We were warned: Tuesdays (when most of the museums are closed) the crowds at Versailles are at their worst. Go early if possible. So here's your insider's guide to Tuesdays at Versailles: Sleep in, enjoy a leisurely breakfast, go smack in the middle of the day, go straight into the gardens (which are free, with no lines, and cover many squares miles), stay there for as many perfect hours as you like, then about an hour before closing time go into the main castle and pretty much have the run of the place to yourself. And we were both a whole lot less interested in Louis XIV ("the Sun King")'s public waking-up ritual room than we were in the entire fake peasant village that Marie Antoinette built for herself so she could pretend to be one of the simple people. Complete with embroidered garden tools.

(One of the houses in Marie-Antoinette's play village, versus...

the real joint where she was supposed to be living and acting like queen and stuff.)

So after a lot of back-slapping over conquering Versailles so easily we came back to a dinner we'd been looking forward to since before we left--L'Ardoise (thanks to my aunt and uncle, who were here over the summer). You were exactly right. Escargot, L'angostino on petit toasts, rice pudding...I'll be tasting that in my heart for years to come. And yes, we took pictures of the food.

Wednesday was rainy and therefore Impressionist day--Musee d'Orsay and Musee L'Orangerie. Yup, Monet is better live than in a poster.

Thursday we'd hoped to take a train to the Loire valley to see chateaux, but there was a train strike that made departures and returns iffy. We were up early on the chance that they'd run, so we took another walking tour, this time of the St. Germain des Pres neighborhood. Delightful in so many respects, including the most beautiful gelato presentation I've ever seen:

From there we crossed the river to see St. Chapelle and go inside Notre Dame, where we'd only taken outside pictures before. We got out too late to climb the tower, so instead of going up we went down, to the archeological relics of the Roman and medieval remains under the Notre Dame square.

That night we explored Ile St. Louis, straight across from Notre Dame. Dinner at a creperie--what could be more French?--where I proceeded to have not a single crepe. That spinach tart was awfully good, though. And we got some great nighttime pictures walking home along the Seine.

Today (Friday) we had a slow morning, took time to do computer business (that's why you can see pictures on the posts now), and then spent the afternoon exploring the Marais neighborhood. And with just a few minutes between the end of dinner and the end of computer access, here I sit probably signing off until we get home. We'll get up whatever pictures we can tonight, and then update anything we missed after we get home on Tuesday.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we'll do more neighborhood exploring, try to scrounge up some shopping (sorry, anybody who's waiting for souvenirs--surely you know by now that shopping just isn't my special gift), and then Sunday we'll take our trip to the Loire. Monday another (shorter) day trip to Chartres, then Tuesday another (longer) trip across the Atlantic! We'll see you soon!

Mid-trip catch-up

Okay, our Internet access has been terrible. Apparently, in world-class cities at the heart of first-world, well developed countries--the kind we haven't spent much time visiting--there aren't Internet cafes around every corner and "free" wifi is a myth. We spent a lot of time at a Starbucks a few nights ago ponying up for Internet access every half hour, and getting kicked off about every 15 minutes, only to now find that the posting we labored over never successfully uploaded. The pictures, we already knew, had failed. So we finally broke down tonight and paid the 20 euros (that's about 30 bucks, folks) for 24 hours of Internet access from the room, and I'll take a few minutes here before we crash at the end of the day to put up the posting I tried to two nights ago. The information is old, but better than what's even older, so here you go. I'll work on those pictures in the morning...

(roll old news now:)

This is finally our first--and what may be our last--posting from Paris. Internet access is hard! In third-world countries you can find Internet cafes everywhere. So...sorry. And we're opposed on principle to paying $30 for 24 hours of access in our room. So we're finally tucked into chairs at a Starbucks, paying by the half hour and trying to ignore the glass case full of pastries beside us. And those pastries look nothing like the ones in an American Starbucks.

From Strasbourg we rented a car for a couple of days and headed into the Alsatian countryside and explored a sampling of the incredibly picturesque villages strong along the Route du Vin. (You should be able to translate that easily enough.) A picture or two should give you an idea of what I mean by "picturesque."





(This is really why we came...)

After that, it was back to Strasbourg to catch the train to Paris, where we've been happily settled ever since. Our hotel is on the Champs Elysees, so arrival night we had time to head up to the Arch du Triomphe and over to the Seine a view of the Eiffel Tower, and take a few "prove you were there" pictures.




