OliveOyl's light goes out in Paris, Madame Californeeea Excellente is born!
Dec 31st, 2003, 04:46 PM
#21
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How many times have we been to Paris....let me see, my first trip to Paris on my birthday, staying on the Ille St-Louis. The Yankee trying to convince me that we can start going to Paris all the time instead of London..it worked. Paris convinced me~
That same year we went again in the fall, November on the Left Bank.
We prefer the fall weather so we continued to go in the fall..I think we have been 7-8 years now- counting the year we went to London and dashed off on the EuroStar and spent the weekend in Paris on the Ille St-Louis..
That same year we went again in the fall, November on the Left Bank.
We prefer the fall weather so we continued to go in the fall..I think we have been 7-8 years now- counting the year we went to London and dashed off on the EuroStar and spent the weekend in Paris on the Ille St-Louis..
Dec 31st, 2003, 05:34 PM
#22
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Though I lived in France for 3 years, and so visited Paris often, my favorite memories are from my last two trips because they were with my DH. We leave in 3 weeks for a weeklong romantic tryst. I'm afraid your recits have only fueled the fire!
Merci bien for the timely and informative report!
Merci bien for the timely and informative report!
Jan 1st, 2004, 04:44 AM
#23
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This love-fest warms my travel-deprived little heart. You good people make mes amies (did I come close?) et moi (de la Swiss Support group)(apologies) sound blase (accent on e, please, I don't know how.) Merci beaucoup for a delightful start to the virtual New Year. (Hi, Grasshopper). Affectionately, J.
Jan 1st, 2004, 09:08 AM
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Have been "away" from the board for a while. What a wonderful way to return, reading about your Paris perambulations,OO. Mme (Californeeea)Ex is so much better, n'est ce pas?
Bonne annee!
Bonne annee!
Jan 3rd, 2004, 01:19 PM
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Just finished reading your trip report, OliveOyl, and a most excellent one it is!
You'll find, I suspect, that it's difficult to disengage from the magic spell that is Paris.
This afternoon, for example, I was wrenched awake from a deep nap by the sound of sirens. My immediate thought was, "My God, they've crashed a plane into the Eiffel Tower!"
Belatedly, I recognized the difference in the sound of "our" sirens and reoriented myself to being in my bed, beneath my down comforter, in my home.
It is no criticism of these familiar things to say that my next emotion was disappointment at finding myself there, not in Paris.
The only cure for such a malady is to begin planning the next trip.
Happy travels, OliveOyl, always!
You'll find, I suspect, that it's difficult to disengage from the magic spell that is Paris.
This afternoon, for example, I was wrenched awake from a deep nap by the sound of sirens. My immediate thought was, "My God, they've crashed a plane into the Eiffel Tower!"
Belatedly, I recognized the difference in the sound of "our" sirens and reoriented myself to being in my bed, beneath my down comforter, in my home.
It is no criticism of these familiar things to say that my next emotion was disappointment at finding myself there, not in Paris.
The only cure for such a malady is to begin planning the next trip.
Happy travels, OliveOyl, always!
Jan 3rd, 2004, 01:47 PM
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Mdm. CA once you have had Paris nibble on you there is no turning back! My first trip was 5 years ago (was it really that long now???) and I've been 4 times in that span. Now my good friend who lives in Geneva is moving to Paris, my husband fears I will never go back to work yet will fly off to my favorite city each month! When he asked me last week what I thought I would want to do for our 1st anniversary I immediately said "Paris!!!!"
Jan 3rd, 2004, 02:05 PM
#27
Welcome back, Olive AKA Madame Ca.
"Was it fun?....was the Louvre grey and metallic in the sun and
did the trees hang brooding over the cafes.?"
---Zelda Fitzgerald, in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Summer 1930
"Was it fun?....was the Louvre grey and metallic in the sun and
did the trees hang brooding over the cafes.?"
---Zelda Fitzgerald, in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Summer 1930
Jan 3rd, 2004, 09:43 PM
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Olive! We've lost touch--my computer crashed shortly after your last email many moons ago--finally replaced the cantankerous old thing! I think about you every time I'm at International. AND I can't believe YOU didn't do much shopping in Paris!! Wonderful trip report.
I've been "hanging out" here getting lots of great advice for our July trip to Italy and Switzerland. 3 weeks with the 3 kids--are we nuts?
Anyway, your email address went kuput along with my computer, so hopefully you still have mine and I'll hear from you soon!
"Sal"
I've been "hanging out" here getting lots of great advice for our July trip to Italy and Switzerland. 3 weeks with the 3 kids--are we nuts?
Anyway, your email address went kuput along with my computer, so hopefully you still have mine and I'll hear from you soon!
