June 1999 Trip to France Rick Steves

Updates:
99122313 - Oradour sur Glane Panorama, 991220 - Group photo & panoramas, 99082010 - Utter photos. 99081715 - adding itinery. 99081312 - Adding photos from Phyllis. 99080113 - Adding Boys & Party photos from Reeds, Adding goose, reorganize. 99072718 - Jean's last name, bus facts. 99071317 - adding Belgian Song, remove graphic background

The Girls, Carcassonne
Nancy, Kristin, Phyllis, Mary, Elle, Katie, Laura, Judy, Wendy, Ellen, Linda, Suzanne

The Boys, Carcassonne,
John, Ed, Chuck, Jim, Fred, Scott, Richard, Mark, Ken, Dave (Photo - The Reeds)

Click on an THUMBNAIL PHOTO for FULL size Route
New Panoramas	American Cemetery (97K)	At Winery (41K)	Monaco (54K)	Oradour sur Glane (56K)
Miscellaneous	Fred (without black man's sweater), Nancy, John	Laura & Katie
Around Paris
Around Normandy	American Cemetery, Normandy
Around Loire
Around Albi	Patio Party, Albi, -- Dave, Wendy, Richard, Nancy, Chuck (by Reeds)	(by Phyllis)
Around Dordogne Beynac	Me, Beynac	Oradour sur Glane Making Big Goose Livers - Le gavage de oies	David, Beynac	Lunch
Around Carcassonne
Around Arle	Jean Jans, Bus Driver, Arles Bus: 3.65 meters tall, 47 passenger seats.	(by Phyllis) (by Phyllis)	farewell (by Utter)	Scott, Arles
Around Nice	Museum of Modern Art, Nice	Wendy & Phyllis, Windsor Hotel, Nice	Monaco (by Phyllis)	In Nice? (by Phyllis)
Panoramas

The Belgian Song

1. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Spanish, Portugese or German.
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

2. As I walk along the streets
with my mayonnaise and frites
you can tell I’m as happy as can be.
With my duval in my hand
then you must understand,
I’m a Belgian so nothing worries me.

3. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Irish, Italian or Danish
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

4. Without the Belgians there would be no Saxaphone,
No Tin-Tin Captain Hatter or Poireau,
And excuse me if I’ve missed anybody off the list
These are the only Belgians that I know.

5. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Finish, Austrian or Swedish
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

6. Sax Solo

7. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Spanish, Portugese or German.
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

8. Now the English, they got bacon, not so bad,
especially since all their cows went mad,
but if they’ve never tasted mussels
in the grand place down in Brussels
its no wonder they’re feeling very sad.

9. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Irish, Italian or Danish
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much

10. I’m a Belgian, I’m not Irish, I’m not Greek
I don’t drink Guiness, or Retsina, I drink creek
on the Schelde or the Mars,
you find me drinking Kerrs
or Leffe or Cemay or Lambique.

11. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Spanish, Portugese or German.
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

12. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
And me I’m not a Luxenbourger
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

13. En-fideka, It’s great to be a Belgian.
I’m not English, I’m not French, and I’m not Dutch.
I’m not Spanish, Portugese or German.
I’m a Belgian, so thank you very much.

Dav 1
(June 15, 1999):
Arrive in Paris, meet guides. Meet at the hotel in Paris for a welcome to France get together and a short stroll through our neighborhood. Sleep in Paris.Hotel de l’Alma, 32 rue de l’Exposition, 75007 Paris, 011 33 1 47 05 45 70, FAX 011 33 1 45 51 84 47

Day 2:
All day to sightsee in Paris. We visit the Louvre, Tuileries gardens and take a tour of Paris' oldest neighborhoods before setting you free to explore on your own before dinner. Sleep in Paris.Hotel de l’Alma

Day 3:
To Normandy via Monet's home in Givemy. We will spend our morning among the flowers and water lilies at Monet's home in Giverny before heading to the windswept beaches of the D-Day invasion. Sleep in Arromanches.Hotel de la Marine, Quai du Canada, 14117, Arromanches, 011 33 231 223 419 FAX 011-33-231-229-880

