planning can be quite a challenge in Paris. First – which museums? Choosing between the 136 options looks daunting. Even when you narrow it down to the 111 listed in the great book our friend Nancy brought with her, that’s too many for a one month visit. Second – which days are they closed? Monday is a popular closure day, so going to a museum that isn’t closed on Monday means it might be a bit more crowded than usual.

Two horses and humans walking through the forecourt of the Palace of Versailles. I think they were just locals who use the park as a cut through. The noise of hooves on cobblestones sounded like time travel.

The palace opened at 9, so we used our 30 minutes to check out the view.

Getting going early had the pay off of no crowds. And cold November weather helped too.

Versailles probably wouldn’t be fun for us crowd adverse people in Spring or Summer, so this might be our one and only visit to this A List site.

The Hall of Mirrors with our fellow early arrivals.

As we walked around we kept joking “now why was there a revolution?” in response to the luxury on display.

Pensive gazing out the window while listening to the quite good app based audio guide.

Make sure to budget enough time to explore Petit Trianón.

Sophora Japonica, or Japanese pagoda tree, planted in 1764 for Marie-Antoinette near the Petit Trianón.

Temple de l’Amour. The folly in the English Garden of the Petit Trianon.

The Petit Trianon, a laughing American tourist, and the classical angel statue. The app based audio guide covered a lot.

The Hamlet had a rough time surviving but several renovations later, you have a good idea of what it was like originally.

It is a peaceful respite from the grandeur of the Palace.

While we waited to get into the Palace there was a little guy, probably about seven years old, having a meltdown about having to visit the palace. He screamed and cried and his adult spent some time talking him down. He uttered a memorable phrase which we filed away for future use: “This is the stupidest thing in the entire stupid world!”

I sure hope that little guy made it to the hamlet and got to see the farm animals.

I’m sure the pigs, goats, and bunnies would have cheered him up. Not stupid.

So how else do we decide on museums to visit? Well, when you go to a lot of museums in France, and in the world, you see connections. At a museum in – Lyon? Dijon? I honestly can’t remember – a little card said about a missing painting: currently on display at Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. What what what? That sounds fascinating. So it was marked on a Google map and Rich remembered and off we went.

The museum is in an old
Hôtel particulier. A grand urban mansion.

Yes, that’s a stuffed fox curled up on the chair.

The rooms were themed, and simply beautiful.

Don’t let the name of the museum put you off. It’s not really a celebration of blood sports, but more humans relationship with nature and animals.

Adorable little hoods for the falcons to wear. Putting feathers on a bird.

Even with only a month in Paris it was so fun to circle around topics or artists and come across them in different exhibits or even in cemeteries.

The grave of
Théodore Géricault, in
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

One of our early morning Louvre visits was specifically to visit The Raft of the Medusa, by
Géricault.

Which is replicated in bronze on his tomb.

A cold and grim subject. Again, the smiling American tourist.

A college friend (thank you Jen) reminded me of the chapter in Julian Barnes’ book History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, chapter five, Shipwreck, which relays the story of the creation of this painting and the history behind it.

The artist visited morgues to achieve the correct shade of skin tone.

Not far from The Raft in the Louvre is another famous
Géricault painting:
The Charging Chasseur, or An Officer of the Imperial Horse Guards Charging.

Which is also recreated on the artist’s tomb.

At our final Louvre Visit to see this exhibition, Figures of the Fool.

Here was another work by
Théodore Géricault,
The Woman with Gambling Mania (French: La Folle Monomane du jeu) from 1822.

I can’t be the only one who goes through museum exhibits hoping for fun reproductions in the gift shop? These marginalia of little monsters or grotesque characters would have made fantastic pieces for the museum shop.

Chimeras of Notre-Dame de Paris:
Monster Leaning on the Parapet
Paris, 1847-1862

Although we missed the re-opening of Notre Dame by a few days, we did get to see four chimeras removed during a restoration in the 1800s. Gargoyles spout water away from a building, chimeras are ornamental, adding to the overall atmosphere of the Cathedral.

