April 25: Paris

Got up late again - wow. Weather was looking iffy. But we got up and went to Chet's favorite boulangerie. The chocolate almond is still totally amazing. The flavor and the texture. We wandered around a bit and made our way to the Jardin du Luxembourg and, although it was cloudy the flowers they had there surrounding the statues and small palace were the best we've seen anywhere. The flowers were combined in many, many waves of color in the style of Penelope Hobhouse. Chet took many photos, and we are hoping for a sunny day there also. We did more aimless walking around, and Lynne found her favorite rose shop and got some rose water to bring home. They have rose petals strewn on the ground outside the shop too. It's pretty cool, on a street between St Severin and the Jardin.

We wandered more (wandering's fun in Paris because you never know what you will find), and we went to the Monoprix on Rue de Rennes, a couple of blocks from our hotel. Chet was searching for cough drops for Lynne (who didn't think she needed any) - well it turns out that you can only get cold remedies in the pharmacies, and none carries the cough drops Chet favors. So we wound up picking up a few other things, like water, apples, tomatoes, and some biscuits. Monoprix is like a half food store (with ten varieties of camembert, for example) and half Target-like. The weather was spotty, so we decided to take a break back at the hotel.

A bit later, we went out again and wandered to our favorite cheese shop, Barthélemy, which we happily call the "fromage doctors" because they all wear white coats and have a very serious demeanor about their cheese. We noted that they were going to be closed for the next two days;l so we HAD to get some. They pepper you with questions like "how soon will you eat this cheese" since they will sell you the properly aged/runniness level, based on that. It's a very rare treat, and we'll be going on a fat-free vegetarian diet once we return home. But for the moment, we were just basking in the scents in the small 12x10 shop where there were maybe 5 cheese doctors and 10 eager customers who all knew they were somewhat special. If only they could bottle that smell; oh well, you can replicate it by gathering some dirty diapers and old, smelly socks and leaving them in a small hotel room. Odd, though; it really does taste great. We bought some camembert, some chevre, and some bleu d'auvergne. The same cheese doctor helped us as last time (about a year and a half ago), but he did not remember the insult that Chet so carelessly hurled when he suggested that we ask for "cheese with mushrooms". We didn't want to be "banned" from the cheese shop, you know, so proper cheese etiquette was followed. Barthélemy is on Rue de Grenelle by Boulevard Raspail. It's closed Sunday and Monday. Go there if you can.

We forgot to mention that there was a protest of some sort about a block from our hotel, and Chet was suspecting that it was the French protesting the pasteurization of cheese since we saw some of this in the supermarket and were disappointed to see cheese subjected to such treatment! (It robs the flavor.) We asked the hotel guy and he said it was a protest about "whatever it is today"; apparently there are a lot of protests. Chet was disappointed he missed taking some photos of the protest, but we are sure there will be another chance.

A bit later, we went to our favorite restaurant/café for dinner, and we ran into the same very friendly wait person who helped us a year-and-a-half ago, and she remembered us and we remembered her. It was kind of like a reunion of sorts, although not in a big way. The food was great.

April 24: Driving to Paris

We said our goodbyes to Rosetta at the Casa dei Limone and it was a fond farewell. We started driving around 9am and headed North. The driving was slow and we barely avoided a near accident in one of the tunnels. We figured out that Italians put in tunnels almost anywhere they could. In the Alps, all you go through are tunnels. I know there are many roads that are not tunnels but we didn't go on any of them. We did see a little snow-rain mixed at the Ital-France border. We also think we saw the Mattterhorn and its glaciers and it was very impressive even for a guy who used to live in Alaska.

Drove drove drove and upon arrival in Paris got into a massive traffic jam. It took an extra hour to get to the airport to return the car.

Returned the car after some hassle finding the car return location and then loaded ourselves up like pack animals and to the RER train to the Chatelet-Les Halles where we took the local train to St Sulpice which was a half a block from our hotel. Lynne is really on top of the train systems here. She has earned the name GPS girl. Our hotel is called Hotel St-Germain and is at 50 Rue du Four in Paris. The room is good, a bit small but not unexpected. Freshly painted which the smell of bothered Lynne a little.

