On the London Eye

Picture courtesy Mary A. Thanks Mary!

Day 5 Paris to London

Sadly, we left Paris today. MMPT arrived at Gare Nord (the North train station) via arranged transport. After a little confusion we figured out where to go to board Eurostar Train 9023 to London, checked out of France and into Great Britain, and found our seats in Car 5.

Car 6 provided culinary options and a welcome distraction from the fact we were going to chunnel our way to London - under the English Channel. Distracted by good food and better company I managed not to have an anxiety attack because we were under water for an extended period of time.

We left a warm Paris for a cold, overcast, drizzling and windy London. Thankfully our driver was waiting for us as we exited the secured area at the train station. Our almost 50 pound suitcases seemed to get heavier as we followed him uphill to the car.

MMT had planned a great day for us, jam packed because we had only one. They had secured tickets ahead of time for the London Eye, a tour of Buckingham Palace and the Key Ceremony at the Tower. You may wonder what P contributed. I’m trying to think of something…

We checked into the Doubletree and rode the metro to The London Eye. Yes this is the very same London Eye that bachelorette Emily used for a romantic dinner. Thanks to Mary, who identified that we could purchase skip-the-line tickets ahead of time and Terry who bought them it fit into our schedule.

For those of you who might not be bachelor/ette fans, the London Eye is an enclosed-capsule Ferris wheel situated on the shore of the Thames. It makes one revolution in 30 minutes if it doesn’t have to stop. We had a bird’s eye view of Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abby and our next stop, Buckingham Palace. A map helped to identify other oddly shaped buildings and parks.

Next we metroed (with minimum difficulty) to Buckingham Palace to use Mary A.’s advance purchase tickets for our second tour. We had a few minutes to hang out at Starbucks (ah, this was My Contribution). I left with my coffee cup expecting a trash can at every corner. They seem to be a very tidy people, these English. And compartmentalized. Coffee is actually consumed in the coffee shop and not on the streets. Anyway the tour did not allow beverages. My search for a trash can lead me several blocks away and for a brief moment I thought I had missed the tour. They don’t exactly hold the tour for you if you’re lost.

The English guide was charming, informative and well spoken. I was again amazed at how much I don’t know. We entered using the entrance reserved for dignitaries and senior military officials. Our guide lead us through the palace from the most public rooms (where the guards hang out) to the most private (where the royal family hangs out before the big events). We also saw the throne room, recetion rooms, party rooms, hidden doors, and magnifcent art. The palace's history is fascinating and complicated, as are the royal families that occupied it.

He explained that the architect (John Nash) and the King most responsible for its final form (George IV maybe) wanted a palace that represented the wealth and power of a great country so they designed rooms that were bold, theatrical and magical. Our tour ended with a glass of champagne or apple juice in the priate garden.

We stopped for a quick dinner, but it took a lot longer than anticipated. As a result we headed for the Key Ceremony at London Tower with little time to spare. You have to request tickets via mail ahead of time. .. Not sure that we knew exactly where to meet the group there were a few moments of angst as we looked for the west gate where we were to meet our guide. They don’t wait on stragglers here either.

The Watchman explained that the locking of the tower gate by presenting the keys - Queen Elizabeth’s Keys - to the guard in a ritualized manner is the same ceremony that has been repeated daily without fail for 800 years. Though I at first thought it might be one of the reasons that the British lost the revolutionary war – engaging in meaningless ceremonies instead of adapting more advanced and flexible techniques – I realize that all countries have their rituals which are meant to honor their history and tradition. The changing of the guards at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington DC is no doubt one of those.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed a drink and a spectacular view of London by night at the Sky Lounge atop the Doubletree before collapsing for the night.

Tomorrow we board the cruise train to the cruise port - Harwich – which I routinely mispronounce as Harwich. Those who know pronounce it Hare-ish, or something like that. The w is silent. Why put a w in a word if you aren’t going to use it? It must be a clever way to quickly identify the tourists.

