Normandy

As we finish the c-shaped loop around France’s southern, western and now northern coasts, we arrived at this location. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? The somber expressions on the children’s faces are apropos of the locale. This wind swept beach, with high waves was the sight of one of the most savage battles the world has ever seen. Over a thousand U.S. armed forces died here within the first hour of fighting. In fact, the beach is nicknamed Bloody Beach for its history. This is Omaha Beach, one of several landing sights during the Normandy invasion, the beginning of the end of World War II. At dawn, on 6th of June, 1944, US troops landed here and at Utah beach further west. British and Canadian forces simultaneously attacked at beaches to the east. But it was here, at Omaha, that the most casualties were suffered.

On a high bluff overlooking the beach lies the Cimitiere Americaine, or the American Cemetery. The French government gave the land to the US in perpetuity to honor those who had given their lives for the freedom of the French people. We try to understand the kind of courage it would take to run off a ship, with thousands of guns aimed at you, and run towards the firing. The gravestones have only names, hometowns and dates of death, and we wander among them, wondering at the person and those left behind, staggered by the shear numbers. It is beautiful here, in an immensely sad way, so peaceful.

The next day, we visit the Memorial Peace Museum. Siena comments that it is really a war museum. We watch a documentary of the Normandy Invasion. The film of actual footage, has a split screen. We can see the German preparations at the same time as the Allied troops approach the coast. Over 64 years later and it is still terrifying.

Tonight, we raise our glasses and toast the hundreds of thousands of souls who died during this horrific war.

Paix (peace in French) to you and yours

The Beatties

Vive la France

Vive la France!

And, boy, do they know how to live. We have spent the week learning how well the French, or at least the wealthy French, have lived throughout the centuries. This is Carcassonne, a medieval walled city in the southwest of France. The turrets, the castle, draw bridges and moats made us feel like we should be wearing armor and those weird cone hats, with the veils trailing off of them.

On to Bordeaux, and the celebrated Haut-Medoc wine region. Set amidst acres upon acres of perfectly rowed up vineyards are massive elegant chateaus. We went to the largest beach I’ve ever seen. We were here at low tide. The beach was two hundred yards wide, and, we were told, 30 miles long. From on top of the dunes, you could look in either direction and see nothing but beautiful beach. You can get a feel for just how enormous the beach is if you can pick out Ethan and Siena at the edge of the sand. The 15-meter tide completely covers the beach. We did our share of tasting the wonderful, deep red wines of the region. In fact, the tourist office had a tasting with 13 local vintners, each with 2-4 wines. We were not able to try all of the wines, but we put in a decent effort—and were unable to eat dinner that night. Of course, with all of this wine, there is still no Beattie Beer Index for France.

We found our own chateau to stay at in the Loire River valley. As it is the off season, we have the entire place to ourselves. This is where the royalty, before the revolution, built their summer palaces. We tour Chenonceau, which the King took over by levying steep taxes on the existing owner. Sounds a bit like the real estate market in the States doesn’t it? The vineyards here are the largest we’ve seen, stretching to the distant woods. We do some sampling here, too, but of the dry white wines and the wonderful brut sparkling wines. Here we toast with the vintner.

Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? This is one of those iconic locations, one that you have seen in countless photographs. It becomes an island at high tide, when the tides actually fill not only the surrounding marsh area, but also the lower parking lots. The steeple is part of an Abbey, built on this rock following a priest’s vision of the Archangel Michael. It was an unbelievable feat of engineering to build such a huge structure, precariously balanced on the peak of a mountain, in the 9th century. This is Mont St-Michel, the only spot in northern France to never be captured by the British. But, this whole northern part of France greatly resembles Great Britain, even treating us to the same cold, rainy weather for most of our time here, although the sun was shining on Mont St-Michel.

A votre sainte!

