The blog lives - I think!

I know - I promised my five (possibly six or seven) readers that there WOULD be a blog on this trip. It could still happen.

Today the word is that I need to travel with a cellphone.

It's not that I'm a luddite. In my luggage are a notebook, an iPod Touch, and a small digital camera. Generally I rely on e-mail and the net for communication and information, and generally that works well.

Then I got the dreaded "card denied" incident. Today. Saturday. High noon in Vienna, where most ATM machines are behind doors you have to open with a credit card, and almost everything official begins to shut down at about 1 p.m. Fortunately, there are still a few decent phone booths, but they have no doors, and are located on busy streets. And the "international operator" (I suspect an international imposter) assures you that in spite of what your bank said, the number you have just given him is not one he can dial free of charge. Fortunately, my other credit card still works.

So --- two phone calls, separated by a dash across the street, to get money while my card is (temporarily - 20 minutes to be exact) valid. A new card is being sent to me because somehow the old one has been hacked. Against a background of revving diesel engines, I spelled out a complicated Salzburg address where FedEx may find me next week. Stay tuned.

Other than that, Vienna is a pleasant place to be, especially since at the moment it is not suffering from the hot weather so prevalent farther east.

Picture is from Emma's yard in the village. Chicks were a day old, and would normally still have been inside, but, as Emma explained, this hen has "a mind of her own," and wants to be outside.

Finally summer (for a few days, at least!)

When I get home from a trip, I have two simultaneous desires - never to go anywhere again, and immediately to begin planning the next trip.

So far it has been easy to plan the next trip, because until today, our so-called summer weather has been so gray, cold and dreary. Today, just as predicted by the local weather guru, the sun came out and the temperature went up.

What he didn't predict was the brisk breeze, that is keeping the afternoon pleasantly warm for sensitive northwesterners who have spent all these months living under rocks.

July 4 came and went, in the rain, but with magnificent fireworks over the lake, courtesy of an intensive fund-raising campaign last spring.

And now it's the 6th, and on the 18th I leave for the next trip - this time to Transylvania and points east.

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!!