Oh no, not another holiday …

Not that I have anything against holidays. It's just that after navigating around - or through - four major ones in France this month, Memorial Day just feels like one more chance to recover from jet lag.

After hot hot Paris last weekend, it's jarring to return to "November with leaves" or "winter with flowers" - either will do to describe current Seattle weather. But it was off to Folklife this morning, bundled up. Fun to watch the Kisbetyarok Hungarian Dancers from a comfortable seat, and without having to help clean up a kitchen full of dirty dishes afterwards. (When they perform at Partner Church galas, I watch for a few minutes before scurrying back to the scullery.)

Folklife is also a major event for the Sousa Band, complete with Sedentary Majorette and the world's only sedentary Drill Team. Today I was part of the audience, enjoying the reactions of some friends who had never seen the group in action before.

The Mural Amphitheater is a wonderful place to perform, not just for its setting and acoustics, but its history.

"Nirvana played this stage," said my son, explaining to someone why he particularly loves this Sousa gig.

(And the picture? Seattle Center doesn't have a carousel - this one is in San Sebastian.)

Paris when it sizzles...

And it has been sizzling since Saturday, when we arrived after a short stay in Lyon. It's yet another holiday weekend - Pentecost - and even if it weren't, Parisians would be out celebrating the sunshine, because winter and spring were long and cold here.

Yesterday Leah and I went to the flea market at the Porte de Vanves, where we looked and looked and even bought a couple of small things, but flaked out by a crepe stand before the end of the tables and booths. (The crepe au citron was very good, thank you, though it could have used more citron.)

In Paris we have ridden buses whenever possible, for the opportunity to see the city. Even when full, they are often a better choice than the Metro, which has been crammed full of people all weekend. There are huge things going on in Paris over the holiday - tennis matches at Roland Garros, an enormous garden and farm and plant and animal exhibit on the Champs Elysees, and art exhibits and meetups and ordinary tourist activity. In the midst of all this yesterday, we joined the crowds in the Metro to get Leah and her suitcase to Gare de L'Est, where she was taking a train to visit friends who live in the suburbs.

Anyone who came to Paris for a first look at the Eiffel Tower will be somewhat disappointed. Its lower sections are hung with construction netting, and there's an extensive fence. Other parts of the Champ de Mars are blocked off, and the surrounding area is unbelievably crowded. We were glad to get somewhere quieter on Saturday night.

Tomorrow I leave the hotel at 7:30, to get to CDG in good time to check in for the Seattle flight. In addition to the flea market finds (very small) I'm bringing home a bit of Paris sunburn (not too large, fortunately!)

The sunny southwest, at last...

Finally the weather has changed. Cathy, who has been in France longer than any of us, said she saw a 10-day forecast that confidently predicted weather would improve about this time. Amazingly enough, it did - something those of us from the Pacific NW only believe when it happens!

Yesterday we drove to Cordes sur Ciel, a lovely hill town about an hour and three quarters north of here. It's the place Rick Steves says to avoid because it's an overcrowded tourist trap - which may be true in July, but not necessarily in May. Yesterday we were able to walk right into a restaurant with a view, and during our visit most people we saw were residents going about their normal activities.

Today the sun came out early, and by late afternoon we could sit on the terrace at La Cascade with books or knitting and really enjoy being outside.

Leah and I went off soon after breakfast to explore some of the side roads nearby. After a couple of hours of touring, during which we got no more than about 20 kilometers from Durfort, we still had not run out of interesting small roads to travel. In this part of France (settled for thousands of years) it's difficult to get more than 10 kilometers from a village or small town, and they are all worth a short visit.

After lunch, we went to Soreze, to visit with an American friend who lives in a small 16th-century house she has carefully brought back to life over the past few years. Afterwards, we all walked back to Durfort over a hillside path, enjoying views that included a field of red poppies straight out of a painting by Renoir.

Still freezing in France...

Where yesterday the Finnish ladies discovered that northern Scandinavia is the place to be right now because temperatures ranged between 25 and 29 Celsius (multiply by 2, add 32.)

Meanwhile, we bundle up to go outside, and stay close to the fire indoors. Yesterday the sun came out while we toured & shopped at the market in Revel, but everyone was in parkas. The market is recognized as one of the top regional ones in France, and there is an amazing array of food, most of it produced in the area or not far away.

At the market we purchased the makings for a festive dinner - bouilliabaise, two or three kinds of bread, vegetables Leah later used to produce a delicious chopped salad; several bottles of wine, and for dessert a pear tart AND a strawberry tart. (Leftover tart made a fine addition to this morning's breakfast!)

Today it's quiet. Most of the party have gone off to tour, leaving three of us behind to read or write or tend the fire. The sun is trying to come out.