"Sal"
Jan 4th, 2004, 06:33 AM
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I am slowly slowly coming back down to earth, but it's difficult! Madame_Croque, re a plane crashing into the Eiffel Tower, we were thinking while there that there may be method to France's approach to involvement in our Middle East problems. In their shoes I'd want to stay arms length from us as well and not rile those who are crazy enough to do the unimagineable. Imagine the treasures they must protect! With regard to some groups feelings on icons, imagine trying to protect the Louvre, and (shudder shudder), the unimagineable loss of centuries of art and artifacts if they were unable to! Just a passing thought....
You all have been so kind re my love fest above. Thanks so much. Yes I was bitten hard, and I am already scheming a return in different weather, but including countryside as well the next trip.
Ira, can you guess that I'm not a particularly good poker player? lol
Mimi, had we ever seen the sun, I might have been able to answer your rhetorical question. I <i>can</i> tell you the Louvre was mellow yellow in the overcast gloom.
Hi "Sal"!! You'd disappeaered right off these boards for ages! If you still have your t.b.rr address, yes, I've got you in my book and will write. Sorry to hear about your crash--how awful to lose everything! It's wonderfrul that you are taking your 3 to Europe...wonderful experiece for them, but for you as well as you watch their reactions to it. I thought any number of times while we were there what fun it would be with our daughter especially, though our son would love it as well. She is the huge romantic though and it'd have been fun to watch. These will be memories with your kids you'll all treasure. We had something on a smaller scale with ours when we took them as teens to Bermuda, and they'd never been anywhere tropical. All 4 of us remember that vacation as one of the best times ever.
I have a few more miscellaneous observations if you all have any strength left from the above.
<u>Dining</u> I failed miserably in this deparrtment. Had not planned and felt it would fall into place on its own. It didn't. We had, by sheer luck, a couple of delightful meals, but we also had a couple of abysmal ones as well, and there were times we were too busy to eat. My own fault and I'll do better another trip. On the bright side, we covered a lot of ground we would not have had we taken two hour lunches! One of my favorite meals was at a small cafe on Blvd St Germain...Cafe de la Concorde? Not sure now of the name, but loved the andouiette with mustard sauce! How those people stay so thin is beyond me! My southern born and bred husband knew instantly what they were, but it didn't phase me. It was a wonderful meal.
Our last meal was at Chez Francis, which, with it's cherry and cheery interior and wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower, was the perfect spot to end our week. We had our best meal there--scallops in a cream sauce for me, and duck for my husband.
This was also our only negative experience of the trip, unfortunately. The hotel had called a cab for us, we arrived at the appointed time and off we went. Midway in the trip we each realized the meter was reading 11 euro and it no more than 10 minutes from the Madeleine area to Place de L'Alma where the restuarant is located. The cab driver admitted to no English (refusing to understand my pronunciation of "Alma" even, until I said something about pres de les Bateaux Mouches at which time he said, "Ahhh, <i>Alma</i> pronouncing it precisely as I had) and my French wasn't sufficient to duke it out. The trip came to close to 20 euro, and when I comment that "c'est tres cher", he replied, "Merci"....and I then wondered if I was mis-remembering what "cher" meant and had just told him he was cute! lol Live and learn...we will never make that mistake again and it was not worth spoiling our evening over....I let it go. Jerks exist everywhere and we found ours. Note to self: Always check meter when entering cab! I suspect there was some mix-up at the hotel as two cabs were there at once, and another couple waiting. We did advise them about it on our return and they can do with it as they wish. They did say they would call the company and lodge a complaint as that should never have happened, and apologized profusely for it.
Next up, metro impressions...but right now, my DH is dragging me out to run.
Sigh, the penance we pay for what dining we did/do!
You all have been so kind re my love fest above. Thanks so much. Yes I was bitten hard, and I am already scheming a return in different weather, but including countryside as well the next trip.
Ira, can you guess that I'm not a particularly good poker player? lol
Mimi, had we ever seen the sun, I might have been able to answer your rhetorical question. I <i>can</i> tell you the Louvre was mellow yellow in the overcast gloom.
Hi "Sal"!! You'd disappeaered right off these boards for ages! If you still have your t.b.rr address, yes, I've got you in my book and will write. Sorry to hear about your crash--how awful to lose everything! It's wonderfrul that you are taking your 3 to Europe...wonderful experiece for them, but for you as well as you watch their reactions to it. I thought any number of times while we were there what fun it would be with our daughter especially, though our son would love it as well. She is the huge romantic though and it'd have been fun to watch. These will be memories with your kids you'll all treasure. We had something on a smaller scale with ours when we took them as teens to Bermuda, and they'd never been anywhere tropical. All 4 of us remember that vacation as one of the best times ever.
I have a few more miscellaneous observations if you all have any strength left from the above.
