Reykjavík and Paris
Reykjavík and Paris with the wine group
July 5, 12:50 am flight to Reykjavík arriving 11:00 am. Explore Reykjavík rest of day.
July 6 8:00 am - 8:00 pm Tour Golden Circle and South Coat
July 7 - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm tour Snæfellsnes Peninsula
July 8 , 12:00 pm flight to Paris arriving 5:25 pm
July 11, 9:00 am bike tour of Versailles
July 13, 6:30 pm leave Paris arriving in Cincinnati 11:50 pm.
July 5, Reykjavik
We joined Kris McKenna and Doug and Karen Keller at the airport on July 4th for our trip with the wine group. The wine group used to get together monthly and this kind of fell apart after Ted Dziemianowicz and Glenn and Beth Cozzone moved. We get together only a few times a year now but very much enjoy the friendship and decided to try to take a trip together. Our destination is Paris, land of good wine and we will meet Karen Meyer and Rick Michelman in Paris. The rest of us decided to take WOW airline and stop in Iceland for three days to see part of this small island country which is about the size of Kentucky. It is cool, 50 degrees, a nice change from our hot summer After 6 hour overnight flight we arrive in Reykjavik at 11:30 am. We tried the new airlines, WOW. It turned out to be comfortable and about 30 min. late. It is known for being late and this wasn’t too bad. It is a no frills airline and it turned out to be more restful not having a TV or someone coming through to offer food all night. Seats were hard but we paid for a seat in the exit row and could stretch out our legs. It wasn’t full so there was a little more elbow room. It was a 45 min. ride into Reykjavik from the airport and our room was ready for us. We stayed at Apartment K. It was a very small, but comfortable apartment in the center of the business district with bright yellow green floors and a bathroom with black beach rock floors and walls. It was very Scandinavian looking and and enjoyable place to stay. After finding a place for a traditional lunch (a fish version of Shepherd’s Pie), we walked around the city. There are many shops and restaurants and older, well maintained homes. The brightly painted or bright colored roofs remind us that this island has Scandinavian roots. We even found a building with a grass roof. The government buildings are mostly older and pretty. There is a lot of construction happening, new buildings. They are quite modern looking. The large cathedral in the middle of town is one of the largest buildings and was made over a 30 year period out of concrete. It was quite simple with a soaring ceiling and the the only ornamentation being the pulpit and a huge organ that takes up the entire back wall. The church has benches that have a movable back so that one can face forward for church and back for organ concerts. There are many concerts here, but we didn’t get to hear the organ. Another interesting and beautiful building was the concert hall with thousands of multi-shaped and multicolored windows. After a short nap, we joined the others at our apartment for drinks and a nice dinner at a local restaurant. We went to bed, exhausted but happy. Even the 22 hour daylight did not deter sleep.
July 6, Golden Circle and South Shore tour.
There is a small coffee shop near our hotel which had a nice Scandinavian vibe and good bagels and caffeinated drinks. We met the group for an 8 am private tour. One issue was that Kris fell in the shower and was sporting a shiner and a cut near her eye. After patching her up we talked her into coming with us. Sergei, our guide, met us and we were on our way for the Golden Circle and South shore tour. This was a 13 hour private tour. There were only the five of us and a very interesting and accommodating guide. Our first stop was Bingviller National Park. This is geologically where the Eurasian and North American continents split and historically is where Iceland’s ruling chiefs would meet to make laws and courts would judge innocence or guilt. Guilty men would be beheaded and women drowned. For thousands of years they would manage to have a society with only a month of law planning and court. My how times have changed! This park was beautiful with large gorges formed from earthquakes that caused large rips in the earth surface as continents move, the largest lake in Iceland, distant mountains, and vegetation similar to what we saw throughout the north tundra on our Arctic cruise.Iceland gets about 700 earthquakes monthly because the island’s land is constantly adjusting.
