Chapter 8: Following Grace Through Madrid

Chapter 8 & 9: Following Grace through Madrid/Thys is the Thyssen-Bergomusen Museum

December 23 and 24, 2013

After what, a week later, seemed like a breeze of a train ride through northeastern Spain to the center, we arrived in Madrid. Grace began by telling us we were out in the boonies, but we never really knew where we were: we just kept on following her and wondering HOW she actually knew where she was at all times! Whether we we're traversing the streets and alleys near our new apartment, or wandering through a plaza, she always seemed to be like a GPS point anywhere we were going.

So the first part of our journey through Spain's Capitol was finding our apartment. Did I say anything about how good Grace's sense of direction was? Always walking about ten steps ahead, she brought us to Plaza de Comendadoras, where we met Morela. She ushered us through our place, and we were a little shocked that we had made the choice that we did. It was a wee bit small for 3 Wards, but we could do it: after all, we would be out and about most of the time, anyway. As we had done in Paris, we plopped down our suitcases, and rolled out the door again.

This time, however, we went rolling about Madrid, seeing the Plazas all done up in Christmas decor, as  well as with Mercados de Navidado. We also went to the Palacio Real and the church across the yard. (It was a very large yard!)Looked like a good thing to plan on seeing in the next few days. We then found a quaint little restaurant with chairs and tables that had probably been bought at a garage sale on Saturday (do they even have garages, in this place with all apartments and no garages?) but they were so cute! Along with the non-matching tables. And the waiter who said we were "ordering a very big meal." It was lovely, however. And we WERE in Madrid.

Chapter 9: Thys is the Thyssen-Bergomesun Museum

We were looking at this museum, and figured we'd have to find out how to pronounce it, so that we wouldn't seem like out-of-towners. Ha! But, just as we thought, it started with "thys". We were going to be fine. So, as it had at the D'Orsay, it started out with paintings that began in the 1300's and ended with rather modern paintings (ie. Ray Lichtenstein: the one that Grace had written about in 4th grade, for Mrs. Hardy's class). Now, it's already been 5 days, and I'm beginning to forget which museums that we saw, but one thing that was important, again, was the Impressionists. This museum was filled with them, too!

Since in was Buenos Noches (or Christmas Eve), the Thyssen shut down at 3:00 and kicked us out. Grace had reserved a spot at another cozy spot. First, we walked into a great little restaurant that she said she had booked, took us into a lovely dining room.  But because of the language barrier, the servers were very confused that we wanted to order the Plato las Dias, and had the only female in the joint come up to us and explain that we weren't allowed to order that, but since we were unable to understand what they were telling us, they were unable to explain the same, they'd let us order it. But they weren't going to be too pleasant about it! Luckily, like every other plate in Spain, it was delicious.

It was raining quite a bit, now, and so we got to FINALLY make contact with all of the people we had been promising to write to, talk to and tell that we were in the midst of our trip. It was a small apartment, but it was cozy, especially with Grace playing Christmas music on her iTunes Radio. It was also good to be hearing about Spain from her point-of-view, and hearing about her plans for the next year.

Palacio Real de Madrid (literally: Royal Palace of Madrid)

 Yes: this guy is really balancing (kinda)

 Outside the oldest restaurant in the WORLD

 Our "little" apartment!

 Grace studying.

Grace standing in front of the Ray Lichtenstein painting she studied in 4th grade!

Chapter 7: Good-Bye Paris, Hello Donostia

(or San Sebastian, for the non-Basque Speakers)

December 20-22
After a very short (that is to say, fast) taxi ride to Paris Montparnasse, with a wonderful driver that made any difficulties with people and the French language forgotten, we were on the train to San Sebastián, Spain. We were on our way to meet Grace! Our train was so fast, that every time I looked out the window and said "Andy! Look at that!" the subject would be way behind us. It was a pleasant journey to our next home,  in Donostia. Of course, we got off the hi-speed train in Bordeaux, France, to see Santa Claus: he was much skinnier than our Santa - probably having something to do with over-Christmasing in the U.S.

