This year our oldest grand-daughter is graduating from high school. Dereatha and I told her that we would give her a senior trip for her graduation gift. All that she had to do was choose where she wanted to visit. She asked what her choices were, and we told her that she could go to any country in the world. She decided that she wanted to go to Europe. After a short geography lesson, she decided that she wanted to visit London and Paris. They were not very far apart so we said that would make a good trip. The fun will begin June 12, 2019. We will first fly to Newark, New Jersey and then to London where we will spend six days. From London, we will take the train beneath the English Channel to Paris. The three of us will write portions of the blog from our perspectives. This should be a fun trip, and we invite you all to go along with us via this blog. We will begin the updates when the trip begins.
You can enlarge each picture by clicking on it.
Day 1 & 2 Wednesday June 12 & 13, 2019
Today got started very early. We woke up at 2:30 and left the house at 3:30. We had an early flight from Charlotte to Newark, New Jersey. To my surprise, there were no problems getting everyone up and in the car. We ate breakfast at the airport, and it was very good, however, I needed to take out a
loan to pay for it. They have a captive audience there. The boarding of the United Airlines plane went without a hitch.
It seems like all we did today was eat, sit, and go through security. We were blessed in that we did get pre-TSA screening most of the time. When we arrived in Newark, we had a 7-hour layover
that turned into about an 8-hour layover. The plane was late to arrive at the airport. This threw our schedule off, and we realized that we were not going to be able to make our connecting flight in Lisbon, Portugal. This threw me into a tail spin since I did not see a flight from there to London available to take later in the day. We arrived in Lisbon at around six in the morning. We were pretty well rested after sleeping most of the night.
The food on the plane was way above expectations. We had grilled chicken with tomatoes and sauce, salad, a slice of meat with a ball of cheese, rice, roll and desert. It was all outstanding. The flight was wonderful as far as an all nighter goes. We had some good movies to choose from. Dereatha and I watched the Clint Eastwood movie The Mule. I had wanted to see it for a while since I am a Clint Eastwood fan. It was very enjoyable.
Air Portugal had re-routed us onto another plane when we arrived. We were still going to London, but to a different airport. My concern was now on, where was our luggage going, Gatwick, the original destination or Heathrow, the new destination. Well the airlines handled it without any of my help. The bags were at Heathrow when we arrived. How does this world operate without my
worries and my help? I had scheduled and paid for a bus ride to our apartment for the week, so we lost that, but that was a minor problem.‘
The only problem that we had, was when we tried transferring our
boarding passes to the new destination. We had to go through security twice. I know that doesn’t sound necessary, but they didn’t ask my advice. We also had to go through the passport control twice. I didn’t understand either. I was ready to rebel, but I really wanted to spend time in London instead of a Portuguese jail.
While passing through the airport in London, we ran into Kari’s friend Seth and his family. They were getting an oyster card for the subways and so were we. Kari and Seth both graduated from
West Stokes this year and are best friends. What are the chances of that happening?
When we arrived at our Airbnb, we had to find the key. Yes, I had to walk a block away and open a lock box connected to an iron fence behind a metal box. Dereatha and Kari sat in a pub drinking coffee and nibbling on snacks, while I went on the hunt. When we arrived, we found a very nice flat. However, carrying our luggage up five flights of stair was rather difficult. Would not be looking forward to that again.
After getting settled, we went out for dinner. We found a quaint little restaurant near our flat. We had, broiled fish, potato cakes, lentil and potato soup, and linguine with asparagus and tomatoes. Everything was good except the potato cakes. They were cold and had a strong dill flavor. We were so full that we passed on desert.
We then walked to the train station and explored how to catch the train in the morning to Stonehenge. We then shopped a little in the station, and went to a grocery store on the way back to our new home. Oops, after stopping at a grocery store to pick up a few things, I realized my credit card was gone. I had left it at a store in the train station. We hustled back there to find that they had kept it for us. That was a huge relief. It was back to the flat and an early bed time.
Day 3 Friday June 14,2014
Today we visited something that was on Kari’s list of places to visit while here in London. She wanted to go to Stonehenge. This was something that I had taught about while teaching earth science. So, I was glad that
we were going to visit this very special place.
We left the flat at about 6:30. After walking to the train
station and redeeming our ticket that I had bought online at least a month ago. We went to McDonalds for breakfast. I was surprised at how good it was. Dereatha and I shared a bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin. We each got a cup of coffee and Kari got a
blueberry muffin from a bakery that we passed by. She said that it was good.
