Final photos added!

We have finally uploaded the remainder of our pictures to Picasa (who knew we'd fill their limit so quickly?). After some heavy-handed editing by Emily, there was room to put in our final days on the French Riviera! Just click on any of the slideshows on the left and it'll take you to our online albums in Picasa. Hope you enjoy the show!

Last Day: Leaving is Such Sweet Sorrow

We’re on an airplane right now, cruising over Montreal with about 2 ¾ hours till we reach Cincinnati, then on to Seattle tonight. Our bags are stuffed full, almost to the legal limit, with 1 extra carry on so we can haul back some good beers and wine. We went out yesterday in true French Riviera fashion, with an early morning trip to Monaco (true, not really French, but Riviera all the same). What a funny little principality! It was so lush and gorgeous, with bougainvillea growing out of every nook and cranny, and enough gilded balconies to last a lifetime. We hiked around the town (?) for a while, checking out the prince’s palace, complete with Buckingham Palace-esque guards out front, and the chapel where Grace Kelly is buried. On our way out of town, we swung by the casino, which wasn’t really open yet (not till 2pm), and dropped 5€ in the smoke-free slot machine room, which is shockingly open 24/7 for all us stupid tourists.

Our main goal of the day was beach time, so we cruised back down the coastline to Villefranche-sur-Mer, a beautiful Mediterranean town between Nice and Monaco. After finally getting a parking spot-apparently Mondays are a great day for the beach in France-we hit the sand…or in our case, pebbles! The beach in Villefranche is all pebbles, which is surprisingly much more pleasant than sand. Pebbles come off easily and don’t stick in your bathing suit. The sea was incredible; bright blue and clear, and so salty we floated without any special devices! We alternated between beach and water for over an hour, until we sweated our all of our bodies’ water reserves. Mark especially loved sunning himself half in/half out of the water. We rinsed off European style in a little shower shack on the beach, had some delicious gelato desserts for lunch, and headed back into Nice to get cleaned up for our last night of vacation. After discovering most of the recommended restaurants in Nice Etoile (the swankier part of town) were closed for vacations, we finally found a sweet place called Maison du Marie. I was feeling brave after my foie gras experience in the Dordogne and ordered the fish soup for my entrée. Wow, who knew pureed fish and broth could be so….fishy? Thank God they gave me a bowl of whipped egg yolks to throw in it. Yeah, that really helped. We had an otherwise delicious dinner, walked down the Promenade Anglais one more time, and headed back to our teeny tiny room early enough to get a few hours of sleep before our 7:55am flight. So far our flights have gone well, but 9 ½ hours on a plane should be criminalized. Fingers crossed all will be on schedule in Cincinnati and we’ll be in Seattle by 7pm.

Thanks for following our blog! Sorry for the patchy posts and spotty photo postings (and sorry to my mom for her computer freezing up every time she opens the blog). And and extra special thanks to Kimo and Diana, the world's greatest neighbors for taking such good care of our house and most of all, our cats, while we were away. We can't thank them enough for all they did for us!

We made it to the Riviera, baby!

Greetings from Nice, on the gorgeous French Riviera! We just arrived at our hotel in Vieux Ville, which is French for "Old Nice with hotels that have tiny rooms with funny smells, wet carpet, and random stray cats on the patio." We left Provence this morning after a fabulous day yesterday. We began yesterday with a quick trip to the Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct. It was enormous, and we got to go down to the waters below and wade around while tiny fishes pecked at our feet. After Pont du Gard, we took an unplanned detour to the Haribo Bon Bon Museum in nearby Uzes. We paid 6€ apiece for some free samples and an interesting journey of how sugar and gelatin become those delicious gummy candies we all know and love. Unfortunately for us, the sweets machine that gave more free samples was only giving out licorice (like Good n' Plenty), which both of us detest. We wandered through the boutique, and pondered buying a 5 lb. bag of gummy colas, then left before we did something crazy.

