Tournez à gauche, Tournez à droite? Maitai’s Scenic Detour Through France
Dec 27th, 2012, 04:12 PM
#204
Original Poster
Yes...this is the last installment...finally!
<B>Days Nineteen and Twenty – Planteé Lovely, Free Musée, The Butt Heard Round The World, Your Table Has Waited For You, One Last Look At History, This Sure Beats The Water Lilies, Shop Till We Drop, I See Dead People, Dinner With An Attitude and Au Revoir Beautiful Paris/Bonjour LAX Hell</B>
Never in a million years would I think that my favorite day of meals would actually begin with a quick stop at McDonald’s, but when this group needs caffeine, it’s any port in a storm. Trying to cover my face in case someone wanted to tag me on Facebook, I bought a café au lait, and we were on our way to Promenade Planteé.
It was overcast, but not yet raining as we found the stairs that took us to Paris’ version of New York City’s High Line, but Promenade Planteé came first. The pathway follows the old Vincennes railway line. Construction started on this walkway in the late 80s and was completed by the mid 90s. According to various sites, Promenade Planteé was the first elevated park in the world, and the path stretches nearly five kilometers.
On this morning we ran into joggers (not literally) and folks out for a leisurely Saturday morning stroll. It’s a beautiful greenbelt that affords some nice views of Parisian architecture from a different perspective. Just like if I lived in NYC and had the High Line at my disposal, if I lived in Paris, Promenade Planteé would be a place I would take many a walk (no jogging).
We did not walk the entire length of Promenade Planteé, because we had only sipped some coffee and now needed something a little more substantial. A nearby pâtisserie in the 12th arrondissement, about a block from Promenade Planteé, beckoned us, and we devoured the best croissants, pain aux raisin pastries and caramel éclairs we had eaten on the trip. Surprisingly, I was the only one of us to buy two (I only needed to fit in my pants one more day and night, so what the hell).
Back on the metro, we headed to our ‘hood so we could walk over to the Musée Carnavalet, which tells the history of Paris through furniture, paintings, sculptures and a myriad of other things. The museum was free on this Saturday morning, but since we didn’t want to spend an enormous amount of time here, we did not purchase the audio guide. In hindsight, next time I am in Paris I will get the guide, because I would love to know more about its history and what we were looking at as we roamed from room to room.
Being the revolutionary sadist that I am, I was quite partial to the art depicting the guillotine, showing the victims as they went out of their heads spilling blood into a bucket. We also saw a painting that looked exactly like Jack Benny, who I don’t think lived back in that time period.
After our museum visit, Kim and Mary headed in one direction, while Tracy and I were off to the Centre Georges Pompidou, not to go in the museum, but to see a recently unveiled statue I had see on CNN International a couple of nights previously.
This statue had nothing to do with ancient history, but (or should I say “butt”) it was from pretty recent history. Outside the Pompidou Center is a 16-foot statue of Zinedine Zidane's head butt of Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup. Hey, anyone can go see the Mona Lisa. This is art, baby!
Hunger reared its ugly head again, so we were on the metro back to Saint-Michel in search of a restaurant where we had enjoyed a delicious lunch in 2006. I guess I haven’t killed all my brain cells, because soon we were standing in front of Chez Fernand at 9 rue Christine. The rain started pouring down, and fortuitously the restaurant was open.
Walking inside, we were greeted by a pretty young lady, who said in perfect English (damn, how do they know), “Is this table fine?”
It sure was. It was the same table we dined at in 2006. Now if only the food was as good as we remembered. As it turned out, it was better than we remembered.
We started with a Kir Royale to toast the trip and our return to one of our favorite Paris restaurants. Tracy started with a green bean salad with toasted hazelnuts and then had the Crab bisque. Tres delicious!
I opened with escargots and for my main course I had the “Legendary” beef bourguignon (that’s what it says on the menu). The beef bourguignon basically melted in my mouth. I was in culinary heaven. It would soon get better when dessert arrived.
I had never eaten a “normal” Baba au Rhum, just the fancy and delectable one we had ordered at Le P’tit Resto in Bayeux. Our server brought over a rum-soaked sponge cake with Chantilly on top. She drizzled some rum on top of that, and then put the bottle on the table. “If you want more, pour as much as you want,” she said. Obviously, she had never met me.
