alexandriacardinals

Stranded, Day 2

As you can see, we are on a bus, not a boat.  The boat required repairs of such a nature that an engineer from the generators’ manufacturer in Germany had to be summoned for a “house call.”  Fortunately, Cornelia lined up plenty for us to do until the “patient” was cleared for duty.  We bus adventured to three different sites on this day, and I would think to some extent we did better than the sites we were scheduled to visit but now could not.  Here we’re on the road to Pont du Gard, a World Heritage site, that was worth our delays all by itself.

Pont du Gard

[Our entry to Pont du Gard, a 2000-year old Roman aqueduct that was an engineering marvel for its time (as it would be today).  It carried water for 50 kilometers, between Uzes and Nimes (Neems), through an elevation drop of only 40 feet over that distance.  You’ll notice The Biddies are backpacked for the long haul.]

[Our guide points out the map, where we were, where we were suppose to be in a couple hours, and generally released us to attack the undefended aqueduct on our own.  If we were late getting back, no big deal – the boat wasn’t working yet and the trains were on strike.  😉 ]

[If you double click on this map you should be able to increase it to a useable size.  Or you could go have a cookie.]

[More of my favorite plane trees – did you notice them lining the street in the top photo?  The first sighting of Pont du Gard through the trees.]

[Ah, another favorite.  I could eat olives until the cows come home . . . or until any other ruminant comes home as well.  This particular olive tree is over 1,100 years old, making it almost as old as some of my foot callouses.]

[What  beauty!]

[The aqueduct comes into full view – built better than some of our bridges we don’t maintain anymore.]

[It’s a marvel.]

[Another elderly olive tree.  They are long-lived because they contain . . . olive oil!]

[As we approached, photos were taken at every 10-degree change in perspective . . . or when we felt like it.]

[Supervisor photo of our guide (OK, she led us this far, now we’re on our own).]

[We prepared for crossing – no toll booths or passport checks to impede our progress.]

[A sign.]

[It spans the Gardon River . . . ]

[From both sides.]

[The Biddies appear jubilant . . . despite a dearth of immediate area shopping.]

[Just like home, school kids were on field trips everywhere we went.  And just like home, they wear the same t-shirts and are huge Sinatra fans (OK, I made up that last part).]

[We have crossed over . . .]

[Neanderthals may have been here (OK, that’s just a guess).]

[Class is now in session – in a bit, you can go put your feet in the river.]

[Thank you fellow tourist.  We could have searched a better spot, but it was hard enough rounding up all 10 of us here.  Wait a minute, where’s Sharon?  Anyway, it’s good lighting on the aqueduct, but we were stuck in the shade.]

[OK, releasing who we thought was everybody else, Bill and I prepared for an assault on the summit.]

[We’re going up . . .]

[And at the top!  🙂 ]

[Ooops, we didn’t know Elizabeth and Kay were joining us.  And aside from their jovial banter, they provided some photo perspective.  😉  ]

[Yup, there it is from above.  Pretty neat!]

[The above six were all shot by the supervisor.  They were useful for posting to Facebook from her tablet.  And it gave me an opportunity to star on the other side of the camera!]

[Now we’re in the museum (remember where the map was?) where we were to meet up with our guide again.  I think you can figure out what this is?]

[And I always thought the bikini was a invented within my lifetime?]

[I think (we were just catching up to the group) this explained the mathematics of the construction, as this all took place a couple of generations before the iPad.]

[Where we were in relation to where you’re reading this from.]

[It helped to have pulley sysems for the construction . . . and probably a few thousand slaves.]

[We’re on the road again.  I don’t know what this is, but it doesn’t appear to be botanical.]

[This, is a winery.]

[This, is a camera selfie.]

[Back to the boat for lunch.  Then after, the supervisor is at the door on the left, ready to break for it to catch the buses for the afternoon adventure.  We had to wait a while while they re-provisioned the boat.  They had to hand dolly everything down the dirt ramp where we were moored, and then all the crew, including the captain and Cornelia, pitched in to pass the stuff along in chain line.  Do you have any idea how many pallets of bottled water and TP it takes to sustain 250 people on a boat?]

Ardeche Canyon

[On the road again.  Familiar?  Jackie Kennedy’s town again . . .]

[Over the bridge . . . ]

[And into . . .]

