Lourve Again, then prepare the house

We leave Saturday morning. We wanted to do something light on our last full day here. But we needed a final trip to the Lourve. Light. Paul read somewhere that you need to go four months if you want to see everything there. There is so much art, it's pouring into the subways, the doorways.

(On our second trip to the Lourve, the one where we got there with 30 minutes to close, Paul misplaced his hat. We looked 'round and 'round, as if our feet weren't sore enough. Finally I asked at Information if anyone had turned in a hat. The guy looked at me and said, "What color?". Had me at hello. Paul's hat returned!!)


We did not have 4 months. So the night before Paul googled, searched the site, came up with a mere 130 versions of the Greek God Hermes he wanted to see (versions: mostly bronze statues, some marble, some even adorn beautiful jeweled boxes). No way. He dwindled the list down to about 30, after 20 we begged for mercy. None of them were in the same room. BTW same god from Rome: Mercury.


A quick visit to the Musee du L'Orangerie where some huge pictures of Monet are. Then back to house to pack and clean.

Two weeks is a long vacation for us, and sadly also for our cats. It took all day Saturday to get home. We left with a 7:00am taxi for a 11:00 am flight. Landed at JFK at 1 pm, left JFK at 6, arrived home early at 9:30 pm. Long day.

Things we not as we left them here, but they did try to clean up. They went a little crazy cooking, so Paul will have to chemically clean the back top of the stove.

I think we re-arranged their living room when we got there, and forgot to put the couches back where they were. Opps.

Lots of laundry, but it was all ours. Spent time looking for Grazers. Hopefully she will notice we are back, and will surface.We sent a leaflet to the Mont Marin Homeowners Association President which he graciously forwarded to the Associations email list. And one to the humane society.

Got Bellina back, thank you Maile! She lost a few pounds, due to the daily beach walks with their crazy dog, yep, called Maya. 

Would we do the home exchange again? Yes, but if we have cats, we think we'll stick to families with 2 kids or less. No matter how wonderful a parent you are, 4 kids is a lot to pay attention to or follow around. And cats just do not do well with things different. Or lively.

Thanks for reading about our adventure, and au revoir!


Maia, Paul and Victoria

Tower Eiffel!

Finally we got tickets online to the tower. By the time we got there, and that was quite the adventure, it was nearly 9:00 pm our reservation time.

Our tickets only got us to first platform, then you have to buy tickets to the second.We met a very nice family there from England. They to were surprised by all the French smoking, don't they read?

The English family seemed to be following us. We saw then again on the third platform. There was a Champagne Bar up there, hard to resist!

We wanted to hit the Louvre yesterday, but because of our late start, the train stations have all had a suspiciously missing ticket agent. Purchasing of tickets thus required coins. Which for us was 9 plus euros. No one gives change. We ended up hitting a hot dog vendor for coins.


By then, we came to the decision (and considered hoping the gates), that if the French were going to make it this difficult to buy tickets, we would just buy child tickets. 3 euro, 3 coins.

BTW, we are paying 20% sales tax to the French here, and if that is in addition to income tax, the French should be rioting.


On with the nice side. So tired, so tomorrow. Miss our friends, and our cats  and dog. Hope Grazers has just decided to protest the French and she is in our bed tomorrow. she is a major purrer, so makes us too happy.


Au revoir!
Maia, Paul and Victoria

We saw What???

The drive to Roeun

We decided that what trip to Paris would be complete without really exploring points drivable in the Red Mini Coop?

Paul wanted to see the impressionists' show in Roeun, advertised all over the subway in Paris, and I agreed. Mainly because on the way is Giverny. Yes, the actual home and gardens of Claude Monet which were donated to France by Monet's son in 1965 and the French have passionately preserved the entire estate.

Monet is one of my favorite Impressionists, so the sadness by the dismissal of the French family by my cat, Grazers (I'm sure Grazers feels we abandoned her first, and she did not abandon us, she abandoned the French invaders...something the French have not been accused of in hundreds of years, only to meet Grazers), well and a few things that happened to Paul. We were yesterday saved by the visit to Monet's house and gardens.

I can not tell you all  how beautiful it was there. So completely do I understand that he left Paris for this peaceful place. His dining room seated 12, and judging by the size of the kitchen they entertained a lot.