Sainte Chappelle

Day 4 Last Day to Enjoy Paris

I probably need to start taking notes. It's only Day 4 and I'm already getting confused about what I did during the day. Old age is tough.

I do remember a lovely walk to the neighborhood grocery store. Breakfast was only 2 euros this morning - yogurt and bananas. I somehow think he undercharged me. Mary, Mary, Pat and Terry (hereinafter MMPT) heded for the HOHO boat tour. While taxis can be a little frantic and frightening, I found the river trip quite calming. Occassionally a handsome boat steward would try to tell us about the sites, but I'm already on overload. Interesting to see the same monuments, bridges, museums from a different vantagepoint.

MMPT walked down an exquisite tree lined boulevard to Princess Di's memorial which turns out to have been hijacked. It wasn't built for her but it has been taken over. Flowers, pictures, graphitti now decorate a gold flame built for another purpose. MM tell me that the tunnel beneath that spot is where the fatal accident occurred.

Another delightful sidewalk cafe, another beautiful day, another fresh salad and an almost full cup of coffee. What they call a Big Coffee is espresso with hot milk in what we call a normal size cup. I'll take it.

I've noticed that I don't get caffeine headaches over here, even though I'm drinking a lot less than my normal quota of coffee - 3 cups before I leave the house, a Venti Starbucks and 3 at night. Seems like at home if I miss any of that, it's an instant headache. Not here.

MM went back to their hotel to get ready for the night. I was determined to see Sainte Chapelle, much to Terry's dismay. It is a small gothic chapel recommended by a friend. Limited on time we caught a taxi, which is definitely an experience not to be missed, even though it's terrifying. Although I have yet to see an accident, I don't know why. Except that maybe they have perfected driving as an art. Narrowly missing each other, honking, great sense of spatial perception, or maybe no insurance, these guys manage to navigate crowded narrow streets without running into each other. It's a miracle.

Whether our taxi driver didn't know where Sainte-Chappelle was or had more important things to do, he stopped at Notre Dame. We rode in the back of buggy powered by a student driver - age 22 - to The Chapel described as a glass and stone jewel case. We climbed the narrow spiral staircase to the upper level to gaze at unparalleled beauty. I only wish we could have spent more time there.

By this time totally confused about where the hotel might be, we caught a taxi back to the hotel to get ready for our sunset river cruise complete with 5 star food followed by a show at the Moulin Rouge. It was much more varied than I thought it would be. I expected the barely dressed beautiful girls (and guys). But in addition we got acrobats, dancers, singers, comedians, dare devil roller skaters. My favorite would have to be the skaters who did ridiculous things while spinning in circles. It was better than America"s Got Talent. In fact several times I thought these people should apply.

Good that we caught the early show. There was a line down the street for the late show. The ride home was fairly uneventful on deserted Parisian streets. We arrived in time for our last Eiffel Tower Light Show.

My only regret is that we don't have more time here. Tomorrow we will be catching the train to London. Am I too old to be an exchange student?

Day 3

Another beautiful day - cool, sunny and breezy. I walked to the neighborhood grocery store for breakfast, yogurt and raspberries while Terry confirmed our ride to the airport on Thursday. Thursday is coming way too fast to me.

Watched a sofa descend from a 5th floor apartment window via an outdoor ladder/lift filled with plastic wrapped packages. Impressive. Much easier I suspect that trying to carry it down the inside stairs.

Small grocery store crammed in between neighborhood cafes and apartments manned by 2 white coated grocers. He carefully kept me away from the molded blueberries and even gave me spoons for the yogurt. The 6 francs breakfast was far cheaper than the hotels 25 per person. Probably healthier too.

Mary and Mary arrived for our day of touring - the yellow bus. L Open Tours offers 4 different city tours for around 31 euros, two days for 34. We had taken the red tour around the Eiffel Tower neighborhood yesterday. Not to my surprise, the second time I saw things that must have been taking a day off the first time.

