We said our goodbyes to the City of Lights knowing that we will probably be back someday so it was not sad at all.
We started our last day in the city at church and then visited the Musée Jacquemart-André. This is a small museum with a permanent collection of decorative arts. They also were hosting an exhibit Desires & Pleasure in Victorian times. “This exhibition invites you to discover the famous artists of England’s Queen Victoria: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912), Sir Frederic Leighton (1830-1896), Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) and Albert Moore (1841-1893). Through fifty exhibits, these artists have in common to celebrate the “cult of beauty.”
It was a lovely museum and the exhibit was beautiful.
Our brunch was very tasty. We enjoyed salad with ham, poached egg, and warm potato salad. The negative was the dessert….I left mine on my plate. It was awful. Can you imagine? In France?
The rest of the day was spent packing and spending quality time with Petey Jones. We will miss this fur ball.
This was a wonderful three months. It is hard to believe we went so many places: Prague, Kutna Hora, Budapest, Berlin, Paris, Chartres, Normandy, Strasbourg, Brussels, Rixensart, & Antwerp. Which was your favorite?
We knew we were home when we saw “Our Wall.” Some people have their favorite songs, their favorite restaurant, but we have a wall. Last year we had the privilege of “travel testing” the new International Concourse at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. This was such a fun activity. We were instructed to each pack a suitcase (Robert loaded the linen closet in his bag) and arrive at the terminal ready to travel. We were scheduled to go to China and ended up going to Scotland (which was just a hallway in the airport). We also had a scavenger hunt to complete. We located restrooms, first aid, the chapel, shopping, and restaurants. As we were leaving we were interviewed by the AJC after they snapped this photo…at our wall!
Thanks for taking this trip with us. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
It is good to be home.
PS – We have the BEST friends and neighbors! Our neighbors have been great to keep us updated about our house and the neighborhood. Thanks Mary Lou, Cindy and Charlotte! Yesterday we discovered both cars had dead batteries so our neighbor lent us a battery charger. Thanks Cecil! Because we had no car and no groceries I had to beg a ride to the grocery store. Thanks Madeline! And a huge thanks to Erin, our house sitter.
Our last week in Paris…..these past three months have been wonderful…. But we are ready to return home.
Last Sunday we got an early start so we decided to walk to church. We have been attending church at The American Cathedral In Paris. It was a lovely service with a children’s sermon about Epiphany. The children were very animated and involved in helping the Wise Men “find Jesus.”
After a quick lunch we got on the Metro to visit a Brocante market. We struck out on finding this one. Apparently we are not very good at finding these markets. We have managed to find 2 out of 4 advertised markets on this trip.
After the failed flea market trip we decided to return to the Cluny to see The Lady and the Unicorn. The tapestry was touring in Korea when we visited last month. It was well worth the return visit. The colors of the refurbished tapestry were stunning.
We stopped by the Louis Vuitton store for a photo shoot. People line up very early in the morning to get a shopping time at this store. I’m not sure why because everything is beyond my budget. But it was great fun to look.
Later in the week we visited the Cartier Exhibit at The Grand Palais. The exhibit covered the history of Cartier and Cartier’s influence on the decorative arts. The display of all jewels, dresses, and memorabilia was exquisite. I especially loved all the tiaras.
We have continued to get up and walk every morning. The weather at home has been bitterly cold at the beginning of the week and today was wet and warm with tornado warnings. The weather here has been beautiful. The trees even think it is spring time. The cherry blossoms are blooming as well as many other shrubs and trees. We had hoped to see snow. Maybe it will snow in Georgia!
Tomorrow we are going to church and then visiting the Jacquemart-André Museum. We have heard this museum has beautiful displays and a nice cafeteria….brunch for us!
Our flight home is Monday afternoon so I don’t plan to post again until we get settled in at home….Excited!
Christmas in Paris with our children and grandchildren…. a perfect way to celebrate Christmas. Our family arrived in Paris December 23rd. They requested we not let them go to sleep on day one, so we took them to La Défense Christmas Market. The pink orb tree was a popular photo opportunity.
Christmas Eve was rainy and overcast. We slept a little late and got out in the rain about noon. We headed to Montmarte to visit the Sacre Coeur and the fabric stores in the area.
Christmas Day was very quiet. We slept in, enjoyed a family breakfast and opened gifts. Dinner included roti poulet, roasted vegetables, green beans, and fig tart. If you want to try baking a fig tart click here. If you can’t find figs (or don’t like figs) I think apricots or pears would work just as well. This was so tasty we made it twice!
The rest of the week flew by….. The children went to Versailles, Saint Chappelle, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Conciergerie, and surrounding sites. We did enjoy visiting Les Invaildes and The Army Museum with them as we had seen the other sites many times. The boys loved the guns and body armor.
One extra special highlight was a trip to Disneyland Paris. It was a great day but really, really cold. We had no idea it would be as cold as it was but we dealt with the wet, bitter temperatures and totally enjoyed the day. We decided the Happiest Place on Earth was also the Coldest Place on Earth!
Avery the Wizard!
Benji took this picture!
New Year’s Eve was another quiet day around here. Everyone was worn out and needed down time.
January 1st was not only the New Year; it was also Benjamin’s 11th birthday. We celebrated with a late lunch at Café du Marche, a trip to the Eiffel Tower, a ride on the Carousel, and a walk through the Trocadero Christmas Market.
A few weeks ago we took the train to Belgium to visit our friends Kathy and Robert Ludwigs. Kathy always provides a “tourist program” for us…and they are always fun.
