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Nancy and Doug Trips

Nancy and Doug Trips

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
Our lifelong travel bug has given us our most prized ‘possessions’ - the many memories from business and especially family trips.
 “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” Read more🇨🇦British Columbia
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    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Stop Saint Leon in Bayonne, 43 stops from start at au Jardin in Biarritz
      First views of Bayonne and the old wall.Ver nice room with a sitting area...Comfortable king bed.....And a courtyard view from outside our windowTour team leader Helen who is a Brit transplanted 17 years ago to Andalusia.The hotel is located within the executioners tower, one of three Roman towers built in the 300s ADGreen shutters marks a farming family, blue seafarers, oxbow redExcellent dinner!Salad...yum!Group sharing...rainy but warm walk home.

      Arrival Bayonne

      May 30 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      We took the 1.40 E bus ride 50 minutes to Bayonne and found Hotel des Basses Pyrenees built into the ramparts of the old wall a 10 minute walk away from our stop at Saint Leon. As we walked into town we could see the ?moat,wall and cathedral which looks impressive. Arrived 2 hours before the meet up with our group. Introductions, an orientation stroll and then a very good dinner with generous helpings: salad and Hake on garlic mashed potatoes. Nancy found the hake similar to halibut, just abit softer and moister…Beth liked it too.Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      1Les Halles poisson market.
      Isn't this the fish in that basket in Mama Mia?Interesting sea plant to try if Nancy sees it on the menu...Beth will probably be less keen.Great selection of fromage.It must be artichoke season!Hotel near Plaza BellevuePlace de BellevueLooking over the Grand Beach: Surfers ParadiseGorgeous weather today. Basque Country is the wettest spot in all of FrancePaellaOld Fisherman's PortBasque fishermen housesFishing and WhalingA tribute to the Commune...reprises have disarmed since 2018. Franco was very nasty to the Basques.Pedestrians bridge1Too soon to leave Biarritz!

      Biarritz

      May 30 in France ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Checked out at 11 am. and back at 2 pm. after a 5 km walk along the sea promenade, taking in the views. In 1660 King XIV, the Sun King, married a Spanish princess Maria Therese (who at age 21 was reported one ugly with only 3 teeth!) thus ending the wars between France and Spain… in the small town, just a stone throw from here called St Jean de Luc. We are just 22 km from the Spanish border. Napoleon III, in addition to remodeling Paris, designed Biarritz to be a major destination for the 17 and 18th centuries of the upper crust, and since the 1950’s a surfing culture has developed. It is very clean, and although some of the original concrete and pavement is weathered in the charming Eutopean way that makes trips easy, it is a prosperous looking place. We took in the central market and then walked the long promenade with its beachfront views passing through the old fishing port then via a pedestrian bridge out to the rocks with its statue of the Mary. A quick break at the B and B, and we were off by bus and our meet-up with the Rick Steves tour.Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Waiting for our track to come up on the departure board
      ? Another Camino walkerWhizzing by....Dinner at California KitchenPollack is a soft bland fish...looked great thoughSurfing culture and lots of young people living it upNot sure what this says but probably entertaining poster in bathroomSunset walk after dinnerWho built this?Old and new glitz1Pedestrian walkway out to the rocksBack at our hotel

      Gare Montparnasse / arrival Biarritz

      May 29 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      We left Hotel Eugenie at 0930 hrs via Bus 74 to Gare Montparnasse which is large with 28 tracks. Found our way to the proper level for our train starting here and terminating in Hendaye, and we are getting off two stops before at Biarritz. I'm surprised that most houses just outside of Paris had clay tile roofs. Largely seemed fields of hay, wheat, and vineyards. Prolonged stop at one station, and it was most of our travel time. Nancy who had her head buried in Penguin updates, panicked momentarily as to whether we needed to get off. We laughed later as posted just our window the station was labeled Dax. Sadly, the interruption was due to an investigation of a death or accident on the tracks. We googled restaurants and noted it was a public holiday called Ascension, and many people were taking two days off. We arrived about two hours late, and then, due to the holiday, there was a prolonged wait for the bus with final arrival at Maison de Lierre at about 8 pm. Found our way to dinner at California Kitchen, where Beth had fish and chips and Nancy fish tacos. We both decided pollock is a rather bland fish, but the dinner overall was good and we sat outside as it was warm with temperatures tomorrow of 30 degrees. Walked part of the waterfront and viewed the last rays of sunset before heading home. There was quite a party atmosphere and this is a hilly town of lots or ups and downs.Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Arrival at Pigalle station.
      Across the street...lunch!A popular place!Wow! These prices are good!!In front of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de MontmartreViews of ParisGargoyles originated in medieval Europe to warn against Evil and serve as rain spouts.Colourful MontmartrePortrait painter in Place du TertreJacques Brel got his start here, Woody Allan movie at Le Consulat, meeting place of artists.We took a break at Le Consulat, watching the world pass by...buildings around here are 900y old!Two of the original windmills remain.La Maison Rose on Rue de l'Abrevoir, foot of Sacre-Coeur is one of Paris' most photographed spots.After a Google wander with unplanned detours: The Moulin Rouge!We had previously decided that getting out to a show at 11 pm was beyond our abilities!

