Keeping Airmile Accounts Active

One thing a less than frequent traveller must watch for is making sure they do some kind of activity on the airline frequent flier memberships. A number of them will delete all your miles if you don't have any activity in the past 18 months. There are a number of ways you can keep your accounts active. One of the easiest and most pleasant is through a dining program. Northwest Airlines has such a program. I haven't had any activity in my membership with them since April so I decided to check out a restaurant called Pasta Nostra so I could earn a few airmiles and have a nice lunch.

The restaurant itself is clean and pleasant enough looking. It's easy to get to. It's located just off of Van Dusen Road in Laurel, Maryland. It serves good Italian food like Penne al Salmon and Calimari Fritti (the 2 dishes I had). Price wise, it was reasonable. It is different from your normal fancy dining in that there is open seating and there aren't any waiters or waitresses. You go up to a counter where you order your and pay for your food. They give you a plastic number which you set on your table. When your order is ready, someone from the kitchen finds you and gives you your food. I wasn't thrilled with this aspect but, Pasta Nostra isn't trying to be a high class restaurant so it wasn't any big deal.

Overall, it was a nice restaurant that I wouldn't mind going back to. It was also an easy way to keep my Northwest Airlines frequent flier account active. That was more important to me as I want to keep my miles just in case I decide to try to use them for some kind of travel in the future. If you want an easy way to keep your airmile account active, you might check and see if your airline has a similar dining program. Bon appetit!

Puzzle

While at work, I noticed an interesting puzzle on my boss's desk. It's a paragraph that has 25 books of the bible hidden in it. Some are very easy to find and some aren't. I found it fun and challenging. You can find it online at http://www.eternalchoice.com/puzzle.php. For those who are less knowledgeable about the various books of the bible (like me), you might want to print a list of the books of the bible so you know all the books that could be in the puzzle. Cheers!

Won a Lot at Dave & Buster's

As I said I'd do, I made my way down to Dave & Buster's at Arundel Mills Mall and tried to put a hurtin on them ticket wise. It was 1/2 price game day. This is the best day to play their arcade games because you get twice the game play. I spent approximately $160 playing Spin & Win and, that enabled me to play approximately 250 times. I think that increased my chances of winning considerably. I ended up winning 34,200 tickets. I hit the 1,000 light 26 times! I was delighted. People kept commenting on how many tickets I won. It was sweet. I wish I could be that lucky when I play the Lotto. Oh well. I brought my total ticket winnings to 110,895. I'll savor that for a while. Cheers all!

Parka

About 7 or 8 years ago, my sister Ellie took me to a Burlington Coat Factory store to buy a winter coat. I needed it with as cold as it got where my folks live. The parka I bought turned out to be a really good deal both in price and in the job it did in keeping me warm. Unfortunately, clothes only last so long. Through wear and tear, part of my parka's zipper got ripped out and some of the seams were coming loose. My parka began shedding feathers (it has a down lining). So, it was time to get a new one. Because I was able to get such a good parka at Burlington before, I decided to try them again. There were a couple in the area where I live. I checked both of them out and found out one with the features I wanted (a hood, double zipper and down lining). The price was good again. My parka cost me $60 and would've cost around $150 else where. We'll see how it holds up with the coming winter.

Game Ticket Special

One advantage of registering your game card with Dave & Busters is apparently they will email you special promotions like their 1/2 price holiday game promotion. Last week, they emailed me a coupon where if I won 1,500 tickets, I would receive a bonus 1,000 tickets. There were some exemptions on the coupon. The biggest was I couldn't use it on 1/2 price game days. Today, I decided to use the coupon. I got lucky right off the bat. I hit the 1,000 ticket light on my very first spin at Spin & Win. Then, I went cold. I kept missing the 1,000 light by 1 or 2 lights. I tried to keep count of how many times I hit the 20 ticket or 40 ticket lights. Finally, I got up to what I guesstimated was 1,420 tickets. Then, I hit the 1,000 light again. Thankfully, I had the sense to stop. I took my tickets and went to the Winners Circle counter. It turned out my guesstimate was off by 180 tickets. I'd already reached 1,600. Oh well. I received my free bonus. Now, I have 76,692 tickets. I checked out the prizes they had and apparently a lot of the good stuff is going fast. All the 30 GB MP3 players were gone as well as the digital video camera. I'm curious to see what they replace them with. I plan to go back in the future on some Wednesday and try to run my ticket total higher. I want to take advantage of the 1/2 price games. We'll see how I do then. Cheers all!

Looking Like Christmas

It was definitely looking like Christmas on the route I did today. A lot of people had their outdoor Christmas lights up or were putting them up. I saw a pick-up truck drive by with a Christmas tree in the back. Lastly, we received some light snow flurries which gave a nice white dusting on the ground. I don't think we'll get any real accumulation. It's too warm for that. Still, it does make it look pretty outside.

Almond Bark

I visited the Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland. They have almond bark again. Their almond bark is made with dark chocolate and at 50% California almonds (I don't see what is so big about California almonds). They're selling it in 8 ounce single slab boxes vice last year when they were selling it in 1 pound/2 slab boxes. At the Columbia Trader Joe's, a box is selling for $4.99. This is a seasonal item so if you want to enjoy their almond bark, you'll need to buy it during the Christmas season. Come January, it'll be gone again till next Christmas season. Cheers all!

Hair Update

I haven't given a report on Propecia or the laser comb in a while so here goes. The Propecia is definitely working. My hair loss has totally stopped. However, there are some negatives to the Propecia. First, there is the cost. Sam's Club is slightly cheaper than Costco but a 3 month supply of Propecia will still set you back over $180. Second, you have to take the drug at the same time every day. This was a major hassle when I was travelling because of the time difference. It was a serious hassle to have to stop what you're doing in mid-day and make sure you took your pill. It's a lot easier to take it first thing in the morning.

In regards to the laser comb, I'm not sure how well it's working or if it is. That was why I held off buying the thing initially. There isn't any set success rate with the comb barring it is more than 30% effective and less than 90%. The comb has been a pain in 3 ways. First, I have to use a stopwatch everytime I use it. You must comb your hair/top of your head with it a minimum of 10 minutes. However, it doesn't do anymore good if you go over 15 minutes. Second, you have to remember to use the comb every other day. Using it more often than that doesn't do you any extra good. Lastly, you have to be careful using the comb with your eyes. It is a laser and it could harm them if it shines directly in your eyes. I make sure I have the thing over my scalp before I turn it on. The biggest advantage of the comb is what it could save you in money if it works. The comb costs approximately $580. A 1 year supply of Propecia would cost you $720. So, in the first year, it would save you $140 and the savings continue after that.

So, that is what is happening there. I still wish I'd started on Propecia earlier. But, I'm not going to go bald so I'm happy with that and I'll deal with the hassles. If you think you might be going bald and you don't want to, you might want to check into Propecia or the laser comb.

Computer Problems

I had unexpected computer problems this past Sunday. I decided to re-watch one of the extras in the extended version of Fellowship of the Ring. One of the interesting things they threw in with the extended version was interviews with the actors who talk about the other actors and their experiences. It's neat stuff.

Anyway, I put the disk in the DVD/CD player and it spins for a little bit but, when I click on the movie program to play it, it doesn't show the movie listed. Uh oh! I call up Windows Explorer and it doesn't show the DVD/CD player either. Something was clearly seriously wrong.

I called up Dell's Support Center (I have a Dell laptop) and had some suggestions on what to do about such a problem. I tried them and they didn't work. Finally, I contacted Dell's technical support. After waiting about 5 to 10 minutes, a person named Justin came up on the chat window. I told him what my problem was and he said he could fix it. It turned out he was right. The problem is fixed but, it brought up a couple unexpected issues. First, my extended warranty will end the middle of next year. I won't be able to extend it again for the coverage I have now. What that means is I'll have to buy a new laptop. That's the last thing I want to do. Still, I like having full warranty coverage on my computer just in case. I haven't forgotten what happened when the motherboard went out on my first laptop. It cost me $400 to fix and the laptop was never the same. Second, one of the major problems I had was a registry problem. I remembered that Norton's 360 program claims to be able to help with those. I didn't buy that program because I was cheap. I didn't care to spend the extra $20 for it. I'm wondering now if I should have. I suspect when it's time to get the latest version out i.e. 2009, I'll get that program vice the one I'm using now.

For now, my computer is running fine (knock on wood) but, I'll have to sadly think about replacing it. One of the rubs about laptops is they don't last like desktop computers. Also, you can't upgrade them like you can desktops. As I've been very pleased with my Dell, I'll buy another one of their computers. Hopefully, when it's time, I'll be able to get a good deal with them. We'll see. Cheers all!

