Farewell to Paris--On to Barcelona

As we prepare to leave Paris for Barcelona tomorrow, we wrapped up our trip with a bus tour across town. We took the #69 bus from the end of our street through all the great neighborhoods to the 20th district. At the end of the line we visited the Pere Lachaise cemetery and paid our respects to Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison, among others. There were some amazing memorial statues to those who died in the various concentration camps during the war. Also, many to those who fought for the resistance and died at the hands of the Nazis.

There is so much more to see, but we will have to save it for another visit. Lasting memories from this trip include:

The Food--of course, and we have done our best to sample as much as we could--crepes, cheese, croissants, frites, beef, lamb, mushrooms, fruit--all of it fresh and colorful and washed down with some great wines.

The Architecture---my descriptions can't possibly do it justice, but I love the wrought iron balconies--some dripping with flowers. The carved corbels and pediments over the windows and doors. The statuary and the gargoyles and the lamp posts and the bridges. All set in magnificent boulevards ending in grand squares with fountains or obelisks-- or windy little cobble-stoned streets that dead end abruptly as you round the corner.

The Metro-- We love subway systems everywhere, and this one is as fun to navigate as most--and even with the strikes it got us to where we wanted to be quickly and we only had to jump the turnstiles once.

The Shops--While everything here seems very expensive, especially with the Euro so strong, it's great fun to see what's available. Today we spent some time looking at the incredible variety of fresh fish (eels, scallops, octopus, shrimp, sardines, etc. etc. in the fish shop opposite the hotel. It was next door to the Cheese Shop which has more varieties of cheese than I've ever come across. Add to that fabulous bakeries every few steps, interspersed with cafes and chocolate shops--what's not to love!

The Weather--We've been so lucky that there has been only the briefest drop of rain while we've been here. Otherwise, it's been clear and cool--with splashes of sun!

Au Revoir from Paris.

Versailles, The Louvre and More

Wow, we have been on the run all over town and beyond. I had computer difficulties the other day--yes, user error, but the French instructions didn't help, so this is a few day's worth of activities.

A quick update on the political situation. We have not been impacted at all, although the lady at Versailles told us that they decide each day whether to open--depending on how many show up for work. The day we were there they opened an hour late-creating a big jam for those that had gone early--not us--we were eating. A few less trains running in the metro, but we don't follow a schedule so we don't know if they're late anyway. Word is that things are getting back to normal.

Yesterday, we took the train to the Palace of Versailles to get some home decorating and landscaping ideas. Talk about opulent, but I guess that's what Louis XIV had in mind 300 years ago when he and his 5,000 aristocratic buddies and entourage decamped Paris for the new digs.  If you're into gilt and marble, this is the place for you. Unfortunately, at this time, there's also some Japanese art exhibit going on and in the middle of the Hall of Mirrors there's a 15 foot high purple Pokeman like thing. We all thought that it detracted from the main event, but the Japanese tourists were in awe.

I personally like the brocaded canopies over and around the beds and thought it would be fun to do at home, especially with the plumes of feathers on the top. I also particularly liked the 8 inch deep dark red and purple marble door surrounds and thought it might add a nice touch to our house.

The gardens were amazing and spread beyond what the eye could see. We wandered up and down many of the pathways lined with trees and it felt as if you were in a giant maze. There were people boating on the grand canal and they looked like little dots from the house. We did have a sandwich in the garden and imagined what it would be like to send the children to play in the garden (come back when you're 18), but I'm sure they had nannies for things like that.

Yesterday we took the metro to the Arc De Triomphe and had none of the difficulties exiting that we did on our last trip--when we took a wrong turn and ended up face to face with a group of soldiers practicing with machine guns.  This time, we strolled out into the sunshine and spent some time watching the traffic whiz around the circle while all of us snap-happy tourists used up our gigabites on a multitude of photos.

We then ambled down the Champs Elysees and did a lot of window shopping. The guys went into Mercedes Benz and drooled over something that cost 189,000 euros, while Barbara and I zipped through all five floors of the flagship store of Louis Vuitton. I particularly liked a turquoise purse, but at 17,500 euros I thought that it might cut into my croissant budget, so we left it for the Japanese tourists standing three deep at the cash registers

Last night we walked over the Pont Alexandre (Alexander Bridge) with it's quintessentially Parisian lamp standards--all curly cues and gold leaf and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries to the Louvre (open late on Wednesdays). To say that we did the abbreviated version is putting it mildly, but we did ooh and aah over a fair number of Renaissance paintings and, of course, the Mona Lisa. I couldn't believe that they now allow you to take flash photos and videos of everything in the museum. There were people camped out in front of the Mona Lisa, including a 6 foot 4 inch guy with very big hair, just snapping away.