Our next stop was the first of three waterfalls, Gullfoss, the Niagra Falls of Iceland. It was large with an impressive amount of water flowing. As we traveled through the county, we saw many farms with sheep, horses and cattle all raised for food, and hay production. Horse meat is common here as horses are easy to raise and have a lean meat that tastes similar to beef. I don’t intend to try the horse or puffin, both are too cute for me to try and eat them. Farms with greenhouses raise cucumbers and tomatoes. Other vegetables are imported. We stopped for lunch at a greenhouse that is the second largest tomato producer. The hydroponic business was impressive and the restaurant specialized in tomato soup and homemade bread. There were a few other options, but this was the specialty and what we chose. To say it was yummy was an understatement. Dean even tried a tomato beer which he said wasn’t bad. To our surprise, an old colleague, Ted Baldwin, was there, too. Small world! There were some huge vehicles in the parking lot that give glacier tours. Dean, who covets large vehicles, was wondering where he could buy one in Cincinnati!
Our next stop was Seljalandsfoss, a very tall waterfalls that you can walk behind on the trail. It was a bit wet but lots of fun. This is why we brought raincoats, right? It was too cold to think about swimming or getting really wet but was fun to walk behind such a tall waterfalls. There were actually three waterfalls in this park and an abundance of wildflowers, purple, yellow and white flowers. These flowers were around the island and we were enjoying them from the van, so this hike gave us a chance for a close up look. They were beautiful and the waterfalls, fed by glacier melt, were stunning. The people here enjoy their 4 months of summer. The island is lush and green and it rains a lot and reminds us of Ireland or Scotland without trees. Every once in a while there is a small grove of pine trees that were planted 20 years ago in a project to bring trees back to Iceland. They seem to be very healthy but still small. This is a tough climate for trees. The joke we heard frequently here is “ How do you find your way out of a forest? You stand up.” Mostly low plants and shrubs growing on this volcanic rock island, so you can see for miles.
Our last waterfall was the Rangarbinga waterfall. Large and impressive with a lot of spray due to the wind. We then drove to the south coast and our mostly dry day ended. It was nice to have a rare, mostly dry day. The sand is black as are the smooth, rounded stones on the beaches We saw hexagonal columns like seen in Ireland and Scotland. They are folded in with other layers of rock and very impressive. In Ireland and Scotland the columns are vertical but most are horizontal or at an angle between vertical and horizontal. While on the beach we tried the famous Icelandic hotdogs. They are made partially with lamb meat and have a mixture of pickled veggies and a sweet mustard. Very tasty. We had hoped to see puffins but learned there are few on Iceland due to the change in climate the fish they feed on are not here and puffins are on islands south. If we want to see them it will require a boat ride to nearby islands. That will have to be another trip.
After a 2 1/2 hour ride home through the rainy countryside, we returned to Reykjavik and had another relaxing late dinner with friends. Dean tried another flight of Icelandic beers. There seem to be many types of beers here. Friday is party time especially for the young so the streets were bustling as we walked back to our apartment. Exhausted, we fell into bed hearing a lot of partying going on around us.
July 7, Snaefellsness Peninsula
We are on a tour of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Our guide, Hugi, is informative and funny but a frightening driver. It takes us two hours on a minibus to get to the first town, and he has told us about the geology, history and the country in general as we drove through the countryside. This side of the island as few flowers and more tundra type of landscape. There are also large mountains and glaciers. About a third of the peninsula is a national park. This country is focused on the environment with clean geothermal heat and electricity. The water and air are very clean, but it rains or snows 319 days/year so it is rare to see the sun. We stopped at four costal edges, some steep cliffs and some beaches. All the rock is black volcanic material. The sea cooled some flowing lava quickly into sheets.Layer after layer formed.Some cooled slowly into hexagonal columns, most of which are horizontal rather than the vertical formations we saw in Ireland and Scotland. There is also a smooth round type of stone. Greenland had lighter colored volcanic rock than Iceland. Since they are so close, we found the differences interesting. We hiked along cliffs and beaches of black sand and smooth, round rocks. The landscape was stunning with huge cliffs and the Atlantic waves beating the shores.Every once in a while we would see an old shop wreck. Many formations here have stories of being trolls that were turned into stone for various reasons. Seems that there were a lot of bad trolls around here long ago! We saw the stones that boys had to lift to prove they were strong enough to be fishermen.24-154 kg boulders. No one in our group wanted to qualify to be a fisherman! We even hiked to the top of a hill to find a large crater and a beautiful view of the Atlantic coastline on one side and the mountains on the other. The drizzle became rain for the last two stops and we are now at the western most point of Iceland. There are glaciers on the mountain tops and the mountains drop into the Atlantic. To our surprise the last beach we saw was brown sand rather than black. 91% of beaches here are black sand. This one is. Lowest to Greenland and more resembles Greenland landscape and color.
