Planning

Something I did while planning my trip to Rome was email "Tidbits", (links to interesting things I found while researching) to my friends.
I did the same for Paris.
To see the "Tidbits", you can check them out on my website:
http://www.wired2theworld.com
Click on the Paris trip and "Paris Tidbits".
Tidbits include links to museums, walking tours, markets, festivals, transportaion options, etc.

In addition, I created my own Google Map of restaurants, sightseeing places, shops, etc and this is on my website as well.

Accommodation Search:
The accommodation search for hotels in Paris (3 nights at the beginning of the week and 2 nights at the end) was frustrating to say the least. I must have looked at least 50 hotels in the “under 130 euro per night” range.
We wanted to keep our cost below $200 a night, but it was hard. Rooms at that rate in Paris are not really comparable with what you find for that amount here in the US. Even Priceline did not seem to be turning up much.

I looked at lots of apartments too, but most will not rent for less than four nights and many had high cleaning fees for stays under a week.
Our criteria were that the hotel has to have some charm, have WiFi access, and a good central location. I discovered that most hotels have Wifi, but almost all charge a fee for it.

We kept the choices very “central” compared to where my husband and I have stayed on our last few times in Paris (the 18th and the 9th).

In the end, we selected two different places for our time in Paris. I wanted one on the Right Bank and one on the left so my Mom could get a feel for the different areas. It seems that most hotels offer breakfast, but again for a fee. The years of breakfast being included in the hotel rate are over.

The hotels we selected were:
The Hotel Grandes Ecoles (http://www.hotel-grandes-ecoles.com, 118 euro/night) in the 5th for our first few nights,
La Boisserie (http://www.laboissiere-grandbrassac.com, 85 euro/night inc. breakfast!) in Grand Brassac for our time in the Dordogne,
and the Hotel Beaubourg (www.hotelbeaubourg.com 130 euro/night) in the 4th for our last two nights in Paris.

Planning-Car
We needed to have a car for our 3 days in the Dordogne. The plan was to take the train to Angouleme and pick up the car there.
I always check with Auto Europe first when renting a car in Europe. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. Usually they have the best rates and/or will match anything better you can find. But we waited and the rate went up to $50 a day for 3 days plus an extortionist $50 surcharge for renting from the train station at Angouleme.
Then I checked the British site for Autoeurope and the rates, even in British Pounds were better and did not include the surcharge. We gave our home address in the US and this did not raise any red flags. Plus, I saw various posts here and Slow travel from others who have done the same with no problems.
Later, some of our friends who rented from the US Auto Europe site were "surprised" by the rail station surcharge on arrival in Angouleme (they had booked through a travel agent who neglected to tell them about the extra fee). Our booking form (from the UK site) clearly stated this charge was included in our rate and thus, we were not charged the extra surcharge.

Planning-Train
I used the French railway web site, Voyages SNCF, to buy our train tickets. Look for PREM fares, which are highly discounted, but non refundable. You can print out Prems, but not other types of fares which must be picked up at the station. Set your location to France, not US, otherwise you get routed to the RailEurope website which is more expensive and doesn’t always have the discounted fares. You can try the TGV web site too, which is in English, but also does not always show PREMS.
I was able to find 19 euro each way Prem fares from Paris/Angouleme by waiting and searching. At one point these fares were up to 108 euro each way.

Planning-RER to Paris from CDG
I was nervous here about this, going by myself, even though I'd done it before with my husband. But I didn’t want to spend 40-55 euro on a cab when I could spend 8.40 on the RER and not have to risk sitting in traffic. There is a good web site with lots of details on how to do it, how to buy tickets etc, called www.parisbytrain.com.

Packing notes
One 22” roll aboard, one small carry on bag. That’s it. I’m a little more challenged this time my need to bring “dressy” clothes for the Anniversary event. I would not usually bring a dress and high heels.
You can see everything I packed and how I did it on my Packing page on my website: http://www.wired2theworld.com/BasicPacklist.html

Language:
I’ve never been great with foreign languages. I took 4 years of Spanish in High School and College, lived in Madrid for 3 months, and spoke it for a good portion of my career and yet, I still have problems conjugating irregular verbs.

I’ve also taken Italian classes and listened to CDs in my car, so I have a rudimentary ability in that language as well.

But French? No way. I’ve always left that to my husband who is fluent. To me, spoken French has always sounded like the adults on the Peanut’s TV specials, “Wah wah, wah wah wha wah.”
So imagine my dismay when I realized I would not have my own personal translator along on this trip. This meant I might actually have to learn some French beyond “Bonjour!”.
I downloaded some language CD’s and started listening to them in my car.
CD #1 went well as it was the basics. I must admit I called DH from the car, incredulous, when they got to the counting and the translation for the number 90 is literally four-twenty-ten. Seriously? They could not come up with an individual word to represent ninety?
After that it all started to sound like “Wah wah, wah wah wha wah” to me. I needed more time.
Ultimately, I think listening to the CDs was helpful, but I certainly was no where near able to speak it by the time I left. Still, I did my best!

Great! More, please.

Wow Kristina you are some much more "on the ball" then me!

I just got back from 3 weeks in France last week and still haven't edited all my photos (well, there are 1600 of them!) let alone try to compose my trip report!

I haven't read your whole post yet, but will relish it was glee...I loved your Rome trip report earlier this year!

We seem to be traveling in the same circles this year (Rome and France) and I celebrated my 40th this year too!

nukesafe-thanks!

LCI-No, not as "on the ball" as I'd like. I only have the report and photos done through Day 1. I got home on Sunday and Tuesday came down with a massive, horrible cold. So I can't guarantee how long the rest will take me.
However, I know that if I post here, and not just "for me" on my own web site, then I am more likely to finish it (with all the gentle encouragement I get here).
And yes, we are going in the same circles. You aren't by any chance going to Vietnam next year too, are you?

Kristina, this is wonderful and I love your website. How did you create the map of Paris? I know you created it with Google map but what did you start with, i.e. did you import a map and then add to it? Also, I assume you have to sort of estimate locations since the streets are not marked, correct?

Flight to Paris
October 3, 2008
LAX-DC United Flight 946, Seat 14H

I know I've said this before, but I hate to travel. I like being other places, but I really dislike the process of getting there. Just driving to the airport fills me with anxiety. So, even though my flight is not scheduled to leave until 8:15, and even though I have only carry on luggage, DH takes me to the airport and we are there by 6:15. The day before, I'd managed to score my last flight upgrade to business class for the DC to Paris route, but I still had no assigned seat for that leg, so I checked in at the front desk in Terminal 6 where there is a counter dedicated to United Premium services. Unfortunately, all that was left was a middle seat, and I chose the row at the bulkhead, thinking at least I would not have someone reclining into me and it would be easier if I needed to get up and out.

Because I'm so early, I go to the Red Carpet Room, where I discover that had I not had the international upgrade to Business class, I would not have been admitted with "only" a Domestic Business class ticket. That would have sucked now, wouldn't it?
In the RCC, I'm able to get online (they have free T-mobile wifi cards), send emails and make a free local call. I have a cup of coffee and some little snacks (nothing great).

The plane boards about 1/2 an hour early and is full, even in Business Class. Then we sit and wait. The seats are ok; lots of room between my seat and the one in front of me, but they are not the new "lay flat" seats currently being installed on UA's long haul planes. There is no amenity kit, but there is an offer of a pre-flight drink of water or orange juice. There's no lunch menu (should have been a clue to the horror to come) and there are no AC power ports for laptops, just the "em-power" ports which require a special adaptor (the new business classes will have AC power).

I hear the announcement in economy class that no food will be served other than that for purchase. I think they may be better off. In business, they give us one of the boxed options they normally sell, the "breakfast box" filled with the same, hard, cellophaned pastry as in the RCC, a cup of fruit and, honestly, I can't remember what else. It was dismal.
I can tell the flight attendants hate it too, because with every meal, they pass out a response card to be sent to United. They ask, "are you happy with the meal?" and inevitably, the reply is "no" and they say, "then fill out the card and say that!" I'm impressed with the little act of employee subversion.

During the flight I read and watch the movie "Then She Found Me" with Helen Hunt and Bette Midler. Fortunately my seat mate is working or sleeping throughout the flight and doesn't see me weeping through the movie. It's a bit of a downer, but ends well.

The flight arrives about 20 min late into DC and I need to walk from the far end of Terminal D to the far end of Terminal C for my next flight. In the process, I make the world's fastest RCC stop to check and send another email and wolf down some cheese and crackers. Then I hear they are boarding my flight and I rush down to my gate where they've already boarded 1st and Business. People start to get into the Business line and the gate agent gets testy telling them to move and they are in the wrong place. Yikes!
Fortunately, he lets me through because I have the "golden" ticket. Oddly, no one asks for my passport before I get on the plane.

Louisa- I created the map in Google's "my map" function. Then there's a way to link to it in my web design software.
I just started it by putting in my hotel's address and going from there. Every time I found something I wanted to save, like a restaurant, I entered the address in Google Maps and once it was found, clicked on "save to my maps".

There are some drawbacks to this process, made very clear to me on this trip.
1. It is impossible to print out the google map with information on it.
2. It is impossible to organize the information by location once it is entered and saved to the map.
3. I had to "cut and paste" the text info from the maps into a word document which I could then reorganize by neighborhood and print out to bring with me. But because the places weren't on a map, they were often hard to find. Some streets are long and if you don't know where a specific address is located on that street, it can be impossible to find. This happened to us more than once.

After getting lost driving in the Dordogne and while wandering the streets of Paris, I am seriously considering a GPS unit for my next European trip

IAD-CDG United Flight 914, seat 11E

Champagne is offered along with the pre-flight drink of water and OJ and I take it after the rush down to the plane, thinking, "I'm going to need this if I am stuck in the middle seat". It's the same type of seat as the last plane, but there is a little amenity kit with the usual stuff in it (socks, eyeshade, toothbrush, toothpaste, moisturizer).

An aside: Who are the people who get on a plane with nothing or just a small purse? Do they not read? Do they not carry a camera or anything of value? Is everything in their checked luggage? Are these the same people who put jewelry and electronics in their luggage and then express shock when it goes missing? What if their luggage gets lost? Look, I'm not against checking luggage, though I try to avoid it whenever possible, but how can you get on an 8 hour flight with nothing? Just wondering...

Thoughts on being behind the bulkhead:
Pros: no one reclining in your lap, might be easier to get out.
Cons: people use it as a through-way, especially when boarding, all bags have be stowed for take-off and landing and there's not a lot of room for them when they are down.

As it turns out, my seat is broken. The leg support won't stay up and therefore I can't really rest comfortably with my feet hanging down. Consequently I get no sleep while the guy on my right snores though the flight and the guy on my left puts his eyeshade on directly after dinner and sleeps the whole way.
Speaking of dinner, there's a menu designed by Charlie Trotter to choose from and it sounds much better on paper than it is in practice. I opt for the beef and it has the texture of shoe leather. I've never had another airline meal like the one on Austrian Airlines where there was a private chef (toque and all!) onboard cooking the meal. I have two glasses of red wine in a desperate attempt to sleep and reset my clock, but it's no use.

We land at 6:15, I'm off the plane by 6:30 and on the RER headed into Paris by 7:05. There was no waiting to go through immigration and because I didn't check luggage, no waiting for my bags. I followed the instructions I printed off www.parisbytrain.com and made my way to the RER station where I bought an RER ticket (8.40 euro) and a carnet of 10 metro tickets (11.40 euro).

bookmark

Thanks, Kristina. I think I might try what my friend Monica did last year when we went to Paris. She created a list of restaurants and numbered them. Then she printed out individual maps of Paris and then put the number of each restaurant on the individual map. Each map is 8 1/2 by 11 and easily readible. The maps can be downloaded from France-for-Visitors.com.

bookmarking

I say score for bulkhead! Sounds like this is gonna be quite a trip, looking forward to more of this 40th
celebration!

Hi Kristina, I'm especially looking forward to your description of the Perigord Vert--if that is, in fact, where you were. I want to return to the Dordogne someday soon and am interested in areas outside of where I stayed last time. Expanding horizons and all that.

Also, I had a GPS in the Dordogne and managed to get lost constantly. In a pleasant way.

Please continue!

Kristina,

Looks like we break our streak next year. I'm heading to Russia, but Vietnam is starting to climb higher on my list!

bookmark

Bookmarking for the next installment! Nice TR Kristina.

Louisa-I thought about doing exactly what your friend did, but I was trying really had not to be so OCD. Next time I will let my compulsiveness get the best of me.

Laartista-Hi girl! How are things in Firenze? You owe us an installment!

Leely-Honestly, all the different areas of the Dordogne confused me immensely. We were only there for 3 days and I'm not 100% sure which part! In addition, one of those days was a marathon drive to a winery in the Pauilliac region, but more on that later...

To all those bookmarking, thanks for joining in!

Paris Day 1
October 4, 2008. Paris. $1=1.38 euro

Once on the RER train, I turn on my phone and call my mom's international cell. She's on a train from Germany, headed to Paris and picks up right away, though our call gets dropped after about a minute. She's not scheduled to arrive until 9:50 am at Gare de l'Est.

