denisea

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey”. Pat Conroy

Wednesday’s travel log from Paris.

We grabbed a pain au chocolat on the go as I wanted to get in line at the Notre Dame towers. It was delicious and I don’t know the name of the bakery, but it is on Avenue Rapp.

Uh, hello. We were first in line at the towers. Waited about 20 minutes and up we go. Well almost. They let a bunch of people in and you climb, get excited and then the corral you in a little gift shop. I am not quite sure why but I guess it is meant to keep the groups together somewhat. I didn’t enjoy it. I wanted to climb!
They made us wait about 10 minutes and then we were allowed to climb on up.

Now I know, this isn’t a great activity to do with a bum knee, but it wasn’t too bad on it and I am a good climber. We made it up in no time and were treated to a fabulous view of Paris. We had a pretty sunny day so the view really was special to see.

There is something to photograph constantly with the view and the gargoyles. I can’t explain how totally cool this was. The Fall trees, the Seine, the city…to see it all from this vantage point is so worthwhile! And, I think, this was our favorite thing from this trip.

Coming down was way harder on the knee and it can be a tight squeeze. We wandered around the park behind the cathedral and checked to see if the Deportation memorial was open. It was closed. We had a look at the bridge with all the locks on it and realized that we needed to get on over to L’Orangerie if we wanted to see the Monets before lunch.

We felt like walking, which took a while but it was a nice day.

Lots of people in the Tuilleries gardens! Short security line at the museum and we used our museum pass (as we did at the Towers earlier) for entry. And in we went to see the Monet canvases. They are amazing. I have always loved Monet and it was quite an experience to finally see these huge canvases. There are some other beautiful paintings at L’Orangerie, as well, but the Monet canvases are the stars of the show!

Hopped on The Metro at Concorde to get back over to the “islands”. I love the walk over the bridge from Ile de Cite to Ile St Louis. I also love rue St Louis en Ile. Everything is so quaint and charming.

Noticed that the chocolat shop that used to be Cacao et Chocolat has a new name. Passed Diwali also with all the pretty scarves.

L’Orangerie, the restaurant, is really nice. I love the old and still modern look of it. Our server offered to speak in English which we appreciate (because our French is so bad). She was very good. We ordered the entrée+plat lunch. They served us a savory cheese spread and toast with our champagne. Delicious! The entrée were little ravioli (cheese) with a spinach sauce. Loved it. The main course was lamb shoulder. It was very good, maybe a tad gamey but very good. I can never finish everything though!

This is a great place with great food and at a reasonable price. It wasn’t busy at all and we were the last ones in there. I would recommend it and heard about from one of the recent trip reports (thanks). You can make a reservation online through The Fork (La Fourchette).

Well, since we were right there we decided an ice cream cone from Berthillon would be necessary for dessert. And to my absolute surprise, NO LINE! At Berthillon! It felt a bit like a Twilight Zone episode where the guy wakes up and the whole town is deserted. The same lady who waited on us last year waited on us today and she is very kind with our bad French. No salted butter caramel today, so I tried the caramel. Chaz went for the blood orange sorbet. Both great, but the sorbet was better. The caramel is not as good as the salted butter caramel but does have like a ribbon of burnt sugar (like crème brulee topping) in it. Very good but nothing lives up to that salted butter caramel.

I laughed when I thought of how many of my fellow Americans have probably complained at the size of the scoop. It is the perfect size, actually. But, I can just hear the complaints and comments at the miniscule size compared to the gargantuan scoops served here. And the quality is beyond anything we would have here, even with the premium ice creams. And no peanut butter cups or brownies in the ice cream?? ;-)

A little stroll along the Seine and then to the deportation memorial. I wanted to see it after reading Sarah’s Key several months ago. It is actually very beautiful and worth seeing.

So, I promised I would go back to Un Dimanche a Paris to purchase and so we walked over to the 6th. The shop is so sleek and beautiful and a bit intimidating. Ya know, you’re afraid to touch anything for fear of being smacked on the wrist or called out for it. Well, we had the most wonderful sales clerk who was kind, informative and welcoming. She spoke English and explained everything and gave us some favorites. We bought 6 macarons (2 strawberry, salted caramel (of course), café, lemon ginger, and orange flower). They were all wonderful (eaten later)! The lemon ginger ended up as my fav with strawberry a close second. We also bought some little salted caramel chocolats (see a pattern here?). Those were eaten on the flight home and I wish I had bought more than 6 of them! We also picked up these little chocolat discs with orange peel, hazelnuts on top. We had them last year from Cacao et Chocolat and they are addictive! We have started on them now that we are home and they will be gone soon.

