FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2012
PARIS, FRANCE
Our last full day in Paris. Sigh! Who knew we would love Paris so much???
We got up early because we wanted to be at the Louvre when it opened at 9:00. It was cool and overcast so we took an umbrella and headed out. It was an easy walk and I guess it took us about 20 mins. We had tickets already (thank you Sandy!) so we were advised to enter through the "Lion's Gates." We thought we knew where that entrance was but we didn't so we just queued up and waited for it to open. The line was short so we knew we wouldn't have to wait long. Of course it did start raining while we were waiting and it was funny to see how quickly umbrella salesmen showed up! They sold quite a few umbrellas in the few minutes it rained.
We were allowed to bypass most of the people in line because we had our tickets. We received a floor plan of the museum which was extremely helpful. We were advised to head straight to the Mona Lisa to see her before so many people gathered that it would be impossible. We walked straight there and luckily it was not too crowded yet. I was actually able to get right in front of her and spend a few minutes there. It is true that her eyes follow you wherever you go!
The second painting we wanted to see was "The Wedding Feast" by Paolo Veronese. It was very close to Mona -- wasn't that helpful? It is a gigantic, gorgeous oil painting with such incredible detail it's hard to believe. We spent a long time looking at it. Hard to believe it was painted in 1563!
One thing I did not realize is how beautiful the actual museum is!!! It is huge -- many buildings -- and most of the ceilings are painted (works of art!)and the woodwork is gorgeous. It is fantastic!
Another piece that drew a lot of attention was the sculpture of Venus de Milo. She is beautiful and many, many people were taking pictures of her. We also were told to see "The Winged Victory of Samothrace." It is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike, estimated to have been created in 190 B.C. Amazing!!! She is at the top of a staircase and we were able to spend some time looking at her too. But then the people started pouring in and it got ridiculously busy in a very short period of time. At some point the crowds make it impossible to enjoy the art. We were told that there are so much artwork displayed at the Louvre that if you spent just 3 seconds looking at each piece, it would take you 3 months to see it all. Can you believe that???
Our "Best Friend in Paris," Donna Morris, told us to be sure to see Napoleon (III) Bonaparte's apartment tucked away in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre. It was richly decorated in reds and golds and it was incredible. There were something like 15 crystal chandeliers in it -- some of them so huge I'm amazed they were able to hang them from the ceiling. David got some great photographs of the apartment. Donna also told us there was a nice cafe in the same wing and that we should try to eat there because from the outside seating area there were beautiful views of the Eiffel Tower. We did go there and we had coffee and hot chocolate but the weather did not cooperate and we were not able to go outside even to take a photograph. But David said it was the best hot chocolate ever so it was worth it!
After we left the Louvre, we headed back to our area to have omelets at our favorite cafe, the St. Regis. They were scrumptious! We lingered there for awhile because all of their huge windows were open -- almost like there were no walls -- and we were able to people watch. Then we split up to go shopping. David headed back to the antique store where he found his metal soldiers and I shopped around our area for a keepsake for myself (and a 'prize for my sister because she had back surgery). I had my eye on some leather bags in a store across the street from our hotel so I went back there and bought a royal blue bag for me and a hot pink bag for Jill. Really, really cool!!!!!
David and I met up later in the day and tried to decide where we wanted to go to dinner. After much thought we decided we just wanted to buy sandwiches and cookies and eat in our room. We had to pack and get ready to leave in the morning so it was more relaxing for us. Plus the sandwiches are so good on the baguettes with good cheese. Yum! Turned out to be a delicious dinner!
That was it for our last day in Paris. We wish we would have had a few more days there.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2012
PARIS, FRANCE
We got up early today because we wanted to have breakfast before we headed out for the day. We had our hearts set on omelets at the corner cafe, Cafe St. Regis, and when we got there we were told they had problems in the kitchen and could not make eggs. We decided to just have coffee/tea and croissants.
I had made arrangements to meet a woman named Donna Morris for a 1/2 day tour of Paris. There was an article about her in the Charlotte newspaper last December and we cut it out because it intrigued us. She is from Blowing Rock, NC, and has lived in Paris since 2006. She has a business called "Best Friend in Paris" and she does personal tours with people. You can book 1/2 day or 2 days or whatever. We decided on the 1/2 day tour just so she could help us get our bearings and get the most out of our short time in Paris.
She met us at our hotel and we instantly hit it off. We didn't want her to take us to the Eiffel Tower or The Lovre or anything like that because we knew we could do those things on our own. Instead she first took us to the Montmartre area of Paris. I had really hoped to see it so that was great. Montmartre is a butte on the North side of Paris and that is why that area has it's name. It's a trendy area with fabulous restaurants, nightclubs, etc. It is called the "San Francisco of Paris." We walked through the entire area and saw great shops and gorgeous buildings, apartments, and churches. Many famous artists had studios or worked in this area -- Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Coeur on its summit. It is beautiful! The other, older, church on the hill is Saint Pierre de Montmartre, which claims to be the location at which the Jesuit order of priests was founded. It is from the third century!!! This church is less famous but to us it was much more interesting. Jill, we lit a candle for you there so your back would heal quickly. I'm sure you are doing backflips tonight!
When we walked out of the second church and started heading down the hill, we saw our first great view of the Eiffel Tower. It is an incredible structure and it really lets you know you are in Paris! We took so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower from so many different locations it is laughable! I should make a photo album just of those.
After we left the churches we walked down the hill through an outdoor market. I thought it would be a fruit/vegetable market but instead it was an art market. Artists painting Paris scenes and also lots of artists painting portraits of tourists and caricatures -- some of them were fabulous!
Continuing down the hill we saw incredible wine and cheese stores, cupcake bakeries, great-smelling patisseries, shops with complete cooked meals ready to pick up, etc. If I lived in Paris, this is the area where I would live. It is in the 18th arrondissement.
