14th – Monday
We pulled away from our apartment in Beaucaire by 8:16 a.m.
Parking the Citroen mini van up on the curb between two gas pumps so we could oh-so-quickly pull our large and small suitcases, tote bags and shoulder bags out of the van and across the busy street during breaks in traffic.
Cathy, Mom & Judy meeting Bruno outside the apartment. Bruno helped us to pull in the piles of luggage, etc in through two sets of entrance doors and then up the stairs or in the elevator. The elevator is truly the size of a spacious coffin. One person plus some luggage, or maybe two people.
A quick jaunt to the Louvre where each bought a 4-day museum/monument. We only had an hour or so before the Louvre closed, so we spread out and met back, of all places, Starbucks. Four of us saw the Mona Lisa. She was smaller than I expected. I think my favorite picture from the museum will be the picture I took of all the people taking pictures of the Mona Lisa, with cameras and cell phones.
We walked back home and went shopping for dinner. We found fruits, vegetables and other groceries a block or two from the apartment.
Lovely hard rain outside the apartment as we ate our dinner “at home” in the apartment’s stylish dining room. We opened the tall windows to watch cyclists and pedestrians run for cover and to hear the rain come down.
15th – Tuesday
Late start. First shot at the shower with the ENORMOUS shower head. Breakfast in the
apartment.
Metro ride to Champs-Elysees, where we surfaced and walked to the L’Arc de Triumphe. In order to get to the arch, we needed to walk under the huge round-about via tunnel. Twelve streets run into the round-about. It is quite a thing to watch the cars from the top of the arch as they all try to enter and exit; the motorcycles making their way like hummingbirds through the rest of the traffic.
Steve, Judy, Tim & I (Cathy) all took the stairs to the top of the arch (per Rick Steves, it is 284 steps). The view was stunning. Many significant monuments and buildings were laid out before us like a huge 3-D map; La Tour Eiffel, Sacre Cour, Notre Dame, the Louvre.
Then the metro to a stop near the Eiffel Tour.
Bless my buttons, but that Eiffel Tour is a biggie. Because there are so many tourists – wait, let me stop here for a minute. I’d just like to say how lovely it has been traveling in the month of September. The weather has been hot during the trip, but not too hot. The few cold days we’ve had (mostly Paris) have not been too cold and the rain, well, it has rained at night after we’re in for the evening. AND, better yet, the crowds are not really crowds. We’ve been to so many fantastic places so far and it is scary to think of just how crowded it would have been had we been traveling in August. Blech.
Four of us walked the 685 stairs to the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tour. After walking up the stairs to the top of the Arc of Triumphe, some of us (a.k.a. Cathy) really felt the last set of stairs on the tower.
Again, the view was amazing. Looking back on the Arc de Triumphe, it looked so much smaller then it felt as we stood at the top of it.
There were workmen harnessed and tethered to the side of the Tour as they appeared to be scraping and painting different areas. Talk about a job. Again I say, jeepers.
Ohhhh, I enjoyed seeing the pigeons inside the enclosed eating areas on the 1st and 2nd levels of the Eiffel Tour. They were quite at home pecking away at crumbs on the floor or standing around on a table top.
We had lunch at the Brasserie de la Tour Eiffel.
Off to the metro and the Musee D’Orsy to view artwork by the likes of Monet, Manet, Cassatt, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne. What a lovely museum. A great mix of new and old. The museum looks so modern, but it was created from an old train station.
Appetizers and aparatifs back in the apartment, followed by take out Chinese food for dinner. Probably one of the healthiest meals so far but definitely not a favorite.
We pulled away from our apartment in Beaucaire by 8:16 a.m.
Parking the Citroen mini van up on the curb between two gas pumps so we could oh-so-quickly pull our large and small suitcases, tote bags and shoulder bags out of the van and across the busy street during breaks in traffic.
Cathy, Mom & Judy meeting Bruno outside the apartment. Bruno helped us to pull in the piles of luggage, etc in through two sets of entrance doors and then up the stairs or in the elevator. The elevator is truly the size of a spacious coffin. One person plus some luggage, or maybe two people.
A quick jaunt to the Louvre where each bought a 4-day museum/monument. We only had an hour or so before the Louvre closed, so we spread out and met back, of all places, Starbucks. Four of us saw the Mona Lisa. She was smaller than I expected. I think my favorite picture from the museum will be the picture I took of all the people taking pictures of the Mona Lisa, with cameras and cell phones.
We walked back home and went shopping for dinner. We found fruits, vegetables and other groceries a block or two from the apartment.
Lovely hard rain outside the apartment as we ate our dinner “at home” in the apartment’s stylish dining room. We opened the tall windows to watch cyclists and pedestrians run for cover and to hear the rain come down.
15th – Tuesday
Late start. First shot at the shower with the ENORMOUS shower head. Breakfast in the
apartment.Metro ride to Champs-Elysees, where we surfaced and walked to the L’Arc de Triumphe. In order to get to the arch, we needed to walk under the huge round-about via tunnel. Twelve streets run into the round-about. It is quite a thing to watch the cars from the top of the arch as they all try to enter and exit; the motorcycles making their way like hummingbirds through the rest of the traffic.
Steve, Judy, Tim & I (Cathy) all took the stairs to the top of the arch (per Rick Steves, it is 284 steps). The view was stunning. Many significant monuments and buildings were laid out before us like a huge 3-D map; La Tour Eiffel, Sacre Cour, Notre Dame, the Louvre.
Then the metro to a stop near the Eiffel Tour.
Bless my buttons, but that Eiffel Tour is a biggie. Because there are so many tourists – wait, let me stop here for a minute. I’d just like to say how lovely it has been traveling in the month of September. The weather has been hot during the trip, but not too hot. The few cold days we’ve had (mostly Paris) have not been too cold and the rain, well, it has rained at night after we’re in for the evening. AND, better yet, the crowds are not really crowds. We’ve been to so many fantastic places so far and it is scary to think of just how crowded it would have been had we been traveling in August. Blech.
Four of us walked the 685 stairs to the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tour. After walking up the stairs to the top of the Arc of Triumphe, some of us (a.k.a. Cathy) really felt the last set of stairs on the tower.
Again, the view was amazing. Looking back on the Arc de Triumphe, it looked so much smaller then it felt as we stood at the top of it.
There were workmen harnessed and tethered to the side of the Tour as they appeared to be scraping and painting different areas. Talk about a job. Again I say, jeepers.
Ohhhh, I enjoyed seeing the pigeons inside the enclosed eating areas on the 1st and 2nd levels of the Eiffel Tour. They were quite at home pecking away at crumbs on the floor or standing around on a table top.
We had lunch at the Brasserie de la Tour Eiffel.
Off to the metro and the Musee D’Orsy to view artwork by the likes of Monet, Manet, Cassatt, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne. What a lovely museum. A great mix of new and old. The museum looks so modern, but it was created from an old train station.
Appetizers and aparatifs back in the apartment, followed by take out Chinese food for dinner. Probably one of the healthiest meals so far but definitely not a favorite.
I can't wait until I get to see Paris, but it will probably be when the kids are older so we can enjoy it a little more. BTW this is Cathy's friend Teri. ;-)
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