(to your health)

The Beattie Clan

France, Une

After a week spent in Gubbio, admiring the Umbrian scenery, hiking, riding horses, and making new friends (Fabio and Maurizio), we headed north and west. We spent 5 days in the South of France, near St. Tropez. Our good friends, Laura and Gilles, had offered us their beautiful home. We day tripped to this spot:

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Well, the Vatican was the smallest country; San Marino is the third smallest, and this tiny country, barely 4 kilometers by 800 meters, holds the second smallest position. This is a monarchy; U.S. citizens became better acquainted with the country when a top movie star, and my vote for most beautiful woman of all time, married their monarch. They hold a very famous Formula One car race on the windy roads of the capitol (where the regal actress met her untimely death). Can you see the large building with the green roof on the right, in the background above Siena’s head? It is the most famous casino in the world, where Bond, James Bond, had martinis whilst wearing his tux. This is Monaco, playground of the rich and famous. We saw Rolls Royce’s, Ferrari’s, and Lamborghini’s. Good thing we didn’t have to pass any of them in our underpowered Fiat Panda.

We visited the largest gorge in Europe, the Gorges du Verdon. You can’t believe how steep the cliffs are, like the Grand Canyon, with no crowds, parking lots, admission fees guardrails or warning signs. We were the only ones there. Our hopes for a hike were foiled when the rain caused the paths to become slippery, and slipping was out of the question for these walks! Unfortunately, the clouds descended about half way in, providing us with white out conditions for the tortuous drive. The part that we could see was spectacular, though.

We consoled ourselves once out of the mountains at a couple of chateaus, where we sampled several wines. The wine in this region is wonderful. We prefer red, but the rose here is quite good, too. This chateau did not have our favorite wines, but the tiny chapel here had a Chagall and two Gioccometti sculptures.

Can you recognize this spot? Perhaps if it were night time, and the lights all had halos around them? This is the Night Café, in Arles, which Vincent Van Gogh immortalized in his painting of the same name. The town is largely a Van Gogh memorial town, with plaques describing where each of his paintings had been done. Kind of ironic, considering no one there bought a single one of his paintings. In fact, when he was in the local psychiatric hospital, he gave a painting to his doctor, who liked it so well, he used it to fix a hole in his chicken coop. I sincerely hope the doctor didn’t tell Van Gogh this, as it could only accelerate his suicidal tendencies.

I don’t think I have mentioned the food lately. While in the U.S., we might go out for French, or Italian food, here the foods vary tremendously within each country. We try to have the specialty of the region (except when it is something truly gross, like tripe, for instance). The local truffles (the mushroom-like things the pigs dig up, not the rich chocolate dessert type) in Gubbio gave the pasta an earthy, wonderful taste. Pesto in the area around Genoa was fabulous. In fact, in Italy, it is called Genovese Sauce. The pizza was good everywhere in Italy, but none better than in Napoli, where they claim to have invented it. There are never many toppings on the pizzas, usually just a sprinkling of cheese. The seafood, especially the clams, were delicious in Venice. The best thing in Florence was the Gelato. And we had several. In St Tropez, we had their special dessert: a sponge cake with rich custard filling. Tonight, we had cassoulet in Carcassone. Cassoulet is a casserole with white beans, duck and sausage. I started the meal with a Hypocras, an aperitif made with white wine, and, forgive my inability to understand the waiter’s French, some sort of aromatic plant???? It was really delicious, whatever it was. Far better than the pastisse Kim ordered, anyway. Pastisse is a licorice flavored drink, served with water to dilute it first, so that you can swallow the vile concoction (Kim liked it, but we know how suspect his taste is…).

On to the Beattie Beer Index. Kim was commenting on how he couldn’t name a French beer. I replied that they had a few good beers. The first two bars we tried, though, did not have any French beers. And, with how patriotic the French are, you’ve got to figure their beer isn’t so hot, or they would sell it. So, there is no report on the beer, yet. The wine is another story. We usually spend about 3 Euro for a bottle, 8 Euro on a splurge or in restaurant. (today, that’s about $4 and $11, respectively).

Merci to all of you who write to us! We miss you and appreciate your letters.
Cin Cin (French, for Cheers!)
The Beattie Clan

Reflections on the First Four Months

Well, we’ve been traveling for 4 months. One third of our year long trip is over. During that time, we have been to 18 countries, most recently San Marino yesterday. What a gorgeous, if tiny, country! It is perched on a precipice, 1000 feet above the Italian countryside below, with views stretching forever to the Adriatic and the mountains to the west.