After breakfast, we went to the train platform in the huge train station. It reminded me of when I was a small boy and we would go to Birmingham and ride the train. The train depot there was just overwhelming to a
small child. They use a lot of rail transportation here. I was concerned that it would be very difficult to get to where we were going, but it was really simple. After a few questions and Kari’s help in finding the right platform we were traveling like pros. We even made some
train changes without a glitch.
When we arrived in Salisbury, we boarded a tour bus that would take us to Stonehenge. The town of Salisbury is very interesting. It was one of the few towns in England that was never bombed during World War II. The reason was that there is a cathedral with a very high spire. The Germans would use this as a land mark to guide them to other targets.
Stonehenge is located about 10 miles out of town. We had an audio guide while riding the bus that explained a lot of the history of the area and a lot of information about the purpose and the building of Stonehenge. I was very impressed with the precision in which those people had built that structure. As we walked around the circle, we listened to the audio explaining how and when this all was achieved.
It was a cold morning with a lot of cloud cover. So, we didn’t hang around
there too long. We went to the cathedral and saw one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta. We also visited inside the cathedral and Dete played the huge pipe organ. We ate lunch at the restaurant in the
cathedral. We had bar-b-qued roasted beef, sweet potato soup, salad, and bread. Oh, it was sooo good. After eating and attending Dete’s concert, we headed back to the train station to catch the train back
to London. The trip on the train takes somewhere around an hour.
We rested at the flat for a short time, and then we headed out for fish and chips at the Queens Arms Bar and restaurant. I am stuffed just thinking about it. The food was good, and they gave us a lot of it. Of course, we didn’t have to eat all of it, but we did.
We got back to our flat at about nine this evening and I am writing the blog. I can’t wait to go to bed. Tomorrow we will be visiting some places in London.
Day 4 Saturday June 15, 2015
Today we plan to do something that we have never done before. We are going to ride one of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours of a city. We figure that it will give us a good feel for where we want to go and what we want to see in London. Today is a London visit day. But first we
must take care of the real important business at hand.
We must first make some coffee using a very unusual coffee maker. Here is what we had to do. Put a filter in
the bottom of a plastic cylinder about two inches in diameter. Then we added a scoop of coffee, and then filled the cylinder with water. At that point we stirred it for 10 seconds. Then we inserted a plunger and pressed the coffee out
into a cup. It worked great although it was a little cumbersome trying it for the first time. The coffee had a very good flavor and was not bitter in the least. Not that I will go buy one of
these, but it was a very interesting experience.
Once we had finished off our cups of coffee, we were off to find the doubledecker, open air bus. We rode it for a while listening to the guide explain what we were seeing. We then exited the bus and decided to eat some
breakfast before going to the tower of London. We all three ate a bacon, and egg roll with another cup of coffee. Kari even drank a whole latte. Of
course, she put a lot of additional sugar in it. I think trying to achieve a Star Bucks latte.
The tower of London has been a lot of things, but mainly was a castle for the Royals back in the 13th century. We enjoyed walking through the castle, but we mainly went there to see the Crown Jewels. We saw a lot of diamonds, gold, rubies, emeralds, and many other
jewels. It was in a word fabulous.
From there we ventured out to find our tour bus stop to hop on for another segment of the tour. However, while
we waited, one of their representatives presented us with an opportunity. He offered to help us out by selling us a tour of Windsor Palace. He only had room on the afternoon trip tomorrow. He wanted to know if we wanted to wait and go on the full tour the next day to Stonehenge and Windsor Palace. I told him we had already visited Stonehenge. He also promised us that we would be able to go inside the palace, even in the living
quarters. Since this is the Queens favorite palace, we decided that we would take the tour. So, we paid as he
hurriedly put us on our tour bus with our receipt for the tour tomorrow.
Kari texted her friend who was visiting Windsor Castle today and found out that it would be closed tomorrow. I took a good look at my receipt and it said that we were booked for Stonehenge tomorrow. Are you
following so far? Dereatha and Kari went in a store to do some shopping, and I decided to call the tour bus office and see about canceling the trip. I was told that they did not even offer a tour of Windsor Castle tomorrow. She looked up my account and cancelled the transaction. Just one more part of the adventure. Needless to say, I am relieved. We decided to give the sales rep. the benefit of the doubt and just say that he made a mistake. But
to make it even worse, he put us on the wrong bus! It is funny now, but it wasn’t very funny when I thought that I was going to have to pay for a tour that we were not going to take.
Next, we visited Buckingham Palace and took many, many pictures. We treated Kari as the model and Dereatha and I were the photographers, and she played along. After all, we think she looks like a model!! We had a lot of fun. It is great getting to spend time with our first grandchild
.
