Hello From Paris,  Sep.21, 2012

We have been here 2 days and now today we are headed out to the SW part of
France to hire a barge for a week.  Paris has been amazing AGAIN.  WE walked to Notre Dame Church yesterday.  Always amazing to see.  There were
thousands of people there.  No kidding.  Make that thousands plus 2.  Will try
to attatch a couple pictures here.  We ate ice cream at a well known and sought out shop called Berthillions.  Fantastic!   I snapped some pics of the shops fronts.    Everywhere you look there are colors, and sights here.  We walked over a bridge  locally known as the bridge of locks.  The story goes... lovers lock a pad lock onto the bridge to show their never ending love and they both keep a key.  If they ever breatk up one of them is to return and remove the lock.  the funny thing is, no one takes them off.  This bridge railing is COVERED with locks.  The kids here said they had to remove them not too
long ago because the weight it added to the bridge.  Well it may be time to
remove them all again.  There were thousands of locks.  And in the background
of that picture you can see the river Seine, right  along side Notre Dame.
Walked across the street to a bakery and got chocolate croissants for breakfast.
they are still warm!  OMG  These little jewels make the 9 hour plane ride worth it just for THEM.    I will try to keep up with this update as much as  possible.  The weather is so great here.  mid 60's at night mid 70's daytime.
Wish you could all be here with us.  Love to all.  More later.  Kay

S. Channel to Sampson Cay Heading to Pipe Cays

                                                       

                                                     - Looking Out Towards the Ocean -

                                                     -  A Private Residence on Pipe Cay -

Sampson Cay Marina   Restaurant   Resort

Heading for Sampson Cay

 We left Pig Beach (Officially called Big Majors on the charts) and went north.  We went through "a cut" at Fowl Cay (that little tiny opening to the right of the house).  It was so narrow I did not think we could possibly make it through on a 44' boat.  But it "IS" the suggested channel???  On the charts it says things like "Do Not Attempt This Approach Without Local Knowledge, Clear Calm Conditions, And Very Large Cojones".  Ok OK the cojones part I made up, but you really need them in some of the places. :)

Uuuhh Captain...watch out for the right side boss... its a little skinny.

"Things Are Starting To Get A Little Pretty"

Some more underwater pictures

In the cave at Staniel...

Backtracking For Just a Moment

Honestly, the snorkeling was so great when we were in and around the Thunderball Cave I wanted to post some more pics of it here.  It was SOOO clear.  The pictures do not do it justice. You loose all the bright reds yellows and oranges of the corals if you do not have a flash camera.  Sorry kids, this was a plastic throw away camera but at least you get some idea.  It was really great.

Next Stop... Pig Beach

Pig Beach???  "What's that?" I said. 

It was the next anchorage and beach just north of Staniel.  Appearantly cruisers have been going up to this beach for a very long time, in their dingy's and feeding feral pigs.  I think they are looked after by some locals. They were very healthy and VERY large!  A couple of these sows were 300lbs.     We brought veggies that were starting to go bad and tossed them to these guys.  They swam right up to the boat with mouths OPEN WIDE looking for lunch.  They really liked the strawberries. 

They did not look like they have missed a meal in a long long time.  There were about 10 little piggies up on the beach eating something somone had put down for them.  They did not come out to the boats.

Bahamas - Exumas - May 2011

Hi There.  We just got back from a 2 week trip to the Exumas, Bahamas.  Without a doubt, one of the

most breathtaking areas I have ever been lucky enough to visit.  Always one of my favorites. I have not

been there for years.  It was prettier than I remembered.  We left from Nassau and went about 35 miles
SE to Norman's Key for the first night.  Dropped the hook where we would be staying for the night and
went for a swim.  Then... who knew... it was time for happy hour.  :)   Yippee!!!  And dinner of course.

Jessica  and I slept out on the deck cushions at night.  We'd roll over, reposition pillow, get lost into a million stars, and fall back to sleep smiling.   One night I saw 4 shooting stars in about 10 minutes.  It was great. 

