Visit to France - March 2006
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Not sure about a region on France or the Earth? Download GoogleEarth for free by clicking here! Then zoom into whatever area you wish to view... | France has to be the land of Sycamore trees and Mistletoe, which seems to be abundant on almost every tree wherever one looks. The high-speed train, the TGV, is incredibly excellent and causes us to bemoan how we in the US have decimated our transportation system. Upon arriving in at Charles de Gaulle Airport, however, it required almost an hour to get train tickets to go to Paris because the ticket machines were either out of order or were unfriendly to US credit cards. We finally had to queue at a ticket counter! The weather in France was excellent, especially in Southern France where we spent lots of time near Avignon and also near the Pyrenees. We first took the train to Avignon where we were met by niece Cathy with children Axelle and Vincent. She took us to Cavaillon and straightened out the snafu I had made with my hotel reservation via the internet...grr. We stayed at a delightful efficiency hotel -ETAP, for several nights so that we could visit and get to know Cathy, her twin Corinne , and Alain who came to pick us up from Sarremezan, some 3 hours away. Cathy and Dominique treated us to many dinners and good jazz, since Domininique is quite a fan and had all the latest stuff. We day-tripped to Avignon to see the Chateau des Papes. Another day, we went, with the entire crew, to Fontaine de Vaucluse - which was a fantasticly interesting place. Then to Sarremezan to meet Rita and family ....and see southern France and the Pyrenees.
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