We saw the room where he painted. We saw the gardens which were so beautiful, incredibly lovely smells. We thought we had seen it all when we encountered the tunnel to the lily ponds.

Suffice it to say I have replaced Grazers picture on my home page of my iphone with a picture of the lily ponds. And expect something like Monet's ponds on our Xmas card.

Victoria's life picked up at Monet's garden. She actually used her camera quite  a bit. We met a family from Connecticut there who were on their way to Paris. I asked the daughter, about 17, how she was enjoying Paris in August. She gave me one of those, I-am-in-the-most-beautiful-places-ever-and-I-cannot-wait-to-tell-my-friends look, and said, it is "awesome here". I said, the rain isn't bothering you? She just looked at me like I was speaking Russian. And then asked to take a picture of us with our camera. Lovely people everywhere.

That is the exact moment that Victoria realized she was in a very special place. Well, a couple of time the food impressed her. This was the first time a HOUSE, or JARDIN of someone historically significant impressed her.

If you need to understand Monet's historical significance, hmmmm.....you should visit his house. Or yard.  Victoria wants a lily pond.

Onto Roeun

Got out of Giverny. Note to future travelers: spend the night in Giverny. It is cuter than Viroflay and the buildings seem to be older. The narrow roads suggest they were built for horses, not cars. Excellent food, not expensive. It's France, so they have wine. The town is romantic as all and even traveling with the girl, we would have loved to invested an extra night there. Just the feel of the place, and the smells of the garden. It was very thought provoking. Not what I'm thinking. It was true peace. I could have spent the night thinking of nothing but the colors I wanted to paint, and never checking my iphone for stock market prices.

Roeun

Paul wanted to see this exhibit. Roeun is a decent sized town, about 1 hour north of Viroflay, which the Impressionists' flocked to, to paint the town, the quay's, the boats, the rooftops et al. 

At the Art Musee, they had about 130 impressionist pieces. Many were the same artists painting a similiar subject, and the impressionists generally did not paint in bright colors. Victoria was immediately bored. It took 20 minutes for me to become bored, and Paul was  never bored. He is still regretting not purchasing the book on the show, even though it was only published in French, the girl at checkout confirmed you can not buy it online (as if this is to believed...there is amazon and Craigslist).

The town of Rouen is on  the River Seine, which I thought winded around Paris. In fact, it winds around the whole country of France. Driving to Girverny and the Rouen, we crossed the Seine many times. Think it would be very fun to take a power boat on that river (I would say sail boat, but not under those bridges, 37 in Paris).

Ended the day with dinner in Versailles, yes again and again at the first restaurant from the first night. We got the same colorful waiter, and let me tell what he did this time!

Remember he broke a corkscrew that first night and the whole restaurant was amused?

This evening,, I ordered what looked like a good red wine. Actually it was his suggestion. A Pinot Noir. Would you think that wine would arrive chilled? Me, neither.

So it arrived chilled, I could see the bottle wet and then felt it. No good, I am drinking red wines in France and they must be served at room temperature.

So, I am sending the wine back. He takes it back (we figure out his name is Samy- do not know how reliable that is because he thinks my name is Souza.)

So he asks me, do I want a wine that is, here my description is better in person: that is: he holds his arm up to his side, flexes his bicep, and makes his shoulders big somehow, and looks at me and gives me the signal: . Full bodied, but still able to get through the door.  Assertive but not aggressive, a full bodied wine. It was great, and he was funny. Next time you see me, I will show you exactly what he did.

All in a look. So, I took the bait. It was one terrific bottle of heavy red, like a big deal Cabernet. I was happy!

Back to the Lourve tomorrow, but can anything ruin this vacation now? I think not, I have been to Claude Monet's house and garden and I have pictures of the lily pond. You can not wreck this trip for me.

Let me know if you want actual photos of Monets garden, We have 'em and are printing 'em .

Au Revoir.

Maia, Paul and V, finally using camera. Hating Museum's and loving Monet

Thursday we hit the Eiffel Tower, more later

Chateau du Versailles

Saturday we visited the actual palace. We saw on a website that you could picnic on the grounds. There were supposed to have period dancing to watch at 6:45. So we arrived late.