Hard Day

I had a hard day at the Post Office yesterday. I knew it was going to be a rough one. The day after a holiday always is. Holidays are bad for mail carriers because they'll have 2 days worth of mail to deliver when they come in. 2 other things worked to make things worse yesterday. The second was the DPS (deliver to point service) mail. It came over an hour late. You would say that shouldn't be a problem since DPS mail is already sorted. Yes it is BUT, the carrier still has to break it down for each address or address group. In yesterday's situation, I had to break it down to over 300 individual addresses. That takes any where between 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on how heavy it is. Yesterday, because of the holiday, the volume was heavy so it longer to break it down. Lastly, the Christmas season began to hit. What does everyone like to receive during Christmas? Presents! For a mail carrier, presents are a mixed blessing. They're good for the Postal Service because they make more money for it than say a first class letter. They're bad in that they require more time. Usually, you can't just stick them in the mailbox and be done with them. The mail carrier will have to get out of their mail truck and take them to the door of the residence. If the neighborhood is bad and the recipient isn't home, they'll have to write up a 3849 (I think that's the right number) and leave it at the door so the person can pick up their package at the Post Office the next day. All of this takes time and time is one thing the carrier is racing against in the race to get back to the Post Office and finish up. Also, in the case of a substitute, unless you're hitting 40 hours that week, the longer you take to deliver your mail the more time you give to the Postal Service for free. Yesterday, I probably gave the Post Office 3 free hours. No one likes working for free barring volunteer work. So, that wasn't a lot of fun in that way.

Thankfully, I got the route done, wrapped things up at the Post Office i.e. turned in my outgoing mail, my accountables including my mailbox key and clocked out on my timesheet. Today, it should be easier barring having to be back an hour sooner because of the outgoing truck leaving sooner. I'll still need to hustle to get the job done but, it won't as bad as yesterday. Cheers all!

St. Emilion Wine Merchant

This is a wine shop in St. Emilion, France. I took this picture during my September Globus tour of France. I decided to post it here because I didn't use it with the story I posted on the Globus exchange travel stories website. They only allow you to post 4 pictures with every story and, I wanted to show more of the town itself and the vineyards around it with my story. Still, I like the photo and I hope you like it too. The box of plants to the right of the picture are grape vine plants. You could even buy your own grape vine at this shop. I thought that was pretty neat.

Concerning my France stories, I've finally finished them. I've posted 9 of the stories on the exchange travel stories website. I'm letting the other 3 sit a little. I've found that once I write something, it's good to let it sit a little because, it's easier for me to come back and catch typos and improve it then. All totalled, I ended up writing 12 stories on the France tour. It took that many because of the word limitations they have on the story website and, because I got to do a lot of cool stuff. I really enjoyed the tour. The only thing I didn't enjoy was saying good-bye to those in our group. That's always the hardest part of the tour for me. One of the nice things about Globus tours is you get great camaraderie. More so, I think with the long tours. By the time the tour ends, you have a lot of friends and, it's hard to say good-bye to them. Also, you know you won't ever see most of them ever again. I do take some consolation in that I'll get to meet some more really nice people on the next tour. Slowly but surely, the Egypt tour date is getting here. It isn't moving fast enough for me and it never will. The minute I finish one tour with Globus, I'm itching to go on another one. If I had my druthers, I would spend all my time doing tours with them and seeing the world. Sadly, I can't afford it. Oh well. Maybe it helps me appreciate it that much more when I do get to go on a tour. Cheers all!

Holiday Special at Dave & Busters

I've been wishing that Dave & Busters would offer another half price game day. To my delight, they have. During the holiday season, Dave & Busters will have half price game Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, all games will be half price except for photo morph whatever that is. This is a really good deal as the games can be very expensive at Dave & Busters. I'm certain that Dave & Busters will still be raking in the money. It still takes a lot of tickets to get some of the really cool prizes. However, this will make it easier for you to win the cool prize you've been wanting to get. See you there on Wednesdays. Cheers all!

Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to wish any readers I have out there a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to get together with family and friends and enjoy the day.

What Next?

I went by the apartment manager's office where I live to let them know I wasn't going to sign the lease addendum for the new cable tv service. I'm still seriously pissed off about it. Plus, I don't need my rent going up $45 a month for something I don't want. The big question that remains is: will they bill me for the cable service anyway? If so, I'll definitely be moving when my lease is up. If not then, I have to see what they do when it comes to renew i.e. are they going to try to slip the cable charge in with the rent increase? We'll see what comes next.

Commissary

One of the benefits you receive in the military is being able to shop at the base commissary (supermarket). This benefit continues when you retire as in my case. I can't say I've been terribly appreciative of this benefit as I rarely have to watch the pennies when I go grocery shopping. I've seen the sign at the entrance to the commissary saying how much things were cheaper in each of its departments vice what it would cost you off base but, the numbers don't really click. They don't show in hard dollars how much of a difference there can be. Yesterday, I got to see it in dollars and cents. Recently, I bought some Ferrero Rochers chocolates and Tostito tortilla chips flavored with a hint of lime at a local Safeway supermarket. I was curious to see how much cheaper they'd be at the commissary. I found out there was a big difference. The Ferrero Rochers were over 60 cents cheaper for a 5.3 ounce package. The Tostito chips were over a $1 a bag cheaper. Also. packaged luncheon meat is cheaper though I can't give hard price differences there. I was a able to buy a 1 pound package of Louis Rich turkey bologna for $1.25 at the commissary. I believe it would be at least 50 cents higher at Safeway. So, I got to count my blessings for being able to shop there. I probably saved at least $10 or $15 which can make a difference. I'll have to make an effort to go to the commissary more often. The reason I don't go there that often is because it's a hassle going through base security. Plus, it reminds me of my former military life. I still miss it. It's been over 3 years now since I retired from the Air Force. Oh well. I suppose I'll get use to civilian life in time though, I don't like it as much as the military life. There is definitely a lot more bs in the civilian world. Cheers all!

Furious

I got a nasty surprise from the apartment complex where I live. It seems that upper management who run the chain of properties that my complex is part of decided that all the tenants in my complex were going to get cable whether we want it or not and we are going to pay $45 a month for the cable service whether we want to or not. Apparently, an addendum to my lease allows them to do this. I'm furious. I don't want cable tv. I don't own a tv and, I don't miss it at all. So, for now, I'll have to pay the additional $45 a month starting January but, when it comes time to renew my lease in October 2009, I'll be telling the upper management where they can stick their mandatory cable bill. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a place in the town where I live that's reasonable. All the new apartment complexes that have been built recently are more expensive. We'll see what happens.

Crazy Truck

I had some bad luck truck wise today at the Post Office. The truck that is normally assigned to the route I did was out for maintenance. Because of that, I had to get a different truck that wasn't being used. Thanks to some open routes on the city side, that wasn't a problem. What was a problem were some of the things wrong with the truck. The first thing I found out that didn't work was the tailgate on the truck. I put the truck into to it to unlock it and raise it and it wouldn't unlock. Because of I was anxious to get on the street, I let this go though it would be a real nuisance to have to make my way through the mail in the back of the truck to the tailgate to open from inside. The second problem I ran into was in regards to truck going in reverse. Depending on the level of the ground, the truck at times wouldn't reverse. This was a major problem when I got within 4 inches of a car. There wasn't any way I could steer around the car. Finally, I put the truck in neutral and physically pushed it back. I had to do this twice. After that, if a situation came up where it looked like I might have to reverse, I avoided it. Instead, I'd stop the truck parallel to the box, get out of the truck and put the mail in the box. It took a little longer but, it avoided any further hassles with the truck. Thankfully, I didn't have any other problems with the truck and, I was able to get back to the Post Office before the truck taking the outgoing mail left. I hope I don't have to use that truck again.

Scooter

Yesterday, I made another down payment on the Yamaha scooter I plan to get in April or May. By making pre-payments on it, I'm making it easier to make the final payment on it when I pick the scooter up at the dealership. $3,020 is a lot of money to shell out all at once.

I find it a bit embarrassing to go the cycle dealership to make the payments. The scooter I'm going to get is a seriously wimpy bike. It can't go faster than 40 mph and it looks seriously wimpy, especially compared to the sleek motorcycles they have at the dealership. Yet, I don't know if I'm going to like riding the thing or not and, I don't want to shell out over $7,000 for a serious scooter only to find out I don't like the thing. Plus, if you get a bike with a 50cc or larger engine, you have to do a motorcycle safety course and get a motorcycle license. That would be a royal pain. So, I'll stick with my plans to get my wimpy scooter and see how things work out. If I like the thing, I'll move up to something I can take out of the city and on the highway. We'll see how things work out.

