Back in the USA

After a long 7 hour flight I am back in New Jersey, USA! It always feel great to land back in the States after a tiring international trip! There is a feeling of relief, because all the fears of something bad happening far away from home disappear all at once even though home is still a 3 hour flight away!!! Speaking of fears, the biggest ones off course is falling sick or losing one's passport in a foreign land in addition to the safety issues around the world! Landing back in the States puts an end to all of that, though things can still happen but we know the system and we know the steps to take if something happens!!!
New York is a favorite city of mine in the States so I needed to visit Manhattan to just refresh my memory of how beautiful and lively the city is. I woke up early this Friday to go to Manhattan with my friend. He is going to work off course and I am going there for fun, big difference!! We took the 7:00 am bus into Manhattan and after 20 minutes we were at the Port Authority bus station. We walked together to my friend's job location and I continued towards the Rockefeller center where I had my second coffee of the morning!!  After this coffee I headed out to start roaming the streets on Manhattan in a beautiful sunny day with low humidity... My roaming lasted until 9:00 pm, waiting for my friend to finish his work, before heading back to his place in New Jersey. That was a long day in which I walked 13 miles; i.e. half a marathon !!!

Here are some pictures of Manhattan landmarks ..

Rockefeller Center

Time Square

Fifth Avenue and Empire State Building

Rockefeller Center and The Beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral 

 

Trump Tower 

Last Full Day in Paris

Today is my last full day in Paris so my nephew and his wife decided to take me downtown; Champs Élysées,  Tour Eiffel and Arc de Triomphe! all in the downtown area of Paris. After breakfast, we prepared to leave! At first I thought we will just jump on the train and go, however, because they have two young children; a two-month-old and a three-year-old; my nephew decided that driving was best! Once near the Champs Elysees, finding street parking was no easy task but after circling around for a short while we did find a big enough spot to fit our car! We walked around quiet a bit and hit all the target areas we had in mind. We took break in-between for everyone to rest some... They have benches everywhere so no problem finding a place to sit. By mid-afternoon, everyone was getting tired so we decided to head back home with a sense of mission accomplished! We saw everything we set out to see so big success! Paris is definitely the most beautiful capital I have ever visited bar none. It is so easy to get around Paris, large side walks, awesome parks an lots of trees for shade, and cafes are everywhere if you are in need of a drink or a coffee.. Here are some pictures from today...

A government building near the Eiffel Tour

Flooding along the Seine river

Tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe  

The buildings of La Défense 

A street in downtown Paris 

Arc de Triomphe 

Tour Eiffel 

Champs élysées 

Police on horse back on the Champs Elysees 

Paris: Hot and Humid after the Storms

It is Tuesday and I have a very busy schedule today as I had some paperwork to do to see if I can close the chapter on my dad's life in France long before I was born!! Yes my dad worked in France before and after WWII and got a pension from France once he reached retirement age! My assignment was to close permanently that account! Well, that is easier said than done! Once we found the bank, Credit Lyonnais, I quickly found out that I needed a lot more paperwork than I had with me so it was a no go, but at least I learned what I needed to get done before closing this painful chapter!

After the bank my nephew decided to take me to Versailles, which was not far from where we were! As we approached, it was clear why it is so famous!!! It is an amazing place!! Beautiful boulevards with trees everywhere and great buildings all over the place. That was just a prelude to what is to come; Le Chateaux de Versailles itself!! I was wowed by what I saw... Just amazing structures and huge gardens!! Here are some pictures .....

Standing in the main plaza of Versailles 

What a Chateaux I said..

The gate had golden color befitting the magnitude of the place

In front of Louis the 14th statue 

More Versailles pictures...

Wide boulevards in Versailles lined with beautiful trees

A round about in Versailles with more statues..

A vast garden in Versailles 

Another view of the garden ...

Back to Flooded Paris

I got up very early today to take a train back to Paris. My friend made me coffee and I had a leftover croissant from the previous day, it was still good! My friend drove to the station at 6:00 am. At the station, we found the platform and the car and we went in to look for my seat! To my biggest surprise, my seat did not even exist in this car in addition another passenger was given the same seat as well... That is a first for me: a ticket with no seat!! I took one if the empty seats and braced for the worst. I thought I might go all the way to Paris standing!!! Luckily that did not happen; nobody claimed my seat so I was fine! I guess the strike has really messed up the whole train system in France, which is very unusual as it is the most reliable transportation all over Europe!!! I did manage to catch some sleep on the train as I was tired. Once at La Gare de Lyon in Paris, my nephew was right there at the door of the car waiting for me. I almost walked by him without seeing him and he was staring at me! I realized I needed more coffee so we stopped for a quick coffee and we were off to his place.

We decided to take it easy today and watch together the final of French open tennis tournament, which was to be very competitive between Djokovic and Murray; number 1 against number 2!!! I wished for a ticket at Roland Garros but that will have to wait for another year! As my nephew said, now I have one more reason to come back!! After the game we went for a long walk in Les Bois de Cergy!! It was about a 6 mile walk! I was chasing rabbits in the woods with my nephew's three year old daughter!!! Having fun with kids as usual.... When we got back home, we had a great dinner and tea with nice treats and we watched some documentary together..

My nephew's project in his backyard, before....

....and after

Playground time with the whole family

Exquisite food once again

More great food.... Really spoiled this time!

