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Post by tod2 on Jan 27, 2014 9:18:46 GMT
Thanks for that information Kerouac - I can only assume that if most people who live there are very well-off, that prices of food and lodgings will be at a premium.
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Post by bjd on Jan 27, 2014 10:09:25 GMT
Tod, there are other islands on the coast that can be visited: Belle-Ile, Groix, Oléron, others that I don't know about.
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Post by htmb on Feb 1, 2014 18:38:13 GMT
The trip is beginning to come together. My friend and I have found an apartment near the Tour de la Lanterne that we both like and we're in the process of making the booking.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 18:48:32 GMT
I remember seeing a café inside the Tour de la Chaine which immediately made me think "this is the cantina from Star Wars."
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Post by htmb on Feb 1, 2014 19:03:03 GMT
I'm hoping there will be a few cafés nearby with wifi since I don't believe the apartment we are booking includes that option. If not, then we'll just do without.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 19:09:39 GMT
Well, it's always good to know that McDonald's has wifi.
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Post by htmb on Feb 1, 2014 19:17:14 GMT
Cringe. Haven't been to a McDonalds in years.
It appears the location in La Rochelle is near the university.
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Post by htmb on Feb 15, 2014 16:54:28 GMT
So now, after thinking through various scenarios, my friend and I have worked out our summer plans and, with the exception of purchasing train tickets, have made all our reservations. We will be flying into Paris, spending a night in a (just now booked) budget hotel near Gare Montparnasse and taking the TGV to La Rochelle where we will have a week in an apartment on the ramparts in the Old Port section of the town. Her husband has decided he cannot get away, but could always change his mind later, I suppose. He's been known to do it before.
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Post by bjd on Feb 15, 2014 17:48:04 GMT
Now you have something to look forward to, htmb. When will this be?
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Post by htmb on Feb 15, 2014 18:11:34 GMT
Summer. I will send you a PM with more specifics, bjd.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 20:49:38 GMT
La Rochelle is an excellent choice, even more so on the old port. Husbands are well known to be fickle when it comes to European travel. There are certain ways to influence this situation with upcoming details, depending on whether the husband's presence is truly desired or not.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 21:20:01 GMT
Sigh. I envy you, htmb. Please make sure to take plenty of pictures as my ancestors come from there as well (I wish the old Calvinist Temple was still standing). I don't know when I'll ever make it, but it is a dream.
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2014 21:56:25 GMT
La Rochelle is an excellent choice, even more so on the old port. Husbands are well known to be fickle when it comes to European travel. There are certain ways to influence this situation with upcoming details, depending on whether the husband's presence is truly desired or not. Kerouac, to whom were you responding? Certainly not me. I get it. You were referring to my friend's husband. It's not like that with him. He'd love to go, and would most likely live in France if his French wife would agree to it. However, he has too many other responsibilities to take care of this summer and just cannot get away. Lizzy, my ancestors also come from this area, as best I can tell from my research. I plan to takes lots of photos, you can be assured.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 22:03:07 GMT
Actually I was responding to you, htmb. I don't need to meet your friend's husband to imagine what might happen. Years of experience.
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2014 22:05:01 GMT
Read my edited message above. You actually have no idea when it comes to this particular husband.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 22:39:37 GMT
Well then he is an unusual husband. Actually, my (step)father enthusiastically moved to France the moment he retired with my mother, and they lived there happily for 9 years until the exchange rate for the dollar dropped to dangerous levels and they felt it was safer to move back to the U.S. Naturally, the dollar was skyrocketing by the time they sold their house and moved, but the decision had been made...
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Post by htmb on Feb 18, 2014 22:58:02 GMT
Oh, yes. J is a very unusual man. One in a million. He actually lived in Paris in the seventies, a few years before he met his wife (in the U.S.). I'm sorry he will not be joining us because he's extremely smart, very kind, and is interested in a myriad of things. However, his wife is also a great person and a good friend. We have many similar interests. We both love to kayak, explore and take photographs. Plus, for me as an American, it's really wonderful to be able to travel with someone born and raised in France, even if she does not wish to live there.
When you made the post I had forgotten I'd mentioned my friend's husband and couldn't imagine who you were talking about since I have no husband the last I checked.
It's been another very long day!
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Post by mich64 on Feb 19, 2014 0:25:15 GMT
Awesome that you are taking this trip with your friend! Fortunately, I have no troubles convincing my husband to travel to Europe, he looks forward to it every year. It did take me quite a few years into our marriage to get him on that first trip though, but that was all it took.
I found it very comforting on our first trip to France to be with my mother-in-law, she really helped me with international travel and of course, the language.
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Post by patricklondon on Feb 19, 2014 10:52:04 GMT
I've been thinking of visiting the Marais Poitevin (or "La Venise Verte") ever since I happened on an historical novel set there, on one visit to Paris. I might even do a cycle ride around there this summer - these people have been in my bookmark list for years. I see they do day trips around the area as well. URL=http://autolycus-london.blogspot.com]My blog[/URL] | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by htmb on Feb 19, 2014 10:59:39 GMT
Thanks for the tip, Patrick. I'd be interested in doing the same.
I assume your historical novel is written in French. I'm looking for something along that line, but in English. I don't have high hopes of finding anything much good though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 15:26:02 GMT
Can't wait to hear of your adventures in France, htmb! (And who you get to meet over there )
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Post by breeze on Feb 19, 2014 23:02:10 GMT
htmb, it's possible to use McDonald's wifi outside the building. I did have to strongarm my husband into buying a cup of coffee there once, so we could get it set up the first time, but after that whenever we came across a McDonald's, we'd pull in to the parking lot and check our email and never a burger crossed our lips.
When cultural imperialism comes with free wifi, I have to remain silent.
We're planning a trip to France in May-June, so I'm very interested in your planning.
Patrick, what was the name of the novel about the Venise Vert, please?
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Post by htmb on Feb 19, 2014 23:08:28 GMT
Good tip, breeze! Thanks. I will actually be in France for a month, and should have working wifi for the three weeks I'm in Paris. I suppose I will survive 7 days of "roughing it" in La Rochelle.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 23:23:44 GMT
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Post by htmb on Feb 19, 2014 23:30:41 GMT
Brilliant! Thanks, Kerouac.
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Post by patricklondon on Feb 20, 2014 17:07:20 GMT
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Post by patricklondon on Feb 20, 2014 17:15:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 17:28:58 GMT
Oh, those Angélique books had me intrigued in the second-hand bookstores when I was a kid. I never bought one, though, because the covers looked a little too trashy and I'd have a hard time explaining to my parents. Probably get a kick out of them now, though. I think I'll search one out.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 18:00:23 GMT
A new Angélique movie was made last year (there was a whole series of hugely successful ones in the 1960's). It totally tanked, because people don't go for all the frou-frou so much anymore.
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Post by breeze on Feb 20, 2014 20:15:43 GMT
htmb, over on Slow Travels there's a brief discussion of La Rochelle and Ile de Re. Bruce Mc always has practical advice. slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/3956056284/m/741007469001Thank you, Patrick. Coup d'etat isn't available in the libraries in our state, but Moinot's As night follows day (in translation) is in two libraries I use often. It's now on my list. Marie du marais sounds good but it hasn't been translated into English. Too bad for me. I stumble through French novels. By the time I've reached the end of a sentence, having looked up/guessed at half the words as well as figured out what tense the verb is, I've usually forgotten how it started.
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