Such a moody and beautiful presentation.

Chimeras of Notre-Dame de Paris:
The Pelican The Lioness
Monster Leaning on the Parapet
The Wandering Jew.

We also visited the Musée d’Orsay for the Gustave Caillebotte exhibit, amazing, and Nancy and I went to the Azzedine Alaïa museum. He was a talented and famous Tunisian couturier and shoe designer.

We loved the window which let you see his atelier. Left exactly as it was when he died.

There were other museums we visited – my head is still spinning from what we saw – and of course, the best museum of all: the city itself. Thanks to our new friend Roy, whom Nancy met on her flight over to Paris, we even got to see a Chambre de bonne. These small top floor maids rooms on Baron Haussmann’s 19th century mansions. Ever since listening to this 99% Invisible podcast about Chambre de bonnes I’ve wanted to see one. But how? Well, have a friend who makes friends.

Hi Roy! Thank you again for showing us a side of Paris we wouldn’t have seen without you.

The corridor of doors to small, very small, apartments. Some have been joined together to make more useable spaces.

The view! Eiffel Tower one direction, Basilique du Sacré-Cœur the other.

Those very top windows will be the Chambre de bonnes in this building.

Everyone who travels will tell you that the most amazing experiences are not found in guide books. They happen. You walk by them, if you’re lucky and open to saying yes, you get to have unexpected and delightful times, and even better with friends.

The happy travelers in flattering Paris light.

Spending our time in Paris. Take 2.

We have a running joke while we travel where we put things in a Bay Area context for each other. Guanajuato is the Mendocino of Mexico City. Parc Vincennes is the Golden Gate Park of Paris. When we discovered that Paris is actually smaller in size than San Francisco, but with over twice the population, we felt a bit more at home. We lived in SF for decades, most of those years without a car, so Paris felt like a super lively, more busy SF.

What? In my mind Paris was much bigger than SF.

Almost every Metro trip we mapped out on CityMapper was about 30 minutes or less from our Paris apartment. The Metro does move along and wastes very little time dwelling at stations – on the older lines you can actually open the doors while the train is still moving. And people do. But to walk across the city, or to your destination, really doesn’t take long. We started taking one Metro ride, and instead of transferring to a second line, just walked the rest of the way. Or, walked the whole way. We took buses as well, which is a great way to see the city and rest your feet.

Paris is so walkable. Nancy demonstrates that even the weather can’t stop her.

Rich and Dan on the Coulée verte René-Dumont.

The retail scene is so vibrant. Restaurants and shops abound. And bakeries- so many bakeries. Pharmacies everywhere. Laundromats – check. Chocolate shops – check. As you walk you never suffer from a lack of interesting things to see.

So many 6-8 story buildings. So much housing.

Although the population of Paris has shrunk since its high of 2.9 million in 1921, it now hovers around 2.1 to 2.2 million. As with many cities smaller family size and gentrification have had an impact. But the population certainly keeps the city humming! A street near our apartment simply teemed with parents and children at school drop off time. We quickly learned to try to avoid that street at morning drop off.

Paris is doing a lot of street re-imagining, making more space for people not using cars to get around. This is a street in the Montparnasse neighborhood getting an update. Wider sidewalks and planting areas.

And in the 12th, a massive redesign of Place Félix Éboué, adding bike and pedestrian space, more trees and amenities, and removing car lanes.

These changes seem to have brought out a lot of folks on bikes.

On my Paris bingo card this lady transporting her dog and baguettes would be quite a get.

Of course we got out on bikes! Despite the chilly weather.

We used Lime bikes while in Paris. Cycling in Paris is quite good, although with so many cyclists I would recommend skipping rush hour at first, until you get the hang of Parisian cycling it can be intimidating. It helps to be a calm and confident urban cyclist since you will be passed by faster Parisian cyclists with only inches to spare. And be careful stopping at red lights since not all cyclists do and you risk a rear end collision!

