Back to Paris from Marseille 10-7-15

Today we bid Au Revoir to Marseille and took the TGV back to Paris.  For those of you who are not aware of it, the TGV stands for Train Grande Vitesse (High Speed Train) and it goes from Marseille on the Mediterranean coast all the way up to Paris in a smidge over 3 hours.  That's about 480 miles in 3 hours, at one point I noticed that the little display showed our speed at 302 Km/Hour or around 187 mi/hr.  We were flying, but the fun part is that when the vistas are open it doesn't seem like you're going that fast.  We had a brief stop in Lyon to trade passengers and then off like a rocket again.
We were up before sunrise (approx 8:00), and the train left at 8:40.  Since our hotel, Hotel Alex, was right across the street from Gare St. Charles it was a 5 minute walk to be right at the train.  If you have a stay planned in Marseille the Hotel Alex might be a good choice, it's reasonably priced and quite nicely appointed, very clean, but if you're a light sleeper you may want to bring earplugs if your room is on a lower floor,  the top floor is very quiet.
We were back in Paris by just after noon, and as soon as we walked out of the station we were blessed with a view of a procession of striking workers, but no impact so no harm.  We passed the rest of the day catching up on apartment stuff and Deb did laundry.  Since we leave again in about a week for Berlin-Prague-Vienna for a few weeks we need all of our clothes cleaned and ready.  I broke another piece of the tooth I had repaired a few months back just before we left on this trip (bad luck), so I need to see the dentist again before we leave,  I made the appointment on the train down to meet Mel and Mar, so all is good.

A Day in Marseille 10-6-15

Today's visit in Marseille has us changing gears a bit, originally we had planned to visit a museum called MUCEM.  The museum of the history of the mediterranean civilizations, but of course since our entire trip was based on our visit with Mel and Mar then with Julia and Jose, the days we would be in Marseille were pretty well predetermined.  So it turned out that the day we would be here was the day of the week on which the museum was closed, bad luck!  So we punted and headed for the Museum Cantini, when we got there we looked at the opening hours and it said that it was open everyday, so we went to find a little snack as it was about lunchtime.
 When we returned we rang the bell as instructed and were met with a voice asking what we needed, so we said we wanted to enter and see the collection.   The response was that they had closed last Thursday and would now be closed for a few weeks for some renovation, Waaa!   But we had a bit of an ace in the hole and went to the third museum, the Museum of the History of Marseille, which we knew to be open since we had checked as we walked by on the way to Cantini.
What a wonderful experience this turned out to be, how fortunate for us.  It follows the history of Marseille from prehistory up through the 20th century, focusing more on the time period beginning about 6000 BC.  They have a plethora of artifacts beginning with the Greeks who settled here about 500 BC and continuing on to the Romans about 49 BC when Julius Caesar conquered the city up to the 20th century.
We especially enjoyed the outdoor portion of the museum which are the ruins of the head of the port as it existed during Greek and Roman times.  One can see the walls and foundations of the eastern gate of the city during Greek occupation.  There are also foundations and low walls from after the Roman conquest and dating up to about 500 CE.  The Roman road into the city is paved with flat stones that have been intentionally grooved to add traction for horses hooves and it sits 2 meters above the original Greek road.  One of the two towers for the original gateway still has an outer wall standing while a second tower has 3 partial walls standing, very interesting.
 The wharf area is still outlined with low walls with some sea steps up to the quai.
Inside the museum there are the remains of 4 early sailing vessels, one a Greek trading boat and two other ones much larger Roman trading boats, all found within the city when old buildings were razed in order to build new commercial buildings.  The archeologists were given a limited time to recover them, and the results are very interesting.  Along with the boats there are all manner artifacts, both architectural and  decorative, and a reconstruction of a 5th century graveyard.   Interestingly the city fathers were quite ruthless in destroying medieval buildings in the 18th and 19th century in order to redevelop the city so that period is the least prevalent.   It was also fun to see travel posters from the 19th century when Marseille became a major port for steamships going all over the world.
After our museum visit we took a little time to sit at an outdoor table of a cafe for a post visit drink before heading back down to the vieux port for dinner.  We were a little skittish after the fiasco last night but we decided to go back to the restaurant where we had eaten six years ago.  La Dourade sits just opposite our disappointing
restaurant, but as soon as we got in we knew we were in for a special experience.  I ordered Soupe de Poisson while Deb ordered beignets of diverse shellfish for appetisers which were delicious.  Deb ordered a Loup (sea bass) Mariniere with seafood garnish and I had Lotte medallions and Moules in a saffron cream sauce, both were superb.  We had a Cote de Aix en Provence rose that matched perfectly.  During the dinner we ended up having a very nice conversation with two couples at the next table who were very charming and quite welcoming.  All this and over 20 euros less than last night had us quite giddy for our walk home.

