Alive & Well

Rumors of my disappearance have been largely exaggerated. I have been admittedly MIA on the blog, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been taking good notes and have all kinds of blog entries stacking up, ready to be shared.

Thanks to the several calls that I received from the loyal blog base, checking on my whereabouts (the clincher for my Mom that something awful had happened was when she checked and saw that my blog had been idle since January 11. In her words, "I figure something REALLY BAD must have happened!")

Nope, nothing bad, just getting into the groove of the commute and work life combined with a number of weekend community service efforts and a 1/2 marathon or two. All of the thrilling details are forthcoming, as I have composed about 10 blogs in my head and now have some photos to match too.

For today, enjoy a sunny California morning (in January, no less!) shot of yours truly with two of my three favorite dogs (Scooby darted off as soon as she realized that David was pointing the camera at us), taken this morning.

All is well and we are now back on the blogging program, hooray!!

Someone is out of Control

Pinkberry celebrated it's 4-year anniversary today. We had a little party down at the original store, located in this crazy location in West Hollywood. I invited Holly, who then invitied Rachel and Karina to come along with us for some yogurt and of course, entertaining times.

As we navigated through traffic to get to the store, I told the girls the rather interesting story of how Pinkberry came to be and how quickly it has grown. Naturally, being young, ambitious girls themselves, they were impressed with Shelly (one of the co-founders) and her drive to get a successful business going.

When we showed up to the store, the party was in full swing. The girls got some yogurt, checked out the scene and enjoyed watching everyone come and go. I then started to parade them in front of a variety of my co-workers for introductions, because I am a Mom and that is what I do. At some point in time, Shelly came out and I introduced her to the girls, all of whom rather enjoyed her enthusiastic and energetic style. At some point in time I said, "Look at you Shelly, you are a celebrity", to which she said, "Yes, you should take my picture."

It is not as if I need a lot of encouragement to take a picture. Before anyone knew what happened, I had my Blackberry out, posed the somewhat startled girls and snapped the photo. Shelly really does have a celebrity quality to her pose, don't you think? Holly could not decide if she was mortified or entertained by what had just happened, but she wasn't really surprised.

I heard Holly say to Rachel and Karina as they laughed and tried to figure out how I got them to take a picture so quickly, "Someone is out of control."

Someone is indeed...enjoy your memories my child!

Interesting Fascination

Back from France for about a week now, life has been chugging along at a regular pace and we have all been immersing ourselves back into an established routine. No more cappuccinos and pain au chocolate for the Schnoogs, no more vin chaud for David and no more goat cheese on toast for yours truly. Don't mistake the wistful food recollections for sadness; we are all happy to be home and reunited with the pups and sleeping in our own beds again, and of course, we will always have Paris!

The commute routine is alive and well, with plenty of different experiences and sights to see. I realized as I was walking along Wilshire this morning that I enjoy working (not living!) in an urban area; there is always so much going on and so much is always in flux.

I have been watching some of the different billboards and advertising methods of late, this week it has been a building near Fairfax and Wilshire transform from a "Valkyrie" ad to a Caffeine-Free Pepsi board. This particular location has been catching my eye for a couple of reasons:

1. The only time that Tom Cruise will ever look tall to me is when he is splayed up the side of a 20-story building
2. The process to "wrap" and "unwrap" (if that is the phrase used) the building appears to be a slow and tedious one, creating a few days of old and new ads up on the building
3. I am really easily fascinated by new things

I have been using the word fascinating in my vocabulary lately; I credit my good friend Elizabeth for that one, who utters the declaration often. I also think fondly of another good friend, Barb, when fascinated by something always says, "that is very interesting to me." I enjoy the particular speech patterns and habits of my friends; they are simultaneously fascinating AND interesting to me!

When I cracked out the camera to capture this shot, I found myself wishing that I had taken the picture yesterday when 1/2 of the building was Pepsi and the other 1/2 was giant Tom Cruise. Take my word for it, fascinating is a kind word for that view!

Zen Laundry Master

Three people on vacation for 10 days can generate a lot of laundry, as observed here. Our trip home was uneventful, which is really the first choice of international travellers, in my humble opinion.

We left the hotel at 6:30 am for a 9:30 flight. Things were pretty quiet out there on the streets and I had checked us in on line the day before, so we had plenty of leisure time at the airport before it was time to take off. An airport breakfast and cup of tea kept us all pretty mellow. We acknowledged the fact that 2009 finally came to the west coast right before we got on the plane, and then we were off.