The next morning we left Norman's and went South to Staniel Key.  It took about 4 1/2 hours.  We could not sail that day because we were headed right into the wind all the way  (that's why they call it a sailboat right?).  It was a bit bumpy but the boat handled it well.   We trolled all the way down there.  Had our best lures out.  Didn't catch anything, but we later heard NO ONE caught anything out there that day.
Oh well, what can you do?   Some days they just don't bite. 

As we got closer to Staniel the wind laid down.  Thank You!  And the color of the water had become mesmerizing.  The colors changed from that deepest blue almost purple of the gulf stream, to lighter blues which fade into several shades of aquamarines and then the sand bars jump out at you BRIGHT WHITE
and they are surrounded by crystal clear water and... There just aren't enough words to describe the way the waters of the Bahamas look when you come from the ocean side through the cuts into protected waters on the back side.

Its only day two... and we are already getting too much sun. 

We dropped the hook on a huge sand bar right across from Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  There were so many giant yachts at the marina you could not even see the dock area.  But couldn't miss it either.  We noticed right away there was almost no current at all.  That was perfect timing.  The strong current does not stop for long over there so we quick grabbed the pool toys, let out a line with a big float at the end to hold onto, and jumped right in.  It was warm, calm and crystal clear water.  A large nurse shark came by to take a look and then swam off as casually as she showed up. 

After we were cooled off, we got out  and had a "group meeting" on the back deck.  Order of discussion... What do you guys want for dinner?   Well what do you mean?  (we were going to eat at the Yacht Club that night)  "Well"  the captain explained..."you have to call ahead on the radio to the marina office and put in your order from the menu with about 5 options to choose from."  That was funny we thought.  Mark called up, the nice lady on the radio gave us our options, and we ordered 3 hours before we would be seated.

  Once I heard the words Cracked  Conch with peas and rice  I heard nothing else.  Several of us ordered that.  When delivered, my order of conch was as big as my head.  I was a happy girl.  And as for the "peas and rice"  it means rice and beans in Bahamian Lingo.  Why they call it that?   I don't know.  You'll  have to ask a Bahamian.  All I know is the conch we had that night was fantastic. 

So now that dinner was ordered and we still had plenty of daylight left, we decided to go for a snorkel into

Thunderball Cave which was  a stones throw away from the boat.  It is a protected area covered with corals

reds, yellows, oranges, blues, greens, every color in the spectrum and fish fish fish.  Lots of tropicals.  It was gorgeous.  They call it a grotto.  Its a high cave with a hole in the center which sunlight shines into from above and the water blows through there at incredible speed.  Snorkeling at slack tide is necessary.

Cinque Terre Last Pics

 

So this is one of my favorite pics of this whole trip.  I don't know why, it just speaks to me.

It reminds me of  a different way of life. And of something that most people in general,  have  lost along the way while trying to "keep up with the Jones'  ...  Its the simplicity of life.  Slower, more relaxed, more enjoyed, healthier by far.   

I can only imagine how the lives have changed for the locals in these tiny little towns, since tourism has become the main driving force of income in this area. 

I saw alot of shopkeepers that looked really tired, and not all that happy to be open some days, due to the increased amount of people who are visiting daily here.  That was a new sight for me. 

Having grown up in a small tourist town myself I recognized the look they had on their faces and I could relate to how they seemed to feel.  It looked like it had been a long long season for them and they still had a month yet to go. 

                                       

  One night we went to Vernazza on the train w/ G & J to check out an after dinner place, and I took this  while we were waiting for the train to take us back to Manarola.         Please stand BEHIND the yellow line.  They don't always slow down in these tunnels.   

Riomaggiorre

This is the first of the five towns.  We were staying in the second.  Only a 20 minute walk from one to the other.  this town had a similar layout and overall look but is a bit smaller.

The fruits and veggies here were so ripe juicy and fresh.  Not picked two months too early, shipped on trucks to the other side of the world and then treated with chemicals to make them look and taste like fresh fruit.   Oops, did that sound salty?  Sorry.               It was also very inexpensive shopping here. 

