Tres Bien!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Eric's Thoughts (Part Deux)
Today has been another wonderful day. We went to Chateau de Versailles. I have decided to move in next week. The only problem is I would need a map just to find my way around the house. And the garden was simply massive. Some people had rented golf carts to manuver around the grounds. I am in reasonably good shape, and my legs are tired from walking from one end of the garden to the other. But I think if I am going to live in such a hovel, sacrifices must be made. Maybe I could just hire people to carry me around the house and grounds.
Paris Day Three
Day Three Highlights: Off to Versailles - Attempting to post pictures -
Bon Soir Everyone! If my blog is too long, and you can't see, we added a picture to our first three Europe posts. So scroll down and enjoy
We are still having a great time, although a little more tired than before. How long does it take to get over jet lag? As you know, we had slept until noon yesterday, and then couldn't fall asleep last night. We did discover that the sun doesn't set until ten p.m., that the Eiffel Tower stays lit until 2 a.m. (we can see the top of the tower from our hotel room), and that the sun rises by 6 a.m.
We wandered through an antique fair on Rue Cler. Mom would have been in Heaven! I could picture her trying to figure out ways to ship the furniture home! :-) We had breakfast - I tried the "French Breakfast" which is just a croissant and juice, and Eric had an omelet.
Then we headed for Versailles. We sat on the train with two lovely ederly ladies from Ireland. It is so fun to get to talk to people from other countries. They were very sweet, and filled our heads with visions of Ireland (... I sense another trip in the makings...but that will be a few years off!)
We reached Versailles and were so grateful that we have Paris Museum Passes. These passes work like the fast pass at Disneyland, and we were able to skip the 2+ hour line and go right in. The palace was amazing, beyond words. The gardens were even more incredible, and we spent most of the day getting lost in the gardens. It's amazing to think that that was once someone's yard! We literally walked for hours and did not see all of it. The fountains were our favorite part. For the last hour and a half of the day, they play classical French music and turn the fountains on. Gorgeous!
We made our way home, and needed a break. So we've been watching the French Open on our hotel tv. We discovered that there is internet access in our lobby, so that's how we were able to upload the three pictures. However, the keyboard is in French (yes I know that's still the Roman alphabet, but the keys are in different places and it was nearly impossible just to log in.) So we spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to upload the pictures, and then quit, because there were people waiting to use the computer. Now we are back at the Internet Cafe, but don't have the ability to upload pictures here.
Now we are on our way to the Eiffel Tower so that we can see it completely lit up. Then dinner somewhere. Tomorrow we will try to go to Giverny and see Monet's gardens - another dream come true for me!
Insane moment of the day: we each paid 6euros for a soda!!! We will never complain about movie theater prices again! Those seem like huge bargains! We can't figure out why beverages in Paris cost about two thirds what a meal costs! Crazy! But we've finally clued into the idea of just buying our drinks at the grocery store (so much cheaper!) and bringing them with us.
Fun Food Discovery: I don't remember if I mentioned Gouda Biscuits - the snack crackers that we found yesterday...yummy! We're having fun at the grocery store!
Our love to everyone, and thanks for posting comments, Mom, Dad, Grandma and Ed! :-)
Bon Soir Everyone! If my blog is too long, and you can't see, we added a picture to our first three Europe posts. So scroll down and enjoy
We are still having a great time, although a little more tired than before. How long does it take to get over jet lag? As you know, we had slept until noon yesterday, and then couldn't fall asleep last night. We did discover that the sun doesn't set until ten p.m., that the Eiffel Tower stays lit until 2 a.m. (we can see the top of the tower from our hotel room), and that the sun rises by 6 a.m.
We wandered through an antique fair on Rue Cler. Mom would have been in Heaven! I could picture her trying to figure out ways to ship the furniture home! :-) We had breakfast - I tried the "French Breakfast" which is just a croissant and juice, and Eric had an omelet.
