Desperate for McDonald's

Oh my! I never thought I'd think or say that but it is true! McDonald's seems to be the only place around here where you can get on the internet (especially for free!). B&Bs don't have wi-fi unless you steal it from the neighbours. If they do have internet access, it is SLLLOOOWWWW. It's a big problem over here. They estimate it will cost about 10 billion Euros to fix it over the next 10 years because they didn't keep up with technology when they started and the government allowed a lot of it to be privatized so now good connections are very expensive.
Alas...after several days away from technology, I find myself in a McDo with 30 min of free wi-fi. This will be a quick update that I'm afraid will read like a grocery list.
On the other hand - I've just attracted a crazy lady in McDo with the laptop, so now I need to get off because my 30 min is almost up!!! ARGH! This only happens to me!
Needless to say, we are doing fine, having fun and will be home on Thursday.

Limerick, Tipperary, Cashel

Yesterday we stayed at Ashford Castle as long as we possibly could. We enjoyed a nice tea in the afternoon before heading out on a boat cruise of the lake. I had thought it was just a sight-seeing tour, but it turned out that it took us to an island in the middle of Lough Corrib where St. Patrick had been sent/banished. While there, he built a small church so we were able to explore the ruins that are still on the island. It's a small uninhabited island but he somehow managed (with his navigator) to build this church. As well, it is now a famous spot because the grave marker of the navigator is the oldest known relic/monument in the world with a Gaelic inscription.
We couldn't delay our departure any longer after the cruise. :(
We had a nice drive down to Killaloe which is just north of Limerick, on the Shannon River. We are staying in this B&B for 3 nights so it is nice to be able to unpack a few things.
The skies have cleared a bit, so we are stealing the internet signal from the neighbours. (There won't be any pictures today because the signal goes in and out - just like the rainy weather.)
We enjoyed a relaxing night in last night. Today we took the scenic route through Limerick and Tipperary down to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel.
We started in the Bru Boru Cultural Centre where we got some information on Irish dance and music. (Unfortunately, the show is at 9 p.m. and we weren't willing to wait around for it.)
Then, on to the Rock. These are more ruins of a church/castle. Some of the most intricately carved celtic crosses are there (that I've seen anyway). We also trekked down the sheep path through a field to the remains of Hoare Abbey (so named because the monks wore tunics the colour of hoare frost - Eric was disappointed with that explanation!)
It was quite funny that the abbey is a national monument but to get to it, we had to walk through a sheep pasture, cross the road, go down a street without sidewalks and then tread lightly through a cow pasture to get to it. The ruins are in the middle of this farmer's field. I guess when you live in a country with so many ancient ruins, there is no way that the government can own them all and take care of them all.
On the way back to Killaloe we took the backroads. This is always even more exciting because you never know what is around the corner - literally - it could be a cow, a car, a person, it's always a surprise to see what awaits you as you careen around the corner. (More on driving in Ireland later.) This allowed us the opportunity to see lots of random ruins in the middle of nowhere. They mostly looked like churches and old houses but that is just our guess because they weren't marked. However, there is still something intriguing about going through the ruins. I think Eric may have seen enough of them, but I could keep looking.
We had a nice supper in a pub tonight but Eric was actually too tired to hang around for the music to start. (I'm leaving him at home tomorrow night if he isn't willing to suck it up! Mind you if he keeps singing to himself in the bathroom, he may not live to see tomorrow anyway.)

So this is how the other half lives!

Eric and I are just packing up to check out of the best place we've ever been. Staying in the castle has been the best part of our whole trip so far. The castle and grounds are beautiful. Yesterday when we arrived, we were greeted by no less than 5 people who wanted to make sure we were satisfied. When we checked in, we were given a personal guided tour of the castle and shown to our room. There are 350 acres here so we went for a vigorous stroll to see how much we could cover. It was like our own private property because there were very few people out on the trails or in the gardens. (If you haven't picked up on this theme yet, my favourite parts of vacation are when we can be away from other tourists.) Although the gardens are not as extravagant as Vaux-le-Vicomte, they were still interesting to explore.

We decided to pull out all the stops and made a reservation for 9 p.m. in the George V Restaurant here. We were treated to a 7 course tasting menu with a different wine for each course. (I've posted the pictures of each course. Each picture with wine, is a different kind of wine. Needless to say, I was having trouble focusing by the end of the 3 hr meal! It was definitely worth the splurge!)

The menu consisted of:

*Chef's compliments - Savoury smoothie with apple foam and smoked tuna

*Fillet of local turbot, Potato dressing and salad bernard (Albert Pic Chablis Saint Pierre, 2007)

*Char grilled scallop, minted green peas (Omaka Springs, Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc, 2007)

*Confit of Organic salmon with Killary Harbour Prawn, Fresh basil & Lime (St. Andrews, Wakefield, Clare Valley Chardonnay, 2001)

*Sorbet of Poached Nectarines & Vinegar of lemon grass

*Local Spring Lamb, gently roasted rack and seared leg of New Season Lamb (Chateau La Bertrande, Premiers Cotes de Bordeaux, 2005)

*Irish Farmhouse Cheese served from the Cheese Trolley -they wheeled out a whole cart filled with more than a dozen different kinds of Irish cheese and we got to pick what kinds we wanted to try!!! talk about a tough decision after that many glasses of wine! (Elysium, California Black Muscat, 2006)

*Dessert of Rhubarb (Essensia, California Orange Muscat, 2006)

Of course, I can only be classy for so long because I instantly passed out on the bed when we got back to the room - fully clothed, contacts still in, on top the covers. At 3:13 when I awoke, I had to pry the contacts off my eyeballs, wash my face and crawl into bed. I was none too happy when the sun started coming up at 4 a.m.