Day 4:
To Brittany via Bayeux. We spend the morning visiting the moving museums and cemeteries of WWII, then have ample time to admire Bayeux' magnificent tapestry dedicated to the Battle of Hastings. Next we head to Brittany's best preserved medieval city, Dinan. Sleep in Dinan.Hotel Les Grandes Tours, 6 rue du Chateau, 22100, Dinan, 011-33-296-851-620, FAX 011-33 296-851-604

Day 5:
Visit the Mont St. Michel. Today, after a free medieval morning, we drive along a section of the famous Emerald Coast en route to the Mont St. Michel. Sleep in Dinan.Hotel Les Grandes Tours

Day 6:
To the Loire Valley. It's south and east this morning, to the land of stunningly beautiful renaissance castles and our riverfront base in Amboise. Sleep in Amboise.Hotel Belle-Vue, 12 quai Charles-Guinot, 37400, Amboise 0111 33 247 570 226 FAX 011 33 247 305 123

Day 7:
All day to visit the chateaux of the Loire. After touring Chambord and Chenonceaux-the Loire's best and brightest chateaux, you have free time to visit Leonardo da Vinci's home back in Amboise. Sleep in AmboiseHotel Belle-Vue

Day 8:
Drive to the Dordogne via Oradour sur Glane. This afternoon, on the way to our tiny village in the Dordogne Valley, we stop at the haunting WWII martyr village of Oradour sur Glane. Sleep in Beynac.Hotel du Chateau, 24220, Beynac, 011 33 553 295 013 FAX 011 33 553 285 305

Day 9:
Visit Sarlat, canoe the Dordogne. It's market day in one of France's best preserved cities, Sarlat, followed by a slow canoe cruise down the Dordogne river, drifting past medieval castles and villages. Sleep in Beynac.Hotel du Chateau

Day 10:
To the Languedoc region. After visiting one of the Perigord's many caves hiding prehistoric paintings, we drive to Albi to wander the red bricked streets. Tonight you may want to sample the famous Languedoc cuisine. Sleep in Albi.Hotel Laperouse, 21 place Laperouse, 81000, Albi, 011 33 563 546 922, FAX 011 33 563 380 369

Day 11:
Drive to Carcassonne. We tour Albi's imposing cathedral and see the best collection of Toulouse Lautrec art anywhere. We then lay siege to Europe's largest fortified city, Carcassonne. While here, you'll want to walk the walls, joust on the drawbridge and sample the regional specialty: cassoulet. Sleep in Carcassonne.Hotel des Remparts, 5 place des Grands Puits, 11000, Carcassonne, 011 33 468 712 772, FAX 011 33 468 727 326

Day 12:
Drive to Provence, see the Pont du Gard. Today we head east to colorful Provence, stopping to admire that 2,000-year-old architectural feat of Roman engineering, the Pont du Gard. We arrive in time to visit the old city center of Arles. Sleep in Arles.Hotel de Musee, 11 rue de la Grande Prieure, 13200, Arles, 011-33-490-938-888, FAX 011 33 490 499 815.

Day 13:
All day to sightsee in Arles and Provence region. This morning we hike the ancient hill town of Les Baux. We return in time to discover more of Arles' Roman sites before our farewell feast this evening. Sleep in Arles.Hotel de Musee

Day 14:
Your tour is over after breakfast. You may want to spend some extra time in Provence or take the train on to the Cote d'Azur. AM - Bus to Nice

TECHNICAL

These images have been scanned (Microtek Scanmaker x6 600x1200) from 4x6 inch photographs and cropped to produce about 640 pixels on the long axis, then saved in jpg format with 60% of the maximum compression, to minimize download time. The images are about 30K bytes. The artifacts of the compression are not clearly visible, except if the images are enlarged. This is a good compromise between image quality and download time.