Day 14 – Montmartre & Seine Dinner Cruise

Posted on by Sandy

Today, we did a “Wine, Cheese, and Patisserie” tour of Montmartre. What a great way to see this part of the city!

Right as Leann and I exited the Metro we were at the Moulin Rouge. This street, “Pigalle,” was the border between the 9th arrondissement and the 11th – which was tax free. Therefore, the 11th “side” of this street was the ‘best place to party’ (and where the Moulin Rouge is located). People would “sneak out” of the more bourgeois parts to party with the artists, painters, actors, singers, and dancers. This area was the most important area for this sort of “artist culture” as our guide, Hugo, put it.

In 1886, Toulouse Latrec was the master of the parties in the area, whether at the Arc de Triomphe (which was a big place to party) or at the Moulin Rouge where he is now well known (especially via the movie). The actual mills on Montmartre in the 14th Century ground anything that needed to be ground – grapes, flour, stones, etc – so the plaza outside the Moulin Rouge (where we were standing) was referred to as “Place Blanche” because it had a fine covering of the flour/stone/etc from the mill that was located here.

At the end of the 18th Century, the Moulin Rouge was the first building to be electrified in Paris.

After hearing this history of the area, we headed for our first “treat.”

I was quite taken actually by the baker making enormous brioche in the back of this bakery, but we were treated to treats made from an old recipe that had been recently revived. (In the photos, she’s snipping the tops of the brioche so they cook right – you can see the line in the cooked ones.)

Our treats had a very thin meringue base, with flavored cream on top and a bit of a nut or flake shell to keep it all together.

Which flavor would you have?

Phryges again – this time on a UPS-type delivery truck. And in a hammock!

Next? “French” onion soup from Chez Marie. The story is that the king was hungry late one evening and started throwing things together, because he really didn’t know how to cook, and this is what he came up with. 🙂 However – get this – onion soup went to the USA with French immigrants, and then (per Hugo) Italian immigrants there added the big cap of melted cheese to it! Then, it “emigrated” back to France, and the grilled cap of melted cheese became A Thing.

I learned a new word, “Quincaillerie” – which basically is an “old” word for an “Everything Store.” (Hugo said it was the sort of word his grandmother would use – there are a few of these stores throughout Paris and I hadn’t known what the word meant.)

Next was a *delicious* quiche. Hugo had quiche Lorraine, and a leek quiche, and we all had a big piece. (I took the leek quiche as the quiche Lorraine uses pork belly and I try to not eat pork.) Alsace-Lorraine is in the Northeastern part of France, and was taken over by the Germans for a while. But as Hugo said, these folks are known to “never give up” and it is now back part of France.

This region is known for folks working in the field, and so a quiche was a way that you could have a crust, eggs, and “left overs” for lunch if you couldn’t get home, in a “grab and go” fashion.

As an aside, to be deemed a “boulangerie,” legally you must make the dough at the bakery. They get up at 4 a.m. to get the dough going, rise, etc, sell it all day, and then give it over for example to be in the bread in the top of onion soup the next day.

Here’s another super interesting fact. Baguettes are only like 120 years old. How could that be, for something so synonymous with “France”?

Originally, miche was the bread made in Paris. You would bring one with you, and cut it up with your knife to eat it. However, when the Metro diggers were working underground they got a bit stir-crazy and started knife fights. Knives were therefore forbidden. So, how could you bring your bread and cut it up? You couldn’t. Therefore, the baguette was invented, because it was a bread that you tore up to eat.

Another word origin that was related to this was the French word “Copain.” It basically means a “pal.” The usual word that you’d use would be “Ami” for friend. But back in the dark in the Metro, you would refer to someone that was “okay to share your bread with” as a co-pain (“pain” means “bread” in French). Aha!

We passed by some marvelous shops just on the street, including my personal favorite, the “Merde” brand wine shop. If you’re going to name your wine “Merde” it had better be good – and apparently it is. It has been served at Macron’s parties. (The shop wasn’t open or I would have raided them.)

After this, we were treated to chocolate from Chocolat Ilene. It is well known in Paris because it is excellent chocolate, but the cooks are Korean and like to mix in Korean tastes. The chocolate that Hugo got for us to “make us guess” turned out to be wasabi (I didn’t taste it). All I cared about was that it wasn’t Kimchee chocolate!!!! I went inside to see the chocolates that they had hand-crafted (the middle egg is *solid* chocolate) and the store was quite cold. They were very strict about you shutting the door after yourself. Our guide had told us this, but tourists were walking in and out and just holding the door open – the chocolatiers were getting a little irate. At least we were forewarned and were “good” tourists.

Another interesting fact: Chocolate was originally served as a liquid. Marie Antoinette was *crazy* about chocolate. She apparently had very severe headaches, and wouldn’t take her medicine, because (per our guide) she was stubborn and spoiled. Therefore, the doctor had chocolate made into a solid so that he could put the meds into it. !!!

Our next treat was Choupettes de Chou Chou. Our guide told us that you always buy a whole bag of them when you need a present. He also said that it was (his words) a “strong move” if you need to apologize. It says “Please, be kind to me.” He told us a story of missing a deadline in college and bringing a sack of 20 of them to his professor (and it worked). He also said that the best part about giving folks a sack of these is that the person you give them to then “becomes a hero” as s/he would share them. “Chou Chou” is a pet name, and “Choupette” is a bit of a “pet name” for these pastries. (NOTE: These are what we received from the hotel, from Odette – one of the top ones in Paris)

Hugo then told us about the Wallace fountains (we walked past one). He made the point that after 1872/the Prussian invasion, the Prussians besieged Paris for almost a year and broke all the aqueducts. Therefore, the Parisians moved over to wine instead of water – which made them basically alcoholics. Wallace, an Englishman, gifted them to Paris. (We had heard about them during our Marais tour, and you saw photos of them back then.)

We learned about St. Jean Des Abbesses church, which took 10 years to build and was opened in 1994. It is the “little sister” of the 1st church in the area, which is now more of a Catholic family “gathering place,” further up the hill. While most folks were Catholic for a long time now there are far fewer, so they turned the 1st church into a Catholic community gathering place.

Our guide, Hugo, grew up on Rue Des Martyrs. In the 1st century, this area was still Roman, and as we all know, Romans weren’t crazy about Catholics. Saint Denis was preaching the Bible, which the Romans definitely did not like – they killed him to keep him from spreading “this poison.”

The story is that the two soldiers that were supposed to climb St. Denis up to the top of the hill and behead him “got lazy” mid-climb and instead beheaded him on the spot we were then standing. Supposedly, he fell, got up, grabbed his head, and walked up to the top of the hill to die there. (Name of the area? Mont-martre – hill of the martyrs).

Next, we were treated to a baguette, cheese, and wine sit-down, The cheeses were:

*a 12 month old Comte (our current favorite cow cheese)

*an Ossau-Sraty (that doesn’t seem right, but that’s what I have in my notes and seems to be written on the bottom of the board)

*a bleu d’Auvergne (very very “light” blue cheese)

*Saint-Maure-de-Touraine, which is a goat cheese; it has a hole in the middle, which means it’s good/young…they put it on like a brochette stick and roll it in vegetable ashes…if there is NOT a hole, then the cheese isn’t fresh, it’s filled in

*finally, a Brie de Meaux. Hugo told us that Brie is one of the first things that kids eat as babies.

All their cheeses are unpasteurized.

The wine was a Bordeaux-blend red from Bellevue. 75% merlot, 25% cabernet. Hugo said that the Bordeaux bottles are said to have “noble masculine wine shoulders.” (As opposed to a Burgundy/pinot that has “sloping” shoulders.) It was a bit “merlot-sweet” with light tannins, red fruit and spice on the palate. Once it sat for a while it opened up and you got a bit more of a hit from the Cabernet, but it was always quite soft.

The white wine was “Le Gris de Titi” – a sauvignon gris from the Loire. Titi is actually the name of the owner of the restaurant where we were eating! This wine had a honey or white flower nose, but then was more “grey rock” on the tongue. I liked it.

Next on the eating “menu” were madeleines from Gilles Marshal. They are originally from Alsace-Lorraine (and were SO delicious – not like any “madeleine” I have ever tasted). The story goes that in the 15th century, King Stanislaus was a big party giver in a smaller version of Versailles (think it was *in* Lorraine). He ran out of party desserts and asked his servants to make something quick. A girl spoke up and made a butter-based small “cake” and baked it in coquille (scallop) shells (which were in the kitchen to be used for coquilles St. Jacques). The girl who “saved the day” was named – you guessed it – Madeleine.

There is actually a phrase in French called “un madeleine de Proust.” A “madeleine de Proust” is an expression used to describe smells, tastes, sounds, or any sensation that reminds you of your childhood or simply brings back emotional memories from your past. Proust used the smell of madeleines and how they made him hearken back to the scents of his Aunt Leonie’s kitchen in the book “In Search of Lost Time.” If you want to read more about it (it’s fascinating), go HERE.

In Montmartre, the bottom of the hill was more “working class,” whereas the top of the hill were more the artists, singers (Edith Piaf, Dalida), dancers, etc Picasso’s “Blue Period” and Cubism started here – supposedly to try to find a way to show a body without details, as many of the women had contracted syphilis, which causes big marks/welts on the body. Picasso had always been inspired by dancers, and many of the dancers had “another profession” because they did not make that much.

“Le Moulin de la Galette” (a salty crepe) was next on our itinerary. For centuries, the mills around Paris were owned by a great Prussian invader family. Then, in 1870, Napoleon III (remember him? Of shooting Victor Noir “fame”?) – 100 years after the revolution – (my notes say) “was taunted by the Prussians and lost because they were such huge fighters.” However, the Prussians “then decided to just walk to Paris and take it,” but “at the time of the French Revolution, everyone owned a gun.” I have some more notes about the Belleville area being out in the country and was taken, but next door, Montmartre was too difficult for cannons and fought like Hell and so wasn’t taken, though the invaders broke all the aqueducts. The owner who had owned all the mills (and had fought for the enemy) was cut up and his parts were strung up on the vanes of the windmill.

Then, my notes say “Revolution -> Riots/flee to Versailles -> tough time/brought back the Republic in the middle of Napoleon. People on the Hill fought so hard that the sewers were completely clogged with bodies and blood. Napoleon annexed everything to keep control.” Yes, if I had more time, I would have tried to make sense of these notes, but, Nope. (Sorry!)

Many, many artists painted this mill – on the side of the Moulin restaurant are copies of portraits by Renoir (“Bal Des Galettes”) of either the owner, or Renoir, and his wife dancing – plus there was a board up about Van Gogh and his painting of the area.

The above were found in a little park that our guide had always liked from when he was young. As you can see, it features a statue of St. Denis holding his head (since we are now at the top of the hill). The mosaic floor as you step into the park shows the quintessential French boat that you see everywhere, especially along the Seine, which represents the symbol of Paris that “France floats but never sinks.”

We learned where the word “Bistro” came from. HERE you go.

There is a vineyard in the Montmartre area, but it is North-facing and so is uniformly considered to be ‘crappy wine.’ (I am writing this on Day 15, and we passed some grapes over in the Latin Quarter that are in mainly South-facing areas, so that wine, though it doesn’t make many bottles, is considered to be very good wine. Both are owned by the City.) There is a big celebration in Montmartre near the end of September/beginning of October that is a LOT of fun per our guide Hugo that includes a wine parade and has been going on since 1933.

Avenue Junot is Paris’ “little Hollywood” – a number of actors make their homes here.

We came to our last “treat” at this point, which was a macaron store, Carette.

This store has been making macarons for 100 years and they are fresh with a super generous filling.

Just like the Madeleines, these tasted like no macaron we had ever had. Just unbelievably good.

Sacre Coeur was built at the end of the 19th century, to show that Montmartre was now fully part of Paris, not an outlying obstreperous area. It is built out of Fontainbleu stone (I think my notes say?) that is well known for being “self-cleaning” when it rains (so it remains gleaming white).

The ribbons made into what looks like a rose window is the “Emblematic Dial” of the Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart, established by a Visitation nun from Bourg-en-Bresse in 1863. Each day, members of the Guard of Honor choose one hour and, without changing their usual occupations, offer that moment to the Heart of Jesus.

I was VERY taken by the mosaics that you see of the “gentlemen,” the soldier, and the guy leaning against the wall. If you look at the big Jesus mosaic, they are down to the right, in the “closest right” curve of the bottom of the arc. Since there was a service going on I couldn’t get closer to them – but would love to know their story!

