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.

Change of plans - and a reason to prefer a non-itinerary!

     When I began to write yesterday what I thought we'd do today, I realized it probably wasn't the best idea...and it turned out that we didn't do either of those today. Our first experience was an open-air market under the Metro across from our apartment - amazing the variety of what's for sale - and it looked like it must take several hours to set up and take down. I was glad that we weren't in a shopping mode because today, we had a schedule.

A small section of the market

     The Opera House only offers guided tours in English on Wednesdays, so we decided we'd better get to that today, since we'll be on the way home next Wednesday. The Palace Garnier, home of the Phantom of the Opera - was amazing. We had a guide (we have chosen mostly find-your-own-way-around visits, but were very glad we'd gone through this with a tour guide) whose first language was Spanish, and she was describing the French Opera House in English. Cultural fusion!! She said she didn't have a very loud voice, and handed out voice amplifiers with an earpiece (made me think of students who are hearing-impaired), which was great - she could be anywhere in range and we could still hear clearly. The Palais Garnier is nothing less than impressive...and...it was on this tour that we learned the answer to yesterday's wondering - the high-up art is done in a studio and then glued where it is seen. Ha! I would never have thought that was how it was done, (obviously, from yesterday's post!) but it makes so much sense - a blinding glimpse of the obvious! We saw THE chandelier, THE staircase, and learned a lot about the place that we would have missed if we had not done this tour. (I suppose the same is true for most of the places, but we've been overwhelmed just looking without having a lot of extra information to process - at least I have been!)

    This the chandelier seen from the seats

This is a closer view of the artwork around the chandelier - Marc Chagall

     After the Opera tour, we took a different train, which went through a huge station - and there were lots of shops there, one of which was a bakery with pastries. Mmmmm...I decided I had to have a macaron - a meringue sandwich cookie filled with buttercream. I couldn't decide, so chose pistachio again...it's always a safe choice for me. The macaron was HUGE - and I asked the clerk/baker if I could take his picture. (I ended up carrying that macaron around until we got back to the apartment - a little worse for the trip, but still quite good.)

Just to show how big this particular macaron was - look closely - that's one of my rings next to it. Yes, I shared it!

This guy was so happy to be asked for a picture that he grabbed his tongs, then had me wait while he grabbed a baguette with them. Hahaha!!

     The tour at Palais Garnier was supposed to be at 11:30; it was overcrowded, so they added a 12:00 tour, which started about 12:20. These Parisians have a very relaxed attitude toward time. Ok...that left us plenty of time to get to the 3:00 wine tasting - if we could have found it. Oh, we tried to get to the wine tasting, but kept going around it and never found it. It was in the middle of a busy, crowded section of the city, and it was not the kind of lost one would enjoy wandering the streets of Paris. It was in an upscale neighborhood, and we tried with the GPS on the phone, and I must have asked at least seven different store clerks (figuring they worked in the neighborhood, they should know...), and the only person I asked that actually had a clue was a butcher in an outdoor boucherie (meat market) - all smelling of fish, and slippery, wet floors. Sigh. I supposed that the butcher might have delivered meats and seafood to the place, as it was a wine bar that also served food. Unless we have an entire afternoon open (the wine tasting is at 3 pm) we'll probably miss this one. Good thing I'm not able to drink wine, really. Maybe that's why we didn't make it - someone up there was steering us away, every time we got close. France, - what better place to try wines, right? Oh well - we had a wonderful experience prior to getting lost looking for "Ô Chateau."  (no photo for obvious reasons...)

     The stop from the train was at "Les Halles" - a huge, 3-level underground mall, which also presented its challenges in navigating. We rode a lot of escalators, climbed up and down a lot of stairs, asked a lot of people for directions, many of whom gave us wrong information, and were ready to get something to eat and call it a day. So we did.
   

Napoléon, Rodin and Monoprix, with a pleasant surprise!

