The City of Lights

Well, here we are--our real Day 1 in Paris. I can hardly believe we're here. We've been in learning mode all day. We have had two cruises on the Seine--one in the afternoon and one in the evening and it was wonderful fun. I love all the rooftops and windows on the builidings--the architecture is amazing. And I could hardly believe I was at last standing beneath the Eiffel Tower--at night it is really awesome.

So is the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Dining is quite the experience here. An interesting experience when you know little about the culture and not a lot about the spoken language. This afternoon we sat down at a sidewalk cafe for a late lunch. I asked for a menu; the server let us know in part-French/part-English that they only served one meal. I had a hint because I was sure she said frites, and that means fries and she asked if we wanted something rare, medium, or well. Consequently, we were served a tiny salad of lettuce and walnuts with a tad of vinegarette, a small, thin steak au jus, and a big pile of thin fries. Bread and water were included. Robin ordered a glass of wine; I ordered a cup of tea. (A Lipton bag with hot water was 6 euros--about $9--more than our cab ride to the hotel from the Eiffel Tower! However, the glass of wine was only about 3 euros.) The entire meal would have taken us out to dinner at least three times in Richmond, maybe four. I hope things are more reasonable once we are out in the provinces. We leave Paris on Wednesday and take a train to Rouen where we will get an Opel (car) for the rest of our trip.

For those of you who knew my concerns about walking so much, I'm really walking a lot and it gets better every day--especially after all the miles logged moving around the airports. I feel strong and healthy. My heel has not bothered me, nor my leg. Robin is concerned about his ability to keep up with me once I get going.

Tomorrow we're hoping to get to the Musee de l'Orangerie where Monet's murals are in the round. We might also stop by the Musee d'Orsay where a lot of impressionist paintings are located. And we haven't seen the Arc de Triomphe yet. Tomorrow we'll be getting around by boat--we bought a Bateaux Bus pass. It will take us to the museums. We cruised by the Louvre twice today--it seems to go on for about 1/2 mile or longer.

We'll check back in when we can. J.