There is a very nice olive oil shop next store. I regret not picking up the cheese board I saw in there. The wood was beautiful.

Danton called us again and we crossed over to sit outside for a diet coke and café noir. We headed back to the Kir afterwards to rest up and clean up.

A little walk around the rue St Dominique area before dinner. We got a little “lost” since we hadn’t really been over there and I somehow thought we wouldn’t need to cross Avenue Bosquet. A nice guy looked it up on his iPhone (see, even the locals don’t always know where everything is) and we were on the way.

Reed is so very charming. It is a good mix of modern and classic. It is a pretty little place. Catherine Reed is just lovely. She takes great care of you and the food and wine are wonderful. She had a new server (Melissa) who just needs some confidence, doesn’t speak English but she does understand a bit. She would smile and laugh at the right times, so I think she could understand some things a little. I think it was literally her 2nd or 3rd day. A little more experience and she will be OK.

The menu at Reed is small but Catherine cooks right in front of you and knows what she is doing. I would always prefer a few things done well! We started with a bit of champagne.
For the entrée, I had cauliflower/leek soup and Chaz had charcuterie. It consisted of rillette, andouilette and jambon with an apple slaw. I had not had the first two items before and they were delicious! The bread there is also perfect for us. (meant to ask where she buys if from, but forgot). Catherine chose a Sancerre Rose wine for us and we loved it. Worked well for both of our choices!

I chose the potimarron risotto with parmesan with jambon. Chaz decided on the traditional blanquette de veau (the wild boar stew was a close second). This is what risotto should be like, creamy, a tad salty and the potimarron added that Fall flavor. A home run for me. Chaz’s was also delicious and was very homey (the American version of comfort food).

We weren’t hungry anymore, but we decided to share a dessert. A light lemon cheesecake is what we chose. It was nothing like our cheesecake and was light and refreshing. A great finish and for 96 Euros! A little coffee for Chaz and we were off for a good night’s sleep at the Kir.

Or so we thought! Sssssssss. Is that another snake?

Thursday plan: a little shopping and meandering and the Thanksgiving dinner at Violon d’Ingres

jelopez33

Denisea:
We are enjoying your report and wait for more!!!!Definitely Un Dimanche a Paris is on our "not to miss" list for 2012!!!

2010

Denisea:

I continue to enjoy following you around Paris ... especially to all the wonderful restaurants!

I also read Sarah's Key & I am inspired to visit the deportation memorial. Can you tell me where it is located? Thanks!

denisea

2010, the deportation memorial is located behind the park at Notre Dame. The entrance is just to the left of the bridge with all the "lover's locks" on it. (If your back is to Notre Dame).

Just walk to the back of church, walk though the little park and look to your right. The bridge will be there on your right and the entrance will be slightly to the left of that bridge.

Not hard to find. They will give you a little lecture on turning your phone to silent and ask you to be silent in the memorial, etc...as you enter through the little black bar gate.

TPAYT

Loved the Pat Conroy quote.
Glad you enjoyed L'Orangerie restaurant, it was one of our favorites.
In all of our Paris trips we never went to the top of Notre Dame because the lines were too long. What time did you get there to be 1st in line? Maybe your photos will inspire us for next time.

denisea

Thanks TPAYT...I believe the rec for L'Orangerie did come from you. I do love that quote...if you love travel it summarizes it perfectly.

I too had never bothered to climb ND because of the lines and this trip was really about trying to do some of those things we had never been able to do. I remembered that last year at Christmas, we saw the line and it was not too bad (cold and freezing rain outside). So, I thought that we might be able to climb this trip. You always are weighing the importance/payoff vs the time in the line...worth it? Will it take all day?

We got to the gate (left of the church around the corner and not very well marked) at 9:40. And the line was that long behind us. It is worth it, especially if the weather is good.

There are pictures coming. I am pulling them off the camera and phones and trying to organize them. I am not good at that part of it.

denisea

oops, I meant not TOO long behind us. Sorry TPAYT.

denisea

“A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” John Steinbeck

Thursday started promptly at a few minutes after midnight.

