Hello [View Full Entry]

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Versailles -The Palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV. What an amazing place! We headed out first thing in the morning for Versailles, knowing it would take most of the day to tour the Palace and the Gardens. Of course, a couple of train rides were involved but we finally got there. It was overcast and a little misty, which actually made the day more pleasant - no unbearable heat. It is impossible to describe the sheer size of the palace and the opulence found inside. We toured the apartments of the Dauphine, the Queen, the daughters, and the King. We [View Full Entry]

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Today was our designated Champagne day so off we went on the train to Reims. Besides being one of the champagne capitals of the world, Reims is also home to Cathedral de Notre-Dame. Twenty-six monarchs were crowned in this cathedral and when you see it, you know why. It is absolutely huge and one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture. The Cathedral was heavily damaged in WWI and was later repaired. Marc Chagall designed some of the replaced stain glass windows, which were reproduced in the 13th century fashion. We then had a champagne lunch before heading back to Paris. [View Full Entry]

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Robert and Kathy actually decided to go for drinks after dinner (or past 9:00 p.m.). We went to this club down the street from the hotel. Very discoy - strobe lights and dancing waiters. Of course, we ordered our favorite - cosmopolitans. Well, our drinks arrived, complete with sparklers - we kid you not - just look at the pics. Attached to each sparkler was a huge hunk of pineapple, which is not an ingredient in a cosmo. At first, we thought that the sparkler would only come with the first drink but no .... every drink we had contained a [View Full Entry]

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Do you know the way to Saint-Tropez? Robert and Kathy set out to go to Saint Tropez, the land of yachts and beautiful rich people. The first day, we realized that we had missed the ferry and decided to head back to Cannes, where we had a wonderful time and spend time on the beach. The next day, we set our alarm. At 8:30 a.m., we were at the train station and had purchased our tickets to Dijon and Paris. We were on the train to St. Raphael at 9:30 a.m. Upon our arrival, we had to wait until the 11:30 [View Full Entry]

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On Tuesday, Robert and Kathy went back to the Consulate to get a new passport. All went well until Kathy was called back up to the window and was informed the "machine" was broken and since her departure was not imminent, could she come back on Wed. Not wanting to piss off the Gov't, we agreed. She also asked the name of Kathy's stepson, which totally threw her for a loop, until she finally remembered she had one. Off to lunch again Robert and Kathy went. Flush from her victory in going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Kathy ordered [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday, our first night in Paris, Robert had arranged for us to go on a dinner cruise down the Seine River. We arrived at the main office and took a bus to the Marina de Bercy, where we boarded the boat. We were fortunate enough to get a table directly overlooking the river. Of course, champagne was mandated for this trip. The boat passed under 31 bridges that cross the Seine. We started near the Musee D'Orsay, past Notre Dame and turned around near La Grande Bibliotheque. We then headed back passing the Eiffel Tower, which was lit up in [View Full Entry]

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Okay - Kathy's biggest challenge, and the one Robert most wanted her to take, was to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. As you all may know by now, Kathy does not like heights, especially from a steep angle and the Tower is nothing if not steep. Since we could not go into the Musee D'Orsay today because it was closed, Robert and I hiked to the Tower (a long way since one of the metro lines was closed). It was always a given that Kathy would go up to the second level and she had about 45 minutes [View Full Entry]

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Today, we started our day with a trip to the U.S. Embassy in order to get Kathy's replacement passport. As usual, Robert knew how to work the Metro system and we got to the embassy post haste. Well, the embassy is surrounded by security and we needed to go the consulate, which is the building next to the embassy. Apparently, no one knows where that is because we went around in circles. Finally, we found where we needed go, which we had been by but the gate was closed and no one was standing there. We got there at 12:01 and [View Full Entry]

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We have arrived! Paris. The City of Lights. Robert and Kathy left Dijon on a fast train to Paris this morning. Upon our arrival, Robert manuvered us on to the metro, where we made our way to the Hotel Royal Saint Michel, in the Latin Quarter, right around the corner from Notre Dame. Unfortunately, our luggage could not come with us on the elevator as there was barely room for Robert and Kathy. A new camera was purchased - there is no way we can go thru Paris without documenting our travels. After lunch at a sidewalk cafe, we hopped on [View Full Entry]

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