We had a little excitement on Rue de France on Tuesday night. Fortunately, no one was hurt, so it was fun having a front row seat to watch the fire fighters at work.
Excitement on Rue de France
The other day, I suggested a couple of hikes as potential activities. We ended up settling on the hour-and-a-half, downhill hike as opposed to the three-hour, up-and-down hike. Still, I think Joan wasn’t too happy with me. We took the bus to Eze, a small town in the hills that Meg and I came across on our first bike ride.
Bus ride to Eze
Turns out, we had only seen the relatively nondescript part of town and not the much more picturesque and touristy, old town farther up on the hill. The women (and Steve) all managed to find some small trinkets to invest
The old town
Admittedly, the hike down to the sea was fairly steep with plenty of stairs, rocks, and uneven surfaces. On a sunny day, with blue skies, it would have been a bit more enjoyable.
A bit of a grey day
Loose footing
By the time we reached the bottom, at 1:00, we were all ready to eat… again. That seems to be the common theme of this trip. We had a great lunch at the small bistro on the main coastal road. And, of course, I didn’t skip the dessert! I’m quite sure I have never eaten as much as I have here over the last month. As a result, I’ve successfully trained myself to crave food every two hours or so.
Tomato salad
To finish off the afternoon, we made a quick stop at the Nice photography museum to see a very nice exhibit by a Dutch portrait artist.
Titled: Androgyny
For Friday, we decided to skip the buses and trains to just stay put in town. That said, the public transportions around here is fantastic, certainly by California standards. The tram and buses use the same transit card, which you can add money to simply by holding it up to your phone! So smart!
For the morning, we checked out the daily farmer’s market and then stopped at the Illusion museum. Good fun, and a great way to spend some time.
Help!
Baby Meg
The highlight of the day, though, turned out to be the “Luminisence” light show at the cathedral — Notre Dame de l’Assomption. Wow, absolutely spectacular. The cathedral itself self, finished in 1879, with stone columns and soaring vaulted ceilings, is amazing on its own.
Before the show
Impressive on its own
However, with dozens of projectors inconspicuously mounted around the church, pretty much every surface of the 70 foot high interior — columns, archways, ceiling, altar — could be transformed dynamically during the show. At times, sculptures, flowers, murals, suddenly appeared over the archways and ceiling, then morphed into other shapes and colors. An impressive sound system along with a dozen professional choral singers made for a totally entrancing performance. If you ever get the chance to see something similar, I highly recommend it.
January 19-20, 2026 — San Francisco to Marrakech Waiting for our plane at SFO I’m not sure if we’re ready for this, but our bags are packed (one carry-on each), we have a couple of “riads” booked for our ten days in Morocco, we’ve paid for our four weeks of French lessons at the Institut de Francais in Nice, we have a three-bedroom apartment booked there for the entire month of March, and our bikes are partially dismantled and BikeFlights primed to pick them up deliver to us. Traveling light Bike stuff As of only a week ago, we were still not 100% sure the trip was a go. After talking to Meg’s oncologist, however, we breathed a sigh of relief and committed to the plan. The doc felt that the because the new spot on her spleen was so small, chemo could wait until our return at the beginning of April. Of course, Meg was hoping to delay chemo as long as possible so she could be out and about while I was off on the trail. Nevertheless, the trip to France has been on the list for ...
Mon-Tue, January 26-27, 2026 -- Agadir, Morocco We didn't finally arrive in Agadir until 3AM on Monday morning. We had booked a direct seven-hour van ride the night before in Fez, but it was never confirmed. So, in the end, we took a train back to Marrakech and then a bus to Agadir. Miles of beach One of the unavoidable hazards of traveling as an obvious tourist here, is that you are a bit of a target and people are not always honest. As a result, you learn to be a little cautious and suspicious. However, that too can be a problem. If you get too cynical, you end up not trusting anyone, even when should and need to to get what you want. Trying to get a bus ticket in Marrakech at 9:30 at night was a bit stressful simply because we didn't really know how the process should work (the normal ticket windows were closed). There were just a bunch of men walking up to us, asking us where we were going, scribbling on a paper ticket pads, and asking for money. Not ve...
Saturday-Sunday, January 24-25, 2026 -- Fez to Agadir Hi all! This morning I experienced Fez on my own. Poor Dean ate a bum dinner last night in Marrakech and got food poisoning. He was pretty miserable, but suffered quietly…except when he was throwing up. No fun. So, after my breakfast, I bundled up, donned my raincoat (thanks, Jane!), and made my way to the Museo Nejjarine. Navigating my way through the Medina was tricky, but me and Google Maps got there. The Fez Medina Woodworking Museum The museum was a testament to the woodworkers and their crafts. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take pictures of the displays, but the building itself was pretty. The first floor consisted of the trunks of various trees showing the wood that was used, where it could be found in Morocco, and how long it lived. The other two floors showcased tools, chests, doors, chairs, stairs, toys, and even tablets that were used to help memorize the Koran. It was also a good way for me to read the Fren...
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