After all that cycling around France we did this year – finally! The
Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.

Now we can fully appreciate the cobblestones the Tour de France cyclists face in the Paris circuits that typically feature in the last stage of the race.

Not our own comfortable bikes, but a great way to explore Paris.

The Tunnel des Tuileries. Once full of auto traffic, now graffiti, bikes, and pedestrians. Delightful.

And along the Seine River on a road where cars used to be.

Notre Dame, just a few weeks from re-opening after the devastating fire. That’s Rich on the bike on the right.

After parking the bikes we snapped the apparently obligatory Eiffel Tower photos.

It’s fun to see, or bike by, the big attractions, but our joy really comes from simply wandering. Having an errand – find a good coffee roaster to buy beans – and then seeing what we see. Be a Flâneur. Wander the city. Stroll. Observe. Be delighted. It’s what we did for so long in San Francisco, and it was such a luxury to have the time to do the same thing in Paris. As we kept reminding each other, stop and look up, look around.

Coffee shop dog. The family who ran the shop had their two kids and dog keeping them company since it was a holiday and schools were closed.

Nancy joined us in Paris and shared our cafe stops and delightful times.

I particularly love Kermit and the painted poles echoing his color scheme.

Neighborhood markets and murals, Montparnasse.

A wall of old advertising, uncovered and refreshed on Rue des Martyrs.

In the 9th. The society of mineral water building.

The people in dark wool coats strolling the passages.

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre glimpsed from Bd Haussmann on our way somewhere one morning. And the real life of a city going on.

Enjoying a chocolat viennois at the Cafe at d’Orsay.

One of the famous and stunning clocks at the old train station turned museum.

Watching Paris put on her Christmas and holiday decor was wonderful. Although we didn’t see too many lights on private balconies, the commercial corridors and chocolate shops put on a show.

Chocolate Christmas tree. Buy a forest of them!

Baby Jesus meringues. Apparently a retro treat, it’s a soft candy, not a hard crunchy one. I think it’s more like a marshmallow or melt away candy.

A forest of Christmas trees for sale in the 17th arrondissement.

The netting on the trees looks like spider webs.

Trees for sale on R. des Martyrs which is closed to car traffic on Sundays.

Nancy and I inside Galleries Lafayette admiring the massive Christmas tree.

Which put on quite a show as it changed colors.

We walked to go to specialty shops only open on Saturdays to buy artistic stamps.

We walked until the sun set (at 4 pm) to watch the lights come on.

All that walking meant we needed to keep up our strength.

The soufflés at Le Récamier were just the thing.

We had a one meal out per day rule. So we made those meals count.

Sometimes we didn’t need to go far. This oyster stand set up one weekend for two evenings on our neighborhood market street.

12 shucked oysters from Brittany and white wine.

Thanks to Dan we visited Buns Land for some amazing Biangbiang noodles. Mostly take away with just three stools at a tiny counter.

We also drank vin chaud when we could. Hot mulled wine. This was the best we tried, from the wine stand at the regional merchants evening market where we also had the oysters.

Had to try it at La Défense Christmas market too! Complete with souvenir cup.

Nice and hot, but a bit sweet. But we kept our souvenir cups to savor sweet memories.

More vin chaud please! At a small Christmas market at Pl. des Abbesses.

A nice version, not too sweet. The quality of the wine was not as good as at the regional merchants evening.

Late November and early December seemed to be a great time to visit Paris. Holiday cheer was getting going, but Christmas crowds hadn’t fully arrived yet. The weather was mostly grey but the sunny days we got felt even more special. The one day of snow was scenic but melted quickly. And having friends visit, first Dan and then Nancy, was just wonderful. And we got more photos of the two us than we usually take. As Nancy joked, it’s proof Rich does have a right arm – that’s his selfie taking arm usually not seen in our photos together. A big thank you to Nancy for the great photos.

Look at that! We have legs and Rich has both arms!

We got to pose in front of a Christmas tree.

And we got to spend time with one of our favorite people in all the world! Nancy.