From Montmartre we took a bus to the Eiffel Tower area. We had lunch at a cafeteria where we had a great view of the Tower. The food, however, was terrible but at least it was very expensive. Ha! We spent a long time at the cafe talking about her life in Paris and she gave us many tips on how to get around. We bought a book she suggested, Essential Paris, which breaks down Paris by arrondissements and then shows the streets, bus routes and metro routes. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone traveling to Paris.
After lunch we parted ways with Donna and David and I walked down to see the Eiffel Tower close up and walk underneath it and, of course, to take more pictures! It was on our way to the street where we would catch the bus back to our hotel. Donna prefers buses to the Metro and I think she has a good reason -- as you travel by bus you can see more of what's around you and get on and off if you see something you would like to check out.
Based on Noel's recommendation, we planned to get off the bus to see Les Invalides. It contains Napoleon's tomb and is a military museum. But it was blazing hot (buses are not air conditioned) so we decided to save that for our next trip to Paris and we went straight to the hotel to cool off in our air conditioned room.
After a rest we headed back out to tour Notre Dame. No lines and we walked right in. They were holding a Mass but the tourists still wandered through. There really is no way to describe how beautiful Notre Dame is . . . or how huge! We spent a lot of time there and it was nice to hear Mass. Jill, we lit a candle for you again so you have to be all healed by now!
By now it was about 6:30 p.m. and a beautiful evening. Donna had suggested we take a Seine River tour out of Pont Neuf so we decided to do so. We walked to the end of the island and took a Vedettes tour. It was an hour long and really enjoyable! I liked that the guide told us about all of the bridges -- 13 in all. The New Bridge is actually the oldest bridge in Paris and it's lined with faces. All of them are strange and some are sticking out their tongues, etc. There are many theories about why the faces are there -- some say they are there to ward off evil spirits. Our tour guide said Henry IV had them put on the bridge because he was mocking the bridge builders and he didn't think the bridge would stand. Great bridges, great stories.
We got off the boat around 8:00 and we were starving. We wanted plain, old regular food -- nothing fancy and not a 3-hr. dinner like usual. Our hotel desk clerk suggested we go to Cafe Lutetia. We had been there once for tea and coffee so we decided to give it a try. It was perfect! I had a bacon cheeseburger with french fries (delicious) and David had a caesar salad with french fries. Yes, we had to eat french fries with every meal so we could let Sheryl know which restaurant had the best fries!
After dinner we slowly strolled back to our hotel and after watching some TV -- European track meet -- we went to sleep. Our time in Paris is running out too quickly!
PARIS, FRANCE
We got up early today because we wanted to have breakfast before we headed out for the day. We had our hearts set on omelets at the corner cafe, Cafe St. Regis, and when we got there we were told they had problems in the kitchen and could not make eggs. We decided to just have coffee/tea and croissants.
I had made arrangements to meet a woman named Donna Morris for a 1/2 day tour of Paris. There was an article about her in the Charlotte newspaper last December and we cut it out because it intrigued us. She is from Blowing Rock, NC, and has lived in Paris since 2006. She has a business called "Best Friend in Paris" and she does personal tours with people. You can book 1/2 day or 2 days or whatever. We decided on the 1/2 day tour just so she could help us get our bearings and get the most out of our short time in Paris.
She met us at our hotel and we instantly hit it off. We didn't want her to take us to the Eiffel Tower or The Lovre or anything like that because we knew we could do those things on our own. Instead she first took us to the Montmartre area of Paris. I had really hoped to see it so that was great. Montmartre is a butte on the North side of Paris and that is why that area has it's name. It's a trendy area with fabulous restaurants, nightclubs, etc. It is called the "San Francisco of Paris." We walked through the entire area and saw great shops and gorgeous buildings, apartments, and churches. Many famous artists had studios or worked in this area -- Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Coeur on its summit. It is beautiful! The other, older, church on the hill is Saint Pierre de Montmartre, which claims to be the location at which the Jesuit order of priests was founded. It is from the third century!!! This church is less famous but to us it was much more interesting. Jill, we lit a candle for you there so your back would heal quickly. I'm sure you are doing backflips tonight!
When we walked out of the second church and started heading down the hill, we saw our first great view of the Eiffel Tower. It is an incredible structure and it really lets you know you are in Paris! We took so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower from so many different locations it is laughable! I should make a photo album just of those.
After we left the churches we walked down the hill through an outdoor market. I thought it would be a fruit/vegetable market but instead it was an art market. Artists painting Paris scenes and also lots of artists painting portraits of tourists and caricatures -- some of them were fabulous!
Continuing down the hill we saw incredible wine and cheese stores, cupcake bakeries, great-smelling patisseries, shops with complete cooked meals ready to pick up, etc. If I lived in Paris, this is the area where I would live. It is in the 18th arrondissement.
From Montmartre we took a bus to the Eiffel Tower area. We had lunch at a cafeteria where we had a great view of the Tower. The food, however, was terrible but at least it was very expensive. Ha! We spent a long time at the cafe talking about her life in Paris and she gave us many tips on how to get around. We bought a book she suggested, Essential Paris, which breaks down Paris by arrondissements and then shows the streets, bus routes and metro routes. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone traveling to Paris.
After lunch we parted ways with Donna and David and I walked down to see the Eiffel Tower close up and walk underneath it and, of course, to take more pictures! It was on our way to the street where we would catch the bus back to our hotel. Donna prefers buses to the Metro and I think she has a good reason -- as you travel by bus you can see more of what's around you and get on and off if you see something you would like to check out.
Based on Noel's recommendation, we planned to get off the bus to see Les Invalides. It contains Napoleon's tomb and is a military museum. But it was blazing hot (buses are not air conditioned) so we decided to save that for our next trip to Paris and we went straight to the hotel to cool off in our air conditioned room.
After a rest we headed back out to tour Notre Dame. No lines and we walked right in. They were holding a Mass but the tourists still wandered through. There really is no way to describe how beautiful Notre Dame is . . . or how huge! We spent a lot of time there and it was nice to hear Mass. Jill, we lit a candle for you again so you have to be all healed by now!
By now it was about 6:30 p.m. and a beautiful evening. Donna had suggested we take a Seine River tour out of Pont Neuf so we decided to do so. We walked to the end of the island and took a Vedettes tour. It was an hour long and really enjoyable! I liked that the guide told us about all of the bridges -- 13 in all. The New Bridge is actually the oldest bridge in Paris and it's lined with faces. All of them are strange and some are sticking out their tongues, etc. There are many theories about why the faces are there -- some say they are there to ward off evil spirits. Our tour guide said Henry IV had them put on the bridge because he was mocking the bridge builders and he didn't think the bridge would stand. Great bridges, great stories.
We got off the boat around 8:00 and we were starving. We wanted plain, old regular food -- nothing fancy and not a 3-hr. dinner like usual. Our hotel desk clerk suggested we go to Cafe Lutetia. We had been there once for tea and coffee so we decided to give it a try. It was perfect! I had a bacon cheeseburger with french fries (delicious) and David had a caesar salad with french fries. Yes, we had to eat french fries with every meal so we could let Sheryl know which restaurant had the best fries!
After dinner we slowly strolled back to our hotel and after watching some TV -- European track meet -- we went to sleep. Our time in Paris is running out too quickly!
Friday, June 29, 2012
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012
PARIS, FRANCE
We got up very early today to pack our bags and return to Paris. I hate getting up in the morning and I was not ready to leave Nice so it wasn't a great morning for me!
We gathered everything up and walked to the train station. When we arrived a week ago we took a taxi from the train station to our hotel and it cost 17 euro. We thought that was expensive for an eight block ride! I'd rather spend my money in Paris so we walked and it was fine.
The train was very nice and clean today. I reserved our seats in a car they called a "serenity" car because they do not allow children, cell phones or basically any noise. It was pretty cool. Most of the passengers slept which is what David and I did off and on. It was a 5 hr. and 45 min. train ride.
We didn't have any food so I made a trip to the train "restaurant," and I use that term loosely. It was a snack bar. But they had pretty good pre-made sandwiches, yogurt, drinks and, get this, PRINGLES! We had a great brunch en route.
The train arrived in Paris at 1:15 p.m. and there was a very narrow passageway into the train station so it took us forever! We decided to take the Metro to a station close to the hotel and then walk to the hotel. We followed the directions on the hotel website but the Metro station where we got off was too far to walk with luggage. We hailed a taxi and arrived at our hotel pretty quickly.
This part of the trip we are staying at the Hotel Saint-Louis en I'Isle which is a sister hotel to the hotel we stayed in when we first arrived in Paris and it's only about two doors down the street. We checked in and walked up a spiral staircase to our room and it's beautiful! Larger than many European hotel rooms and it has a great bathroom and shower! The shower has one of those rain shower heads and it is wonderful. We are very happy here and want to live here forever.
We unpacked and then headed out to walk around. Of course we had some of the famous ice cream, Berthillon, and it was delicious. We wanted to see the inside of Notre Dame and during the day the lines are very long. When Diane, Sue, Carol, Linda and Sandy were here they went over early one evening just before dinner and they walked right in so we tried their tactic. We were just a few minutes late -- they closed at 6:45 p.m. Oh well, we'll try again.
It was time for dinner and we were hungry for pasta so we went back to a restaurant we had all eaten at on our previous visit, Sens'o. I had the lasagna which was fantastic and David had spinach ravioli with ricotta cheese in a cream sauce. He loved it. For dessert I had an ice cream sundae and David had a chocolate torte in a vanilla cream sauce. Amazing!
We returned to our cool hotel and went to bed early because we knew we were going to have a big day on Thursday.
PARIS, FRANCE
We got up very early today to pack our bags and return to Paris. I hate getting up in the morning and I was not ready to leave Nice so it wasn't a great morning for me!
We gathered everything up and walked to the train station. When we arrived a week ago we took a taxi from the train station to our hotel and it cost 17 euro. We thought that was expensive for an eight block ride! I'd rather spend my money in Paris so we walked and it was fine.
The train was very nice and clean today. I reserved our seats in a car they called a "serenity" car because they do not allow children, cell phones or basically any noise. It was pretty cool. Most of the passengers slept which is what David and I did off and on. It was a 5 hr. and 45 min. train ride.
We didn't have any food so I made a trip to the train "restaurant," and I use that term loosely. It was a snack bar. But they had pretty good pre-made sandwiches, yogurt, drinks and, get this, PRINGLES! We had a great brunch en route.
The train arrived in Paris at 1:15 p.m. and there was a very narrow passageway into the train station so it took us forever! We decided to take the Metro to a station close to the hotel and then walk to the hotel. We followed the directions on the hotel website but the Metro station where we got off was too far to walk with luggage. We hailed a taxi and arrived at our hotel pretty quickly.
This part of the trip we are staying at the Hotel Saint-Louis en I'Isle which is a sister hotel to the hotel we stayed in when we first arrived in Paris and it's only about two doors down the street. We checked in and walked up a spiral staircase to our room and it's beautiful! Larger than many European hotel rooms and it has a great bathroom and shower! The shower has one of those rain shower heads and it is wonderful. We are very happy here and want to live here forever.
We unpacked and then headed out to walk around. Of course we had some of the famous ice cream, Berthillon, and it was delicious. We wanted to see the inside of Notre Dame and during the day the lines are very long. When Diane, Sue, Carol, Linda and Sandy were here they went over early one evening just before dinner and they walked right in so we tried their tactic. We were just a few minutes late -- they closed at 6:45 p.m. Oh well, we'll try again.