At the St. Michel RER stop, I switch to the #10 line and get off a few stops later at Cardinal Lemoine.
It's 7:50 am and I walk purposefully out of the metro station and 6 blocks in the wrong direction!
When I hit the Blvd St Germain, I realize I'm in the wrong place and take out my map. Now I have to walk about 10 blocks back up Rue Cardinal Lemoine dragging my bags in the opposite direction.
Uphill.
By the time I reach the hotel, the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles, I am sweating even though it's only about 45 degrees outside.

The hotel has a beautiful courtyard filled with flowers. Of course, it's too early for me to check in, but the lovely young woman at the desk says the room is vacant and just needs to be cleaned.

Suddenly, I am exhausted and can't fathom going back outside in the cold, let alone all the way to the Gare de l'Est to pick up my mom. I try to call her but we get cut off again so I call DH and check in with him. I try to send texts to my mom, asking her to take the metro to the hotel where I will meet her at the Justeau metro stop. But I'm unaccustomed to this phone and inadvertently send the texts prematurely with only a few letters. Later, when I check my phone bill I will have spent $18 that day, much of it by mistake.

An aside: Before going to Rome earlier in the year, I bought a quad band phone on ebay and a global roaming SIM card. This is convenient because I have a working phone on arrival and my number never changes.
Outgoing calls from most countries in Europe are .49 cents a min, but .25 cents more if you are calling another cell phone and incoming calls are free. Texts are .69 cents to send, free to recieve.

Because I don't feel like going out in the cold, I sit in the hotel's office/lobby on an uncomfortable chair outside the dining room where people are breakfasting. It seems like many of the guests are American. I feel like people are looking at me because I'm just sitting there, but I'm sure that's just jet-lagged paranoia creeping in.

Finally, when I think my Mom should be arriving, I walk down to the metro stop to meet her and buy my first croissant along the way. Yum!
I wait, I take pictures of the area and I wait some more. I walk down the street and buy the International Herald Tribune and read it in the square. Finally, I call her and she's still at the train station trying to buy a metro ticket!

Eventually, she makes it to the square and we walk back to the hotel where our room is finally ready.

Hotel Grandes Ecoles:
Our room is very small and on the back of the hotel. There's no TV and no refrigerator. The bathroom is tiny and the grout could use a good cleaning. Wall to wall floral wallpaper and drapes. Beds are not new, at least not this decade.
But it's cute and in a good location. In the summer it would be lovely to sit in the garden, though there's no AC in the rooms. We almost never see the same person at the front desk. Most of them are helpful and nice, but not all. There is internet for a fee and it only works sporadically and has a very weak signal in the room. This later becomes a great source of frustration.

We decide to go out, because if we do not, I will lay down and may never get up.
So, what's the first thing we do in Paris, a city my mother has never been to before?
Do we go to Notre Dame? No.
Do we walk down the Champs Elysees or see the Arc de Triomphe? No.
The Louvre? Non!
We go to a market, the Saxe-Breteuil market to be exact.

The Saxe-Breteuil market is in the 7th, on Saturdays and Thursdays from 7:30-2:30. From the market, one can see a bit of the Eiffel Tower, so I guess it was a little bit of a "touristy" thing to do.
The market is lovely, filled with all sorts of food vendors (meats, cheeses, produce, fish, wine) and a few vendors selling clothing and jewelry. I'm so tired I walk through it like a bit of a zombie, but not so tired I can't buy a cool 5 euro scarf.

From there, we want to find a place for coffee or lunch, but it's getting late. We walk around the Ecole Militaire and the Invalides toward the river. We just want something light and most of the restaurants seem to be pretty expensive in this area. Unfortunately, all my research has not paid off this time and my notes fail me; I have nothing suitable for lunch for this area in them. We walk down the Rue Saint Dominique and check out all the cute little shops and restaurants.

Finally, we end up at a cafe on the corner of Rue Saint Dominique and Blvd de la Tour Maubourg called Le Centenaire. All the side walk tables are filled. This itself is not unusual, but what is odd, is that the tables are filled with people who have giant dogs with them. The dogs are all the same breed and all about the size of a St. Bernard. There had to be at least a dozen of them, some sort of club I assume. I wish I'd taken a photo, because it was almost surreal (or at least it was to me in my fogged-out jet lagged state).

I order a salad with smoked fish and Mom has an open faced sandwich with ham, cheese and and egg, all grilled and melted. Both are good, but my salad is so big I cannot finish it. So much for those "small" European portions. Lunch, including a glass of wine and a bottle of Pellegrino is 26 euro.

From there we walk up to the river and then down along the Seine for a while until we come to the metro stop at the Musee D'Orsay where I finally figure out I have to go back to the hotel to take a rest. The ceiling at this metro stop is covered in a beautiful mosaic.

Hi Kristina - Loving your trip report! I feel like I'm walking in Paris with you. What a great way to celebrate your special birthday. I guess mine will be coming up in several years, so I'll remember to treat myself for a business class upgrade.

Kristina - I'm loving your report. I too wish you had taken a photo of the dogs, And, I am so impressed with your attention to detail and organizational skills. I clicked the link to your Paris trip & read through your "tidbits". Just amazing! And, how kind of you to share all the information from all of your trips. I thank you and I look forward to the continuation of your report!

ttt for later

Sounds awesome, Kristina! Bookmarking to read later. Yes, I like to read all the details.

Kristina, you should know that I had many things to do this afternoon, but nothing got done because of your website!

Rome is my favorite city, so I really enjoyed your pictures and trip report from your March trip. Looking forward to more of your Paris trip.

My best friend and I both turn 40 next year, and are in talks right now about where we should go to celebrate.

Johanna

Gracie- either Paris or Rome would be fab for your 40th. I feel blessed that I got to do both this year.

yk-thanks. I've always enjoyed your reports too.

DeeDee-I know, I'm still kicking myself for not getting any pix of the dogs. I don't think my Mom did either, but I haven't gone through her photos yet.

Now, on to the rest of Day 1...

Notre Dame:

After a rest, we walk over to Notre Dame. The plaza in front is filled with people and there is a huge line to get inside. Suddenly, I smell incense and from right side of the church comes a procession of white robed priests. There must be at least 300 of them.

We have no idea what's going on, but we get in line with everyone else to go inside the Cathedral.
This is where the Catholic Church excels; pomp, pageantry, incense, magic which is all broadcasted on TVs inside the church to the faithful and the tourists alike.
It is so crowded inside that we cannot see anything except on the monitors so we decide to go and come back another time.
Once outside, I look back and notice the two center doors are wide open, giving a view all the way to the back of the Cathedral, something I'm not sure I've ever seen before.

Le Volcan:
For dinner, we go to a place recommended by the hotel called Le Volcan, only about 2 blocks away. Earlier in the morning, I'd heard someone checking out say, "we loved that restaurant you recommended so much we went there twice!".

Le Volcan (10, rue Thouin, 75005 Paris, 01 46 33 38 33, www.restaurant-levolcan.fr) has an 18 euro, 3 course menu which turns out to be one of the best values of the trip.

Mom has Foie gras (+4 euro), salmon, and cappuccino ice cream and I have escargot (yum, garlic and butter!), a "gratin de aubergine" which is a ground beef and eggplant casserole (sounds odd, but it was really good) and a chocolate "charlotte" for dessert. The other diners are mostly French with a smattering of English speaking tourists.
There is a table of six (French, locals I assume) which comes in shortly after we arrive. They are all attractive and tres chic, but one of the men with them is so good looking in that effortless-5 o'clock shadow-too sexy-French way that it's almost painful. It's hard not to stare and my Mom and I just laugh and wonder if it's legal to be that gorgeous.

Dinner for 2 was 57 euro including a glass of champagne (8 euro) and a 1/2 bottle of Sainte Madeline Cotes du Rhone (12 euro).

For photos of day 1, go to:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008day1.html

Really enjoying your TR, Kristina.

Enjoying your report, and the website too.

re: <<...they got to the counting and the translation for the number 90 is literally four-twenty-ten. Seriously? They could not come up with an individual word to represent ninety?>>

There is one-- "nonante" -- but mostly used by the Belgians and Swiss.

And...a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

bookmarking

Oops, yes, Cigalechanta is correct of course. I have been a selfish Fodorite (is that redundant?) and neglected to wish you a big fat belated happy birthday, Kristina!

Happy birthday! Your mom looks beautiful, by the way. Also, please tell her I am not yet 40 and am available for adoption.

Yes, a Happy Birthday, and wjat a great way to celebrate it.

I want to know how you take such wonderful photos and how they come out so large! and What kind of camera were you using. Great pictures.

MMeFifi-Yes, my husband told me about "nonante" (he learned to speak French while living in Switzerland). He said it's not used much in France.

Thanks for all the bithday wishes!

Mahya2- I use a Nikon D40x camera. It's a DSLR and I have two lenses for it, one regular and one telephoto. But I have to say, I reduce the quality of the photos substantially for the web site (so they will load faster). The originals are much better.

Great report Kristina. I am so glad you mentioned the problem with Google maps because after your Rome report, I made one (for Rome) and drove both DH and myself insane trying to figure out how to print it. Glad we aren't quite as dense as we thought.

Do a screen-capture and print that.

MmleFifi-Even if you could get them to print, there's no way to know which knife and fork icon for example stands for which restaurant. You would still have to manually number them once printed.

Tuscan- I don't know, it's imperfect for sure. I just don't think they were meant to be printed and used in that way (which is a shame). I wish there was a better way. Might work on an iphone for example...

Kristina,

I love your attention to detail and the reporting thereof.

Website great too.
Can't wait to read more about this trip.

Kristina:

Great trip report, and lovely photos. And great news re your success with packing carry-on only.

Happy belated birthday---I was traveling (again) this last week and am only now catching up with Fodors.

Looking forward to more lovely days.

Therese

K-the people who get on board with one tiny purse have it full of ambien I think....

Been waiting for your report; tell your mom hello~

I am very much enjoying your trip report and website! Thanks for such detailed reporting. I am sad that you may not finish it today as we are leaving for Paris and the Dordogne tomorrow! (Think you could speed it up???)

One question - how difficult was it to ride the RER (with bags)- change at St Michel and get up to street level at Cardinal Lemoine? Was there an escalator? This route would be a good one for us as we are staying on rue Rollin close to Cardinal Lemoine. Our bags are almost exactly like yours - so just wondering how you managed. Thanks!

blh-Sorry, probably won't get to any new reports until tonight.
The RER wasn't bad, even with the transfers. Yes, you will have to haul your bags up and down some stairs though and there are a couple of long hallways.

offwego-Hi Lori! Will email you...

Therese- hi-been meaning to do some follow up on your packing thread about my trip and what worked (and what didn't).

Aussie-Thanks, more to come soon.

Bookmarking

By the way, next time I fly overseas, I will pay you to come to my house and pack for me. I am such an over-packer. I'm amazed at what you got in a 22" carryon and a small bag.

Oh, and I meant to say this earlier, happy belated birthday!

Johanna

I don't think this will be in time for blh, but one way we handle the RER thing is to take the RER from the airport to a major station then get in a taxi for the last haul.

But we are older and having dragged our luggage from Pennsylvania to Paris is quite enough for us. We get the taxi for that last bit.

Thanks, tuscanlifeedit. Yes, we had thought about doing just that-and for that reason. We could get off the RER at St Michel or we could get off at Luxembourg. I had wondered about taxi stands at those locations. Had also considered riding the Roissy bus and getting a taxi from the drop off.

Maybe I should post a question and get feedback from others as well.

Hi, Kristina. Looking to your adding some cool packing trips to that thread (hmm, must go find link). I've got some more to share myself, having just returned from another trip (which was long haul domestic, but pretty much all the same rules apply).

I love the area around the Place Monge. Moufftard is there, but it really is less touristy feeling than many other areas so close to the center of Paris. I good hotel for the value in a great part of the city.

Paris Day 2
October 5, 2008
"Museorama" Day

Today is the first Sunday of the month in Paris which means most of the museums are free. This also means they are crowded, but no matter, I have big plans for us to take advantage of the cost savings.

You can see a list of what's free when here:
http://en.parisinfo.com/guide-paris/money/free-admission-and-good-deals/guide/free-admission-and-good-deals
At the bottom of that page are the links to what's free on the first Sunday of the month.

Armed with a list of which museums are free today, we set out for the grand-daddy of them all, the Louvre. The goal is to be there when they open, 9AM, and we arrive a few minutes shortly thereafter. It's starting to rain and there's a small line outside the pyramid, but it moves fast. It's already getting crowded inside. Because the Louvre can be overwhelming, I decide we are going to just hit the highlights and I've printed off a 1.5 hour walking tour from the Louvre's own web site. Look for the "accessible self guided tour and click on the printer icon on the first page to get a printable version.

This tour turns out to be a good way to see the "greatest hits" but it's not that well organized. It has us walking in circles, using elevators when we could be taking a much shorter route using stairs. Only now do I realize that the word "accessible" is key here. No stairs. I think the tour is a good one, but some of the directions were misleading or just did not make sense. Use the free map they give out and try to go your own way as well.

Anyway, the tour starts with the Venus de Milo and hits such highlights as the Mona Lisa, The Wedding Feast at Cana, the Odalisque, the Raft of the
Medusa, and my own personal favorite, the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

One interesting thing is that this is the tail end of "Fashion Week" in Paris when all the major designers are showing their lines. Inside the
Louvre taking up an entire courtyard, is a giant tent where it appears some of the shows are being held.