[Pont St. Esprit.]

[But we were headed to the Ardeche Canyon, the Grand Canyon of France (though a recent article in the Minneapolis StarTribune said it was another canyon east of here?).]

[It’s about 30 kilometers long carved by the Ardeche River.]

[And I’m on the wrong side of the bus again.]

[So, we’ll do the best we can shooting from available windows . . .]

[Seems a bit like going through Zion National Park here as vehicles wind behind you on the switchbacks.]

[A tunnel, just in case you weren’t familiar with these holes through rocks things.]

[A nice canyon view.]

[Coming upon Pont d’Arc, we’ll be back.]

[And again.]

[Parking for water access, a great place to be on this yet another close to 100-degree day.]

[Yup, we came back, parked, and got out.]

[And this is Pont d’Arc, a natural bridge that is effectively one end of the canyon.]

Natural Bridge by Harper’s Chord:

[The viewers . . . ]

[The viewees.]

[Kay and Bert]

[Bert and Anne]

[The road that’s so fun to navigate in a large bus.]

[Well, if she’s going to model?]

[Back on the bus, Gus, and heading back down and out.]

[Did you notice, this time I was on the “correct” side of the bus.]

[Bill, and if you’re wondering how we came to be on now three cruises together . . .]

[This is Bill, in his former life at the Department of Labor.  His office just happened to have a view of the U.S. Capitol out his window.  I believe this was taken on my last day of work, some time in August 2001, but we began many a work day with a cup of coffee in his office.]

[Meanwhile, back in the Ardeche Canyon.]

[Contrary to earlier reports, that is NOT me in the unbuttoned shirt!  Back at the other end of the canyon.]

Lavender

[And then it was on to “Lavender Fields Forever.”  Lavender is grown all over this area, and we’re stopping at a museum here.  This plant is technically lavendin, a hybrid of wild (or natural) lavender, and is distilled into a variety of products for its aroma.]

OK, just substitute “lavender” for “gold”:

[Bees!!  We could use some of these guys around here.]

[More Fields of Lavender.]

[The distillery.]

[The museum . . . it was hot and we were getting a little antsy from the long day.]

[The owner on the left, our guide (a Pennsylvanian, as I recall) on the right.]

[Viewing the distillation.]

[Burt, Kathy, and Elizabeth on the right, the “model” and her “photographer” on the left.]

[Bee bar for the thirsty!]

[Our final stop, the boat is alive and coming to pick us up.  The supervisor captures Sharon and Bert in the moment.  This outdoor restaurant on the river had to love four bus loads of tourists dropping in on them (I think they called in help).]

[Pizza and beer for all!!]

[Here comes our boat.  Hooray!!  And here’s where I need help from the cast . . . what town was this?  (Bert subsequently advised we were back in Viviers.  Thanks!)  Anyway, we couldn’t board immediately.  An ambulance met the boat – one of our servers, a young woman, apparently had succumbed to the heat.  They took her to the local hospital, we presume.  We later heard she was OK.]

[But we were on the road again . . .]

[Well, the river road!]

There is only one cure for grey hair. It was invented by a Frenchman. It is called the guillotine.  ~  P.G. Wodehouse

A comment:

I’ve had wine on the boat to Nyon,

On Le Lac at the start of the Rhone,

Put my feet in the Rhone headwaters in Geneva,

and drank Chateau Neuf De Pape in Lyon,

but never have I been stranded on the Rhone

on the way to Avianyone….  ~  Marcus  (who as a big time NOAA guy often went to Geneva on official gubberment bidness)

 

Up next:  Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.

Stranded!

All but one man died, 
There at Rhone River, 
And they say he ran away … 

Stranded! 
Marked with a coward’s shame. 
What do you do when you’re stranded, 
Will you fight for your name? 

He was innocent, 
Not a charge was true, 
But the world will never know … 

Stranded! 
Scorned as the one who ran. 
What do you do when you’re stranded, 
And you know you’re a man? 

And wherever you go 
for the rest of your life 
You must prove … 
You’re a man! 

Moored at the river bank.  We initially thought this was an unknown landing area where our dead-in-the-water boat had drifted.  Apparently this was a planned docking area for the boat limping along on one generator.  At the time, we had no idea how long we would be here.

