BACK IN TOWN

The gay Parisians are back in Windsor after a fantastic time in Paris. My feet have blisters the size of a French Pastry and my waist has expanded to the size of . . . well, you get the idea. We had a fantastic time and have seen everything that any self respecting tourist should see. We have now officially eaten our way through London and Paris and are ready for a day or two of rest.
Paris was WONDERFUL and we had the best weather ever. It was almost 80 degrees each day with wonderful sun shine. (Thank you Ann Marie and Jean Marie for packing umbrellas and rain coats!) Perfect weather for touring and seeing the sights.
Our first day in Paris we arrived in the afternoon after the 2 hour ride on the Eurostar high speed train. WE whizzed through the country side and the "chunnel" under the English Channel and arrived on time at Gare de Nord station. Thanks to Jean Marie she and I figured out where we were and how to find our hotel. It was about about a 10 minute walk to our little hotel where we dumped our suit cases and then took a walk to check out the neighborhood. We were just around the corner from the hotel Ger and I had stayed in last time we were in Paris so we were a little familiar with the area. The "HOTEL du PARIS" was a treasure. Old hotel with a tiny elevator and a winding stair case up to the 5th floor. Ger and I had a nice little room on the second floor with windows that opened out on to the rue de la Strausbourg. It was horribly noisy when the windows were open but when the windows were closed it was quiet and comfy. Since the people on this side of the ocean don't believe in screens on their windows you also get bugs along with the noise but since there really aren't bugs here that isn't a big problem. They also don't believe in AC so when there is a heat wave you have to open the windows and put up with the noise. Ann Marie was having a great deal of trouble with the noise so we had to spend the first evening looking for ear plugs. That and wash cloths. When you come to Europe bring your wash cloth . . . hotels here do not provide wash cloths. You are lucky to get a towel never mind a wash cloth. The showers are so small you have to step out to turn around so I guess they figure you don't need a cloth to take up more room in the shower. It's an adventure.
Saturday in Paris was amazing. We got tickets for the  "hop on hop off" tour bus and set off on our journey. We got off on the Champs d'elise and had lunch at a sidewalk bistro and then walked to the L'arc de Triumphe where we caught the bus again to the Eiffel Tower. Ann and Jean stood on the lines forever to go up in the tower while Ger and I sat and watched all the people pass by.  Back on the bus we rode to Sacre Cour with all the hundreds of other tourists. Sacre Cour is such a beautiful old church on top of as hill over looking Paris. When Ger and I were there 40 years ago the church was surrounded by Artists. Now it is surrounded by souvenir shops and little bistros. Ann and Jean had a great time shopping for scarves for gifts at Christmas so be prepared if you are on Ann's Christmas list. Every time we stopped at a shop the two of them were looking at more scarves. No wonder the suitcases coming home weighed so much. And I thought it was the 6 bottles of cheap French wine.
We had many more adventures in Paris but it is now too late to write any more so you'll just have to wait till tomorrow. The 4 of us are sitting at Kyle's kitchen table rehashing our trip and laughing at the photo's on Ger's camera. It's 10:15 PM and everyone is asleep except us. Tomorrow Kyle leaves for Frankfurt for 2 days and the kids will be in school so hopefully I will be able to catch some extra Z's.