     I thought it would be difficult to keep the excitement momentum going after yesterday, but each place/activity/experience is so wonderful that I have no more doubts. We set out today to a different area - we'll return to the center of Paris tomorrow to see the Musée d'Orsay and, if there's room, participate in a wine-tasting experience [included with our Paris Pass - so, we figured we ought to try to get there; it would be a waste if we didn't at least try, since it's included :)]

      But - I'm getting ahead of myself here, including what's to come tomorrow, so back to today. The exterior of Les Invalides - which houses Napoléon's tomb, and is a home/hospital for disabled French war veterans - is beautiful, with a golden dome. (We approached from the side, and there was some sort of structure being constructed at the front, so we didn't get an exterior photo today, but did from the bus tour.) There was a veteran sitting outside in a wheelchair, smoking, and as we were leaving, a handicapped man was being helped out of a taxi - how interesting that their veterans' home/hospital is attached to the museum - or vice-versa, I guess.

Sharing a birthday with Roger, Mona Lisa, Sainte Chappelle, and Notre Dame

       As much as I've wanted to come to France forever, I never really wanted to go during the summer vacation (I know, most people's jobs don't include "summer vacation" like teachers have, but it's really not all vacation time - but that's a different topic entirely.) I didn't want to share such a trip with all of the other tourists that descend on Europe during June, July, and especially August - when most of France - if not Europe - is on "holiday." So...well worth the wait, and now I have the opportunity to celebrate my birthday here! Crowds are really tolerable, waits haven't been too long, weather has been comfortable, and, for the most part, people have been polite and pleasant.
    Having the Paris Pass for six days gives us lots of flexibility, so when Roger asked me what I wanted to do/see for my birthday, I chose the Louvre, Sainte Chappelle, and Notre Dame - not sure we could fit it all in, but we did! We also strolled the Seine, at a couple of different times, and I got an ice-cream cone from a street vendor (pistachio, one of my favorites!) Now, that might not be a big deal to most, but, in USA, I have a problem with dairy products inducing asthma symptoms, so indulging in ice cream is a BIG deal to me. And - it affected me very little, if at all, that wonderful pistachio "boule de glace" (scoop of ice cream). Sainte Chappelle is often overlooked - it's fairly near Notre Dame, and much smaller - but it is awesome! The second floor has stained-glass windows that reach to the ceiling, and depict books of the Bible. Then - Notre Dame! No line, and such splendor! We happend to be there just in time for evening vespers, and heard the priests and the organ before going outside to look at the architecture and gargoyles. We did not do the 387 steps to the tower - just didn't have the energy or real desire, since we'd already overlooked Paris from the Arc de Triomphe. We may later regret skipping this, but we felt very fulfilled with what we did see.
      It was getting late (we'd had breakfast, skipped lunch, and were close to "normal-at-home-in-Ohio dinner time"), so after we left Notre Dame, we ducked into what we thought was the better of two brasseries which were right next to each other, but the smell of the outdoor smokers was wafting in from the open door and windows, so we moved to the other one - and it was a serendipitous move.
  I decided to go with the "plat" - a combo with either an appetizer and main course, or main course and dessert. Want to guess which I chose? haha!! We had a very nice, young man for a server (he was very attentive, checking on us several times - ok, I admit it, the place wasn't really busy until we were leaving - and he was also cute) -so we left him an extra tip.
    About the tips here in restaurants - they're always included, and if you like the service, you leave a little bit more. After Versailles, we stopped in a casual place (those are our favorite kind!), and the waiter not only talked us into appetizers that weren't even on the menu (luckily, they were good) so we'd know the price, he told us that the tip wasn't included. Hmmmm....I pointed out to him that it was stated on the menu that it was included, and he said, "No, no - whatever you wish, Madame." After the Versailles experiences, we were pretty tired, and thought, ok, so left him MUCH more than I should have to be the "pourboire" - a small tip of about 3-5%, since most include 15% in the pricing of the food. We tipped as if we were in the US. After we left, we talked about it and decided that he just plain lied to us - guess he needed the money more than we did at that time. Not extravagant, but also not very nice treatment by the server.
     So - back to my birthday dinner...I chose a salmon filet with a light cream basil sauce, which came with French green beans and a small, peeled, baked potato. Dessert - another highlight for me, since I haven't dared have it for a very long time - crème brûlée!! I could have not enjoyed it more! Serendipity, to be sure!
    So many photos from today from which to choose - here are a few:

Versailles, a marathon, and lost!