      Montmartre

      May 28 in France ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      We got off M12 at Pigalle Square and across the street was our lunch destination at Bouillon Pigalle. Opened in 2017, this brasserie recreates the atmosphere of the Parisian restaurants in the 19th century by the Duval butcher group with the intent of serving French food from all regions at reasonable prices. And reasonable price they are. Beth opted for the salmon spinach pie in puff pastry with a side salad and 250 mL of Chardonnay (€20) and Nancy had escargot, Ravioli Dauphine made with Conte cheese and topped with leeks, rose wine, fruit compote and an espresso (€28). The tables are close and we had amicable tourist companions: A couple from Thailand who are American/Thai and a couple from the USA who immigrated there 20 years and were enjoying a 3 week first visit to Europe. The Thai woman coaxed Nancy into the snails which she had described as acceptable but not as tasty as the ones in Vietnam served with hot sauce. We had a leisurely 2 hour lunch and set out to walk to the Place du Tertre, a hang out for portrait artists and tourists. Along the way, we decided to take the funicular (€2.50) and enjoy the view from Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. Walking back down we came across La Maison Rose and Dalida’s statue. We found our way down to take a picture of the Moulin Rouge before heading back about 8 pm via Bus 74 from Blanche station. Tomorrow we say “Au Revoir” to Paris and travel 784 km by high speed train to Biarritz in the south of France.Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Hey! It's Mona!
      The hordes clustered around Mona Lisa circa 1503-06The Wedding at Cana by Pablo Veronese 1562: Christ joins a Venetian party.To the left: painter Veronese, to the right TitianThe Coronation of Napoleon by J-L David, 1806, the painter is just above Napoleon's crownGuide to identifying people in the huge painting of Napoleon's coronation.Liberty Leading the People, Delacroix 1830, 1800s romanticism and neoclassicalismLooking down on the hallway of Renaissance sculptures.Beth examining Michelangelo's statue The Slaves: he was a master of the male formMannerist Style: a lighter lengthened sculpturePsyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss by Canova 1787Place de la Concorde1Beth amused at Nancy's first try of Escargot ... surprisingly Beth declined a bite!

      The Louvre Part 2

      May 28 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      We both agreed that we enjoyed the museum using the audio guide but were ready for lunch and a change of pace. So we headed to catch the bus for Montmartre. Finding bus stops at times proves elusive even with Google Maps. We ended up walking through the Tuileries Garden to Place de la Concorde and from there took Metro 12 to lunch.Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Hotel Eugenie breakfast ... fresh croissants each day!
      Our hotel's baking on site...we could smell breads baking from a nearby Boulangerie in our roomTypical breakfast.The LouvreVenus de Milo, Greek goddess of love and beauty, 150 BC1Beth as Athena, Greek God of WisdomProcession of Panathenaic Festival: Parthenon friezeRoman statues moved out as they reconditioned the ceilings.Winged VictoryImpressive royal passage housing Crown Jewels including the Regent DiamondDaughter of Josephine first wife of Napoleon ICrown of empress Eugénie wife of Napoleon IIIMedieval ages painting:St Francis 1226Renaissance Gallery 3 football fields longNo one seems to stay long looking at this Leonardo DaVinci painting...yet it is quite striking

      The Louvre

      May 28 in France ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      After our nice French breakfast at the hotel we were ready for the big morning at the world's most famous art gallery.

      We had 0930h admission tickets to the Louvre and as expected we were not particularly early. The world s largest museum is about has the equivalent to 8 miles of galleries and t would take 13 (24 hour) days to see every piece displayed. This previous palace became a museum after the French Revolution and 8.4 million people visited in 2024 (Olympics year). We followed the Rick Steves Louvre Tour audio guide and found it a useful way of navigating the evolution of prehistory to 1850’s art. Famous Greek originals such as the Venus de Milo evolving into Roman statues and then Middle Ages religious themes and finally the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time of art, science and humanism. Three dimensional painting of the idealized beauty, Greek mythology, religious scenes, great battles and political events.Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Haussmann block building
      1View from the TrocadéroA bit tired during a late evening crepe - 8 pm!

      Eiffel Tower

      May 27 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Following this we decided on Beth’s bucket list Eiffel Tower instead of Montmartre so Nancy moved it to the next day and scratched off the Champs Elysses and Arc de Triomphe. We sprung for the elevator ride to the 2nd level fearing a case of FOMO as Jan had regretted not taking a ride. Nancy and Jan had lost each other in the crowd two years ago and faced with the last run of the hop-on-hop off bus and fatigue were not able to go. As it turned out, we were glad to take in the views but the 45 minute wait to get a ticket and on the elevator seemed long. Following this we walked over to the Trocadéro, took in a long range view of the tower and then feeling some of the tourist end of day “feet are sore and out of steam” we took the first café that looked reasonable called Frog XV which turned out to be a British pub rather than a place specializing in frogs legs as Beth feared. We opted for ribs but noted it really is a wings and beer place, giving it a disappointing 5/10 but we had no fear of food poisoning. We took the metro back, managing a smooth transfer between stops back to our now familiar neighbourhood.

      We have a lot of pictures of and on the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World’s Fair by Gustav Eiffel. It was meant to be a temporary structure but here it still is and looked as stable and grand as it always has.      Read more

    • Nancy and Doug TripsTravelerParis, Basque Country & Camino
      Pine Trees with Figure in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital 1889

      Musee d'Orsay

      May 27 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      We walked about 20 minutes from the hotel to the world’s premier museum of Impressionist painting. The impressionists (approximately 1840 to WW1 which is known as the “Belle Époque”) was the time of departure from classical style and themes to lighter, more relevant painting. At first, the Society rejected such art but it proved very popular and some artists lived long enough to see financial reward while others died early such as Vincent Van Gogh. We followed the Rick Steves audio guide, which was helpful but due to the museum moving pieces there was a search for the key pieces.Read more

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