February 12,2002
It's time for the first installment of Jim and Kelli's great escape!
At any point you want to blow up a picture....click on it!
We leave today, Tuesday, at 5:45 p.m. for a 10 hour flight to the Charles DeGaulle airport, Paris, France.
Jimmy is still on his way back from a FedEx run. It started as a quick trip to Rialto, Ca.,22 hours each way, he would be back on Sunday night....then it turned into a Sacramento - Rialto.....no freight, etc.etc. very frustrating, so he has ended up bobtailing home. (No trailers, just the truck) He should be home by 7 a.m. ......about 5 hours before we have to leave for the airport. Aside from a splitting headache (due to nerves, I'm sure), I'm worried about leaving "the zoo" (2 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 Cockatoo). Then there's payroll, driver problems, etc. and, of couse, the recent terrorist happenenings. Will Jimmy enjoy it? Did I pack enough, too much?
Jeez!
7a.m.-
Jimmy arrives, comes in to take a nap, I feed the zoo, finish packing, shower, last minute details, etc. When Jimmy got ready, he loaded all the suitcases in Elevinia's Expedition. Libby, the cat, sneaked in-between the suitcases and got in the car! After shooing the kitty, we head to Coulter's for lunch, most likely because that's the last bar-b-que ribs that Jimmy will be seeing for awhile. On to drop off my car at Cadillac, for warranty work and an oil change, then to the airport. 3 hours before the flight! Then....being true Texans...we forgot our jackets at home.
Thank goodness for my "almost" daughter....Elevinia drops us off and then goes back to the house to get them.(there's plenty of time, still)
The security was very thorough, but since it was Tuesday, there was no line, so we were all through the screening points in 15 minutes. One man had to take his shoes off, and they were performing some kind of chemical test on them. The x-ray machine caught on the strap and ripped my new purse, Jimmy's heels on his cowboy boots kept beeping so they made him take them off. The flight was not full, so people got to move to other seats. Each seat had it's own T.V., phone and remote control. There were several channels to watch and we gained about 1/2 hour on flight time.
After an uneventful (thank goodness) 9 1/2 hour flight, we landed in Paris.
10 a.m. Feb.13th
Luggage was easy, it took 10 minutes for it all to arrive and we walked to the American Airlines Vacation counter. The attendant took us right to our transfer....a mini-van traffic drama, for 30 minutes! Very scary ride, on streets that were about as wide as our sidewalks ,to the Hotel Opera Cadet, what an experience!
While we were waiting to check in, Jimmy walked across the street to the market, to buy a diet Coke. (Coke light, it turns out) 2.50E (euros)!!
We heard police sirens, just like in the movies, and saw a convoy of 1 motorcycle, 2 vans full of soldiers dressed like s.w.a.t. teams, 3 armored trucks, 2 more vans full of s.w.a.t. teams and another motorcycle at the end.....Oh boy! something exciting going on! Later we were told, that it was probably just some visiting politician.
It had been raining all day and I was looking forward to taking a decent nap. After going to our room (310), we crashed until about 7 p.m., then went to go eat. The hotel restaurant is only for breakfast so we walked down the street to the General de LaFayette, where thay had to switch waiters and give us one who knew a little bit of English. I stress the words "a little". We ordered steaks and fries and since they had no tea or diet Coke, Jimmy opted for a Pepsi. I had a Dr.Pepper.......Ha!!!!!! Their Dr.Pepper is a cup of hot Guinesse (dark beer) and a shot glass of some kind of liquer, on fire, dropped into the cup of Guiness....boy was I shocked! We got a good laugh out of that, but the steaks were pretty good, so was the chocolate mousse and the sundae. A little pricey, though, 54.10E. . Back to the hotel, watched a little of the Olympics on T.V. then to sleep. The room has 2 windows that open to a courtyard, it's cool and we can listen to the rain.....good sleeping! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. We're supposed to have lunch on the Eiffel Tower and a cruise on the Seine River. Oh, we met a nice shopkeeper, and his wife, that ran the little market across the street.....oh yeah - everyone here smokes!----YUK!