April 23: Real last day in Monteroso

We began our ¨extra¨day in Monterosso not really extra but more like forgotten. We decided to take a boat to Portovenere. I asked Lynne if she really wanted to do this since she was coughing like a person with whooping cough. She said yes and it was very fun and we got a new view we didn't have before on the Cinque Terre just because we saw them from a new angle on the water. Portovenere was very nice and there was a large castle and a very old church which was built in the 1300s. Very nice and Chet bought Lynne a nice necklace and Chet got some Trofie pasta mqde with basil. On the way back Lynne had a nasty coughing spell on the boat.

April 22, 2009: Monterosso false last day

Got up late because Lynne has been sick with Bronchitis and was seeming to be getting worse, probqbly because we've been busy doing stuff. So we decided to make our last day in Italy a restful and relaxing one. We had our breakfast and then hung out in the room and read qnd took in the view out the window which was of a mountainside full of green trees so it was very pretty and we had a nice deck to sit out on and read also. Later in the day we finally went to the internet cafe and did our blog entries.

Then to break the day up we decided to go read along the Meditteranean at the beach in Monterosso.

And then finally at like 7pm we were going to pay our Bed & Breakfast bill and we went to pay it and she had us staying for another day. Lynne had mixed up the days. We all had a good laugh about it.

April 21, 2009 Vernazza

Took the train down to Vernazza and walked around town for a bit.Lynne was coughing a lot so wanted to take it a little easy. Vernazza is nice and a little prettier than MonteRosa. We had been trying to restrain ourselves on buying things since we can only carry so much after we return the car in Paris at the airport.

Monday, April 20, 2009: Riomaggiore, Manorola & Corniglia

Woke up to a nice hotel breakfast, and took the train to Riomaggiore, which is the southernmost town in the Cinque Terre. Very short ride of about 20 minutes.

Got off the train and walked around the town, which we enjoyed quite a lot. Chet took some grate photos, and we decided to have lunch here after walking up and down the stairs and seeing the sights both from the hills and the waterfront. We had the best lunch in a small self-service restaurant right at the entry to the Via dell'Amore, overlooking the town and the sea. Lynne ordered a fresh caprese salad with tuna, and an anchovy sandwich with tomatoes. Absolutely the best lunch we've had so far, with fresh fish, tomatoes, cheese and bread.

Then we walked the Via dell'Amore to Manorola, the next town over. Manorola is rather small, so we didn't spend much time there, but walked on to Corniglia, which is up on a hill above the Mediterranean. There, we took the green bus to the top of the hill for a bit of a wander before heading back to the train station and back to Monterosso. We ran into Rosetta (who works in the hotel in the mornings), who was on her way back from La Spezia.

Back at the hotel, Chet helped Maria and Marcello figure out how their light timer worked and - as a thank you - they offered us some homemade anancino (orange liqueur, similar to limoncino - which is nothern Italian for limoncello). What a treat! She and Marcello also told us about their lives there during WWII, when the town was bombed three times by the allies in order to break up the railway lines running from Northern Europe all the way to Sicily. Germans had occupied the town, as well - taking the finest villas for themselves. Families fled to the surrounding countryside - her family to the former farmhouse that is now our hotel, his family to a hut higher in the hills. Marcello told us how his elderly aunt used to scream when she saw big birds flying overhead, thinking they were planes coming to bomb the town. And the monks at the top of the hill would ring the bells whenever they saw airplanes or warships in the distance so the townspeople could take cover.

Maria and Marcello have been married nearly 50 years, having been engaged for 11 years - since she was 15 and he was 17 years old. She is now 75 and he is 77. But when he went down the hill to buy bananas, we noticed that he wasn't even short of breath when he returned from town - up that hill that leaves us winded still....

Sunday, April 19, 2009: Monterosso al Mare

Mostly relaxed, explored the town a little bit, and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings. It's nice to have a day off, even when one is on vacation!