Sunday

After a good nights sleep, we both felt much better, so we  headed to the Bastille Market about 9:30. The drizzle became a fairly heavy rain but it may have been a good thing as the crowd wasn't too bad.  We found the Chicken Lady and bought a rotisserie chicken and potatoes, which are roasted under the chickens in the drippings, for tonights dinner.  Also picked up a bunch of white asparagus, hugely big and fat, and a bunch of peonies.  This is one of the biggest markets in Paris and we saw more food today than most Farmers Markets will have in a year.  All of the produce is beautiful and there is lots of cheese, charcuterie,  full butcher shops, fish mongers and quie a variety of hard goods, some junk and some not so bad.  As we both felt like drowned rats, we stopped at a cafe on the Bastille circle for a cafe creme to sit out the worst of the rain.  When there was a lull, weheaded home and put away the food, dried out a little and then headed to saint Paul Village to check out any open shops but most were closed so we walked down to the Seine and walked the lower road as it's closed to motor traffic on Sunday. Crossed at the Pont Neuf and the n boarded a bateau mouche for the cruise, which gives a great overview of Paris along the river.  On the return trip we saw some little patches of blue sky giving us hope for brighter days ahead. The ride was abreviated (couldn't go around the islands) due to the height of the water.  We were feeling a little hungry so walked to Place Dauphine on the Isle de la Cite and stopped for lunch at Rose de France, a long time favorite.  I had onion soup and Leas had scallops in spinach, which she said were the best ever.  From there we headed to the Cluny Museum to see the Lady and the Unicorn followed by Saint Severin church, Shakespeare & Company, Saint Julian le Pauvre church, where the oldest tree in Paris is located and then back home with one stop along the way for a kir as it was after 6.  Had our dinner of chicken, potatoes and baguette about 9 and, after writing this, it's off to bed.

Day 2, Jetlag??t

Neither of us slept much last night so our energy levels were not so hot and we didn't feel much like setting the world on fire.  Therefore we movrd slowly and didn't make our way into the outside world until early afternoon.  It was still drizzeling off and on so we decided to stay close to the apartment and started off by going through the Musee Carnavalet which is dedicated to the history of Paris.  It occupies two mansions and has a permanent exhibit and often a temporary one.  We didn't spend much time there but I found the old shop signs very interesting.  We then visited two gardens - Jardin Francs-Bourgeois-Rosier, divided into sections with herbs, flowers, escallied trees and a childrens section and then the Garden at the Hotel de Sens which is very organized with box-elder divisions for the flowers.  Stopped at a little creperie on rue du Temple for an egg, cheese and ham gallette as we weren't very hungry.  Walked down to Saint  Gervaise- Saint Proteus as I'd never been inside it.  Has a world reknown organ which didn't look like much to us and was on the dreary side but had interesting stained glass as it looked like water colors that ran.  Saw the medieval wall and turret and returned toward home along the Seine for a short while,  Stopped at a Monooprix to pick up a few things and that turned what should have been a five minute trip into a good 30 minutes.  They carry everything known to man in a very illogical manner.  We got through the clothes, cosmetics and found the kleenex but had no luck with paper towels or toilet paper so we went downstairs to the food and went up and down lots of aisles before we came up with the few items we nneded.  Still no tp or paper towels so I went back upstairs to llok again with no luck.  We bought the items we had picked up and asked about the tp and aper towels and were told they were upstairs.  Back up and, finally in the far corner of the store found them.  Then we set off for home with our purchases which always weigh too much when you have to walk a block and climb two flights of stairs.  It's now raining instead of showering so I think we're in for the night and plan on a really good nights sleep.  Hope to get some pictures up tomorrow, but the icon which let me post them has disappeared.

Observation - it seems that every French child between birth and 3 or 4 has a pacifier in their mouth.