Feb. 14th
Well! What a day! No Eiffel Tower tour. We had a loudmouth neighbor who kept me awake
until 4 a.m. I finally banged on the wall and she shut-up.
Then, running late (the story of our life) we ducked into the breakfast buffet, then Jimmy got directions to the bus for the Eiffel Tower tour. (#42) well, we walked nd walked and walked.....upon finding bus #42, we were informed that it was not the right bus #42....it was going the wrong way! So, we got of and walked and walked again to where it was supposed to be.....NOT! After waiting for an eternity, in the cold wind(20-30 mph gusts) We got a taxi. He let us off right in front,once we were instructed that it was the "Tur d'Eiffel" not the Eiffel Tower...(French people)
The lady in the ticket booth told us that we had to wait for the tour guide and he would be there in 5-10 minutes.In the meantime, there was no where to get out of the cold. After waiting until we were frozen, we crowded into a phone booth to try and call the tour office. The pay phones only worked with credit cards that had "smart chips", but we didn't know that, and they didn't take money. We had just about decided to go back to the hotel, when the lady in the ticket booth started waving wildly and pointing to a man. This was the guide. He was a total jerk and told us " Jesus Christ, what are you doing here?"(said with a French accent) He then proceeded to inform us that we could not go because we didn't originate from the tour office, even though we had called from the airpot to confirm our reservation. Disappointed and furious, we took a cab to the tour office and told them what had happened. They apologized and rescheduled us for Saturday.
At that point, we walked some more....back to the hotel, stopped along the way to buy gloves, knit hats and a scarf for me. We dropped off the camera bag and changed into tennis shoes.
Armed with comfortable clothes and shoes....we decided to go shopping. We found Jimmy a McDonald's! John Travolta was right in "Pulp Fiction" a cheeseburger in France is a "Royale"! We found the "Hard Rock" cafe (where we ended up for nearly every meal, since they had ICE in their tea!) T.G.I.Friday's and even Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop!
The traffic here is unbelievable! You take your life into your hands, when you cross the street, they park on the sidewalks, they drive 60mph then stop 2 inches from another car's bumper-----NUTS!
Then we went out to eat at a Pizzeria around the corner and met a nice older couple from Welshire, England (about 30 miles from Liverpool). Had a pizza, kinda strange, but pretty good, and I found some ice tea! Yeah! Then home to the motel to get some sleep, Early call tomorrow!
Fri.Feb.15th
Breakfast at 7:30 a.m., then a cold and fast walk to the tour office. 6 of us loaded up in the van headed to Chartres. An older Italian couple who spoke no English and a young couple, just engaged, from Nebraska. After a nauseating 1 1/2 hour drive, we arrived at Chartres, got some good video and great pictures of the Cathedral. Jimmy was backing up, to get a picture and fell
over the "wheelchair ramp" (makeshift, at best). We walked over to a little bar and had a hot tea and a diet Coke. Then we all loaded up and went to a cute little restaurant on the Chartres River (it goes around the city). Lunch was pleasant, some sort of guinea hen, a strange salad and fishcakes for an appetizer...(no thanks!)
After lunch and another"Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" for an hour...we arrived at the Palace Of Versailles. The Palace was amazing, the Louis the 14th furniture, all the gold and marble! But, probably most impressive, are the painted ceilings and the stories behind them. The gardens each have their own reason for existing and histories. The giant ponds are built to look a certain way, but it's an optical illusion. The frog fountain was created for the king's mother where all the dissapproving subjects were turned into frogs. After spending a couple of hours there, we headed back . At about 6 p.m. we passed a familiar neighborhood.....yep, we were saved! We asked to stop. and we got out at the Hard Rock Cafe! Chicken tenders and iced tea for me, Cheeseburger, fries and a daquiri for Jimmy. So, a little touch of home (Eric Clapton, Meatloaf, Van Halen and Billy Idol videos) felt nice! We haven't found Crown Royal or iced tea anywhere---except iced tea at the Hard Rock! Lots of wine or biere (beer) here. Waked back to the hotel....1000 steps! We're getting pretty good at directions, now! Up to the room, watched some Olympics, then sleep...long day! Tomorrow, we try the Eiffel Tower again, then maybe museums or site seeing.
