Paris Part II

Friday morning we started out to see the Arc de Triomphe and stroll down the Champs-Elysees. Unfortunately, it turned rainy and cold so we ducked into a cafe for a quick bite and made our way to the Louvre where we could spend the better part of the rainy day indoors. This is one massive museum. We didn't have the time - or the attention span - to see everything, but I think we got a good tour of the highlights. We saw the Mona Lisa which was as anti-climactic as I'd heard it would be. I looked and looked and she never winked at me. Still, it was good to see her in real life. We saw Venus de Milo, lots of Greek sculpture, Italian and French paintings, a little ancient Mesopotamian work...truly overwhelming. My personal favorite was David's Coronation of Napoleon, I think because of how pretty and dainty Josephine is in the painting. My appreciation for art runs deep as you can tell.

Luckily, while we were inside, the rain cleared so we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower. It was cold and the line to ride the lift was long so we decided to hoof it up the stairs - to the second level. We got our workout for the day and it warmed us up a bit. We got there just before dusk so the sun was setting as we made the climb. By the time we got to the very top, it was almost dark and we got some really beautiful cityscape pictures (they're not on Flickr yet but will be soon I promise!). It was here that I discovered Steve has never seen Sleepless in Seattle or An Affair to Remember. We will be renting both promptly so he can fully appreciate the romance.

We made our way back to the Latin Quarter to find some dinner, this time relying on our own good judgment for restaurant choices, a little gun-shy from the prior evening. We decided on a little Italian joint and didn't even care how inappropriate it felt to be eating Italian food in the French capital. I even ordered spaghetti. I don't know if I've ever ordered spaghetti in an actual restaurant. When it came to the table, we spent a few minutes debating whether or not the meat in the sauce was cooked. I don't know...maybe it was the lighting. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a stand for an always delicious chocolate crepe and envied another couple making their dinner of a chicken and cheese crepe. "We're coming back here for lunch tomorrow", we agreed and headed home where we watched the Eiffel Tower come alive & glittery every hour on the hour from our hotel window (as it has every night since the millenium celebration)...not a bad way to end an evening.

Paris

Hmm...where to begin. Paris was overall really wonderful. It would seem our timing couldn't have been more perfect. Thursday, the day we arrived, the strikes ended. On Sunday, the day we departed, a collision between two teenagers and a police car occurred which sparked riots that were ongoing at least through Tuesday. I'd say we got in and got out just in the nick of time. We did manage one free ride on the metro Thursday since you apparently don't have to pay when there is a strike.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and started exploring right away. I had found a walking tour podcast that we used to guide us through the streets and give us a good intro to the city. It took us through Notre Dame and by Saint Chapelle, the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice and through the Latin Quarter. We stopped at a cafe just across from Notre Dame for a drink and waited for the sun to set. How's this for a view...

Then we headed off for a brasserie that our hotel had recommended. I didn't really know what a brasserie was and I don't know if this was representative of all brasseries but we were packed in like a bunch of cattle. Our waiter actually had to pull the table out so Steve could get to his seat, then pushed the table in front of him and then I was seated across from him. The tables on either side of us were about an inch away from our's. So basically, Steve had to limit his beverage intake because there was no getting up unless it was for good! We both started this three course meal with a bowl of french onion soup which was....A M A Z I N G.....I can't even tell you how good this soup was. I could have eaten this all weekend...seriously....and in some ways wish I had. That was pretty much the peak of our dining experiences in Paris - and it went straight downhill - fast. After five months in Germany, we have gotten pretty comfortable with trying new things, even ordering off the menu completely blind to what we're getting. Generally, we're not disappointed. I took this sense of adventure with me to Paris and ordered Beef Tartare for my main course. Do you know what beef tartare is? If you do, you're probably laughing and thinking how uncultured I am right now. This is what it is...


Yes, my friends, that is what basically amounts to a raw hamburger patty fancily dressed with capers and onions on a pretty white plate. I could not believe my eyes. So much so that I actually took a bite because I could not fathom that I had actually just been served a 100% raw piece of meat. I know sushi is wildly popular....not a huge fan myself, but I know there are millions of people all over the world eating deliciously raw fish every day. I did not know that there were people out there eating raw beef (or horse, but I won't even go there). Don't they know how good this stuff can be after a few minutes on the grill??? Seriously people.

There was a Dutch couple on one side of us and a Japanese girl on the other, all of which were looking and whispering so we finally acknowledged out loud that yes, the American girl had ordered raw beef for dinner and no, she would not be eating it. Luckily, I was so in love with my onion soup that I had eaten every last drop and then wondered how I was going to have room for my entree. Well, problem solved...

Steve had ordered his steak medium-well because we had read that the French tend to under-cook their meat by American standards (that's the understatement of the year). It looked as though it had been seared on either side long enough for the chef to blink his eyes, but hey, at least his was brown on the outside.