To be honest, there was more than enough booze on the Baba au Rhum, and it was delicious, too. I think the bill was about 100€, but it could have been twice that and I wouldn’t have cared (I guess that’s why I have to work for the rest of my life). It was the perfect lunch experience for our final day in Paris.
Back outside, the rain was still heavy, which was ok with us since we had one more museum to explore. Not too far away was the Musée national du Moyen Âge (Musée de Cluny). Cost to get in was 8€, which included an audio guide.
There are some statues of heads that were originally on the façade of Notre Dame, a couple of rooms with beautiful stained glass windows and lots of other antiquities. We walked into a room that contained six 15th century tapestries called The Lady And The Unicorn.
The last time I sat in a room and stared at a series of art was in 2006 when we visited L’Orangerie to see Monet’s Water Lilies. Although I am in the minority, the Water Lilies did absolutely nothing for me except make me go temporarily blind.
The Lady And The Unicorn Tapestries, on the other hand, impressed me very much. Que sera!
Well, enough history. It was time for shopping. Back on the metro, we were on our way back to Hediard for some Christmas shopping. As we stepped inside, who did we see? No, not the people from Seattle, but there were Kim and Mary who had the same idea. No wonder we travel with each other.
Tracy bought about 100 bags of Hediard’s Herbes de Provence, which Tracy swears are the best in the world. She gives them out as Christmas gifts. She always runs out, which I think is just a ploy on her part to get us back to Paris (like that’s a hard sell). We also purchased some white peppercorns, and the best jam in the world, Hediard’s Peach and Raspberry preserves. I should have bought ten of them, because the jar was empty within one week of returning home.
Tracy and I left to go back to the hotel, while Kim and Mary were not far behind. It was about 4:30 when blue skies could be seen outside our hotel window. Tracy was napping, so I knocked on Kim and Mary’s door. They were playing cards, and I could tell they were done for the day, too.
Not me dammit! I only had a few more hours of Paris sunlight so outside I went with no plan (my usual MO). My first stop was Chez Janou, about a five-minute walk from the hotel. Out hotel had made reservations for that evening at my behest, but after reading some reviews I was a little worried about my choice. I don’t think I have ever read so many mixed reviews about a place, including many who said the greeter was somewhere between “Witty,” “Brusque” and “Attila The Hun.”
I sat at the bar and had a beer. The guy didn’t kill any patrons while I sipped my brew, and the restaurant looked like a French bistro right out of the movies, so I figured, what the heck, we’re on.
Back outside in the sunlight, I walked over to Place des Vosges for some last-minute Paris photos. Walking underneath the arch, I could hear raucous sounds, loud music and saw a large group of strangely attired people congregated in the center. As I got closer, I realized many of these people were covered in blood.
For a minute, I thought I had wandered into the filming of one of the “Twilight” movies. I hadn’t seen this much blood since the Limoges Train Station.
There was everything from Pirate Zombies to Military Zombies to Hot Chick Zombies to a Zombie who was a fire-eater. I asked someone what was going on. He said politely, “Who are you? Are you from the United States?”
Proudly I stated, “I am Sir-Bleed-A-Lot from California.” I never knew I could scare a zombie, but he did stick around long enough to tell me that this was the annual Zombie Walk (I guess it was the Time Of The Season). For the next 20 minutes, I walked around with the undead snapping pictures on a now gorgeous late Saturday afternoon.
I bid au revoir to my bloody friends, and as I walked back under the arch I saw a man in a red and black hat with a long blue scarf singing some incredible opera arias or whatever they’re called. I was already missing Paris, and we hadn’t even had our final meal.
Back at the hotel, I rousted the other undead (aka Tracy, Mary and Kim). We had 8 p.m. reservations at Chez Janou, and I didn’t want to be late just in case Attila (I mean the maître d') decided he wanted to throw us out on our keisters.
We arrived at Chez Janou (2 Rue Roger Verlomme) a few minutes before 8, and I wandered inside. The server asked if we all were there, so I hurriedly herded our group inside, and we were seated at a table that somewhat straddled the inside of the restaurant near the bar and the outside patio. Chez Janou was already packed.
The maître d' everyone had written about stood next to our table holding four menus, which we assumed were for us. Not wanting to incur his possible wrath, we waited for him to make the first move.
Then, in a Magic Johnson behind-the-back-pass moment, as he was talking to someone else, he deftly placed the menus behind his back and whipped them all to Kim in one swift motion without uttering a word to us. It was, for lack of a better term, a “magic” moment.
