Photos: Ton van Vulpen, Wilfredo Valenzuela, Iou Valenzuela, Alex Ramos and Eddie Flores
July 13 – 23, 2009

France-Lourdes

The day was hot and humid when we drove from Bordeaux to the foothills of the Pyrenees. The bright sun baked our heads as we walked from our hotel to the grotto in Lourdes where the 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous witnessed apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1858. After taking some pictures and collecting water from the grotto in bottles that we brought with us, we were fortunate to catch a late afternoon mass at the Rosary Basilica. In spite of the heavily commercialized streets just outside the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the solemn atmosphere inside the sanctuary was palpable.

The day swiftly transformed into a windy and stormy evening. We took shelter in a restaurant to have dinner while waiting for the storm to pass, hoping we could attend the evening procession. It didn’t quite work out that way. The storm lasted past nine in the evening, when the procession was supposed to start. Pilgrims, including those in wheelchairs being pushed by aides, seemed to take things in stride. Those without raincoats were drenched by the pouring rain.

The following morning, the day turned sunny and cool, setting the stage for fine weather during the rest of our travel through France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and back to the Netherlands. It was the fifth day of our 11-day tour which started in IJsselstein, where my sister Quiding and her husband Eddie live in the Netherlands. We left IJsselstein early in the morning to embark on an itinerary which was built around the pilgrimage to Lourdes, the southernmost destination of our trip. The van was full not only with passengers and luggage, but also with food and cooking implements for our roadside picnics during the road tour. Several times during the 11-day journey, we stopped to cook and eat hot lunch in a roadside park.

There were 13 of us family and friends in our tour group. Nine were in a rented van – my brother Orestes (Boy) and his wife Estella (Teng), brother Jun and his wife Iou, cousin Alex Ramos and his wife Baby Noel, Quiding, Eddie, and me. The offerings prior to our trip that Baby asked her son in the Philippines to make to Santa Clara, the patron saint of good weather, seemed to work. It is common belief in Obando, Bulacan in the Philippines that offering eggs at the altar of Santa Clara brings good weather, which was what we had except for that one stormy evening in Lourdes.

Our friends Nora Pel, Resee Gragasin, Ton van Vulpen, and his wife Mellie Lacson rode in Ton’s car while we traveled in our 2-vehicle caravan. Because of the size of our tour group, Ton and Eddie painstakingly made hotel reservations beforehand.

France-Paris

Before we proceeded to Chartres, our destination on the first day of the trip, we took a brief sightseeing tour of Paris, taking pictures by the Arc of Triumph, Eiffel Tower and the nearby Seine River. Some of the ladies of our tour group made sure that their pictures were taken posing with strapping French guards near the Eiffel Tower.

The 13 tourists had breakfast together. Almost every breakfast was in bed; more precisely on the bed, that is, Eddie’s and Quiding’s hotel room bed. We covered their bed with a table cloth, and on it set our breakfast consisting of bread, eggs, cheese, butter, sausages and coffee that we brought along with us. The bathroom served as overflow area for those who were late for breakfast. Some evenings, when we were too exhausted to look for a restaurant, we had ‘supper on the bed’ as well, dining on rice, meat and fish that were cooked in a roadside park earlier in the day.

After checking in at our hotel in Chartres, we headed for the town center. Ton drove the lead vehicle, which easily navigated the narrow and winding roads up the hill to the city center, as Eddie nervously uttered expletives in Tagalog while driving the big trailing van that hardly fitted in the narrow alleys.

France-Chartres

A leisurely stroll through the town square led us to the Cathedral of Chartres (La Cathedrale Nortre Dame de Chartres), an imposing 13^th century gothic cathedral which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. We were treated to a light show projected onto the cathedral. The town plaza was bustling with activities that evening. A band played as people danced in the crowded square. The following night, we enjoyed a delightful dinner of crepe in a Chartres restaurant, before watching fireworks from the cathedral grounds on top of the hill, in celebration of Bastille Day.


France-Orleans

We took a day’s trip to Orléans by the Loire River, parking near Place du Martroi where a statue of Joan of Arc stands prominently at the center. A brief walk took us to the grand Cathedral of Sainte Croix, where Joan of Arc is said to have come to pray in 1429.

