S and J's Big Adventure(s)

It's November 4, 2026!
Opps, the November snuck up on me

Let's start at the beginning of October.

The weather is getting cooler!

Then we have more friends visit from Monterey...

Susie, John, Bobbi and Polly
at "Bleu"

Bobbi and Polly were here for a day as a stop on the way from the southeastern coast to the southwestern coast of France on their road trip from Bordeaux to the Mediterranean and loop south, then west to us and then back to Bordeaux to Paris and home to the States. Was fun to see Bobbi and meet Polly.

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We got our appointment with OFII (not sure what it means) and prepared our documents for the medical visit at the OFII office in Bordeaux. We decided to take the train to Bordeaux early Sunday, see the city, relax in a nice hotel with a pool/spa/restaurant and then on Monday find our way to the OFII site, then come home on the train to sleep in our own bed.

John's dinner - Octopus leg
It also had a fancy name
that I don't remember

My dinner - veal
It had a very fancy name
that I don't remembe

In the bar for after dinner drink

Monday morning, this is the view we woke up to

Going down the elevator

Bordeaux down the street from OFII

We enjoyed our little getaway. Weather was perfect, too.

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The big excitement of the month were the protests in the streets of Paris and...

PAU!

The first Saturday of the national protests, John and I went out for a walk and the streets were packed with protesters. We had to take a couple of detours and getting closer to the Post Office we noticed protesters rushing toward us with teary eyes and frightened faces. We stopped to talk to a friend in front of her apartment and noticed the smoke (tear gas???) dissipating from up the street. When the smoke and people stopped rushing by, we naively proceeded up the street. At the end of the street there was a bonfire and police were standing around it and all the shops and the shopping center were closing and locking themselves in. We sort of detoured to the back of the shopping center to see if we could go in, but it was also locked with guards at every door. As we proceeded to go around the block to avoid the crowds of protesters, we heard firecrackers, so we rushed further away and finally found our way home where we locked our doors and closed the blinds.

The next weekend, the City prepared for the worst and there was police and military presence everywhere. Our building locked the gates and we were told to put down our metal blinds on the front of our balconies.

Police presence around Place Royale...

John was enjoying the peace
in the protection of the metal blinds

The next weekend there was a peaceful protest parade below our balconies.

It was so peaceful John was totally unaware tha there was anything happening...

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A beautiful peaceful sunset in Pau

So ends another adventurous month in Pau...

Let's see what November brings...

Alicia arrives from Japan
for the Month of September

What a treat to have our youngest grandchild with us for a month.

I took the train to Paris the night before she arrived on September 2, 2026.

Settled in the Hotel L'Enclos Rey (God's/King's Enclosure - a former monastary)

September 2 to 4, 2026

Pick up Alicia at CDG, back to Hotel for a shower and nap.

Then a tour of Paris from the To-oTbus (Hop on, Hop off)

At 7:00 am Alicia arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport

Arriving safely...

The iron doors to the "Hotel"

To-oTbus Tour Map

The bus tour starts at the Tower

On the bus tour...

Dinner at a nice restaurant

Pasta

A full day of site seeing and

a metro ride to Palais Galleria and lunch

Now for lunch...

Yum, French Onion soup

Some site seeing in Paris...

Dinner

For Thursday...

Versaille!!!

George Washington

Who knew? A wing in the Chateau dedicated to the American Revolution

The Hall of Mirrors

Admiring the view

The Royal Chapel

Now the Gardens

We have something to eat
in one of the Tea Rooms

As we look across a courtyard we can see the queens of the castle

Thank you,
Louis XIV

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Before we leave, a last visit to Eiffel Tower Park...

As we eat our ice cream cones an Indian Cultural Parade called "Nagar Yatra" begins in front of us

We have to hurry to get ahead of the parade so we can make it back

to our hotel and catch our train to Pau.

Now the train from Montparnasse Gare to Gare de Pau begins.

Gare de Pau

We settle in and then take a walk on the Boulevard

John and Alicia in front
of our apartment building

September 5-13, 2026

We have a week of settling in Pau and getting to know each other better.

In the lobby of Residence le France

Shopping with Katie and Shani

September 14 - 18, 2026

NICE, France to see Olivia! (and meet Thibault)

We take the Flixbus to Nice from 8 Boulevard Lucien Favre

A blip in the trip...

We go to get some food at the stop in Toulouse - the food takes a while and the bus leaves without us ... with our luggage. 😛
We are able to get the BlaBla bus to Nice.
Of course when we reach Nice, our luggage is gone with the Flixbus.
We check in to our hotel - Hotel Lepante (without luggage), go to bed (it's about 1:30 am now.)
Next morning, we check in with Olivia, who says she will see us at our hotel at noon.
We breakfast at the hotel, buy toothbrushes and prepare for the rest of the day.
Olivia meets us at the hotel: John and I go back to the airport/bus station to look at lost luggage,
Olivia and Alicia take off to see Nice and get to know each other (they have never met.)
Of course, our luggage is not at lost luggage as the Flixbus rep said was a possibility.
We now go to meet our granddaughters for shopping at Monoprix for underwear, nightwear and a change of clothes before we meet Thibault at his family's 100 year old used bookstore...

Now our trip in Nice begins...