The flight from Paris to London is an hour at best, so we had a bit of time to cruise Heathrow airport. This is a pretty big and impressive airport, particularly terminal 5, but this was the 4th time in 8 months that Holly and I had been there, so we were admittedly a bit non-plussed by the whole thing. Our eyes were on the prize: getting through the 11-hour flight home.

I confess to feeling a sense of, "we are never going to get off of this thing" while sitting on the plane when I saw that there were still 8-1/2 hours to go. Remember, I flew the fabulous 55-min flight from Burbank to Oakland for years. Anything past 2 hours really taxes my attention span!

By the time we landed, deplaned, got our bags, cleared customs and rode the shuttle home, it was about 7:30 pm. Having come back through several time zones since we woke up, I think that we had been travelling for something like 22 hours. We managed to sit around bleary-eyed for a couple of hours and then went to bed in hopes of sleeping straight through and shifting smoothly back to pacific standard time.

We did pretty well, waking up sometime around 5 and getting up by about 5:30. I knew that we had 3 suitcases full of dirty laundry and I was determined to get a handle on it. It always looks a bit overwhelming when heaped up in the living room, but once I got it sorted and started running the different loads, things were moving along nicely.

I am a laundry lover, I think that it is rather therapeutic to sort, wash and fold everything. It gives a nice sense of order to things. David and Holly gladly let me have my zen moments, they just think that I am crazy.

Bonne Année!

Day 9 of our adventure was a nice mix of relaxing and high energy. New Year's Eve is a big deal no matter where you are in the world and we were ready to celebrate our last day in Paris in style.

The day started out leisurely enough with breakfast followed by a couple of spa treatments for Holly and I. Who doesn't love a good scalp massage or facial? We hung out in the facility a bit...the Schnoogs rather enjoyed the jacuzzi spa...and then rounded up David for a walk and some lunch. (David is not really a spa guy. He hung out at breakfast, walked around and read a bit. If the dogs were around, he would have taken them on a walk. These are the things that he considers relaxing).

We ventured out towards the Arc de Triomphe. My architecture lesson will tell you that this is a late 18th century roman neoclassical design. I translate that to an impressive monument that Napoleon built to celebrate himself and the glory of his imperial armies. Today it is a central point of the city, with traffic, pedestrians and just about anything else you can imagine passing through (or around...it is the craziest roundabout I have ever seen and even if I were inclined to want to drive around it, I would be terrified that I would never cross over the multiple lanes of traffic to merge out!)

Lunch was tasty, with everyone going for their favorite; it is our last day in Paris, after all! We walked over to the Arc de Triomphe, took some pictures and got a glimpse of what the area was going to look like in just a few hours. CRAZY crawling with people. We learned that about 750,000 pack in along the Champs-Elysées to ring in the New Year. I think that about 500,000 of them arrived early to get a good spot. We braved the crowds for 2 blocks, stopped to get David a pastry and cut back over to the relative quiet and calm of our hotel's neighborhood.

We had reservations at an excellent restaurant called Boeuf Sur Le Toit. Thankfully I did not have to properly pronounce the name to be seated! We took the earlier dinner seating of 7:30 and as we saw the line OUT THE DOOR in the freezing cold upon our departure at 10:15 or so, I was very grateful for it. We had a great evening dining, chatting and relaxing as we said goodbye to 2008 and hello 2009. We even did a little dancing once the New Year was proclaimed!

As we did a 1/2 hearted packing job (everyone just opted to do it in the morning, even though a 5 am wake-up is required), we realized that our trip is just about over and it is time to go home. We have done so much that it is hard to remember all of the details even now, thankfully we took more pictures which naturally we are sharing with you here Paris - Day 9.

Happy New Year...or Bonne Année!

Impressionable Impressionists

Day 8 was a fairly early start for us because we were determined to see all of France...from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Rick Steves advised us to arrive about 15 minutes before opening, get in the right line and go straight to the top. All sound advice and so off we were.

I might interject here that I am fascinated by just how LATE it gets light in Paris this time of year. I am not talking 7 or 7:30 am; it is far closer to 8:45 or 9:00. This naturally did not help my cause when I attempted to roust the team early to get moving. As usual, I digress...