We drove into downtown Uzes, which was in the throes of their crazy Saturday market and grabbed a quick lunch of galettes and cider in the 95+ degree heat. Cider goes down really easy when you're sweating it out instantaneously. After Uzes we made the drive to Avignon, at which point I was pretty much done sightseeing for the day. We walked through Avignon, seeing the Palace of the Popes and the gardens surrounding it, with a great panoramic view of the Rhone River valley. Since going all the way on to the famous Pont du Avignon cost more €, we just walked underneath it and took a bunch of pictures. We high-tailed it back to our hotel in time to soak in the pool for a while and chat with our fellow guests, motorcyclists from Grenoble (in the French Alps). They invited us out for a beer in town, which ended up turning into more beers, something called a Monaco (beer, grenadine and lemonade for Emily), and a phenomenal dinner at a local 'gastronomique' restaurant. We had tons of great food, great wine, and most importantly, great company with these new friends. Merci, Patric, Lucia, Kristophe, and Jocelyn! We will never forget the great time we had with you!

We left Provence this morning and headed due southeast for Nice, with a quick detour at the Chagall Museum and Matisse Museum. Highly, highly recommend the Chagall Museum--it was a fabulous collection of some of his lesser known works, as well as some unbelievable stained glass windows, sketches, and a lot of good personal history. It left me wanting more, the sign of a great museum! Matisse was also a good collection of his works, intermingled with those of Rodin and other contemporaries. While it was interesting to see how similar the styles of the time were between sketches, sculptures, paintings, and other art forms, the layout of the museum left something to be desired. No good flow, but still great works of art. We are now sitting on the 'patio' of our hotel, watching the crowds marche on by, and getting ready for our evening promenade. We have Wi-fi here, so we will post our pictures as soon as we can.

Emily’s Birthday: Wine-ing and a Whole Lot of Bull

So, it’s my second birthday spent in Europe (the last one being my 30^th in Spain a few years ago). We have decided that any overseas birthdays don’t count, so technically I’m 31 still. I got to plan the itinerary for the day (aka, the Rick Steves “Villages of the Cotes-du-Rhone” driving tour, pg. 507-519). Today was all about seeing the cutest Provencal villages, tasting some delicious wines, and soaking in the atmosphere. We wound our way up the Dentelles de Montmirail, a gorgeous mountain range decorated along the way with olive groves and almond orchards. We visited so many adorable hilltop villages, built for security from barbarians and other evil marauders, now hotbeds of pottery-making and artisanal ice cream shops. It was quaint to the extreme. Every other building was a ‘cave au vins,’ so we did our fair share of pre- and post-lunch wine tastings. Watching Mark ask each vintner about the type of “raisins” they used in the wines was a highlight for me. We had unbelievably patient and friendly pourers, who took the time to answer our questions. We ended up with 3 bottles of wine in the car at the end of the day: 2 Cotes-du-Rhone and 1 dry Muscat. With each bottle we add to our collection, someone at Delta Airlines is hearing a “ka-ching!” sound coming from our suitcases. But at 4-9Euros a bottle, how could we pass it up?

For lunch, we had a plate of local specialties in Suzette, including a dynamite olive tapenade made right in the town. We have been so lucky to sample the local cuisine in all of our stops, and have become pretty adventurous when it comes to tasting things that are unrecognizable to both of us. We ended our scenic loop in Gigondas, a town that seems to be completely dependent on the wine industry, and has a large cooperative that serves samples from literally hundreds of local vintners. Feeling overwhelmed and overheated, we headed back through Avignon to our b&b, after a lengthy battle with our TomTom, who insisted on trying to take us down some roads that did not yet exist. We decided to dine in St. Remy again because I was craving pizza (I know, I know, but it’s my birthday). When we arrived in the downtown, we noticed many of the main streets were blocked off and there were gigantic gates lining the main road. Tons of people were milling around, and there was obviously some big event about to take place. Based on our incredible powers of deduction (aka, reading posted signs), we learned that tonight was going to be a running of vachettes (small bulls) down the streets in anticipation of the next day’s ‘corridas,’ a version of bullfighting. The excitement was palpable, and there was a nutty marching band playing up and down the streets getting the crowds all riled up (see our videos on Picasa to get a taste of the atmosphere).

