alexandriacardinals

[Avignon, by night (in case you didn’t notice the time of day).]

Avignon to Arles to Avignon

[Let’s get re-acquainted with Avignon – we’re beginning from Avignon Centre, middle bottom on the above map, and live and in person below.]

[Morning the next day, off our balcony, the Avignon Centre train stop.  We initially thought this is where the TGV would tumble us off so we could have walked to the hotel.]

[Reetz was delighted to discover she had a place to change into her Superwoman costume.  We were out and about on our own for breakfast before boarding our cruise ship in the afternoon.]

[Remember that church I said we’d re-visit?]

[The Avignon main drag as seen from the church courtyard.]

[How we usually saw Reetz.]

[Then you push this button over here and your garage door in Indiana opens.]

[I believe these are internationally known as flowers.]

[I dearly love these trees.  They line many a city street in these environs providing a perfect canopy (which is why they were planted thusly).  They are called plane trees and are close relatives (first cousins, I believe) to our sycamores.  In fact, I called them sycamores when I first saw them and was politely corrected.]

[The Biddies are onboard!  The Viking Hermod would be our home on the Rhone River for the next week.  Do they look like they’re having fun yet?]

[Avignon from the top of our boat.]

[Our fellow travelers have arrived.  Here Reetz shares the rooftop “study room” with Kathy.  Kathy and Bert did a Seine River cruise the previous week (figuring as long as you’re making the effort to fly all the way to Europe, you may as well do two cruises) and took this opportunity to hang out some laundry in the sun.]

[White wine spritzer, s’il vous plait?]

[I’m ready to sail!]

[Looking forward . . .]

[Looking aft.  All this stuff had to be taken down once we started moving or we couldn’t make it under some bridges.]

[The Super and the Captain (sounds like a movie title).  He didn’t speak English (how dare he?), so we usually just greeted him with a nod and a timid smile.  🙂 ]

[Our first meal together as a team.  Go, team!]

[Remember when I said we’d re-visit here (I think I did?)]

[There was a full moon.]

[It was after dinner and a few of us we’re feeling giddy enough for a spin on ye olde Ferris Wheel.  It provided opportunities for some nice shots of the city at night.]

[And away we go!  The companion to the photo at the top of the page.]

[Bill and Elizabeth are enjoying the ride.  As good a time as any to remind folks that I introduced Bill and Anne to each other, and on this trip they celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary.  I was best man (well, there wasn’t a test or anything) but little did I recall that this very same Elizabeth, then 5 years old, was the flower girl at the wedding.  🙂 ]

[More on this partial bridge later . . . ]

[Our boat]

[For artsy sake.]

[Then it was off for a night on the town – the super, Reetz, and I were now full-fledged tour guides from our already day and a half in the city.]

[The girls are back in town!]

[The Theatre – I know that because that’s what it says at the top of the building.]

[We dare not pass for we were aware this would be on the scheduled tour in two days.]

[Lovely evening scene, n’est-ce pas?]

[Avignon and Arles are on the western edge of Provence, i.e., SE France.  It can get hot here, as it did on our trip.  For most of the river cruise, the temperature was 37C, which translates nicely to 98.6F!  We were advised to wear appropriate protection . . . so I did.]

[Sunrise over the Rhone.  We’re on the way to Tarascon, the drop off point for Arles.]

[Ho-hum, just more antiquity along the river.]

[Tarascon, everybody off and to the buses!]

[Now in Arles, the super holds up the ‘lollipop” identifying our group.  Arles, BTW, is two syllables and is pronounced “R-leh.”  I would have pronounced it like something like a guttural utterance by pirate.]

[When arriving at a new place, first discover the local pizzeria.  Just to the right of this pizzeria, as I recall, was where Van Gogh’s little yellow house was located.]

[And now we’re off to the ancient city.]

[The ancient city (well, that’s what we were off to).]

[The not so ancient city just inside the ancient city walls.  I believe this is where commerce takes place.]

[Merely identified as a religious mosaic memorial.]

[Onward, Group 3C! ]

[Heading down the narrow city streets in search of antiquity.]

[Antiquity, dead ahead!]

[Ivy League?]

[The Roman arena, with a seating capacity of 20,000 in its day.]

