Home Again....

Monday was a long day.  We awoke in London at 4:am.....we were at the airport and through security by 6:00......airborne by 8:15 for an 8 hour flight to Chicago.  Then after a tedious trip through the customs folks, problems getting our parking paid, and a 4 hour drive to Plainfield, we pulled into the drive about 5:00 pm Indiana time.  We are now unpacked, laundered, and almost back in this time zone.
The last day before we started back was one of our favorites, visiting Monet's gardens.  They were as stunning in person as they were in his oils.

We are already thinking of our next visit to Paris.  Paris is not the place you can go to once and say "I saw that".....it is too big and too alive......there are too many things left to see and too many things to see again.
For now though, we will catch up at home and catch up on some football, and start planning the next trip.

They're driving on the wrong side again, I must be London...

We have recovered to some degree from the bug we had. Friday afternoon we ventured out to the Arts and Meters Museum.....sort of like the Museum of science and Industry in Chicago. It was a great museum....lots of great gadgets. Yesterday we took the train out of Paris to Giverney and toured Claude Monet's house and gardens, and then explored the little towns of Giverney and Vernon. The weather was beautiful, and provided a wonderful closing day for our Week in Paris. David departed this morning for Dueseldorf (sp?) then Detroit. Echo & I took the Chunnel back to London, and we depart early tomorrow morning. What a wonderful trip this has been. Thanks to all of you for your comments and encouragement. I will post some final pictures when I get home to a more efficient net connection

Taking in some sites off of the beaten path...

This is Friday morning, Echo & I are taking a day's rest from our travels as we are both puny with some bug.  Hopefully, we will feel like going out to explore some more later today.
We began yesterday at a neighborhood market which was fun and provided a great variety of merchants.  Then off to look at some more sites.  The cathedrals are so numerous and ornate, it seems like there is one on every corner, and each of them has a particular story.

Then we visited the the Pantheon.  Originally built to be a church, but changed to receive the remains of great Frenchmen, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo.Also the location of Focault's pendulum.....no, this is not the one at the Children's Museum, this is the original.

We then made a quick pass through the Louvre.  The size of the Louvre is staggering.....art historians could study in the Louvre for years.  We then began strolling the Champ-Elysees with the gardens and Concorde, French White House, American Embassy with Arc de Triomphe at the end......all very impressive.

We then went to Pere Lachaise Cemetary.....a very old and very famous cemetary.  It was sad to see the levels of vandalism and disrepair on 200 year old tombs.

We have walked so many miles and ridden so many Metros, and are still just scratching the surface of what this amazing city has to offer.  I understand the Paris mystique and how she can pull you back again and again,

I didn't get to do a blog last night as I was too tired to type!!  We have taken Paris by storm in the last 2 days.  A continual list of the world's greatest art, architecture and food !!  They are all excellent.

We started yesterday at Musee d'Orsay.  A magnificant museum in a former train station.

Then we went to the Eiffel Tower.  The lines were long and our museum pass didn't include the Tower, so Echo improvised an entrance.

Then off to Napolean Bonaparte's tomb....

Imagine all of these sites interspersed with train/metro jaunts of varying length, with way too many steps everywhere.  Then to Sacre'Coeur for sunset, dinner, vespers in the cathedral and the Eiffel hourly light show.

Today Echo & I went to Versailles while David visited a WWII museum he has not seen....we then met up for lunch and spend the rest of the day together......walked a former railroad right-of-way that has been converted to a promenade....

..... toured Place Des Vosges, ( a planned community from 1600's) and ended our day at the Arc de Triomphe watching the sun set on the city.

275 steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe !!!  Oh, did I mention our apartment is on the 5th floor with NO LIFT !!  Our legs are tired, our feet our tired and we are having a ball.  Off for more Paris gazing in the mornibg.  Does anyone know the French for Dr. Scholls?

Our first full day in Paris.....

We had a great first day in Paris.  Checked off everything on the itinerary and then some.  We started the day with a pastry and coffee at a street cafe, then headed to Saint-Chappelle.  This chapel was built by Louis IX in the 1240's to house loot from the Crusades, particularly, Jesus' Crown of Thorns.

Then off to the Cathedral of Notre Dame.....

Next we headed to an enormous flea market.  We surmised that given the number of chandeliers we saw for sale, there cannot possibly be anymore of them left in Paris.

After some walking and subway rides, we arrived at Jardin du Luxembourg, a beautiful castle and garden.  If I lived here I would come here to take naps.......so peaceful and absolutely beautiful.

Touring Paris with David is such a treat indeed.  Not only is he a great friend and companion, he knows so much Parisian and European history, he is an amazing tour guide.  He knows the city so well, you don't have to worry about getting lost, or getting back to your apartment......he has these wonderful little stories about all of the buildings and sites....he can speak enough French to get our food and wine ordered....and he is such a good conversationalist, we never run out of things to talk about.

We are having a ball here, the city is as exciting as advertised and the food and drink marvelous.  Another full day of sites tomorrow.