Sacre Coeur was blessed by the Pope, and for 135 years, it has had prayers/services 24/7/365 to “atone” for all the “sins” of the Hill. It does close for 1 hour now during the day – though it was 24 hours when he was a kid. The statues on the front are of King Charles (who has his sword upside down and his crown in his hand), and Joan of Arc, victorious.

Leann and the Aments were very brave, and climbed the stairs up to the dome to see out towards the city! 292 steps!!! (What did I do? <Ahem> Edited photos for the blog. Yes, yes I did.)

For those who are John Wick fans like myself, as you know, the stairs at Sacre Coeur were used in John Wick 4. On the way down, we passed not only a ton of the locks on the fences, but the carousel. Every time that Herbert and I would travel and we came upon a carousel, he would pay to have me ride it. He knew that I just loved carousels. I have ridden them in Vienna, Central Park, San Francisco, etc. It made me a bit sad, because I realized that what I really loved about riding carousels that we came across while traveling was that Herbert loved that I loved carousels.

We were able to go home for a tiny bit of time (what did we do? Leann took a wee nap. I tried to upload blog photos. Story of my life). Then we headed out to our dinner cruise on the Seine!

When we got out of the Metro, Leann realized that we were right at the “Eternal Flame” statue that stands over the underpass where Princess Diana died. She is a big Princess Di person, and we had written off the idea of making it to this area as it’s pretty out of the way. Come to find out that it’s where our boat was docked!

We had a very serviceable dinner, the live music was *exceptional.* We actually thought that it was recorded, because the violinist was just so outstanding. Bravo, anonymous violinist. 🙂

Between dinner and dessert, Leann and I headed up to the top level, particularly so that we could see the Eiffel Tower do its “twinkle thing”! Since I’ve been at this blog for the better part of 7 hours (the most arduous part being the photo uploading), I’m just going to plop all the “dinner cruise related” photos here, and, perhaps, I will re-order them if I find time. Quick notes:

*There were hundreds of people out picnicking along the Seine. They waved, sent us “heart hands,” etc. It was so great to see – people really enjoying the evening and the (almost?) clean river.

*The very industrial-looking grey weird building is the Ministry of Finance.

*There are river boats along the canal of the Seine where people live – and some are rented out as VRBOs.

*The stands were for the Opening Ceremony.

*The “original” Statue of Liberty (remember, France gave her to the U.S.) is about 1/10th? the size of the one in New York.

*Some of the photos are a little blurry – sorry about that. 🙂 Also if you see the “lines” horizontally, it’s because we were shooting through the window at our table.

*Loved the colored statues 🙂

Day 15 steps: 18,957 (Yes, I know that I am writing about Day 14, but I keep forgetting to write in the steps so I thought I would be proactive)

On Day 15 we had a lovely tour of the Latin Quarter (spoiler alert – it has nothing to do with salsa and tacos).

On Day 16, we will PACK in the morning (boo hoo), then we go to what is going to (hopefully) be a very exciting men’s water polo game, and (since we will be packed) we will then (again, hopefully) go to two things I really want to do in the Marais.

Then, to bed, as we have to catch an Uber (gack) at 5 a.m. to the airport.

Day 13 – Opera, Arc de Triomphe, Galeries Lafayette, Skateboarding

Posted on by Sandy

Today we only had the Olympic Skateboarding Women’s Final on the docket, so we headed out to check a few more things off Leann’s bucket list 🙂

First, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. Though you can get on top, it was (as one can imagine) a queue of epic proportions and spendy, so we took a few photos. We also wound up heading to a “Pharmacie” on the corner, which was one of the most bougie things we’d ever seen LOL. (The cafe outside was by Moët & Chandon and the restaurant in their basement has a Michelin star, so that tells you something.)

They have a bakery that contains “the” thing from each boulangerie or patisserie all around Paris – for example the Mont Blanc from Angelina, the Miche from Poilane, etc. One could just go to the drugstore each day and have “the” thing from a baker somewhere in town!

I stopped myself from purchasing a purse shaped like a croissant LOL They did have quite an amazing array of books, gift-type-things, reading glasses…(I guess you can tell what took my “squirrel” attention in there.)

It was a bit difficult to get into the Opera, but it’s been Leann’s favorite place so far. I think she was trying to figure out why I was really pressing for her to see it – Now she knows LOL. It is undergoing a lot of construction, and there are signs if you have already purchased a ticket – but not if you don’t have one. I finally saw a guard by a side door, and asked where to get tickets. There was a sign next to him that very specifically said in French, basically, “No ticket, no entry.” He looked at me a bit like I was stupid, but pointed in the door at which he sat, and said we had to scan through security, then the ticket purchasing booth was on the other side, in a hallway. Again – not quite sure what the “No ticket, no entry” sign was about, but it definitely *did* keep the visitors down inside!

We saw the Chagall ceiling from one of the boxes, and some of the costumes where they are “remaking” operas to be more modern. This reminded me a bit of the S.F. Opera performance I went to a month or so ago of the Magic Flute, which might have been my favorite performance of that opera ever.

In the area that for “having snacks, walking around and being seen” (per the sign) – on the other side of the building from the actual audience area – we found a “clock” that was quite amazing. It indicated the month via the “short” hand, and the “long” hand pointed at the day (Tuesday) and date (6th). We were curious what happened in leap years…?

Leann said that it was all she could do not to start singing “Masquerade” from Phantom of the Opera on the entry stairs 🙂

After the Opera, we visited the Galeries Lafayette, one of the first “malls” ever. Again, I think Leann was trying to figure out why I wanted her to see a mall, until we walked in. 🙂 The stained glass ceiling, etc is just So Parisian LOL. In the photo you can see that they have a glass walkway to go out and take photos from!

From there, we walked past the Louis Vuitton store that is being remodeled. It is wrapped up like an enormous LV trunk. (The jumping gold horse is from LV). Then past the Hermes store, where we stopped ourselves from walking in and purchasing the $$$$ dog bandanas they had in the window. Finally, we had lunch at a cafe. We didn’t quite head far enough off the “spendy path” – this was one of our most expensive lunches and we only had some “pommes frites,” a charcuterie plate, and “citron presse”!

We then headed over to the Skateboarding venue, which is in the Place de la Concorde. It’s SO WEIRD to see the Champs Elysees as a “footpath” as it were – with zero cars!

We tried to go to a few spots that I wanted to visit, but it was impossible given all the road closures, barriers, etc. We had a blast at Skateboarding, and Leann found out belatedly that a guy at her work knew a ton of the skaters, including the American (who unfortunately didn’t do great), and the U.K and Australian, who took first and third!

The obelisk that you see in the photos is where folks were beheaded during the French Revolution. This whole area looks SO DIFFERENT with all the Olympics “venues”! Besides the Skateboarding, we were able to see a duo breakdancing outside the breakdancing arena. This area has the 3 on 3 basketball, BMX bikes, breakdancing, and skateboarding. Obviously they can’t leave anything up here, but hopefully they will move the skateboarding/BMX “areas” somewhere that kids can use them. (Then again, perhaps they are like venues for the World’s Fair, etc that are not meant to be permanent installations.)

Back home, and we discovered THE sweetest note and some amazing profiteroles (or so I thought they were called – more on that tomorrow!) from the hotel! When we checked in, the reservation guy was super surprised that we were here for eleven days. I guess the hotel gave us a thank you in the best way possible – patisserie!

Back to our Very Favorite pizzeria next door, then caught the blog up a bit (I’m 2 days behind due to bad photo uploading), and called it a night!

Step count for Tuesday: 12,293

Spoiler Alert – Step count for Wednesday: 13,539, HOWEVER, Leann climbed 27 flights of stairs 🙂 (For my week, I have 85 floors climbed per my watch – has to be the Metro – and 14.16 miles walked.)

Day 12 – Marais tour via Earful Tower

Posted on by Sandy
Leann’s delicious ham and cheese croissant from Le Peloton Cafe.

Okay, so *first* of all, if you are at all interested in Paris, you need to subscribe to the podcasts/YouTube videos/email newsletter from Earful Tower. Trust me on this. I am now a Patreon supporter (plus, I did a huge support of their latest kids’ book, so I have a “street named after me” in the “Paris map” in the back!). It’s just so well worth it. Oliver Gee is Australian. Amazingly (to me, since I’ve followed him nearly from “when he started”) he has now been on the Today Show, did a description of Phryges (and why the French love this mascot so much) on NBC-TV, etc. He and his wife (who is ?Swedish?) also do children’s books that are just charming.

We are doing two tours with Earful Tower, one in the Marais (which is on their website), and one with our friends who are also at the Olympics, in the Latin Quarter.

Since there are six of us, Oliver agreed to set up a tour there, after I saw his “walk around” on YouTube of the Latin Quarter, and knew that our friends had their VRBO there.

Our tour guide, Hannah, met us at the Peloton Cafe. She was wonderful. Her parents had a home in France so she had been visiting “since a zygote,” but has a super charming Irish accent. She has lived full time in Paris for quite a few years now. (She also does cycling tours, and will be doing our Latin Quarter tour.)

We started off by learning a bit about the way that Paris used to look before Napoleon III (who is the one who shot Victor Noir, remember?) hired Haussmann to basically come in and knock down 1,000s of these houses to give Paris its uniform “Look.” In the top middle photo below, the Haussmann buildings are on the left and right of the original buildings. Napoleon III had been exiled in Britain which, after its big fire, had rebuilt in a more modern way, including enclosed sewers, etc. When Napoleon came back, Paris had no sewers, so that was fixed, but more importantly, it was only about 100 years after the Revolution and Napoleon figured if there were riots, he wanted access for his cannons to get in and “take care of business,” which was next to impossible in the streets as they were. Haussmann buildings all follow the same formula – shops at the bottom, 8 stories tall, with balconies on 1 and 6/7. It was also an extremely efficient way to pack a lot of people into a smaller space – Paris is not that big.

One of the interesting things is that – due to the flats being pretty small and therefore kitchens being pretty small – folks don’t shop for that much “all at once” and also eat out more. Hence so many cafes.

The pre-Haussmann homes that remain are very, very difficult to maintain. They were owned by the super rich in Haussmann’s time and in fact, it seems that many of them are still within “the family” all these 100s of years later. (They just looked down their noses at the folks dictating that they were “required” to do this renovation for the good of Paris and said, “Mais, Non.”)

Given that I am currently going through an enormous renovation at *my* house, I definitely understand the issue!

Retrofitted misters around the top

Next we talked about the Wallace fountains, which you can see above. There were about 200 of these all around Paris (there are about 50 left). Paris is crazy about water – in fact, France has two water museums, and there are “Keepers” of the Wallace fountains! These fountains give fresh, clean water (and since I was in Paris last, some have even been retrofitted with misters; to keep the temperature down in Paris, the misters go off now and again). Originally there were cups attached to chains, so people just used the cups to drink their portion from the fountain. The problem was that the cups were *never* cleaned. They were blamed for an enormous COVID-like outbreak a few 100 years ago, and so the government removed the cups (but left the fountains, thank goodness). I believe that Hannah said that instead of the Wallace fountains, they now have more modern ones, that give both still and sparkling water.

The left side of the gate
What the inside of the tower looked like
A big piece of the wall

I only took a few notes while we were doing this tour so, though I have lots of photos, I can only explain a few of them 🙂 The photos above are of the wall that used to surround Paris. Philippe Augustus didn’t want to go to the Crusades, though he was expected to go. He didn’t want to leave Paris vulnerable, especially as England had breached the coast. The wall was 16 miles in circumference – Oliver (remember? Earful Tower?) took an old map of the Wall and a new map, and has made it his “mission” to uncover where the Wall is now. 🙂

Interestingly, about 450 years after Philippe Augustus, Louis XIV decided that he needed to break through the Wall. Seems like he felt that he was the most powerful ruler and that he didn’t need a wall, his “reputation” would be enough to keep people away.

The wall had been the city of Paris v. the “Country” border, and of course had had towers, with gates in them to drop portcullises (portculli?) and close the city off. There is one left that we were able to see. As you’d need to surrender your weapons at the gate before entering the city, the “men in arms” inside Paris were “gens des armes” – or “gendarmes” (the name of the Metropolitan police to this day).

Then we learned a story about the Duke of Montgomery, who was imprisoned in this particular tower, because he accidentally killed the king in a fencing duel (WHOOPS). Catherine de Medici was his wife and told him not to do the duel, but the king poo-poo’d her fears . . . Yeah, listen to your wife when she has fears, sweetie . . .

