So it is not "Good-bye Paris", it is "Until we meet again" and meet again, I am sure we will. I have been in love with this city since I was in High School, probably earlier than that, but it was in High School during three years of High School French class that I really learned about the City of Lights. The passion seed was planted and has grown over the years. It taken has 30 years for this city and I to meet one another and boy what a meeting it has been. It's been short and sweet and I can't wait to come back again.
I found myself to be very emotional during this trip and I think a huge part of that is the fact that I have yearned to visit this city for so long, the fact that I won this trip by speaking from the heart about me and where my life has taken me, by the fact that I was able to share and experience this Beautiful city with the love of my life - just makes me absolutely speechless. I remember just 4 days ago upon our arrival, walking through the courtyard of Les Jardins du Marais and having tears in my eyes because the thought, "I am in PARIS" was starting to sink in. There have been multiple times this week that I have had tears in my eyes just for the disbelief that I am here- finally!
The Louvre was our first stop on this trip and I now need to re-read the book and watch the movie "Davinci Code" again- I loved that movie and book and it was because of all the Parisian references. I have to watch "As good as it Gets" with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson again because I love that movie with their scene in Paris. I also love that movie because they both kick one leg out of the covers shortly after getting into bed for the night and guess what? So do my husband and I.
After the Louvre and a walk through the Tuileries, I couldn't walk the Champs Elysee's fast enough to get to the Arc du Triomphe. My feet were killing me by now, but I just had to get there. I was singing the chorus to the song "Aux Champs Elysee's" the entire time I was walking there (in my head)- I'm still amazed that I know those lyrics 30 years later! Walking up 284 stairs to get to the top of the Arc- amazing- to see those views from up there, just spectacular. I had chills. A quick metro ride to the Eiffel Tower was next and I just stood still when I turned the corner from the metro and saw her for the first time. This was another teary moment and I stood there in awe. The excitement of the moment still makes my eyes swell up with tears now as I type this. It's a moment in time that I will always have with me, one that I will never forget. It's just too amazing.
And as if the day wasn't already wonderful, we then took a ride along the River Seine that cruised down past Cathedral de Notre Dame and pointed out highlights along the way.
Day two, seeing the Palace of Versailles and the expansive grounds with the gardens, Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon- how does something so spectacular exist? Just perfectly beautiful. We spent a long time at the Palace grounds and I did enjoy our time spent. I will say that I can only take so much history and antique furniture, but I could view the architecture and grounds over and over again! Notre Dame in person (not via boat) was next and viewing the indoors of the Cathedral was breathtaking. It was also nice that we were there at the same time a mass was in progress. We walked around the Latin Quarter and near by and around the Saint Michel fountain. Spontaneously found ourselves sitting outside at a cafe having Crepes and wine and just watching Notre Dame, now lit up at night. We decided to then do our own tour of Paris to see all of the lights. Back to the Eiffel Tower and just when you think something cannot be anymore amazing or beautiful- put lights on it! We bought tickets to ride to the top and what a spectacular experience that was...wonderful city views, it was a clear night- you could see forever! We also got to see the towers "blink" twice while we were there, they have blinking lights that sparkle on the hour! Magical!
We then took a quick metro ride to Arc du Triomphe, took some night pictures and then headed on our way in the hopes of getting pictures of the Louvre at night, but it was getting late and the train station we would take closes for the Louvre exit when the museum closes- so we didn't get that one.
Our last day was spent visiting Sacre-Coeur, Sainte Chappelle and my favorite part of today- Montmartre. I loved this artsy district with roaming artistes wanting to sketch your resemblance. Such a cute area and watching the artistes at work was a lot of fun!
I am delighted that my husband has also fallen in love with this city as today while we were walking through Montmartre wishing we could spend more time he says, "well next time, we know we want to spend more time here". YAY, we get to come back here!! This trip has also served as the gateway to many more trips to Europe- the seed has once again been planted and we want to see so much more of Europe!
I truly do believe that "Life is like a book, and those who do not travel, only read one page" Travel enhances anyone's life, it opens the doors to communication between nationalities, countries, people. I know that for years France always had this bad reputation for being snobs and unfriendly to the American people. I never ONCE encountered that during this trip. Nearly perfect English almost everywhere we went and the few exceptions to that we were still able to communicate. So many friendly French people, I was amazed.
The metro system is very simple and user friendly- takes some studying in order to see how to get from point A to point B when a connection is required, but it really is simple. I asked our hotel front desk staff several times for directions and they gave us perfect instructions. I was also amazed at how safe I felt- even traveling late at night, we never felt like the metro was creeping with bums, homeless or derelicts. Because the metro is so user friendly, you really can stay anywhere in the city and have easy access to everything. We were in the Marais and honestly- other than a few meals within two blocks of our hotel, we didn't do anything in the Marais. We were all over the city and it was super easy!
Even though I had taken French in High School and do remember quite a bit, I was shy and timid to speak the language and because everyone spoke good English, I wasn't pressured to try to speak, but would do a little here and there. Our last day, the artistes who were sketching us asked us if we spoke any French and they even knew I was being shy, but encouraged me to speak to them in French and they made is so simple and comfortable and complimented me on my French.
I just have to say that it was an experience of a lifetime and I am so fortunate to have won this trip. I thank Stacy Small for posting on Facebook about this contest. I thank Europe Express for having this contest and for picking my entry. It is a trip that will always stay in the forefront of my mind for....ever!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Last Day in Paris.....so sad!
Today was a late start..of course I was up until 3am last night with our 1am return to the hotel after a marathon day- we woke up at 9am with just enough time to get ready and make the 10am breakfast cut off at the hotel. We finally got going on the road around 1130am, we were just not moving as quickly as planned. We had 4 stops on our agenda today and we made 3 of them.
