Pictures, Pictures and still MORE Pictures June 5, 2008

I’ve been trying to steadily work through the pictures and choose the best or most interesting but there are approximately 1,400 (can’t imagine why my hard drive is full??) so it’s taking some time. Be patient and keep checking back – I’m a workin’ on it, y’all!

Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower one last time May 18, 2008

Yesterday we tried our best to see a little more and do a little more. Our feet are complaining every step of the way but we can’t stand to think we may miss something. We must be walking several miles a day, and not in tennis shoes! It’s the only way to see and explore a new city, though.

We started the day with Sunday Brunch at a little café a couple of blocks from our hotel. I had a croquette jamon which was a piece of toasted baguette with ham and then cheese melted on top and a fried egg right in the middle. It came with a nice green salad with wonderful vinaigrette dressing. Caleb had steak and fries. We have an ongoing debate about whether the French gave us the fry or we popularized fries and the French just took on the tradition because every single café, restaurant and bar in Paris serves French fries. I think it may be akin to the chicken and egg debate.

After brunch we started out at the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral on the Ile de la Cite (the island from which all of Paris first began). The Sainte-Chapelle was built sometime between 1242 and 1248 and was commissioned to house relics from the Passion of Christ. The most famous of these relics was the Crown of Thorns that they purchased, along with a section of the Cross, from the Emperor of Constantinople in 1239 for more than the price of constructing the Sainte-Chapelle to house it. The relics were originally housed in the upper chapel that was available only to the King and his close family and friends, as well as the canons who lead the service. The chapel is most famous for its 1,113 scenes on 15 stained glass windows comprising all of the 4 walls of the chapel. These scenes, when read bottom to top and left to right, depict the story of the bible from Genesis to Christ’s resurrection.

After the Sainte-Chapelle we headed just a couple of blocks over to the Notre Dame. We were lucky enough to be there on a Sunday during mass. Construction of this Gothic church first began in 1163 and took almost 200 years to complete. It was damaged during the French Revolution and went for several decades in somewhat disrepair but in 1831 the novel by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was published. This came at the same time as a revived interest in the Middle Ages and medieval monuments and in 1845 restoration work began on the church.

From the top of the Notre Dame’s South tower we could see the entire city of lights sprawling out as far as the eye can see in every direction. To the west you could see the Ile de la Cite and the Sainte-Chapelle. To the north the Saint-Jacques Tower and Sacre-Cour rising up over Montmartre can be seen. And to the south the Pantheon and the gilded top of Les Invalidades where veterans are still housed today.

We were even able to go into the belfry where Quasimodo famously rang the bell in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Ol’ Quasi must have been a short little dude because those were some small doors.

The bell, known as Emmanuel, weighs more than 13 tons and now is only wrung on major Catholic feast days.

We wandered through the streets of the Ile de la Cite after our visit to the belfry. There was this great little creperie on the side of the street where we got the most heavenly of crepes you could ever imagine. First we tried the sucre et beur (yep, that’s sugar and butter, baby!) and it was breathtaking. Then we tried the nutella and it wasn’t bad either.

We stopped at a little bar called The Beaver, which just happened to be full of a bunch of Canadians. There we had a couple pints of Foster’s before heading out for the carousel at the Place de Concorde. Boy, what an adventure that turned out to be. We may have found it and it may have been closed, but we’re really not sure and we do know that we didn’t get to ride the dern thing!

Then it was back to the Eiffel Tower yet again. This time we were determined not to be too early and not to be too late. We didn’t however plan on it being way too cold! There were lines on each of the three floors to go up and then again to go down. It was an amazing view from the top but if I get pushed by one more snotty French person or rude American tourist I may go postal. C may already have gone postal over the line cutters that are common place here, but if so he’s doing a great job of hiding it!

We’re going to wander around the city casually today before heading out to the airport and flying to Rome. We are sorry to be leaving Paris as it there is soooo much to do here and we just didn’t have time to see everything we wanted to. We are planning on coming back to this beautiful city someday, though.