Then we headed for Versailles. We sat on the train with two lovely ederly ladies from Ireland. It is so fun to get to talk to people from other countries. They were very sweet, and filled our heads with visions of Ireland (... I sense another trip in the makings...but that will be a few years off!)
We reached Versailles and were so grateful that we have Paris Museum Passes. These passes work like the fast pass at Disneyland, and we were able to skip the 2+ hour line and go right in. The palace was amazing, beyond words. The gardens were even more incredible, and we spent most of the day getting lost in the gardens. It's amazing to think that that was once someone's yard! We literally walked for hours and did not see all of it. The fountains were our favorite part. For the last hour and a half of the day, they play classical French music and turn the fountains on. Gorgeous!
We made our way home, and needed a break. So we've been watching the French Open on our hotel tv. We discovered that there is internet access in our lobby, so that's how we were able to upload the three pictures. However, the keyboard is in French (yes I know that's still the Roman alphabet, but the keys are in different places and it was nearly impossible just to log in.) So we spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to upload the pictures, and then quit, because there were people waiting to use the computer. Now we are back at the Internet Cafe, but don't have the ability to upload pictures here.
Now we are on our way to the Eiffel Tower so that we can see it completely lit up. Then dinner somewhere. Tomorrow we will try to go to Giverny and see Monet's gardens - another dream come true for me!
Insane moment of the day: we each paid 6euros for a soda!!! We will never complain about movie theater prices again! Those seem like huge bargains! We can't figure out why beverages in Paris cost about two thirds what a meal costs! Crazy! But we've finally clued into the idea of just buying our drinks at the grocery store (so much cheaper!) and bringing them with us.
Fun Food Discovery: I don't remember if I mentioned Gouda Biscuits - the snack crackers that we found yesterday...yummy! We're having fun at the grocery store!
Our love to everyone, and thanks for posting comments, Mom, Dad, Grandma and Ed! :-)
Friday, June 1, 2007
Eric's Thoughts
No this is not the usual ramblings of my crazy mind, but rather the thoughts concerned with our most recent adventures.
I came to Paris when I was just a lad, but I do have some clear memories of some of the places I am seeing, but nothing seems to compare to seeing the sights as an adult. Paris is an amazing city. Having traveled to many cities in my life this is high praise for me, but there is something so incredible about walking through a city and being impressed around every corner. There is either an interesting building, fountain, statue, cafe, or monument wherever the eye wanders. While all cities seem to have points of interest, this city has them in abundance.
Well, that is all for now. I hope all of you who are reading this are doing well.
I came to Paris when I was just a lad, but I do have some clear memories of some of the places I am seeing, but nothing seems to compare to seeing the sights as an adult. Paris is an amazing city. Having traveled to many cities in my life this is high praise for me, but there is something so incredible about walking through a city and being impressed around every corner. There is either an interesting building, fountain, statue, cafe, or monument wherever the eye wanders. While all cities seem to have points of interest, this city has them in abundance.
Well, that is all for now. I hope all of you who are reading this are doing well.
Oh, I almost forgot the coolest thing about Paris. I get to kiss my wife in a variety of romantic settings.
Paris - Day Two
Day Two Highlights - Sleeping until noon- lunch in a garden - Arc D' Triomph - Louvre - Walk along the Seine - Dinner - Internet Cafe
So, as you know, we slept until noon, and even then it was so hard to get up. We forced ourselves out of bed and decided to make a picnic lunch. We had fun shopping at a little corner grocery store. We got some Lipton Peach Ice Tea, which tastes just like that gummy peach ring candy. Yummy! We went to a fruit stand and got some strawberries. Having only ever purchased produce at a grocery store, it amazed me that it was sold clean and ready to eat. We enjoyed those strawberries while walking about a mile uptown. We also stopped at a bakery and picked up some yummy snadwiches. I have to say that I really love French Ham - I don't know why - but it's different from the stuff we have in American delis- very light and flakey.