First stop today was hit the metro and make our way to Sacre Coeur- what a beautiful structure, lots of stairs to get to the entrance, but wow- this amazing structure is at the highest point of Paris and is just beautiful. I think I still prefer the inner beauty of Notre Dame more, but it's all about personal opinion and preference. My favorite part of today immediately followed Sacre-Couer and that was our walk through Montmatre- what a charming little area of Paris. This is where you'll find plenty of tiny cobblestone streets, not a lot of car traffic and the streets are filled with local artists who are ready to sketch or paint your portraits. We did some souvenir shopping and then did get approached by two artistes who waned to sketch us- it was fun and was an experience that actually brought tears to my eyes and put a smile on my face. My husband was a bit apprehensive about having his sketch done- but he obliged and it was fun! We could have spent the rest of the day here enjoying the people watching and checking out all the artwork. But it was time to head to our next stop on the daily agenda...
We then took the metro to the Ile de la Cite and visited Sainte Chappelle- which had quite the long wait- I think we waited somewhere between 60-90 minutes and probably only spent about 20 minutes inside. But the stained glass was beautiful and mesmerizing, and I am glad that we did wait for it. We were definitely ready for lunch afterwards and tried out the cafe located across the street and had a lovely lunch.
Our plan was to next visit the Ile de St. Louis, but given that it was already 530pm, we figured we needed to get to the Pompidou Centre- which is where the Museum of Modern Art is located. We didn't spend a lot of time here, neither of us are bit art work experts and our attention span at a museum just isn't very long- add to that very tired feet! So we left and came back to our hotel for a little R & R before our last dinner in Paris!
As much as we would have liked to have gone to restaurants that had been recommended to us by friends, we didn't feel like making it a big production - so we ventured down the street from our hotel and tried the Bistrot Amelot and it was very good- we both enjoyed our meals and the live music that they had in the restaurant. We are now settled back in our hotel room and not looking forward to the long trek back home tomorrow with a 645am pick up time....but wow what a fantastic trip this has been.
I will blog one more time on this trip tomorrow with some overall reflections.
First stop today was hit the metro and make our way to Sacre Coeur- what a beautiful structure, lots of stairs to get to the entrance, but wow- this amazing structure is at the highest point of Paris and is just beautiful. I think I still prefer the inner beauty of Notre Dame more, but it's all about personal opinion and preference. My favorite part of today immediately followed Sacre-Couer and that was our walk through Montmatre- what a charming little area of Paris. This is where you'll find plenty of tiny cobblestone streets, not a lot of car traffic and the streets are filled with local artists who are ready to sketch or paint your portraits. We did some souvenir shopping and then did get approached by two artistes who waned to sketch us- it was fun and was an experience that actually brought tears to my eyes and put a smile on my face. My husband was a bit apprehensive about having his sketch done- but he obliged and it was fun! We could have spent the rest of the day here enjoying the people watching and checking out all the artwork. But it was time to head to our next stop on the daily agenda...
We then took the metro to the Ile de la Cite and visited Sainte Chappelle- which had quite the long wait- I think we waited somewhere between 60-90 minutes and probably only spent about 20 minutes inside. But the stained glass was beautiful and mesmerizing, and I am glad that we did wait for it. We were definitely ready for lunch afterwards and tried out the cafe located across the street and had a lovely lunch.
Our plan was to next visit the Ile de St. Louis, but given that it was already 530pm, we figured we needed to get to the Pompidou Centre- which is where the Museum of Modern Art is located. We didn't spend a lot of time here, neither of us are bit art work experts and our attention span at a museum just isn't very long- add to that very tired feet! So we left and came back to our hotel for a little R & R before our last dinner in Paris!
As much as we would have liked to have gone to restaurants that had been recommended to us by friends, we didn't feel like making it a big production - so we ventured down the street from our hotel and tried the Bistrot Amelot and it was very good- we both enjoyed our meals and the live music that they had in the restaurant. We are now settled back in our hotel room and not looking forward to the long trek back home tomorrow with a 645am pick up time....but wow what a fantastic trip this has been.
I will blog one more time on this trip tomorrow with some overall reflections.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Paris- Day Three- Versailles & City of Lights
Well, this day started out with once again a wonderful breakfast here at Les Jardins du Marais, I tried, for the very first time, Nutella and I think I'm in trouble- it was good, no actually it was great. I'll have to figure out a wway to incorporate this into my diet at home- in moderation. Then about 930am we were off to the races and headed to the train station to catch the subway, then connect to the RER train towards Versailles.
A few challenges at the train station- I had to face my not so favorite ticket machine again and it was not kind today either, but eventually we were able to get our tickets for the RER train- although it was a bummer that the machine didn't give us the option to purchase round-trip. We made our connection and I think my husband is very glad that I do have a sense of direction and some knowledge of the French language- I have felt very confident in working with the metro/train schedules to figure out what we needed to do. I just needed to get my feet wet and now I'm good to go! We arrived at Versailles just around 1045am and what can I say- WOW is an understatement. The Palace of Versailles is such an absolutely incredible work of architecture!! We picked up the free audio guides and then started going room to room and it was pretty amazing to see everything, I think that inside the Palace itself, I was most impressed with the chapel- which is more like an "in-house" cathedral! I will admit, I am not much of a history buff, I'm not a big fan of museums but I can appreciate the architecture that I am seeing throughout Paris and today specifically at the Palace of Versailles. We spent close to two hours going through the Palace.