The Duke was imprisoned in the tower for four years; when her husband was dying, the king made Catherine promise that she would not be bitter and would ultimately release the Duke. She did what her husband wanted, but then the Duke joined the rebellion to remove her from power….yeah, she had him beheaded. Not only that, she had it written into the law that any of his relatives “to the end of time” would be disinherited, couldn’t own land, etc. Apparently this law was standing until fairly recently.

On the street above – “Street of the Fig Tree” (the huge trees are figs) – you can see a building that still has a *cannon ball* in the wall from July 28, 1830. I particularly loved this gargoyle (which gets its name from the French word for “gargle” – which they do with the rainwater, since they are downspouts).

Believe that the name of the church that we visited (behind the red door) was St. Paul’s. The area was very wealthy – this had been Victor Hugo’s church. Cardinal Richelieu was the first cardinal here – at least, that’s what my notes say. What my notes *actually* say are “delicious liberty leading the people, red hat, cardinal Richelieu first, original delicious here”…?? Because I was typing my notes into my cell phone, instead of writing them down in a notebook as I have *always* done before, obviously Siri took over as I was typing. Suffice it to say, I have no idea what “delicious” is supposed to be. Sigh.

Nearly positive the oil of the saint – or perhaps Jesus – holding his hand up to the angels, wrapped in sort of an orange toga – is by Delacroix. Aha! Perhaps “Delacroix” is “delicious”….? 🙂

Note St. Louis (remember him, King Louis X, patron saint of…all together now…hairdressers and horse grooms) up in the alcove.

In the 1870s, St. Paul’s was (as I mentioned), very bourgeois, and the Communards (NOT “Communists”) took it over for a couple of months. They felt that they would have some traction if they took over the church. Instead, they were taken out to Pere Lachaise and shot against a wall there. (We did see this area at Pere Lachaise, just didn’t quite understand what it was about.) The “graffiti” above was left on an inside pillar of the church basically as a warning not to do this sort of thing again.

I always buy candles and light them for my Mom’s mom, “Tutu” to me, when I am in any Roman Catholic Churches. That’s what you see here. However – why is it that you are seeing two *different* sets of candles being lit?

Because the blog software wouldn’t let me upload. Later on (when we were on our own), we walked over to St. Eustache, which featured in the story that I wrote when here in my 40s (and also in my favorite book that sort of “explains” about how Parisians feel about Paris, “Almost French”).

So now, I can’t tell which church pictures are which church, as it’s now been two days since we did this tour and my brain is melting. I do know that the “fatter” candles are from St. Paul and the “tapers” are from St. Eustache.

I also know that the lit ladder “to heaven” is at St. Eustache (there was an installation there of light-related art), as is the Keith Haring gold triptych.

At St. Eustache, a service was going on, which we avoided and of course didn’t take photos of. The funniest thing though (to me) was the priest cleaning his hands very thoroughly with hand sanitizer from a squirt container on the altar before handing out the Host. Hmmmmmmm, body of (slightly chemical tasting) Christ for you….? St. Eustache was the stand-in for Notre Dame after it burned right after Easter, Hannah told us.

OKAY, AND…the oil of Napoleon crowning Josephine as his Empress above is from VERSAILLES, but I have been trying to upload it for days and it just “popped in” as one of the church photos. So I’m leaving it. Take THAT, Napoleon. You’re going to be here, not at bougie Versailles. (I happened to really like this oil, but was ready to fuggedaboudit, then it just popped in here.) Note – since obviously Napoleon always must have “ze last laugh” – the only spot I can move that photo is a big one. Yes really. Classic Emperor….

The boots James wanted, tempting you into the store
A cat woman costume for all you ,La supporters

The walk took us through what is obviously a D&S area – a few photos above of some of the shop fronts. I sent them to my friend James whose burlesque/drag King personality is Harry Sass (say it out loud….) – he immediately responded that if the shoes were his size, I had to buy them because he didn’t have any animal print in Harry’s closet. Um, yeah, I love you James but 300 euros just wasn’t in my pocket….

The Marais is built on a swamp – the buildings are a bit wonky. As usual, you could have bought a number of these buildings for a song a while back – they were in terrible shape – but now, yeah, Nope. Okay, and Victor Hugo did NOT live here. And – from Versailles – Poseidon has just inserted himself. You’re welcome.

This was where they made the food for the Orient Express – the tracks are where they would take the food out to go to the train.

Note the hooks under the eaves on the photos to the left, above? It used to be a butcher shop and that’s where the butchers would hang their “wares.” Now, even if you are selling something else, you must leave these remnants on the shop. On the big one, the pictures are of people milling and farming wheat – since a lot of the population was illiterate, this indicated to them it was a bakery.

These “bumpers” are so that carriages could get straight into a courtyard. Once you know what they are, you see them everywhere – some are pipes, some are shaped like dolphins, etc.

The above is a sundial – what’s missing? The number 7. This building, however, is “#7” and so one of the theories is that 7 is missing is because the owners thought “WE are 7.” LOL.

We headed to the Place de Vosges. In 1605, it was the “royal square” – this was before the royalty moved out to Versailles. The king had his living quarters on one side of the park, the queen on the other. During that time there was a tax on glass, so people would come to the park at the Place de Vosges, and “faint at the sight of” all the glass surrounding that park. Not only that, but the terra cotta bricks were incredibly rare, as they had to be imported from Italy.

The houses to the side of the king’s and queen’s were given as gifts – now, this is the most expensive real estate in Paris. About 80 years ago, the whole houses were changed to flats because the taxes were so high (though the same family does live in a few of them still). The little “garret” studio apartments at the top are 10×10, and rent out for something like $1,600/month – recently one sold for something completely insane (in the multiple millions). This park is different than most in Paris – where you’re not even allowed to *look* at the grass, much less walk on it – as the families can use it to picnic, play with their kids, etc.

The mansion to the right in the photo (that looks super white) is actually covered with a print to show what the building “will” look like. It was bought by a French jillionaire, who has now spent more than he paid for for the building, and there is more to do. It was $25 million (purchase) and $31 million so far (reno), in my mind.

Joseph Migneret, named above, saved so many children from the Nazis in Paris that he was commemorated. (The Marais is still a Jewish district – well, and a LGBTQ district – and….) The French have a “problematic” relationship with WW2, because so many collaborated, and actually knew what was going on with the deportations, etc. (That was detailed on the monuments in Pere Lachaise as well.)

The names on the wall are of children from this neighborhood that were *not* saved. Note the ages. (“Ans” = years, “Mois” = months, “Jours” = Days)

The museum on the right is on the history of Paris – super accessible (as opposed to, say, the Louvre!)

Phrygis is everywhere. This is from the side of a postal van speeding past.

Here are just some random photos from the neighborhood….Rue Des Francs Bourgeois may not be “the street of perfumers,” but every single store along this small road was indeed a cologne or perfume shop of some kind, and the entire street was scented!

And then, below is where we wound up for our late afternoon “snack” of a crepe with lemon and sugar (me) and a strawberry sorbet for Leann. I mentioned to Leann that she should practice ordering “eau petillante” (bubbly water), since she always gets a liter. When she was ready to order, she practiced on me, and asked for “eau papillon” (butterfly water). It was The Best Ever. I did tell her I would do the ordering, but – Hello! – that’s our new name for bubbly water!!

I know, I know, I’m woefully behind on the blog. Here’s the deal. Today (which is Day 13) we had NOTHING until 5:30 p.m. We wanted to get out by about noon to visit the Arc de Triomphe, the Opera, and the Galeries Lafayette. We got up early, had breakfast in the hotel . . . And the blog wouldn’t let me in. Then it wouldn’t upload photos. So ultimately, I had to leave, having done ZERO, NOTHING, BUPKIS. I super feel behind now too.

From today (Day 13) I have to upload Arc de Triomphe, Opera (Leann’s favorite spot so far), Galeries Lafayette, Women’s Skateboarding Finals, Pizza at our local amazing place. (Steps today = 12,267)

Tomorrow (Day 14) we have two tours with the Aments – a food/wine/patisserie tour of the Montmartre area, and a Seine dinner cruise. There will be more photos. If this software won’t let me in, I can’t keep up. And I’m not happy. 🙁

Aaaaaand, today IS tomorrow (Day 14) – I’m trying!

Day 11 – Versailles & Beach Volleyball at the Eiffel Tower

Posted on by Sandy

Spoiler Alert: Day 11: 21,142 steps.

Today (Day 12): 9,135 steps.

And our various “leg parts” feel it.

But, onward!

I’m definitely behind by a day. I thought I could do both Days 11 and 12 today, but I’ve been at this now for 8 hours and – yeah – nope. The good thing is that we don’t have anything “set” until tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., so I can hopefully not only annotate this one from my notes but also get the photos from today ready to go before that.

We did get up a bit later on Day 11, because our Versailles Tour (plus gardens) with GetYourGuide wasn’t until 12:30.

Just a small advertisement for GetYourGuide. When I was making reservations for this trip with the Amex Concierge, there were some tours that she could not book herself. She told me to go to GetYourGuide, as they were the tour outfit that the concierge’s “clients” had had the best luck with – good value for money, on-the-dime ability to swap dates/times (or get a refund), fantastic guides, etc.

We had our Versailles tour a couple of days from now, but we realized that because Versailles is a real haul out of town, we’d have to turn straight around and come back for the Olympics women’s skateboarding final. With just over 24 hours’ notice, I pulled up GetYourGuide and was able to swap out the date. It was so easy, I was sure I had done it wrong! However, I immediately received an email detailing our new tour, etc. It was straightforward and exceedingly simple. The guides we have had have all been uniformly great. The one tour that was “meh” was the Jack The Ripper tour, but (as I have stated before), since most of the “locales” where JTR hunted are gone, we don’t feel that any JTR tour is really worth it. Our *guide* for that tour, however, was exceptional.

So what are the delicious things that you see interspersed in this run-up to the write-up? A gal on TikTok that Leann follows had raved about a bakery – come to find out, it is a franchise, and one is across the street! (Yes, I have now told you about the pizza place, Cafe Central (the onion soup/burger/etc place), and now, this bakery – good hotel choice, eh?.)

We headed over – I got a coffee and an apple “fold-over,” Leann got the raspberry tart that the TikTok gal raved about. Well – NOM NOM NOM.

This franchise makes the “Crookiz” by rolling out croissant dough, putting chocolate chip cookie dough on top of that, and rolling it up. We actually got one today (Day 12) as a pick-me-up – a bit odd, in my opinion not as great as a cronut. But there you go.

Versailles! SO MANY PICTURES! Sylvan, our guide, was great and helped us to avoid the bulk of the tourists. There were maybe ten of us in the tour of the buildings, and then Leann and I were the only ones to carry on into the gardens.

On the way to Versailles, we saw the Eiffel Tour and the Flame in the air from off the side of the train, and thought we’d be able to take a photo on the way home – unfortunately, by that time the Flame was back down! 🙁

Versailles: The entrance. Last time I was at Versailles the two things I remember were: (1) getting hot charcoal-brazed chestnuts right outside the train station to put in my pockets ‘cos it was so cold and (2) how black the buildings were. Come to find out that the gilding is new (at least, newer than 40 years ago), part of it paid for by a millionaire who was taken by Versailles and wanted to “do something” for the estate.

Versailles was originally a hunting lodge (indicated by the red portion in the model), then it was built out (yellow portion), then *really* built out when the king and queen moved from what is now the Louvre out “to the country.” The square building to the front left was built specifically for people who wanted to live “near the king” – the rooms were *very* small and often shared, but if you wanted to be near the king, you wanted to be there. Below is Sylvan, and the entry chandelier that’s supposed to look like a necklace.

Sylvan
“Modern” chandelier over stairway. Odd with all the crystal ones around.

Versailles: First few rooms. Leann was quite taken by the ceilings. We learned a lot about the various residents.

Check out the phryges!

Above, Leann was quite taken by the embossing behind the logs in each fireplace. Ahem – height difference – I never even saw them!

Here is a wee tidbit: The King (don’t ask us which one) loved to play croquet. But he had a bad back. So they raised the “playing field” as it were so that he didn’t have to bend down. Then they moved it inside. As there was less room, they shortened the area…and billiards was born. Don’t ask me if this is true – it’s what our guide said 🙂

More folks with stories:

The first portrait is Marie Antoinette with her children. The son is pointing to the empty crib, which is where his younger sister (who died at 11 months, possibly of tuberculosis) “would have been.” The dauphin (son) lived a few years but then died of tuberculosis at age 10, he was survived by his brother (the baby) who ultimately died in captivity. The only one to live to adulthood is the daughter on the far left – she lived to 73, but was ?not allowed? to have children in case “royalists” wanted to rally behind her.

