Day 45 Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Our new Airbnb in Mulhouse is lovely. We have nine days here to relax a bit and get ready for the second half of our trip. It is hard to believe but today marks the midway point of our holiday.
This is the view from our third floor balcony.
We are both ready for a restful day. Bob does go for little walk and buys a few grocery necessities. On the way home he walked down this street that has a lot of graffiti art…some better than others!
Day 54, Saturday, October 21, 2023
We catch the train to Nice this morning. We are both happy to be sitting on a train instead of driving and navigating. It is a nice change and Bob can watch the scenery go by instead of concentrating on driving.
I draw on the train. I feel out of practice but it is still nice to be drawing…I haven’t done nearly as much of it as I had hoped to this trip.
The Nice train station is really big, clean and airy.
It is a short walk from the train station to the main tourist area by the beach. We stop at a park for our lunch, and I wonder if the water is from yesterday’s big rain…or if it is a fountain?
A couple minutes later I have my answer. These two young boys had the best time playing in the water jets.
We laughed at this big dog who jumped and tried to bite every jet of water he passed. He was having such fun. There were such neat reflections too.
This very large sea gull was eyeing our lunch, just hoping a few crumbs would fall his way…I’m afraid a few did…who could resist that gaze?
After lunch we visit the Cathedral of Saint Reparata., which is a National Monument. It is very ornate and in great shape…no peeling paint here. 
The flower market is beautiful and the prices are very reasonable.
We try some socca. It is a thin chickpea bread that is sprinkled with pepper. We have to wait a few minutes for a fresh pan to arrive (it is brought hot from the ovens in a wheeled cart) and it is delicious! It is also a bargain at just 3€ for a huge slice. I am going to have to try making this at home.
Even though we have just had lunch, and socca, I am craving a cassis (black current) sorbet from Fenocchio’s, a world famous ice cream shop. They have 94 flavors of ice creams and 35 of sorbet, but I stick with my favourite. 
After my sorbet we walk towards the beach. 
Nice has a pebble beach, and lots of sun worshippers. I stay at the beach to draw some of them and Bob goes for a walk and climbs to two viewpoint. There is one on top of the cream round structure in the distance and another higher up on top of the hill.
I take a photo of someone who I think is Bob…
and he takes a photo trying to find me on the beach. Do we think alike?
This is definitely me, I am sitting right beside the two rinse towers…and I get a light spray every time someone rinses off! I was settled in by the time this happens the first time so I decide to stay put, in spite of the occasional mist of water that floats my way.
I am happier with my beach drawings.
This fellow was sitting beside me and he was very brown. He was also wearing black underpants, which appears to be a common thing here. People are not shy about changing on the beach, women pull off their tops and bras to change into their bathing suits and I saw lots of men just wearing underpants as their bathing suit. There were a few topless women as well…it is the French Riviera after all.
We do a bit of window shopping, or as they say here, leche-vitrine, which translates to lick the windows! I have had a couple treats here, but gluten really doesn’t agree with me so I have to content myself with a bit of window licking! Oh and did you notice the prices? 
We stroll along the boardwalk, people watching and enjoying the sunshine…
but the sun is getting glow in the sky and we head back to catch our train.
Bob notices something strange about this building…
Here is a clue.
Yes, the whole side of the building is a giant mural! We pass this interesting fountain…
and there are seven of these statues high on poles above the street. Google tells me that they were created by Jaume Plensa, a Spanish artist who specializes in monumental art.
They represent the seven continents and the communication between the different communities of today’s society. They are titled “Conversation à Nice”and they are illuminated every night, with slowly changing colours. Too bad we won’t see that but it is a long ride home.
We were in Nice over 40 years ago and visited the Matisse Museum. I was hoping to visit it again today, but it closes during the noon hour, and then we just ran out of time. I am OK with not visiting so many museums this trip, there are so many other things to do and only so much time.
