Crossing items off the bucket list!

Bonjours mes amis!


Tuesday March 13th

This morning we left the hotel in search of breakfast and stumbled upon what I'd like to think of as the best street in Paris! Rue Cler is absolutely gorgeous and straight out of a movie. Little grocers, bakers, butchers, cafés, florists, all lining a cobblestone alley. Beautiful. We took our meal at Café Central and enjoyed some true ambiance.

The ambiance included a man talking to a paper bag, and a woman selling chocolates out of her pocket. Very interesting people-watching! But it was excellent, really. So nice. We'll definitely go back.

Our first stop of the day was to Hotel Invalides, which is quite an impressive structure. Not only does it house Napoleon's tomb (le wow), but it is also home to several museums. We spent time in the WWI and WWII museum, which was formidable, if a tad dark. Once we got outside, Ted shushed me when I questioned some of France's actions during the war, because apparently it's a touchy subject over here. On the other hand, Ted can get away with referring to someone's countenance as looking like "two cats in a sack fighting over a ham" and that's seemingly fine. :P

Then we headed to the Musee d'Orsay, which was rather amazing if you like museums and art. Lots of Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, etc. Somehow it's quite the experience to see these things with your own eyes. Although I'd classify myself as someone who is more enthralled by architecture than art, I couldn't help but be taken in by it all.

Lunch at the museum - my first bona fide Croc Monsieur, which is like a grilled cheese with ham in it. Oh, and with more cheese on top. Delicious.

We walked back to our hotel and got ready for our jaunt to the Eiffel Tower. We bought our tickets online yesterday which turned out to be genius, because when we got there, there was a ridiculously long queue. We bypassed it all, and headed straight to the top to catch the last of the sunset. The view at dusk is lovely. A bucket list item completed - the top of the Eiffel Tower!

The day was beautiful and wonderful, but we have more to do tomorrow!


Wednesday March 14th

This morning, you guessed it, we headed back to Rue Cler. This time we ate at La Roussille, where we enjoyed an "American" breakfast and free wi-fi - yay! Then we headed to the Metro and got off at the next bucket list item - The Louvre. Ted and I did the "divide & conquer" routine which was a smart move since we wanted to see different things. Le W.O.W. Was I impressed yesterday? Holy crow. The Louvre is mind-boggling. I saw:

The Horses of Marly by Coustou
The medieval moat underneath the Louvre
St. Mary Magdalene by Erhart
Code of Hammurabi
Colossal Statue of Ramesses II
Venus de Milo
Psyche and Cupid by Canova
Captive (The Dying Slave) by Michelangelo
The Mona Lisa by Da Vinci
The Wedding Feast at Cana
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Napoleon III's apartments
... but by far, my favourite was The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche, completed in 1833. Look it up. It's breathtaking. So is her story.

And after that, we were off - more to do today! We headed to Sainte Chappelle, and although we weren't really sure what to expect there (it was a recommendation in my Top 10 Paris book), we were pleasantly surprised. The most amazing interior with sky-high stained glass windows on every wall. I'm sure that my photos won't do it justice. Loved it.

Then, just down the street, Notre Dame. Awesome, yes, but I don't know how much more can impress me at this point. The building itself is so unique. Love the outside more than the inside. Right next door, we also headed to the underground crypts. Not skulls and tombs, though, more like excavated passages and roads. It was okay.

Then to the Pantheon. We didn't go in, but instead took it all in from the outside. Then down the road to our last daylight stop, the Gardens of Luxembourg. A huge outdoor park with much gravel and trees, not so much grass. But many, many people lounging in chairs. We took our mid-day meal here - this time, a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich. Way to mix it up!

Metro back to our hotel. Relax. Dinner at La Mariette, our first real French, French-food. A tiny little place with seating for about 18 people. Very nice, a little fancy. The food was delectable, although mine had fois gras in it (goose liver) which I did not like. I think I am maybe not fancy enough for the Fancy French food. :P Ted made fast friends with the chef and our server, telling them stories about our chef-friend Saddler and the weather back home. I can get the gist, but I am mostly not comfortable jumping in.

Tonight, we get ready to leave Paris. Tomorrow we are off to Bordeaux!

À bientôt,
E!

Nous arrivons en France

Allo!

Ted and I have arrived successfully in Paris. Our flight to Chicago was without incident, although some guy sitting in front of us was teacher-bashing and Ted was trying to keep me from crawling over the seat or otherwise throw something in his general direction. :) We had a 6 hour layover in the Chicago airport, the highlight of which was seeing Juliana Marguiles. We ate lunch, tried to sleep and then tried to come to terms with the fact that our next flight would be filled with a bunch of American teenagers on a school trip. :P


Mon Mar 12th

Once we de-planed, we headed to the baggage carousel where Ted tried to steal a sitar-player's luggage. We swore that it looked just like ours, but not sure he believed us. Taxi to the hotel, wherein Ted insisted he only knew "un peu" French, but I was only able to catch a word here and there. The driver, on the other hand, spoke way too fast for me. He laughed when I asked Ted how to say "Wow" in French. Apparently, it's "Wow."

Our hotel is small and old but cheap for Paris. I'll have to take a photo of the in-room hair-dryer for you. It's quite hysterical. We napped for 4 hours (we only meant 1.5) and then went for drinks at Les Cocottes de Constant, a bar recommended in my Top 10 Paris book. Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower (wow!) and surrounding area. Love it. The streets are old and everything so ornate. History is everywhere.


Unfortunately, so are cigarettes. I thought maybe the Parisians had smartened up since I last visited in 2001, but alas. Stinky smoke everywhere. Butts all over the ground. Blech. Ted says it's actually better than he expected, so it must have been REALLY bad back in 91 or whenever it was that he was last here. Come ON people!

We ate dinner at La Tourville, which was good and not so good. Good because no smoking is allowed inside (although everyone outside was lighting up), good because the food was good, rich, and simple. Good because of the people-watching and great company. Bad because my water glass was not clean on the inside. Bad because a mouse ran around under our table. Bad because our server kinda disappeared after a while. Overall, it was... ok.

We've noticed that people immediately start speaking English to us. Especially me, but even Ted says that when they notice his accent, they switch to English right away. Either they don't want to hear us (me) butcher their language, they want to put us (me) out of our misery, or they want to practice their English.

We are so tired now because over the last few days we've had almost no sleep. So tonight, early to bed, and getting ready for new adventures tomorrow!

Cheers,
E!

ps - stupid French keyboards, arghhhh! I cqnt type qnything properly qnd >I hqve to fix ,y mistqkes over qnd over: Sorry qbout the spelling qnd grq,,er;