Are We Where Yet?!!

Author: Dan Harris

  • International Relations, Exchanges Rates and other Technology issues…

    Forgive me a long story (does he tell any other kind, you ask?)

    We are in Roanne, and the AIRBNB is the BEST SO FAR. Not just in France but anywhere!!! The host speaks not a word of English, but asked her upstairs neighbor to translate. She has a beautiful place…kitchen fully equipped including coffee, orange juice and a loaf of the local bread speciality. And fridge stocked with jam, butter, eggs, etc. And, so far this has been one of the least expensive places, too!!! She pointed out the English Language TV Channel (we are having Donald Withdrawal) and gave us the WiFi Codes (TECHNOLOGY).

    Our place was lacking ONE thing, though. A hair dryer. Obviously, Dan cannot go out in public without first using one. What to do? This is where the EXCHANGE RATE and INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (and MORE TECHNOLOGY) Come in…

    We walked to a pharmacy where they had some hair products. No Dryer. No one spoke any English to ask where we could obtain one. We tried our best charades example of drying hair, which got giggles but no hair dryer. NO WORRIES. Google’s Translate App to the rescue. I speak “Hair Dryer” into my phone and out comes: ”Sèche-cheveux “ both written and spoken. The clerk said “ahhh” (but in French…and since we have been here a week already we can handle that no need for Google).   She said “LeClerc” which is a HUGE Grocery-and-everything-else store in a shopping center. We said “Can we walk” using our fingers to demonstrate. She said “no”…and made her best charades-driving-motion.

    More TECHNOLOGY: We walked outside and fired up Google Maps to tell us where…we were ready to drive. Dr. Google told us it was less than 1km away!!!

    Here is the INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (and more EXCHANGE RATE) part. Either…a KM is bigger in Europe than the USA (After all, the Euro is bigger than the Dollar). Or, the French lady thinks all Americans are fat, lazy and unfit. Actually, many may be, but not Los Harris!   Well, we may be fat after all the great food…did I mention we are eating at Three-Michelin-Star Troigros tonite?

    So, we walked to LeClerc, acquired the necessary Hair Adjustment TECHNOLOGY. A nice portable one that we can use for the rest of this trip and for any future 220V sojourns – EXCHANGE RATES again…Our 110V stuff doesn’t work here (110 does not convert to 220 for hair dryers without smoke and fire).

    And a final note: Troisgros has a boutique hotel associated. You can spend a fortune on dinner, then spend another fortune on a room for the night (400euro). Our AIRBNB is across the train station (MAYBE 200yards) from Troisgros. It is $60/nite. I am not sure if that falls into INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (taking advantage of tourists) or EXCHANGE RATE (400euro to watch the inside of your eyelids for a few hours) or TECHNOLOGY (AIRBNB just paid for our dinner!). I just mention it because it proves Americans may be fat, lazy and unfit, but some at least are not stupid.

  • Bye Bye, Paris!

    So, it is Thursday eve. and we have successfully managed Paris. Hopefully we will also manage leaving Paris (which will happen tomorrow AM by rental car) – with our heads! A lot of people didn’t in former days. But we spent NOT ONE MINUTE in jail and as far as I know, did not leave a residue of angry Parisiennes.

    We even found that our complete lack of French language functionality was not a real problem. It was easy to convey IMPORTANT thoughts like: “I’ll have the crepe with Nutella and Banana, Please.” More complicated political and other discussions… well I can’t explain Donald Trump in English either!   But that’s OK. Remember, we were trying to behave ourselves and NOT piss anyone off. Best to leave the politics aside and talk about subjects that are agreeable to all (such as crepes).

    We thoroughly enjoyed the city and everything about it, but we are looking forward to a change, and the South of France will be just that.   Our first stop is Roanne (which is about 4 hours driving), and we will be dining at Michelin 3-star Troisgros.   Here I might create the first international incident of our trip…if I should happen to grab the wrong fork for the course (or…egads…order a BEER) you may read about it on the first page of the paper tomorrow!

