We slept wonderfully in our beautiful little cabin, and the following morning we waited to see the other Canadians emerge from breakfast before we ventured out. I was amazed that my mother also didn’t like them: she is so much friendlier and less curmudgeonly than me. We ran into them
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wmtc: rouen
My plan for Rouen was a bit more complicated than it had to be. I was reasonably certain it would prove well worth it. There are many hotel options in Rouen, but they all left me unimpressed, mostly chain hotels or what sounded like dumps. I thought for the final
Continue readingwmtc: giverny to rouen
I have a lot to write tonight, and only two fingers to write with, so I may have to post this in two parts. Yesterday, after we dried off, we rested for the afternoon. I remembered that our host needed payment in cash, so we asked about an ATM… and
Continue readingwmtc: giverny, plus tablet and ptsd updates
Keyboard I love my Nexus 7. I hate the Minisuit keyboard, although the problem might be Bluetooth. To blog, I need a keyboard, and I need to use Blogger via the website, as the Android app is too limited. (That seems silly, since Blogger is a Google product.) Using Blogger
Continue readingwmtc: paris, day four
We had quite a big day today! Most of it was completely wonderful. I woke up kicking myself that I forgot to take pictures of R and Connie and me. I had the camera with me precisely for that reason and never even thought of it. And by the way,
Continue readingwmtc: paris day three encore, in which I admit ptsd is forever
So it turns out it’s not just my snoring that’s keeping Connie up at night. It’s noises “that sound like you’re upset,” says my mother. Allan recently told me that I cry or startle or semi-scream in my sleep on a regular basis. The incidents I think of as rare
Continue readingwmtc: paris, day three
We are back in our cozy room after a long, fun day with R… who I very much hope is now on the train to London! Connie and I went to – you guessed it – Au Tramway for breakfast. We had the lovely petit dejeuner complet, with baguette, butter
Continue readingwmtc: paris, day two
Connie and I were both dead to the world by 9:00 p.m., and when I next opened my eyes, it was 8:30 a.m. Yes! That’s an unheard of amount of sleep for me, and I needed it. We had breakfast in the hotel and were soon back on the Metro.
Continue readingwmtc: paris, day one
Nous somme ici! Connie (my mother) and I got tired of killing time in her apartment and decided to have dinner at the airport. Somehow we managed to stay awake until our 11:30 flight, but my mom was asleep soon after takeoff. I, of course, was up all night, as
Continue readingwmtc: tablet update and off to paris
I’ve had a busy and wonderful couple of days visiting family and friends. Today my mom and I are planning our sightseeing, packing, doing last-minute errands, and generally getting in vacation mode. What i’m writing on I’m loving my new Nexus 7 tablet… with reservations, or perhaps just a learning
Continue readingwmtc: in which I go to paris… with my mother!
From my Flickr page My mother said, “I want to go to Paris. I want to see Paris one more time while I’m still healthy enough and mobile enough to enjoy it. But…” – here comes the good part – “I have no one to go with.” My mom’s best
Continue readingwmtc: a quieter life, plus photos
Finally, some peace and quiet. This is the first time since the sewage flood on July 8 that our home is quiet. This lovely state of affairs exists because we filed a complaint with the Landlord Tenant Board, requesting our Landlord be ordered to stop renovations on the basement until
Continue readingwmtc: in which i try to mail postcards from spain
We used to send a lot of postcards from our travels, but that is a ritual lost to time and email. A few people do still get postcards, though: my mother, Allan’s great aunt in Vermont, and in this case two friends, for specific reasons. I bought the postcards, tucked
Continue readingwmtc: bilbao to madrid, but not toledo
For most of the trip, I was hoping to spend a few hours in Toledo on our last day in Spain. Allan was skeptical at best, feeling it would make the day too rushed and pressured. I was holding out hope until the last moment, but once we found the
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria to gernika and bilbao, part 2
In the Guggenheim, we took audioguides as a substitute for a tour of the building, which in this season are only in Spanish. The audioguide is included with admission, and available in a huge range of languages, including Catalan – clearly a political statement from Basque Bilbao. We joined many
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria to gernika and bilbao, part 1
I almost forgot to mention, we had some interesting news from home. Everything is fine now, but Essie had her hands full for a while! I warned Essie about the danger of skunks in our backyard after dark: absolutely never, ever let the dogs run out into the backyard after
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria, day two
We’ve had another outstanding day of seeing cave paintings, an entirely different experience that complemented the other two cave tours. We left Santillana del Mar early and drove on back-country roads to the town of Puente Viesgo, to see the caves known as El Castillo and Las Monedas. The countryside
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria and asturias, day one
Today we fulfilled a travel wish we’ve harboured for many, many years. We saw two sets of paleolithic cave paintings. * * * * The day started out a bit interesting, with an early-morning phone call that appeared to be from our dogsitter, scaring me (although it turned out to
Continue readingwmtc: madrid to segovia to cantabria
Getting out of Madrid was a whole lot easier than getting in. We found our way to the highway easily, and had a short drive to the town of Segovia, to see its famous Roman aqueduct. It’s pretty amazing to see a gigantic, completely intact stone aqueduct right in the
Continue readingwmtc: madrid, day two
Today was the second half of our Madrid art tour. We were out early again, went back to the same local joint for breakfast (the counterman remembered what we wanted, which we enjoy), and were once again at the museum before it opened. This was Reina Sofia, the national art
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