The country of the calm morning

We are leaving in 1 week for South Korea - "the land of the calm morning". Not because we need calm (my guess is a completely foreign environment in a language we -mostly- don't speak, isn't going to offer many calm mornings).  But we do need some natural beauty (i.e. National Parks),
and to see the horizon line again,
and maybe some night skies. 

We will go to visit our friends who are expatted in Seoul.  And we'll taste some rice, spicy barbecue and fermented cabbage.  Yay!

Fast train, cold evening. Avignon

As you may have noticed from the last photo I posted, B hurt his leg.  To be more precise, he completely tore is Anterior Cruciate Ligament.
So while he stayed home in bed in his compression tights waiting for the daily visit from the nurse and eating 3 meals a day prepared by his crème of a mother, I happily took our train tickets and a friend to Avignon. (Aveen-ñon)

689 kilometers (428 miles) in 2h38min.
French trains are fast.

I thought it would be warm,
but no,
the constant blow of the mistral ("fresh" would be a generous term) meant we were shivering while checking out the city walls and the pope's digs.  But it also meant that we had nearly the whole city to ourselves.
especially the first night

Popes' Palais 1309 - 1403

Irish Breakfast

Traditional breakfast is

a lot of meat.  Every morning.
Someone at the end told us it was only for weekends.
Good thing we stopped eating lunch because we were so full.

Colors, Dunfanaghy

Are you tired of Ireland yet?  Well you're not allowed.  Partly because I took too many photos.  And partly because it was so cool. 

So here is more:
The full range of Fall nail polish colors: stormy sea blue, wild grass, mossy green, rust, burnished cinnamon, and old stone gray.

We wandered around in ruins we found.

Saw the tallest cliffs in Europe

And were just generally amazed by the scenery.

Sunshine and Leprechauns

There was no shortage of castles or coastline in North Ireland.  And we were lucky enough to get some completely unexpected sunshine - and even a rainbow.  When we saw it, I tried to swerve the car over to follow it but B thought I was trying to drive on the right side and kept firmly in heart-attack lane left.  Plus apparently no one told the Frenchman about Leprechauns. 
Dude, why else would you go to Ireland if you don't drink whiskey? Hello Pot of Gold!

Dunluce Castle

Downhill House

Mussenden Temple

Leprechaun + pot of gold

Through a Window: Sunrise in North Ireland

This was my view at 7am at the Smuggler's Inn on the North Ireland Coast.  

This was often my view - large green fields with single houses and old stone walls, and sheep. 

Spray painted sheep.

I created a story in my head that involved the sheepherders spray-painting the sheep to identify them instead of branding or tagging their ears because it was more humaine.  

Heart Attack every time

B did the driving in Ireland.  I just quietly had a heart attack every time I looked up to see a car headed straight at us on the wrong side of the road. For 6 days straight. 

 

Wide Open Spaces

I have a soundtrack in my head.  When we go on vacations it is "Wide Open Spaces" and sometimes "Where the Streets have no Name."  It starts when we get in the rental car and we drive out of the lot - no reservations (I think B is allergic to reservations).  

We like 2^nd cities and small towns, no autobons, but old highways.  We stay at B&B’s which (at least in France) are less expensive and more personal than hotels.  We like to see the boon docks and taste the 3 different kinds of meat for local breakfast. After months of the loud resounding stone buildings and streets, we crave nothing more than a wide open spaces with a long horizon where you can see the sun come up. 

 

This is what we got in Ireland.

 

green awesome

And 1.5 hours away is.... 

Ireland

Weekends away

We are here

What you can be guaranteed on a weekend away

1st stop: Bread

2nd stop:

where your butcher will sell you a good chicken with claws still on it.  And seeing as how it was probably de-feathered recently - he's going to do a bit of this to it (just to make sure he gets all the feathers/bacteria)

And then you have the push and pull of grocery shopping - if you are in an area that has one.  The tug-o-war comes when you want fiber to be able to go to the bathroom at least once and the menfolk want just meat, cheese and wine.

 

 If you are lucky you get to come home to this:

your rented gites.  

That has been in ruin, but some smart person thought they would invest in and update. 

Hooray for old ruins with new comforts like proper showers in every room.

 

And then after getting dressed to go back to the baker to get your morning bread you pass the old stone walls

 the village church

and the town hall with the memorial in front with the names of those from the village who died in the war

and you go back to your old ruin to have breakfast

One way ticket?

 aller to Mauritius but aller-retour to a wedding in Ireland in November. 

I love how the default for buying tickets is one-way. 
How B says "return tickets are 115"
As if the one-way was an option.
As if we might just buy the aller ticket (departing) and not the retour (return).