Apartment lobby mirror group photo of the happy travelers.

Saying yes got us to Paris. For a month. Take 1.

When we came through Paris in May, on our fantastic bike tour through France, we visited our friend Jason who was on sabbatical from his professorship and staying in an apartment he found through sabbatical homes. It turned out that he and his wife could only take two of the three month final increment on the lease and he asked us if we would like to take the third month. Yes – was our pretty fast reply. Since we’d stayed at an apart hotel just up the street from the apartment we knew we’d like the neighborhood, and we’d been to the apartment for dinner so it was an easy decision. And a great decision.

The neighborhood street market, Tuesday and Friday. An early visit to avoid crowds later.

The wide sidewalks of Bd de Reuilly in our 12th arrondissement neighborhood.

Windows that face La Promenade Plantée. A greenway somewhat similar to the high line in NYC. Those windows and iron balcony just scream ‘Paris’ to me.

We hit the ground running with our Amis du Louvre cards and a trip to Disneyland Paris. The high and the low? The culture and the pop? Mona Lisa and Micky Mouse!

The RER A goes right to Disneyland. One transfer from our apartment, metro to RER.

The mouse ears on the train departure signs are pretty darn cute. And helpful.

As huge fans of public transportation we were thrilled to take a train right to the entrance of Disneyland. We’re both very familiar with Disneyland Anaheim so we spent the day making comparisons and ranking the rides between the two parks. Paris for the transportation win, for sure. And our monthly Navigo passes (~€80) covered the entire trip, as well as all metro and trains in the Paris area (Zones 1-5)

It was a grey and chilly day at the happiest place on earth.

I sort of expected Europeans to be a bit blasé about Disneyland, maybe treat it as a brash American import. Nope. Disney fans are Disney fans.

Thunder Mountain Paris for the win! Most of the ride is on this island, so you start and end through a tunnel.

Phantom Manor, The Haunted Mansion in Anaheim. Both are fun, similar layouts, nothing terribly different, except the spooky French in lieu of English. Très amusant!

Before the ride. I should have paid attention to the signs warning about motion sickness. And noticed the shoulder harnesses.

It is right there in the name. Hyperspace. Not just space. I’m used to the one in Anaheim which is pretty much a simple rollercoaster in the dark. I knew right away this one was a mistake. It went upside down twice. We now call it the brain scrambler. I lurched off the ride to find a bench, feeling pretty shaken up and a bit nauseous. I am past rollercoaster age, I decided. I’ve always avoided rides that go in a circle, the worst motion sickness ride for me is the spinning tea cups, but this one really was awful. Even Rich thought it was a bit much in the dark, and he loves rollercoasters.

The only thing I could face was Small World.

The grounds of Small World are more extensive in California, with more topiary animals, but the ride felt fresher and more culturally correct in Paris. One of the biggest differences we noticed was how quickly the lines for the rides go under cover in Paris. In Southern California you can be outdoors quite comfortably year round, and the rain isn’t torrential. It was chilly and a bit drizzly when we visited and we were glad for the shelter.

A big motivation to visit was that we were there during a very quiet time. The Halloween decorations were down and Christmas decorations not yet fully up, so it’s not a popular time to visit.

But, being efficient Disneyland, some holiday decorations were already up.

We could bore you much more with our detailed observations of how Paris is different than Anaheim, but won’t. Ask us the next time we see you in person about Pirates of the Caribbean. We have thoughts.

On to the high culture: we learned about the friends of the Louvre card from our Paris apartment connection, Jason. Not only do you get to go to the Louvre as often as you want, you also get a different entrance, at the Passage Richelieu, so no big line like at the pyramid or in the Carousel Mall.

We had visited the Louvre once before and it was a lesson in frustration. The audio guide is a Nintendo based handheld gizmo which is confusing to operate, even for people younger than us. Signage is not great, the layout is labyrinthine, and you will walk miles and miles finding the art you want to see. But it’s the Louvre! On display: 35,000 works of art. In the collection: 500,000.

