We brought Paulie to the vet on Monday afternoon, had her stitches removed and then brought Paulie to Carole, our dog sitter. We had a pleasant visit with Carole and to our surprise, she gave Patty this wonderful shirt.
Then it was home for dinner, packing and a last night's sleep before being taken to the airport by Execucar. I did a last minute check once in the car - wallet, keys, glasses, hearing aid batteries, passport - oops, I forgot my hearing aids. The driver turned back to the condo, I retrieved the aids and the trip went as planned. The flight to Chicago went as planned. On the overnight flight from Chicago to Paris, Patty enjoyed great food and champagne in Business Class and I relaxed in seat 40L, a window seat in the exit row. I slept about five hours, from just before they delivered dessert until just before they served breakfast. Charles De Gaulle airport was a massive and confusing zoo, but we managed to go quickly through Immigration, suitcase retrieval and Customs before taking a pleasant taxi ride to the hotel.
We arrived at Hotel Design Sorbonne and found that Helen had arrived on 30 minutes before us but her room was not ready. Our room was ready so we dropped off our luggage, got umbrellas and the three of us set out to explore the area. We are across the street from one of the large buildings housing part of the Sorbonne.
We are only a few blocks from the Luxembourg Castle where the French Senate meets.
The wind and rain picked up, so we took a break for hot chocolate (for Helen and Patty) and coffee for me. Once the rain abated, we continued to explore and found this store with lots of fresh seafood.
We passed a shop with children's toys - this Tin Tin puzzle reminded me of Bridgette, so I texted her this photo. She wished us well in Paris and said to give Christelle a big hug and kiss from her.
After the fire, Notre Dame cathedral already has workers back on site, but everything is blocked off for a block or two in each direction. We went completely around the cathedral and took a photo from each vantage point.
We then wondered through more shops - I saw many cacti for sale and sent a photo back to the Tuesday docents.
We were tired and hungry, so we had an early dinner at Chalet St. Michel and then an early bedtime as we adjust to the different time zones.
Thursday, we went to Reims for the day to visit with Christelle. Patty and Helen had fun with coffee and pastry on the minute train ride that covers the 160 kilometers in 45 minutes.
Christelle met us at the train station and led us around the city center in Reims.
We visited Notre Dame of Reims, built in 1215 - 1282 A.D. It rivals Notre Dame in Paris.
We had a delightful lunch at L'Alambic restaurant, eating in their below ground cave.
On May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered unconditionally to the allies led by Gen. Eisenhower; the signing took place here in Reims. We visited the museum that commemorates the end of the war.
We just made it for the 4:30 tour at Taittinger Champagne Cellars. They have two caves - the older one we visited has two kilometers of caves and two million bottles of champagne in various phases of aging - here, everything is done by hand including the turning of the bottles of champagne every two days. The other cellar has 10 kilometers of caves and 20 million bottles, but everything there is mechanized.
After our visit to the Taittinger Champagne caves, we wandered around in a downtown mall and explored more of the city center of Reims. I saw many cactus themed items for sale.
Christelle had gifts for us.
After fond goodbyes, we took the 45 minute train ride back to Paris. We took a taxi and the driver got lost, I had the directions from Google maps on my phone but he would not listen to me at first. Finally he listened to my directions - but because of traffic and his wrong turns, it took 45 minutes to cover the three kilometers to the hotel. I made a mad dash to Pret a Manger to get some food, just before they closed at nine. We ate and talked in our room, then everyone crashed after a long day.
Then it was home for dinner, packing and a last night's sleep before being taken to the airport by Execucar. I did a last minute check once in the car - wallet, keys, glasses, hearing aid batteries, passport - oops, I forgot my hearing aids. The driver turned back to the condo, I retrieved the aids and the trip went as planned. The flight to Chicago went as planned. On the overnight flight from Chicago to Paris, Patty enjoyed great food and champagne in Business Class and I relaxed in seat 40L, a window seat in the exit row. I slept about five hours, from just before they delivered dessert until just before they served breakfast. Charles De Gaulle airport was a massive and confusing zoo, but we managed to go quickly through Immigration, suitcase retrieval and Customs before taking a pleasant taxi ride to the hotel.
We arrived at Hotel Design Sorbonne and found that Helen had arrived on 30 minutes before us but her room was not ready. Our room was ready so we dropped off our luggage, got umbrellas and the three of us set out to explore the area. We are across the street from one of the large buildings housing part of the Sorbonne.
We are only a few blocks from the Luxembourg Castle where the French Senate meets.
The wind and rain picked up, so we took a break for hot chocolate (for Helen and Patty) and coffee for me. Once the rain abated, we continued to explore and found this store with lots of fresh seafood.
We passed a shop with children's toys - this Tin Tin puzzle reminded me of Bridgette, so I texted her this photo. She wished us well in Paris and said to give Christelle a big hug and kiss from her.
After the fire, Notre Dame cathedral already has workers back on site, but everything is blocked off for a block or two in each direction. We went completely around the cathedral and took a photo from each vantage point.
We then wondered through more shops - I saw many cacti for sale and sent a photo back to the Tuesday docents.
We were tired and hungry, so we had an early dinner at Chalet St. Michel and then an early bedtime as we adjust to the different time zones.
Thursday, we went to Reims for the day to visit with Christelle. Patty and Helen had fun with coffee and pastry on the minute train ride that covers the 160 kilometers in 45 minutes.
Christelle met us at the train station and led us around the city center in Reims.
We visited Notre Dame of Reims, built in 1215 - 1282 A.D. It rivals Notre Dame in Paris.
We had a delightful lunch at L'Alambic restaurant, eating in their below ground cave.
On May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered unconditionally to the allies led by Gen. Eisenhower; the signing took place here in Reims. We visited the museum that commemorates the end of the war.
After our visit to the Taittinger Champagne caves, we wandered around in a downtown mall and explored more of the city center of Reims. I saw many cactus themed items for sale.
Christelle had gifts for us.
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