Last Eiffel Tower Light Show - aaaaaand we're home!

Well - I guess I never really explained that the 1:00 am sparkling light show of the Eiffel Tower is simply black and white - formal, I guess :) . It seemed like the shortest 5 minute sparkle show (I have a video, but not sure if it will show up so put a photo here - glad to show the video to anyone who wants to see other photos/videos, etc!) - and that's because I knew it would be the last. After the sparkle show, it was as if the lights had been snuffed out -so I took a final night photo - I hope it shows up well enough here; it's tough to see, but if you can open up the photo, it's pretty, with the lights of the buildings in the two lower corners:

 

 So that's it. Final Tower photos. The morning came quickly, we had great flights home, and it was so good to sleep in our own bed last night. There IS no place like home - but - Paris as home for a couple of weeks is a strong second!

  

Last day - final adventures...

    It's pretty late here - about 12:30 am...and I'm hoping to finish this post in sync with the final dazzling Eiffel Tower light show at 1:00. It was rainy, off and on, all day today, and we were a little unsure of what we were going to do, except that we had already gotten tickets to go to the summit of the Eiffel Tower at 5:30. Surprise - the rain stopped - for a while, and we headed out to do some souvenir looking/shopping. We actually shopped on the Champs Élysées - stopped in to be able to know we'd stopped in at Cartier's, but actually found a few things in the non-out-of-budget stores to bring home (as if we don't have enough with our memories and pictures - but most of what we got were for gifts).
     Funny thing about Parisiens - they're all bundled up with winter coats, scarves, some with hats and gloves, when it's in the low 60s, and rain makes them scurry into shops, restaurants, metro stops, and pull out and open umbrellas in even light misty rain. Maybe they think they'll melt - made of sugar (or salt!) - but it's kind of strange to see professional people acting so differently in weather that seems fine to us.
      The sun kept going in and out, and short bursts of not-too-bad showers were off and on most of the day, but we didn't get too wet. The most rain was when we were walking to the Eiffel Tower, and that wasn't even too bad - we had nylon rainjackets, and stayed dry except what wasn't covered. We got to the Eiffel Tower and there were a LOT of people there - a long, long line to purchase tickets. We were so glad to already have tickets - on the phone - we didn't even have to print them out - and we walked right into a different line, which still took 1/2 hour to get to the elevator, because of others who'd also planned ahead, as well as security. Security checks are everywhere here!
      While we were waiting inside the Tower, the rain stopped. I was questioning my choice to go to the summit, but it worked out fine (I really, really don't like heights.) It was amazing to see the landmarks in miniature from the top - and we also went to the highest point, which is not glassed in, but has wire "cage" like structure around it. We were allowed to wander around as much as we wanted, so we spent time, took some pictures, made the most of this last adventure.
        We had stopped at the second level on the way up - the tickets allow for first, second, and summit, or first and second, or first level - and they checked the tickets between the second and the top - again. We had not stopped at all on the first level, so we did that on the way down. They've recently installed some glass panels in the floor (good thing they were so dirty, because as I glanced down - I would NOT walk on them - it was dizzying for me - I can only imagine if they were clean!), and we wanted to look at the restaurants and cafeteria and gift shops (ok, I wanted to do that, and Roger's a good sport!), so we did that and then went back down to the RDC - ground floor..."rez-de-chaussez" - a decidedly European (French, at least as far as I know) way to name floors...makes the real floor 7 become floor 8. Confusing, but something I'd taught about in my classes.
        On the walk back home - no more rain - we were in time for a bakery we hadn't noticed before, right before it closed, and got pain au chocolat for our last breakfast here. Amazing. It's just about over. Goodnight, Eiffel Tower, goodnight, Paris...we really got to know you in our two weeks here. :)

Selfies are not easy when trying to get Paris in the
background from the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Last night photo from living room in apartment

           
It's 12:57 - mission accomplished - light show in 90 seconds!! Thanks for coming along for our trip!

No wifi part three - and- weeeee're back!