First Day in Paris

 After an uneventul, but long, trip we arrived at the apartment about 9 PM, got an instructional tour & the keys and then went out to scout the neighborhood.  Had a lemon sugar crepe, bought a bottle of red wine, went back to the apartment to unpack & get some sleep. The apartment is cute & very functional for a small space.  It's two flights up a circular staircase that people have probably been climbing for 100 years, give or take a few, so the steps are quite uneven.  It was a challenge getting our suitcases up them but we managed without injury. It took a few tries to learn how to get the key out of the lock after turning it to lock, but I've always had some sort of trouble wit french locks.  Today we slept til 10 before heading out to really explore the area in daylight.  Cold & drizzly but not bad, just enough to make my hair go flat and using an umbrella makes it too difficult to take pictures.  We walked all around the Place des Vosges & then all around the Marais.  Stopped in a couple of shops that were on our list & actually open despite the holiday - May Day (Labour Day)- which is a very big one.  Had lunch at Chez Josephine on Place Marche Sainte Catherine.  I had the duck confit with potatoes dauphinois and Leas had steak tartare with fries.  Ver good.  Then walked over to Isle Saint Louis and the Isle de la Cite. As usual, the line to get into Notre Dame was the length of the plaza. Back by the Hotel de Ville where there was a basket ball tournament - 3 courts going in the rain.   Picked up some cheese at Laurent Dubois, a bottle of 2011 Crozes-Hermitage, a baguette & macarons at Pierre Herme for our dinner.  Then we stopped for a kir on rue Saint Antoine before heading home.  All in all, a very good first day & one where we covered a lot of territory.

The Hour has Arrived

I'm just about to leave for the airport & so the great adventure begins.  I'm flying from Orange County to Phoenix (American Airlines) and then British Air to London and then to Paris with a 2 hour layover each time.  I'm expecting everything to go smoothly as the last two times I've flown over to Europe we've had delays that caused missed flights, had to change flights & lost a day of vacation each time.  It's now time for all to go smoothly!  Will arrive in Paris at 7 PM on the 30th, just in time for May Day.  Au revoir.

It's getting so close that I'm at that point of almost gasping for air as I almost didn't believe this would happen & it's time to fill in with a little background on how this trip came about.  Leas always wanted to go back to Paris but said she wanted to go with me & I promised we'd do it, but wasn't convinced it could ever happen.  Last year we just decided that life is short & we needed to do this &, if we didn't do it now, we probably never would so we started looking at apartments & found the perfect one so we put down our deposit.  The apartment is a third floor (no elevator) in the 4th arrondissment at the edge of the Place des Vosges and around the corner from Victor Hugo's house (now a museum).  It's a one bedroom and has a terrace with table and chairs so we can sit out there and have breakfast in the morning & bread, wine & cheese on the nights we skip a regular dinner (and that ain't gonna happen often considering the numbe rof restaurants we HAVE to eat at).  Leas has used the Ulman app to enter every place we want to go (plus or minus a few hundred) and we have a daily itinerary with our planned sights and the restaurants in those  areas. We will arrive Thurs evening & have a restaurnat close to the apartment planned for dinner and I definitely will get a lemon & sugar crepe from one of the street stands for dessert .  Friday, May 1st is a major holiday (Labour Day) so we plan to scout the area, get our Navigo metro passes and make a dinner reservation for later in the week at one of our MUST restaurants that we weren't able to contact online, Le Servan. All the major sites are closed but most restaurants will be open so we have a couple of possibilities.  I plan to buy lots of Lillies of the Valley as they're sold on all the streetcorners of Paris on this day & they're one of my favorite flowers.
Saturday, we'll take a Bateau Mouche, a barge on the Seine, as it's a great way to get an overview of the city along the river.  Sunday, we plan to go to the Bastille Market, a block from us, which is one of the biggest in Paris & we've been advised that we need to be there by 9:30 am so we don't miss the good stuff.  We'll pick up a rotisserie chicken & potatoes (cooked in the fat that drips from the chicken) for dinner that night along with anythin and everything else that looks good.  Then we'll walk through Saint Paul Village for the ambiance and shops, a couple of them look very interesting.  More update tomorrow!  Cannot wait!

5 Days to our big adventure-Sister Trip 2015

After a year of planning,the time has almost arrived snd Leas and I are both super excited.  We already have reservations for 2 lunches, 2 dinners, 2 shows and one out of Paris tour so now, all we need to do is pack and get on the airplane.  I'm going to try and keep this blog updated daily but won't make any promises as our schedule is very full.  I'll do my best and add as many pictures as possible too.  If there is anything special you want to know, just leave a comment and I'll do my best to respond.