After a couple of hours, we're exhausted and head to the cafe inside the Louvre for a coffee. Unfortunately, the "cafeteria" is closed and only the smaller cafe is open. There's a long line, but we are desperate. The coffee is horrible, out of one of those push button machines, and almost
undrinkable. Bad coffee is an unforgivable sin anywhere in Mediterranean Europe if you ask me. But it's good to get off our feet for a few minutes.

I don't worry about things like coffee when I'm in the city I want to be in!

Kerouac-if you traveled with my Mom, you would worry about the coffee. The woman has to have her coffee, and if it's bad....'Nuf said.

Kristina:
I hear you.

My Mom is like that about her coffee too. Don't even talk to her first thing in the morning if she hasn't had her coffee.

More from day 2...

The next stop on the Museorama tour is the Orangerie. For some reason, every time I've been in Paris previously, this museum has been closed so I'm getting to see it for the first time too.

To get there, we walk though the Tuilleries, taking time to stop and sit at one of the fountains, even though it's very windy and cold. When we get to the museum, there is a long line outside, but we decide to wait because it's clear every time someone exits, they let some people in. The amount of people inside appears to be strictly controlled.

We wait for about 20 min and then we are inside where we find there is a coat check. This is nice, not to have to carry them around with us.

The museum is lovely and showcases Monet's extraordinary water lilies series, lit by skylights. Downstairs, there are other exhibits, but honestly, I cannot remember what they were.

After the Orangerie I look at my restaurant list and see one which I think should be nearby. It's a little wine bar called Le Rubis and it's on Rue du Marche Saint Honore. I look at the map and Rue Saint Honore is close by so it can't be that far, right?
Ok, here's where my list and my map fail me again. The address is #10. When we get to Saint Honore the addresses are in the 300's and we start walking. We walk all the way to the end, near Les Halles, and can't find the place! Somewhere along the way, my mother loses one of her gloves.
I realize that either I have the address wrong or we've missed it somehow so we head for a place across from St Eustache where I'd been on a previous trip. Today the menu did not appeal, so we keep walking. It's now becoming silly (how far we've walked) and we are in imminent danger of breaking Golden Rule #1 (http://www.wired2theworld.com/GoldenRulesfortravel.html).

ttt

re: <<I had to "cut and paste" the text info from the maps into a word document which I could then reorganize by neighborhood>>

Did you know that you can just drag and drop to rearrange places in the left column?

"Did you know that you can just drag and drop to rearrange places in the left column?"

No, but I just tried that and it doesn't work for me. In fact, I tried it twice, and both times it caused a microsoft error which closed internet explorer.
Please, tell me how you got that to work! I'm feeling a little dumb here.

After much discussion, and much more walking, we end up at Le Grand Colbert an old fashioned traditional bistro featured in the movie called "Something's Gotta Give" with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson.

The restaurant is full when we enter and we are asked to take a seat at the bar where we order a couple of glasses of Sancerre and Chablis and are given little cups of olives and freshly made potato chips to snack on. After about 10 minutes of sipping our wine and perusing the menu, we are seated at a table in the front window. We order all appetizers to share; an artichoke salad (12 euro), frogs legs with lots of butter and garlic (16 euro), Chevre with pears and figs (14 euro), and a side of french fries (don't ask why, but they were good!) (5 euro). Everything was enjoyable, though some of the food seemed slightly under-seasoned. Still, it was a relaxing and satisfying lunch. Le Grand Colbert (4, Rue Vivienne, 75002, 01 42 86 87 88, open 12PM to 1AM, non-stop, every day)

Next stop on the Museorama tour is supposed to be the Musee d'Orsay but by the time we get there the line is absolutely enormous and looks to have about a 2 hour wait. Neither one of us is up for that. After consulting the list and seeing there's nothing else in the area we want to check out, we head back to the hotel for a rest.

At the hotel, the wifi problems start. The connection goes in and out. The 24 hour card we bought loses time faster than the actual clock. The people down at the desk are of no help and are unaware that everyone in the hotel who as bought a card has been complaining of problems. My husband manages to Skype me, but we have a hard time keeping the connection and I have to move downstairs to the breakfast room. At least I am able to talk to him via the web cam for a few minutes before it disconnects for good.

<<caused a microsoft error which closed internet explorer.>>

Hmm, just tried it in Internet Explorer and it doesn't seem to work there. In Firefox, after clicking "edit", the entries can be dragged and dropped.

It was also in Firefox that all the icons remained on the map when I clicked "print"-- that's why earlier I didn't know what you meant about not being able to print out the map with info on it. Now I see that in IE, the info doesn't show up for printing.

Next stop on the Museorama tour is supposed to be the Musee d'Orsay but by the time we get there the line is absolutely enormous and looks to have about a 2 hour wait. Neither one of us is up for that.
After consulting the list and seeing there's nothing else in the area we want to check out right now, we head back to the hotel for a rest. But first, we walk through the Place de la Contrescarpe and down Rue Mouffetard a ways. It's here that I can see why some people say the 5th is "too touristy" for them.

At the hotel, the wifi problems start. The connection goes in and out. The 24 hour card we bought loses time faster than the actual clock. The people down at the desk are different than those there yesterday and are of no help because they are unaware that everyone in the hotel who as bought a card has been complaining of problems. My husband manages to contact me on my computer via Skype, but we have a hard time keeping the connection and I have to move downstairs to the breakfast room. At least I am able to talk to him via the web cam for a few minutes before it disconnects for good.

For dinner, we set out with no reservations. Our first choice, a place called Le Petit Pontoise is full. We head out to another which doesn't grab us once we get there and we eventually end up at Brasserie Balzar where even though it appears full we are whisked inside and seated at a tiny table, surrounded by other tourists and given a menu in English.
Brasserie Balzar is a member of the Brasserie Flo restaurant group of which I am a fan. My husband and I have been to their restaurant Terminus Nord a number of times, as well as Bofinger and very much enjoyed our meals there. This, however, was a different story. The menu looked "blah" and uninteresting, and the restaurant was stiflingly hot. I mean, take-off-all-your-clothes and it's still too hot, hot. We look at each other, discuss for about 10 seconds, and get up and leave.

In short order, we are outside in the blessedly cool air and walking to another place called Bouillon Racine, recommended to me by my father in law as a good, basic brasserie. It was also very hot inside, but as soon as we entered, they turned off the heaters over the doorway. It's a very pretty place, filled with lots of Art Nouveau touches.

My mother orders the lamb which comes out braised and falling off the bone. I order the duck and 5 minutes later the server is back to tell me they are out of duck. So instead, I get the beefsteak and while it's perfectly cooked, it's a bit tough and both my sauce and potatoes are lukewarm when they hit the table. We each have a glass of wine and the total for dinner is 47 euro. Bouillon Racine, 3, Rue Racine 75006, 01 44 32 15 60, Open daily, Noon to 11PM

MMeFifi-Thanks for checking that in IE. I thought I was going crazy. Next time I do one of those maps, maybe I will use Firefox!

Kristina,

Thanks so much for posting your trip report - I'd taken a look at your website(and bookmarked it), but I didn't put together that I had read your Italy trip report until you listed your "golden rules" link!

I really like your writing style - well organized and easy to read, but not at all boring in a list off the facts sort of way.

You went in the beginning of October? I know you mentioned that it was 45 degrees one morning, but was it really that cold your entire trip? That's colder than normal for early October right? If not, I seriously have to rethink going back to Paris in early October

Keep up the posts!

Anna- No, it wan't that cold all day, just very early in the morning.
The first couple of days there were cold and rainy. Later in the week it was absolutly beautiful during the day and chilly at night.
I think October is like that; generally "fall" weather and a bit unpredictable from one day to the next.

Photos from Day 2 are now posted at http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day2.html

In addition, I added a few to day 1 because I finally got copies of all my Mom's pictures. I usually come home with no pictures of myself because I'm always behind the camera. But this trip I asked my Mom to take 1 picture per day of me so at least I'd have something with me in it.

Really enjoying your report, Kristina! Keep it coming, please!

Paris Day 3
October 6, 2008

We're a little later than we'd like to be this morning, but we get it together and get to the metro and over to the Musee Jaquemart Andre in the 8th. Admission is 10 euro each and comes with an excellent audio guide to walk you through the rooms.

This is a house museum, built in the mid 1800's by a couple who were avid art collectors. Theirs is an interesting story (married late, no children, traveled the world in search of spectacular art) as is the construction of the house (entire walls fall away into the basement to open up the ground floor into a grand ballroom). We very much enjoyed our time wandering through the rooms and admiring the collection. Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed inside. My other disappointment is that while the tour shows all of their apartments and public rooms, it does not show the kitchen or servants quarters. It seems to be common in houses and castles not to show these "behind the scenes" places , yet these are the things I would find most fascinating.

Afterwards, we decide to go to their cafe/tea room for a coffee. We are asked if we want to sit inside or out. The room inside is about half full and outside, which is really just a covered balcony, only has only table with people at it. We sit outside and are given a menu. When the waitress comes up, she recites the day's specials. We tell her we'd only like coffee and she makes a face and says, in English, "only for lunch sit here." We ask if we can just have coffee and she says no. At that point, we're ready to go. It just seems arbitrary and we are no longer in the mood for coffee or to switch tables "just because" that we take it as a sign and leave.

We set out walking and end up going through the Place de Madeline. We walk all the way around the square, stopping to admire the windows of the many gourmet food shops like Fauchon and to visit the famous Porcher underground bathroom built in 1904 with it's stained glass, decorative wood stalls each with their own individual sinks. You can see more on it where I wrote about it during our 2005 trip here (http://www.wired2theworld.com/paris2005day3and4.html).
We even stop in the Maille mustard store, but buy nothing because it would mean we'd have to check our bags on the way home. I can buy Maille mustard in the US (and yes, I know the fresh stuff there is better, but I don't like mustard that much).

From the Place de Madeline, we walk down the Rue Saint-Honore again, intent on finding the place we looked for yesterday, Le Rubis. By now I have realized my mistake; we had the wrong street, not the wrong address. Rue Marche Saint Honore is not on my map, but there is a Place of the same name and I figure the street must run through it (duh!). And in due course, we find it easily enough, feeling only slightly stupid in the process.

Just thought I would post a reminder here to people about the Paris Museum Pass. You can purchase a pass for 2,4, or 6 days and it gives you unlimited access to many museums and monuments without queuing! In my opinion, just for bypassing the queues it is worth it...but you need to check the museums you want to go to and their prices to make sure. I do not know if someone who purchased the pass and then went on the free Sunday (as Christina did) can still bypass the queues or not.
http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/home.php

Great trip report, thanks for posting.

Kristina I was in Paris the week before you so reading your posts bring back so many wonderful memories.

Did you design your website yourself or have someone do it? Is it hard to set up? I have always wanted one for myself and friends to view.

I have added your Paris trip to my favorites. Thank you so much with sharing all of this with us

Madison-I do the website myself. If you look back at some of my older trips you can see the evolution from when my husband and I started it 10 years ago.
I redesigned it a couple of years ago. Right now I use a program called "Dreamweaver" and I'm completely self-taught, so in general, it's an exercise in frustration and I certainly don't use the program to its fullest capacity.
An easier way to do it is to get a free "blog" which has pre-set templates to use.
For my purposes though, I don't like the blog format of "last post first", I prefer my travelougues to be more linear. Plus, I own the domain name and there's no advertising. I like the freedom of doing my own thing.

Kristina - thank you for your help. I can't wait to explore the rest of your website. It's lovely and SO informative.

Really enjoying your TR and so many congrats on your site.

Is dreamweaver expensive? I have 30+ binders of trips and our little cottage is getting overrun-your site is an inspiration!

Thanks, DR

TDudette-
Funny thing about the binders: I rarely print out pictures from our trips any more so most of my photo albums are 10+ years old. OTOH, I have many boxes of paper from each trip (ticket stubs, pamphlets, etc) and I always say I'm going to scrapbook, but rarely do, unless it's for someone else like my Mom.

As for Dreamweaver, I'm not sure of the cost but I think it's a couple hundred dollars. A friend gave my my copy and it's a few years old.

If you are serious about learning web design, I suggest you take a class and save yourself some frustration. There are a lot of very cheap community school classes out there. I, however, don't have the patience for that and suffer because of it.

There are some other costs associated with having your own web site as opposed to a free blog. There's domain name registration which is about $35 a year (this means you OWN the name and it's not a part of another website), but there are discounts for registering multiple years in advance.
And then there's web hosting. I pay about $10 a month through my ISP. The cost has dropped considerably, I used to pay $25 a month!

There's a "you get what you pay for" factor here too. Beware of registration and hosting offers which seem too cheap. There is usually advertsing associated with them or they may be a fly by night operation which later disappears off the web all together taking your website with them (this happened to my Mom).

Day 3, continued

Le Rubis
Le Rubis (10, Rue du Marche Saint Honore) is an odd little place. There are hand written menus all over the walls, about 7 or 8 tables and a zinc bar.
We think there might be more tables upstairs or in the back, because there is an unmarked door at the back of the bar which people some people walk straight to and go through. We do not know where it leads. Almost every table has what we determine to be the daily special; house made sausage and
lentils (10 euro). My mother orders this and it's fantastic.
All I want is a sandwich. I see a list of them on the wall and ask if I can have one. The proprietress tells me firmly "No!". Because of the language barrier (my lack of French) I have no idea as to why, or which days sandwiches are available. They have bread. They have meat and cheese. So why no sandwich? Anyway, after a little back and forth, it is determined that I will have a charcuterie plate. I am served a plate heaped with two types of jambon, a strong brie- like cheese, a small plate of cornichons and some fantastic salted butter. Oh, and yes, some bread. It's lovely with a glass of their house Sancerre. Lunch for two is 29 euro.