I went for a long walk again this morning and then we were treated to a full Irish breakfast. Eric was happy to have a plate full of black and white pudding!

After we check out, we are welcome to stay on the grounds for the rest of the day, so we are doing a cruise of the islands at 2:30 before leaving for Killaloe. We will be in Killaloe for the next 3 nights.

I think I will start playing the lottery regularly when I get home because I would love to come back to Ashford Castle again. There is so much to do that we haven't even had a glimpse at all the activities available and we certainly haven't covered the 350 acres yet either!

The rain has stopped again and the sun is out, so rather than taking the time to upload the rest of the pictures, we are going to go enjoy this luxurious castle!

Northern Ireland Adventures

It feels like days since we've been on the internet....mostly because we've done so much since we were last able to get online.

We toured a bit of downtown Belfast before leaving on Monday morning. Eric was excited to find that a shirt he had wanted in London was on sale for 12L. That boy can shop 'til he drops!

Following the advice of the northern natives, we took the coast route to Bushmills even though it was by no means the direct route. We were not disappointed! We had breathtaking views of the coast but also views of the Glens of Antrim and area farms. The rain was intermittent throughout the day but stopped long enough for us to enjoy a picnic lunch by the seaside.

We arrived mid-afternoon at the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. This bridge is 30m above the ocean and joins the mainland to an island. Apparently the best salmon fishing is on the island and fisherman still use the bridge today to get over there to fish. I managed to brave the bridge - it wasn't as bad as the suspension bridges in Quebec, so I was ok. After, we enjoyed walking on the beach and checking out the old lime quarry.

We reluctantly left so we could find our first bed and breakfast of the trip. Just outside of Bushmills, down a country road, we located the Valley View B&B. Our host checked us in and then sent us on our way again so we could find our supper. Eric was excited to eat at the Smuggler's Inn where we enjoyed fresh seafood and local lamb.

We decided to take a constitutional walk on the Giant's Causeway after supper. We hadn't realized that even when the visitor's centre is closed, that the causeway is still open so we were able to stay out until the sun was setting. There were less than a dozen other people on the whole causeway (about 5 km long) so we enjoyed a hike all the way along as we checked out these very interesting geological formations. You really have to see it to believe it. (I think my favourite part was that we weren't competing with other tourists for a view of it.) Given that this is Ireland and they seem much more lax on their safety standards than North America, we were actually able to walk out on the Causeway as it stairstepped into the sea. Neither of us went the whole way because the waves were awfully big and strong!

We had a good night's sleep at the B&B and a big Irish breakfast the next morning. We were on our way by 9 a.m. so we decided to stop at Bushmills Distillery before leaving town. Apparently 9:30 a.m. is a good time to drink whiskey because we got a tour of the whole Distillery with a shot of whiskey at the end. (Eric got pop.) I tried...I really did, but the whiskey is not my thing either. I had to get Eric to drink some of it for me - just like the beer. And then I had to figure out what I could do before I could get behind the wheel again. Driving without whiskey is nerve-wracking enough!

From Bushmills Distillery, we proceeded to Dunluce Castle. Eric wasn't too keen on stopping until we got out of the vehicle. There is something to be said for ancient ruins and the impact they can have on you. This castle was built right on the cliff and part of the kitchen actually fell off the cliff one night while the servants were making supper. The widow abandonned the castle there and then and it fell into disrepair.

We thought we were doing well for time because by noon we had completed the tour of the distillery and the castle. On our way to Sligo, we stopped in Londonderry (or just Derry) because it is still a walled city and I wanted to see the murals they have there to recognize the struggles of the North. (Londonderry was a hotbed of activity during the struggle for independence from Britain.)

Our luck had run out because even though we stopped and got a map at the tourist information centre, we had difficulty finding our way around. Many streets don't have signs and there are a lot of one way streets that were not clearly indicated on the map. After an hour of fighting traffic and seeing the same roundabouts (making memories like Chevy Chase in European Vacation), we decided to continue on. My patience was wearing thin.

Since we had missed out on the sights of Derry, there is an ancient Ring Fort built by the Vikings outside of Derry that I wanted to check out. Since it is a national monument, you would think it would be clearly labeled. We did not have explicit directions on how to get there but figured we would see the signs. The first time we stopped to ask for directions was at the tourist information place in Letterkenney, about 1/2 hour PAST where we were supposed to be. She told us that we must not have been paying attention to the signs OR that the sign was maybe covered by a tree so we would need to look more closely. The second time we stopped to ask for directions, the man gave us very specific landmarks to look for; if not for that, we would have missed it again! The sign is a small hand lettered Gaelic sign that was covered by a tree! That's it! No warning, nothing. However, most tourists probably can't find it and give up because when we finally got there, there was a family of 5 just leaving and one other couple checking the place out. Once again, it was a great experience to have the place all to ourselves and look around at our leisure. Well...at our leisure until the rain came but rain is not unusual and only lasts for a bit. It was worth the turn arounds and hassle just to see it and to know that it was built over 2000 years ago.

It seemed to take forever to get to Sligo and when we finally arrived, we had terrible directions to the B&B. We kept ending up in the downtown core which is all one way streets and everything was closed so there wasn't even a place for us to stop and ask for directions. When we finally happened upon a gas station, the attendant was Polish and had no idea where anything was in town (this is not uncommon here). Finally, one of the customers directed us toward the street we wanted and we were able to find the place. This was the first time where I actually questioned the sensibility of driving in Ireland. Up until then, I had been able to chalk up any driving issues as "part of the adventure".

However, after another good night's sleep and a full Irish breakfast prepared by our leprechaun of a host, I had replenished my patience stores enough to venture back onto the road.

Today is a blog in and of itself which I will do later.

Failte Ireland!