Martigues 10-5-15

Today we took the bus from Marseille to Martigues to visit a town made known to us through the papers of John Edward Thompson.  Thompson was a Denver artist of national renown during the 1920's to 1940's but has fallen into obscurity since his death in 1946.  Anyway we wanted to see the town he had visited, while studying and painting during his time in Europe from 1902 to 1914.
According to Jose our host from Arles it is sometimes called the Venice of France, due to an island between the northern and southern parts of town that boasts a canal and festively colored houses.  It is now a yacht basin and boasts many beautiful boats.
It was enjoyable to see the countryside around Marseille from the bus as we traveled to Martigues, it is heavily populated with small towns and outlying olive groves.  We got off the bus in the south part of town and walked across a bridge to the island and then across another bridge to the north part of town looking for the tourist information bureau.
Once there we got a map of town and walked back looking at sites on the walking tour.  We spent several hours absorbing the feel of the place and enjoying the architecture, though not as scenic as the Lot it still has that Mediterranean appeal.
After our visit we headed back to Marseille to go to dinner at the Vieux Port, an area next to the harbor quite touristy but having many good restaurants.  But we found out, some that are less good as well.  I pressed for a place that was the site of the good bouillabaisse we had on our first visit to Marseille, or so I thought.   In the space of 3 days I've had the good fortune to taste a wonderful old plum brandy, eau de vie, that was as old as me, and also the bad fortune to taste a bouillabaisse that seemed to have fish of the same age, they were dry with no flavor to speak of and the half lobster may have been older than me.  Deb's experience was really no better.  The only redeeming thing was the grilled shrimp appetizer and the Rose wine from Cassis.
 Thus giving credence to the notion that there is bad food to be had in France, if you really try.   Perhaps the restaurant changed ownership, it marks the only one out of the three I've eaten that was not delicious.  But tomorrow is another day and I'm an optimist.

A Day Out in Provence 10-4-15

Our day with Julia and Jose turned out to be really fun for us, and for them I hope, it was sunny after yesterday's instant deluge and the streets were dry.  They took us to a vide-grenier (community garage sale if you will) in the village just next to Raphel les Arles where there must have been at least 50 little booths with people trying to sell their stuff.   Lots of baby clothes (ugh) but also some interesting things, Deb and I get excited over iron farm implements and there were a couple things to tempt us but getting them back to the U.S. would have been too much.  So nothing to be had today, but the hunt's the thing.
After our treasure hunt we headed East on a drive through the countryside just below the range of small mountains called Les Alpilles, which is dotted with beautiful little villages.  The houses in these villages are historic but also very expensive. sort of like gentrification meets Greenacres.  We passed one group of three houses where the owners come and go by helicopter.  This area is the one in which I bicycled extensively when we made the first house exchange with Julia and Jose several years ago so it was a bit like a homecoming for me.   Jose took us along many other roads I'd never experienced as well and we passed through acres and acres of olive orchards before we took a turn that ascended pretty quickly up on to an elevated tableland.
We drove through several villages and then came to Aureille,

