Day 24 Back to the States

My final adventure was getting back home.  I got up early so I could say goodbye to the boys.  They seemed a bit tired that morning because they probably had too much fun over the weekend.  Plus going to bed immediately after eating dinner so late and going immediately after has gotta be a little strange on the system.  The three of us sat at the table eating breakfast before they left for school with their dad.  I got some kisses and hugs goodbye from the three of them and off they went to start their day.  

We said goodbye and off I went out of the apartment, said goodbye to the Seine and headed up to the T2 line.  I hopped off at La Defense, bought my ticket from the same girl who couldn't help me before (she was the only truly curt French person I encountered) and off I went to the center of Paris via the RER A line.  Once in the middle of downtown, not that I would know it because I never left the station I transferred over to the B line to the airport.  For the second time I needed to go to the end of the line.  All and all it took me a little over an hour to get to the end of the line.  The nice thing was I didn't have anyone else touching me while traveling in the middle of the day.  It was a nice way to conclude my metro experience. 

When I finally got into the airport it took a bit of time to get checked in.  They have 3 large terminals with the number 2 terminal having probably 8 arms on it.  I found 2G and walked almost the entire length of the check in desks.  I checked in in one area and was sent to another location further down to check my bag.  That might have been a mistake because I have to pick it up in New York after customs.  Finally I made it through the passport check and into the terminal.  They were very efficient getting everyone though bag checks and through the metal detectors and I didn't even have to take my shoes off!

Once I got in there were all the fancy shops and a couple Paris souvenir shops.  I stopped in the souvenir shop and bought a small travel wallet with the money that Alice would not take.  After I found the macroon shop that I was hoping was there.  I bought some of them to take home with me to share with the family since I knew they were good from the day before, in fact too good.  I swore to the money gods for buying the wallet and not finding the macroons first.  So I had a bit left to spent in Euros buying a soda and some Kinder bars.  

Finally it was time to board the biggest plane to date, the A380.  Two complete floors full of passengers.   The plane is huge!  We got off late due to baggage getting on board and then sat on the runway for a while.  Finally almost an hour late we were off for the States. Since I was an Air France flight it came with an aperitif of champagne before the meal.  The meal was actually pretty good and of course had a bit of cheese on the side.  I watched a couple movies and never got up from my seat for the entire 8 hour flight.  Wow!
I got into New York city around 2 in the afternoon.  I went through customs again very quickly.  The US residents line was practically nothing while the visiting passports and visas had at least an hour.  Good thing because I only had about an hour between my flights.
Per security requirements I had to claim my bag, only immediately to recheck it about 30 steps away so it could be checked by American security.  Right...
The next step was finding my terminal.  I had come into the international terminal and needed to find the domestic.  I looked on the map and it looked like it was next door.  So a wandering I went.  No there, not there.  Oh the terminals are not connected.  Go outside and walk to the terminal.  Ok...  We I finally made it there with about 30 minutes to spare.  I got on my flight to Kansas City which was a little commuter jet.  3 seats across with about half of the plane open.  My last flight had 11 across with no open seats.  A bit of a difference. 
I made it home by 7pm which was 3am in Paris.  I stayed up for a couple hours to try to get back to central time.  I had such a fantastic time on my entire trip.
London, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, York, Hardrian's Wall

Scottish Border, Edinburgh

Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh

Glasgow, Loch Lommond, Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Aran Islands, Galway, Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Blarney Castle, Rock at Cashel

Dublin, Llangollen, Cardiff, Bath

Bath, Stonehenge, London

London

London

Versailles

Disneyland Paris

Paris

Paris

I hope that I get to have an experience like this again in my lifetime.

Day 23 The final day of my vacation

My last real day of vacation.  It was hard to believe that I had been living out of a small carry on for 3 1/2 weeks.  My feet had brain felt the fatigue.  So my day was in Paris alone.  The kids had a birthday party to attend and I choose to explore the city instead. 

I took the Metro into the heart of the city exiting at the Arch de Triomph.  It sits at the top of a hill with streets radiating out from the monument.  I didn't have enough time to go inside so I just took a few slanty photos and onward I went.  As far as the slanty photos go, after looking at my photos I found that many of them have a slight tilt to them.  My equilibrium must be off.  Or the bag on my shoulder was pulling me off center a bit.

