Paris is an incredible beautiful city. One of its few drawbacks is that there are people everywhere, and almost all of them are smoking! It is amazing with all the information about how bad smoking is for you that so many people smoke.
Anyhow, Wednesday, September 24th, we visited both the d’Orsay Museum and the Louvre. We’re nuts! We wore out the tread on our shoes we walked so much! Thank goodness we had the Rick Steve’s Paris Guide to help us get the most out of our visit to the d’Orsay Museum. It is such a magnificant building - it use to be a train station. We started on the first floor, went to the fifth floor and worked our way down. Upon a signal from our stomachs, we took a break for lunch. We made it all the way down to the first floor and out the door.
From the d’Orsay Museum, we walked to the Louvre, and with our museum passes, we didn’t have to wait in line. We got down to the first floor, found a place to sit and went to pull out our handy Rick Steve’s guide to help us navigate the Louvre – Jan didn’t have it; Dick didn’t have it; we had lost it. Now what were going to do? Not only did that guide help us decide what to see in Paris, it is so popular with American tourists that it helped us identify other Americans to talk to and to smile at on the streets of Paris. The French don’t like to be smiled at, unless you know them. Jan has a habit of smiling at just about anyone and of talking to strangers – not a good habit to have in France. Anyhow, we were left with only the museum guide (no critical commentary) to help us wander around the Louvre. After hours of walking and looking and admiring, we collapsed on a back staircase wondering what was next. It was 6:30 and we had 7:30 dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant. We limped out of the Louvre and back to our hotel. Our feet and legs were protesting the entire way.
Dinner at a fancy “new French” non-touristy restaurant was interesting. Jan is not very adventurous when it comes to eating which was a challenge throughout France. We arrived at this very nice restaurant that is owned and operated by a husband and wife team – she cooks, he serves. Zagat had given it very good reviews. After a few minutes of looking at the menu, Jan asked if it was too late to leave – Dick said yes. The menu included items such as pig’s head, frog legs, sweetbreads, duck, rabbit, as well as various other things listed under the heading of appetizers that Jan definitely did not think of as appetizing. Oh my. She finally settled on a green salad and a plain white fish and she wasn’t totally sure she was going to find them to be edible. On the other hand, Dick ordered duck and rabbit (he didn’t consider the pig’s head, thank goodness). In spite of the initial shock, dinner was very good and the dessert was the best dessert we have ever had. It was a kind of an apple tart but with a very thin crust and a thin layer of sliced apples. Topping this was a scoop of caramel ice cream. It was out of this world. We should have just eaten dessert all night instead of struggling with the menu!
Thursday we went to Versailles. We were scheduled to go first thing in the morning so that we could do some other sightseeing in the afternoon. Well, the taxi cab drivers in Paris have minds of their own and they chose not to pick us up. We missed our tour. The hotel folks, who were great, got the tour people to book us for the afternoon. So we kind of kicked back for a couple of hours in the morning and toured Versailles in the afternoon. There is nothing to compare to the splendor and wealth that is displayed at Versailles, from the manicured, symmetrical gardens to the gold leaf decorations to the Hall of Mirrors. Everything was made in France and specifically for Versailles. The funny thing, however, is that the original 2000 rooms in the Palace of Versailles did not include any bathrooms. The French thought bathing was bad for you. No wonder they were big on perfumes! After we got back from the tour, we ate an early dinner and prepared for our long journey home. We had to get everything back in our suitcases!
Thursday we went to Versailles. We were scheduled to go first thing in the morning so that we could do some other sightseeing in the afternoon. Well, the taxi cab drivers in Paris have minds of their own and they chose not to pick us up. We missed our tour. The hotel folks, who were great, got the tour people to book us for the afternoon. So we kind of kicked back for a couple of hours in the morning and toured Versailles in the afternoon. There is nothing to compare to the splendor and wealth that is displayed at Versailles, from the manicured, symmetrical gardens to the gold leaf decorations to the Hall of Mirrors. Everything was made in France and specifically for Versailles. The funny thing, however, is that the original 2000 rooms in the Palace of Versailles did not include any bathrooms. The French thought bathing was bad for you. No wonder they were big on perfumes! After we got back from the tour, we ate an early dinner and prepared for our long journey home. We had to get everything back in our suitcases!
Friday morning as we were getting ready to leave – the taxi was supposed to come at 7:00 a.m., we heard the news on CNN that Washington Mutual’s banking operations had been sold to JP Morgan Chase on Thursday afternoon. There was no mention that the bank had been seized by the regulators and regulators usually seize banks after the close of business on Friday, not on Thursday. We were confused by the reference to the sale of only the banking operations. What about the rest of WaMu? We left for the airport with the hope we would find a more complete explanation in an English language newspaper. No luck and again no luck in the London airport. The news hadn’t been updated and no other explanations. We flew from London to Los Angeles. The good ol’ LA Times had all the gory details about the run on the bank and the seizure of WaMu. The FDIC had sold the bank to Chase. What a way to end a wonderful vacation – Dick’s employer was no longer Washington Mutual but JP Morgan Chase. And what does this mean? We don’t know yet.
We’re home – exhausted and wondering what’s next. We had an incredible trip. It was a far cry from the three day honeymoon we had in Laguna Beach 30 years ago. We had three great weeks in France. River cruising is a wonderful way to travel and we would certainly do it again. But more than anything else, we had three weeks together. We may have spent more time together this last three weeks than we have in the last three years! We have been way too busy and you know, you really have to take time to stop and smell the coffee (Dick can’t survive without his coffee and in France, they don’t give refills!)
We’re home – exhausted and wondering what’s next. We had an incredible trip. It was a far cry from the three day honeymoon we had in Laguna Beach 30 years ago. We had three great weeks in France. River cruising is a wonderful way to travel and we would certainly do it again. But more than anything else, we had three weeks together. We may have spent more time together this last three weeks than we have in the last three years! We have been way too busy and you know, you really have to take time to stop and smell the coffee (Dick can’t survive without his coffee and in France, they don’t give refills!)
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