Afterwards, we began to explore the gardens- which are quite expansive in themselves and feeling the day slip away from us- we decided to purchase tickets for the "Petite Train"- which took you down to the Grand Trianon, Petite Trianon and Grand Canal- like a "hop on/hop off" service. We ended up only hopping off at the Grand Canal and walked around, then had lunch at the restaurant there. We had Croquet Monsieur - which is basically a ham & cheese sandwich served hot- not quite what I expected as the ham was in between two slices of bread and then cheese melted on top of the top half..but it was still good. We of course has real "french fries'- yum! After lunch, we walked back up to the Palace and headed to the train station back to Paris. I did get a good chuckle at lunch today. My husband really does not know a lick of French and I had told him that the Croquets were highly recommended and he said, "I don't see them, except for the child's menu"-- well he thought "Chaud Buffet" was the child menu instead of the "hot menu"- so cute!
Something to note, we did have to purchase our return train tickets and the lines for the electronic booths were fairly long. We first got in a line only to find that the machine was broken, we switched lines to another only to find out that it would not read my credit card and it would not take paper Euros- only coins- so we ended up having to purchase the tickets with the attendant (another line), it all worked out in the end. But it is a good idea to have coins if possible and don't expect your credit card to work at the train station machines- they are supposed to be encoded with some sort of chip in order to work.
We got off at the Notre Dame train station and I have to say that I love how in this city when you get off the train or metro- you come up from the tunnels and voila- there is a beautiful monument staring at you! We come up from the stairs and there is Notre Dame Cathedral in all her glory! Just beautiful! We were able to go inside and actually the 630pm mass was just underway when we arrived- so that was a little interesting to see the mass in progress and hear it in French. Afterwards, we walked around the area and into the Latin Quarter- the cute cobblestone streets are just so lively and inviting...we did what I was "told" by friends to do- we sat outside at a cafe, ordered a glass of wine and people-watched. We also ordered Crepe's since we had not had those yet and YES, twice in one day I had Nutella!! My crepe was a "Crepe Nutella"- yum! Our view from our table was Notre Dame all lit up for night time! So we were off and running after that "snack"- little did we know then that it was going to be dinner.
We wanted to make sure to see the monuments at night as that is when they are so beautiful- since it was already night time- we decided to hit the Metro and head towards the Eiffel Tower. How breathtaking that Tower is all lit up! I had tears in my eyes once again! We did want to go to the top and this was the perfect opportunity- so we waited in line, during our wait we did get to see the tower "blink" at 10pm- it was pretty cool to see...and when we were getting ready to leave the tower after our viewing from the top- it was already 11pm and the towers were blinking again! They blink these twinkle lights at the top of the hour! Very romantic evening atop the Eiffel Tower! We then got back to the Metro and headed to the Arc du Triomphe so we could photograph her at night, then off on the Metro again- heading for the Louvre. Well, that didn't work out as planned- the actual exit for the Louvre was closed that late (not almost midnight), we should have gotten off the stop before at Tuilleries to get that nighttime picture. Maybe tomorrow. So back on the metro heading back to our hotel, where we arrived about 1230am, only to find that we don't have 24 hour room service and the bistro's on our block were all closed up this late on a Sunday night. So we go dinner-less. As I type this Bill is already snoring- but it is almost 3am! I am wired for sound and tummy is starting to growl!
My final note for the night- whenever you decide you will be traveling and WALKING a lot!! Make sure you pack the "Dr. Scholl's first aid essentials". I would be lost without moleskin right now- I fixed up both my feet this morning with moleskin on both heels and over the blisters that had started on the balls of my feet just below my big toes- after all the walking today, I can honestly say that they didn't get any worse- thankfully. I am so glad that I put that stuff in my bag for this trip!! It has come in handy!
A few challenges at the train station- I had to face my not so favorite ticket machine again and it was not kind today either, but eventually we were able to get our tickets for the RER train- although it was a bummer that the machine didn't give us the option to purchase round-trip. We made our connection and I think my husband is very glad that I do have a sense of direction and some knowledge of the French language- I have felt very confident in working with the metro/train schedules to figure out what we needed to do. I just needed to get my feet wet and now I'm good to go! We arrived at Versailles just around 1045am and what can I say- WOW is an understatement. The Palace of Versailles is such an absolutely incredible work of architecture!! We picked up the free audio guides and then started going room to room and it was pretty amazing to see everything, I think that inside the Palace itself, I was most impressed with the chapel- which is more like an "in-house" cathedral! I will admit, I am not much of a history buff, I'm not a big fan of museums but I can appreciate the architecture that I am seeing throughout Paris and today specifically at the Palace of Versailles. We spent close to two hours going through the Palace.
Afterwards, we began to explore the gardens- which are quite expansive in themselves and feeling the day slip away from us- we decided to purchase tickets for the "Petite Train"- which took you down to the Grand Trianon, Petite Trianon and Grand Canal- like a "hop on/hop off" service. We ended up only hopping off at the Grand Canal and walked around, then had lunch at the restaurant there. We had Croquet Monsieur - which is basically a ham & cheese sandwich served hot- not quite what I expected as the ham was in between two slices of bread and then cheese melted on top of the top half..but it was still good. We of course has real "french fries'- yum! After lunch, we walked back up to the Palace and headed to the train station back to Paris. I did get a good chuckle at lunch today. My husband really does not know a lick of French and I had told him that the Croquets were highly recommended and he said, "I don't see them, except for the child's menu"-- well he thought "Chaud Buffet" was the child menu instead of the "hot menu"- so cute!
Something to note, we did have to purchase our return train tickets and the lines for the electronic booths were fairly long. We first got in a line only to find that the machine was broken, we switched lines to another only to find out that it would not read my credit card and it would not take paper Euros- only coins- so we ended up having to purchase the tickets with the attendant (another line), it all worked out in the end. But it is a good idea to have coins if possible and don't expect your credit card to work at the train station machines- they are supposed to be encoded with some sort of chip in order to work.
