More about Paris.....

On the way up to the TOP of the Eiffel Tower...oh MY!!!

Eiffel Tower view at night....Blogger is not cooperating today and this pic is suppoed to be at the bottom!!

I decided to mix in my Friday Fives today on our Paris Tour....and whoever finds all five, since Blogger is not cooperating very well today, gets a prize from me!!! =)
At the Louvre.........................

Mona Lisa.....is she smiling????

The next day we spent almost the entire day in the Louvre.....which is massive!!!  I'll show you a couple of pics, but pictures just don't portray the massiveness of  this once Palace turned Art Museum.  It's over 550,000 square feet of art museum!!!  Since it's divided into three floors and large rooms and small rooms, one could easily get lost.  So glad I don't have getting lost in the Louvre on my list of things I did on vacation!!!  1.  What about you, do you enjoy museums???

An example of the gorgeous ceilings in the Louvre!

One hall in the Louvre....look at the size of the paintings!

Outside the Louvre in the Tuileries garden

Venus de Milo

Thinking about a pedicure...oh my aching feet!! =)
2. Have you had a Spring pedicure yet??? Ready for sandals/flip flop weather????

That night, we decided we'd go back to Eiffel Tower since the first time we went, we got rained out!  That was the only time we had to run for shelter because of drizzles!! Blogger is not cooperating with putting pics where I want them, so the pics for this are at the top!


3. Is it rainy where you are today?? Texas needs rain BADLY!! We got a tiny bit this morning!

4. Do you have weekend plans made?  Is there an Easter Egg Hunt in your future???

5.  Do you have any travel plans for this summer or your near future?  I can't wait to get back over to see Catherine, who celebrated her six month birthday this past Tuesday!!! Can you believe how time flies!!???

Sunday in Paris

This is the front public area in front and it became MUCH more crowded later in the day!  Notice the large round stain glassed window....you'll see below from the inside.

The gargoyles that surround Notre Dame

Hubby goofing off, but it shows you just how large one of the bells was.....

Some of the famous steps up to the top!

The large round window from the inside!!! Spectacular!

On Sunday, the second full day we were in Paris, our plans took us to Notre Dame.....just the inside of the church itself is spectacular....but it also has stairs that lead up into the tower....OVER 400 of them.  I need a t-shirt that says I survived the climb!  There are stone steps that circle up around to the top of the tower....and you get there to discover a fabulous view of the city!  You can come face to face with the gargoyles that surround Notre Dame and get a bird's eye view of the bell as well, which is massive!  One interesting thing to note is that they allowed tourists to go in while the worship service was going on.  It was somewhat dark in the area that tourists could walk around, but I would have been so distracted if I were trying to worship there.  Anyway, magnificent architecture and such massive stain glass windows and artifacts... Amazing!

We left there and walked a few blocks over to Saint Chappelle.  The security was much stiffer here, so we had to stand in line for security.  It was a must see if you love stain glassed windows.  Apparently, the whole Bible is told in stain glass window form....massive windows, but a little difficult to tell which story each window portrays.

Looking to the front of Saint Chappelle

This massive window told the story of Genesis, but it was very difficult to tell what each square represented.....

After leaving this church, which only had 200 steps, we were on to the Arc de Triomphe.....which by the way also had 200+ steps......I got my workout in that day, so it didn't matter about that Pain au chocolat I had that morning with my coffee!!!  Whew!

When we were walking back over to catch the Metro, we also came across a large group of people rollerblading thru the city. There were people of every age, so it must have been some fundraiser or rollerblade-athon or some such thing... and a few blocks over from that, we saw some college aged young men, rollerblading much more elaborate moves, I suppose hoping to wow the crowd for a few coins in their boots!!!

Can you see him in the air? They would skate in and out of these yellow cups and do tricks to entertain the crowd; we did video them, but it wouldn't load to blogger, so you get to see the pic instead!

Well, this was our full day of step workout!! I'll be back with more sights and such of our trip to Paris in March 2011!  Au revoir, y'all!

Paris Restaurants/Food

Cathy asked me about restaurants and food in Paris, so I thought I'd tell y'all a little about that.  FIRST of all, there is a Patasserie or Boulangerie on nearly every corner....by definition, I think the boulangerie has the breads and rolls, etc., and the Patasserie has the sweets and pastries.