Not Much New

Not much new to report at my end of the woods. I did my fifth French lesson at the Alliance Francaise in Washington D.C. It went well and I'm definitely improving. I'm finding it easier to change thinking modes into French. My one major handicap with French is my vocabulary or lack of. I keep thinking of things I want to say in French and, I don't know all the words. During today's lesson, I learned more new words and phrases. Hopefully, in time, they'll sink in.

I managed to get my procrastinating butt to church. I learned some things though I also fell asleep during both sermons. The Colonel and his son both have the ability to put me to sleep. I don't know why.

I received my Globus Journey Club membership card with the $75 coupon good toward a new tour with them that I must take between now and December 2009. I plan to put it toward the Historic U.S. East tour I plan and hope to do next July.

I nearly got a day off at the Post Office where I work. This week's work schedule came out this past Friday. I wasn't scheduled to work Wednesday. I was amazed. That lasted for just 5 hours. When I got back to the Post Office after delivering the mail on the route I was doing, it had changed. I'll be delivering Express Mail then. So, I'll get to work 6 days this week too though 4 of them will be delivering Express Mail (2 and 1/2 hours tops). There'll always be the chance I'll get called in early or the schedule will change again. Sometimes, it can change hourly.

I'm also trying to figure out what I want to do money wise. I have too many things I want to do and too little cash. I want to pay off the U.S. and Canada tours but, that'll cost over $4,000. I want to put some more money down on the Yamaha scooter I plan to get eventually. That'll be easier to do. I plan to pay down another $300 on that. I continue to put $270 a month into my IRA and $250 a month into a mutual fund. I know the market is tanking but, I have hope it'll eventually recover. I'm thinking for the long term on that. And don't remind me of Christmas. Christmas presents. Aargh! Serious bah humbug on that though my brother Hank would kick me if he heard me saying that. It's his favorite time of the year since he gets stuff. He's a real character.

I continue to write about the France tour I took on Globus's exchange travel stories website. Because of their 1,500 word story limit, I have to write about the tour in parts. I'm working on Part VI which will be about the French chateau country. I had escargot for the first time and I got to visit Clos de Luce, Chenonceau and Chambord. I'm surprised that they don't have more people tell of their adventures with them. I guess they figure it isn't worth it. To bad.

That's all to report for now. Pretty boring stuff and it'll likely continue that way. That's the price I have to pay for the cool trips I get to go on every 6 months or so. I'll try to think of something interesting to post on here. Cheers all!

Holiday

Everyone enjoys a holiday but, I confess I don't like them if I have to go in and work a route the next day at the Post Office. The reason for that is that the mail doesn't stop moving just because it's a holiday. If you have a day off at the Post Office, you'll be facing 2 days worth of mail when you come back to work. That is seriously bad news as it is a royal pain to have to case and deliver 2 days of mail. The main reason I hate Mondays so much at the Post Office is because of that.

Yesterday was a prime example. Normally, I would have 2 tubs of flats (newspapers, magazines and cards advertising whatever) waiting for me. Because we had Tuesday off because of Veteran's day, I had 7 tubs waiting for me. Plus, I had to case Pennysavers too. My spirits sank a bit at the sight of it then, I buckled down and got to work. One nice thing about the route I was on was that once the mail was cased, I wouldn't have to mess with it again vice packing it up and putting it in the person's mailbox. Routes where you have multi-mailboxes, you have a 2nd mail sorting which can be a real nuisance.

Because of the heavier mail volume, I got out on the street later and consequently got back later. I got back to the loading dock at 5:45 p.m. which in my opinion wasn't bad. I seem to be delivering the mail faster on the route I did. Thanks to the sun going down earlier every day, I had to use my miner's light for the first time. I used it so I could see the addresses on the mail to make sure I put the right mail in the right box. Nothing pisses off customers like them getting the wrong mail. Some of them take their anger out on the mail itself by writing all kinds of things making it clear they got the wrong mail. A simple note saying wrong address will do. I doubt the people who get the previously mis-delivered mail appreciate the previous person's artwork. I know I wouldn't.

Layoffs

I saw a blog entry on http://returnoftheconservatives.blogspot.com/ mentioning that the U.S. Postal Service plans to layoff 40,000 workers. I've heard this before and, I believe they do plan layoffs for the first time in their history. I know for a fact they are offering early retirement to full time carriers. One city carrier I know at the Post Office where I work has put in his paperwork and is counting the days till he leaves. I'll be saddened to see him go as he is a really good joe and, as far as I know, a good mail carrier too.

Return of the Conservatives blog entry mentions that the Postal Serviced is bloated. I can state unequivocally that at the Post Office where I work, that isn't true. We have 2 custodians doing the job of 5. We have at least 4 city routes that they haven't filled with full time carriers. Because of that, other city carriers have to take pieces of these routes and carry them in addition to their regular routes.

On the rural side, we don't have enough substitute carriers though that problem is complicated. We have substitute carriers that will only work 1 day a week and aren't able to come in on short notice. The reason they do that is because they have other full time jobs. I can understand why they keep their full time jobs (the Post Office won't guarantee them more than 1 day a week) but, it creates real problems for the few subs that will come in on short notice. Those few subs tend to get tagged a LOT and that isn't right. Another problem we have sub wise is we have some bad eggs. We have one sub that has been written up at least EIGHT times and, they still can't fire that sub. That sub is now refusing to carry any route that sub doesn't like. If that sub gets assigned to a route the sub doesn't like, the sub calls out sick. The sub refuses to provide documentation that the sub was legitimately sick. Guess why. This "can't fire us mentality" is a major problem at the Postal Service.

The bad economic times promise to make things harder at a time when the Post Office is already having problems. High gas prices have really clobbered the Postal Service though this has let up some with the price of gas coming down though that won't last. More and more people are paying their bills on-line is hurting the Postal Service as it costs them their bread and butter mail i.e. First Class. And, can you remember the last time you actually wrote someone a letter? That hurts the Postal Service too. With the bad economic times, advertisers will cut back the fliers they mail. You say that's great. I say you're wrong. It's those fliers that are now paying for your mail service. Cut back on those fliers and the price of 1st class stamp may have to go higher which conversely will hurt the Postal Service as more people will turn to paying their bills on-line. It's a real problem. Ironically, this comes when the Postal Service is doing a better job than ever at delivering your mail. And, we offer good value. A study I saw recently showed that we did just as good a job as FedEx or UPS with Express Mail i.e. we promise to deliver it to the address by Noon and we were as much as 30% cheaper. Unfortunately, the word doesn't seem to be getting out about that.

Times promise to be hard for the Postal Service for at least the next year. The Postal Service needs to be more responsive to its customers and postal employees need to get out of this mindset that their jobs are absolutely safe. While the postal unions can offer some job security, there is a limit to it. The upcoming layoffs prove that. In the coming times, the greatest security those working at the Postal Service will have will be on how well they take care of their customers. Take care of the customer and, you'll stay in business (and the Postal Service is a business). Fail to do so and someone will take the Postal Service's place. FedEx and UPS and have shown that.

Roman Aqueduct

This is the Roman aqueduct on the Pont du Gard. The Romans built the aqueduct between 30 and 15 B.C. It was built to bring water from the mountains to the city of Nimes. The aqueduct had a slight decline that helped the water flow down the aqueduct till it reached the city. Amazingly, the Roman got the slight decline right and the aqueduct worked beautifully for 400 YEARS! I say amazingly because the feeds into the aqueduct and the aqueduct itself ran for miles. The Romans managed to calculate the slight decline without the use of computers or any other sophisticated tools. It is truly a marvel of engineering and the skill of the Romans as builders.

Carcassone

We arrived at Carcassone around lunch time. The old city of Carcassone is the largest Medieval fortress in all of Europe. When you walk its streets, you feel like you've stepped back in time. The old city is surrounded by thick high walls with towering towers. It's a very impressive place though not as impressive as Mont St. Michel. For the most part, I enjoyed walking around the city. I wasn't impressed with some sword shops they had there as all they had was kitschy junk. I did have a pleasant lunch there. I had one mis-adventure here. The old city has modern free self cleaning bathrooms. Apparently, after someone uses the bathroom, the room automatically locks, the light goes off and water and soap are sprayed on the floor and in the toilet. Then, wind is blown across the floor to drive the water into in place drains which whisk it away. How I learned all this was when I ducked into one of their automatic bathrooms without waiting for it to clean itself. I started taking a leak when the lights went out and water started being sprayed across the floor. In a matter of seconds, my sneakers and trouser bottoms were soaked. Then, the wind started blowing across the floor which helped dry out my slacks a little. I finished my business and very embarrassedly stepped out of the automatic bathroom. I'll definitely remember how these things work after this mishap.

