Well, I’ve completed 12 out of 15 photo sets for Paris. Feel free to check out what I have so far.

I just finished uploading all the pictures of Nice. In a few days I should have all the pictures of Paris uploaded.

We got up really early to get ready and ride the Metro to the airport. The apartment owners, Claude and Claudie met with us to square things away.

I think I could have stayed longer, but I was also glad to go home. Paris is a wonderful place. I really liked the people and most that we met were very friendly. Every corner or circle seemed busy and buzzing with life. Not to mention the beautiful buildings everywhere and the wonderful monuments and such. I could very easily live there. I was glad to head home only because I missed my doggy.

The trip to the airport was easy and uneventful. But the airport, Charles de Gaulle, was a mess. There were very few signs pointing us in the right direction. Once we finally found our check in there was a huge line for that. And then a huge line for security. We just made it onto our plane, with about a minute or two to spare.

When we landed in Newark I thought customs was going to be a big pain. But it wasn’t. The guy asked me two questions and then I was on my way. What the heck?? Oh well, at least it didn’t take forever like I was afraid it would.

About 8 hours later and we were home. My doggy sitter was going to drop Joe off, but she was running late. So I didn’t see Joe for a couple hours more. He was so excited to see me, tail wagging, tongue licking my face and Steve’s. We were really happy to see him too. Ten minutes later we were in bed (to us it was about 7am, having stayed up over 24 hours).

Lunch on Friday was a three star restaurant, even fancier than Tuesday’s lunch. The interior of the place seemed to be classic French with painted ceilings and high windows with thick curtains. When we sat down I put my purse on the floor and an attendant brought over a purse stool - heaven forbid it touch the ground!

All the food was very decorative and pretty. I think I won for most intricate entree. But I have to say, I only liked about half the food. A couple of the dishes had this strange sauce that I just didn’t agree with, and unfortunately I can’t describe the flavor to you. Definitely the prettiest food I’ve ever had. Steve agreed that Tuesday’s hi-end lunch tasted better.

Following lunch we rested at the apartment. We were getting ready to go out again when we looked outside and saw some looming storm clouds. I haven’t seen a thunderstorm in several years, it just doesn’t happen in San Francisco. So Steve and I were both excited and happy to take in this one. That cold wind before the huge droplets start to fall. The dark clouds moving quickly across the sky. Flashes of lightening brighten the surrounding clouds followed by a rumble of thunder. Boy was that nice! It was also fun watching all the people scurry around the busy circle, and folks waiting in the Metro entrance for the rain to stop. So funny.

Once the rain finally cleared we went out for our last meal in Paris. A simple small one over in the Latin Quarter. After that, back to the apartment for packing and clean up. And of course, a few more episodes of Heroes.

Thursday we got up early and went to Musée du Louvre. Like Notre Dame, there were some pieces I had learned about in art history that I was dying to see, the statue of Nike being one of them. It wasn’t in very good shape (no where near as good as the picture I linked to), but it was still wonderful to see. They placed it at the top of some stairs so your first view of it is amazing. And the statue is much larger than I thought it would be too.

We also saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Personally I prefer modern art, so the museum was only half interesting to me. I appreciate the older stuff, but I thought they might have a little more of a mix. I think I was more impressed with the Louvre itself than with the art in it. Many of the rooms have these ornate ceilings painted and or adorned with little statues. I wish I would have had time to go to some of the other museums here as well, but I don’t think I’ll be able to squeeze it in. Oh well, next time for sure.

After the tiring museum we went back to the apartment and I took a nice long nap. Then Steve and I headed out to Le Marais to wonder around and see a little more of Paris. We saw a couple of cool buildings, but nothing too different from what we’ve already seen while here.

We walked around long enough for it to be dinner time, where we met Orion and Rebecca at another restaurant with reservations. I had an excellent tuna steak with some delicious green beans. And finally, some creamy, yummy creme brulee - it was just the way I like it.

Another day to take it easy; we spent the afternoon shopping. Steve was only interested in dress shirts. After walking around for a while we went into a nook with stores and what did we stumble on? A store filled just with dress shirts! The guy in the shop was very friendly and didn’t speak much English. So our entire transaction was made up of hand gestures, a few French words and a few English words. He guessed Steve’s size pretty accurately and we left with four awesome shirts and two ties.

Then it was my turn. Just as in Nice, I had trouble finding things in my size. And on top of that, in my price range. All the really cool unique stuff is way too expensive. The cheap stuff you could get anywhere. So I was getting very frustrated. Steve went back to the apartment and I shortly followed. We had a snack and I went out again still hoping that I could find something. Part of the problem is that I didn’t really know where to go. Luckily I happened upon a jackpot where I shot my wad.

