After our time in Florence, we met our friend Scott at the Florence airport and drove to Montepulciano for four days at his new home. It was dark when we arrived, but the city was still as magical as I remembered.

Montepulciano is a beautiful, ancient hill city in Tuscany. It may be the hilliest of the Tuscan hill towns I have visited. Or it may feel that way because I am older and the hills seem steeper now. Whatever the reason, I am so happy we packed lighter for this trip.

The next morning we appreciated the beautiful area even more when we had breakfast on Scott’s terrace, enjoying the amazing views.

Cooking on a Farm

Thanks to a wonderful recommendation from a friend, we booked a cooking class at an agriturismo. Giacomo, chef, teacher and sommelier welcomed us to his beautiful farm.

I especially loved the beautiful olive trees that surrounded his home.

In the five-hour class Giacomo taught us how to make two kinds of pasta and tiramisu. He also shared his philosophy about good food and tips about preparing simple ingredients.

The best part came at the end when we enjoyed a five-course meal with wine pairings . I was pretty impressed with how well our part of the meal turned out.

Exploring Montepulciano

Although we have been here twice before, I never get tired of the beautiful sights.

For the first time we took the Hop On Hop Off of the city. It is really a baby bus because the streets are so narrow. And a baby tour because the city is so small.

Of course, we ate wonderful food and drank great wines-it would be hard not to in Tuscany. I discovered a traditional version of my favorite gelato flavor-stracciatella. Unlike what I tried before, here they make it by putting a layer of vanilla, topped with melted chocolate, then more vanilla, more chocolate.

One afternoon I explored on my own. An interesting sculpture in a gallery entrance drew me in, and I discovered limited edition prints and sculpture by Salvador Dali.

The second floor of the gallery had one of the best views in the city.

Across the street was another small gallery devoted to the beautiful work of Massimo Cruciana who paints on glass. Now living in Assisi, he has exhibited his work all around the world. In 1995 Pope John Paul II received him when he donated a painting to the Vatican Contemporary Art Museum.

After being enchanted by Cruciana’s beautiful work, I walked to Chiesa di Sant’Agostino. The 13th century church has a Gothic-Renaissance exterior and beautiful Renaissance interior.

A sign invited visitors to see the Nativity at the side of the altar. The church was deserted, and I was a little hesitant to follow the sign because it looked like I was entering a private space. I walked into a small, dark, bare room. Behind glass on a far wall was a Nativity scene lit by Christmas lights.

Last Day In Montepulciano

After sleeping so well to the sound of rain in the night, we woke up to a foggy, mystical view out the window.

Italy has the highest organic food standards of any European country and Europe has the highest standards in the world. Knowing how pure, fresh and tasty Italian food is, I always try to make at least one meal with their amazing produce and cheese.

In the morning, we walked to a number of small markets and made a wonderful lunch with fresh, local cheese, bread, produce, meat and wine.

That night we went to Oesteria de Borgia for dinner. After another wonderful, traditional Tuscan meal, we visited with Francesco, the owner. He talked about how the wine industry is changing and the growing demand for organic wine. It was fun to see his passion and hear about his plans to bringing healthier Italian wine to the US.

As we prepare to leave Italy for Paris, I think about the beautiful area, historic buildings, healthy food, and amazing wine. But most of all I think about the friendliness of the people. As I struggled with getting my luggage down the stairs, a smiling man picked up my suitcase and carried it to the bottom of the stairs. Then he turned and went back up the stairs. He wasn’t going in my direction, but he took the time to help me. In that moment I felt like he represented all that makes Tuscany magical.

Paul had some work in the morning, and we had no specific plans for the day, so after breakfast I walked to Piazza Santa Croce. We stayed in that area in 2015, and I wanted to revisit the neighborhood.

It was a sunny, warm, and busy Sunday in Florence. So many people were on the streets and in the piazzas that I decided October is no longer shoulder season here.

You can’t go far in Florence without passing a church, museum or other historic site. I looked down one street and caught a glimpse of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Flore, better know as the Duomo.

A few blocks farther I passed a line of people at least three blocks long waiting to see the David at the Accademia. Although Michelangelo’s beautiful sculpture is worth waiting in line to see, I was happy I had seen it the last time we were here when the line was much shorter.

Unexpected Delights

When I got to Piazza Santa Croce, I was happily surprised to see an international ceramics fair being held there. There were beautiful pieces and interesting demonstrations.

kk

Paul met me at the ceramics festival and we walked to the Palazzo Vecchio and discovered another happy surprise. It was the last day of the Festival Nazionale Economia Civile. The festival is a national event about a different, more socially responsible way of doing economics. It brings together citizens, economists, businesses and politicians to discuss how the economy can improve people’s lives.

A beautiful piano performance was part of the festival.

After hours in the heat and crowds, we needed a little apertivo. We found a shaded spot on a quiet street and watched the world go by. I tried a Hugo Spritz for the first time and decided it may be my new favorite drink. When we went inside to pay we discovered what a charming place it was.

Last Night in Florence

Rejuvenated by a little break, we took a different route back to our hotel and enjoyed more of Florence. We even passed a chocolate shop giving samples.