<u>Dining</u> I failed miserably in this deparrtment. Had not planned and felt it would fall into place on its own. It didn't. We had, by sheer luck, a couple of delightful meals, but we also had a couple of abysmal ones as well, and there were times we were too busy to eat. My own fault and I'll do better another trip. On the bright side, we covered a lot of ground we would not have had we taken two hour lunches! One of my favorite meals was at a small cafe on Blvd St Germain...Cafe de la Concorde? Not sure now of the name, but loved the andouiette with mustard sauce! How those people stay so thin is beyond me! My southern born and bred husband knew instantly what they were, but it didn't phase me. It was a wonderful meal.
Our last meal was at Chez Francis, which, with it's cherry and cheery interior and wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower, was the perfect spot to end our week. We had our best meal there--scallops in a cream sauce for me, and duck for my husband.
This was also our only negative experience of the trip, unfortunately. The hotel had called a cab for us, we arrived at the appointed time and off we went. Midway in the trip we each realized the meter was reading 11 euro and it no more than 10 minutes from the Madeleine area to Place de L'Alma where the restuarant is located. The cab driver admitted to no English (refusing to understand my pronunciation of "Alma" even, until I said something about pres de les Bateaux Mouches at which time he said, "Ahhh, <i>Alma</i> pronouncing it precisely as I had) and my French wasn't sufficient to duke it out. The trip came to close to 20 euro, and when I comment that "c'est tres cher", he replied, "Merci"....and I then wondered if I was mis-remembering what "cher" meant and had just told him he was cute! lol Live and learn...we will never make that mistake again and it was not worth spoiling our evening over....I let it go. Jerks exist everywhere and we found ours. Note to self: Always check meter when entering cab! I suspect there was some mix-up at the hotel as two cabs were there at once, and another couple waiting. We did advise them about it on our return and they can do with it as they wish. They did say they would call the company and lodge a complaint as that should never have happened, and apologized profusely for it.
Next up, metro impressions...but right now, my DH is dragging me out to run.
Sigh, the penance we pay for what dining we did/do!
Jan 4th, 2004, 08:42 AM
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OliveOyl- your cab fare may have been on the up and up. I have found that when you call for a cab in France, instead of grabbing one at a cab stand, they start the meter from the time they come to get you!
Jan 4th, 2004, 09:48 AM
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Alas, yes, OliveOyl, as Wendy says it is very common practice in Paris. If the hotel calls you a cab in advance, the meter will be started wherever that cab is coming from. The same is true if you call a cab for yourself. I have stayed at hotels where they warned me of this and have said it is much cheaper to go to the cab stand on the corner. Otherwise you are likely to pay up to double for the taxi. So please don't blame that poor driver whom you called "cute."
But don't you love it when you keep pronouncing something right and they finally get it but repronounce it exactly the same? Or is there just the slightest nuance or a tiny bit more accent on the second syllable for example? My favorite was stopping about 1/4 mile from Giverny on a hike through the woods and asking the farmer in his field the way to Giverny, when the path split. He scratched his head, I repeated, I mention Monet -- jardin -- whatever, and finally his face lit up and he said, "ah, Giverny" exactly the way I had pronounced it ten times. But the funny part is, if I lived less than 1/4 mile from there and saw a lost foreign tourist asking how to get to "gavornitte" or some equally horrible butchered pronunciation, I would think I'd still be able to figure out what he was looking for! Wouldn't you?
So tell me, where exactly is this Chez Francis?
But don't you love it when you keep pronouncing something right and they finally get it but repronounce it exactly the same? Or is there just the slightest nuance or a tiny bit more accent on the second syllable for example? My favorite was stopping about 1/4 mile from Giverny on a hike through the woods and asking the farmer in his field the way to Giverny, when the path split. He scratched his head, I repeated, I mention Monet -- jardin -- whatever, and finally his face lit up and he said, "ah, Giverny" exactly the way I had pronounced it ten times. But the funny part is, if I lived less than 1/4 mile from there and saw a lost foreign tourist asking how to get to "gavornitte" or some equally horrible butchered pronunciation, I would think I'd still be able to figure out what he was looking for! Wouldn't you?
So tell me, where exactly is this Chez Francis?
Jan 4th, 2004, 10:23 AM
#37
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In re-reading your post I now see you say the hotel seemed to feel that the charge on the taxi WAS wrong. Am I off base here? I always thought that was common practice, but surely the hotel would have mentioned that after when you complained if not before!
Jan 4th, 2004, 03:05 PM
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Hi, back again. We've been out sailing Boca Ciega Bay this afternoon. Ahhh, Floreeeda isn't half bad either, is it? Great wind, nice sun, and 80 degrees.
