May 24th - Off to Dingle - the LONG way

We set off Sunday just after noon for Dingle, of course, it was after a morning dose of music (not that we won't hear a lot more before our stay is finished). Dingle will be the first bike pick up where the guys would explore the Dingle Peninsula by bike and me by car. But first we had to get there. Scott and I decided we wanted to take the coast road so we headed to Ennistymon which is a bit north and west. There we could pick up the roads south and down the coast to Kilkee.

I love the rocky coast of Ireland (and the Pacific Northwest). There is something about the formations of the rocks and the waves crashing on them, that I find just beautiful. In Kilkee, a major town in County Clare, we picked up part of the Wild Atlantic Way and headed south. Our first stop were the cliffs just south. I had taken pictures of these cliffs in 2009 on my first visit to Clare and have always wanted to make one of them into a quilt. I now have several more to choose from.






Scott caught unaware.

After our picture taking stop, we headed further south to Loop Head Peninsula which is a mistranslation of Leap's Head. There is a large rock some 20 feet from the mainland and there are legends about people who have leaped into the Atlantic there.

The guys opted to take the Lighthouse tour while I wanted to walk the grounds. There were tons of gulls at one side of the hill and when you angled yourself to see what was going on, there was a huge colony perched on the sides of the cliff. Further down, on the large rock I mentioned was another colony and one tiny black bird perched on the top rock.

Scott and Mike with their guide at the top of the
Lighthouse. Mike is the bright yellow, Scott's the navy.

The guys of course got a totally different view from the top and learned that the lighthouse is directly across the ocean from New York City. They also learned that there has been a lighthouse on this spot since 1670. They did get a bit of the same views when we all had to retrace my steps because I managed to loose the keys. Fortunately, they were found by a young couple on the same walk I had done.

Back in the car, it was time to head to the ferry if we ever wanted to get to Dingle that night. We were taking the ferry from Kilmer to Kerry.

One of our points of interest on the ride were all the modern windmills we were seeing along the way. We concluded that this is a major source of alternative energy for them, solar is definitely not an option.

We got to the ferry at a perfect time. It runs hourly on the hour and we arrived about 20 minutes before, just enough time for bathroom breaks and snacks. Mike got a picture of the ferry as it came in.










He took this picture from the ferry. It is the corresponding lighthouse off the coast of Kerry. With both the Kerry and Clare (Loop Head) lighthouses lit, a boat could find its way directly into the Shannon Estuary and on to the Shannon River.

From the ferry we headed to Dingle via Tralee. It was the first direction incident of our trip from Ennis, but it was only a short detour. We had made a left when it should have been a right. With fingers crossed, we did find the right way and soon landed in the seaport town of Dingle.

We had a great B&B, good food and headed to bed so we could face the Dingle loop tomorrow.

May 23rd - Fleadh Nua - Ennis, Co. Clare

Both Scott and Mike are really into Irish music. 2 years ago, we discovered the annual event in Ennis called Fleadh Nua, so Mike scheduled this trip around this year's festival. Ennis is a really neat old city, the capital of County Clare. It has events and cd releases set up all over the city, but most of what we saw were the session that are held in many of the pubs through out the city.



The blond on the far right is playing the Bouzouki

Knox's Saturday Afternoon

The formal booklet lists times and places for different sessions at pubs around the city.  They say who is playing but it doesn't have a lot to do with who actually shows up. There is a start time although in most cases, this was an approximate time, and as the session went on, more musicians would join, in some cases to a lot of people. The instruments range from violins, guitars, banjos and flutes that we all know, to ones that are not seen in the states at all.

There are squeeze boxes that we saw last time, but this time the guys encountered a Uilleen, which is a modified bagpipe, less predominant is sound and pumped by placing the bag under the arm pit. They also saw a Bouzouki,  which is a stringed instrument which looks like and is played like a small cello.

It is amazing the people who come out, including whole families with kids. And some people are there only to listen, just having a coffee or even just water (not the bottled/pay for it kind).


Queen's Bar
 

Of course, we also ate some great food, Seabass being the big special everywhere and we had a wonderful serving of it our second night. The guys tasted some new beers as well as old favorites like Guinness. I kept to my wine although I am enjoying an Irish most nights too.

