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.

7-11-2010 Maui, Hawaii

Here's a fairly accurate accounting of our time here on Maui----Eating, Eating, Eating----Swimming, Snorkeling, Lounging---Sightseeing, Strolling, Shopping, Sleeping!

We have been here since Tuesday, Monique arrived on Wednesday and has to go home today, so we've been cramming in all of the important events as mentioned above.

Our B & B "Wai Ola" is a fabulous place just to the North of Lahaina. We have a 1,000 square foot apartment with a patio which leads right to the pool and hot tub. There is only one other couple staying here, a mother and daughter from Germany, and we have only seen them for about 2 minutes one morning. Therefore, we feel very proprietary about "our" private swimming pool. Kim, our host, is an excellent baker so we get little treats all the time--just what you need lots of coffee cake, mint chocolate chip brownies and chocolate dipped macaroons when you're trying to look sylph like in a swimsuit.  Actually, we've given up on sylph like and are now emulating some of the local Samoans. You just get a great big sarong and tie it over everything--then put your towel down next to the largest person on the beach.

We have seen some fabulous fish and urchins and coral while snorkeling. There's a great beach with a good reef just a few miles from here--although it has been quite windy which blows the sand into the water (wind is coming off the land so it's not the nice light trade winds you normally get here).

We have been hitting up all of our favorite eating spots and had a delightful meal at Cheeseburgers in Paradise--sitting in the open window---watching the sunset---listening to a nice young local guy strumming away on his guitar. We've also eaten so much fresh fish that we're starting to sprout gills, and have had our fair share of papayas with lime and pineapples. As that all sounds so nice and healthy, I won't go into great detail about the vast variety of Mai tais that have been consumed in the name of research or the macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup (don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em) that have been wolfed down in moments of weakness. These are especially delicious taken with a mimosa at Castaway's at Ka'anapali --best when sitting on the patio right on the ocean overlooking the island of Lanai. We liked these so much we've been twice.

Yesterday we went to the South end of the island to see what was going on there. They were having some outrigger canoe races, so while Fritz and I read our books under the shade of a big palm tree, Monique wandered down the beach to get a closer look. When she returned we asked if she had made new friends with some of the nice looking young men with paddles, she replied that, just her luck, when she got there they were just starting the Lesbian Canoe Club trials. Bummer!


 Aloha from Maui.

4-27-2010 Roatan, Honduras

Well here we are on the slippery slope to matching nylon track suits! We all purchased clearance Princess Caribbean T-shirts on board and wore them off the ship at our first port of call--Grand Cayman. Must admit that Grand Cayman didn’t do much for us. There was the usual array of Diamond sellers and T-shirt hawkers, so we hopped the local bus and paid $2.50 to go to Seven Mile Beach, which apparently is a bit shorter than its name. The sand was beautiful and white and the sun was shining, but the waves were a bit high for bobbing around, and the greatest insult was that a rum-punch was $8.75. Add to that the hoard of Carnival revelers that came and took over our covered pavilion and then proceeded to screech up and down the beach at each other and it was not the best beach adventure.

Roatan, Honduras today made up for it. We docked at Carnival Corporation’s new cruise dock (apparently there wasn’t a cruise dock, so they built it themselves)--complete with an old ski chair that takes you to the beach--about a 5 minute walk otherwise. They do have to stop the chair regularly for old people to get on and off and, while Fritz was making disparaging remarks, I had to remind him that he caused the chair to be stopped at Steamboat when he caught his ski tip getting off.

Still, we didn’t wait around the perfectly manicured beach at Mahogany Bay, but entrusted ourselves to Marlon and his trusty Toyota Corolla Taxi with the sagging headliner, no rear-view mirror and a piece of rope for the driver’s door handle. He gave us a tour of the island, including such hot spots as the new Wendy’s hamburger joint, the police check point where they have a rope stretched across the road as a speed bump, and Half Moon Bay where we spent the most delightful day. This bay has the best snorkeling on the island, and we were not disappointed. There was about 5 different kinds of coral, including my favorite--huge chunks of brain coral. There were dozens of fabulously colored fish from mottled browns that surprised you when they moved, to reds, to neon blues and greens and manta rays and fuzzy caterpillar like things. The water was like bath water and the outside air temperature was 106 degrees with 100% humidity, so the water was that much more enticing. Of course we had to cool off with some rum punches and local beers and fish fresh out of the bay---so you can see why this day rated as pretty close to perfect. Plus, we were only a slight shade of pink from yesterday, compared to many of our shipmates who spent their time in the sun and are now varying shades of brilliant red to flame red to “oh my god why didn’t I wear more sunscreen “ red.