        Monday morning, we find that it had rained during the night in Bayeux...it was supposed to rain later in the day. Luckily, as we set out, it's not actually raining - just a light mist. We're extra glad that we made it to Omaha Beach yesterday - it was much nicer to gather dry sand than wet or damp would have been. We decide, since it's raining, and we don't know exactly where the Bayeux Tapestry (also called the Tapestry of 1066 - a 70 meter embroidery of 8 panels joined together that tell the story of William the Conqueror's rise to King of England and Duke of Normandy) is located - although the sign says where we're parked is one of the places to park for it...we decide to drive. We drive to the building, cannot find parking, (not full, just couldn't find the alleged free parking), and realize we've driven around the block. Our paid parking ticket was still good, so we parked where we'd left and walked the short distance to the Tapestry. Handheld audio explanation was part of the entry to this museum (most others, it was an additional fee) - but we had already decided this would be the place to get an audio guide. It was so interesting - it looks like comic book characters embroidered on linen - and is mounted behind glass - it was made in 1066. There was actually a comic book interpretation which I bought, because it had a lot of information in a more fun format than the books with tiny print.

 


      We had driven around a little bit yesterday trying to find the American Military Cemetery, and somehow managed to miss it. We stopped at the Omaha Beach Museum for directions - it was opposite of where we'd tried yesterday (unfortunately, it was too late yesterday when we got to the Military Museum, and we didn't have enough time today to go to that, too), but the employees at this Museum are as British as they are French. Omaha Beach is on the English Channel, and that made asking for and following directions a lot easier for us. We made it to the cemetery;  it was an experience somewhat like boarding the memorial in Pearl Harbor. The rain was falling lightly - more than mist, but not enough to be soaking us for the length of time we walked around...seemed somehow fitting to have a light, yet chilling rain for our visit.

    We headed back to Versailles (that's where we had rented the car, because we wanted to be out of the city from the start with the car), and had most of the rain we experienced during the entire trip. It was steady, and enough that if we weren't in the car, we'd have been wet - very wet. Funny aside -

   

when we got the car (an Opel Zafira - pretty close in size to my Envoy) - I noticed "DSL" on the tag and asked the clerk if it was diesel. He said no, no, and told us which gas to put in - hi-test, of course. We made sure it had a GPS - it was a built-in one, with many language choices, but English instead of American, and it seemed to get pretty good gas mileage. We stopped for gas, and "DIESEL" is written all over the gas cap, and on the rental car company envelope information, yet our Saturday-morning Europcar agent highlighted gas and insisted it wasn't diesel. Some very nice, helpful German men who were traveling in a motorhome confirmed our thoughts that we should put diesel and not the hi-test gas into this vehicle, after looking up information about an additional blue cap near the gas cap - which turned out to be additive to help the fuel. I guess Saturday morning is not the happiest time to work for that guy - he really didn't know what he was giving us...but it was a great car and rode smoothly and was comfortable, so all was good. When we returned the car, it was raining, still, and we had to park it across the street (the rental agency was a storefront), and the clerk called a taxi for us - 5 minutes. It took about 25 minutes for the taxi to arrive, but at least we were out of the rain. A commuter train (RER) ride back to "our" place, and we picked up "take away" galette and croque-monsieur, because we were hungry, and I had agreed to connect via FaceTime with one of the classes at school. We only had about an hour to eat, and, in France, we've found that if you actually sit down in a restaurant to eat, it will be at least an hour and a half. That's turned out to be kind of nice...relaxed...but we had a deadline so we just ate here. (It wasn't very good - not recommended to stop at "take-away" stand on way from train!) Although we had connectivity problems (it was not the wifi here - that's steady and reliable, we've tested it with streaming video), it was such a cool experience for both me and the kids and teachers who were there in Wickliffe. Hard to go to sleep, knowing we only have tomorrow, really...trying to hang on to every minute. This Eiffel Tower picture is one of my many favorites - taken tonight after the rain mist had lifted:

Misty morning and D-Day beach visit - no wifi part deux

        It's Sunday morning (well - hmmmm...it's really Tuesday evening, and we're leaving tomorrow, but I need to catch up) on Mont St. Michel. It's very misty - we can't even see the top of the Abbey even from our window, or see the bay below, as we make our way up the rest of the winding paths and stairs to the top - where the Abbey entrance is located. We are fourth and fifth in line...there are trade-offs for being on the Mont so early in the morning, one of which is losing the view because it takes until about noon for all of the mist to burn off. The tide is still low, so we have missed the experience of the Mont surrounded by water - but - being halfway up before we set out is a wonderful advantage. We've left our things in our room, and will check out when we're done following the trail through the Abbey. There is a steep staircase, at the top of which is a set of huge wooden doors. People who work here make their way up (it's about 9 am and the opening time is 10 am), pull out a six-inch skeleton key, open the door and slip inside, closing and locking the door behind them. The staircase is filling with people - divided by tour groups to the left and non-group visitors on the right. During this half hour, a group of college exchange students were waiting at the top, then went to the bottom and heard a lot of information, and we were in the Abbey before they came back up. We were surprised to hear the doors opening at 9:35 - whoo hoo!! It was really nice - we had many of the rooms to ourselves, or with very few other people, and we took as much time as we wanted (along with lots of photos). As we made our way down, got our things, checked out, and were leaving the island, many, many people were just getting there. Magical to have stayed there - despite the whelks.

This was how the monks who lived in the Abbey got provisions into the building way up high on the Mont - there was a sleigh-like structure that held what they needed and rode on rails from the lower level (although they didn't have a car down there, I'm sure!) The platform (sleigh) was raised by a huge wheel, powered by humans - convicts, as the monastery was at one time, used as a prison. There are still some monks in residence here - it was a quiet, tranquil place, with a lot of mystery, and spiritual feeling among its many rooms and small chapels. 

     Getting out of the parking lot was somewhat tricky - we've noticed that it's assumed that people know how things are done here. We got to the parking exit, inserted our ticket, and the bar would not raise. We put in the credit card, and it came back, along with the ticket. Okay - we waited, tried again, and nothing...and there were cars behind us. Luckily, not too close for us to back out of the line - and we found a friendly person who said since we'd helped him yesterday (ok- not sure we remembered, but that's ok) he'd help us today. He explained that there was a walk-up parking validator that took the credit card and ticket and validated it - which needed to be done before driving to the exit - so we did as he'd explained, and THEN it worked, and we were on the road to Bayeux.
       It was cloudy - but rain predicted for tomorrow, so we were hopeful we could get to Omaha Beach today - and we did. We first checked into our hotel - which was ancient-looking outside, and nicely modernized inside, with television that worked, and wifi that worked for the first ten minutes or so. Our room was in the "annex" - might have, at one time, been the stables, it seemed, and again, no elevator (which we knew, but we really wanted a hotel with ambiance - at least from the outside). We put our things in the room and headed out. We made it to Omaha Beach, with a stop at the military museum...it was a humbling experience to actually see where some of the D-Day landings happened. I had come prepared to bring home some sand - just to have some from Normandy Omaha Beach - and we found jars in the gift shop sold for that purpose. At least we knew it was allowed - so we got an official jar, and filled that, too. Being Sunday, everything closed a bit early, so we headed back, had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant (Hotel Reine Mathilde), and tucked in for the night. I tried to use the towel heater in the bathroom but didn't figure it out right, so had a non-heated towel...but I did heat it later, just to see if it worked. Silly...but I was curious. The tv was showing devastating flash-flooding somewhere in France, so we watched to find out where and it was in the Riviera - Nice and Cannes got 8 inches of rain in an hour - the streets looked like raging rapids. It was sad to see lives lost (we later found out they're having a lot of problems because they keep removing trees and building, and there were also mud slides from the lack of trees to stabilize the land) - and we were thankful that we were in the north rather than in the south of France today.

       Our actual photos of Omaha Beach need to be downloaded from the camera - all of the photos I've included in any of these posts were from our phones - which I can easily add to the description. Obviously - this is the jar of sand from Omaha Beach - but the pictures of the beach itself are, as I said earlier, very humbling and we were so glad to have had the opportunity to visit.