another pretty little village set below what looked to be the ruins of an old castle fortification perched on the hill directly above, and parked. While I took some pics and Deb and Julia chatted, Jose talked to a local person about what turned out to be our lunch destination, La Table Alonso.
It's located on a residential street a block off a side street with a few small businesses, so one wouldn't find it unless they were specifically looking.  Even the sign isn't terribly encouraging as it looks as if it might be for an old business.
But what a meal! It could easily rival a top restaurant in Paris.  We rang a door bell and Josette answered the door.  Jose talked with her a bit and we had the option of eating inside or at the one table on the patio.  We opted for the patio as the day was sunny and warm, so we greeted each succeeding group of diners as they arrived for lunch.  
Since they only plan for 15 diners max we didn't have much greeting to do and every one was so genial in anticipation of a great meal.  We started with two rounds of amuse-bouches and then three separate hors d'oeuvres before going on to the main course, then a round of cheeses to be followed by two small desserts.
All dishes using organic food and prepared in-house by Josette's husband Gerard.  All this was provided for a fixed price of 40 euros per person.  We shared a bottle of dry Provencal rose which matched perfectly with the Scottish grouse and a wild

mediterranean fish called St.Pierre.  Each course was small but when you eat so many you leave completely satiated, and we were no exception.

Travel Day 10-3-15

Today we are heading our separate ways, Mel and Mar are headed for Lyon while Deb and I are going to meet our friends Julia and Jose in Arles.  But in order to catch our train we had to drive for an hour down to Cahors and turn in the rental car.  We wanted to be certain to be there early enough to turn in the car and get to the station before our train.  So we started out before sunrise and drove down in the dark.  It was supposed to be rainy most of the day so when the sun was up it was still quite grey because of the clouds.  However it all went like clockwork and we made it in plenty of time to have a coffee and croissants before the train came.
When the train got to the station it turned out to be one of the little "sausage" trains, with 3 small cars but we found a nice set of seats and settled in for the hour long ride to Toulouse.
Once we got to Toulouse it was time to part ways so I helped Mel and Mar with luggage over to their platform while Deb waited for me at the station.  They were off in good order, while we had about a 40 minute wait for our train.  It was sunny and warm when we boarded the train for Arles, but as we came around the gulf it started spitting rain.
By the time we reached Arles it was coming down pretty hard so we hustled into the station where Julia and Jose were waiting.  Then it really started raining, seriously, we got wet loading bags into the car even with an umbrella and by the time I opened the door to get in door handle indent collected about a half inch of water.
We started seeing flooding in the street just as we left the town and in less than a mile the water was close to 8 inches in the street.  A little further and the flooding was bad enough that we had to turn around and take an alternate route that was raised above the surrounding fields that were looking like ponds at that point.

But we got to their house in good order and spent a lovely evening eating a splendid dinner that Julia had prepared.We had a few minutes getting reacquainted with Rani and Sita the cats. Then we sta
rted with a lovely aperitif, Cardhu 12yr single malt, lovely indeed.  Then we got down to serious enjoyment.  Oysters on the half shell, and  smoked salmon for the first plate, followed by an absolutely perfect filet en croute, red and juicy wrapped in a crisp phyllo dough wrapper.  All accompanied with excellent wines.
They had procured some light as air pastries to finish.  Then to top everything thus far they produced a 67 year old bottle of plum brandy.  So Jose and I celebrated with a drink created the year we were both born.  Then it was bed for us all after feasting like kings.

A Trip through the Middle Ages 10-2-15

Today was a drive that took us on a trip through the middle ages only to the north of the village of Issepts, whereas yesterday we went to the South .   We drove through several towns and villages with buildings that were built during that period and are in many cases still inhabited.
Our first town was the town of Gramat, where there was an outdoor market in progress.  It was perhaps the largest town we visited, with many old building and charming narrow streets converted to pedestrian traffic.  We stopped and walked through the market trying to decide on lunch;  either a picnic or at a restaurant.  As we walked through the town the women made an executive decision, it would be a restaurant today.  So no purchases.
We left town headed north towards St. Cere and focused on the countryside for interesting possibilities either to visit or to eat.  We stopped at one small town, Lavergne, where there was a good example of a romanesque church likely from the 11-12th Century and took a few pictures.