Fragonard
Next on the itinerary is the Fragonard Perfume museum. Fragonard has several stores in Paris but the one near the Opera at 9 Rue Scribe has a museum upstairs. It's only a few rooms, and it's free, but it's interesting to see all the old tools and methods used for making soaps and perfumes as well as the many ancient and antique containers for holding them. It's free and open every day. Downstairs, we checked out all the perfumes and soaps. Seriously tempted, we did not buy saying we would return when we come back to Paris on Friday. Unfortunately, we did not and I am kicking myself now. Lesson learned, buy when you have the chance.

Hi Kristina - We ate at Le Bouillon Racine back in 2005. Based on what I wrote on my TR, we didn't think the food was that great either (some dishes were good but some were a blah).

I've been enjoying your trip report too but a couple of things re webhosting/domain names:

Domain names through godaddy.com are under 10 dollars a year not 35 dollars. To be sure you own the name, don't register at the same place where you have your site hosted.

You can get "unlimited" webspace for as little as 6 or 7 dollars a month these days.

DreamWeaver or any other program is not needed... many places will give you free site building tools if you host with them or you can easily use templates if the actual nuts and bolts of building a site is not your thing.

Rob

yk- Yeah, Bouillion Racine was not bad, just not spectacular. Honestly, most of our meals this trip were "good" but not "blow my mind" (except a Michelin 2 star lunch still to come).

Thanks Rob for the extra info on web sites.
I can only speak from my personal experience.

I register my domain name through Network Solutions just because I always have. Not sure what the difference it with it and Go Daddy. Maybe nothing. Next time I have to register I will certainly investigate further.

I like to have my site hosted through my ISP because I like having a human I can call 24/7 for tech support if I need it, and I have needed it, because I'm not that tech literate.

And yes, of course, there are many options and programs for building web sites out there. I like Dreamweaver because it's flexable and what I know. But it's certainly complicated and I would not recommend it to a novice. I really should take a class...

Hmmm...so much to learn and so little time! I do have a couple of blogs but need to expand. Thanks Kristina and Rob.

End of Day 3

After Fragonard, we go over to the Galleries Lafayette department store to see their truly stunning stained glass coupole (dome) which is over the cosmetics department (7 stories up).
Then we take the escalators up to the roof which has a phenomenal view all over Paris.
Back down on the 7th floor we peruse the offerings at the cafeteria, some of it looks quite good and appears to be very affordable.
Across the street from the main store is the Men's store and on the first floor of that building is the gourmet food store where everything is beautifully arranged and I wish we had an apartment with a kitchen. There are specialty sections for cheese and meat of course, but also sushi, Italian foodstuffs, soups, foie gras, and more. In addition, nowhere else in the world but France have I seen so many different flavors and brands of yogurt. There are 10 flavors of Activia (we only have 3 in the US). I buy some yogurt and a bottle of water even though our room has no 'fridge.

For dinner, we decide to stick close to the hotel and do a quick loop around the Place du Contrascarpe area to peruse the options. We end up at a place
called Le Grenier, which I think specializes in Fondue, though we did not have any. We chose the place because it seemed to be busy yet had an empty table for us. It was probably a little more "touristy" of a restaurant than I prefer, but the food is decent and the owner a very jolly and friendly guy.

There is a large table of British tourists with a guy who is visibly drunk and very loud. Every time he gets up from the table to leave, my mother holds on to our wine glasses, certain he is going to come by and knock them over. The staff is tolerant and the other members of his party, embarrassed. The restaurant quiets considerably when they leave. Service is a bit slow as there is only one server and the owner handling the tables.

We each order off their 16 euro menu. Mom has escargot and a pork tenderloin and I have (another) goat cheese salad and duck confit. We both have ice cream ( a huge sundae) for dessert and share 50cl of house red. Dinner for 2 is 40 euro. Le Grenier (7, rue Mouffetard, 75005, 01 43 54 96 67).

Photos from day 3 are now on my website:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day3.html

bookmarking..looking forward to reading all the great details.

Reminder to Self:
Next trip--get hand held GPS, when she says "it doesn't look far" sit down; have coffee stops planned in advance; left means right; two maps are better than one; and ice cream solves everything.

The best travel companion, for me, is one that will point me in the direction of good food and wine. Kristina is perfect. Can't imagine where she gets that control thing tho. See this picture http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008day1.html it's me HAPPY, that that I am with her on another adventure.

I had spent the previous week in Germany with my boss, her husband and her sister. It was the "Vinnie and the Bimbos" tour... great fun, but with K, I only need to show up for a good time.

PS: Kristina has made me a carry on convert---it can be done, even for someone who owns 85 pairs of shoes! The secret is all in how you get the air out of the bags.

Loved the photos!
thank you both.

Aw shucks mom, that's so sweet!

I have to say, about the carry on thing, I'm so proud of my mom; she did 16 days with just carry on!

And what did I tell y'all about her coffee obsession? Actually, we did much less cafe sitting/ coffee drinking in France than we did in previous trips. Not sure why...maybe because 5 euro for a cappucino (sitting outside at a cafe) seemed steep.

Kristina,

Our similarities are too funny...I recently converted my mom to carry on only too. We spent 21 days in France and did only carry-on. Although we did cheat on the return and checked the bags!

Enjoying your TR (and your website!) and looking forward to the rest.

Kristina, it is so wonderful to continue reading your report for so many reasons including the fact that I am planning a similar trip with my 23 year-old daughter next May. As I mentioned earlier, your website is also incredible. We will combine Paris with a trip to Provence, and like you and your mother, we are also great travel partners. Our last major trip together was in 2006 when she spent the spring semester of her junior year in Rome. I met her in Rome and rented a car so we could see some of the places neither of us had seen before and we had an amazing time. I've enjoyed planning for our upcoming trip, especially since the dollar has improved, and love all the resources you've compiled on your website. Thanks for sharing.

LCI- still waiting on your trip report (nudge, nudge). 21 days with just carry on is quite a feat, I'm sure you had to do laundry? Since our travel style has so many similarities, I do highly recommend South East Asia if you've not been yet (can't remember).

Kristina...

I know, I know, I have very good intentions of writing my own trip report. But I was using a new camera on this last trip with a much higher resolution and it is taking me FOREVER to upload my photos to the Kodak Gallery website, that pesky little thing called work is eating into my photo project time! Plus I can never decide which photos to delete and end up uploading way too many! (1000+)

Funny you should mention South East Asia. I have a friend who is keen on Vietnam and Thailand, they may be in my travel plans in 2010...I can't believe I am thinking that far ahead!

Yes, we did do laundry about half way through, it can be a pain to do that, but I'd rather do it then be loaded down with luggage.

LCI-I hear you about the photos. I took over 860 photos in 8 days. Mine are 10MP and each one has to be edited, cropped, photoshopped, and reduced in resolution to be put on my website. Why do you think it's taking me so long? It's not the writing so much as it's the photos. But I won't move one to the next day until I have everything done on the previous one.

And about SEA, I have one word, "GO!". I've been to Thailand 5+ times and could go every year and be happy. Even took my Mom (it's all on the website). Vietnam will be a new destination for me.

Coming up, Day 4, or, "43 Indians on a Train"

Dordogne Region Day 4
October 7, 2008

We are up at 5:45 AM and out on the street for our pre-arranged taxi at 6:45. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any way to get to Gare Montparnasse from our hotel at that time of the morning via public transportation. At the hotel, they told us when we booked the taxi there would be a surcharge for the early morning pick up and the meter would start running from where ever the cab came from to pick us up. There would also be a per bag charge.

There's 11 euro on the meter when the cab arrives. Yikes. The total cost for the trip to the train station is 19.5 euros.

Once inside the station Mom gets a coffee and I get a croissant. There are dozens of little sparrow birds flying around inside the train terminal and they are quite aggressive when it comes to crumbs. In fact, after one keeps getting the crumbs I toss mid-flight, I hold out a crumb and the bird takes it directly from my hand. I wish we'd taken a photo, but sometimes I just try to enjoy the moment.

We get on the train, #8507, TGV to Angouleme and points South. My first impression is, "these trains aren't as nice as the Spanish AVE high speed trains." Nor do they have the same airport- style security they have in the Madrid train station. I noted the security difference back in 2005 and I'm surprised it's still so lax compared to Spain. Then again, the French did not have terrorists blow up their trains.

43 Indians on a Train...

The car is empty and then suddenly the door at one end opens and a mass of people begins to spill inside. They are all chattering away, loaded down with luggage, looking at tickets, stopping, clogging the aisle and all are dressed as if on expedition in the Swiss Alps with knit caps and scarves.
They are obviously a tour group as they have matching caps or bags with the same logo on them. It's chaos.

A woman in her late 20's, along with her mother, takes the seats in front of us. She is wearing a t-shirt and Levis, the only one not dressed for the arctic.
I ask her if she speaks English and where they are from. She explains they are all from India, specifically the hot southern part called Kerala, which explains the winter wear, even though it's only about 50 degrees outside.
I ask if they are on a tour and she replies "Unfortunately, but now I am regretting it." She is clearly embarrassed by her tour companions, most of whom have obviously never traveled out of their country before.
There are 43 of them and they are on a Catholic tour of holy places.
They are on their way from Paris to Lourdes. After that, they will go to Rome and Israel and Jordan. It exhausts me just to think about it.
She says the chaos is because the tickets the tour company gave them only have the car number on them, no seats, so no one knows where to sit and they keep having to move as other passengers board. She's very sweet and I would have enjoyed talking to her more, but unfortunately they have to move seats again before I can ask her where she learned such perfect English, including such colloquial phrases as "musical chairs".

The trip to Angouleme is uneventful after that, save the non-stop movement of the Indian passengers which includes videotaping the entire train car, walking up and down the aisles sharing a big bag of spiced snacks and the afore-mentioned "musical chairs".

For those reading this and worrying about an early departure in Paris, the métro lines start their runs around 5:15 a.m.

I am surprised that the Indian tour group had no assigned seats. My impression is that when purchasing a TGV ticket, one automatically gets a reserved seat.

Yes, we could have taken the metro, but it would have involved 2 different lines and a lot of walking. Had I been alone, I might have considered it.
Turns out, the passage between the metro and the train station at Montparnasse is very, very long. Had I known this, on the return to Paris I might have considered taking a cab to our hotel, just to avoid the whining.

I was also surprised the Indian tourists had no assigned seats, yet they had no problems with their tickets when the ticket taker came through.

I realize what I wrote was misleading, "there does not seem to be any way to get to Gare Montparnasse from our hotel at that time of the morning via public transportation".
Yes, there is a way. Metro. Probably bus too.
I should have said "no easy or convenient way".

Hi K~
I'm LCI's Momarama.....lovin' your trip report and I think that your Mom is my "new best-friend".WOW..we both packed carry-on and we love coffee and WINE..looking forward to the 'rest of the story'.

Silverswan- I am honored. And I will tell my Mom you post here too! Now if only you can get your daughter to post the trip report and photos...

A little more for tonight...

At the Angouleme train station, the EuroCar office is across the street. We roll on over there and the woman behind the desk is incredibly rude. I think she is pissed because we don't speak French. Or maybe she's just not a nice person.
Snippy, she says, "The car is brand new. You must return it perfect! It must be as clean as when you pick it up today or you will be charged".
Since when do you have to wash and vacuum a rental car before returning it? But sure enough, there is a stamp on the contract that if the car is not clean we will be charged a "cleaning fee". We later learn this same woman is rude to some of our friends who pick up a car in the same place.

I have printed out Google Map instructions for every step of the way between Angouleme and Grand Brassac.
We set out from the parking lot and promptly get lost within 3 blocks.
We drive in circles around Angouleme for about a 1/2 hour until by some miracle, we end up on the right road out of town. In the end, we miss many more turns and it takes us 2.5 hours to go what should take an hour.
At one point, we stop at a Carrefour and I introduce my mom to the joys of the french Hypermarche. Kinda like a Super-Wallmart and always a toilet when you need one. Also a good place to buy clothes, food, house wares and have a meal in a decent cafeteria. David and I stopped at many while doing our RTW trip because the cafeteria meals were a really good budget option.

Finally, we arrive in Grand Brassac and find our B&B, called La Boisserie.
It is an absolutely lovely old manor home. The owners, Dominique and Caroline de Mercey have lived here for 4 years and have turned it into a 4 room B&B since buying it. Both speak a fair amount of English. There is both a cat with a predilection for love nips if you pet her "too much" and a very happy big yellow dog.

Our room, the Agapanthe room shown on their website (link at top of report), opens out onto the garden in back. It is enormous and the bathroom is as big as my bedroom at home. Someone here is an artist, or very connected to the art world as there are modern art paintings on the walls of the common room and many art magazines and books. The decor is somewhat "modern" but done with impeccable style and taste and mixed with antiques. There's a pool for use in the summer and I find myself wishing I had a week here just to read, write and relax.

But we have things to do, places to go and people to see! So after a tour of the property by Caroline, we head out to find our friends and the Chateau Marouatte (http://www.chateaumarouatte.co.uk/).

