My trip is over. I got home last night after an uneventful flight. I am glad to be home – especially to be with my Angel (doggie). She was seemed happy to see me and greeted me with lots of licks and wags but I think she was perfectly happy with everyone who took care of her – Bill, Kay & Tony, Lisa & Jeff, and Greg & Wendy. I missed her a lot and am seriously considering taking her with me to France next summer.
I don’t seem to have jetlag but do feel a little let down being home. Traveling is so stimulating, it does get addictive. I will also miss doing the blog. I’ve enjoyed sharing my experiences and thoughts – daily – in this medium. Don’t worry I’m not going to continue doing the blog now that I am at home. I must say though, coming home I watched Julie and Julia for the second time. This time I identified a lot more with Julie.
Some last thoughts….
Season of the Year – Autumn
I got to experience Autumn which was beautiful. When I got to Barcelona originally the weather had just turned cold. Everything was still very green at that point. Then it rained and a real cold front followed. By the time I got to Madrid the next week the leaves were beginning to turn. As we continued through Spain and Portugal the colors continued to change and the weather went from cold to moderate to frigid the last day in Spain.
When I got to Paris it was definitely Fall. You could feel the crispness in the air and the leaves were going gold and orange. It was mighty cold there.
Then the South of France. Along the Mediterranean we had rain and then it warmed up. It was too cold to swim but very pleasant. We got to see some big waves when the storms were storming and that was fun to see. In the summer the water is very calm and glassy. It was also great because the places we went are mobbed in the summer and we got to see them without the crowds. When we got to the Languedoc region the vineyards were intense reds and golds. Ah but Provence was unbelievable in the Autumn. By the time I got there Autumn was peaking. The golden tones of the foliage was spectacular for the landscape and the beautiful villages. Over the week we were there almost all the leaves fell and winter was about to set in.
The colors for this trip were yellow, gold, orange, and red and bright blue for the water and sky. This summer will be very different with, I expect, a prominence of greens, and wildflowers. It will also be warm and/or hot.
The People
Everyone hears that the French aren’t very friendly and recently I heard that the Spanish weren’t either from friends who visited there. What we experienced was absolutely the opposite. In each country and town we had the most wonderful encounters. People went out of their way repeatedly, patiently and enthusiastically communicated with me even though I was very poor in my language skills. Some examples:
• My sister and I got hopelessly lost in Coimbra Portugal trying to get to our hotel while an ominous rainstorm rapidly approached. We asked an elderly man if he could tell us where the pedestrian bridge that went across the river. Not only did he give us directions he guided us to it, talking the entire time about his children that lived in South America, etc.
• In Lisbon, we wanted to hear Fado in a part of town known to be dangerous for tourists especially at night. Our taxi driver couldn’t drive on the narrow curved streets there so we were left to walk several blocks not knowing exactly where we were going. An old woman wearing an apron came out of a house and we asked her directions. Not only did she give us directions, she took Judy’s arm and escorted us there telling us to “Watch your paper.”
• Tom and I were having trouble operating the train ticket kiosk at the Paris Airport. A man, not particularly well dressed, came up to us and worked the machine for us. We felt badly when he left because both of us suspected that he was going to be a pickpocket.
• Several times when I had to go down stairs at train stations with my huge suitcase, young people came to my aid and carried it down for me.
• My last night in Barcelona I returned to the square where I had listened to opera singers when I was there earlier. They were there again and singing beautifully especially the middle-aged soprano who sang arias from Madame Butterfly and something else familiar that is very, very beautiful. A woman sitting on the steps next to me obviously was very touched by the music as was I. We communicated how it made us feel – she by gesturing tears from her eyes, me gesturing a fluttering heart.
A few other observations
• Health – Smoking is very prevalent – young and old smoke cigarettes (and cigars) like chimneys. They drink – wine, wine, wine but usually with food and you don’t see public intoxication (at least I didn’t). Obesity isn’t common. I think I may have seen one overweight child on the entire trip – very different than here. There were lights of posters about prevention for flu (e.g., handwashing, sneezing etiquette, and I even saw hand sanitizer in quite a few hotels, etc.). They walk a lot including hills – don’t seem to drive everywhere like we do. There are not many gyms.
• Christmas is a big deal but it doesn’t seem quite as commercial. In Barcelona, in the square outside my hotel, there was a big Christmas Fair going on. Lots of booths selling handmade, and some manufactured, ornaments, and other Christmassy stuff. Also selling real and artificial Christmas trees. There were a lot of local folks shopping at the fair with their children in tow. I heard Christmas music everywhere this last 2 weeks.
• People in Spain and France seem pretty affluent. They shop a lot – big bags of purchases from the upscale stores. They hang out in outdoor cafes a lot. They dress really well with a lot of style.
• They enjoy their cities and towns. Day and night they are out and about. I don’t get the sense that they sit home and watch TV a lot. If they are watching TV its probably soccer.
• They are very romantic/sexy. You see a lot of public displays of affection e.g., young couples in the park doing serious, and I do mean serious, necking. They show physical affection, non-sexual, to friends/acquaintances/same sex as well e.g., the three cheek kiss hello, arms round each other, holding hands.
• The food is great but everybody know that right? What can I say – best bread in the world, freshest fish/seafood, lots of fresh vegetables, garlic, and olive oil. And then there is the wine. It took us awhile but we discovered that the inexpensive local wine is usually excellent and there is no need to order anything but the house wine.

Well I wrote more than I planned to as some closing thoughts.