In the newly renovated Anne of Austria Summer Apartments, the Torlonia Collection.

The marble sculptures are on display outside of Italy for the first time.

Rich added for scale in front of a massive painting.

We visited the Louvre six times this visit. Once was only to visit the bathrooms and get a coffee, which was a mistake since it was afternoon and very busy, but we will share what we learned. The Friends of the Louvre card – fantastic if you can make it work. We had it mailed to our Paris Apartment, and we applied from within France. Sunday am turned out to be a fantastic time to visit. At peak times the crowds are thick, but for an hour or two Sunday am we wandered the halls and galleries of the less popular wings and rooms with very few other visitors. We even peeked at the Mona Lisa – no, no selfie.

A happy Louvre visitor. This is in a room just past the Mona Lisa,
The salle Mollien Room 700, Denon wing, Level 1. The Red Rooms, Les Salles Rouges.

We visited three special exhibits during our six visits, The Torloni Collection, Figures de Fou, and A New Look at Watteau. We kept reminding ourselves how extensive the Louvre collection is that they can mount amazingly specific exhibits by plumbing the depths of their own collections. And when you view the Louvre outside from the I.M.Pei pyramid and understand how little of the connected buildings is display and how much is storage and other use – it’s overwhelming.

My fearless tour guide. If you aren’t one, find yourself a map friend who won’t get lost in the many rooms and levels of this museum.

Leaving on a Sunday at 11:24. After coffee at the Starbucks in the Louvre (!). Still not super crowded but the line to get in through security is now very long.

There will be more Louvre photos in later posts, but our recommendation is to get yourself a Friends of the Louvre card if you can. We paid 120€ for both of us, good for a year and allows you some discounts at other museums and into the Louvre Abu Dabi. Not sure we’ll use that benefit but who knows! The usual museum card coffee and gift shop 10% discount too. We ended every visit with a caffeine break.

The Happy Travelers in the sun at Luxembourg gardens.

Some of the special exhibits will have their app based audio guides, Figures of the Fool did, so check before you go and bring your earbuds. We searched on line for paintings we knew we wanted to see and read write ups to each other standing in front of the paintings. There are small bathrooms scattered along the galleries, some very well hidden, so if the line is long at the main bathrooms- and it will be ladies – try to find one up in the galleries. More from Paris soon. We just arrived in the UK for a nice long stay, until January 14th, happy holidays to all.

The railroad to Paris goes through Bourges. And Orléans.

Bourges through a window of the Palais Jacques Cœur.

Lyon is the bottom heart, then Bourges, then Orléans. All by train as our bicycles have entered winter hibernation.

Looking forward to a month’s stay in Paris we left Lyon, and the sunshine, although we didn’t realize it at the time. And we headed to Bourges. Bourges isn’t a big tourist destination, although Rick Steves tours do stop there to enjoy the half timbered houses and the huge gothic cathedral with its 13th century stained glass windows.

Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges. Seriously huge. We called it a triple decker cathedral.

The soaring interior and lovely chandeliers.

Bourges has nearly 500 half timbered buildings, more than any other French town, and the ruins of a Gallo-Roman wall. A tea and cake shop, Cake Thé, uses one tower as a dining room, if you follow the path to the shop you will find the remains of the wall and a lovely walking path.

Twilight on a street of half timbered buildings.

The upkeep of the buildings must be very challenging. We saw a few supported with external bracing like this.

And more half timbered buildings on a quiet street near the center of old town.

Of course a Camino route goes through town. And, this is the last you will see of our sandals for a while.

One of Bourges’ other sites to see is the Palais Jacques Cœur, a large Hôtel particulier – a grand urban mansion, freestanding and not connected to its neighbors. Cœur was a government official and successful merchant in the 1400s. Too successful, as his ability to lend large sums of money led to his eventual arrest and downfall. It seems never to pay off to have a King in your debt.

He did not get to enjoy his mansion, traveling during construction, arrested before he could live in it.