Day 50, Tuesday, October 17th, 2023
We are in the French Riviera! We thought it would get warmer and sunnier the further south we went, but not so…today is cloudy and only 21°. On our way to the beach I notice these strange cones from some type of coniferous tree, no idea what they are but they were very prickly!
Our first view of the Mediterranean Sea this trip. No sunbathers on the beach today.
It started to rain a bit and this little sweetie wanted her own umbrella! I asked her dad if I could ‘prends un photo’ and he smiled and said yes. She was such an independent little girl.
soon we are at he harbour checking out the boats. 
People watching is very interesting. This young lady posed for several photos for her friend…and me! It was quite the outfit she was wearing, with her thong panties quite visible.
There are a lot of sailboats moored here…
and then there are the big boats…
and the really big boats…
complete with all the accessories! It is really mind boggling to see these huge boats and we can only imagine how much they cost, not only to purchase but to maintain and operate. Not something we will ever have to worry about!
The boats names are interesting…from the rather strange ‘maxi beer Oliver’s bear’, to the curious No.9 (is this the ninth boat that they have owned?, to the quite pretentious Veni Vedi Vici ( I Came, I Saw, I Conquered ) to the more modest ‘Lucky Us’.
I wonder if this is a game of “My mast is taller than your mast?”
There are so many of these huge boats, or perhaps I should be calling them ships? I’m not sure of the correct terminology.
Boats aren’t the only expensive item in Cannes. The little black boots are 1100 € and the tall boots are 1300 € !
I don’t think we can afford a vacation home here either! Look a the price for a three or four room apartment, ranging from 74 to 110 square meters.
On our walk we passed several interesting murals, all movie or film related.
Day 46, Friday, October 13, 2023.
Bob decided he does not want to drive on Friday 13. I didn’t know he was so superstitious! That works for me. I am happy stay put for a bit. We had originally planned a couple day trips from Carcassonne: to Albi to visit the Toulouse Lautrec museum and to Toulouse for a tour of the AirBus factory. That isn’t going to happen now as I’m not feeling up to two long days of travel and sightseeing. Too bad but it is what it is. So I have a quiet morning and Bob goes exploring. He climbs the hill to visit the back side of La Cité.
He walks over to the cemetery we saw in the distance yesterday. We both enjoy visiting old cemeteries.
On the way to La Cité he walks along a wall covered with a medieval style mural spelling out the name Carcassonne. We saw this at the end of street when we walked to La Cité yesterday but didn’t look at it then. I was unable to find out any information about this, which is a shame. It is really quite lovely.,
In the late afternoon we both go for a little walk. I find more gargoyles, well…actually Bob was the one who spotted these.
We go into Église Saint Vincent and…
discover that we can climb the bell tower for just 2.5 euros! I’m not wanting to do it today but I hope we can get back another day. We have climbed a lot of bell towers on our other trips, but so far not a one this time.
The old city in Carcassone has a lovely big open square with a fountain and lots of restaurants and cafés around its perimeter. There are lots of people sitting outside enjoying the lovely evening.
I had to get a photo of this huge old Sycamore tree. I wish they would grow back home. Our winters are just too cold.
Shop windows are starting to display Halloween items. These creatures are all made of chocolate. We have seen so many closed shops, restaurants and galleries. Every block in this old part of town, which is frequented by tourists, has at least one or two shops that have shut down. On some streets almost every second shop is closed. I am pretty sure this is because of Covid. It makes me quite sad.
Day 9, Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Some street art on the way to pick up our car rental at the Gare de Lyon on the far SE side of Paris. 
Finding the Hertz car rental is incredibly difficult. We follow Google maps which basically takes us in a big circle right back to where we started, right beside this huge poster advertising the Rugby World Cup which takes place Fri, Sep 8, 2023 – Sat, Oct 28, 2023. We think it is probably good that we will not be in Paris during this time.
