Sunday, August 15

Sunday was a travel day for us. We both decided it would take two full weeks to see Paris “proper”. We divised a plan that we could offer to “trade” Kathryn’s apartment in D.C. for one in Paris sometime in the future. We also decided that was probably the only way we could afford to be in Paris for two weeks!
Another wonderful breakfast at the hotel and then a cab ride to Charles de Gaulle aiport. The lines at the airport were long and slow. After standing in line for about 40 minutes, we got to a place where someone could look at our tickets and then tell us which new long line to stand in. Well, they told us we were in the wrong set of long lines and we had to go to another area of the airport. The lines were even longer at the new location. We were never going to make the plane!

I stood in line and Kathryn went off to see if she could find some help. She came back with big smile on her face! The government had purchased her a “premium” ticket and she was allowed to go through a shorter line. We did and the day was saved.

There was a Spanish school group on our flight, they had been to New York and were on their way back to Madrid via Paris. They were very loud in line, but pleasantly and surprisingly very quiet on the full plane.

Because Kathryn had a “premium” ticket, she sat in first class and got a full meal, and I sat back with the students and peasants and had a sandwich.

Another cab ride to our new hotel The Intercontinental Madrid – very beautiful – and a beautiful boulevard running through the heart of Madrid.

Kathryn and I both napped then walked the boulevard searching for a dinner place. We found a nice sidewalk café, right on the boulevard, where a piano player made dinner extra special.

Saturday August 14, 2010

We had another great breakfast at the hotel and off we were again walking to see more Paris. As we rounded one corner, we noticed an elegant looking building at the end of the street. After investigating, we had come across the Pantheon. Many greats are buried there and continue to be buried there as petitions to the French President are granted. A fabulous stone structure. We toured the first floor and the crypt on the lower level. We waited and did the tour to the top of the dome – 206 steps! It was well worth the climb when we got to the top!

We also stumbled upon the Luxemburg Gardens where the flowers, fountains and landscaping were magnificent.

It started to rain as we joined the river cruise – fortunately the boat had a glass top. We enjoyed the one hour cruise up and down the Seine River passing many of the most popular attractions in Paris. We passed the Louvre which is absolutely huge and decided that it would have to wait for another trip to Paris.

We then headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The line to get in was long but moved very fast. It was one of the largest most beautiful cathedrals I have ever been in. I lit a candle in memory of my best friend – Mindy – and thought about how much I missed her and how much she would have enjoyed this trip. I was overcome with emotions – and sensed that she was with me in some way at that moment.

After completing the tour of Notre Dame, we checked the mass schedule and decided to come back for the 6:30 mass later that day.

We decided we were hungry, and started looking for a sidewalk café to eat and rest in. We sat down in a small one near Notre Dame and Kathryn asked the waitress for a menu. The waitress said in broken English and kind of a smirk on her face “we have no menu”. It was about 4:30 p.m. Kathryn thought she had misunderstood and again asked for a menu – the waitress again smirked and said “We don’t have one”. Kathryn gave her one of her famous looks - that translated into “What do you mean you don’t have a menu, you dumb bimbo, this is a restaurant isn’t it?” The waitress in total control then smirked again and said “We don’t serve food until 7:30!” ha

We then went across the street to a small Lebanese restaurant “When in Paris, eat Lebanese food”! Go Figure! The sandwiches and cheese spread and pita bread were wonderful!

We had been walking all day so we decided to take a cab to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arch sits on a beautiful boulevard and is magnificent. Major streets and boulevards lead to and from it.

We took a cab back to the Nortre Dame Cathederal for mass. When we got there (about 5 minutes early) there were about 5,000 other people with the same idea. Standing room only took on a whole new definition. It was shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip and lots of other parts! There were at least 40 priests involved in the procession. We were standing about half way back in the Cathederal in an aisle. People kept trying to push past us, I don’t know where they thought they were going!

After the second reading, which was about a half hour into the mass, I broke first and told Kathryn that I was going to try to find some place to sit along the large side aisles in the cathederal. Kathryn got a big smile on her face at that decision. We found a place near the front, on the side, where we could kind of see what was happening, hear and sit.

Teta, do not read this part. We left right after communion (two hours into the mass) and found a little café across the street from the Cathederal where we could watch the long procession come out and down the street. It was also a good place for a beer and a glass of wine.

We decided on crepes for dinner and found a crepes restaurant we had noticed earlier in the day. The wheat crepes were excellent.

We caught a beautiful view of the Pantheon with the setting sun basking it in light on the same street as the crepe restaurant. We walked the rest of the way to the hotel – very tired!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Kathryn had an all-day meeting and I signed up for a market tour and cooking demonstration at the Cordon Bleu Culinary School. The breakfast at Le Meridian was great – meats, cheeses, fresh breads, fresh fruit, juices and the regular breakfast fare with a French twist.