So many craftsmen were employed to make this building an absolute masterpiece. Gargoyles abound.

You’d need a fireplace this size to heat the massive rooms.

Although the palais is not furnished, it changed hands several times and was the town hall for a while, the audio guide helps you picture life in the building, and understand the amount of money and work that went into its construction.

And more gargoyle downspouts. Unfortunately for me the rain had stopped. I love seeing these in action.

Our two night stay gave us enough time to visit one of Bourges other fascinating sites, Le Marais, or the marsh, or swamp, in English.

A sign pointed the way as you walked down a neighborhood street.

On the map the Marais looks like a city of water. We caught a glimpse from the train and had to see it on foot.

The Yèvre River is the source of water, and the swamp had provided a defendable space for the town. The 300 acres now hold 1,500 garden plots on which locals grow food, build small summer huts, and enjoy strolling on the levees. Some plots are only accessible by boat.

I imagine the locals know their way around the small paths and bridges, we had to check the map frequently.

A building being taken back by the vegetation.

A boat ready to carry gardeners to their plot.

We imagined quite a lovely summer scene in the Marais.

It’s a fun way to travel, a few nights here, a few nights there, get the sense of a place and understand its place in the region and the country, and then off we go! But first, a nice dinner out at a restaurant we spotted our first night, and made a reservation for our second night. La gargouille.

More gargoyles, and Rich, not a gargoyle.

Gargoyle tartar! (No gargoyles were harmed.)

The second best tartare I have had in France.

Even when traveling bike free we can’t help but check out the bike spots on the trains.

Our last stop before Paris was Orléans. We went through Orléans on our bicycles when we rode along the Loire River in 2021. We enjoyed it then, in a sunny October, and knew there was enough to see still for a short stay. This is where the grey November weather caught up with us. What the morning news show called la grisaille. The greyness.

The fog made for a very atmospheric walk along the river.

This narrow building caught our attention in the old streets by the river.

The old town streets giving framed views of Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d’Orléans.

An autumnal display brightens a grey day.

Inside the cathedral on All Saint’s Day.

Joan of Arc, Jeanne d’Arc in French, is honored as a patron Saint of France for her role in defending Orléans in April 1429. You can find her in cathedrals, as statues, and paintings in the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans. Her story is powerful and poignant, as she was only 19 when she was tried for heresy and burned at the stake.

The Happy Travelers looking ahead to Paris.

Next post: Paris!

What makes time in the French alps better? Good friends.

When we end a bike trip nothing feels better than taking a nice break at our wonderful generous friends’ house in the Vallée Verte, France. We shop for food and cook in every day instead of searching for open grocery stores and restaurants. We have leisurely mornings and afternoon naps.

We watch the alpine glow and the cows waiting to go back to their barn.

But this break was even better since we had our dear friends Christine and Cecily joining us for a week. Usually we spend our time in the alps hiking from the house, catching up on stuff, travel planning, cleaning and storing the bikes and trying to help around the house. Their visit gave us the kick in our pants to rent a car and actually get out and see some of the alps. We joke that for folks who have spent so much time in the area we hadn’t seen many of the local sights.

The best way we know to get over jet lag is physical activity in the sunshine. Thankfully the weather cooperated for our first hike, Plaine Joux up to Pointe de Miribel.

Remember to turn around to see the high alps playing peek a boo through the clouds.

The summit! Photo credit to the nice Australian lady hiking with her dog.

I can never get enough of the views – those huge clouds.

The nice hiker with the dog warned us there was a herd of goats with their guard dog on our chosen route down. The dog barked at her and her dog, just so we knew. My sister in Colorado has had these big white guard dogs for her livestock for years so I assured everyone that they aren’t dangerous, just protective. Well, the big white dog did indeed bark at us, but calmed down after we greeted them with good doggie voices.

And I will escort you out of my territory.

If we had done our hike in reverse we would have seen this information sign before meeting the big dog.

The fall colors were changing every day.

