Oui Oui! We Have Arrived in France!

Saturday and Sunday were travel days for us as we departed from the Portland airport at 1:30 pm on Saturday, and arrived in Paris on Sunday at 10:30 am. Twelve hours of flying is a LONG time, but everything went without a hitch. I got a lot of reading done, watched the movie The Joneses (with Demi Moore and David Duchovny), and took the smallest of cat naps. After arriving in Paris, we loaded up our little rental car and headed out for Giverny.




GIVERNY

Giverny, 50 miles west of Paris, is the home of Claude Monet's gardens (and yes, his famous water lilies). What a delightful way to begin our French experience, especially since we were travel weary and tired of our many hours of sitting.








ROUEN

We stopped off in Rouen, a 2,000 year old city west of Giverny, to poke about and do a little exploring. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon when we visited and while in town for our short stopover, we managed to visit the Place du Vieux Marche (old market square), Notre-Dame Cathedral, Palace of Justice, the Big Clock, St. Maciou Church, the Joan of Arc church, and the Plague Cemetery. (You'll figure out quite quickly that I love churches and I love cemeteries . . .)










Here's a peek into the Plague Cemetary (now home of an art school):







HONFLEUR

Our lovely hotel in Honfleur, the Hotel du Dauphin, is situated right in the heart of the town square.




Here are some sights from around Honfleur, including some creepy doll art I loved!









Honfluer is a beautiful little town and we've only begun to explore it (we're here for two nights).

And darn it. We missed a monthly flea market in Honfleur by only a matter of an hour. The vendors were packing up just as we were going for an evening stroll.


We were in bed and asleep by 9:00 p.m. It has been a long while since we have been up for a straight 24 hours! On the agenda for today? Normandy and the D-Day Beaches.

Viva La France

Yes, it's true, I'm heading to France. For a month. I've never been (although two of my kids have gone). A couple of years ago Howard and I spent a month in Italy, so we're doing the same kind of trip where we go for long enough to immerse ourselves into the culture. We leave tomorrow afternoon, so today has been a day of tying up loose ends in preparation for our departure. I plan to blog our way through France, the same way I blogged our way through Italy (with occasional guest blogging appearances by Howard). Today I closed up the studio for the month and made arrangements to have the plants watered.



We've been kinda packing throughout the week, but began putting things in our suitcases last night (including Howard).


I got our travel books together and my walking shoes. (And for all of you who were horrified that I was only taking one pair of shoes, you will be pleased to know that I have finally succumbed to pressure and will be taking an extra pair. So there.)


I also figured out which books I want to take for pleasure reading. I picked out a new one at the bookstore (The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane).


And two back-ups (in case the first one sucks or if I get through it during our 12 hours of flying).


And of course I'm taking this book, cause you know what I plan to do as much as possible . . . .


I'm only taking one pair of earrings, the ones that Tabor made especially for me.


And then of course I'll be taking my sketchbook, which will double, make that triple, as a travel journal and watercolor journal, as well as a place to add all sorts of pre-sorted images as well as collected ephemera.




So I hope you'll check in regularly and take this trip to France with us. We'll be staying in the following towns and cities: Honfleur (Normandy and D-Day Beaches), Chenonceaux, Sarlat, Carcossone, Arles, Vaison la Romaine, Antibes (aka the French Riviera), and Paris -- of course we'll be visiting all kinds of cities and villages besides these from the north of France to the Mediterranean in the south. We'll be travelling by car, canoe, boat (bigger than the canoe), bicycle, Metro, bus, and train. I'll be meeting up with an on-line friend who is travelling from London to meet me! I'll also be getting together with one of my daughter's friends who now lives in Paris. I'll report on the flea markets I visit, the junk I find on the ground, and anything crazy and out of the ordinary I discover. It should be a lively adventure and I'd love to have you come along.



Oh, and I just have to share that Stewart, Sam's sweetie pie, has told Howard that he will take care of the law practice while we are away. Stewart had some new signs made up and some publicity photos of him with the new signs. I know Howard feels like he is in good hands.

Open Toed Footwear NOT Permitted

It was playtime on Thursday when I got to hang out with Tory, Steph, and Tabor. After giving Tabor a tour of my studio, Tory had a trunk show, sharing her latest Santos creation (it's gonna be magnificent!).





We ate lunch at the wonderful Wild Pear in downtown Salem (yum yum Sweet Potato Fries).



We made a quick stop off at Mary Lou Zeek's Gallery (to see Tory's art work for sale there).


Then off we went to our destination: Burcham's Metals in Albany.




ONLY TO DISCOVER:


So, off to Goodwill we zoomed so the open-toed shoe people could pick up a pair of closed toe shoes. Success.







Finally we got to explore the junkyard bonanza! Tom, who is the Site Sales Coordinator at Burcham's, served as our guide and liaison - he was amazing. If you ever need anything, he's your man.













Next time we visit a metal junkyard we're bringing four things: Closed toe shoes, gloves, bolt cutters, and baby wipes. Just sayin' . . . .