We strolled to a beautiful garden on the Champs Elysees. It was not the Toulleries Garden, but near by. We had a wonderful picnic and then walked to the Arc D' Triomph, up Champs Elysees. The street reminded me so much of Times Square in New York - so many shops and PEOPLE! It was crazy crowded, but fun to see how many shops are the same as back home, and check out the ones that were different.
The Arc was amazing. We climbed many stairs to get to the top (our calves are killing us right now!) And the views of Paris from the top were incredible.
From the Arc, we walked back down Champs Elysees to the Toulleries Garden (Gorgeous! Spectacular! Amazing!) We took many pictures and will try to upload some tomorrow. We didn't bring the right cable with us today.
From the Garden, we went to the Louvre. It was open late this evening, so we again didn't have to deal with crowds (I'm telling you - Rick Steves is full of great advice.) When we saw the Mona Lisa, I got teary-eyed, because it really hit me at that moment that we were in France! What an incredible experience! By the way, I actually thought the Mona Lisa was much larger than I expected. I've heard so many people talk about how tiny it is, and it is in comparison to other paintings. But I'd say that it was at least 2 feet by 4 feet. It was fun to see. Other highlights were Da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, the Venus De Milo and Winged Victory. You can tell that The Da Vinci Code has had an impact on the Louvre, because soooo many people and tour groups were surrounding Madonna of the Rocks, trying to unlock its hidden messages.
The funniest part of the Louvre is that it took us over an hour to find our way out, once we decided to leave! It was like a crazy maze. But the good thing is that forced us to see more of the museum. Truly, it is a place that you could spend days and not see everything!
From the Louvre, we strolled along the Seine River - again, GORGEOUS!!!!- and found a fun little cafe for dinner. Now here's the funny thing I have yet to mentions. Wine and beer are significantly cheaper than soda. In fact, a small glass, 33 cl - however much that is, costs around 4 Euros (which probably equates around $5.00), but a glass of wine, the same size is only 2.9 Euros. Crazy! So I decided, when in France.... and had a glass of wine. Hopefully it won't hurt my stomach, but so far so good. I also branched out a little and had a toasted ham and gruyere sandwich, which was sooooo yummy! Eric had pasta. And we had creme brulee for dessert - also very good.
So now we're hear. It's almost 9 pm and the sun is still shining. We will try to stay up later tonight, and hope to be up at a decent hour tomorrow. Our plans are to take a trip to Versailles, but you never know what we might end up doing!
Incase my first post is on another page, be sure to check for three new postings - 2 from me and one from Eric. I personally can't wait to read his perspecitve! :-)
Love and miss you all! Comments to our post are greatly appreciated and cheaper than postcards! :-) Good luck to our friends who are about to start summer school, and we will try to add pictures when we write again!
So, as you know, we slept until noon, and even then it was so hard to get up. We forced ourselves out of bed and decided to make a picnic lunch. We had fun shopping at a little corner grocery store. We got some Lipton Peach Ice Tea, which tastes just like that gummy peach ring candy. Yummy! We went to a fruit stand and got some strawberries. Having only ever purchased produce at a grocery store, it amazed me that it was sold clean and ready to eat. We enjoyed those strawberries while walking about a mile uptown. We also stopped at a bakery and picked up some yummy snadwiches. I have to say that I really love French Ham - I don't know why - but it's different from the stuff we have in American delis- very light and flakey.
We strolled to a beautiful garden on the Champs Elysees. It was not the Toulleries Garden, but near by. We had a wonderful picnic and then walked to the Arc D' Triomph, up Champs Elysees. The street reminded me so much of Times Square in New York - so many shops and PEOPLE! It was crazy crowded, but fun to see how many shops are the same as back home, and check out the ones that were different.
The Arc was amazing. We climbed many stairs to get to the top (our calves are killing us right now!) And the views of Paris from the top were incredible.
From the Arc, we walked back down Champs Elysees to the Toulleries Garden (Gorgeous! Spectacular! Amazing!) We took many pictures and will try to upload some tomorrow. We didn't bring the right cable with us today.
