Blogs from Île-de-France, France, Europe
May 27th 2012
Jack took these pictures of our wonderful family. We were so lucky that all of us could spend this week together.... read more
May 26th 2012
The day that I learned that I was hired on at a school for the fall, I called my travel partner Winnie to see if I could convince her to host me in Paris for a few weeks and then slip of to Istanbul for a bit. Lucky for me, she was not hard to convince and we shared another incredible adventure together. Waiting to board the plane in Minneapolis proved a great start to the trip. People were excited to go to Paris! They were paging through their tour guides, talking loudly about plans, and were not trying to contain their giddiness. It was infectious! Appreciating people's exuberance spilled over into my time in Paris. I did not grumble as I needed to dodge a group of tourists gawking at the Louvre or recover from ... read more
May 26th 2012
Day 1 Paris The departure: 9 pm Friday nightThe arrival : 2pm Saturday An hour delay, a little bit of nervous tension, a smooth ride, chating with my neighbour a los angelian on his way to meet his lady friend, waiting on the Tarmac for an eternity, buses, trains and metro ride pretty much encompasses my journey to the beautiful city of Paris. The food: nothing much to say, except that the tomatoe I ate was very good, the kind of fresh out of the garden kind of good, and it came from a small grocer down the street from my apartment.It is my first day and my stomach really has no idea were it is and what time it is. So we are keeping it simple. But...The wine: is fantastic!! A 2010 Cotes du Roussillon ... read more
May 26th 2012
we were up at the crack of 9am this morning, bought some pan du chacolat and walked to the downriver point of the island and read our kindles for two hours, another glorius day in Paris and the place is CROWDED as this is a 3 day weekend (Pentacost) with many schools out. we feel like we're "locals" staying in the Isle and our hotel is so wonderful. we walked around the island and visited a realtor to sort out square metres and local apartment rents, then found a sign for a piano concert this evening (we were planning on going to the Mozart Requiem at eh Elise Madelaine but changed our minds), visted a few shops and went back to the room and prepared for a tour of the Murais district where we went a ... read more
May 26th 2012
great way to cap off the evening by taking the M1 to the Arch and doing a little night photography. I'll upload more from the top tomorrow.... read more
May 25th 2012
after a short nap, we went out for a dinner and found a nice little restaurant near our hotel then walked along the Seine before retiring. 4 hours later I woke up, so I went out and took some long exposures around Notre Dame which are attached. this morning we slept in and then went off to explore the Knights and Horses Stroll which showed us interesting statues from our hotel to Place de la Concorde . . . we found our way through the Louvre (where we visited the Apple store) and all over the Jardin de Tuileries and some side trips to see about tickets to Norah Jones tonight (sold out) but found that tomorrow night at Elise de la Madelaine there will be a performance of Mozart's Requiem, which we plan on attending. ... read more
May 25th 2012
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
May 24th 2012
Our flight from SLO to LAX was uneventful if you don't count the process of going through the security which continues to evolve. We spent the night in Manhattan Beach with the Armstrongs (Toni's sister and husband Art). Reading the NY Times and the LA Times this morning with all of the ongoing disucssion about whether Greece will stay in the European Union I'm reminded about our previous trips to Europe . . . . it was a few years ago when we were in Paris and Governer Elliot Spitzer resigned and Bear Sterns blew up and the early days of the Great Recession were under way. Seems like we have a knack for being out of the US when big things happen and who knows how this current affair with Greece will turn out? But ... read more
May 24th 2012
We had a great last day in Paris. A very long and busy day but it was worth it. We started the day by going to the Museum de l'Orangerie, it is a lovely small museum and not very crowded which was nice. We then went for a boat ride on the Seine; very relaxing. Then it was off to the Louvre museum, it is a huge place. They have over 35,000 pieces of art in there. It was really good and I enjoyed it. We made sure we got to see the main works.... Mona Lisa and all of the other famous pieces. I think we have seen over 10,000 statues on this trip! There were at least 1000 in the Louvre. All very impressive. I think our brains are a little overloaded, so much ... read more
May 23rd 2012
After icing the knee and having petit dejeuner, I did a bit of blogging and answered emails. I spoke with Antonia Macarthur in London and confirmed the dates I would be visiting Kew and staying with her. We are both looking forward to catching up as the last time we were together was in Venice for her 70th birthday. I took the Metro to Palais Royal Musee de Louvre, on Line 7 and direct from Les Gobelins. I surfaced near an exhibition space that is part of the Festival International de la Diversite Culturelle and made my way to the Spanish marquee that was featuring the Cordoba region. I picked up some brochures and a 10 minute DVD. This is one of the cities on our post-Camino list and it really looks wonderful. I've now got ... read more