The next morning we were up and out early, exploring in the other direction toward the Place Concorde, the Tuileries garden, the Louvre, then across the river to Notre Dame, then into the Palais Royal neighborhood to meet a local man who leads walking tours of his neighborhood. We had a great afternoon exploring the passages and back streets, then collapsed that night pretty sure we'd walked at least the better part of a marathon.


(Notre Dame. It's really big.)

(One of the city's passages--little shop-lined covered walkways between blocks)

(with Jean-Claude, our neighborhood guide, in front of the Louvre)

Sunday we went straight to St. Sulpice church to catch an organ recital that follows the first mass of the morning. We climbed up to the organ loft and met the organist--only the 12th in the organ's history. This is a job you don't leave if you've got it. From there it was Sunday afternoon in the Luxembourg Gardens, where Parisians were strolling, sitting in the sun, and watching children ply toy sailboats across the pond. (Note: Everyone around here speaks French. Really well. Even little children. And when they do, especially when they're running around a pond with long sticks chasing toy sailboats, it's ADORABLE.) We happened upon another organ recital and choir concert at St. Germaine des Pres. Lucky.


(The organ of St. Sulpice...
and the man who plays it:)

Because it was a beautiful day we thought we'd check out the lines at the Eiffel Tower, expecting them to be impossible late on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Actually, not a problem, at least for folks like us who want to WALK up. Uh-huh. That's right. We got to see a lovely run-in between the cashier and some gypsies who were trying to cheat an extra person in (didn't work), then got some great pictures and incredible views. From there, we took a riverboat cruise as the sun was setting and the city lights were coming on. Kinda great, there.

(Climebed the stairs to avoid the crowds. You can go about 360' up and then there are no more stairs. 669 steps to be exact!)




Today, the Louvre this morning (part of it, folks--you can live here your whole life and not see everything), then a walking tour of the Latin Quarter, some laundry, and an evening at Starbucks taking care of Internet business. So from now until Starbucks closes...pictures. Tomorrow, Versailles! Adieu!

We're putting our very well used feet up for a few minutes before dinner on Tuesday. Today we wandered Strasbourg, up and down alleys, along the river and canals, and of course stopping to at least check out every patisserie along the way. Any day that starts with pain au chocolat can't go too far wrong after that, can it?

We'll try to post some pictures when we have more time, but for now just picture timbered houses leaning over cobbled alleys, baskets still overflowing with flowers, and bicycles ringing bells and weaving around pedestrians. I don't think we got any of the bicycles in the pictures--they were moving too fast.

<<------------ The famous astronomical clock in the Strasbourg Cathedral. Tonight: Alsatian food, which involves saurkraut (choucroute) and sausage and roasted meat and vegetables. And, well, maybe some dessert. Tomorrow we head into the Alsatian countryside and will let you know what we discover! Especially if it's edible.

On our way!

Well how's this? First day, first real entry! How awesome are we? Our flight from Denver went well. We're just waiting in the lounge here in Montreal. Good snacks, good company. I submit it cannot get any better than that!

To the kids who belittle us because we don't take any pictures of ourselves, we have actually taken two so far. Two pictures total, and both are of us. For the two or three people in the world who may care and want proof, you'll have to wait - for some reason the laptop is not recognizing the memory card and the cables are stashed away.



So tonight will be the big test for if we ever travel internationally again. If we can't sleep on this flight, we'll never sleep on a flight. No chocolate, no Coke, ample Ambien, a flat bed, and not much sleep last night. The deck is stacked in our favor, but if I were a betting man, I'm not sure I would put money on this one.



So there you go.
Love to all!

We're almost there!!

Hi to all of our friends. It is Friday night (Oct. 9th) before we leave. We depart Sunday morning on Air Canada and connect through Montreal (that's in Canada for those not up on their geography) on our way to France.

We will jump right on the TGV and head straight to Strasbourgh in the east of France (in the Alsace region). We'll stay in Strasbourgh for two nights and then hit the road for two nights and be footloose in that area before heading to Paris on the 16th.

We look forward to making good use of many miles by flying in first class the whole trip. It may spoil us forever, but at the rate we are collecting miles, it may be a while before we have to make that choice! Those miles come at a pretty high price, so we will not look back now that it's time to use them!!

Keep checking back here often. We hope to maintain a slow enough pace to allow us to take the time to add some thoughts and pictures fairly often. We'll see - best laid plans, you know. We will miss all of our friends and loved ones and look forward to sharing our memories and thousands of pictures with each of you when we get home!

We look forward to your thoughts posted here as we go along. It will be great to have you at our sides!

Au revoir,

Steve and Margo