Chaz is sick. No, I mean really sick. Wicked chills and epic time required every few hours in the bathroom. Stupid snakes! We are definitely not controlling this journey, are we?

He got no sleep and although things finally started settling down around 5am, he is in no shape to do anything today. I ran to the store to get some more water, some lemonade and apple juice. I wanted that American "when you are sick classic", ginger ale. I don't think it exists in France. I found a banana and a box of pretzels as well, just in case he can eat a little something…all easy to digest. Now over to the boulangerie. I got a baguette and a few croissants and had petit dejeuner,with Coke Light of course. A favorite of mine is a buttery croissant with strawberry preserves.

Now, am I a bad wife? The Kir is small and fine for sleeping/showering, but to sit in all day, no. At this point Chaz doesn’t want anything and you just have to wait it out. Nothing to be done. He is wanting me to go out and so off I go.

I don’t have a plan really, because today was supposed to be for a little shopping and wandering around. The last thing on my list to see is Musee Marmottan. I decide to wait and try to go with Chaz.

Instead, I took the 42 bus to Place de la Madeleine. I made a mental note to come back to avenue Montaigne at night to take a look at the Christmas lights.

I knew we would want some more mustard from Maille, so I picked up a little crock. Did a little window shopping on rue Royale but I just wasn’t in to shopping today. I took a little stroll in the park off the Concorde and down one side of the Champs Elysee. Still lots of Fall color in Paris. It’s a pretty area and you can always enjoy just being in Paris.

I also made a run through the Christmas market on the Champs Elysee. Not that hungry but decided on a lemon sucre crepe. Very yummy! The perfect blend of tart and sweet. I can’t eat too much before the Thanksgiving dinner at Violon D’Ingres.

I made my way over the Petit Palais since I had never been there. It is free to get in. There was a nice collection of vases and other vessels up front. And, an amazing portrait of Sarah Bernhard with her dog. I strolled the gallery, feeling so conspicuous. Not because I was alone, but because my boots were squeaking all over the wood floor. Shhh! There is a really nice collection here, some Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Baccarat crystal, Limoges, a bit of everything. It is not crowded in the Petit Palais.

The garden in the center of the Petit Palais is so nice, so I got some fresh squeezed OJ at the café and sat outside. I made myself very conspicuous there by knocking over one of the metal café chairs. Sorry, don’t mind me!

I had my book with me and read my annual Thanksgiving read. It is a 3 story compilation by Truman Capote. The story for today, “ A Thanksgiving Visitor”. I read these every year and this was a perfect setting for a bit of reading. A little oasis in the center of Paris.

I toyed with the idea of going back to the Kir early in case Chaz needed something. But, my experience told me that he would not want anything and I didn’t want to wake him if he were napping.

Next, I decided to head over to the Musee Carnavalet in the Marais. Naturally, there seemed to be a stop for every bus line around me except the one that goes to Saint Paul. No matter. The metro to Saint Paul was right there and off I went. I heard an accordion playing La Vie en Rose in the Metro and had to smile! I am a tourist, but I just love that about Paris. I got off the Metro and got my bearings and headed over. (Thank God for those brown signs that point to the sites).

Now, I know many will disagree with me. But, I don’t really like the Marais. It’s crowded and commercial and I don’t see the attraction. That is the great thing about Paris though. We all find our own favorite spots and places.

I liked the Carnavalet. It is worthwhile and full of history, but not my favorite. It is a unique setting and I liked the photos of the old Les Halles markets and some of the historical figure portraits. I am amazed at how many I recognize now and know a little about. Growing up in Memphis, I didn’t get much French history. I have read a lot the past few years and have tried to learn more about French history. It is more fun to see all this when you understand who this or that person was.

I was all ready to head back and find the bus, but was distracted but something very shiny. Jewelry in a shop window.

I stopped in the jewelry store called Satellite and bought a cute little necklace and earrings. My Paris gift to myself. I wanted to take a photo of the decorated Christmas window and asked, but the clerk said no. Oh well.

So back to the rue Rivoli/St Antoine to look for the bus. I kept finding phone booths instead of bus stop shelters but did find it and the sign said it would be there in 3 minutes. Perfect. We passed the BHV department store, Hotel de Ville, the Louvre on the way back to the Kir. A little sight seeing never hurt anyone.