The woman in the store was super nice and spoke a good amount of English. I asked her to help me put some outfits together and I loved everything she brought over. It was tough, but I narrowed it down to a few items and went back to the apartment very happy and satisfied that I actually found something.

Later on that evening we went out for dinner, another restaurant that Orion made reservations for. Steve and I both wore our new clothing, looking sharp. The food was good - on a scale that would include all of our France meals I’d put it somewhere in the middle. This was the first place to offer creme brulee as dessert, so Steve and I ordered it. We were anxiously awaiting some yummy brulee to offset the bad, eggy brulee we had back home not too long ago. Unfortunately this was only half satisfying, I expected better.

Only a few days left

Orion made lunch reservations at a two star restaurant. In France the rating goes from zero to three - if you’re listed at all then you’re hot shit and it goes up from there. So hopefully you can imagine how nice and classy a two star is. I do believe it’s the fanciest place I’ve ever been. They had different servers for each task. There was one person taking care of our drinks, one serving the food, one taking the order and a Maitre ‘d.

They started us off with delicious bread and thinly sliced meat, both brought over on carts. The bread cart had several large loaves and she asked which one we’d like. Then they presented an appetizer - a foie gras creme brulee, with a dollop of green apple sorbet and crumbles of pistachios on top - needless to say, it was bursting with many flavors. For my entree, I had pea soup with duck - THE best soup ever and my favorite part of the whole meal. My main course was chicken. It was good, but not that special compared to everything else. Then they pulled around a cheese cart, of which I had two cheeses even though I was getting quite full. For dessert, a tube of Madagascar chocolate with a layer of ganache, then raspberry sorbet, then chocolate creme brulee. (You’ll have to forgive my memory and horrible descriptions, it was a fabulous meal and I’m not doing it justice). And for second dessert they brought around the cookie cart. By the time we left I think I had eaten enough for two days.

Oh yeah, about my chicken… the Maitre ‘d kept coming around checking on us and smiling quite a bit. After the main dish he asked how it was and gave me a frown because I still had a lot on my plate. I told him it was a little difficult to get the meat off (really I was just full and saving room for dessert). So what does he do? Calls over one of the staff and has her cut the rest of the meat off for me! I was shocked and extremely amused (he was very playful about the whole thing). Steve asked if I was embarrassed, I said no, he said he wouldn’t be either because the Maitre ‘d made the whole thing so comfortable and accommodating. Definitely the highlight of the meal.

A couple of notes about people and things in Paris. As I walk around showing off my arm tattoos, I get a lot of stares. This is mostly normal, but I think more frequent here. And I think the reason is that I don’t see many other young folk with half sleeves, or any tattoos for that matter. I’ve only seen a couple of older people with semi-large tats. Another note, Steve and I don’t normally drink soda, but while here we’ve been drinking a lot of Coke. It tastes so much better here because they use sugar instead of corn syrup. And my last note - it seems like every corner has a creperie. Every where we go, crepes. It must be the fast food of France?

After that large meal we headed back to the apartment for some serious digesting. We vegged out and watched two more episodes of Heroes. Later on, around 7-ish, we decided to head out to the Tour Eiffel. We took the Metro over to that side of town and exited at the Arc de Triomphe. When we surfaced from the subway I was astounded at how large it was - so much bigger than I had expected. The arch is on an island surrounded by a very busy traffic circle. We found our way to the stairs that go under traffic and up again to the island. It was a very beautiful, large monument.

Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. There are so many things to see in Paris, famous monuments, buildings, artwork, and none of it is quite the same as seeing it in person. So grand and beautiful, I’m so glad I came here to experience it all. And Steve was quite happy to experience it with me. He smiled a lot on our way over and he was very affectionate. When we got there we had to wait in a long line. While standing around he asked me how romantic the is Tower? I said it was at the top of the scale.

When we went up to the second floor he kept talking about how happy he was to experience France and things like the Tower with me. Then we went up to the third floor (the top). The view wasn’t that much better (it was dark now) and it had a metal fence. Steve asked if the second floor was more romantic, I said yes because it didn’t have the fencing, so we went back down. As we were standing there snuggling he said, “I’d like to do this for the rest of my life. Want to get married?” I said yes *huge smile*. “Want to leave here with an extra ring?” I said yes *huge smile*. He gave me the beautiful ring, we embraced, I cried, and he said I’m the first women to say I love you and really meant it.