Dining at Chez Janou was a hoot. The food was good, the wait staff was friendly and the ambiance was pure Paris (at least how I picture it in my mind); loud and fun.
I had an incredible Goat Cheese in a Ratatouille to start and a good entrecôte de boeuf for the main course.
Tracy started with a green bean salad with smoked duck and a delicious Risotto with Scallops.
Kim decided to have mussels in pesto that he enjoyed and lamb chops for his main course.
Mary had the consensus best meal starting with her French Onion Soup and transitioning to a fabulous lamb shank with mashed potatoes.
Then came our very fun dessert, the Mousse au chocolate.
I was the bottomless pit who had ordered it, but instead of a small bowl of chocolate mousse, I was given an incredibly large bowl of thick, rich and delectable chocolate mousse. The waiter said, “You can have as much as you want. Just don’t eat out of the bowl.”
Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) has a story where she tells how her husband ate the entire bowl at a restaurant, not realizing that isn't really what you're supposed to do.
Knowing that if I ate too much of this dish our plane might have a hard time taking off the following day due to the extra weight, I kept my gorging to a minimum. Dessert was fantastic!
The Chez Janou experience capped off our terrific day of dining and, in essence, capped off another unforgettable trip to Europe. Tomorrow, we would head to the airport early for our flights to Los Angeles and San Diego.
From Paris to the Dordogne to the Loire to Normandy and back again, we all had more fun than four people deserve to have in 20 days. Torn skin, riverboat rides, endangered ducks, gorgeous chateaus, the D-Day Beaches and delicious dinners were now only memories (except for the bandages still on my arm).
We flew back on Sunday morning and arrived at LAX at about 2:30. It took us nearly 2 ½ hours to go through Immigration and Customs on that Sunday, but not even those idiots (I believe the snails I ate in France moved faster…even after death) could put a damper on our wonderful France vacation.
Our friends met us at the airport, bearing our traditional welcome-home meal of tacos (of course, thanks to our friendly, slow Customs officials, they weren’t quite as hot as they had been two hours before). On the drive home, when our friends asked what our favorite part of the trip was, the answer was easy and immediate. “All of it!”
Vive la France!
<B>Enjoy The Journey! Attitude Is Everything!</B>
<B>Days Nineteen and Twenty – Planteé Lovely, Free Musée, The Butt Heard Round The World, Your Table Has Waited For You, One Last Look At History, This Sure Beats The Water Lilies, Shop Till We Drop, I See Dead People, Dinner With An Attitude and Au Revoir Beautiful Paris/Bonjour LAX Hell</B>
Never in a million years would I think that my favorite day of meals would actually begin with a quick stop at McDonald’s, but when this group needs caffeine, it’s any port in a storm. Trying to cover my face in case someone wanted to tag me on Facebook, I bought a café au lait, and we were on our way to Promenade Planteé.
It was overcast, but not yet raining as we found the stairs that took us to Paris’ version of New York City’s High Line, but Promenade Planteé came first. The pathway follows the old Vincennes railway line. Construction started on this walkway in the late 80s and was completed by the mid 90s. According to various sites, Promenade Planteé was the first elevated park in the world, and the path stretches nearly five kilometers.
On this morning we ran into joggers (not literally) and folks out for a leisurely Saturday morning stroll. It’s a beautiful greenbelt that affords some nice views of Parisian architecture from a different perspective. Just like if I lived in NYC and had the High Line at my disposal, if I lived in Paris, Promenade Planteé would be a place I would take many a walk (no jogging).
We did not walk the entire length of Promenade Planteé, because we had only sipped some coffee and now needed something a little more substantial. A nearby pâtisserie in the 12th arrondissement, about a block from Promenade Planteé, beckoned us, and we devoured the best croissants, pain aux raisin pastries and caramel éclairs we had eaten on the trip. Surprisingly, I was the only one of us to buy two (I only needed to fit in my pants one more day and night, so what the hell).
Back on the metro, we headed to our ‘hood so we could walk over to the Musée Carnavalet, which tells the history of Paris through furniture, paintings, sculptures and a myriad of other things. The museum was free on this Saturday morning, but since we didn’t want to spend an enormous amount of time here, we did not purchase the audio guide. In hindsight, next time I am in Paris I will get the guide, because I would love to know more about its history and what we were looking at as we roamed from room to room.