As I opened the door to the Kir, Chaz woke up. He slept all day. Those stupid snakesssss! He drank some juice and I had some too. (I even love the apple juice in France…so good, more like our cider) Never drink it here. He ate some pretzels but just knew he couldn’t make it to Thanksgiving dinner. I didn’t think he would be able to. I felt so bad for him. He encouraged me to go ahead to Joan’s and the dinner.

I walked over to Joan’s and the others arrived after me. Micheline and Francoise speak little English. Michael speaks a little and Laurent was the translator for the night. I can pick out a few words here and there…and tried to explain what Thanksgiving is to Francoise. Religious? No, Military? No. What is the French word for grateful? Beats me! Laurent explained to all that it is to express your thankfulness for what you have. I didn’t dare get into the Pilgrims and Indians! Michael doesn’t speak much English but we hit it off and had fun picking out the words we understand. Champagne is a language everyone seems to understand. A few glasses of it at the Fleurie apartment and then we were off.

I can only say that we were a lively group. We had such a great time and they took wonderful care of us. I have to admit that they Alexandre at Violon is total eye candy! (And yes, Chaz knows this)! See, there is something more to be thankful for…a fabulous looking French guy. Why not?

We had a lot of wine. We had roast turkey with celery root puree. The first starter was a little frog leg ravioli in a broth. The second was grilled scallops with thinly sliced truffle. Dessert was pumpkin tart. It was terrific and I hate pumpkin pie! Laurent and Michael are so much fun! It went by so fast. As we wrapped up our Thanksgiving night, Joan (or Jo-Ahhhn, as they all call her…no French equivalent for Joan) and I were chastised for not speaking French and commanded by Micheline to learn by next year. Micheline and Francoise headed off, while Joan, the guys and I stopped in at Café Constant for a café crème.

What a fun time! We walked back to our apartments and Laurent was certain that Friday might be a tough day after the all the wine.

A big thanks to Joan for inviting me and arranging it all.
Chaz was glad we had fun and wanted to hear all about it (and thought that the Alexandre part was funny). I had a great dinner and he had pretzel sticks!

He is starting to get uncomfortable in the little bed in the Kir. It is not meant to be lain in for 24+ hours! We called it a night and were hoping only for a good night’s sleep and for St Patrick to come and drive the snakes out of France.

The plan for Friday…a bit of shopping and I am taking Chaz for a little surprise. Sssssurely the snakes are all gone!

TDudette

Poor Chaz! Thanksgiving meal (and Alexandre) sounded good enough to eat...

tomarkot

Wow, Denisea. "The best laid plans of mice and men. . ."!!! We can identify with your experience. . .different city (Koln), but same elements. Room too small when one is ill. So wifey entertains self while hubby recuperates. Sorry you had to deal with all this, but sounds like you "weathered" it OK. Can't wait to hear the next part of your trip.

And just a supportive comment. . .you're not alone in feeling that the Marais isn't your favorite part of Paris. We've stayed in the area on two different trips. The one plus is that it's convenient to the main metro line. But our fav parts of Paris are in other areas. That's the great thing about Paris. . .enough variety for everyone.

taconictraveler

Denisea: What a lovely story about Thanksgiving. Well, not so lovely for Chaz, dommage -- but I love the way you told about your day wandering alone around Paris.

You make me want to go right back to see all the things I missed, but I guess that would make me greedy. I am thankful that we had the wonderful trip we did have.

And you got to have Thanksgiving dinner with Joan, how very nice!

TPAYT

I really don't want to sound picky because I've followed your reports and found some wonderful suggestions, and I also appreciate your comments on my posts, but with all the apartments available in Paris, what ever made you decide to rent one with a sofa bed? Yes, it looks charming, but oh so small. IMO, the reason to rent an apt. is to have some room to relax in the morning and in the evening before dinner, and also to have a real bed.

Again, I don't want to add to those snakes, but what were you thinking? And my next question is "Would you rent an apt. again, or go back to a hotel?"

I also must add that I think that the way both of you handled this major inconvenience was commendable

denisea

TPAYT- We did ask a lot of questions about the sofa bed before renting the apartment. I was nervous about it. And it was surprisingly comfortable.

The apartment was actually great and larger than the hotel room we had last year. This apartment was not our first choice but was the only apartment available through the agency we wanted to use for Thanksgiving week.