    Ever wait a v-e-r-y long time for something, and find that it doesn't meet the expectations you've created whilst waiting to actually experience it? Well...been waiting a LONG time to get to France, and I am not at all disappointed. Confused at times (and I know the language, so I can only imagine how it is for those that don't!) - signage is not as clear here, or maybe I should say signage is not as present here.
     I really wanted to go the Château Versailles tomorrow, but it's closed on Monday. That should have been my first clue that today was not a good second choice. We had to decide to go somewhere, right, and I was concerned that doing the Louvre/Notre Dame/Ste. Chappelle might be crazy on a Sunday. Well, it seems as though LOTS of things are crazy on a Sunday - maybe these Europeans need to open stores on Sundays so the crowds have places to go other than tourist sites.
     Getting there was easy - there's a RER (train) stop about 1/4 mile from our apartment, with the right train to Versailles. Check. We had no trouble knowing where to get off - it was the end of the line...check. As the mass of passengers poured out of the train, we followed the crowd - not knowing that TODAY was the Versailles-Paris marathon. Evidently, we were following marathon well-wishers, and did a little marathon of our own - added an extra mile (1/2 going and 1/2 retracing our steps - first "lost" of the title of this post), but were comfortable with shade and a nice breeze. It was pretty warm in the sun, though. See the marathon runners:

     I was going to ask one for permission to take a photo, but these guys were obviously ok with photos, so I surreptitiously got my photo without having to ask. :) Once we realized we were going the wrong way, we arrived at the Château - it's pretty easy to find once going in the right direction! We had entry tickets already with our "Paris Pass" so avoided the ticket line - and had to stand in the entry line for a little over an hour. (A little aside here: Americans are NOT the rudest tourists...there was a group of a different nationality - a sizeable tour group - that just kind of merged into the line in front of us partway through the waiting line. There were no line guards  - it was basically a free-form line snaking six or seven times the length of the courtyard - and when we and people in front of us told them that the line started elsewhere, the guide told us they'd been waiting for a long time in this line. Hmmmm...we suddenly had all these same nationality group, an umbrella, people we didn't see in front of us before - they took cuts! Only about 8-10 of their group actually got in front of us, and the guide was walking even with us - they just widened the line from two across to about six...not cool. I did not name the nationality group because it's not fair to generalize - but - there were a LOT of this particular ethnic group here at Versailles today, and most were not polite, as our culture has been taught to expect from their culture. Sigh.)

    Waiting in line, I suddenly realized that I had either dropped, or someone had grabbed my nylon windbreaker jacket - luckily, I only had a couple of tissues in the pockets, but shuddered to think that last night, I'd had the key to our apartment in one of the pockets. I liked that jacket, and we actually saw a man with one just like it folded up in his bag!  I wanted to have faith in mankind (it was, after all, a common black and white Adidas windbreaker), but it seemed a little suspicious...but not worth worrying about - thus the second "lost" from the post title. Here's Versailles from the courtyard:

     The final "lost" was the lost opportunity to see other parts of Versailles. We looked at the beautiful gardens, and I decided I wanted to visit Marie Antoinette's hamlet - but didn't realize we had to get off the tram and we missed the opportunity to do that without a lot of extra walking (not high on my list of activities at this time of the day...) - so we went to the "Grand Canal" - which can be seen from the Château when looking out over the gardens from the higher floor. We took the tram back, and had a bit of an adventure at the train station - although our transportation pass got us TO Versailles, it would not get us back - it was in a different zone than was included on our passes. So, we had to purchase tickets (not bad, just €1,70 each - just a bit annoying). Home after a quick dinner, and continuous viewing of the Eiffel Tower light show...another good day, in spite of being lost and losing my jacket. (If that's the worst that happens to us on this trip - we are all set!)