Being the revolutionary sadist that I am, I was quite partial to the art depicting the guillotine, showing the victims as they went out of their heads spilling blood into a bucket. We also saw a painting that looked exactly like Jack Benny, who I don’t think lived back in that time period.
After our museum visit, Kim and Mary headed in one direction, while Tracy and I were off to the Centre Georges Pompidou, not to go in the museum, but to see a recently unveiled statue I had see on CNN International a couple of nights previously.
This statue had nothing to do with ancient history, but (or should I say “butt”) it was from pretty recent history. Outside the Pompidou Center is a 16-foot statue of Zinedine Zidane's head butt of Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup. Hey, anyone can go see the Mona Lisa. This is art, baby!
Hunger reared its ugly head again, so we were on the metro back to Saint-Michel in search of a restaurant where we had enjoyed a delicious lunch in 2006. I guess I haven’t killed all my brain cells, because soon we were standing in front of Chez Fernand at 9 rue Christine. The rain started pouring down, and fortuitously the restaurant was open.
Walking inside, we were greeted by a pretty young lady, who said in perfect English (damn, how do they know), “Is this table fine?”
It sure was. It was the same table we dined at in 2006. Now if only the food was as good as we remembered. As it turned out, it was better than we remembered.
We started with a Kir Royale to toast the trip and our return to one of our favorite Paris restaurants. Tracy started with a green bean salad with toasted hazelnuts and then had the Crab bisque. Tres delicious!
I opened with escargots and for my main course I had the “Legendary” beef bourguignon (that’s what it says on the menu). The beef bourguignon basically melted in my mouth. I was in culinary heaven. It would soon get better when dessert arrived.
I had never eaten a “normal” Baba au Rhum, just the fancy and delectable one we had ordered at Le P’tit Resto in Bayeux. Our server brought over a rum-soaked sponge cake with Chantilly on top. She drizzled some rum on top of that, and then put the bottle on the table. “If you want more, pour as much as you want,” she said. Obviously, she had never met me.
To be honest, there was more than enough booze on the Baba au Rhum, and it was delicious, too. I think the bill was about 100€, but it could have been twice that and I wouldn’t have cared (I guess that’s why I have to work for the rest of my life). It was the perfect lunch experience for our final day in Paris.
Back outside, the rain was still heavy, which was ok with us since we had one more museum to explore. Not too far away was the Musée national du Moyen Âge (Musée de Cluny). Cost to get in was 8€, which included an audio guide.
There are some statues of heads that were originally on the façade of Notre Dame, a couple of rooms with beautiful stained glass windows and lots of other antiquities. We walked into a room that contained six 15th century tapestries called The Lady And The Unicorn.
The last time I sat in a room and stared at a series of art was in 2006 when we visited L’Orangerie to see Monet’s Water Lilies. Although I am in the minority, the Water Lilies did absolutely nothing for me except make me go temporarily blind.
The Lady And The Unicorn Tapestries, on the other hand, impressed me very much. Que sera!
Well, enough history. It was time for shopping. Back on the metro, we were on our way back to Hediard for some Christmas shopping. As we stepped inside, who did we see? No, not the people from Seattle, but there were Kim and Mary who had the same idea. No wonder we travel with each other.
Tracy bought about 100 bags of Hediard’s Herbes de Provence, which Tracy swears are the best in the world. She gives them out as Christmas gifts. She always runs out, which I think is just a ploy on her part to get us back to Paris (like that’s a hard sell). We also purchased some white peppercorns, and the best jam in the world, Hediard’s Peach and Raspberry preserves. I should have bought ten of them, because the jar was empty within one week of returning home.
Tracy and I left to go back to the hotel, while Kim and Mary were not far behind. It was about 4:30 when blue skies could be seen outside our hotel window. Tracy was napping, so I knocked on Kim and Mary’s door. They were playing cards, and I could tell they were done for the day, too.
Not me dammit! I only had a few more hours of Paris sunlight so outside I went with no plan (my usual MO). My first stop was Chez Janou, about a five-minute walk from the hotel. Out hotel had made reservations for that evening at my behest, but after reading some reviews I was a little worried about my choice. I don’t think I have ever read so many mixed reviews about a place, including many who said the greeter was somewhere between “Witty,” “Brusque” and “Attila The Hun.”