After waiting for about a half an hour without anything happening, we ate at a nearby Italian bistro. When we finished dinner at about 10:30, the crowds had swelled considerably, and a large truck was pulling into the middle of the street, right in front of us. Cowboys in full gear were riding horses up and down the road, obviously getting ready to do some rodeo-ing. Someone in charge of this whole shenanigans shot a starter pistol and we dove behind the barricades, pushing several small children out of the way in the process. Hey, I’m not going to be gored by a bull on my birthday. After about 20 minutes of anticipation, the running began. First, the cowboys herded a bunch of vachettes down the street into the truck. Exciting, but not really too dangerous. We crossed the street to a more unprotected area without barricades, just bales of hay to stand on (thanks, honey) and that’s when all hell broke loose. The vachettes were let out of the truck one at a time, and local idiots hopped up on testosterone chased them down the street in an effort to either tackle them or ride on them. The cowboys essentially were just for show now, as the inmates took over the asylum. The second bull almost broke free of the mob chasing it, and again, I dove for cover, this time pushing old ladies out of the way. Where was Mark, you ask? Why, near the edge of the street, filming this whole thing! After watching four vachettes get harassed, I’d had enough adrenaline rushes to last till my next birthday, and we hustled to the car before they released the next bull. Make sure you watch the videos so you can get a full understanding of how crazy this really was, because my words don’t do it justice!

The Road to Provence

Who knew the modern part of Carcassonne could be such a wild town? Apparently, there are drag races on the main rue all night long, as witnessed by Emily, whose earplugs kept falling out. Anyway, after a restless night of sleep, we had a lovely breakfast at our bed and breakfast and scooted our way out of the Languedoc region and into gorgeous Provence. We made Arles our stop for today, and spent a great afternoon in 100+ degree temps to see the Roman ruins of the old city. We shade-hopped our way through the city, starting with a delicious lunch of beautifully presented (and equally delicious) salads at a bistro. Evidently in Provence, everything comes sprinkled with a bit of paprika—who knew? We meandered past the Café Nuit, the very one Van Gogh painted, which is now crammed with Japanese tourists and overpriced menus. After that, we went back to ancient Roman times, visiting the ruins of a classical theater (which, at 4pm daily, still hosts ‘gladiator battles’), the underground cryptoporticos that used to house shops in the forum, an enormous amphitheater used today for the French version of bullfighting (ribbons are used, if that gives you any clues), St. Trophime church and its cloisters-of-much-decay and the adorable Musee Arlaten, devoted to telling the story of old-timey Provencal life, its clothing, traditions, myths and superstitions, and foods. Those of you from Wisconsin, think the Streets of Old Milwaukee-the French house.

After spending several hours in Arles, and losing copious amounts of body weight through sweat, we drove on to Maillane, destination for our next bed and breakfast. In case you didn’t know, Maillane is famous for being the birthplace of poet Frederic Mistral…and that’s about it. Seriously, even people we spoke to in Provence didn’t know where Maillane was! We’re staying in a gorgeous old home (built in the 1750s), and our hostess, Nadine, is helping Mark with his French (mainly because she doesn’t speak English). We’re all set with a/c and a pool, both of which we used to the fullest extent on our first night. Since Maillane has one restaurant, we traveled a few kilometers to Saint-Remy-de-Provence, otherwise known as “the city where Van Gogh spent his last months in a hospital before shooting himself.” Seriously, it’s on the sign as you drive in to the town! We had a delicious dinner with lots of herbes de Provence on everything. Let me take a quick second for my “Ode to Goat Cheese.” For breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert, the goat cheese we’ve eaten here has been amazing. We’ve had it creamy, rolled in pepper or herbs, and-the best-fried in a flaky pastry. Some is strong and musty, while others are almost sweet, but always it’s been a treat. Stay tuned for my “Ode to Toilets with Toilet Seats.”

