The last time we saw Seahike, she had a very dirty bum. When we went to the boatyard to check her out then splash her, she looked like a new boat! She’d been polished (sides and top), her bum’s nicks had been repaired and she had new antifouling paint. In addition, her engines had received some TLC, she had new sacrificial anodes, and her saildrive had received some attention.

Regarding the last thing, our starboard engine had been shaking a bit for some time. Michael asked the mechanic to check the saildrive while Seahike was on the hard. The mechanic discovered that the propeller shaft was slightly warped. We provided the requested parts and he replaced them. The problem with having the boat on the hard is that you can’t run the engine to see if the “fix” actually fixed the problem. (Spoiler alert: it didn’t.)

The downside to being on the hard is that two of Seahike’s front windows cracked. One by the portlight on the port side and one on the portlight on the starboard side. Dang. The one on the starboard side is big. The one on the port side is about three inches tops.

Here’s our “new” girl:

We visited Annecy on the last day of February, which happened to fall on a Leap Year.

Annecy is an alpine town in the south-east of France, with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants. It is located on the border with Switzerland. The city is crossed by the Le Thiou river, which flows directly into Lake Annecy. Annecy has a superb historic center, and is crossed by numerous canals and pedestrian streets. The city is also called “Little Venice of the Alps.”

It was absolutely beautiful in my opinion. How lovely it was to see the mountains in the distance next to the lake with crystal clear water! It is fun to just walk about and enjoy the views of the town and its surroundings.

NOTICE TO READERS: Today’s post is quite long and mostly about movies.

Michael wanted to take it easy the first half of the day in Lyon, so I walked to the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière and Théâtre Gallo Romain de Lyon-Fourvière by myself then met Michael at the funicular.

One of the first things I saw on my walk was the Place des Jacobins, a square located in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. It was created in 1556. It lies on a former Jacobin convent, which was destroyed in 1808. It is named after the Jacobin monks, who resided in the building. The white marble fountain standing in the middle of the square was sculpted in 1885 by Gaspard André. It represents four famous local artists and has four sirens.

Another thing that caught my eye was this statue. I didn’t know what it was but it was intriguing, so I took a picture. I have since learned that it is called The Weight of Oneself. A marble figure almost three meters high, it appears to be a savior. But upon closer reflection you can see that the man is carrying his double, and in so doing becomes his own savior but also his own millstone. These philosophical concerns echo the questions of civil and individual responsibilities which are debated every day in the nearby Palais de Justice. The artists are Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset.

The last time we posted we were at the Beehive in Montpellier. We were still on the fast track through southern France, so we took the train to Avignon the next day, visited, then took a later afternoon train to Marseille. I know.

We spent enough time in Avignon to get a feel for the town. We left our luggage at a locker at the train station which left us free to enjoy our visit.

Our first visit was to the Palace of the Popes. The Palais des Papes is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was a seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century. Six papal conclaves were held in the Palais, leading to the elections of Benedict XII in 1334, Clement VI in 1342, Innocent VI in 1352, Urban V in 1362, Gregory XI in 1370 and Benedict XIII in 1394. Since 1995, the Palais des Papes has been classified, along with the historic center of Avignon, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for its outstanding architecture and historical importance for the papacy.

I am going to share some pictures of the actual space compared to that displayed on the histopad.

We went to our doctors’ appointments – and my very critical hair appointment – saw a few friends and family members in Minnesota then flew back to Paris. Our goal for this trip was to visit Disneyland Paris and parts of southern France.

We landed at 6:00 a.m. Our hotel wasn’t available until 2:00 p.m. We had given ourselves a “day of rest” so we had nothing pressing. We found a lovely little cafe at the end of the block near our hotel. We first sipped cups of coffee at a snail’s pace, then ordered something for lunch. We absolutely adored the cafe! The coffee was wonderful and we were happy to relax in a lovely setting while we worked very hard to stay awake before going back to the hotel.

We arrived a second time at the hotel between noon and 1:00 p.m. We headed to their small eating area that included some sofas. I sank down on one sofa and listened to Michael chat with guests. Before I knew it, it was time to check in. Michael informed me that I had been snoring and capturing the attention of other guests. Oops!

We took a nap (a second one for me, apparently) and went to the same cafe for dinner. At that point, we were all about location.

Our second day was devoted to Disneyland Paris.

We had to schedule a trip to the US in February to see some doctors. We decided to spend a couple of days in Paris before going to the US then spend eight more days in France on our return trip.

The Musée d’Orsay is on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography.

To be completely honest, the main reason I wanted to visit the Musée d’Orsay was to see the view from the clock. We never did find the view from the clock, but we enjoyed our visit, especially the sculptures. Here are just a few pictures of the museum and the sculptures on display.

This next sculpture – Ugolin -has a rather dark back story.

Seahike had been standing still in Tunisia for about 3 ½ months by this time. She would be sitting still for another six weeks or so until we started our sailing season. We decided that this would be a good time to have her hauled out to get her bottom power washed, sanded and repainted with primer and anti-fouling. We also took the opportunity to have her tops and sides polished, have a mechanic look at the starboard sail drive and engine, and replace the sacrificial anodes.