[And the commercial (i.e., tourist) area that circles its right side.]

[The super climbing the steps to the arena as we look back upon the street upon which we came.]

[Our tour guide . . . now so long ago, I’ve forgotten her name.]

[She parked us in the arena for a complete Arles history lesson.  I can say that our tour guides during our European adventures have been uniformly excellent and well informed on their subject matter.]

[The arena . . . it may not be Spain, but they hold bullfights here.]

[Advertising the Golden Ribbon, an annual event for almost 100 years, somewhat like the running of the bulls in Spain.]

Seems like a good place to note that Vincent Van Gogh loved Arles (remember that while we pronounce the “Gogh” part as “go,” on the continent they pronounce it like they just swallowed a bug).  In 1888, he wrote to his brother Theo, “Nature here is extraordinarily beautiful . . . I can’t match its beauty in my painting, but I take so much in that I can let myself go without restraint.”

Seems like a good place to note that Don McLean’s song “Vincent” was of course about Van Gogh.  And with just this song and “American Pie” McLean, in my opinion (I’m old and deserve one), must be considered one of the all-time great singer/song writers:

“Vincent” by Don McLean:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wrNFDxCRzU

[Moving on around the backside of the arena.]

[Theatre Antiquity becomes the stage for modern music and theatre productions.]

[The city square with city hall (remember Hotel de Ville?) at the far end.]

[But first, a rest stop.]

[As a reporter, I was asleep at the switch here.  A young man in a white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, stepped out on the “pope’s” balcony above.  Our guide told us he was the town’s mayor, a very popular Communist.  I shouted up, “Monsieur Mayor!”  He waved to us, we waved back, then he went back in before I could get a photo.  He’s probably popular because this was on a weekend and he was in his office working.]

[Where’s Wally the Beerman?]

[We sure could use a cold one!]

[Remindful of the columns in the cisterns of Istanbull.]

[Big doors]

[3C is now inside – city hall, I believe, but don’t hold me to that.]

[People are looking up because our guide is giving us the story about the ceiling  . . . ]

[So unique in fact that modern-day architects don’t understand how it was done?]

[Moving on to the town’s commercial square . . . or restaurant row.]

[When I noticed the statue on the left, my first thought was Beauregard T. Beauregard?]

[He’s actually Frederic Mistral . . .]

[A writer and lexicographer . . . and now overseer of fine dining!]

[Nice little neighborhood.]

[Reetz fires up the iPad as we head back to the buses along the river.]

[Back “home” to Avignon.]

[Our Ferris Wheel is in the distance.]

[The Avignon bridge . . . several more photos and story to follow.]

[Meanwhile, back at the ranch, getting ready to PAR-TAY!!]

The Avignon Bridge provided strategic importance to the city in medieval times as it was the only bridge that crossed the Rhone between Marseille and Lyon, or for a distance of 200 miles.  Early bridges collapsed from the force of the Rhone, and the four stone arches left from an original 22 were built in the 14th century.  It was decided to no longer maintain this bridge because it was too costly.  Nevertheless, there is a nursery rhyme song about the bridge that even members of our party knew . . . and here it is:

Sur le Pont d’Avignon:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKfxtYAt0s

[They somehow did a terrific job dealing with the three guys on the trip:  Standing, l-r, the super, Reetz, Sharon, Kay, and Elizabeth; sitting, Kathy and Anne.]

[One last glimpse into the night . . .]

[Bill readies for action . . .]

[The super readies for action . . . so LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL . . . ]

[The woman on the left is Cornelia.  She was in charge of everything we did.  She is from Austria and speaks fluent French and English . . . we assume also German.  I do not comprehend how the mind can think and speak in multiple languages.  Anyway, Cornelia was really put to the test on this trip (upcoming), having to arrange new things on a moment’s notice as the set tour events were overcome by . . . well, other events.  We thought she did a terrific job in trying circumstances.]

[OK, to the general readership, most of the following pictures will be for our group as we continued to shake our respective booties to the best of our abilities.]

[Since when did I start to look like my brothers?]

[I had no idea they were so good looking?  [Editor’s note:  “Good looking” in this instance is a synonym for “old.”]  And who is that metro check who appears to be hanging around with me?]