Although it is Hop On Hop Off we didn't do any hopping except in seats. A couple of times we got the primo front-of-the-bus seats. We were forced to change buses a couple of times to get it all done - green, yellow, orange and purple routes. And we did get off for lunch in the Latin Quarter.

Way too much information. We listened to the tour through headphones. Sometimes I could match it up to what I saw and sometimes I couldn't. If we were here for a month though I would now know what I would like to see every day. The museums alone would probably take a year to do if we wanted to do it 'right'.

We got a glimpse of a lot - Rodin's The Thinker placed in the garden outside his museum, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, Montmarte, Grand Palais, Petit Palaise, Champs Elysee, Maxims, the Pantheon, squeezed through the arches (again) to the Louve, Alexander the Great's bridge etc.

Speaking of, Paris is a city of bridges, many of them foot bridges. but my favorite was the padlock bridge (I don't know it's real name). To symbolize their committment lovers come to this bridge with a padlock, lock it on the bridge, and throw the key into the water. I may have to drag Terry over there.

We finished the day on the 56th floor of Montparnasse enjoying a spectacular view of the city, including the Eiffel Tower light show. The promised sunset did show up this time. Our waiter Oliver, was delightful, and the food excellent. I especially liked the double espresso.

Although I routinely bug Terry about NOT getting the room/balcony facing the Eiffel Tower, last night we could see it's light show reflected in the buildings behind us. It might have been even better, which I would never admit to Terry, since we didn't have to move our tired bodies from their horizontal position to see it.

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower skip-the-lines sunset tour, was crowded, interesting and informative, even if the sun didn't cooperate with the promised sunset. One cable car took us halfway up and another elevator straight to the top. The tour itself occured on the first stop. Champagne was served at the top - for a price of course.

Slight Disclaimer - all information here should be treated as suspect. At my age, I am lucky to remember what day it is or what country I am in.

Asha, our tour guide, from Fat Tire (?) a company of displaced energetic, enthusiastic young Americans, regaled us with tales of King Louie 14, 15, 16, pointed out the many historic sights as well as the non-historic Montparnasse, the Monstrosity, a huge black building with a restaurant on floor 56. Totally different from the historic Paris. She promised splendid cityviews and cheap food. At least one of those proved true. And I suppose cheap is relative.

Montparnasse caused as much controversy as the Eiffel Tower did when it was first built in 1889 for the World's Exhibition. Eiffel, who bought the design from engineering students, won the contest for most unique building. It took 2 years 2 months to build. As with most things, money endures. Asha did not know the student's names.

The military school (visible from the tower) was unhappy with the loss of land and requested it be as close to the Seine as possible. At one point they wanted it to straddle the river, but that proved to be an impossible engineering feat. Eiffel bought the design from two students, but it was his money so it is his name. Money talks.

Parisians complained that it would attract metal to it, like a magnet or fall down and destroy the neighboring houses. Although the 'eyesore' was to be a temporary structure for the Exhibition, it is now the most visited monument in the world. It is painted every 7 years by what Asha termed mountain climbers, takes tons of paint, and is amazingly light. If all the metal was flattened it would be a small pile.

The tower was to be built totally French, but they could not find a french company capable of designing an elevator that would work. The american company Otis did and to solve the french problem they became honorary French citizens. Supposedly the cable cars used today are the original (repaired) ones.

Eiffel shrewdly negotiated a 20 year contract to make back the money he invested, which was achieved in just 6 months.

Because of it's height ET plays a role in wireless communication which might explain the armed guards roaming the grounds, which was both reassuring and alarming.

Like the Eiffel Tower there will never be another Montparnasse. Laws were enacted to make sure that modern structures were built on the edge of the city, out of sight.

We (Mary, Mary, Pat and Terry) ended the day on the floating restaurant we (Pat and Terry) visited the night before, watching the light show of the Eiffel Tower. Endless delight.