Yes, I knew the meter started when the cab was called (and the hotel confirmed that) but when we questioned them about the amount when we returned because we were taking a cab to the airport the next morning and if this was correct we just wanted to know that it was, and not feel taken, they said the maximum we should see on the meter with the companies they use is 5 to 6 euro...this was far more. We noticed the meter within 5 minutes of starting out and it was already at 11 euro. We could easily have walked the distance, in fact did walk back home, simply because it's an area we love (walking up Montaigne, drool drool, and the Champs-Elysees was SO beautiful with its mini forests of flocked Christmas trees at the corners). The next morning when our cab, also called by the hotel, arrived, the charge on the meter was miniscule and the trip to CDG was 30 something euro.
Patrick what you described re the pronunciation was so accurate you could have been in the cab with us...right down to the head scratching. Too funny. "Aellmah, aellmah" I say...he scratches head, cocks it to the side to help with concentration, then "Oh, <i>Aellmah</i>". It was worth a giggle. That's OK...if that's all that happens to us, then we are pretty darned lucky and so many others really went out of their way to ease the communication gap that this was a non-event, other than being amusing.
Mimi..wish I'd known that in advance about Chez Francis--it'd have been fun to think of you while we were there. I have some pictures of the interior, all taken without flash so as not to be too gauche. We got some good shots during the week...one wonderful one of Notre Dame our first day, dense fog, so dense that as the plane landed we couldn't even see the tips of the wings. Made for a great pictures, but we never saw the Eiffel Tower until mid afternoon day #2. I'll have to look for a website to share some of our better pics. Someone posted their website today and I might try that. Her pics are phenomenal! Ours aren't nearly that quality although we do have one shot where the subject matter at least, was identical to hers--one of Notre Dame's gargoyles in the foreground, the Eiffel Tower in the background. Her lens however, was infinitely better than ours!
OK...metro observations will have to wait for tomorrow--time to think about dinner.
<u>Dick and Jane do Paris</u>--I hope at least some other first timers can benefit from this most elementary of trip reports!
Yes, I knew the meter started when the cab was called (and the hotel confirmed that) but when we questioned them about the amount when we returned because we were taking a cab to the airport the next morning and if this was correct we just wanted to know that it was, and not feel taken, they said the maximum we should see on the meter with the companies they use is 5 to 6 euro...this was far more. We noticed the meter within 5 minutes of starting out and it was already at 11 euro. We could easily have walked the distance, in fact did walk back home, simply because it's an area we love (walking up Montaigne, drool drool, and the Champs-Elysees was SO beautiful with its mini forests of flocked Christmas trees at the corners). The next morning when our cab, also called by the hotel, arrived, the charge on the meter was miniscule and the trip to CDG was 30 something euro.
Patrick what you described re the pronunciation was so accurate you could have been in the cab with us...right down to the head scratching. Too funny. "Aellmah, aellmah" I say...he scratches head, cocks it to the side to help with concentration, then "Oh, <i>Aellmah</i>". It was worth a giggle. That's OK...if that's all that happens to us, then we are pretty darned lucky and so many others really went out of their way to ease the communication gap that this was a non-event, other than being amusing.
Mimi..wish I'd known that in advance about Chez Francis--it'd have been fun to think of you while we were there. I have some pictures of the interior, all taken without flash so as not to be too gauche. We got some good shots during the week...one wonderful one of Notre Dame our first day, dense fog, so dense that as the plane landed we couldn't even see the tips of the wings. Made for a great pictures, but we never saw the Eiffel Tower until mid afternoon day #2. I'll have to look for a website to share some of our better pics. Someone posted their website today and I might try that. Her pics are phenomenal! Ours aren't nearly that quality although we do have one shot where the subject matter at least, was identical to hers--one of Notre Dame's gargoyles in the foreground, the Eiffel Tower in the background. Her lens however, was infinitely better than ours!
OK...metro observations will have to wait for tomorrow--time to think about dinner.
<u>Dick and Jane do Paris</u>--I hope at least some other first timers can benefit from this most elementary of trip reports!
Jan 4th, 2004, 03:19 PM
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Hi Olive,
Yes, you have the correct email. As you know, we had the loss in our family and travel hadn't been on my mind much until now. And then the crash.
Someone started a thread here about a Tampa get together. I told them that we needed to find you and here you are. Please look that one up.
"Sal"
Yes, you have the correct email. As you know, we had the loss in our family and travel hadn't been on my mind much until now. And then the crash.
Someone started a thread here about a Tampa get together. I told them that we needed to find you and here you are. Please look that one up.
"Sal"
Jan 5th, 2004, 11:12 AM
#40
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Well, I still get a giggle over the pre-trip repartee'... and now I'm delighted to read that your trip went well.
I got my AirFrance FrequencePlus memo this morning. Such deals!!! I'm thinkin' I may have to beg borrow and steal to get back there... is 3 months later too soon???
I got my AirFrance FrequencePlus memo this morning. Such deals!!! I'm thinkin' I may have to beg borrow and steal to get back there... is 3 months later too soon???