The pastries in the windows were so lovely and definitely eye candy.  There were two nice ones near our apartment, and we visited them on a number of the days we were there.  I read somewhere that the government regulates the price of a baguette, so that everyone is able to afford that.  Clearly they do not have the same regulations on pastries, though, because they are very proud of their artisan pastries and they can be fairly expensive.  Of course, I felt like it was my duty to come back and tell you all about some of them, so therefore, my responsibility to TRY OUT a number of varieties!!! Oui????
My favorite thing was a pain au chocolat with my coffee every morning!  With almonds, without......nonetheless, such a treat!!!  At the end of the day, you would see many people on their way home from a long day carrying their baguette...often with the first two or three inches broken off.  I guess they didn't have the same problem with their bread being bare in the open air!! I kept wanting to cover mine up, to keep the end of my baguette clean!! Ha!
So we definitely engaged in No Carbs left behind.....
Since we were in an apartment, and had a refrigerator, a microwave and a cooktop, we also did some grocery shopping to keep our fridge stocked.  We bought wine at the grocery store as well, and enjoyed that a few evenings.  We didn't do a whole lot of cooking, but we did enjoy what we did.  And I find it SO interesting to look at the groceries in other (especially international!) grocery stores! Do you? I was looking at the vegetables, thinking "um, I think champignons are mushrooms...I think".....etc....
As far as restaurants, we did eat out a few times, and the open air cafe we ate at the first full day ended up being the most delicious.  I ordered the Plat du Jour , which was roast of veal, along with some roasted potatoes and leeks.  It was delicious, and with the fresh bread, the gravy was also tasty!  As I remember hubby ordered something like a crepe with roasted vegetables.......
Things are very expensive...we often wondered how the French people could afford to go out to eat!  They would often have a "formula" price for a meal, especially at lunch, which meant you could have a sandwich, a dessert and a drink for a certain amount.  We ate at a very classy restaurant when we were at Versailles.  It was a fine dining kind of restaurant.  I had a chicken caesar salad, with coffee and water.  Nice but again, pretty pricey! See a slide show HERE.
So all in all, we learned a lot about eating in Paris.....we did enjoy shopping in the markets for fresh fruits and veggies, as well as the wonderful French bread and pastries.  We did not shop many of the fine cheese shops, because hubby has eliminted dairy from his diet.
  Many places have what they call Take Away, a crepe or sandwich to go, if you will.  It costs less to carry it away compared to sitting at the table to eat!!   It is easy to pull together a picnic by hopping in the Monoprix (grocery) and then finding a bench to enjoy.  But if you go, budget a good bit for food.  Or you might be hungry!  It is not hard to save some money, but you want to have enough to enjoy!
I'll be back to tell you a little more about our trip, that is, if you're not bored of it by now!!!!

Friday Fives.....

Let me squeak in here  under the wire for a Friday post.....

Let's do some Friday Fives!!!!
1. What is the last movie you watched??

2. What is the last thing you ate?

3. Where is the last place to which  you drove your car?

4. What did you drink today?

5. Sweetest thing you saw today????

Day 1 -Paris!

My sweet husband as we ate our first picnic in Paris!

City traffic around the Arc de Triomphe.....notice the buildings in the background...so typical of all of Paris!

There are car dealerships in buildings along the Champs Elysees...this is a Toyota dealership....with all kinds of fancy cars inside!  Notice the tiny one on the wall and the lady posing for a pic as if she is holding it up!

When I flew into Paris, it was pretty early in the morning.......I think we arrived at 7:25 or so. The Charles De Gaulle airport is very interesting!  By the time I got to the bus ( I had decided to ride the Air France Bus into town so that I wouldn't have to deal with my bags on the train with my healing shoulder, which is doing well so far).  I took the bus into town, about a 45 minute ride into Paris.  I took some time to sit in a cafe (costs less to stand at the small bar inside and drink your drink than to sit at a table; felt like I was paying rent at the table!) and drink a "limonade" because I had to wait to meet the guy that was going to let me into our apartment.  My husband had to travel separately since he had already flown ahead for business...I was just a tad nervous about getting to town before him in a place where I barely spoke the language!!!!  It really all worked out fine, and I have to thank God for answering all the prayers for my safety, peace and smooth travel!  So I found everything I needed to find, and made my way to the apt.  My husband didn't arrive until about 2 hours later.  It would have been good for me to take a nap but I was so excited, I couldn't!! 
Once my husband arrived, we decided to take a walk and find a bite to eat.  We wandered over by a grocery store, went in and bought some sandwiches and fruit and ate our lunch out on a bench.  The weather was beautiful!!!  We walked down the Champs Elysees and watched all the cars and scooters/motorcycles buzzing around town.  I wore out pretty quickly and we headed back to the apt where I finally showered and unwound a little and hubby went out to the grocery store and picked up a few things for us.  Bedtime came pretty quickly that night....um, I might have checked Facebook before I went to bed!! HA!  The computer (which we were glad to have) because the tv in the apt only got American news.......we did get to watch Jay Leno two nights by staying up until midnight.  I wish I had remembered to pack some DVD movies to play on my computer!  NOTE to self for the future...take some DVD movies!
I'll show you a couple of pics we took that day, and then show you more tomorrow.

