Home Again

Well, we're home.  It's good to be here, to sleep in our own bed, to get back to our "real" world, but it's sad to think this trip we anticipated for so long is now a memory. But oh, what great memories we made!  We talked about what our favorite city was, or what part of it we enjoyed the most. We never came up with just one place. There was something special about each place, and we'd be happy to go back to any one of them.  (Spending eight hours on a plane was not my favorite.)   So I guess there's only one thing to do - start planning the next trip!

See you on our next adventure!

Paris Continued

Yesterday after we found out Versailles is not open on Monday, we decided to visit several other places.  Our first stop was Notre Dame. We just walked around the outside, because the line to go in was ridiculously long.  We had been in it when we were here in 1994, and we're pretty sure it hasn't changed!  Notre Dame is almost more beautiful from the back because of the dramatic flying buttresses.

This was a common sight around several of the main tourist attractions.

Since we didn't go into Notre Dame, we decided to visit a place we had not been before.  Just a short distance away is Ste. Chappelle. It was commissioned by Louis IX in 1245. Slender pillars divide the 13th century 50 foot high stained glass windows. It was breathtaking.

After walking back to our room to drop off a couple of purchases, we decided it was time to check out the Metro.  It was surprisingly easy, and we rode to the Eiffel Tower.  The Eiffel Tower is kind of like the Grand Canyon. You can see pictures of it, and you can describe it, but you just have to see it in person to appreciate the grand scale of it.  It is truly magnificent.

Okay, just one more, from across the river.

We decided to walk from there to the Arc de Triomphe, which might not have been the best decision. It was a longer walk than we realized, and some of it was uphill. So, when we got there, we were already tired when we decided to walk up the narrow stairs that led to the top.  The view is amazing, so it was worth it.

Looking down on the Champs-Elysees. (Confirmation we have no desire to drive in Paris.)

After coming down from the Arc de Triomphe, we jumped on the Metro and made a stop at the Louvre. It was getting late and that requires more time than we had, so we didn't go in. When we were here before we saw the Mona Lisa, but the place is so huge we barely scratched the surface. It would take more than one day to do it justice.

By the time we walked the rest of the way to our room, we were both pretty wiped out.  Paris is a big, spread out place.  Walking is great, because there is never a lack of things to see.  There are always panhandlers, but some of them are pretty creative. Who can resist chipping in to feed something this cute?

And of course the living statues never fail to get my attention (and a few of my coins).

Today was our last full day in Paris, so we went to Versailles.  So did about a million other people!  We're grateful to a lady at the information desk, because she advised us to skip the palace and visit the gardens and Marie Antoinette's home first. The line to get in the palace was about a two hour wait, so we took her advice. It was a good decision, because by the time we finished everything else, there was no wait at all.  It's an amazing place.  The scale of it is beyond belief.  I understand why they sell two day passes, because you could easily spend that much time there.  It is over the top luxurious and ornate.

I'm thinking of redecorating our bedroom, and modeling it after this.

There is gold everywhere.

Just a little piece of the King's Garden.

And a sample of some of the formal gardens.

We were disappointed that some of the fountains were under repair and not operating, but the musical fountain was a treat.

Just styling' a little in my new Paris chapeau in the garden.

I like to take pictures as much as anyone, but I have to admit I got a little annoyed at how obsessed some people are with taking photos of themselves. It's not enough to take a picture, they have to be in every single picture. Then they trade places and the other person gets a picture.  Gr-r-r-r-r!  And the selfie sticks! Yikes!  We took one selfie. (And it's not that good!!)

Finally, back to the room to pack.  Check out the picture of our hotel. Then look at the next picture. We're almost on the roof!

We've had a fabulous time in Paris. We love wandering the streets, seeing all the sights, eating at the sidewalk cafes, and sampling the wonderful pastries, to name a few of our favorites. Someday we should spend a couple of weeks here.  We still have a long list of things we'd like to see. We're sorry to leave, but it will be good to get home.