We got off at the Notre Dame train station and I have to say that I love how in this city when you get off the train or metro- you come up from the tunnels and voila- there is a beautiful monument staring at you! We come up from the stairs and there is Notre Dame Cathedral in all her glory! Just beautiful! We were able to go inside and actually the 630pm mass was just underway when we arrived- so that was a little interesting to see the mass in progress and hear it in French. Afterwards, we walked around the area and into the Latin Quarter- the cute cobblestone streets are just so lively and inviting...we did what I was "told" by friends to do- we sat outside at a cafe, ordered a glass of wine and people-watched. We also ordered Crepe's since we had not had those yet and YES, twice in one day I had Nutella!! My crepe was a "Crepe Nutella"- yum! Our view from our table was Notre Dame all lit up for night time! So we were off and running after that "snack"- little did we know then that it was going to be dinner.
We wanted to make sure to see the monuments at night as that is when they are so beautiful- since it was already night time- we decided to hit the Metro and head towards the Eiffel Tower. How breathtaking that Tower is all lit up! I had tears in my eyes once again! We did want to go to the top and this was the perfect opportunity- so we waited in line, during our wait we did get to see the tower "blink" at 10pm- it was pretty cool to see...and when we were getting ready to leave the tower after our viewing from the top- it was already 11pm and the towers were blinking again! They blink these twinkle lights at the top of the hour! Very romantic evening atop the Eiffel Tower! We then got back to the Metro and headed to the Arc du Triomphe so we could photograph her at night, then off on the Metro again- heading for the Louvre. Well, that didn't work out as planned- the actual exit for the Louvre was closed that late (not almost midnight), we should have gotten off the stop before at Tuilleries to get that nighttime picture. Maybe tomorrow. So back on the metro heading back to our hotel, where we arrived about 1230am, only to find that we don't have 24 hour room service and the bistro's on our block were all closed up this late on a Sunday night. So we go dinner-less. As I type this Bill is already snoring- but it is almost 3am! I am wired for sound and tummy is starting to growl!
My final note for the night- whenever you decide you will be traveling and WALKING a lot!! Make sure you pack the "Dr. Scholl's first aid essentials". I would be lost without moleskin right now- I fixed up both my feet this morning with moleskin on both heels and over the blisters that had started on the balls of my feet just below my big toes- after all the walking today, I can honestly say that they didn't get any worse- thankfully. I am so glad that I put that stuff in my bag for this trip!! It has come in handy!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Paris - A Day When Dreams Come True
This has so far been such an emotional trip for me. I am reminded of a quote that I had been told not too long ago, "Life is like a book, and those who do not travel only read one page." I think today I finally "felt" that quote. Yes, I've been in the travel business for 20 years, but my travels have been so limited over the years and today over and over again, I am reminded what it is like to have a passion for travel. Paris has always been a passion of mine and I never really realized just how much of a passion it really was until I stepped foot into this beautiful city.
We woke up as planned early today in time to have breakfast and then hit the metro en route to the Louvre. I have discovered on this trip that I am not a "fly by night" type of gal. I was actually a bit stressed out to take the metro for the first time, to not know where our day was going to lead- but I decided we'd follow Frommer's guide of "how to see Paris in 3 days"- sounded good, we had 3 days and he covered pretty much all of what we wanted to see. Day One starts out by getting to the Louvre by 9am when they open. That was the plan. However, NOT part of the plan was getting confused at the Metro. We did get lost finding the metro station- but not terrible, we were only lost for a block..and then the metro passes say to make sure you validate your tickets before use at the machines. We spent probably 15 minutes trying to figure out the machines until FINALLY, a very nice Frenchman in not so great English told us we didn't have to do anything. This sort of annoyed me because I have used "BART" - our local subway system in the Bay Area and I know how to insert the ticket to open the turnstile and that is pretty much all you had to do with these tickets- by merely using them the first time- you automatically 'validate' the ticket. I now wonder how many of my clients has this very same problem. We made our connecting subway easily and arrived at the Louvre about 920am- not too bad all things considered.
The Louvre is HUGE--OMG- there is no way anyone can do the entire museum in a day so you pretty much have to pick and choose what is most important for you to see. We did make our way to the Mona Lisa- which is key on the list and then did see a wide variety of other artwork, we spent close to 3 hours looking over the various art works we came into contact with. We also enjoyed a Pellegrino water in the Cafe for a little rest break...for the bargain price of 9 Euros- which is about 14 US dollars! Once we were finished with the Louvre, we then followed our own path- not really intentionally, but I guess the free spirits within took over. Had we followed Frommer's Guide, we would have strolled along the Seine and ended up at Pont Neuf and then Notre Dame.
We walked through the Tuilleries Gardens- which weren't very impressive- it's not quite Spring yet- so the flowers were not blooming ; however, you could easily imagine how beautiful it would look in the next month or so. From there we were at the Place de la Concorde and then headed to the Champs Elysees- lots of stores, cafes and other dining venues- we picked a restaurant right down the street from the Arc du Triomphe and had a very nice lunch and the sitting time was well welcomed by the tired feet after walking so much! Afterwards, we headed up to the Arc du Triomphe and did walk to the top- that is a total of 284 steps up and 284 steps down!!! But the panoramic views of Paris are pretty darn amazing from that vantage point! After we were done at the Arc, we then hopped on the metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower- what an amazing structure!!! Absolutely incredible. We were going to wait in line and head up to the top, but by now my feet were DONE and I just wanted to sit down...so we walked across the street and booked tickets for a cruise along the Seine. The cruise was beautiful, so awesome to see all of these historical monuments and learn more about the history of this beautiful city! Afterwards, it was metro time back to the hotel.