The next is the “homely queen” Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV. She was Spanish and brought black slaves with her, so suddenly black slaves became “all the rage.” She died at age 44 from complications due to an abscess on her arm; she was “the object of pity” in the court not only because her children died young, but also because of her husband’s many mistresses.

Top right is Mari Josepha of Saxony, who was brought in at age 21 to marry the 15 year old dauphin. The had 10 kids in their first 10 years of marriage, then “closed the door” when he was 15. The dog in the portrait represents loyalty; the flowers her beauty. She was 44 here; he was known for the number of mistresses he had. He is represented by the statue – likely because by that time, she didn’t want to see him in person (ha ha)

Next row on the left is the brother of the one at the bottom row, the king, who was famed for his “pretty dancing legs” and having killed all the wolves in France (represented by the wolf pelt on his saddle). “His great and sole vice was women.” The first brother was considered enormously fat, the other exceptionally slim (which our guide said was attributed later to a tapeworm – yes, he did say that).

The great-great grandfather of all these Louises (how do you pluralize “Louis”? Hm!) was Louis X, who his son had canonized. He basically “told the Pope” to do it, and he did. (There was a LOT of “conspiring” that went on with the Catholic Church and the French Monarchy – we learned a lot about that.) St. Louis is the patron saint of hairdressers and groomers. When you look at the hair of these guys, you can kind of understand. 🙂

Middle portrait is Marie Antoinette’s mom, Maria Theresa of Austria. She had a billion kids and married them off to all the royal heads of Europe (16 children in 19 years). The bust is Marie Antoinette again (let’s make no comments about the bust-less head as it were).

Rooms, rooms, rooms…And one o’them Louises with That Hair (oooooh, ahhhhhh)…

There was also a horse-related show going on (again, more on these maybe tomorrow). The two small oils (the cougar on the back of the horse, and the palamino-colored horse) are by Gerricault – who you saw at Pere Lachaise. (He was sitting up on top of his grave with a palette and paintbrush in hand, and the side of his monument had one of his well-known paintings on it in bronze).

Below (on the red saddle) you see Lady Godiva. Her legend dates from the 12th century, but really comes to the fore in the 19th century, largely thanks to Lord Tennyson’s 1840 poem, which elevated this local Coventry figure to the rank of a national legend. The young woman’s husband promised to withdraw the tax threatening to starve the people if she rode naked through the city on horseback. Out of respect, the inhabitants of Coventry kept their shutters closed. Only the figure of “Peeping Tom” secretly watched Godiva, and his name became synonymous with “voyeur” in English. When she finished her ride through the city, her husband rescinded the tax as promised and the Lady went on to embody, paradoxically, virtuous self-sacrifice. Rather than depicting her in the traditional sidesaddle pose, John Collier composed a figure with relaxed legs and feet, with a calm expression.

Above, the portrait of the Prince on the horse with the crazy mane is by Sustermans; it’s a portrait of a young Medici son. Sustermans was the official portraitist to the Court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1620 to his death in 1681. The square format is unusual, but the horse is what sets it apart. Prince Leopoldo de Medici was only seven. The horse is the true protagonist of the painting. The Andalusian’s coat is accentuated by the lighting, and its long, luxuriant, carefully “coiffed” mane. The extravagant horse in its extravagant parade gear, combined with the young Prince in exotic garb, reflected the stratospheric status of the Medici family. (It’s under glass, hence the glare unfortunately.) Below – Perseus, on Pegasus, with Medusa’s head. This oil was *huge*!

More rooms…Bedrooms of the king/queen – they had special “going to bed” and “waking up” ceremonies, where dozens of folks would just stand around outside of the short “wall” for them to do it. The queen’s bedroom had a small disguised door so she could “sneak out” and visit her children.

In the middle, on the right, of this set of photos you see a portrait on the ceiling of a lady in waiting yawning, head on hand, waiting for the queen to get up. 🙂

The photo where I couldn’t “carve out” the people is as you walk into the Hall of Mirrors. I try to “strategically” take photos – H was a *master* at that. So our photos of places where there were literally hordes of other visitors – Ta Prohm, for example – it looks like we were the only ones there. I aim for that aesthetic.

After our tour of the buildings, as I mentioned, Leann and I were the only ones to carry on with the garden tour. We had great timing, because we were ahead of the large number of folks that we could see queuing up at the gate waiting to get in, both to the buildings, and to the garden.

The trees that you see in the boxes above are fruit trees. They are pulled into the “Orangerie” building during the winter, and taken out on sunny days.

The building you see in the distance in the picture to the left is actually a mile away, but the water is slightly shaped like a “V” away from you so that the perspective didn’t make it get smaller.

That building was a pop-up for the Equestrian Olympics. Have to say – had it not been for Leann being enormously allergic to horses, I would have liked to go check that area out. As I’m typing this, in fact, I’m watching the show jumping – it’s just SPECTACULAR. As 2028 will be in L.A., I definitely would like to catch it there – I did see part of the eventing last time it was in L.A. and it was really unbelievable. (I remember a downhill water obstacle that got a LOT of the horses.)

In the photo, you can see the boats that can be rented to tool around on the water. That area is the “park” that is “outside” the actual Versailles gardens.

The park is maintained by the City of Versailles; Versailles’ buildings and gardens are maintained by a private consortium.

This next set of photos tells the story of when one of the Giants, who were descendants of Gaia, challenged Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. (Their younger brother, Typhon, is also well known for this and is one of the deadliest creatures in Greek Mythology, but is known as a “serpentine giant” so this likely does not represent him. He, also, was defeated by Zeus’ thunderbolt though and was buried under Mt. Etna). This giant was buried by Zeus in lava at Vesuvius; his writhings cause the earthquakes and eruptions.

Next set of photos is the grotto of Apollo. This is where we learned a bit about the Garden’s plumbing.

Basically it’s “the same as it ever was.” But when the king lived here and went for his walks (he always walked for an hour or two daily in the gardens), his entourage would whistle to indicate that the king was coming that direction. Then, the servants near whatever feature that was would turn the water on.

There isn’t enough pressure for the water to run in all the water features, all at once.

When we walked past the Apollo grotto the first time, Sylvan asked the docent what time the water would be on. She said “sixteen” meaning 4:00 p.m. That was about 20 minutes later – though Sylvan had bid us “Adieu,” Leann and I headed back to see the grotto in all its glory. The water is on for I believe Sylvan said 7 minutes. (When we were leaving, a guy was jog-trotting towards the grotto with about 25 seconds ‘til it went off, we were wondering if he was trying to catch it.)

The king always had music playing as he was walking. They have rigged up invisible speakers in the various trees so as you’re walking, you honestly think that you will walk into a Baroque ensemble around the next corner. It’s quite amazing. Leann and I were doing “Marco Polos” (if you’re not our Friends, you’re SO losing out!) as we were walking, and in each area, a different “ensemble” was playing “just around the corner” 🙂 It really *really* did sound like live music.

Above, fountains representing Summer (with the sickle and wheat), Spring, Poseidon, Apollo (love that one). I have an analog photo of the Spring fountain from when I visited Versailles when I was 22 – perhaps I will scan it and insert it when I get home. Okay and a sculpture representing Afrique – with a lion licking her foot. 🙂 I am having trouble uploading some other photos from the garden, so I am giving up for now! I have another of the pair of Poseidon sculptures – this one with the narwhal got us to have a bit of a funny chat about different French words, plus English (or French) pronunciations of French (or English) words. To the French, saying “hungry” and “angry” comes out the same – which can be a tough one. In French, the words for “horses” and “hair” (chevaux and cheveux) are so close you have to be careful – but to the French it’s “unbelievable” you’d miss those two up. We had a laugh about the sound in French, pronounced “vair” – which can mean a glass, a squirrel pelt, a worm, “towards,” a window….there were 8 different meanings, I just can’t remember them all – and they really do sound alike. Sylvan explained that the story of Cinderella was misunderstood by the English, because the slippers that she was supposed to fit into were made of the (very bougie) squirrel pelt, NOT glass. The idea of trying to fit into a glass slipper makes the French laugh, because who would do such a thing? It basically was a kind of mink (which makes a lot more sense, if you think about it).

We ultimately bid “adieu” to Sylvan and took the train back from Versailles. We decided not to go back to the hotel before heading back out for beach volleyball. We therefore got off at the Eiffel Tower train station, and were immediately met by a horde of thousands. (Waiting on the nail-biter end of the cycling race.) We were definitely hot and tired, but were able to find a cute cafe, where we got *delicious* chicken/ mushroom galettes, citron presse, and water water water. Right as we were finishing, Laura and Alex and her family walked past – totally fortuitous. We were supposed to find a way to meet them for dinner, but they got stuck on the other side of the cycling, and we weren’t even sure that we could explain where the cafe was. Great luck!

And now – some Eiffel Tower photos. It was a truly gorgeous night. Leann and I kept taking photos of the Tower in the sunset – so I picked through about 50 to get to these ones! We were watching the beach volleyball to *get* into the quarter finals. In one of the photos you can see the elevators, that go up the leg (sideways) and then up the tower. We also saw quite a few folks taking the stairs; just for the “privilege” of that was about 30 euros and QUITE the queue. Nope.

Men’s beach volleyball was first, Brazil v Netherlands. Brazil trounced them.

The guy who raped the 12 year old when he was 20 (and served 4 years in jail) is one of the pair playing. Every – single – time he would touch the ball, the audience Boo’d LOUDLY.

While I understand that he “Did his time…” it’s not like he robbed a bank or oh, say, was found guilty of on 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records. He raped. A twelve. Year old.

I felt *super* bad for his teammate though. At least they didn’t boo him.

The tall Brazilian was *tall* – 6’11”!!

The women’s match was a serious nail biter between the USA and Italia.

The U.S. won the first – Italy the second – then a “tie breaker” that the U.S. did win.

By the end, every time the ball was hit (usually 3 hits per side), the Italians were shouting I-tal-ia! Followed by U—S—A!!

We had Italians sitting behind us – and – get this – our friend Leslie spied us on NBC and sent us a screen capture!

I have video of the twinkling Tower just like I did of us singing at Rowing, etc. – don’t think that this hotel has enough “oomph” to get them to upload. Hopefully I can annotate when I get home.

What do you have to look forward to tomorrow? Our amazing Marais Tour with Hannah from The Earful Tower. (If you don’t know this podcast you really should check it out – it’s great.) And then? Butterfly water. 10 hours of blogging and photo wrangling though so for now… Peace, out!

Day 9 – lorsqu’on ne tuera plus ils seront bien venges le seul voyeur de justice a pour echo la vie & Day 10 – Sweet Caroline, Rowing plus Pizza

Posted on by Sandy
From the Holocaust/resistance portion of Pere Lachaise Cemetery

when they will no longer be killed, they will be well avenged, the only wish for justice has for its echo, Life

I happen to be posting this blog on “Day 10,” because I have had a heck of a time uploading photos. And there are some great photos from Day 9!

We had a *serious* heat lightening storm between days 8 and 9 – the first photo below shows where Leann caught a tiny bit of the lightening up on the right – which ended in a DELUGE of rain. Watching from our hotel room, we saw some people scurrying with their hands/a bag/etc. over their heads – but others were just laughing and walking and shaking their heads. As we heard from a gal we met on the Metro – if you want new weather, wait 10 minutes in the Summer in Paris.

We did do a number of “bed picnics” 🙂 Today we had a delicious Tour d’Argent boulangerie breakfast (see “sac,” below).

Afterwards, we headed for the Metro to go to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. The photo below of the lock on the old-style Metro door is to show you that, unlike The Tube in London where we were told by our guide not to hit the button and “look like tourists” (the door opens anyway), and unlike the new Metro cars, where you *do* need to hit the button, if you want out, you need to crank the handle on the door clockwise after the car stops, and the door will pop open.

We spent a bit more time than we meant to in the morning trying to decide how to plan our day. We had imagined heading to the Arch de Triomphe area, but the streets are closed, and it would have been a pain to try to get around some of the issues. We opted for Pere Lachaise, which is nowhere near anything else – perfect for a day when we wanted to do a long excursion.

The photos that I will insert (with descriptions – natch) will not be in the “order” we found them in the cemetery. Unfortunately due to the blogging software, they’re going to be in the order that they’re uploading. We were very lucky that, at the side entrance we walked through, there were two volunteers handing out paper maps with some of the “better known residents” already marked. We had a few more that we personally wanted to find. But – hello – this is a HUGE cemetery. Lots of cobblestoned paths, stairs, streets, etc.