Will post more once we get to Rome – have a great day everyone!

Caleb doing his best Bond

Sainte-Chapelle Gargoyles

Sainte-Chapelle upper chapel

The stories of the Bible in stained glass at the Sainte-Chapelle

Sunday mass at the Notre Dame

The holy priest of the Notre Dame

Katrina exiting the tiny doors of the South bell tower at the Notre Dame

Caleb exiting the tiny doors of the South bell tower at the Notre Dame exiting the tiny doors of the South bell tower at the Notre Dame

A cute little ball of white fluffy fur for sale at a market on the Ile de la Cite

Willie fans link May 17, 2008

We got another link today, apparently one of Willie’s fans found our post on the show and linked to it from her blog. She put up the pictures I took and quoted me as well – I thought it was really nice that someone appreciated it as much as we do. Thanks Still is Still Moving

The Louvre May 17, 2008

We spent most of the day today at The Louvre, unintentionally. We had big plans for The Louvre, Notre Dam, Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower at night. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

The Louvre was overwhelming to say the least. It seems reasonably easy to navigate when you get your map in the main lobby but the second you step foot into one of the three wings you wind around and around mesmerized by everything you see and you just end up getting lost. We were able to see some of the oldest and most famous art in the world in the world’s largest museum.

Unfortunately, as soon as we got to the Mona Lisa the camera battery died. We did get to take lots of video (which I’ll add to the appropriate posts as soon as we get home) and video barely does the place justice.

Poor planning on our part landed us at The Louvre on a Saturday afternoon with every tourist this side of the big pond. There were groups of them swarming us like flies, there were kids touching the pharaohs and grown women standing on the Winged Victory – it was ridiculous and we were ready to go after several hours wandering around lost inside.

After we headed straight back to the hotel to charge the camera battery, and just in time as the rain was right on our tails. We waited out the storm in the hotel and then headed out for some lunch/dinner. The nice hotel lady charged the camera battery for us while we went out since the hotel rooms here only have power when you are in them. {You insert a fob attached to your room key (which by the way is round and quite odd looking) into a little slot on the wall and, as they say in France, Voila – you have power.}

Dinner was at some place a couple blocks down called the Hippopotamus. It was pretty good but I’m trying to convince Caleb to be a little more daring. He doesn’t want to eat anything new, even though he promised me he would be adventurous! I’ve still got a week to get him to step out of his comfort zone.

We went out to the Eiffel Tower after getting back to the hotel but it was a little after 9:30 p.m. by then and the last trip up the Tower is at 11 p.m. They fail to mention that the last trip all the way up is actually earlier than that. We got to see it sparkle twice though and I took some darn good shots of it from across the river, if I do say so myself. Wandering back to the metro we stopped at a courtyard where there were fire dancers practicing. It was just a bunch of people standing around playing with fire for the most part, but really cool to just sit (for a welcome change) and watch.

It’s 1 a.m. Paris time and we just got back to the hotel. I’ve developed a pretty nasty cough (probably from all the germs and germy people in the subways and on the airplanes) and so I just took some cough syrup a pharmacist prescribed. That being said, I may be kind of out of it for this post and those in the near future but will try to keep you all posted.

We can’t believe we are half way through the trip today, we are having so much fun and thinking of just staying…only kidding, of course. See you all in another week and write at ya tomorrow.

Oh, and the Louvre pictures ending up separate so I will post them separately in the morning.

This rainbow shot was taken leaning out of our hotel room window.

Fire dancer in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Caleb in front of a sparkling Eiffel Tower.

Katrina in front of a sparkling Eiffel Tower, and amidst many tourists – as you can see.

Fire dancer practicing in a courtyard at midnight.

Long exposure of the Eiffel Tower backlit by the moon and set on the Seine.

