Paris

Ahh Paris. What can I say? I am one of the multitudes that loves Paris, with its low skyline, the old magnificent buildings, abundant sidewalk cafes - a city brimming with juicy history. There are health food stores, vegetarian restaurants, good coffee, and wonderful treasures to be seen and had.
Velib is the citywide cheap bike-rental system similar to Bicing in Barcelona. Velib stations were plentiful!
• Bio Saint Germain, supermarche Bio – lovely, bright store filled with bio food at 30 Blvd St Germain, Paris, Tel: 44 07 3484; www.biosaintgermain.com
• Phyto Bar, 47 Blvd St Germain, Paris, Tel: 44 07 3699 is a restaurant serving organic food with a sister health food store next door. They offer an array of fresh squeezed juices –the grapefruit/kiwi is an especially refreshing combination. I also recommend the seaweed “caviar” made with a variety of greens from the sea.
• Naturalia is a chain of health food stores, with 25 throughout Paris plus 3 stores dedicated to natural beauty products – www.naturalia.fr.
A truly unique experience is a visit to the Grand Mosque in Paris, built by the French government in the early 1900s as thanks to the North African Moslems that helped defend France. The mosque itself is beautiful in its simplicity with tiled and whitewashed walls and gardens. On one side is a beautiful restaurant and tea room with indoor and out door seating. The outdoor seating is like stepping into another world with blue and white tiled tables amongst trees, plants and birds. I recommend the infusion menthe (mint tea), which is made with a handful of fresh mint leaves in a clear glass of hot water. La Mosquee, 39 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Paris – restaurant, Salon de The, Souk (gift store), Hammam (steam and hot baths with massage); Tel: 43 31 38 14; http://www.la-mosquee.com. Across the street you can walk through the Jardins de Plantes, the first public garden in Paris which is filled with medicinal and decorative plants.
For inexpensive clothing check out the “fripe” (that is second-hand store), Eileen, 53 rue Monge, within walking distance of the Mosque. It is a tiny, crammed-with-rummage store with clothes piled high and spilling onto the floor, but good prices and a definite adventure. I found a fabulous French jacket there and some shirts – I was looking for “made in France” and I found it at affordable prices ranging from .50¢-25 euros and up.
Bonjour ☺

Barcelona!

Barcelona definitely has a beat and vibe different from Valencia and Madrid. I found it to be the most full of tourists, less subdued for sure than Valencia, but also light and airy, which may be a factor of being on the sea. Barcelona is in the province of Catalonia, which has an independent and proud history. The native language is Catalan, but Spanish is also spoken. Signs and menus are usually in both.
Barcelona’s dominant tourist attractions are the buildings designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi who lived from 1852 to 1926. His buildings are beautiful with many elements drawn from nature and with many similarities to Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) inspired architecture. In fact they were contemporaries and died within a year of each other.
Health food stores and restaurants are plentiful, and the huge La Boqueria market, just off the La Rambla, is not to be missed – open in the mornings everyday but Sunday. In the back is an organic and vegetarian take-out deli whose motto is “Organic is orgasmic.” Also available at many of the stalls are fresh squeezed fruit juices - kiwi, coconut, mango, pineapple and many more. Cheese stalls are also plentiful – look for the many options of “obeja” (sheep) and “cabra” (goat) cheeses. You can find the 10 Veritas Health Food store locations around Barcelona at: http://www.ecoveritas.es. Other health food stores can be located at the very useful website for vegetarian foods in Barcelona: http://www.sincarne.net/barcelona-health-food-shops.htm
Barcelona is in general a biker friendly city, with many bike lanes and promenades. The inexpensive citywide bike rental system, Bicing, is visible and used by many people.
And I can't forget the Magic Fountains! A color, light and water show put to music - better than fireworks in my opinion - done in the evenings - only Fridays and Saturdays in the winter, but every night in the summer - a must see if you are in Barcelona.

Windmills!

Windmills are plentiful in Spain (and also in parts of France). I felt like a child at Christmas every time I saw a row of them out of my train window. The people around me surely thought I was "loco" as I would leap up for no apparent reason, camera in hand and dash for the between-the-cars space for the best picture taking position, trying to capture the fabulous display of humans and nature working arm-in-arm as it were.
These pictures suffer from being taken from moving trains, but they convey the idea.