At lunchtime, we stopped for a picnic in a rustic countryside of wheat fields. Alex helped cook lunch, demonstrating his skill with the frying pan. On our way back to Chartres, we passed by Châteaudun, hiked up the hill, and sauntered the grounds of the medieval castle Château de Châteaudun.

Colorful fields of sunflowers brightened our way to Bordeaux the following day. The drive to Bordeaux was long, calling for a couple of bottles of wine as soon as we reached our hotel. We sat in front of the ground level hotel rooms, drinking wine and eating crackers and cheese, before going out for dinner and visiting the Bordeaux town center for some sightseeing and dessert in a sidewalk cafe.

Prior to leaving for Lourdes the following morning, we shopped for food and a camera to replace the one that Teng lost while we were touring Orléans. This was her first loss of the trip. The second one was her credit card which she would later lose to an ATM machine near Avignon.

France-Carcassone

There were many places to see between Lourdes and Avignon. We stopped at Carcassonne, named after the Saracen princess Dame Carcas who led the fight against Charlemagne after her husband King Balaad was killed. In Carcassonne, we went up a windy hill to enter the medieval fortress La Cite, with its massive ramparts on the hill overlooking the rest of the city. An 11^th century basilica, Basilique des Saints Nazaire et Celse, stands within the fortress. The wind blustered fine sand on our faces as we roamed the periphery of the citadel.

We stayed overnight in Castres, driving in the rain over a mountain pass to reach this Midi-Pyrenees town. It felt a bit odd to be dining on Chinese “all you can eat” buffet in Castres, but the dinner hit the spot for us. It had been days since we ate dinner with rice.

France_Chateaudun

The next day, we drove towards Avignon, passing scenic hills of verdant vineyards, and carpets of maize and wheat fields. Along the way, we noticed Chateau La Dournie in the commune of Saint-Chinian. The vineyards in this area are said to be some of the oldest in France. Veronique, who now tends to the vineyard of Chateau La Dournie, was proud and happy to give us a tour. Her family has owned La Dournie for generations. We bought several bottles of fine wine from her, for us to drink with dinner during our vacation.

France-Nimes / Pont du Gard

We cooked and ate our picnic lunch by a vineyard before driving to Nimes, where an ancient but well-preserved Roman amphitheatre still stands. Nearby across the Gard or Gardon River is another marvel of Roman antiquity, the Pont du Gard aqueduct.

France-Avignon

After Nimes, we spent a couple of days in Avignon, well known for its Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes), where popes lived in the 14^th century. The Avignon Arts Festival celebration was in progress when we arrived. There were many sidewalk performers. The festival crowd was huge and parking was literally impossible in the evening. Ton and Eddie ended up just dropping us non-Europeans off inside the walled city. They had dinner with Quiding and Mellie outside the city. The rest of us took an evening tour of Avignon by foot, reminiscing the time that some of us were there 9 years ago.

We took a taxi to get back to our hotel just a few miles outside the city. The 20-minute trip to the hotel turned into a 2-hour ride. The moonlighting young cab driver, who was very apologetic, was new on the job. He was from Nice and did not know the Avignon area that well. After he asked for direction from some people who happened to be out on the street at 2 AM, a couple of guys got in their car and led our driver to our hotel. This is one of the things that I truly appreciate in Europe, especially in smaller towns. People are very helpful and friendly, and make you feel safe even when you wander the streets late into the evening.

The following morning, we decided to go back to the walled city early so we can find parking, and spend a few hours to enjoy Avignon and have lunch in one of the sidewalk restaurants. The festive streets, the papal palace, the expansive courtyard by the palace, the Notre Dame des Doms catheral, and the Rhone River down below were sites worth coming back to, on that beautiful sunny day. We left the lively Avignon town center to visit the remarkable Roman aqueduct of Pont du Gard that afternoon.

France-Belfort

Belfort was our last overnight stop in France before leaving for Germany. As the name implies, Belfort (Belle Fort) has a beautiful fortress. In front of the castle is the landmark monument Lion of Belfort, sculpted by Frédéric Bartholdi who was also the architect of the Statue of Liberty in New York.


