Home At Last

Its with mixed feelings that my trip comes to an end.  I am happy to be home and see my kids and friends here, but equally sad to have left Andrew, Katherine, and my other friends back in London.  But there will be more trips in the future, of that I am sure!  Off to work now...oy!


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Last Day in Paris

I flew back from Paris to London today. Sad that leg of the trip is over, and that I'm heading back to the States tomorrow. But...what a great trip it's been!

This is A&K standing in front of our hotel this morning. The hotel was great, super location to walk everywhere (as you've probably gathered). Rooms were about the size of my bedroom, which doesn't say much! But a bed, bathroom, and free wifi goes a long way.













Our last dinner together in Paris. Ate at a fabulous place called Le Fumoir, just across the street from the Louvre. It came highly recommended by Alison, and did not disappoint.









And what trip would be complete without a stop at the Mona Lisa? I have to admit that mischievous smirk on her face intrigued me..as it has many others. What was she thinking??














Off to a last dinner out.... Au revoir!

Raspberry Beret

Katherine told me if I could find a beret for less than 5 euros she would wear it the rest of the trip..  Tonight I was successful!!

Bon Soir!

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8 Miles

The distance we walked yesterday... What an amazing city this is! We had a bit of a lie-in, got moving around 11a, and spent the entire day on foot. Made it back to the hotel at around 2am! We the 3 of us timed our walk perfectly to be at a restaurant 5 minutes walking from the Gare du Nord (train station Andrew was arriving at from London). The operation went like clockwork..as we were ordering our wine my phone chirped (or rather, ribbited) with a text from Andy that he was 5 minutes away.

Breakfast: a lovely crepe filled with nutella, banana, coconut & drizzled with Gran Marnier... I could have this EVERY morning!
















First stop after coffee, the Louvre. I took a picture of the iconic glass pyramid, the museum spans several blocks, and will take days to completely explore. I'm up early this morning to make a small dent. Kat & Aimee weren't interested in spending time indoors yesterday, so we walked the grounds and then went further west toward the Arc d'Triomphe








Shot from the middle of the street..perfect vantage point. Who says Parisians are crazy drivers??

I was excited to finally see the stretch of cobblestone road that hosts the final stage of Le Tour every year. I could almost hear the cheering crowds as the peleton flies by, the yellow jersey drinking champagne toasts while the sprinters battle it out for final points!

From the Arc we went north, found a cafe for lunch (great red wine!), meandered around, in and out of shops, absorbing everything we could. Several hours, 1 Irish pub, 1 new blazer from H&M, and a couple of miles later we found an Italian place near the train station and met Andrew there...

The walk back toward our hotel offered up this amazing vantage point. I took the picture with a 1 second shutter speed..












One last stop on the meander home...the pub where we discovered 100cL mugs of goodness, I mean beer.










Signing off now...gonna go find me a crepe, espresso, and some art..

Update on Paris

Our hotel (picture to be provided in a later post) is in a great part of Paris, walking distance to everywhere! Yesterday afternoon we walked from the hotel down to the River Seine, then about 3 miles along the river to the Eiffel Tower. Along the way we saw Notre Dame, the Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre, and many other interesting places. It's amazing to be here!!

Here's a shot of the Eiffel Tower from a half mile away. Still had no idea how BIG it is.












Turns out the Eiffel Tower is actually quite large!!! I was amazed! Equally amazing were the lines to get in..stretching several hundred yards (several hundred people) from multiple entry points. So...we decided that trying to restore feeling to our hands and feet was more important than climbing up the Tower...we'll try again another day.








One last group shot..the tower artfully placed by the man taking our picture to look as if it's growing out of my head..


















And recovering in a nearby Braisserie.....when we asked for a "large" we didn't realize it was "supersized"!!










More to come later. We're off to eat crepes and check out the Louvre..

I'm in Paris!

Landed in Paris today with Katherine. Andrew takes the train out tomorrow after work. My friend Aimee from work took the train up from her dads house in Normandy. The city is beautiful. Its clear and about 32F. I wish I'd brought my smartwool!!

More later. We're off to explore the Eiffel Tower!

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It's 2008!

Let the festivities begin! Last night we were invited over to a party that Alison & her roommate Raj were having. Great Indian food and lots of champagne were served. Below is Alison, Katherine & Andy.

Around 11p we decided to walk down to the Thames and find a spot to watch the fireworks. I guess the Brits really love their fireworks! Although we ended up not being able to directly see much of any display, there fireworks going off at multiple points across London. It was mostly not raining (until after midnight) which was nice.

On the walk.. we brought our beverages with us..something else that is totally acceptable on the London streets!
One the many bridges across the Thames. We didn't stop here because we weren't far enough 'along the bend' to see the anticipated displays.

The clock struck midnight! We passed around a bottle of champagne and toasted each other, plus all the random strangers on the bridge with us. Cars were stopped on the bridge, apparently unconcerned that they were blocking traffic. Crazy Brits....


Last year was Maui (with A&K, plus the kids), this year London, I wonder where next year will be??

RDT