Lunch at the RIBE

Day 2 HOHO and Eiffel Tower Tour

Terry had been up for hours working on the computer so while he took a nap.I went for a walk by and over the Seine this morning. Absolutely beautiful weather for walking, running, sitting or my favorite activity,rustling leaves accumulated by the bucket full on the city's sidewalks. Occassionally I would wander down a street devoid of leaves with a germanic looking guy sweeping up the front sidewalk, but mostly not.

Too late for breakfast we stopped at one of the multitude of sidewalk cafes to watch the traffic, sip coffee and read Rick Steves Paris 2012. We noticed yellow and red double decker busses so we headed for Rick's stated pick-up spot. After a few mis-turns - it is not easy to find unless you already know where it is, we boarded it - they accepted credit cards - and headed for the upper level spending two plus hours seeing the sights. Paris L'Open Tour has 4 different routes. Good thing because if we had done the whole thing at once we would have been sun fried and even less coherent than we were when we departed. As it was, the French sun burned Terry's nose and my cheeks. Make what you want out of that. The two day pass is only a few euros more than the one day pass, so of course we got it. Hopefully we'll use it.

The green line picked us up in front of the Eiffel Tower, issued us disposable ear pieces so we could listen to the tour, and took us past the Opera, Palais-Royal Comedie Francaise, thrilling us by barely passing through impossibly small arches to the Louvre, Pont Neuf - a sanctuary for musicians and artists - 700 year old Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle from the 13th century with 50 foot stained glass windows, Saint Michael, Musee d'Orsay, Concorde, Rodin's Museum, down the Champs Elysees with the 1250 BC Obelisk from Eygypt,past Charles de Gaule Etoile and his statute, Trocadero, Invalides, Madeline, and the Arc d Triompe built to celebrate Napolean's victories. When we weren't being educated we listened to the soft sounds of french music. French is one of the most pleasing languages to my ear.

Palaces were often turned into museums with the notable exception of the 1392 palace that became a prison - the Bastille. I found myself wanting to go on that tour. My college major was psych with a criminal justice option. I always thought I might end up there, hopefully not as a cellmate.

The former medieval fortress, the Louve was abandoned and then re-invented as a museum with 12 small paintings. It has many more now, of course. We passed the spot where King Louie the 16th was beheaded near the Palais de Concorde.

Of course there was a lot more, and this was only one of the 4 'overview' trips. I'm not sure how I planned to see Paris in 4 days.

We ate our first real meal of the day at another delightful open air cafe RIBE, 15 avenue de Suffen 75007 across the street from the Pullman. The waitress-suggested- crayfish salad was delicious, along with the expresso. Terry was less impressed by the steak and fries, but thoroughly enjoyed the upside down apple tart with apple ice cream.

Eating our way through France.

Tonight we're 'skipping the lines' with Fat Tire Tours (at least I think that is their name) at the Eiffel Tower. The crowd at ET yesterday (Sunday) was nothing compared to the mob there today. Should you ever come, plan ahead (like everyone does but me) and reserve/pay for tours ahead of time unless you want to spend countless hours in ticket lines.

Thankfully I travel with planners

Happiness is being in Paris France at the Eiffel Tower

Day 1. We're Here!

At 6:00 Saturday the 25th we were somewhere over Louisiana, having flown about 3 hours from Los Angeles. At the time we had 8 more hours to go.

6:00 Saturday the 25th we were somewhere over Louisiana after traveling about 3 hours from Los Angeles with 8 more hours to go. Several bumpy patches, which my Vietnam Vet husband had no trouble with, marred my serenity. He thought the pilot was being over-cautious when he suspended dinner service. I was grateful. I prefer my pilots over-cautious rather than risk taking.

The first course was the pre-dinner: a drink for some, coffee for me (loved it) served in the cutest little china cup with their logo (a flower)along with a bag of fresh carrots. After service resumed I ordered Tiki marinated shrimp with mango salse, even though I don't like shrimp. Surprisingly Delicious. The alternative was duck liver. Entree was chicken with mushrooms, carrots and green beans. Terry opted for the crab cakes and every dessert on the menu. The most interesting was an Orange Cake Dome which was not a cake at all.