Trifecta of food (yesterday) completed, and officially tourists!!

    Seems as if yesterday (Friday) was foodie day - totally unintentional. We ended up going to an Italian place for dinner - very close to the apartment - and again, later than we really wanted. We're slowly moving into the correct time zone...the main problem with eating so late is it's not as easy to go to sleep at a decent time. It was after 2am last night, so of course, that led to a later start than we'd thought. Nothing to worry about though...the beauty of this vacation adventure is NOT having a schedule, and doing whatever seems to be right at any particular moment. No specific plans, no time schedule (except when catching trains and metros and buses...more on that  later...) - just being "relaxed spontaneous." So - here is last night's dinner - I was going to wait to see if anyone could figure out what it was, but it may be more obvious than it was to me...and I know what I ordered!

Lasagne à la forno - a bit too much "forno"... I didn't finish it, intending to take it home, and have room for dessert, and the waiter admonished me, telling me I had to finish it to grow up hahahaha! I told him I was saving room for dessert, and wanted to take the rest home - he obviously didn't listen or understand me (he was speaking English, so I did, too), because he whisked it away and it never came back. Oh well...it was just ok, so no great loss.


Lemon meringue pie - serious meringue here! It was described as "ancienne" - not sure if that meant old-fashioned (it did) or just plain ancient! Luckily, the lemon layer was strong enough to be tasted with the couple of inches of meringue - and it was also dusted with powdered sugar. It was in a shortbread-kind of crust, and really good. I really had my eye on a crème brûlée - we were seated next to the dessert cooler case - but deferred because there was cheese in the lasagne, and I didn't want to overdo dairy. Good second choice, though.

    Ok...enough with the food - at least for now. When we have particularly wonderful food, I'll continue to "share" knowing how much I've enjoyed others' posts of interesting, delicious-looking food. We spent yesterday, in addition to eating, ordering and retrieving our "Paris Pass." It took a lot of adding, discussing, back-and-forth decisions, and we decided to purchase a pass that gave us entry to almost everything (not the Eiffel Tower, and not Giverny) we want to try to fit in while in Paris. We rode a ho-ho (hop on - hop off) bus for the entire loop, and then found lunch (unremarkable, but the place we stopped took liberties with the word "saucisson" - it should have been sausages, but turned out to be hot dogs - how disappointing! Hot dogs are either "hot-dog" or "saucisson de Frankfort" - but it was a casual place, and we guessed the "hot-dog" on the menu must have been the one served to another customer in a baguette) and walked through the outside of the Louvre. It was too late to really get through some places we'd considered whilst (I'm adopting this because every translation here uses "whilst" instead of "while") having lunch - the Louvre, Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chappelle - all were closing before we could get there with time to spend after waiting in line to get in.
  We decided to go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe; there was some sort of military remembrance ceremony with militia (looked like veterans) laying wreaths, singing songs, very official-looking people keeping tourists at a safe distance. View was magnificent - first picture here is when we were on the bus (top level) the first time we stopped at (but didn't get off the bus) the Arc:

And this is from the top of the Arc: (looks much better bigger; I edited out a stranger and the wrist strap of the camera, so it's a little small here)

 Interesting revelation on the way home - about 7:45 pm, we got off the bus at the Eiffel Tower. People in all sorts of groups - couples, singles, families, groups of several people, etc. were sitting on the grass looking at the Tower. Suddenly we realized they were waiting for the Tower to light up - a pleasant Saturday evening activity. The nearby restaurants were practically empty...we walked back and also predicted that they would probably soon be full, as the nightly lighting begins at 8pm. Feeling spoiled, we headed back to the apartment and looked at the view from our windows. We WILL be turning in earlier tonight - have a lot to see tomorrow! Bisous to you! 

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An afternoon post...