I took a cab to the Cordon Bleu through narrow winding streets with beautiful buildings. Some streets were one way, others so narrow that two cars could barely fit that criss-crossed the city.

I was the first to arrive and was directed to the gathering room. Soon the room filled with for a total of 10 students. Crystal was from San Francisco, an attorney whose husband was off golfing at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Crystal had taken two classes at a pastry school the day before, had one scheduled after our class, and two for the next day. She was also a marathon runner – needless to say – I was impressed. They have no kids yet, but they were in her future plans. Another couple was from Toronto, another from North Carolina, another from Chicago, and two women from San Francisco. All English-speaking so we meshed easily.

Our chef for the day. Patrick Callas, arrived and greeted us in broken English. He told us his interpreter would arrive shortly. Patrick was a thin, handsome Frenchman who was very charming. Chloe, his interpreter, arrived and told us she was from Toronto, going to school at the Cordon Bleu, and her mother was French. We were served juice, coffee and fresh croissants that melted in your mouth.

Chef Patrick and Translator Chloe

As a group, we walked down to the French market that was about 15 minutes from the school. Patrick explained about the market – what was for sale – and what we should look for. He warned us that many of the fresh produce vendors did not like their “fruit” touched, and many did not like their pictures taken. Kind of makes you wonder what “the rest of the story is” ha.

The market was about two full blocks long, on both sides of the street. There were small food, wine and cheese shops permanently located in the buildings along the streets also. The booths were set up on the sidewalks and this particular market operated two days a week. We shopped for an hour or so, pretty much staying as a group so we could listen and watch Patrick. He bought several cheeses, some fresh fish, produce and bread which we would sample later for lunch and were to be used in the cooking demonstration.

We walked back to the Cordon Bleu as a group and were served a wonderful lunch.

Tourines, cheeses, fruits, one item that Chloe refused to tell us what it was, blood sausages, and veal snout (noses I presume). I tried the noses; they were pickled and actually quite tasty. I tried it all, including the mystery meat. I have not grown any extra extremities over the following days so I guess it was ok to eat!

Patrick did a cooking demonstration after lunch – red mullet, a fancy crab salad and a fresh fruit parfait for dessert. Each course would have taken about two hours prep time, but he worked on them all at the same time. Patrick explained things well through Chloe and we had a great afternoon being able to taste each course at the end of the demonstration. Beautiful presentations and tasty too! I would recommend the Le Cordon Bleu day to anyone who has the time to do it.

I decided to try to walk back to the hotel. Le Meridian was located near the tallest building in Paris. In simple terms, this very modern – very tall building sticks out like a sore thumb among all of the other historic looking buildings in the city. I had a good landmark to head towards. Just as I was about to give up, I looked up again and there was the Le Meridian.

Kathryn greeted me in the lobby. As I sat describing my day to her, she kept getting these horrible looks on her face. She then told me that the girl sitting behind me was picking her nose and eating her findings (about a 10 year old). Each time she would go for the nose, I would let out a loud disgusting noise, but it didn’t slow her down in the least. Even with comments like “how much could be in one nose?” and “hopefully that was dessert” she continued. When her mother came to gather her up, she spoke to the girl in English… what the?

Kathryn and I took off on foot towards the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides. We went inside Les Invalides – this is where Napoleon tomb is… such a large crypt for such a small man!

We tried to find the garden where Rodin's "the Thinker” statute is located but the garden was closed for the day.

We walked over to the Eiffel Tower –very impressive. It was very crowded and the lines to ride the elevator were really long. We wandered over to a group of people that had gathered and watched some street actors and dancers perform for a while.

Hoping we might go up in the Eiffel Tower on Saturday, we then headed towards the boat landing where we had prepaid for a river cruise. We came across an exact replica of the torch from the Statute of Liberty. (the next day on the boat cruise, as the guide pointed out the “torch” she said “Since Princess Diana died in France, the “torch” has been re-dedicated in memory of her! What? Did Bill O’Reilly know and report on this?)

We were both getting tired of all the walking and decided on dinner. We found a nice little sidewalk café near the “torch” and dedicated our desserts in memory of Diana! We both had a great dinner!

It was now dark and we decided to call it a day! There was that tall building guiding us home again!

We came across the most “unique” public restroom. It was out on the sidewalk – and had an automatic door. There was a line so we could really study this thing. After someone exited, the door closed and you could hear it going through some automatic cleaning cycle. When it was my turn, I could see where the toilet and the sink would retreat into the wall, into some sort of cleaning area, where it washed, sanitized and dried! Kathryn told me that she read somewhere that they wanted to install something similar in New York City but it never happened because they weren't handicapped-friendly.  It is so much better that our “porta-johns”.

A couple who was also standing in line told us that in 10 minutes (at 10 p.m.) that half-way up the street was a great viewing area to see the Eiffel Tower light show. It was beautiful.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Even though my bag was checked through to Paris, I had to go through a security check again. They made me take off my belt, but not my shoes. Apparently they hadn’t heard of the “shoe bomber” but had gotten a tip about a “belt bomber” in the area!


After a five hour wait (in which I did find a bench where I could lay down and nap for awhile) I boarded my plane for the two hour flight to Paris.

Air France served a nice salmon salad sandwich on the flight, plus free beer or wine. Not knowing which time zone I was in, I skipped the alcohol.

I waited and waited for my luggage in Paris only to find that I was supposed to be at carousel #9 instead of #12. When I got to # 9, there was no one there, but there was my suitcase, the only one on the carousel, spinning round and round!

I need to say at this point – the French people I came in contact with were very friendly and helpful, as was the guy who pointed me in the right direction to find my bus to the hotel.

It was an hour ride on the bus to the hotel. After getting off the bus, I had a map and knew the general direction of the hotel – or I thought I did – heading in the wrong direction for a while – I circled back to where I started and then looked up – yep – diagonally across from where I started was a sign on a building that state “Le Meridian Hotel”. Ha! I now had been traveling over 24 hours and needless to say, I was tired of traveling!

Kathryn’s co-worker – Tiffany – greeted me at the entrance to the hotel and said that Kathryn was on her way down. It was nice to see a familiar smiling face when she arrived!

We met another co-worker of Kathryn’s in the bar, Zahi, and several of his cousins who lived in Paris, and we headed for a Paris side walk café for dinner. I had gazpacho, which turned out to be melon gazpacho and a salmon open face sandwich which was quite good. The cold French beer 664 was good too!

At 8:30 Paris time, my batteries were running low and Kathryn walked me back to the hotel. The room was small with two twin beds – but I can assure you the bed felt good!  The hotel did have a great view, which almost made up for the size.

Wednesday August 11, 2010

Up at 4:00 a.m.! So much to do – pack; make sure the house is ready to show for the realtor.
My sister Debbie arrived at around 10:30 a.m. – folded my shirts with tissue paper and packed my bag like Joel could never do! Took a shower before I left – when I came out, Debbie was running the sweeper – what a big help she is. Left for the airport around 11:30 for a flight at 2:30.

Right after we left, a screw fell out of my glasses – we plugged in the GPS to try to find an eyeglass place to get them fixed – found one – but they were closed for lunch or siesta? Where are we anyway?

Plane was on-time for the short flight to Dulles (one hour). 2 ½ hour wait in Washington D.C. for my flight to Madrid.

Flight to Madrid was long – 7 hours. The flight was only about half full so I thought I could grab some empty seats together and lay down and sleep for part of the flight. Mr. “United We Fly” had other ideas! The arm rests only go up about 2/3’s and make it impossible to lie down on multiple seats! It was a very long flight trying to get some sleep sitting up. United served a meal about an hour into the flight – choice of chicken or pasta – I went for the pasta – not bad!

About half way through the flight, - they turned on the lights and walked around the plane checking to see if everyone had their seatbelts fastened – what was that all about? By the time we landed, I had lost all track of time and really needed a bed.

Almost a five hour wait in Madrid for the flight to Paris.

I stopped at a food stand and bought a sandwich. It was not what I thought I had picked up – some sort of mystery mush – but I ate it anyway!

Three women sat down at the table next to me, very high heels, lots of make-up, lots of cleavage, one tramp stamp staring at me above the visible bright pink thong – get the picture? I suddenly had a great idea that it could make a great first picture for my blog of me sitting at the same table as them. There were plenty of people sitting around that I could ask to take the picture.

I approached the table the table with what I thought was one of my best “opening lines” – “Hello, any of fine young (they were not) ladies (maybe in the literal sense of the word) speak English?” They looked at me in total confusion! So I went for my modified sign language skills – pointed at my camera – pointed at them – pointed at me – and gave them my best smile!

The best way to describe their re-action was “anger”. They started speaking at a very fast rate – pointing at me – pointing at the camera – and pointing at themselves – but no smiles! I sensed they really didn’t want to do this – and maybe I had insulted them! Ha! And I already had the caption for the picture – “Joel meets three librarians on holiday at the Madrid airport and they invite him to lunch”.

I retreated to my table – well – I at least gave them something to talk about! I thought for a moment I would try to just snap a picture of them just sitting at their table – but their words per minute were still at a very high rate – as was the volume at which they were speaking!