[For they didn’t know when we would again be on our way.  And for that reason, early on we could not leave the boat in case necessary repairs could be accomplished in short order.]

St. Etienne des Sorts

[Ultimately, it was decided we could leave the boat to walk around the small village where we were parked . . .]

[Where we were.  Or is it, where were we?]

[There was a lovely little church and members of the group said it was worth a visit.  I went back for the stained glass photos only to discover the door was locked.  The man with the key must have seen me (and how many other tourists before?) and came dashing across the street in a white t-shirt, shorts, I believe slippers, and a severe case of bed head.  Nice of him to let me in for a quick peek though!  😉   ]

[We were at the lovely little village of St. Etienne des Sorts.  Reminded me of an old colleague from D.C. whose name was Steve and who was from New Orleans.  Accordingly, we always called him Etienne – French for Steve.]

[Let’s go that-a-way!]

[A nice river walk.]

[Reetz found grapes!]

[The Biddies peek over a fence.  The locals likely weren’t used to boat loads of American tourists wandering through their neighborhoods.]

[Obviously the abode of someone well-to-do – nice roof top dining.]

[After wandering the neighborhoods, we found our way back to the river . . .]

[And to our boat.]

[Conveniently, there was a wine store just across the street . . . ]

[They did a box office business from the boat people!  🙂  ]

[Is that good?]

[What we bought there . . . and the captain bought a bottle of such for each passenger room for our troubles.  🙂  ]

[So, if you’re going to be stranded in a small French town, you might as well learn the language.]

[Just hangin’ around – some on the boat, some on shore.]

[Here come The Biddies!]

[Back on board, Hey, let’s make the best of this!]

[Well, if we’re stuck, how ’bout a bus sightseeing tour.  This is Pont St. Esprit, the original “hometown” of Jacqueline Kennedy’s ancestors.]

[And again.  In keeping with a longstanding tradition of always being in the wrong line, I amazingly am always on the wrong side of the bus for photo ops!]

Viviers

[Our ultimate destination?]

[Yes, we’re going to Viviers.  This was on our itinerary as a schedule tour stop.]

[And I’m thinking . . . bet we walk up there!  🙂  ]

[In town, Anne forges ahead . . . only to be called back for the “briefing.”]

[The assault on the summit begins.]

[“Weakie” wanted to see food.  Here’s food!  As an aside, the guy in the center of this photo and his wife directly ahead of him became acquaintances aboard the ship – I believe specifically on the party/dancing night.  🙂  I don’t recall but they may have been part of the fun-loving French-Canadian contingent.  Anyway, as with all the other passengers, we parted ways at the end of the cruise in Chalon-sur-Saone, 200 miles south of Paris.  Then, amazingly, among the throngs of people at Versailles three days later, we ran into them again!  Coincidence . . . or homing devices?]

[Really for “Weakie,” the sausage king of Lake L’Homme Dieu!]

[This guy/gal looks so much like our old cat Woody, though Woody didn’t speak French.  I wonder what he/she did to get himself/herself incarcerated?]

[Program director Cornelia still trying to make all this happen on the fly!  🙂  ]

[As I recall, the oldest building in Viviers.  While it’s on the market, we were told no one wants to buy it because historical preservation laws prohibit the renovations necessary to make the place habitable.]

[It’s either Marianne (the symbol of the triumph of the republic) . . . or Vanna White?]

[Rue de Chateau, as it says on the side of the building.]

[We’re beginning our climb . . .]

[Probably a rest break  – though our guide (in the cool hat) appears to be explaining the hole in the wall.  My guess is it’s the opening for the projector for drive-in theater movies.]

[More steps . . .]

[Rest . . . look back.]

[St. Vincent Cathedral]

[Our guide relates its history.]

[This kind of detail work could be done in the days before smart phone video games.]

[The tour continues to . . . ]

[The top of what we looked at from the bottom.]

[Impressive vistas all around.]

[The super, alone with her thoughts.]

[Let the mingling begin.]

[The statue of St. Michael – remember we saw him back at the beginning of all this.]

[Chaos theory in action.]

[Just wandering around for photo ops.]

[The super lining one up with a nice background.]

[From whence we came.]

[The Biddies are thoroughly enjoying themselves!  Reetz especially enjoys her new French wardrobe courtesy of Air Canada!  🙂  ]

[Au revoir, Viviers.]

