Tuesday May 17

It is such a pleasure to stay with Katie and Jorge in Sitges. They are great friends, the piso is comfortable, Sitges is pretty, and everything slows down.

Since last year a small Moka Express coffee maker has appeared in the kitchen. This and some Cuban espresso was the first order of business when I got up. Ahhhh! Next on the agenda were showers and then around the corner to Cafe Bar Roy cafe con leche, suisse, flauta con jamon serano, an wifi. The suisse is Sharon's favorite and she has come close to recreating it at home. It is basically chocolate ganache thinned enough for drinking. The flauta is a bocadillo and I don't know why they don't called it a bocadillo. Whatever it is called, it makes a tasty little breakfast.

After the cafe we strolled through town and to the beach with Katie and Aliza. We eventually ended up at the local liquor store to stock up on red and rose wines, cava, Armagnac, and some Mandarin Napoleon. The last three ingredients were to experiment with a recreation of the Champagne cocktail we had at Leo Le Lion. Lunch was at Tambucho - Pica Pica!! We toasted Beth and Dave and were sorry they were not with us this year.

Later I went to the Tabac to score some Habanos. I got a Partagas petite corona, a Hoyo de Monterrey and a Romeo e Julietta White Short Churchill. The Partagas and the Hoyo were nothing special but the Romeo e Julietta was really nice - and should be at almost 10€.

At around 7:00pm Sharon and I went our to photograph for Jorge. He wanted black and white photos in a square format of the church and other symbolos of Sitges. Four of these ended up on the wall in the second floor piso. Good thing I shot color and b&w. Jorge ended up liking a selection of color photos.

I've got a new favorite cocktail. Use a champagne flute. Add 1/2 oz orange liqueur - I used Mandarine Napoleon, 1 oz Armagnac, and top it with Champagne or Cava. Garnish with an orange twist. Ummmmm. I need a name. How about Colby Royale? Lion Royale? It did come from Leo Le Lion in Paris.

We finished that day with a dinner of wine, olives, cheese, and meats around the table in the piso. A nice finish to a nice day. 

A break in my retelling of our vacation. This is for bitching! My fingers and feet hurt and I am tired of it. Last week I felt an improvement - my fingers hurt less and my feet felt pretyy good. Now I feel I'm going the wrong way and it is frustrating.

OK, I'm done. No more bitching - today.

Monday May 16

A travel day!

We were up at 8:00am and packed and out of the hotel by 9:00. I was feeling fine - dehydration was my biggest issue left over from last night. We went to Cafe Madeline for cafe au lait and viennoise and croissants. Then off to the train station for our 10:45 TGV to Paris Est. First Class again because it was cheaper than coach.

The TGV left on time but stopped short of Paris and sat for 40 minutes. There was an announcement with an explanation that seemed to include something about security. That is all we knew - but we finally got going again and arrived at Paris Est. We headed for the Metro, and as Sharon was in line buying tickets I watched bunches of young people jumping the turnstiles and going through them two at a time. We got on the normal way, changed at Opera and got off at Invalides where we would catch the Air France bus to Orly.

We found the closest lunch option right next to the National Assembly building. We both had salade chevre chaud - this one was quite different and tasty with a poached egg on top! The salads and a two glasses of rose was pricy at 44.80 euro. It was the location and entertainment - watching the police reacting to a little protest and observing people. I am sure we were on camera and under observation while we were there!

After lunch we went back to the bus stop and had a short wait for our bus back to Orly. The flight to Madrid was delayed but uneventful and comfortable. Oddly, when we boarded the gate attendant had a duplicate boarding pass for me for the Madrid to Barcelon flight. I pulled my boarding pass out of my bag and it matched. Odd.

We arrived in Madrid late and tried to board what we thought was our Barcelona flight. Turned out it was not our flight - but leaving at the same time as ours. Off to Iberia customer service! They wrote a new flight number on our boarding passes and sent us to gate J50. There was nothing happening at J50, so we went to the closest flight board - and waited. There was not gate or time associated with our flight. While waiting Sharon started talking to an Italian who was also waiting. He said that Iberia did this all the time, but if we stayed close to J50-54, that is where all the Barcelona flights boarded. He also said that Iberia did not post flight delay times because that would be an admission that they had a problem. We finally boarded - about an hour late. They changed my seat at the gate - one row back. On this flight the seating was tight!

