BELLAMY BROTHERS – PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 25-27, 2014 – PHOTOS
MONDAY, AUGUST 25TH –NORWAY TO FRANCE:
Was up by 6 after not being able to sleep more than an hour. Went to bed much too early – just after midnight. Better when I go to bed at 2 am. Then I can sleep all night!Showered, dressed, quick breakfast and we were off. It’s raining again today and COLDER. Hopefully Paris will be warmer but it’s still supposed to rain the entire time we are there. L
We had a different driver this morning and he was “bad”. Threw me out of the seat twice because he was driving so fast and taking the curves like a crazy man. Howard finally had to say something to him before he took us over a cliff.
We arrived at the airport with 2 hours to check in. There were two very young girls handling the “Priority Lane” and they took FOREVER to check us in. Had to pay for 3 excess bags on these flights, too. We still had about an hour to wait for our flight to depart once we arrived at the gate. We are flying Air France on a plane with big red letters painted on the side that say “iHop”. I have to take a photo of that when we leave here for Zac and Zoe. They LOVE to eat at IHOP.
When we landed in Paris, the airfield crew had to roll the steps up to the plane. They tried 3 times unsuccessfully and then on the 4th try, they slammed into the plane so hard, it started rocking side to side. Sure glad I don’t have to fly on this plane again.
We waited almost as long for our baggage to arrive as the flight took from Norway. We had two passenger vans and a cargo van and filled them entirely. It was about a 30 minute drive to the hotel and the hotel is LOVELY. Strange, but lovely. You have to go outside after you check in and walk through a breezeway with lots of plants and chairs. Then there are different “buildings” at the end of the walkway and we are spread out in 3 different ones. I’m on the same floor with Susan and David and there are only about 4 rooms total on each floor. Bedroom is spacious but bathroom is tiny.
I had asked the lady at the front desk to make us dinner reservations at Chez George (where David wanted to eat because it was Julia Child’s favorite restaurant). She said she got a voice recording but would keep trying. I was going to try and book online but couldn’t get on the internet. We were given “free” internet if we just wanted to check emails, etc. But we had to pay for high speed internet to access websites, etc. I kept trying and trying to pay and the site kept telling me I wasn’t in room 308! Called the front desk about 4 times and they couldn’t help. I finally gave up and logged onto the free internet. But, couldn’t make reservations because it said there were no tables available until August 27th!
We went to the lobby and try and figure out what to do. That’s when we found out that most of the restaurants are still closed. In France, the entire country “goes on vacation” in August. Shops just close up! So the restaurants won’t be open for another week. The front desk recommended several Italian and French restaurants and David chose an Italian. Which meant we were all going off our diets for the night! You can’t go to an Italian restaurant in Paris and NOT eat pasta, right. I had a Buffalo mozzarella salad and veal in lemon sauce (with a side order of pasta). Then we all shared a Tiramisu for dessert. The food was amazing.
I asked the restaurant to call a taxi for us and after waiting for them as they talked to the taxi company for over 10 minutes, we gave up and went out on the street to find our own. No problem but we had to take 2 instead on 1 because there were 5 of us.
Back at the hotel working. It’s almost 2 am, so closing down until tomorrow morning!
Sure hope the rain stops tomorrow…..at least for a little while.
Jude
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH – FIRST DAY OFF IN PARIS:
Decided to check out the health club at the hotel since it was STILL raining. It’s an “okay” club – had a treadmill, bike, elliptical trainer, couple of cardio machines and some REALLY heavy weights. The biggest problem was the fact that the lights would not come on. I pushed every button in the room and NOTHING. So, I worked out in the dark. It was a shorter workout than I would have liked.
Had a quick breakfast with some of the guys and then ran back to shower and answer as many emails as possible before going with David, Susan, Howard, and Wally to the D’Orsay Museum. I think I was there years ago but not sure. First, we got directions to the Metro and a bank where we could change money. The bank was much farther away than the hotel indicated AND they wouldn’t exchange money. We decided to walk down to another Metro stop since it looked like it was close by and meant we wouldn’t have to change lines en route. It was NOT close by. We finally arrived at the Bastille and the Metro stop. Susan and I mastered the ticket machine except for one small problem. Her credit card was denied. You have to have a “chip” in your credit card and she did. I have a chip in my AMEX but the machine did not accept AMEX. Wally even tried his and no luck. Finally one of the “information clerks” came over and tried to help us but couldn’t get the card accepted either. We got in line to buy tickets at the counter. There was a man and his wife (wearing a scarf on her head) in line in front of us and he had a file folder full of papers and a stack of credit cards an inch and a half thick. He was there forever and they even had photos taken. About 20 minutes later, we were next in line and the guy behind the counter indicated that he did not speak English. He continued to speak in French and I continued to speak in English. Finally, the information clerk came up to help us. I’m pretty sure the guy behind the counter spoke fluent English.
