Monday morning we left Barcelona and headed back to France with Amy and Trey. Our first stop was Sete, about 3 hours north of Barcelona. Sete is nicknamed "Little Venice". It has the feel of being on an island, since on one side is an enclosed salt water lake (used for oyster and mussel fields) and on the other side is the Mediterranean. It is also the eastern starting point of the Canal du Midi. Several canals run through the main part of town, and the canals are lined with docked boats. We checked into our hotel and headed to the beach. Sete has the best beach that we have been to thus far. There was a little restaurant that rented beach chairs. The weather was perfect, and after about 5 minutes I was fast asleep! After a few hours on the beach, we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We headed to the port area of town as the sun was beginning to set. We walked along the canals and met a local artist named Willy. Amy and I both bought a few of his beautiful water color paintings of Sete. Next, we headed to dinner. Sete is the largest fishing port on the French Mediterranean coast, so we were looking forward to some really fresh seafood. The lady at our hotel had suggested a restaurant called Chez Francois, and we were not disappointed!
Tuesday morning, we left Sete and headed to Nimes. Matthew and I visited Nimes with his family in June. We liked it so much that we thought Amy and Trey would enjoy seeing the Roman architecture. While Amy and Trey went into the coliseum, Matthew and I walked around to parts of the city we didn't see in June. We met back up for lunch at a restaurant right beside the coliseum. There was a Metallica concert that night in the coliseum, so as we ate lunch, we (and I am sure everyone else throughout the city) listed to the sound checks by the Metallica tech crew. After walking around Nimes for a little bit after lunch, we got in the car and started the 3 hour drive back to Clermont.
On the drive back, we crossed the Millau viaduct, the tallest vehicular bridge in the world. After crossing the bridge, there is a welcome center, where you can park and walk up to the top of a hill to get a great view of the bridge.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Barcelona, Baby! (Day 2)
After such a long day Saturday, we decided to enjoy a relaxing day on the beach. The weather was hot and the beach was really crowded. Topless sunbathing is very popular in Spain. In fact we found out that nudity is legal anywhere in Spain...as long as it doesn't cause a disturbance! However, the part of the beach we were on was mostly just topless. However, further down the beach even more skin was exposed...
The funniest thing about the beach in Barcelona is all of the people selling things. There are tons of guys carrying little coolers and calling out, "beer, cerveza, coca, coca light, fanta, aqua...". There were also little men carrying colanders around with pieces of coconut. There is absolutely no way I can write the words/sounds they were saying while walking up and down with their coconuts. But if you happen to see Trey sometime, please, PLEASE, ask him to demonstrate. It is priceless! You also could buy jewelry, dresses, have your hair braided, or for 5 euros get a massage (not sure why anyone would want oil rubbed on them when they are all hot, sweaty, and sandy...).
Except for this very annoying American who droned on and on and on about herself to the other girls she was with (Matthew and I can tell you her entire life story!), we had a very relaxing day on the beach.
Sunday night, we took the metro to Port Olimpic to meet Francesc, the owner of Vell Mari, a 41 foot Benetau Oceanis sailboat. I had found Francesc on the internet and we planned to go with him for a sunset sail along the coast of Barcelona. Francesc suggested sailing along the coast to a little village called El Masnou. El Masnou is not touristy at all, in fact the girl that worked at the front desk at our hotel said that is where she goes when she wants to go to the beach. The village is about 15 km from Barcelona. As we sailed, we were heading straight for some very dark clouds, and we could see the rain coming over the mountains towards the ocean. Luckily, by the time we got close, the rain had moved out past where we were going and we were able to benefit from the clouds that created a beautiful sunset. We even saw a double rainbow as the rain clouds moved out over the water.
After watching the sunset, Francesc docked at the El Masnou port and walked us along the port and pointed out several restaurant options for dinner. We chose his top recommendation and he headed back to the boat as we headed in to eat. The menu was only written in Spanish and Catalan (the local Spanish dialect). Between the little bit of English and the little bit of French spoken by our waiter and the owner, it was decided that they would just create a meal for us. So, with a great bottle of local white wine and our fingers crossed, we waited for what would be brought to our table. All of the dishes brought out were served on big plates that we all shared. We started with the traditional tomato bread, a salad with some type of fish on it, and another salad with strawberries, goat cheese, and honey. Next came fried "minnows" as Trey called them (we think they were anchovies, or maybe sardines, not really sure!) and ham and cheese croquettes. We also had the traditional Spanish cured ham, jamon. Along with the olives, bread, and wine, we were stuffed!
After dinner, we headed back to the boat. It was a beautiful night and there was an almost-full moon for our sail back. Francesc turned some music on as we sailed. It felt so surreal sailing along the Mediterranean, on our own private sailboat, being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli. What a magical night!
The funniest thing about the beach in Barcelona is all of the people selling things. There are tons of guys carrying little coolers and calling out, "beer, cerveza, coca, coca light, fanta, aqua...". There were also little men carrying colanders around with pieces of coconut. There is absolutely no way I can write the words/sounds they were saying while walking up and down with their coconuts. But if you happen to see Trey sometime, please, PLEASE, ask him to demonstrate. It is priceless! You also could buy jewelry, dresses, have your hair braided, or for 5 euros get a massage (not sure why anyone would want oil rubbed on them when they are all hot, sweaty, and sandy...).
Except for this very annoying American who droned on and on and on about herself to the other girls she was with (Matthew and I can tell you her entire life story!), we had a very relaxing day on the beach.