The Champs elysees is one of those streets which I always see as the final stage of the Tour de France.  The shops down he street are very high end or places that you could find in any mall.  Cartier to he Disney Store it's all there.  It wasn't too busy as it was a Sunday morning.  

Like other areas there were outdoor bistros full of people enjoying their first coffee of the day.  The amazing thing on the street as at the base of the main shopping area was an Abercrombie store where there was a line 30 people deep. Crazy. 

 

I had made it about half way to the end of the road before veering off the path for a moment.  Alice and i had walked by this area the day before where two museums stood.  I wanted to go into the larger of the two, the Grand Palace, because it had a beautiful glass ceiling that looked like a greenhouse.  

Well it was closed.  Looked like they where bringing in something new for a big event.  Oh well.  But the small museum was open across the way and it was freemen. And do I love free, why yes I do!  Inside was a lot of French art.  Many paintings and sculptures of French people by French artists.  It was very different from what I had seen in the UK.  

Because now I'm a professional art connoisseur of course.  The petite museum walk had a beautiful  almost overgrown looking, garden in the middle of the building.  It was a nice short but sweet stop before moving towards the Louvre. 

From there i crossed a roundabout, Place de la Concorde, with fountains inside into a large park on my way to the Louvre.

   

Same as the walkways in Versailles the pathways where not paved with concrete but white sand and gravel.  The park, Tuileries garden, started as a very large open area with a fountain that moved into a more wooden and covered gardens.  

I would have enjoyed a gelato but again I was short on cash.  That's what I get for being to precise on money.  No implies purchases for me.  Well it was a hot day and I couldn't even afford water from the various vendors I passed by.  Oh well.  The park was very open and you could see that it was completely surrounded the city.  And at the end of the park was the Louvre. 

After my adventure down the Champs Elysees i had made it to my first real destination.  It is certainly hard to miss with Louvre with the glass pyramid.  I joined the line and descended into the museum directly under the pyramid, bought my ticket, and made my way inside one of the wings.  The Louvre has three different parts, two wings and one open square   I just happened to choose the wing that had the Mona Lisa in it.  But before I made it to the Mona Lisa I explored the Greek history pieces.  But not only the artifacts themselves but the rooms that they were in.  

Alice told me that the Louvre was used as government buildings and palaces before Versailles.   And boy did it show that.  Again the ceilings were where my eyes spent the most time.  Amazing paintings and appliqued pieces all over.  Just amazing.  But one of he odd things that I noticed where signs everywhere to be on the lookout for pick pockets.  Even after you had entered the museum with admission.  I suppose if you are picking pockets you would have enough money for admission.

 

I stumbled upon the Mona Lisa after the Greek area in the Italian area.  Who knew, right.  As I have heard before it is a lot smaller than you think it would be.  Its almost realistic in scale to an actual face.  There were quite a few people around but it was not too busy not get your photo with it.  I was taking it myself with my own camera when another visitor took my camera and snapped a couple for me.  I thought that was very nice of them.  From there I looked around more galleries.  The good thing about not being able to read much of anything was that my brain was already fried from the other museums that I visited that I could enjoy what was there and spent less time at each piece.  

Well I looks around for a bit more until I stumbled upon the Venus de Milo.  I don't think I knew or remembered it was here so it has a happy surprise.  I will say, or write that is, that the background behind where she was standing was pretty ugly and took away from her.  So some photos I took and on I went.  

I ended in back in the entry area and traveled between wings.  The next area had a lot of Asian and Egyptian artifacts.  I had already seen so many spectacular Egyptian pieces that the Louvre just could not contend with.  I walked around the square ring only to find that the exit signs where not in the least bit helpful because of construction for a new exhibit.  Plus some of the floors were practically half floors so it was easy to get disoriented in that section.  

After wandering around the same galleries once or twice I finally made it to the lobby to the last wing.  The final wing had more French and Italian art.  I enjoyed seeing he French pieces because I had not seen much of any of them on my entire trip.  I had practically been around the world in the museums I visited but not France. 

But the highlight of this part of the museum where Napoleon III's apartment.  So I suppose I can confirm my cousin's knowledge that it was used for he government/royalty.  The apartments were almost as over the top as Versailles. I guess it was perfectly natural to go over the top where you live.  