We then walked to Westminster Abbey. This is a very famous church where the Royals do their things, like weddings and such. I am not up on the royals very well. I must say that it is a beautiful structure. There is a secondary school connected to it and I think that we were told that it cost 10,000 pounds a year to attend. We looked some information on the internet and I think we figured out that if you made it through high school, then college was free. There was also some kind of public service attached to the deal. Sounds great to me.
We walked back to our neighborhood and ate dinner at the Constitution Pub. Kari and I had fish and chips (fries), peas, salad, and water, and Dereatha had a grilled chicken salad. We also shared a millionaire
cheesecake.
Dete wanted to take a soak bath, so we went to the grocery store and got some bath salts. On the way back we went to a bakery and got some cake for later. We are now having coffee and cake as I write. We are not eating very well this week, but we are having fun. We are hoping that the miles of walking we are doing each day is going to counteract some of the sugar.
Day 5 Sunday June 16, 2019
We began our day today with a temperature of 48 degrees. This day had been set aside to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. There was not any forcast of rain. However, we were in and out of rain all day. In fact, on the way to the underground it began the
London drizzle. The girls made the decision to buy a couple of umbrellas at the underground station. I was not included since I don’t have enough hair for it to be affected by the rain.
When we reached Victoria Station, we ate breakfast at
McDonalds. Same old thing was on our menu. We ate a bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin. We also had coffee and water to drink. McDonald’s is the only thing open that early in the morning.
We were told to be at the palace an hour before the time
for the changing of the guard to begin. So, we arrived two hours early. We had fence row viewing. Time passed quickly while we talked to two young men from Germany who had been studying
in Ireland. Just before the ceremony began a lady pushed against me and said, “excuse me” and began trying to push into my spot. I sharply said, “No, I have been here for two hours”. She then tried it with Dete, and she got a stern reply of no again. She moved on to try again with
someone other than the mean and selfish Americans. I have no sympathy for anyone arriving at the last minute and wanting a prime location.
We thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony, and were very much entertained. We are glad that we got up early and sacrificed to be able to see the pageantry. So glad that
my parents taught me to be early, never late, and plan to be very early to special events.
We then walked to the center of London, had some lunch at a health food café. Dereatha wanted some
London porridge, so we got it along with a grilled chicken salad, macaroni and cheese with kale, and water. This was a very good lunch. We also made a quick stop for some Band-Aids to combat a few blisters. Kari had bought
some new shoes and they had not been broken in yet.
We jumped on the underground train and went shopping for a while before meeting Kari’s friends from
school. We all visited Kensington Palace and went to dinner at an Italian restraint. Afterwards we parted ways with them and went back to our flat. At some time during the day I left my reading glasses somewhere. So I gave up on writing the blog until Monday morning.
Day 6 Monday June 17, 2019
Today was Ed Sheeran day. Kari is a fan of his and one of the reasons she
wanted to visit London on her senior trip. When I was planning the trip from North Carolina on the internet, I had about decided that it was impossible to get to Framlingham, a small town outside of London. It was no
small task to get there and called for early rising. That meant the alarm had to be set for 4AM in order to catch the underground, then a train, then a bus. All of this took about 6 hours. It is not that far, but just waiting on buses and trains was a chore. But it was worth all the effort. We were there and enjoying every minute of it. Kari was our attraction guide all day. She had a list of everything she wanted to visit and see and we just helped her find the places.
The first place we went was a thrift store set up for the purpose of funding St. Elizabeth Hospice. Ed and his mother are really into helping people with progressive and terminal illnesses. At the thrift store they donate some of Ed’s items to sell and his mom makes jewelry to
sell there also. So, we had to visit there. Yes, we came away with an Ed Sheeran shirt. I mean a real Ed Sheeran shirt—one that he wore, with a Certificate of Authenticity. We also bought some of his moms homemade jewelry. The volunteers that ran the shop could not have been nicer. They allowed Kari to put on
Ed’s jackets, hat, etc. for pictures. One lady said she knew the family and Ed since he was a little boy.
The next place we went was The Station. This is where he eats when he is in town. The owner knew him and showed us a picture of him eating there. The lunch of burgers and mac and cheese was huge and delicious. On the way to the next stop we saw the church where he sang, as a boy. Then it
was time to visit the Castle on the Hill. Ed has written a song with the same title. Kari said a lot of his songs are about his life—past and present. It was a real castle—in ruins now, but actually housed royalty in its day and had a rich history for that time.
It was afternoon now and time for a rest and a pick me
up. We had tea and various pastries at the Dancing Goat. This is also a place that he frequents when at home. And according to the people we talked to, that is quite often. He is just part of the town.
Next, we went to the school he attended—Thomas Mills High School. Another generous action on his part is free tickets to all the students in the school to a concert. The concert is in Ipswitch, the town where we caught the bus to Framlingham.