Sunday night, we took the metro to Port Olimpic to meet Francesc, the owner of Vell Mari, a 41 foot Benetau Oceanis sailboat. I had found Francesc on the internet and we planned to go with him for a sunset sail along the coast of Barcelona. Francesc suggested sailing along the coast to a little village called El Masnou. El Masnou is not touristy at all, in fact the girl that worked at the front desk at our hotel said that is where she goes when she wants to go to the beach. The village is about 15 km from Barcelona. As we sailed, we were heading straight for some very dark clouds, and we could see the rain coming over the mountains towards the ocean. Luckily, by the time we got close, the rain had moved out past where we were going and we were able to benefit from the clouds that created a beautiful sunset. We even saw a double rainbow as the rain clouds moved out over the water.
After watching the sunset, Francesc docked at the El Masnou port and walked us along the port and pointed out several restaurant options for dinner. We chose his top recommendation and he headed back to the boat as we headed in to eat. The menu was only written in Spanish and Catalan (the local Spanish dialect). Between the little bit of English and the little bit of French spoken by our waiter and the owner, it was decided that they would just create a meal for us. So, with a great bottle of local white wine and our fingers crossed, we waited for what would be brought to our table. All of the dishes brought out were served on big plates that we all shared. We started with the traditional tomato bread, a salad with some type of fish on it, and another salad with strawberries, goat cheese, and honey. Next came fried "minnows" as Trey called them (we think they were anchovies, or maybe sardines, not really sure!) and ham and cheese croquettes. We also had the traditional Spanish cured ham, jamon. Along with the olives, bread, and wine, we were stuffed!
After dinner, we headed back to the boat. It was a beautiful night and there was an almost-full moon for our sail back. Francesc turned some music on as we sailed. It felt so surreal sailing along the Mediterranean, on our own private sailboat, being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli. What a magical night!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Barcelona, Baby! (Day 1)
As soon as Matthew got off work last Friday, we headed south to Barcelona to meet Amy and Trey. They had flown in that morning, and spent the day soaking up the Spanish sun on the beach and perfecting their pronunciation of "cerveza, por favor". Saturday we spent the day walking around Barcelona, starting at the Sagrada Familia which was only a block from our hotel. After a quick stroll past Gaudi's Casa Batllo, we took a metro, then a funicular, and then a teleferic (cable car) up to the Montjuic Castle. From there, we had an amazing view of the city. Once inside Montjuic, we found the Olympic Park, walked past the Palau Nacional, down to Placa de Les Cascades, past the Font Magica ("Magic Fountain"), and to the Arena bullring. Next we headed to Las Ramblas for lunch. We found a great restaurant where we enjoyed tapas and sangria (well, I enjoyed some sangria). After lunch, Amy and I continued down Las Ramblas to do some shopping, while the boys walked down Las Ramblas (without the shopping) and walked through Port Vell.
After a quick siesta, we got ready and headed towards Poble Espanyol for a flamenco show. We managed to be walking past the Font Magica right as the nightly shows started. The fountain is constantly changing forms to the tune of classical music. It was beautiful. We continued to Poble Espanyol, a group of buildings that were constructed between 1926 and 1928 for the Universal Exhibition. The original idea was to create a picturesque Spanish village that brought together architectural characteristics from all of the different regions in Spain. Poble Espanyol also has lots of little shops and workshops that offer a variety of craftwork and souveniers. The flamenco show was at a place called Tablao de Carmen. There was a single guitar player, 3 male singers, 3 women that took turns dancing, and 1 one male dancer. The music was incredible and the dancing was intense. After the show, we had a quick dinner and then walked to the central square in Poble Espanyol where there was a concert going on. The group was 4 men with the corniest choreographed moves. They were so cute! The main singer (this was all in spanish) kept introducing "special guests" to come sing with him. This was very late at night, and as tired as I was, it was very entertaining. We got back to the metro just before 2 in the morning. At one of the stops, our metro stopped for about 15 minutes while the timing between trains was increased because of the late hour. After changing metros we were stuck waiting for our train for quite a while. The sign kept saying 7 minutes, but as it counted down, it would reset back to 7 minutes. Amy was starting to feel a little claustrophobic deep down in the metro tunnel, so she kept us entertained (and kept herself distracted), by acting out TV shows and movies. She was very entertaining, and I think everyone else waiting for the metro thought so too! :)
After a quick siesta, we got ready and headed towards Poble Espanyol for a flamenco show. We managed to be walking past the Font Magica right as the nightly shows started. The fountain is constantly changing forms to the tune of classical music. It was beautiful. We continued to Poble Espanyol, a group of buildings that were constructed between 1926 and 1928 for the Universal Exhibition. The original idea was to create a picturesque Spanish village that brought together architectural characteristics from all of the different regions in Spain. Poble Espanyol also has lots of little shops and workshops that offer a variety of craftwork and souveniers. The flamenco show was at a place called Tablao de Carmen. There was a single guitar player, 3 male singers, 3 women that took turns dancing, and 1 one male dancer. The music was incredible and the dancing was intense. After the show, we had a quick dinner and then walked to the central square in Poble Espanyol where there was a concert going on. The group was 4 men with the corniest choreographed moves. They were so cute! The main singer (this was all in spanish) kept introducing "special guests" to come sing with him. This was very late at night, and as tired as I was, it was very entertaining. We got back to the metro just before 2 in the morning. At one of the stops, our metro stopped for about 15 minutes while the timing between trains was increased because of the late hour. After changing metros we were stuck waiting for our train for quite a while. The sign kept saying 7 minutes, but as it counted down, it would reset back to 7 minutes. Amy was starting to feel a little claustrophobic deep down in the metro tunnel, so she kept us entertained (and kept herself distracted), by acting out TV shows and movies. She was very entertaining, and I think everyone else waiting for the metro thought so too! :)
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