For jet lag busting hike number two Rich and Cecily both had their fall appropriate colors on.

After a day just hiking from the house, we headed by car to Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval. The weather was rainy but we all just suited up in our rain gear and headed out on a fantastic waterfall loop.

Cheryl and Christine. Friends for 42 years.

It was hard to know if it was rain or mist from the waterfall. Whatever- it was wet.

A wet day meant we had the trails almost to ourselves.

Cecily and Christine enjoying the break in the rain and the fall colors.

The mix of trees makes for dramatic vistas. As did all the uphill hiking.

Framed waterfall. It was all downhill after this point.

The next day our destination was Chambéry, which is south of Lac du Bourget. A nice walk around the old town, a visit to the Musée Savoisien and lunch.

Musée Savoisien had a great exhibit on houses of the Savoie region, and how and why they were constructed as they were.

Really detailed architectural models of the different house types.

The museum also celebrated one of the region’s most famous dishes.

Tartiflette– potatoes, lardon, onions and reblochon cheese.

At a traditional Savoie restaurant for lunch, Christine had the tartiflette, which was delicious but rich. We all agreed it is not an everyday meal. But so luscious.

Rich captured what we called “our album cover shot”.

We learned a good lesson about renting cars, always add the second driver even though it costs more. Since Rich did all the driving he didn’t get to enjoy the scenery as much as the rest of us. We’re spoiled from California where the rule is that the spouse is always covered when it comes to rental cars. We should have added me as a driver so Rich could relax and enjoy the scenery too. So, with that in mind we took the train the next day. Rich still had to drive us to the train station but then we all got to admire the scenery from La Roche-sur-Foron to Annecy.

First stop in Annecy, where it was market day, a coffee cart.

One of Annecy’s beautiful rivers, Le Thiou. With fun and impressively sited fish graffiti.

Such a picturesque place. The water is crystal clear.

We weren’t the only tourists in town, but it wasn’t super busy. Just pleasantly hopping.

The perfect case for retirement, lounging in chairs by the lake.

After a day at home, shopping and doing an airport run to pick up Hannah, we headed off the next day to Chamonix, a new place for the four Americans. The very impressive roadway leading to Chamonix and the Mont Blanc tunnel was mostly empty since the tunnel is closed for works until December 16, 2024. That made for a lovely traffic free drive along the impressive viaduct roads.

The top of Mont Blanc was shrouded in clouds, but we now had Hannah with us!

Even with the peak covered the view is impressive.

A glacial river and a glacier. Oh, and Cecily and Christine!

Hannah and Cheryl, friends for 40 years. I do love being able to say that. Long term friends are so wonderful.

Rich in front of a mural of famous mountain climbers.

Sadly we had to say to goodbye to Cecily and Christine as they were off by train to Italy for another friend’s 70th birthday party. We dropped them at Annemasse train station, they took the local Léman Express to Geneva, and then trains to Turin. Such a fantastic way to travel.

When we made our nomadic decision it was our hope that we would have friends meet up with us in various places. This visit by Cecily and Christine was so energizing and wonderful. To get to share one of our favorite places, the Vallée Verte, with two of our favorite people was fantastic. The biggest downside to our life as nomads is missing friends and family.

We also had bonus time with Hannah our wonderful host, and some lovely weather to enjoy.

And got high enough to catch a glimpse of the reclusive top of Mont Blanc.

That might look like a dry field, it was actually wet and swampy.

The sign for the cooperative cheese monger in Boëge.

Which has a fantastic cheese vending machine with curated selections, open 24/7. For those cheese emergencies.

Too soon it was time for Rich and I to shoulder our backpacks and head off ourselves. Hannah’s family had arrived so we left them in good spirts and got a lift to the train station in Annemasse.

After our challenging trains with bikes time the previous few weeks we were giddy to have only backpacks. This is so easy! We kept saying to each other.

The travel planner enjoying his stress free train ride.

We were working our way to Paris for a month stay and more visits from friends, but first we had a few stays along the way. More on that in the next post.