It is the last stop on his next tour. It was now time to board the bus for Ipswitch. When we arrived there, the next stop was Christ Church. It is going to house a display of his items starting in August. Kari knew she would not get to see anything, but she wanted to see the church anyway. It was odd, but as we were asking a man how to get to the church, a lady walked up and said, “No worries, I will take them because it is a little complicated”. Her name is Janet Wesley. She also knew all about Ed and
gave us a history lesson of the town as we walked for about 30 minutes. She was from England, but had also lived in Germany and had visited several states in the US. Her daughter had attended college in Florida and her son had worked in Houston. She also has a son who lives in Paris, so she knew a lot about Paris also. She took us to the church and explained that it was shaped like an E that stood for Elizabeth. She was a very interesting lady. These
experiences with people is what makes traveling so enjoyable.
It was time to find the train station and head back. We all took naps on the the train. These 4-6 hour nights of sleep are beginning to catch up with us. We decided to eat dinner on the way from the train instead of going to the flat and sprucing up. This would save some time. It was already 8:30. We ate at Constitution again tonight. We really like their food. Dete and I
tried a meat pie tonight, as was suggested by our friend Aaron Townley. It was very good. Kari ordered fish and chips, but it was not long before they closed down the dinner menu and they had run out of fish, so she settled for a hamburger. While I was at the bar ordering, a lady from the US asked me where I was from. I told her Alabama by way of Tennessee and North Carolina. She pointed at some girl at her table and said she attended the University of Alabama. I walked over to her table and said, “I understand that you attend the University of Alabama”. She asked, “How do you”? I said, “I can smell you. All University of Alabama fans smell bad? We all had a goo laugh, and visited some since our tables were next to each other.
Time to head for the flat and the bed. It had been 18 hours since we had gotten up and I needed some rest—of course after working on the blog. Tomorrow is our last day and we have a few things we want to see, so we need our rest.
Day 7 Tuesday June 18,2019
Today is Kari’s special Ed Sheeran day two. We got up around 7:00 this
morning and headed to Victoria Station for breakfast. Of course, we ate at McDonalds again. But this time the girls got something different. They got bacon and cheese flatbread. They both said that it was good. I on
the other hand find it hard to change. I ate the same old egg, bacon, and cheese McMuffin. Dete and I drank coffee and Kari had water. We had been seeing the Krispy Kreme kiosk every day in the train station. We had fought through
the temptation each time. Today we yielded to the temptation. You just can’t resist forever. We only had one each and it was amazing.
We then boarded an underground train to Wembley Stadium to see where Ed Sheeran had performed. This was a significant event in his life. He didn’t think that
he could fill the stadium and he sold it out three times
in just a matter of minutes. This was a real turning point for him.
We then went to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. You
got it, there is an Ed Sheeran figure on display there. I do have to say that this was a good experience. We
hung out with many celebrities, world leaders, and super heroes. It was unreal how life-like they were.
When we finished the museum, we headed to Piccadilly
Circle to do a little shopping while walking to the Hard
Rock Café. Dereatha had a coworker that read the blog and found out that we were in London. Vickie and her husband Mark were coming the same week to London. They worked it out so that we could have dinner together at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Mark teaches Rock Music History in college so he wanted to see the café. It is the first and oldest Hard Rock Café. He loved all of the memorabilia and took lots of pictures. I’m sure his students will love seeing a lot of this first hand from his pictures.
After dinner we rode the underground back to our flat to pack. Tomorrow we will be taking the Eurostar train to Paris.
Day 8 Wednesday June 19, 2021
Today is travel day. We are taking the Eurostar to Paris. We don’t have to
get and get such an early start so we didn’t wake Kari until 7:00. We have to be at the St-Pancras Station at 11:00 so we have plenty of time to eat breakfast along the way. I know you think that we ate at McDonalds. Well we didn’t. We were all ready for something different. We decided to eat at a little café called the Giraffe. We had bacon, eggs, toast, porridge, granola, and a strawberry banana smoothie. Not only was the food very good, but we also enjoyed talking to our server. She is from France and is in England to learn to improve her English. She has a degree in communications and marketing technology. Her landlord offered her a job in the restaurant so she is practicing speaking English. I have to say that she is learning and
doing a wonderful job. She told us all about her country home in France, and how that her parents only let her ride a bicycle and walk. I think that she is really homesick.
