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Date: 10/20/2000, 3:35 pm ET Message: We then moved on to place du Tertre. BEWARE!! When walking up rue St. Eleuthere which I believe is the street that brings you into this area, you will be smothered by many artists just willing to do your caricature. In fact, do not be surprised if they start doing it while you are standing there. Carol had this experience and before you knew it, the artist was asking for 300F! And the caricature did not really bear much of a resemblance to my wife. This is not to say that this is a total ripoff. But we definitely feel that we were taken advantage of. If you can fight your way beyond these vultures, you will get to place du Tertre which although somewhat touristy is kind of a neat area to hover around and look at some of the finished works of the artists here. There are other neighboring streets worth exploring if your feet are not tired. We found this to be a quiet neighborhood. We started to head back and Carol decided to treat me to glace at the Haagen Dazs on rue Taradieu. Yummy! As we headed back down to the streets below, Carol discovered some neat shops on Steinkerque and rue d’Orsel. She was able to purchase two very nice scarves at one of the shops on Steinkerque. This, of course, was captured on tape! Deciding to relax a little, we took the metro back to our palace. Evening approached and we stopped at a creperie on rue du Faubourg du Temple. Carol had crepe fromage and I had a pannini of jarbon & fromage. After eating, we decided to head off to the Eiffel Tower again to see the light show up close and personal. So we brought the Canon, tripod, and camcorder with us and are we ever glad we did. At 9PM we were eyewitness to the spectacular light show from the Eiffel Tower. Carol took lots of pictures and, of course, I videoed. We got shots from many angles but especially from Palais de Challot and from the fountains and trees down below. Carol also was able to share our tripod with a nice couple from Ireland who desperately wanted to capture a great photo of the light show. What an inspiring vista!! We then headed to the Trocadero metro and headed home. Of course, we had to stop at a McDonald’s to pick up some frites before we got there! DAY 7 - FRIDAY I’m getting nervous. This day begins our last full day in this beautiful city. Already I don’t want to leave. The weather was overcast but mild, good walking weather.

Date: 10/20/2000, 3:40 pm ET Message: We hopped on a metro and headed to St. Germain. One of the most fun things for us during the week were the many street and metro musicians we would come across during our visits to various sections of the city. We heard all types of music during the week. But nothing topped what we encountered on our metro to St. Germain. At one stop, a woman got on with what looked like a small carrying bag. From where Carol and I were sitting, the woman stood no more than two steps away. She bent down, opened her bag, and pulled out a big white sheet. She then opened up the sheet and hung it from supports suspended from the roof of the metro car. At this point, we couldn’t even see her! Crazy thoughts ran through my mind. What could she be doing? No, I thought, there’s no way she’s taking her clothes off. Suddenly, music began. Suddenly everyone’s favorite song began blaring. Yes, Louis Armstrong singing “Down by the River Side”!! I looked at Carol and as our eyes looked at each other the only message they conveyed was – can this really be happening??? And it got even better. Carol looked up and with her hand motioned for me to do the same. I glanced upward and there they were – 2 puppets, dancing away to Satchmo Armstrong doing his rendition of “Down by the River Side”! I turned around to look at the reaction of the Parisians that we were riding with in the metro car and none of them were even looking up from their seats! Carol and I were going hysterical laughing! The unfortunate thing is that about a minute later, we had to get off to switch to another metro line. With all of the taping that I was doing this week, I just couldn’t react fast enough and videotape this “show of shows”!! This had to be one of the funniest spontaneous things I have ever seen in my life! We both feel that this one will be very difficult to top. All Carol and I have now are the crazy memories of this metro act. Only we can share this with each other. But do you know what? I think that’s just great! After we stopped our hysterical laughter, we headed to St. Germain, strolled along the boulevard, window shopped, to rue de Buci, to St. Andre des Arts. We then walked up to the Latin Quarter along blvd St. Michel enjoying the many stores. One of the messages in this discussion group suggested taking a picture of Notre Dame from a small park near St. Julien so we headed off in that direction and sure enough we found the park and got some great pictures and videos. We found ourselves crossing over the Pont de L’Archeveche and again enjoyed the views of the beautiful Cathedral of Notre Dame. At this point I was dying for ice cream and so Carol and I headed over to Ile St. Louis to Berthillion’s. Yes, this is a tourist thing to do. But I must admit the ice cream was excellent, especially Grand Marnier. I had been bugging Carol most of the week about stopping there and I finally got to eat ice cream at this establishment. It was worth the wait! This area of Paris is just great to stroll around. We walked the length of rue St. Louis en I’lle. The many quaint shops offering their wares certainly got our attention. Also attracting my attention was an organ grinder parading down the middle of the street with his partner, a cute monkey. Not having seen an organ grinder in the last week or so (!) I decided that I would video the little critter as he danced to the music. I was maybe 30 feet away or so and his master spotted me and simply held up an object in front of the monkey thereby blocking my view of him! I guess he just didn’t want someone taking a picture or video of his colleague without paying for it. And I just didn’t want to pay him for taking a video. So I just followed Carol around a few stores, came back out on the street and parked myself further up from the organ grinder and his colleague.

Date: 10/20/2000, 3:43 pm ET Message: Then, when he wasn’t looking – yes, I did it. I videoed the monkey using my long range lens! And the monkey was smiling too!! And he didn’t even ask for any francs!!! Feeling a little chilly, Carol and I stopped at Brasserie Esmeralda, a corner restaurant at the end of Pont St. Louis on the Cathedral of Notre Dame side. We weren’t terribly hungry at the time so we just slurpped away on some great French onion soup. Hmmm … Then, getting into the shopping mood again, Carol wanted to head over again to BHV just to see what was going on there. After this, we decided to get a close up look of the Pompidou Center which was only a couple of blocks from where we were. We decided to walk over and check it out. We did not want to go inside. We were kind of tired. In fact, we didn’t even want to go up to the rooftop for picture taking. Instead we just decided to walk around the outside of the building and take it all in. As we got to the open courtyard side where there is room to stroll around, we stopped and gazed at the building. We then blurted out: UGLY! We both concluded that it had to be one of the ugliest structures we have ever seen. The pictures one sees do not do it justice. It’s even uglier in person! I did want to munch a bit. So I ordered a Grand Marnier crepe at a stand off of Place Igor Stravinsky. Tired, we headed home to relax for awhile. At night, we decided to take one last evening stroll in the neighborhood. On rue des Trois Bornes, we found a small Greek restaurant with a couple of tables, settled down, and shared some beef and frites. The owner was very pleasant and very serving. It was obvious he took pride in his business. We enjoyed this. Coming back to our palace, we stopped at a nearby indoor market and picked up some cheese, crackers, and a great bottle of VIN ROUGE! We shared this and began to share some of our thoughts about the great week that was soon coming to a close. DAY 8 - SATURDAY It was overcast and a little chilly. I was getting sadder by the minute. I did not want to leave Paris. And I think Carol felt the same way. We left our apartment for a morning stroll and we stopped at our corner patisserie for a big chocolate cookie. Carol had her coffee. Carol was just finally getting used to the small cups of coffee served by the French. Even the “grande” cups were smaller than her usual morning cup back in the U.S. Nevertheless, she enjoyed her coffee!

Date: 10/20/2000, 3:46 pm ET Message: We went for a walk up Parmentier and Carol was in search of a woman’s clothing store she thought she had passed earlier in the week. I had seemed to remember an area near us that had a number of businesses and after walking several blocks Carol found it. The owner of this business was a Swedish woman who was very pleasant with her customers. She also spoke very good English! Carol tried on several sweater tops and settled on a very attractive purple one. I was happy she picked the one she did. Of course, I videotaped her modeling her selections! We reluctantly started back to our room and once there, we finished our cheese and crackers from the night before. The packing was done (by Carol who is the best suitcase packer in the world) the night before and we waited for our host to come by so we could say our last goodbyes. Our airport shuttle was about 25 minutes late but we still had plenty of time to get to the airport. We bid au revoir to our host and began the journey that would lead us back to the U.S. Our thoughts and emotions of the week we shared together in the beautiful city of Paris will remain with us forever. I know that there will come a time in the future as I am driving in my car that I will think of myself standing on the top of the Eiffel Tower, holding on for my dear life, Carol standing there laughing and videotaping me. Or Carol will be heading over to the mall and she will clearly recall the metro woman doing her Louis Armstrong “show of shows” act. And we will pull down the windows in our cars and yell at the nearest person or people we see and scream to them: “ I would love to do that again! I love Paris!” They will have no idea what we are talking about. I guess they will just have to spend a week in Paris to find out!! TO PARIS: MERCI, AU REVOIR! Bob & Carol * - * - * THE END * - * - *

Please email me a copy too. My girl friend are going to France for two weeks in September.

Ken: Are you awake? The whole report was printed above your response!

My husband and I are going to Paris in June for the first time. We would love to read about your trip.

Would love to get your letter. We plan a trip this Oct. How was the weather in October? Thanks for the information. Kathy

Bob: Your travel journal was wonderful. Your writing reminds me very much of my husbands style - a certain way with words that capture the moment. If you'd like to read our journal from our 1999 trip, visit our website at www.davidandcarol.com. I'm sure you'll see the similarity. We're going back to Europe in May 2001, and I can't wait! Thanks for bringing the memories closer! Carol

Yes, Bob. My daughter and I are headed to Paris late April or early May. I plan to book later this month. Please send me your notes. Thanks.

please send me your trip report. I am going in April. thanks

Bob, Am going to Paris on April 9th for honeymoon. Would like to hear your experiences...thanks.

Come on folks...you can't all be from Palm Beach County, Fl. The report is posted on this thread, just scroll up a short distance to read it for yourselves. Leave poor Bob alone!

JUST READ YOUR EMAIL AND CANNOT WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR TRIP AS MY HUSBAND AND I ARE TRAVELLING TO PARIS IN END OF FEB WHAT WORRIES ME THE MOST IS TRYING TO GET AROUND NOT BEING VERY PROFICIENT IN THE LANQUAGE. LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU

Hi Happy New Year! We were in Paris for three weeks in November and have posted a travelogue about our trip on our web site, TheTravelzine.com. Expect heavy emphasis on restaurants! Regards, Don and Linda http://www.thetravelzine.com TheTravelzine.com is non-commercial

Hi Bob, Would love to read your review. Thanks!

Bob, I'd love to get a copy of your Paris trip details. Thanks. john

Hey you fodorites!! There is also another travel journal written by a guy called David available at www.davidandcarol.com. I found this from a search on Paris when I was researching for my coming trip to Paris. They have wonderful pictures to go with the journal too. Enjoy!!!