It was time for dinner and we were hungry for pasta so we went back to a restaurant we had all eaten at on our previous visit, Sens'o. I had the lasagna which was fantastic and David had spinach ravioli with ricotta cheese in a cream sauce. He loved it. For dessert I had an ice cream sundae and David had a chocolate torte in a vanilla cream sauce. Amazing!
We returned to our cool hotel and went to bed early because we knew we were going to have a big day on Thursday.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012
NICE, FRANCE
This was our last day in Nice so we wanted to spend the day here just sight-seeing and enjoying the absolutely gorgeous Mediterrean sea. From the moment we arrived in Nice the weather has been perfect! Sunny with blue skies and temperatures between 75 and 81 degrees. With the sea breeze the humidity is very low. Glorious weather all week!
We stayed in bed until about 8:30 which was nice. We decided we wanted to have a late breakfast and we were really hungry for omelets. We got ready and asked the guy at the front desk (not our Francois) where to go for good omelets and he scoffed and told us the French do not eat eggs for breakfast. Well, OK then. We headed to the Pedestrian Street and all of the cafes had omelets on the menu so??? We picked a cafe, Le Lorraine, on a side street we hadn't walked down before. We had a cool waiter who is Croatian and has lived in five or six different countries. He speaks eight languages! He had lived the previous five years in Ireland and we thought his English had an Irish accent. He was very nice. We had our usual omelets -- ham and cheese for me and cheese for David and they came with a small salad and delicious fries!
After breakfast we walked down all of the streets we had missed before and looked in some shops. Once again we did not buy anything. We are not very good consumers, are we? Well, we have no room in our luggage to bring anything home so that's why we aren't buying anything. There are so many cute t-shirts and souvenirs that I would love to bring home but I can't do it. Maybe on another trip.
We went down to the Promenade and walked along the sea for a long, long time. A few times we would sit on a bench and people-watch. There were hundreds of people along the beach. As I mentioned before, the beaches in Nice are beautiful, but they have pebbles instead of sand so they don't look that comfortable to us. We saw people struggling to walk from their towels to the water and back. We prefer sandy beaches. But we're in France so we can't really complain about anything, can we?
On the Promenade there was a little train-like thing that takes you on a tour of Nice. We decided to hop on and see where it took us. There were headsets provided and you could pick your language. It was actually very fun and took us to most of the places we had already been but gave us a little history on them. We learned that Nice was founded 5,000 years ago by the Greeks. Then the Romans took over about 2,500 years ago. The Barbarians eliminated the Romans and then the Normans took it over. I might be skipping over some of the details but that's the Cliff Notes. Hey, I'm on vacation!
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at a pharmacy to buy some Tylenol and it was the coolest little store. There wasn't much sitting on the shelves but the pharmacist had rows and rows of narrow drawers that different medicines were stored in. Very neat. And the pharmacy doesn't sell much other than medicines. They had a few cosmetics on the shelves but that was it. Not even any candy bars or the like!
We arrived back at our hotel and retired to the garden, as usual. David read the paper and I wrote in my blog and we relaxed. I haven't mentioned that in the garden is a big cage with two parrots living there. They are beautiful and mostly bright red. And there are also at least two cats living there and they really want to get those parrots! Yesterday we watched one of the cats attempt to jump on the side of the cage many, many times for over an hour. He would make it almost to the top of the cage and then fall off. Not that he could have gotten into the cage anyway. And those red birds taunted him relentlessly! They walked up and down on their perches and they kiss all the time. It's very cute. I tried to get a picture but I don't know if it will come out or not. This comment is for Carol: David calls the cage their birdoir!
We finally went inside and checked out because we had to leave at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. We then got ready for dinner. We wanted to go to Cave 35 for wine before dinner. We really like hanging out there! We arrived about 6:30 and, once again, we were the only people in there. We had our usual wine and appetizer and sat and talked about the whole trip and how much fun we were having. This has been an unbelievable trip and we feel so fortunate we got to take it! One glass led to another which led to another. We had a ball! Then we needed to eat so we just went back to our hotel for dinner and it was delicious once again. For a starter I had an artichoke and parmesan cheese salad and David had a little bit of lettuce salad and asparagus in a cream sauce. Both salads were excellent! For our main courses we both had the risotto finished with white truffle oil -- extremely good. For dessert I had creme brûlée and David had fresh local strawberries with cream. Another fabulous meal. We lingered as long as we could because we definitely did NOT want to leave Nice and we loved our hotel but . . . we finally went in to bed because Wednesday we had to make our journey back to Paris.
NICE, FRANCE
This was our last day in Nice so we wanted to spend the day here just sight-seeing and enjoying the absolutely gorgeous Mediterrean sea. From the moment we arrived in Nice the weather has been perfect! Sunny with blue skies and temperatures between 75 and 81 degrees. With the sea breeze the humidity is very low. Glorious weather all week!
We stayed in bed until about 8:30 which was nice. We decided we wanted to have a late breakfast and we were really hungry for omelets. We got ready and asked the guy at the front desk (not our Francois) where to go for good omelets and he scoffed and told us the French do not eat eggs for breakfast. Well, OK then. We headed to the Pedestrian Street and all of the cafes had omelets on the menu so??? We picked a cafe, Le Lorraine, on a side street we hadn't walked down before. We had a cool waiter who is Croatian and has lived in five or six different countries. He speaks eight languages! He had lived the previous five years in Ireland and we thought his English had an Irish accent. He was very nice. We had our usual omelets -- ham and cheese for me and cheese for David and they came with a small salad and delicious fries!
After breakfast we walked down all of the streets we had missed before and looked in some shops. Once again we did not buy anything. We are not very good consumers, are we? Well, we have no room in our luggage to bring anything home so that's why we aren't buying anything. There are so many cute t-shirts and souvenirs that I would love to bring home but I can't do it. Maybe on another trip.