As one might expect our steward/stewardesses were Tahitian, girls with flowers in their hair, guys with jet black hair. Blue seats, green stripes, bright yellow pillows covered with white flowers, a blue blanket. Their flower logo decorated every piece of china and was embroidered on the white mini table cloth. Green curtains separated first class (6 seats), business class (around 20)) and coach (a lot).

We were fortunate enough to fly business. Each seat had its own tv with access to 17 or so movies. Most we had seen so I opted for the one about surfers in Tahiti riding 20 foot waves and The Incredibles, along with bits and pieces of other movies. Music - 12 styles available from country to classical, and games - solitaire, slots, trivia, minigolf, invasion...etc. Terry played chess.

Right after dinner experienced travelers went to sleep;shades drawn, lights out, chairs reclined to near horizontal. Although we were tired, we couldn't do it, I suspect they had help, so I read a book downloaded to my ipod. Terry wandered around the cabin making friends like he usually does.

In the middle of the night after I finally got to sleep he woke me up with an offer of sandwiches and drinks. Then the stewards woke us up 3 or 4 hours before we landed. I think they were trying to make sure we were all still breathing. About an hour later they started breakfast. Terry raved about the pancakes. I was not that enthusiastic about the omlette and bacon. All in all though I give them a 4 plus for their five star rated food service.

I took my usual too-many cloud and sunrise pictures. It really doesn't matter how many times I see them, clouds and colors always please. We landed around 9, to an overcast Paris. After we gathered our luggage and found our way out of CDG airport our pre-arranged french driver was waiting with a home made sign 'Terry Rosga'; such a relief not to have to find our own transportation since we were pretty brain dead after the flight.

Pullman Hotel is literally a block from the Eiffel Tower. It could not be more perfect for me. Fortunately they found a room for us to crash in because the two of us were definitely sleep deprived.

I took a walk around the ET while Terry unpacked. Hopefully at some point we'll be able to post pictures. Currently the hotel is 'experiencing difficulty with their in room wireless network' and the 6 computers available in the business area are constantly busy and as far as I can tell, unable to use external drives. I am being stared at as I have monopolized this computer way longer than is polite.

After our nap of 3 or 4 hours we walked to Starbucks. Now some of you might think it was my Starbucks addiction that motivated me. It was not. It was our quest for internet and fascination with all things Paris. Unfortunately this Starbucks closes at 8 PM so we didn't get much internet time in, and the signal kept dropping. We may have to investigate alternatives.

Walked the interesting, colorful, delightful, ancient streets of Paris to the Seine River, along the Seine to our hotel, stopped at a floating restaurant for supper - gazpacho with a whole tomato in it, chicken pieces floating in vegetable broth, kindof crock pot like, and cappacino - while the Eiffel Tower sparkled right beside our table (well not literally). Every hour for 10 minutes it is a monument of blinking lights. We took way too many pictures that we may never be able to load. It was a magic moment for me.

Our traveling companions, Mary and Mary, should arrive tommorrow. I am deliberately ignorant of our plans. It is much easier traveling without expectations.

I'd love to be able to live here for a month or two. Just call me Patricia Never Enough Rosga.

Well I really need to go before I get mugged by the computer starved.

D-Night

I am finally over-packed. Took all day but I am now able to close the expanded-to-its-limit suitcase. At least I won't be buying a bunch of souvenirs because there is no way to get them home.

We did some last minute shopping, which I hate to do - shopping that is. Last minute is pretty normal for me. I shop like a guy - on a mission. I know what I want, find it, and leave. I've picked up some remarkable items that way which were not necessarily what I wanted.

I passed a rack of swimsuits on sale, one in my favorite color (black) so I bought it without further inspection. Turned out to be a maternity swimsuit, which wouldn't be so bad except I am way past the years when it would even be a possibility. That will not prevent me from wearing it though.