We planned to leave for the US via France in February and wanted to be around for the haul out. (You will also recall that we’d planned some time before this to have her hauled out, as that is why we returned from our trip to Germany and Switzerland earlier than we had wanted.) The haul-out was scheduled for January 31. A beautiful sunset kept us company as we took Seahike to a nearby port where they have haul-out facilities.

We were instructed to be at the port at 8:00 a.m. We were. We waited until 11:00 a.m. to actually get Seahike hauled out. I hadn’t witnessed a haul-out before, so I rather enjoyed it.

The huge travel lift has straps that are placed under the boat which then lift it slowly out of the water. Then the travel lift drives the boat to its resting place in the yard, where workers place (in this case) wood under the hulls. The travel lift and its straps then drive away to repeat with another boat.

I am starting with the horrifying site: The Topography of Terror

From Visit Berlin: “Remembering terror and persecution – the documentation centre Topographie des Terrors is one of the most-visited places of remembrance in Berlin.

A place where terror is tangible, a place of remembrance and a warning from history, the “Topography of Terror” exhibition is located on the site where between 1933 and 1945 the principal instruments of Nazi persecution and terror were located: the headquarters of the Gestapo, the high command and security service of the SS, and from 1939 the Reich Security Main Office.”

A description from Germany/travel: “The Topography of Terror is different to the other places of remembrance relating to the rule of Fascism in Berlin because it is the site of the perpetrators. The exhibition at the heart of the capital city informs visitors about the headquarters of the SS and police state, which makes the European aspect of the Nazi reign of terror all the more real.

The site that has been home to the Topography of Terror since 1987 was once used to plan and govern the majority of crimes committed by the Nazis. Between 1933 and 1945, the main institutions of the Nazi instigators of terror, the SS and Gestapo, could be found here. Having been partially destroyed during the war and then changed beyond all recognition later on, this historical site was gradually added back into Germany’s memory of its past from the 1980s onwards. “

The major focus of the permanent exhibition of the “Topography of Terror” is on the central institutions of the SS and police in the Third Reich and the crimes they committed across Europe. The exhibition panels mostly present historical photographs supplemented by introductory texts and short quotes. Under the panels are consoles where thematically arranged documents are displayed.

It was actually quite a horrifying visit. I can’t bring myself to share any of the stories. That said, I think it is important to visit places like this. If you go to Berlin, gird your loins and go.

Now let’s move to the confusing site: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Let’s start with the facts: The monument is composed of 2,711 rectangular concrete slabs (or stelae), laid out in a grid formation, the monument is organized into a rectangle-like array. This allows for long, straight, and narrow alleys between them, along which the ground undulates. The stelae are 7 ft 9 ½ inches long, 3 ft 1 ½ inches wide and vary in height from 8 inches to 15 ft 5 inches. The site occupies an entire 205,000-square-foot city block.

The rest is open to interpretation.

We braved the cold and strong winds and visited several places in Berlin. But first, let’s talk about our hotel and Checkpoint Charlie. We stayed at the Mercure Hotel and Residenz Berlin Checkpoint Charlie. It is a nice hotel, in a good location, and just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie. We recommend it.

For those who need a refresher, Checkpoint Charlie was the best-known border crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. It became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West.

When Berlin was divided into East and West, the former military checkpoint was controlled by the Americans. Only foreigners, employees of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in the GDR, and GDR officials were allowed to cross the border here.

Important Site of the Cold War

There was hardly any other place where the atmosphere of the Cold War was as frosty as at Checkpoint Charlie. The border crossing gained notoriety in October 1961 after the construction of the Berlin Wall: in the last days of October, American and Soviet tanks took up positions here after members of the US mission were asked to identify themselves at the GDR border post when passing through the Allied checkpoint. Soviet and Allied tanks faced each other with live ammunition and a third world war almost ensued. In the years that followed, the checkpoint was the scene of spectacular escapes which often ended in death.

Here it is today! The “sandbags” are made of cement.

I bought this cup at the museum you see in the picture. It isn’t glass or ceramic so it should last on Seahike, unlike the glass glasses we foolishly brought onboard.

We thoroughly enjoyed our short time in Lucerne. But because we were on the fastest trip ever to see several sites in Switzerland, it was time to get a move on. Our next stops were Interlaken Ost and Grindelwald. We arrived in Interlaken Ost the evening of the 20th, so we had the full day to visit Grindelwald. If we’d had more time, we would have spent a full day in Interlaken West.

On the walk to the station to go to Grindelwald, we saw a paraglider – yes, paragliding in the middle of the cold winter! Don’t get me wrong, I liked my paragliding experience and I liked my 46 (? – give or take, I don’t recall exactly) skydiving experiences, but I did them when it was warm. No thank you to what this guy is doing! Here he is landing in the park right by our hotel.

Here are two more pictures of Interlaken Ost.

And just like that, we were in Grindelwald. Initial pictures: