Please tell us we will see photos, include you and wife. Please!!!!

What a great report! I'm looking forward to seeing the photos (hint, hint)

I'm glad the trip home was a bit easier for you than the trip over.

TR

Marvelous report! Thank you!

Your report, along with so many other Fodorites, has inspired me to plan my first trip to Paris with the hubby in Sept 2007. I only hope my holiday is as wonderful as yours!

Hope you post your pictures!!

Camelbak, you won't be disappointed!!! And we'll try not to steer you wrong either...

I'd just about given up hope, but you came thru!! Chez Fernand is our favorite too and we've never been disappointed. I dream about their braised endive and roquefort tart tatin!

sorry to have to tell you but I haven't read da Vinci Code either..and I never saw Seinfeld!!

Thanks Tom; great to catch up with your wanderings again

MaiTai -- just a wonderful, fascinating, funny, great report. You should write guidebooks for the places you travel to!

It sounds like you ate well, drank well, walked well (finally!), and totally enjoyed being with your wife in Paris! Bling-bling just adds to the experience! Go Tracy!

The Eiffel Tower and Rue Cler are two of my favorite places in Paris despite what others feel! When I first set my eyes on the Tour, I KNOW I'm in my favorite place on earth!

Thanks again for taking the time and energy to write this great report.

Waiting for your wrap-up!

Hope the leg continues to be that of a 25 year old!

joy/luvparee

Tom, just want you to know reading your terrific trip report made me so homesick for paris that I checked on airfare from DFW and was so pleasantly surprised that in about 1 week I have cleared my job schedule, lined up a [very] small studio in the 6th, and booked my flight!!

I leave feb 23rd for my first solo overseas foray!! Thanks,lynda

Tom, you outdid yourself again. You're an inspiration to all of us. I'm checking airfares on a daily basis, need my Paris fix.

Regards to you and Tracy.

What fun! Waiting for the epilogue but hate to see it all end!

Please tell us how this great story ends!

me too

TTT

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<b> EPILOGUE, THINGS I FORGOT UNTIL NOW AND RANDOM PARIS THOUGHTS </b>

As I reflect on our trip, I feel even more fortunate that Tracy and I were able to enjoy those eight days in Paris thanks to the generosity of a couple who we had never met before. I will never forget “the magic cream” or my hotel surgery. All my friends tell me how lucky I was to have all the planets align for those events to happen, and I cannot disagree.

Tracy and I have commented that this was probably our favorite trip together to Paris, and I think one reason was because we didn’t feel obligated to visit the big-ticket items, many of which we have already seen.

We never set foot inside the Orsay or even Notre Dame, for that matter, and would have only had a short visit to the Louvre except for wandering aimlessly through the Egyptian artifacts (I still have nightmares about those damned sarcophagi).

Instead, we traversed neighborhoods and streets we had never before traveled and experienced Paris on a different level than we had on previous visits. As I believe I stated in the report (it’s been so long I can’t remember), the walking tour with Michael Osman might be our best day in Paris ever! I look forward to his Louvre tour on a future visit.

Our favorite restaurants were Chez Fernand on rue Christine, Le Florimond on av La Motte Piquet and a La Petite Chaise on rue de Grenelle. Pomze and La Rotissere Du Beaujolais (mashed potatoes slathered with butter...gooood) get honorable mentions.

Speaking of bad dreams, I still see that woman at Le Tastevin scolding me for playing with my overturned fork, and I hope the blind guy I accosted near the metro has found it in his heart to forgive me.

Speaking of Le Florimond, Tracy wanted me to correct myself and say that the face-a-face was actually a steak served with a side of beef stew, and that the cocktail I described was served in a champagne flute, so it isn’t “your ordinary screwdriver.” She also said that her chocolate glace was “an intense dark chocolate (watch out Zagat, here comes Tracy).”

I also forgot to mention one of our favorite Hediard items that we brought back home. We bought more than a few jars of their red wine mustard, and when they are gone I’m afraid Tracy is going to hop on the next plane to pick up more. If she does, I want more of their peach-raspberry jam.

The lack of tourists in Paris the week before Christmas is also a definite plus. There were times it seemed like Tracy and I had had the city all to ourselves (actually, we almost did on Christmas Day). Weather can be iffy that time of year, but being blessed with four days of sunshine just made those neighborhood walks that much better.

We also loved the Musee Jacquemart-Andr&eacute;. For anyone who has not visited it, we highly recommend you give this museum a go. I don’t know why it had never been on my radar, but I’m sure glad we went. It made for a nice Christmas Day present for Tracy and me.

We are now planning our next trip, and I am afraid StCirq might be very unhappy to hear where we are planning to start our next journey.

Our friends, Kim and Mary, will join Tracy and me again, and we are planning a month-long (if we can get the time) trip to France, starting with the Dordogne, where we will rent a car (we’ve put Mary in charge of correctly putting in the gasoline on this trip).

Tentatively, Languedoc, Provence, the Alps, Burgundy, the Loire and maybe even Normandy will have its serene locales challenged by this fearsome foursome.

Can four people spend four weeks together and not kill each other? Stay tuned.

As for our recent Christmas Paris trip, although my mantra was put to the ultimate test, I can still confidently say, “Enjoy The Journey! Attitude Is Everything (that, and a good doctor)!”

Thanks so much, Maitaitom, for wrapping up this marvelously entertaining trip report! I was afraid your knee or even more distressing - work related) problems had laid you low.

When will your next French trip be? We will be there in October.

Thanks for finishing. This was a pleasure to read. When can we see the photos?

Thank you maitaitom for another delightful and fun trip report. I too was wondering if you were having problems so it was good to see that posted again.

I understand your comment about not having to visit all the &quot;seen before sights&quot;. That is the way I have felt in Florence the last couple of times I was there. I was able to wander away from the crowds and so enjoyed Florence as the residents do.

Take care, hope you are feeling well and have fun planning your next trip with your friends. And that is a smart move making Mary in charge of the gasoline for the car, lol!

That was me with the long url. I apologized several times.

It is alright Mimi, we have all done that..please don't worry..it all turned out fine. Hope you and your husband our doing well and that a trip to France will be in your plans this year.