Pere Lachaise has over 70,000 burial plots on over 106 acres; it apparently is the most visited necropolis in the world.

Although Pere Lachaise has lots of ‘celebrity’ graves, some of the most memorable ones commemorate people who have faded from the public eye. But their funerary art is quite spectacular.

On top of a grave marked “Remina Maggiori” is a beautiful bronze statue created in Florence by well-known Italian sculptor and painter Marcelo Tommasi. She has a lovely, contagious smile that exudes joy. She is in Division 60.

This is French actor Fernand Arbelot (1880-1942). Belgian sculptor Adolph Wansart immortalized him lying in his tomb holding a mask representing his grieving wife (note tears dripping from her eyes). Supposedly he designed this so he could gaze at her through eternity, though (perhaps inevitably in a country with a strong death-by-guillotine history) it could be considered macabre; his fixed stare might also remind one of Sting’s 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take (I’ll Be Watching You)” which does make it a bit more creepy. Division 11.

To the left is the tomb of Louis-Sebastian Gourlot (1778-1816). Nothing is known about M. Gourlot, but this striking stone and gold-tinted plaster statue representing his grieving widow stands out among the greys of the other memorials. Division 11.

Below is the Lebrun and Lhenoret Family Tomb.

Several members of the family are buried here, but what is notable is that the architect-sculptor Marcel Rouillere was told to avoid traditional forms of funerary art – which he did.

He created the sculpture around 1905-09; it embodies the flowing organic forms of Art Nouveau. Division 1.

The Moreau-Vauthier Monument at right is topped by a bronze of a grieving woman.

It is signed “A. Moreau Vauthier,” who was most likely French sculptor Augustin Jean Moreau Vauthier (1831-1893), father of Paul Moreau-Vauthier (1871-1936), creator of the Paris Commune victim war memorial.

There are over a dozen family members in this tomb, including Augustin Jean and Paul. Division 14.

(Please excuse the spacing of the text and photos – something is wonky with the blog today)

Next is a bronze sculpture of another sorrowful woman (there are a lot of them in this cemetery) on the tomb of Leon Philippe Beclard (1821-1864).

She holds a picture of the deceased.

M. Beclard died in Tangier, Morocco while serving as Minister of Finance for Napoleon III. Division 4.

Above is the tomb of Belgian novelist and poet Georges Rodenbach (1855-1898). He emphasized the interplay of romance and tragedy in his novels, and was well known for his “fin de siecle symbolism.” Perhaps therefore it’s not much of a surprise to see his bronze likeness bursting out of his tomb, holding a rose. His epitaph: “Lord, give me this hope to live again in the melancholy eternity of the book.” Division 15.

Here is the tomb of Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Just as he was gaining success and popularity, Mr. Wilde was convicted by a British court of “gross indecency with men” and sentenced to two years of hard labor. Upon his release he fled to France, where he remained in exile until he died of meningitis three years later. His Egyptian-themed tomb was created by sculptor Jacob Epstein. It has sustained damage through the years after so many visitors had kissed the monument that, in cleaning it, the stone began to degrade (yes, really). A glass barrier was erected in 2011 but, as you can see, it’s only been partially effective. There is a sign that asks you not to kiss, as the cleaning “is not paid for by the cemetery, it must be charged to the family.” Division 89.

Next, Jim (James Douglas) Morrison (1943-1971): American singer/songwriter and lead singer for The Doors. He died in Paris at age 27 when an international rock star, likely of a heroin overdose. His girlfriend Pamela Courson found his body in the bathtub in their Marais apartment. His grave is one of the most visited. When we dropped by we had to wait 5 minutes for Leann’s phone to unlock itself; a young guy standing at the grave looked unbelievably bereft and just didn’t move the entire time, with other visitors snapping quick selfies and onto the next. This guy was in his 20s – born far after Morrison died. A bronze plaque on the tombstone has Morrison’s full name, birth/death dates, and a phrase chosen by his father: “Kata Ton Daimona Eautou” which means “true to his own spirit” (or “demons”). Division 6.

They have wrapped the tree where people leave chewing gum as a memento (e-yew). The gum was killing the tree. Again – e-yew.

Marcel Marceau (1923-2007): We went here because Leann is afraid of mimes. (I texted her a photo back – she waited on a bench.) You can have her tell you the story (which involves being chased by a mime at age 5). M. Marceau’s persona was “Bip the Clown.” However, something I certainly did not know was (1) he was Jewish, and (2) he was a renowned member of the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. He helped rescue/save uncounted children from being deported to concentration camps. How did he keep them quiet? He did all his clowning…in silence. Yep – mimed.

Victor Noir (1848-1870)’s tomb (below) is one of the most visited. He was a journalist killed by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon and cousin of Emperor Napoleon III.

A dispute between two newspapers, including the one where Noir worked, escalated and led to a fight that ended with the Prince calling Noir and his colleagues “menials,” slapping Noir in the face, and then shooting him dead (!) (Anger management issues, much?)

When a court acquitted the Prince of murder, violent demonstrations took place. Nine months later, the Emperor’s unpopular regime was overthrown during the Franco-Prussian War.

Sculptor Jules Dalou created the realistic life-sized bronze sculpture of Noir, to appear as though he had just fallen in the street, shot dead by Bonaparte.

The bulge in his trousers has made his grave very popular, due to the legend that rubbing it can provide fertility, cure to male “issues,” etc. His bullet hole also is also highly polished (we liked that someone added a boutonnière), as is his nose/mouth/chin and his boots.

And now, some graves we know nothing about, but that were quite striking. You’ll see the (huge) memorial of a young boy who “was loved by his dog,” more sorrowing women, a woman where rubbing her nipples is obviously a thing (the look on her face is a bit priceless given this), a mom mourned by her two young girls, M. Peretti star dancer of the Paris Opera (1905-1997), an unknown soldier where a little girl is writing his epitaph (“France remembers you” is (almost) finished), lovers “reunited” in death (their hands clasped above their headstones), etc.

More? Another woman beloved by her dog…A cemetery cat…some path photos…renowned artist Gericault…a woman who designed and put up her memorial but isn’t dead yet (yes, really – see her photo to the side of the white marble figure, in the dress sculpted?)…a man holding a guy emoting in what looks a bit like Cirque de Soleil kit (perhaps he was an actor?)…a ?writer? that we just thought looked like he’d be a blast to chat with….a pelican…a tomb opened up (and police taped) where you could see down about 15 feet, to the “shelves” where the caskets would have been stacked on top of one another into the grave (not sure where the caskets were)…an abandoned crypt of a Princess….a newly cleaned memorial of a mother and baby, which looked creepy encased in its plastic….a stern grave guardian…stained glass in an opened mausoleum with debris in it, but still containing the image in glass of the “inhabitant” buried in the 1800s…another princess/countess abandoned…a general brandishing a sword long ago stolen…a newly interred grave with bouquets of scented roses and tuberose…

I did find a place to leave a Herbert marble. La Memoire Necropolitaine. (I tried to pitch it in so that it would rest in the “V” under the plinth – Herbert had other ideas and it rolled all the way to the end then fell on the ground under the plinth.) You can scan the QR Code to find out more about it. It represents the work of two photographers, Anne Fuard and Andre Chabot, who have taken over 250,000 photos in cemeteries, to memorialize them, their “times,” etc. and give “a future to our past.” It was built into an abandoned chapel from 1850, topped by a pelican (my bird totem). The chapel once held the remains of a Ms. Kutsch, a member of the Austrian family who invented, in the late 18th century, the “Kutsh,” a type of ruler in the shape of a Toblerone bar that allows reading distances directly on a map. With film hanging off the barrier and film canisters clustered around a huge camera, the Austrian “heritage,” etc. it seemed like a perfect spot.

Now, for some really moving monuments. They represent the camps that Jews, children, resistance fighters, etc. were sent to. Auschwitz, Dachau, Mauthausen, etc. (The metal one is particularly children.) Note all the stones that have been left. If you didn’t know, you leave a stone at a Jewish grave, to demonstrate that the person buried has not been forgotten. When others notice the stones, they might take an interest in the person buried there too, making that person live on in them, too.

Whew, that just took about 5 hours to upload/write. As I have been asked a few times, YES, we are here to go to the Olympics. We went to our first venue, Men’s Finals in Trampoline, at the end of this day. It was amazing! We cheered. We gasped. (In the final medal round, a couple of the guys jumped off the apparatus – one at his 10th/final routine. Gah!) Okay, and we had a lovely meal at “our” Cafe, splitting the amazing burger with onion chutney (ya’ll have seen a photo of that), Cobb salad, and French onion soup that was *ah-may-zing.* (Not salty. Just enough cognac.) I had a Suze which I was quite sure Leann would gag at, and yes, she did. A mother’s intuition ha ha. She had a pina colada.

Day 10 – Rowing! (New Edit)

I know that this is an enormous blog post – and of course, seeing the Rowing finals for the men’s and women’s A, B and C singles (called “skiffs” in French) and the women’s and men’s 8s was to be a highlight.

It was.

After we got there.

Leann piloted us via Metro and Train to the correct station (helped by the pink carpet and the “pink finger folks” urging us on)…then we had at least a 2 mile walk (definitely 25 minutes) to the venue….! (Photos below – blog being recalcitrant and not letting me insert interstitially)

Men’s C singles U.S.A came in #1. Yay team!

The women’s scull from the Netherlands named after Laura, a gal on the MRA B’s, came in first by a *long* way. Yay, Laura!

We sang “Sweet Caroline” (dum-dum-DUM) with 1,000s of our besties (we sang a French song about the Champs Elysees last night at the Trampoline). HERE is a link if you have Facebook (I also posted some of the race videos on my page there).

USA women’s 8 came in 5th, USA Men’s 8 took Bronze. (The rower cheering behind us had taken Gold the day before for the U.S. and was there to cheer the other guys on.)

I took a lot of video that I posted to my rowing gang, so not 100% sure I can share it here. (The most fun part, frankly, is the “Sweet Caroline”.)

The Ament family came back to our hotel and we were able to squeak under the “deadline” of the highly-rated pizza place next door – and it was definitely great! (They’re closed 2-7 pm which is basically when Leann and I kept trying to go.)

Leann braved the market alone (I was working on this) and got us breakfast for tomorrow, and *the cutest* little baby outfit for a friend’s baby daughter.

Two photos, then I’m done. The first is of very well dressed “Minions” handing out the medals at the awards ceremony. The second is the guy making potato brochettes at the Rowing venue. NOM NOM. Time for bed! Might have some photos and maybe a video to add tomorrow. But then again – I might not 🙂

Step Count for yesterday: 18,592. Today’s: 14,359. Did have a foot issue this morning, but only because I was too embarrassed to ask for the Aments to slow down when walking back to the train. I have no pain if I take slow, about half-strides, which Leann finds comical as she “practiced” long strides at home to keep up with me 🙂

ADDED PHOTOS (yes, it’s now “the next morning”):

The “pink carpet” rolled out for us in the Metro, to help us get where we’re going
One of the “pink finger people.” Nous vous aimons!
A pretty bridge on the way to the rowing venue

And finally, some of Leann’s photos from yesterday – Laura’s boat for the win; launching the women’s 8; women’s medal ceremony (and Canadians rowing their boat back in their sweats with their medals on); Phryges; British audience member decked out in his boater, rowing jacket, and rowing tie; more potato brochette photos; pizza! (Once again having blog problems so it won’t let me re-order them . . . Suffice it to say . . . Audience or Road shots -> Launching -> Rowing -> Medals -> Potato spiral brochette -> Pizza 😉

Final edit on this is today (August 4th) – we are to Versailles, then beach volleyball at the base of the Eiffel Tower 🙂 Probably another ton of photos!

Day 8 – Il n’est rien de plus serious que le plaisir

Posted on by Sandy

There is nothing more serious than pleasure.

Before anything, it’s the first of the month: “Rabbit!”

Today we decided to have breakfast downstairs at our hotel. We have still been unable to get the Nescafé in our room to work, so having coffee/tea was a relief 🙂 They had a really nice spread, with croissants, pain au chocolat, fresh blueberry or lemon breads, baguettes, cheese/meats, yogurts, fresh fruit, fresh squeezed juice, etc.

We had slept in, with the idea that we would catch a taxi to Le Tour d’Argent just before our reservation, and then do a bit of walking (waddling?) after. Our taxi driver told us that Notre Dame is slated to be opened in December, and the Pope will come to re-consecrate it for Christmas! (How’s that for a little inside tidbit.)