It was then time to drag the heavy suitcases through the underground stations, make a transfer, go up and down stairs several times and then drag our tired bodies to the waiting area to find no seats. I had a couple of errands to run so I left the girls while I cashed in our Oyster underground cards and
checked on the procedures for getting on the train. While walking back to Dereatha and Kari I heard a familiar voice call my name out of the crowd. When I turned around, I saw Brenden Chrisman and his family. Brendan is the athletic director where Dete and I taught school in Highpoint, NC. He and his family are going to attend the world cup soccer matches
We shocked Dereatha as we walked up to her. She couldn’t believe it. We are all going to Paris. When we boarded, who in the world is seated in front of us? That is right, Brenden and his family. What are the odds that this
could happen?
The train ride was fantastic. We traveled at speeds upwards of 150 mph. It felt like we were riding on air. It was very smooth. It only took us about 2 1/2 hours. I wish all trains could travel like this.
When we got off of the train, the adventure began. It was no small task getting tickets for the underground, dragging the bags up and down stairs, getting on the right train, making the transfer to another train, and then finding the apartment. We were exhausted when we arrived.
After a little rest, and setting up our apartment we went out to dinner. In October we had stopped in a Pizza café and rested. The manager was very nice and he allowed us just to chill for a while. He invited us back to eat and we promised that we would. However, the next day the business was closed and it stayed closed the entire time that we were in Paris. So today we went there to eat. We were all ready for some pizza so it all worked out
for the good. We told him the story and he was all grins. Life if full of stories.
On the way to the pizza shop, we had seen a bakery with some nice-looking treats. So, we were going to stop on the way back to the apartment and get a few. But they were closing when we arrived. They told us that
they only had a few things left and we got a cookie and a couple of things that we didn’t know what they were. As we were getting ready to pay, he pulled out three huge subs. They were about two feet long each. He asked if we wanted them. I said no, but he insisted and said that there was no charge. He said that he was closing and could not keep them. I guess we got lunch for tomorrow. We will go back there this week. When I told him that, a huge smile broke out on his face and said that he would appreciate that.
We came straight back to the apartment. Well that is if you don’t count
missing a turn and going a little out of the way. I began working on the blog, Kari got on her phone, and Dete made some coffee and began reading a book that my seat partner on the train had given her. While the lady had gone to the rest room Dereatha told Kari that she wished that the lady would give her that book that she had just finished so that she could read it this week. It was mystery and Dete loves mysteries. Well her daughter who was sitting behind me overheard the conversation. When we got up to get off the train, she asked Dete if she would like to have the book.
Day 9 Thursday June 20, 2019
I knew that we were pretty tired when slept on the Eurostar train
yesterday. But I know that we were really tired now. I didn’t wake up until 9:00 this morning. I slept 9 1/2 hours. I can’t remember the last time that I slept that late. I believe that could have slept even longer if we
didn’t have sightseeing to do.
Yesterday a man at a bakery gave us 3 subs because he was closing. Well, we ate them this morning for breakfast. We have been enjoying French pressed coffee. It is a little more trouble, but it is very good. Dete almost bought us the equipment to make it at home. We finally got out of the apartment around 11:00.
Along our walk we came to the Place de Bastille. To our surprise they were having a huge market in the mall between streets. They were selling everything. Of course, the girls did a little shopping. Kari also ate a strawberry banana crepe. We were given free samples of a cup of yogurt.
We visited the Notre-Dame Cathedral first. Yes, we know that it had
burned. We were still able to see the outside structure. We couldn’t go inside of course, but we were able to see the beauty of the building. Since we were not able to tour Notre Dame, we visited Sainte-Chapelle. This is also
an old church. It was built in the late 1600’s. The outside was impressive, but it is the inside that is special. The upstairs was built for the King to have a place to worship, and it looks like it was built for a king. The downstairs was built for the common servants to
have a place to worship, and it looked like a place built for commoners.
After visiting the churches, we headed off to the Louvre Museum. However, along the way we decided to stop, rest, and eat a pick-me-up. Kari and I ate French onion soup, while Dete ate a salad. I must say that this was the
best French onion soup that I have ever eaten. Kari also agreed that it was good. She ate most of it.
Following our little rest and refueling, we continued to the museum to see the Mona Lisa. It was very busy, but
the ticket line passed quickly. Then we were able to purchase our tickets. At that point we began searching for Mona Lisa. It didn’t seem as complicated as it did
when we were here in the fall. Maybe it was because we had been before. We enjoyed admiring all the works of art. I appreciate the artists talent, because I have none when it comes to art. Most the works looked like pictures
taken with a camera. I also admired the sculptures around the edge of the ceiling of the
domes. I don’t know how they got them to stay up there. They didn’t have super glue back then did they?