We gobbled up our creme brulee for dessert and got the heck out of there. More on Paris later...

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, we're off. Despite the labor relations woes and lack of public transportation, we've decided that our non-refundable hotel and 4 full days off without using an ounce of vacation time are just too valuable to stop us. I'm otherwise super-excited about Paris and getting back in the traveling saddle. We have been home for 4 weeks straight - the longest we've stayed home since my arrival waaaaay back in July. I think it's safe to say we are both getting a little cabin fever and ready for a change of scenery. On the other hand, it's more than a little strange to think everyone will be doing traditional Thanksgiving tomorrow - with the turkey & dressing & sweet potato casserole & broccoli cheese casserole and green bean casserole & pumpkin pie........

Well sweet dreams thinking about all that delicious food you have to look forward to while we're having a cafe au lait and croissant tomorrow afternoon. We miss you and love you and are oh so thankful for each of you.

Gotta Love Unions!

I know everyone back home must be hating life having to watch reruns because the Hollywood writers are on strike. As annoying as that must be, we are finding it even more annoying that not only are the train engineers in Germany on strike,....again,...., for the fourth time since we got here this summer, but the French train engineers are also on strike. We decided to take the train to Paris this Thursday for Thanksgiving because as everyone knows "You can go anywhere on a train in Europe, it's so easy!" Yeah, as long as they aren't on strike again. We are hopeful that our train will still be running. We heard that international lines are still running, but we won't know for sure until Wednesday. If not, it is only 6 hours by car. If you believe that, read our blog about our drive to Berlin. Apparently, the German train engineers are holding out for a, get ready for this, 30% raise. Sounds reasonable to me. Actually, at this point, I would probably support it if they would promise to stop striking until we return to the States. The only thing worse than this is what our neighbor told us about how last year all the Doctors went on strike, for 5 months, and the only way you could get medical help is if you were about to die. If that doesn't make you jump up and vote for universal, government run, social health care, I don't know what will. Anyway, that is about enough cynicism for one post. Hopefully we will have some good pictures of Paris to post next week. Speaking of pictures, here is the URL to our flickr photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveandjami
If you don't see any pictures, sign up for an account and email it to me so we can add to the VIP list. Cheers!

Snow! Part II

Well, we got our snow! Just little flurries on Wednesday, not enough to create any sort of winter wonderland but it was enough to make me pause to watch every time I passed a window. We woke Thursday morning to a nice little layer of white on the rooftops and ground - just in time to have our winter tires put on that morning. So bring it on - we're ready....

Snow!

We have snow in the forecast this week!

The grown-up me is sort of hoping it's a false alarm. Let's face it - I'm not the greatest driver even on dry roads. I'm already in a foreign country with foreign roads and foreign drivers that make Dallas highways look as friendly as the state motto, driving a car that is my husband's Baby. That's really enough pressure - really. We will not have our winter tires on until Thursday. So there are lots of grown-up red flags in my head hoping for no snow.

The kid in me - well, the kid in me that can count on one hand the times in her life that she's seen snow that did not also involve the dreaded "wintry mix" - is so excited she can hardly stand it. I have visions in my head of what our home looks like covered in snow. I don't know whether or not we will actually see it. We've been told the snow is kind of hit or miss in our area. We'll see. Stay tuned.... :)

Autumn

Okay, I know what I just said. But I can't not share these pictures. This is the first time in my life that I've lived somewhere to really, really experience Fall.

This is the hill just outside our window on October 25th.


This is the same hill on November 4th, just 10 days later.

How fun is that? All the leaves have changed, almost overnight. And they are rapidly falling. It's a little windy out today and as I was driving back home from town, it was just raining leaves. Love it...

Something's Not Working Properly

Ok, ok I get it. Blogger has worn my patience thin. I will surrender that Blogger is for blogging and apparently not for photo-sharing. I had a wonderful little post all about our trip to Spain - maybe you saw it - it was up for about 3 hours. Then I discovered that the photos had vanished just like they vanished from my Bavaria post a few weeks ago. I don't know the reason. I'm going to guess that maybe I'm trying to cram too many photos onto something that is intended primarily for words.

That said, we are loading all of our photos on Flickr and will be happy to add you to the "Friends & Family" list if you are not already on it. You may have been on it last year when we posted honeymoon photos but if it wasn't under a yahoo email address, you won't be able to access it anymore. You now need a yahoo email address to access Flickr. So, open up a yahoo account, send me the address, and we'll get you going. Can you hear the frustration in my voice?

If you're checking the blog...expect more words than pretty pictures.

Our First European Redneck Sighting

We saw this on our way out of town Saturday. On a Texas highway, I would not have even looked twice. On a German side road, my jaw dropped. So many things about this vehicle screamed mis-placement to us but none more-so than the bumper sticker, "This vehicle protected by Smith & Wesson". Nice.