Finally after asking several people for directions a delivery man tells me that we need to go upstairs and cross the street. Voila! Success. They do have our reservation but we have to wait 45 minutes for them to clean the car. Once in the car we discover that our Peugeot does not have plug ins for USB’s, only some other strange looking plug. Luckily a Hertz employee was walking by and I asked him for help. Another 15 minute wait and he brings us a device that plugs in to the cigarette lighter that has two USB ports. We are finally on our way, heading to Chartres to visit the cathedral. We do amazingly well getting out of Paris and to Chartres, My navigation skills are still pretty good and Bob did a great job driving.
Our first view of the Chartres Cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. “Partly built starting in 1145, and then reconstructed over a 26-year period after the fire of 1194, Chartres Cathedral marks the high point of French Gothic art. The vast nave, in pure ogival style, the porches adorned with fine sculptures from the middle of the 12th century, and the magnificent 12th- and 13th-century stained-glass windows, all in remarkable condition, combine to make it a masterpiece.” ~https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/81/
Bob didn’t want to drive across this narrow bridge so we park on the far side of the river.
I think this is a river,or perhaps a canal?
On the way to the Cathedral we pass this window and I peek in to see a lady working. We knock and a lovely bookbinder opens the door to her workspace.
We chat in French and I manage fairly well. I tell her about the St. Albert Paper Arts Guild and show her some of my work, but somehow only managed to get this one photo. I was a bit nervous, trying to chat with her in French about bookbinding, but she was very gracious. Her name is Sylvie Le Jannou but I was not able to find a website. She did give me a card but it only has her name and email.
The Chartres cathedral is huge!
The view towards the altar. We took several photos of the stained glass but it kept looking very washed out…
…when the colours are actually brilliant.
There is a lot of controversy about the restoration that is taking place. The light areas in the photo below have been restored by covering everything with a sort of plaster, but it is not historically accurate. I think I prefer being able to see the old stones, they have a sense of age and history that the ‘restored’ areas do not. In the photo of the altar you can see the faux marble pillars. 
The wall of the sanctuary is absolutely amazing. The detail of the carving is incredible. The screen has forty niches along the ambulatory filled with statues telling the life of Christ. I particularly love the donkey.
We missed the tour of the crypt and the opportunity to climb on the roof of this cathedral by an hour. I guess we need to do a bit more research on times for tours and opening hours when we plan our day. We almost missed seeing this labyrinth. The chairs are moved once a week so that people can walk it.
One more view of this enormous cathedral, before we head back to Paris.
The buildings in this part of Chartres are ancient.
And although some of them are in really bad shape, I have no doubt that they will be repaired rather than demolished.
I thought that this cat in the windows should be a painting.
As we leave I notice another example of street art. I saw another walking back to the car and I thought it looked like a Banksy, and this one could be too? Turns out there is an exhibit of Banksy’s work here in Chartres. We missed that too. 
There are lots of cars on the road and the closer we get to Paris the slower they all go. Our 75 minute drive takes quite a bit longer.
It is busy when it takes 11 minutes to go just over 2 1/2 kilometres! We are both happy to get home and glad our first day with the car went so well.
Day 82, Friday, November 15, 2019
We walk through the Old Jewish Quarter this morning. These murals are on buildings within a block of our apartment.
Many of the buildings in this neighbourhood are old and in need of repair but the murals do brighten up the neighbourhood.
Bob tells me to look inside this little blue van…
It is set up as a little dining room! It is kind of cute, except I look in the front seat and it is dirty and cluttered with junk. Not very appetizing, 
There are many shops and workshops tucked into the buildings on narrow streets, sometimes even in the basements, like this bike shop. I think my bike riding daughter will appreciate the sentiment of the sign above this door.
This is probably one of the most colourful doors I have ever seen.
The buildings here have very interesting architectural details.
Seems every city we have ever been in has an Astoria Hotel!