I will give you a brief history of something I'm not even allowed to talk about (but I will! After I get the book!) The reason this town is called San Sebastián/Donostia is because it is a Spanish holding but the Basques have always lived here. When Franco was in power (1930's-70's) he hated them so much that he wouldn't allow the Basque language to be taught in school. Franco's been dead since 1976, and the government has become more "friendly" but the Basques are the Basques and they're really not Spanish, but alas they live in Spain anyway. Although most speak Basque and Spanish (and some basques speak Basque and French and they live in France, but really aren't French) their languages are very different. I think it's really like Greek, but our hosts say that "no one knows where are language came from." So that's why I will refer to our trip here as "A Trip to Donostia." (Because I really liked the Basques).

It's really because we really hit it off with our hosts, Joseba Landa and his wife, Rosa. They were waiting at their gate when we got there, and ushered us into our temporary home. We talked for two hours, about Donostia, Kitty Hawk, our jobs, our kids, and how we were very similar, but on ocean apart. They were so dear to us every night of our stay, starting with giving us a bottle of wine and the best candies, and the next night with a local sausage and bread, (and another bottle of wine!) and bringing their daughter to meet us, on her vacation from Chile and on her way to San Fransisco.  Their professions were both Medical Doctors and their attention to detail was beyond belief. They both spoke enough English to carry us through. They even took us to the grocery store: which we both thought was a good local lesson. (Our most interesting observation was that you could take a scoopful of frozen peas, or corn, or carrots and put them in a plastic bag and weigh them...what a great idea!) it turns out that Rosa's family lived in this very house when she was a child...she had many interesting stories of where she went to school and life in the time of Franco and such. They are coming to the States to visit their daughter ( not "doctor" which is a similar word and really threw them for a loop!) and we extended the invitation to come visit us in Kitty Hawk.

Now the reason for the trip in the first place: meeting up with our daughter Grace, after she has been here for 4 months! We planned to do this after she and her friend, Megan, got to Bilbao at lunchtime, Saturday. We were in the Guggenheim Museum - Bilbao, which is a building that has the most modern art feel about it : and within, as well! My working vocabulary consisted of "bizarre" and "ordinary" for the entire day. Although I am not a modern art  aficionado  by a long shot, I was able to realize that the artists in the Guggenheim were very good in their particular art forms, but I just could not get into the mindset of Modern. It was so bizarre.

But I could get into Andy and my Modern Art project, our girl, Grace. We met her in the vestibule of the Guggenheim, along with her friend, Megan. How great was that? To see and touch "The World Traveler" once again: all that was missing was her big sister,  Alice.

The next day, we went out at 9:30 to see San Sebastián/Donostia, and remember, this was a lot like being at home. The smell of the sea, the plants, the birds - ALL reminded us of being at home. Then, there was a surfing beach, and a bathing beach...all with very huge surf today. Grace and Megan stood and walked near the surf, and we all walked through the streets and alleys of the city, and the docks, and the oceanfront walkways, and the river walk inflow. Their were so many people walking out this Sunday! Wonderful ways!

Joseba had arranged for us to have a reservation at "The Pearl", a picturesque restaurant on the bathing beach. It was Sunday at 1:30, so we ate a very tasty dinner, and watched all the "older folks" swim in the very ccccoooollllddd sea! Megan then needed to leave us (for the Canary Islands-lucky duck) so we all said "Good-bye" and left, ourselves. (She was a wonderful, Southern, girl who together with Grace, make a traveling pair!)

We came back for another talk with Joseba, Rosa and their 23-year-old daughter Ani, who is a very interesting traveller, herself! She has 38 stamps on her passport, and has only been gone for 11 months. For as much as the Landas had in common with us, Ani and Grace also had much to talk about. Very interesting. Joseba and Andy went over the train route to the station tomorrow morning, and then we had to say good-bye.

 Poor Santa: can't eat til Three Kings Day.

 Guggenheim Museum: Bilbao

We found our daughter!

 Grace and Megan relax

Donostia, or San Sebastian 

 Andy, Grace and Sue

 Gorgeous town!