  • Decorating Research…

    On the hunt for Decorating Ideas
    On the hunt for Decorating Ideas

    Today (Thursday,  I think) dawned nice and sunny, which is a big change from each of the preceding days. We hopped on a train (Which stops across the street from our boat) and visited the City/Palace of Versaille. I guess I would say that Paris isn’t opulent enough, so we had to up the ante a bit. Needless to say, we did NOT get any PRACTICAL decorating ideas for our new construction from this day.

    For the Back Yard?
    A little Sumthin For the Back Yard?

    Last night we ate at a famous chef’s place as recommended by the book provided by Ms. Peterson. The chef (Christian Constant) has three places right in a row. They start at reasonable, and head towards astronomical. Price wise. I figure if they don’t actually share the same kitchen, they DO share the same vision. So we picked the Café (Lowest prices). I had Quail stuffed with Fois Gros and Liz had Chicken-something-french. Both Mains were preceded with French Onion Soup – perfect for rainy cold weather (which it has been every day). AWESOME.

    Liz is enjoying the wines…but we don’t remember from day to day WHAT she enjoyed so every day is a new and exciting one.. I should mention the Beer situation here in France. There is not much that the French do. And they seem to be aware of this so they import Belgian Beer. Leffe is quite good and commonly available on draught. It is especially good with Quail, I learned last night!

  • Not just the tourist stuff….

    Even the Lion Looks Sad
    Even the Lion Looks Sad

    Misfits report another 8 miles walked today. However to expand our range we included the METRO in our excursion. We saw: the Bataclan and offices of Charlie Hebdo, as well as the Place de la République. The latter especially was quite moving, with many memorials and apolitical statements of sympathy and solidarity. Although most were in French, it was pretty easy to understand the meaning even without Google Translate. Particularly moving: pictures of very young people with words like “assassiné.“  I don’t want to say our lunch, after these, was “somber,” but meditative for sure.

    We also did some more “ordinary” things such as a visit to the Arc de Triomphe and a long walk down the Champs Elysees.

    Eiffel and the Full Moon
    Eiffel and the Full Moon

    Yesterday we expanded our food horizon with Galletes and Crepes. Awesome and yummy. We also did a dinner cruise for 3 hours to celebrate our anniversary. A chuckle on the latter: our waiter (a really friendly guy named Joseph – I think Spanish) brought our dessert with candles and sang happy birthday to us!? Now, My birthday is SOON, but was not yesterday. I did alert the cruise folks about our anniversary (#25) when I booked. I guessed (since confirmed by Dr. Google) that “Anniversary” must be close to “Birthday” in meaning when translated to French. I am pretty sure that the waiter was surprised at how OLD we look for 25, but he was not going to ruin our evening by saying so ;-p

    Tonight, we are going to try a restaurant from a book given to us by our good friend Karen Peterson. So far, we have been doing pretty well food-wise by just stopping when hungry at the nearest place. I am looking forward to a place actually vetted by someone!!

     

  • Paris Tourists…

    Roman Selfie 2nd Century A.D. !
    Roman Selfie 2nd Century A.D. !

    According to our “Misfits” (like a Fitbit but for people who are non-conformist, left-leaning and free-thinking) we walked 10 miles today. I think that was entirely within the Louvre.   We saw the usual suspects there: Mona, Venus, Jesus (x100) et al.   Amazingly, we  saw a Roman Statue (2nd century) that reflects the advanced Roman Culture of the day, for the dude was clearly taking a selfie.

     

    We also saw (climbed and conquered) Notre Dame and lunched in the Latin Quarter. Now we are back on the boat, and will be rocked gently to sleep very shortly

  • Paris: Random First Impressions

    Pre-Paris: our flite left about 2 hours late. And we realized we don’t care.

    “Don’t look back.
    You are not
    going there!”

    –Patch seen on a jacket sleeve

    .

    What an AWESOME and unexpected summary of what we are trying to accomplish in retirement!

    Train from the airport could have been in Chicago – except a bit more graffiti. Overheard spoken: German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Russian…and perhaps just a bit more French than one would hear on the “L.”

