Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tuesday, 15 August
Finally got the pictures added. This should give you a little better idea of our vacation.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Wednesday, 9 July
Lloyd was at the conference all day, and I was on my own in Paris. I walked over eight miles today.
I took the train to Notre Dame, and felt that was an accomplishment. I attended noon Mass. It was interesting how security herded all the visitors away from the altar prior to Mass and roped off the area. The Mass was, of course, in French. I was able to say the Amens, sing Alleluia, said the Our Father in English while the others said it in French, and shake hands. Still a very blessed experience. I lit candles for each of the children. Eric and Jessica, you are at the altar of "Mother and Child" and at the foot of the cross. Mary Beth, yours is at the altar of Notre-Dame de Pris. Laura, I lit your candle at the altar of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Darin, for obvious reasons, yours was lit at Joan of Arc.
I ate lunch from street vendors - cherry ice cream and strawberry crepe.
Musee de L'Orangerie is magnificent. There were eight panels of Monet's Water Lilies, with each panel about 25 feet long. I think I've had my Monet fix for awhile. Also saw a Renior that is printed on a tote bag I have.
I accidentally found the US Embassy, but "for security reasons" was not able to take a photo. I'm glad I knew enough to ask, first.
On the walk back to the hotel, the Army did its practice fly over for Bastille Day (which will be Monday). They were very low over the Champs-Elysses. I wished Lloyd was with me!
Laura, Jessica, and Laura, I'm bringing home some macarons from Laduree. That is if they let me through customs with them. Just wait until you try them! Of course, Dad already tried to snitch, but I slapped his hand away.
The sun doesn't go down until after 10 pm. There is so much light in Paris that you can still see the clouds at 2 am.
We're getting up early to pack and go to the airport. See you soon!
I took the train to Notre Dame, and felt that was an accomplishment. I attended noon Mass. It was interesting how security herded all the visitors away from the altar prior to Mass and roped off the area. The Mass was, of course, in French. I was able to say the Amens, sing Alleluia, said the Our Father in English while the others said it in French, and shake hands. Still a very blessed experience. I lit candles for each of the children. Eric and Jessica, you are at the altar of "Mother and Child" and at the foot of the cross. Mary Beth, yours is at the altar of Notre-Dame de Pris. Laura, I lit your candle at the altar of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Darin, for obvious reasons, yours was lit at Joan of Arc.
I ate lunch from street vendors - cherry ice cream and strawberry crepe.
Musee de L'Orangerie is magnificent. There were eight panels of Monet's Water Lilies, with each panel about 25 feet long. I think I've had my Monet fix for awhile. Also saw a Renior that is printed on a tote bag I have.
I accidentally found the US Embassy, but "for security reasons" was not able to take a photo. I'm glad I knew enough to ask, first.
On the walk back to the hotel, the Army did its practice fly over for Bastille Day (which will be Monday). They were very low over the Champs-Elysses. I wished Lloyd was with me!
Laura, Jessica, and Laura, I'm bringing home some macarons from Laduree. That is if they let me through customs with them. Just wait until you try them! Of course, Dad already tried to snitch, but I slapped his hand away.
The sun doesn't go down until after 10 pm. There is so much light in Paris that you can still see the clouds at 2 am.
We're getting up early to pack and go to the airport. See you soon!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sorry - no photos
I have been trying to add photos, but am not able to. We've made the files smaller, and tried everything else we know of, but it just won't work. Maybe things will be different from home.
Tuesday, 8 July
Lloyd is busy learning and sharing information at the biodiesel conference. I, however, went out and had fun.
Versailles is beautiful - extremely opulent, of course. I toured the the palace. Lots of gild, painted ceilings, and statues. The gardens were lovely. It stopped raining long enough for me to get out there.
Lunch was at a chateau in the country. Tripe and salad as a starter, chicken in a mushroom sauce, vegetable casoulette, and rice in a box (it looked like the box was made of palm leaves.) Dessert was an apple tart. Two bottles of wine on the table for the seven of us. A nice, small group in a van, like Saturday. The two best meals I've had have been on the tours.
I enjoyed the afternoon immensely. We went to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet. We visited the lily pond with the Japanese bridge, his garden, and his home. The garden and pond were very refreshing. I now know where he was when he painted many of his masterpieces. The upkeep on this place is amazing - I saw at least six gardeners.
Oh, we ran out of toothpaste and I went to the pharmacy to purchase some. Six euro, or about nine dollars for one tube of Crest - and it was the cheapest. Wow!
Only one more day here. :-(
Versailles is beautiful - extremely opulent, of course. I toured the the palace. Lots of gild, painted ceilings, and statues. The gardens were lovely. It stopped raining long enough for me to get out there.
Lunch was at a chateau in the country. Tripe and salad as a starter, chicken in a mushroom sauce, vegetable casoulette, and rice in a box (it looked like the box was made of palm leaves.) Dessert was an apple tart. Two bottles of wine on the table for the seven of us. A nice, small group in a van, like Saturday. The two best meals I've had have been on the tours.
I enjoyed the afternoon immensely. We went to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet. We visited the lily pond with the Japanese bridge, his garden, and his home. The garden and pond were very refreshing. I now know where he was when he painted many of his masterpieces. The upkeep on this place is amazing - I saw at least six gardeners.
Oh, we ran out of toothpaste and I went to the pharmacy to purchase some. Six euro, or about nine dollars for one tube of Crest - and it was the cheapest. Wow!
Only one more day here. :-(
Monday, July 7, 2008
Monday, 7 July
We started the day at the Louvre. We got there 40 minutes before it opened and stood in line. It was windy and cloudy, and I FROZE! (It turns out we didn’t need to come early – the line was never long when we saw it. We would have been better off arriving soon after they opened.) We saw the Mona Lisa, which was bigger than I remembered. It amazed us that they allow you to take photos. We walked around for a couple hours.
Once we got outside, it started to rain. I’d packed umbrellas, but since the forecast at the hotel didn’t mention rain, I didn’t have them with us. There went another 5 euro. When the umbrella started turning inside out, we took the train to the Champs- Elysees. We returned to the restaurant with the good ice cream, and ate our first meal indoors (as opposed to a sidewalk café). While we ate, the rain stopped. Headed back to the hotel, with a stop for pastries.
Lloyd starts his conference at 6 pm. I’m on my own for the next couple of days.
Sunday, 6 July
We slept in today – until 9:00. It was a busy touring day, with lots of walking. We started at the Eiffel Tower. We took pictures, but didn’t go up because the line was so long. Police were everywhere, and we eventually saw them chasing some street vendors. They caught one, but we don’t know if they found what they wanted.
We got off the beaten path, and had trouble finding a café for lunch (we hadn’t eaten yet). We accidentally found the miniature Statue of Liberty. Cafes soon appeared, and we were refreshed. This pina colada tasted much different than I’m used to. The list of ingredients are the same, but the final product was not. I also always seem to end up with carbonated water, when I would prefer still. We’ve also paid up to $10 for a 1 liter bottle of water in a restaurant.
The Musee Marmottan was next, which has the largest collection of Monet work in the world. I can’t explain how wonderful it was. Just to see so many of his works…….
Outside the Musee was a rather large park. There were people playing with their children, picnicking, reading, resting, and it even had Wi-Fi. They offered donkey rides for the children. It was like out of a story book.
The Seine was our next destination. We started near Notre Dame, and walked. I forgot how many vendors are along the Seine. We stopped across from the Louvre to have a drink on a docked boat. We would have had dinner, but they were not serving yet. (It was only 6 pm). We walked back into the neighborhood to find a restaurant recommended by the travel book, but it was closed. This is where we found one rude waiter, who knew we spoke English but gave us a French menu. Our waitress was disgusted when she noticed we had to swap. But I had my dictionary, and had figured out what most of the dishes were.
We got off the beaten path, and had trouble finding a café for lunch (we hadn’t eaten yet). We accidentally found the miniature Statue of Liberty. Cafes soon appeared, and we were refreshed. This pina colada tasted much different than I’m used to. The list of ingredients are the same, but the final product was not. I also always seem to end up with carbonated water, when I would prefer still. We’ve also paid up to $10 for a 1 liter bottle of water in a restaurant.
The Musee Marmottan was next, which has the largest collection of Monet work in the world. I can’t explain how wonderful it was. Just to see so many of his works…….
Outside the Musee was a rather large park. There were people playing with their children, picnicking, reading, resting, and it even had Wi-Fi. They offered donkey rides for the children. It was like out of a story book.
The Seine was our next destination. We started near Notre Dame, and walked. I forgot how many vendors are along the Seine. We stopped across from the Louvre to have a drink on a docked boat. We would have had dinner, but they were not serving yet. (It was only 6 pm). We walked back into the neighborhood to find a restaurant recommended by the travel book, but it was closed. This is where we found one rude waiter, who knew we spoke English but gave us a French menu. Our waitress was disgusted when she noticed we had to swap. But I had my dictionary, and had figured out what most of the dishes were.
Saturday, 5 July
Had a quick breakfast at the hotel (a wonderful buffet!) and caught our tour. We went to the beaches of Normandy. Our first stop was Pointe du Hoc. Saw bunkers, and many bomb craters. That's Lloyd peeking out of a bunker. We came to appreciate how difficult it was for the soldiers to climb the cliff to get to the land. Visited the American Cemetery where 9,387 soldiers are buried. The Canadian cemetery was beautiful with its flowers. Watched a 360 degree movie with no words, but lots of emotion. This was very moving day.
Had lunch at a Chateau. We had cheese for a starter, and chicken with sauce, a baby potato, green beans wrapped with bacon, and baked tomato. It was presented as I expect a French meal to be. Wonderful! Only six of us on the tour, and it was a friendly group. Took a van instead of a bus.
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