Costa Brava, Spain

Well, I feel as though I am now on the home straight! I flew down to Girona this afternoon and I had to wait for a bus to Cadaques, 2 hours away up the coast and a 2 hour wait. I went into Claudia's English class yesterday and then we went into Ettlingen again to get some spongy insoles for my shoes, as I know I will be doing a lot of walking in Spain. Ralf cooked us a delicious Spaetzle last night and drove me into Karlsruhe to catch the plane today.
The Spanish countryside is so different from the green Schwarzwald - very brown and dry with the typical adobe and stone houses. The soil is red and obviously quite fertile, as there were many apple and olive orchards.The Costa Brava has a series of mountain ranges along the coast with secluded coves and beaches with pine groves running down to the water's edge. The bus had to climb up a very windy road a bit like going around Banks Peninsula to drop down into Cadaques. Arrived in the dark and no taxis but I have managed to find my hotel. Photos in tomorrow's blog!

Ettlingen

Today Ralf and I did some sightseeing as Claudia is teaching. We went to this charming little village called Ettlingen. It is not unlike Staufen, with the Alb stream running through it, lovely architecture and cobbled streets. Their kids share a flat here. Then we went to Bruchsal, where we visited the gorgeous baroque Bruchsal castle, which was totally bombed in WW2 and subsequently rebuilt. It is a magnificent complex. After that we babysat Dominik and Simon in Gruenwettersbach, while Bettina went to the dentist. They live in an amazing community with kids and bikes everywhere.The houses are called 'Reihenhauser' because they are semi- detached with dead-end streets, so very safe for kids to play together outside.

Bad Wildbad

Had a quiet morning then went with Claudia to this pictuesque little village called Bad Wildbad, which has thermal springs and lots of retired people in wheelchairs or on sticks, as there are healing clinics here. The lovely old building is where Sven has his little picture theatre.I think I might retire here!! 'Wild' in German means 'wild' so the grass in the cafe tables was a nice touch.

Rotensol

Trained across to the Schwarzwald again yesterday and back into sunshine. Had a lovely family barbecue with all of the Mayer family there, Claudia, Ralf and their children and their partners. ( see photo). Today we all went to Forbach and the children and Claudia went 'soft rafting' on the Murg River. It was very gentle and only about 200 meters over little rapids, where they had to keep bringing back the rafts to repeat the exercise. Pretty tame compared to rafting the Rangitata, but pleasant sitting in the sun with Ralf, Dominik(4) and Simon(1), while their parents rafted.At night we went to a fantastic concert in Karlsruhe's lovely theatre. It was called 'The times they are a'changing ' and was the Bob Dylan story, so well- known music from my growing up years!

Paris Two

Another day in my favourite city, but much of it spent on either buses or the metro. The Paris traffic is horrendous - look at the photo on les Champs Élysées. You take your life in your hands when crossing the street and I would hate to drive here. Motorists chop and change lanes with absolutely no warning and the parking has to be seen to be believed!!
Daniele and I spent a couple of hours in the lovely Rodin museum and we also went to see Sainte Chapelle on L'Ile de la Cite, but the queue was so long that we decided not to wait. Tonight we went to a photographic exhibition by her nephew Bruno Serralongue, who is making a name for himself covering conflict in developing nations. Afterwards we went into the newer area in East Paris, including the very modern National Library, culminating in a very nice meal in the Bercy Village. It was really buzzing with interesting restaurants being built in an area which was originally old wine cellars.Paris really does exude atmosphere. The architecture is lovely, the French people stylish and the metro is much cleaner than I remember.

Paris

Ooh la la! What a rush this morning. I had booked my train to Paris at 9.15 and I only woke up at 8.30! As you can imagine, I was hoping that the tram and train would connect and they did! The Thalys was full of well-dressed businessmen busy on their iPads and cell phones or reading their newspapers.Daniele met me at la Gare du Nord and after lunch we did the Paris bus tour together. It was wonderful having Daniele to point out all the sights. She was a much better guide than the ear phones and is still very elegant at 70. She lives in a beautiful apartment in Trocadero, very near the Eiffel Tower.Paris is still my favourite city with its beautiful buildings and tree-lined boulevards. The drivers are crazy, parping their horns and changing lanes without warning. There is a constant cacophony of police sirens and car horns.

Brussels again

A wet day yesterday so I had a quiet day, did my washing, went down to the local shop for some stores and read my book, while listening to the classical station on the radio. Actually it was really nice just to relax. Cathy has a very comfortable chaise lounge and I didn't move far from it! At night I went to a wonderful Schubert concert in the Bozar (Beaux Arts) Theatre. It was the first of three Schubert concerts and was the complete 1st and 9th symphonies. I was in 7th heaven in my balcony seat! Thought I was very clever catching trams both ways! Not quite so clever this morning, however! Jean-Luc showed me where to put my rubbish but I landed in the basement somewhere to find the lift door locked behind me! I came out the wrong door to find myself in an enclosed courtyard! I recognized the church I can see from my balcony and fortunately I had my apartment key, but I was nearly a block away from the apartment! Oh! The joys of apartment living in a big city!
Have had a cultural day today. I went into the magnificent gothic Sablon cathedral which had beautiful doors and stunning stained glass windows, then to two art galleries : the Musees Royaux des Beaux Arts, with the old masters and a Margriet exhibition. What a magnificent gallery with marble everywhere. I also enjoyed the musical instruments museum which had a very diverse collection of instruments and you walked around with ear phones to hear the sound each one made. It was such a good idea I thought. There is some really lovely architecture here as you can see from the photos.Brussels has a real buzz and the little cafes in this area where I am staying are very lively, especially at night with people spilling onto the pavement.