I sat at the bar and had a beer. The guy didn’t kill any patrons while I sipped my brew, and the restaurant looked like a French bistro right out of the movies, so I figured, what the heck, we’re on.
Back outside in the sunlight, I walked over to Place des Vosges for some last-minute Paris photos. Walking underneath the arch, I could hear raucous sounds, loud music and saw a large group of strangely attired people congregated in the center. As I got closer, I realized many of these people were covered in blood.
For a minute, I thought I had wandered into the filming of one of the “Twilight” movies. I hadn’t seen this much blood since the Limoges Train Station.
There was everything from Pirate Zombies to Military Zombies to Hot Chick Zombies to a Zombie who was a fire-eater. I asked someone what was going on. He said politely, “Who are you? Are you from the United States?”
Proudly I stated, “I am Sir-Bleed-A-Lot from California.” I never knew I could scare a zombie, but he did stick around long enough to tell me that this was the annual Zombie Walk (I guess it was the Time Of The Season). For the next 20 minutes, I walked around with the undead snapping pictures on a now gorgeous late Saturday afternoon.
I bid au revoir to my bloody friends, and as I walked back under the arch I saw a man in a red and black hat with a long blue scarf singing some incredible opera arias or whatever they’re called. I was already missing Paris, and we hadn’t even had our final meal.
Back at the hotel, I rousted the other undead (aka Tracy, Mary and Kim). We had 8 p.m. reservations at Chez Janou, and I didn’t want to be late just in case Attila (I mean the maître d') decided he wanted to throw us out on our keisters.
We arrived at Chez Janou (2 Rue Roger Verlomme) a few minutes before 8, and I wandered inside. The server asked if we all were there, so I hurriedly herded our group inside, and we were seated at a table that somewhat straddled the inside of the restaurant near the bar and the outside patio. Chez Janou was already packed.
The maître d' everyone had written about stood next to our table holding four menus, which we assumed were for us. Not wanting to incur his possible wrath, we waited for him to make the first move.
Then, in a Magic Johnson behind-the-back-pass moment, as he was talking to someone else, he deftly placed the menus behind his back and whipped them all to Kim in one swift motion without uttering a word to us. It was, for lack of a better term, a “magic” moment.
Dining at Chez Janou was a hoot. The food was good, the wait staff was friendly and the ambiance was pure Paris (at least how I picture it in my mind); loud and fun.
I had an incredible Goat Cheese in a Ratatouille to start and a good entrecôte de boeuf for the main course.
Tracy started with a green bean salad with smoked duck and a delicious Risotto with Scallops.
Kim decided to have mussels in pesto that he enjoyed and lamb chops for his main course.
Mary had the consensus best meal starting with her French Onion Soup and transitioning to a fabulous lamb shank with mashed potatoes.
Then came our very fun dessert, the Mousse au chocolate.
I was the bottomless pit who had ordered it, but instead of a small bowl of chocolate mousse, I was given an incredibly large bowl of thick, rich and delectable chocolate mousse. The waiter said, “You can have as much as you want. Just don’t eat out of the bowl.”
Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) has a story where she tells how her husband ate the entire bowl at a restaurant, not realizing that isn't really what you're supposed to do.
Knowing that if I ate too much of this dish our plane might have a hard time taking off the following day due to the extra weight, I kept my gorging to a minimum. Dessert was fantastic!
The Chez Janou experience capped off our terrific day of dining and, in essence, capped off another unforgettable trip to Europe. Tomorrow, we would head to the airport early for our flights to Los Angeles and San Diego.
From Paris to the Dordogne to the Loire to Normandy and back again, we all had more fun than four people deserve to have in 20 days. Torn skin, riverboat rides, endangered ducks, gorgeous chateaus, the D-Day Beaches and delicious dinners were now only memories (except for the bandages still on my arm).
We flew back on Sunday morning and arrived at LAX at about 2:30. It took us nearly 2 ½ hours to go through Immigration and Customs on that Sunday, but not even those idiots (I believe the snails I ate in France moved faster…even after death) could put a damper on our wonderful France vacation.
Our friends met us at the airport, bearing our traditional welcome-home meal of tacos (of course, thanks to our friendly, slow Customs officials, they weren’t quite as hot as they had been two hours before). On the drive home, when our friends asked what our favorite part of the trip was, the answer was easy and immediate. “All of it!”
Vive la France!