After our stop at Carcassone, we re-boarded our bus and drove to Nimes where we spent the night. The next morning, we'd drive the Roman aqueduct that was finished in 15 B.C. Stay tuned.

Gold Card

After my latest blog about Dave & Busters, I decided to check into what you had to do to get their Gold card. It turns out you have to buy and use 1,200 chips. That'll cost you around $180. If you're going to play the games a lot at Dave & Busters, it's worth getting their Gold card as it saves you 10% on every game. That can add up.

Another thing you should do is register your game card on their website. That way, you can get it replaced if you lose your game card. If you lose your game card and you didn't register it, you're out of luck as far as getting it replaced and recovering all the tickets you may have won. I remember finding a game card in their prize shop. Someone dropped it and no one had reported a lost game card. That card has 56 tickets on it. Not a fortune in tickets but, every bit can help towards getting one of their prizes. It is worth doing.

French Lesson 2

Today, I attended my second French lesson at the Alliance Francaise in Washington D.C. Due to my laziness and procrastination, I was able to turn in only half my homework. I expected to finish the grammar homework at the Alliance but, my teacher Nadya was already there. Crap! At least, I had the 4 sentences I had to write in French done.

During the lesson, I learned more ways for French to confuse me when listening to it. We practiced direct French pronouns like me, te, le and la. If I wanted to say "I met Jacques" but, I didn't want to say his name again, I could say "Je le ai rencontre." (the last e of rencontre would be hyphenated). In English, this translates to "I met him."

Also, I discovered how diplomatic the French can be. In English, we call our in-laws father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law etc. The French are more kind in their names of their in-laws. For example, father-in-law in French le beau pere which means the handsome father. Mother-in-law in French is la belle mere which means the beautiful mother. You can see how the French are diplomatic as they give nice names to people they otherwise might dislike. I found it funny.

I find myself wishing I could do more lessons but, that isn't possible. My work hours remain very unpredictable at the Post Office and, there is the cost. French lessons are one of a number of things I want to do. There are the two tours I'll be taking next July with Globus. Also, there is a new Yamaha scooter I look forward to getting. Lastly, I'll need spending money for Egypt. Because of all those things, I plan to work a lot at the Post Office when I can. Still, the lessons are fun and I definitely plan to continue to them. Salut!

Daylight Savings Time Reminder

I just wanted to post a reminder that tomorrow morning at 2 a.m., clocks will go back an hour as Daylight Savings Time ends. You might want to do it tonight before you go to bed so you don't forget the next morning. Cheers all!

Dave & Busters Update

I took advantage of Dave & Buster's half price game special today. After I finished doing a full route at the Post Office and dropped off a friend at the Carmax dealership so she could pick up her car, I drove down to their arcade at the Arundel Mills Mall. I played my favorite game Spin & Win. Lady luck was with me for a change. I hit the 1,000 ticket spot 7 times! All totalled, I won 9,424 tickets. I think that's the most tickets I've won at one visit there ever. I wonder if the fact that I was relaxed playing the game helped. Since the game was half price, I wasn't worrying about how much each play was costing. The Spin & Win game can be expensive to play. It's something like nearly 10 coins a play or just under 9 with a Gold card. I wanted to take further advantage of the half-price games but, I was tired from working a full route. I decided to call it a day after I exhausted all the coins on my game card. I hope Dave & Buster's offer the half-price game day again sometime. It is a nice deal though I'm certain they're still making money out of it. I still haven't decided on a prize yet. They have a Zune 30 GB MP3 player for 46,000 tickets or a Sony Digital camcorder for 58,000. I think the Sony camcorder sells for around $260 on sale. I would like to have an MP3 player and a digital camcorder. The MP3 player would make it easy to take tunes along on trips as well as bible doctrine lessons. And, the camcorder would provide some really cool memories of the upcoming Egypt tour. We'll see. For now, I can savor the fact that I have 73,083 tickets. I can think of the all cool prizes I can claim. It's fun. Cheers all!

Dave & Buster's Reminder

For any of my readers who live in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area and who like the Dave & Buster's at Arundel Mills Mall, they're having a noteworthy special today. Today, all their games are half price except for the coin action or coin dispensing games. This can be a real bargain considering what it can cost to play some of their games. Also, if you play the games a lot, you shouldn't forget about upgrading to their Gold card. That can save you 10% on your game play. I forget how much you have to play to get a Gold card but, it is worth doing if you play their games a lot. See you at Dave & Buster's.

St. Emilion

We arrived at St. Emilion in the afternoon. It was a sightseeing stop where we could see some of the old wine making town. The town's history goes back to Roman times. When we arrived, they were holding a ceremony involving the Juraid. The Juraid is a body of officials that in Medieval times held political as well as economic power. Re-activated in 1947, it promotes the wines of the region. As you can see by the picture above, the town is surrounded by thousands of grape vines. Also, the town has scores of wine shops (no surprise there). It was something to walk around on the cobblestone streets checking out the old church and other shops. It was here that I remembered a couple friends at the Post Office and bought them gifts. One was a t-shirt that said I red heart St. Emilion. I thought it looked cute and, I'd promised her a t-shirt from France. I got the other friend a wall hanging that showed scenes of St. Emilion and says something in French. I haven't translated it to find out exactly what it says. I enjoyed checking out the town. Afterwards, we drove on to the city of Bordeaux where we spent the night. The next morning, we'd depart for Carcassone and Nimes.

Street in Rouen, France

Here is a picture I took of the street that leads from the cathedral dedicated to Joan of Arc to the Rouen Cathedral. The tour group I was with arrived around lunch time so the street was pretty busy. The street had a mix of old and new buildings as you can see in the picture. Further down the street was a famous Medieval clock. I took a picture of it and I'll post it some time on this blog. Au revoir.

French Lessons

Yesterday, I had my first French lesson with my new French teacher. It was interesting to return to the Washington D.C. Alliance Francaise. I haven't been there in at least 5 years. I remember looking them up when I first arrived in the D.C. area. I had taken French lessons at the Alliance Francaise Bahrain branch and I had been very pleased with them. So, I checked into and found out they had a branch in Washington D.C. Because of the unpredictability of my work hours, I had to do one-on-one lessons then like I'm doing now. My teacher then was a lady named Dominique (I don't remember her last name). I was making good progress but, I decided to get back to college so I could finish my Bachelor's degree (which I still haven't done). Because of college and work, I stopped the lessons though I continued to study French with various computer programs. The best one I found was Rosetta Stone which I still have. Still, Rosetta Stone can't take the place of a teacher.

My tour of France wettened my desire to properly learn French again. I really enjoyed trying to speak French but, I was having difficulties. I didn't know enough vocabulary and I couldn't translate fast enough to understand every thing people would say back to me in French. One of the biggest problems with a computer program is you can't ask it questions about the language your studying. I realized that I wanted to seriously study French again, I was going to have to study with a teacher. The one place I knew where they have good French teachers was the Alliance Francaise. I had their website bookmarked so it was easy to look them up and find out what I had to do to start lessons again with them. The only problem I had this time was finding a teacher who would teach me on Sundays.

My hours at the Post Office are extremely unpredictable. I can be scheduled to be off a certain day and end up working 12 hours. Last week, I was supposed to work 31 hours. I ended up working over 50! I had 3 days where I worked over 11 hours each day! Because of such crazy hours, the only day I knew that I could absolutely do a lessons and not have to change them or cancel them at the last minute would be Sunday. The Post Office doesn't deliver mail on Sundays so I was safe there.

I spoke with the academic director at the D.C. Alliance and she told me she'd work on finding me a teacher. It would've been easier to find one during the weekdays or Saturday but, I told her that wasn't possible. To my delight, I heard from my new teacher the Sunday before last (I think). It turned out she was a lady in her 60's I would guess who is more knowledgeable about French than English. I guess she comes from France. Anyway, we got together for the first time yesterday. The lesson went well though it was challenging for me. With French, some words can mean multiple things so you have to listen or read the entire sentence to find out what the word may mean. An example would be the French work Ou. Ou can mean where or "or." It all depends on how you emphasize it. If you emphasize it at the beginning of a question, you're likely asking where something is. If you don't emphasize the word, they're probably giving choices ex. Martin or Andrew and they're using it as or. Another thing that makes French challenging is that they'll have letters that'll carry over into the next word when you speak it. Ex. Vous etes Italienne. When you speak this sentence, you would say vous zet zitalienne. The s's carry over into the next words and have a "z" sound. This can make it very hard at times to say the words. It can also make it hard to translate what is spoken as there isn't any French word zitalienne. There is an Italienne word so you have to figure out that the "z" is being carried over but, it isn't part of the word. I suspect this is one of the things that makes it so hard for me to translate spoken French.