After dinner, we drove to Les Baux, a hilltop town that has two levels; the lower level is the current town, inhabited by mainly residents catering to the tourist trade for the upper level, a deserted medieval town. We wandered around the ‘new’ part of town (new in France = 1700s) and found our way to the entrance gates for the ‘old’ part of Les Baux. Voila, the gate was left open, and no ticket takers were in sight! So, we walked in to the ghost town, barely illuminated by lights mounted in the stone walls, and luckily we had a tiny penlight that helped us through the areas without lights. It was completely empty that night, and all we could hear were the occasional bat fluttering overhead and the winds blowing through the stone structures. A few times, Mark ventured into darkened passageways while I waited outside, reliving the first time I saw “The Blair Witch Project.” Needless to say, it was totally creepy, but at the same time, a once in a lifetime experience for us. We drove back to Maillane through some hairpin rocky roads, just the slightest bit relieved that we weren’t part of some ritual sacrifice on top of the mountains.

Breakfast in Sarlat, Lunch in Albi, Dinner in Carcassonne

We got a good start on the morning in Sarlat and got down to the local market (which was pretty much everywhere in the city) and strolled through booths of people selling fresh produce, sausages, cheese, breads, nuts, pate, and wine. We sampled some fantastic cheeses, a bit of pate, some local wine, and a bit of sausage. They have these fantastic little strawberries bursting with an amazing aroma and flavor so we grabbed a tub of those, bought some sandwiches, and packed up for the morning to head down further South. On the way out we stopped at a grocery store to grab some water (and a biere de garde for me). At the grocery store, you had to pay 1€ for a grocery cart. They had these little grocery carts which I found out you can’t bring past the checkout line without setting off an alarm. Everywhere in Europe they are well beyond the concept of charging people for plastic grocery bags. They simply don’t give you any (people bring their own) but you can buy hefty grocery bags at the checkout for reuse.

After a few hours drive, we took a quick detour to Albi which since it was a bit off the beaten path, it was a nice relatively quiet city. We ate our lunch in the shadow of the overbearing church (St. Cecile’s Cathedral) that was there, created after they exterminated the Cathars, an almost Buddhist like religion, as a tribute to Roman Catholicism’s dominance. We toured the church, strolled another local church and cloister, grabbed some ice cream for Emily, and headed back on the road to Carcassonne.

We arrived in Carcassonne, checked in to our B&B, and jumped into the hot tub to relax. At this point, I do need to notice, the temperatures have started to rise a bit. We are well into the 90’s now.

After our soak, we headed into the heavily fortified/walled city of Carcassonne. We found a nice little restaurant for dinner and meandered through the streets which were fortunately a bit less crowded at night. I can’t imagine what it would be like during the day. As the sun set and the lights of the town began to light the massive structures, we took a walk between the massive inner and outer walls and got some great shots. We’ll hopefully be getting them posted soon! Tomorrow, on to Provence!

Old Man River and Foie Gras too!

We just returned from dinner, each of us having eaten the equivalent of an entire duck, and are about to settle in and weigh the ethical dilemmas of eating foie gras. Today was an unbelievably gorgeous day in the Dordogne River valley, and we took full advantage. We left early this morning (okay 10am is early for us these days) and rented a canoe at a local river port and began our journey down the Dordogne River. Stunning views of rock formations, caves, and the cutest dang towns in all of France (so far--Provence, we're talkin' to you!). We had several stopping points today on our 16 kilometer journey (that's about 160 miles-really). Our first stop was La Roque Gageac, which roughly translates into The Rock Gay Jack. Weird, right? We hiked up the hillside to a little old man's version of ancient caves (Troglodyte, in fact). I think he just made up a bunch of random signs and artifacts and arranged rocks in random formations, and charges stupid tourists 5€ to see it. Oh, wait...
After La Roque, we headed down the river past Castelnaud, an old chateau/defensive base. We decided not to stop there, but grabbed some cool pictures of it. On to Beynac, another adorable village contest winner. We were hungry for lunch, but sadly enough for us, all 3 of Beynac's restaurants don't serve food between 2:30 and dinner! So, after hiking up the steepest streets in all of France, we came down bitter and hungry and sweaty. What better to lift our spirits than dessert for lunch? 2 beignets, a walnut tart, and something called a Delices later, we were happy as clams. Returning to our canoe, we paddled our way furiously down river to our pick up spot. There, we boarded the bus from "Speed" to get back to our car. Seriously, our lives were in the bus drivers hands and he was looking under his seat while driving to find his sunglasses!!!
Back to Sarlat to clean off the dirty river water and sunscreen, and then we went our for a delicious 4 course dinner of foie gras, baby duck bills, duck tails, and fried duck feet webbing. Only kidding about the last 3, but we finally did eat our first foie gras (fattened duck or goose liver pate), and it wasn't bad! Like a creamier version of liverwurst. We're headed out to Carcassone tomorrow, and may not have internet for a while. Enjoy the pictures and keep checking back!