We figure that we walked over 5 1/2 miles yesterday, so we feel quite justified in our support of the local patisseries.

Today is was boating on the Seine--very relaxing and under beautiful sunny skies. It's still a bit chilly, but we have gloves, and Barbara and I did buy hats that are quite stylin'.  We also explored the Latin Quarter, where they have been learning Latin for over 700 years. I think someone should tell them that it's not quite so useful anymore, but what do I know.

While wandering up this street and that, we came across the Palais de Luxumborg and gardens and it was such a pleasant surprise. There's a large fountain and the kids were sailing boats on it. They had big sticks that they used to get the boats going, then the wind and water would sail them around--and the kids would race around the fountain to where they landed. It was so wonderfully low tech, you could imagine that kids have been doing that very same thing in that very same place for hundreds of years.

We sat in the sun and watched them for ages. Ah, life is good!!!

Paris, France--All Quiet On the West Bank

Bonjour! Mr. Nichols and Mr. Biggs, my high school French teachers would be so proud. Today I ordered 4 croissants and coffees with milk--in Paris. Actually, I had to have help, but it's the effort that counts. And ordering 50cl of wine just doesn't have the same cache as "Je vais chercher du bon vin, ala cave". 

Courtesy of Iceland Air, and with a very quick stop in Keflavik airport we arrived in Paris on Sunday wondering if we would make it out of the airport due to the barricades and protests. We have now been here for a day and a half and the only signs of trouble that we have seen were some long lines at the petrol station on the motorway coming into Paris from Charles De Gaulle.

The weather is quite like the Pacific Northwest that we left, mid 50's in the day, high 30's at night. Quite the shock for Carl & Barbara, our traveling companions from Atlanta.  

We had a fabulous day yesterday,eating our way across Paris. We started with breakfast at a quintessential cafe on the corner of a grand boulevard just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. Our fabulously crusty baguette and creamy butter topped off with fresh apricot jam. Freshly squeezed OJ always tastes so much better in a wine glass, plus we had our coffee with milk (espresso that was shown the milk jug--not much more). Our eggs and bacon came with the sunny side up eggs cooked in butter (yep that's the way) and canadian bacon.

A couple of hours later after we'd negotiated the metro out to the Bastille and sang "Do you hear the people sing" while marching down the street (well only Barbara and I did that, the men pretended not to know us). We ended up in the Jewish section where we had lunch at the "best Fallafel place in town". This told to us by our new best friend--the native Parisian standing next to us in the 25 minute line to get inside. You know it had to be good. He informed us that we had to have the Schwarma, which we did. He said that it was beef--actually that beef was lamb, but it was excellent. Fritz and I had it in a pita oozing with eggplant, tomatoes and sauce, Carl & Barbara had the plat du jour which was the same thing, but on a much tidier plate.

From there we walked to Notre Dame, paid our respects, and the men used the time inside to synchronize their cameras--heathens!

While strolling across to the left bank to get the metro we purchased a black peaked cap for Fritz as a replacement for his "I am an American Tourist" Cal Poly baseball hat. We're still working on Carl!  Barbara and I have our eyes on some tres chic cloche hats that we just need to have a couple of glasses of wine before we actually purchase.

Dinner was crepes--the men had dark chocolate and bananas, I had sugar and lemon and Barbara had Nutella. Yes it was a light meal, but it did come only a few hours after Schwarma.

We wandered over to the Eiffel Tower just for a post dinner walk and decided to go up as the lines were light. It was spectacular. The moon was full and the air was crystal clear (and chilly), and the views went for miles. We saw the Arch de Triomphe, the Seine winding by with the Bateau Mouche brightly lit up and many of the historic buildings were lit up as well--including the Tower which offered up a light show on the hour--while we were at the top---incredible.

Today, we're off to wander more neighborhoods, using that mad-man Rick Steves as a guide. Talk soon.