[Back through Jackie Kennedy’s family’s hometown.]

[Au revoir, Pont St. Esprit.]

[Au revoir deux, Pont St. Esprit.]

[“Home” again.]

[Ahh, dinner on the “roof” with a strolling accordion player.  All’s right in the world.]

[Elizabeth checks out the available appellations.]

[The sisters Callecod.  (And lots more food photos for “Weakie.”)]

[The sisters Coldren.]

[The brothers Gross.]

“The only French word I know is oui, which means “yes,” and only recently did I learn it’s spelled o-​u-​i and not w-​e-​e.”  ~ Stephanie Perkins

Up next:  Still stranded?

Avignon to Chateauneuf du Pape (non Viviers)

[Ah, Avignon.  Our home away from home.  This would, however, be the first day we would venture out into the city under adult supervision.  Our guide is holding “lollipop” sign “3C” again . . . we were hoping we would finally make the “A” list!]

[Here we are back at city hall again, a place we know intimately because of several previous visits.  😉  ]

[This is our guide.  Again I do not remember names.  I need to write stuff down.]

[The side street where we were all standing in the previous pictures had these “murals” on the wall of what I suspect must have been a theatre or music hall?  I thought they were neat.  Is “neat” still part of the current lexicon?]

[A ground mosaic in the central square.  It says something that I can’t translate.]

[Our guide is about to lead into us into an area of first impression, for us.  We’re going to the Palais des Papes, the Palace of the Popes.  Yup, this is where the popes lived in the 14th century.  Of course, the pope residence ultimately moved to Rome when they got a good travel deal through Kayak.com.]

[Our first sighting of the palace . . .]

[At least it wasn’t awash in souvenir shops.]

[We gird ourselves for more stair climbing . . . these palaces always seem to have a dearth of elevators.]

[The gilded statue of the Virgin Mary on the west tower.]

[I guess this is officially known as the building across from the Palais des Papes.  The façade is Paul V’s coat-of-arms.]

[Looking across the square to the “building across from the Palais des Papes.”]

[The ceiling inside, where of course ceilings should be.  When did ceilings change to plain white plaster?]

[We are commencing our interior tour.  A neighboring tour group is ceding our spot in the queue.]

[A modern sculpture (mobile) is under construction in the interior courtyard.]

[Somehow its modernity is incongruous to the antiquity . . . but that’s what they said about the pyramid at the Louvre.]

[I still can’t see it?  When our guide was discussing this wall, I couldn’t get a vantage point because of the crush of people.  They would stare at this wall and eventually say, “Now I see it.”  The supervisor seems to recall it was the Eiffel Tower.  I couldn’t see it, so I took a quick photo to catch up with the group.]

[Anne poses a question concerning the architectural model of the palace.  Possibly something along the line of potential use as a time share?]

[This may have been the central hall of the palace, as reflected in the following photos.]

[Some may recall (we can no longer find it?) that on our first day in Avignon the supervisor posted a FB photo of me holding this flyer backed by a large poster of a modern dancer?  I remember thinking at the time that this would be a “unique” art show to have at the pope’s place.]

[And here is the actual artwork posted on the palace wall.]

[The Biddies selected those that were photo eligible . . .]

[No, seriously.]

[Our guide unabashedly explains the art show.  This was a wood ceiling?]

[This is the kitchen chimney.  They did some serious cooking here!]

[Haute cuisine means “high cooking;” does cuisine haute mean “cooking high”?]

[Kathy and Bert]

[I was trying to figure out . . .]

[As The Biddies look on . . .]

[Why some of the statuary was horizontal.  I finally figured out it was probably to look at the ceiling, often covered with art the equal to or better than that on the walls.]

[A frieze, and at 100-degree days, a “freeze” would have been welcome.]

[Please feel free to wander the room; just take care not to bump into each other.]

[The super found another objet d’art for me.  🙂 ]

[Kinda Pompeii-ish.]

[The backlit super.]

[Stefan Szcsesny is a German artist.  And the large sculpture in the center court is his “The Tree of Life.”]

[Une toilette medieval.]

[A view of the Virgin Mary, atop the west tower.]

[Have you noticed how many of the auditoriums of antiquity are “reconstituted” for use today?  And why not?]