We went down to the Promenade and walked along the sea for a long, long time. A few times we would sit on a bench and people-watch. There were hundreds of people along the beach. As I mentioned before, the beaches in Nice are beautiful, but they have pebbles instead of sand so they don't look that comfortable to us. We saw people struggling to walk from their towels to the water and back. We prefer sandy beaches. But we're in France so we can't really complain about anything, can we?
On the Promenade there was a little train-like thing that takes you on a tour of Nice. We decided to hop on and see where it took us. There were headsets provided and you could pick your language. It was actually very fun and took us to most of the places we had already been but gave us a little history on them. We learned that Nice was founded 5,000 years ago by the Greeks. Then the Romans took over about 2,500 years ago. The Barbarians eliminated the Romans and then the Normans took it over. I might be skipping over some of the details but that's the Cliff Notes. Hey, I'm on vacation!
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at a pharmacy to buy some Tylenol and it was the coolest little store. There wasn't much sitting on the shelves but the pharmacist had rows and rows of narrow drawers that different medicines were stored in. Very neat. And the pharmacy doesn't sell much other than medicines. They had a few cosmetics on the shelves but that was it. Not even any candy bars or the like!
We arrived back at our hotel and retired to the garden, as usual. David read the paper and I wrote in my blog and we relaxed. I haven't mentioned that in the garden is a big cage with two parrots living there. They are beautiful and mostly bright red. And there are also at least two cats living there and they really want to get those parrots! Yesterday we watched one of the cats attempt to jump on the side of the cage many, many times for over an hour. He would make it almost to the top of the cage and then fall off. Not that he could have gotten into the cage anyway. And those red birds taunted him relentlessly! They walked up and down on their perches and they kiss all the time. It's very cute. I tried to get a picture but I don't know if it will come out or not. This comment is for Carol: David calls the cage their birdoir!
We finally went inside and checked out because we had to leave at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. We then got ready for dinner. We wanted to go to Cave 35 for wine before dinner. We really like hanging out there! We arrived about 6:30 and, once again, we were the only people in there. We had our usual wine and appetizer and sat and talked about the whole trip and how much fun we were having. This has been an unbelievable trip and we feel so fortunate we got to take it! One glass led to another which led to another. We had a ball! Then we needed to eat so we just went back to our hotel for dinner and it was delicious once again. For a starter I had an artichoke and parmesan cheese salad and David had a little bit of lettuce salad and asparagus in a cream sauce. Both salads were excellent! For our main courses we both had the risotto finished with white truffle oil -- extremely good. For dessert I had creme brûlée and David had fresh local strawberries with cream. Another fabulous meal. We lingered as long as we could because we definitely did NOT want to leave Nice and we loved our hotel but . . . we finally went in to bed because Wednesday we had to make our journey back to Paris.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012
NICE, FRANCE
We woke up to beautiful weather again. It was sunny and warm and just how David likes it! We had two interesting experiences today . . . one funny and one disheartening. The first one occurred at the train station before we left. We went into a store to buy a newspaper and David politely got in line behind an elderly woman who was taking forever. When the clerk finished her transaction, a man tried to get in front of us -- he was waving his newspaper and euro. The clerk told him to get in line, that we were first. Then the clerk looked at us and said "f_____g French!" And, of course, he was French too. It cracked us up for some reason. I'll tell you the disheartening story at the end of today's blog. Now you have to read the whole thing.
We wanted to travel the other direction on the coast so we picked Saint-Tropez. We debated about going to Monaco but I had been there before so we decided against it. St-Tropez was a little farther away but we are always up for an adventure. We walked to the train station and bought roundtrip tickets to St-Raphael. We knew there we would have to take a bus to St-Tropez. The train trip was about an hour and it was a beautiful ride. The train follows the coast all the way and we saw gorgeous beach after gorgeous beach. There were lots of people on the beaches, but they were not overcrowded.
We got off in St-Raphael and checked the bus schedule and discovered we had an hour to kill so we went to a cafe for breakfast. We sat outside and had our usual breakfast but this time we had a waffle-looking pastry. For my Ohio friends and family, it tasted just like the waffles they make at the Stark County Fair. What a treat!
We boarded the bus which was very nice and clean and air conditioned and off we went. The trip was to take about an hour and 1/2. Again the route was all along the coast. On the way we started seeing many gigantic private yachts. You can't help but wonder who owns them! One even had a helicopter on it!!! When we were about half way there the traffic backed up and we slowed down to a crawl. It stayed that way for more than an hour so our trip actually took a little over two hours. We travelled through some little towns we loved like Antibes, St-Maxime and Agay.
We got off the bus and the port area was spectacular. Again, lined with private yachts. We saw crew members in their matching outfits working. One guy was fixing a huge electrical plug. We saw one crew member walk off a yacht with two huge German Shepherds to take them for a walk. It really is a dog's life! We walked the entire length of the port (not very big) and there were many shops and they were expensive shops! Chanel, Burberry and shops with gorgeous evening gowns in them. Everything had sparkles and crystals and sequins . . . I was in heaven!
We sat at a cafe and had drinks and people-watched. We saw a group of people with a lot of shopping bags getting back on a yacht. They took their shoes off and handed them to a crew member along with their packages. Oh what a bother shoes and packages can be. Ta ta!
We headed back to the bus station because we wanted to have gelato before we boarded the bus at 3:15 to head back. I had coconut and strawberry - yum - and David had cookies and cream and pistachio. Very good!