We ate another great dinner at another great restaurant recommended by our hotel. Trattoria La Gratella, a small and very friendly restaurant, uses only food and wine from Tuscany. I think that is a big part of why everything tasted like the best ever.

Tomorrow we meet our friend at the airport Hertz counter and drive to his new home in Montepulciano for more Tuscan adventures.

I was thinking how much AI helped me plan this part of our trip. From finding an efficient flight to understanding the economic festival. It even helped us find a public restroom.

We had to get up early to catch our flight to Florence but were rewarded with a beautiful view of the early sunlight on distant buildings.

Finding the best way to get from Bordeaux to Florence was a little challenging. Train trips took about twelve hours, and most flights went to Paris first. Thanks to AI, I found a small airline that flew directly on some days of some months. Lucky for us they were flying on a day that worked for us. AI even assured me they were safe and reputable,

Volotea Airlines got us to Florence in a couple of hours, and we then checked into RoomMate, our lovely home for the next few days. After settling in, we set out to explore the neighborhood.

In 2015, we lived in Florence for five fabulous weeks and on this trip expected to easily find our way around the city. Although we were a little surprised by how unfamiliar everything seemed, after walking around a bit we had our bearings. An apertivo was a great way to start our first evening here.

Since we spent so much time in Florence in 2015, we wanted to find some different things to do for the next couple of days we are here. Augusto, front-desk staff extraordinaire, gave us great suggestions and marked them on our map.

I was especially thankful that he knew about the Florence flower show. Because I forget that Europeans write the day before the month, I thought it was next weekend.

Florence Flower Show

After breakfast, we walked to the flower show. Along the way we peeked in the door of one of Florence’s many beautiful churches.

After a short walk, we entered the park and saw luscious displays of flowers, plants, citrus trees, cactus, and bulbs.

People were choosing beautiful things to plant in their gardens, and I wanted to get something to plant. Just as I had this thought, I saw a stand selling seeds. This was a perfect solution for me! I got Italian seeds for basil, parsley and tomatoes. Fingers crossed they will grow in my Florida herb garden.

When we got to the back of the flower show we saw a beautiful conservatory and realized we had visited it in 2015. Unlike today when the park was filled with people, we were the only people walking in the park that rather rainey, dreary day and unsure if we were allowed to go in the conservatory. We took a chance, walked in and met a wonderful group of young men making a film there. They were so interesting and wanted to tell us all about their project. It is one of my favorite memories of our earlier trip here.

Mercato Centrale

On our walk home, we stopped at the huge Florence central market. It was filled with wonderful aromas and so many options to buy different foods or eat at the market.

Some popular vendors had long lines and made us wish we were hungrier.

I saw a vegetarian vendor with amazing options.

After we left the main market, we walked through a few of the streets surrounding the market. Leather goods and assertive vendors filled the streets.

Loving Laundromats

We have had some of our best experiences at laundromats in other countries, so we did not mind taking time after the market to do our laundry. Part of traveling light (my new travel goal) is washing clothes along the way. I enjoy spending time doing what the locals do and usually meet nice people.

Delightful Dinner

Our hotel gave us a list of good restaurants close to our hotel and made a reservation at the one we chose, Osteria Pepo.

We were able to sit by the window, and my classic Tuscan tomato bread soup was better than I remembered from our previous trip.

The reviews I read recommended the Tiramisu. We shared one, and it was so good, I think I should have ordered my own.

We talked with a lovely couple from Toronto who moved from Italy. They come to Italy every year to visit family.

We spent two wonderful days with our friends who now live in Bordeaux.

After a leisurely breakfast on our first morning, we left their apartment for a day of exploring. They live in Chartron, a lovely residential area of Bordeaux.

We took the same route they took every day to go to French language school. From their apartment we crossed the street and entered a beautiful garden.

After a quick stop to buy a two-day tram pass, we got on the tram to the city center. The tram system is great for getting anywhere you want to go in Bordeaux. Since we did not use it the last time we were here, I was excited to try it.

We walked around the beautiful city and introduced our friends to Dunes Blanches. The name is a reference to a beach near Bordeaux on the Cap-Ferret Peninsula. The Dune Blanche (white dune) is an amazing little cream-filled choux bun that is a not-to-be missed pastry in Bordeaux. The original Dunes Blanches are white, but they now have chocolate varieties.

Dinner at our Favorite Bordeaux Restaurant

The last time we were in Bordeaux, we had one of our best meals ever at Le Mirabelle. I was so excited to go there again and to share this wonderful restaurant with our friends. As sometimes happens, the reality did not live up to our memory. Although dinner was fine, it was not as spectacular as we remembered.

However, many parts of the evening were spectacular. The company was wonderful, the wine good, the servers delightful, and the dessert amazing. So, overall the evening was great and will be a lovely memory.

Bordeaux Memories

After another leisurely breakfast with great conversation the next morning, we walked through the park, caught the tram and went to the historic city center.

Although the beautiful cathedral was closed, seeing it brought back wonderful memories of our last trip to Bordeaux. We had gone on a walking tour, and it was raining so hard our guide took us into the back of the cathedral to escape the downpour.