We arrived at the Eiffel Tower at 8:45, perfect for the 9:00 am open time. As the clock ticked well past 9, I consulted the book again and realized that I had been viewing the summer hours. The winter hours show the Tower opening at 9:30. Oops. I rationalized the mistake by pointing out that we were pretty far back in the line and arriving 1/2 hour later would have only made it worse. 9:30 cam and went. 10:00 hit and still there was no action in the queues. The crowd grew restless, people started forming fake lines in front of the legitimate ones and things were getting unruly.

It turns out that there was frost on the upper two levels of the Tower, so it could not be opened. At about 10:15 it looked like the booths were going to open. The crowd surged forward. It started to rain. It started to hail. People were yelling and crossing the lines. It was messy, but we wanted to go to the top, darn it! I am to this minute not entirely clear on how this happened, but we ended up in a pile of people that were forced/shoved/pushed/nearly trampled through the barricades to line up. I am not certain that this was the way that we were supposed to go, but can't deny my relief to get under the cover of the Tower entry to get out of the rain. I think (actually, I know) that we were unwitting line cutters. Sorry about that.

The stress of the crowd behind us, we went up to level 2 on the sideways elevator - it was kind of a weird experience and made me rethink going all the way to the top if that was how it was set up. Fortunately, the ascension was both quick and straight, kind of like going up through a tube that you can see through. We took some cool pictures of the ride as well as the city, which you are welcomed to view as Paris - Day 8.

The top platform was stunning. It was fully enclosed (I was pretty relieved by that) and had lots of signage to help identify the different sights and landmarks. It is a cool thing to travel all that way and take in such an impressive monument; we all agreed that we would have regretted it had we not ventured all the way to the top.

As we said goodbye to our beloved Tower for the last time on this trip, we chanced upon a brasserie called Castel for lunch. We beat the crowds, all of whom attempted to squeeze in after we were seated. Sticking with my new favorite of salad and goat cheese toast, my lunch did not disappoint. Holly and David were equally pleased with their french onion soup and spaghetti bolognese, respectively. It was nice to sit all warm and toasty as we watched the rain and sleet alternately come down on the many tourists walking by outside.

Our afternoon plans took us to a lesser-known Monet museum called Musée Marmottan Monet. This was an awesome find! My only regret on the whole experience was the fact that they took away our cameras! We had to check our cameras when we entered the museum; photos are strictly prohibited here. This is one of the few points of the trip that is not well-documented in photos, but of course we have our memories!

This museum boasts the largest Monet collection in the world, with many of the canvas contributions coming from Monet's youngest son Michel. I am personally a HUGE fan of Monet, so having the opportunity to really examine his work and see the evolution of the art and style throughout his life (and ongoing battle with blindness due to cataracts) was fantastic. We made the obligatory round through the gift shop and noticed that it was snowing, and it was snowing hard enough, with big enough flakes that it was sticking to the ground.

Our walk back to the Metro was especially fun as we tramped through the snow. Our day had been a good and fulfilling one indeed.

Acceptance

A brief break in the Parisian travelogue to share some exciting news. Holly has been accepted to her first (and some might remember only) choice in colleges - Cal State University Northridge - as a Cinema and Television Arts major!

We learned of this great news on Friday evening as Holly and David combed through the pile of mail that came while we were gone. Holly was specifically looking for something from CSUN and found it pretty easily - a package addressed to her from the Office of Admissions at Cal State Northridge. (Holly later admitted that she knew she was 'in' just from the package, because by her logic, 'they wouldn't waste the postage or materials to send me paraphernalia on the school if I wasn't going there.') Sure enough, right across the top of the letter in bold red letters was:

WELCOME TO CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Naturally, excitement and pandemonium then set in. I was not actually home when the package was opened, but was on my way so they waited until I came in to tell me. Grandparents and friends were then called to share the good news and Holly just floated around the house for the next 30 minutes or so. I only teared up a little bit and was of course immediately called out for it, but come on! What Mom wouldn't shed a tear or two to see her kid so happy and excited, especially based upon something that they accomplished as a result of their own effort and hard work?

The excitement has not died out, even with Holly coming down with a pretty strong bout of the flu for the entire weekend (and had to go home from school early today). There is a lot of work that lies ahead, but the first big obstacle has been handily covered with plenty to spare, Go Matadors!

Well Worth the Trip

Day 7 started pretty early - a 5:30 am wake up for a 6:30 departure. We're hitting the road on a bus tour to Mont-Saint-Michel!