Germany-Cochem / Mosel River

From Belfort we drove to Cochem an der Mosel (Moselle) in Germany. A German friend at work urged me to visit Cochem several years ago. Since then, I’ve been there a few times with Eddie and Quiding. As we drove along the Mosel River, some in our tour group who have not been to the Mosel Valley before were in awe as they watched the serene and beautiful storybook scenery - breathtaking views of castles, terraces of verdant vineyards blanketing steep hills, swans on the river, neat rows of houses and inns decorated with colorful flowers. Teng exclaimed that she would like to live there.

Once again, we stayed at Das Moselhaus, a place we found by chance the first time we visited Cochem. Das Moselhaus is owned by Peter and Mercy Baier. Mercy is a Filipina. We love staying at the Moselhaus where Mercy always treats us with typical and genuine Filipino hospitality. We always get the suite with a balcony that has a stunning view of vineyards on slopes and the Mosel River below, with boats floating, and an arch bridge spanning across. As in our previous stays, Mercy served us hearty German breakfast in the morning.

The back door of Mercy’s breakfast room opens to a small street leading to the shops and restaurants at the Cochem Zentrum, where we celebrated with German dinner, beer and wine Eddie’s and Quiding’s 45^th wedding anniversary.

Nearby within walking distance up the hill is the Reichsburg castle. As some of us have done in the past, we climbed up the hill to Reichsburg in the early morning before breakfast. Later, we went on a bit more challenging hike to the secluded Burg Eltz, a magnificent castle nestled in the woods. Eddie stood by the parked van, cautioning newly arriving visitors that the hike was somewhat strenuous. Some of them heeded his warning and promptly returned to their cars.

Germany-Rudescheim / Rhine River

A short drive took us to the fascinating Burg Thurant, before we drove towards the Rhine and crossed the river on a ferry to reach Rüdesheim am Rhein. We were scheduled to see Rüdesheim am Rhein on our way from Belfort to Cochem, but missed it. We simply entered Rüdesheim on our navigator, which took us to a different Rüdesheim, Rüdesheim an der Nahe. We know better next time. And there will likely be a next time. Gliding in cable cars, we enjoyed a panoramic view of rolling hills of vineyards by the Rhine River in Rüdesheim am Rhein. The cable cars took us to the Niederwald Monument on a hilltop with more spectacular views of the wine producing region.

Our stay in the Mosel Valley was capped with a Philippine evening consisting of pinaupuang manok (chicken cooked on salt) and rice dinner that Jun prepared, followed by karaoke with Mercy and her two young children Rene and Jessica.

Germany-Trier / Luxembourg / Belgium

The trip back to IJsselstein took us to Trier, another favorite stop. Trier is presumably the oldest city in Germany. The ancient Porta Nigra, an old Roman city gate, remains standing in Trier. After a quick lunch in Trier, we were off for some sightseeing in Luxembourg, and dinner of mussels in Brussels, Belgium, where we also watched a light show at the Grand Place, Brussels’ famous central square. It was amusing to experience the competition among waiters who aggressively enticed, convinced and pulled tourists to eat in the restaurants near the Grand Place.



The Netherlands

Back in the Netherlands, we enjoyed idyllic sceneries of green pasture with cows and sheep grazing, as once again, we drove to visit a castle that dates back to the 13^th century, Kastell de Haar in Utrecht, near where Eddie and Quiding live. An afternoon trip to the peninsula of Marken with its distinctive green and white wooden houses, and the old coastal town of Volendam known for its display of traditional Dutch costumes, coupled with a snack of poffertjes (tiny Dutch pan cakes) and a stop at a cheese house, completed a day’s tour in the Netherlands. That evening, we had a delicious Indonesian dinner hosted by close friends Boone and Edna Njio, after which Boone took us to a well-informed tour of Amsterdam by night.


Lunch in Amsterdamse Bos, a boat tour through the canals of Amsterdam, and a catered family dinner in Eddie’s and Quiding’s house concluded this year’s family reunion in Europe. The sunny weather was perfect for the backyard dinner with our hosts Eddie, Quiding, their children Teresa and Ged, Teresa’s husband Luc, Ged’s fiancée Cecile, Boone and Edna. After long goodbyes that evening, another memorable European vacation ended….with tentative plans for May 2010…An Eastern Mediteranean cruise, combined with a road tour of Central Italy.!!

 

 

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