We were pretty set on Paris Perfect since this was our first time to rent an apartment. I liked the fact the they have an office in Paris and close to their apartments. We could use a credit card, no worries about individual owners, no mailing keys before and we wouldn't have to worry that there would be no one to show you the ins and outs of the building. So many positive comments on Fodors, also led us to Paris Perfect. I also found out that Joan had actually stayed in the Kir and she assured me that it is comfortable.

As it turns out, their office and staff came in handy when AF delivered Chaz' bag. We didn't have to sit around waiting for the delivery company to show up. At some apartments, I would think we would have needed to be there and we would have lost more vacation time.

We knew it wasn't our tempurpedic mattress. But we did get some info on the manufacturer from PP prior to booking it.

We did have some room to relax in the Kir but we also know that we will not spend much time in an apartment or in a hotel room, outside of sleeping. Regardless of how large an apartment is, we aren't going to cook on vacation, so we really just needed a refrigerator, a little table & chairs, and the coffee maker was a plus.

The only problem with the bed came when stuck in it for 24 hours straight, instead of an 8 hour overnight sleep.

And while I was planning to answer the apt. vs hotel question at the end of the report, I would definitely rent an apartment again. We don't use any hotel services and we enjoyed the freedom we had with the apartment and the cost was a bit less than the hotel we used last year.

We would consider other apartment rental agencies next time, as well. I wanted a safe bet agency for the first time around. I understand your question but I have no complaints or disappointment regarding the apartment we rented.

YankyGal

I was unfortunate enough to be sick in Paris for an entire day once - and had to push my husband out the door. Go! No reason for both people to be holed up while all of Paris is there for you.

Btw, I'm with you on the Marais.

Thanksgiving sounded wonderful. I hope Friday finds Chaz in a better state.

Great report!

denisea

TDudette, you are right about Alexandre. Tmarkot, this happens to everyone at some point. Chaz has had his share of this, as he got sick with the same type of thing during our last night in Paris last year.

Taconictraveller, doesn't make you greedy at all. I am the same way as I am reading other reports. We all want to go back and catch the stuff we missed or didn't know about!

YankyGal and tomarkot...you know how the forum can be if you dare state a preference. Was hoping not to get an avalanche of responses extolling the virtues of the Marais.

nyse

Denisea, you wrote
<i>"There are pictures coming. I am pulling them off the camera and phones and trying to organize them. I am not good at that part of it."</i>

Never mind, you are <u>totally excellent</u> at every other part of it!!
Thank you for sharing your time in Paris.

denisea

“Not all those who wander are lost.” JRR Tolkien


Friday, day 5

Friday and we got up and Chaz was better, nowhere near 100% but good to go. A little coffee in the apartment and we are off for the day. We took the 42 bus over to Avenue Montaigne for a little window shopping. Can I just say that Plaza Athenee is truly beautiful? There are lights in the trees down the entire avenue and I look forward to coming over at night to see it lit up.

A spin through Chanel and I saw the ultimate ridiculous fantasy item of the trip. A gorgeous bag that was a mere 49,500 euros. I can’t imagine having that kind of money and if I did, I don’t think I could ever justify spending it on a purse. But, it was a good looking bag.

I would say that every high end designer has a store on Avenue Montaigne (Chanel, Dior, Roberto Cavalli, Valentino, Jimmy Choo…all there). Window shopping only here for me. We ended at the Champs Elysee where the blue Christmas lights are all set up. It’s a bit “Jetsons” like, as far as style.

I decided that now is the time for petit dejeuner. We stopped in at Café Alsace on the Champs Elysee. It was adequate but definitely not memorable. Chaz wasn’t really hungry and I didn’t need much. We continued on to Avenue Georges V.

I had a little surprise field trip planned for Chaz. We passed the Four Seasons and admired all the hot luxury cars parked out front. I don’t think our Jeep Wrangler would qualify for upfront parking.

On to Hediard, because I just love to gawk at the food. I wanted to get some of their Gouda cheese crispies with chili for our Saturday champagne sessions back home. They are so very tasty! We also picked up a few of these addictive butter cookies and speculoos for our families.

We left Hediard and rounded the corner on Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie. He finally saw the awning for Creed and was excited to visit. He has wanted some of their Green Irish Tweed fragrance for about a year now. Now is the time.