We are ahead of schedule so we are checking out a waterfall that is new to our guide. Along the way there were some colts along the road so we stopped to meet them. These young horses have short stalky legs and are gentle beasts. They came up to me and let me pet them but are clearly not used to people. We also saw six sheep who wanted nothing to do with us. They turned and ran as fast as their little legs would take them as we walked near them. Sheep free range during the summer months and are marked on their ears so that farmers can round them up in September. As we have found with other less populated parts of the world, thee is a lot of trust and faith in your fellow countrymen. The waterfall was a beautiful and large one with a lot of water running. We couldn’t get very close as a large river blocked our way. It was still a pretty falls to see. We stopped at a second one that had no path but you could get close if you climbed a hill. Dean took off with his camera and climbed the hill with three young people to get to a great view. At one point he was in the middle of the river below the falls trying to get a good view. He was having fun.
Some things we learned about Iceland: All children go to school through high school. In sparsely populated areas, they are bussed to the nearest school. Home rates have risen several hundred percent since 2002. An average apartment in the city is EU 300,000 and EU 200,000 in country. People want small houses but builders are mostly building apartment buildings as they are more profitable for the builder. Iceland is one of the countries in the EU that went bankrupt in 2008 due to risky investments. There was no building for a long time but they turned the country around by making tourism a focus. We have seen a lot of new buildings and construction now, especially in the city. The people on the island are pretty laid back and content even though the island gets 700-800 earthquakes per month and has only 5 months without snow and the average summer temp is 50 F. The land is constantly moving, has active volcanoes and lists of precipitation and the people accept this. No tour was cancelled due to rain. Instead, they are thrilled when it doesn’t rain. We found the food, hotels and items to purchase to be expensive but this makes sense when you think of how remote this place is and the fact that most items must be shipped into the country from great distances. I’d return in a heartbeat as the people, history and geography were interesting, fun and exciting.
July 8, Reykjavik to Paris
Today was a travel day. I am always dismayed at how many hours it takes to take a 3 hour flight. Hour trip to Reykjavik airport, be at airport two hours early, security, flight, customs and security again, miles of walking through Paris airport, hour trip to hotel. We arrived to our beautiful apartment just off the Champs Elysees and the entire wine group is now together. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in an outside cafe and then relaxed in the apartment and caught up with friends over some good French wine.
July 9, Paris
We are up and out the door early as the two of us planned on doing some touring before meeting the others for lunch. We find a tiny bistro and have a nice Parisian breakfast of croissants, bread and jams with our beverages. Not a bad way to start the day. There are pastry shops on every block and they all look wonderful. We walk the three miles from our apartment to Notre Dame, half of the walk is down the Champs Elysees, and half along the Seine River. Beautiful early morning walk. Store vendors were out washing down the sidewalks, people were bustling to work, there were many small and large parks to enjoy and it was a beautiful day. Last time we were in Paris together was about 20 years ago, so it was fun to take a long walk past museums, landmarks and the beautiful river. Going to Notre Dame before the museum part opened was smart as we walked right in. Later in the day the line was over a block long. It is high season for Paris travel and the city is full of Europeans, Asians and Americans on holiday. Every place requires you to go through security and this really slows down the line. The cathedral has been cleaned and the stained glass windows shone and had such vibrant colors. It was quiet and a nice place to stop and say a prayer in a long and busy day.We also went to Saint Chapelle, a small church with amazing stained glass and ornately painted walls and ceiling. It had no furniture, and so, was not a place to sit and meditate, just a place to admire. Our next stop was the Concergie where people were jailed before hanging during the French Revolution. Bastille Day is coming up so we thought we would take the time to learn more about the French Revolution. This old prison sits under the justice center which is a beautiful building. Since many of the hangings had little to do with justice, it is rather ironic.