To get to the Mont requires a 5-hour bus ride through the lower portion of Normandy (no, not the famous beaches, but some very lovely countryside). It was not a difficult ride, as the company that put the tour together has this thing wired. It was interesting that the English speakers were by far the minority (only a handful of us between two buses - Japanese was the big group, followed by the Portuguese). We each had our own tour guide, and I thought it was somewhat fascinating to watch our guide speak to us in English, then the other guide speak to her group in Japanese, and then communicate with one another in French. It makes me feel like I really need to branch out and learn another language...

The trip, though long, went smoothly. We stopped at about the 1/2 way point at the European version of a 'Gas & Sip' to take a rest room break and get something to eat. We got a bit of history on lower Normandy, including the fact that Camembert cheese got it's start in this region (I bring you all of the fascinating info, I know). We rolled into town right in time to take in lunch at a local restaurant featuring the 'world famous Mont Saint Michele omelets', as well as salmon, rice and a whipped cheesecake. The omelets were not something that we would order again, but we can say that we tried them! Props to the people at Terrasses Poulard for serving everyone so quickly and the food at the right temperature (I think that there were 4 tour buses all at the same time)

Once lunch was complete, we boarded back on the bus and set across the causeway to the Abbey. It was truly stunning to see the Mont from the different angles as we reached the base and then climb up to see it. Our guide was a fountain of information and the hour and a half tour was over in what seemed like no time at all. We of course took some excellent pictures which you can view here in the album, Paris - Day 7.

This visit reminded me a lot of the trip that we took to the Holy Island in Northern England earlier this year, as it has also been a place of pilgrimage. Pilgrims were given a sea shell to identify them as travelers and mark where they have visited; today that shell sign of hospitality lives on in the gasoline service station 'Shell' (except of course for the fact that one has to pay today!)

The history of the Mont dates all the way back to 708 and has experienced wars, disillusionment and revolutions throughout its evolution. Each of the periods of unrest or change are marked through different architectural styles and functional elements on the 'rock'. Much like the San Francisco landmark of the same nickname (we are talking Alcatraz of course), the Mont was also used as a prison for about 50 years.

The Mont was declared a historic monument in 1863 and a concrete causeway built in 1979 - the Mont is the 2nd most visited location in France (first place goes to the Eiffel Tower). While the causeway has done much to ease the arrival and departure to Mont-Saint-Michel, it has inadvertently interfered with the natural ebb and flow of the sand and sea, so they are working to replace the causeway with a suspension bridge to allow the natural tide to return and keep the Mont an island (the work won't be done for about 10 years still!)

More wandering around the village, lots of pictures and general enjoyment of the fresh air wrapped up our afternoon and then it was time to get back on the bus, enjoy a bit of the French countryside before the sun set and trek back to Paris. Dinner was a fancy event at the Gas & Sip (I don't do it justice using that name; it was actually pretty well stocked and was set up to handle volume). We arrived back right around 9:15 pm or so after a very full and very enjoyable day. It was a long jaunt, but well worth the trip.

The Sun Tourists

Day 6 brought a road trip - really a train trip - out to Versailles (more pronunciation help here: vehr-'sigh'). After our full day yesterday, we enjoyed a more leisurely breakfast and start-up, so by the time we took our connector train from the Metro, it was noon when we rolled into Versailles.

I had done a good deal of reading on the Palace at Versailles, it's founder Louis XIV and the last French King/Queen to reside - Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (once they had their moment in the guillotine they no longer resided in the luxurious palace!). It is really very fascinating; I kept chasing David and Holly down to give them more facts and information about the palace, why it was built and how it evolved over the centuries.

The short story on Versailles is: Louis XIV was something of a poor little rich boy king. He was too young to rule when he first inherited the throne, so he and his mother were kept as virtual prisoners at the Louvre (this was the royal palace before his reign) by the French Parliament. Once Louis XIV ascended to power (and stayed there for 72 years), he took over. The original structure at Versailles was a summer home that he enjoyed in his early days. Over the course of his rule it grew in size and scope - as did his power - until it became the central government for France. Louis XIV's primary motive for entertaining the nobility with the many pleasures of life was to keep them distracted - and out of his governmental affairs.