Loved the room at the top of this white building. Imagine living there.
The Holocaust Tree of Life Memorial was funded by the late American actor Tony Curtis in memory of his Hungarian-born father. The names of 30,000 Holocaust victims are engraved on the leaves of the metal tree. The tree resembles an upside down menorah and is located on top of the mass graves of thousands of murdered Jews.
The tree is located behind The Dohány Street Synagogue which is also known as the Great Synagogue. It seats 3,000 people and is the largest synagogue in Europe and the third largest in the world. We didn’t have time to go inside because we want to go to a thermal bath today.
One more interesting building on our way back to our apartment. The top doesn’t seem to belong to the bottom.
The Széchenyi Spa Bath in Budapest is the largest one in Europe, with 15 indoor and 3 large outdoor pools. Its water is supplied by two thermal springs. Here is the floorpan of this huge complex.
We start out in this pool with a fun whirlpool-like circular ‘river’ that pushes you around it very quickly. 
This pools for lane swimming, not for us today.
We like this pool as it is warmer than the first one. 
Inside there are fifteen more pools. This is one of the warmer ones and the only one that has comfy lounge chairs, so we stay here for a while. I sit beside Bob, in the corner and do some drawings of the bathers. Budapest didn’t have any life drawing classes, or at least none that I could find, so this will do instead. 
The building is magnificent but it is starting to show its age here and there. I think it might need a renovation before too long. This is a great place for people watching, and we do come in all shapes and sizes!
By the time we go back outside it is dark, and the steam is rising from the pools. We were thinking of taking a boat ride on the Danube tonight but we decide to stay and enjoy more time here.
There are more people now than when we first arrived, and most of them are much younger than us. We see a few other grey-haired ‘oldies’ but we are few and far between. We spent more than five hours enjoying the baths, and we both feel nice and relaxed.
Day 81, Thursday, November 14, 2019
We take a river taxi this morning and finally get onto the Danube River. There are all sorts of boats on the river…
including very long barges…
river cruise ships, and whatever this ship is.
Our taxi is quite nice, with tables and chairs on the top deck and a dining room on the main deck with white table cloths. Not what we expected for a river taxi. The ride is only four stops in the winter months so we also ride it back to where we started, just to spend a little more time on the river sight-seeing.
There is a great view of the Buda Castle… 
and an interesting row of houses on the Buda side of the river.
We pass right under the Chain Bridge heading back towards the Parliament Building.
The workers washing the sides of this river cruise ship waved to me when they saw I was taking pictures.
The river was very calm and the sun was still low in the morning sky. We could just make out the Liberty Statue we visited yesterday on top of the hill in the distance.
We return to our stop near the Parliament Buildings and I get a great shot of this enormous building. The Budapest Parliament building is the third largest Parliament building in the world. It has 691 rooms, 20 kilometres of stairs and at 96 meters. It is the same height as the St. Stephen’s Basilica. We decided against visiting the interior in favour of spending our time outside. 
This is our water taxi. We saw several others but none of them looked as nice as this one. I think we were just lucky and happened to catch the best one!
The guards in front of the Parliament stand on opposite sides of this big flag pole and then every once in a while they march together round and round the flag pole. We both think it must be quite tedious.
We catch a bus back towards the Indoor Market. I forgot to get a photo yesterday.
We were looking for the ‘For Sale’ Pub, but when we walked in the waitress told us they weren’t open and refused to let me take a photo. So here is one off of Trip Advisor. If you have something for sale you write it on a piece of paper and stick it wherever you can. This started before there was internet and now people pin whatever they want to the walls. There is straw and peanut shells all over the floor and candles on the tables. Seems like an accident waiting to happen to me!
We walk from the market area back towards our apartment passing a variety of interesting buildings. Some of them were in need of restoration…
and others were well cared for.