With huge smiles on our faces, we had Orion and Rebecca take some pictures of us. Then we headed back to the apartment to celebrate our special day with the only cheap wine we could find.

We decided to spend the day walking around again and ended up going straight towards Notre Dame. There was a huge line wrapping around to the side of the building, but we were happy to discover that it was for the towers. We went inside to check it out along with a lot of other tourists. It was just as beautiful as I’d imagined in my art history classes. Finally, after 9+ years, I was standing in this gorgeous Cathedral. The ceiling was high and from the inside the stain glass appeared to be magical. I took tons of pictures, but it’ll be a while before I have a chance to process them all.

After that we continued to wonder around. We looked at the Latin Quarter some more. Wondered into a few shops including a game shop where Orion bought something and a jewelry store where I treated myself to a pretty ring. I really love walking around listening to people speak French, and watching their interactions. The cheek-kissing is very important. I saw a woman do a quick kiss on each of her friends cheeks and then run off to catch a bus. Even in a hurry, she upheld tradition.

At one point we were trying to orient ourselves with a map when a Frenchman stepped in and tried to tell us what was around the corner. It took me a moment to realize that he was just trying to be helpful. How nice is that?? We were looking for Jardin du Luxembourg. He was quite helpful and we found our way over there. The garden was huge and full of people, like just about everything in Paris. It was great to see them all relaxing and enjoying this wonderful space. There were benches here and there, but also chairs that people could rearrange and use for their feet. It was quite nice.

By this time we were tired from walking so much, so we got our weekly Metro pass and went back to the apartment for rest. Later we went out to dinner at Les Relais de l’Entrecôte, recommended by my friend Albie. All they serve is steak and fries. You sit and all they ask is “how would you like it?” The steak, sauce and fries were delicious. We then headed out to a wine bar and home. I am thoroughly enjoying this place

I was very bummed waking up to the sound of rain Sunday morning. Luckily we brought umbrellas with us, so it wasn’t a complete show stopper, but we took the day very slowly.

Steve and Orion went out to the farmers market to buy ingredients for dinner and when they came back said I HAD to check it out. So I went over (it was just a block away) and walked around. There seemed to be every kind of food imaginable - fish, meat, vegetables, fruit, candy, pastries, bread, cheese and other things like clothes, scarves, flowers, souvenirs, and more. It was amazing, huge and so full of people.

After that we hung around the apartment for a while, taking it easy. Then we took a walk over the Seine to Rue Saint Germain and wondered around for a couple of hours. While crossing the Seine we saw Notre Dame a couple bridges over. We stumbled upon the Panthéon, walked over and took some pictures of the large, beautiful structure. Then ended up in the Quartier Latin; reminded me a lot of the tight, small streets of Old Nice, except more vibrant and lively. From there we headed back to the apartment past Notre Dame, which was amazing to see in person. So beautiful and detailed, absolutely breathtaking.

When we got back Steve and Orion worked on dinner while Rebecca and I had cafe creme across the street. We just sat and chatted, watching people walk by. The guys were making beef stew, and it ended up taking a little longer to make then planned. So we ate the excellent stew late in the evening and in the mean time watched the first two episodes of Heroes.

We got up early and headed to the train station for a long ride to Paris. I was excited that I’d actually be awake this time, able to see the various landscapes of France. But I was quite wrong. The moment that train started moving I was snoozing. The ride was about 5.5 hours and I slept for 3.5 of them. The last two we played a game called Hive and I got motion sick from concentrating on it. The train couldn’t of stopped any sooner after that.

Getting to the apartment was fairly easy, a quick cheap cab ride. The owners, Claudie and Claude were waiting inside. They gave us a quick tour of the place, then Steve and I needed to go get the remaining balance for the apartment (remember, the bank was closed). Claude went with us while his wife stayed to chat with Rebecca and Orion.

We were very fortunate to have Claude as a guide, because it would have taken forever to figure out the Metro and find the Travelex on our own. On the way he gave us a bunch of tips on where to go and what to see. The Travelex was right outside the Louvre, so he walked us in front of it and showed us the long view from the center of its yard - you could see the Arch de Triumph and many things between and beyond. The corridor was obviously designed that way for a reason.

When we got back and everything was squared away Steve and Orion got their computer fixes - I’m not sure how they survived a week without the internet. Hours later we went out to dinner. The apartment is located on the Place de la Bastille, which seems to be the center of Paris and was very busy. So finding a restaurant was a piece of cake. The food was, once again, excellent. After that we walked around a little then headed back to the apartment.