From the Garden, we went to the Louvre. It was open late this evening, so we again didn't have to deal with crowds (I'm telling you - Rick Steves is full of great advice.) When we saw the Mona Lisa, I got teary-eyed, because it really hit me at that moment that we were in France! What an incredible experience! By the way, I actually thought the Mona Lisa was much larger than I expected. I've heard so many people talk about how tiny it is, and it is in comparison to other paintings. But I'd say that it was at least 2 feet by 4 feet. It was fun to see. Other highlights were Da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, the Venus De Milo and Winged Victory. You can tell that The Da Vinci Code has had an impact on the Louvre, because soooo many people and tour groups were surrounding Madonna of the Rocks, trying to unlock its hidden messages.
The funniest part of the Louvre is that it took us over an hour to find our way out, once we decided to leave! It was like a crazy maze. But the good thing is that forced us to see more of the museum. Truly, it is a place that you could spend days and not see everything!
From the Louvre, we strolled along the Seine River - again, GORGEOUS!!!!- and found a fun little cafe for dinner. Now here's the funny thing I have yet to mentions. Wine and beer are significantly cheaper than soda. In fact, a small glass, 33 cl - however much that is, costs around 4 Euros (which probably equates around $5.00), but a glass of wine, the same size is only 2.9 Euros. Crazy! So I decided, when in France.... and had a glass of wine. Hopefully it won't hurt my stomach, but so far so good. I also branched out a little and had a toasted ham and gruyere sandwich, which was sooooo yummy! Eric had pasta. And we had creme brulee for dessert - also very good.
So now we're hear. It's almost 9 pm and the sun is still shining. We will try to stay up later tonight, and hope to be up at a decent hour tomorrow. Our plans are to take a trip to Versailles, but you never know what we might end up doing!
Incase my first post is on another page, be sure to check for three new postings - 2 from me and one from Eric. I personally can't wait to read his perspecitve! :-)
Love and miss you all! Comments to our post are greatly appreciated and cheaper than postcards! :-) Good luck to our friends who are about to start summer school, and we will try to add pictures when we write again!
Bonjour from Paris
Day One Highlights.... Arrival to Paris - Eiffel Tower - Museum D'Orsay - Sleeping Until Noon
Bon Jour everyone! We made it safely to Paris, and are actually at the end of our second day here. But I thought I'd break the blog up into each day's events - so that the entry might not get too long. Eric also wants to add his thoughts, so you might have to check "Older Posts" to see all of our entries.
I have to be honest and say that when we fist arrived in Paris, I was disappointed. It seemed like any other big city. The airport was old and dirty, and the drive into Paris was strewn with graffiti-ridden highwys. When we entered Paris, the streets looked like those in San Francisco and New York, that have the cheesey discount electronics stores, and the dirty looking drugstores (who shops at those anyway?) But, as we made our way into the heart of Paris, OH WOW!!!
We are staying in the Rue Cler neighborhood which is amazing beyond words! There are fresh fruit and flower markets, bakeries and tons and tons of fun cafes. We love it! Our hotel room is very tiny, but clean, and we are happy with it. The shower is funny- very tiny. I think Europeans must be much smaller than us wide-hipped Americans - I felt like I barely fit in the stall.
In order to avoid jet lag, we followed Rick Steve's advice and kept busy. We walked to the Eiffel Towe (OH MY GOSH!!! It was so incredible, and that's when I felt like I was truly in Paris!) We climbed up the 400+ steps to the observation deck on the tower. WOW!! Paris is a HUGE city.
From the Eiffel Tower, we walked to The Museum D' Orsay. It was amazing. It was open late, so there wasn't a crowd, which was really nice. We saw many amazing Impressionist paintings, and even saw Whistler's Mother ("She looks great, by the way," is Eric's joke of the day.)