Leaving Loire and Entering Dordogne

We got a relatively early start on the day and headed out on the road to the Dordogne. In retrospect, buying the European maps for our TomTom navigation device was probably one of the best things we could have done. I have no idea how we'd get around without it. That being said, our TomTom has a "sense of humor." Some of the roads it sends us down "to save time" are not fit for cars, donkeys, or even mosquitos. While we have managed to make it through so far unscathed, we've had to drive up a fair number of banks or on grass around tractors to keep going. Ha, ha, TomTom, very funny.

On our way down South, we stopped in the little village of Collognes la Rouge which while off the beaten path, was not far enough off the path to still be a pretty serious tourist stop. Had a nice little wine tasting with a very kind old woman, very understanding of my miserable French and grabbed a nice sandwich and crepe in the town. We finally got into Sarlat and got unpacked into our very comfortable hotel(ish place). After cleaning the panic sweat from driving off our faces, we strolled through the town which is a very cute "medieval" little city, but turns highly touristic and somewhat gimmicky with the street performers late at night. We had dinner (possibly our best so far) at this sliced meats and baked cheese and potatoes kind of place. Think fondue with prosciutto. Freaking awesome (and healthy, right?) Afterwards we took a night stroll through the town and enjoyed the freak show. Tomorrow we'll be out on the Dordogne river canoeing and touring little towns.

New pictures added!

Sorry for the delay (this goes out to our parents, mainly) but we are finally caught up on uploading our pictures. Okay, we can't count today because it's not over yet! But we have internet access for the next 2 days and will add pictures asap (mostly while about to pass out each night). Enjoy!

Day 15: Chateau-verload

For breakfast I grabbed pretty much one of everything from a local boulangerie (including another meringue). By virtue of being right outside of Chateau Chenonceau, we walked over right as they opened. We enjoyed a nice uncrowded tour through the chateau and gardens. Chenonceau is particularly well known since it is built over water and actually served as a bridge. We rented a rowboat and tooled around in the waters underneath the chateau for a while before heading out to our next quick stop in Blois for lunch. I discovered there that it is physically possible to scar someone for life with burning chevre as I took a bite of Emily’s panini.

Driving to our next chateaux, Chambord, we prepared ourselves for the “grand-daddy” of all chateaus. It is by far the largest (400 rooms) and 360+ fireplaces, but pretty much was lackluster on the inside. They used to store art from the Louvre here during WWII, including the Mona Lisa. After Chambord we headed to Cheverny which while much smaller, had very intact and preserved rooms which were well decorated. Emily’s favorite part of this stop was watching the feeding of the hunting dogs. This was pretty much like turning miniature lions loose on a bunch of meat. See the videos in the gallery. They are almost a bit disturbing.

After this we were chateaued out and headed back to our hotel. We took a little more time to lie out and rest by the pool and grabbed a nice dinner in town. Good time in the Loire. Now it is time to head South to the Dordogne in the morning.

Day 14: Stormin' Normandy and Lovin' Loire

This morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast at our lodge with Emily’s favorite French woman, Danielle. We packed up our stuff and headed into the Mont St. Michel “downtown.” We stopped at a Biscuiterie and grabbed some nice shortbready and chocolaty biscuits. We then headed to a local cider maker and distiller to try some apple aperitifs including Calvados, an apple brandy – aka, apple firewater. We had 3, 5, 8, and 25 year old versions, all which scorched our throats.