After admiring the art for a few hours, we decided it was time to sit down and admire a snack. It is a different kind of art work, but one that give me much satisfaction. Kari and I had an ice creme
popsicle while Dete had a doughnut. She and I also had coffee. I don’t know what we enjoyed the most, the snack or the rest. We were able to sit outside above the pyramid entrance to the museum. The Mona Lisa is
impressive, but the crowd almost destroys the experience. We were shoved, and gouged until I was ready to dish it out myself. I did relieve some of my frustration when someone banged into me to push by and almost caused me to lose my balance. Before I
knew I countered with all of my weight and almost knocked them flying. I know that it wasn’t right, but I sure did feel better.
We went outside and took some pictures of the actual structure that housed all of the art. It is impressive in itself. I can’t imagine how long it would take to visit the entire museum in the manner that it deserves. It took a
couple of hours and we barely touched it.
We headed along the Seine going back to our apartment. We began talking about supper, and ended up at a restaurant that Dete and I had eaten breakfast in
a few times back in the fall. Dete and I ate chicken, noodles, and wok vegetables. Kari had a hamburger and fries. We all drank water. While we were eating, Dereatha discovered on Facebook that another co-worker of hers is in Paris now. This is unreal how many people we know are on the trip with us.
Day 10 Friday June 21, 2019
This was Eiffel Tower day. We got started early by beginning our walk to
the Eiffel Tower. As we reached a bakery that gave us sandwiches the first night here, we got a snack and fresh squeezed orange juice. I just needed some vitamin C. We needed a restroom break about an hour into the walk, so we stopped in at a sidewalk café. They told us that we couldn’t use the toilets, so I offered to
buy a cup of coffee to go. That opened the door and everyone was happy.
We were going to have lunch in the Eiffel Tower so we had to be there at 11:30 to access the elevators. We were cutting it close and were getting pretty tired. We
just made it. We had to go through security, exchange our on-line ticket for lift tickets, go through security again just previous to boarding the elevator. This was all time consuming. Finally, we reached the restaurant. We had reservations at the 58 Tour Eiffel Restaurant. We were welcomed and seated by the windows, and the view was worth the trouble. I
can’t say the same about the food. But we did have a great time of laughing at each other. We were totally out of our element. The menu was in French and English. But the English was still like French to us. In
other words, we were not sure what we were getting. This was gourmet food, and we are use to old fashioned southern cooking. We knew that we were in trouble when we looked at the menu. Our meal consisted of starters, main course,
dessert, and drinks. Kari googled a few things and showed us pictures, so that helped a little. Dereatha and Kari got COLD tomato soup for an a
ppetizer and I got an asparagus salad. That meant I got 4 very small pieces of asparagus, 3 raspberries sitting on top of a dot of sauce. For our entre, Dete got pork belly (which she thought was a pork chop, but was really a half inch thick piece of under cooked bacon)
with grated carrots I think (still not sure), Kari got pasta, and I got cod croquettes. Dessert was better. I had chocolate on top of chocolate crème, and the girls had ice cream? It was sort of like ice cream—sorbet maybe? We finished with lattes. We laughed a lot and we totally enjoyed the experience. So glad to be just a commoner.
Following our lunch experience, we decided to give ourselves a treat. We
decided to take the subway to the apartment and take a nap. We are all getting weary and tired of walking. We just needed a rest. We are not in the same shape as we
were after walking the 500 miles through Spain.
After a good nap we are taking the subway back to the Eiffel Tower. We have a ticket to the top of the tower at 9:00 PM. We hope to make it for a
sunset experience.
We arrived at the top of the tower just in time to experience a beautiful sunset. We took lots of pictures. We are so glad that we were able to see the beauty of
nature in action. When it became totally dark, we joined many others who had been on the mall eating and drinking wine all afternoon. We thought that we had seen the tower, but
you haven’t seen it until you see it lit up at night. It is a spectacle. While taking pictures, we had the opportunity to see a young man propose to a young lady. She accepted, and her friends began to clap, yell, and sing. This was an unexpected
treat. Well Paris is the city of love.
We then walked to the subway, and went home for the night. It was very late so we went straight to bed. Tomorrow we will go to the Arc de Triumph and walk along the Avenue Des Champs Elysees. It is the most famous shopping area in the world.
Day 11 Saturday June 22, 2019
The pace is beginning to take its toll. When we got up this morning Kari
wasn’t feeling very well. She had a head ache and her stomach was also a little topsy-turvy. She tried to get going by taking a shower, but just couldn’t get past the pain. We let her sleep for a while.
While she was sleeping, I went out for some pretend breakfast food. I picked up two personal quiches, a slice of deep-dish pizza looking thing, a slice of flan, and a slice of crumbly cake. A little earlier I had walked through the open market
to see what was there and found a super market where I bought some toilet paper. That is a necessity.