Last night we enjoyed a great supper in a pub. I actually ordered and almost drank a 1/2 pint of Guinness. I was not able to develop a taste for the beer, so everytime the barman turned his back, I tried to get Eric to have a sip of the beer or we were never going to be able to leave. Given the fact that Eric has been lamenting the fact that he can't try the beer and after one sip he said he really liked it, he certainly wasn't drinking it fast enough for my liking. So, no more beer for me. Eric is already making plans to come back when he's 18 so he can try all the beer he wants!

This morning, we had a huge Irish breakfast at the hotel. We both liked the black and white puddings (just don't think about what it really is). We couldn't pick up the car until 11 a.m., and it was raining so we relaxed at the hotel until then.

When I picked up the car at Hertz, the first question they ask is, "Are you planning to travel to Northern Ireland?" When I said yes, without cracking a smile or missing a beat, the guy said, "So will you be taking the bomb-proof car or are you just going to settle for the bulletproof one? If you're interested, we do have armoured personnel carriers available as well." He really cracked me up! He felt the need to remind me that I would have to pay the deductible for any bulletholes unless I got the extra insurance.

So far I haven't had any troubles driving on the wrong/right side of the road. We had rain and construction on and off all the way to Belfast so it was just before 3 when we arrived. We immediately boarded the hop on hop off tour.

It is certainly not like the tour we did in Paris. You can tell we are in Ireland now. The live commentary is hilarious as the commentator pokes fun at the Irish but they drive so fast by everything, that you hardly have time to look at it, let alone take pictures! We stopped at the Parliament buildings for a "security check". This involved a patrolman boarding the bus, taking a cursory look and getting off. Good thing we all had our guns and Molotov cocktails hidden from his view! :)

We didn't catch much of the commentary because we had a Belfast native behind us who gave us his own personal running commentary throughout. He and his wife were very friendly and we learned a lot!

The tour only went until 5 p.m. so we returned to the hotel so we could eat up the goodies we brought with us from Paris. Most things close at "half five" here on Sundays and it is still raining off and on so we are taking the opportunity to have another goodnight's sleep. Our hotel is great - just like last night!

Made it in ONE PIECE!

As Annette already said - STRESSFUL end to a wonderful holiday! we made it to our flight 5 minutes before they closed the gates...and had just a few extra minutes because our flight was a little delayed - we were in line for take off and there was a flight for Air Lingus that we thought was Eric and Annette so we waved from our seats as it took off...
flights were uneventful. Great service with British Airways, but the video system didn't work well for our trip home - which was the same as our way there.
Anyway, we're so tired i'm only doing this so that you all know we got home A-OK. I'm looking forward to hearing about the adventures of the Muellejans family!
Travel safe, drive on the right side of the road, and keep having some wonderful adventures...
Cheers... Jac

Dublin

What started out as a simple trip to the airport this morning quickly became a bit stressful - even the native Parisians couldn't figure out what they were supposed to do. Long story short - they were doing work on the tracks between Gare du Nord and Charles de Gaulle Airport. The announcement inside the train kept saying that the train was a direct route to CDG but the announcements outside the train in the stations were saying that there may be interruptions. When we got to Gare du Nord, inside the train they were still saying that it was continuing on but outside they were saying to get off. People were getting on and off at each stop - not sure what to do. We got off, along with an entourage of people who were following us because they didn't know where to go (not sure why they thought we did!) and wandered until we found the right bus-stop. The fact that there were 200 people there with big suitcases should have been the first tip-off. Rather than having lots of extra buses to make up for the train issues, they just had the police there trying to keep us from spilling off the sidewalk into the street. After standing for a few minutes, someone near us mentioned that the wait for the bus to the airport was 1 1/2 -2 hrs...this resulted in a mass exodus to the taxi stand since most of us had to be on a flight in 2 hrs! It felt like we threw Matt, Jac & Sam into a taxi in a panic without a proper good-bye. Despite the fact that it ended up costing a lot more than we had anticipated, Eric and I made it to the airport with lots of time to spare. I'm not sure about the Hutchinsons since their flight was 30 minutes before ours.
The flight to Dublin was uneventful thank goodness. We felt very high class when we found our driver bearing a sign with my name waiting to take us to the hotel. He was very friendly and gave us lots of advice about what to see and do while we are here.
We were supposed to do a hop-on hop-off tour today but since they finish at 6 and we've just got into the hotel at 4:30, that isn't going to happen today. Instead, we are going to mosey over to Grafton St. and find a nice pub and get a good night's sleep before heading to Belfast tomorrow.

au revoir a Paris

I'm very sad to leave Paris today. I loved it even more than I expected I would. However, my waistline is probably happy that we are leaving even though we haven't sampled all the bread at every bakery or all the cheese in all the cheese shops or all the wine in the wine shops.
Eric and I will endeavour to continue posting while we are in Ireland but at this point in time we are not sure when/if we will have internet access.

We've had a great time with Matt, Jacqueline & Samantha. We'll have to save our money to go somewhere again (or keep playing the lottery!).

a la prochaine

Au Revoir Paris!

Just like that our vacation comes to an end.

I admit, I'm misty eyed at the thought of leaving. I do miss the comforts of home, my bed, my bath, my dog, Claire, a washing machine big enough to actually do my family's laundry and a fridge that doesn't freeze the produce; but I really loved Paris. It's a beautiful city with, for the most part, really great people.

I'm sure Annette and Eric are excited to be rid of us and get on with their own travels so I won't be long, plus we have to leave soon and cart all our luggage to the metro so we can take a train to the airport.

YESTERDAY:

Annette and I went out in the morning for a lovely bike ride and while we were gone there was a little excitement outside the apartment window...a garbage truck took out the do not enter sign...it amused Matt that's for sure.