   We spent a bunch of time figuring out what to do with our time here...and decided to buy a ParisPass, which is unlimited transportation (not taxis, though - ha!) for the length of the pass. Since our intent was to see much of Paris, we bought a 6-day pass, but today was already 1/2 gone, so we'll start tomorrow. We tried the Métro for the first time - not too bad - but haven't activated our pass, so paid for each ticket. Amazing transportation system, once you (we!) figure it out!
    We decided to hop the Métro back to our neighborhood (how about that? OUR neighborhood!!) and look around a bit for a place to eat. It seems as if there's some sort of price regulation - everything in the same general area had very similar prices, and even though we were ready for lunch, I insisted this be a meal with dessert...we haven't really had a dessert with any meal except on the plane. So...we passed up several brasseries, and found Suzette's - a crêperie, of course!!
      I knew I couldn't comfortably eat an entire crêpe AND a dessert crêpe, so we confused the staff and ordered one plat (meal), a salad, and one dessert crêpe to split. The gentleman - seemed to be the proprietor - brought the salad to Roger, and told me not to give him any of the crêpe - chicken, tomatoes and cheese - excellent! Of course, we split the crêpes; I didn't want the salad...funny, we've never been asked about dressing, it just comes with some sort on it, and it's not French dressing. They've been different, not very flavorful, but not offensive, either. Here are our crêpes:

       

Did I forget to mention the egg? This is the 1/2...so good, and really I didn't even want to finish the 1/2 because it was filling, and I NEEDED to get dessert. For the dessert, we chose what this shop called the "William" - although we were tipped off by our Paris veteran family members that a crêpe with pears and chocolate sauce were traditionally known as "Belle Hélène"...no matter, it was fantastically delicious! Glad that we had a walk ahead of us to get back to our apartment after a quick Monoprix stop (I'm getting a little tired of only water to drink); we complimented the monsieur, and he handed us what I thought was a frequent visitor card, since we said we'd probably return. Nope. It was a comment card, with a release asking if our comments could be put online. Hmmmmm...it was fine, but strange - seemed only if we liked it, and expressed it, we were asked to comment. Back to the apartment for some more logistical planning, a quick FaceTime visit with my team of teachers who I abandoned, and then we'll be off again for our evening adventure. I love that our pace is relaxed and that we feel like we can take time to recharge ourselves before continuing on to whatever is next. Did I mention I love being here?? I do - but miss everyone at home - and am going to make the most of the time we have here. No alarm clocks, no hurry-up schedule, plenty of time to take in all on my "list" and extra time for spontaneous choices. C'est la vie!

A morning post...

    Well, I did it! I went and got fresh croissants, and an apple-filled croissant at "the" bakery across the street. Limited selection, really, but very good. Also got a coffee (exactly the same as we've made here with the Nespresso machine)  and a "chocolat" - which tastes literally like a shaved dark chocolate bar mixed with milk...and seems to be just that, as there are solids/shavings at the bottom of the cup. I wanted to drink the chocolat, but didn't (most of you know that I don't drink milk and/or eat chocolate without having some asthma effects), so I tasted it - ok, twice - and enjoyed a lovely glass of bottled water - but without bubbles - for my breakfast beverage. Fortified to begin our day, we're getting passes today to use the transportation system and see many of the sights. The luxury of time is a great advantage - we can use enough of the attractions pass to recoup the cost - and not have to run around crazy to do that. Breakfast bakery and actual breakfast - good to go!

 

Eiffel Tower, Sacré Cœur, Montmartre, and rain...

   Well...just typical eating today. We were waiting for our host to bring a replacement microwave, so got a late start...and I did not get fresh croissants or baguettes. Since we still had some from Monoprix, I didn't want to waste them...but it will be absolutely necessary to get fresh from the bakery tomorrow. An arduous task, but it must be done (wink, wink!). Lunch was sandwiches served in crusty baguettes so crusty that they were difficult to bite and/or cut; we're getting good at splitting a liter bottle of bubbly water with meals! (We will have to do some sampling of the region's wines, at some point, but we're starting slowly, I guess.) Dinner was non-dinner - I finished my sandwich from lunch, and, since it was already 9 pm - very nice pears and Belvita biscuits that came with Nutella already on top of them, which we had from shopping yesterday. Actually, it was a simply delicious dinner. Yes, yes, 9 pm is typical French dinner time, but we didn't want to venture out in the rain, or make another very late night...so we made do with what we had.