Valencia, Spain

Valencia, Spain’s third largest city, is part way down the Mediterranean coast of Spain and is surrounded by acres of orange and olive groves. Clean and regal, Valencia is larger than I imagined, but has a busy yet relaxed quality. People walk and bike a lot, as well as take advantage of the new and fairly sparkling tram and metro.
I stayed at a youth hostel in the center of the old city: Center Valencia, c/ Samaniego 18; Tel: 963 914 915; www.center-valencia.com .The hostel was one of the nicer ones I have frequented. The rooms were clean and in my 4-women room with two bunk beds we had our own shower and toilet – a luxury by hostel standards. Another luxury was that in addition to the four computers in the common area, there was WiFi throughout the hostel so I could use my own computer in the comfort of my room. The only downside was that the last two nights I was there a large high school group checked in and were up partying until 4:30 am both nights – groan! But my Romanian roommates were a delight and we had fun sharing our daily adventures.
Spaniards love outdoor cafes and restaurants so the city was full of these and I saw only two Starbucks in Valencia. Oranges were plentiful, cheap and some of the best I have ever eaten. Fresh orange juice is served in many cafes and a local specialty is “Aqua de Valencia,” made with orange juice, white wine and water.
Valencia has huge, beautiful public beaches, which I highly recommend. I went everyday for long beach walks along the turquoise sea, combing for sea glass, shells, and sea ceramics, Spain’s special version of sea glass, since ceramics are such a large industry in Spain. True to rumors, Spanish women were walking and sunbathing topless, irregardless of their shape or size, without so much as a second glance from anyone except me.
I found health food stores throughout Valencia, although the mother lode was the J. Navarro Terra Verde Store in the old part of city not far from the train station. It is large and beautiful, the closest you will find to a Whole Foods-type store, with a particularly large selection of gluten-free products including baked-goods. They have produce, beauty products, bulk foods, cold and frozen, an extensive cheese selection, basically anything you could want - www.terraverda.com.
There are tiny health food stores sprinkled throughout the city. Out by the university is Ecorganic ecomercat, Avda Blasco Ibanez 66, Tel: 963 892 003; www.ecorganicweb.com . This store is not huge, but has a good selection and variety of food including gluten-free, goat/sheep cheese and yogurt, bio produce, a tiny bit of bio meat, plenty of dry goods, body care, and more. Open: 9:30-8:30; Tel: 96 389 2003. The closest Metro is Aragon. Out of the metro, walk up a few blocks and take a right onto Avenue Blasco Ibanez.
A small store in the north part of the old city not far from the youth hostel is the Herboristeria del Carmen, c/ Roteros 13; Tel: 963 923 315, Open Mon-Fri 9:30-2/5-8, Sat 10-2. They have a small array of products including delicious bio oranges and bio-saffron – a Spanish delicacy and great souvenir.
By chance I found a small second hand clothing store where I bought an authentic Spanish black, felt, Zorro hat for 2 euros! Marropa (ropa de 2a mano), c/ Pza Cisneros 5, around the corner from the little Herboristeria above and the youth hostel. Open Mon-Fri 10-1:30/ 5-8.
Spain is not known for being vegetarian – in fact pigs are very big here – literally and figuratively, but Valencia does have a few very good vegetarian restaurants, two of which I scoped out:
La Tastaolletes, c/ Salvador Giner 6; Open Tues-Sat 2-4 (lunch) and Mon-Sat 9pm-midnight (dinner) closed Sundays and Monday until dinner. Tapas range from 4.50-9, Salada 8-9.50, and entrée 10-11. I ate an ample, delicious and unusual Seaweed salad here and had a glass of house vino tinto (red wine), for a total of 11 euros one evening at 9:30 – early by Spanish standards, but late by mine.
Espai Visor café and gallery, Corretgeria 40; 3 course meal is a prix fixe of 18 Euros, Open Tues- Sat 5-9 café and gallery, restaurant 9pm-11:30 pm. The restaurant part is small – about 5-6 tables, but the menu is fabulous. Similarly, the gallery space is small, but lovely.
Valencia is full of small stores brimming with goods. I was disappointed to learn that the comfortable and funky Camper shoes, sold worldwide, are no longer made in Spain, but China, which saved me being tempted to buy a pair while here. Traditional Spanish espadrilles were not so abundant in Valencia (see Madrid entry later).
I found a store in the old city not far from the Espai Visor restaurant called Namo Buddha, selling beautiful, authentic and some rare items from Nepal and Tibet, run by a lovely Spanish man named Pablo and his Nepali wife, Goma. Namo Buddha, c/Danzas 3, Valencia; Tel: 96 391 6509; gomanepablo@hotmail.com; www.namobuddha.phpnet.us.