Too good to be true...

Fri, Sep 11, Newark:  Knew it was too good to be true. Our British Airways flight from Orly landed just a little bit late, but Newark was really socked in. We went through customs and then we had to pick up our luggage and go through security and recheck our luggage. Then up to American Airlines to get checked in, get something to eat, and wait for our flight. We had a three-hour layover here—had being the operative word. At the AA desk we found out our flight to Chicago was cancelled because of weather. The only thing we could get was a 5:00 am flight through Charlotte on Friday morning. So, we booked that and went in search of our luggage. That took a few hours, but we finally got it. Took a cab to the Marriott right there at the airport and crashed for 4 hours. We were back in St. Louis by 8:30 a.m.

On our way home...

Thu, Sep 10, Paris to St. Louis:  Yesterday we arranged to have a car pick us up at 10:30 this morning. Another beautiful day again today. Think our flight leaves at 1:40 or something. That should give us plenty of time for security, customs, etc. I have my crossword puzzles and books for entertainment. Packed and ready to go, we headed downstairs for an express breakfast one last time.

On this plane, we were actually sitting next to each other--unlike the "pod" configuration. Mike was facing forward and I was facing aft. Facing aft felt really weird during take-off.

View out my window. Thought we were over the English Channel, but I'm not sure. Those are islands down there.

Thought this was dinner. But it was just the appetizers. Had my first foie gras. Tasted pretty good, if you can get over the fact that it's duck liver.

My favorite day in Paris...

Wed, Sep 9, Paris:  Yesterday morning when we looked out our window we could barely see the Eiffel Tower in the fog. It was just this amorphous shape off in the distance. This morning, however, dawned bright and sunny with nary a cloud in sight. I wanted to see this Jacqueline Kennedy photographic exhibit in a gallery in an obscure section of Paris. It turned out to be the best day of our Paris experience. We took the #4 metro line to Strasbourg St. Denis and changed to the #9 line and got off at Chemin Vert. We exited the metro into this neat little neighborhood devoid of tourists. Quiet and peaceful. We walked about 5 blocks and eventually found the gallery. After spending a few hours touring this exhibit devoid of humanoids, we left in search of somewhere to have some lunch. We found a nice little restaurant in this lovely neighborhood and enjoyed a delicious lunch of beef bourguignon and wonderful French bread with a couple of glasses of wine. Walked back to the metro and made it back to our hotel okay. Should I have another glass of wine I thought? Of course! It’s Paris! So, up to the rooftop bar and enjoyed another glass of wine and the beautiful view. Then back down to the street to a little café and enjoyed some ice cream and a glass of champagne. A great end to a perfect day. Tomorrow we make the arduous journey home.

The Paris metro.

Our rooftop bar enjoying yet another glass of wine.

The rooftop bar with Notre Dame off in the distance.

Mon dieu!

Our ice cream dessert.

And a glass of champagne. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Palace at Versailles

Tue, Sep 8, Paris:  After a full breakfast at our hotel, we headed out for the RER train to Versailles. A 40-minute trip on the train and we were at Versailles. Thought this would be the highlight of Paris, but there were so many people. After getting pushed and shoved and stepped on, I wanted to kill someone just for the pleasure of doing so. Told Mike we’d better get out of here before I did something really bad. After seeing what we wanted in the palace, we exited to the gardens. Thought it was included in our Paris Pass, but NOT. So, 8 euros each later we were walking the gardens. Beautiful for sure. After we’d had enough of that we headed back for the RER train back to Paris. Of course that was slammed. No place to sit, so I sat in the stairway and Mike stood. We switched halfway through—Mike’s back is killing him. Getting off the train at St. Michael, the door slammed on Mike as he was exiting the train. Mon dieu! Someone got the door open and Mike jumped off. I told Mike I needed a drink, so we headed to the hotel bar and sat outside at the little downstairs garden bar. Enjoyed talking with a couple from Alaska—their last night here. Finished our drinks and headed in search of somewhere for dinner, after which we retired to our hotel room.

I should have known this day was cursed from the beginning, since after getting up we got a call from the front desk asking if we had any smoke in our room. No, said I. Apparently the smoke alarm was sounding at the front desk indicating a problem in our room. The only thing I could think of was the pot to heat up water in our room. But that hadn’t been a problem before. After we left for Versailles a mechanic came up and fixed whatever was wrong. We never did find out what it was. Just another eventful day in Paris.

The front gate at Versailles.

Finally made it into the courtyard after waiting in line 45 minutes.

Hall of sculptures.

