The view from the car's dashboard...

...and us happily looking at the view in the post below.

Ireland, 1

Monday, July 7, 2008
From MARK

Ireland is wonderful. If you take the Hawaiian islands, bring them together as one, enlarge the island a bit, add a Seattle-like climate, imagine larger green fields (with sheep), and give the people cheery accents and paler skin you'd have Ireland. Oh, don't forget to drive on the LEFT too! Yes, we are fans of Ireland and all that it has to offer.

Our flight from Paris to Dublin on Wednesday, July 2 was smooth and forgettable. After staying up most of the night before watching the Eiffel tower lights (change from blue to "rapid blinky" around 1am) and getting up at 4.30 to catch our flight, we slept quite well on the plane.

I opened the right side door of our small, black Citreon rental car, sat in the cushy seat, and mindlessly went to buckle up by reaching my right hand over my left shoulder only to grab air. Shifting with the left hand isn't that hard, and really, as long as you don't think about which side your supposed to be driving on it's really quite easy. Except for the one time I gunned it through a questionable who-had-the-right-of-way light (actually, the oncoming driver was just SITTING there) I got a little anxious on the next street and made the turn into the right lane along with some minor oncoming traffic, which was easily remedied with a fast twitch of the steering wheel.

We drove our four door around Dublin on the M-50 with ease and headed towards the Wicklow Mountains. The drive has been one of the most scenic. The lush green pastures stretch over large rolling hills and sheep are sprinkled along the grassy fields like croutons on a salad. Some of the sheep have blue and/or red spray paint markings on their backs.

Included here is a photo from the Dingle Peninsula. More to come on Ireland. Cheers!

We're in Ireland!

Today we're headed to the Dingle Peninsula... and the weather has been "patches of sun", nevertheless we've been loving Ireland. Stay tuned for an update.

Caranten, France

If the riad is to Morocco, then Noelle and Michael are to Caranten, France. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be guests in a French home, where everyone is treated as family. A friend from Seattle (thanks again Amy!) studied abroad and still keeps in close contact with her host family, so she made the connection for us via e-mail and we enjoyed a three night stay in a little town called Caranten, France (about a three hour train ride from Paris).

We climbed aboard our sleek train with our packs in the St. Lazier station at 11.45am on Saturday, June 28, and within minutes bolted down the track with a smooth 75mph speediness across the rolling hills of the French country side. Cows and horses whizzed by as did the fields of wheat and corn each separated by mature tree lines or hedge rows. Small light brown cobble stone houses dotted the landscape and we sank into our plush, business-class like seats somewhat glad to be leaving the busy, hot city.

Writing now, it felt a little like coming home. I mention this, as I think Dani and I were both in need of some time to recharge and as current nomads, mildly longing for a place to call home. Noelle and Michael both met us at the train station with a warm welcome, including a kiss on both cheeks from Noelle and a hardy handshake from Michael. Petite Noelle has a warm tone, neck length smooth dark hair, and a smile that radiates. Michael is tall with a slightly athletic build, speaks less English than Noelle, and has a passion for flowers made obvious by the many colors in their backyard. We tossed our luggage in the back of the four door VW sedan and made the five minute drive to their French style home. Our room on the second floor was decorated with various sailing posters with rusty-orange colored walls and hard wood floors that included an occasional splinter as proof from my big toe.

Saturday evening they drove us to Mont St. Michelle, a monastery "island" that is amazing to see even from 20 miles away! We toured the place, had a crepe dinner, and watched the sun set (at around 10.45pm). Noelle happily told us we could sleep on the drive back, and after thanking her, I found my head soon toppling over much like an unstable bag of sand.

Sunday we were invited to a picnic with one of Amy's old teachers (which was ironically planned even before we had spoken). We ate our fresh croissants with butter and jam, and then drove north about an hour to meet the rest of the gang. The two story, picturesque house looked like a movie set. It had a cream yellow exterior with white trim, sparkling clean windows, and a patio where we had coffee and tea. In all, there were ten of us, Dani and myself by far being the youngest couple in attendance, and of course French was the common language (which neither of us speak). We abruptly got up (we guess the five minute warning came in French) and gathered for our "walk". As mentioned earlier, the fields are divided by tree lines, but hidden within these rows you'll find an ingenious trail system that one can walk about the country side. Much to our surprise but nevertheless quite happily, we proceeded to take a three hour walk which we believe was to get our digestive systems ready for the meal to follow.

First, we had two celebratory toasts of champagne coupled with crackers and chips on the patio. We then moved to the formal dining room and were given our seat assignments by the wonderful hostess. The dark red walls, light jazz music in the background, stark white linens, and china set an impressive tone. Two salads were passed, one consisting of a cream sauce over: diced avocados, melons, and shrimp. The other was a green bean, mozzarella, tomato, and pine nut mix. More red wine ensued with French conversation that we gladly listened to. Honestly, I was content with the amount of food I had at this point and could of gone home happy. However... After some conversation, we had our second course: leg of lamb and little fried bread balls which I just utterly under described, as they were quite amazing. More wine with an increase in accompanied chuckles. The cheese course arrived and Dani was told that she was true French because when asked if we liked cheese, she responded with rosy cheeks, "Who doesn't like cheese?" More French conversation coupled with bits of polite English clues. Just before the last course came a dessert wine, which was a rare, dusty, antique looking bottle that drew many "ooohs and ahhhs". We followed suite when shown and I knew that turning down such a glass was not an option, although my body considered it. At one point I asked Dani not to say anything in fear of laughing so much I might shoot food from my mouth across the table. I think the almond crusted apricot tart was delicious, as I somehow had two pieces. By 5pm I felt as if I'd never need to eat again in my life. This, was certainly an unforgettable "picnic"!

Caranten is located near the Normandy beaches so we took the chance to explore some of the WW-II memorials and museums. At several points my eyes welled up, from gratitude, sorrow, joy, and so much more. The numerous US flags waving high in the air combined with the beautiful golf-course-on-the-water like area made you feel proud to be an American and also at peace to realize the world can come together.

We spent out last day in Bayeaux and found a place that rented tandem bikes. We rode the country side under clear blue skies, warm sun rays, and a breeze the felt like frosty air conditioning set on high. I can think of no better way to take in the corn and wheat fields mixed with bright red poppies on the edge and the small, twisting, country/farm roads. We turned in the bike with new farmer tans and took a short train ride back to Noelle and Michael's where we enjoyed a home cooked roast pork and vegetable dinner. Their hospitality and openness throughout our stay with them made our trip to France an unforgettable one!