Nadya worked to develop all the aspects of French i.e. I need to be able to speak it, understand it when it's spoken, write it and read it. So, we practiced on all 4 aspects. I got to read various sentences aloud and translate them. I received practice translating spoken French when she spoke it and I started figuring out how I would write in French. She gave me a homework assignment where I'll have to write 2 to 4 sentences in French. Thankfully, I get to use a French-English dictionary if I need to (and I will). Also, I'm supposed to read 1 or 2 paragraphs of something written in French. She gave me a newsletter that tells of things in the French-American community in the U.S. as well as having articles on wine and food. I plan to use that for my reading assignment.

Overall, the lesson went well. Nadya gave me the options I had as far as how long the lessons could be. They can be 1, 1 and 1/2, 2 or even 3 hours long. I opted for 1 and 1/2 hour lessons. That'll give us enough time to cover a good bit of material but, my brain won't get too fried from trying to think of the various French words and put them in the correct order. The lessons will be challenging and fun. The only hassle I'm going to have is driving down to D.C. and finding a parking spot close to the Alliance. Ironically, I had to park in front of the French embassy or Ambassador's house. I thought it appropriate considering what I was there to do. I look forward to learning more French and getting to use it when I return to France for another Globus tour in 2010. Au revoir!

Eiffel Tower

Here is a picture I took of the famous Eiffel Tower. The tower has become a symbol of Paris and one of its must see sights. Ironically, when it was first built, Parisians decried it as an eyesore. The tower offers some of the best views of Paris. Price wise, the higher you go up, the more expensive it gets. To get to the third level, you have to change elevators and you'll get stuck in a queue. However, the views from the top are awesome. I'll post some of those pictures later. Cheers all!

Easier Day at the Post Office

I had an easier day at the Post Office today. I worked rural route 7 which is my second favorite route. The reason I like it so much is it has a nice mounted stretch. What is mounted? Mounted means you can drive the mail truck right up to the mailbox, open it, put the mail in it, close it and drive to the next box. A mounted route is the easiest to deliver mail on. That's why I like it so much.

Why did I have it so easy today? I lucked out in three ways. First, my Direct to Point Service (DPS) mail was light. I received only 4 trays for the entire route which isn't a lot. How did that help me? First, I was able to case the mail quickly since there wasn't that much of it. Second, the route has 5 kiosks which are mail kiosks with multi-mailboxes in them. Those kind of mailboxes can slow you down as you have to do a second mail sorting at them. Since the mail was light, it didn't take me as long to deliver the mail to those kiosks.

Second, I didn't receive any accountable mails today. Accountable mails are certified or registered letters or Express Mail. When I return to the Post Office, I have to account for everyone of the certified or registered letters and Express Mail I signed for. Since I didn't receive any from the cage, I didn't have to worry about turning any in. Another plus of not having any accountable mail was time saved. Every piece of accountable mail must have a form 3849 filled out. Those are the small forms your carrier leaves at your door notifying you have an accountable mail or package you have to sign for. If your home when the carrier comes by, you'll sign a form 3849 which the carrier will take a picture of with his/her scanner. That is a record showing who received the item and when. Time wise, it also takes time to go to each door, knock and if the person is home, they'll sign for the item. Each one of these stops can take 5 minutes or more. If you get a lot of accountable mails, they can cost you a lot of time.

Lastly, the weather didn't slow me up. The weatherman was predicting thunderstorms and heavy rain. I brought my rain gear but, I hoped I'd be able to get most of my mail delivered before it really poured. To my relief, the heavens really opened up just as I pulled into my mail truck parking slot. I was very pleased.

So, the day went well. Where I had a 12 hour day on the route Thursday, I had a 9 hour day today. I was able to go home at a decent hour and, I won't have to work tomorrow since it's Sunday. I'll be able to go to church and do my first French lesson with my new French teacher. Stay tuned for an update on how that goes. Cheers all!

View from the Top of Mont St. Michel

I'm posting this picture for Jim, a fellow rural mail carrier sub. As I previously mentioned, the views from the top of Mont St. Michel were incredible. This picture gives you an idea of how high we were and how far we could see.

Mont St. Michel

All text can get rather boring, especially when I'm telling about my France adventures. Here's a picture I took of Mont. St. Michel. Hopefully, it'll give you an idea of how big it was. Visiting Mont. St. Michel was one of the highlights of my trip. This place was so cool. Sadly, it is a bit of a tourist trap. When our group visited it, there were at least 6 other coaches there. When we left, another 5 or 6 had arrived. It is very popular. I think you can see why.

Limoges

We got a somewhat early start this morning. I suspect it was so we'd have more time at Limoges and St. Emilion. We departed Tours at 7:30 a.m. I believe we arrived at Limoges at 10 a.m. Limoges is famous for its porcelain. Before the 19th century, all porcelain came from China. The reason for this is because no one had found any deposits of kaolin clay. The clay is key to making porcelain as it gives its hardness and whiteness when fired. The clay was found in Limoges though initially no one realized what it was. The story our guide told us what that woman in Limoges used the clay to make her dirty linen whiter when washing it. A chemist heard of the clay and found out it was kaolin. Within 20 or 30 years, a number of porcelain factories had sprung up in Limoges. We visited the Bernardaod porcelain museum and factory store. A young man by the name of Simon gave us a tour of the museum. He explained what the raw materials were used in making porcelain, how molds were used to create pitchers, vases and various other items, how the item was glazed and lastly how it was fired. Personally, to my surprise, I found the whole process interesting. Some of the porcelain was very pretty.

After the tour of the museum, we got the chance to buy some Bernardaod porcelain. According to our guide, prices weren't any better at their factory store than what we could find in the states. Because of that, I held off buying anything as the less stuff I bought, the less stuff I had to lug around, declare to customs and lug home the better. I was impressed by the selection they had. I hope to get one of their catalogs as I saw some stuff I think my sister Eloise or mom Kay would like.

After the museum tour and chance to shop at the factory store, everyone got back on the bus. We would drive for another 2 hours before stopping for lunch at a highway restaurant. I forget where it was located. I do remember that a number of these restaurants weren't cheap. I remember spending over $20 for lunch at one of them. They're not a place to take your appetite if you want to have pity on your wallet. Our next major destination would be the wine town of St. Emilion.

September 20, 2008

I got to see 3 famous French chateaux this day. One was famous because of the genius who lived there the last 3 years of his life. The second was famous because it was designed by a woman and 2 notable women lived there. The third was notable for the King who commissioned it, its size and its very unusual roof.

The first chateau we got to see was Clos de Luce. This chateau was owned by the King and could be loaned out to whomever he wished. King Francois I was fascinated by the Renaissance. He decided to invite one of the great geniuses of the Renaissance to France and offered to let him live in Clos de Luce. That genius was Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was given the job of entertainments for the court when the King was at his hunting lodge at Chambord. I think he also organized and ran various other ceremonies when the King was at Chambord. One entertainment Leonardo created for the amusement of the court was mechanical lion that could spit out fleur-de-lis. He may have also been influential in the design of the King's new chateau at Chambord as this chateau has a Renaissance double helix staircase in it. Something Leonardo was known to have designed. While living at Clos de Luce, Leonardo was free to carry on his experiments and paint. He finished 1 painting while there. It was his painting of John the Baptist. It shows him pointing one finger up. I can't say I was terribly impressed with the painting. Another neat thing about the chateau is it is filled with models of Leonardo's inventions. The inventions show just how much ahead of his time he was. Many of his inventions have become realities in our modern age.

After visiting Clos de Luce, we journeyed to beautiful Chateau Chenonceau. This chateau was designed by a woman who was the wife of the French minister of finance. Later, when some discrepancies were discovered with the ministries financial books, the chateau was seized by the crown. King Francois I gave it to his mistress Diane of Poitiers who continued to improve it. Diane had a bitter rival in Francois's wife Catherine de Medici. She was very jealous of her but, there wasn't anything she could do about it until King Francois died. She became regent as her son was too young to become King. In an act of revenge, she forced Diane to take 2 lesser chateaux in exchange for Chenonceau. Catherine knew Diane loved Chenonceau dearly and this was a way for her to get back at her. Diane reportedly never lived at the other 2 chateaux. Catherine would go on to make further changes and improvements to the chateau. Because of the women who were so involved in its creation, the chateau is known as the Lady's chateau.

As I mentioned in my paragraph about Clos de Luce, King Francois I had a hunting lodge at Chambord which he changed into a chateau. Francois had only recently come to the throne and he wanted to make a statement about his power. Chambord was to be that statement. It would take 35 years to finish the new chateau. Francois didn't live to see its completion. The chateau is HUGE. Each room has 20 foot high ceilings. It is said that the chateau was impossible to heat. Also, it was easy to get lost in. A princess staying there reportedly asked for a map so she could stop getting lost in the place. The chateau also has an incredible roof. There is a maze of kaleidscopic chimneys as well as stairwells on the roof. The chimneys have a number of different patterns alternating with black and white tiles. It is truly amazing.