[Pont d’Avignon, from ground level.]

[After leaving the Palais, the tour was going on to commercial area.  I decided to head back to the boat, but on the way took about the 1/2 mile stroll down to the bridge.]

[It was hot, so I was in a bit of a hurry to get back into some air conditioning.]

[Now heading back to the boat, along the outer wall of the city.]

[Not corn or soybeans.  On a tour only Bill and I decided to take . . .]

[It was admittedly over-priced, the only paid tour I took, but we were going to a wine tasting in Chateauneuf du Pape.  How could I pass up Chateauneuf du Pape?  It’s famed in song and story – and in tasting rooms round the world.  😉   ]

[Bill shoots out the window as we approach the fabled village.]

[Bill readies to enter the winery . . . we were going to do the tasting, without a net!]

[Impressive barrels!  Paul Bunyan must be their cooper?]

[Shooting back into the store.]

[Where we were.]

[The wine guy.  Was really good, knew his stuff, spoke gooder English than me, and I believe the ladies would say a handsome young man.  We tasted a white and two reds.  To my surprise, I liked the white best.  Ever the smart a**, I threw “screw top or cork?” at him.  He grinned, knowing where Mr. Smartypants was coming from, and said the cork will probably stay around just because it is so much a part of the wine culture.   Good answer.   But we know screw tops are becoming more and more common because they provide a better seal.]

[The Grenache grape is the king (or queen) of the Chateauneuf du Pape wine region.  It can be blended with any of the other varietals shown above.]

[Buy wine, buy wine!  I think I did – I know I did buy a bottle of du Pape, just can’t remember if I bought it here?]

[Let’s go into town.]

[Town]

[Restaurant]

[Trying to stay in the shade as we walked the narrow streets.]

[We climbed a hill to a little square – unfortunately, this is the best view I could find of the valley below.]

[I have no idea what everybody was looking at here.]

[OK, everybody on 3 . . . the city hall!]

[Can’t believe I walked up – it was smokin’ hot.]

[Green, leafy plants – quite possibly grapes.]

[And when we got back to the boat . . . . OH NO!  We got back in time for dinner and for the second night in a row, the A/C crapped out in the dining room.  Got sweaty uncomfortable.  Then other electrical issues began to happen, so we pulled off on the side of the river.  Three of the 4 generators had failed, overwhelmed by the heat wave.  The captain was not going on with only one generator.  We did not know at the time how long this would last, but at least just sitting still we had A/C in the rooms, water, and toilets.  At first we thought we had just pulled off at any ole spot.  It turns out it was a small town that could handle us and give us an address for repair.  This is looking forward out our window . . . ]

[This was looking aft.  Now it’s beginning to seem like a serial.  Will they be rescued?  Will everyone survive?  Did we have enough fois gras?  Those, and other stories coming up next!]

Boy, those French! They have a different word for everything.  ~  Steve Martin

Up next:  Stranded!?

To catch up on things at home . . .

On Awake the Lakes weekend, among the thousands of options, the supervisor and I did a double duty music venue on Friday and Saturday.  It was Friday afternoon with Josie Nelson at the winery, Friday night with Lisa Lynn at SAWA, Saturday afternoon with Patchouli at the winery, and Saturday evening with the Salty Dogs at Bug-A-Boo Bay.  We got a deluge du jour with Josie, so she had to move inside for her last two sets.  Karin and Dave Berg toughed it out with us all day Friday,and we believe also caught Matt and Julie Velline at Interlachen late night (while we bombed out).  We thought we’d have the same weather on Saturday, but it was a terrific day to be outside with both Patchouli and the Salty Dogs.  But I’m recommending we build an aquaduct to transfer all the rain runoff from here to California’s central valley to save our nuts!

Josie

Lisa

[It was a little too dark to get many good photos of Lisa (the deluge du jour was continuing outside), so I included the now “art museum” look to SAWA, on this wall featuring works from local artist Tracy Anderson, with Bruce Hecksel’s, of Patchouli, works on the far right.]

Patchouli

[Their “Dragonfly” CD has been nominated for the best instrumental CD in a worldwide competition.  🙂 ]

Salty Dogs

It is assumed that the woman must wait, motionless, until she is wooed.  That is how the spider waits for the fly.  ~  George Bernard Shaw

Up next:  France?