Keep in mind, I've had very little sleep in this picture!! Ha! This is taken in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

Taken from afar, for perspective, so you can see how large it is!!This is the Arc de Triomphe, built so that troops returning home could march through it. It sits in the middle of a large traffic circle, so that whatever street the troops marched into town on, they would march through it.

Cell phone info.....

I'll come back with more info about my trip, but thought this info was valuable enough to inject into my trip info.  Some great info here!!

 My mother in law passed on this info in an email, and it contains some very info about your cell phone and how you can use it:






FIRST (Emergency)

The Emergency Number worldwide for  Mobile  is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out. 

sECOND (Hidden  Battery  Power)

Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time. 
I SO could have used this when I got to Paris and my phone was down to 20% power and I was trying to contact the apt. people to get the key! I was so afraid my phone would go dead and I would not be able to get in touch with them!!!!

Third (How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?)

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone:       

                  *#06#. 

A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. 

If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.
  
And Finally.... 

FOURTH (Free Directory Service for Cells)

Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: 

                (800) FREE411   or   (800) 373-3411 

without incurring any charge at all.  Program this into your cell phone now. 

This is sponsored by McDonalds. 
This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving, so pass it on to your family and friends.

I took a garden tour.....

At Versailles!! (The Versailles Palace is located about 30 minutes outside of Paris, accessible by train)
Oh my word!!! At one time, it was 1000 acres, I think and they had to sell some of the property after the war.....now it's somewhere in the 800's of acres, I think!  Take a look:

 Since it wasn't full blown spring yet in Paris, the gardens were still coming back to life.  It would be magnificent in the summer, I am sure!

Next time, I'll show you some pics of the INSIDE of the palace!!

Things I've seen in Paris.....

Fashion:
LOTS of tights and boots, lots of stockings in general, even fishnet hose and lacy tights.  We, especially in Texas, have gotten so out of the habit of wearing pantyhose, I guess because they are just so HOT!  Here, in Paris, there are even hose with shorts this season.
Lots of leather jackets, and rain gear.  You never know this time of year when it might rain!  We did get caught out in it once and scrambled with everyone else for a bit of shelter!

Maroon hair...and hair colors of all shades!! I saw one girl whose hair matched her coat...no kidding...both maroon!

Small dress shops/designer wear shops.  I am sure it is indicative of where in Paris we rented an apartment, but there are many small,  exclusive dress shops that would fit inside my living room!  Well, they don't appear  very wide, but perhaps they go deeper than one can see from the street!  Anyway, very well dressed windows and couture type clothing.  And lots of adorable baby clothing!!

Scooters and motorcycles and tiny, tiny cars.......are everywhere!  Makes me wish I had had one while here.....to scoot around Paris.  We chose to walk, walk and walk.........whew!  But thank goodness for the Metro.  It is huge and extensive, and takes a little studying to get used to....but can get across town in a New York minute.....or rather, a Parisian minute!  People watching is interesting there. And lots of running to catch the next train.

Smoking!!! The tobacco industry is flourishing in Paris!

Lots of nannies.  One day we sat in the park about the time school was out....late afternoon...and we saw more Nannies with children!! Wow.  If anyone needs a job, you could probably find one as a nannie or au pair here in Paris!

Fresh flowers.......flower markets abound....as do Pattasseries, and boulangeries.  Or in our vernacular,bakeries, pastry/ bread shops and cafes.  And coffee.....it's everywhere!  But oh, the pastries are exquisite, both in taste and design!!!  We consumed our share of baguettes and pain au chocolate!!!

Macaroons are a special treat....these from famous Laduree!!! Ooh la la!!!

Flower Markets on many corners!

Scooters and motorbikes line the streets!

Boat tours on the Seine

And we saw lots of tourists....it would be interesting to know how many of the people we saw, and we saw a LOT, how many were tourists, and how many were actually Parisians.
I'll be posting more about the sights we saw and more!! Au revoir!