Final Wrap Up - We Are Home!

I got distracted by the efforts of some at the University to document my competence in teaching what I have been teaching for the past 25 years with gobs of paper. Bureaucratic nonsense for the most part!

Here are the pictures I promised of the grounds at the Marriott Village d'Ile de France. No comments are necessary.

On Wednesday January 9 we went into Paris to go to the d'Orsay which we chose not to visit in the last week of December because of the extremely long lines. On January 5 there were no lines at all, even at the regular ticket door. And we could check our coats! Splendid as always. No photographs, of course, but I did get a good picture of the great clock. Look closely and you may be able to see a bit of Paris through the clock.

On Thursday we went to the enclosed shopping center 20 minutes away by bus. Wow! An Apple store and hundreds, literally hundreds, of top ranked stores. And the outlet mall (outside but connected) houses over 150 top brand name outlets. The rain had returned, but we were astounded at the stores and the crowds!. There were also 20 or more restaurants to choose from. We chose a brasserie and had an excellent lunch and dinner.


Back home to pack. Off we go on our return voyage. Not by ship, however. American Airlines instead.

I have heard from many of you who followed our blog. Even if you left no comment or did not send an email, I hope you enjoyed our trip with us.

John and Connie

Monday January 7, 2013 in France

Another work and rest day outside Paris at our Marne la Vallée condo.

Carole and Jay Haggerman wanted to see the inside of the condo. Here we go. The entrance hall.

The great room (living room and dining room combined)

The living room/dining room

The dining room

The patio

The kitchen

The washer/dryer

The downstairs bathroom

The entrance closet

The stairs up

And up some more

The upstairs hall and bathroom

The guest bedroom.

The guest bedroom. Another view.

The guest bedroom closet

The master bedroom

The master bathroom with closet open.

The master bathroom

The toilet and bidet.

The master bath.

Tomorrow we will tour the grounds.

Back to work on my class.

Quiet Time, Work Time at the Condo

We are in our condo (well one of our weeks) at Marriott Village d'Ille de France near Disneyworld Paris. Here is a view of the front of our unit for this visit.

And here is the view from the rear.

As intended, we are having quiet time and work time in France. These ducks are also enjoying a quiet time in the pond just back of our unit.

We also have a golf course just behibd us. We have seen golfers every day. I failed to include any in my picture, however.

This is another view from our patio. The golf course is on the left, the duck pond in the center, and other condos to the right.

Friday night we went by bus to a nearby shopping center for Italian food. I needed some lasagna! Last night we went to the Chicago Steakhouse at the entrance to Disneyworld. I needed some steak. Tonight we will eat at the bar (or probably take out from the bar) here at Marriott Village d'Ille de France.

I hve been working on my class for next term. I have two major revisions still to do but I have already accomplished a lot. No interruptions. Quite. A wonderful setting!

We have two days left on our train pass so we may go somewhere in the middle of next week. The pass works for France, Belgium and Germany. I am thinking about Bordeaux as a possibility - to prepare for our summer trip.

I will continue to post something every day. It may just reflect the quiet reading and work we are doing.

Departing Montpellier for Marne La Vallée - Friday January 4, 2013

Today we depart Montpellier. Before leaving I want to share with you the wonderful transportation in Montpellier: the tram system. There are 4 different tram lines, three of which extend deep into the suburbs. The fourth circles the city. All but the latter stop at the Hotel de Ville where the new Courtyard by Marriott opened in February 2012. All 4 of them stop at the train station (Gare de Roch). These lines are called the Swallows, the Flowers, the Sea and the Sun lines. Here they are:

Line 1 - The Swallows (Blue)

Line 2 - The Flowers (Orange)

Line 3 - The Sea (Green)

Line 4 - The Sun (Black). We thoroughly enjoyed riding the trams. It is an excellent system! Trains are quiet, easy to enter and leave, inexpensive to ride, and constantly available. Only on New Years day did we wait more than 5 minutes for any line.

We are now on a TGV to Marne la Vallee. I hope the weather is as beautiful there as it is here!

Day Trip to Nimes - Thursday January 3, 2013

Arnold went to a doctor at 10:00. Connie didn't sleep all night. jennifer decided to go to the doctor in the afternoon. Arnold took his pills and felt better. So Arnold and I left for a quick trip (30 minutes) to Nimes at 2:30.

We walked to the Tourist Office by a number of imposing buildings of which this is one.

There are three ancient Roman buildings in Nimes. We saw two of them. The first was the colosseum. Of the 200 or so colosseums still extant, the one in Nimes is the best preserved. It was built about 80 BC.. Here are several views of the colosseum.

Another ancient Roman building is the temple, a building styled after the Parthenon. It was built early in the first century and is the oldest remaining Roman building of this type in the world.

We returned to the train station and returned to Montpellier where we found Connie and jennifer feeling somewhat better.

Tomorrow we leave for Marne la Vallée and the Marriott Val d'Ille de France. Jennifer and Arnold go to CDG for their return to the United States on Saturday.

A Trip to Avignon - Wednesday January 2, 2013

Arnold was at the drugstore at 8:30 when it opened to get more medicine for Jennifer and himself. Connie seemed better. After breakfast (croissants, tea, coffee, and bread) we headed for the SNCF station and Avignon.

We arrived in Avignon about 13:00, went to the Tourist Office, then had lunch. Our first tourist stop was Pont Saint Bénezet. The bridge was built between 1171 and 1185, suffered damage from floods several times and then rebuilt. At one time it had 22 arches. There are only 4 that remain. The 1668 flood almost destroyed the entire bridge and it has not been rebuilt since then. In the middle ages it was the only bridge across the Rhone River.

At one end was a toll booth which collected levies on those who used the bridge. Revenues were used to support the hospital which was lodged in this tower.

After visiting the bridge (but not using it), we went to the Palace of the Popes. Rick Steves suggested that we get an audio guide to help understand "the barren papal palace …[and]…the complete lack of furnishings."

The palace is huge. Like all palaces it has been extended and enlarged many times. It was built quickly in the early 1300s after the French pope felt more secure in France tan in Italy where the pope was expected to be Italian.

The Church bought the town of Avignon and moved the entire papacy (500 plus personnel) to Avignon. There continued to fortify the Palace of the Pope until the papacy was returned to Italy in 1403.

The pictures you see here will give you a flavor of the palace but only a flavor. We thought Rick Steves did not do the Pope's Palace justice with his less than enthusiastic description.

After our somewhat brief visit to Avignon we returned to Montpellier, had dinner, and retired for the evening.