Day 5: Fog and a Cold

Here I am on the bridge that goes from the right bank to the Ile de la Cite...you can see the spire of Notre Dame in the background. Sorry to say I don't have much to report today. It was a very gray, kind of windy, kind of rainy day....and I caught a cold yesterday...wandering around in the cold, wet Christmas air. I was hacking all day and we spent most of the day/night looking for restaurants that had non smoking sections. We are having a fabulous time, though, relaxing....we took the metro out to the Gare de Lyon to check le Train Bleu...a restaurant we're considering...then went back out to the Arc de Triomphe...strolled down the Champs Elysee then took in the train exhibit at the Grand Palais. The Palais was built in 1900 for the Paris Exposition and is an amazing art nouveau steel and glass building. In the morning, we are heading out to the airport to meet Jason & Regina, our friends arriving from South Carolina. This is their first trip to Paris so it should be very interesting and FUN!!!! Bonsoir and Au Revoir!

We're in Paris

What a busy day it's been! I was awakened at 5:30 a.m. by Dick on the airplane. I had a pretty good night's sleep...considering. I had taken an ambien so I slept fairly hard although it was a very bumpy ride over the Atlantic. We arrived early...just short of 6:30 a.m. so, because we couldn't check into our apartment until 9:00, we hung out at the airport...had some nice, strong Frence cafe!! Then, deciding that we couldn't spend another two hours at the airport, took a cab into town. We had a great cabdriver who was from Marseilles and was very interested in talking about the United States and about his life in Paris...it made the ride into the city very easy. We were still early so we hung out at the corner cafe until our apartment rental agency opened. Here's Dick hanging out at the cafe....it didn't open until almost 8:30 so we were standing here on this Paris corner with a ton of bags until they finally opened. It was very cold here today...about 24 fahrenheit when we arrived and although it was sunny, it didn't warm up much until later this evening.




We checked into our apartment, the view is great...just like the picture...2nd floor (1st floor to Europeans) with a lift...thank goodness since Dick packed his entire wardrobe. We unpacked and hit the town running. We didn't do much other than wander around....over to Rue St. Honore...down to the Opera...had lunch at Cafe Madelaine...one of my faves because it's one of the few places I can have a "big" salade.


Here we are about to embark on our sunny adventure. Isn't it a beautiful day?

We decided at that point that we really needed a nap...we were both feeling a little exhausted so back to the apartment for a nappie. 2 1/2 hours later and we were up and at it again. We walked over to the Hotel De Ville to watch the skaters then hopped on a metro to the Champs Elysee. No matter how many times we come to Paris and how many neighborhoods we visit, there is nothing in the world that I enjoy more than winter on the Champs Elysee. I can't even begin to take pictures that do justice to the beautiful sight of that gorgeous boulevard, lit up for the holidays...filled with locals and tourists....eating, drinking, shopping, enjoying life to its fullest. Here I am at the Renault dealer on the Champs Elysee....enjoying some holiday time with Pere Noel.

After a full evening on the Champs Elysee, we decided on dinner near our apartment. A nice little restaurant where Dick had steak with onions and I had a yummy stuffed cabbage. Now I'll leave you with a quick picture of the nicely lit Champs Elysee.

14 days & Counting

Today is a busy day...nails, maybe a trip down to Denver for some shopping with Sally and Pam so I will leave you with an archive photo from our 2003 trip to Paris. Don't you just love a city that, in the middle of winter, still has fresh flowers on the street? Enjoy!

First Blog Post

So, here I am...day 1 on my very own blog. Most of you know that have been lurking other blogs for quite awhile now, searching for everything from cardmaking ideas and travel hints. Well I have decided that since we are about to embark on some fabulous journeys, this would be a good time to start. So, to start the blog festivities, here's some pics from our latest trip...Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This is the view from our room at the Porto Real. The weather was gorgeous for the entire trip...sunny most of the time and temps hovering in the mid 80's. We stayed at the Porto Real...and all inclusive right on the beach. The location was great, right around the corner from "Fifth Avenue". I'm not sure we'd do all inclusive if we went back. The food was okay but we ended up eating out in Playa most of the trip. We did have our share of dirty monkeys, pina coladas and margaritas on the beach though. This was our first trip to Mexico and we went with 13 other people (only 4 that we knew beforehand) and it was a nice, relaxing vacation.



The Christmas pic we decided against using!!!!

There was plenty of time for relaxing and dirty monkeys.