Here's our hosts, Ani, Rosa and Joseba

Chapter 5 and 6: Love the Louvre/Yay for d'Orsay

Chapter 5:  Love the  Louvre

So there we were, having gone up and down and then rode a very busy train (with a cute little 4-yr-old boy who said "tock-tock-tock" as the sound that we made as the  train rode over the tracks) then gone up and down, and down again....we were back in the Louvre. We had 90 minutes before the start of our English mini-tour, so all we were doing was trying not to get lost.  Andy started taking photos, and I will give you a preview of our time there - by the time we left the place, at 9:30 that night, he had taken nearly 800 photos. We spent the hour or so that we had in the Sully Wing, looking at Roman and Greek statues. The were marvelous renditions of only the best people of their time i.e. "He was built like a Greek God."

We DID find our way back to the English tour that was being presented to us. And even though we saw the Mona Lisa, and the curtain that the Winged Samothrace was behind, we felt as though we'd like to take it on our own pace. Now of course, if we wanted to do this, it would take something like 7 months to get through all of the works in the Louvre, but we were going to start - right after lunch.

The only place we hadn't been to was the Richelieu Wing: and I put in my vote to go up and look at the paintings from the Netherlands. Now, since it's been a few days since we were there, I've forgotten the names of the individual artists and their paintings, but I've not forgotten the feeling that radiated out of each one. And as I said to Andy (and you can only imagine how he responded) "Hey! Look at this one! He must have been A GOOD ARTIST." Duh. How do you think his works got in the Louvre?

We had another meal, and went to work again, this time up in Napoleon's apartment. Talk about learning something about history! (And also, thinking about the books I'd like to re-read). Napoleon Bonaparte was a proud, arrogant, strong,(maybe A personality?) and every other negative adjective that could describe him. He was also rich as  rich could be. But I don't know anything of him, so that's one of the books I've got to pick out and read when I get home. His apartments were lavish. We looked around and thought maybe people had had a good time at his house. But as I said, we'll have to read the book.

It was getting late. We were getting a little silly with the camera. But, we continued to look at the whole Louvre Museum, and saw that many galleries had been standing for over 300 years: and each were built by the tycoon (or the crown) of the day. When asked, it was very difficult to translate to the room's guide that Andy was asking about "the tiles on the floor" or the "corner woodworking." But he did get some working answers.

Walking around the galleries at night was a special thing to do (they're open on Wednesday nights: great time to go): the crowds of people were gone then, the quietness was a great backdrop to study the paintings/drawings/sculpture. We left a darkened hall, and took some pix at the Carrousel of the Louvre, (right on the pyramid that was important in Dan Brown's book) and booked on back for the fourth sleep in Paris.

Chapter 6:  Yay for the Musee d'Orsay

Our second day on the Musee circuit was very different from the day before: yet, they held one common denominator - they were all very important works by their respective artists. We were now in the Musee d'Orsay (which people call "the d'Orsay") which is the home of the Impressionists. I have recently read a book called "Claude and Camille", which is about Monet and has reawakened my interest in this style. But when I walked through the d'Orsay, and saw the REAL paintings of poppies, and the ACTUAL canvas of the lily pads, I was stunned. That's not to mention, as at the Louvre, the actual history lessons that came with every painting. We both enjoyed this building, as it was originally a train station, and had been saved by the city fathers: who wanted a home for this art.

Andy ISN'T taking photos in this shot 

 Our tour is finally finished at the Louvre

Interesting room: although we were not allowed to take pix in the d"Orsay! 

...And if you look real close, you can see Sacre Coer through the clock.

Chapter 3 & 4:What Do We Do First/ Let's Go To the Top, Again

Angelea told us to go on a "bateau" ride (that's a "boat" ride), when we got here, and it was a beautiful morning to do so. (Btw, I was back to normal, time wise). We got to see a little of everything we  needed to, and couldn't wait to tour by ourselves.  A while later, we found ourselves in a bistro on a crowded avenue, and then the decision of where to go next. We were near the Isle de Citie and started walking toward Notre Dame. We saw San Chappelle, and thought it might be "the daughter of Notre Dame" (so to speak) so definitely needed to go there. Fabulous. The stained glass bible stories would be just what a little kid needed when the preaching got lame! Met some people there from Chapel Hill. The only ones in two days that spoke English!

Then, just as the sun was going down, we were presented with the glory of Notre Dame: the grande dame of cathedrals. Oh my goodness. There are no words for how beautiful it was inside that building, or outside, for that matter.