This is a picture of the guys trying to FIX the sign after they took it out with their truck.

Matt Sam and I went up the Eiffel Tower! Yes, while Eric and Annette were looking at the Eiffel Tower from atop the Arch de Triomphe we were looking at them from atop the Eiffel Tower! it wasn't a very long wait but we were concerned that the weather was turning again as it was very windy and mostly cloudy...we even had a couple of raindrops, but by the time we made our way up the elevator ( no stairs for us yesterday) we were lucky to have some lovely sunshine.

Sam even found home from the top of the second observation deck! We have 6, 014 km to travel to get home so hopefully it will be a safe trip. We'll see you all soon.

For Annette and Eric, I hope this was as great a vacation for you as it was for me! I'll miss you guys and hope you have the best time enjoying Ireland! Travel Safe and try to find time to do some blogs to let us know how much fun we're missing out on.

Cheers - au revoir.

Catacombs, crypts, Champs-Elysees

As Samantha has already mentioned, we had an interesting tour of the catacombs. Although I knew what I was in for, it was quite surreal to see all of the bones and skulls stacked floor to ceiling. They even have a sanctuary created down there where they used to hold mass for people who wanted to come to remember the dead. It was worth the almost 2 hr wait in line, but I don't think I need to do it again.

After we split up, Eric and I grabbed some velibs and made our way to Petit Palais. It was very hot, so we were both excited that there was a refreshing fountain outside for us to cool our tootsies. The Petit Palais is a small art gallery/museum. It was free and air conditioned! (Both a good sign!) Since it is not one of the major galleries, it wasn't very busy at all, but it had some very unique artwork. We saw all sorts of furniture like they had at Versailles (Louis XIV, XV, XVI) BUT we didn't have to fight any crowds - there was hardly anyone there and we could get very close to all of the pieces. My favourite part was an original Monet painting that I was able to get nice and close to. There was an artist in the gallery doing a reproduction of the painting.

After the Petit Palais, Eric and I were back on the velos and over to Rue Cler which is a very traditional market street. We happily shopped our way along the street picking up things for our picnic supper. We both loved the Fromagerie - wall to wall cheese - each different but all from France! We got a chevre and brie but of course chose two kinds we'd never tried before. (I was flattered when the woman in the cheese shop asked me how long before I was returning to Quebec and I needed to explain to her that I was from the predominantly anglophone province of Ontario.)The boulangerie had delicious fresh out of the oven baguette. We got fresh figs and lemonade at a fruit market. I was very happy to be in a very French street without any other tourists (I didn't hear any English while I was there! And yes, I know...I am a snobby tourist.)

On the velibs again and over to the Eiffel Tower. We had a leisurelly picnic at the base of the Eiffel Tower while we waited until it was time to meet with Matt, Jacqueline and Sam.

As Sam already said, we got rained out before we got up the tower but it was quite exhilerating to brave the storm just the same!

This afternoon, Eric and I were back on the velibs and over to the Pantheon. Once again, we were able to avoid large crowds of tourists because the Pantheon is not a huge draw, however, it was still quite interesting. In the basement is a large crypt with many famous French people entombed there (ie Rousseau, Voltaire, Hugo, Marie Curie, Louis Braille) It wasn't very busy so we were able to take our time to look at what we wanted. We were both intrigued by Foucault's pendulum, a special ball suspended from the dome of the Pantheon that tells time using the rotation of the earth. It really works too...we were able to see the difference in the pendulum swing between the time we arrived and when we departed.

On the velibs again (Eric and I definitely got our money's worth on those!) and over to the Louvre/Tuileries. Pause for a chocolat chaud in a cafe. On to the Louvre...This was the first time I had actually been able to look from the Louvre all the way up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. I must say that Louis XIV and Le Notre knew what they were doing when they designed that! We walked through the Tuileries gardens to the Orangerie museum. I was quite disappointed that the guidebook said it was open to 9 p.m. but we arrived to find out it was only open until 6 p.m. (We arrived at 6:15) However, lest you think based on my Versailles blog that I am not a flexible traveler, I will have you know that Eric and I moseyed up the Champs-Elysees, window shopping as we went. Eric was delighted to go into a few stores only to find out that they were way too expensive (like trying to find bargains on Fifth Avenue in New York). We walked the whole street and then climbed the Arc de Triomphe for the view there. It was very dark and had been raining off and on, so we got some great views of SacreCoeur, Champs-Elysees, Eiffel Tower, La Defense, etc. Eric paid to look through one of the viewers and I was amazed to look down the Champs Elysee and see that the obelisk on the place de Concorde really does line up exactly with the arch at the Louvre - how did they manage that a few centuries ago?

We didn't want to brave the rain all the way home, so we hopped the metro for the long ride home. The landlord has just been here to inspect to make sure we didn't trash the place and to return our deposit. We're going to head out for one last crepe before turning in.

All Checked-in with No where to go...

Yup we confirmed our seats on both flights...Paris to London and London to Toronto... we're just having a quick bite of bread for lunch (go figure, all week we've been trying to get the cheese bread from the bakery and today was the first day we got it...It is one of my personal favs now).
I also got a nice pastry a tarte Normande - I think it is maybe apple and almonds but i don't know yet so i'll let you know when I try it.
I think we are going to try to get to the eiffel tower today since our forray into the Paris night sky was rudly interrupted by mother nature (as described below by Sam). Annette and I took a quick bike ride through our local arondissment and saw that there was A LOT of damage to trees, branches down and loads of leaves all over the streets. We were both surprised that nothing major was distroyed.
While we were gone there was some excitement with a garbage truck hitting the do not enter sign outside our apartment window... Matt has pictures we'll post later.
I'm going to read another chapter of my book and have a tea and my cake before we go out.
Our flight home leaves from London on British Airways - flight 99 at 15:35 local time. and it's 7 hours and 40 minutes but we should be home by 5 something eastern... we'll be tired, hungry and maybe even a little drunk since on the way to paris it was all you could drink...i may take advantage of that again.
cheers...see you all soon.