After our local guide Martine finished showing our group Chambord, we drove back to our hotel. That night, we had a group dinner at the hotel. The next morning, we would depart for Limoges, St. Emilion and stay overnight in Bordeaux. Stay tuned for my next report on my France adventure.

Bad Luck

It turns out I had a bit of bad luck this past Saturday. One of the things I'm supposed to do when I do a full route is put my departure time on the route time sheet. In my rush to get out the door, I forgot to. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal. I'd make sure I filled it in when I got back to the Post Office. Unfortunately, a Postal inspector made an unannounced inspection and that was one of the things he/she checked. So, I received my third letter of warning ever from the Post Office. The letter will remain in my file for 1 year. At the end of that year, the letter will be thrown out. As the other 2 letters I've received have been thrown out, it isn't a disaster. I'll just have to be more careful.

Travel Plans

I believe I posted an entry about future travel plans here. In the last couple days, one of those plans got changed. I'd hoped to do back-to-back cruises in the Caribbean with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. They were the ones I went with this past March. I would've sailed on the Adventure of the Seas again and seen some islands I haven't seen before. Royal Caribbean killed those plans fast. It seems that if I want a cabin to myself, I have to pay double. Unlike other travel operators, Royal Caribbean doesn't have a single supplement. All the prices they quote on their website are based on double occupancy. If you want that rate and you're single, you have to find a roommate. I've been done having roommates since I moved out of the dorms when I was in the Air Force. I'd rather do something else than have to get a roommate for a trip. So, I won't be doing any cruises with Royal Caribbean for a while and, I'm a bit pissed off with them. I did manage to find something else I'd like to do travel wise in January 2010. Globus has a 2 week tour of South Africa. The trip combines history, culture and wildlife. The only drawback I know of is that crime is supposedly bad there i.e. I'm going to have to be careful. Barring that and a long flight down there, it sounds like a nice tour. We'll see if it happens. Hopefully, it will.

Baltimore Duck Tour

I've been wanting to do the Baltimore Duck tour for a while. I wanted to see how it stacked up against the Washington D.C. Duck tour. I thought the D.C. tour was nice but, the water portion was a total waste. As it turned out, the Baltimore tour was better even though it doesn't have all the historic monuments D.C. has. I got to see the first memorial built to honor George Washington. The tour drove by where Edgar Allan Poe, his wife and his mother-in-law are buried. Every year, on the day of his death, someone sneaks into the graveyard at night and places 3 roses and a bottle cognac at this tombstone. Everyone can figure out what the 3 roses represent but, no one understands what the cognac is for. There was also a touching memorial to the Holocaust.

The water portion of the tour was very nice. We got to see the U.S.S. Constellation, Lady Maryland and Pride of Baltimore ships. The guide told us about some of the construction going on close to the harbor. They're building a new hotel and a new office building. Lastly, we got to see some nice boats tied up at the various marinas. According to our guide Captain Joe, a number of boats are passing through Baltimore on their way south. They've been up in the waters of New England and the Great Lakes and were now making their way south to Florida, the Bahamas and possibly the Caribbean. It must be nice to be able to do that. I'd hate to think what it costs in terms of gas.

Overall, I was very pleased with the tour. Afterwards, I had a very nice lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I like the Baltimore cafe because it's very easy to go to. It's in the Inner Harbor area and within walking distance. Cheers all!

Renfen

On a different note, I had to include a post about my visit to the Maryland Renaissance Festival yesterday. I'd agree to meet up with my friend Sven and his very kind wife Barbara. I also got to meet his daughter and her husband. All of us were dressed in garb i.e. costume. Sven was dressed as a wizard and was so impressive, a number of people came up and took his picture. He really does look the part.

The festival was packed! There were long lines at all the food booths which was very annoying. Also, some of shops were packed too. I promised Susan, one of the ladies I met on the tour of France I did that I'd buy a bag of lavendar to put number my pillow. She said the scent helps you sleep. I went in search of a shop that I thought would sell it. To my annoyance, I went 180 degrees the wrong way. I had to walk all the way back of Mary's Dale Way to find the shop Blessed Scents which did sell bags of lavender. For some reason, I thought it had a stronger scent. Barring that, all I bought was a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade. Sven treated me to a smoked turkey leg which I thoroughly enjoyed. The turkey leg was tough and Sven had a hard time trying to eat the thing. I guess I had strong teeth because I tore right into it.

Overall, I very much enjoyed myself. I didn't like the long lines. Also, it was warmer than usual for October. I like going to the festival in October because it is cooler and consequently I can wear my real cloak. My real cloak is made of heavy wool. It's equal to a very good wool blanket. With the heat, the last thing I needed to do was wrap up in a wool blanket. If you haven't been to the festival, I believe it running today and this coming weekend. It is a lot of fun. Cheers!

September 19, 2008

Wake-up call 7 a.m., bags out and breakfast 8 a.m. and departure at 9 a.m. We would make our way Tours. Tours is a very modern city as 80% of it was destroyed during World War II. Our first stop during our drive to Tours was at the town called Chateaubriant. The town was called this due to a chateau located there that was owned by the Briant family. The cut of meat that we associate with that name was named for a writer with that last name. Susan our guide told us he liked that particular cut of beef so much they named it after him in his honor. The name stuck. After our bathroom stop at Chateaubriant, we continued on to Angers. Angers was the home base of the Counts of Anjou. It has what is called a chateau but is really a very large fortress. The walls are particularly impressive. I had a nice lunch at a restaurant called Le Gourmand. They had reasonably priced salads there. After lunch, Harvey and I checked out the cathedral which had a very large organ and a lot of impressive wood carving. We arrived at the Holiday Inn Tours City Centre at 4 p.m.

The Holiday Inn we stayed at was decent. It has a good location if you're traveling to Tours by train as it's located right next to the Tours train station. Right next to the train station are a number of shops so the hotel isn't far from a number of good shops in Tours.

This night, we had an optional dinner at a restaurant called La Cave. It's a restaurant located in a cave. One thing I try to do on Globus tours is try new foods. France is famous for its escargot i.e. snails. I was determined to try snails though I'm not real keen on eating bugs and, I considered snails bugs. We were given a set number of choices for our meal. We had 3 choices for starter, 3 choices for main entree and 2 choices for desert. For the starter, I chose the snails. I was glad I did as they were outstanding. They had a fantastic sauce as well as onions and mushrooms. The lamb I ordered was a disappointment as it was dry. For dessert, I got to try baked Alaska for the first time. I thought it was really good. Overall, I had an outstanding meal at this restaurant and, I'd definitely recommend it.

After dinner, we drove back to the hotel. The next day, we'd have a full day as we would get to see 3 famous chateaux in the Loire Valley. Stay tuned.

Mont St. Michel

We had to stop about 5 miles away from Mont St. Michel so we could take a picture of the entire island and the abbey. Groups previously did this at the causeway liking the island to the mainland and, it caused so many traffic jams that police put a stop to it. Even at 5 miles away, you could see that Mont St. Michel is BIG. The second thing you notice is that it is all by itself. The island is located in a bay which goes out for miles. There is one smaller island close by but that island is dwarfed by Mont St. Michel. Our guide told us how the initial abbey came to be built. Around 700 A.D., a bishop claimed to receive a vision from the archangel Michael telling him to build a church on the island. The bishop ignored the vision. He received it a second time. He ignored it again. The third time, he saw himself in the vision with a hole in his head. He was so frightened, he promptly arranged for a building of a church on the island. This church was considerably smaller than the abbey you see now. Over the years, through generous donations and from the sale of books the abbey made, it grew it size to the colossal structure you can see now. One of the reasons Kings and Dukes of Normandy would donate to the abbey was it increased their prestige. It helped show how great they were. I suspect it didn't hurt that the abbey and island are very impressive.

One downside of seeing the abbey is that it is a major tourist attraction. Bus loads of tourists come to see it. When our group arrived, there were already 7 buses there. By the time we left, 6 more had arrived.

For this tour, we used a local guide named Helen. She was wonderful lady full of interesting facts and a good sense of humor. She offered 2 routes to get to the top of island. We could take the fast route which had over 300 steps or the short route which had 120. Our group chose the short route. The route was filled with twisting turning alleyways and small homes. At one time, over 400 people lived at the island not including the monks and sisters who worshipped in the abbey. Now, only 20 people or so live there. I thought that sad. The tides that go in and out of the bay are so great that the causeway we walked on to get to the island is completely covered by water during the night. Also, to prevent the silt from building up, the French government is allegedly considering tearing down the causeway and building a bridge to the island.