After grabbing some camembert sandwiches and a bit of perry (pear cider), we hit the road for the Loire valley. You really have to love the French highway system. You can go pretty much 85+ mph and really not be speeding. You actually kind of are out of the norm if you do speed. Anyhow, lots of fun to drive on. The side roads are a challenge to keep up to the speed limit, and much to Emily’s dismay, I try. Even though gas prices are much, much higher here, you feel much better when you realize you're driving a diesel car that gets the equivalent of 60 mpg.

In Le Mans we made a quick stop for lunch and discovered a great empty cathedral (St. Julien’s). We cruised up a nice road heading through the Vouvray wine country and stopped in Amboise to stroll through the streets. By 5 o’clock we pulled into our hotel in Chenonceau and had time to take a quick dip in the pool and soak up some rays (not that my head needs any more rays). For dinner we stayed at our hotel and had a scrumptious four course menu. Emily took a swim in her ginormous French onion soup and I dared to enjoy their salmon despite my frequent salmon poisonings on past vacations. Covered a lot of ground today and are looking forward to some chateau touring tomorrow.

Au revoir, Paris and thanks for the memories...

As you can probably tell, we are now away from the lovely city of Paris. Whew, I kinda miss it and kinda don't. We had a whirlwind last day and a half since our last update. The night of our trip to the Marais, we were fortunate enough to meet up with a mutual friend's friend, Sylvain, who happens to be an art history lecturer/PhD candidate living in Paris! Yeah, I know, we are so freakin' lucky. He gave us an amazing walk through the Louvre, explaining the hidden meanings behind so many paintings and objects d'art that we'd normally just breeze on by without thinking about. He was amazingly gracious, and answered all of our questions (mainly around restoring oil paintings-not sure why we fixated on that topic...). Sylvain is an expert in 19th century French furniture, particularly a family of cabinet makers who designed pieces for Versailles and the White House. Not too shabby! We shared a lovely Japanese dinner with him and then headed home.
The following day started with a temperature of mid-80s and a walk through the Tulieries garden to the Orangerie, which is a gorgeous museum filled with oodles of Impressionist works. And it's nice and small, so you don't get overwhelmed (I'm talkin' to you, POMPIDOU!). After the Orangerie, we headed back to the Louvre to explore some more areas. And that's when I got sick. Blech... Anyway, after about an hour in the hot, sweaty, crowded Louvre, I returned to the apartment to sleep off my stomach bug, and Mark went on his merry way. He walked back to the old town and visited the Conciergerie, Archaelogical Crypt, Pantheon, Ile. St. Louis, and took the futuristic Metro #14--it has NO DRIVER! See how much sightseeing Mark can get done without dragging my sorry butt around? By the evening, I was feeling slightly better, so why not climb the first 2 stories of the Eiffel Tower??? We did, and I'll never regret it. The lines, the stairs, the sweating, the crowds, the stink, but it was all worthwhile. Such a fun way to see Paris on our last night in town.
An early start this morning to get our car and get outta town. Driving through Paris was a constant near death experience, for us and others, but we made it out alive. We headed to Giverny to visit Monet's gardens. Absolutely gorgeous, and filled to the brim with British tourists. Man, they love their gardens. His waterlily ponds were stunning, with weeping willows brushing down to the water. After our visit, we headed deeper into Normandy to Honfleur, a sweet little coastal town (think a medieval Seaside). Lunch at a cider and galette bar and restaurant, as Normandy is famous for its apple ciders and buckwheat crepes (galettes). So delicious!
After lunch, we hopped back in the car and made a long trek to the D Day Beaches and American Cemetary. Words cannot describe this place, so I don't even want to try. We were lucky enough to be at the cemetary during closing time, and to hear "Taps" play while they lowered the flag. If you ever have the opportunity to visit, you'd be crazy not to go.
After that somber visit we were ready to head to our b&b near Mont St. Michel. What--I was supposed to reconfirm the reservation last week and I forgot? Oops! Lucky for us the hostess, Danielle, was about the sweetest lady on the planet (or at least in France) and welcomed us with open arms (seriously, I thought she was going to hug us). We dropped off our stuff, and went to town for dinner (more galettes and cider, of course!). Then we drove up to Mont St. Michel. It's essentially an oasis in a salt flat, an abbey built onto a hill. We took the night walking tour through the abbey, and there were musicians playing throughout, which was a beautiful touch. We'll post pictures as soon as we get some much needed rest. Till the next time!