We are spending a week in a small resort complex near Gubbio, in the Umbria section of Italy. From our window, we can see farms and mountains, and, in the distance, the medieval city of Gubbio. There is fog in the valley every morning, but it has burned off by late morning on most days. We wake to the sounds of cows and roosters—no cars, or airplanes. We are using this week to rest and recharge our travel batteries. While we have not grown tired of our trip, it is wonderful to not have to plan where we are off to, not have to pack, to stay “home” in the evenings, playing cards with the kids.

As we lounge, we have been talking about the past four months. By and large, the trip has been incredibly easy. We have enjoyed being together and enjoyed the places we have visited. Along the way, we have met many people (lots of Australians!) The first question we are inevitably asked is, “What is your favorite place?” We do not have a single answer. Every place we’ve been has been wonderful. England, our first stop, was clearly our favorite, until we went to Wales and Scotland, which were just as great. Then, Great Britain was our favorite until we traveled to Norway and Sweden. Each successive country had something special about it. The national park in Croatia, the mountains in Slovenia and Slovakia, the fjords in Norway, window shopping in Istanbul, the views in Santorini, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, St. Basil’s in Moscow, St. Peter’s in Vatican City, the food and wine in Italy, the beer in Germany and the Czech Republic, Budapest at night, the old city of Dubrovnik. These are all our favorites.

There are some things that have provided us with extra enjoyment. Ethan was in hysterics reading the street signs in Great Britain. His two favorites were “The Elderly Person Crossing” and the “No Shoulder” (or Sharp Drop Off). The former was a sign with two old people crossing the street. The silhouette of the people showed an old man, walking hunched over with a cane. The person behind was an elderly woman walking bent over, too, and it looked like her hand was in the old man's back pocket. I call it, “Beware of Elderly Pickpockets.” The latter sign was a picture of a car running off a cliff. I think it meant beware of running off the road into the water, which was 50 feet below, but the picture was so funny. Like it meant “No Diving With Your Car.”

Siena especially liked visiting a certain city in Italy. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are overlooking one of the nicest squares in Italy. Twice a year they hold a mad horse race around its perimeter called The Palio. This is Siena, the city our daughter is named for. She loved seeing gelaterias named Siena. Bars, banks, restaurants, T-Shirts, pins, and every other piece of trash you could imagine, all emblazoned with her, usually unusual, name. Cool! Ethan wants us to visit a town called Ethan.

I get a kick out of the Renaissance paintings of Biblical figures with Guiseppe, the local town administrator, and Paulo, the guy who paid the artist to paint the piece. “Look, honey, there’s me with Jesus and Mary! Did I tell you I ran into them the other day?” I mean, it strikes me as a bit ludicrous, but I guess it was all the rage for a few hundred years. Like the ancient equivalent of getting your picture taken with a life-sized cardboard cut out of a famous person.

Kim has enjoyed talking with the locals, even if they don’t understand him, and he certainly doesn’t always understand them! I must say his German has been extremely useful. Even here in Italy, there are lots of traveling Germans with whom he strikes up conversations. Of course, he does sometimes throw out a German phrase instead of the appropriate one for the current country. Like greeting people in Italy with Guten Tag! Most people have spoken excellent English, though, and we have made new friends in Vienna, in Prague, in Bratislava, in Krems, in Gubbio, on the Hurtigruten, from Melbourne, and from Canada, South Africa and Perth.

The world is full of some wonderful people and places and we feel very fortunate to be meeting the former and seeing the latter. We do miss our friends and relatives back home, and our pooch. After four months of travel, we each finished the following sentence. The world is: (Siena) “….our oyster”. (Ethan)”…a big place.” (Wendy)”…lots of fun.” (Kim)”…so much more full of wonder than I ever imagined.”

To end with the Beattie Beer (and wine) Index: This area of Italy is covered in vineyards; in fact, we can see two from our room. The wine is dry and cheap, two of our favorite adjectives to describe wine. We shared a half liter at lunch today, for 2 Euro fifty, about 3.50 USD.