One of the highlights of the tour without a doubt is when you reach the top of the island. The views from up there are stunning. With the abbey as a backdrop, you can easily imagine yourself at the top of Minas Tirith with the exception you're looking for miles over a bay versus fields. After taking plenty of pictures, we entered the cathedral. It was stunning for its sheer size. Supposedly, in its day, it was far more ornate but, it still awes. From the cathedral, Helen showed us other rooms where guests staying at the abbey would dine or pray. Only monks or sisters were allowed in the cathedral. There were 2 massive fireplaces in the room where guests were dined. The monks figured out a way to keep rainwater from coming down their chimneys. Eventually, this system failed from wear and tear. Modern builders haven't been able to figure out how the monks did it so now rain comes in through the fireplace chimneys.

We entered dimly lit rooms with massive pillars to support the cathedral above. During the French Revolution, the abbey was used as a prison. There was a system where a wooden sled would be lower to the lower parts of the island and loaded up with supplies. Prisoners would pull ropes tied to the sled to bring the supplies up to the abbey. This would've been quicker than carrying them up all the steps to the abbey.

The abbey was generally cold. This was the way the religious orders wanted it as the monks and sisters were to live an austere life of religious study and contemplation. There was one room in the abbey however that was kept warm. This was the room where monks copied books by hand. The room had to be warm in order for them to be able to use the ink they used to write the books. The books they made at the abbey were a major source of revenue for the abbey for years.

We spent a short 2 hours at the island. By the time our tour ended of the abbey, it was time to head back to the bus. I would've liked to have checked out some of the shops to see if they had any neat souvenirs but, there wasn't time. This was one place I'd definitely like to come back to.

Once everyone had boarded the tour bus, we had a short drive to our hotel. There we had another group dinner. The next morning, we would head for Tours, the chateau country of France.

Bayeux Tapestry

There aren't any written accounts written shortly after the Duke of Normandy's invasion of England and his victory over Harold Godwinson. There is however one pictorial account of the event. That is the famous Bayeux Tapestry. Through pictures, the tapestry tells of events prior to the invasion, preparation for the invasion, events that happened after William landed, the battle at Hastings and the aftermath of the battle. Part of the tapestry is missing. No one knows what happened to the missing part. For that matter, no knows who commissioned the tapestry or what its purpose was barring being a record of the events that took place. The tapestry is clearly meant to inform people who were illiterate of the events that took place. This was a common practice during that time as the overwhelming majority of people were illiterate. Through the pictures on the tapestry, a person could figure out just what happened as well as the reasons for the invasion.

For me personally, I was surprised by a couple things on the tapestry. For starters, I had no idea how big the tapestry is. The remaining bits are over 90 feet long! Pictures in history books don't convey the size of the tapestry. Another thing that is interesting about the tapestry is that it shows Harold Godwinson in a good light. King Edward the Confessor sent Harold over to Normandy to inform William that he was making him his successor since he didn't have any children. While visiting with William, Harold joined William in fighting against the Duke of Brittany. At one point, the tapestry shows Harold saving a Norman soldier. Later, during the battle of Hastings, Harold is shown fighting valiantly. The tapestry portrays Harold as a good man who violated sacred oaths of allegiance he made to William which ultimately cost him his life.

The tapestry is stored in temperature and light controlled cases to help preserve it while also enabling it to be displayed so people can see its magnificence. It is a stunning work and a great credit to whoever made it. The museum offers use of automated audio guides which tell of the scenes in the tapestry as the viewer walks along. Lastly, the museum offers a movie in different languages that further explains scenes in the tapestry and explanations for those scenes. When you leave the museum, you are left with a very good understanding of a fascinating record of a monumental event in history.

After seeing the Bayeux Tapestry, Harvey and I walked around Bayeux a bit. Harvey decided to try a French hotdog while I enjoyed an ice cream. Afterwards, we saw the outside of the Bayeux Cathedral and a wall commemorating French men who may have been resisters who were sent by the Germans to concentration camps where they died.

Finally, we walked back to the parking lot to board our bus. We did stop to admire a small dam that was built to power a mill in Bayeux. The mill had been converted into a decent looking restaurant. When it was time, we boarded our Globus bus and headed to another sight I'd been greatly looking forward to seeing: the Abbey of Mont St. Michel.

September 18th, 2008 Part I

It was going to be a busy and exciting day. We were going to see some of the D-Day beaches, the American Cemetary, the Bayeux Tapestry and the Abbey of Mont St. Michel. It started with would be become routine. Wake-up call at 6:15 a.m., bags out and breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and departure at 8 a.m. First, we drove by Sword beach which looked like any normal beach. Then, we drove to Gold beach (Arromanches) where the Allies built a temporary port. You can still see 15 of the breakwaters they sank there. We saw the monument that was erected in memory of what they did. The beach itself was very pretty and peaceful. It was hard to believe a terrible bloody battle had been fought there. Barring the breakwaters, there weren't any traces of it. Life truly goes on and those that remember the great battle fought there are dying off. It was very sad to think about that.

It was more sad to look at row upon row of white marble crosses and Stars of David at the American Cemetary at Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetary is right next to Omaha Beach. A number of those buried in the cemetary may have died on that very beach. I walked along and read unknown names and dates when they died. A few had no name and were known only to God. The cemetary was beautifully maintained. Our guide told us they employed 6 gardeners and it showed. It was right that it should look so beautiful as this was hallowed ground. It would've been a disgrace if it had been otherwise. I could only hope we wouldn't forget what those brave souls that were buried there did. It was truly epic and noble. It is ironic that people now a days call them naive but, I think they were otherwise. In my opinion, I think they were far better people than we are today.

Our last D-Day stop was Pointe du Hoc. The name itself doesn't mean anything. It was just a name assigned to a point that the Allies felt they had to take. German guns at Pointe du Hoc over looked Omaha and Utah Beaches. If the guns weren't knocked out, Allied losses would be far greater and the landings at those beaches could've failed. 225 Army rangers were given the task of scaling 100 foot high sheer cliffs and knocking out the guns. It would be an incredible task. When the battle was over, only 90 rangers were left alive. To their dismay, the Germans had moved the guns before the attack making the attack pointless. Unlike Gold and Omaha Beaches where virtually nothing remains of the battle, Pointe du Hoc was left as it was on June 8, 1944. As far as I know, it's only part of the D-Day landings that is as it was on those fateful days. You can see bomb craters and shattered pill boxes. You can look out over the English Channel. The only you can't do for safety reasons is look down the sheer cliffs. Looking around, you can get an idea of the desperate battle that was fought here. According to Wikipedia, underneath the monument the French people built to honor the rangers is a casement that still contains the remains of some of the rangers.

As we left Pointe du Hoc, our guide told us a story. I mentioned previously William the Conqueror. Those invading Normandy in the D-Day beaches were not ignorant of history. Our guide told that at the British War Cemetery in Bayeux, an inscription says "We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror's native land." It was a beautiful closing remark on the sights we'd seen concerning D-Day. It would also lead to the final sight we would have concerning William the Conqueror. Stay tuned for Part II.

Road Part of Tour Begins - September 17, 2008

The road part of our tour began. Everyone got on the bus and we departed Paris for Rouen. The bus itself was fairly comfortable. I liked the fact that my legs weren't squeezed. Globus hired a bus for the Montmartre excursion and I had to see sideways in the seat.

The journey to Rouen was uneventful. Rouen itself is perhaps most famous for being the place that Joan of Arc was put to death. The French built a cathedral in her honor and placed a huge cross where she was burned to death. When I saw the cathedral they had built in her honor, my first reaction was "that's a cathedral?" It really doesn't look like one. I thought it might be some kind of Nordic memorial or something as it has a number of tiles that looked like dragon scales to me. I didn't go in the cathedral so I have no idea what it looks like inside. The cathedral is alongside a square that has some nice old buildings. A street leads from the cathedral to the medieval clock which tells time and the date. It was an impressive clock. The street ends at the Rouen Cathedral. The cathedral took damage during World War II and it shows some. Still, it is an impressive cathedral and has statues inside of Richard the Lionhearted and Rollo, the first duke of Normandy. I believe there was also a small chapel dedicated to Joan of Arc.

After Susan, our guide finished showing us the Cathedral of Rouen, we were free to find a place to have lunch, shop or check out other sights. I didn't feel like having a full lunch so I found a place where I could get an ice cream. I managed to speak enough French so the person in the shop understood what I wanted. After that, I wandered around taking some more pictures. When it was time, everyone returned to the bus and headed to our next stop - Caen.