Paris.....we have arrived.

Today was physically and mentally exhausting.....it took us 2 bottles of wine to recoup. The day started out in a cab to Heathrow, then a walk to the Tube station and 60 minute Tube ride to St. Pancras Station again, 2-1/2 ride on the Chunnel Train to Paris (180 mph Oh My !!), 15 minute ride on the Paris subway, then about a 6 block search for an address that housed the keys and instructions for our apartment. After we retrieved the keys & instructions, it took us about an hour to decipher the instructions and figure out how to get to the apartment and how to open it. Considering these instructions were written in English, we were feeling pretty stupid. It was written like a Mensa Logic puzzle. Good exercise here, our apartment is on the 5th floor and the lift does not work, but we are 1 block from the Louvre. David arrived from Budapest about 6:30pm and we set out on our first evening walk to the Latin Quarter for some people watching and a great french meal. Tomorrow we set off on our itinerary to see the best sites of Paris in six days.

London is New York City with everyone driving on the WRONG side of the road....

On the recommendation of some locals we met in the pub last night, we began our day by going to St. Pancras Train Station, a beautifully restored train station on the near northside of London.

From there, we began searching for Camden Market (another recommendation) which turned into about a 2 mile hike, but well worth the effort. Incredible people watching and a great variety of shopping….from the cheesiest of trinkets to the finest quality jewelry.

We then hopped back on the ‘tube’ and headed for the Tower of London.

We viewed the Tower Bridge and London Bridge…..Tower bridge is much cooler looking and London Bridge is just a boring modern bridge….not worth a picture…..and contrary to common song…..NOT falling down.

The Tower of London affords a lot of history and some incredible museums including the Crown Jewels, lots of royalty stuff, and the more armor, ordinance and general medieval war stuff than you can imagine. We even toured the torture and execution areas.

Last stop was a pass by St. Paul’s Cathedral as the sun was setting.

Then a 40 minute ‘Tube’ ride, plus a 60 minute bus ride because we spaced getting off at our hotel and had to take the long way back!! Things we have learned about British cuisine…… 1…The “Traditional English Breakfast” includes pork-n-beans….mostly on top of the toast and under the eggs. The lack of Smuckers Seedless Black Raspberry Jam is not so bad if your toast is already covered with beans! 2…The British do not cook their bacon……they just heat it up !!!! 3....”Mushy Peas” suck ! Tomorrow…..off to Paris. We still haven’t decided how to get there yet…..plane or train.

It shouldn't be this difficult.....but boy the adventure is fun.....

Well we are off on another unrehearsed tour of Europe. Thurday we left in the car for Chicago to fly out of O’Hare to London. We arrived in the terminal at 2:00pm for a 4:18pm flight….perfect. When we got checked in, we found the flight was delayed until 6:30pm. So after we successfully completed all of the stupid human tricks to get through security, we sat in the gate area for 4 hours. Then they said that they did not know when the plane would get there and we should go board a different flight for London. The good news is….we got to London, the bad news is…..we didn’t get to fly in Business Class. Oh well. It took us about 2 miles of walking and an hour to clear customs, then, we set out to find how to get a ride to our hotel. Yes, the British do speak English, but it is not like central Indiana ‘Hoosier English’. We found the bus, figured out how to read the bus chart and waited about 30 minutes for our bus to arrive. We figured out how to CORRECTLY read the bus chart as our bus drove away, without us on it. Another 30 minute delay. By the time we got checked in, had lunch and a beer, we were recharged and ready to tackle the London mass transit system. How difficult could that be ? Ooops…..more travel errors. But we finally made it downtown. We knew by the buses.

Then we headed to Buckingham Palace….

And headed around to the back of the Palace and found the Queen’s Gallery (which we were searching for and found by accident). Awesome oils and period furniture, and without a doubt, the finest public men’s room I have ever been in. I wish I had that much woodwork in my entire house.

Then we found a tour of the Palace’s equine and carriage department. Very impressive. We both said that the facilities did not quite compare to the stables of Anheiser-Busch, but the carriages were over-the-top. They even displayed the one that William & Katherine rode in at their April wedding.

Tomorrow is off to see as much of London as we can in one day. Time for bed now, we have been up for about 36 hours now and we’re pretty pooped.

OK, it is time to fire up the BLOG again......we are heading to Europe again this week.  Since we last posted, we have been enjoying our children, grand-children and life in general.  We have made some short trips, including a family trip with all kids and grandkids to the Wisconsin Dells this past June.  But for the most part, stayed close to home...and endured record setting heat & drought this Summer.

With the encouragement of our world traveling friends, and brash confidence from last year's tour, we are again departing for a European vacation.  Our friend Brenda (United Airline flight attendant) has once again generously offered her companion passes to us....and our friend David (retired European travel junky) has shared with us his personal Paris experiences and friendship to provide a wonderful itinerary and will join us for the week in Paris. So stay tuned and share our experience.....we are leaving Thursday (we think) and heading first to London, we'll let you know as the plan develops.