Au revoir, Paris!

Today is our final full day in Paris; we leave by train tomorrow afternoon for Rouen where we pick up a car to go on our road trip. We've had very busy, tiring days every day in Paris; however, it's been grand. I thought that the Louvre was "vast" seeing it from the water, I had no idea until I was actually on the grounds how big it is. I know it's probably a two-mile stretch from one end of the Louvre through the Tuilleries Gardens. We went by boat and foot--lots of foot!

So far we've only eaten two meals indoors. All the rest have been enjoyed sitting along busy sidewalks. The weather has been wonderful--we couldn't have asked for better weather. Our servers have been friendly and helpful (one last night has a master's in finance from Berkeley!), and we're understanding the menus and enjoying the food and Robin's appreciating the fact that in France wine is almost as available as water and not as expensive as Coke or tea! No iced tea though. I'm having withdrawals! Also, no Cheerios, but I found Special K here in the hotel for breakfast. They also serve baskets and baskets of breads, lots of cheese, and meats like salami and ham--this is probably more than you want to know!

Today we headed to Montmartre--a bohemian area on the top of the only hill I've noticed in Paris. On our way we got off the Metro and went up and stood in front of the Arc de Triomphe. It was as impressive as I always thought. The Cathedral of the Sacre Coeur is at the center of Montmartre. The area is full of windy cobblestone roads, little shops, bistros, and lots of artists painting and trying to sell their art. We took a "funicular" up the side of the hill (a cable car) and took the steps down,

While we were on top, Robin was looking at some merchandise in front of a shop and chose something to take into the shop to buy. Two guys approached him--right out of West Side Story with leather jackets and black tee shirts. They flashed police identification and showed him a gun and starteed speaking rapid French. They insisted that he open his backpack and they began asking questions. They told us in a little English that they had seen a pickpocket with his hands on the backpack and wondered if something was missing. This was scary. At first we thought they were accusing Robin of stealing something. Then I wondered if the ID was legit. I'm still wondering about it--it was so strange. Later, as we were about to descend the 224 steps to find the metro, I saw another guy eyeing the backpack; as I approached Robin, the guy looked at me and smiled and asked if I wanted him to take our picture. Right! He would've been down the hill with the camera before we could blink.We watched him jump over the gate and hop on the funicular without a ticket. Robin said he felt the guy's hand at his pocket, and he quickly turned away. That's when I approached.

Riding the Metro is not much fun because we had to walk miles underground, up and down stairs, on and on, and it was so hot in there, and no one, not one person on the Metro ever looks happy.

Just a few other observations about Paris--all the dogs we've seen are white. On Sunday I saw a lady about 80 or older dressed in a white suit with white high heels and a white poodle in her arms strolling up the Bouldevard de Montparnasse. Women wear high, high heels for power walking in the park and riding bikes. The French love bread! And they're pencil thin. They walk around with baguettes sticking out of bags, and they pull hunks off and eat as they dodge the zooming cars. French people so far have not been as rude as we heard they would be. In fact, they've been quite nice except for the pickpockets and the police. And even the pickpocket was nice. All the little cars here have big rubber bumpers--they squeeze into tiny parking spaces and bump right into each other. We haven't seen one house; everybody lives in apartments.

Okay. That's it from here. Hope all is well where you are.

Joyce