D03: A MAD KING’S LEGACY

Posted on September 6, 2015 by detoprod

We were still plodding through Astrid’s marvelous breakfast in the semi sleep mode that always comes with jet lag when our host, Alex, said, “Today you will see the work of a mad man but he is our mad man.” We are learning that Bavarians have a sort of perverse pride in the unusual and daring and will defend it to the death. Perhaps that explains the success of Bavarian-made BMW’s and Audi’s. And Alex meant business when he said, “Los geht’s” a term I learned in Coffee-Table German that means, “Let’s go.”

The Neuschwanstein castle is a two hour drive from Schliersee and follows a route that skirts the base of the Alps. Rain was a concern but Louise introduced Alex to the American adage of, “We’ll be Ok if there’s enough blue sky to make a pair of man’s pants.” For some reason he was tickled by that simple weather forecast.

You know you’re close to the castle when you pass this old church standing all by itself in a pasture. No neighborhood walking to church here but plenty of free parking.

It’s here you get the first look at the castle from a distance so Louise and I took advantage of the view.

As we drove closer, the roadside was crowded with stopped cars, each trying to get the best camera shot before going in to the village to get in line for tickets. It was noon. Plenty of time we thought.

So close yet so far could describe the hour-long wait to purchase tickets in the village for a castle tour in English. By the time we reached the window the only available tour was at 16:55 (4:55 PM) so we broke out the sandwiches Astrid had prepared. An uphill bus ride dropped us off for a short 15 minute walk (so says the brochure) to the castle. It was all downhill…an ominous fact.

Halfway down is a spectacular overlook of the village below and a beautiful lake in the distance. It comes just as you are almost pooped out from the downhill walk.

Here is where we got our first closeup view of King Ludwig’s fantasy. Even though constructed in the 1870’s it still looks almost new. In no way a fixer-upper.

We joined the crowd inside the courtyard, all waiting for their tour number to be called. There’s not much in the way of diversions here. No souvenir shops, no kids rides and no taco stands. Best news is the toilets are free.

Alex and I took off looking for photo ops on an upper level while more practical Louise went scouting for a place to sit…also at a premium.

We looked over the parapet and saw that not only was she able to find a seat, she had a whole bench to herself…but not for long. She used that downtime to mine a whole lot of information on Ludwig.

It seems that mad King Ludwig was not really mad at all. The general populace that financed his fantasies through their taxes decided he must be crazy to spend their money on such opulence for one person.

He was not the only crazy one. We neglected to read the fine print about the physical challenges of the tour. At the very start we climbed up 163 steep circular stairs in one of the towers until we reached the third floor. From there we stumbled through Ludwig’s private chapel, his bedroom, bathroom and banquet hall…most of them quite dark. Surprising for the time, he had installed a crude form of electricity, running water and a phone system. Unfortunately, cameras or any other photo apparatus were not allowed on the tour so you’ll have to make do with word pictures.

The story of Ludwig had an unhappy ending, at least for him. At age 40 he was deposed by his subjects. His dream castle had taken 17 years to build and was not finished. After spending only 172 days in his fantasy world, he was chucked out. Three days after his deposing he was found floating in a local lake. The official word was that he had taken his own life but the local gossip was that it was an assisted suicide…one in which he was an unwilling participant.

With the tour over we made our way back to the bus but this time it was UPHILL all the way. Poor Alex had to take over the portage of my camera bag and Louise’s purse if he had any hope of returning home. Before starting this trip Louise lamented that missing the daily regimen of our gym would put her in negative physical condition. After today’s forced march and pseudo StairMaster workout we are operating at a surplus.

Tomorrow we learn more about our hosts, our apartment and the area around Schliersee.

Auf wiedersehen.

Louise and Ray

Categories: AFN Radio & Television | 2 Comments

D02: ON OUR WAY TO DEUTSCHLAND

Posted on September 5, 2015 by detoprod

After the usual hysterics of last minute packing, Louise and I hit the road for our Lufthansa flight to Germany. We cut things a little tight but arrived at the airport in adequate time for our flight…or so we thought. The Arrival/Departure ramps at LAX were locked up solid and after fifteen minutes of inching forward, our daughter, Lisa, suggested we run for it. So began our European adventure, with Louise and I running curbside dragging our luggage toward the distant International terminal.

Though we arrived hot and sweaty, Lufthansa representative Kamelia ushered us through baggage procedures swiftly and pointed us toward the boarding gates where our magic carpet to Germany sat waiting.