Day Three in Besançon

My friend and his kids slept late today. I did too but woke up earlier than them, 10:0 am, while the others woke up at 12:00 pm. After having coffee with everyone with the best croissants France has to offer, my friend and I were off for an afternoon stroll through downtown Besancon. Our first mission however was the train station to see if I could change my return ticket from Lyon to Paris to a ticket from Besancon to Paris instead.... After meandering through some streets of Besancon, we arrived at the Viotte station. At the ticket counter, a lady told us that there were no seats on any train both Sunday and Monday due to the ongoing strike!!! I was very upset, so I turned to begging the lady for help telling her that I was an American tourist and that I needed to return to Paris and then the U.S. She kept looking on her computer and then told us that a seat jet opened up in the 6:38 am TGV train to Paris from Besancon the next day. I told her to hold it immediately, though my friend wanted me to stay a little longer but I decided not to take any risks and be stuck in Besancon. The lady at the ticket counter even handed me 10 € back because my Lyon-Paris ticket was more expensive so an in all it was a win-win! We then headed to downtown happy that the train problem was solved....

Besancon is a city built from stone! Most buildings are old and are built from stone.. After walking for a while, we decided to sit outside in a city square and enjoy a drink! We chatted about lots of things from the past and present.. We then decided to go for a light lunch at a kabob place, it was delicious. After that, we continued our walk through some steep streets until we arrived at the top of another hill with a huge fort. From there we could see on the opposite side the fort where we were the day before with the Doubs river down in the valley. My friend decided to go down some steep steps with places that were  impassable to get to the river! That was a rather nerve racking walk. Once by the river, we walked back home through some beautiful parks! By 8:00 pm we headed to a Belgian clam restaurant driving through small towns with my friend showing me where he lived before and where the kids grew up.. Very peaceful but really tiny villages I have to say..... We enjoyed a nice clam dinner and returned home to pack and go to bed!! Besancon is another must see city if traveling through this part of France!!!

A statue in downtown Besancon showing a poor black person sheltering a kid

Another impressive church in Besancon

Downtown Besancon

Roman ruins in Besancon 

More beautiful stone buildings in Besancon 

Details of a stone building in downtown

Beautiful streets along the Doubs river

Another stunningly beautiful stone building 

Day Two in Besançon

My friend and his wife left the house bright and early this morning; one to Paris (wife) and the other to work (husband)!! Their young daughter followed them shortly after to school and the house was left to me and their two college sons. I was up at 9:30 am came down to the kitchen and made coffee using a fancy coffee machine! The college kids woke up around 12:00 !! They came down and to my biggest surprise the oldest son, 21 years of age, made lunch for all of us! He made apparently a popular Lyon dish called Quennelle made from fish, he also boiled some rice next to that, all in all a real success! I suggested that we go for a long walk and they both agreed! Just as we were leaving my friend showed up from work and joined us. He told me he left early because he worked through lunch and put in enough hours that way.... The walk was up-hill towards a fort above the city of Besançon, it was a great walk through some village like neighborhood with animals and lots of greenery ... And then the imposing fort ... Besancon, I was told, was a heavily militarized city in the old days to defend it from the Austria-Hungarian empire to the east. There are many military camps and forts all over this small city. Also the city is a UNESCO site so it is protected architecturally and otherwise...

We came back home around 4:00 pm and my friend decided to take a nap while I answer emails and check the news on the web... By 5:00 pm another friend from my undergraduate days showed up! I did not see him in over 35 years!!! It was a huge surprise, apparently my friend did not really take a nap, he was calling all the people I knew to tell them I was in town so he may have more surprises for me... We all went to dinner to a pizza place, no it is not Dominos or Papa John's, a local Italian restaurant making pizzas... Here are some pics...

The seafood pizza I ordered with clam shells included!!!

A  night view of a fort above the city

Victor Hugo statue: a French legend!!

Stone buildings line the streets of Besançon: what a sight!!

A view from a fort high above Besancon 

On a bridge above the Doubs river cris-crossing Besancon 

View of the city from  high above Besancon 

One of the forts of Besancon where American troupes were stationed

The sky was grey and threatening but the view was beautiful 

Salut de Besançon

I made it to Besancon my farthest destination on this trip! Because of the strikes gripping France right now, there were much fewer trains running, so people were packed like sardines in whatever train they find in their direction. Luckily for me, I had a seat assignment so I was able to ride somewhat comfortably. The train was 10 minutes late from Lyon, but that was better than others that were cancelled altogether. The weather was getting worse as we moved further east. Apparently it has rained for days and all the fields were flooded and the crops lost.... This part of France is very green!! Besancon has three stations and my friend made a mistake of going to the first to pick me up, when I told him the night before I was going to the last one!! Apparently, he did it to surprise me but it did not work... I waited for him for an hour in the last station and eventually he showed up apologizing about the mix-up.... It was well-intention-ed and it was still light outside so no problem I said.

He has a huge house with lots of land. He enjoys building projects so he is busy forever it seems. When I told him that I no longer enjoy home projects, he looked at me and said he was getting there as well... After showing me the zillion rooms he has, his wife showed up and we were off to my first treat he had for me: a Berber restaurant that serves authentic couscous straight from the Atlas Mountains!! The place was in downtown and it was authentic, we spoke Berber, the background music was Berber and the chef came out of the kitchen to great us in Berber as well so all in all a nice surprise indeed. We got back home at 12:00 and headed to bed because my friend was working the next day and his wife was heading to Paris bright and early... So I will have this big house all to myself, well not quiet!

                                                            My friend's house in Besancon

Berber restaurant menu

Four meats brought separately: mergez, chicken, beef, lamb

Couscous and sauce

Downtown Besançon at night

Stone buildings everywhere in Besançon