   Being so close to the Eiffel Tower, we walked over and looked around for a bit - and took the requisite "selfie" - there are people everywhere trying to sell you "selfie sticks" but we're old-school on that. Since it's not summer, it wasn't "crowded" by normal vacation standards, and only one of four ticket booths were open. It was overcast all day - turned into light rain later - and we have the luxury of being able to go on a better day, so we opted to do a Seine river cruise, which was very nice. The boat wasn't full at all, and we saw many interesting sights. Now what to do? Lunch, of course...then what? We considered Arc de Triomphe, but again, overcast looking like impending rain, so took a taxi to Sacré Cœur - a crazy ride, because it was about 5:15 pm.

   For those of you who like motorcycles, this is the place for you! Evidently, it's legal for motorcycles to go between lanes of traffic - buses, cars, other motorcycles, bicycles, pedal carts - all vie for space on the roads, and the motorcycles go at crazy-fast speeds, zipping in and out and around so they can keep moving. I shuddered and was glad we were riding, not driving. It took what seemed to be an unusually long time in that taxi (yep, first-time tourists trapped!) - but - once at the top where the Basilica is, we were glad we RODE up and could walk DOWN.

    Ok, nobody's supposed to take photos inside, but everybody does...we did light some candles (Sts. Therese and Joseph, because those are the ones we saw with family names - and it's Joe's birthday today!) and made a donation to help keep this beautiful place open. There are several different levels, and on each level, people were trying to sell almost anything you could thing of, including cold beer in bottles from cartons they were carrying around. Unbelievable - on the landing of the steps of the church! A mass was beginning as we were leaving - it was beautiful to see nuns in traditional habits, although white with black wimples (technical term, there!). They began to sing, and accompanied themselves with a couple of autoharps; we were outside before the mass began, and moved down to the lowest level of the property. What a sight - and it's about 3.5 miles from our apartment, and we can see the Basilica from our window!
     Many people gave us the advice to "get lost" - and we did! We decided to try to walk back, and wanted to experience some of Montmartre...we found a sort of median-park between the two sides of the main street. It had a lot of trees, and was a nicer place than the sidewalks next to the various stores. It was beginning to rain lightly, and we continued until we weren't sure we were going in the right direction - and right after we'd strolled through the Pigalle district, passing the Moulin Rouge, among other various adult establishments. Much better that we were removed from both sides of the street establishments, but interesting to see that the area still retains its raunchiness, from as far back as the time of Maurice Revel (his family lived there for a time, and I learned about it in a video I used - but had to edit - for one of my classes the last few years). It was legitimately raining now, so we decided to try a taxi again...we'll be using the other public transportation choices once we learn what we need to know to get around...and it was a much better experience this time. I don't know if it was that the driver seemed to care that it was taking longer than he liked because of the traffic, or he was a better driver, but it was a better ride back. Either way, I told him he was a better chauffeur, and he appreciated that - a true conversation in French. Most of the people with whom I've started with French have tried to switch to English, which is ok, but it was nice to know I was actually able to have a conversation without switching back and forth between both languages.
      It's now late again...but...sleep is not the priority. It's exciting being here, and sharing the day and saving these memories in this detail will be great when I try to remember what we did on each wonderful day. Even with rain, it's wonderful. Tomorrow: hoho (hop on/hop off) bus to acclimate ourselves, FaceTime with my last year's French students, and whatever else presents itself - hopefully all good. Au revoir!

Bonjour from Paris!!