We rode the bus back to St-Rapael and it was a little faster trip going back. We got off the bus, walked over to the train station and our train was there. It was a milk run and made many stops. At one stop two young British women, I guess they were in their early 20s, got on and sat in the seats in front of us. Theirs were the first seats in the coach. They were fun and animated and they were both listening to their IPods. The girl next to the widow had her purse unzipped on her lap and her IPod laying there. At one of the stops, a second before the doors were going to close, a young kid -- maybe 12 or 13 -- ran onto the train and ripped the IPod right out of her purse. He hopped off and the doors closed and he was gone. It was shocking to see it happen and we felt sorry for the young woman. At first she didn't know what happened. She felt a tug at her neck and thought he might haves stolen her necklace but then she realized the tug was when her IPod disconnected from her earphones. It happened in a second! We know to be careful of our belongings but that is the first time we actually saw anything like that happen. The young woman was glad it wasn't her phone or her camera. That is my disheartening story.
We got off the train and walked home. We had reservations for dinner here at the hotel so we go cleaned up and went to eat. We sat in the garden and it was incredible. We each had gin and tonics while we read the menu. For a starter I had hot goat cheese salad and it was excellent! David had cheese gnocchi which was listed as a starter on the menu. It was wonderful!!! For my main course I had rump steak in a pepper sauce with scalloped potatoes served in a cute little crock. Again, really good. David had vegetable risotto finished with white truffle oil and he loved it. For dessert I had a strawberry cream flaky pastry creation and he had vanilla creme brûlée which they fired up at the table. The restaurant here is listed as a 4 star and now we know why. We hadn't planned to eat here at all and we are glad we did.
We went to our room and tried to watch TV and read but we couldn't stay awake. All this happiness and joy makes us tired!
NICE, FRANCE
We woke up to beautiful weather again. It was sunny and warm and just how David likes it! We had two interesting experiences today . . . one funny and one disheartening. The first one occurred at the train station before we left. We went into a store to buy a newspaper and David politely got in line behind an elderly woman who was taking forever. When the clerk finished her transaction, a man tried to get in front of us -- he was waving his newspaper and euro. The clerk told him to get in line, that we were first. Then the clerk looked at us and said "f_____g French!" And, of course, he was French too. It cracked us up for some reason. I'll tell you the disheartening story at the end of today's blog. Now you have to read the whole thing.
We wanted to travel the other direction on the coast so we picked Saint-Tropez. We debated about going to Monaco but I had been there before so we decided against it. St-Tropez was a little farther away but we are always up for an adventure. We walked to the train station and bought roundtrip tickets to St-Raphael. We knew there we would have to take a bus to St-Tropez. The train trip was about an hour and it was a beautiful ride. The train follows the coast all the way and we saw gorgeous beach after gorgeous beach. There were lots of people on the beaches, but they were not overcrowded.
We got off in St-Raphael and checked the bus schedule and discovered we had an hour to kill so we went to a cafe for breakfast. We sat outside and had our usual breakfast but this time we had a waffle-looking pastry. For my Ohio friends and family, it tasted just like the waffles they make at the Stark County Fair. What a treat!
We boarded the bus which was very nice and clean and air conditioned and off we went. The trip was to take about an hour and 1/2. Again the route was all along the coast. On the way we started seeing many gigantic private yachts. You can't help but wonder who owns them! One even had a helicopter on it!!! When we were about half way there the traffic backed up and we slowed down to a crawl. It stayed that way for more than an hour so our trip actually took a little over two hours. We travelled through some little towns we loved like Antibes, St-Maxime and Agay.
We got off the bus and the port area was spectacular. Again, lined with private yachts. We saw crew members in their matching outfits working. One guy was fixing a huge electrical plug. We saw one crew member walk off a yacht with two huge German Shepherds to take them for a walk. It really is a dog's life! We walked the entire length of the port (not very big) and there were many shops and they were expensive shops! Chanel, Burberry and shops with gorgeous evening gowns in them. Everything had sparkles and crystals and sequins . . . I was in heaven!
We sat at a cafe and had drinks and people-watched. We saw a group of people with a lot of shopping bags getting back on a yacht. They took their shoes off and handed them to a crew member along with their packages. Oh what a bother shoes and packages can be. Ta ta!
We headed back to the bus station because we wanted to have gelato before we boarded the bus at 3:15 to head back. I had coconut and strawberry - yum - and David had cookies and cream and pistachio. Very good!
We rode the bus back to St-Rapael and it was a little faster trip going back. We got off the bus, walked over to the train station and our train was there. It was a milk run and made many stops. At one stop two young British women, I guess they were in their early 20s, got on and sat in the seats in front of us. Theirs were the first seats in the coach. They were fun and animated and they were both listening to their IPods. The girl next to the widow had her purse unzipped on her lap and her IPod laying there. At one of the stops, a second before the doors were going to close, a young kid -- maybe 12 or 13 -- ran onto the train and ripped the IPod right out of her purse. He hopped off and the doors closed and he was gone. It was shocking to see it happen and we felt sorry for the young woman. At first she didn't know what happened. She felt a tug at her neck and thought he might haves stolen her necklace but then she realized the tug was when her IPod disconnected from her earphones. It happened in a second! We know to be careful of our belongings but that is the first time we actually saw anything like that happen. The young woman was glad it wasn't her phone or her camera. That is my disheartening story.
We got off the train and walked home. We had reservations for dinner here at the hotel so we go cleaned up and went to eat. We sat in the garden and it was incredible. We each had gin and tonics while we read the menu. For a starter I had hot goat cheese salad and it was excellent! David had cheese gnocchi which was listed as a starter on the menu. It was wonderful!!! For my main course I had rump steak in a pepper sauce with scalloped potatoes served in a cute little crock. Again, really good. David had vegetable risotto finished with white truffle oil and he loved it. For dessert I had a strawberry cream flaky pastry creation and he had vanilla creme brûlée which they fired up at the table. The restaurant here is listed as a 4 star and now we know why. We hadn't planned to eat here at all and we are glad we did.
We went to our room and tried to watch TV and read but we couldn't stay awake. All this happiness and joy makes us tired!