Louis XIV did a lot for France, and didn't mind having it acknowledged or even acknowledging it himself. He dubbed himself the 'Sun King' because he lit up the whole world with his presence. He felt that he was aligned with Apollo, the Sun God, so there were plenty of carvings, paintings and icons throughout the palace to remind everyone of it. Admittedly, Louis brought a lot of culture, style and power to the French. He sparked an entire era of furniture and even the powdered wig began with him (he was a bit self-conscious when his hairline began to recede).

The castle and grounds were beautiful...you can check it out for yourself with the photos listed as Paris - Day 6...with exception of one really out of place and bothersome display. Throughout the castle were huge pieces of contemporary art by Jeff Koons. Now look, I've got nothing against modern art, but in a 17th century palace? No way. It was totally distracting and weird - I wonder if our friends at Versailles aren't running a little low on cash and need to supplement the admission charges to pay for the upkeep.

I got over the awkward modern art displays and really enjoyed the visual components of the palace, as well as the history. The gardens and fountains were dormant (we were feeling it too - it was something like 30 degrees!), but still stunning. There is so much detail and precision everywhere that even just as a skeleton of what the garden will be come spring, you can see the beauty.

The trek back to Paris was a bit crowded and we were hungry - after assessing the lines at the Starbucks and McDonald's across from the train station, we opted for the Kind bars that I had toted along in my bag. I have been taking a lot of grief for bringing that thing (I have to carry the tripod in something, don't I), but no one was complaining as our stomachs stopped growling!

We walked through the city upon our return from Versailles, just as the sun was setting. It was great to see Notre-Dame in this lighting, the Seine and watch everything light up. Walking along rue de Rosiers, it felt as if we were in a little French film, on our way to the market for some wine and a baguette. Opting for a more substantive meal, we went for falafels - this time from a tiny but tasty restaurant named Chez Hanna. Bonus dessert for David was an apple strudel from the bakery across the way - there was zero English spoken there, so it was all about the pointing and reading the register display (Holly was across the street at a vintage store).

Once again a very full day and once again, we brought it!

Louvre(ly)

Day 5 and we show no signs of slowing!

Today was an early start so that we could eat breakfast and hop onto the Metro to arrive at the Musée du Louvre a few minutes prior to opening - Rick Steves recommended it to avoid the lengthy lines that can form. (a small side-note here...my friend Mary loaned me her Rick Steves' Paris 2008 guide and an excellent map of Paris, both of which proved invaluable. Anyone traveling should seriously check out and consider making an investment in a guidebook and map to really maximize their visit time!)

Walking through the archway and into the courtyard was awesome - there it was. Old and new architecture set the stage for an incredible journey through art.

We went straight for the Mona Lisa first...and she did not disappoint. The canvas it self is surprisingly small, but a close-up study (at least as close as we were allowed to get) reveal a lot of complexity and detail in this painting. It is truly a historic piece of work and, we learned, one of but just a few Italian paintings that originally made up the collection that eventually became the Louvre.

Once we had our time with the Mona Lisa, we turned to the other masterpieces, winding through all 3 wings of the museum (and thanks to the many twists and turns, sometime we went through the different sections more than once!), getting our fill of Greek sculpture, Egyptian relics, Italian Renaissance, French classical and French romantic paintings. As we viewed the different works of art, it was exciting to tick off the true 'masterpieces' that we had been privy to see. So much so, that I wanted to make sure we saw one remaining work of art by DaVinci - The Last Supper. One of the curators managed to keep a straight face as he told me that I could view it in Italia, as it is naturally at the Vatican. Whoops. I felt SUPER smart after realizing that I was going to be the joke of the break room later in the day!

We spent about 6 hours at the Louvre and as we came back into the entry hall we realized that the arrive early advice was sound - the place was PACKED. We went outside for a few more photos (check them out here...Paris - Day 5) and got back onto the Metro for our next major landmark destination - The Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower is easily one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. As we came out of the Metro tunnel, I found myself almost giddy with excitement as it came into view. It is huge and it is impressive from every angle. Our original plan was to go up the tower late in the afternoon to catch the view in both daylight and then evening as the sun set and the lights of Paris started to glow. After many pictures a block or so away (we liked having as much of the tower in the frame as possible), we sauntered over to the tower to buy our tickets.