This was the train station in... you guessed it... Manarola.  Don't forget... "Stand behind the yellow line."

Cinque Terre (the five lands)

So  here we are.  Manarola.  Cinque Terre has been one of my most favorite places in this world for many years.  The scenery is beyond your imagination.  Pastel colored buildings perched out over the cliffsides, timeless, with water so crystal clear and deep blue it is almost purple. 

It is 5 VERY small towns connected by a walking trail and a small railway. 

You can only drive to 2 of them.  Those towns are larger and more crowded.

This region used to be very quaint small poor fishing villages with no real income to speak of until they developed more fully the olive groves  and grape vineyards and some of a few local fruits grown here to sell at market.  The white wine here is light, fruity, fantastic, and very inexpensive.

    The biggest dollar producer here now is tourism.    And we helped feed the machine.    This is the view from our rooms up on the hill.  We counted.  78 steps  From the main street in town to the rooms. And Newton and Karen were one level up above us in the house.  I was told it was 22 steps when I booked this apartment.   HA    Perhaps there was a miscommunication going on between my crappy Italian and the nice lady who rented to us.  And the apartments were very nice?  So what could I do?  Once we got there, we did not want to leave.     Not only was it way up there, but the view was worth a million bucks.                                                             Way in the distance in the up right hand corner you can see another town along the water (7 miles away) called Monterrosso.  It was the farthest away town from us.  The walking trail you can see is called "Lover's Lane".     These first two towns it is mostly flat and level and an easy walk,  unlike the other end between Vernazza and Monterroso.  THAT is a full on and difficult 3 hour HIKE uphill.  Just ask Newton and Karen :) 

These little boats live on roller carts and when the men go out fishing they literally push them down the street and splash them at the ramp at the waterfront.  It is old fashioned and simple but still works.  We ate fresh seafood all four nights we were here.    Mussells, Clams, Shrimp, Lobsters, Langostino's,  Anchovies, Sardines, The fresh fish was readily  available and could be cooked any way you wanted it.   

                                   

This is a closer view of the walking trail Lovers Lane.  Here it was wide and paved.  In the upper left side is a pink bunch of buildings looking out over the water.  That is where our apartment was. 
Location Location Location.

Next Stop... Monaco

Well, that's not exactly true.  The next stop was Lyon, FR,  but it was fast and furious and just one night.  But Lyon is getting passed up here.  Sorry.  We love Lyon too, there are many great restaurants in that city and we would have liked to have stayed a few days there.  But, this time, it was just an in between stopover and I'm running out of daylight here.

As for Monaco, we have been through this town a number of times by train, and have never stopped.  You can not see it while going through it cause the train station is IN a tunnel!  You can see beautiful sweeping vistas on both sides of the mountainside approaching it but that's about it.  This year we MADE it our stop on the way from France to Italy.  Finally!

We left Lyon, FR and went by train 4 hrs to Monaco.  The great thing that happens on this part of the trip is we start seeing the oceanside.  The Med.  It is so deep blue and beautiful.

                                                     Our timing turned out to be perfect here.   Two days before we arrived the Monaco Yacht Show ended.  It took place in this harbor.  We would not have found a room within 50 miles of here 3 days ago. For the most part its over but a lot of the yachts were still moored here.

This city is a giant series of Condos and apartments and obscenely expensive homes built out from the hillside in a sweeping panarama over the harbor.  It was really beautiful.   We were told the only way you can get residency here is to be born here.  You can't "buy" one like in so many other places.

Monaco was elegant, and spotless.  I did not see trash or even a cigarette butt on the ground anywhere.

Just walking the streets for a couple hours that evening before dinner, I felt severly underdressed for this glitzy place in my tennis shoes and blue jeans.    Oh well, what's an island girl to do?

Fireworks at Rocamadour

There are a few pics left that I thought were fun and did not want to leave out so
I am including them here...

As you can see the night before balloon festival it was chilly out.  That night we all walked out at 10:om to watch the light show over head.  Each year they shoot off fireworks to celebrate the party

and from our street it looked like the top of the castle was exploding.  It was really cool.