France -- Paris day 3 (final day)

Because of the ongoing rail strike, we aborted our plans of taking the train to Chartres and decided to wander around the Champs Elysées. We had croissants and café crèmesat the same café where we had breakfast yesterday. We hopped on the metro and rode it to the Arc de Triomphe.

Starting at the Arc de Triomphe, we walked down the avenue, peeping into fancy stores along the way. We stopped in Ladurée and bought some macarons: vanilla, pistachio (2), caramel, lemon, green apple, licorice, and rose.

We continued our meanderings down the street and stopped at a café for iced vanilla lattes and water (it was really hot and sunny today). We kept walking until we reached Place de la Concorde. We admired the obelisk and fountains for a bit before setting off for Rue de Rivoli.

We stopped in shops here and there (I found a yellow Tour de France t-shirt for dad) until we arrived at the Palais.Musée du Louvre metro station. We rode the metro to La Cité and had a relaxing lunch at a café overlooking Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de Justice. I had a delicious club sandwich (egg, tomato, lettuce, chicken, mayo) and cider to drink.

Next, we strolled past Notre Dame and, because of the heat, stopped at yet another café for a drink. Our café was right next to the Seine and we had a beautiful view of Notre Dame while we relaxed in the shade (I drank a kir, mom had pastis, and Judy had a campari and soda). After relaxing, we walked back to the hotel to re-organize and pack for our early departure tomorrow.

And so the trip ends – it was great fun with great travel buddies! I will have one last post soon about all the souvenirs I found along with some final thoughts about the trip~

No power here...argh

Well, it has been quite a week so far! There was a HUGE storm on Sunday (around 3 pm) and it knocked out our power -- which is STILL out (and might not be restored until Thursday)! Winds were over hurricane force in Rockville (which is where Carlos and I are staying) and even reached 90 mph! The yard is a mess with downed branches everywhere and a big tree that smashed one of the chain-link fences. We have to purge all of the food in the fridge and freezer this afternoon because it is beyond salvageable. Boo. I thought we left this stormy stuff behind in Florida!

Anyway, I am at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum right now, enjoying the A/C and power outlets that are giving my phone and computer some juice. I will post some more once power is restored to the house!

In DC now!

Hi everyone, Carlos and I made it up to DC on Monday afternoon, after spending a few days traveling and visiting with friends in Gainesville and Durham. It was great to hang out with our friends from La Selva completely out of context in the cities where they go to school! It was also fun visiting the University of Florida and Duke campuses -- very different from the University of Miami campus!

Carlos and I are staying in Rockville, Maryland with our friend's mom until we find a place of our own. We are busy apartment hunting and I think we are looking most intensely at places fairly near the DC metro area. These areas are a little pricier than we would like, but I think with a little hunting we will find a nice place with not much of a commute to the Mall.

I will resume my France posts soon (once I get a little more time) so do not fret -- I still have to finish up the last couple of days from our trip. I really do like DC though (and the outlying cities) -- a most welcome change from Miami (though the weather is basically the same -- very hot and humid!).

Setting out for DC!

I thought I would write a quick little post noting that Carlos and I are leaving this morning for our drive up to DC. We will arrive there on the 19th because we are taking the drive pretty leisurely and stopping to visit friends in Gainesville, FL and Durham, NC along the way. I can't wait to see my friends again and to ultimately arrive in DC! I will try to post something when we arrive in DC~

France -- Paris day 2

Today (26 June 2010), we woke up a little earlier than usual and headed out into the city around 8 am. We stopped for breakfast at a café in Place Maubert and while we were enjoying our especially crunchy croissants and strong coffees, we admired the Saturday food market being set up right in front of us.

From there, we took the metro to the Musée d’Orsay and waited in line for about 15 minutes until the museum opened. Unfortunately, no photography of any kind was allowed here so I do not have any pictures of the beautiful paintings and sculptures we saw. We visited the Impressionist exhibits mostly (Monet and Cezanne are my favorites). We walked around the gift shop before leaving and hopping back on the metro to Saint-Sulpice church.