We find the Chateau with no problem. It is only a 5 minute or so drive from the B&B along a narrow country highway. We pull in through the gates and yep, it's a freakin' castle! Wow.
After finding people in the kitchen and getting reacquainted with everyone, our friend C. gives us the grand tour. The place is incredible and huge. We get to go in all the towers (which have bedrooms in them), see all the rooms, and even check out the pigeonaire which once housed 3000 pigeons! I find myself wishing my husband were here because I know he would love exploring all the nooks and crannies and opening every little door.
The castle even has a resident cat named Lily. Much to everyone's joy, she is a big love and is completely spoiled throughout the duration of their stay.

You all still with me here? Sorry it's taking me so long, editing all the photos for the website is agonizing and takes forever.

End of Day 4
After our castle tour, we leave with a plan to return at 6:30 to join everyone for a casual dinner. We discuss the menu with our friend M. and then the guys are going to go shopping and come back with food for dinner. We offer our assistance with the cooking.

Before going back to the B&B, we take a drive a nearby town called Bourdeilles. It's an adorable little village with a river running through it and a castle of it's own. Unfortunately, the castle is closed on Tuesdays and it's starting to rain, so we make a quick stop in the tourist office, grab a map and do a short loop walk around town before leaving.

At 6:30, we go back to the chateau and of course the shopping party is no where to be found. After a some discussion about the possibility of dinner not being served until 11:30, Mom and I decide that we will insist on being allowed to cook dinner. We drink wine, and eat fabulous cheese and local pate while we wait. It's not exactly a hardship.
When the guys return, a little after 8PM, we grab the bags and M. very graciously allows us to cook. Mom and I go into full party cooking mode (we do sit-down Thanksgiving dinner for 25 every year...), with everyone else pitching in to help.
We make potatoes roasted in duck fat with garlic and herbs, sauteed haricot verte (green beans) with lemon and garlic, and other friends make a fantastic salad. I do a green peppercorn a poivre sauce, substituting scotch for the brandy because we have none and it works just fine!
But the most fun to cook are the steaks. M. has bought two huge packages of thinly cut beef steak. How to cook them all at once with no grill? Fortunately, in the kitchen there is a gas stove and a wood burning stove which has a flat surface on top. C's dad stokes the wood stove extra hot and I cook the steaks, all 18 of them, on the flat top like I'm back in the restaurant ( I used to be a chef). Somehow we manage to get dinner for 14 on the table by 9:30PM.

M. and I sit together at one end of the table, the two of us celebrating our 40th birthdays this month. We all have a champagne toast and fantastic red wine (purchased at a local winery) with our wonderful meal. It's very late when we finally make it back to the B&B.

Kristina, yes I'm still with you and enjoying every word. I am so impressed. Not only are you a great writer/photographer/blogger but you are also a chef!

Louisa-thanks! I'm glad someone is still reading.

I forgot to add links to the photos.
Page for day 4:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day4.html

Extra photo page with pictures of the Chateau and the cute town of Bourdeilles
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008castlephotos.html

Hey Kristina...

I'm still "hanging" with you too!

The similarities just keep mounting, not me, but my sister is a chef. I'm not much of a cook, but I am a very appreciative eater!

Question for you...I think in an earlier post you mentioned something about compressing your photos so they load faster to your website. I'm trying to figure out a way to store my 1400+ pictures on CDs but since I shot my photos on this last trip at 8 megapixels I can't even fit 20 photos on one CD! Any helpful hints you can give or should I just break down and buy an external hard drive to store my ever increasing number of photo files?

Sorry to hi-jack your trip report with a technical question. On the bright side I am gearing up to start writing my own trip report...look for it in the next few days...I promise!

Kristina this is great!

I had to laugh about Angouleme. You should have seen my friend backing up the car in traffic, after missing, for about the 5th time, the entrance to the highway! Every time I read the same I think of how much trouble we had just finding our way THROUGH that town, never mind negotiating our way OUT of it as you did!

LCI- I don't mind the technical questions. As for the photos on the website, I don't compress them, I actually make them smaller, reducing both their size and resolution sometimes to as much as 10% of the original. So I actually have two copies, the small one for the website and the the original.

I highly recommend you buy a back up drive for your photos and your computer in general. I learned the hard way about this after a complete computer crash once. Back up drives are very cheap now; it's easy to find one under $100.
Unless your computer's HD is very small, you shouldn't have to take your original photos off completely.

Also, do you have a DVD burner on your computer? DVDs hold much more than a regular CD so you can fit a ton of pictures on one DVD.
In a perfect world, you would back up your photos to both; a back up drive and the DVDs.
Note to self; time back up computer and burn some photos to DVDs.

Eks-did you actually spend time in Angouleme? It looked like a cute town from what we saw of it, going in circles. Did you go to the market which was in the center of a square with traffic on all sides? I think we drove around that at least 6 times!

Kristina: No. We were driving from Cognac to a village near Albi via Brantome. We did not enter the core of Angouleme but kind of circled it, looking for the continuation of the road we were taking. My friend who was driving got so fed up that she actually backed up on an entrance ramp of an autoroute..we eventually got straightened out but it was touch and go for awhile!

Kristina,

Thanks for the "technical" info. I posed the same question to a co-worker and he suggested the same thing. Yes, my computer does have a DVD burner so that may be a quick fix option for now. I'm going to look into getting the external hard drive too.

Dordogne Region Day 5
October 8, 2008
The Longest Day...

We are up early with the plan to be at the Chateau to meet everyone by 8 AM.
Because of this, we have arranged an early breakfast with Caroline and when we get up and go out into the common room, there is our fabulous breakfast all neatly laid out for us. There is coffee, tea, juice, yogurt, fruit, all sorts of jams, butter and feshly made fruit bread. She apologizes because there is no baguette; the local bakery does not open until 7:30. Pah! Who needs baguette when you have all this?

The plan for today is to drive all the way to the Pauilliac region to visit the Chateau Lynch Bages winery. We have an 11 AM appointment for a tour of the Chateau and the winery for a tasting.
Obviously getting a large group of people together early in the morning is a challenge. Utimately, there will be 10 of us going in 4 cars and the trip is supposed to take 2.5 hours.
Three of the cars have GPS and of course, ours does not, so we will be following and will have M's large Michelin map book for all of France with us. In addition, we have hand written pages of directions for us from the GPS unit.

Finally, around 9:30, we all set out together and for the first 20 minutes or so, everything seems to be going along by the directions. Then, suddenly, we are not following the directions we have. I look at the map. Nope. We are not on any of the roads listed.
Hmmmm, what to do? Everyone seems to be going along, so we follow. I can see from the map we are going in the right direction in general, but at some point we need to head south to hit the main autoroute. I wonder why we don't.

After about an hour, we need to make a pit stop, but there's no way to communicate with the other cars and we have no pre-arranged signal. We see a Intermarche and decide to stop there, taking off on a round about, flashing our lights. They keep going. We figure, we have a map, we can catch up! Our stop takes less than 5 minutes and we are back on the road again.
We immediately take a wrong turn and realize we are on the wrong road. My mother makes a u-turn and almost gets us creamed by a semi. At this point we are pulled over on the side of the road looking at a map when we hear "beep! beep!" It's C and K and they have come back for us, bless them! How they found us, we'll never know, but we can't thank them enough, because without them, we would have been hopelessly lost.

We continue to follow them, and while doing so, I am following the map. I can't figure out where we are going because it looks like we are headed straight for water and there is no bridge!
Eventually, we get to the end of the road, and it is a town called Blaye. Blaye looks to be a cute town, and the large local market is in full swing as we drive by. But unfortunately, they do not have a bridge to Pauilliac and there is a large body of water, the Gironde blocking our way.
What they do have is a ferry, for which we have missed the morning crossing, and the next one is not for another 6 hours.
Our only option is to go south to Bordeaux so we can go north to Pauilliac which will take us at least another hour or more.
At this point I am seriously considering staying in Blaye and going to the market. But there are people waiting for us, so we push on, knowing full well we are hopelessly late. Our only consolation is that most likely the other two cars are late as well.

Still here, enjoying the report. Great Dordogne photos. I hope you'll post more!

We are still here. Loving your photos and a belated happy birthday!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Yes, of course, there will be many more photos including the towns Brantome and Perigueux.

But first, Pauillac (which I misspelled above) and a Michelin 2-star lunch...

It's around 12:30 when we finally arrive at Lynch Bages winery. It's closed for lunch and we have a hard time finding anyone. Finally, we find someone who confirms that yes, we missed the appointment as did our other group.
At first we have no idea where they've gone to, but then we learn they have tentatively rescheduled the tour for 4:30 and they've gone to a local restaurant for lunch. One which just happens to be at a Michelin 2-star Relais & Chateau hotel and restaurant called Cordeillan-Bages with chef Thierry Marx.

Back in the car and we drive about a half mile to find the hotel. We walk in and the restaurant is in the back. We have to wait at the front desk, feeling a little like the country cousins come a-callin' while someone goes and gets C so we can find out what the plan is. We're told that we need to hurry if we want lunch because it's almost over.
It seems to take forever and a day but finally, C comes out in his orange t-shirt and jeans and suddenly I don't feel so Beverly Hillbilly (I'm happy I decided to wear a nice jacket and pants today). He invites the 4 of us to be their guest for lunch. Unfortunately, the other guys have already been seated and have started their meal so we have to sit at another table.

The dining room is light, airy, and very gracious, with French windows overlooking the vineyard. The service is absolutely impeccable and everyone, from the servers to the bussers to the Sommelier speaks perfect English and can answer questions in detail about anything on the menu. The only awkwardness in the service was a Sommelier who seemed at a loss on how to recommend a "reasonably" priced bottle of wine.

And the menu! Whew! It's presented in a small blue square cardstock cover which opens to a black and white photo of a slice of onion with the Chef's name in small print. Then, it opens further and there's the menu on creamy white paper, in French only, with appetizers ranging in price from 40 to 48 euro, main courses 45-60 euro and desserts at 25 euro.
Somehow, that makes the 3 course menu (any two courses plus dessert for 90 euro) seem like a relative bargain. We all opt for the menu since that's what the other guys are doing as well. Because the menu is only in French, we are taken through each offering by the server with a full description in English.
The meal ends up being much more than the 3 courses we each order; there are multiple amuses, plus 2 extra desserts, plus petit fours. By the end (heck, by my main course) I am stuffed to the point where I cannot even contemplate a wafer thin mint. I really tried to pace myself, but it's so hard not to try everything.

I did not take notes, but I did take photos of almost every course and plate. I also have a copy of the menu. I will do my best to recreate it for those of you who are foodies and are interested in the details, but not here on Fodor's. I'll post a link when it is on my web site.

You had me salivating at the description of the menu...how sad am I!

Looking forward to the link to the food photos!

I spent several days at Cordeillan-Bages several years ago. We did Ch. Lafite Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild and La Tour. Interesting trip.

Kristina this is so wonderful. We were in Paris and the Dordogne last month so I cannot get enough. Also I've put your website in my favourites. Thanks for this.

No room even for a waffer? Wow, I want to see the photos of this lunch.

Leely, you got my reference!

Perhaps I will post the page with the meal before I finish the rest of day 5, just for you guys. I am working on it right now!

Gracejoan-I wish we could have stayed there. It looked very nice and peaceful. Plus, staying there would have prevented the drive from hell back to Grand Brassac, but I am getting ahead of myself...

Sometimes I feel like that character that Shakespeare puts in all his plays that stands to the side and actaully explains what's going on. Well,ok, explains from my side.

I will not pre-empt this fantastic tale about our trip, and tell what actually happened (from my side)when we returned from the Dordogne, but it involves car washes and, yes, I'll admit much whining about maligned mothers and badly done maps. For those of you familiar with New York, think about going from Times Sq/42nd St to the 8th ave train underground, with luggage.

The taxi ride from the hotel to Gare Montparnasse was my first ( and hopefully the last) experience with a French Taxi driver..and I did it without coffee!

I have taken taxis from Bangkok ot New York, and if the best are in New Orleans, the French take the worst prize. Gee, I so hate paying for rudeness. especially when I haven't had my morning coffee.

And about getting out of Angouleme, well, let's just say that the getting out was a happy accident, that has nothign to do with knowing which direction is right or left, north or south.

Note to self: GPS GPS GPS.

For those waiting for the GREAT LUNCH description, it is worth the wait. I don't know whether it was the best meal I have ever eaten, but it was certainly the most intense eating experience. I will be grateful to our friend C. for letting me be part of this.

When we sat down, I said to K "Don't be shy, get your camera out, and take pictures. She turns to me incredulously, "Are you kidding? this will be the most photgraphed meal of all time." I love my kid.

Kristina and I have had a lot of great meals, that is one of the best parts of traveling together. we have a similar outlook: " Nice church, what's for lunch?" "Great museum the Louvre, can we snack now?"

How cool is my mom?

Honestly, I didn't think the French cabbie was rude, just expensive. He was nowhere near as bad as the one in Madrid (think back on that one Mom) or even some of the ones in Bangkok.

Ok, the fantastic meal is posted!
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day5lunch.html

Still working on the rest of day 5...

OMG Kristina, that looks delicious!