        

     Well...the title says it all! After delayed flights that somehow arrived on time, we're here! Looking every bit of jet-lag that I felt, this is a picture taken of me in the living room of the apartment we've rented for two weeks, on Boulevard de Grenelle, in the 15th arrondissement. The view is even better than shown in the booking photo...and...we decided to take this photo to show the view, with me in it :)

     Well, travel here was fairly smooth; it seems as if the airlines add extra time - we thought our flight CLE-JFK would be 2 hours, by the schedule, and it was just over an hour...the JFK-CDG was listed as 8 hours, but took just about 6. Oh well...I don't need to know why or how...just that it all worked fine. Btw, if you plan to voyage on Air France, and can afford the extra $ to book their Premium Economy seating (it's minimal, compared to jumping from economy to business class, and, well, let's not even dream about first class - no drooling on electronic devices :) - do it! We were looking around JFK for something reasonable (ha!) and somewhat nutritious (ha again!) to have before our 9:40 pm flight...then I decided to ask the gate attendant if a meal was included - her response was that both dinner and breakfast would be served on the flight. So...problem solved :) Dinner, although prepackaged, was a 5-course French meal - appetizer of pheasant tourine, marinated scallop with four (yech!) caviar blobs (at least I think that's what they were - I tasted one and regretted it immediately!) on top, midget sweet pickle, choice of entree - we had the pasta shells with marinara and ricotta and spinach (so French!), because we didn't know what the chicken and its sauce would be and we were h-u-n-g-r-y.  The flight attendant didn't know any more info about the food than we did, so we erred on the side of caution. A small piece of cheese, roll with butter, choice of beverage - a lovely cabernet sauvignon was sampled, along with Perrier as our other choice - and an almond-Grand Mariner cake that looked like tiramisu completed the dinner. I did wonder what Business and First-class might have had. Breakfast was pre-made, not impressive, but included plain yogurt, blueberry muffin, and Mott's (yes, that's right, from USA!) granny smith applesauce. 

     We  made arrangements prior to leaving home for a car transport - Blacklane is like Uber, but a business-type rather than everyday type. It's kind of hard to explain, so let me just say we were led to a Mercedes sedan, and had a nice ride to meet our apartment host, Sylvain. We got a tour of the apartment - sparse, but with a spectacular view that also included a far-off Sacre Coeur view. We thought about planning some activity, but the lack of sleep and time change seemed more important to consider than a "first night in Paris" experience, so did some food shopping, a quick nap, dinner at a brasserie across the street, and back to try to reset and turn in at a decent time. All went as planned except the last part - it's well past midnight here, and we're both wide-awake. We'll get the hang of it soon, I'm sure. 

     Tomorrow's first plan is to go across the street to the "best bakery in this area of Paris" (from our host's opinion) and get a baguette, possibly croissants, and come back to the apartment to enjoy breakfast like we live here. After that, (although we might need a nap if we indulge too much!) we'll decide on a plan, and hopefully, have something wonderful to add to our memories and this blog. Wishing all of you a trip of your dreams...it's been worth the wait for us, already! 

                                                 

JFK is just okay...

30 minutes to Air France flight!! JFK is a very confusing airport! We left CLE about 30 min late
but made it here to JFK with enough time to sit and wait to board. Expected arrival about 11 am Paris time (or 5 am our time!). Hoping to sleep en route so we can hit the ground running...or at least walking and awake enough to get through the day. Barring any extreme circumstances, next post from France!!

CLE in 24 hours; departure in 25.5 hours...yikes!!

Well, the butterflies of excitement are in full flight but we are seemingly calm to the casual observer...in a couple of hours we can check in for our flights, which I scheduled so there would be minimal rushing around needed. Leaving at 5:09 pm with an 11:10 arrival in Paris...and on the return trip, leaving at 1:30 pm and CLE at 8:53 pm. Hopefully - no delays. Looks like both home and Paris are going to be beautiful weather for the majority of the time - high 60s/low 70s and mostly or all sunny. Great way to begin...hoping the forecasters are correct!! So hard to believe it's here!! Hoping to post at least one picture and one paragraph each day...we shall see, right? Thanks for all the "bon voyage" wishes...whoo hoo!! xoxo