Friday, March 12: "Death on a Cracker"

I can't decide: Is it 2:00 a.m. as in Mississippi time, or is it 10:00 a.m. as in France time?  Either way, I look pretty sad and feel like Debbie's description, "Death on a cracker."  I visit the restroom and wash my face, brush my teeth and hair, not with the same brush.  We land at Charles De Gaulle International Airport and jump through all the hoops we are suppose to when we land in a foreign country.  We claim our baggage and meet our tour guide for our visit to France, Roland Steigleder (more on him later).

We load our baggage on our bus and prepare for our two-hour ride to the town of Caen in the Normandy provience. We arrive two and a half hours later and waste no time seeing the sites.  FYI:  History first mentions Caen in 1025 and comes to promience with the reign of William the Duke of Normandy, a.k.a. William the Conqueror.  The town was made up of four districts and William chose to build his castle here along with a men's abbey.  His Queen Matilda also built one for women.  The city was totally destroyed in World War II except for one church that was left partially standing, Saint Jean.  Caen connects to the Orne River by way of a canal and also houses several museums including The Memorial, a testament to the the destruction of Normandy and France in World War II.  Class dismissed!

Our first site to visit is the L'Abbe de les Hommes built by William and the adjecent church Saint Etienne, where the remains of William the Conqueror are buried.  We then go to visit the remains of the castle of William.  The deep moat that surrounded the castle is still there along with the entrance with the drawbridge rails, and the destroyed walls of the living area of the castle.  We take advantage of the photo opts and then load on the bus to go for our hotel, the Holiday Inn Caen City Center.

 Driving into Caen

Saint Jean

L'Abbe de les Hommes

Tomb of William the Conqueror
It is believed that the only part of William that is buried is a bone from his leg since he was moved several times.

Drawbridge entrance to William castle

Remains of the moat around the castle

Dianne, Debbie, DK, and Elyette on the ruins of the castle outer wall

We get check in and visit in the lobby before going to dinner.  We have now been going on a 24 or more hour day and are running out of gas quickly.  We enjoy our meal of ham quiche and salad, salmon with bearnaise sauce and vegetables and rice, and chocolate mousse with strawberries and cream. Not bad. 

I am rooming again this year with Debbie Woodruff and Natalie Peerler.  We settle into our familiar routine and are in bed fairly quickly after getting our "stuff" ready for a full day tomorrow.

Thursday, March 11: On the Road Again

Our group of students and adults start gathering at the Eastwood Baptist Church parking lot around  8:00 a.m. to begin our trip France 2010.  We make introductions all around, and the adults meet our students we are to be paired with for the count off each time we travel.  I am #18 and my charge is Hannah Moor, daughter of Joel and Darby Moor of Indianola.  We pull out of the parking lot at 8:30 headed to Atlanta.  The morning ride is pleasant as we all catch up on the news of our lives since some of us haven't been together since we traveled to Spain last Spring Break.  We make a lunch stop at at rest area outside Cottonwod, Alabama at 12:30.  We eat our boxed lunches of chicken strips, ham and cheese sanwiches, chips, fruit and a candy bar.  We pull out again at 1:15 and arrive at the airport at 3:00.  We go through baggage check and customs, find our gate E22, and settle in to wait for our 8:30 flight.  Although we know we will be fed on the plane, most of us opt for a bite to eat before we board.  Phones are charged one last time and the "good-bye" phone calls are made.  Boarding startes at 7:45, and we are off the ground by 8:30.  We fly into the night and look forward to landing in Paris.

Our traveling crew includes:

Adults

(Well, we can't seem to find a group pic that includes all of us.  My camera was acting up when we made one that had most of us.  Hopefully, I can get one from a fellow traveler.)

Students

Anna Daniels, Mary Rodgers Brashier, Kat Vetrano, Frances Carroll, Kristen Haladay, Brian Hairston,  Anne Eliza Jordon, Mary Nelson Robertson, Turner Bridgeforth, Megan Kay Donahoe, Elizabeth Daniels, Lauren Sledge, Lelah Bridgeforth, Randi Fagan, Anne Franklin Helton, Lauren Simmons, Rex Allen Morgan, Hannah Moor, Brenton King, and Sara Lang.  Others not included as students and much younger than the adults were Meredith Sledge and Ellen and Caroline Jordon.