After such a big meal everyone pretty much decides they are too wiped out to do the tour of the winery and chateau. So, four of the guys leave to drive back to Ch. Marouatte and the rest of us recuperate for a while in one of the sitting rooms of the hotel.
Then we go back to the winery so C. can see about buying a Magnum of their wine for a friend. At this point, all I want is a nap, but we end up getting an abbreviated tour of the inside of the winery and a short tasting of two of their wines.

After the tour, C&K say they are going to drive to Bordeaux, walk around and have dinner. Mom and I decide to follow C&M back to the Ch. Marouatte because they have GPS and we don't feel like trying to navigate another city. So once again, it's back in the car with the map, playing "follow the leader".
On the highway going around the city of Bordeaux, we encounter a massive traffic jam because of an accident.
I wish I could say it was a surprise, but we actually crossed over the highway and saw it, and yet decided to get on it anyway.
"How bad can it be? We only need to go about a mile on this road, according to the GPS."
How bad? Really bad.
It takes us almost half an hour to go one exit and we have to get off because Chris needs to get gas. Oh, and beware that not all French gas stations take US credit cards. They have to try two and eventually just pay in cash.
This endeavor takes almost another half an hour and we end up getting back on the highway in the same place we got off. Oh yeah, and it's raining!
Finally, we make it to the auto route toll road (the one we should have taken in the morning) and we're able to go very fast for most of the way back.
Ultimately, it takes us almost 4 and a half hours to get home.

Photos from day 5:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day5.html

Food porn. Incredible. I will have to return to the Dordogne just to have lunch.

And yes, Kristina, how could I ever miss the waffer reference? I won't think too much about what follows in that scene.

I haven't forgotten, I just had to take a couple days off. Now, to continue...

Dordogne Region Day 6
October 9, 2008

We have a relaxed morning and are able to enjoy the wonderful breakfast at La Boisserie. The plan for the day is equally relaxed; a short drive around the countryside to see some of the local towns and then the grand dinner tonight at the castle for the 20th anniversary celebration.

The first stop is the town of Brantome. This is a picture-postcard French countryside town. It sits on a river, with houses built into caves along the road, cobblestone streets and a 400 year old abby. It doesn't get much prettier than this.

We walk around, check out the tourist office (inside the abby) and take lots of photos of the gardens, the river, and the streets. At one point, we run into our friends C&M and C&K who are in town to find the Poste, where they hope to cash traveler's checks to be able to pay the balance on Chateau rental.

At a grocery/ butcher which specializes in all things "Perigordine", I buy a 200 gram can (12 euro) of house-made Foie Gras for DH as consolation for him missing the trip.

From Brantome, we drive to Perigueux. We don't have a map of the city, so we just follow the signs to "centre-ville" and look for the "i" tourist office signs as we get closer. The center seems to be far from the main highway but we finally get there and park in an underground lot across across from the tourist office. There, we pick up a free map with a walking tour of the historical center.

While walking though the medieval streets headed for the Cathedral, who do we run into? Our four friends who were just in Brantome. We walk with them for a moment but then head our separate ways as they have reservations for lunch at a special restaurant. Mom and I wander the streets and squares, perusing the menus of various restaurants, looking for a suitable place for lunch.

Great report, Kristina. Really enjoying it.

I am LOVING this trip report too. And the pictures are amazing. Your making me want to rent a car and do the French road trip thingy.

Thanks, Therese.

Mamaw, glad you like the photos. I'm working on the ones for day 6 right now.

We settle on Cafe de la Place at 7 Place du Marche a Bois. It's too chilly to eat outside, so we sit inside where the cafe looks as if it's changed little from the 1930's. The menu is only in French and no one seems to speak English. No matter, I have my Patricia Wells menu translation guide (http://www.patriciawells.com/glossary/atoz/glossary.htm) and we muddle through.

I decide I want something "light" for lunch and order the Salad la Perigourdine for 12.50 euros. Mom goes for the "Menu La Vigneronue" which includes the appetizer, main, and dessert of the day and a 1/2 carafe of red wine for 15.80 euro.

My "light" choice turns out to be the Heaviest Salad Ever Created. It includes gesiers (gizzards), lardons (thick chunks of bacon), copeaux de foie gras (a large slab of pate), magret (duck breast, rare), and pine nuts. Oh yeah, and there are some vegetables under that mountain of meat too. I can only finish about half of it, but I remember it fondly. Besides the pate, I think the gizzards had to be the best part; they had been just sauteed and were still warm when they were put on top of the salad.

Mom's first course is a simple lentil salad with sausage and a vinaigrette. It's fantastic; great flavor and the lentils are cooked to perfection; not too hard, not too soft. Her main course is beef with a potato gratin. It's decent. Dessert is an unmemorable pastry. Not bad, just not memorable.

After lunch, we check out the cathedral and then head back to the B&B for a rest before dinner

For those who don't already know, gizzard salads are one of the best things available anywhere in France.

In supermarkets, there are vacuum packs of gizzards in the refrigerated section meant to be incorporated into (usually frizzy) salads at home.

Kerouac-I remember one of the things that impressed me the most about French supermarkets when traveling there 10 years ago was the selection of prepared and frozen escargot. Yum! We could just throw them on a tray and pop them in the oven and they were fantastic. That's not something you see in the freezer section of US markets.
Honestly, if the salad had just had "gizzards" I probably would not have ordered it. It was the other ingredients which interested me- I just wasn't expecting there to be so much of them on the plate! And the tastiness of the gizzards was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Anniversary Dinner at the Chateau Marouatte

The evening is spent with friends at the Chateau where they have arranged for a catered meal to be held in the castle's "banqueting suite".
We start the evening in one of the chateau's salons where we have canapes and a champagne toast to the happy couple. Everyone takes photos sitting on the big throne chair, including the cat, Lily. At one point as the sun is setting, a bat flies in one of the large open windows. It circles the room for about 5 minutes before finding its way back outside.

We head out across the lawn to the banqueting suite for dinner. This room, inside the former stables, is decorated in medieval antiques including a couple of suits of armor and has a roaring fireplace almost big enough to walk inside. There is a wonderful, huge, kitchen decorated in Provencal tiles connected to the room where a private chef is there to prepare our meal. M has bought flowers in town for the centerpieces and C selected the local wines with his usual knowledge and care. Everything is perfectly planned.

Dinner starts with a pasta with leeks and langoustines which is followed by a course with scallops in a pastry with a saffron sauce. Wine flows and many toasts are made. Next comes a shot glass of gazpacho as a palate cleanser and then a plate of deliciously rich, pan seared foie gras. Lily the cat joins us for a while and jumps to the top of the 15 foot mantle to survey the room. Dessert is a fantastic cheese board and petit fours.

When we leave, we have to say goodbye to everyone because we are leaving extremely early the next morning to catch our train. While we're sad to be leaving, we're excited to get back to Paris.
At the car, I realize I've left M's huge Michelin map book at the B&B and now I will have to carry it all the way home. I am furious with myself because this book weighs at least 3 lbs and my carry on bags are already very heavy.
Note: C. thinks this is hilarious and makes fun of me even after we get home and I return the book. That's what friends are for!

Hi Kristina, what a great report! I'm looking forward to reading about the next few days in Paris. The photos of the Michelin 2 star meal are fantastic, what a wonderful experience!

"Nice church, what's for lunch?"

If you ever write a travel book, that HAS to be the title, promise me.

"Nice church, what's for lunch?"
If you ever write a travel book, that HAS to be the title, promise me.

LOL! Absolutely, I promise.
I realize I probably shortchange the sightseeing in my reports, but really, after a while those 15th century churches start to blend together. Fortunately, I have lots of pictures, and those from day 6 will be up soon.

Photos from Day 6 are now posted.
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day6.html

Brantome is beautiful--great photos. The anniversary dinner also looks perfect! I need to cultivate more friends who hold celebrations like this...

Hi folks, I'm back after a short pause to elect our 44th president!

Dordogne to Paris Day 7
October 10, 2008

We're up at 5:30 in the morning so we can make it to the train in Angouleme. Both of us are a little nervous because of how much we got lost on the way here that we want to allow plenty of time.
The night before, as we were leaving for dinner, we'd asked Caroline for the bill so we could settle up. She didn't have it because "that's Dominique's responsibility". She told us they would leave the bill in our room and we could leave payment. So this morning we leave our euros for them and I am honored by their trust in us to do the right thing. Caroline has left us a thermal carafe of hot water for tea and cake for breakfast. I take a slice with me because it's just too early to eat. We haul our bags out to the car in the dark and we're on our way by 6 am.

On the way into Angouleme, we stop at a coin operated car wash and scrounge enough change to rinse off the car but not to vacuum it. Then we stop for gas to fill the tank and Mom gets more coins so we can go back and vacuum. Needless to say, the scary woman at the EuropCar rental counter made an impact. We have to drop the car in the parking lot and the keys in the mail slot because the office is not open before our train leaves the station across the street. Before we leave the car, I take about a dozen pictures of the inside, outside, and odometer as "proof" if there is later any problem.
A couple of things to note; we drove over 700k on less than one tank of diesel gas. That was the only time we had to fill the car and the tank was still 1/4 full. A month after being home, we've heard nothing from the car rental so I assume the car was cleaned to their satisfaction.

The train ride back to Paris is uneventful and we arrive back at the Gare Montparnasse around 10:30 am. Our hotel is near the Center Georges-Pompidou so we need to take just one metro to the Les Halles stop.

Little did we know that it would feel like a 5 mile trek just to get to the metro station. Up and down escalators and stairs, through long hallways and connector tunnels, we walked and walked with my Mom whining after every turn of a corner where we discovered there was still further to go. We should have just taken a cab.

When we finally get to the Les Halles stop it's another 6 block walk to our hotel, the Hotel Beaubourg.

This hotel is a little more expensive (by only 12 euro) than the Grandes Ecoles, but I think I like the room a little better. The bathroom is nicer and more modern. The room has a TV with CNN and a small mini-bar 'fridge.

Our room is on the first floor and has two large windows over-looking the street yet noise does not seem to be a problem. Yes, there is bright blue and yellow toile wallpaper, but it's not so bad; at least the drapes are a solid color and the closet is mirrored instead of papered. There are centuries-old wood beams crossing the ceiling. Finally, there is free wifi in the lobby and because our room is right above it we have an excellent signal in our room.

Your story about the car cracked me up.

I too hired a car from EuropCar in Germany one time and got the same tirade about returning it spotless. So we dutifully cleaned it all up and then about 10 km from the car rental place, I crashed into a brick wall. Gimme a break, it was icy. Not a lot of damage, but it was a brand new fat-daddy audi and the dent was pretty nasty.

We dropped the car off, and same as you, no one there to "report to". I took photos of the damage, knowing I would be hearing from them.

I never heard a word. No charges on my card. Nothing.

I'm pretty sure because it was so clean.

PS....Your mother should spank you for making her WALK all over France in her pretty shoes. Heh.

Kristinia:

Thanks for your trip report.

Barbara and I will be spending 16 days in France this coming May. We are working on our French language skills.

Your comment about the Patricia Wells food glossary was helpful. I have downloaded it and find it quite extensive.

How did you manage to carry this with you? Is there a small version I can buy?

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

James

offwego- you always make me laugh. Loved the car story.
And to be fair to my mom, while she does have a fabulous collection of shoes, she is much more practical when it comes to travel. And it was quite a hike! But at some point there's nothing you can do but keep walking...

James- I copied the Patricia Wells food dictionary into Word.
Then, I reformatted it to print like a booklet, with print on both sides of the page.
Next, I formatted it to print in two columns on each 1/2 page, like a dictionary, and reduced the font to be very small.
In the end, I had a booklet that was half the size of an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and used about 18 or 20 folded pieces of paper. It took some time to get it formatted to something I could carry, but I found it very useful.

Great report. Tagging.

I just read your report from your website. Your pictures made my heart thump a little faster with awe and excitement. Now I must return to France.

Thank you for whisking me off to Europe for a moment or two and rejuvenating my traveling spirit.

~mebe

Hi Mebe! Nice to hear from you. You know how much I enjoyed your Rome report too. Though I do think you ate entirely too much pizza!

The Best Falafel in the World

So here we are, back in Paris! The world is our oyster and what to do? Go get lunch of course!
One of the places I'd read about repeatedly in my research is a place in the 4th called L As Du Fallafel (32, Rue Rosiers 75004, closed Saturdays). People gush on and on about this place so even though I am not particularly a huge falafel fan, I want to try it. It is in the heart of the old Jewish quarter and we are surrounded by lots of other falafel stands, signs in Hebrew and people with tables on the sidewalk selling supplies for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

When we arrive at L As Du Fallafel there is a line of about 20 people stretching down the sidewalk from the counter window. Fortunately, I'd read about the process in advance. In order to move people along as fast as possible, there is an order taker standing on the street. "What do you want?" he demands. I order one special falafel with "everything" (yes, I'll take the spicy sauce please) and a drink for 7 euros. I pay him and he gives me a slip of paper with the order on it. I know there are other things on the menu there and with more time, I probably could have figured out how and what else to order but this was going to be fine for the first time.

When we get to the window, I can see the guys moving a million miles an hour; frying eggplant, rolling falafel, assembling the sandwiches in the pitas. They are all in a hurry and woe be the indecisive diner. The head guy barks at me and I repeat my request for "everything" and a soda and soon I have a giant pita stuffed with fried falafel balls, eggplant, cabbage, spicy harissa sauce, and tangy yogurt. It is heaven in my hands and I don't want to share (though I do). Everywhere we look, there are people standing in doorways, leaning up against the walls, eating a messy, drippy falafel. I wish I had ordered another. I wish I had one right now.