The sales lady for very helpful to us and he tried a few other fragrances before coming back to the Green Irish Tweed. Our sales person also gave us quite a few samples to try, as well. Very kind of her. I am looking forward to trying the Virgin Island Water and the Jardin d’Amalfi (since it is closest I will get to either place anytime soon).

We made our way over to the Champs Elysee Christmas market to check out the food offerings. Neither one of us was terribly hungry but then we saw this huge, HUGE kettle of potatoes. I don’t know what they were but they were creamy, rustic and homey. The serving would have fed about 3 people. Delicious! That was lunch for us.

From there we made our way down rue Boissy d’Anglais, past L’Obe at the Crillon and Buddha Bar to rue Fauboug St Honore. A little more shopping and on to St Augustin. I have seen this church often from a distance and have never known what it was. Now’s the time to find out. The façade is still beautiful but could use a power wash. The pipe organ in the back of the church looks impressive. It’s a lovely church, but it seems they all are.

We decided to check out Printemps and the windows there. So back to Blvd Haussman and on to Printemps. Another thing that I have decided is that I just don’t care for…the Grand Magasins. I know I should expect it during the Christmas season, but they are just too hot, crowded and chaotic for my taste. But, they do have everything! And, the Printemps windows were beautiful. There was one that was loaded with Chanel and all red and black. Fashion fantasy for sure. Another done is white, silver and crystal chandeliers. Gorgeous. One that was little ballerinas dancing and another that was space age theme. Worth seeing but I was in need of a rest and a diet coke. It was spitting rain enough to be annoying.

We hit Café de la Paix for out afternoon pick me ups. We sat overlooking the Opera Garnier. I think this is the most beautiful building in Paris. It is so ornate! At this point, I could tell Chaz needed a break and some rest. He wouldn’t admit it but I know the look on his face. We hopped on a bus and headed back to the Kir.

A little rest and we decided that we need a duck fat free meal and I thought Italian sounded good. What to do for dinner? We mulled it over while sampling macarons, for me the lemon/ginger macaron from Un Dimanche a Paris and OMG. Taste explosion of macaron perfection. A+. Chaz had his strawberry macaron and also gives it a big thumps up.

Chaz suggested Marco Polo. We have always gone there and we really love it. Albano is so friendly and welcoming, so the decision was made to head there.

This is where we should have done more research on the bus system. But, we didn’t, so we made a few dumb mistakes. The first was flat out funny.

You know how you have that nagging feeling that you should go over and check the other bus stop across the way from you? Well, we should have done that. But, we didn’t and it cost us a ticket and our pride. We waited at the 87 stop just down from the Kir and the bus came, we went one stop and everyone was getting off. A woman said something to us, as she walked past that we didn’t understand and then the driver said something that included “terminee”. Oh, got it! Duh! So it’s not just a loop that you can ride forever. End of the line, get off stupid!

Yep, should have checked that stop across the way ‘cause that’s where we should have been. OK, we waited and 10 minutes later the bus pulls up (we try the old ticket, no good) and it is the same driver who gave us a good natured, knowing chuckle. Yep, we are dummies. No matter and we ended up right at the Odeon Carrefour.

So, as is our pattern, we had drinks and chips at the counter at Danton. We met a young man from Morocco and tried really hard to carry on a conversation with him. Apparently, one of the other customers didn’t enjoy this at all. He just glared at me and kept rolling his eyes. Kinda like he hated me for not speaking French and daring to be in his café. I wanted to go all NYC on him and throw out a “What?” Ah, but there are too many words for “what” in French…quoi, que, quel, qui, who knows? I surely don’t . Just kidding anyway, we were having a great time; Chaz with his Affligem de Noel and me with my champagne.

Anyway, we had a nice “almost” conversation with the man from Morocco. He mostly wanted to know if Paris or the US is better. Loaded question to which there is no answer, especially in my very broken and limited French.

We then headed on over to Marco Polo at got a seat outside. The waiter who seated us seemed incredibly nervous that he didn’t speak English. He actually spoke excellent English and I find that we can always at least order in French or Italian. Ssssso, there we are ssssipping a little champagne, it’s not going down too easy. Hmmm. That’s weird.

The beautiful buffala mozzarella with cherry tomatoes and greens came out and I ate almost all of it. Very refreshing and a huge amount of cheese but I couldn’t stop.

