Florence

Candied fruit at the Central Market

This morning we visited the Central Market in Florence.  There were lots of vendors selling cheeses, meats, seafood, pastas, flowers, biscotti, and just about any other Italian food you can think of.  Some of them offered samples, which was lots of fun.  We bought some delicious salami with fennel and snacked on it during our walk.  On the outskirts of the covered market were vendors selling all kinds of leather goods, which Florence is famous for.

You can see the Duomo down below in the city.

After the market we took a city bus to Piazzalo Michelangiolo, located on a hill across the river overlooking the city.  We made good use of the photo opportunity and then walked down the hill.













We found a place for lunch, and afterward Bill and  I meandered back to our hotel room while Janet and John visited the Galileo Museum (which contains several of his fingers!).

We'd had a pretty substantial lunch, so settled for gelato for dinner.  Tomorrow we plan to visit the Uffizi and then take the train to Venice.

First Day in Florence

Santa Maria Novella

What an exhausting day!  I started out tired from all the walking we did yesterday.  This morning we took the train to Florence, arriving there around noon.  Our hotel is located on a piazza near the train station with a beautiful church, Santa Maria Novella.  We left our luggage at the hotel and went out in search of lunch.  

We found a restaurant that looked like it offered local specialties.  I had ribolita, a traditional Tuscan soup made with stale bread and vegetables.  I also had risotto with crispy pork cheek and truffles.  It was delicious!  

Ribolita

Risotto with pork cheek and truffles

The Duomo

Then we went in search of the most famous building in Florence, the Duomo.  It is the cathedral of Florence, a beautiful building, famous, of course, for its dome. 

Renaissance Parade

We prepared to move on from the piazza surrounding the Duomo, but were blocked by what I’m calling a Renaissance parade - probably 100 men dressed in Renaissance style clothing and playing music while they marched through the piazza. 

Marzipan Fruit

In the shopping district we saw a candy shop with a beautiful display of marzipan fruit. 

Reproduction of Michaelangelo's David

Our next stop was Piazza degli Uffizi the home of the Uffizi Gallery.  We're scheduled to visit the gallery 

Monday morning, before leaving for Venice.  However, due to time constraints it looks like we'll only be scratching the surface. The sculptures outside the gallery include a copy of Michaelangelo’s statue of David.  

At that point we were worn out and returned to our hotel for the evening gelato.

What? Not in Paris?

I know.  I'm a bit surprised too.  After several trips to Paris and other locations in France, we decided to go to Italy this year.

The travel day turned out to be a debacle.  Due to a cancelled flight we ended up spending 11 hours at Charles de Gaulle Airport.  We arrived in Rome after 10:00 pm and managed to find our hotel after dark, traveling by foot.

Trajan's Forum with the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II in the background

This morning our only agenda item was to find something to eat since we had overslept the hotel breakfast time.  We started out in a random direction and noticed an interesting looking dome in the distance.  It turned out to be a church that we'd never heard of.  But next to it was the Forum of Trajan.  I know.  I'd never heard of Trajan either, but it turned out to be an interesting archaeological site.  Behind the Forum of Trajan was the imposing Monument to Victor Emmanuel II.







By this time it was after

Four Cheese Pizza

noon so we decided to forgo breakfast and go directly to lunch.  Our pizzas were delicious!

Seeing the Trevi Fountain with 2,318 of my closest friends

During lunch we realized we were within walking distance of the Trevi Fountain, so that became our next destination.  We took a serpentine route that led through interesting cobblestone streets and took us past piazzas we'd never heard of.  The crowds at the Trevi Fountain were insane.

The Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps were within walking distance of the Fountain, so that was the next destination.  This was another mob scene, but we managed to climb to the top of the steps.

By this time we were ready for a gelato break.  We were not disappointed.  From there we returned to our hotel.  You may wonder who this "we" that I keep referring to is.  It's my husband Bill, my sister Janet, and her husband John.  Delightful traveling companions, except for the occasional whining.  Although, to be fair, it rained on and off last night and all of today, so some of that whining may have been justified.












For dinner we went to a restaurant near our hotel.  I had some delicious grilled vegetables and gelato while my co-diner had pizza (again!).

A Walk on the Promenade Plantée

We were feeling ambitious this morning, so walked to the Marais area for lunch.  On the way we came across a band playing New Orleans style Dixieland music, accompanied by a woman dancing animatedly - great entertainment!







Then we saw a man riding an incredibly decked out bicycle.












We went to a Corsican restaurant where I had leg of lamb and Bill had wild boar stew.  Both were delicious.


















I love the parks in Paris, and one of my favorites is the Promenade Plantée, built on an abandoned railroad line.  It stretches from Place de la Bastille for 4.7 kilometers to the Bois de Vincennes.  Some of it runs above street level and some of it is below street level.  It has tunnels, a small waterfall inside a tunnel, and beautiful gardens.  It also has a separate pathway for bicyclists, so everyone is safer and more comfortable.  The weather was very nice today, so there were lots of people in the park.























This will be my last blog post for this trip since we return home tomorrow.  Thanks for reading.

A Day Trip to Rouen

My French teacher suggested that a trip to Rouen would be fun, and she was right.  It takes just a few minutes over an hour to get there by train.  All I knew about Rouen was that Monet had done a series of paintings of the cathedral and that Joan of Arc was put to death there.

The cathedral is very impressive, both inside and out.

There's also a beautifully restored clock tower, which looked a little too steep for us, so we didn't take the tour.









We had lunch at Pascaline, a place recommended by our son.  It was a great meal.  I had oysters for an appetizer and scallops with rice for my main dish.  Bill had marinated scallops for his appetizer and pot au feu (a boiled dinner served in a cast iron pot) for his main dish.  We both liked our meals a lot.














































We saw the spot where Joan of Arc was put to death, but it's marked only by a garden in the old market.  This neighborhood also has the oldest auberge (inn) in France.  There are lots of half-timbered buildings in Rouen, some of which are probably authentic.  It's a very picturesque town.













We did climb the tower (124 steps) of the old chateau where Joan of Arc was held and tried by the British.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't have time to see the Flaubert museum because I think Flaubert is among the best novelists of all time.

Oh, and to top it off, Bill bought a very nice piece of Camembert at the market in Rouen, and when we stopped at the boulangerie on the way home from the Métro, the bread was still warm!

All in all, a very pleasant day.

More Public Art

There were two more murals on my list of public art and today we managed to see both of them.  The first one is by Shepard Fairey, the artist who did the Obama Hope poster.
















The second one is near the Pompidou Centre and is by Jef Aerosol.  It stands across from the gothic Church of St. Merri.  Interesting contrast, isn't it?











Several years ago our son recommended La Tartine, a wine bar near the Marais district.  We liked it as much as he does and we usually eat there at least once each time we come to Paris.  Ordinarily we get charcuterie or a cheese plate and today Bill got a mixed plate with both charcuterie and cheese.  We were early enough that the lunch specials were still available, so I had steak frites, which was one of the specials.  It was a delicious lunch.

Salon du Chocolat

Today is the final seasonal event for this trip - the Salon du Chocolat, a huge trade show with hundreds of vendors.  As always, there was chocolate fashion.
















This year there was a huge bear (maybe 12 feet tall?) carved out of chocolate.

















The Tokyo Chocolate booth was making bears out of what looked like pancake batter and then decorating them with chocolate.












My favorite display had to be the  chocolate Venus flytrap.  We had lots of samples and really enjoyed the spectacle.

















On the way home we changed trains at the Concorde Métro stop.  It is covered with tiles spelling out the Declaration of the Rights of Man.