After our falafel we head over the Musee Carnavalet which is nearby and the museum which covers the history of Paris. The entrance is free and the museum is housed in two old mansions. I know this museum is a favorite of many and because I've never been before, I want to see it for myself. I may be alone here, but I'm not impressed. It seems poorly organized and because the descriptions are only in French, it's very difficult to understand what everything is. I think if I were to go again, I'd make sure I had a good guidebook which explained everything in English.

From there, we walk to the Place du Voges where I try on hats for about 20 minutes in a tiny shop. Unfortunately, I don't find anything which suits me. We contemplate having a coffee in one of the numerous places which line the square, but once again, the prospect of a 5+ euro cup of coffee dissuades us. Next time, I promise to suck it up, and spend the money to "enjoy the ambiance".

Mom wants to find a food market she's read about called Marche Enfant Rouges (39 Rue de Bretagne 75003) so we walk in that direction. We are now in the wholesale fashion district. There are tons of stores with fabulous things in the windows but none of them are available to us; they all have signs posted they sell to the trade only. We find the market and it's underwhelming because by the time we get there most of the stalls are closed. However, there are some restaurant type stalls still open. One selling Moroccan cous cous looks particularly good, but instead, we finally get our coffee a stall selling Italian foodstuffs. The guy behind the counter is Italian and get get to order my "due" cappuccino in Italiano. Grazie. Prego! The coffee is wonderful and probably the best of the trip.

I know, I know... I'm a boring eater.

Kristina...

Now I'm really going to have to go back to Paris to try the falafel! I had that place on my list, but just not enough time to eat everywhere we wanted to!

Good for you that you finally found a good "cuppa joe" in Paris, figures it was at an Italian place! With no disrespect to the French, coffee is not their strong point!

Next stop is back to Notre Dame Cathedral where it is still crowded, but not like last time. This time there is space to sit in the pews and enjoy the stained glass for a moment. From there, we walk over to St Chappelle, but the line is all the way down the block and we don't want to wait. So there is still one thing (actually there are many) for me to do the next time I come back to Paris.

At this point, it's late in the afternoon, so we head back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before dinner.

For dinner, we walk back across to the river to Le Petit Pontoise (9, Rue Pontoise 75005) where we had tried to eat earlier in the week. Again, they were full, but we ask if we can eat outside. They look at us like we're mad, but agree. This turns out to be a good choice because the inside of the restaurant is ungodly hot and I doubt we would have been able to sit through a meal in there. I still can't understand why the minute it gets a little chilly outside the restaurants are all super heated. We also start a trend; two other tables of Americans ask to be seated outside after we were. In my mind I could hear the staff whispering to each other, "those crazy Americans, they all want to sit outside in the cold!" The staff are all young, college age kids though, so I don't think much phased them. In addition, they spoke great English including one without any trace of an accent (he said he'd gone to college in South Carolina).

We shared an appetizer of beet and goat cheese salad which were little discs stacked atop one another with sun dried tomatoes and basil. It's a nicely presented dish and tastes wonderful. From what I can see of the appetizers on other tables the first courses are all "prettier" than the main courses, but everything tastes good. I'm not feeling great and need something a little plain for my main course so I order comfort food; roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. Mom has a wonderful rack of lamb after being brought the wrong dish first. Dinner for 2 is about 65 euro with a glass of wine and a bottle of Pellegrino.

Kristina,

Can't believe I've been to Paris 2x and I still haven' been able to get top L as du fallafel, partly because I've always wondered if it was worth the hype. But after your description, I'm so mad at myself for not making more of an effort!

Glad to hear the instructions you gave about ordering at the take-out window...I never realized there would be people going down the line taking orders! Seems very intimidating and very soup Nazi like. Was the inside rest. just as crowded?

Anna-Wait until you see the pictures! Yes, I'd read it was very "Soup Nazi" and it was. I was also glad to have read "instructions" before going.
We didn't even look inside, so I don't know if it's crowded, but I've read you can sit if you order in there.
There were at least 2 other Falafel places on the same block so if you go, make sure you have the address.

Another vote for L'As Du Fallafel! Although I had many fabulous meals in Paris, I still remember this as one of the best and cheapest. My friend Monica and I ate inside and while it was packed, we didn't have any problem getting a table or getting served. Note that they close Friday evening for the Sabbath; I can't remember if they reopen Saturday night or Sunday.

LouisaH-My notes say they are closed on Saturdays. Glad to know eating inside is as easy as outside.

I have an amendment to this past day's post.
In between lunch and dinner...

At this point, it's late in the afternoon, so we head back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before dinner, stopping at the Place Igor Stravinsky next to the Pompidou to take in the funky modern art fountain. The fountain is in full swing with the components spinning and spitting water. We won't be going into the Musee Pompidou this trip because I've been a couple of times and Mom does not like "modern" art, but I highly recommend it both for the art and the excellent view from the top. Here are some photos from inside the museum from our 2005 trip:http://www.wired2theworld.com/paris2005day8.html

Kristina, Loved your report and pictures. Cool artwork also-how did you pack it? Even though they aren't an exact match, they share a "look" so I think pairing them anywhere will work well!
My DH is crazy over goat cheese on toast-he'd love the goat cheese salad!
OP is spending a month in Paris-what a luxury eh?

TDudette- I have to admit that artwork is still unframed, 3.5 years later. They are a non standard size and professional framing is really expensive. I've just never gotten around to getting it done. I really should...
BTW, you weren't referring to me spending a month in Paris were you? We were only there a week...but the report is taking me a month to write, LOL!

Ok, photos now online for day 7:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008day7.html

Only one more day to go...

The link didn't work for me. Anybody else?

Try this:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day7.html

I have no idea why that first link did not work except that the "D" in day was not capitalized.

Must have been the big D in the URL...works fine now.

Lest Fodorites think I let every gen x french shop-girl make me quake in my "pretty shoes" ( I do have some really nice shoes). I will just say this: I deal with really scary people EVERY day. I mean, I sell ad space in a down economy---and that's scary, and I sleep fine. I rarely wash my own car, let alone a rental. But she had me: I had visions of charges appearing on the Amex for years. I do admit that getting change and going back to vacuum might have been over the top...

offwego, I swear that the walk thru Gare Montparnasse to the metro made the trek over the stones at Baeng Malea (http://www.wired2theworld.com/Cam2007SiemReapDay4.html) seem like a walk down 5th Ave.

And yes, I do hate modern art, well not all of it, but what comes up for me most of the time is WHY?

As far as the falafel, well let it suffice to say that if she wasn't my daughter, I would have run away down the street with it, and not shared. Having eaten falafel from Fairfax Ave to Tel Aviv, I can truthfully say that this was THE best. It might be reason alone to go back to Paris. we should ahve bought three.

I agree that coffee is not a French strong suit. I guess coffee and Fois Gras would have been too much to ask the food gods.

Now you've given away your secret about being a slow writer.

Will see if I can find the monthies.

Kristina,

Thanks for putting up the pictures for Day 7. I've always admired your photos, and the one at the very top of Paris at dusk(is that the Pont Neuf?) is very lovely.

The falafel sandwich looks incredible - no pictures of the man taking the orders? I'm pretty sure if you did, he would probably kick you out of the line...no falafel for you!

I was showing the pictures to my sister, and she was wondering what the Jewish holiday of Sukkot was for - do you know?

Anna-
Thanks, I love that photo too. I know it's not the Pont Neuf, but I'm not sure which bridge it is.

I don't personally know much about Sukkot.
Here's the wikipedia link about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot

That bridge is the Pont Notre Dame.

http://lefildutemps.free.fr/paris/pont_notre_dame.htm

I have a great picture of one of the order takers at L' As du Fallafel but I don't know how to post just one picture. I have it on Kodak Gallery and Picasa.

Kerouac-I knew someone here would know which bridge that was, thanks!

Louisa-You should be able to post a link to your photo if you have it in an online album.

Kristina, I attempted to do that but it seemed like it was showing all my albums but maybe not. Also, the link was really long and I don't know how to do those tiny urls. If you would like to email me, I could email the picture to you. My email address is:
LHefty @ aol.com (without the spaces obviously).

Okay, I think I figured it out. Here's a picture of one of the order takers from L'As du Fallafel:

http://tinyurl.com/5h59kr

Louisa-thanks for posting that photo!

Paris Day 8
October 11, 2008

This morning we get a late start, but the goal is to head up to Montmartre. We take the metro to the Anvers station and walk up the uber-touristy street which leads to the Place Sainte-Pierre at the base of the Basilica Sacre-Coeur. Rather than taking the little tram, we walk up and up and up the steps to the church. Along the way, we can see they are setting up fireworks for the annual food and wine festival tonight.

When we get to the top, the view is enshrouded in clouds. There are already dozens of tents set up for the festival all around the perimeter of the church. There are wineries, bakeries and all manner of food vendors selling tastes. A foie gras sandwich can be had for 7 euro. There's a vendor selling raclette, another with a 6 foot wide pan filled with sausages and onions, and another selling oysters and wine together. But it is too early in the morning for me for wine and the foie gras or sausages just sound too heavy so we opt for a simple baguette with some tasty salami instead.

It's already very crowded here and we try to get inside the church for a look around, thinking it might be a respite from the hoards. It is not. The Basilica is full of people moving at a snail's pace in a clockwise motion around the church, snapping photos inside even though there are signs asking people not to. This is a pet peeve of mine. I want to take photos too, but I follow the rules. Why can't they?

We walk back down to the base of Montmartre where the carousel is and there are half a dozen young African men accosting tourists wanting to tie string bracelets on their wrists. They will then ask you for money, even though they say the bracelets are "for friendship". It never ceases to amaze me how many people fall for this and then stand there and argue with these guys. People really need to learn how to forcefully say no and walk away.

We decide to walk a bit down Boulevard de Rochechouart and check out all the Tati discount stores. We buy nothing and get on the metro at Barbes-Rocheechouart and go back to the 4th. We spend a little time looking for a cafe I have on my list, but aren't impressed with the menu once we find it. Instead, we settle for a seat at an outdoor cafe near the Hotel du Ville and have a mediocre lunch of goat cheese salad, omelette and a carafe of wine (26 euros). It feels nice to sit outside in the sun though so it may have been worth it.

After lunch we walk over to the Paris Photography museum (5, Rue de Fourcy, 75004 metro St. Paul or Pont Marie) http://www.mep-fr.org/us/default_test_ok.htm . This is a small museum located in an old mansion with exhibit rooms on 4 floors. It's very interesting and there is both a small permanent collection, and a larger series of temporary ones. There was one about shoe fetishism and a rather disturbing one with photos of people with raw meat in a room in the basement when we were there. Still, it's worth a trip if you are into Photography.

After the museum we wander the Ille St. Louis for a while and stop for a Bertillion ice cream cone. Honestly, I am not impressed with my Salted Butter Caramel; the scoop is miniscule for 2 euro and it's just not as fantastic as everyone says it should be. We walk back to the hotel to have a rest and stop in a tiny church which I think may be Saint Gervais (from looking at my map).

Kristina, thanks for continuing to take us along on your wonderful journey. What is the annual food and wine festival at Montmartre?
I couldn't resist taking the picture of the guy at L'As du Fallafel. I thought he was adorable.

Yes, I meant to put a link for the festival, it's on my "tidbits" page.

http://www.fetedesvendangesdemontmartre.com/
The bottom of this page has a translation in English.

Hello Kristina,
Just finished reading about your wonderful trip. I'm thrilled someone else experienced the festival at Monmartre because I was there on October 11th as well! This is the 2nd time I've been lucky to see it while in Paris (it tends to take place the 2nd weekend in October). I laughed when you mentioned the oysters! Did you see all the people standing around eating them? They couldn't shuck them fast enough! It was a bit early for me for oysters, but not everything else - including wine!

A note to LouisaH - it remains one of the best parts of my trip! We arrived at Sacre Couer early AND hungry because we know there are dozens of tents set up with delicious foods & wines.

Sitting on the church steps with sandwiches, fresh olives, desserts & drinking wine, gazing at that view...it's so simple but nothing beats it.

-Roberta

Roberta, I wish I'd had more of an appetite. If I'd known what I know now, I would have gone a little later in the day. Or rather, we should have just set out with the intent of making that "lunch".

I got a photo of the guy shucking oysters and I'll make sure to put it on my site when I post that page! Usually I love oysters, but the last two times I was in Paris, I got sick after eating them. So, I don't know if it's a coincidence, but I'm a little gun-shy about eating them there now. Maybe next time...

I ate oysters quite a bit during this trip, usually for an appetizer at dinner. That's probably why they didn't appeal to me late morning at the festival. But that didn't stop others! I was reluctant to eat them again, especially at that hour (didn't want to press my luck) so I just stuck to the basics. Funny, the wine they were serving so early in the day didn't bother me a bit.

The first time I went to Paris was a few years ago in the summer, to celebrate my 40th and the same for my friend. We've been back two more times since, in October, and my friend has been waking up in Paris for her birthdays. My sister (no longer forty) comes to celebrate as well. Isn't it great? Happy belated birthday Kristina.

-Roberta

Kristina,

Thanks for putting up the list for the annual food & wine festival at Montmarte, but I can't figure out the english translation.