Another busy day

Started the day off with a bus trip to the Marais district. This area was once one of the more swanky areas of town back in the days but has settled to a nice quiet and relaxing location. We saw the Bastille monument and headed through the neighborhoods. We took a quick tour through the Picasso Museum and headed into the Jewish district for some falafel and schwarma. Yummy. We then meandered over to the Centre Pompidou for some modern art. Partially disturbing but also enjoyable. Still made us wonder what our generation's "legacy" of art will be. We look back on all of the previous generations of people painting "things" and then we just seem to abandon that... Are we forward thinking or just quitters?

Anyhow, afterwards we swung into La Cave au Bulles which was a local beer store recently featured on the Brewing Network. I had brought a bomber of a hoppy beer from the states to trade with a store owner. The owner was on the way out but we quickly traded the beer for a biere de garde, the one kind of beer I wanted to try in France.

We then headed out to L'Opera primarily to see one of Emily's favorite artist's largest works (Marc Chagall) on the ceiling of the hall. It really was breathtaking. Emily was feeling a bit under the weather so we headed back to our apartment for a rest. I, being hyperactive, went for a 4-5 mile run through the West of Paris, running by the Eiffel Tower, over to the Museum of Wine (didn't go in, looked snooty), and then down the long "island" that has the minature Statue of Liberty (Dear France, Thank you for the Statue of Liberty. Here is a little one from us in case you forgot what you made for us. Yours in Christ, America).

Tonight, we hope to go to the Louvre and meet up with a friend that Krysta met at a recent wedding for dinner. Should be a nice evening.
Mark

Tres Chic

Just returned to the apartment after another amazing day. It's a hot one in Paris, about 80 degrees- CELSIUS! hahaha Anyway, we headed out this morning to try to find me (Emily) a pair of jeans because I didn't bring any (at the advice of he-who-shall-remain-nameless). Nothing can make you feel fatter than trying on jeans in Europe. I don't recommend it.

First we visited the Rodin Museum, a short walk from our place. He was a sculptor, yes, but also quite the lover. Apparently one of his students, with whom he had a torrid affair, went a little cuckoo bananas after he left her for his wife (!) and was institutionalized. Now, looking at some portraits of Rodin, I'm a little surprised that he was such a ladies man, but I guess the whole artist thing really gets some girls going. The museum was set in his mansion, and was really beautiful. His sculptures were scattered inside and throughout the gardens outside.

After Rodin, we decided to go gaudy. No, not the famous Spanish artist, but the Champs Elysses. Oh my God, this street is the definition of excess. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, Armani, and even a Gap! It was packed with Eurotrash teens doing their school shopping-barf. Lucky for the Champs, there's the Arc du Triomphe at the end of it. We hiked up the stinky staircase to the top, and got some breathtaking views all around the city. Gorgeous!

We decided to go to the Musee d' Orsay after the Arc. It's set in an old train station, perfectly laid out in order of artistic era (Realism, Impressionism, post-Impressionism, and all the other crap). The Orsay houses work by Impressionists like Monet, Manet, Degas, Cassat, Renoir, and the list goes on. There is also a great collection of post-Impressionist work by Van Gogh and Toulouse Latrec. We spent a couple of hours wandering the halls and soaking in all there was to see.

On our walk back to the apartment, we stopped off at a nearby shop and I bought a cute pair of red shoes (Mark calls them my "festive lesbian" shoes, a term coined by our friend Anne). Tonight we're determined to head to the top of the Eiffel Tower. If we don't return, avenge our deaths!

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Once again, massive lines deterred our Eiffel Tower plans. But we did go out and have a wonderful dinner near the Ecole Militare (where Mark was haunted by memories of the USAFA). I had a delicious cheese burger with wine and Mark had steak tartare. Upon completing dinner and hanging around for the Eiffel Tower to do its evening shimmer, we took Mark home and put him in the oven at 350F for 30 minutes to allow his steak tartare to cook.