We kept heading North and happened to see a sign for a view of La Cascade (the falls) so we made a quick left and headed into the farm country.  After a few miles of wandering along a winding road we came to a parking area and found a sign pointing to a trail to the falls.  The trail was pretty good but fairly rough so Deb and Mar opted to wait while Mel and I walked up to the overlook.
The falls were pretty meager in the waning months of summer but still a couple hundred feet tall. But the view into the valley was breathtaking, we stood on an escarpment and looked over a wide valley with steep sides topped with cliffs on each side with heavy forest all around.
 Nestled down in the valley about half way was a small town with a beautiful church steeple.  On one side there was what looked to be a building of sorts at the base of the cliffs way up on the hillside.  At that point Mel and I made and executive decision that this was going to be our destination for a look around.  So we walked back down the trail, met Mar and Deb and drove down into a medieval fairytale town, Autoire.
As we drove into town it was immediately apparent that this was going to be our lunch stop.  So we stopped and found the ,Auberge de la Fontaine, a little restaurant right on the one lane road through the center of town.  We sat out on the porch and ordered some regional cuisine.  Marlyne had veal in creme sauce, foie gras with a fig, ratatouille, and frites,  Deb had steak au poivre vert, with frites, a salad with melted Rocamador cheese and ratatouille, I had lamb in a garlic creme sauce, carrots frites, ratatouille, and a salad of lettuce, gessiers (gizzards) and lardons,
while Mel had a simple plate of a pork pate and a simple salad, but he also had a doughnut napped in whipped cream and a red fruit coulee (honestly the first time I've seen doughnuts as a menu item in France).
After lunch we walked across the street and went into the Romanesque church build in 1011, and classically austere and wonderfully serene.  Mel and Deb went through a bit longer while I went out and around the building next door to look a ruined watermill down by the stream.   The building up at the foot of the cliffs looks like perhaps a hermitage or a fortified building, kind of like Mesa Verde. It is hard to express how much of historic interest is in this area to be seen, virtually everywhere we've gone has some little gem of architecture or history.   While they walked back to the parked car I walked further down the valley through the town where they picked me up several minutes later.
I could have taken hundreds of pictures without a qualm.
But alas, this being our last day here we had to head back to meet the owner of our house for the checkout process.  We're leaving very early in the morning to catch trains in Cahors so we need to be on the road before sunrise.   What a refreshing 3 days it's been.  
Tomorrow we head for Arles, to meet Julia and Jose and spend a night with them before heading down to Marseille and our research on John Edward Thompson in Martigues.  It may be a couple days before the next update but I'll be posting as soon as possible.

A Petit Regional Drive 10-1-15

Today was a little drive in the region of Issepts.  We started out with a trip over to Assier to see the remnants of a Renaissance chateau, constructed by the Grand Ecuyer (minister) for Francois I in the early 1500's.  All that is left is the west wing of what was once a chateau created around a large courtyard.  It also had extensive lands that are now subdivided into surrounding farms.
The chateau itself has little furnishings but there was an exhibition descriptions of the duties and prerogatives of the Grand Ecuyer, such as he precedes the king in all major processions and had to plan the major processions.   During the wars he was also the master of ordinance, so was charged with providing cannon, shot, and powder for the sieges and wars undertaken by Francois and directing the firing.
After viewing the chateau we decided we would go to Figeac to view the town and go to the Champollion Museum.  Champollion was the gentleman credited with breaking the code of the Rosetta Stone and opening the way to interpretation of Egyptian Hieroglyphics.  He was also instrumental in furthering the process of systematic archeology for Egypt.  A very interesting museum but in truth if you can't read French very well, like me, the museum becomes one of looking at the exhibits without really figuring out the nuances of the explanations.  Still there were some very interesting objects to be seen and we enjoyed the visit.
 Afterwards we met Mar and Deb who were indulging in their afternoon Kir at a little restaurant before we went our separate ways to procure provisions for dinner.




On the way home we went through the small village of Cardaillac, which is a medieval village dating from around 700 during the reign of Pepin the Short, Charlemagne's father.   It's very small and situated on a group of rocks up on the hillside overlooking a valley.  A small quiet and lovely little burg.   From there we drove back to our house and another enjoyable dinner with our hosts Mel and Mar.