We stopped to see the University Library. It is in an old palace, and we wandered about checking out the rooms. This was the most interesting one, with its balcony, but I didn’t climb up to it. The stairs were behind the librarian’s desk and I didn’t want to disturb all the people studying.
Take a look at this corner…there are big bean bags for reading, or napping!
We see flower boxes still in bloom in the middle of November, lots of these grey and black birds (they are Hooded Crows), interesting art work in shop windows, and this sign which translates to One Psalm. No idea what that means.
There are so many gorgeous buildings in this city…
it is easy to take too many building photos!
After lunch and a rest we are back on the streets, looking for a puppet theatre. We pass several buildings with wooden scaffolding, made with big timbers. There are a lot of buildings that need work, and we see quite a few that are boarded up along one of Budapest’s main streets.
The puppet show is in Hungarian but we know the story and thought it would be a fun things to see. The theatre was full of school kids who really enjoyed the show. We did too. Here are some fo the cast taking a bow at the end of the play…
and some of the displays in the lobby.
I did some drawing during the play. These drawings were done in the dark so I couldn’t see what I had drawn until the lights came on. Can you figure out what the play was? There is a pretty big clue in my drawings.
I peek into this book store as we walk home after the play. I love book stores that look like this!
These photographs were on the wall outside the House of Terror Museum. According ot Wikipedia “It contains exhibits related to the fascist and communist regimes in 20th-century Hungary and is also a memorial to the victims of these regimes, including those detained, interrogated, tortured or killed in the building.” 
We pass this rather odd couple on our walk home, not far from the House of Terror.
Day 78, Monday November 11, 2019
I posted part of today on Remembrance Day, and now I am adding the rest of our day’s activities. Here is the rest of our November 11 walking tour.
Bob has organized a walking tour of Budapest today. As we started our walk I noticed lots of people hanging out on this balcony.
We are staying in the Old Jewish Quarter and the roads are very narrow and crowded. As we leave this area, the roads widen and there are many pedestrian-only roads and big plazas. This large ornate building is the first large building I see on the main Street near our apartment.
We walk towards the nearby Christmas Markets. There are lots of small wooden ‘cabins’ filled with beautiful crafts. I loved these dried fruit ornaments, but I am sure that I wouldn’t be allowed to bring these through Canadian Customs. Too bad, they are lovely and smell wonderful.
There are several stands with all sorts of candies…
beautiful felted hats, that are priced starting at $150.00 CAD.
This our first Christmas tree of the year.
This ‘Little Princess’ is the first of many statues we see on the streets of Budapest.
Another ferris wheel, but we decide to pass on riding this one. 
St. Stephen’s Basilica is in the centre of Budapest.
The inside off the church has lots of gilded ornamentation and a beautiful dome.
The main attraction in this church is the thousand year old mummified right hand of King Stephen. If you want to see this relic, deposit a coin and a light comes on to view the hand.
These two borzoi dogs looked like they needed a bath and brushing. There are lots of dogs here and they live their lives on pavement. I kind of feel sorry for them.
The Fat Policeman Statue represents how hearty the Hungarian foods are, and rubbing his tummy is supposed to bring good luck. There are many ‘good luck’ statues on the streets of Budapest.
The Hungarian government erected the ‘Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation’ statue in the middle of the night in July 2014.
A ‘Living Memorial’ was added in front of the statue as a protest against the government’s message that it was only the Nazi’s who committed crimes of genocide, ignoring the wartime Hungarian governments involvement and responsibility for the Nazi’s occupation.
This ‘Living Memorial is a collection of photos and newspaper clippings about the victims of the war and the Hungarian government’s collaboration with the Nazis.
It is believed that this statue is part of the government attempt to ‘revise’ history. The war may have ended 74 years ago but it is still very much a part of life here in Eastern Europe.
Some seed pods from one of the trees near this statue are interesting.
There is a statue of Ronald Reagan in this plaza as well because of his efforts to end the Cold War.