It was so much fun to wander the streets and find places we remembered. We were especially happy to find our old apartment.

Wine Tasting

We wanted to schedule a wine tasting but couldn’t schedule anything in advance because our friends were waiting to hear about seeing an apartment they were hoping to rent. On the way to see the apartment we passed this wine gallery that looked promising and didn’t require advance registration.

After looking for the apartment open house, we returned to the wine gallery. Although their wine tastings didn’t start for an hour, they welcomed us in.

Louis, who had just graduated from college with degrees in business and wine marketing gave us a great overview of the Bordeaux wine region. It was especially interesting to learn about the “satellite regions”-his name for the wine areas adjacent to and with the same terroir as more famous (and expensive) areas. These wines are great values.

We each tasted four different wines and could choose white, red or some of each.

By the time we finished our tasting, the table was covered with empty glasses.

After finishing our tasting, Paul discovered he could get a two-ounce tasting of a very special (and costly) wine, one he had heard of but never expected to drink. So, of course he had to try it. He loved it, and we all got a little taste.

Protest

As we left to go home, I noticed a huge police presence on each corner and then saw police vans and a group of police marching in front of the Opera House. I wanted to know what was happening.

A little farther on, I saw a group of girls with cardboard signs and asked them what they were protesting. They were so excited to talk about their concerns, which all had to do with secondary and higher education, and how they had been affected. I was so impressed with their dedication. Their concerns surprised me because I thought European countries prioritized education.

We ended our day with one final wine and cheese feast before we left for Florence the next morning. I was so sad to say goodbye to my dear friends.

Today felt like a lucky day! The national strike did not affect our train from Paris to Bordeaux. The weather was perfect for walking around Montparnasse to fill the time between our hotel check-out and train departure. And when we got off the train our dear friends Sally and Lloyd were waiting to greet us.

We had no trouble hauling our luggage the half-mile route from our hotel to the station. Most of the time we walked on a pedestrian-only path that ran through the market area.

Although today was a national strike day in Paris, we saw no disruption in front of the station. The only sign of organized action was a small group of firefighters in front of the station.

Strikes are pretty common in France, and no one seemed to be paying much attention to the group. I don’t know if the soldiers patrolling in front of the station are always there or were there due to the strike.

Whenever I am in a European train station, I remember how much I love train travel in Europe. Getting on and off is so fast, and the seats are larger and more comfortable than airplane seats.

After a quick lunch in the station, we watched the monitor to see our platform number. About fifteen minutes before departure, the platform number appeared. We walked to the platform, scanned our tickets, boarded the train, stowed our luggage and found our seats. The whole process took about five minutes.

Welcome to Bordeaux

After a smooth trip, our train arrived in Bordeaux right on schedule. As we carried our luggage up the stairs, I was so happy we had packed as lightly as we could. Traveling light is still a work in progress.

What a treat to see our dear friends, who now call Bordeaux home, there to meet us.

We took the tram back to their home, enjoyed a wonderful cheese and wine feast, and stayed up way too late catching up.

After two years of not leaving the US, we are excited to visit two of our favorite places in the world-France and Italy. And we are extra excited to see our dear friends who moved to Bordeaux and our good friend and travel buddy’s new vacation home in Montepulciano.

This is going to be one of those planes, trains and automobiles kind of trip, so we are packing as light as possible. Our days of lugging heavy suitcases up and down stairs are behind us.

First A Quick Stop in Paris

After driving to Miami to get a non-stop flight, we arrived in Paris the next morning. Planning for possible flight delays, we decided to spend one night in Paris before catching the high-speed train to visit our friends in Bordeaux. Even a short stop in Paris is a bonus.

Paul found a great hotel, Hotel Le Royal, that is close enough to Gare Montparnasse that we can walk there. Our delightful (and so patient with my French) taxi driver told us the best walking route to take.

An Unexpected Tour of Montparnasse

Our hotel room wasn’t ready, so we took a trial walk to the train station. The taxi driver and I conversed in French, and I thought I understood his directions. Well, I didn’t. I missed one important part, and we turned one street too soon.

One wrong turn led us on a lovely tour of some Montparnasse sights. The biggest delight was discovering the Montparnasse Cemetery.

We enjoy visiting cemeteries in different cities, and the Montparnasse Cemetery was a beautiful, calm oasis in the middle of a busy part of Paris. I love reading what is on the grave markers. A montage of movie shots covering one marker caught my eye. When I got closer I read the engraving and learned the person buried there had been very involved with the history of French cinema.

We passed an historical marker on a school that noted students had been deported from there between 1942 and 1944 because they were Jewish. It was an especially somber moment because school children were outside eating lunch as we read the marker.

We finally found Gare Montparnasse and walked back to our hotel. I used Google Maps the entire route, so we should be able to walk directly there tomorrow.

After a simple dinner at a bistro near our hotel we walked our route one more time. It was a beautiful Paris evening and we enjoyed feeling like part of the Paris life all around us.

Now, fingers crossed the planned transportation strike tomorrow doesn’t affect our travel to Bordeaux.