[In a former life, Kathy was a lawyer for the West Virginia Supreme Court.  Now, like the rest of us, she’s just looking for a good time!  🙂  (For the locals, tell me that the woman in the black dress behind Kathy isn’t Annie O’Flynn??)]

[Luggage?  LUGGAGE? . . .]

[I don’t need no stinking luggage!!]

[These photos may be useful someday should the participants ever have to throw themselves on the mercy of the court.]

We now end this evening of frivolity with actual moving pictures of the event.  Please keep in mind that all have been around log enough to have actually known a genuine hippie:

Dancin’, yeah:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RN_R2pGCXs&list=UUDt6CCFM-8cxXEwOQhEwkiA

Husbands think we should know where everything is – like the uterus is a tracking device.  He asks me, “Roseanne, do we have any Chee-tos left?”  Like he can’t go over to that sofa cushion and lift it himself.  ~  Roseanne Barr

Up next:  Avignon . . . again.

[OK, this isn’t Day 1, 2 or 3.  But it makes a worthy lead-off photo as I enjoy a Mary Tyler Moore moment with likely the two most famous Parisian landmarks – the Eiffel Tower as photographed from the top of the Arch de Triomph.]

Avignon

Bonjour mesdames et messieurs.  Bienvenue!  Je m’appelle Thomas (toe-MOSS) Obert (Oh-BARE) [Editor’s note:  “Toe moss” can usually be kept under control with fast actin’ Tinactin, but I do not “Bare” because I don’t have the figure for it.], and I will be your tour guide.  Here’s the plan:

On June 5, the supervisor and I flew overnight to Paris, where we would meet up with her sister Rita, flying in from Indianapolis.  From Paris on the 6th, we took a TGV train to Avignon, where we spent the 7th unwinding and doing a preliminary preview (is that redundant) of the city.  [Editor’s note:  A TGV train travels at 200 mph and covered the 400-mile distance to Avignon in a couple of hours.  Why don’t we have them here?]  We were joined in Avignon on the 8th for the start of the cruise by Anne and Bill (whom you may recall as our traveling partners on the Mediterranean cruise last summer), who went first to Marseille, Bill’s brother Bert and his wife Kathy, their daughter Elizabeth (who roomed with Rita on the cruise), and two of Anne’s sisters, Sharon and Kay, ultimately making us a party of 10.  At the end of the cruise, members of the group spent various lengths of time in Paris.  Oh, did I mention that while Rita made it to Paris, her luggage didn’t – a continuous story line throughout the entire trip.

[Icelandair, you ask?  It was on the Bucket List.]

[Why is this man smiling?]

[Doesn’t he realize he’s about to board one of those gawdawful international flights?]

[Leaving behind the Minneapolis skyline and two weeks of rain in the Upper Midwest.  The end of our driveway was under water when we left Alex.]

[The Land of 10,000 Lakes – many of which escaped their usual boundaries in our absence.]

[Cloud]

[Contrail]

[Icelandair]

[Never saw Greenland (another Bucket Lister) – totally cloud covered when we flew over.]

[Actually, you don’t land in Reykjavik . . . ]

[Iceland, ho!]

[You land in Keflavik, a town of negligible population, on the western peninsula, possibly the only part of the country flat enough for an airport.]

[Pretty bleak; possibly bleak beautiful?]

[At the Keflavik airport one is still a 40-minute drive from Reykavik.  As soon as airline travel reaches the point where you can be knocked out upon boarding and awakened at your destination, we may decide to do Iceland.  Icelandair permits open-ended layovers, at no extra cost, should one be interested in helicopter rides to ice fields and hot springs.]

[It appears they are trying to develop a mid-Atlantic hub here.  The current airport can’t a handle the traffic.  Both coming and going, our plane had no gate access, requiring bus rides to the tarmac and the good old-fashioned portable outside stairways for boarding.]

[Au revoir, Iceland!]

[Bonjour northwest Scottish islands!]

[These island have names . . . I may or may not think of them.  Possibly the Orkneys?]

[Proof positive that the Earth is indeed round.  Wait a sec, that’s the plane window.  Oy!]

[The Isle of Man . . .]

[How I knew that!  🙂  ]

[These seat back flight maps are really handy!]

[Yup, no doubt about it – the Isle of Man.]