Further adventures in La Belle France

Even in this age of the Internet, it's possible to feel completely clueless when travel is concerned.

Exhibit A: Weeks ago, when checking on train times for the journey from San Sebastian to Toulouse, I found a midmorning train we could easily make by leaving San Sebastian after breakfast. (To go from that part of Spain to France, it's necessary to take the commuter train to Hendaye, just across the border, then link to SNCF, the French system.)

When I checked a couple of days before we were to leave Spain, I could not find that train anywhere on line. Our best bet seemed to be to leave very early, then put in a couple of long waits.

So we left. Early. Before the sun was really up. The walk to the commute train station was pleasant, and we were in Hendaye much earlier than necessary. When we asked about the train I thought we had to take, the helpful reservations clerk said, "Oh no, Madame, you can take the 10:20" - the connection I wanted all along.

Instead of breakfast in San Sebastian, we dashed through a rainstorm to a cafe across from the station in Hendaye. Although it was called Cafe Jose and was, quite literally, steps from the Spanish border, the server just looked blankly at Leah when she asked for a "bocadillo" instead of a sandwich.

We spent much of that day on trains or waiting for trains, but finally pulled into Toulouse about 4:20 after an uneventful run from Bayonne. Our hotel, directly across from the train station, was quite serviceable, and we were happy to eat dinner and go to bed early.

Reason for wanting a hotel so close to the train was that most car rental offices in Toulouse are at the central station. However, we had not factored in Ascension Day, celebrated this year on Thursday the 13th. At the station, only one car rental office was open, and that agent had no available vehicles.

Plan B was an expensive taxi ride to the airport, where agencies WERE open. Without much fuss, we were soon off in our little silver Twingo, a diesel, which Leah likes so much that she is trying to think of a way to put it in her suitcase to take home! So far we have put nearly 300 kilometers on this peppy little vehicle - first the trip from Toulouse to Durfort on Thursday, then today about 200 kilometers as we drove south to explore some of the Cathar country.

It's cold and windy or raining here most of the time, but when the sun comes out it's lovely. La Cascade, where we stay in Durfort, is as welcoming as ever. This year there is the usual Seattle contingent, augmented with two women from Finland (cousins of a Seattle visitor.) One of the Finnish ladies is a retired biology teacher - the other is the current Finnish ambassador to Romania.

Tomorrow it's the big market in Revel, then back to Durfort to cheer on a parade of vintage cars that's due to come through the village about 11 a.m. Pictures to follow, I hope!!

Last night in San Sebastian.....

So we went to five bars, because Leah had to have the last perfect pintxo experience. (Somewhere in between, we also managed another "must do" - a walk on the wonderful hill climb above the fishing boat harbor.)

As always the food was spectacular, and making choices became the only problem. Our next problem is that tomorrow we're going to France, where people will expect us to sit down to eat a meal all at once - how can we do this after (mostly) standing up to eat small, frequent helpings of tortilla de patatas, bocadillos and a huge variety of pintxos for a week now? It will be a serious adjustment! (And all Spanish coffee is better than French - sad but true.)

Yesterday the weather came on clear, hot and sunny, and we walked all the way around the lovely Playa de la Concha, to the rocky headland where Chillida's 1977 sculptures "comb the wind."

Today it rained, but we took the bus to Hondarribia, about 30 minutes away on the expressway, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring its lower and upper towns. Lower town is contemporary, built mostly in the Swiss-chalet like style so popular around here - upper town is medieval or a bit later, all stone buildings, narrow streets, cobbled plazas, and expansive views. Food is good here, too - while waiting out a rain shower before the San Sebastian bus came, we stopped in to a local cafe, and had a drink. With it came a plate of four freshly-cooked sardines, and a couple of small pieces of bread - simple and delicious and so typical of cafe food hereabouts.

We will think pleasant thoughts about our "hospedaje" ("pension") - it's right in the middle of old town San Sebastian, and we've been most comfortable. Although we started out in a very small two-bed chamber, we were eventually moved up to a much larger front room with a view, for the same price...such a deal. Building is old but the owners have put money into modern baths and comfortable beds. And they are very nice people.

You can't come here without visiting the Guggenheim in Bilbao...

...although Leah says she has at least two friends who spent significant time here without paying any attention at all to the museum.

She herself visited here in 1997, shortly after the museum opened. Today we took a fast, comfortable bus from San Sebastian to Bilbao, through rugged green country that reminded us enormously of the Pacific NW. In Bilbao, we were able to try out two other means of convenient public transportation - first the tramline, which runs from the regional bus terminal to a stop near the museum.

The Museum is only part of a general rehabilitation program for the area of Bilbao where it is located. There is a wide promenade all along the river that runs through town, and at several points stroller can cross from one side to the other over interesting bridges (the most recent designed by Calatrava.)