We stopped for dinner at a fun little street side cafe - they are all over the place here, and remind me of one of the things I miss from California (family and friends being the other!) Eric has been very adventurous with food - having escargot, and some salmon tartar thing that looked like head cheese. I, on the other hand, have been very typical, having pasta and....... a cheeseburger for dinner! I know. How un-French can you get. Oddly enough, they seem to be on most menus that we've seen. And hey - at least I'm eating! :-)
So, we kept ourselves busy until 9 pm, when we were absolutely passing out. By the way - the sun was still shining at 9 p.m.! We did such a good job of wearing ourselves out that we slept for 15 hours and didn't get up until noon!
So, on to day 2, and by the way - I'm not editing these posts, so please excuse spelling and grammar errors. :-)
Bon Jour everyone! We made it safely to Paris, and are actually at the end of our second day here. But I thought I'd break the blog up into each day's events - so that the entry might not get too long. Eric also wants to add his thoughts, so you might have to check "Older Posts" to see all of our entries.
I have to be honest and say that when we fist arrived in Paris, I was disappointed. It seemed like any other big city. The airport was old and dirty, and the drive into Paris was strewn with graffiti-ridden highwys. When we entered Paris, the streets looked like those in San Francisco and New York, that have the cheesey discount electronics stores, and the dirty looking drugstores (who shops at those anyway?) But, as we made our way into the heart of Paris, OH WOW!!!
We are staying in the Rue Cler neighborhood which is amazing beyond words! There are fresh fruit and flower markets, bakeries and tons and tons of fun cafes. We love it! Our hotel room is very tiny, but clean, and we are happy with it. The shower is funny- very tiny. I think Europeans must be much smaller than us wide-hipped Americans - I felt like I barely fit in the stall.
In order to avoid jet lag, we followed Rick Steve's advice and kept busy. We walked to the Eiffel Towe (OH MY GOSH!!! It was so incredible, and that's when I felt like I was truly in Paris!) We climbed up the 400+ steps to the observation deck on the tower. WOW!! Paris is a HUGE city.
From the Eiffel Tower, we walked to The Museum D' Orsay. It was amazing. It was open late, so there wasn't a crowd, which was really nice. We saw many amazing Impressionist paintings, and even saw Whistler's Mother ("She looks great, by the way," is Eric's joke of the day.)
We stopped for dinner at a fun little street side cafe - they are all over the place here, and remind me of one of the things I miss from California (family and friends being the other!) Eric has been very adventurous with food - having escargot, and some salmon tartar thing that looked like head cheese. I, on the other hand, have been very typical, having pasta and....... a cheeseburger for dinner! I know. How un-French can you get. Oddly enough, they seem to be on most menus that we've seen. And hey - at least I'm eating! :-)
So, we kept ourselves busy until 9 pm, when we were absolutely passing out. By the way - the sun was still shining at 9 p.m.! We did such a good job of wearing ourselves out that we slept for 15 hours and didn't get up until noon!
So, on to day 2, and by the way - I'm not editing these posts, so please excuse spelling and grammar errors. :-)
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Curious about some of the places we're going to?
We are excited about all of the places we are traveling to, but for both of us, visiting Cinque Terre in Italy is a dream come true. I first learned about Cinque Terre from a Rick Steve's special on PBS, (and then Eric heard all about it from me.) Last summer, our friends Kachina and Carlo sent us a postcard while they were visting Cinque Terre. This inspired us to begin our travel planning. Based on the advice of our friend Mia, who said that we wouldn't want to ever leave Cinque Terre, we extended our stay to 4 nights. *Cinque Terre Fast Fact: According to the guidebooks, Cinque Terre is the place that created pesto.
We are also very excited about two of the hotels we are staying at:
www.staubbach.ch is located in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. This will serve as the jumping off point for our alpine hikes. Click on their link to pictures of the region.
www.hotelsettimocielo.com is located in Sorrento, Italy, about an hour south of Naples. This will serve as our home base while we visit Naples, Pompeii, and hike Mt. Vesuvius. (You know we have to get our volcanic hiking in while we're in Europe!) :-)
Monday, May 28, 2007
We're packed...
...and Claudi is ready to go! (She doesn't quite realize that she's staying home to take care of her brother Fuzz.)
Stay tuned for updates as we get ready to leave!
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