And again there were art installations all around the apartments.  And on the way out there was a small display of the Royal Jewelry.  They where less embellished then the England and one of the crowns featured prominently pearls which I had not seen before.

After about 3 hours of looking around it was time to head onto my next adventure.  I went out through some shops that where under the Louvre.   I had looked at the macaroons the day before and found the shop again but his time with no line so I indulged.  Oh my goodness those macaroons are so good.  The caramel one was out of this world good.  I could just eat those to sustain myself.  Ok, side note finished  I bought a ticket and into the metro I went.

Alice had sent me out with instructions and a map on how to get from one place to another.  I followed her directions exactly to my next stop at the base of the Eiffel tower.

From the station the tower is about a quarter mile away.  There were many people out on blankets sitting around enjoying the warm day outside with a picnic.  Eiffel tower is bigger than you think it would be.  It might look even bigger because there are no tall buildings anywhere close to it.  

Well I walked underneath to find vendors selling food and a really long line to go up.  There where two different ways to go up.  You chose to go to the viewing platform about 1/3 of the way up by either stairs or elevator.  You could pay a little extra to go up by elevator.  Or you could choose to go to the top and pay a little bit more.  

The lines were just too long to justify doing it.  Plus I would have liked to do the stairs but my legs just couldn't stand anymore walking, let alone a ton of stairs.  So I went off to the side to take some photos to find another Midwesterner looking for someone to take their photo.  I can say that the picture I took for him was better than the one he took for me.  

Fancy camera does not always mean a good photographer.   I walked the park, snapped more photos and made my way to the last stop in Paris.

Alice sent me to a place that i had not heard of before.  She sent me to the Sacred Heart Basilica.  It's a white church at the top of a steep hillside.  At first when I came out of the metro I was not sure which way to go but most people where heading to the right so I followed.  After going through an alley of shops I saw it.  There where tons of tourists all around, performers with different acts and more peddlers.  

I climbed all the way up the steep stairs to be rewarded with fantastic views of the city.  The city is so massive that you only see the city.  The countryside is too far away to be seen, at least 5-7 miles would be my guess.  I was thinking about not going to the last place Alice had suggested because I was tired but I am so glad that I did.  It was beautiful.

I made my final trip on the metro for the day back to the apartment to find everyone back from the party and a meal for me of fajitas in Paris with champagne.  I guess it was a little bit of home and a little bit of holiday.  A wonderful last real day on vacation.

Day 22 A trip to downtown Paris

I spent the whole day walking around with my cousin Alice.  We started the eating breakfast and having my first cafe au lait for the day.  Our first mission for the weekend was the weekend market a couple blocks over.  We got there and she realized that she had left her debit card at home so we headed back.  After a trip back to the houes and a stop at the ATM we made it to the market to finally start shopping.  It was primarily a fresh food market.  They had tons of produce, meat markets, fish markets and of course it being France, there were cheese booths.  I have never seen anything really like it in the US.  We walked all around picking up some little green plums, carrots, fresh whole shrimp, two different kinds of cheeses, some raw chicken, and a rotesserie chicken. 

 Of course it was not a day in Paris without buying a baguette.  

And some pastries of course.  

We headed back with a cartful of items back go the apartment while Alice started making a very large lunch.  She pealed all the shrimp, sliced about 6 of the carrots, cut apart the rotesseie chicken and with the baguette called it lunch.  That is one thing that I can saw is accurate about the French, there is always a baguette in the kitchen.  She made quite a meal.  The boys, Jahed, and I ate too much, so much so that we all needed about an hour to be motivated to move.

Finally after everything settled Alice and I headed onto the metro into central Paris for my first visit into the city center.  We popped out in an area of the city that I would not have thought to venture into.  Not that it wouldn't appeal to me but I wouldn't even know it was there.  It was the home to many shops of the vintage, craft, and kitschy variety.  My cousin said she spent a lot of time in this area of the city when she was in college.  It looked like similar shops to my college town too.  From the shopping district we walked through the Jewish District.  I suppose it makes sense that it's there but I never thought that there would be a Jewish District in Paris.