Monday, June 25, 2012
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012
NICE, FRANCE
Today there was an Ironman Triathalon being held here in Nice and many of the streets were closed and access to the beaches was limited. Our favorite front desk clerk, Francois, suggested it would be a good day for us to check out the beach at Cannes. Good plan.
We got up early and gathered up our beach stuff and off we went to the train station. We are so lucky to be within walking distance of the station! We stopped on the way and picked up our usual pastries for breakfast. We bought roundtrip tickets on the regional train to Cannes. I have to say, the mass transit system in Europe is fantastic! I love riding on trains anyway so this is paradise.
We took the 10:00 a.m. train and the trip took about 30 minutes. We got off the train and headed to the beach. On the way we saw a clothes store I like (there was one in Bayeux too) called Armand Thiery. I bought a pair of capri jeans there when we were in Bayeux and Sheryl found a cute pink t-shirt she wanted but they did not have her size. I checked the store in Cannes and they had the shirt in her size BUT it had stains on it -- someone's makeup, I think. I asked the clerk and she didn't have another one so, sorry Sheryl, I'll keep looking.
I keep meaning to mention that lots of men in France wear capris. Most of them wear white capris. I think they look pretty cool but David wouldn't go for it. Probably a good call on his part.
We knew we wanted to go to a private section of the beach where we could rent lounge chairs and an umbrella. You know I'm the palest person ever (except for Jill) and I burn very easily so I wanted to be very careful. We found the perfect spot and the beach attendants set us up. The beaches in Cannes are even more beautiful than the ones in Nice because they are sandy -- the beaches in Nice are covered in stones. There was a restaurant right there and nice changing rooms. Also you could order drinks and food delivered to your lounge chairs! Really? See why we don't want to come home?
The Mediterranean is aqua blue and beautiful and clear. It was a little chilly at first but you quickly get used to it. When we arrived our beach wasn't too crowded but it filled up as day went on. Lots of topless sunbathers -- all ages, shapes and sizes. Many of the people are sooooo tan you know they really spend a lot of time working on it. I get bored too easily! I did have my Kindle, tho, so I was happy reading and enjoying the beach and the sea.
About 2:00 we decided to take a break from the sun and go inside for lunch. It was still open-air but covered. David and I both had salads -- but mine had delicious ham on it. It was an interesting salad because it was a plate of greens with dressing and then on the side there was a row of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese with olive oil and fresh basil -- so a regular salad and a caprese salad all on one plate. Great!
Around 5:00 we had had enough so we showered and changed for our trip home. No adventures on the way home. Walking back to our hotel neither of us wanted to go out for dinner so we decided to bring dinner home and eat it in the garden. We bought a bottle of wine, a baguette, two kinds of cheese and some crackers and came home. The hotel staff gave us plates, knives, glasses, etc., and we had a wonderful dinner in the beautiful setting of the garden. Very romantic and relaxing -- especially because we were the only ones out there!
Just another incredible day in paradise. I can hardly believe we are lucky enough to be here!
NICE, FRANCE
Today there was an Ironman Triathalon being held here in Nice and many of the streets were closed and access to the beaches was limited. Our favorite front desk clerk, Francois, suggested it would be a good day for us to check out the beach at Cannes. Good plan.
We got up early and gathered up our beach stuff and off we went to the train station. We are so lucky to be within walking distance of the station! We stopped on the way and picked up our usual pastries for breakfast. We bought roundtrip tickets on the regional train to Cannes. I have to say, the mass transit system in Europe is fantastic! I love riding on trains anyway so this is paradise.
We took the 10:00 a.m. train and the trip took about 30 minutes. We got off the train and headed to the beach. On the way we saw a clothes store I like (there was one in Bayeux too) called Armand Thiery. I bought a pair of capri jeans there when we were in Bayeux and Sheryl found a cute pink t-shirt she wanted but they did not have her size. I checked the store in Cannes and they had the shirt in her size BUT it had stains on it -- someone's makeup, I think. I asked the clerk and she didn't have another one so, sorry Sheryl, I'll keep looking.
I keep meaning to mention that lots of men in France wear capris. Most of them wear white capris. I think they look pretty cool but David wouldn't go for it. Probably a good call on his part.
We knew we wanted to go to a private section of the beach where we could rent lounge chairs and an umbrella. You know I'm the palest person ever (except for Jill) and I burn very easily so I wanted to be very careful. We found the perfect spot and the beach attendants set us up. The beaches in Cannes are even more beautiful than the ones in Nice because they are sandy -- the beaches in Nice are covered in stones. There was a restaurant right there and nice changing rooms. Also you could order drinks and food delivered to your lounge chairs! Really? See why we don't want to come home?
The Mediterranean is aqua blue and beautiful and clear. It was a little chilly at first but you quickly get used to it. When we arrived our beach wasn't too crowded but it filled up as day went on. Lots of topless sunbathers -- all ages, shapes and sizes. Many of the people are sooooo tan you know they really spend a lot of time working on it. I get bored too easily! I did have my Kindle, tho, so I was happy reading and enjoying the beach and the sea.
About 2:00 we decided to take a break from the sun and go inside for lunch. It was still open-air but covered. David and I both had salads -- but mine had delicious ham on it. It was an interesting salad because it was a plate of greens with dressing and then on the side there was a row of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese with olive oil and fresh basil -- so a regular salad and a caprese salad all on one plate. Great!
Around 5:00 we had had enough so we showered and changed for our trip home. No adventures on the way home. Walking back to our hotel neither of us wanted to go out for dinner so we decided to bring dinner home and eat it in the garden. We bought a bottle of wine, a baguette, two kinds of cheese and some crackers and came home. The hotel staff gave us plates, knives, glasses, etc., and we had a wonderful dinner in the beautiful setting of the garden. Very romantic and relaxing -- especially because we were the only ones out there!