The picture of Saturday night at Cruise's is an example of the start but within an hour, there were over double the musicians and we couldn't take a picture because there were too many people blocking our view.



Cruise's Pub right downstairs from our hotel

Back in Ireland May 22, 2015

We are back, in Ireland and in Ennis again. Mike specifically scheduled us to return to spend a few days in Ennis for the Fleadh Nua, an annual music festival where all kinds of traditional Irish music can be heard. They have spent their days and nights in an assortment of pubs where musicians gather for session.

We got in early on Friday morning and headed for Ennis. As usual, we were all sleep deprived from trying to sleep on the plane. We found our first Irish breakfast at the Temple Gate Hotel, the same place we started 2 years ago. Unfortunately we were not staying there again this year but the breakfast was wonderful. Now what were we going to do between when we finished breakfast and when we could check in?

We tried to drive one of the walking tours with no success. For all the things it has going for it, street signs are not a strong point in Ennis. The few they have are small with the big letters of the street in Irish, the small captions being in English. So after a frustrating hour, we headed off to Bunratty Castle.

On our trip 2 years ago, I had gone there after dropping the guys at the airport. I had been skeptical, thinking it was a created old town like Williamsburg in the states. And it is a created theme 'park' but it was created from the actual houses and castle and I found it fascinating. So I suggested it would be a good place to spend a couple of hours, it is only about 20 minutes from Ennis.

Of course, in our sleep deprived state, we all left our cameras in the car, so to be truthful, the couple of pictures here are from my first trip. Scot was accusing me of fraudulent postings, so I figured I had to come clean :)

The castle is fascinating. Restored in the 1960's and 70's, It was the real deal, filled with furniture and artifacts of the era although they can from all over Europe. Mike noted from a plaque on the outside of the castle that William Penn was probably in the castle at one time because his father was an office there during the time that the founder of Pennsylvania would have been an infant.



Great Hall from 2 view points

Our only problem was that it being a Friday, we had school groups. An extremely polite group of French teens explored the whole castle at the same time we did. The other group were 40 or 50 Irish grade school kids. Fortunately, their teachers decided it wasn't safe for them to explore much beyond the great room on the first floor where the soldiers slept and the great room on the 2nd floor used by the family.



North Solar

The stairs are very narrow only allowing one person at a time. You were very aware of how much smaller the people were then. Mike and Scot would barely clear the doorways and neither is a particularly tall guy. The circular stairs were very small, even for those of us with small feet. They had added a pipe banister for our safety but I can not imagine what it must have been like to go up and down those stairs in a long skirt.

After the castle, we traveled though a lot of the buildings they had. The were real buildings that had been transported from their original locations to give an idea of how people worked and lived in other counties in the past. Particularly fascinating were the abundance of chickens, sometime rabbits and even in one case, the milk cows housed within the home. I remember my uncle Jimmy telling me that when he had visited our great aunt Mary in the house where my grandmother had grown up, that there were chickens in the living room. I imagined them running loose but as we saw, there were actual cages built in the living areas.

 

In addition to the houses, we saw many of the tools, animals and a village street.

 

Blacksmith Forge

Village Bar

We saw these 2 at rest and faithfully following someone who happened to have food bowls in his hand. This picture is from my visit 2 years ago.



August 10th, Last full day

Our last full day in Paris! Tim and the kids are going to try to make up for what they lost yesterday by going to L’Invilades which has been on their to-do list, particularly the Musee d’Armees which I had no desire to see. They are also going to go to L’Orangerie to see the Monet’s Water Liles and the other Impressionists. I was going to go to the Lardu outdoor market but all kinds of things managed to go wrong and suddenly it was time to meet them.

We met on the riverbank near Invilades and had lunch. Then the guys went off to do their stuff which turned out to include a comic book store, and Elisabeth and I headed for the Palais d’Opera and shopping.