Don't Trust the Weather Network

Thursday:
Well, Thursday was started with fresh pastries from the bakery, chocolate twisted things for Eric & me, raisin rolls from mom & Annette, and a pomme chaud for dad.

After our breakfast we grabbed bikes from the handy Velib station the next street over, and road to the catacombs. We had to stand in line for about an hour and a half. Although it was worth the wait because we got free entertainment from a homeless man. He started by calling a passed out homeless man a crocodile, and talking about how he was going to have a baby, then before we were allowed in he started singing opera. He surprised both mom and I because he could actually sing very well - although he did sound like a girl.

"People with queasy stomachs or people who are impressionable SHOULD NOT ENTER!"
Yes - that sign did make me a little nervous. The beginning was ok, no dead people, just lots of stairs, although surprisingly this time we went down first. Mom counted a grand total of 130 stairs going down. The first couple rooms were the history of the limestone quarries (catacombs). Then we started a walk through the basement of Paris. Walking through was very cool, I thought because you could see how the architecture varied from year to year. After walking for a while I said "I haven't seen any dead people yet. Where are they all?" And of course right after that was the room that was supposed to help prepare you for seeing the dead bodies, I'm assuming. SIX MILLION PEOPLE! Walking into the first passage with the bodies was very surprising, instead of seeing full bodies laying with some sort of this is so-and-so. The skulls and larger bones were stacked to make a pattern. This is the way the rest of the bodies were layed out as well. Surprisingly we all made it through without being at all scared and even took some time to study a fell skulls that look like there were bullet wounds in the forehead, execution style. The stairs back up to street level were much different than the stairs down, although there were only 83 they were much further apart, slippery, and steep.

From the catacombs we went off to find park to eat lunch, yes great planning. We enjoyed homemade sandwiches on cibatta bread (YUM) in a nice quiet(?) park before splitting up.

Annette and Eric went off to do touristy things while mom, dad and I went back to the apartment and rested for the evening events. Although while we were at home we had time to play cards, sleep, shop, and eat a lovely home cooked dinner :).

We had planned to meet Annette and Eric at the Eiffel Tower at 10 so we could go up to the top. Annette was there waiting for us and Eric was already in line when we arrived. We waited together in line and discussed what we each had done that day. We were in the middle of a conversation when mom and Annette saw 2 flashes of lightning. No one else saw it and I just hoped that it was in their imaginations. Not long after there was another strike that I passed off as a camera flashing. But after that it wouldn't stop. we were still far back in the line and started getting worried that they wouldn't let us up, even though it wasn't raining. We waited in line more, and were almost at the front, or well very close when the wind suddenly picked up and it POURED rain! When the rain and wind started many people ran for their lives away from the tower. We ever saw large, heavy metal gates being blown over and were relieved that everyone who was there had run off. By the time this all happened we were totally soaked - but we can't forget daddy's efforts to keep us dry; he stood with his back to the wind while the rest of us huddled around him, he also tried to give us his hat but by that time there was nothing that could be done to stop us from getting wet. Most people had left the lines by this time, both in front and behind us, so we were maybe 5 or 6 people from the desk when WHAM! it's closed. All because of a storm we got that was supposed to happen Tuesday. Yes we were very disappointed that we didn't make it up, but we still had a good time and many stories to tell. When we were leaving we saw a little sandwich shop packed with people trying to get out of the rain, there were so many people in it they couldn't move around. By the time we left the Eiffel tower and were walking back to the subway the rain had stopped and the wind had died down. The subway was packed with people leaving the Eiffel tower and mom saw a lady use the same ticket maybe 6 times in a row to get her family on the subway (apparently that's ok to do since the tickets can be reused if it has been less that two hours.)

The train home was busy. I feel kind of bad for the people on the train before because most people who got on were soaked. There was almost no room to stand because some people think that when the train is busy it's ok to wrap yourself around a pole, one of the only places for people to hold onto. Dad ended up elbowing a man in the face because the man was sitting and the train stopped making dad fall forward into him. Oops. The man ended up holding his face the rest of the ride while dad tried to apologize. (Did we mention that Annette said from a distance it looked like he was smashed?)

We came back to the apartment and even though it was almost 11 no one was really tired or wanted to sleep, especially since the storm had picked up again. Since our favourite convenient store was closed, along with the crape place we stayed in and we all (except for Eric) played cards.

By: Samantha :)

ps. yes grandma there is pork here, and I have eaten some almost everyday mostly in my ham and cheese paninis. But we had sausages one night and bacon one day in the morning. But I do love my pork and ham and beans was the one thing I asked mom for when we go home.

Versailles? No thank you!