3-28-10 Steamboat Mountain

Watch out world--we've advanced from beginner green slopes to intermediate blue slopes and now we're really cocky. Another beautiful day on the slopes--I think we must be like fair-weather golfers because we have been spoiled so much with gorgeous conditions. No more skiing in downpours or sleet or blizzards for us. Plus, we really like the Gondola--less chance of getting whacked in the head by the chair (which didn't happen all day either--see why we're cocky).

We came down from the top of the gondola to the base of the mountain, about a 2500 foot vertical drop--without incident--no going over the edge of the track, no running over the skis of other people, although Laura did yell at a snowboarder for almost running us over and interrupting our smooth wide curves. One of the runs reminded me of the mogul course that they used at the Olympics--apparently in warm weather they get carved up in the afternoon-and we even made it down that one--eventually. Don't we even sound more advanced.

Afterward we sat on the sun deck swilling a little Fat Tire and listening to the band butcher "Cheeseburgers in Paradise". Laura and I tried to outsing them, but the guys threatened to leave. Being the end of the season here we were able to score some great Steamboat logo attire for 50% off. We are going to be a walking ad for the chamber of commerce in our beanie hats and polar fleece jackets--no, they are not matching--we have not yet gone over to the dark side.

Last night we went for a wonderful dinner at a nice restaurant downtown Steamboat, Bistro CV--great food. We did have to almost physically restrain Mr. Mellow Tristan from clobbering the pretentious twits at a nearby table when they made comments like "Oh, I am so over alpine skiing, telemarking is the only way to go", and "snowboarders just don't know how to treat the snow". At one point one of the guys got down on the floor (in a white tablecloth restaurant) to demonstrate the appropriate foot and knee placement for telemark skiing. Geez!

3-27-10 Snowmobiling Rabbit Ears Pass

Looking for something a little less energetic than skiing and snowshoeing we signed ourselves up for 4 hours of snowmobiling--plus lunch. Let's just say that snowmobiling is not entirely a passive sport. We had 2 snow mobiles and were in a guided group with 3 others, plus the guide-Josh, who was a professional snowboarder who switched to motorcycle racing after he nearly broke his back on the half-pipe tricks he was doing in his Olympic training. Needless to say our tour was hardly suitable for wimps. We were in the National Forest and went on some groomed trails and then he let us loose in a "meadow". What fun, zipping up and down and round in circles, racing with Tristan & Laura and getting covered in powder as we churned up the new snow. Note--fancy new snow pants, while warm, are not waterproof! Our machines did have heated handles which was nice, but not heated seats. Luckily it only snowed hard for about the last half hour.

The most fun was a long run that we did through the woods, single-tracking, where the trees are touching on both sides. It was especially fun when you popped out of the woods and were suddenly going straight down the mountain. Fritz says that I almost dumped us, but he is imagining it as we barely went up on one side.

Coming back to the lodge for lunch I was more than ready for the out house after 3 1/2 hours of bouncing along. It was like one of those extreme sports events (the outhouse experience). Here's an exercise:

Put on at least 6 layers of clothes, including long underwear and 2 pairs of gloves. Stand in a meat locker for about 15 minutes at below freezing temperatures until you're really cold and your fingers don't bend. Put a chair into a dark closet and go in and close the door so that your knees are touching the door. Be sure to have your motorcycle helmet and dark goggles on too. Then undress, including your two jackets, suspenders, long underwear and both pairs of gloves and don't put anything on the floor or drop it on the chair. Added degree of difficulty points if you do it while hopping up and down on one foot. Now you can appreciate my experience.