Home, sweet home!

We had lunch at Anthony's in the Seattle airport.  Since we had 5 hours to kill we had to do something.  We were too tired at this point to think about taking pictures.  

Was this Mt Rainier or Mt Hood, Kris?

Our flight from Seattle was very quick.  I think I slept the whole 25 minutes.  Glenn and George met us at the airport.  That was very nice.  It was very nice of Glenn to drive us all.  I tried to stay up until my usual 11 pm bedtime, but I am afraid that there was a little dozing going on.   So I finally gave up and went to bed at 10:30 pm.  26 hours seems long enough.  

We had an absolutely fabulous time but it sure was great to get home and sleep in my own bed.  Luckily, Sharon & Kris could both go home to AC.  We brought the heat home with us. DARN.  We heard from Jeanne.  She was on the other end of the security problems and had a different perspective.  It also took her a long time to get through immigration.  She had a direct flight from Paris to Minneapolis, but then she had to take the shuttle to Duluth, where Jay met her and then a 2 hour drive home.  She made it home OK. 

This is what she came home to. a field of lupines and deer

Kris's neighbors, who watched her kitty, left her this as a welcome home gift.  That was nice. 

Journey home, an adventure

We were up at 5 am this morning (Saturday - which would have been 8 pm Friday night Portland time) so that we could shower, eat, have coffee, pack …. All of those essentials.  Our pick-up time with Victor cab service was 6:45 am.  We decided to go with him since it was set up before, but I did make a point of making a confirmation call since we had the mix-up when we flew into Paris.  We zipped to the airport with no problems.  Hardly any traffic.  We got there by 7:30 am for our 10:10 am flight.  We thought that would be enough time.  First stop – bathroom.   I am SOOOO glad we did that.  We went to the kiosk to check in.  No problems with that.  We left Jeanne at this point, saying that we would see her when we got through the baggage claim line. She had a much later flight.  We went to stand in the line for checking our bags.  It was a very long line.  We waited, we waited.  Then they announced a security breach – we would all have to move to gate 12 instead of 8 to check bags.  So we all massed over towards 12.  We got there, they said NO WAY.  This is the wrong place for you.  Go back.  So we all trudged back.  We were met by security and dogs.  There was a piece of unclaimed luggage.  We would have to go back, No, No, not 12.  At this point we all just stood around and waited. They finally said all clear.  So back to 8 to check our bags.  Whew. That done, then the LOOONG line to go through immigration.  We kept asking people about our flight to Seattle because it was getting closer and closer to boarding time. Trudging along, moving inch by inch.  Our boarding time came and went.  Finally went through immigration.  Still had to get to our gate and go through security.  Flight take off time came and went.  We got to the plane and luckily they were holding it, since there were so many people caught in this security situation.  There were others behind us.   Our flight left 1 hour late.  We had no time at all to use up our last euros.  Luckily, I guessed pretty accurately, I only have 5 euros left.    

Pam,  I have had some problem every time I have flown out of CDG.  The only time I have not had problems was when we went to India and we flew through CDG.  I prefer Amsterdam.

We never did see Jeanne again, so we never got to say good-by.  I hope her flight went OK.  I had trouble with texting and WhatsApp.  I could not get on the airport wifi, either.  Jeanne, I am so glad that you came with us on this trip.  I am sorry that you were sick, but I am glad that it seemed to be a 24 hour bug.  Our last day was perfect.  

We had plenty of food and wine on the plane.   They say that we were going to make up time so that we will not be late.  We have a 5 hour layover in Seattle so I would not have minded if we had been late.  I guess other people were concerned because they had connecting flights.  

We landed fine in Seattle and went through customs with no problems.  Then it will be a long wait before our short flight to Portland.  I will go ahead and post this now.  

Steak Frites

We walked to Relais de I'Entrecote for dinner.  You can not make reservations and their menu is just beverages and desserts.  They only serve steak frites.  Your choice of medium, rare or well done.  So we got a bottle of the house red and Jeanne got a white.

waiting in line.  Only about a 20 minute wait

walnut salad

our order written on the table cloth

white and read

steak and fries and a delicious gravy.  They would not tell us what the secret sauce was.  It was a fabulous meal.  I would recommend it to anyone. 

We walked home.  Then it was time to pack and get organized for tomorrow.  We have a 6:45 am pick up time.  So there is a lot to do tonight.

Off on the right besded the bottles is our nespresso machine which we fought with every day.  Always something went wrong with it.  

Gardins, Museums and Happy Tourists

Today was COOLER temperatures!!! It is amazing how different our attitudes were. We were enthusiastic, engaged and having fun.  Sharon did not have to drag us anywhere.

We had breakfast at the apartment, it was close to 10 am, when we headed out.  First stop was by the Saint Sulpice church.  This is the one in the DaVinci Code.

These darn pigeons would not move, even when Sharon walked by.   

Then we went to the Jardin du Luxembourg.  

Standing in front of the Medici Fountain, which was not turned on.  

Outside of the fence of the Luxemburg garden, they do a rotating display of art.  This time it was of various landscaped gardens.  There were probably about 30 posters.  I do not know who the photographer was. 

We were right by the Pantheon

Stopped at the Cluny Art Museum

When we were in New York and when I was in Scotland we found the unicorn tapestries.  These were the pink ones.  That was fun.  It was a quick stop since we had a free Museum pass.  We could zip in, zip out.  Unfortunately the way it is arranged, zipping in and out is going through the entire place.  Oh well.  We did do it quickly.

Metro to the Jardin des Plantes.  First stop ... sit-down and lunch, at the Bailien.  It is rated as one of the top 10 restaurants in parks. 

It was a nice place but very hard to find.  

Jeanne wanted a light lunch

maybe not this light.  She had some of my salad.

The garden was beautiful.

Metro to the l'Orangerie to see the Monets.  

This is a great place to experience Monet.

walk to the d'Orsay.  Of course, we need another Eiffel Tower picture.

locks on the bridge

There were a lot of Monets

a very early Monet.  

Edgar Degas

There was a cool clock that you could see through.  It was hard to get a picture because a lot of people were trying to get pictures.  Also, that focusing-on-near-and-far-at-the-same-time issue. 

Sacre-Couer and the Ferris wheel in the Tuilleries

a long day.  

stopped at Lauderee on our way home.