We still wound up at the door 15 minutes early, but took some photos of the outside of the restaurant, plus of the cute little cafe that a restaurant had set up on the bridge across from Le Tour (Notre Dame/cranes in the background).

The Tour has been reconfigured since I was last there. I suppose every 20 years a restaurant should be allowed to change (ha ha). We sat in a lovely bar in the front waiting for the restaurant to seat us. I was happy? relieved? to see that a guy who had come in with a shirt and (black) jeans was made to put on a jacket. (No tie though – it was lunch, after all.)

We were given an “amuse bouche” in the bar of cold hibiscus-based tea, plus wee balls of a flash-frozen ?yogurt? enrobed celeriac “bomb.” (NOTE: I will be receiving a list of the exact menu of both the food and the wine, so this will be edited after I receive it.)

I bit into it first, and immediately said “you’re not going to be happy,” because Leann is not a huge celery lover. It was okay though 🙂 She said that her grandmother had had glasses with very similar etching on them. I mentioned perhaps it was time to get them out and serve hibiscus tea in them 🙂

We headed upstairs to the restaurant after an exceedingly short wait, and were seated at a table at the window. We marveled at the Seine below and the various barges and boats doing their business (and the cranes at Notre Dame, too). The first amuse bouche were cheese and peanut bombs, which (of course) I could not eat.

The garçon looked concerned when I reminded them that I had (twice) listed my fish and peanut allergy, which they had confirmed via email. They headed back to the maitre d’, who looked at our table, looked at a book, looked mad at himself…and sent the sommelier to give me more champagne. They could not easily give me a different amuse bouche, but after the next amuse bouche course (during which Leann received two “small bites” that did contain fish), the two fish-related “main” courses from the Chef’s Tasting Menu were replaced.

My amuse bouche (shown at the right) was an onion-chutney “taco-ish” thing (Leann had that too – her favorite), a torched corn one, and a carrot-citron one, with a spicy quinoa “pie” on the wee brick. Leann had some sort of fish stuffed in a green olive where I had the corn, and a “fish pie” where I had the quinoa one. As I mentioned above, I will be replacing this seriously lacking description once I receive the menu from the Tour 🙂

We had blanc de blancs champagne with these wee courses, and then I told the sommelier that I would have the wine course with the pairings, but that Leann would just have tastes of mine. (My sweet lightweight daughter LOL.) Once again, I will receive specifics on the wine choices in an email.

When I was at the Tour in my 20s with my then-boyfriend, the sommelier came to the table with a leather bound, hand written book containing all the wines in their cellar. I wrote a story a long, long time ago (when I was in my 40s and came back to Paris) about this experience, and how the Texan sitting next to us grabbed the wine book from the sommelier, who looked a bit apoplectic (“This book has not left our gloved hands for 200 years!”), asking whether they didn’t have any “California wine in there.”

Now, each table receives their own wine cellar list and can choose from it, either by the glass to pair with a course, or by the bottle. Every wine is in it – even the stratospherically-priced ones that have been in the cellar since the 1800s. I did tell the sommelier that I had passed the sommelier ranking, but that he should choose the wine pairings for the courses. I watched what he chose for me versus what he chose for another table, and “as promised” by my teachers, I received a different pairing than the “usual one.”

The next course was a cold soup that was very green and refreshing. I remember white truffle oil. It was paired with a white wine, and I’m just embarrassed to say that once they told me we would be receiving that email, I didn’t write anything down. I do remember that it had a honeyed nose, but on the tongue it had more of a gravel taste. Very interesting. Worked fantastically with the soup. I had Leann take a taste before having a bite, then after having a bite, to see how the flavors changed.

Our next course would have been a fish course; instead, we received the most amazing “egg bomb.” No, really. Amazing. It was a huge egg, that cut open to the perfectly runny yolk. I’m a bit unclear what sort of egg it was, but I tend to think duck or goose. Around the outside were garlic flowers, tiny Parmesan squares that exploded in your mouth when you got one, baby “rocket” (arugula), and zucchini and yellow squash shaved so thin you could see through them. The “sauce” was also (I think) zucchini-based, but we had no idea what the “green enrobing” over the egg was. Leann commented that in watching “The Bear,” she really now understood that every single morsel was placed exactly with tweezers. I told her the story of getting the chef’s table in the kitchen at Meadowood for Herbert’s 40th, and how the chef would examine not only each plate going out (“Yes, Chef!”), but also any plate that came back in with even a morsel of food left on it (“No, Chef!”)

The wine was a dry reisling. Yes, yes, I’m seriously embarrassed not to have written it all down as I usually do in my tasting book. <sigh> I did take a “potty break” at this moment, and Leann was quite impressed that a garçon came running to fold my napkin. 🙂

The following course on the Tasting Menu was another fish course, but we were really lucky to instead receive their foie gras. The waiter explained that this was The Three Emperors’ foie gras. (I’ve linked the story.) We received a seriously healthy portion (I think that the two tables next to us were jealous). It came with a gorgeous warm brioche, a port-reduction, and then a black truffle-related gelee and “the yellow one” (which we liked best). What a treat – !!! Now you’re going to ask me if it was served with a Sauternes, and I will tell you – nope. Something better. And nope – I can’t tell you what it was.

Next, of course, was the thing that The Tour is known for (well, except for the Three Emperors’ foie gras) – their pressed duck. Each diner receives the number of their duck on a special card. (These cards were specially-embossed for the Olympics.) Ours was #1187845 (the numbers started in 1890). The mini salad that accompanied the duck was just out of this world. I can’t wait to find out the ingredients 🙂 The only way I can explain it is as if it had a base of nopalitos, with that fresh/citrus-type flavor when you bit into the thickish “leaf.” I do know that the crunchy “curl” was mango. Let’s say for the tenth time how much I’d like to have that menu/wine email right this second . . .

Well let me take your mind off it . . . Speaking of the Olympics (I did – a sentence or three ago), just like Claude Terrail had had Notre Dame lit after the end of World War II because his windows were sad without it, The Tour had had a special dining experience both in the restaurant and on the roof for the Opening Ceremony.

The maitre d’ told us that the Moulin Rouge dancers had performed directly across the water from the restaurant, and then came to be with the guests. Perhaps this was the doing of Andre, Claude’s son, who now runs the restaurant? (Andre did come table to table – he was fine, but the maitre d’, who had worked for Claude, mentioned that Claude actually made each table feel like he knew them personally. I will 100% agree with this – that is how it was when we ate there in our 20s.)

After the duck, we opted to have the cheese course. An *enormous* wheel of Comte was waiting patiently in the corner for someone to desire it. 🙂 It was brought to our table, and the woman in the picture to the right exercised her biceps to cut us 5 large shavings. We were getting pretty stuffed by this time, so Leann and I took the three smallest, then (ahem) I ?hid? the remaining 2 in the case for my sunglasses 😉

Yes, yes I did. And yes, we visited the Tour d’Argent boulangerie, and obtained a baguette so that we could have a “picnic” dinner with the Comte, which I am eating now for dinner!

The cheese was followed by a “palate cleanser” made up of a crisp lime and basil “top” (a bit like what you’d break through for a crème brûlée), covering a zingy lime sorbet. Very delicious!

And then, the “actual” dessert, a raspberry deliciousness that I, once again, cannot tell you exactly what it was made up of, but tweezers were definitely involved and how, how delicious it was! The dessert was accompanied by four perfect, small truffles, each of which was an enormous explosion of chocolate goodness, “plus.” Leann and I had two different ones – my guess is hers had peanut butter in one, and then some sort of nut in the other. I do remember that one of mine was dark chocolate and raspberry, another was dark chocolate with some crunchy bits and gold on top, another was dark and darker chocolate, and another was (from memory) chocolate and strawberry.

At the end, Leann had a pot of tea, and I stymied the maitre d’ with my request for an espresso with a lemon peel twist. I gave the order to our waitress, who obviously thought she had mis-heard me. I explained it once again, making clear what I wanted. When she relayed it to the maitre d’, I saw him pick up his phone, out of the corner of my eye. Ah, Google! In French, it is an “espresso Romano,” and both he, and the waitress, said that between lunch and dinner, they would need to try it. It was pretty funny. (The maitre d’ actually brought it to our table to discuss it. That is when he told us about working for Claude Terrail.)

Sadly, all good things must end (and we couldn’t find a place for Herbert’s marble that I had in my pocket), and so we were escorted back down in the lift and bid “A bientot” (“See you soon”, versus Au Revoir – “Good bye”). We wish we had taken a photo of the lovely “doorman,” who looked like a gendarme with his silver “Tour” epaulettes, kepi, and long coat. He offered to call us a taxi, but we explained that we would be walking the Seine and visiting the bouquinistes. He said to come back when we needed that taxi. 😉

We visited a number of the bouquinistes along the Seine, though many, many were closed. As I believe I mentioned before, the Mayor had tried to have them shut down during the Olympics – and (as we were told at Angelina) had also “surrounded” a number of the businesses with barriers. Leann and I commented ruefully that it was exceptionally difficult to get to some of the small businesses along the Seine for that reason. We’re not quite sure what Mme La Maire was thinking, but the Olympics certainly has not been great for *them*!

We really wanted to be sure to patronize the artists and sellers that were open, so we each purchased some etchings, etc. for gifts. We then went to the boulangerie of the Tour d’Argent to get a baguette (to have with our purloined Comte cheese tonight), plus a croissant for me and a pain chocolat for Leann for the morning…and that’s all she wrote!

Day 7 – Angelina, walk walk walk, Louvre, walk walk walk, Cafe, walk walk walk, Lunch, nap

Posted on by Sandy

We purchased vouchers for Angelina before we left. What is Angelina? It’s The Place to get hot chocolate in Paris. Their hot chocolate is pretty much like drinking a molten chocolate bar 🙂 If you purchase a voucher, you get a super secret email address to get a reservation.

The last time I was in Paris, the line to get into Angelina was basically ridiculous. This time? We could have walked right in, even without our reservation!

The waitress told us that the road closures have made this the worst time for the restaurant since COVID (!) This makes me sad. If you’re in Paris – to Angelina with you!

And, I can tell you that Angelina was “all that.” Nom nom! We were told to dip the croissants in the hot chocolate – it’s so thick, that it’s like having an ‘enrobed’ croissant. The last photo in this gallery is the saddest. LOL.

After ogling their pastries (we came back and purchased a few on our way home), we were off on our Walk.

View of the shop (from the balcony to “Les Toilettes”)

It seems that most people are adopting the standard Parisian morning timing, because the streets were basically empty. We took a few photos of the Olympic “cauldron,” which is a combination of light and water. (When we walked past this area a few hours later, it was at least 10 people deep all along that fence. There was also a *huge* line to get into the Tuileries, which requires a ticket. That’s what the purple arches that say “Paris 2024” are for – they’re ticket scanners.)

Tonight we are supposed to have thunderstorms, so “la Vasque” will not “rise.” It is down during the day, but raises about 30 meters during the night, so that you can see it from all around Paris.

The Cauldron is right across from the Louvre. Our friend who we are meeting here in a few days purchased a visit to the Louvre, to go “for a couple hours” in between other events. Leann had asked me whether she should go with them. I put down a stern Mom Foot and said: “N-O.”

Once we got to the Louvre, there were a lot of Thank Yous from my little girl 🙂

The Louvre is H-U-G-E. Yes, I know, you “know” how “big” it is.

No, you don’t (unless you’ve been here). The Louvre is enormous. The Louvre isn’t just the city-block-surrounding buildings, but it’s also the entire block, underground (yes, Paris is hollow 🙂 ). If you’re going to go to the Louvre, pick an area (any area), and head there (only there), and you’ll be there for a few hours. From memory, last time my Mom went to the Louvre, she spent her Time Of Overwhelm in an inner museum just displaying snuff boxes ( 🙂 )

The Mona Lisa is behind inches of bullet proof glass, you can’t stop, and it’s like 8×10. The winged Victory is at the top of a staircase early on. Do you really go to museums to “check off a box”? (I hope not.)

So instead, I took Leann around the outside of the Louvre, including the inner courtyard, and then out the back. There was a line to take a photo of the Olympic rings in front of the Pyramid . . . But once you were past them and around the back, crickets. (On the first photo below (ahem) I used the Magic Eraser on my phone to make the people disappear. But just that one! The rest are from “around back” of the Pyramid, in the further courtyard.)

One of the great sculptures lounging around the Louvre walls
Note the date at the top…
I have a photo of her I took in my 20s 🙂 (I have been in Paris when 22, 42, and now 62!)