First on the Brussels agenda was hot chocolate at the King of Spain restaurant. Then we wandered through the Christmas Market that was in the middle of old town. It was chilly but not too cold.
We saw this vendor demonstrating his story puppets. There was a class of young students (and teachers) who really enjoyed his show!
The carousel was a piece of art work. It looked like Jules Verne, Star Wars and all sorts of fantastical creatures all rolled into one huge carousel. Kathy thought it might scare a young child…and it might!
Kathy had promised Robert H. raclette for dinner. I’m sorry we did not take a picture of it because it was tasty and fun. Have you ever eaten raclette? Kathy and Robert Ludwigs introduced us to raclette a few years ago. We call it entertainment food because you cook it at the table on a small grill. A little bit like fondue but it is with potatoes, meat,cheese,pickles, onions and a grill. Let us know if you want to try it and we will invite you over for dinner.
This museum is new, having just opened in September. It is the antithesis of Ellis Island, NYC. The Red Star Line Museum takes you on a journey as if you were an emigrant leaving your home and traveling to the New World. It is very well documented and the displays are wonderful. I wish there had been more English translations for us but we managed without them. They even had an electronic database where you could look up your ancestors to see if they traveled on a Red Star Line ship.
Do you remember seeing this Flash Mob from Antwerp? It was filmed in this train station. It is such a beautiful station with great glass windows and fancy trim work.
We made a quick stop at the Chocolate Line Kitchen to look and get warm.
Saturday found us enjoying a lazy morning and then heading to Brussels to visit the Tram Museum in the afternoon. We saw trams from horse drawn days all the way to today’s modern trams. After touring the museum we rode an antique tram on some of the older tracks in town. There were a lot of tram enthusiasts on the tram….sort of like our model railroad clubs at home, but these men were tram buffs. It reminded us of the saying, “Boys and Their Toys.”
One very important highlight of our trip was getting to meet Niklas, Kathy and Robert’s grandson. Niklas and his parents stopped by for a few minutes on their way home from a visit with Saint Nicholas. Niklas will become a big brother in February. Kathy and Robert are thrilled!
Sunday was the last day of our visit. We loaded the car and drove into town to peruse the flea market and antique stalls. We all enjoyed looking but did not find anything we “had to have.” Lunch was a rustic quiche and a light beer. We ate in a restaurant that overlooked the flea market. The entire roof was glass which helped keep us warm. We figured it would be miserable in the summer.
We returned home to Paris tired and happy. Not too tired though, as we got up bright and early Monday morning and took the train to Strasbourg, France to visit MORE Christmas Markets. There are about 12-15 markets in the Old Town. The crowds were not too bad but it was still very busy. We did a lot of looking. I think all we bought was a few Christmas ornaments. I would love to return to Strasbourg in the spring time of the year. It is a gorgeous city. Another reason to visit in the spring…it was FREEZING in December!
Our children and grandchildren arrived in Paris December 23rd to spend Christmas with us. That will have to be another post.
Parcs are serious business in Paris. There are over 400 parcs in Paris. There are a great variety of parcs and most are easy to access via public transportation. Some are restful and secluded; others are mainly for recreation and exercise. As I said, parcs are serious business!
Parc Monceau is very crowed with runners and joggers on Saturdays so we decided to visit a less traveled parc. Promenade Plantée is built on a viaduct with footbridges traversing streets below. This unique promenade spans 4.5 km from Place de la Bastille to Bois de Vincennes.
Even though it is fall/winter weather here there are still some beautiful plant sightings. Most of the leaves have fallen but that gives you a glimpse of the “bones” of the garden.
It was so beautiful!
Rose bushes were plentiful.
This looked like holly but the blossoms were yellow.
There were several places that had exercise equipment for use on one’s journey.
Pretty cool!
Bee hives are at home in most every parc in Paris.
Walking across the bridge we saw this apartment building.
When we win the Georgia Lottery it will be our perfect nest in Paris!
More stunning plants.
This parc is going to have a Christmas Tree display in partnership with the New York City High Line Park. We can’t wait to return and see the designer trees.
We have friends from home visiting us for a few days. Bob and Nancy Hart are from Athens Georgia. (Say Hi to them Paula Galland!)
As we talked and visited last night Nancy asked us why we do all this traveling. I’m not really sure ….. but I do know it is all about Celebrating Life’s Journey, making memories and enjoying traveling while we can. There will come a time when we are unable to hop on a plane, train, or bus and go anywhere we want so it is important we take advantage of out travel time while we can.
I also want to thank those of you who are traveling vicariously with us. It means a lot to us when you comment and share your thoughts and experiences.
The first Sunday of the month many museums in Paris are free. We decided to take advantage of the savings and visit a few.
We started our day at the American Church in Paris. It was a beautiful service with a wonderful handbell offertory. They played “The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came”, one of my favorites!
After lunch we visited the Musee de Cluny. The Cluny is the home to The Lady and the Unicorn. The Lady and the Unicorn is a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late fifteenth century, Unfortunately, “The Lady” has been traveling while they renovate her home space. She returns from Korea December 18th. We have marked our calendar to return in January to see her restored and hanging in her new home.
We did get to see some great statues, tapestries, and stained glass windows. They also have a good collection of religious icons and jewelry.
Here is a sampling of some of the Cluny collection.
We returned home to rest and enjoy dinner. Once it got dark we rode the bus to the Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to get pictures from the top at night time. It was not chilly at all and the lights were beautiful. I am so glad I don’t have to drive in Paris. The traffic is crazy!
Happy Birthday, Benjamin!