Just outside of our apartment there is a garage that works on motor scooters, and just beyond that on the corner is a store that sells them. Well, parked in the general area of the two businesses was a scooter that
was decked out in all of its glory. Chrome and flags and special paint had it looking like something special.
Dereatha and I ate some of the make-believe breakfast while Kari slept. I think that she is exhausted and her body is not able to recover as fast as we are asking it to do so. We are just giving her the day to sleep. She has
been going wide open for several weeks. She had graduation on Saturday, followed by orientation at UNC Wilmington on Monday and Tuesday, and then the following morning we got her up at 3:300 AM to begin this trip. We are all tired, but I am sure that she is a lot more tired than we are.
After several hours in bed she tried to go again. We walked down the street to the subway, where she asked to get some fries in McDonalds to see if they would settle her stomach. The head was still aching and the sinuses were still pressurized. While sitting at the table she said that she was just not feeling well enough to go on. So, we bought her
some medicine, and put her back in the bed. It is now about 6:30 PM and she is still sleeping. We will just see if she can sleep through the night and hopefully feel better in the morning.
Well the two ladies both woke up. We are all tired. Kari is feeling better, and is ready to go out to eat. We are talking about soup, but they are not serving soup. That is a cold weather food for them.
We settled for Italian. Someone directed us to the Restaurant Nove. We met the manager who could speak English. He guided us through the menu. Kari got linguini with cream sauce. It was a bland dish that I think will match her stomach. She said that she is so ready for normal food. Dete and I both got spaghetti and meat sauce. We all agreed that it was very good. It
was much better than we expected. The manager, come to find out, is a big Charles Barkley fan. This we talked about for quiet awhile. He was overcome by the fact that Dete and I had taught him. He wanted to know all about him. He asked me to call him and let him talk to him. I told him that I didn’t have the number. He wanted me to Instagram Charles and have him come to restaurant Nove the next time that he comes to Paris. He was hilarious.
On our way back to the apartment, we saw a man leading a dog. One of these that looks like a bull dog, but very small. The dog had sat down and would not go. The man kept asking him and he laid down. Finally, after giving up, the man picked him up and carried
him. I guess enough exercise is enough even for a dog.
Just before reaching our apartment, we went into a bakery and got a dessert to take with us. It is a cream/custard with strawberries and blackberries on it. It really looks good, but we are not ready for it yet. I don’t know if we will be ready to go to bed or not, but we will see.
Day 12 Sunday June 23, 2019
Oh my, it is 9:00 AM and I just woke up. This is getting to be a habit. It is a
good thing that we don’t have any reservations for anything today. We are just going and doing so much that we just need a little down time. Kari slept almost all day yesterday and all night and is still asleep. I believe that she could have continued to sleep. We are
going to a breakfast buffet today at 11:00 AM.
Every day we pass an open air-market very near our apartment. They set it up every morning, and take it down every afternoon. This seems like a lot of work, but they are doing a lot of business when we pass by in the mornings. When we come home, you cannot tell that it was even there. Yesterday when we didn’t stay
out very long, we caught them taking it down. The garbage men were picking out the good stuff that was being thrown away and keeping it for themselves.
When we arrived at the Restaurant Du Coin, we learned that the buffet starts at 11:30 PM. We sat at a sidewalk table and had a shot of espresso while we waited. It didn’t take very long to take that two swallows of coffee. So, we just relaxed, talked, and people watched until the buffet was ready.
The waiter called exactly at the correct time. We could eat all that we
wanted plus a glass of orange juice and all of the coffee that we wanted. The buffet was great. There was a salty area on the bar. This included finger sandwiches, smoked salmon on toast, tossed salad, guacamole, cheese, ham, and so much more.
There was also a sweet area. It included custards, sweet breads, assorted fruit bowl, watermelon, toast, jelly, and more. Then, there was the traditional area. It included thick sliced smoked bacon, baby link sausage, scrambled eggs, and
potatoes. As you can tell we didn’t lack for anything.
After the breakfast, we walked a short distance to the subway. We went to the Sacre-Coeur. This is a white basilica built in memory of 58,000 French soldiers killed during the Franco-Prussian War. Here priests pray for the souls of the dead soldiers 24 hours a day and have been every day since 1885. Well, you have to give them credit for their persistence. There is also a beautiful view over the city of Paris. It is built on the top of a hill and it was quiet a
climb to the top. We could have ridden an incline cable car to the top, but we were feeling frisky and decided to walk. Besides, we needed to do something to work off that buffet this morning. While we were climbing a young man held out some thread and reached for Kari’s hand. She hesitated and he insisted. She reluctantly allowed him to take her hand and he began to make a
bracelet around her wrist. In just a minute he had it made. We learned that he was from Ghana in Africa. He has been in France for five years. All of his family has moved here. We gave him some coins and we
moved on toward the top of the hill.