After a bit of down time in the hotel room (including a wonderful foot massage from my adoring husband)- we then walked down two blocks to the Centenaire Bistrot, which came highly recommended as having the best cheeseburgers in Paris. The food did not disappoint, we had an excellent dinner and then walked back to the hotel and we're getting ready for sleep time since we have another full day set up for tomorrow.
We woke up as planned early today in time to have breakfast and then hit the metro en route to the Louvre. I have discovered on this trip that I am not a "fly by night" type of gal. I was actually a bit stressed out to take the metro for the first time, to not know where our day was going to lead- but I decided we'd follow Frommer's guide of "how to see Paris in 3 days"- sounded good, we had 3 days and he covered pretty much all of what we wanted to see. Day One starts out by getting to the Louvre by 9am when they open. That was the plan. However, NOT part of the plan was getting confused at the Metro. We did get lost finding the metro station- but not terrible, we were only lost for a block..and then the metro passes say to make sure you validate your tickets before use at the machines. We spent probably 15 minutes trying to figure out the machines until FINALLY, a very nice Frenchman in not so great English told us we didn't have to do anything. This sort of annoyed me because I have used "BART" - our local subway system in the Bay Area and I know how to insert the ticket to open the turnstile and that is pretty much all you had to do with these tickets- by merely using them the first time- you automatically 'validate' the ticket. I now wonder how many of my clients has this very same problem. We made our connecting subway easily and arrived at the Louvre about 920am- not too bad all things considered.
The Louvre is HUGE--OMG- there is no way anyone can do the entire museum in a day so you pretty much have to pick and choose what is most important for you to see. We did make our way to the Mona Lisa- which is key on the list and then did see a wide variety of other artwork, we spent close to 3 hours looking over the various art works we came into contact with. We also enjoyed a Pellegrino water in the Cafe for a little rest break...for the bargain price of 9 Euros- which is about 14 US dollars! Once we were finished with the Louvre, we then followed our own path- not really intentionally, but I guess the free spirits within took over. Had we followed Frommer's Guide, we would have strolled along the Seine and ended up at Pont Neuf and then Notre Dame.
We walked through the Tuilleries Gardens- which weren't very impressive- it's not quite Spring yet- so the flowers were not blooming ; however, you could easily imagine how beautiful it would look in the next month or so. From there we were at the Place de la Concorde and then headed to the Champs Elysees- lots of stores, cafes and other dining venues- we picked a restaurant right down the street from the Arc du Triomphe and had a very nice lunch and the sitting time was well welcomed by the tired feet after walking so much! Afterwards, we headed up to the Arc du Triomphe and did walk to the top- that is a total of 284 steps up and 284 steps down!!! But the panoramic views of Paris are pretty darn amazing from that vantage point! After we were done at the Arc, we then hopped on the metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower- what an amazing structure!!! Absolutely incredible. We were going to wait in line and head up to the top, but by now my feet were DONE and I just wanted to sit down...so we walked across the street and booked tickets for a cruise along the Seine. The cruise was beautiful, so awesome to see all of these historical monuments and learn more about the history of this beautiful city! Afterwards, it was metro time back to the hotel.
After a bit of down time in the hotel room (including a wonderful foot massage from my adoring husband)- we then walked down two blocks to the Centenaire Bistrot, which came highly recommended as having the best cheeseburgers in Paris. The food did not disappoint, we had an excellent dinner and then walked back to the hotel and we're getting ready for sleep time since we have another full day set up for tomorrow.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Day One Paris OR - Time change HELL!
Well today we arrived into Paris Charles De Gaulle airport at 6am, 6.5 hour flight from JFK and it was overall a smooth flight; however, the seats in economy on this particularly old Airbus A330 were VERY uncomfortable- I felt very boxed in and had no wiggle room whatsoever. There was also a group of teenage girls on this flight who talked and giggled all flight long...therefore, I did not sleep a wink. I watched movies, played Hangman and "Who wants to be a Millionaire" over and over again- in fact after awhile questions/words would start to repeat- so I knew the answers! LOL
Air France had wonderful service and the food was very tasty. We were served dinner and a light breakfast, so overall, I can't complain about the airline at all- just the aircraft. I was happy to get out of that seat and into the airport. CDG airport was pretty easy to navigate through, customs went smoothly and as we walked up to the baggage turnstile, our bags were there one right after the other. We found where we were supposed to exit to meet our shuttle, gave them a call on the phone we were supposed to use and 10 minutes later our shuttle arrived.
We had two other couples on our shuttle and those stops were made first, so we did get to see quite a bit of Paris and the surrounding areas between these stops before arriving at our hotel Les Jardins du Marais. Upon our arrival, the front desk staff was very friendly and welcomed us. We were delighted to learn that our room was ready at 830am even though check-in time is normally 3pm- I was so thrilled with that news. So we got to our room, unpacked, took in the sights of the garden courtyard from our room and took pictures of our room. It's a decent size for what would normally be expected to be small- it's a double bed and there is a flat screen TV, desk area with a sitting chair. Closet is adequate for two people with racks and shelves. There is a mini-fridge and a good size safe- large enough to store my netbook (barely)! The bathroom is beautiful!!! Such a wonderful bathtub and I was ecstatic to see that they gave us bath salts- so I will be taking a bubble bath one of these nights while we are here after a long day of walking the city I'm sure!