Doug Keller was our official restaurant researcher. When we met up with our group he had found a small place on the Seine that made great crepes. It was an old shopping container turned into a kitchen with tables and comfy chairs to relax in. In the afternoon we quickly went through the l’Orangerie museum which houses impressionist paintings. Most were really impressionistic, which is not the type of art that we enjoy, so we spent most of the rest of the day in the Louvre. We thought of making a YouTube video called ‘lost in the Louvre’ as we found it to be quite the maze. We did find the rooms we were searching for, after a lot of wandering. It is an amazing museum both for the art it houses and its architecture, and one that would take days or weeks to thoroughly investigate. After filling our brains with as much art as we could handle for a day, we enjoyed the lovely Tuileries park that sits in front of the Louvre and some quiet time in a small bistro before meeting for a late dinner with our friends. Long and full day. We had bought a two day pass to museums and monuments so chose the things we really wanted to see in those two days. We walked over 30,000 steps! The feet and legs were ready for a rest.
July 10, Paris
Day two of museum hopping. Breakfast was in a new bistro as we have many to try out. Then our entire group visited the d’Orsay museum, a favorite for most of us. This is the impressionist artwork that we enjoy. The building is an old train station with impressive architecture and the ability to climb to the top of the building and have great views inside and out.It was a very enjoyable morning. Doug found us a lovey bistro for lunch near the Royal gardens and palace. I (Sue) am making it my plan to try as many quiches around town as possible. This was an excellent one full of vegetables and an amazing crust. We enjoyed the gardens together and did a bit of shopping before we spit up to do different things.
The Matz’s climbed the Notre Dame tower and thoroughly enjoyed the view. A family with two small girls climbed with us. The girls were preschoolers who were adventurous and lots of fun. They plowed through the long climb and enjoyed the bell tower and seeing all the gargoyles. Dean was having fun seeing how many pictures he could take. He sure had lots of opportunities for shots! There is a new museum underground in front of Notre Dame. It houses ancient Roman ruins of early Paris. Very interesting and different from the many art museums in the area. We looked for other types of museums. Paris has many, but they are far apart and require long metro or bus rides. So, we stuck mostly to the center of town. We rode the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed to its museum and top to enjoy the view. After learning a bit about the first and second World Wars from the French point of view we enjoyed a beautiful walk to the Eiffel Tower and surrounding park. There is a lot of construction going on around the tower so we couldn’t walk under it, but enjoyed this nice part of Paris.
Thanks to the Metro, our steps today were under 25,000. A lot of walking, but we don’t feel as exhausted. This is the last of museums and monuments for this trip. After relaxing with friends and good French wine we had dinner at home because France was in the World Cup semifinals and we have a large TV to watch it. We found a restaurant that makes pizza, a grocery to get cheese and bread, and a wine shop and had a great evening in. Karen and I found French flags to purchase and hung them them from our shoulders like other folks were doing as we walked to pick up the food. We saw a lot of people with the flag painted on their faces, people wearing flags, or jerseys. Not the typical French look! One family stopped us and asked us where we were going in to watch the game. I guess they thought anywhere that two women our age were heading was a safe place for the family. They were disappointed when we said we were watching at our apartment. The energy in town was extremely high. There is a small bar across the street from the apartment and people filled the street around it to watch the game. We hung one flag out the window on a mop pole to show our spirit and watched the craziness below. When France won, everyone in all the bars spilled onto the Champs Elysees. The huge street was completely filled with people cheering, dancing, singing, yelling. Saturday is Bastille Day and Sunday is the World Cup game. This place is going to be crazy! Workers have been putting up bleachers and barricades along the parade route all week to get ready for Saturday’s parade. It will be interesting to see if folks stay behind them. If they want the barricades to not be destroyed, they will take them down before Sunday’s game.