And yo know what else? Today is Alice's 28th birthday, and she wasn't here to celebrate: We have high hopes that she'll come to Europe before Grace leaves...but whether she does or not, we wish her a Happy Birthday, and love her, no matter what!

Then, off we went over the Bridge of Locks, where a man was playing the accordion: a real Parisienne we had there! We could take his picture IF we promised some change in his case! Over the bridge, there was a pile of locks: I can't imagine how we would get another lock on the pile. A bistro was found, and we sat out under a heatlamp on the avenue....and drank....and watched....and...saw how Parisiennes ended their day.

So we decided to end OUR day at the Eiffel Tower. Of course, no subway goes TO the Eiffel Tower...  We got off the one we were on, and wow! It was "don't look at that man" or else "the ET Sellers" will get you! These men (I'm sure they were harmless) were very tall, very thin, very black and would stalk us as we walked toward them. They'd hold a ring in each hand, and shake it a little, to make the colorful brightly lighted Eiffel Towers on each one make a little jangling sound. "Want to buy?" they'd say.  And then they'd fade into the blackness of the night...until around the corner was the real thing: THE Eiffel Tower.  I wasn't impressed with the tower, as much as the SIZE of it. And how it was bathed in a yellow-gold light. And how it had the remembrance if Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) on it.  As we were walking across a bridge, we turned around to look at it once more, and all kinds of white sparkling lights came on, making it even more spectacular. Good night Paris- time for another sleep.

The next morning, we went looking for the nountaintop. Sacre Coer has been compared to the top of an outlandish wedding cake. And all I could say was "Thank heavens for the Finicular!" But when we got out of our ride up the very steep hill, what we saw took our breath away. But first, I need to tell you about the experience of walking up to Sacre Coer: up on the sunny hillside, we could look out and see all of Paris. How divine. Against that vision was the sound of a harp, and we were drawn to this little man, who had a  whole fan base of songs he could play: we heard the Theme from the Titanic and Alleluia, by Leonard Cohen. Surrealist, once again.  I was looking at the building....and the statues...and look! The statue moved! Andy took pix, I gave the man a coin, and he was dramatically thankful. And then we entered the building.

I guess I realize why so many say the words, "oh my God" : it's a better way of phrasing what you're feeling when you jaw has just dropped to the floor. The Sacred Heart made me feel like maybe the Catholics were right about these cathedrals: one certainly feels close to God when the vault of the ceiling has a mosaic of Christ and all the angels - makes me feel like I'd like to be here on Christmas Eve. Something sacred must happen at this place.

Montmartre was a pile of hills and steps and no escalators/elevators. Artists, and bistros, and restaurants, and museums, and little shops and foreign shops, trinkets, Christmas stocking stuffers and all kinds of things (+The Dali Musee which costs a lot of money and were going to España anyway: we'll see him there!)

We just were going to go and get our Louvre tickets organized (and how can you really organize anything, when you've got so many choices of what to see!) so we went over to the musee to see where we'd be going tomorrow.  And guess what? The Louvre is closed on Tuesday! We'll have to figure it out by ourselves! Arggggg. But we DID see the Musee and the Carousel (or the shopping mall) and the we set out for the Tuileries.

Now, if we had been there in the Fall, or the Summer, or the Spring, we'd have been more impressed. But we are here in winter. So there weren't many flowers and happily blooming trees to welcome us in, but it was something that was important for us to feel: the absolute bigness of the gardens, and the magnificent size of the Louvre. Andy and I felt like it was about 5 football fields between the Richelieu side and the Denon side of the Louvre - absolutely massive.

Aurelie, our host in Paris through AirBnB, suggested we eat at Bistro Des Dames, a local place. It was a charming little eatery on the Rue Des Dames and of course, they spoke mostly French, but a passable amount of English. The server was cute, blond, and she was what I would call "very Parisienne." We met a couple from England, had a great Pumpkin ("you know...like Halloween?") soup and saw the lovely gardens out back - another reason for a trip back to Paris next year, in the Spring.

 On the bateaux

 San Chappelle

 Notre Dame: just like we pictured it!

 Nelson Mandela remembrance

 Sacre Coer