Dragging our carry-on luggage behind us, we made our way easily through First Class and then Business Class (even though the aisles got narrower). Thanks to Lufthansa’s efficient boarding plan we were well in place before pushback from the terminal. We must say, that in trying to meet competition, Lufthansa does an excellent job in quality of service and professionalism of flight attendant personnel. What ever we asked for was brought with a smile. We were salved somewhat by the knowledge that First Class only arrives a few seconds before we do. Still, Coach is Coach, is Coach. Oh well, only 11 hours and 30 minutes to Munich.

It has been four years since we have flown internationally and we were impressed by the quality of entertainment devices built into every seat back. We had umpteen choices of things to watch and listen to but we spent most of our waking hours watching the graphic illustration showing the path, speed, altitude and distance being covered by our A320-600. It was almost as if, by watching, we could make it go faster and we would be in Munich in no time. Frankly, that doesn’t work and we recommend another form of entertainment to pass the time. We arrived in Munchen at promptly1:35 PM their time. Unfortunately, it was 4:35 AM our time and no amount of fiddling with our watches could shake the sand out of our eyes.

We were met by long-time friend Alexander Rudolph and Astrid who plopped us in their Audi A8 and pointed the nose toward Schliersee, some 60 miles southeast of Munich, We had not seen Alexander for ten years and spent most of the drive going over old memories and plans for our visit in Germany. Before arrival, Astrid’s daughter, Johanna, followed instructions and put a lieberkase in the oven. As we walked through the door the oven timer went off and we sat down to a beautifully prepared and tasty Bavarian meal. Did we have several excellent German beers to go with it? Did God really smile on Bavaria?

After dinner they showed us to to our new quarters for the coming month. We were expecting a tidy room or two with ensuite accommodations but were totally surprised at what we found. It is on the second floor of this house (where Louise is standing) with our own private entrance and anything else anyone could want. We’ll give you a tour in future issues of this Blog, but for now take our word that this is not Coach.

Taking advantage of a comfortable bed, we slept for 10 1/2 hours and only got up to check for bed sores. Suddenly we were on Bavaria time that matched our routine in Los Angeles but still hoping that jet-lag doesn’t kick in. Astrid set a lovely table that almost groaned with the traditional German breakfast specialties. We all sat down and had a leisurely breakfast and tried to calm their concern that the gentle rain would spoil our stay in Schliersee. It took a while to convince them that we loved the rain since we hadn’t seen any for months. They still don’t believe that one could tire of seeing the sun almost every day. They think it is some sort of California bragging.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow we visit mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle so tune in again.

Gute nacht from Bavaria.

Louise and Ray

P.S. Astrid and Alex do not use those laptops to communicate at breakfast. They actually talk to each other.

Categories: B3 Shakedown Cruise | Comments Off

D01: On the Road Again – Europe 2015

Posted on September 1, 2015 by detoprod

This begins a blog that will chronicle the return to Europe of Louise and Ray DeTournay. It will tag along as we complete a tour that began in the summer of 2011. The Blog, “Second Honeymoon, Same Car” followed our meanderings in the 1954 MG-TF purchased on our honeymoon some 53 years previous. One intent of that trip was to create a sentimental journey along the paths we followed in 1958 plus travel to places that were difficult to visit during the Cold War. Those would include Berlin, Dresden, Prague and Cesky-Krumlov followed by trips to Salzburg, Lake Como and Venice. An extensive tour.

The prime purpose then was to find a new home for the car that had served us so well over five decades. The MG deserved new owners who would give it the same love and respect that it received from us. It was a wild and chancy idea that worked out when we met a German couple…oddly enough born in the same year we were married. We dickered, came to an agreement, signed the papers and handed our first-born over to its new caretakers in August, 2011.

Needless to Say…

With that transaction our European adventure came to an abrupt halt short of the cities that were once behind the Iron Curtain. We winged our way back to Los Angeles but the desire to complete that tour never left. This new Blog announces the resumption of that adventure. That’s why it’s titled…

“ON THE ROAD AGAIN”

Categories: B3 Shakedown Cruise | 3 Comments

Thank you for your interest in our twice-in-a-lifetime tour of Europe in our antique MG. We hope you enjoy our memory blog half as much as we did in creating it. Since this blog was first published in 2011, we have had a life-changing experience that we want to share with you. In January 2013, Ray was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer that had metastasized to a lymph node in his neck. In a cathartic effort to deal with the seriousness of the disease, and to keep friends and family informed of his progress, he began publishing a series of Ray Reports that chronicled his battle with this serious illness. After reading the blog of the trip, if you would like to understand more of what it is like to live through the cancer experience, just go to the upper right of the screen and click on Ray Reports: Living Through Cancer New entries will be added on a semi-regular basis. Louise and I hope you will appreciate…and even enjoy… the description of how we dealt with this life-threatening illness. Until then please dive into the story of our SECOND HONEYMOON, SAME CAR.