Found out that the Palace closed at 6:30, no eating or drinking on the grounds (yes we had wine, bread and ham and cheese with us) and the dancing needed reservations, but was full. The light show didn't start until 9:30 but by the time we got out of the Palace, it was raining enough that any outdoor activies not promising.

Paul and I enjoyed seeing the Palace, Victoria no. The main rooms we wanted to see were crowded with people who either did not bath, use deoderant or either.

Back to Viroflay for melted ham and cheese on baguette. Watch movies.Drink tasty French wine (hope I can remember some of these! Paul saving corks, in case that jars the mind).

Viroflay is incredibly cute. It looks like your typical french country town, very clean very pretty.

Sunday we got up to go shopping, even the Auchon was closed. Unbelievably there was a 7-11 type store in town open.  We ended up defrosting chicken the French had left us. Got some bad news: one of our cats hasn't been home in 2 days. Had the neighbors go to help look for her.


She is probably hiding, coming out at night. Nothing to do from here so just think good thoughts.

Periodically I get a picture from Maile of Bellina, this one just getting back from the beach. What a stinker dog. At least they don't leave you, dogs, that is.


Monday we hit Paris again. This time eating at typical French restaurants in Arissondment 7. Paul had duck and Victoria and I had french style burgers. Which was on a potato pancake instead of bun. Very tasty.

My friend Victoria told me she went through Italy with a couple of teeshirts and jeans for 2 weeks. I have been in 3 outfits this whole trip. Did  not need that huge luggage.

Eiffel tower going up today!

Time Zone Still Effecting Us, or We Are Lazy Americans

Yesterday, it was took all our energy to make it to the Auchon, buy food for 2 days (and wine for 6  onsumed in 2) then take the train to Versailles for dinner again. This time, we noticed that on the first night here we had dinner surprisingly close to the train. We just walked in circles a couple of times to find restaurant.

Mistakenly ate at Italian restaurant, mistaken because we wanted to eat French. Italian always good, even had to order Italian wine. It's good, but not French...

Today, we took 2 trains to the Champs Elysees. Upon our arrival, we noticed we were very hungry and it was only 6 o'clock. That is not a big deal on the Champs, found a delightful restaurant where the waiter from Belgium (that is my new measure, the waiter) was only to happy to serve us Jambon with Fromage and ourve...with salade. He winked at me when I ordered a glass of the Grand Cru, so that is  my new Red Wine!!! 

Victoria had a banana split for desert, which was my signal to have another glass of Grand Cru. The bill was 99 euros, but 46 of that was for 4 glasses of wine. Not so bad...

We looked for shoes, but no. Shoe sizes too small, and only a few shoe stores. Mostly restaurants. Perhaps the real estate is too pricey. Still determined to buy French shoes before next Saturday!

Tomorrow, we are planning to actually go into the Chateau Versailles, they are having a concert and a light show, lasting until 10 in the evening. It's a bit disconcerting that is does not get dark here until 10 pm. But we are allowed to take food and wine into the Chateau.

Our plan: the Auchon first, then Versailles!  King Louis should have had that plan...

Bonsour!

Maia, Paul and Victoria

Tuesday BBQ in, Wednesday the Lourve

BBQ Tuesday

We decided to kick back at our "home" and BBQ today, can't get in trouble there, right?

Oh! For the second time, we activated the security alarm. Not a soul responded, not even a mouse (possibly scared the mice!) If you have an alarm in the forest.....

Another trip to the Auchon. This store is so big they actually have different butchers for different animals, separate bakeries for different types of pastries, etc. Did we notice this? No, which will explain our pork cheeseburgers. Kind of strange to eat that much pork, and way too salty.  Could not finish it.  The bread was delicious.


Victoria kept pointing out imported vegetables and food, saying, "I thought the French only ate local food in season!" Apparently if you want tropical fruit in Paris, you import it. Just like we do.

Got to bed fairly early, but Victoria is surprisingly homesick. Maybe for her cats? I thought kids would not get homesick if they  were with their parents? Better today.

The trip to the Lourve was another thriller for the child, she couldn't get out of there fast enough, and sees no point whatsoever in the Mona Lisa (ok, nor do I except it's been stolen so many times). The security is fascinating.