The kids are standing in front of a monument known as Les Braves created by Anilore Banon.  It was commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion and was to be dismantled after the celebration;  however, many protested and it still stands today.  i will show a picture of it in total later.

Coming Soon, FRANCE

"Bonjour, Madames et Monsieurs!"  or as we say in the South, "Hey, y'all!"  I am back from my trip to France and throughly enjoyed every minute of it.  We functioned on as little sleep as possible and packed in every site we could see.  My only disappointment of the trip is that I had camera problems this time and my pics are not the best.  I know I have not finished the posts on the Spain trip, but they will have to wait until I finish the posts on France.  So tune in, and I will share our wonderful trip.

Thursday, March 19: How about some more sangria?

Man, is it hard to get out of the bed this morning!!  No going down to breakfast for me.  This morning I add a warm coke with the nabs and get dressed.  We meet up with our group to head for the Alcazar.  Before we leave, however, some of us decided to make reservations to eat out our last night in Cordoba.  Reservations being made, we head to the palace.  Now, I thought the Alcazar in Seville was beautiful with all the mosaics and tile work, but the one in Cordoba had the most beautiful gardens and fountains.  The official name of the Alcazar is The Royal Palace of the Christian Monarchs.  I guess the Christians got upset with the Muslims tearing down their cathedral so they decided to build a palace on the site of the Caliphal Palace (FYI: caliph--a spiritual leader of Islam, claiming succession from Muhammad).  Early records show that the Christian Palace exisited as early as 1359.  You know this Christian and Muslim stuff has been going on for a long time! Can you say Issac and Esau?!!  The major attraction of the palace is the gardens that are layed out in the Arab-Abdalusian style in which many of the native plants can be seen.

We begin the morning by strolling down one of the main fountains that end at the statues of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella facing Christopher Columbus.  Guess Chris is trying to make a deal with them about sailing somewhere!

I just couldn't let this photo opt get away.

Front--Lisa, Mary Ruth, Debbie, Louise, Natalie

Back--Natalie, Johnny, Paula, Drew

Lance is afraid I want some of these in our yard.

Disney World doesn't have anything on this place.

Kneeling- Ashley Giglo

Sitting--Dianne, Mary Ruth, Louise

Standing--Paula, Betty, Megan Kay

Ending our tour with one last photo

We have the rest of the day on our own so we group up and take off in the direction that slave driver Debbie points.  The old city had entranced us so much we decid to go back and scout it out some more and try to do a little shopping.

It is getting close to lunch so we think we might try to get a bite to eat in the newer part of town.  The people are out in force drinking, socializing and getting ready to eat lunch before the obligatory siesta.

Gearing up for lunch

Although this looks like a nice place to eat, it just does not have the charm of the old city, so we take off to find a taxi to get us back to where we enjoyed so much of the day before.

 We find our way back to the square where he had the wonderful sangaria, and the outdoor restaurant across from it.  We have a wonderful lunch of roasted chicken and potatoes along with some great olives.  We wander around a bit more and look at the beautiful mosaic and buildings.

One of the beautiful mosaics in a courtyard of a home

Now one of the items with which that many of us want to come back home with is Majorica pearls.  So we hit every shop making deals and talking down prices.  We all end up with our pearls and can't wait to wear them.  We are worn out from shopping (ha ha) and decid to go back to our sangria cafe and relax for a bit.  After one round, we head back to the newer part of the city, and in the process almost lose Paula again when she runs into a pole in the middle of the street.

The infamous pole

  Before we make our way back to the hotel, we visit some of the Roman ruins.

We make it back to the hotel for an impromptu social hour in Louise and Betty's room and then get ready to go out and eat.

The Pearl Girls--showing off our Myjorica pearls

MR and her birthday fan from me

Now, I know I haven't written one word about Drew this entire post.  I will let this picture speak for itself.

Wednesday, March 18: Where Has the Time Gone?

Yep, you read the title correctly. This coming March a year ago, I traveled to Spain for a wonderful spring holiday. In a couple of weeks, I will be leaving for France. I have not finished posting about my Spain trip, so I am going to try to pick up where I left off and finish the posts (if my feeble brain can remember everything I put in my journal in  short hand fashion. My plans are to put my trips into separate books so I will be able to enjoy them in my senile years!!!). Then I can have a fresh start on the France trip when I get back. I hope you will indulge me and enjoy reading about the rest of my trip.