Sat.Feb.16th
Beautiful, clear skies, no wind and SUNSHINE! We had breakfast, then took off walking to the tour office. We got there about 20 minutes early and were the only ones. When the guide showed up, he led us to a van where there was a couple from Ireland. We then picked up another couple from Yorkshire, England. Then, the last couple was late, so we had to go chase them down at their hotel. Jose and Pilar from Madrid- no English....but my Spanish made it okay. We all got along well and laughed a lot.First we went to the Eiffel Tower for lunch on the 1st level. The menus were set. We could choose Oysters or minestrone soup for appetizers, a fish cake or fricassied rabbit for the entree' and a meringue custard or cheeses for dessert.
Jimmy had a "Bud" for 3.80E and I had a "limonde" 2.00E. After lunch we went up to the 2nd level (quite an adrenaline rush). I don't think anyone in our group could handle the 3rd level. I took a group picture that I intend to send everyone copies of. Then we met the tour guide that took us for the cruise on the river Seine. There were hundreds of people waiting in line, so he took us in another entrance. (Ah! the perks of prepaying a tour) Since we got to cut in the line, we got the good window seats! Then our guide pulled Jimmy and me aside and told us that although OUR tour ended after the cruise. Since we all got along so well (and, I think, because I spoke Spanish) he would take us with the others, on the city sight seeing tour. Then he would drop us off at the hotel....just don't tell anyone. We saw he Louve, Orsay and several other museums, the largest library in the world,several squares, statues. The original Notre Dame, Arc de Triophe, Joan of Arc, where Napoleon is buried, etc. It was a really nice day, he even dropped us off at the Hard Rock, where we had dinner. Then, walking back to the hotel, stopped and had some "Cherry Garcia" ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.
Sun.Feb.17th
No real plan today, got up, had breakfast, got out the 5 day metro passes and realized that we couldn't find our museum passes. We called the tour office and they said they would bring some more right over. In the meantime, we decided to get lost, on the Metro (the subway) ha!ha!
Actually, we were going to take the bus to the Arc de Triomphe and the Louve, but they weren't running on Sunday. Hence, we ventured out on the "Metro".
Taking the #7, we went to the Pyramides stop and switched to #1 to the exit after the George V, on the Champs-Elysee'. Saw the Arch and the tomb of the unknown, it was huge and fabulous, then decided to stroll down the Champs-Elysee' (like Mom and I did 34 years ago). It's changed, but, basically the view is the same.....still impressive! Oh, of couse, we had lunch at McDonald's and I had to get a picture of Jimmy in front of Mickey D's!!What a strange mix of old and new in this town. Everywhere you look are things built in the 13th century. We walked all the way down to the Gran-Palais and the place de Concorde (right in front of the Louvre), took some great pictures then got on the Metro again, back to the hotel, to get the museum passes.
The day was perfect, sunshine, about 55 degrees, so I shed my scarf, gloves, etc. We grabbed the passes and hopped the Metro back to the Louvre. We spent aout 2 hours there, didn't even go into the Richelieu Wing. I can certainly see where you could spend the whole day there. We saw paintings, sculptures, even Egyptian artifacts. The Mona Lisa is now encased in a special glass case.(It wasn't when I was here before....just roped off) The Venus de Milo is in the middle of a room within the Greek artifacts, I even got a picture of Mercury....the original FTD guy!