Live from Texas, An Evening With Willie Nelson – Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Author – Le Grand Rex Theatre Paris, France May 16, 2008

The hotel lady (don’t ask me why I keep referring to the poor woman that way, but I don’t know what her official title is and “hotel lady” seems to get the point across sufficiently) called us a taxi who was here immediately. No Benz today, but a nice car and another not so nice taxi driver. Officially all Parisians are friendly, except taxi drivers – they are 0 for 2 so far.

The Rex Theatre was a short drive away, about 10 minutes and we were about an hour and a half early since we didn’t know what to expect. We got right in and they found our names on Willie’s guest list (how awesome is that!?). They gave us our tickets, orchestra seating, dead center, 6th row. This theater was amazing – plush leather seats, two decks above us, lights on the ceiling that exactly resembled stars, little French men and women to take you to your seat. Caleb made friends with one of Willie’s friends out in the lobby and later introduced me, everyone with Willie was super nice and it was so good to speak a little Texan for a chance.

The show was simply remarkable. You wouldn’t believe how many Parisians love Willie and know all the words to all of his songs. Not just a little ol’ Texan boy, but a big transcontinental star! He played mostly old stuff though wrapped up with a few of the new songs, which rank with some of his best in my opinion.

Afterwards we were hoping to catch him outside but his tour bus was out of there faster than a… oh I don’t have any good Texas euphemisms, let’s just say really fast. We talked to another of his “people” and then started the walk back. Unfortunately, it rained (we’ve been lucky so far as this is the first time) and we forgot to pack an umbrella so we ended up tucking in a McDonald’s of all places to wait it out and get a cheap meal. The walk back from there was long, cold and wet but we finally made it safely. Caleb’s already snoring and I’d like to be too so that’s all for today, folks.

We miss you all and will try to post more later!

Le Grand Rex Theatre

Willie Nelson, Y’all

Willie in famous Willie Nelson bandana

Wille jammin’ out

Texas Cowboy, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson & Friends Live in Paris, France

Paris – Oui, Oui! May 16, 2008

Our first day in Paris was gorgeous. We were a little hurried because we wanted to get back to the hotel in time to get ready for the Willy concert tonight. We are still unsure of how that will work (slight problem with our lack of French speaking ability) and our hotel lady has been so nice to try to call twice for us but says it is only a maze of options. We are going to try to head there early and hope for the best!

This morning we enjoyed breakfast at a casual 9 a.m. in the hotel, it was coffee (with warm milk, which was so nice), fresh juice, chocolate croissants, toasted breads, an assortment of cereals, fresh fruits and baguettes with nutella or jam. The jam I had was cherry and it was a delight, but there was also orange and they came in the cutest little individual size jam jars – so French chic! I grabbed the one I didn’t use, the orange, and brought it back to our hotel room – if I don’t eat it first I’ll bring it home with me.

We got lucky because apparently another couple who just checked out today bought a two day pass on the hop on/hop off boat tour. It cruises the scenic Seine and lets you off or picks you up at 8 different popular spots: the Hotel D’Ville, the Louvre, the Champs Elysses, the Eiffel Tower and several others. The lady at the hotel desk gave it to us to use today so we spend the day doing that.

We walked down to the Seine where we hopped on the boat and then hopped off at the Champs Elysses. From there we mostly wandered around in amazement at all the amazing architecture that is centuries old. We walked down to the Arc d’ Triumph and saw all of the couture shops there, including the flagship Louis Vuitton. They even let us in – of course we only browsed and quickly left.

From their we walked to the Eiffel Tower. We didn’t go up, we plan to do that tomorrow night so we can see it and the city all lit up. We did walk around it a bunch though before heading to the boat pick up next to it on the Seine. The Eiffel Tower is massive and surprisingly pretty up close. I expected it to be more like the Golden Gate pretty – nice on a post card but anticlimactic in person. To the contrary, it is beautiful and awe inspiring and it took us both several moments to take in the reality that we were actually there. I honestly never thought I’d get to be there.

