Spain: First thing we notice is how much French we had actually learned! We all found ourselves using French even before English and in place of Spanish! The first restaurant we went to assumed we were French and offered us the French edition of the menu. Next thing we noticed is the Figueres is a larger town than we had imagined. Unlike Paris with its excellent mass transit everyone in Figueres has a car! The tiny narrow streets are difficult to maneuver through, especially when you haven't driven a car for three months(the fact of which Kevin is enjoying tremendously!). Kevin did a marvelous job. Finding the house was a challenge since we arrived in this bustling little big town after sunset so reading street signs was a challenge. Eventually we happened down the correct street, spotted the house, located a parking spot about 5 blocks away, trapsed back with our bags and opened up Pakita's little Spanish house. It was obvious from the minute you stepped in that George and his family have put a lot of work into this heirloom. Thanks to Pascual Pesudo the place was warm, there were a couple of cold beers in the frig, and towels and sheets were laid out for us. Pascual was wonderful. He watches the place for George and Pakita and we needed to get in touch with him to get the keys to the parking garage. He personally made sure that our first Spanish experience was perfect.
I don't know what just happened but I lost the blog for a moment! Back to Spain...First Pascual gave us free passes to the Dali Museum (Teatre Museu Dali)as well as passes to the adjoining Museum that houses jewelry that Dali designed. Second he gave us ideas for road trips to the interior and to the coast. The Dali museum is the only draw to Figueres for most people and it was packed, even at this time of the year, and very different! It is so worth seeing! Dali was very big in this town and the surrounding countryside inspired much of his art. Going inland Pascual had advised us to take a meal (dinner is usually around 1:30-3:30)in this town called Beuda. He said don't be turned off by the size of the town, there are only 4 houses but there are two restaurants! We took his advise and had a very spanish meal without menus, itemized bills, or a waitress that spoke any English, for only 27 euros(for 3 of us)! It was very good and very entertaining! While on the inland drive we happened upon a very old town, Besalu, with a maintained front gate and fortress facade that was awesome. We also visited a lake and soaked in the countryside and the clouds and the rain! Fortunately, the rain ended and the next day was
clear and beautiful as we braved the Costa Brava! We visited three coastal towns that were on three sides of land that jutted out into the Mar Mediterraneo. There was beautiful coast line, beaches and lots and lots of white houses. We found that we much preferred the coast way from the towns rather than the busy touristy towns themselves. Outside the second town we skirted around we happened upon Dali's house. It was unfortunately closed for the season but be got the flavor of it. The last coastal town, Roses, was actually very boring but it was the beach that you could get to by bus from Figueres. It was more like a beach resort town in Florida but it has a cool old fortress which we only got a peek at but it looked authentic.So thanks to Pascual's advice we had a wonderful visit in Figueres but he wasn't finished yet. Our last night he and his wife wanted to take us out to dinner. For reasons not quite clear the first place they wanted to take us was closed so we ended up at his second choice. First we had drinks at Hotel Paris, which is neither a hotel nor in Paris. Then we had dinner at Restaurant Duran. This is when it became evident that Pascaul was important in Figueres. The Duran was the restaurant that Dali always took his family. There was a special interior room which was permanently reserved for the Dali family. Pascual, knowing the proprietor, arranged for us to dine in this secluded intimate dinning room with Dali paraphernalia everywhere. It was many impressively served courses served expertly and tasting magnificent! And if this guy hadn't impressed us enough after dinner he was taking his wife dancing! :) We had to go home so we could get up early and drive back to the airport! :(
Shortly after we returned to Paris, Danny flew in from Portland. While Kathleen was still on
vacation we did a few touristy things with him. We went back to Montmartre and had beautiful portraits drawn of Danny and Kathleen. It was freezing cold but they sat nicely. Now we just have to get back with Megan and Kevin and myself. I love to watch these artists in action! We had to go to the precinct to extend our visas while Danny was here so he walked around the Latin Quarter and met us a Notre Dame. The crowd was not too bad so we decided to climb to the top of the tower! Very cool and a wonderful view. Now I have done it twice yet never with Kevin! One of these days he will get to the bell tower, too!It was very nice having Danny here and we shared some family meals as well as dinning out a little as well. Then on Friday Kevin had to go to Houston for his annual conference and Lilly, Danny's girlfriend, arrived from Portland. Kevin and Lilly saw each other in passing at the airport but that was all because Lilly went back today and Kevin comes back tomorrow! It was very nice having Lilly here as well because the two of them could go out and do all of the touristy things we had already done without us tagging along. Two fun things they got to do was hook up with some young people. First, they went out on the town with Kelsey Nolan (from Oak Park here for a semester abroad)and then they met up with Kallie Celeste in Versailles. Danny and Kallie knew each other when we lived in Livermore. She is the older sister of Danny's first best friend, Nick. She recently got married to a Frenchman and the whole Celeste family had come to Paris (Versailles) for the wedding. Unfortunately, Kathleen and I did not get out to see her this time but we will!!!
I think I have said enough for now. You may feel caught up now! As I said above, Danny and Lilly left this morning for the longest day of their lives. They woke up at 8:30 am Paris time and will arrive in Portland around about 9 pm Portland time but which will really be 4:00 am Paris time! Kevin arrives home tomorrow from an exhausting week of talks and science. Hopefully, it was also satisfying!
Thanks for reading our blog! We miss you all!
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