    There really IS an Eiffel tower…and you can see it directly outside of our boat.

    EnteringTheBoat.22ParisBoat.54First impressions of our accommodations: Entering is like being tossed into the hold. Open the hatch and down a steep ladder.

    But first impressions can deceive!

     

    The cabin is WAY COOL. Small, but perfectly functional.  There is even EXCELLENT WiFI – so we can watch the Hawks tonite on the Slingbox.

    ParisBoatShower.04Except possibly the “Shower” which has total headroom of 3’. So there will be sitting showers only.

     

    The boat bobs and the river gurgles. Just a little. So far not enough to require Dramamine for me. Liz, as always, is unaffected and already napping.

     

    We really are ideally situated. The Louvre and Notre Dame appear to be about a mile and a half away along the Seine. With ample croissant and crepe opportunities along the way. Tomorrow we will try all of that, beginning with breakfast! The dinner cruise we booked for our anniversary leaves from a mooring about 200 yards away. The Musee D’Orsay is between us and the Louvre.

     

  • An Auspicious Start!!!

    Our Previous Luggage
    Our Previous Luggage

    Well, we haven’t even left Chicago and our trip is already off to an EXCELLENT start!

    Over the years, we have had “discussions” about the volume of accoutrements (practicing my French) we travel with (i.e. suitcase size). One of us wants to do carry-on, the other steamer trunks [ed. Note: plural intentional]. These discussions haven’t usually ended well in the past.  After all, Dan needs his multiple size-12 shoes and hair care products!!! How can one be a civilized traveler without these???

    Old Dogs CAN learn new tricks!
    The New “Lite!”!

    On this trip, in recognition that our lives have changed for the more carefree, we discussed and agreed to try for carry-on. For THREE-PLUS WEEKS. We view this as an investment in learning how to travel light and flexible; by planes, trains and automobiles (not to mention donkeys, camels, and RVs). Packing SMALL means trips will be more unencumbered and therefore more ad hoc and easy to manage.

    Well, as our lives have changed, so has the outcome of this discussion. Our first civil discussion on the subject lead to resounding SUCCESS. We ARE travelling in Carry-on’s and we remain married!!!

  • The Trip “Plan”

    Liz and I have been discussing a trip to Paris for our 25th Wedding Anniversary (23 Feb. 2016).  Well,  actually,  Liz has been strongly suggesting and I have been listening, which might be one of the reasons we have arrived at this auspicious occasion!

    Although we try not to PLAN, this was the "Plan"
    Although we try not to PLAN, this was the “Plan”

     

    Anyway,  air flights are booked — 20 Feb—>16 March.   Our plan is to stay in Paris for 5 days.  Then we are going to drive a counter-clockwise circle ending up in Paris for our return flite.  In between,  we have only a few things booked (or imagined). We are really trying to live by our “Laws of Retirement.”  In this case:  in  the absence of a plan,  you cannot be late, lost or disappointed

     

    There are a few things that we do know:

    1. We are going to Roanne,  where there is a 3-star restaurant recommended to us by several friends.
    2. We are going to follow in a rough fashion a list of suggested places to see in France, which was given to us by our good friends Alain and Karen.  This included Lyon, Avignon, Nîmes, Arles and moreAs a backup (enhancement?) to this list,  I rented a FRENCH CAR under the assumption that IT, at least, will know where to go!
    3. We will end up in Austria for several days, visiting our good friends the Schreiners and Brigitta Promberger.  Brigitta offered her daughter’s room (she is away at school) and her expertise in wine, music and other aspects of a good time.We will also see all that we can of the “Sound Of Music” sights (Liz’s favorite movie).
    4. We are thinking we might stop in both Monaco and Liechtenstein.  They are on the way to Austria and…just because!

    It’s an AMBITIOUS lack-of-plan, but I think we can handle it!

  • What our Travel-Life Will Look Like?

    We spent several days returning to Chicago. Not directly. And staying in all sorts of places. I think this is a preview of our life on the road.

    First, let’s dispense with the logistics.