Caen has the Memorial Museum for Peace. This museum tells of the events leading to World War II and the battles that were fought in Normandy. It has a number of excellent exhibits. It used genuine articles from the war, models and first hand accounts to give visitors an idea of what the battles were like. After seeing the exhibits, the museum showed a film that showed film footage shot during the war. It was a very good film and gave a better understanding of what took place in Normandy. After we were done seeing the museum, we headed to our hotel the Mercure Centre in Caen. Along the way, we learned some more of William the Conqueror.

William was determined to marry his cousin Matilda. However, there were issues because they were related and the fact that William was illegitimate. Matilda (I hope that's the right name) turned down William's marriage proposals 5 or 6 times before finally giving in. Because of their close relations, the Pope censored William. In order to make amends with the Pope, William promised to do 2 things. First, he would commission 2 monasteries to be built in Caen: one for men only and one for women. Second, when he and Matilda died, they would be buried in separate graves in the 2 monasteries. Apparently, this pleased the Pope enough to where he forgave him. Part of the men's monastery can still be found in Caen and we got to see it as we drove to our hotel.

Our hotel was located next to a small marina which was very pretty. The hotel itself was comfortable and had nice rooms. One thing I would noticed during the tour was the rooms were more spacious than the ones in Scandanavia. I would really appreciate this fact. That night, our group had its second group dinner. The food was good and everyone had a nice time chatting with their new found friends in the tour. The next morning, we would leave for Mont St. Michel.

Tour Truly Begins - Part II

After a nice little rest, I took the elevator down to where those going on the optional Montmartre excursion were to meet. Our bus driver took us to the base of Montmartre. Susan, our guide, wanted to show us the only vineyard in Paris. It's something of a curiousity. The vineyard inhabits a space of land that otherwise would probably hold 2 shops or houses. Grape vines are carefully grown in the small plot of land. Because of its small size, not much wine is produced and, it is very pricey. A bottle will cost you 2,000 Euros. That's over $2,800 in U.S. dollars!

After seeing the vineyard, we walked the rest of the somewhat steep way to Montmartre. Montmartre is known for 2 things. Its basilica and the artists that sell their paintings there. We got to see the artists first. They inhabited a square that also had a number of restaurants and shops. A number of the artists did portraits for people as they sat. From what I could see, they were very good. I have no idea however what one of the portraits would cost.

Susan walked us up to where the basilica was and where our meeting point would be, the incline rail station. She also made sure we knew the departure time. After that, we were free to look around and have some dinner in one of the restaurants.

I decided to check out the basilica. It is called the Basilica de Sacre Coeur. In English, that means the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It's a beautiful church and is on top of a hill that overlooks much of Paris. The views of Paris from the base of the church are awesome. The church itself is a relatively new construction built I believe in very early 1900. When I entered the church, a service was going. I quietly watched. A man who may been a bishop gave a sermon in French. Sadly, I couldn't understand a word of his sermon. After watching the proceedings for about 15 minutes, I quietly left. Harvey was accompanying me and we debated what to do next. Neither of us were starving thanks to the big lunch we had at the Hard Rock Cafe. We opted for some ice cream. We found a shop that sold ice cream and I got to try out my French trying to place my order. I guess my French wasn't disastrous as I got what I wanted ice cream wise.

After that, we wandered around the square and admired some of the artist's paintings. Then, we walked back up to the base of the basilica and listened to an unknown busker perform various songs. He was very good and at times, the crowd joined in on some of the songs he sang.

After what seemed like a long wait, the rest of the group showed up and prepared to take the incline rail down to the base of the hill. I looked at how far down we had to go and decided to walk down. I thought the incline car was a waste going down. I could see how some might want to use it going up.

Once everyone was re-gathered,we walked to our bus which took us to the second part of our excursion that night, a boat ride on the river Seine. The boat was big and had a lot of seats. Unfortunately, we were the last ones to arrive so we got the dregs of the seats which was annoying. I opted to stand so I could get better views. The boat gave a talking tour in 4 or 5 languages of what we were passing as we went down and up the river. The river was lined with nice looking buildings and the 2 islands that formed Ile de France. It was from one of these islands inhabited by the Parisii tribe that the city got its name.

The cruise was nice and lasted over an hour and a half I think. After the cruise, we re-boarded our bus and headed back to our hotel. The next day, we would depart Paris for Rouen and Caen.

Tour Truly Begins - September 16, 2008 Part I

Wake-up call at 6:15 a.m., breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and departure at 7:45 a.m., the tour had truly begun. This is how it is every morning during a Globus tour with the addition having to put your bag outside your door by a set time on days when you're departing for another city. It isn't a bad routine and, you get used to it. One of the things we listened to keenly from Susan was these times for the next morning.

This day, we would spend half the day sightseeing Paris. Before we got started, Susan handed out what she called whispers. Whispers are radio units that the tour participant carries on them with a single ear phone in one of their ears. It enables the guide to tell the entire group things about a church or sight without having to yell. It also enables the guide to easily shepherd the group through a loud noisy city. Harvey had used these on his Globus Italy tour but, this was the first time I'd seen them. We were issued them for the duration of the tour and, we'd use them repeatedly.

For specific cities or sights, Globus uses local guides vice the tour guide. The reason for this is the local guides can be more knowledgeable about a city or sight and more up to date. Our tour guide had to be knowledgeable about 15 different cities in France. I suspect it's hard to stay up to date on so many cities but, it would be easy for a local guide to stay up to snuff on one. Our local guide this day was a lovely lady named Isabel. She would give us an indepth tour of Notre Dame with plenty of photo opportunities. Also, she would take us to the Eiffel Tower and provide us with tickets to get to the 2nd level. For those going on the optional excursion to Versailles, she would be their guide for that too.

I'd been to Notre Dame Cathedral before but, it was nice to see this breathtaking Gothic cathedral again. It is really stunning with its rose stain glass windows and soaring buttresses. Plus, it's located right next to the river Seine. Everyone took tons of pictures of this magnificent church. After driving around in the couch and being told about various interesting buildings as we drove by, we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower has become synonymous with Paris. Sydney had its opera house, London had Big Ben and Paris has the Eiffel Tower. Interestingly, when it was first built, a number of Parisians decried it as an eye sore. But, public opinion is ever quick to change and no one can imagine Paris without the tower now. The tower offers some of the best views of Paris. It had 3 levels and the price admission depends on what level you want to go up to. The higher the level, the more expensive the ticket. If you want to go up to the 3rd level, you have to change elevators as they use smaller ones to take people up to the top of the tower. I couldn't remember if I'd ever been to the top of the Eiffel Tower so, I asked Isabel what I had to do to get a ticket for it. She very kindly showed me where the ticket booth was and then, she helped me find a shorter line that saved me at least 20 minutes. Isabel would be typical of the outstanding local guides Globus uses. During our tour of France, we'd use 2 other local guides who were equally fantastic.

Sadly, at the Eiffel Tower, I had to say good-bye to Isabel. I'd seen Versailles at least 3 times and while I think it is definitely worth seeing, I didn't have any desire to see it a 4th time. We said our good-byes and I got in line to take the elevator to the 3rd level of the Eiffel Tower. The wait was worth it as the views from the 3rd level were stunning. You could see for miles from up there. I must've been at least 20 minutes shooting pictures. Finally, I was done and it was time to make my way back to earth. I took the elevator back down to the 2nd level, changed elevators and make it back down to the ground.

I collect Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. I make it a point to get one at every city I visit that has one. Paris has a Hard Rock Cafe but, I didn't know where it was. Who would know? Isabel! I went in search of her and found her. Sure enough, she knew where it was and, it turned out it was an hour walk each way from the Eiffel Tower. Ah, but what is an hour walk for such a great treasure as a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt (I say this sarcastically). I grimaced and decided to foot it anyway. Little did I know that it would help prepare me for some interesting walks to come on the tour. My friend Harvey decided to join me. To compensate him for this ordeal, I promised to buy him lunch there.

The walk was long but, we had chances to stop and take pictures of various places we'd driven by that morning such as the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde and the stunning Opera House. Finally, we arrived at the Hard Rock Cafe and sat down for an enjoyable lunch. After lunch, I bought myself and my sister Eloise Paris Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. Then, Harvey and I faced the task of walking back. Both of us were inclined to skip the walk and we checked a metro (subway to us Yanks) station to take the metro back to our hotel. Unfortunately, it looked like we'd have to change trains 4 or 5 times and that was too complicated for us. I offered to spring for a cab but, my friend declined so we footed it back to the hotel. Once we returned, we decided to rest in preparation for the optional excursion to Montmartre and the night river cruise. Stay tuned for my next blog on my France adventures.