We went out the side arch in the back courtyard, and walked along the Seine to Notre Dame. The plywood surrounding the work that is still furiously going on has lots of the history, photos, etc. of the disaster and the rebuilding.

We even got to see a gargoyle flying into place!

From Notre Dame, we visited Messy Nessy, who has one of my favorite email “blogs” about Paris. Though when we had started the streets were pretty empty, the area around the Seine was definitely “crowding up.” A couple of streets in? No one.

Um, crowded…?
Water fountain on the street
Love locks on a bridge

We found a wonderful cafe, and had a huge liter of “gazeuse” water for Leann and a coffee for me. (Our coffee maker in the room isn’t working, sigh. So much for fancy dancy Nescafé.) I spent some time petting the cafe dog, named Swishy, because any time someone approached her, her tail wagged her entire body back and forth madly. 🙂

We were one of three occupied tables.

(Get off the beaten path, folks! Oh wait – don’t – ‘cos we’ll be there…)

A “letter” we found on the side of a garbage bin, on the Seine. Leann looked up the author, who said that he was traveling around Europe, but was “sure” that the “Olympic Cleaning Committee” would clean off his letter before the Games. Nope! Thanks, Jay!

We walked back to Angelina to get our delicious pastries for “elevenses” and discovered that if you have your voucher/bill from eating inside, you get 10% off anything you purchase in the shop. Score!

Leann was able to find some chachkis for work friends and a T-shirt for herself. We had walked past a bouquiniste with some attractive art that she was going to purchase on the way to Notre Dame…On the way back, he had closed. As she always says to me – buy it when you see it! Hopefully when we go back down that direction tomorrow (we have our lunch at the Tour d’Argent) we will find him again.

Taxis in Paris are also on Uber and are, in fact, *cheaper* than the “unlicensed” drivers. This is kind of genius. Our driver had an ice cold cab (did I mention it is unbelievably hot and humid?) and was playing jazz. Yes!

View from our room

The Team USA building (over $300 if you want to visit – no, a passport won’t get you in!) is about two blocks from our hotel.

We dropped our stuff off, and headed across the street to a Cafe that had gotten amazing reviews on TripAdvisor.

Once again – as our hotel is a bit off the beaten path – no wait. Indeed (as advertised) it was one of the best burgers and fries ever. Paired with a delicious green salad (and a glass of Prosecco), definitely a big win.

We shared the above pastries – on the left is a strawberry and cream lovely (that is a bit worse for wear from our gallivanting), and the “Mont-Blanc” – a meringue topped with “light” cream, and then chestnut “vermicelli.”

Back to our hotel room for a snooze – then to wrap up in our robes and slippers to upload the photos from the day. After eating our Angelina delights, time to write Ze Blog for ya’ll to share our day! HERE is a link to a lot of photos of our hotel – if you page through them, the “split queen” with the art that is a photo of a sculptural “frieze” with an angel is our room – the photos of the wood-“tiled” bathroom with the double sink is our sink. We were wondering about the rooms on the top floor – those are the ones pictured with the verandas, etc.! DEFINITELY lovely!!!! We didn’t take any photos in our room or hotel, so glad that I found these!

OH, and since you asked ( 🙂 ), here are our “step totals” from the beginning of our trip (from Leann’s Apple Watch):

July 27 (Saturday): 23,150

July 28 (Sunday): 7,729 (such slackers)

July 29 (Monday): 13,695

July 30 (Tuesday): 3,901 (train day)

July 31 (Wednesday) – today – Harry Potter’s birthday – 12,030

I’ll try to update this at the bottom of the blog post from now on 🙂 I am taping my foot and wearing my brace, but it’s amazing to me how great my bad foot is being. I’m relieved!

Day 6 – And away we go!

Posted on by Sandy

Sadly, today was our day to leave London. We packed last night (after a bit of a lay down after the Ripper tour), so it was pretty easy to get up and out.

Leann had her last black cab ride. Above is a shot out of the glass roof.

Gay was kind enough to come back up to take us out to breakfast! Gay and I had a champagne breakfast (her with Eggs Benedict, me with blueberry pancakes), and Leann had her first Full British Breakfast, complete with grilled tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, streaky bacon, black pudding, etc.

Gay sat with us while we waited on the Eurostar line to open up – as usual, my passport didn’t scan, so I had to go to “a real person” and get checked in. Leann had been looking to get her passport stamped (which hadn’t happened at Heathrow); when she got trapped between the two doors that are supposed to scan you in and then out, so she, too, had to go to the “real person.” And we both got our passports stamped! So that wasn’t such a bad thing.

The train was packed – lots of folks heading over to the Olympics. A few photos of the “Train Trivia” that popped up.

We had heard from our black cab driver the other day that we should visit the St. Pancras hotel, especially the stairway, which has been featured in many music videos, including the Spice Girls’ first big hit. Since we hadn’t been able to really go exploring, Gay took some photos around the station and hotel for us. She said that staircase was as impressive as it had been advertised!

This was a standing poster at King’s Cross Station in front of the Harry Potter store. People would walk up and take photos with (ahem) their fingers up Charles’ nose. Poor Charles. He looks a little confused that he’s finally made it.

We’re now in the Hotel Marais Grands Boulevards. It is one of the top “Clef Verte” (Green Key) hotels in France, in a neighborhood in the Marais, and seems to be accessible to the Metro and many other things. There is a cute cafe, a pizza place, and a burger place with amazing reviews; there is also a grocery across the street. (There are also hair salons literally every block – perhaps not so much for cutting as for braiding?) Have to say – it is HOT, and HUMID! As soon as we stepped off the train it was like walking into a wall. Thank goodness the hotel has both A/C and blackout curtains (since our room faces due West.

We’re now watching the Olympics on TV, though (whut-WAHH), we can’t find anything in English and my VPN/Xfinity remote doesn’t seem to be working to get us alternative channels. We had gotten quite fond of the BBC reporters and the Great Britain team, plus they did a lot of coverage of the U.S. Team. Now, we’re just getting the French team, which isn’t quite as great, since our French isn’t really up to snuff to understand what they’re discussing, and the French are doing well in sports where we’d rather watch something else. Handball…More handball…(Who knew?)…plus we’ve seen the French swim, judo, dive, play basketball, etc. But it’s not against teams that we care about. (WHO SAID THAT?!) We did get to watch some of the rowing when we were waiting on the train, however, which was great.

Day 5 – Harry & Jack

Posted on by Sandy

Our two tours today were a Harry Potter Tour (3 hours) and a Jack The Ripper Tour with “Rippervision” (1 hour). We arrived at King’s Cross Station *way* early, so hung around until the store opened/we were able to get our picture taken. 🙂

At King’s Cross Station

Here are some photos from inside the Harry Potter store! Got the gal with the Harry Potter license plate (in the rowing parking lot – long story!) a few things, got my mom some Hogwarts socks, and myself a Ravenclaw coffee mug. No, I don’t need another coffee mug, but it’s a super good size and – hello – Ravenclaw 😉

One of the things that you can see now and again are pieces from the Blitz, up on the sides of buildings:

…but back to the tour. Our tour guide, Sam, was absolutely fantastic. As you can see from the picture, he gets asked by kids on the tour whether he’s a Weasley. (He just says yes.)

We only had a handful of people on the tour, which was great. No young kids, and everyone “kept up.” One pair was a mother and daughter from Germany (though the tour was in English), then the other family were from Salinas – a Mom (not a Potter fan), Dad, and their daughter who had turned 21 the day before.

One of the first things Sam talked about was that when Rowling had written the books, she was on the third book before she “realized” that she had set the railway station to get to Hogwarts at King’s Cross – the station she actually had had in mind was the next one down the line – Euston Station. By that time, however, there were a million books out…so…King’s Cross it is!

The mythical “Platform 9-3/4” is actually next to Platform 5. We also learned that, when Harry and Ron missed the train to Hogwarts and “borrowed” Mr. Weasley’s car to get there instead, St. Pancras station (right across the road) was “nicked” as they flew by.

run for Platform 9-3/4 this way!
Sam holding photo of the flying car over St Pancras
St Pancras Station top tower (they must have fixed the “nick” ha)

We left King’s Cross and got on the Tube to Leicester Square. It’s *far* easier than it was the last time I was in London – you can just tap your credit card on the turnstile.

King’s Cross Station

From Leicester Square, we walked to Goodwin’s Court, which was used as Nocturne Alley in the movie. If you don’t recall, Harry was trying to use floo powder to get to Diagon Alley, but accidentally apparated here. People actually *live* on this street, so only one tour group can go through at a time and you have to be quiet. (It is apparently utilized all the time in movies and “period pieces.”). Note the Gryffindor door knocker – we both smiled at the sign. The bottom photo was the back window of a Mexican restaurant that backed on the street, advertising that people should come in to catch the “golden empanada.”

We saw a few other London sights and our fantastic guide told us little snippets of knowledge that I have now edited into the first 2 days of the blog! We learned quite a bit at Trafalgar Square. Admiral Nelson had won the battle of Trafalgar against Napoleon (though Nelson died and Napoleon lived). Because his crew loved him so much, they wanted to get Nelson’s body back from Spain to the U.K. – but it was a long, hot trip. So, they put his bottle into a barrel of brandy (never a shortage of alcohol on British ships.) Unfortunately, the wind being what it was pre-motor-driven ships, they ran out of brandy in the *other* casks before they got home. So, yes . . . They drank the brandy out of that cask. So, to this day, when you pour the brandy out of the bottle, it’s called ‘Tipping the Admiral.’

The statues were made from re-using metal from the battle
Gringott’s! (Actually, the South African embassy – the inside of Gringott’s is actually the basement of the Australian embassy – yes – even the chandelier!
These stanchions are recycled cannons from the Battle of Trafalgar
This statute of King George I is actually the exact center of London.
The sculptor commissioned to make the lions had only seen a painting of a lion’s face. He used that for their faces – but his Labrador for the body. So they are actually lionbradors 🙂

While the statue of King Charles I is the center of London, he was beheaded and replaced by a “Republic” led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell, however, abolished drinking, dancing, celebrating Christmas…so the “Republic” lasted a few years, then *he* was hung and King Charles II re-took the throne. People were pretty upset about their forced Puritanism, however, so once King Charles II was coronated, they dug Cromwell back up, beheaded him, and put his head on a pike at Buckingham Palace for all to see!

Leann and I had seen this sculpture honoring the Women of World War II the other day, and Sam told us some facts about it. As you can see, it represents the “uniforms” or clothing worn by all the women, who took on the jobs that the men who had gone to war would have performed. (Of course, unfortunately, once they came back, they were expected just to “hang up” those clothes, as you can see here.) Women built the Waterloo Bridge (also known as the “Ladies’ Bridge”) and Sam told us that it was the only bridge that came in on time and under budget!

We headed over to the Scotland Yard area next. This is where they filmed Hermione, Ron and Harry taking Polyjuice potion to disguise themselves and enter the Ministry of Magic. I’m re-enacting the Polyjuice drinking – Leann is reenacting Ron acting as a lookout.

This was in the background when they were hiding and drinking the Polyjuice.

We stopped at the theatre showing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – J.K. Rowling’s play takes place after the end of the last book, and involves Harry and Draco’s children. It’s six hours long (!!) – in London, they are still sticking to that, though they have split it into a matinee and then an evening performance. In America, they have shortened it down to three hours! Sam said that it is really worth a see, and that parts of it are even frightening for adults. He also showed us the “same day” box offices, where you can purchase the tickets that haven’t been sold by the various theatres. Tickets ran from about 20-35 pounds, where the actually first-run shows are a multiple of that.

The tour is “A to B” so we did not end at King’s Cross. When we were getting back on the Tube, Sam mentioned that the inside of the Underground had been used many, many times in science fiction movies, especially in Star Wars (and that’s why Star Wars always premieres in London). The station below was used in scenes from Rogue One, episodes 8 and 9.

We had to go back to the room to recover from the walking (Leann’s Apple Watch logged 13,548 steps). After some power napping on Leann’s part (and photo uploading and blog drafting on my part), it was time to get back out and try to spend our pounds!

At the initial restaurant, we were first seated under a cold wind blowing down on the table. Once re-seated, we noticed that the menu proclaimed “CREDIT CARDS ONLY”! (What??) We blamed leaving on how cold the restaurant was, and headed out to try to find a pub to check off Leann’s “eat at a pub” bucket list.

Speaking of cold/warm, it has been the most incredible weather ever in London. All our guides have been commenting on it! It was probably about 28C/82F today, and is going up to *32C* in London tomorrow – !!! (Double it and add 30 for Fahrenheit – it will be within about 2*)

We wound up at “The Coal Hole,” a pub right next to the Savoy. It advertised “Standard Pub Fare,” and didn’t disappoint.

