Blogs from Paris, Île-de-France, France, Europe - page 343

You've got to love those Impressionists, really sticking it to the Salon and its down-the-nose view of them. All that stuff in the Louvre has nothing on these guys. The Musee d'Orsay houses a collection of art from about 1850 to 1914 in a beautifully renovated train station. This was by far our favorite of the museums, and it was kind of nice to save the best for last. Rooms full of Renoir, Manet, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Pisarro, Sisley, Seurat... with a few other interesting exhibits sprinkled in, like a wonderful collection of Art Nouveau furniture and objects. Another delicieux rotisserie chicken with potatoes (from the Buci market just around the corner) for lunch, some wandering around the neighborhood for some final photo ops, and of course more window shopping (the French call it "licking ... read more

Regarding those several queries we have received about Dan's face bearing scruff, dirt, chocolate croissant, wine dribble, and also 'who's that Bohemian guy with Cathleen?' this is for you... The whole idea was born years ago on our honeymoon (geez, has it been 13 years?) when Dan gave up the razor for 10 days. Well, ever since then, Cathleen has (in the words of Mr. Tim Stotler) had this fantasy of living with a poor starving-artist type in a Paris flat, performing her 'house-boy' chores and doing handy-man work shirtless. Well, this is the best I can do, by growing out the beard and letting her kick my butt in Gin Rummy (she was getting tired of getting beaten in cribbage on a regular basis to this point). So, in all fairness to Cathleen and her ... read more

It has only been " days since we flew here to Europe and it already seems like ages because we have done so much!! The first night in our hostel in London was fun. Heidi and I decided to brave the hot tub that was on the deck so we could relax and ended up talking to some pretty cool people. There were a lot of people from Canada and they thought it was pretty funny how we were going to say we were Canadian. It's also funny to hear others opinions of Americans, not always the best, and everyone is quick to stereotype, but they can get over it. we went to bed pretty early, mainly because we were in a room with 8 other people who were sleeping all day and night. Heidi and ... read more

climed notre dame today. for once it cooled off and it drizzeled on and off all day. get to notre dame early. slept in longer than we should have. it took about an hour before we could enter. took pictures of all the kewl gargoyles. walked around most of the day and got lost a lot. we had at a famous cafe where lots of expats used to go. food sucked and someone's cig smoke went right into my mouth as i ate. appetizing. i wish people heard of filters lol. got ice cream at yet another famous food place called bervillions or something. it was pretty good but only really worth going to if you just happen to be nearby imo. i got the pineapple ice cream and the java ice cream. had a taste ... read more

Bonjour, tout le monde. Everything is fabulous in Paris. Had some trouble on our second flight...a very rude and grouchy cabin crew on Air Canada. Enough that I intend to write a letter to them when I return. Enough of that. On with the good stuff! When we hit Paris, it was extremely hot -- 30oC +. Along with jetlag, Judy and I were wiped out. We couldn't sleep, either. The second day, I laid down for a "nap" and woke up 4 hours later and refreshed. It was so hot that our heads were laminated to our pillows. Our hotel is very old, very quaint and very small. You know the poem from childhood that starts out "Our house is small, the land and all can scarcely hold the flowers"? Well, that just about describes ... read more