Well, we get to sleep in a bit this morning so why waste the time getting up to go eat breakfast. I love my extra zzzzzzs. Paula and iI have our own brand of room service, nabs. Sad isn't it?! Anyway, we meet downstairs with our travel compainions and load the bus for a two hour ride that takes us to Cordoba. We settle in, and as we ride Violeta gives us bits and pieces of Spanish history along the way and answers our questions of which Drew has several. We arrive in Cordoba mid morning or a bit early. The entrance into town is via a 4-lane highway that that would make you think we were in the the American West. However, as we go father into the town the buildings become older and older, and then we see the old roman bridge that leads into the old part of town. I feel as if we are going back in time.

This bridge has had some reinforcement in previous centuries, but it is hard to believe this bridge goes back to the Romans. No cars are allowed on it.

Gate to the old town of Cordoba at the foot of the Roman Bridge.

Inside the gate of the old town

The day has turned to be a warm one, and we begin to look for something cool to drink and restrooms before we meet our guide Juan and tour the Cathedral of Cordoba.  After our break, Juan arrives and gives us a tour to one of the most instresting churches we have seen.  It is said to be a live witness to the Cordoban religious history.  That is an understatement.  FYI: A church is called a cathedral if it is the seat of a bishop of the church.  The cathderal started out as a Christian church, became a mosque, and then a Christian church again.  The original church San Viciente was destroyed by the Muslims and they began building the mosque on top of the ruins. Some of the mosaics can be seen from the original church.  It is believed that the church site also was the site of  early Celtic worship, of a Jewish temple built by Solomon, and for Romans to worship their pagan gods.  So to say the place has witnessed history is true.

Our guide Juan along with Violeta

One of the old Muslim entrances to the cathedral

The Tower or minaret.

The last renovation made on the tower was in 1793.  On the very top is a statue of Saint Rafael, the guardian angel of Cordoba.

Patio de los Naranjos ( Patio of the Oranges) 
Some of the trees are recorded to have existed since the 15th century.

The praying room of the mosque

The Mihrab-A niche in the wall of a mosque or a room in the mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca.

The beginnings of the Christian architect

The High Altar of the Cathedral

After our visit to the cathedral, we take a walking tour of the old town of Cordoba.  Juan take us to the Jewish Quarter of the old town. 

 

Narrow street of the Juderia (Jewish Quarter)

 

Statue of Maimonides

Maimonides was the preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages.

We gather on the bus again to head to our hotel in the newer part of town.  We get checked in and decide to find a place to eat lunch.  We have a hard time finding a place to eat and end up at the Restuarant Nebraska, a place that Drew is unhappy about but the meal turns out okay.  Since we are on our own for the rest of the afternoon and evening, Debbie, Natalie, Paula, Betty and I decide to go back to the old town and end up hanging out for a while in the Jewish quarters.  We visit the shops and find a perfect outside cafe that serves the most wonderful sangaria, along with a variety of olives that we can't get enough of.

Enjoying the beautiful weather while waiting for our sangarias.

The view from our table

In the Jewish Quaters the streets are very narrow and open up to whitewashed courtyards and windows and balconies that hold red geraniums and ferns.  There is usually a fountain and small outdoor cafes.

We finally have dinner at Patio de la Juderia and then return to our hotel.  I do the internet/e-mail thing and then go to bed.  No one has to rock me to sleep!

"Get Out of My Room, Train!"

Allison, Sara Ann, DK, Cindy, Lanny

Lately, Wes has statred being scared of the train that passes close to Laura and Chase's house late at night.  Laura has taught him to tell Elmo, with whom he sleeps, to say, "Elmo says, 'Get out of my room, train!'" and the train leaves, I guess.  Whatever works.

So, a few of us put Wes' practice into play last Saturday when we went to Memphis to see Jersey Boys. The performance on Friday evening had been canceled due to snow and ice, and the probability of the Saturday performance looked doubtful.  We got up Staurday morning calling the Highway Patrol, MDOT, the concierge at the Peabody, relatives in the Memphis area, and anyone else we could think of who could and would give us info on the condition of the roads.  Finally, we decided, "Get out of our way, snow and ice!" and headed to Memphis.  What a happy group of girls!  We made the journey safe and sound and had a wonderful time.  Jersey Boys was great, and we left Memphis, singing and toe tapping all the way home.

Good Vibrations

Here is a shout out to my New Year buddies!
Only the 6 people in this pic understand the title, and that is the way it will stay.