We could have spent a day in the Opera. What an incredible building! Plus they had costumes from many of their famous ballets and pictures of their most famous dancers. I should say that for many years, the Opera has been a different newer building over by the Bastille while the Opera building has been occupied by the National Ballet Company. In the area that highlighted the school, they had 13 short ballets or parts of ballets. I think Elisabeth and I could have sat and watched all 13. As it was, we saw a modern piece called Apartment (but the French spelling) which was a modern piece incorporating Irish music and dance which I loved. Elisabeth had never seen a modern ballet before. We saw a strange piece called La Source, kind of spooky. We also saw part of Carman and Balanchine’s Jewels, the Emeralds part.

 

 

We were able to go outside and see the Place de l’Opera from the balconies and the formal salons.

 

We almost left without seeing the actual boxes overlooking the stage, but fortunately, some people came out and we caught them.

They lead you out by the formal front entrance and it must be so special to be coming in those doors and walking through the glamour to the wide staircase for the performance. And of course, you had to exit thru the gift shop and I feel sorry for any parent there with a young daughter.

Then we were off to Gallerie Lafayette! This was one of Elisabeth’s must dos for the trip. What an experience… I am not sure either of us would think it was totally good. First it was a mob scene. Worse than Macy’s Herald Square, which previously held my #1 department store for crowds. Then trying to figure out where to go??? That fact that all the announcements were in English, kind of gives you an idea about the clientele. Then we ended up in the 800 euro bag area and then all the big designer names and price tags. We finally found the floor that was Elisabeth’s type of clothes and price tag. She ended up having a great time in the Zara boutique and bought a really pretty black dress. It was floor length and she thinks she will wear it for her Senior Prom but I think it will find an occasion before that.

But we really wanted to do more and Gallerie Lafayette really wasn’t the place. I asked one of the young sales girls (no need to check for English, they all spoke excellent English), where she would shop if not in this store. She sent us out to Rue de Houssman and the streets that went off it around the Opera. We had a good time window shopping but didn’t buy anything else, although Elisabeth came close with a pair of shoes.

Then it was off to meet the guys at Notre Dame. We were on time but they had gotten there so early they had gone through the line twice. Back we went to the end, all the way across the river but it did move very fast. And again, we hit it at the same time as services, this time Vespers. So silence rained, more than usual. But there were 4 remarkable tapestries dedicated to Mary’s life that dated to the building of the Church, given to Notre Dame by the King.  They had lost favor with the church hierarchy and been loaned out than finally given to another cathedral with 10 others. They were back to celebrate the Cathedral’s 850^th anniversary. I would have liked to spend more time but Tim and the kids were uncomfortable being in the church during services.

The next stop was the Latin Quarter again for dinner. Three of us had steak tartare which both kids liked but that we don’t get in the states anymore. I did have to remove the raw egg from Elisabeth’s and as usual, John ate all the left overs, particularly the French fries. Then more shopping!

The first time we had walked down Boulevard St. Germaine de la Pres, we had encountered tent markets on the side of the sidewalk. I had fallen in love with glass tree that you hang earrings on  that I wanted to go back and get as my souvenir of Paris and my birthday present from Mike. John wanted to get a gift and Elisabeth a scarf. The only one not buying a souvenir for himself was Tim although he was helping everyone else do so. We all got what we were looking for, plus a Russian hat John wanted. Tim helped me negotiate an excellent price for my tree and Elisabeth’s scarf. John did his own very successful negotiating.

Then home for packing and sleep.

August 9th - Rooftop Views and the Tour that Wasn't

I set out on my own Friday morning because Elisabeth was sick and Tim and John were going to stay with her. We had a bus tour scheduled for 1:15 and I wanted to make a good a use of my days in Paris as possible.

I set out to find the market that was supposed to be at Abbesses which is one subway stop north of us in Montmartre but didn't find it. But I did enjoy the walk around the section, despite all the stairs and uphills, as it was just coming alive. I also saw some stores I hope I can find again tomorrow with Elisabeth on her shopping day.

 Above is a plaza just opening up and below is the Passage de Abbesses which I actually climbed up and took the picture at the top.

 

So now I needed to hop the metro and get to the Invalides Dome and the Musee d'Orsay. We had gotten 2 day Museum passes and since the Dome was covered, I wanted to go back and see it, particularly the other side of the glass with the cross. It was quite beautiful inside but while it may have started out as a church, it is actually a mausoleum today. In addition to Napoleon, there are many other important military figures buried there as well as a tribute monument to those who died in the "Great War".