Crazy lines prohibited us from even seriously considering riding the elevator or walking the stairs to one of the first two levels. It was cold, windy, crowded and not looking very appealing. Instead, we took more photos from the Champ de Mars (pronounced: shahn duh mar) and then found a farmers market some 4 blocks away where we ordered crêpes and cappuccino. There is no denying that the Nutella in Europe is far richer and creamier than the version here in the States. Probably a ton more fat and whatever else isn't good for us, but BOY is it tasty!

By the time that we had finished our snack, the sun had set and the Tower was glowing blue. A bit of patience and at the top of the hour we were treated to an awesome light show that was worth the trip alone. More pictures and a photography lesson once again that no flash plus zoom equals some blurry photos. Oh well, we are working on our own 'Impressionist' view of Paris!

The very full day finished with an excellent Italian dinner at a local restaurant named Finzi. One word...YUM. The pasta was handmade and fresh, the service was excellent and David even was filled up on his pan of lasagna - it was a seriously big portion! The dinner was fun and energetic as Holly's French continues to improve, allowing her to interact with the wait staff on our behalf! I am not the 1st choice for translating, as I tend to process in English and then translate over to Spanish - it really messes things up. More than once I answered "Si" instead of "Oui" for yes and of course received a lot of grief from Miss French translator for it.

I think that the French get the gist of what I am trying to say!

Stained Glass Spectacular

Day 4 of our adventure took us to the streets of Paris - covering many areas of historic importance, beauty and fun. We bundled up because it was feeling mighty cold...layers were the order of the day, combined with gloves, scarves, hats, boots and anything else that we thought would keep us comfortable as we walked and gawked at the sights around us.

Our first sight of the day was Saint Chappelle. Built in 1248 for King Louis IX (the only French King who is now a saint), this Gothic church was built in an amazing 5 years to house the Crown of Thorns. The lower portion is the basement and was used for worship by the commoners and staff. It is an impressive space, painted and decorated over every inch with the fleur-de-lis (a sign of royalty), angels and castles done in a relief and gold paint process on the pillars. The area is a bit cramped with all of the people milling about, but still a very beautiful and well-done church.

As we climbed the spiral staircase to the room above, we had absolutely no idea of the breathtaking beauty that we were about to witness. As you step into the room, it is suddenly very light and you immediately look up (with your mouth open, I challenge anyone to keep their jaw tightly shut) in total amazement at the sights before you. 15 separate panels of stained glass depicting over 1100 scenes of the bible are displayed here, depicting stories from Genesis all the way through Revelations as well as the story of how the Crown of Thorns made it's way from Jerusalem to Constantiople to Sainte Chappel. (The Crown, incidentally, is no longer at Sainte Chappelle. It is now kept at Notre-Dame and is shown only on the first Friday of the month and during Easter)

We took a lot of pictures of this church (see all of them in the album titled - big surprise - Paris - Day 4), but I have to admit that as I look through them now, I don't feel as if I have really captured the essence and magnitude of the chapel. You will just have to take my word for it and try to get there yourself - I think that I am going to declare this my favorite sight of the trip (and that is no easy task, let me tell you!) I think that part of the lure for me with this chapel is the craftsmanship and work that went into creating each panel of the stained glass. Craftsmen made glass (which is, essentially, melted sand), coloring it by mixing in metals like cobalt (blue) or copper (green). Then they'd assemble pieces of different colored glass. The pieces were held together by lead. Details like the folds in the robes came by either scratching on the glass, or by baking in imperfections. It was a painstaking process of finding just the right colors, fitting them together to make a scene... and then multiplying by 1,100.That is one arduous, time consuming and tedious process. Add to the difficulty the speed in which this was accomplished, and we are hard pressed to find anything else like it.

After a good deal of time taking in the sights at Sainte Chappel, we crossed the street for lunch at a great little place called Tabac du Palais. Our waiter didn't speak a ton of English and suddenly...Holly's three years of French paid off! She ordered everything in French for all of us and interacted with the slightly flirty (but very nice) waiter. We of course teased her about it but it was nice to be able to have someone do a bit of translating for us. I also was introduced to my new favorite lunch thing - salad with goat cheese toast (there is a french way to write it, but if I can't decipher it enough to write it, there is no way that it is going to translate well!)

We then set out to visit the Luxembourg Gardens , all 60-acres of which were built in the early 17th century by Marie de Medicis - the widow of recently assassinated Henri IV. She was lonely and homesick for Florence, so she re-created the Pitti Palace and gardens of her childhood memories. The entire process for completion took about 180 years, but even if they were done sooner, it wouldn't have made a difference for Marie, as she was exiled to Germany by her (not so loving) son, Louis XIII, upon his ascension to power. We saw the gardens in the dead of winter and even then they were spectacular. Looking at the pictures of what these gardens do in the spring and summer make me want to go back just to visit them - they are amazing.