    We drove 2,500 hundred miles over 19 days in total. We averaged about 7 MPG. The bus performed well. Let me rephrase because performance is not the bus’ strong suit: nothing broke. Well, OK. A little antifreeze leaked*. But not more than a cup (the bus’s capacity is TWENTY TWO (22) GALLONS!!!). And, Diesel is A LOT CHEAPER in the south ($2.11/gal l!!!).

    (*Remember Karl’s RV Law: Leaks are actually GOOD).

    2015-10-25 16.18.50
    Something we learned about the South …
    while drinking on the porch!

    Now some of the color and nuance.

    Our route was altered to take us home via Pittsburgh and visits with friends the Hendrys, McDowells and Lanes.  Not exactly on the way, but we had a steak dinner awaiting us. Courtesy of the Cubs exceeding the Pirates this year (and Mike McDowell’s misguided bet on the latter). This part of the trip included several firsts:

    Who knew that Hardees had such delicious breakfast biscuits?  Thanks to the Hendrys for enlightening us as we met them for breakfast on the way through.

      2015-10-26 17.05.57  
    Our first night in a Walmart Parking Lot. (Johnson City, Tennessee). This was a SPECTACULAR place for a parking lot! Very pretty view from the top of a hill, with trees in spectacular fall color. In fact,  we had a little grassy area outside the door and a sports bar across the lot for the Cubs game.

    In fact,  our entire drive to the ‘Burgh through Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania was timed for maximum SPECTACULAR color. 

    And, our first “Grumpy” Walmart (in Washington, PA), where we were grudgingly allowed to park.

    Our First Casino Overnight park. Moved there because of the grumpy Walmart. Makes sense that casinos LOVE RVs parking in their lots. You can stay late and drink and gamble before you “stumble” home to the lot. And, their lawyers and PR people probably consider that you can’t lose your house if you already live in an RV…

    While with the McDowells, we saw the Warhol museum and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters. Both SPECTACULAR.

    GPS directed us to our friends the Lane’s via a road with quite a low railroad trestle resulting in our first LOW CLEARANCE ROOF STRIKE. Well just the antenna. No Damage. GPS also directed us down a road with a 5-ton limit bridge. Good thing the GPS has a DETOUR function!!! Note to self: get a GPS tuned for big RVs.

    2015-10-29 13.37.47
    Falling Waters

    We parked the bus in the Lane’s driveway after very careful consideration (and urging from Bruce).  You see,  the drive is long, narrow (trees and brush on both sides), VERY steep, and CHALLENGING. Followed by Dutch Treat BBQ, Campfire, conversation. The next-day our exit required execution of a precise 14-point turn to head back down the driveway.  At turn 7 it wasn’t clear we were going to exit; Bruce is looking nervous.  By turn 12 it began to look likely.  It was touch and go, but we again survived the driveway.  Bruce, however, directed us back to the highway via a road with a 5-ton-limit bridge. Note to self: : get a GPS tuned for big RVs.

    Stayed at another Walmart (Norwalk, Ohio). Where the Customer Service people THANKED US PROFUSELY for staying with them. From reading online reviews, there are far more friendly Walmarts than grumpy ones. Brilliant marketing, letting RVs stay overnight in an otherwise empty lot.   And it is REALLY CONVENIENT to park at supercenters filled with food, hardware, housewares and indeed RV stuff.   With all the comforts of home, we are eating dinner, reading, sleeping. Hot shower (This is what prompted Liz’s statement).

     “Weird being naked in a Walmart parking lot!”

     

    Of course,  Shades drawn, plenty of privacy…just a little strange.

    .

    Once back in Chicago, we spent a couple days winterizing things. The bus is now ready for cold weather. Dan and Liz not so much.

  • Our first Rally

    Our destination on this trip was the “Wanderlodge Owner’s Group” (WOG) Rally in Pine Mountain Georgia.