A nice market full of used book vendors had been set up in front of the church. We browsed the market for a while and I found two beetle prints (printed in the 18th century) for Carlos’ souvenirs. We visited Saint-Sulpice – I liked the dark gray stones used in the cathedral interior. We also found the rose line (of Da Vinci Code fame).

Next, we visited a nearby Pierre Hermé pastry shop where I purchased two fancy pastries: Ispahan and Tarte Infiniment Vanille. I also bought a small box of assorted chocolates. We ate the pastries on the steps of Saint-Sulpice and they were both extremely delicious!

After pastries, we found some lunch nearby (I had a goat cheese salad with tomatoes and onions along with an Orangina). We took the metro back to our hotel for a little break after eating our lunch. Around 4 pm, we headed out to shop for souvenirs at the bouquinistes – I found some stamps and a Bixa tree print for Carlos. We wandered all along the Seine and through Ile de la Cité, peeping into many souvenir shops.

Next, we took the RER to the Pont de l’Alma to ride the Bateaux Mouches – passenger boats that cruise along the Seine to look at all the sights. We took a 7 pm boat and after a nice tour of historic Paris from the water, we returned to the dock ~8:30 pm. We took the metro back to the hotel (but looked at the Liberty torch and tunnel where Princess Diana died before getting on the metro).

We stopped at a market for a picnic dinner (tomatoes, camembert, gruyere, bread, chips, nectarines, and soda) which we ultimately ate in the hotel dining room (because the nearby park was gated and locked!). While eating dinner, we watched the World Cup: USA vs Ghana which ended in a 1-1 tie. After our simple dinner, we returned to the hotel room for the night.

France -- Paris day 1

This morning (25 June 2010), we prepared and packed all of our bags before heading out to Notre Dame around 8:30 am. We arrived at the cathedral a little before 9 am and visited the inside of the church. It wasn’t very crowded yet – a good idea to visit this sight early before the hordes of tourists show up!

At 9:30 am, we joined the queue to go up into the tower and finally, a little after 10 am, we were on our way up a lot of little, winding stairs (after purchasing our 2-day Paris museum passes). After a LOT of spiraling stairs, we reached the top of the tower and visited numerous gargoyles and a big bell. The view of Paris was quite cool too.

Eventually we left Notre Dame, taking the RER train back to Hotel du Senlis so that we could transfer hotels. We checked out ~11:30 am and began our walk to Hotel du Commerce. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at Crepes-a-go-go (I had a buckwheat crepe filled with potatoes, eggs, and cheese with an Orangina to drink).

We checked into our new hotel (room #10), unpacked a little, then headed back towards Ile de la Cité to visit Sainte Chapelle. On the way, we visited the bouquinistes along the Seine – some of these little shop stalls had nice old prints for sale. Judy bought Carlos and me a beautiful paca and agouti print as our wedding present (thank you Judy!).

We continued onward past Notre Dame (so many tourists there now) to Sainte Chapelle. It was very beautiful inside both the lower and upper chapels (although part of the stained glass windows were covered with scaffolding).

We walked back to Ile St.-Louis and had ice cream at Berthillion (I had pear sorbet and almond crème – both delicious).

Next we walked to the Louvre and Angelina’s – it was a pretty long (but interesting) walk down the Rue de Rivoli! Finally, we made it to Angelina’s and despite the heat outside, we all had delicious hot chocolates (chocolat l’africain) – possibly the best hot chocolate ever!

After Angelina’s, we walked across the street to visit the Louvre. We wandered around the Egyptian and Greek antiquities sections mostly, taking time to admire Venus de Milo and the Nike of Samonthrace (Winged Victory). In the Louvre gift shop, I bought a little blue stuffed Egyptian hippo for Shannon. We returned to the hotel via the metro and took a little break before dinner.