Terry just started to pack. He has spent the entire day doing god-knows-what but he has been very busy doing it. Course if he wasn't doing it I'd show up at the airport without a passport and no money.

We'll be up at 5 AM to get to the airport at 6 for a flight that leaves at 8. 3 hours to LA, 4 hour layover,  and 11 hours or so later and we'll be in the City of Love. I did unfortunately google 'do airplanes fly over hurricanes'. I hope Tahiti Nui has experienced pilots.

Progress! I finally managed to figure out how to load a picture at the top and what a gadget is. Methinks that old age is interfering with the processing of data.

Only one day left to get ready for the big trip. I had great intentions at the beginning of the week. Friday is going to be a busy day. We have 3 or 4 lists going.  It’s not because I sleep too much…only getting about four to five hours a night. Course it might make the plane ride shorter if I just pass out from exhaustion, but since we’re going business class that would be kindof a waste. I need to stay awake to enjoy it.

Wonder if I can get that remote without waking him up so I can change the channel…Success!

Womans Equality Day

Woman's Equality Day is actually Sunday August 26th, 2012 but we celebrated today the 92nd anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment at Dallas City Hall with a roomful of women, most dressed entirely in white. I however, wore my traditional black - not meant to be a sign of dissent, just discouragement.

Hard to believe that it was not until 1920 that women were given the right to vote. I remember Mom telling me that the two choices she had for a job were teacher and nurse. It seems hard to believe today.

Equally hard to believe that we are still fighting for control of our own bodies and for the enlightenment of some men. Until men start giving birth to children I really think they need to stay out of women's issues. It is scary to hear what comes out of some congressmen's mouths. 

At least one man has some sense. In talking about Rep Akin's outrageous opinion on rape he said 'The views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape. And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we are talking about doesn't make sense to the American people and certainly doesn't make sense to me. So what I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women."


Why we put up with it is beyond me. Maybe we just don't know what we need to do. There must be a movement or an organization that I should be joining.

Two more days.... I think I can make it.

One Day Closer

The laptop is finished and it works! It is currently loading 4,276 emails into Outlook. 

Work was really quiet last week. We should have left  Monday. Instead I'm stuck doing real work this week. The good news is I have a great excuse for not getting all that documentation done.

Not having enough to do, I met a friend to hear The Art and Science of Change, lecture at Unity Church, tonight. I had no business being there of course, but I went anyway. 

Therapist Kevin  (www.i360.life.com) said if he had known sooner that humans didn't change he would have become a vet. His proof was that 90 percent of  post coronary patients who immediately changed habits (diet, exercise, smoking etc) after the incident had reverted to their old habits after 2 years.

The  process of change is defined as precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance according to Transtheoretical social scientists DiClemente & Procheska

We know that women ask for help sooner; men generally won't ask till they are about dead, which can cause conflict. Women want some action while the guys are still contemplating.

Meanwhile some car attacked a median tree in front of the church. Traffic was backed up for miles while the wounded auto was loaded on a tow truck.

Celebrating that I had narrowly avoided another pre-vacation complication  - it might have been me instead of the tree - I had a vegetable burger (my first) at Jakes while Terry ate a chemical laden hamburger.  Hopefully we will both survive the night.  Only 3 days to go!

Getting Ready, Well Maybe Not...

It's 11:06 PM and I am no closer to ready than I was yesterday at this time. Well I did find some waterproof shoes online,  but of course it's too late to be ordering waterproof shoes online. They say we will need them as we ride the snowmobile over a glacier. I cannot believe I am going to be doing such a crazy thing at my advanced age. Hopefully the snowmobiles will have training wheels.

I have gone through every CD I own looking for Outlook 2003.  We don't like to rush things, so we waited until the last minute to rebuild my laptop. I am addicted to computers; without them, this blog would terminate prematurely, like before we leave.  This would be maybe the 3rd or 4th try at loading an operating system that will function. Terry has far more patience than me. It is not the most important thing I could be doing, but it makes me feel like I am doing something, and I'm not even doing it. Terry is.

