Blogs from Paris, Île-de-France, France, Europe - page 4

The adventure began this year with a departure from Lansing at 4:00 headed for the Air France counter at O'Hare Terminal Five. We arrived on time and got through security quickly and with enough time for a snack of egg rolls. The plane was fairly comfortable though nobody slept much on the overnight flight. After picking up our bags and heading to the arrivals hall where a driver was supposed to be waiting for us with a placard, no one was to be found. Two phone calls to the company went straight to voicemail and went unreturned. This was a little frustrating because the shuttle was booked directly through Air France/KLM and paid ahead of time. We eventually found alternative transportation but were very frustrated after arriving at our Paris hotel to receive an email receipt ... read more

As the saying goes, all good things--including this odyssey--must come to an end, so today we packed our suitcases for tomorrow's flight from Paris to Orlando. Our direct flight departs Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport at 2:40 PM local time, and is scheduled to land in Orlando around 6:30 PM. During the past sixty-four days we've traveled thousands of miles (with over a hundred of them on foot), taken almost 1,100 photos, and blogged more than 32,000 words. Of course, we suffered our fair share of aches, pains, and bumps in the road during our journey this year, but the memories of so many amazing sights--and especially the moments spent with dear friends--more than compensated for any setbacks and disappointments we encountered along the way. This final blog entry is mostly an attempt to highlight some ... read more

Since Dee bruised her foot in the unfortunate tumble she suffered earlier this week at Notre-Dame, we've stayed close to home, venturing out only to eat, buy groceries around the corner, or to take short walks. She's been able to hobble along at a snail's pace, but is understandably nervous for fear of another misstep on the rough, uneven streets and pavements that are so common here--and in many of the other venues we've visited during our trip. It's a bit nerve-racking for me as well, so I hold on to her hand even more tightly than usual to help her maintain her balance as we walk. Yesterday we decided--reluctantly and sadly--to shorten our trip by 5 days, thus returning on June 19th instead of the 24th. Given Dee's reduced mobility, it made little sense to ... read more

We departed Munich yesterday morning on a Lufthansa flight to Paris, and our arrival turned out to be memorable, in more ways than one. On the bright side, this marks the 10th visit to the City of Light since 2001, when it first captured our fancy. People sometimes ask us what is so special about Paris that makes us want to return, time and time again? Is it the centuries of history, art, culture or the French joie de vivre? Or perhaps it's the baguettes, crème brûlée--and the rest of the fabulous French cuisine--that appeal to us? While all of this is certainly true, to some degree, the answer is more elusive. The spell that Paris has cast upon us over the years may best be explained by the French phrase, Je ne sais quoi (literally ... read more

Just finished having breakfast, possibly the final croissant of the trip, I will miss them, but my waist line will not. The breakfast room was packed several groups of retired people just finishing up to get on their tour bus for the day. We shared a table with a nice retired French woman, of course we could not converse. We have about an hour before our taxi arrives to take us to the TGV station and our train to back to Paris. Jerry is doing the last-minute packing so I thought I would get a head start on today’s entry. It has been really nice not knowing what is going on in the world, or hearing about the orange man we have as an imposter president. That will soon be over when we return home and ... read more