Madame's bedroom. Not sure who "Madame" was.

Madame's library.

The music room.

That's an organ on the far wall.

Hall of mirrors.

Mikey in the Hall of Mirrors.

View of the palace from the gardens.

The gardens at Versailles.

Statue of Louis IV.

The RER train heading back to Paris. I was sitting on the stairs to the upper level. Mike was standing to my right.

This little guy got on the train at the next stop with his accordian and started playing. Just another day on the RER.

Hotel national des Invalides

Mon, Sep 7, Paris:  We decided to go see Invalides today. So after breakfast at our hotel we headed out to catch the RER train. Got on the train going in the wrong direction, so got off and then found the platform for the train going in the right direction. Got off at the Invalides station and walked up the Esplanade des Invalides to the main gate. I thought this used to be a palace, but it was always a hospital for wounded soldiers. Pretty fancy, I’d say. Napoleon I is entombed under the golden dome. It is now a war museum. Mike got all excited when he heard that. Had lunch here at the café, which was very good. After lunch we headed to one more exhibit and then back to our train under leaden skies. We were shortly back to Saint Michael Notre Dame and our hotel. Headed to the downstairs bar and enjoyed a glass of wine. Partly cloudy today and probably low 70s.

Hotel national des Invalides. Founded in 1670 by Louis XIV to house disabled soldiers and veterans. It is now the Musee de l'Armee.

Front gate.

Mike striking a pose on one of the canons.

The armor exhibit.

I don't know how they could move in all this armor--especially the horse!

They call this the soldier's church.

This they call the royal church.

Beautiful dome!

Napoleon I tomb under the golden dome.

One of the windows.

Check out the floor in this place.

Napoleon I tomb from the lower level.

The double decker RER train.

The little outside bar downstairs off the lobby.

Moi in the downstairs bar enjoying a glass of wine. Salut!

Laverie experience

Sun, Sep 6, Paris:  I had kind of wanted to see a ballet while here. But, after checking, there is nothing I wanted to see—on point, that is. But, last night while surfing the French TV channels, voila! A ballet was being presented in its entirety. Very unusual--sort of Arabian Nights on point. Beautiful costumes and a wonderful orchestra. The theater was probably L’Opera here in Paris. Mikey lucked out. He didn’t have to get dressed up to attend a ballet. Meanwhile, back to reality, our first priority is to do some laundry, now that we found out where the laverie is. We have to buy some laundry detergent first. Maybe the little grocery next to the hotel.

Later: Luckily, the little grocery store next to the hotel had the detergent we needed. So, off we go. We missed the laverie somehow and ended up way down the block. But there were some neat galleries in the area. Back on track and found the laverie. Of course the place is slammed. It’s very small anyway and very narrow, so everyone was getting in everyone else’s way. Here, you put your clothes in the washer, then the soap, then go to the payment kiosk, enter the number of your machine, then put in 4 euros, and voila! The machine starts. Same thing with the dryer. After getting our clothes in the dryer, we headed across the street to a little cafe and had some breakfast—a croissant and coffee/tea. Then back to fold our clothes and back to our hotel and put everything away. Hung around for a while and then up to the rooftop bar for a drink and then out for a sandwich which we brought back to our room. Except for the laverie experience, it was a nice relaxing day.

The Paris Metro.

Dichotomy of the rooftop chimney pots and a TV antenna.

At the rooftop bar.

Palais et Jardins du Luxembourg

Sat, Sep 5, Paris:  After breakfast at a little café this morning, we headed to the laundromat (they call them laverie here). The girl at the front desk gave us an address. So we headed out walking. Found it pretty easily and then checked out how to use it for tomorrow. We’re standing in the street across from the laverie and ran into an Australian couple. Talked with them for a while. They were trying to find the Jardin du Luxembourg. We helped them find their way (really?) and then we decided to head there ourselves. You can’t go into the palace because I think it houses their senate, but the gardens are beautiful. Walked around there for a while and then headed back to a café we spotted for a light lunch. Had a couple of glasses of wine and a plate of cheeses. Hit the spot. Then back to our room and relaxed before heading out for dinner. Think we’ll go to the little café we went to on our first night here. A nice day today. Mostly cloudy and in the upper 60s.

Jardins du Palais Luxembourg

Bon Jour!

What a comedian!

Palais du Luxembourg

Cute butt!

Reminds me of David.

Little pond where you can sail your remote controlled boats--just like Central Park in NYC.

Enjoying our dejeuner.

Fromage plat.

Doors of Paris.