daveandjeanbrandt

Brittany, France

Posted on July 15, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

We made it to Brittany, on the coast of the Atlantic, about 4pm yesterday. Finding a camp site we quickly settled in for aperitif. I finished off the last of our red wine while David went hunting for some ice. Everyone knows we are the Americans for only the Americans want ice! His martini was much deserved after a hard day of driving.

We awoke this morning to a misty rain (clouds blowing in off the ocean) was refreshing after many weeks of 90 degree weather. We were told there was a market in town so off we went….we didn’t need a thing but markets are always fun. Bought strawberries, had some coffee outside a Bar/Pub as we watched the locals buy their produce. Not a lot of tourist in this area. The biggest decision we had to make was where to have lunch…..well we found a great place with the world’ s best mussels….and only 10 euro! David was in heaven. Philippe I got a crepe with”citron and suchre”. It was almost as good as yours!

The sun has come out and I need to get the sleeping bags outside to dry. (They are damp from the moist air) Oh! I forgot to mention that we did a little shopping after lunch….been to Brittany….got the T-shirt! Cross that off our “Bucket List”!

Goodbye Dordogne Valley

Posted on July 13, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

Well, tonight is our last night in Sarlat. This Valley has been occupied by mankind since prehistoric times and the cliffs were altered to become a fort and a town from the Middle Ages until the start of the Renaissance. Amazing castles, fortresses and ancient (pre-human) occupation in this wonderful valley. We truly felt that we were walking in the footsteps of our ancestors. What a wonderful week it has been. We had an amazing guide on yesterdays tour. Marian was borne here in the valley going to college she studies first Spanish (worked in Barcelona 3 years) and then ancient history. Photos weren’t allowed inside the caves….and that is a shame for I can’t show them to you. But WOW! Humans were capable of this much thought and perspective 17 thousand years ago. I am humbled….this makes me think I need to do more with my life. If you have an interest look up Lascaux II online. Photos of Lascaux Cave Paintings

David and I continue to enjoy camping and being on the road, lots of fun adventures yet to be had. We are off to the North of France tomorrow…camping on the Atlantic the next few days. Cooler weather is calling us, it’s been into the 90’s here and “That is hard on old people”! We’ll talk another day….Happy Travels to everyone!

Caves and Castles

Posted on July 11, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

On Friday we took off for a little sightseeing. We packed a picnic lunch and drove to La Roque Saint-Christophe. A one kilometer long rock refuge in the cliffs that has been inhabited for tens of thousands of years. It was fascinating to walk where people lived from prehistoric times through the middle ages.

After lunch, we drove down the road to Maison Forte de Reignac. It is a castle that was built right into the cliffs. It has been restored and fitted with period furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries. It was a great little tour as well.

Truffle Hunting

Posted on July 11, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

On the advice of the campground hosts, we took a 30 minute drive into the country (farther into the country, I guess) to tour and learn about the famous Perigord truffle. We arrived at a farm where a man passionately taught us more than anyone should ever know about the world of truffles. Our French is pretty limited but, he was able to translate the high points. After a thorough education we took to the truffle orchard with our truffle dog, Farah. She got to play in the sprinklers while he talked about how they “bonsai” trim the trees so the tree will continue to make new roots. (That’s where the truffles grow) When he got his basket and digging tool out, she was ready to work. She would sniff around till she found one then paw the ground so we could dig them up. The guy was great! He gave all of the kids a chance to dig up a truffle. What a great experience!

The Perigord

Posted on July 8, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

We drove for about five hours on Monday to one of our favorite spots in the world……..Sarlat, France. It is in the heart of what is known as the Perigord or Dordogne Valley. It is famous for the many caves in the area which have prehistoric drawings on the walls and ceilings. The most famous is Lascaux but there are many in the area. We have been to one of the caves, on our own, in 2001 but, we want to see more. We hired an English speaking guide to take us to two caves and a museum on Friday. We can’t wait.

Today was market day in Sarlat and it is one of the most popular markets in the region. We got an early start and it was worth it. Did I mention that Sarlat is the Foie Gras capital of the world????? I LOVE the stuff. I bought some to take with us and, of course, we had it to start our lovely lunch with some of best I have ever tasted.

There is much to do and much to see. Here a few photos.

Cinque Terre

Posted on July 3, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

Yesterday we packed it up in Florence and took the one hour train ride to Pisa. Our driver, Norman, picked us up at the train station and drove us to Camp Darby to pick up our car. After a quick stop at the commissary to pick up a few supplies and lunch at the Italian workers dining facility, we hit the road to Levanto. Levanto is technically not part of the Cinque Terre but, it’s just one town north and connected by the same little train and boats that serve the other towns. We had reserved a campsite so we checked in and set up our tents. It’s really quite comfy and it’s only a short walk to the train station. After pasta for the last few days, we were all hungry for an American style meal. We threw four rib eyes on the grill and feasted on steak, potatoes and salad.

After a good night’s sleep we got up this morning and hit the trail. Literally. The Cinque Terre towns are linked by train, boat and hiking trails. No cars allowed. The trails are varying in length and difficulty. It turns out that the two moderately difficult trails that Jean had picked out for us to hike were closed so we decided to take the more strenuous and difficult trail between Montorosso and Varnazza. About an hour in, we wondered if we had bitten off more than we could chew, so to speak. We sent Lance and Anais on ahead so we could adopt a more leisurely “grandparent pace”. Well, we huffed and we puffed but, by golly, we made it to the end! Of course the kids had been there for 45 minutes, had a cold drink and done some shopping.