Leann reminded me that one ordered with the bartender at a pub, paid, then the food came out to you. I ordered a chicken pie for her, beef rib and wine for me, and a lager. Then, I taught Leann how to eat “The English Way” – in other words, stabbing a piece of food, then piling the other tastes up the back of the fork “behind” it. We both remarked that, while completely foreign, the fork *does* fit better in your mouth that way!!

Our guide

Our final tour of the evening was a Jack The Ripper Tour with “Rippervision.” Can’t say that I can recommend it, frankly. The group was exceptionally big and, though the guide was super knowledgeable as a “historian and 35 year Ripperologist,” it was really too bright out for the “Rippervision” (he used a book of photos until the very end, and even then it didn’t work that well).

I guess what we had expected was something more like … movies?…showing what it was like? Not quite sure. But it was just projections (of the same photos that the guide had in the book), made on a wall. They’re photos you’ve likely seen before, if you have any interest in Jack the Ripper (which I do). The advertising photographs in Get Your Guide for this tour were *definitely* misleading. The guide also projected the photos (touted as “Rippervision”) onto walls and columns, and often they were impossible to see. As I said – frustrating.

Some of the things that we found out was that it was 4 pence to stay in a “doss house” for the night (in a shared bed), or you could pay 2 pence to sleep standing up with your arms over a rope. The rope would be cut down at 6 a.m. This is where the term “hangover” comes from.

Jack London had come down to this area, and wrote People of the Abyss about the inhabitants.

Another frustrating issue (which I will state in a review, likely) is that the bulk of the actual historical areas are long gone. So, you stood in a (completely empty) huge retail area that Boris Johnson had built (having razed the beautiful 1800s buildings that were there), and were told “well, this is what used to be here.” It happened time and time again. In actual fact, the only 2 things that you saw that were original to the Jack The Ripper story was the 10 Bells Bar, and an alley where the women would “duck in” to “earn their money.” (And apparently still do today…guide told us not to lean against the walls. Eeeee-yew!)

There were dozens and dozens and DOZENS of people doing “Jack the Ripper” tours in the area. Honestly – at least six, seven groups (and our group alone had 40+). Considering basically *none* of the places that you imagined you would see are even in existence any more…would I say that *any* “Ripper tour” is worth it? Not really. The area is too gentrified to see anything original – which meant that what you saw were photos in a book of the areas. Readily available via Google. Hmm.

The guide kept us standing for about half an hour at the end, running through his theory of who the Ripper had been. He made a convincing argument, but standing for that long was *exhausting*! Worse, there were both stairs and a bench area where he could have had us all sit down. Suffice it to say, it sounds like the Johnny Depp movie “From Hell” espouses his theory – so we might want to rent that when we get home.

The photos below are from the tour – clockwise from the top:

*The Ten Bells Bar (named for the 10 bells in the church to its right). Our guide had lived above it for a while in the ‘90s and told us stories about the Victorian woman ghost in green…

*The headstones that were pulled up to make a park next to the church, no, the bodies were not dug up…and it became a place for the homeless to sleep in the filth and rats….

*A Society run for free by nuns (Women in one door, Men through another – just not enough beds)…

*One of the few alleys in the area still somewhat how it was back in Jack The Ripper’s time (and used partially for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter)….

*A store I just loved! “A noted house for Paper Bags”!!….

*homes (now selling for over L6 million) originally built by silk weavers – the glassed in areas at the top were where they set up their looms, situated to take best advantage of the sun….

*Corner house of these houses featured in Enola Holmes, TV show with Millie Bobby Brown playing Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister (super fun)…aaaaand…

*Some Elephants. 😉

Leann and I caught an Uber back to the hotel…Though the walk ended close to one of the Tube stations, we couldn’t face being on our feet for even one more second. Frankly, I’m a little concerned what our final tally will look like for transport, as we have been using my credit card. Due to our hotel not being super close to a Tube station, we have chosen to use Uber or black cabs the bulk of the time – which are, of course, far more expensive than going underground.

Things we wanted to get to but just didn’t:

*St. Martin-In-The-Fields “tea in the Crypt”

*Harrod’s

*Sketch London

*Portobello Road Market…

Just not enough time (or, rather, not enough time when we wanted to be on our feet!)

Time to pack!!

Day 4 – Tower, History, Shopping, Chatting, Siesta, Tea, Brian

Posted on by Sandy

Catching up from last night . . .

Leann was off to the Tower of London for the Ceremony of the Keys and fish and chips, while I updated the blog and backed up our photos. (Fish was “meh,” but the chips with malted vinegar = a HUGE win!)

The Ceremony of the Keys has taken place to secure the tower every night for 800 years. They have been right on the dot except for one night due to the bombing of London in World War II… Though they did still do it, it was just “a bit late that night.”

tower bridge in daylight
The tower
And the lights come up
An “archer” at the turrets!

A snap of Leann’s Beefeater guide…

The “Queen’s gate” (they brought the queens by boat to the Tower).

Below, Anne Boleyn’s “grave marker” to the left of where she was buried – not a headstone, because she was guilty of treason which meant that she had to be buried in an “unmarked grave.” (Henry VIII’s wives’ heads were never found when the bodies were exhumed – ? Whaaaat ?)

The pillow below is the exact spot where they did the “private” executions. (The others were done on a hill outside the building.)

Leann learned that the Tower had historically emptied their sewerage into the moat area. Per the architect it had been engineered so that the Thames would wash in and clean it out. However . . . it was too deep, so the sewerage just sunk to the bottom! Suffice it to say that moat’s stench was *definitely* the biggest defense of the Tower!

Crazy story: The Tower chapel was first, of course, Catholic. When the Pope wouldn’t give King Henry VIII a divorce . . . he invented the Church of England. The below baptismal font was broken up into three pieces and “hidden” by the priests into the crypt of the builder of the chapel at the tower (above); he and his wife were supposed to be buried in that chapel, but by the time they died, Henry decided “no Catholics” would be buried in “my church.” Therefore, it was “vacant” – so the priests hid the baptismal font there. When the chapel was being renovated they open up the crypt and – surprise! – there was the font!

The next morning (this morning) we were off to meet my friend Sharyn at The British Museum.

Here’s our lovely doorman Philip! (With a few double decker busses to boot!)

Our timing couldn’t have been better! Though we had specifically-timed tickets, so did dozens and dozens and DOZENS of others on line! Sharyn queued up while we were taking our Uber to the museum, and we stepped out of the car literally right as she approached the entry gates! Well done!

The British Museum is basically a testament to Imperialism. What can I say? Although some of the items that I’d seen the last time I was in London have been repatriated (King Tut’s items for example), others have not. There are lots of arguments on both sides. The pollution in Greece would have destroyed the marble of the friezes. If you put the items back where they came from, you’d have to build such infrastructure to protect the items that it would be a hardship on the repatriated country . . . Et cetera. (My friend Sharyn offered that perhaps we should give free private visits to every Egyptian, Greek, First Nations, etc citizen…)

There’s a new (to me) entry area with a fantastic dome ceiling (see below). The entire center is the bookstore. We flicked through some amazing books, including one you could buy and “find” items in the British Museum, following a “mystery written by” Watson (of Sherlock Holmes fame). What a great way to get people to really visit galleries other than just the Rosetta Stone! 😉

Since you asked, here is a close up of the Rosetta Stone. (Follow the links if you don’t know why it is important LOL.)

I had to visit the Japanese wing, considering my new obsession with Iaido. What’s that? Well, kinda Japanese samurai swordsmanship. HERE is a link to my notes (so far). Just a couple weeks ago I moved up to a metal sword from wood YAY ME 😉

The Scroll of the tortoises you see below was a collaboration of artists that included, at top, a then-80 year old samurai, next his 2 sons, then 7 of his compatriots, each showing his personality in “their” tortoise.

The priceless ancient items also have more modern art interspersed with them, such as the hand-carved vase of stone “feathers” from an artist in the ‘80s (yes, *19*80s). Amazing!

From Japan to Egypt…

some Greek/Assyrian/etc. …

Then, of course, some sweet and coffee!

We left the British Museum to one of the honestly most beautiful days I have ever seen. (Sharyn must have commented on it about 50 times 😉 .)

A few wonderfully British things we saw:

Gargoyles!

Unfortunately Leann is having real issues with her knee, so we let her lead the walk, heading towards Covent Garden.

BOY did I want a “swordstick” or a “dagger cane”! So so sadly, store was closed…

Every now and again Sharyn would wind up back in front, and I now know how Leann feels when she walks with me . . . I kept having to comment, “Slow down, Turbo . . . “ (to her laughter).

Another Harry Potter store. A Nimbus 2000, already wrapped to ship? Or, a niffler, anyone?

We discussed when Sharyn had been a city planner, and how she remembered London saying that they were going to “clean up” the awful Covent Garden area and turn it into . . . What it is now. We talked a lot about how visionary folks like that have to be!

We moseyed back to The Strand Palace, and had a “chatting siesta” – Leann had a siesta, Sharyn and I chatted 🙂

After changing into our appropriate tea outfits, Leann and I were off to Champagne High Tea at the Palm Court at Langham. As soon as you enter the hotel, you breathe in their exclusive ginger lily perfume. We were 20 minutes early for our reservation, but they happened to have a *fantastic* table in a corner “niche,” so we were able to, well, basically begin early and stay late! 🙂

We had a lovely tea, trading Darjeeling 2nd flush for Assam for a Chinese tea that I *promised* to remember the name of and, of course, do not (it sounded like Assam…) – Ali Shan! (Gorgeous, floral tea. Wow. Leann had 2 pots! 🙂 )

Their version of a “Ploughmans” was actually my favorite of *both* high teas we had enjoyed – a pear and date chutney, a super beautiful Pitchfork white cheddar, and a cheese scone – YUM! HERE is the menu!

Ultimately, we picked our purses up off the “purse footstools” and headed back to the concierge area.

We had had a bit of a tease with the doormen before heading in. We’d asked one about the amazing, spicy ginger lily scent wafting through the atrium. He told us that the other doorman was “even using it as an aftershave,” but he wasn’t “quite sure” that he was “ready for that.” I quipped “didn’t he know” that the “most handsome ones” don’t need to “do things like that…?”

Well, upon leaving the tea, the doorman I had “kidded” actually presented. Leann with a bottle of the ginger lily cologne! (L30!) We were so surprised and truly, ridiculously, gobsmack-ed-ly thankful! 🙂

The doorman on the right was the gift-giver.

The day was just too lovely not to take a bit of a walk through the area. Ultimately, however, I hailed a black cab to save Leann’s poor knee for tomorrow’s tours (a 3 hour Harry Potter one, followed by a visit to Harrod’s but then back to the hotel for some work, and finally a Jack the Ripper tour that evening).

On Leann’s “bucket list” had been riding in a black cab with suicide doors.

We don’t think that people really realize how big of a deal it is to get your London black cab “medallion.” The cabbie must pass an exceptionally difficult test, called “The Knowledge.” They sit in a chair and the examiner tells them their starting and ending point, and the nascent cabbie must list every street and stop light passed on the way. Cabbies also need to know landmarks for the customers, and pass a written test that includes a map of London with “fake streets” you must suss out.

Though we’ll admit to taking Uber the bulk of the time (it’s cheaper and hey, has an app) – well – it’s just a drive “from place to place.” The Uber drivers don’t know the landmarks; they generally just follow their GPS/don’t really know how to get “around situations,” etc. (We’ve asked our Uber drivers a few times about a landmark, etc and unfortunately, we’re just lucky if they speak English.) Black cab cabbies drive until they’re done with it, but then have a pension for life.

(As an aside, the black cabs now have a glass ceiling, so you can see out both the windows and the top! 🙂 )

Cue our cabbie on the way home, Brian. He was lovely, chatty, knew the landmarks, and even gave us some admonishments for our trip to Paris. (“Don’t accept anyone at the train station that asks if you need a cab – they are scabs! There, cabbies are like us, licensed ones can’t solicit you, you can only hail them. They also have to wait in a specific stand. So just ignore anyone who approaches you. You promise me, right? Right?!”)

Another bit of knowledge – Did you know why the black cab is shaped the way it is? So that a six foot tall man with a bowler hat could get in without removing his hat (truth!)

At the end, though he “could git in tru’ble for dis!,” Brian set up these photos for us once we reached the hotel. Bravo, Brian! The perfect end to the perfect day!!!