We arrived in Barcelona late and had to walk forever to get our bags - this is a big airport and the baggage area is big - ours came in on the carousel in the far corner. Then we had to walk halfway back through the terminal to locate the buses. We considered taking a taxi, but after checking the monobus schedule we found that we could catch one to Sitges. Taxi - 60 euro. Bus 7 euro.

We made it to Sitges and Katie and Jorge's piso a bit after 11:00, we drank wine, ate olives, cheeses and bread and then went to bed - a very comfortable bed. IT had been a long day.

May 15, Sunday

Bon Jour!

We slept late and did not get going until about 11am. It was raining and we borrowed an umbrella from the hotel. We strolled to the cool looking, art deco patisserie - Waida where we had pan chocolate, cafe au lait, cafe au chocolate, and gathered our wits and made plans. Today we may do a museum, may do another Champagne house, may sit and read. We shall see!



We did not make it to another Champagne house - my feet gave up at the bus stop. The museum was closed. Instead we went for lunch at Le Grande Cafe. Started with glasses of Champagne, then a pichet of rose. Sharon had Cassoulet de la Mer - shrimp, moules, scallops, mushrooms, mire poix, cream. Yummy. Colby had Moules Catalan - moules, jambon, calamari, chorizo, cream, and a side of frites.

Time for a nap! We rested a while and went for a walk to a square dedicated to victims of the gestapo. They were nasty people.

We then came upon an interesting building - in a bit of disrepair, but at one time quite an attractive art deco theatre.

Shortly after, I felt  a gurgling in my belly - and ignored it. We sat down at a cafe for an aperitif and within moments I said I needed to go back to the hotel. The wonderful moules wanted to be purged. From 6pm to 9pm I had to stay close to le toilette. Sharon went out and bought rice, salad, pizza, and coca cola to go. Our last night in Reims was spent in our hotel room.

Saturday May 14

We are at Mumm as I write this. Today we got out around 10am, had cafe au lait and chocolate then walked about a bit to find a pâtisserie. We found a very nice one and got a couple of palmiers. Then we strolled about the pedestrian area of Reims and watched traditional dancers as we nibbled.



We made it to the Mars Gate and then to Casanova Champagne - no tours until 3pm and it was 11ish. I was bad and left our map in the hotel room. We saw a sign for the Musee de la Reddition. By following signs for cars we went WAY out of our way to find the museum. By the time we arrived it was 12:15 and the museum closed at noon. I took a picture for Lee!

We headed back toward the hotel and ended up at Grand Cafe where we had an enjoyable lunch and a friendly waiter. Six oysters for me, Cesar salads for each of us, a strawberry tarte for dessert and a bottle of rose to wash it all down.

After lunch we walked to Mumm and took the tour which lasted about an hour and then was followed by a tasting of Cordon Rouge and Millesime 2002. It was a nice tour though very typical of a sparkling wine producer. We had a very interesting late addition to our tour, a young Asian women who asked lots of questions. It seemed that she wanted to learn as much as she could about Champagne production. she said she wanted to sell Champagne in China.

After the tour we walked back to the city center. We passed a building that did not appear to be in use. There were mosaics that seemed to indicate it was related to champagne production. A little research later and it turns out this was a building Mumm built around 1900. I was remiss and did not photograph it - I suppose I was tired. Here is a link to a photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/4061558616/in/photostream/

We came upon a wedding at the Hotel de Ville and took some pics of the bridal party and the bride tossing her bouquet. An interesting diversion. We then went to Galleries Lafayette. Colby got socks and Sharon got a hot pink sweater - very attractive. After a couple of kirs went went to relax in our room. I went for a walk with a Cuban cigar and then we dressed for dinner at Brasserie Martin. We each had entrecote with frites and salad along with a bottle of a Medoc and then finished with regional cheeses for Colby and a coupe cafe llegeois for Sharon. Back to our room at 11:45 and a Skype call with Kathy.

Bon Nuit!