After some recovery, and a lot of water and gelato, we took the train on down the line to Riomaggiori. We strolled the streets, Lance and Anais took a swim and we caught the boat back to Montorroso. The kids wanted to go to the beach in Montorosso so Jean and I took the train back to Levanto and the campsite for a very long, cool shower. Did I mention that it’s 90 degrees and humid??? Al in, the pedometer on my phone says we walked 6.7 miles today. I believe the phone.

Great day! The Cinque Terre is one of our favorite places and we wanted to experience it again and share it with Lance and Anais. They love it too.

The train that connects the five towns.

The beach at Montorosso

The view from the boat is amazing.

Lance and Anais sunning on the rocks in Riomaggori

One of the vistas from thee trail

You couldn’t believe how steep this trail was.

A little decorated Piaggio at the entrance to the !. Jean wants one

Michelangelo’s Florence

Posted on June 29, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

After much fun in the sun, we are off to Firenze for more great art and culture. As I write this, we are speeding along at about 180 mph toward Florence. I could get used to this train thing. As I said, in a previous post, using the train between major cities just makes sense. If we had the car right now, I would be driving for most of the day today. It pleasant to be able to enjoy the scenery instead of negotiating the autostrada all day.

Yesterday was a bit of a down day. Lance and Anais went to the beach, Jean did all of the laundry and, I, pretty much, did nothing. Jean fixed us our final dinner in Sorrento which we enjoyed sitting under the chandelier in our beautiful apartment. We calculated that the apartment was over 1700 square feet, three bedrooms, three baths, laundry room, kitchen with dining area, huge formal living room and seven balconies overlooking the plaza. To say the least, this place was cool!

Well, it’s Tuesday and we had another memorable, albeit tiring, day. (at least to we older folks) We had a nice evening last night strolling around the city and admiring the sites. We found our apartment after a train ride to Florence, rested and cooled off a bit, and hit the streets. I guess it’s just not a day in Europe without a little five mile stroll every day. No wonder the Europeans are thinner than we are!

We enjoyed the Ponte Vechio at sunset, street musicians and found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that turned out to be the best ever. There was a line to get in so we assumed it would be good and we were not disappointed. I had fried rabbit and onion rings, Lance had fresh pasta in a duck sauce and Anais had ravioli with mushrooms. Mimi stuck with one of her favorites………….Tuscan vegetable soup, despite the heat. We washed it down with a bottle of Prosecco and walked it off by trekking home to the apartment.

Today, we rose early to get a jump in the line at the Accademia so we could see our old friend David. He looks as magnificent as he did 500 years ago when a 27 year old Michelangelo sculpted him out of a single piece of marble. We found a little DaVinci museum and checked that out ass well. For an extra 1 euro, the threw in a piece of pizza and a drink. Trust me, we got what we paid for. Ha!

We shopped the famous leather market and even went to the school for leather craftsmen where Lance scored a new wallet with his initials in gold. That place was really amazing.

We are off this evening on Ta Ta for now!

Lance’s new wallet getting gold initials

Waiting for his wallet to be initialed.

Waiting to have his new wallet initialed

The craftsman heating the iron to initial the wallet with gold leaf.

Making ostrich bags

We think Lance and Anais posed for these

And you thought the real Mona Lisa was in Paris………………..

Entertainment in the street

Great restaurant…………….

Sun setting over the Arno

Ponte Vechio

Anais having her own personalized necklace made.

Anais and Mimi in the living room

On the balcony.

Grandpa liked the sardines.

Lance was not a fan. He thought it looked more like bait than real fish.

Last dinner in the Sorrento apartment before going to Florence.

This is the tile work in the kitchen of the apartment. It is a actually a picture of the building.

A Day in Capri

Posted on June 28, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

What a day we had! After breakfast in the apartment, we were picked up by our driver and taken to the marina. We met our captain and boarded the little boat for our days excursion . We got a boat tour of the island, snorkeling, lunch and four hours to explore the island on our own. When we went ashore, we took a funicular to Capri town and had our picnic lunch, provided by our crew. They made us delicious caprese sandwiches with ripe tomatoes and mozzarella. Then we took a crowded local bus up to AnaCapri, even further up the hill. Finally, we took a 13 minute chairlift ride to the top for the view of a lifetime. You can get a 360 degree view of the world up there. If you travel to Capri, you must make your way to the top. We came back down, strolled through the shops and met our boat at 5:45pm for a fast boat ride back to Sorrento. We had a nice dinner near the port and crashed like zombies for the night. The combination of water and sunshine really takes it out of you.

Ancient Pompei

Posted on June 27, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

On Friday, we took the little train back up the coast to Pompei. On the way, we stopped at a travel agency and booked a tour guide to meet us there. The guide was the most knowledgeable we have had. She was actually an archeologist having studied for five years at the University of Naples.

Three year old child

Down the coast to Sorrento!

Posted on June 25, 2015 by daveandjeanbrandt

We got up this morning and had a hearty breakfast (everything we could eat out of the fridge because we didn’t want to throw it away or carry with us) and headed out for the train station. We took the Metro to Roma Termini and two hour train ride to Naples. In Naples we switched to the Circumvesuviana train which is a little local line that connects Sorrento to Naples and the smaller towns in between.

We reached beautiful Sorrento about 3:00pm and found our apartment right away. It’s hard to miss. It overlooks the main square in town. We love Sorrento and we wanted to share it with the kids. The apartment was even better than expected. Two full bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room and gargantuan living room with balconies overlooking the piazza below. We couldn’t be happier. The manager met us and showed us around, we dropped our bags and headed out to lunch at a favorite spot. Fresh fish is the order of the day in Sorrento so Jean had a beautiful white fish with tomatoes and I had linguine with locally caught clams. The kids went more traditional with pasta, ham and cheese sandwich and French fries. We strolled down the ocean overlook, had a gelato and make our way back to the apartment for a much needed siesta. (At least for Mimi and Grandpa)