No reliable wifi for two days = catching up - part un

     We've just returned to Paris tonight - I said "It feels good to be home!" - and reliable wifi. The lack of wifi was made up many times over in our experiences...so...I'll break my catching up into three parts. Saturday - picked up the rental car, hoping for one that was reasonably comfortable and not tiny - the way people drive here is crazy, and although we'd never drive in the city, Roger agreed to drive for our trip to the lower Normandy region. He had to agree, because not only is it difficult to get automatic cars here, they charge hefty additional charges, and I cannot drive manual. After a quick lesson with the GPS, all good - and we're on our way to the home of Monet at Giverny. It was amazingly beautiful and lush with flowers - even in October. I supposed that a summer visit might have played havoc with my allergies - and it was truly full of different colored and kinds of blooms wherever we happened to be on the grounds. I had put in the address for Giverny, and we found our way to the restaurant's parking lot - had lunch - and were able to leave the car there whilst we wandered the property and toured the home. It was much closer than the "regular" parking lot - now we have parking karma too, it seems :)
      Most of our photos are on the other camera, but I did get some to post here - the beautiful bamboo grove, the view of the Japanese bridge made famous in his series of "Water Lilies" paintings:

                       

     After leaving Giverny, we headed to Mont Saint Michel. I didn't know - until I did some internet recon (short, of course, for "reconnaissance" = searching) that there were hotels right on the Mont. I wanted to have as close to the Abbey experience, if we were going to do this, as we could. It worked! We got the last of 29 rooms at one of a cluster of "Poulard" properties - evidently this family owns about 80% of what's on the island. (There are 44 permanent residents on the Mont - probably the proprietors of the various eateries and shops, I'd guess.)

      We had some beautiful views of the Mont as we approached, and since we'd booked a hotel room actually there, were given a code to use a closer-in parking lot. There were two ways to get most of the 50-minute walk to the island - bus or horse-cart. We took the bus - which was very interesting. It never turned around...the driver simply got out, went to the other end, and drove whichever way it was supposed to go - no turns - ever! We knew that the hotel wouldn't have a "lift" (elevator), but we didn't know that it was 1/2 way up the steps to the Abbey at the top. We put our things in the room - which did, indeed have an "Abbey view" - if we stuck our heads out the window (no screens) - we could look up and see the spire with a statue of St.Michael the Archangel at the very top of the Abbey. It took a bit of work, but there was a view ;). The room was slanted - it's a structure from medieval times, and the floors were uneven, but we were ON Mont Saint Michel! We had been given a packet that included some discounts, when we checked in, and ended up at one of those restaurants for dinner - our luck - we were "entitled" to a free "house cocktail." Ok. It turned out to be something we'd wanted to try anyway - the region's cider. It's a lot like when apple cider turns hard - but intentional here. Dinner was its own adventure - of course, I wanted to have dessert, so kind of talked both of us into the prix fixe dinner - which had some choices. I didn't really like any of the entrees, and had no clue, and for the "entree" (in France, that's the appetizer - the main course is called the "plat") I chose whelks with mayonnaise, thinking "ok, I don't have to use the mayonnaise." Roger got the sausage sampler. Neither was really what we'd hoped, (should've chosen the salad with the goat cheese, but hey, we're on an adventure, right?) Whelks - cold snails, but in a twirly shell - I tried, I really tried, but after sharing one (also thumbs-down) and eating three, I couldn't have any more. There had to have been at least a dozen - the server/bartender/possible proprietor noticed, and asked if I didn't like them. I didn't like them - at all. The rest of the dinner was fine (I had to get "steak-frites" at least once this trip, so chose that and Roger had a galette complète, which is a specialty of the region and is a buckwheat crêpe with ham and cheese inside and a fried egg on top); dessert was good (crème caramel and apple pie with a custard base throughout the filling) - and it was time to settle in. On the way to the room, we went a little further, and visited a little cemetary, and bells were playing, so we waited for that to end, then went to the room, planning to turn on the tv, check emails, etc...complete today's blog...not! Nothing worked enough to use, so I guess it was good that we were tired enough to call it a day.

http://www.okeefes.org/Whelks/whelk_102_9530.jpg

Whelk is a common name that is applied to various kinds of sea snail, many of which have historically been used, or are still used, by humans and other animals for food. 