Attentione, SVP

While Emily irons my shirt in her French maid costume, I'll take another minute to post.

Another busy day yesterday. After a jog around the Grand and Petite Palaces and around the Invalides, we grabbed breakfast at great (and evidently very popular) local boulangerie and headed over to the Tomb of Napoleon for a bit. Pretty impressive place for a little guy. We then worked our way through some of the medieval armor and through WWI & II. Lots of information, particularly about how to surrender as fast as possible. After a few hours in there, we grabbed lunch at a nearby bistro before heading towards the old city for a walking tour. We hit the Notre Dame, WWII deportation memorial, strolled through the north end of the Latin Quarter, stepped in a bunch of dog poo which fortunately came off in the fountain at Place St. Michelle, visited the Cluny Museum (no, George was not there), and then went to the impressive Saint Chappelle (no, Dave wasn't there either). At this point, our dogs were barking (Emily's in particular for other dogly reasons) so we relaxed on the tip of the Isle de la Cite in the Parc du Pont Neuf.

We then headed back to our neighborhood to get some food for a picnic on the Champ du Mars in front of the Eiffel tower. Lots of people out just sitting, relaxing and chatting. Had a nice sandwich, stinky cheese with bread, pastries, and Cantillon Grand Cru. We were going to climb the tower tonight but there were some outrageous lines so we decided to postpone for a night or two and have an early night. Fun, busy day and we've got plenty more to do.

Em has a bunch of the pictures uploaded and we'll get them linked through shortly.

Mark

Mark takes a quick turn...

Hello everyone. I've got the computer for a second so I'll give a quick post on today's excursion. We got up nice and early and took a train over to Versailles. Of course we had to stop at a local pastry shop in our continued mission to find the best pain au chocolat in the neighborhood. The train ride was a lot faster to get there than I remember from the last time in high school, only about 30 minutes from Invalides (ie., me). Unfortunately it was a bit overcast today so we went into the chateau first. Though we ended up getting audio guides with our Versailles Passport, the Rick Steves podcasts were very informative and entertaining. While wandering through the impressive rooms and hallways wondering how a country could ever afford something like this, we were reminded that this cost the GDP of France for a 1/2 year and probably was done on the backs of some very poor workers.

After touring the chateau, we headed outside for the gardens while they had the fountains going. Fortunately the weather had cleared up a bit. We went back and forth through the labyrinth of bushes and fountains and eventually worked our way over towards the "retreat castles." After some quick touring through the areas back there we visited Marie Antoinette's retreat/little peasant village. That was the first time heading back there for both of us so it was a cool new discovery.

We tromped around through that "neighborhood" for a while and headed back to the chateau and out to the streets of Versailles where unfortunately it was that time between lunch and dinner (traditionally called "happy hour" in America but not here) and we tried to find somewhere to eat (we just packed in a baguette and jam). After coming up empty for a while, we gave up and went into a patisserie where we found some quiches and little desserts (had my first meringue in France, so good). We jumped on the train and headed back into Paris. Which leads me up to right now.

And so while I have your attention, I'm going to give the French a piece of my mind about beer. What the hell are you thinking charging $6 for 25 cl of crappy beer? For the love of Jebus beers in Belgium (sliiiightly better) were usually like $5 even for the best stuff. Fricking Westy 12 was only $6 at the cafe. Needless to say, we've been having wine.

Anyhow, tonight if conditions are okay we'll be going out for a night cruise on the Seine (thanks Jamie!) I trust that Emily will upload photos later (I have no idea how she's been doing that). Okay, off to find coffee for the morning.

Mark

On our way to Versailles

Bonjour! We are literally on our way out the door to Versailles, but posted pics of our day around Paris yesterday. We walked all day, so today it is tres necessary to wear the gym shoes. :) We had a wonderful day full of catacombs (so many femur bones...), crepes on the street, walking through the most expensive neighborhood in Paris (St. Germain-des-Pres), and spending an evening in Montmartre. Enjoy our pictures (just click on a slideshow to go to PicasaWeb and see the albums).