Did you get to try other ice cream places besides Berthillion? I can't remember there names, but it seems like many people are saying these new places are much better than Berthillion. When we went, we really did like some of the flavors we found at Berthillion, but the scoop size was quite small. Wow - totally forgot they were 2 euros a scoop...it must have been that whole, "Oh, we're in Paris - who cares how much ice cream is!" attitude that makes you think money used on trips is somehow of different value!

My sister's new thing is trying salted caramel ice cream, and she really wanted to try Berthillion's one day - was it too sweet? Or was it just...blah?

Anna, I don't think there really is an English translation at the bottom of the page, but it doesn't matter. The basic gist is that this is a wine and food event, as well as a cultural and arts event. Bottom line-eat, drink,and be merry as I hope to do again next year.
Oh, and I love oysters and wine. I think I will try Amorino instead of Bertillion, although on my last trip I tried neither.
Kristina, thank you for your continual posts and insights, and Roberta, thanks for your helpful comments.

Yikes! Sorry about that link. I just looked at it. I copied it off my own web page, and when I originally posted it, it was different! And at the time, there was English at the bottom of the page. Oh well, sorry about that! But basically, what Roberta said was right, the festival is every year, usually the 2nd weekend of October.

Anna-Yes, there was more ice cream, that same night as a matter of fact. But now I get ahead of myself.
I am a HUGE fan of salted butter caramel ice cream after making it at home for last July 4th. It was SO GOOD I had to make a 2nd batch so I wouldn't have to give it all to my guests!
I got the recipe at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/index.html. He's a US expat pastry chef living in Paris and he wrote a book about ice cream. He also recommended the 2nd place we tried that day, but you're going to have to wait for that one.
As for Bertillion, it just wasn't "great". Could not taste the salt, portion was way, way too small. Don't know what else to say except "over-rated".

Kristina,

An ice cream cliffhanger But, I'll try to be patient. My sister has been going to different food blogs for about a year now, and I've been to Dave Lebovitz's site before - I really like his site and all his insights into living in Paris. I'll let my sister know his recipe for salted butter caramel was good.

Did you have other flavors at Berthillion? We got to try a bunch of them over our week there, and my two favorite were the blood orange and a chocolate ice cream with bits of orange zest in it(can't remember the name). I'm hoping you give a detailed report of your next ice cream place, including portion size

Do you have any tips with traveling with family? I remember on your Italy trip you had rules everyone followed when traveling with friends - did you make different ones for traveling with family, especially parents?

DS and I traveled with our friend last year to Europe, but never with our parents. It's not definite, but DS and I may eventually get to Europe with our parents. I'm really interested in finding out things you would either change or stick to when traveling with family.

Loving your report but must say, we have better ice cream in Cambridge/Boston than any that I tasted in Paris.

Sorry I haven't finished my writing, but I've been very busy with work. I promise to get more done this weekend.

Anna, no I did not try anything else at Bertillion. I can't remember what flavor my mom had either.
As for traveling with family, I think the same general rules apply.
My 5 Golden Rules are here:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/GoldenRulesfortravel.html
I've only really traveled with my Mom (in terms of "family") so I really can't speak to anything else. I DO think it is important to choose your travel companions wisely, be it family or friends. I have some friends I love dearly but would not travel with and I think the same goes for family. Regardless, if they are people with whom you have not traveled before, it's important to have several discussions before the trip to get all the expectations out in the open (money issues, travel styles, sightseeing goals, etc). I would not travel with anyone who was not willing to discuss the details first.

cigalechanta- I think I'd have to agree with you. In general, Paris is not an ice cream "Mecca". Rome, well, that's another story. There is something about Gelato in Italy which is almost impossible to duplicate outside Italy.

Hi, Kristina,
this is a great report. You took a lot of time and really gave us a sense of what these places are about.

As a small token thanks to you, I spent about 10 minutes and figured out the wine you have (can't tell the year, sorry): Chateau Pavie Decesse

Check out this website, the labels are clearly the same when you blow up the photo on your website:
http://tinyurl.com/64akte

The Internet is so cool!

Have not read such a good report for a long time .Wonderful and many thanks. Love KrisMom's pictures as well especially of the food . A delight . I always think one can judge a city / place by its food , coffee and bread -----and maybe its ice cream as well .

Just read the golden rules! DH's Aunt Polly says, "You can't be a doormat if you don't lie down!"

Here's to many more trips! Dudette

5alive-thanks so much for figuring out the wine for me. That's awesome!

John-I'm so glad you enjoyed the report. FYI, all the photos on the website are taken by me unless otherwise noted (with the exception of course of the photos of me, taken by my Mom).

Tdudette-glad you liked the Golden Rules.

Ok, now on to the rest of the trip...

After our rest at the hotel we set out walking to get to the Vendettes du Pont neuf boat trip for the 7PM boat which would be perfectly timed for a sunset trip.
Along the way, Mom wants to have a coffee and we stop by several Starbucks to try to get her one, but at each one the line is out the door! Who knew it was so popular and what happened to "cafe culture"?

I'd printed out a discount coupon from the boat company's website and this saved us 2 euro each. If you buy your tickets on line in advance you can save 4 euro per person. While the tour is touristy, we really enjoyed it. It only lasts an hour, the perfect amount of time to go up and down the river and see all the beautiful buildings as the lights come on.

By the time we got off the boat we were hungry and wanted to check out a restaurant called L'Entrecote which serves, you guessed it, steak. That's all that's on the menu; steak, salad, fries. The address I had was in the 6th so we walk there from the boat and when we arrive, the line is down the block. People in line said they had been waiting quite a while and the line was not moving. We abandon our plans for steak and go to the restaurant next door, not wanting to march all over Paris in search of our last supper. The meal was decent, not spectacular.

The last stop on the food tour was Grom Gelato which I had read about on www.davidlebovitz.com . This was the best gelato of the trip! I had the Salted Butter Caramel again and it is served with Pink Himalayan Salt (ask for extra). It was fantastic; much better quality and value than Bertillion for 3.50 euro a scoop.

We end up walking back to the hotel the long way. I thought we could cut through the Louvre and somehow we got a little turned around inside. But it was a fortunate misfortune as we got to see the pyramid all beautifully lit up at night.

Paris Day 9
October 12, 2008

Our flight back to the US is not until 12:30 and because we do not have to check luggage, we leave the hotel at 9 and go over to the RER stop at Les Halles. We manage to buy our tickets and take the train out to CDG with little drama.

Unfortunately, when we get to the check in lines at United all hell breaks loose. The United computer terminals are all down. It takes us almost 45 min waiting in the First/ Business line just to reach the ticket counter and when we do, we get shuffled from one computer to another because they continue to have problems. In addition, they tell us they want to check our luggage even though what we have is well within United's carry-on rules. We say, "no thank you" and take our chances.

Finally, after some sort of miracle we have our boarding passes in hand and head to passport control. When we get there the line is enormous, snaking back and forth. There are only 3 or 4 windows open for about 500 people. Oh, and can someone tell me why there are no bathrooms up here? I would have had to go back downstairs, through another security check, to find one.
I wait. Impatiently.

After about 30 min we are through the line to the other side and we head for the Red Carpet Room where we are told we should not stay and should rush to our gate which is boarding. We make a quick pit stop and walk/run to the gate where there is another security checkpoint.
I take off my shoes, coat, scarf. I pull out my liquids and my laptop. I put everything with my bags on the belt and push it though the x-ray machine. I walk though the metal detector no problem. I start to reassemble all my stuff and they ask to open my bag.
"No problem", I say.
The TSA agent pulls out my can of Foie Gras and says, "You cannot have this".
"Why not"?
"Because it is not allowed"
"Why not?"
"Because it is in a can."
She then tries to tell me "cans" are not allowed on the plane because they could be dangerous and sharp if they are opened.
I want to say, "if you are doing your job right, no one will have anything on the plane to open a can" but I keep that to myself. I also want to say that the foie gras is dangerous only to my arteries but I don't think she'd get the joke.
Then she tries to tell me the foie gras is a "'liquid". Please, since when? Finally her supervisor comes over and tells me I cannot have it because the can says it is 200 grams and nothing over 100 grams is allowed. That would be fine, if it was a liquid, but it is not. Still, into the bin goes my luscious Foie Gras.

Finally, we get on the plane (no problems with our bags by the way) and we are in the last row of business class. The flight attendants are very sweet and commiserate with me on my loss of Foie and bring me a champagne. The flight is delayed because of the computer problems and we keep seeing people get on the plane just as we think they are going to close the doors. Because we are in the last row, they run out of everything before they get to us; newspapers, customs forms in English, our choices for food. I watch Hancock and try to sleep. No luck.
Arrival in DC is a bit more of the same chaos; there is a huge line to go through immigration and we are concerned we might miss our connecting flight. But, we make it through in about 40 min and have a quick stop in the RCC for a snack as the food on the plane was inedible.
On the flight back to LA my video screen was broken so they gave me a voucher for a one segment upgrade on a future flight (within 1 year, unlikely to happen). I am thrilled to see my husband waiting for us when we come down the escalator at LAX. As much as I love to travel, it's always good to be home.

Thanks for being patient and coming along for the ride everyone.
I'll post a link once the photos for this day are done.

Great report, Kristina. Thanks for sharing.

"As much as I love to travel, it's always good to be home."

-- I completely agreed.

Wonderful trip report and an excellent travel escape.

I'm looking forward to the pictures...

Kristina...

Thanks for a fabulous trip report...it felt like I was traveling right along with you and your mom...well, we almost were!

Another coincidence...when we were going through security at the Nice airport on our way home and the agent pulled out the 6 cans of foie gras my mom had (all different types). He eyed them up and down (they were all neatly stacked together in netting)and he was ready to confiscate them until he held them up to his supervisor and she OK'd it...guess she didn't want to deprive us of the coveted foie! When we got to NYC to spend the night before going back home we promptly moved the cans to a larger suitcase and checked it through!

We'll be enjoying the foie with friends at Thanksgiving (if mom relents to sharing!)if you want to hop on a plane and fly across the country you are welcome to share our foie!

LCI-I just don't get it. There seems to be no standard for things like Foie Gras. I'm sure you had more than what would fit in a quart bag if it being "liquid" was the issue. Honestly, I think it was just random. Had I known, I would have (probably) checked my bag, though given all the chaos of checking in I was afraid the bag would not make it home.
In addition, I could find no definitive answer as to if it was legal to bring it back into the US. Had I made it onto the plane, I was prepared to declare it as "food" but I would have risked the same randomness as to if I'd be allowed to bring it in.
Did you declare yours upon arrival to the US?

A distinction should be made between foie gras and pâté de foie gras. It is illegal to import the latter because it contains pork fat.

Kristina,

Thanks so much for finishing your trip report, although it's sad to see it end. I think it's wonderful that you were able to share the trip with your mom.

Thanks for posting about Grom Gelato - do you remember what district it was in?

Kristina,

We did not declare food items. We just assumed (maybe wrongly) since it was in a can and we didn't spend over the $700 or $800 (I can't remember the exact number) allowance we didn't have to declare it. We may have just been very lucky this time around.

Anna-Grom is in the 6th, at 81 Rue de Seine.
After I got home I discovered (thanks to ekscrunchy I think) that Grom is a small chain, mostly in Italy and they have two stores in NYC.
http://www.grom.it/eng/index.htm

LCI- Technically, you did have to declare it because it is food, nothing to do with value. You could have been fined if they'd found it. I always get nervous about that stuff, figuring it would be "just my luck" to be caught if I didn't declare it. I've never declared food coming back from Europe, but now for some reason, I'm more nervous.

Michael-I think you might be right. What I had was just the liver so they might have let me in with it. OTOH, it seems like there is no clear answer, even on the US Customs website which I checked before we flew home. It seems to be up to the whim or interpretation of the customs agent. I asked our passport agent on arrival in DC if I would have been let in with it and he said "probably not", so who knows?

Last week at CDG I had one of those tiny vials of eau de cologne samples confiscated "because I don't know what this is" -- you just never know!

kerouac--couldn't you have put that in the 4 oz or less ziploc?
And when he asked, opened it and put some on your wrists?

I recently spent some time trying to figure out what I could bring on the plane or not as well--my brother wanted some foods from home. I found the Homeland Security website rather ambiguous.

kerouac--couldn't you have put that in the 4 oz or less ziploc?
And when he asked, opened it and put some on your wrists?

It was so small, I hadn't even noticed it in the bottom of my toiletry bag. Anyway, next time I buy something at Sephora, they'll just dump another handful of those things in the bag.

Finally.
I am done.
The last of the photos are now on my website:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day8.html
and
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008flighthome.html

Don't know why that last bit of work is always the hardest to finish.

Thanks to everyone for following along with me.

Kristina,

The amount of work you have put into your website is amazing. I have had a great time looking at the photos from your trips, especially Paris and Rome.

Thanks again,
Johanna (who will be celebrating my own big fat fortieth in May!)

Looks like a great time. I noticed your mom is wearing a very mischievous smile the last day or two. France must agree with her.

Now I must go review your Rome trip because I'll be heading out the day after Christmas. Thanks for all the work you put into your website--I for one am making use of it.

Johanna-Thanks! It really is a labor of love for me. Hope you get to do something fun for your 40th!

Leely- I'll have to tell my mom about your comment. Have a fantastic time in Rome!