<B>Enjoy The Journey! Attitude Is Everything!</B>
Dec 27th, 2012, 06:10 PM
#208
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 49,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
MTT, it was a wonderful adventure, as usual. And your telling of it, as usual, witty and insightful. Thank you and hope to return the favor in my own trip (or non-trip) reports.
May you and the gang of four have many more trips!
May you and the gang of four have many more trips!
Dec 27th, 2012, 07:35 PM
#210
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,496
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Tom, thank you. You have an amazing power of enjoyment that shines through everything you write. I should be envious of your trip but reading your trip report is the next best thing to traveling there myself.
I can't wait for your next foray with the foursome.
I can't wait for your next foray with the foursome.
Dec 28th, 2012, 06:29 AM
#212
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 29,619
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My sigh was for Paris!
I hope to get to Chez Fernand and Chez Janou—the meals sounded wonderful.
Although I am in the minority, the Water Lilies did absolutely nothing for me except make me go temporarily blind.—I hate to agree with you but I do. I think Monet’s cataracts “muddied” the colors in his later works. Don’t know if that applies to the ones in the Orangerie though.
Bravo, Tom! Many more TR’s please.
I hope to get to Chez Fernand and Chez Janou—the meals sounded wonderful.
Although I am in the minority, the Water Lilies did absolutely nothing for me except make me go temporarily blind.—I hate to agree with you but I do. I think Monet’s cataracts “muddied” the colors in his later works. Don’t know if that applies to the ones in the Orangerie though.
Bravo, Tom! Many more TR’s please.
Dec 28th, 2012, 07:06 AM
#213
Although I am in the minority, the Water Lilies did absolutely nothing for me except make me go temporarily blind.—I hate to agree with you but I do. I think Monet’s cataracts “muddied” the colors in his later works.>>
did you ever get to the Marmottan in the 18th, TD? we went there after visiting the Monet exhibition and the display that they had in the basement of the later water lillies was very striking - they were much brighter, brasher and less defined.
well worth a visit, though I don't know if all the pictures that they had there during the main exhibition [Jan '11] are still there.
I've not made it to the Orangerie yet, so I can't make the comparison.
Tom - thanks for taking us along for the ride.
where next?
did you ever get to the Marmottan in the 18th, TD? we went there after visiting the Monet exhibition and the display that they had in the basement of the later water lillies was very striking - they were much brighter, brasher and less defined.
well worth a visit, though I don't know if all the pictures that they had there during the main exhibition [Jan '11] are still there.
I've not made it to the Orangerie yet, so I can't make the comparison.
Tom - thanks for taking us along for the ride.
where next?
Dec 28th, 2012, 07:27 AM
#214
Original Poster
Thanks all for hanging in there. At least I got the TR done in the same calendar year.
I think our next big trip will be to Virginia and Pennsylvania for some American history, but there are so many more places in Europe I want to explore. I have a cool idea for my next Paris trip, too, but I will need a month or more to do it like I want, so I might have to wait until I retire or win Powerball, whichever comes first.
I think our next big trip will be to Virginia and Pennsylvania for some American history, but there are so many more places in Europe I want to explore. I have a cool idea for my next Paris trip, too, but I will need a month or more to do it like I want, so I might have to wait until I retire or win Powerball, whichever comes first.
Dec 28th, 2012, 10:14 AM
#216
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,362
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Really enjoyed your whole T/R, maitaitom! We, too, have our bucket list of travel destinations, many of them in Europe; though a return to Paris is always near the top. Chez Fernand is a fav of ours. Thanks for your entertaining journal!
Dec 28th, 2012, 05:54 PM
#219
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 273
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
MTT
Thank you for a wonderful trip report. I just discovered it a couple of days ago, so I was able to enjoy it without waiting for the next installment. Yaa!! My DH and I were in the Dordogne, Loire Valley and Paris earlier this year and based on your report I am ready to be back in Paris now. Many happy future travels.
Thank you for a wonderful trip report. I just discovered it a couple of days ago, so I was able to enjoy it without waiting for the next installment. Yaa!! My DH and I were in the Dordogne, Loire Valley and Paris earlier this year and based on your report I am ready to be back in Paris now. Many happy future travels.
Jan 3rd, 2013, 11:21 AM
#220
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,541
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I got distracted over the holidays but found and read the grand finale today... what a read! Thanks for taking the time to let the rest of us share in the fun!
Best wishes and safe travels for 2013!
Best wishes and safe travels for 2013!