The museum itself holds up well (though Leah the metalworker is worried about the condition of the elaborate metal facade.) Inside, we visited the permanent collection, including a number of large-size painting from the 50's and 60's. An enormous room is filled with cor-ten steel sculptures by Richard Serra, in a combination of spirals and arcs and mazes that can delight or intimidate, depending on your mood.

I've always thought of Serra's work as bombastic, intrusive and much too large for comfort. Today, in this space that is perfectly suited to his massive, yet playful constructs, I began to change my mind.

Two other large exhibits currently at the museum are the "Gluts" series, by Robert Rauschenberg, and a retrospective of sculpture by Anish Kapoor. Each exhibit is phenomenally varied, intriguing and thought-provoking, and we felt especially lucky to see the Rauschenberg.

After all that art, one can sit on an outside terrace with refreshments, and think about the vision and energy that created this new focus for a long-established city.

San Sebastian

Leah is the guide here. In Seattle, she cooked at Txori, a small-bites restaurant established by a man from San Sebastian who was nostalgic for the delicious and varied bar cuisine of his home city. Between a list of "don't miss" places passed along by a former colleague, and some tips from Rick Steves' guidebook, we are eating an amazing variety of pintxos (Basque for tapas.)

Pintxos can be seafood, mixed meats, vegetable and meat or fish, hot, cold, fried or grilled. Most are traditionally served on small slices of toasted bread. Tonight we ate bacalao (cod) with a parsley cream topping; a small grilled shrimp and serrano ham kabob served with piperade sauce, and a pintxo that consisted of grilled fresh anchovy & green pepper.

Among other things.

There are things to do here other than eat, of course. The city itself is set on one of Europe's only sand beaches, a long crescent that would be crowded in summer, but is almost free of people on a chilly May weekend. Crags formed from layers of sediment laid down millions of years ago, then torqued and upthrust into small mountains, bracket the main part of the city, and foothills of the Pyrenees roll back from the ocean. San Sebastian was a fashionable resort from the mid-1800's on, and many of the older buildings are in exuberant Art Nouveau style.

Today we rode the bus out of town a few miles to the Chillida-Leku Museum, dedicated to the work of Eduardo Chillida (1924 - 2002) a Basque sculptor who worked in materials from felt to clay to cor-ten steel, to make objects that range from delicate drawings to massive sculptures.

The museum is on the property that was once his home and studio. The studio, now the gallery for indoor pieces, began life as a 16th-century stone farmhouse. Pictures show the massive remodeling and rebuilding necessary to turn it into a functioning 20th century building.

Metal sculptures of all sizes and shapes are installed throughout the extensive property, and simply become part of the landscape. Wandering from one to another is a wonderfully low-stress experience, so different from a typical museum visit.

Hola from Madrid!

A recent post on a travel site I follow said Madrid "failed to charm."

I would love to know what those people did and where they went, because Leah and I find Madrid if not precisely "charming," then definitely fascinating.

We had a short time here - arrived Wednesday afternoon about 2 p.m., after a delayed (and bumpy) flight from Amsterdam. But we made excellent Metro connections from the airport, and found our hostal with no trouble. (Leah gets many points for her map-reading skills and serious guidebook research.)

We took full advantage of the two free hours the Prado (and the other major museums) offer - between 6 and 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, you can pick up a ticket and go through the galleries as rapidly or slowly as you like. Last night we had a list of things we had missed on earlier visits, and we took full advantage of the gallery plan and helpful guards. Tonight we returned, for more exploration and longer return visits to favorite galleries.

Since I was last there, in 2001, the Prado has gone through an amazing remodel and upgrade, that has added access, shop and cafe space, many new galleries and conference rooms. However, the museum still has its mysteries, and a visitor needs to be determined in order to get to the Bosch (El Bosco) "Garden of Earthly Delights" for example.

On display in the same area as Velaszquez' "Las Meninas" this spring is a visiting American masterpiece - "The Daughters of Edward Boit," by John Singer Sargent. Sargent studied in Paris with an artist who revered Velasquez, and he visited the Prado many times to study the master. Under glass is a page (in beautiful script) from the Prado's Museum Copyists' Book, which lists three visits by Sargent, including one on which he was registered to copy "Las Meninas."

This morning we spent time with 20th and 21st century art, at the Reina Sofia Museum. Since 2001 it too has had a massive upgrade, that includes an entirely new building and an extensive remodel of the former galleries.

Madrid is a wonderful place to eat, as well as to look at art. Today we sampled many bocadillos (little sandwiches), tapas of all sorts, and appropriate drinks. Fresh orange juice is available everywhere, and the coffee is splendid. (Not to mention the wine & aperitivos.)

Tomorrow we're off to San Sebastian.