So, with a glass of Chianti, or Brunello (both local wines), we say
Salute! Yamas! Sherefe! Slainte! Nastrovya! Prost! Skor! Skol!
Cheers, to all of you, in whatever language

The Beatties

Italy IV: Roma

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? We are high on top of a monument, overlooking one of the most famous buildings and squares in the world. There have been huge masses assembled on this square. And, huge lines waiting to get in. This is also the smallest country in the world. This is the center of the Catholic Church, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Cathedral. In fact, we couldn’t climb up to the dome because Il Papa (The Pope) was going to be there. Personally, I find it unlikely that Pope Benedict the Whatever Number We Are Up To was going to climb the 400+ steps to get there, but, when the guard tells me in Italian that it is closed because of Il Papa, who am I to argue with him in Italian?

Rome IS Catholicism. Where else in the world would you have a department store that only sells vestments???? There was a shop across the street selling chalices. There was even a lovely travel kit, with a bowl for your wafers, a goblet for your wine, a little jar for some holy water, a shaker to distribute the water, etc. All in a carryon size briefcase, with extra room for robes, for your Cardinal on the move.

Christianity was a faltering religion, with sparse numbers and Romans set to crucify any believers until Constantine won a major battle, essentially making himself Roman Emperor. This monument, the Arch of Constantine, commemorates this victory. Well, the night before the battle he had a vision of a cross in the sky and converted to Christianity. He made Christianity the religion of the realm, overnight transforming Christians from those likely to be crucified to the in crowd (and, you might be crucified if you weren’t a Christian). Needless to say, the religion really took off.

Our favorite piece of art in Vatican City is Michelangelo’s The Pieta. The expression of loss on Mary’s face, the tenderness with which she holds him, made us want to cry. She looks so young. He looks so fragile. It is behind plate glass as some deranged moron took a hammer to the statue a few years ago.

We did see the Canadian Ambassador, while in St. Peter’s. We were amazed at the security and pomp and circumstance that accompanied this visit. Cardinals, secret service types, police, and the funnily dressed Vatican guys all but closed down the Cathedral for about 45 minutes. No offence to my Canadian friends on the blog, but we thought it was going to be a president or the pope or somebody we would recognize—or at least have heard of!

Before the Christians, there were the Romans. This is the famous Coliseum. It is huge—seating over 50,000 people. “Festivities” here would last a week, with Jews, Christians, gladiators and wild animals fight it out, in various combinations, to the death. Actually, for you Latin lovers, our word Arena comes from the Latin word for sand, which the Romans used to soak up the blood and guts in the Coliseum.

Rome is great, but sprawling, and we hike for miles to see the various sights. But, it has much less of the big city feel than Napoli, with neighborhoods, fountains and piazzas providing places to congregate.

To our U.S. friends, don’t forget to vote tomorrow. Kim and I voted with absentee ballots we had sent to Athens. We learned from our new Australian friends that Down Under you are fined if you don’t vote. Maybe that would increase our voting percentage from the current deplorable level!

Wishing you a wonderful fall,
Salute
The Beatties

Italy, Part II

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a city, built basically on a river delta, that was filled over time. This is the main thoroughfare or “street” of this city, the Woodward Avenue, for those from Michigan. This is the city of Venice. There are as many different types of boats as vehicles on our roads. We liked watching the guy in a UPS boat unloading boxes. This one was my favorite. Can you make out the Italian writing? “Urgent Medical Supplies, temperature controlled”. And, what are the boxes filled with? Marlboro.

I understand this is a city that you either love or hate, and we all loved Venice. Yes, it smells a bit of decay and pigeon poop. Yes, it is crowded with tourists. But, it is just so different from everywhere else. For those who have never been here, there are no cars, no scooters, no bikes. You either walk or take a boat. The passages are so windy, and the walls on all sides obscure the horizon, that it is impossible to keep a sense of direction. Frequently, the alley way will end abruptly in a canal, making backtracking necessary. We spent most of our time here just wandering, or, as Ethan and Siena liked to call it, getting lost. Our hotel is right near the fish market. This has the most beautiful selection of fish we have seen on our trip, some so fresh they are still flopping or wriggling. We can’t understand, with all this water and fresh fish, why the fish in the restaurants is so expensive—twice as much as anything else on the menu.