    Bluebird Lane
    Bluebird Lane

    This is definitely FUN.  Meeting nice people.  Seeing all manner of coaches from older and much more ragged than ours to gleaming hot rods.(There were 125 coaches here!)  The people are great with technical advice and ideas.  For example,  one guy showed us how to take apart and service the propane furnaces.  I learned from him that:  1)  They are really pretty simple, and 2) If they fail,  they do not go BOOM (I am afraid of propane),  they just won’t lite.  And IF they don’t lite,  I now know EXACTLY why that might be and what to do about it.  BTW,  all three of ours lit on the first try and work great.  People say you only need one…they cannot imagine why Bluebird put three of the suckers in…you could live in Antarctica with three.  People say the other two are just spare parts for the one you use.  😉

    Another aspect of “Nice people..”  Most folks have full hookups at their house and if you have a mechanical problem,  they will be GLAD to have you come to them,  park at their place,  use their jacks and tools and assistance in fixing or modifying.  We cannot reciprocate in this regard since we don’t even have a place to park ours.  Of course,  we do have other things to offer in return (Baseball,  Hockey,  Blues Music,  Pizza, etc.).    There is even an “Emergency List.”    These are people that are willing to get in their car, rive hundreds of miles and bring parts and expertise to you if you are stuck somewhere.  WOW.

    I have also realized there is a MUCH bigger gap between our bus and the newer, fancier ones than between ours and the older ones.  The “break” happened in about 1990.  Before 1990,  similar to us.  After 1990…going WAY upscale.  But to be honest,  I do not care for the big gleaming castles-on-wheels the more I see of them.   They are exponentially  more complicated in every way; below the floor from engines to hydraulics to suspension and above the floor continuous hot water, ducted furnace and air — even the décor.   I like ours:  SIMPLE in every way!  And,  I am not just saying that because we HAVE ours…if we had been given a fancy newer one,  I would leave this rally daunted by all the “stuff” I would need to master.  I think it would take awhile with all those systems to feel comfortable enough to actually have FUN!   I COULD learn all the “stuff, ” I am sure,  but we do not have a place where we can work on all those systems.  Many people I am sure pay others to keep their systems in top form…we would not be able to do that.

    The “Program” at the rally consisted of some seminars, some pot-luck dinners, campfires and lots of coach tours (to see what other people have done and ask lots of questions).   Highlights?  Hard to pick just a few.

    • Alaska Caravan.  4 months.  What an adventure.  DEFINITELY now on our agenda
    • Tech Forum.  Random thoughts.  A whole list of really good suggestions and things for us to do (and offers to help).
    • WiFi on the road.  The park’s WiFi was really bad.  Good to know what other options are available.
    • Vendor recommendations.  Who knew there is an Amish guy (Leon)  in Shipshawana, Indiana who rebuilds refrigerators and A/C units?
      — One of our A/C’s is dead.
      — And,  who knew that  old NORCOLD fridges (we have one!) have a tendency to burn down buses.  Refitting sounds pretty good! We may visit on the way back,  or in the spring.
    • Investigation of furniture and flooring (two things we want to change on our bus).  On the latter,  there are guys here who in their careers were flooring people.  We got a LOT of good advice.   On the former, we took pictures of layouts that will work for us.  There was even a computer desk that fits over the steering wheel.  GREAT idea…comfy chair,  and Liz will appreciate my junk NOT on the dining table.

      And for those who are wondering how that could possibly be a good thing if TEXTING is a dangerous… this is NOT meant to be in place/used while driving!!!

    • A presentation by Laurence Coppedge.  He is the great grandson of Laurence Luce…founder of Bluebird and RV visionary.  FASCINATING history.
    Rally in Style!
    Rally in Style!
    We discovered that there are DOZENS of rallys a year.  Birds at the Beach (South Carolina), Mushroom Festival (Wisconsin),  Shipshewana, IN, even one in Casper Wyoming for the 2017 Solar Eclipse (got on the waiting list for that one!!!).    Many are smaller…hardly more formal than just “I am going to be here,  why don’t you come?”  (and 20 people show up). Some are HUGE (Quartzite,  AZ in January).  http://roadslesstraveled.us/quartzsite-arizona-rv-madness-in-the-desert/   We won’t go to all or even many.  But we’ll pick a few cuz it is a great time and a good way to explore different areas.