That and filing complaints. We got a call at some ridiculous hour of the morning, like 2:22 or something. So did son Jon. There's something about a total stranger calling in the middle of the night threatening our sense of security, claiming to know where we live (and proving it), telling us the names and ages of our kids and grandkids, and refusing to disclose who they are. It got a lot nastier after that. Especially when we are less than a week away from our trip of a lifetime.

Spending way too long on the internet, we tracked down the company that handles the exchange -214.390 - number. I sent a brief email to what was probably the webmaster inquiring about who might have that number. Terry, on the other hand, did a magnificent job of detailing the incident and sending it to every living person in the company. What is even more amazing is some of them actually responded and said they would do something about it. We'll never know for sure what they did, but the police called it after Terry filed a report today and the phone was disconnected. . We Won! We think. Hopefully they won't try to get revenge while we are still here. Nick is a little nervous though. Nick isn't going with us.

Since I am still (foolishly) working in my retirement I am trying to be a good person and document the menial tasks at work...there are SO many...in order to make sure they get done while I'm gone. So far I have completed 4 powerpoint presentations.  Not that they will ever be 'presented'.  It probably would have been simpler to write a list, but hey, the powerpoint presentations were a lot more fun to do and pretty to look at. I even made a checklist to make sure I covered all of the meaningless, i mean menial, tasks, but every time I go over it something else pops up.  I may have control issues.

I'm pretty sure I REALLY need to go on this trip. 

Practice Packing

I think I remember now why I only posted twice in 4 years.  Either this is a lot of work or I'm an idiot. Maybe a little of both.  My practice packing isn't going real well either. So far I've narrowed it down to 17 shirts and 8 dresses. There isn't room for anything else. Oh well. It's WAY past my bedtime. Good thing I started early.

Paris France Here We Come!

I know I am actually a disciplined person.  It sure doesn't show though with some things.  Although this blog was created 4 years ago there were only two posts, one in 2009 and one in 2010 which I have gleefully deleted.  As Charlie said in his promo commercial for his new tv series Anger Management ,"What? Everyone deserves a 24th chance."  I may be wrong on the number, but you get the idea.  

We are going to Paris! and I will attempt to post to this blog daily to share our adventure. I know we are incredibly lucky to be able to do this again.

LONG ago I told Terry that I wanted to go to Paris before I was 40. He was working as a Systems Engineer, I worked for the City.  We had recently had our sixth child (2 his, 2 hers, 2 ours) and had been through all kinds of drama in recent years. We needed a break.

So he took me. Lovely trip. We stayed in Paris for a few days and then used our Eurail pass to train it to Nice, Pompei and Rome, Italy, Switzerland.  On the night before my birthday we were sitting by a illuminated fountain in Nice, listening to the sea, enjoying the moment and each other. He leaned over, kissed me, and whispered  'Happy Fourtieth!'

I probably should have let it go at that, but having achieved my goal, I felt obliged to tell him I was really only 39. His expression was priceless. 

Although it was a trip of a lifetime (we have had quite a few of those) we are looking forward to revisiting some of the sites and seeing new ones with our cruising friends, Mary and Mary.

Today, the week before the flight to Los Angeles where we will transfer to Tahiti Nui for the flight to Paris, I am just hoping that the intervening week is uneventful (we do have a leaking sprinkling system that will have to be fixed), that it will be a calm sunny flying day (it is raining today) and that I won't forget anything really important. 

Usually I wait until the last minute tot pack, but my European train experiences have taught me that I really don't want to get the biggest suitcase in the garage and throw in every article of clothing I have 'just in case' I need it. We lost one suitcase due to cobblestone streets and trying to manage huge suitcases on trains - well, smaller, in this case, is definitely better.

I am off to practice pack.

The Fountains of Nice, Oct 16, 1986

Terry and Pat in 86