As we arrived at the Lourve, we realized that one of us desperatly needed a WC, and one of us was famished, so we located a cute cafe on the rue Rivoli. Real estate must be quite pricey here, thinking the last time I saw a cafe this size I was in the theater district in NYC.  Bathrooms were so small, you had to be facing the right direction as you entered; no turning around!

The food was ok, and the service nothing compared to the guy in Versailles. He could have served you an old shoe, and then convinced you it was Gourmet.

Here, we had to beg for napkins, of course after the tomato landing and stained my white pants.

Speaking of all things vanishing Paris during August, I had heard that was because it was hot and humid in August, no one who is anyone would be caught here then. For the second time, we were rained on, and very cold. A bit London-like.

We still have to finish the Lourve, and are thinking of sending Paul, Victoria and I will take on the Champs Elyses. Sounds fair?

Also being urged to see at least swim in the Med while here. If Victoria's homesickness continues, we might have to have an American day, McDonalds and a Movie. I'm thinking Med.

Good news just in: the cats have taken to the French friends and are purring for them!

Bonne nuit!

Maia, Paul and Victoria

Monday the Tour de Eiffel

But first, the HyperMarche, in Auchon!

We awoke refreshed today, finally, and felt  like we could conquer anything. So, why not the biggest grocery store in all of Europe? The HyperMarche!

Unfortuately, my iphone's computer directions were using the names of the roads. Paul had previously looked on www.googlemaps.com and got instructions with the road numbers. The reality: numbers were small, and road names very hard to find...perhaps because they were placed on buildings, hard to see from the car. We are used to road signs on the corners, with names and bigger fonts.

Finally found the SuperMarket!  They charge one Euro for a grocery cart, and give you a Euro back when you return the cart. Rather a civilized method: all the carts are returned to the same spot, not all littered about the parking lot, and no one seems to be removing the carts for shelter etc.

Of course, we still hadn't converted any money to Euros, so had no coins that would work! We went shopping with just our bags, borrowed from our French friends' car (they don't actually provide grocery bags in much of Europe, making the Europeans ahead of us environmentally, and their trunks lined with grocery bags). This worked to my advantage, as I tired of the shopping experience I was able to hasten the situation by "weighing" down Paul, ie handing him all the bags, with bottles, etc and he tired.

We finally got out of the Marche by 5:30 (17:30) and 115 euros, not bad considering we had about 6 bottles of wine and a bottle of Baileys!

Decided to not cook, after all that, and headed over to the Tour Eiffel to a recommended restaurant of the FF's: Le Cafe du Hommes. It turns out this was a bit pricey, but with a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower. And in a Museum that is (remember, August!) closed. I think a maritime Museum, right, in Paris. Water fountain in front, dry (except for small pools of water from the earlier rain -August, why run a water fountain?).

In Versailles, we figured out that outdoor dining (terrace) was attractive to smokers, the less expensive the restaurant the more smokers. So coming back from Versailles, we had stuffed noses, and smelly clothes.  From Le Cafe du Hommes, not so much. There were other very appealing restaurants around the roundabout, with good prices and wonderful smells, but smokers everywhere. Paul concluded that smokers likely do not like outdoor restaurants when it is raining, obviously, so another reason the terrace at Cafe du Hommes wasn't filled with smokers. We will use what we've learned as we go forth and eat in public!

Heard that the high speed trains only take 3 hours to the south of France so we will be exploring that option. Will need a place to stay, should try to do that in advance, or not? Probably not, will see how much that bothers these travelers.

Oh!  Our French Friends have emailed, and have had a bit of trouble getting the cats in at night, bugger cats! But did succeed, indeed we were told that Chantal the youngest was awakened with a kiss from the naughty Lea this morning, how charming!

They wanted to know where the litter box was, oh no! Hopefully no one closed the closet door, and the cats decided on a nearby plant to you know what.

They went shopping at Safeway and got a membership card. We got one from the HyperMarche/Auchon, and are promised a discount next shopping experience. Which is a tidy discount at Safeway, sometimes 10%. Glad for them and hope for us.

'till next blog, Maia, Paul, Victoria and the last of the rain....