So, it has been quite a while since you’ve heard from us. You may have thought that after leaving Ireland we’d fallen off the face of the earth. Well, that is partially accurate; we ended up in Iowa. Des Moines is our home and we spent the winter there sitting in front of a warm fire. But that’s not very exciting now is it? When last we met we were about to take the ferry across the Channel to Cherbourg, France. What a tres jolie adventure we had….

It all began with a delightful overnight passage that included good food, a comfortable bed and neither of us needing to get up every four hours (except me; just an age issue) to stand watch. upon arrival in Cherbourg we taxied up to our chateau for a few days. And I do mean chateau! Our suite was as large as our house. Lovely grounds and spacious rooms. I’ll let Nancy’s photos tell that story.

Cherbourg is a wonderful seaport town that reeks of history and charm. The movie “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” was filmed there in 1964 with Catherine Deneuve and Jacques Demy. All singing with music by Michel Legrand. A film you should look up for sure. Ironically, we saw it at the Varsity theater when we were back home. Anyway, there is a small factory there where ladies make the most exquisite umbrellas by hand. Since I had managed to lose two umbrellas between Belfast and Wexford I decided to stop in and pick one up. 300 Euros later I was the proud owner of a lovely parapluie. Yikes! It never left my sight for the remainder of our journey.

From Cherbourg we traveled by fast train to Paris. We stayed at the Hotel Paradiso, a cinema themed boutique with a 20′ movie screen in every room. It was near the Place de la Nation, which is notorious for being the site of the busiest guillotine in France during the revolution. But it is also a hub of most of the underground lines, so wherever we wanted to go we could usually get there without needing to change metros.

We took the obligatory dinner cruise down the Seine one evening and enjoyed the sights along the river. Especially, for me, the lovely house boats there. The captain had to stop the boat mid-trip to disembark our table neighbor, as he decided to have an MI mid-dinner. Anyway, we thought we’d amble over to see the Eiffel Tower. What a disaster! First, the entire tower and grounds was barricaded off, apparently due to the Olympics having recently completed, and the streets were so dense with hawkers and crowds we quickly crossed the river for a stroll along the banks, where our only companions were couples necking along the quay. And the view of the Eiffel was better anyway.

I decided that it was time for me to catch a bad cold. Unfortunately, that meant Nancy had to tour the Louvre by herself. Fortunately, she ended up having a private tour guide. Unfortunately, most of the tourists never look at the paintings; they are only interested in taking a selfie. Fortunately, I had a 20′ screen in my room where I binged on old James Bond flicks. Staying in the part of town we did meant there were no tourist throngs and wherever we ate or strolled we were the only outsiders; which tended to make us insiders who were made welcome by the neighborhood.

I had wanted to see Versailles since my days studying the Revolutionary Period. So, Nancy picked out a hotel nearby. Another quick train ride and we were at not just any hotel but the Trianon Hotel! Not only is it on the grounds of Versailles, but it is THE place where all the delegates to the Paris Peace Conference negotiated the treaty that led to World War II. Guys like Wilson and LLoyd George and Clemenceau. I must have impressed the major domo (the Treaty of Paris was another of my major studies in college) because he unlocked the door to the grand ballroom where they actually painted a map of Europe and the Ottoman Empire on the floor and walked around with pointers dividing up the spoils!

Our tour of the palace was interesting and crowded. Chinese girls actually changed from wedding dresses to ballgowns to have their photos taken in front of the opulence. Anything to find a good husband. After the tour we were allowed to wander the rest of the palace. Away from the hall of mirrors and the royal chambers we were the only people strolling through the apartments of the courtiers and lesser nobles. Quite an amazing feat of architecture and display.

After Versailles (by the way, you must say Versailles with a lilt in your voice and a toss of the hand) we boarded another speed liner to Perpignan. Perpignan is just north of the Pyrenees and although in France, it is Catalonian by culture. We had a surprisingly enjoyable time walking through the winding medieval streets of the walled part of the city. Good food, pleasant weather, smiling faces. We had only stopped there to make train connections but stayed two days.

Then on to Valencia, Spain. This was Nancy’s vacation stop. Three days at a beach hotel with warm water and warmer air, with restaurants along the strand as far as the eye could see. We just chilled the entire time. Life is good!

Then we hit the jackpot! Our great friends from our D.C. days, Chris and Irene, have bought an apartment in Barcelona and asked us to stay for a while. They showed us around town for a few and then left us to our own devices for an entire week before returning to post bail and clean up the mess! Barcelona is truly a magical city. The old, the new and everything in between. Great food markets where you can find everything your foodie heart desires and many it didn’t know it desired. Fortunately Chris has learned fluent food Spanish (still working on the rest though) so we all had a great gastronomic journey. They even pointed out their favorite wine bodega which will fill your 2 liter jug with local vermut for 4 Euros. And also send along a complementary bottle of wine just for the pleasure of meeting new friends.

The America’s Cup sailing races were underway while we were there, so we strolled the compound. Not very exciting, few people were actually interested, us included, since the racing is in an exclusive area and they are over so quickly and predictably. This new generation of rich oligarchs have ruined a beautiful sport developed by a more gentile generation of rich oligarchs.

We enjoyed our time in Barcelona, there is so much to see and do we will definitely return. Thanks for the lovely time!

So, we finally had to board an airplane, my least favorite means of travel! But, we flew via Iceland Air which has super comfy business seats and the option of stopping in Reykjavik for up to a week without changing flights. In other words- a great tourist marketing scheme. Four days in Iceland in October, in a near continuous drizzle, what more could you ask for? Nothing, I say! Iceland is a land beyond description, glaciers and lava and hot sulphur pools, beautiful girls and boys, mystical landscapes and Aurora Borealis. Wait, scratch the Aurora. Although it was a banner year for the Northern Lights, refer back to the continuous drizzle part of this paean to the North. We did have a nice soak in the Blue Lagoon 10 days before another volcano erupted and surrounded it with fresh lava. Again, I’ll let the photos tell the tale.

So we ended up in Iowa for the winter. Our first long stretch away from the boat in nearly four years. Thanksgiving and Christmas and skiing with family. Two weeks of bitterly cold weather. Two snow storms. What the heck were we thinking?! (Nancy’s edit… Well, I, for one, needed a break from the constant worries that living on a boat entails. Plus… oh boy, did we need to get in better physical condition. And we missed our dear family and friends. We meet a lot of fun and interesting people traveling but still, being back home felt good.) We did enjoy catching up with friends and eating at our old favorite places and listening to some really good music, but one day we looked at each other and decided it was time to get moving again.

Stay tuned and come join us wherever we may be. Don’t forget to subscribe and check out the Book Nook for our most recent reads.

I’ll try to update the Studio page soon. In the mean time, can you tell what inspired this painting?