Sometimes, you should just follow the warning signs....
#1. When Jacqueline went to the bakery this a.m. to get bread to make sandwiches, they didn't have any bread. Huh?!?!
#2. We were up and out early this a.m. to get to Versailles by the time it opened in order to beat the crowds. We arrived at Gare d'Austerlitz to purchase our Passeport (ticket to Versailles which included all of the attractions at Versailles plus the train ticket to get there). Well, apparently Rick Steves' book is wrong and the passeport doesn't exist anymore. OK, no problem, we'll buy the train tickets and wait in line at Versailles to buy our tickets because we're going to get there early.
#3. What's that? The train isn't running from Austerlitz now?! So, we got back on the subway to go to another station, which meant that we were going back the way we had already come plus more.
#4. By the time we got to Javel station, according to our original itinerary, we should already have been at Versailles.
#5. Our tickets in hand, we left the metro and went to board the train. But wait...everyone's ticket worked but mine even though we'd bought them all together from the attendant at Austerlitz. After a few minutes of indecision, Matt convinced me just to jump the turnstile. (This is the point where something actually went right because I didn't get caught or stopped!)
#6. When we got to Versailles, we waited in the line for tickets. When we finally got to the kiosk to buy the passes, Jacqueline's Visa wouldn't work. (Mine won't work at all in many places because it's too old.)
#7. We got back in line to go to an attendant, which thankfully wasn't long.
#8. As we entered, there were big signs letting us know that everything was closing today at 5:30 instead of sunset. Great!
#9. By this time, the lines were huge for the Chateau, so we decided to be smart and go see the sights at the back first. Since our time was shortened, we also decided to pay 6 euros each to take the train to the back so that we'd have more time to see all the grounds. We bought our tickets, got on the train, rode it all the way to the back, only to discover...all that part didn't open until noon. It was 11:15, so not enough time to go back to the palace, but lots of time to kill. (At least there wasn't anyone else around -that should have been our first clue!)
#10. We idled away 45 minutes by the canal because the gates to the far end of the garden were closed today.
#11. When we went back at noon to the Grand Trianon, there was another line-up to get in there.
#12. We meandered our way through the Grand and Petit Trianon areas along with the rest of the crowd. By the time we were done, it was past lunch time, so we took the train back to the main gardens for lunch. Since we hadn't brought lunch due to a lack of bread, we had to buy overpriced paninis at the sandwich kiosk. When we went to order, they only had one kind of panini left.
#13. Jac and I narrowly avoided a fistfight with some broad from Spain who didn't want to wait in line for her sandwiches to be grilled. I out-Frenched her and got my sandwiches but when Jac's were ready, the loud-mouthed sandwich-stealing snot-bag muscled her way in. The hungry hungry hippo nabbed the sandwiches before Jac could get them. Obviously she needed them worse than the Hutchinsons did.
#14. After lunch, we walked through half of the gardens back to the palace to tour there. There were still huge crowds of people everywhere. It was difficult to tour the palace because there were large tour groups going through and so we couldn't see (well I couldn't anyway). I would have liked to have spent more time in some rooms, but we kept getting dragged along with the flow of the crowd. It took Eric and I about 45 minutes to get through the whole palace. (It should take about 90 min)
#15. I was so looking forward to this part of our trip - I've wanted to see Versailles forever, especially, the Hall of Mirrors. When we got to the Hall of Mirrors, it was SO busy there that you couldn't even get the full effect of how glamourous it is/would have been. I should have just stuck with the pictures.
#16. Since we had gone so quickly through the palace, that left us time to go back to Marie-Antoinette's domaine. We had skipped it earlier because we wanted to make sure there was enough time for the palace. There was a huge line for the train and they wouldn't let us back on the train unless we bought another ticket. Even though the tickets are hop on hop off and valid all day and it doesn't say anywhere that you can't go around more than once (even if you don't go the whole way around more than once), they wouldn't let us back on.
#17. Forget Marie Antoinette, which I had really wanted to see. Forget the other half of the gardens which I had also hoped to see. I was frustrated and fed up by that point in time. I'm convinced that Versailles is simply a tourist trap now. All of the paintings that add to the history of the palace can also be seen at the Louvre and other galleries in Paris. The palace is actually not that nice when you are fighting huge crowds. Although the gardens are beautiful, I preferred the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte. I think in part because it is difficult to appreciate what the palace has to offer with so many other people around. I would rather go back to Vaux-le-Vicomte again for the day to spend time in the gardens than to go back to Versailles to see the rest of it.
#18. When we finally got away from the blasted place and made it back to the metro station, neither mine nor Eric's train tickets would get us into the metro, so we had to use new tickets (read pay for 2 more tickets).
#19. WE DIDN'T BRING ANY WINE WITH US TO DRINK TODAY TO EASE THE INCONVENIENCE OF THIS DAY TRIP. (That was probably the biggest warning sign that we should have heeded!)

On the plus side:
#1. We arrived there and back safely.
#2. We had the experience, so we can say we've done it.
#3. We had a nice supper in rather than eating in a restaurant in Versailles late at night.
#4. Eric picked up bread fresh from the oven from the boulangerie (now they have bread) and we're going to enjoy a quiet night in.

Although I did take pictures, I'm too soured and embittered by the whole experience to actually take the time to post them.

Tomorrow will be a better day. 2 days left in Paris!

Did Annette Say - Eating and Drinking our way through Paris?

Ok - I preface this with an apology about the spacing for the images...also some of my images wouldn't load, so I'm sorry if i say there is a picture and then there isn't...

Yes, I'm sure that is what she said!

I'm sorry I've been tardy in posting to the blog, it wasn't intentional but I tell you we've had some long days and by the time we got home it was late, we were tired and needed sleep before we had to get up for the next day's adventures.

I am really enjoying my vacation in France. I think that although I have quite a language barrier even though I can understand what is said to me, I sometimes have a LOT of trouble replying or I reply in English before my brains says WAIT, say it en francais s'il vous plait!
So Monday, Matt, Sam and I were up and anxious to get started. We had our day planned, the catacombs, revisit the bread store, Pont Neuf walking tour, and a visit to Pere LaChaise cemetary so Matt could find Jim Morrison's plot.

We didn't realize the catacombs were closed so we enjoyed a cafe creme at a paris cafe and then had a nice pastry from the bakery next door (Paul's - really like Paul's cheese bread...she did say eating and drinking...) we walked all over Paris and it was wonderful! The sites, the sounds, the SMELLS...just ask Sam how much she enjoys the smells and she'll likely gag!