As I approached the Musee d’Orsay, there was a mime on the corner. He was quite entertaining and I wanted to get a picture of him but there were 2 people locking bikes up and the guys butt was right in the middle of the picture! I have never seen 2 people take so long to chain bikes! I waited. The mime got my issue and he was so funny in his silent comments about it. I dug a 2 euro piece out of my pocket for his box and got a very gallant kiss on the hand for it. I was finally able to line up a picture with no green tail in it, to get my shot and headed to the museum. The couple was STILL chaining the bikes!

Musee d’Orsay was wonderful and I wish I could have spent all day there. This is my second time but it is never enough. I headed straight for the 5^th etage (6^th floor as we know it) to the Impressionists but when you reach the top, there is a platform where you can have a panorama view of the museum. It has a ground floor with a walkway of sculptures and rooms off the main corridor. But then it is open to the glass roof. The other floors are built around it.

They have the Impressionists so that you walk through the stages, starting with around 1865 and each room gets later, finishing with the time around 1900. I quickly realized that my French was not going to hold up and went back to get an audio set which really made a difference. The impressionists also included sculptures by Rodin and Degas.

This finished in the café and you could go out on the terrace to see the view of Paris facing across the river. There are also 2 giant clocks on the 5^th etage of the museum. I couldn’t get a picture of one without a million people in the way but the other is in the café. My camera lost all the surroundings but if you look through the dial, you will see Sacre Ceour.

There was a special exhibit on the rest of the floor which was called A Passion for France: The Marlene and Spencer Hays Collection. This is actually a collection of a couple from Nashville, TN which is hung in their home but they loaned much of it to the d’Orsay for this exhibit. It is filled with works from the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries including the Nabis artists, a group I was unfamiliar with. It was an wonderful exhibit for me.

Unfortunately, it was time to leave and meet up with the tour. They were to pick Tim and the kids up at the apartment and I was to meet them at the Eiffel Tour. I was really worried about being late so while I walked, I did it quickly and beat them there. So I sat and read, and read, and read. Then it felt like it started to rain, so I put up my umbrella but soon realized it was only raining on me! Got up, moved, only to have the police come and move us out. I settled down 4 times only to be moved further each time. I finally headed across the street to the far corner. Saw the bomb squad arrive.

They finally picked me up and we then did a boat ride on the Scene, nice ride, lame tour. To make matters worse, we had a group of Arabs surrounding us who showed no interest in what we were seeing but had lots of kids they didn’t control. I told Tim the next trip would have to be a booze cruise so we didn’t have kids on it.

Off the boat and apparently the Eiffel Tower was opened again, so off we went to there. The tickets were only took you to the 2^nd floor, not to the top and the guide said that it would take us an hour to get up and see things from that point, which would put us at 5:50 of a tour that was supposed to end at 6:15, did we want him to come back to give us a lift somewhere? This is for a tour that was supposed to show us Montmartre, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, the Eiffel Tower and more! We said no to the pickup. I was fine with the 2^nd floor (that’s the wide area you see half way up). The others went to the top and celbrated with champagne.

So we finished up at the Eiffel Tower and headed to dinner.

We found a café on the right bank a bit east of the Eiffel Tower and ate outside. It seems dogs are welcome in outside cafes because we had 2 visitors, one from the lady on our right and we thought from the couple on our left who were from Cincinnati. But it turns out that the little white dog was from the people all the way down at the end of the row, he just wanted to visit everyone, probably everyone with food.

On our way to the Arc de Triomphe, Elisabeth got her chocolate crepe. We also walked past the Palais de Chaillot with its incredible spraying fountains. I am sure they are a huge hit on really hot days.

I took some pictures of the Arc and of the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI before facing way too many stairs. But the view, and particularly the sunset were definitely worth it.  

 

I would have loved to share pictures of the Eiffel Tower and Sacre-Ceour lit up on the night sky but my pictures all came out black. Mike wasn't along to change my settings since I am sure that is what it was...some day I will learn to operate this camera!