The temperature dropped in the later part of the day to about 34, so we picked up our walking pace. We completed our Left Bank walking tour past the Panthéon (an 18th century church finished during the French Revolution that has since been used as a mausoleum for some of the big French names such as Voltaire), Rue Mouffetard (one of the oldest streets in Paris...it used to be a Roman road), a popular spot under Ernest Hemingway's apartment and then we ducked into a Haggen Dazs for some ice cream and cappuccino - quite a combination! We had to once again rely on the interpretive skills and knowledge of the words HOT (chaud) and COLD (froid) in French to get our order squared away by the Schnoogs...we didn't want coffee flavored ice cream!

The day wrapped up as we continued walking to the Metro station (we are seasoned pros by now) and I somehow broke my smaller camera. This dialed up the need for a battery charger for the Canon G7 even more, so we set out to find one without any luck. The hunt was a good one and we tried hard, but unfortunately the store that did have it was out of stock. Fortunately, Holly had a camera, so we started to share the photo-taking duties and reserved the big camera for the super-scenic and zoom pictures.

Who could imagine me somewhere without a camera??

The Hunchback(s) of Notre Dame

Day 3 of the journey unfolds. Still adjusting a bit to the difference in time, we took a nice leisurely breakfast to fill up on food and Christmas wishes. Holly rather enjoyed the cappuccino machine, wasting little time in getting herself on a breakfast routine that included the addition (naturally) of 2 sugars to her new favorite drink. We had a good time laughing and realizing that we are actually HERE, ready to see lots of exciting sights.

We quickly figured out that the best mode of transportation to get around the city was going to be the Metro - a very comprehensive system of underground and rail trains that can get you just about anywhere that you want to go. It was not too difficult to figure out thanks to the way that the signs were posted in every station; they detailed the stops in each direction so if you didn't see the stop you wanted, that wasn't your train!

We went to visit Notre Dame, the almost 700 year old cathedral of "Our Lady" and known as France's most famous church. The history of the spot that Notre Dame rests on goes all the way back to 52 B.C., when the Romans built their Temple of Jupiter after conquering the Parisii. Construction of what we see today as Notre Dame began in 1163, taking almost 200 years to complete in 1345. This cathedral is rich in history, culture, architecture, art and tradition...the small amount of reading that I did prior to the trip does little to encompass how much there is to learn and appreciate about this cathedral. One interesting note that I will highlight is that Notre Dame is considered the absolute center of France - the point of which all distances are measured and has served as the center of the city of Paris all the way back to the beginning of the first days of the Parisii tribe.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that visitors were allowed into the cathedral, not only on Christmas but also during the multiple Christmas services that were being conducted. The only constraint that we had to honor was to take photos without the flash - easily done! In fact, I would often argue that the natural lighting in these buildings is more beautiful than forcing it with a flash. We took our fair share of pictures, including a few 'artistic' shots and have posted them here for you as "Paris - Day 3".

Walking through the cathedral was equally impressive inside and out; even behind was cool with a little park and tons of great views and angles to consider. Once outside, the cold air and Seine (pronounced sehn) river made for a stunning walk through the streets. The tower was unfortunately closed, so we did not get to go to the top of the cathedral; our trip to Notre Dame however exceeding expectations in every way.

Many of the street side cafes and brasseries were closed due to Christmas, but we did manage to stop a few times as we explored the historic streets of the city and Latin Quarter. Once for falafels (yum!) and later for some chocolat chaud and vin chaud (hot chocolate for Holly and I and hot wine for David - he rather seems to enjoy the vacationing lifestyle) at a nice and warm little cafe. We returned to the hotel for the sleepy heads to take a nap while I went downstairs to explore the hotel and call WAMU - just because I still believed that they were going to right the wrongs.

Our dinner reservations were set for an excellent French restaurant called Brasserie de Lorraine that had excellent seafood, service and ambiance. It was an easy walk to and from the hotel, making it a nice ending to a very fun and very special Christmas. Meals run long here in France - much to the delight of David - so we got back to the hotel somewhere around 11 pm. Just in time to plan out what we are doing for the remaining 6 days that we have to tour and experience our surroundings.