We got our tickets and got on the right Metro train (which was quite an accomplishment for our group) and headed towards the Louve. There were two stops for the Louve and it looked like either would work for the D’Orsay so we got off at the first one. A man in front of us heard us talking about the “Louve” and said we needed to stay on for one more stop. Wally turned around and was getting back on when I said, “No, that’s for the Louve”. He tried to get off but there were 2 sets of doors and they closed on him. The doors were unforgiving and crushed his arm and leg and away he went!
We walked up to the street and started calling and texting him. We walked across this beautiful bridge that was beside the Louve and it was covered with “locks”. Not sure what that was all about but it sure was pretty. Wally was definitely more “lost” than we were. We decided to go into a little restaurant and have some lunch. Susan texted Wally a copy of the address and he made it a few minutes later. We were all soaking wet from the constant rain.
After lunch we walked down to the D’Orsay and the line was so long, there’s no way we would have gotten in today. So, we decided to grab a taxi to Montmartre. We lucked up and got the best driver ever. He was as good as any tour guide. It was still raining off and on and I thought that was why the “artists” weren’t out with their paintings. I found out tonight that they are around the church and we didn’t walk all the way to the top where the church sits. Hate I missed those because when I was here before, they had some beautiful paintings.
We walked down from Montmartre (past the Moulin Rouge) and decided to Metro to the Eiffel Tower. This time we didn’t get “as lost” even though we had to change trains. Took lots of photos there and then “walked” to the Arch de Triomphe. Took lots of photos there and then got on the Metro to go back to our hotel. It was a long Metro ride but not as long as our walk back after we got miserably lost! David finally managed to bring up a GPS map on his phone and guide us back to the hotel. It was such a great day but boy did we log some walking miles!
I had to rush to dress for dinner with my dear friend Gilbert (from Disney Paris) and his friend who visited Nashville with him. I took a taxi to Moulin Rouge and we had dinner at a great French restaurant. It was so nice just to sit and chat with them without the pressure of a “performance”.
I took a taxi back to the hotel (much smarter than taking the Metro and getting lost!) and stopped at the front desk to change money and ask if the Health Club electricity was fixed. That’s when I learned that you have to put your room key in a slot to turn on the power. Very strange and no one told us that when we checked in.
It’s after 2 am so going to bed soon. Got lots of great photos today!
Jude
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27TH – LAST FULL DAY IN PARIS:
The time has really flown by. Wish we could stay longer in this beautiful city.
Had breakfast early, worked for a few minutes then got in 45 minutes on the Elliptical Trainer because it is STILL raining. I had to work for a while before going out today. Just too many things “pending” right now.
I decided that I would “brave” the Metro system on my own. I actually made it all the way to the huge shopping centers without getting lost once. There was a guy on the Metro playing a saxophone loudly and badly. That was a little disconcerting. They play for tips but I’m amazed that they are allowed to do so on the trains.
I got off at the Opera and took lots of photos there. The shopping area is HUGE. I was expecting one large shopping center but there were in fact several streets of department stores and shops. It was overwhelming. I ended up not buying anything. I was going to cheat and have a cheese crepe before I left Paris but there weren’t any “Crepe Stands” that I could find near the shopping street. I gave up and stuck with my diet and had a salad.
Left the shopping area around 4 pm and went back to the hotel to work for a few more hours. At 7:30 pm, I was hungry and needed a break. Decided to go over to the Eiffel Tower now that I’m so good on the Metro. I wanted to take photos of it and the Arch at night. I got my photos and ended up eating at Café Trocadero. David said he had eaten there last time we were in Paris and recommended it. It was good!
I took the metro up to the Arch and then had this brilliant idea to walk down the Concord and take photos of the Louvre too. Right! I got to the end of the Champs d’ Elyssee and it was at least another mile or more to the Louvre. Decided I could live without photos of the Louve at night and took the subway back to the hotel. Still had lots of work to do and now trying to get in bed at 2 am. Have a 9 am breakfast meeting with the promoter and then we fly to Germany tomorrow.
Jude