We walked down the street for dinner at a local café (I had onion soup, camembert with bread, and a sweet white wine). Around 10:30 pm we returned to the hotel and hit the hay. We have another full day in Paris tomorrow!

France -- Amboise to Paris

This morning (24 June 2010) we got ready for the day and checked out of Hotel le Blason around 9 am. We had breakfast at a patisserie near the clock tower (I had a pistachio, almond, chocolate cake called a St. Huitile and a café crème). After breakfast, we walked to the nearby TI and waited for a taxi to the train station.

We arrived at the station ~10 am for our 11:29 am train. BUT...we soon found out...there was a train strike (a public transportation strike) and only a few trains were still running! We had to change our tickets for a later train and instead of arriving in Paris around 1 pm, we got there ~5:30 pm (with a transfer in Tours). At least we managed to get there!

We arrived at Gare Montparnasse and took a taxi to Hotel du Senlis. We checked in and ate some snacks in our room (#17). We re-organized and set out for La Tour Eiffel. We walked to the Cluny-Sorbonne metro stop and because of the strike, we didn’t have to buy tickets! The metro was very easy to use and we soon arrived at the Bir-Hakeim stop. From here we walked to the Eiffel Tower and stopped along the Seine to watch boats.

We wandered around some parks and people-watched until our ticket reservation at 8:30 pm. It was extremely crowded and I was very glad that we pre-purchased our tickets online – it probably saved us 2 hours of standing in line!

We took the first elevator to the 2nd floor, then stood in line for the top floor. We eventually made it to the very top of the tower as the sun was setting.

We left the Eiffel Tower ~10:30 pm and walked back to the metro, riding it to our stop near the Sorbonne. We stopped for a snack and drinks at one of the cafés on a square looking out onto an old university building. I drank some Muscat and we shared a really good cheese plate with: Saint-Nectaire (tasted like clams!), camembert (mushroomy!), chèvre (goat cheese), and a delicious gorgonzola (hard and slightly cheddar-like). We returned to the hotel rather late tonight (after midnight) and turned in, ready for our first full day in Paris tomorrow!

France -- Amboise day 2

This morning (23 June 2010), we got ready by 8:30 am and wandered toward the castle, ready to enjoy breakfast at Bigot. We sat at a lovely little table outside with a view of Chateau Amboise across the street. I had a delicious chocolate éclair (filled with bittersweet chocolate cream) and an orange hot chocolate to drink – very tasty and obviously homemade.

After a relaxing breakfast in the morning sun, we visited Chateau Amboise. I really liked this smaller castle – especially Leonardo da Vinci’s (supposed) tomb and the gardens. Swallows were flying everywhere this morning, squeaking and visiting the little nests they had built along the castle lintels. We walked around the castle all morning and stopped at the gift shop before leaving to find some lunch.

We had sandwiches (chèvre and crudités) and Oranginas (of course!) at a nearby café and then returned to the hotel for a little break. After ~1.5 hours, we ventured back out to walk around and visit the maisons troglodytiques (houses built into the stone walls – cave houses). They were not as interesting as I was expecting, but it would be really neat to live in one. We also walked to Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years, but we did not go in.

We walked back to town and wandered through some shops in the pedestrian area. We also visited the Cathedral St.-Denis which was pretty nice and refreshingly cool inside. After our wanderings, we returned to the hotel for another break before dinner.

For dinner, we walked back to the main street near the chateau and eventually found a little restaurant down a side street (Restaurant Le Parvis). This was perhaps the best dinner of our trip! We had salads (I had a warm goat cheese salad), white wine, a cheese plate, and bread. The restaurant was very cute and the terrace where we ate provided a very pleasant atmosphere – great food with great company!

Once we finished dinner (~8:45 pm), we walked back to the hotel and turned in for the night. Tomorrow we travel to Paris!