Just another incredible day in paradise. I can hardly believe we are lucky enough to be here!
SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012
NICE, FRANCE
Today we actually got up at 7:00 a.m. because we were planning to take the train to see Eze, France. But when we asked our hotel desk clerk about it, he told us to just take the tram a few stops and get off and take bus 82 to Eze Village. Eze is a historic hill town which is referred to as the "Eagle's Nest." It is located on a high cliff 1,041 feet above sea level and has spectacular views of the Mediterranean. The oldest building in the village is the Chapelle de la Sainte Croix which dates back to 1306.
The small medieval village is famous for its beauty and charm. Its many shops, art galleries, hotels and restaurants attract a large number of tourists and honeymooners. I saw a sign that said Walt Disney spent a significant amount of time in Eze but there was no explanation why. The bus dropped us off at the base of the town and we walked over to a small cafe for a breakfast of coffee and hot chocolate and pastries. After breakfast we walked up and up weaving our way to the top. There were tons of shops and we looked in most of them but we didn't buy anything. When we got to the very top we wanted to check out the highest view but they charge 6 euro per person ($7.52) to gain access. We declined and instead stopped at a cafe for Coke Zero and Coke Light. Once again, it was good people watching!
On the way back down we happened upon a courtyard outside a medieval church which was being decorated for a wedding. It was a very small chapel but very beautiful. A fussy wedding planner and his two assistants were finishing up with the flowers when we went in. They had an arrangement of flowers hanging on the end of each pew and flowers at the front of the church and tons of white rose petals strewn about. They were gorgeous and made the church look very romantic. We did not see the bridal party but we saw a lot of fabulous cars (Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, etc.) driving up the steep streets and we assumed they were wedding guests.
We were going to go on to Monaco after seeing Eze but decided to go back to Nice instead. We took the number 82 bus and then the tram back to our stop. When we got off the tram we were right in front of a huge department store called Gallaries Lafayette. We looked around a little bit and I bought a charm for my Pandora bracelet.
We started walking back to our hotel through the Pedestrian Street and stopped for lunch at a small cafe. We had sandwiches on baguettes and they were very good. We looked in a few more shops walking back to the hotel. When we got "home," we took drinks out to the garden and relaxed awhile while I wrote in my blog.
We wanted Italian food for dinner so we went to La Trattoria just down the street from our hotel. On the way we stopped at our favorite wine bar, Cave 35, for a glass of wine (or two). The owner recognized us and was very friendly. Once again they brought us an appetizer which was sliced french bread with cheese . . . and goose liver pate and froie gras. YUCK! It's a shame we don't have a taste for the exotic stuff. We stayed there about an hour and my cute dog friend did not show up so we left to walk to dinner. We ate outside and it was a lovely evening. We shared an avocado salad which was excellent! David had vegetarian pizza and I had a pepperoni pizza. Mine was particularly spicy and good.
We went to bed a little earlier than usual because we wanted to get up early for our trip to Cannes.
We are seriously thinking about not coming home!!!
NICE, FRANCE
Today we actually got up at 7:00 a.m. because we were planning to take the train to see Eze, France. But when we asked our hotel desk clerk about it, he told us to just take the tram a few stops and get off and take bus 82 to Eze Village. Eze is a historic hill town which is referred to as the "Eagle's Nest." It is located on a high cliff 1,041 feet above sea level and has spectacular views of the Mediterranean. The oldest building in the village is the Chapelle de la Sainte Croix which dates back to 1306.
The small medieval village is famous for its beauty and charm. Its many shops, art galleries, hotels and restaurants attract a large number of tourists and honeymooners. I saw a sign that said Walt Disney spent a significant amount of time in Eze but there was no explanation why. The bus dropped us off at the base of the town and we walked over to a small cafe for a breakfast of coffee and hot chocolate and pastries. After breakfast we walked up and up weaving our way to the top. There were tons of shops and we looked in most of them but we didn't buy anything. When we got to the very top we wanted to check out the highest view but they charge 6 euro per person ($7.52) to gain access. We declined and instead stopped at a cafe for Coke Zero and Coke Light. Once again, it was good people watching!
On the way back down we happened upon a courtyard outside a medieval church which was being decorated for a wedding. It was a very small chapel but very beautiful. A fussy wedding planner and his two assistants were finishing up with the flowers when we went in. They had an arrangement of flowers hanging on the end of each pew and flowers at the front of the church and tons of white rose petals strewn about. They were gorgeous and made the church look very romantic. We did not see the bridal party but we saw a lot of fabulous cars (Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, etc.) driving up the steep streets and we assumed they were wedding guests.
We were going to go on to Monaco after seeing Eze but decided to go back to Nice instead. We took the number 82 bus and then the tram back to our stop. When we got off the tram we were right in front of a huge department store called Gallaries Lafayette. We looked around a little bit and I bought a charm for my Pandora bracelet.
We started walking back to our hotel through the Pedestrian Street and stopped for lunch at a small cafe. We had sandwiches on baguettes and they were very good. We looked in a few more shops walking back to the hotel. When we got "home," we took drinks out to the garden and relaxed awhile while I wrote in my blog.
We wanted Italian food for dinner so we went to La Trattoria just down the street from our hotel. On the way we stopped at our favorite wine bar, Cave 35, for a glass of wine (or two). The owner recognized us and was very friendly. Once again they brought us an appetizer which was sliced french bread with cheese . . . and goose liver pate and froie gras. YUCK! It's a shame we don't have a taste for the exotic stuff. We stayed there about an hour and my cute dog friend did not show up so we left to walk to dinner. We ate outside and it was a lovely evening. We shared an avocado salad which was excellent! David had vegetarian pizza and I had a pepperoni pizza. Mine was particularly spicy and good.
We went to bed a little earlier than usual because we wanted to get up early for our trip to Cannes.
We are seriously thinking about not coming home!!!
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