There are so many ornate buildings here…
like the Parliament Building! It is so big I can’t get it all into one photo.
Across the river we can see the Buda Castle.
Bob takes a moment to sit with the Hungarian poet Attila József…
and then we walk onto the Chain Bridge with its guardian lions for a view of Budapest from the river.
This is the Pest side of the river, the side our apartment was on…
and this is the Buda side. These two cities were united in November 1873, and the name ‘Budapest’ was given to the new capital.
I don’t know what this building is but it had delicate golden trim that sparkled in the late afternoon sun.
We find a statue of Roskovics Ignác, a famous Hungarian painter, on our walk along the Danube River.
Walking through the Christmas Market on our way home I notice this jar of pickled onions! They made me laugh!
Day 75, Friday, November 8, 2019
We had a leisurely morning and I did a bit of packing in preparation for checking out tomorrow. Early afternoon we catch the train and then a FlixBus to Bratislava, Slovakia to pickup our last rental car.
This photo taken from the bus window is a bit blurry. We noticed that one of the windmills had a fire the last time we were here. Today the big arms have been removed. It must be difficult repairing these, they are so high off the ground.
When we get to the airport we are worried because the Budget Car Rental booth is closed! Turns out the attendants are out in the parking lot so after a short wait we pick up our car and head back to Vienna. I noticed this big mural last trip and managed to get a photo this time. It is dark by the time we get back to Vienna and we spend the rest of the evening cleaning our apartment and packing for our drive to Budapest tomorrow.
Day44, Tuesday October 8, 2019
Our little apartment has a masonry stove that keeps us toasty warm. One box of wood keeps us warm for 24 hours.
On our way in to Linz we see this ‘green’ apartment. Lots of gardeners must live here.
It took some time to find the bike rental company. They weren’t easy to locate. We pass this big mural during our search.
I thought these bikes were quite interesting. They fold up compactly.
We start out on our bike trip along the Danube. Bob wants dot take my photo while I was still in one piece!
There are some great views along the way…
and some wooded trails. I did quite well until the killer hedge tried to get me…and then there was the vortex railing! If I got too close it tried to suck me in!
Bob left me at a coffee shop to rest and sketch and he went a bit further down the river, crossed a bridge, and then returned on this strange looking ferry. 
These flowers are much like the anenomes we grow at home only much larger.
We see the long barge steaming down the river.
This curious mural is on a building near the café where I waited for Bob.
The trees here are so big. I found out that the average temperature here in January and February is -3 Celcius and -4 Celcius. So much warmer than our winters, no wonder the trees grow so large.
Our selfie along the Danube.
I need a few breaks on the ride home, so a photo is a good excuse for little rest 😉
These river cruise boats remind us of our cruise on the Nile, where the cruise ships were lined up 6 or 7 deep along the shore. Passengers had to walk through all the ships, sometimes walking across the water on a narrow board between the ships, to get to shore.
This wasp was really big!
We take our bikes back. They are in a building which is an incubation centre for start-ups. Looks like these steps are a place to relax, or even snooze. 
We see two souped up go-carts being wheeled into the building.
I am happily surprised to discover Gerstäcker, a huge art store, in this building. After our ride I spend at least an hour exploring and find some new drawing pencils, and two really nice hardcover Hahnemühle Sketchbooks, a 10″ square and a 8.5″ x 12″ rectangular one. They were really reasonably priced too! I couldn’t resist even though my suitcase will be a lot heavier.
Nearby is an industrial area called Mural Harbor. Artists from over 25 nations created more than 100 works of art on warehouse buildings.
It is getting dark and it is raining so we drive around and see what we can from the car before heading home. There are some pretty impressive works here. These are all at least 10-12′ tall or larger. I particularly liked the cat and mice.
When we get home Bob tells me that I rode 24 km. and he rode 38 km. No wonder I am tired! Good thing he didn’t tell me how far we were going to ride before we started.
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