By 5:30 they were closing, so we had to leave. Back on the Metro to the Opera District, where we got off, in search of the Pizza Hut! Found it! Had a pepperoni pizza....hit the spot! Made reservations to go to the Moulin Rouge tomorrow and headed back to the hotel on the Metro again. Once in the room, we watched "6 Days 7 Nights" on T.V. in French....but made up our own dialogue, ha!ha! Then the "Mummy's Curse" in English with Boris Karloff and French subtitles. Then "Where Eagles Dare" with Clint Eastwood, in French again....oh well, sigh!
Mon.Feb.18th
No real plan today, lazy morning, breakfast, back to room to watch Olympics for awhile. Then, time to brave the Metro to the Hard Rock for lunch ( our home away from home). After lunch, we decided to jump on a bus and go wherever it went. We hopped off, changed, and, quite accidently, came upon the Notre Dame Cathedral. Toured inside, incredible sculptures and beautiful carvings! Then we went walking along the Seine, to find the Metro stop. One of the roads that runs alongside of it, is completely under water! The rain on Wednesday and Thursday raised the river water level,4 feet!
Tomorrow, we plan to go to the Museum of Science and Technologies, Moulin Rouge and whatever else pops up. Jimmy has been very sweet and gone down to the hotel kitchen every night to bring me a cup of hot tea, (no room service). All in all, the hotel is nice (as foreign hotels go), it's clean, has a mini-bar (sorta) a TV. ( the only thing in English is CNN and MTV. The hairdryer (as advertised) is about as strong as Jimmy blowing through a straw, But...it IS quaint, on a side street, with fruitstand vendors out front. Another few days here, and we would have their transportation system down....ha!
Tues.Feb.19th
Well, up for the free breakfast....Jimmy is working on the flu, I think, and we both ache all over (from all the walking, I think), but Jimmy's got a pretty bad cough. We took the Mtero to the Cite' of Science & Tecnologie - thinking it would be something like the Smithsonian....WRONG!
I'm afraid it was rather Underwhelming. The one neat thing was the "Geode'" (their version of the Omni Theatre. Back to the Hard Rock for lunch, in case dinner was something inedible then back to the room to change clothes to go to the Moulin Rouge. (Jimmy loves to tell friends that I took him to a Topless joint!) Upon arrival, there were hoardes of people in line, but we had reservations, so they seated us right away. We ordered dinner, a pretty descent Filet with gtreen beans and potatoes. Dessert was sinful....a lemon mousse with a dark chocolate mousse top, shaped like a cone with a white chocolate windmill on it. The show started at 9 and went until 10:45...about 20 costume changes for everyone! I loved the colors, feathers, rhinestones, sequins, etc. They had acrobats, dancers, singers, ventriloquists. When we finally left....there, 5 or 600 more people were in line for the 11 p.m. show! Quick math came up with 100 to 120,000 dollars per night! Jeez! No wonder they can afford such gorgeous costumes! The Metro closed, so we grabbed a cab back to the hotel, packed and set the alarm for 5 a.m.
Had to leave for the airport at 7 for a 10:25 flight. Once again, a very empty flight (probably because it was mid-week) So we jumped as soon as they closed the doors and grabbed the entire center row of seats, so we could each lie down on the 10 hour flight. It was uneventful, we watched "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", only hit a little turbulence, landed about 15 minutes late.
The Event happened after we landed. While waiting to disembark, the captain's voice came over the speaker asking everyone to sit back down. The was a sick woman on the plane and EMS was coming aboard. ( Jimmy told me they asked for a doctor, while I was sleeping) It seems that she was violently ill during the flight. Then....after about 10 minutes,they asked everyone to write down their names and addresses and phone numbers, in case they needed to reach us. She had just come from Africa. (Great.....EBOLA?)
Feb.25th
It's been 5 days since we landed, I'm guessing that flight 49 from Paris, was not infected or they would have called. All in all, it was a fun trip, very interesting, quite an experience,....but I'm sure glad I live in the USA.
Tuesday, February 12, 2002
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