July 11, Versailles
Today we walked to a little park past the Eiffel Tower to join a Fat Tires bike riding tour. As we walked we stopped for drinks and yummy pastries to fortify us for the ride. The group rode the train to Versailles where we picked up our bikes in the charming village. We rode through the village and stopped at the marketplace to choose cheese, fruit, meat, bread and wine for lunch. We then took off to ride through the estate grounds around the palace. Marie Antoinette built a small village for her own personal use on the estate and there are miles of roads around the hand dug canals and gardens and village. We stopped at places to walk around and enjoy the gardens and village and found a place to stop for our picnic.What a wonderful day!Late afternoon we were left at the palace to tour. This is where our group separated as different folks went to different areas. We met up back at the apartment and found a restaurant for a late dinner. Dinner in France is never before 8 pm so one can enjoy a day of activity before coming home to clean up for dinner. Tonight we found a local restaurant in a neighborhood not frequented by tourists. We wanted to eat where the locals eat. After dinner which lasts several hours because the French don’t rush and you enjoy each other’s company, we generally would head off to bed.
July 12, Paris
Today is a day to rest. We slept late, had a leisurely breakfast in the apartment after a short walk to pick out our favorite goodies. Then we took a long metro ride to see Sacre-Coeur. This beautiful cathedral sits high on a hill above Paris. The cathedral is ornate and beautiful.It is as curved as Notre Dame is angular. Like viewing a feminine building vs. a more masculine one. A church service was being held while we were there so we sat a bit and then quietly walked around the edge to see the artwork and windows with many other folks. Then we climbed our final tower.What an amazing view! The people who live near the church have to be in great shape. It was 180 stair steps out of the metro, another 200+ up to the church. The tower had about 350, so this is not a task to be taken by someone with a weak heart!
After we were finished we met the group for lunch then took the metro back down to the Louvre area. We walked a bit and then met Sally and Gary Bartlow for drinks and dinner. We discovered we were in Paris at the same time so decided to meet and catch up. We met in an area on the West Bank that we hadn’t been before in a French restaurant that is frequented by mostly locals and had a great meal and had a great time catching up. We then walked around the area and did a bit of shopping before taking the metro back to the apartment. This was our last evening in Paris and it was a very pleasant one. The rest of the evening was spent packing and spending the last evening with the wine group.
July 13, Travel Home
We needed to be out of the apartment at 11 am, so we had a nice breakfast at a restaurant a bit off the beaten path. We are enjoying the restaurants frequented by locals. I had my final quiche, nice and silky texture with smoked salmon giving it an interesting flavor. It took an hour to get to the airport but we have a long wait for our flight, so that was ok. We had one of our best lunches at the airport. One does not typically make this kind of comment, but it’s food was great. We waited in a very long line to check in. WOW airlines only has a few flights to Paris so its counter is only opened as needed before its flights. There were two flights taking off within 5 minutes of each other which resulted in a very long line. Again, we had lots of time so this was fine. Security, 30 min. late flight, customs and security in Reykjavik and I was pulled for a drug search. So, I barely made my connection. They actually held the connection as they ran a number of people through the test.I was going to get a wool blanket made in Iceland at the airport, but that didn’t happen. I saw them as I raced to the gate and will get one online. This connecting flight left 30 min. late and arrived late in Cincinnati. One unexpectedly nice thing was that we flew over Greenland and, since it is daylight until after midnight, we enjoyed seeing the glaciers that we got to spend time on two years ago. US customs and security. Kris’s bag never arrived so we were one of the last ones out of the airport. It is an interesting feel to close down the airport! Then finally home after a very full 10 days.
Uber driver finds his way through the traffic around the Arc De Triomphe on our way to the airport. Better him than me.