Then Il primo, fresh ricotta and spinach ravioli with fresh tomato sauce. Wow, I am getting full, sssso fassst.

Secondi, beautiful grilled prawns and spinach. For Chaz, veal saltimbocca and roasted potatoes. I ate two prawns and gave one to Chaz. I am feeling a bit nauseous. So full. Miserable. No way I can get that gorgonzola that I love. I sssee the 87 bus pass and wish I was on it. Where’s the check?

We paid the bill and headed over to the 87 stop. Oh no (remember I said we should have done more research?). That 87 bus I had wished I was on, was the last one! Alright, another mistake. No worries. The Metro is right here. We’ll head over and hop on the RER C line to get back to the Kir.

Really not feeling well. Just want to get back to the Kir. Oh, no. It’s a Friday night and since the RER is a commuter train (I think), the train is not going to Pont de l’Alma. Lasssst ssstop, Invalidessss.

Oh God, are you kidding me? Don’t get sick on the train. Hold it together. I am sure that in my right mind I could have figured out a way to get closer by train, but I couldn’t think or reason. So we walked from Invalides. Way longer than I would have preferred. But we did finally make it to the Kir. It’sss just a matter of time.

And so, now it is my turn. For most of the night, I am wretching and spending a lot of time crumpled on the bathroom floor. Freezing and channeling Nancy Kerrigan and, though not actually crying, but in my head, whining, “Why? Why? Whhhyyy??? This was epic, truly epic.

Next, I am channeling Samuel L Jackson’s character in “Snakes on a Plane”…. "Enough is enough! I have had it with these (very bad expletive) snakes on this (very bad expletive) plane"!

Now, couldn’t this have happened last week? Next week? Oh well, I resign myself to spending Saturday in the Kir, just like Chaz had done 48 hours before. I hope he will enjoy the day on his own.

Saturday morning came and I didn’t die. I survived the smell of Chaz making is coffee (the smell of anything makes me want to barf). I ask him to bring some water home later, but don’t need anything. I give him the metro maps, the carnet of tickets, suggest the Catacombs and/or the Rodin Museum and send him off. I often kid him about leaving all the vacation navigation to me but he’s an engineer by training, so he will figure it out.

I cannot believe that I am laying in bed, in Paris, watching CNBC (one of the few channels we have in English). I can’t even think about standing up or eating anything. I hate to miss the market at President Wilson! Bummer. I can’t even tolerate a sip of diet coke until about 8pm that night. Chaz came back in the afternoon. His day didn’t exactly go as planned. He did hit the beautiful food hall at Le Bon Marche and had a pain au chocolat. He was heading somewhere and following a Rick Steves walk, but didn't end up where he wanted.

From there he went to the Rodin museum. I am glad he went. I had been there BC (before Chaz) and think it is beautiful and it was a nice day. He is never too happy to go without me and even at home, I can think of times when he was going to do several things on his own and ended up back home early. He also is not feeling great and so no one goes out to dinner on Saturday night in Paris. (Ridiculous, isn’t it?) We end up eating the remaining very stale pretzels and the last of a baguette.

I am sure this will be funny some day. But, not now. Too many pastries, chocolats, cheeses etc…will go uneaten on this trip. Now, I do understand that this means I will have to come back and finish the job. I am willing to do so, but I had so many of you counting on me to eat as much as possible and report back. Mission not accomplished, yet!

Sunday’s plan: maybe Marmottan, lunch at L’Obe (Hotel Crillon), a visit to Ave. Montaigne and the Champs Elysee Christmas market at night

taconictraveler

You poor thing! I sympathize, tho' luckily neither of us was sick on our recent trip to Paris. Usually one of us has a really bad 24 hours.

You tell the story so well, and I have an engineer husband also, who is never quite sure of the map or the day's plan, and who isn't so good on his own! He can always find a meal though,even without me, no matter what country he's in!

Hope you are better for your Sunday plan!!

TPAYT

Talk about snakes!!! You really had your challenges on this trip. You sure seem to have handled it well.

Sunday just has to be a better day.

tomarkot

Denisea, after reading your most recent post, I had to walk away from the computer because I felt so bad for you. Between the two of you, you really had more than your share of bad breaks on this trip. Hopefully, your Sunday picked up. We'll look forward to hearing all about it.