Welcome to the readers of Road & Track magazine. We hope you enjoyed the article and would like to know more details about our marvelous adventure through our blog. Unfortunately, the nature of blogs is the last entry is the first to appear. If you would like to start at the beginning just enter B01 in the Search box and it will take you to the first entry when we had no idea of lay ahead.

For those of you who prefer to read from hard copy rather than a screen, click on “Articles as PDFs” just above this text to see an index of entries from which to choose. The file sizes are reduced for quick downloads and suitable for printing. Whatever way you prefer, we sincerely hope you enjoy our Second Honeymoon in the Same Car. Louise and Ray DeTournay

Having spent over fifty years as a television professional, I find it almost impossible to sign off this blog without showing credits. In this case the credit goes to our family who supported us in this grand adventure; our friends who encouraged us to follow our dream and ignore possible bankruptcy, permanent crippling and destruction of our marriage and to the people who took us in, shared their food and wine and then gave us a bed. This project has been in gestation for over twenty-five years and it’s hard to believe it has come and gone. All we have left are the bills and the memories but the latter are enough to last us a lifetime.

So, here goes, in order of appearance:

Categories: Los Angeles | 13 Comments

B59 SEALING THE DEAL FOR REAL

Posted on August 30, 2011 by detoprod

Following the Sunday evening festivities, Evi and Michael Stadler kindly invited us to spend the night in their home and, in the morning, she fixed what amounted to a German power breakfast. On her table were various breads, cold cut meats, local cheeses, fruit juices, home-made condiments and freshly brewed coffee. What made it a power breakfast was all the scraps of paper on the table that constituted our deal. Aside from the title of ownership, there was a bill of lading, a government stamped acknowledgement of arrival in France, vehicle history and checklist of items contained in the vehicle. In addition, Michael needed our Swift Code to transfer the Euro amount into our Dollar account in the U.S.

By now I’m sure you’re all thirsting to know how much the car sold for and I’m afraid you won’t find that information here. Our CPA (who used to work for the IRS) advised us, “That’s nobody’s business but yours and the new owners.” Since I pay him for advice when he talks to me on the phone, this time I’m going to listen. Let’s leave it at this; He didn’t steal it and we didn’t give it away. I guess that’s what they call a real deal.

Categories: Eiffel Tower, France, Germany, Louvre, MG Club de France, Paris, Sacre Coeur | 7 Comments

D03: A MAD KING’S LEGACY

You know you’re close to the castle when you pass this old church standing all by itself in a pasture. No neighborhood walking to church here but plenty of free parking.

It’s here you get the first look at the castle from a distance so Louise and I took advantage of the view.

As we drove closer, the roadside was crowded with stopped cars, each trying to get the best camera shot before going in to the village to get in line for tickets. It was noon. Plenty of time we thought.

Halfway down is a spectacular overlook of the village below and a beautiful lake in the distance. It comes just as you are almost pooped out from the downhill walk.

Here is where we got our first closeup view of King Ludwig’s fantasy. Even though constructed in the 1870’s it still looks almost new. In no way a fixer-upper.

We joined the crowd inside the courtyard, all waiting for their tour number to be called. There’s not much in the way of diversions here. No souvenir shops, no kids rides and no taco stands. Best news is the toilets are free.

Alex and I took off looking for photo ops on an upper level while more practical Louise went scouting for a place to sit…also at a premium.

We looked over the parapet and saw that not only was she able to find a seat, she had a whole bench to herself…but not for long. She used that downtime to mine a whole lot of information on Ludwig.

It seems that mad King Ludwig was not really mad at all. The general populace that financed his fantasies through their taxes decided he must be crazy to spend their money on such opulence for one person.

Tomorrow we learn more about our hosts, our apartment and the area around Schliersee.

Auf wiedersehen.

Louise and Ray

D02: ON OUR WAY TO DEUTSCHLAND

Though we arrived hot and sweaty, Lufthansa representative Kamelia ushered us through baggage procedures swiftly and pointed us toward the boarding gates where our magic carpet to Germany sat waiting.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow we visit mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle so tune in again.

Gute nacht from Bavaria.

Louise and Ray

P.S. Astrid and Alex do not use those laptops to communicate at breakfast. They actually talk to each other.

D01: On the Road Again – Europe 2015

Needless to Say…

“ON THE ROAD AGAIN”

B60 BIG FINISH AND CREDITS

B59 SEALING THE DEAL FOR REAL

Read more »