A split day - Rue Cler and Montmartre; return home then Seine cruise at night!

      Everyone loves croissants, and we've seen "pain au chocolat" which is a croissant with a ribbon of dark chocolate running through it in several bakeries, but not at the time we wanted them. Croissants are so much better fresh, so we've waited until today and made that a goal. (The bakery across the street has them, but only first thing in the morning, so by the time I've decided to wander over there - it's been going down to the mid 40s at night - it's been too late.) Our goal was met with a wonderful example - we chose the right place! It was in Rue Cler - a mostly pedestrian street with a variety of shopping on both sides. I'm pretty sure it becomes pedestrian-only a couple of times each week - maybe Wednesdays and Sunday mornings (which is a rarity to have any access to fresh goods on Sunday, but many Parisians stop by after church, on the way home). Clever merchants!  Anyway, we got the pain au chocolat, and a couple of beverages - I am still amazed by the widespread availability of San Pellegrino instead of Perrier, but I guess it is imported (raising its status) - and an Orangina, which is very much like Orange Crush - lightly carbonated orange soda.

      Absolutely. Wonderful.  The ratio of chocolate to croisant didn't seem very generous, but with all of that air, it was just right. Well-balanced, and delicious. This was the first time we could enjoy sitting outside with a snack and watch people going by, because there weren't any smokers near the table we chose. Score!! The pigeons are quite fat and ever-present...we watched them eat our crumbs, and others' crumbs, and they were having as good a time as we were - but at no cost to them! :)

     After we'd sat for a while, we made our way back to Montmartre - there was a "little train" that wound its way through the narrow streets with narration and French music. We caught the train across from the Moulin Rouge (one of the train's two stops), and it wound its way up to the top, where it stopped near Sacré Cœur. We'd already seen the Sacré Cœur area, and had great seats (it was crowded seating, and we'd been lucky enough to have an entire row to ourselves), so we mostly stayed on the train during the 15 minute stop. Whilst up at the top, there were several shops, street artists sketching people, and an organ grinder. (I checked - it was a woman, and she didn't have a monkey, but I have a photo anyway). We returned to the departure point (this is in the Pigalle section of Montmartre, famous for its "night life" and adult entertainment offerings, and I learned it was named for another artist. Montmartre was the place where many artists lived, including Toulouse L'Autrec.) and decided to walk partway up the first street we had ridden up on the train. I found the bakery from which I'd gotten the massive macaron in the metro - it was called "Paul" and I took a photo for that reason, and also for our nephew Paul who's studied French. I checked, and found the macaron to be just 1/10 euro less than at the other place, but was still savoring the pain au chocolat, so resisted the offerings today.            

The two "O" museums, the Tuileries, and plans finalized for Normandy!

     We walked less today - only about 3.5 miles. We visited the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de L'Orangerie, which are on opposite sides of the Seine river. It was a lot cooler today - so we decided to hang out inside more than outside. We've seen so many museums, so many masterpieces, so many familiar and unfamiliar names that I'm glad we have gone to all the museums we'd chosen. It's awesome, yet overwhelming, to try to take in all of this - I can only imagine how people who fit more into each day than we're doing must feel. I love writing this, because it feels like I'm emptying my head to get ready for tomorrow - haha :) - but by no means complaining!!
      Le Musée d'Orsay is in a former train station, and has a beautiful glass roof and huge, ornate clocks, at each end. I know at least one is golden, I can't remember if both are - but both are beautiful. There are actually five levels - and on the first is the French scuplture that matches our Statue of Liberty - actually, a gift to US from France. We have a lot of pictures that are in the camera - those require uploading to the computer, and I'm doing this from the iPad, so these are not the best of the best photos - especially today. Lots of Impressionist works in Orsay, many well-known, but I think the most famous must be in the Louvre. Or somewhere else in the world. We recognized a lot of what we saw, and it was beautiful!