Spring in Paris

We arrived in Paris and our first task was figuring out how to get to the hotel.  It was actually pretty easy finding the train and getting to our stop. We walked to our hotel, and were pleased to see it's in a great location. We're on the Left Bank, close to the Seine, and we'll be able to walk to Notre Dame, the Louvre, and lots of other sights.  The first thing we saw when we got up to street level were musicians and street performers (ever see fire coming out of a tuba?). This is a happening place!  We got settled and then just went out to look around and find a place to get a bite to eat.  There are about  million choices!

Our hotel, like many of them,  is pretty narrow and tall.

The view from our hotel

We decided to have breakfast our first morning here at the hotel.  Classic French - croissants and baguettes. Served on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, we could enjoy the sunshine and people watch.

We took a walk along the Seine.

One of the bridges across the Seine is a pedestrian bridge.  When we were in Spain in 2012, we saw bridges with locks on them. People write their names on them and lock them on the bridge.  We had not seen that before.  It's a romantic thing.  Here they've taken it to a whole new level. The entire bridge is solid locks.

We walked and found the Hard Rock Cafe so I could add another pin to my collection. That makes HRC #6 on this trip!

My Mother's Day mojito at the Hard Rock.  Do you think I can convince Jim to make this a tradition?  Mother's Day in Paris!

Our first view of Notre Dame from across the river.

We were planning to go to Versailles tomorrow, but found out it's closed on Monday. I'm really glad we found out before we took a long Metro ride for nothing.  So, we'll do that Tuesday.  I'm sure we'll find plenty to do.  There's this thing called the Eiffel Tower...

Prague - Part III

Last day in Prague - how to spend it?  We started the day by riding the funicular railway up the hill to Petrin Park where we climbed the Petrin Lookout Tower (mini  Eiffel tower).

The tower offered a fabulous view of Prague.

As an additional treat, we were able to observe a medieval jousting tournament going on in the park as part of the holiday weekend activities.  Hard day at the office?

Prague was abuzz as the Czech Republic was celebrating their independence and there was also a major international ice hockey tournament going on.  We were up in the tower just in time to see a flyover - three jets followed by helicopters trailing the colors in the Czech flag.

Time to ride the funicular back down.

We took the trolley to the waterfront and boarded a Prague riverboat for a leisurely tour down the river. We enjoyed the beautiful spring day seeing Prague from yet another perspective.

Bob and Janice went in search of the old Jewish cemetery, while we did a little bit more wandering and souvenir shopping.  We met up and went to dinner at a nice place on the river on Stielecky Island.  It was our last chance to enjoy some authentic Czech food.  The dinner wasn't all good, but that's another story.

Flowers like this were all over the place - always a treat.

Tomorrow we part ways with Bob and Janice. It's been fun having them with us to share our adventures. We're heading for Paris, our last stop before heading home.

Prague - Part II

We had a great day today.  We walked miles (at least it seemed like miles!) exploring and seeking out new amazing things to experience.  We went in search of the Franz Kafka head, which we had seen briefly from a distance. It was a fascinating sculpture in motion, constantly reforming itself.

Another interesting sculpture, which we never really figured out.

Jim spent a little time hanging out with the pope.  They had a lot to talk about.

We visited the library, which had a pretty amazing sculpture.  Janice tried to pick out a book, but we were afraid the whole book sculpture would collapse if she took one from the bottom.

There are lots of street vendors, particularly on the Charles bridge, and we had fun checking it all out.   The street performers are always a fun addition to the scene.

It's lilac time in Prague!

One thing we found fascinating was the extreme interest in American pop culture, particularly music. There is a wall of graffiti, which is referred to as the John Lennon wall, and it gets repainted periodically until someone starts in again with new graffiti and pictures. It's interesting that this is a big attraction, even though John Lennon never visited Prague!

Tonight we had a very special treat. One summer when Mike was working in Zion National Park, he worked with a couple from the Czech Republic. He has kept in touch with them, and we were delighted to be able to get together with them for dinner.  We had such a good time. Jitka and Renda gave us a lot of good tips on what to see and do in Prague, and we're going to take their advice and make the most out of our last full day here tomorrow.

Prague is great - we'll be sorry to leave.