This is a view of San Marco Square, Venice’s main piazza. We are on top of the bell tower, allowing us, despite the haze, to see the entire city. We stay up here until noon, to hear the bells clang so loudly we clap our hands over our ears.

One evening, instead of a sit down dinner, we participate in a Venice tradition—the “cicchetti”, the Italian equivalent of a pub crawl. We stop at several tiny bars, have a glass of the house wine or an aperitif, and a small appetizer—meatball, or potato croquette or bruschetta. Each item, including the drinks, cost 1 Euro. Luckily Ethan and Siena were there to lead us back to the hotel, otherwise we probably would have wandered endlessly or fallen into a canal.

The next day, we went to some of the neighboring islands, famous for their crafts, Murano for glass blowing and Burano for lace making. It is amazing how a piece of molten glass can become a horse before our eyes. The cemetery was interesting. Anyone have any idea why Igor Stravinsky and El Greco are buried here??? Neither is particularly Italian, no?

Tonight, we take the night train down to Napoli or Naples.

Salute!

The Beatties

Italy, Part III

Napoli is not our favorite city. Granted, we arrived here tired, having not slept well on our 11 hour trip (Ethan fell out of his upper berth during the night, with no memory of it in the morning), but we are warned before leaving the train station to: take off and hide my necklace and earrings, physically hold on to the children, and not to trust any vehicle to stop as we cross the streets. Lovely place, huh? Red lights are considered “suggestions” or decorations, and we literally run for our lives each time we attempt a crossing. The locals consider themselves Neopolitans, only acknowledging their allegiance to Italy for the Olympics or the World Cup. But, in Napoli’s favor, they make awesome pizza. We share a huge pie, with nothing but sauce on it, but it is the best crust and the best sauce ever.

We take the first train possible down to Sorrento, on the Amalfi Coast, the southwestern area of Italy. Here, cliffs line the coast, and the drive south from here is stupendous. Kim and I are glad to be on a bus and not driving through the hairpin turns, with trucks and buses coming the other way. This tower, in the background, in one of the smaller towns near Amalfi, was the model for one of Escher’s famous pictures.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? On August 24, 79 AD, this town had a bit of a surprise. The mountain, which you can see in the background, exploded, revealing itself to be a volcano. The city was covered in meters of ash, instantly freezing the life of the town in time. This is Pompeii, with Vesuvius, still actively smoldering looming over it. We wander the streets, marveling at the bakeries, the fast food places, even the gardens. Archeologists have been able to determine what kinds of plants were there based on the cavities the decayed roots left. The streets still have ruts from the carriages. Vesuvius hadn’t erupted in 1200 years before that fateful summer day. If you make a triangle, connecting the two present peaks, you can get a feel for the size of the original mountain, and the vast quantity of earth that covered this city.

We ferry over to Capri (pronounced CA-pree, not like the short pants). This is the original vacation home paradise. Roman Emperor Tiberius had a house here, and liked it so well he ruled the Roman Empire from here. We arrive at the Blue Grotto minutes before it closes for the day. A generous boatman offers to row us in for a mere 10 Euro ($14) a person. We can almost touch the cave from the landing, and so decide to forego the expensive ride. The water is still warm enough, so we dive in, pulling ourselves through the small opening to the cave. The light that seems to emanate from the water is an unearthly blue. Our bodies appear phosphorescent and the only sound we can hear is that of the waves surging through the opening. Since we swam in, we couldn't take any pictures. Try this link: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/B... It is truly a magical place.

Wine continues to be our drink of choice. A bottle in the store is $5 and a liter of house wine at a restaurant is $9. The food is wonderful. We have fresh pasta and pizza everywhere we go. Ethan prefers the pizza, Siena, the pasta. Kim and I partake of both. The quantity of food eaten at meals is astounding. We usually have either a primi piatti or a secundo piatti (first or second plate), but the Italians will usually start with a pasta, have a meat course, then a salad and a cheese course. We see gelati (Italian ice cream) everywhere, and sample much of it ourselves. It does taste different from our ice cream. It is softer, with a smoother richer taste. Whatever the difference, it is awfully good.

Salute! (Cheers or Health in Italian)
The Beattie Clan