Anyway, we made it to the bread place, saw the bread chandelier, and then walked through a few nice streets with shops and Sam spent her graduation and birthday money on some lovely trinkets = Satellite is her new favourite store...so I'm warning any future boys that she LOVES baubles and jewels, bangles and pretty shiny things...here is her purchase of a lovely bracelet.
We also found a neat little clothing store with prices marked down by 40%. Sam picked out a lovely dress which amazing as this sounds, goes perfectly with her bracelet. You would think the two were made for each other!

We strolled along the streets making our way to the ile de Paris to meet up with Eric and Annette, and while we walked we found some great stalls selling some cool pictures, paintings, and some more baubles for Sam...Matt and I picked up a couple of paintings to remember our trip by. ( I think he's really enjoyed being here too even though he hasn't really said much.)

We met up with Eric and Annette just outside the park, and we continued on our walking tour while they did all the neat things in her post...

Matt treated us to some scrumptious ham and cheese crepes (the biggest fullest cheesiest crepes I've ever had) and we ate them in a park behind Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris. we continued our journey and met up with Annette and Eric for Vietnamese and then came home for an early night as we planned to get up early for the Bastille Day Parade.

The Parade

India was a special guest to the Parade, and we were lucky that where we were sitting we got to see the Indian Army and band perform. They started their parade near the ending position of the parade, not sure why but there wasn't a lot of rhyme or reason to what happened at the parade. I don't understand it to be honest with you ... all the pushing and jockeying for two or three inches more room was enough to drive me to drink. I just don't get how my personal space could be so violated by the people at the parade...and as Annette has said, I am glad I did it, saw it and particpated in it but I also have NO desire to do it again. Matt however did enjoy being groped and touched and man-handled by the Italians, and I'm sure I heard Annette comment on the size of the breasts on the lady jumping up and down behind her... she was leaning on Annette and jumping up and down with her breasts pounding on Annette's back...the Italian's girlfriend (directly behind Matt)looks very ummm....enthusiastic about the parade eh? We couldn't believe that the guy didn't let her stand in front so she could see... can you say JERK???

The firemen got the best cheers - of course what you aren't told is that they host a number of parties the night before so most of them are all hung over...

Dude, is that a Camera or are you Happy to see me???

The Italians pissed all of us off. It started when one of them was behind me for a VERY long time. His camera bag was pushing into the small of my back - and the camera itself - I'm sure it was to make up for the lack of a size of his penis - I'm guessing, but I'd put money on it...anyway, most of you know I have a bad back to begin with, so standing for several hours with NO space to stretch, and with a nasty sized camera lens in my back, I finally got so fed up that I turned to him and said, Dude, PLEASE! in hopes he would back off...instead he moved on to groping Matt, which was better for me and secretly I think Matt enjoyed the attention (wink wink). here are some pictures of BEFORE it got busy, and then AFTER when there were so many people we couldn't move.

Fireworks and La Tour Eiffel in all its spendor

Yes, we made it to fireworks - we had yet another picnic in the park with lovely sandwiches and cheese, crackers, fruit and of course another bottle of wine...when in Paris, Right Annette?

the fireworks were amazing and Annette and Matt had scoped out a FANTASTIC place for us with an excellent view of the tower and a couple of light standards, but we'll photoshop those out later...here are a few pictures of the fireworks. Matt and I agreed, best fireworks we've ever been priviledged to see! So glad we did it (and made some new friends too!)

All in all it was a great day - loved the nap and even though I've had enough of crowds, we were going to do it all over again today for Verseilles...but I'm going to leave the Verseilles day for Annette to tell - she'll do it more justice than I.

(long story short for me - Vaux le Vicomte was MUCH more entertaining and beautiful and worth my time and money then Verseilles, but if I had not gone to the palais I would have regretted it for sure...just take my word for it, if you are going to do Verseilles yourself - spend the 8 euros and go on the weekend to ONLY the gardens, enjoy the gardens and the fountains (which we missed).

That's all for me, except Dad, if you are reading this, Sam would like you to buy some beans and take a cottage roll out of the freezer for Saturday's dinner... hope you can do that, she's asked for only one thing...Ham and beans with mashed potatoes when we get home. Don't forget to pick us up on saturday - I think around 5:30.

I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles!

I feel like I haven't done my homework since it has been a few days since my last post. Although, if you've been reading Jacqueline's posts, you'll think Eric and I have been partying it up and galivanting all over Paris...which is of course what we've been doing!

During the day on Friday, we toured the Montmartre area. Eric was excited to buy (and later model) some new boxers with Moulin Rouge pictures on them.

On Friday night, we ventured out to Montmartre after dark. We walked through Sacre-Coeur and then through the red-light district to get to the Moulin Rouge. That was an experience in and of itself! Eric and I thoroughly enjoyed the show at the Moulin Rouge. Initially I was afraid that it would be a tourist trap but it ended up being a fabulous night. The show was more than just dance, it had ventriloquists, magicians, living statues...very similar to cirque de soleil in some respects. I'm trying to give Eric a taste of French culture and I think I succeeded...he said he liked the show but won't admit whether it was all the bare breasts or the show itself that he liked!

After the show, Eric grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor - although a fresh baguette with gruyere cheese and a sausage is not a hot dog by North American standards! Then, we hopped on the metro to get home. When we got off at Montparnasse-Bienvenue to switch to the line that would take us home, we were the only ones in the subway. As we tried to make our way out, we discovered that we were seemingly locked in the metro. There was one French person there who was passed out by the door and an English speaking man trying unsuccessfully to wake her up. It was definitely a few minutes of wondering if we were going to have to spend the night there until some other girls came along and helped us find our way out. There are many exits at that station and there is one side door that is open. We had no problem taking a taxi the rest of the way home and were very thankful to finally crawl into our beds.