[I thought I saw Liverpool, but . . .]

[The English Channel.  We’ve Chunneled under it, flown over it, now we have to take a hovercraft across it.]

[Maybe some hovercraft here?]

[Land, ho!  Bonjour France, you’re looking lovely!]

[It doesn’t take long to reach Paris environs.]

[Man has totally transformed the Earth’s surface.]

[We have a Paris sighting . . . ]

[Actually was quite surprised to hear the Paris metro area is only about 2 1/2 million – when you’re in amongst it, it seems much bigger than that.]

[Charles de Gaulle, a/k/a, the CDG]

[The supervisor remembered the pneumatic tubes from her business travels in the 80’s . . . ]

[Yup, just pop you in a canister to send you up or down one level!  (Are you buying this?)]

[Now came the hard part.  This was Rita’s first trip to Europe.  She was flying from Indianapolis via Air Canada and landed at a different CDG terminal from us.  We had to take the airport shuttle train through four stops to find her.  We told her to meet us at the Big ‘I’, the central information kiosk, that all use as a meeting point.  Though Rita arrived a couple hours ahead of us, she wasn’t at the designated meeting point!  The supervisor was getting all nervous about having “lost” her older sister.  Just  when we were about to issue an APB, Rita ambled over with great aplomb pushing her luggage cart.  The luggage cart was sans luggage – she subsequently discovered her bag had decided to go to Frankfurt rather than Paris.]

[OK, now what?]

[It was on to the TGV station for a train trip to Avignon.  Rita’s luggage would have to catch up to us when it could.]

[We were fortunate to run into this nice gentleman who explained which train to catch and where we’d be in that train.  (Editor’s note:  The “doofus” hat was considered a necessity so Rita wouldn’t get lost.)]

[Rita’s old iPad crashed right before the trip (an omen?), so she had to get a new, and went for the smaller size, version.  She was in “learning mode” during the trip and often called the device bad names when it would go into video mode, apparently for no damn reason!]

[The train, the train!! ]

[Yup, looks like it’s ours.]

[I’m so lucky to have a great husband who takes me on these wonderful trips! ]

I took about a minute video here – the train ride is unbelievably smooth and quiet:

 

[The woman on the left was thinking, “Harrrumph, tourists.”]

[Look!  I’m walking!  At 200 miles per hour!]

[Our room at the Grand Hotel in Avignon.  The super searched far and wide for a place where we could get a room for three . . .]

[Because we always share a room to reduce costs.   And it gives me an opportunity to experience life in a sorority house!  😉 ]

[Reetz checks her investment portfolio.  BTW, we had issues getting from the train station to the hotel.  It was getting dark when we arrived and there didn’t appear to be much in the way of public transportation to get us “to town.”  No sign of any buses, and taxi stands were sans cabs.  A local woman waiting for a cab finally ventured out to try locate some, found one and sent it back to us because we were first in line.  No wonder I have a soft spot for French women.]

[The super checks out our suite . . . which turned out to be “sweet.”  🙂  ]

[Our sitting room . . . where we would discuss the weighty issues of the day such as, “Where the hell is Rita’s luggage?” ]

[I feel pretty!]

[The view of the hotel lobby from our balcony.]

[The view of the swimming pool, on the rooftop of the middle white wing – a place we never visited?]

[A nightcap at the bar . . .]

[Wine is that much?]

[Stairway to heaven?]

[The next morning we charged out into Avignon.  Because our cruise would begin here, then go south to Arles, then back to Avignon for the trip upriver, we did not want to do much beyond shopping so as not to spoil our tour in two days.  The city’s walled historic center was right across the street from our hotel.]

[Our hotel was at the bottom center of this map.]

[Inside the wall, Rita begins her European adventure, backpack armed with everything one could need in an emergency (well, she was a school nurse).]

[If I can remember to point it out, we did go through the “home town” of Jackie Kennedy’s family.]

[Churches provide much architectural splendor.  We’ll be back to this guy later . . . ]

[OK, what we really came for . . . our first, on the street, French express breakfast.  It consists of coffee or hot chocolate, orange juice, a baguette and/or a croissant, with butter and jelly.  Beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.  Then you just sit and people watch.  If you never ask for the check, you could sit there all day.  There is never a rush to leave an eating establishment.  Oh, we’re in city center here.]