The boat ride was pretty hot and we may have even gotten a little of a tan from it. We took it all the way back down the Seine to our original hop on point and walked as quickly as we could to get back to the hotel and get ready for Willie. We stopped in at a little grocery market and picked up a bottle of wine and beer and water, a baguette, a sandwich for Caleb and some cold chicken pasta salad for me. It was yummy and quickly devoured.

Off to Willie, will write more soon!

Just a small street, hardly any traffic – yea right!

The original Louis Vuitton.

Some radio tower we thought was cool looking – hee, hee

Hard to believe we were actually standing there!

Typical Parisian Scene, Part Deux

Typical Parisian Scene

Paris at last May 15, 2008

We got to Paris late today, about 9 p.m. Paris time (which is the same as Barcelona time, by the way) and broke down and paid the 46 euro for a taxi because lugging around luggage in metros is bad enough when you’re an expert on the system, as I like to think we had become on the Barcelona system. We just weren’t up for a new metro with luggage at 9 p.m.

The taxi was a Mercedes Benz E Class taxi and C couldn’t help but ask him if he cost more (he didn’t). Our hotel is the St. Louis Bastille in the 3rd ardonissment in Paris. We are very close to the city center and walking distance to the Rex Theater where we hope to be seeing Willy (Nelson, that is) tomorrow.

We checked in and then headed out for a late dinner. We walked past tons of nice places and finally settled on a little pizza joint where we were the ONLY patrons. The waiter was super friendly (as has been everyone in Paris so far, but it is still early) and did the most awesome trick with my wine glass. I wanted to ask him to do it again but he spoke little English and speak nearly NO French. It was the best food we’ve had thus far. A bartender from NYC living in Barcelona for the last three years confirmed our suspicions – the food in Barcelona is seriously lacking. There seems to be this whole attitude of imitation — you can get hamburgers or Madrid-style tapas at any restaurant but it’s all just okay.

Anyway, there is this huge market right in the middle of the street, right across the street from our hotel. The friendly hotel guy says it is a nice, big market with flowers, clothes and food. It looks really long from the empty tent stands that are still standing and he said it will be open tomorrow. Looking forward to exploring that and checking out a Willy show in Paris, not to mention drinking some great French wines and having some more really good food.

Our new hotel doesn’t have free wi-fi so I will post as often as possible but pictures will have to wait a little while as they take a while to format for the blog and I don’t want to have to wait on getting that done to let you guys know what’s going on.

Loving Paris so far, I think C is really surprised by how nice everything and everyone is, though we are still in a bit (okay a lot) of culture shock.

Talk to ya soon.

Love, C&K

Luggage Issues Weighing Us Down April 23, 2008

It literally took me hours the other night researching on the internet to see what the luggage limitations of Vueling Airlines, the “budget” airline we are using to get from Barcelona to Paris as well as Paris to Rome, actually are. Perhaps my OCD is a factor to consider here, but that’s another story for another day!

You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is when using an English language website written by non English speaking web masters (who are notoriously bad copy writers anyway) and then trying to make sense of the dern metric system on top of that. Oh how I wish we had jumped on that metric bandwagon with everyone else so that I could have grown up using it. Instead when I see 20 km or 10 kg my mind effectively equates it all to some indiscernible, unimaginable measurement from outer space.

After extended use of online conversion calculators and travel forums I have finally discovered that although Continental Airlines (our international flight carrier) will allow us to check two bags each (weighing up to 40 lbs each) and take a carry on (weighing up to 40 lbs and 51″ L+W+H) plus a “personal item,” Vueling is not so generous. Vueling, on the other hand, limits each passenger to a single checked bag weighing no more than 20 kg (which I have calculated to be 44 lbs – yea me!) and a single carry on of up to 10 kg, or 22 lbs with max dimensions of 55 x 40 x 20. Who knows what those dimensions mean since the airline website fails to specify a unit of measure??!!

Moral of this long, drawn out story: take as little as possible and hope for the best!