The Champs of Champs-Elysées

We have arrived! Let the chronicles of our journey begin!

Our trip begins with what is technically a 2-day quest to reach Paris. We started out with a shuttle pick-up from our home at 10:30 am on December 23rd and kept on going right until we walked the 5 or 6 blocks from the Arc de Triomphe (where the airport shuttle dropped us off) to our hotel at 3:30 pm on December 24th.

We started with the excitement and adventure from the shuttle when David realized that he forgot his coat, and I realized that I had left BOTH camera chargers on the desk in my office. Already in motion, we were just going to have to figure things out! David ended up purchasing a hoodie sweatshirt at LAX; besides the fact that a hoodie really isn't enough to keep anyone warm in 20-30 degree weather, it was quite a 'locals' sweatshirt, sporting some sort of Los Angeles West Coast logo that I can't deny makes me think of some sort of motorcycle gang. We'll be careful not to throw any signs while visiting the famous sights!

The flight was uneventful but long - I can't deny the effectiveness of a unisom and a glass of wine to help one sleep on the plane! We were fed dinner pretty early, so I hunkered down for some decent snoozing, allowing me to not feel too tired once we got there (or bored during the flight!) Things were pretty smooth through customs and baggage claim, so we were off to the local ATM to get some Euros and start the adventure.

Denied. The story is long and stretched over 4 days as I attempted phone calls, e-mails and multiple conversations with various supervisors...WAMU messed up and we had no cash access - period. I am sure that they will apologize profusely and attempt to make amends when I trot down to close my account, but that wasn't helping much as I attempted to swipe my card in a variety of ATMs and merchants, only to have it declined, even after being promised that the issue was fixed by WAMU representatives. Fortunately, I brought a 2nd credit card and while it didn't give me cash access, it did the trick for purchases, so the drama was not so great that we were trapped without funds the entire time (whew!)

With the drama of the money access a side story and our luggage unpacked as we checked into our hotel, we ventured out on foot to walk the famed Champs-Elysées (let me offer the phonetic pronunciation: shan-zay-lee-zay) and do a bit of evening sight-seeing. We walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde (thankfully the guillotine and associated beheadings no longer are a part of this section!) It was beautifully lit and helped to add to the festive mood of Christmas Eve. There was a Christmas Village complete with vendors and entertainment and it was spectacular people watching as well. We tried out some vin chaud (hot wine) to warm up as we walked and enjoyed attempting to translate what some of the different food names meant. Check out these photos mapping the adventures of "Paris - Day 1 and Day 2".

As we cut up a little side street, we chanced upon an excellent little Chinese restaurant called (aptly enough) Elysées Mandarin. (Having Chinese on Christmas Eve reminded me a bit of the scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie and his family have to go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner on Christmas after having their turkey dinner eaten and destroyed by the hound dogs from next door.) I was impressed by what I assume to be the owner's ability to speak Chinese, French AND English to his different patrons - most impressive!

We wrapped up our long first day(s) in France upstairs in the Executive Lounge noshing on cookies, cheese and tea while we wrote out our "My Christmas Wish for You" notes to one another. We had agreed that Christmas gifts were going to be skipped in lieu of the trip this year, but decided to write out some nice notes to one another to open on Christmas morning and have as a keepsake of our time together. We closed the lounge down at 11:30 pm or so and even spent some time downstairs in the lobby wandering around, making sure that we were good and tired to sleep through the night.

Tomorrow is Christmas, we have to be up and ready to take on the town!

Resolved!

Happy New Year. We are not big resolution makers here in the Newton household - I'd like to think that it is due to our ongoing quest to be good peeps and do the right thing. It certainly sounds good!

Just for fun, I asked David and Holly if they had any resolutions. David (he's the really chatty one in the household) said, 'Nope'. Holly said that she hopes to manage her body mass index down a couple of points. Oh, and how can she do that? With a Wii Fit - she registered herself on her Grandma's this weekend and is on this side of healthy weight but is shooting for her BMI to be closer to 22. She's a sly one, that Schnoogs is!

After realizing Holly's little plan, David piped in with his resolution - to get a Wii and a big screen plasma TV. OK, things are getting out of control around here! My resolution is to keep those crazies in check!

Happy New Year and here's to 2009 being full of fun, love and joy - and maybe a Wii (if you're lucky)!