We went and had breakfast- which was not included in our stay for today- but I expected that- so we paid the 20 euros per person for something we probably could have gotten cheaper down the street- but with jetlag, sleeplessness and wanting to eat NOW, we had no problem paying the rate. Lots of options at this buffet and you could go back as often as you wanted to. After breakfast we had full intentions of getting changed/freshened up for the day and getting out there for Day one of touring--but we ended up taking naps instead- we were both just thoroughly done. Between the Daylight Savings Time at home last weekend where we lost an hour, then losing 3 hours via travel to NYC, and now again 5 hours in transit to Paris- well, our bodies said "ENOUGH"! Although, we just learned that this saturday we lose another hour as Paris goes through their DST time change! You just know it won't feel like we got all those hours back when we fly home! LOL
We finally got up from our naps around 4pm and decided to get ready and have dinner at the hotel- we planned on heading out afterwards to start seeing some of the sights at night- but it's been raining most of the night and is not expected to rain the rest of our stay- so thought we'd do that later in the weekend.
Going to get a good night's rest so we can go full speed ahead tomorrow! Looking forward to seeing beautiful Paris!
Air France had wonderful service and the food was very tasty. We were served dinner and a light breakfast, so overall, I can't complain about the airline at all- just the aircraft. I was happy to get out of that seat and into the airport. CDG airport was pretty easy to navigate through, customs went smoothly and as we walked up to the baggage turnstile, our bags were there one right after the other. We found where we were supposed to exit to meet our shuttle, gave them a call on the phone we were supposed to use and 10 minutes later our shuttle arrived.
We had two other couples on our shuttle and those stops were made first, so we did get to see quite a bit of Paris and the surrounding areas between these stops before arriving at our hotel Les Jardins du Marais. Upon our arrival, the front desk staff was very friendly and welcomed us. We were delighted to learn that our room was ready at 830am even though check-in time is normally 3pm- I was so thrilled with that news. So we got to our room, unpacked, took in the sights of the garden courtyard from our room and took pictures of our room. It's a decent size for what would normally be expected to be small- it's a double bed and there is a flat screen TV, desk area with a sitting chair. Closet is adequate for two people with racks and shelves. There is a mini-fridge and a good size safe- large enough to store my netbook (barely)! The bathroom is beautiful!!! Such a wonderful bathtub and I was ecstatic to see that they gave us bath salts- so I will be taking a bubble bath one of these nights while we are here after a long day of walking the city I'm sure!
We went and had breakfast- which was not included in our stay for today- but I expected that- so we paid the 20 euros per person for something we probably could have gotten cheaper down the street- but with jetlag, sleeplessness and wanting to eat NOW, we had no problem paying the rate. Lots of options at this buffet and you could go back as often as you wanted to. After breakfast we had full intentions of getting changed/freshened up for the day and getting out there for Day one of touring--but we ended up taking naps instead- we were both just thoroughly done. Between the Daylight Savings Time at home last weekend where we lost an hour, then losing 3 hours via travel to NYC, and now again 5 hours in transit to Paris- well, our bodies said "ENOUGH"! Although, we just learned that this saturday we lose another hour as Paris goes through their DST time change! You just know it won't feel like we got all those hours back when we fly home! LOL
We finally got up from our naps around 4pm and decided to get ready and have dinner at the hotel- we planned on heading out afterwards to start seeing some of the sights at night- but it's been raining most of the night and is not expected to rain the rest of our stay- so thought we'd do that later in the weekend.
Going to get a good night's rest so we can go full speed ahead tomorrow! Looking forward to seeing beautiful Paris!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
How to see NYC in ONE DAY!
Oh my poor feetsies!!! What a day this has been, but I have to say that I am very proud of what we accomplished and of my ability to operate like the Energizer Bunny-keep going and going and going!
We woke up rather early today 630am (330am CA time, but whose paying attention to that) and got ready for the day. We pre-ordered breakfast room service the night before and it arrived on time, we then contemplated our plans for the day. It was raining outside and we were unsure of how this might impact our originally scheduled agenda. We headed off to the Empire State Building with the hopes that the skies would clear up a bit by the time we got there- well no such luck, they said there was zero visibility, so we decided to walk around and stumbled upon the ride they offer there called NYC Skyride. It's a simulated "soaring over NYC" type of ride, but you're in a theater style "car" that moves hydraulically. It was good and interesting- gave you lots of history of the various skyscrapers that make up NYC. We finished with the ride, bought the traditional destination magnet for our collection and then headed off to Grand Central Station.
My cousin was arriving from Stratford, CT via train to spend the day with us- we got there right on time, met up with her and then began walking to Rockefeller Center- we got to watch people ice-skating and take some pictures, but once again- going to the Top of the Rock was not advised due to the low clouds. So we proceeded walking to Radio City Music Hall, then onto FAO Schwartz to see the "BIG" Piano- but it sure did look so much BIGger in the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks! A little disappointing, but the store was pretty cool to see the things they had to offer! All of this and it was only lunch time! We grabbed some traditional New York City pizza at a place called Mariella's on 60th/Lexington- it's supposed to be Oprah's favorite NYC pizza, but who knows. It was good and no regrets for going there.
After lunch we headed (via taxi) to Pier 17 near Battery Park to board our water taxi ferry cruise that took us cruising past areas to include: Ground Zero, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. We of course saw the skylines of NYC/Manhattan, Jersey and Brooklyn/Queens. This was an hour long cruise and the narrator/tour director was excellent- this was the Circle Line Water Taxi Tour. It was perfect and luckily for us by now the sun was shining and it was absolutely beautiful out on the water! Next stop after this cruise was a taxi ride to Times Square - what a crazy place that is!! Yikes! Did some walking around the area and checked out the new Toys R Us- very cool place, they have an awesome Ferris Wheel inside that is worth a whirl! It was then back to the hotel to meet my cousin's brother and wife who were joining us for dinner and we had a wonderful Italian meal down the street on 45th at Gente- highly recommend! After dinner, the cousins headed to Grand Central Station for their trains/subways back to Stratford and Queens and hubby and I decided to head back to the Empire State Building to do the Observatory- we paid for the guided tour (worth every penny, very interesting and loads of information of what all the key buildings are that make up the Manhattan Skyline) and we also paid the upgrade fee to have access to the 102nd floor- personally I don't think it's worth the $15 upgrade charge and my husband agrees, but also says he doesn't regret doing it- guess it's just one of those things you have to try, but won't do again.