[Wake me when it’s time for my pedicure.]

[Rita needed to go to a phone store to see if she could get her cell phone to work within and from Europe.  So we went to the Orange where Rita had her first encounter with a monsieur.  Though he tried the sim card Rita had purchased, he politely told her her model phone (or plan?) wasn’t going to work here.  Rita was hooked on messieurs (he was a charmer).]

[Just walking around the little side streets off the central square . . . ]

[I was too late with the camera here, probably from laughing.  The little guy in the middle had just run his arm up under mom’s tunic top to the point where his arm almost came out her neck line.  She never batted an eye as she  continued her texting.]

[The Biddies in full shopping mode.]

[Is it time to eat again yet?]

[Hotel de Ville – in every town, City Hall.  We’re back to central square again.]

[You know you’re in France when the merry-go-round features nudes.  😉  ]

[Hmmm, is that photo worthy?]

[Yah, sure, you betcha!]

[A guitar and violin duo entertained.]

[This little girl was eating lunch with her folks at a table just across from us.  She wasn’t particularly interested in her large plate of frites.  She just liked to take off on her pedal-less bike to see what was up in the neighborhood.]

[Inside city hall, a monument to the French Underground.]

[Walking toward the river, going outside the wall, to find our boat for our cruise the next day.]

[The riverside dock area.  (Yes, we ultimately rode the Ferris Wheel . . .)]

[Looking back from whence we came.]

[Obviously some goofy American tourists.]

[We found our boat!  The Viking Hermod.  Viking has so many boats now that they’re being named for gods who are not household names.  Hermod the Brave was a son of Odin and was famous for kicking a 62-yard field goal to win the 1833 B.C. Lutefisk Bowl.]

[The Centennial Statue on the waterfront . . .]

[Between the city walls and the Rhone River just behind me.]

[The Biddies discovered a flea market on the river.]

[The Centennial Statue]

[Walking around the city wall back to the hotel.]

[It was a long walk – never pass up a resting bench!]

[There’s home!]

[Kitty-corner from our hotel, the main entrance into the walled city.]

[The view from the hotel side.]

[A little Cotes du Rhone for a party in the hotel garden.  Based on my many years of corkscrew experience, I neatly removed the cork . . . and about a quarter of the bottle top!  Obviously a faulty bottle!]

[Nevertheless, we forged ahead, secure in the knowledge that a little glass dust would provide good roughage.  Rita checks the cheese to make sure it’s compatible with our wine and ciabatta.]

[Foot massage, s’il vous plait?]

[This, and the following flowers, were in the courtyard garden.  From here I’ll turn it over to Lorlee for further explanation . . . 🙂 ]

[Sisters]

[Check, s’il vous plait.  Merci.]

[This, and the two following, are courtesy of the supervisor’s tablet.  Ain’t we got fun?]

[Woo-woo!  Painting the town rouge!]

[So, do you come here often?  I’m a Virgo!]

Women eat while they are talking; men  talk while they are eating.  ~  Malcolm De Chazal

Up next:  Let the cruise begin!

[Freshman catcher McKenzie Revering (14) in pre-game warm-ups.]

The super and I did what all red-blooded Americans do on Memorial Day – we went to a section tournament softball game!!  We almost drowned in a pool of our own perspiration – well, me in sweat, the super in glisten – and likely have 3rd-degree sunburns. The noon-time start game was played in hot, humid, sunny weather – something we aren’t quite used to around these here parts! Rain clouds threatened in all directions, but didn’t get here until as I do my report. Our Cards prevailed over Moorhead 9 – 1 as senior pitcher Taylor Ellingson (7) had a great game, both as a pitcher and as a hitter from the lead-off spot. She is just a terrific all-around athlete who is both strong and fast . . . I know she had as a minimum a walk, a triple, and a 3-run home (in the bottom of the 4th that put the game away). She is fast enough that I thought the triple would be a double but she never slowed, and the same with the homer that was a line drive down the leftfield line. I don’t think she ever had any intention to stop running until she got to home plate – I was so dumbfounded I didn’t react fast enough with the camera. Oh, and there was a representative there from Le Homme Dieu View Townhomes, but it wasn’t “Weakie-d”-out. Sitting behind the super in an unfortunately Spud-colored shirt.  [Yes, the insert is the softball playing me back in the day when I was almost as strong and almost as fast as Taylor.]