We then got back on the subway and traveled to the river Seine for Kari to do some shopping at the wooden box shops. She found some of the things that she had seen the other day. However, they did not take credit cards. I looked for an ATM and found one only four or five blocks away. The only problem is that they didn’t work. I asked a lady in a store about
another machine and she told me to go inside the bank. So, I tried that. The door was locked, but I pushed a button on the door and it opened. Uh oh, it sounds like a break in doesn’t it. When I entered the bank, I realized that it was a lobby with ATM machines. These
did work.
We paid for the objects that she wanted, but there were still some things on her list. This meant more shopping. We walked to Rivoli St where there was one shop after another. After an hour or so, she completed the task.
Dete decided that it was time for dinner. We agreed that it would be better to eat and then ride the subway back to the apartment. We soon found a café and decided to eat inside. Kari ate a hamburger with fries and salad, while Dete and I at a ham and cheese with fries, and a salad. We drank three
liters of water. The bacon was salty and we were all thirsty. The waiter told us how to get to the Pyramid station. There we got on the wrong train, so we had to backtrack and try again. We were on the right platform, but we had to keep walking and there was another walkway to another platform where we could catch the correct train. It all worked out for the good.
When we arrived back the apartment, we each did our own thing. It is a little after 8:00 PM and I am writing the blog. Dete is packing the items that have been bought in the carry-on bag. She must feel like Santa
getting read for the Christmas Eve sleigh ride. She is trying to get a two-bag quantity into one bag. Good luck! This is while Kari is catching up with her friends.
We are all having desert from yesterday. I, for one, am
wishing that we had bought more of it. Like I said yesterday, it is probably the best bought dessert that I have ever eaten. I wish that you could all taste it, but it is a cold dessert, and I can’t bring it back on the plane.
Hopefully we are getting an early start on bedtime. We are going to Champs-Elysees tomorrow to see the world’s number one shopping area. We will mostly be looking. Dete spotted a $24,000 purse the last time we were here. A lot of shops require security checks when you enter the doors. But believe it or not, people are leaving these type stores with arms full of shopping bags. Someone somewhere is making a lot of money.
Day 13 Monday June 24,2019
Today is dedicated to shopping along the Avenue Champs-Elysees. We left
the apartment around 9:00 AM. The first stop was at the Restaurant Faubourg. I just can’t get going on a trip until I have my breakfast. I have also trained Kari to love breakfast also. I have also done a good job training Dete, although it was tough. She grew up not liking
breakfast very much. Now we don’t eat breakfast at home, but we do on a trip. We all ate the English breakfast which included toast, croissant, jelly, bacon omelet (which was scrambled eggs with bacon tossed in), orange juice, and coffee. All that was missing was some grits.
After breakfast, we went down into the subway to ride a couple of trains.
We re-entered the daylight at the Arc de Triomphe. There we spent some time taking pictures. Afterwards we were walking down the street surrounded by very expensive stores which we did not dare enter. The girls did, however go into Louis Vuitton. They did not come out with any bags. While they were inside, I found a Lamborghini and two Ferraris parked on the street. So,
we all were looking at things way over our head.
We continued along the avenue until we came to Abercrombie and Fitch. This is more in keeping with our shopping level. We spent a long time there before making final decisions about purchases. Yes, we left with a full sack. Many years ago, a little toddler held my face with her two hands and said, “Rie, what I say you
get”. I have been obedient most of the time, including today. It is just one of the thrills of being a grandparent.
Shopping takes a lot of energy. Thus, Five Guys Hamburgers was next on the list. We all shared a hamburger, fries, banana milkshake, strawberry milkshake, and waters. This was not only for the food, but also for the rest. Afterall we have the other side of
the avenue to go.
Finally, it was time for the train ride back to the apartment. We laid down for a little rest. A couple of hours later it was time to get up and go to dinner. We decided on the Café Gemme. We ate there earlier in the week. They have fire baked pizza which is what Kari had. Dete got lasagna, and I don’t really know what I got. It was a lot of ham, with some big blobs of white cheese, a bed of water
cress with some fajita type veggies. Thankfully the girls let me have some of theirs.
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at the
same bakery where we had gotten that delicious dessert. Dete got her a meringue, and we also got a slice of cheese cake type pie, and a personal sized apricot pie. It
may not sound good, but it looks delicious.
We are in for our last night in Paris. I am finishing the
blog, and we will finish packing shortly. Tomorrow we get to lug four suitcases, a carry-on bag, and a backpack onto subways, up and down stairs, and along the streets of Paris. I have been dreading this task since we drug them to the apartment. We will just take our time and not fight it. The stress is not worth it.