A quick stop to the Walgreen's next to the Empire State Building to look for a pair of mittens- the weather was overall good- but I had my moments of very cold hands and had forgotten to pack mine- so I found a pair on clearance for $2! What a deal! Now if I have any cold nights in Paris, I'll be prepared! Then taxi back home (or to the hotel)- settled down with our glass of wine and of course the computer to catch up on things from the day!
Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I never realized that it is a BIG day for NYC- they put on a parade and seriously there are pubs on every other block in this city- which makes sense when you consider just how many Irish Immigrants came here through Ellis Island back in the day...supposedly most pubs stay open tonight (St. Patty's Eve) all night long! Bars normally close at 4am, and pubs can open up at 6am, but they can apply for a special permit to stay open longer or open earlier- which makes it a non-stop party!
Have to say that I am enjoying our quick visit to New York City and really do wish we had more time to see and do more. Some things that we didn't get to do, that we'll have to keep for our next trip:
Actually visit Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty by foot (and climb her crown), take in a Broadway show (or two), see the taping of one of the popular shows filmed here (Today Show, Letterman, etc.), St. Patrick's Cathedral, Central Park during the day and during a colorful season, show at Radio City (Rockette's)- visit Wall Street (did see from a distance), Carnegie Hall, Tiffany's and Macy's...I'm sure I'm missing more-- Oh- and a trip across the pond to Hoboken NJ to get something yummy from Carlo's Bakery (Cake Boss)!
We woke up rather early today 630am (330am CA time, but whose paying attention to that) and got ready for the day. We pre-ordered breakfast room service the night before and it arrived on time, we then contemplated our plans for the day. It was raining outside and we were unsure of how this might impact our originally scheduled agenda. We headed off to the Empire State Building with the hopes that the skies would clear up a bit by the time we got there- well no such luck, they said there was zero visibility, so we decided to walk around and stumbled upon the ride they offer there called NYC Skyride. It's a simulated "soaring over NYC" type of ride, but you're in a theater style "car" that moves hydraulically. It was good and interesting- gave you lots of history of the various skyscrapers that make up NYC. We finished with the ride, bought the traditional destination magnet for our collection and then headed off to Grand Central Station.
My cousin was arriving from Stratford, CT via train to spend the day with us- we got there right on time, met up with her and then began walking to Rockefeller Center- we got to watch people ice-skating and take some pictures, but once again- going to the Top of the Rock was not advised due to the low clouds. So we proceeded walking to Radio City Music Hall, then onto FAO Schwartz to see the "BIG" Piano- but it sure did look so much BIGger in the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks! A little disappointing, but the store was pretty cool to see the things they had to offer! All of this and it was only lunch time! We grabbed some traditional New York City pizza at a place called Mariella's on 60th/Lexington- it's supposed to be Oprah's favorite NYC pizza, but who knows. It was good and no regrets for going there.
After lunch we headed (via taxi) to Pier 17 near Battery Park to board our water taxi ferry cruise that took us cruising past areas to include: Ground Zero, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. We of course saw the skylines of NYC/Manhattan, Jersey and Brooklyn/Queens. This was an hour long cruise and the narrator/tour director was excellent- this was the Circle Line Water Taxi Tour. It was perfect and luckily for us by now the sun was shining and it was absolutely beautiful out on the water! Next stop after this cruise was a taxi ride to Times Square - what a crazy place that is!! Yikes! Did some walking around the area and checked out the new Toys R Us- very cool place, they have an awesome Ferris Wheel inside that is worth a whirl! It was then back to the hotel to meet my cousin's brother and wife who were joining us for dinner and we had a wonderful Italian meal down the street on 45th at Gente- highly recommend! After dinner, the cousins headed to Grand Central Station for their trains/subways back to Stratford and Queens and hubby and I decided to head back to the Empire State Building to do the Observatory- we paid for the guided tour (worth every penny, very interesting and loads of information of what all the key buildings are that make up the Manhattan Skyline) and we also paid the upgrade fee to have access to the 102nd floor- personally I don't think it's worth the $15 upgrade charge and my husband agrees, but also says he doesn't regret doing it- guess it's just one of those things you have to try, but won't do again.
A quick stop to the Walgreen's next to the Empire State Building to look for a pair of mittens- the weather was overall good- but I had my moments of very cold hands and had forgotten to pack mine- so I found a pair on clearance for $2! What a deal! Now if I have any cold nights in Paris, I'll be prepared! Then taxi back home (or to the hotel)- settled down with our glass of wine and of course the computer to catch up on things from the day!
Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I never realized that it is a BIG day for NYC- they put on a parade and seriously there are pubs on every other block in this city- which makes sense when you consider just how many Irish Immigrants came here through Ellis Island back in the day...supposedly most pubs stay open tonight (St. Patty's Eve) all night long! Bars normally close at 4am, and pubs can open up at 6am, but they can apply for a special permit to stay open longer or open earlier- which makes it a non-stop party!