[Team captains Anna Lee, Sarah Bruzek, and Emily Kuennen meet the game officials at home plate for the ceremonial coin toss . . . ]

[Or they may have been discussing post-game dining options?]

[That ump wanted to know where he could get a Blizzard?]

[The Spuds form a sightline barrier to my attempt to photo the Cardinal pre-game intros.]

[I’ll choose ponytail No. 2!]

[Anthem time.]

Taylor’s 1st inning video (you can’t get this kind of coverage any where else!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Vq7owKEWg

[Taylor leads off for the Cards.  The pitcher position in the scorebook is 1 – coincidence?]

[A good swing to loosen a few vertebrae . . . ]

[Then a really good rip!   🙂  ]

[Batting 2nd and playing 2nd base, junior Kaila Dewanz (8).  Like Taylor, also a hockey player.]

[Batting 3rd and playing 3rd base (are you noticing a symmetry here?), senior Sarah Bruzek (3).  For fun also plays soccer and basketball as varsity sports.]

[I don’t like bunting; Sarah probably doesn’t either.]

[Batting 4th (i.e., clean-up) and playing left field, junior Carly Dropik (6).  Unlike anyone the Twins can put in this spot in the batting order, Carly is a power hitter.]

[Batting 5th and playing centerfield, junior Jana Roste (12).]

[Taylor trying the ole “screen” play.]

[Little Rev is also a hockey player – you may recall her game winning goal, in the 3rd OT, against New Ulm in the state tournament.]

[Let’s see, defense in hockey and catcher in softball.  Little Rev must be one giant bruise most of the year?  😉  ]

[Kaila checks her temperature in the noonday sun.]

[Hey, bench!  I’ll need ice!]

[Oh, to have 15-year old knees!]

[Good inning . . .]

[A few more of those and it will be Blizzards for all!]

[Batting 6th, senior 1st baseman, Emily (4).]

[I think she fouled off several here.]

[Coach Albers]

[Sophomore rightfielder Amy Jost (15), also our hockey goalie.]

[Looks like Amy’s right on it.]

[McKenzie, the last hockey player in the lineup.]

[Maybe a little too aggressive here . . . soft hands, stay back, try to catch the ball with the bat.  😉  OK, as if you all don’t already receive lots of advice – ha!]

[Back to Taylor at the top of the order.  I believe I captured the homerun swing here – the ball that was lined deep into the leftfield corner . . . ]

[Taylor completed her lap of all four bases before I could get the camera ready . . . so I captured a happy Kaila on deck.]

[There’s Taylor in the red helmet getting congrats from her teammates.]

[The supervisor and Steve Waller, sitting behind her, are flush with excitement!  (Later addition:  As pointed out by her mom, softball alum Mikayla Lucas was at the game two people to the left of the supervisor in the green top – and we didn’t even know she was there.) ]

[The state champion hockey coach . . . now in a sport where he can coach in short pants.]

[Mitch checks the stat sheet . . . or how his investments are doing?]

[I vote for the Heath Bar, Butterfinger combination Blizzard!]

[Kaila came in to pitch the last inning . . .]

[This was only to second game I was able to see this year . . . ]

[She has a change-up comparable to Dani Bany’s.  🙂 ]

[So it appears Kaila will be the No. 1 hurler next year.]

[Drive safely on your way home!  (Actually, we went to Jimmy John’s for a No. 5.)]

[Because I did not do well during player introductions, this is on a continuous roll for the post-game handshakes so you get a chance to see everybody.]

[Keep it up, ladies!]

It is necessary to be almost a genius to make a good husband.  ~ Balzac  [Editor’s note:  Or so they say.  😉  ]

Editor’s further note:  Just got our first graduation notice. It’s a reminder to once again share Dad’s column to me . . . a mere 49 years ago. It’s time to congratulate all those who graduate this year, the last class ever out of Jefferson, and to thank you all for keeping the old alumni entertained throughout the years with your abilities and passions in sports, music, theatre, and scholastics. (I seriously do not understand the attraction among older people to live in 55+ communities?)  Now go out there and conquer the world: