On the Upbeat
Welcome to My World ...
Europe
Fits and starts might be the old-fashioned phrase for my experiences on the European continent. As noted in Milestones it began in France -- specifically living for more than a year in Orleans (say it orr-lee-ahnz') the town that claims Joan of Arc as its patron saint. And indeed it is where in 1479 she fought off the British from a picturesque bridge across the Loire River.
Paris only briefly on the way into the country and the way out. But oh the memborable vacation in our little HIllman up the mountains near Grenoble, overnight in Lyon and down to the Riviera. I'll never forget Cannes and Nice -- all glitter and glamour.
And the final fabulous leg of the trip up to Geneva and then all the way back around to Orleans.
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Fast forward to 1974 and a 25-day group tour through Portugal (and Spain) and I mean up and down the length of each country by bus.
We did land in Lisbon, stayed in a classy hotel and visited the monument to the Discoveries.
And walked into the historic Alfama and to all the museums and fairytale castles -- like Sintra, below.
But from Lisbon, the 80 of us traveled on bumpity buses through the wine country, the cork country, historic sites, Gypsy encampments and even to Sagres -- the westernmost point of Europe where Prince Henry the Navigator created a navigation school in the 15th century.
It is this school that accounts for the Portuguese building the best ships to discoer Brazil and be the first to round the continent of Africa to begin the plunder of gold, ivory and black human beings.
The bumpity buses took us on to a casino, a winery, fishing villages and an amazing resort in the Algarve on the Mediterranean.
To be completed ...
