Thursday - City Highlights and Tour Eiffel

This morning we worked at trying to figure out some of the kinks of the apartment. I was very frustrated because my blog decided to be in French and it crashed - mid-sentence. (Did you notice?) But it seems to be ok now.

Getting all of us showered

and fed so that we could get out the door for our Highlights tour was quite a challenge. We had to do some last minute shopping for some essentials.

Our tour guide, Fred, was fabulous. A veritable fount of information. We drove all over Paris and made a few photo stops. He dropped us off at the Eiffel Tower for a delicious lunch done in a picnic chic style. Then we went to the top of the

Eiffel Tower. We even had champagne at the top.

See Olivia at point zero in front of the Notre Dame?

We stopped for macarons on the way home.

Well we are heading out again to the Theater and dinner.

Wednesday - Bon Jour Paris

The trip was long but uneventful. After getting our luggage and going through security we were met at the baggage door by Richard’s Van Service. That made the trip to our apartment very nice, Though I must say I was horrified with the driving. I am glad that I do not have to drive during this trip. Not long at the apartment before we hit the ground running. Took the closest metro to the Place de la Concorde – this was for our immediate Paris gratification. We are really here. We strolled along the Seine to the Isle de la Cite feeling very Parisian.

We joined a Paris-Walks tour of the Two Islands followed by an ice cream break. Berthillon ice cream is as good as they say. That sure hit the spot. Then grocery shopping at the monop for a few odds and ends for breakfast and late night snacks. We finally got home to unpack and settle in.

After unpacking and settling in we went out for dinner at Le Bistrot du Boursier. This is where I was first exposed to raclettes. But it was closed so we punted. L'Ami Georges was right up the street. What a fabulous substitution. Very friendly owner. Delicious meal. The owner had lived in California for a year so he helped us feel right at home.

After supper we came home and straight to bed.

Tuesday - Travel Day - All Day continued

Free beer which we had to guzzle because it was a short flight to Seattle.

Air France - non stop to PARIS.

Trying to sleep.

Travel Day – All Day

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

We are off!! It is hard to believe that after all the months of planning it is really time to go. Glenn took Sharon, Kris and Barbara to the airport. Mike dropped Jennifer off. We all met up at the Delta ticket line. We found that we had to go to the Horizon counter because we were actually flying Horizon even though the tickets were purchased through Delta.

OMG Paris here we come

Bonjour,

After 7 planning meetings and countless numbers of email and phone exchanges we finally have a plan for our trip to Paris! Now all we need to do is relax and let the plan happen. We have tried to pay for what we could ahead of time and we have even made dinner reservations where we could. We have art museums, gardens, city tour, jazz tour, walking tours, food tours, wine tasting, champagne cruise, 2 concerts (one jazz and one classical), a play and an evening at the Grand Hammam for a spa. We have 2 field trips: one to Giverny to Monet's garden and one to Chartres to the cathedral to walk the labyrinth. So much to experience and enjoy - the food, the wine, the art!

Sharon, Kris, Jennifer and Barbara leave Portland on Tuesday, May 10th at 11:30am getting to Paris at 8:30am on Wednesday, May 11. We hit the ground running. We have to keep ourselves awake, don't you know. We are renting an apartment in the Marais district or the 4th arrondissment, a half a mile from the Louvre! We will be very familiar with the metro system by the time we come home.

For those of you who like to follow blogs I (Barbara) hope to be able to add to this each morning starting Thursday May 12 but remember Paris is 9 hours ahead of Portland.

Planning for Paris 2011

Sharon, Kris and Barbara are in the midst of planning for our next big trip - Paris. Jeanne could not join us on this trip so Jennifer is our new companion. So much to do - so little time. We have each done research of what we want to do and see and now we are trying to fit it all together. Sharon is amazing at juggling schedules. We have our flight reservations and our apartment in the Marais area is set. May 10-21, 2011, Paris here we come.

What started it all?!

Sharon had an opportunity to go to Barcelona with Olivia, March of 2007. They went with an art class. What fun they had. Sharon caught the travel bug.

Sharon, Kris and Barbara started the Art-Walk-Eat tours. In April 2008 we went to Washington DC. Though at that time we were not blogging.

October of 2009 we went to New York and we made our first attempt at blogging. I hope you enjoy the previous posts for details of our New York trip. We included Jeanne.

Next stop Paris, May of 2011. And hopefully we will improve our blogging skill. Stay tuned.