ThreeCats

We followed the Garmen all the way to the airport. As was often the case, it took us a direct route using one-lane roads. The landscape was covered in morning fog and Jack kept wishing that we didn’t have a plane to catch so he could stop to take some pictures. Our flight back on easyJet was easier than that prior flight. Jack graciously agreed to take the bus from Orly into the city since it went to the 14thArondissement where our hotel was located. We got off the bus and lugging our 2 big suitcases and our heavy backpacks it was hard to get a cab. When we finally got a cab it was 5 minutes to our hotel. The Fabe Hotel was highly recommended by Trip Advisor. The hotel itself was very modern and ... read more

On our last day in Gers the sun shone and the temperature went about 80. The countryside looks different (aka better) than it does in the rain. We headed off to Auch, the capital of Gers, with a population of 22,000. After checking in with the Tourism office we headed down (literally from the High Town to the Low Town) to the weekly market where I had hoped to pick up some gifts. Unlike the other markets we had visited, this market had a lot of clothes. Mostly the stuff was inexpensive because it was cheap. I found a couple of cute bracelets for my sisters, but that was an anomaly. We had planed on going to a “typical” restaurant for lunch, but I couldn’t face another heavy meal, so we went to a café on ... read more

We headed south the Pyrenees about 9 hoping to go to the top of Pic du Midi at 9,000 feet. In the Tourist office in Bagneres-de-Bigotte, the pictures from their webcam at the top of the mountain showed solid white clouds. Instead, they recommended we head to Col de Alons for a view of the Pyrenees from under the clouds. Before we headed out we stopped for tea at the cutest pastry shop since Paris. It turns out Patisserie Bordelaise Maison Lamothe (www.patisserie-bordelaise.fr) has been a family run business since 1907. The gentleman who greeted us was one of the six family members currently running the shop. He had baked for the royal family of Belgium and his cousin who also works in the business worked for Lauderee in Paris. The toasted pine nut pastry was ... read more

Miserable weather - 46 - 54 with rain and wind. In the morning we went to a market in Mirande, which luckily had a large indoor hall. We were lucky to find super yummy waffles that Jack wants me to reverse engineer. I'm not sure it will work - it was a very sticky batter with a lot of sugar. Retirees appear to hang out at the market socializing and spending huge amounts of time drinking tiny cups of expresso. In the US it would be a 2 minute event since there are only 2 large sips in an expresso. We bought food for dinner since we knew this would be a evening to stay-in. In the afternoon we headed into Toulouse for a walking tour. It was a total failure. We decided to take the ... read more

We began the day at Musee D’Orsee. There is a very good reason why this is such a popular tourist attraction, it is amazing if you like Impressionist and post-Impressionist art. In addition to the many familiar works by the Impressionists there were works by artists that were less well known. I had never heard of Odilon Redon and found his work captivating. He was influenced by Japanese art that became very popular when Japan opened its border after 200 years of isolation. There were 3 or 4 women who were copying the works of the major Impressionist and the quality of their work was impressive, plus it adds to the experience of being in a French art museum. We had 2 hours which was not nearly enough time to see everything I would have liked ... read more

We started the day with a wonderful tour of the Paris Opera House. I’ve attached a short video and some photos. The Opera House was billed as the alternative to Versailles if you want some traditional French opulence. It lived up to the billing and our guide was knowledgeable and funny. What I hadn’t expected is that the center of the ceiling is a huge Marc Chagall painting. It is quite a contrast to the incredible formality of the rest of the building. I asked why he had been selected since at the time (in the 60’s) he wasn’t very famous. She said that Andre Malraux was the Minister of Culture at the time and he liked Marc Chagall so he selected him for the project. What links the painting and the building is that the ... read more