This is one of Manet's (very easy to confuse with Monet, but distinctive styles) most famous - "Sur la Plage" - "On the Beach." That's the thing about the Impressionists - they wanted to allow the viewer to have his/her own impression, so they often named their works so it was easier to know what was actually painted, I think. We used this one in our intro French classes, and in our Global Studies classes - it was interesting to see what others saw first in the photo. How about you? It's really small (here); I didn't notice the boats first, but some of the students did - and then I saw them...I noticed the lady's dress. Impressions!

     On almost every pedestrian bridge that we've seen that goes over the Seine, there are locks attached to the bridge sides. There's even one that's been in the news that had the locks removed, and the wire sides replaced with plexiglass (it's not very attractive), because the structure of the bridge was compromised, since that bridge was built of wood. The weight of all the locks was becoming too much and the bridge was unsafe. The story behind the locks is that people place a lock on the bridge, and throw the key in the river, so their love is locked for all time. We had to cross a bridge to get to the Tuileries and the Orangerie - and there were two people selling locks - with use of markers - right on the bridge. We hadn't seen this before, and had actually looked at locks in Monoprix (just in case we decided to join then legions of forevers whilst we are here) but they seemed overpriced at €15, and then we'd also need a marker. It was fate - we bought a lock for only €5 (it was the second smallest), and wrote on it with the date and our initials, and last name. It was hard, but we found a spot in the middle of the bridge, locked the lock, and threw one of the three keys into the Seine. Ah...such tourists! (I wonder if they came with three keys so that if one of the two changes their mind about the "forever" they can go back and unlock it and take it off and get rid of it - hahaha!) I doubt anyone can find their lock on a return, and if we do return, we might just try to find ours. I looked up the name of "our" bridge - it was "Pont d'Orsay" - the Orsay Bridge.
       The Musée de l'Orangerie (it was first built to shelter the orange trees in the Tuileries Gardens), is inside of the Tuileries, so we took a walk through the quadrant of the Tuileries Gardens where it's located. It was cool, breezy, and a blue, cloudless sky was overhead. I'd imagine that was a perfect day if an artist wanted to paint - maybe except for the breeze. We found buckeyes - yep, buckeyes, and I picked up a few from the ground, hoping to bring them home...restrictions on bringing "vegetation" through customs. Ohio (and The Ohio State University nickname "Buckeyes") found in France! There were a lot of people in the gardens - and we could only imagine how busy it would have been in the summer. Unfortunately, the fountains have been turned off - but agreed that was a fair give-up for freedom to wander without mobs of other tourists!
        The Orangerie has a permanent exhibit of eight of Monet's "Water Lilies" paintings - and we have one in the Cleveland Museum of Art - two O-H-I-O connections!! (Those pictures are in the other camera.) That was the entire first level of the museum; we went downstairs and saw Degas, Renoir, Gaugin, Seurat, and a lot of other artists' works. We are now art experts.

           Monet's Japanese-style bridge, at his home in Giverny - which we're planning to visit on Saturday on our way to Normandy - this one is pretty well-known.







Van Gogh's self-portrait:

        As planned, we did return to the crêperie from the other day - I researched it a little, and found it is a small family business, started by the owner's grandfather, and they are from Normandy, so that's why their food is so good. Galettes (buckwheat crêpes) filled with so many wonderful choices. We didn't share the main course this time (I have 1/2 of mine left for breakfast), and chose the dessert of the day - a crêpe made into a shape of a coin purse (called a an "aumonière) filled with warm apples, spices, and a small, simple scoop of very good vanilla ice cream, sitting in a pool of home-made salted butter caramel sauce. Obviously, I was too anxious to eat it to take a picture...it was soooo good.
        Once back, I finalized hotels for two nights in Normandy - one actually ON Mont Saint Michel and the other in Bayeux. A full day - time for bed. I need to recharge for tomorrow...and the Eiffel Tower just turned off its lights.