Monday, September 26, 2022

Bonjour!  Well a rainy day in Paris.  We stopped at a bakery for pastries to take on our journey to the metro today and we went to Notre Dame.  We could only see it from behind scaffolding and barriers but it is huge and breathtaking.  They had story boards telling of the restoration process and photos of the burned timbers.   Such a beautiful church.

Stopped for lunch outside Notre Dame and got savory crepes, chicken and mushrooms and ham and cheese.  Yummy!

Onto the metro again to go to the Eiffel Tower. Got there before our reservation time so stopped and had hot chocolate and Deb had Grog. Then on to climb the stairs to the second floor.  Only 680 of them. I wish I had counted them!  They were outside steps and it was rainy but we did it anyway and so glad we did.  The views were amazing, fog and all.  We were going to try for a dinner at the top of the Tower but didn't make reservations in time.  That is also a huge structure and Paris will be the host of the 2024 Olympics and they are doing some restoration in preparation for that.

Made a visit at Holy Family church in our neighborhood before going to dinner.  We went to the place we ate at on Tuesday, our first day, but the cook didn't come in today.  We found another place to go and Deb and Mary had leg of lamb and I had croque monsieur. I was expecting a full sandwich but it was open-faced.  Pretty good though. Ended with an apple tarte.

Back to house to get house ready to leave in the morning.  Did my packing earlier so just finalized some things in my bag.  I have a croissant for Dave so will see how well it travels.  It may be a crushed croissant.

24,900 steps today, walked 11.2 miles and got 66 flights of stairs!

Thanks for following us on our journey to Paris!  Au Revoir!

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Bonjour!  Well today was Race day!  Up at 5 am and out at 6 for some metro rides.  Got to the Eiffel Tower around 7 am and they were just beginning to set up the starting to get things erected for the big day.

We sat and had coffee and water at a little Cafe and had to drop our bag of clean dry clothes off by 9:30 so it could be at the finish line when we were done.

It started filling up with people and 9 am finally arrived and lots of people were there.  25,000 of our closest friends.  The elite runners went off at 10 am and then increments of 1 minute they would do a 10 second count down and then another wave would go.  I think we were the 4th wave.  They got us out quickly.  Mary and I were together and Deb and Libby were across from us on the other side of the median.

My Aunt Joan and Uncle Larry live tracked us on our run.  It was neat to have them follow our progress.   Thank you!

That 7% hill was hard and I walked some and ran some.  It was a beautiful course through a tunnel and the forest winding through little villages.  

We all did a great job finishing and glad we trained hills in the canton area.

Picked up our bags and showered and then on to find something to eat.  We got margerita pizza and a pizza with ham and mushrooms. 

Off the the Palace of Versailles and man what a palace.  I think we should do Sailfest here.  Lots of room!

We were all tired from the accumulation of all the activities of the week and I didn't appreciate the palace like I should have.  It was beautiful though.

Back to our little town and we stopped and had Fish and chips at a little restaurant.  I told Dave we had pizza and fish and chips and he thought that was strange items to eat while in France.  They were good though.

Back home and ready for bed early.

Tomorrow Eiffel Tower and hopefully a chance to dine in the restaurant at the top of the Tower. 

I am having a difficult time posting the photos and will try to make a google album with all photos.

Bonsoir!

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Bonjour!  Today was a day to stay around our neighborhood so as to rest up for tomorrow.  Went to a Cafe for breakfast of ham and cheese omelets, then snack at another Cafe.  Joan and Larry recommended a steakhouse restaurant called Hippopotamus.   It was good and two of us got chocolate mousse for dessert.

All set for the big race tomorrow.  Will let you know how it went.

Au revoir!

 Will post photos tomorrow.

Friday, September 23, 2022

Bonjour!  Another beautiful day in Paris!  A bit cloudy today and a day to carry a little jacket.

Stats from yesterday were 22,769 steps, 34 flights of stairs and 10.7 miles of walking.  Phew!

Breakfast of fresh pastries and left overs from yesterday's feast from the open air market. They also had a flea market set up as well.

Out by 11 am to go get our race packet for Sunday.  Yay! Then to find some sports gel and safety pins.  We met a man in the store who was looking for pins as well for the race bib. His name is Ernesto and he is from Parma, Italy and this will be his third time running the la grande classique.  Mary was able to speak to him in Spanish and they had a good conversation.  

In the department store, like a super wal-mart, they had live music.  Someone was playing the piano.  It was nice to hear. 

We again took metro to get to Abbesses, at the foot of Montmartre where we had a delicious meal of Paella.   It was delicious and we ordered it for 4 people.  We couldn't finish it.  It had mussels, class, calamari, shrimp, crayfish, peas, peppers and saffron rice.  

Onto Montmartre and Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Sacre Coeur.  Amazing construction and such a huge basilica.  We walked around and they were going to have mass at 6:30.  We climbed stairs to the dome for an amazing 360 degree view of Paris.  The stairway was spiral and many steps.  There were signs along the way to let you know how many were left.  For me it was worth the walk but we had tired legs when we were finished.  Now we get to go back down  those steps.  The joke of the day was "oh good, more stairs.

Walked around the little village and back to metro for an early night back home.  We got in around 8 pm.

Going to have a down day tomorrow to rest up for the big race on Sunday.  25,000 racers.  OMG!

Race course. Look at that hill!

Thursday, September 22, 2022

 Bonjour! 49 degrees this morning when we woke, but turned into a beautiful sunny day.

We headed out to the open air market in the area where we are staying and they had fresh produce, fish, cheeses, breads, pastries, wine.  We got figs, croissants, pastries, brie, chevre and blue cheeses, cantaloupe, Crenshaw, a type of melon, wine and brought it back to our house to enjoy.

We then went to the museum D'Orsay, which is huge.  We saw Rodin's The Thinker, lots of Claude Monet paintings, Pissaro, and Van Gogh.  Before we finished we stopped for lunch at a Cafe inside the museum and two of us had a chicken stir fry, one had quiche Lorraine and another had a vegetarian dish.

Finished the museum and then sat by the River Seine where some of us had drinks and water. Lots of boat traffic.  Decided to do a boat cruise which would take us near Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.   We started out in daylight and then as the boat did its tour we could see the Eiffel Tower all lit up.  Just amazing!  What an immense structure. 

Worked our way back home walking and riding the metro and had another late nite.

Beginning of the day!

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

 Wow!  What a day.  Will be brief as we got in at 11:05 pm and had a long day.  Will briefly describe the day.  

Went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.  This museum is huge and we went through a couple of galleries and we were done.  So many people.

We then went to Angelina Paris that Mary had been to on her journey to Paris a few years ago  for delicious hot chocolate and a croissant.

Then to Arc de Triomphe and went to the top for beautiful views of Paris.  

Sat at a Cafe for drinks and waited for it to get dark so we could see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.  Spectacular!  I don't have photos of that right now as my phone battery ran out.  Then back to house.

The Louvre

Venus de Milo