Have to say that I am enjoying our quick visit to New York City and really do wish we had more time to see and do more. Some things that we didn't get to do, that we'll have to keep for our next trip:
Actually visit Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty by foot (and climb her crown), take in a Broadway show (or two), see the taping of one of the popular shows filmed here (Today Show, Letterman, etc.), St. Patrick's Cathedral, Central Park during the day and during a colorful season, show at Radio City (Rockette's)- visit Wall Street (did see from a distance), Carnegie Hall, Tiffany's and Macy's...I'm sure I'm missing more-- Oh- and a trip across the pond to Hoboken NJ to get something yummy from Carlo's Bakery (Cake Boss)!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
New York City
It has been years- actually decades since I have been to The Big Apple!! My last visit, I believe was in 1984, when I was merely a teenager with my family. I didn't have a say in the travel plans or what we were to do or what we were to see--but it was a trip to NYC, who was going to complain!
Here I am, the year 2011 finding myself with the opportunity to spend 2 nights in NYC and I wish it were a longer stretch of time. We arrived today after a 7am flight. Of course, as a business owner, I was up until 130am getting work done and then had to be up at 4am to get ready for our flight. I decided when checking us in online 6 hours prior to flight time to upgrade to First Class- I was tired and knew the comfort of First Class would be welcomed - so I did it! (It was also fun to surprise the husband this morning as I led us to the First Class check-in line, he says :"honey, you're in the wrong line, this is First Class", I reply, "yes, I know we are in First Class", he replies "huh?"- I just smiled! We had a GREAT flight on Virgin America, as always- LOVE this airline! Arrival in JFK was smooth, except we missed the sign that directed us to go down for baggage and got a bit more exercise "touring" the airport! By the time we arrived at the carousel, the bags were just about to start coming out.
I had booked our transportation with 1800-Book-a-Limo, which I use for my clients all the time, this is my 3rd time using them myself and they are wonderful! Upon landing, I already had a reminder call to make sure I remembered to call them once I had my bags for directions on where to meet my driver. They then called again while we were waiting for baggage to make sure we knew to call. We met our driver and had a great ride into Manhattan- it was rush hour, so a little more entertaining!
We are staying at the Alex Hotel- what a charming hotel! A member of the Leading Hotels of the World and very "apartment like" when you get to your room- but the staff is nothing short of very welcoming and helpful! We were checked in very quickly and were surprised to see this wonderful room with a kitchen, living/dining room area and separate bedroom. It's really quite the room! We didn't have much time to enjoy this room as we had a 7pm reservation to tour Central Park on a Horse & Carriage Ride. Again, impressed!! The driver texted about an hour prior to our meet time to reconfirm and advise of where to meet. We met our driver and other than it being 40 degrees and COLD- it was a very enjoyable ride through Central Park- our horse "Murphy" was a great horse!
Afterwards, we walked up and down Central Park South to find a place for dinner- we stumbled upon South Park- not a place that I would recommend- but it will sustain life for another day! LOL
Now back at the hotel, getting a few internet things done and even though it's only 9pm in CA- we are bushed an ready for a good night's sleep!
Until we meet again...
Here I am, the year 2011 finding myself with the opportunity to spend 2 nights in NYC and I wish it were a longer stretch of time. We arrived today after a 7am flight. Of course, as a business owner, I was up until 130am getting work done and then had to be up at 4am to get ready for our flight. I decided when checking us in online 6 hours prior to flight time to upgrade to First Class- I was tired and knew the comfort of First Class would be welcomed - so I did it! (It was also fun to surprise the husband this morning as I led us to the First Class check-in line, he says :"honey, you're in the wrong line, this is First Class", I reply, "yes, I know we are in First Class", he replies "huh?"- I just smiled! We had a GREAT flight on Virgin America, as always- LOVE this airline! Arrival in JFK was smooth, except we missed the sign that directed us to go down for baggage and got a bit more exercise "touring" the airport! By the time we arrived at the carousel, the bags were just about to start coming out.
I had booked our transportation with 1800-Book-a-Limo, which I use for my clients all the time, this is my 3rd time using them myself and they are wonderful! Upon landing, I already had a reminder call to make sure I remembered to call them once I had my bags for directions on where to meet my driver. They then called again while we were waiting for baggage to make sure we knew to call. We met our driver and had a great ride into Manhattan- it was rush hour, so a little more entertaining!
We are staying at the Alex Hotel- what a charming hotel! A member of the Leading Hotels of the World and very "apartment like" when you get to your room- but the staff is nothing short of very welcoming and helpful! We were checked in very quickly and were surprised to see this wonderful room with a kitchen, living/dining room area and separate bedroom. It's really quite the room! We didn't have much time to enjoy this room as we had a 7pm reservation to tour Central Park on a Horse & Carriage Ride. Again, impressed!! The driver texted about an hour prior to our meet time to reconfirm and advise of where to meet. We met our driver and other than it being 40 degrees and COLD- it was a very enjoyable ride through Central Park- our horse "Murphy" was a great horse!
Afterwards, we walked up and down Central Park South to find a place for dinner- we stumbled upon South Park- not a place that I would recommend- but it will sustain life for another day! LOL
Now back at the hotel, getting a few internet things done and even though it's only 9pm in CA- we are bushed an ready for a good night's sleep!
Until we meet again...
Welcome!
I have had a blog that has been more on a personal note with blogs about travel, about my life,
about fitness- but finally decided to make a blog about TRAVEL only!!
This is the place to find some random posts on travel thoughts, things that I will blog about
while traveling (when I can) and really all things travel!! YAY!
Let's have some fun with this!
about fitness- but finally decided to make a blog about TRAVEL only!!
This is the place to find some random posts on travel thoughts, things that I will blog about
while traveling (when I can) and really all things travel!! YAY!
Let's have some fun with this!
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