Just around the corner was the center of Paris.  And of course in the center of Paris there are many treats all around.  We walked into a cookie shop.  Each cookie was so heavy, dense and delicious.  I bought a tin full for my dad and heading to the next place.

The other sweet shop we found twice and stopped in later was Laudree.  The most delicious looking macroons.  Since it was still the start of the day we didn't sample any, as they are a bit expensive.  But that didn't stop me from trying one the day and buying some to take home with me.

From there we walked a off the original path that Alice had set out.  So we walked towards the Hall of Justice and into the heart of Paris.

 I don't think I can ever get over the splendor of these buildings.  And then there was Nortre Dame.  York Minister, Westminster Abbey to Notre Dame they are amazing buildings that I got to experience on my trip.  

The shape from the outside looked very similar to Westminster Abbey in London.  My guess is that they were built around the same time.  The line outside was insane.  Lots of Asian tourists again just like Versailles.  If we had planned on going that way we probably would have bought tickets beforehand.  That is a big thing I learned about traveling internationally.  Buy tickets online before you go, it might save you money, but it will defiantly save you time!  

There were tons of shops all around the Notre Dame.  Lots of the same stuff in every shop.  And of course a Quasimodo cafe next to Notre Dame too.

 I was set on a mission to find my mom a Tour de France something.  Since the race was not on when I was there it was a little bit more difficult than I suspected.  After walking into a few shops we managed to find a mug in a couple of the shops.  Not surprisingly the further away from Notre Dame the cheaper the items were.  Even though they were the same items!  Plus Alice bartered them down a bit to get me a better deal.

Since we had veered off our original plan we hailed a pedi-cab as my cousin had never hired one.  It's good to be a tourist in your own city.  I wish I took that advice more often!  We went around with our driver who spoke pretty good English.  He talked mostly in French with Alice but asked me a couple translation questions since Alice spoke both English and French but wanted a direct translation from me.  We probably didn't even need to pay him because we helped him out with his business!  If only.

Anyways we made our way back onto our route.  We walked, little did I know we were in the rich section the city.  Super rich.  I have never seen stores as fancy as these.  I'm sure that each dress would probably cost upwards of 2,000 Euros easy.  We did step into a discount store and their items were still 300 Euros.  Better than otherwise but still a bit out of my price range.  Also out of my price range were the hotels in the area.  We hopped into a couple of the for the bathrooms.  Why pay for a bathroom on the street when you can use the hotel!  I didn't pay for a bathroom in all of Europe.  

Of course there were amazing monuments all around the city.  Round the corner find a statue that has been there for hundreds of years.  I'm sure that if you are used to seeing it on a daily basis it doesn't seem as impressive but coming from the US or a younger city.

Just around the corner were the foreign Ambassadors residences.  I snapped a picture because the buildings were so beautiful and very much what you would think that you would find in Paris.  And then found out that I shouldn't have taken a photo when I was yelled at.  Oops!

We continued walking around.  We stopped in a couple shops looking for a birthday present for a one of the boys friend's birthday party.  The Louvre book store had nothing that quite fit for a boys birthday party but almost every coffee table book you could find.  I was very excited to head there the next day.  Can you visit Paris for the first time and not visit the Louvre   I don't think so.

We walked up toward the Arch de Triomph we walked next to a couple art museums.  Alice said that the larger of the two was beautiful on the inside.  The roof looked like a giant greenhouse.  If only it was open!

And since we were close by we walked onto the Champs Elysees.  Which we were really already on but now we had made it to the shopping district.

At the bottom of the block was the Disney Store!  I couldn't help myself but to go in.  Again I was a little disappointed.  There was nothing there that I hadn't seen in the US.  Sadness.  Oh well.  

 Once we got back to the apartment we gathered the family together and ate dinner.  Some Italian food with Italian wine in Paris.  Nothing to complain about!  It certainly strange to be finishing dinner around 10pm but that is what the day brought.
 On our way back to the apartment we took a detour to a bridge over the river Seine.

 Every year at the beginning of the new school year and the end of summer they have a huge fireworks display.  My family had lived in their apartment for 11 years and had never ventured out to the bridge 500 meters away to watch the fireworks and the reflection the River Seine.  It's always good to have someone come to change the pace of life.

 Not a bad way to end the day in Paris.  Until my next and last day in Paris and the last day of my European Adventure.