Saturday at Vaux-le-Vicomte was amazing. I would love to be able to go back just to spend more time in the gardens. We thought the trains left at 11 p.m., so we left before we got the full effect of the chateau in the candlelight. However, it was better to get home rather than spend a second night worried that we'd be locked in a subway station! (I won't elaborate more on the chateau since Jac already has you convinced it is hers.)

Sunday had us finally deciphering the velib system. I love being able to bike wherever we need to go in Paris. It's the best way to see things because you can stop when you need to but it is a lot faster than walking.

I was so excited to see Le Malade imaginaire at la Comedie Francaise on Sunday night. That's the play that I do with my grade 12 French class every year but I have never had the opportunity to see it done. So, not only was I able to see it, but I saw it where it was meant to be performed! We scored last minute tickets for 5euros each. They were in the top level of the balcony (the gallery) and we had to lean over the railing in order to see. It required me to very quickly overcome my fear of heights. Eric had some troubles understanding the play because they spoke very quickly, but he got the gist of it in the end.

After the 7 curtain calls at the play, we walked over to the Louvre and les Pyramides in order to avoid the crush at the subway by la C-F. What a nice surprise awaited us because it wasn't very busy so we were able to enjoy the whole place while it was lit up. As we were heading toward Tuileries, the Eiffel Tower started its 5 minutes of sparkling. Very neat to see that in the distance when we weren't expecting it! As well, there was a big fair at Tuileries so we walked around there for a bit. Eric was awestruck that the prizes for the games were things like iPods, PS3s, tvs, etc. (Not that I was giving him any money to play!) Then we walked down Quai du Louvre and hopped on a subway to take us home. Once again we wanted to make sure we were home in lots of time to avoid being locked in.

Yesterday, Eric and I left the apartment after Matt, Jacqueline and Sam. We grabbed the velib again and rode to la Cite where we biked around the island. We met up with M, J & S at the park and then left them again while we went to Ste-Chapelle, le Palais de la Justice and la Conciergerie.

Ste-Chapelle is a 13th century church that was built to house the relics that Louis VI had bought (supposedly the crown of thorns from Jesus crucifixion). It has the most amazing stained glass I've ever seen. Considering how old the church is, it was built very quickly and lets in a lot of light through the windows that take up 3/4 of the walls all the way around. Each window is divided into small vignettes that tell all the major bible stories from the Creation all the way the a beautiful rose window showing Judgement Day. Most of the glass in the windows is original. I could have stayed there for hours just looking at all the pictures.

After, we went into the Palais de la Justice which is the court house. It is massive! It was built around the time of the French Revolution and not much has changed since then. Eric was excited because when we went in one room, it was full of lawyers in front of a judge. It was only lawyers filing their petitions though, not an actual trial, so he was let down a bit.

Our next stop was the Conciergerie which was a prison and was the place where Marie Antoinette spent her final days before being taken to the guillotine. It was interesting to see the architecture and details they used even in a prison. There is also a small chapel which has been built for the memory of Marie Antionette. It has silver tears embroidered on all the walls and paintings of her as well as a stained glass window with her initials.

We made our own stop at Poilane (the bakery from Giada diLaurentis) and got bread and pastries. (Yes, for those of you who have noticed, we are eating our way through Paris!) We had to switch our velib by Montparnasse Tower so we stopped at the "shopping mall" for a bit. Eric managed to find a new shirt before we were back on the bikes for more sightseeing.

I took us in completely the wrong direction for supper because I keep getting confused at all the roundabouts with several streets intersecting at once. It took us about an hour to bike to the restaurant and about 10 minutes to bike home. (This is the reason why Eric is the chief navigator and not me!)

Today we got up extra extra early and arrived on the Champs-Elysees by 7:30 a.m. to secure a spot for the Bastille Day Parade. Even though the parade did not start until 10 a.m., there were already lots of people and security there. We tried to hold our place but apparently we are not as pushy (or smelly) as the average Parisian. We still managed to see most of the parade but we had to crane our necks for the better part. With 2 hours still to go before the parade, people were already crammed in cheek by jowl. Matt was violated repeatedly by two Italian guys behind him for most of the morning. I had a woman using my shoulders as an arm rest! Yup...we Canadians definitely need more personal space than the French! In all, it was one of those experiences that I'm glad I had but don't need to repeat again. (Just like Disney World on New Year's Eve.) For almost 2 hours, every army, navy, air force, police, firefighter, whoever, marched by us for the parade. They announced all the of the groups/regiments ahead of time, but it didn't mean anything by the time we saw them. I have no idea who was there.

Since there had to be over a million people on the street this morning, there was no place to go to get away from the crowds, so we shoehorned ourselves back onto the subway to go home.

We all had nice, long naps this afternoon before heading back out for the Bastille Day fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. We did not want a repeat of this morning's crowds so we managed to secure a patch a grass several blocks away with a half-decent view of the tower and only about 1000 people around us. Drinking wine, eating bread and cheese and playing cards helped while away the hours and keep up our spirits until the fireworks started. They were pretty amazing. It was 1/2 hour of fireworks being set off from Trocadero and the tower itself. There was a family from San Francisco beside us whose little boy talked more than Eric! We enjoyed watching the show with them because he was so excited every time another one went off.

It was another adventure to get home. The police had barricaded the subway and were only letting in a certain amount of people because the metro was too full. We made it home safe and sound and are now looking forward to a good night's sleep so that we can be up and out early tomorrow for Versailles.

I hate the spacing on this blog but it is late, Eric is already trying to sleep despite my clicking on the computer keys so it will have to stay as it is!