Paris - Friday 9/26/2014

Friday  September 26, 2014

 

Breakfast at the hotel.  This morning we added some scrambled eggs and tasty ham (well at least Bob thought it was tasty)  to the normal things.

 

I’m still very tired this morning. 

 

We went to St. Chappelle on Ile de la Cite.  The stained glass windows are oh la la.  Bob took lots of pictures.  Unfortunately they didn’t do the windows justice.  We were hoping for a bright sunny day and got it but it was actually too sunny for good pictures.  It is beautiful church but it is no longer used as a church.  They hold special events there now and it is a tourist attraction.  Then we walked past Notre Dame and took some more pictures.  We didn’t go in.  The lines were long and we had been inside when we were there in 2008.  As we were waiting to cross the street from the Cathedral a woman stomped on my toes with her heels.  Man it hurt so bad that tears came to my eyes.  She apologized and asked if I was OK, which I was but it still hurt.  Then we walked to Ile St. Louis and walked down the center street.  I did a lot of my Christmas shopping; candy for my five nieces and their husbands and some beautiful earrings for my sisters.  That took a big chunk out of my Christmas shopping for this year.  Then we walked back towards the Metro looking for a place to have some lunch.

 

Lunch

Traiteur Jinor

Bob:  Duck

Iris:  Caramelized Pork

W both had Cantonese rice

Coke for Bob

Coke  Zero for me.

 

Yes we ate at a Chinese place in Paris.  It really was good.

 

Then we went back to the hotel, rested for a little bit and walked down the street to visit an open air market but it was closed for the day.  On our way we stopped at a couple of stores.  I bought a couple of dish towels, one for me and one for each of my sisters.  We stopped at a candy store and bought some candy. Yes more chocolate.  My favorite food group.  Oh I forgot the chocolate was for gifts.  On our way back to the to the hotel we stopped at a café, Le Chat Bossu for some iced tea (very little ice). We sp;ot three bottles.  Touring is thirsty work.  After we finished the iced tea Bob ordered a Mojito while I just sat and watched him drink it.

 

Then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

 

Dinner

Le Villaret

Bob: e – Ravioli D’Agneau, Plat – John Dory fish with white beans, Desert – Biscuit with caramelized apples 

Wine – Bourgogne Chardonnay Domaine Guillon 2011

After dinner dink – Roederer Brute Rose

Iris: Entree – Salmon Fume, Plat – Rack of Lamb,  Dessert – Biscuit with Chocolate Crème

Wine – Cote de Nuits Villages Domaine Chauvenet Chopin 2010

The (Tea)

St. Chappelle

St. Chappelle - I know it isn't the best picture it was just
too sunny

St. Chappelle

St. Chappelle from the outside

Notre Dame

Looking down the Seine from
the bridge between
Ile de le Cite and Ile St. Louis

Looking down the Seine

Bob at dinner.  He dresses up well

Ice cream was really good here.

 

Paris - Thursday September 25, 2014

Thursday September 25, 2014

 

Breakfast  at   the  hotel.

 

Then of   to Giverny, Claude Monet’s home and gardens.  This is where he painted his Water Lily series.  Oh what a beautiful place.  The flower gardens in front of his house were spectacular.  All decked out in autumn colors.  Then across the road, you actually take an underground passage and steps to get across the road, to his water lily garden and the Japanese Bridge you see in so many of his paintings from his Water Lily period. It was stunning.  Bob took lots of pictures with my camera since he left is camera back at the hotel in our room, he thought.  This was a half day tour and the highlight of  the trip in my opinion.  I love Monet’s paintings and I am in the process of cross stitching a project based on one of his paintings, Bridge in Monet’s Garden.

 

When we got back to our room Bob’s camera was not on the bed where he thought he had left it.  We searched the room and could not find it.  Finally he went down to the front desk because we surmised he may have left it in the breakfast room.  Someone had found it on a table and turned it into the front desk.  Thank goodness since I had not taken many pictures with my camera.  We wouldn’t have had any pictures from the first few days of our trip.

 

When we got back from Giverny we were really tired, especially me.  So Bob went shopping on the street and came back to the room with meat, cheese, and bread for lunch.  Wish he had remembered to pick up some wine.  We had coke which we had in the room.  It tasted so good and we could just sit on the bed and enjoy.

 

We spent the afternoon in our room.  I read and napped.  Bob plotted out our itinerary for the next couple of days.

 

We met our tour group at 6:30 for dinner and a Seine River cruise

 

Dinner

Le Mesturet Restaurant

Starter:  Grilled eggplant with tomato and fresh goat’s cheese

Main Course:  Supreme of free-range Le Gers chicken, stuffed with (real) Spanish chorizo and paella rice

Dessert: Moist chocolate cake, fresh mint sauce.

Wine:  White wine: Saint Mont 2013 Le Hat-Trick – Red Wine: Saumur Champigny Domaine Filliatreau 2013

 

Dinner was nice.  There were two women who sat at our table who were very interesting and  we enjoyed talking to them.

 

Then back on the bus to the Seine River cruise.  It was great.  Paris by night and from the Seine; what more could you ask for?  The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, it was wonderful.  It was a little chilly but not really that bad.

 

The bus driver for this tour was wonderful.  He always had his hand out to help me on and off the bus.

 

It was a lovely evening but at this point I am ready to go home, we are both exhausted.  We have 5 more packed days before we go home.

 

Giverny

The walk to the Claude Monet's house

More of the gardens around the house

Me in the garden directly in front of the house

More flowers.  This was a beautiful time of the year
in the gardens of Giverny

Across the road in the Water Lily Garden

More of the Water Lily Garden

I love Weeping Willow Trees and forced Bob to take this picture

Bob and me

Look up the pond

Me on the bridge
There are 2 of these bridges
one at each end of he pond

Bob and me

Me

Aren't these absolutely beautiful

Le Mesturet Restaurant - Dinner before the
Seine River Cruise

Cruising along the Seine

Alexander III Bridge

The Eiffel Tower

It was a good day

Another Christmas ornament finished

I just finished this into an ornament this afternoon

Hot Cocoa
Freebie from Sullivans' USA
Stitched on mystery count Aida
using DMC floss
Started 10/2/2014
Finished 10/11/2014
This will be part of my sister Shirley's Christmas present

The bear is mine and isn't going anywhere.  He keeps me company when I am in my office.  lol

Paris 09/24/2014 - Wednesday

9/24/2014  Wednesday

 

Again we had breakfast in the hotel.

 

 

Then it was off to the museums -  Rodin, Orangerie and Louvre and a walk through the Tuileries Garden. 

 

 

The Rodin Museum was good.  We got to see The Thinker and The Kiss and many other of his sculptures.

 

Then off to the Orangerie Museum.  This is a museum of Impressionist paintingsby Cexane, Utrillo, Piccaso, Modigliani, Gaugin, etc.  What Bob and I wanted to see there was Monet’s eight monumental canvases of his Water Lily gardens at Giverney.  They were magnificent.  There were 2 oval rooms dedicated to these paintings, 4 paintings in each room.  Then we went downstairs and walked through a room of Emile Bernard paintings.  We walked on down the hall and I sat on a bench enjoying some Renoir paintings(Y9ung Girls at the Piano (1892) and 2 others which we do not know the name of)  while Bob walked through several other rooms. 

 

About halfway through the day I decided  my brace was givimg me more pain then I needed and I was much better when I took  it off.

 

Between the Orangerie and the Louvre we walked through the Tuileries Garden.  Stopped at a pool and watched the ducks for a little while. Stopped for lunch at a little café in the gardens.

 

Lunch

Café Des Marronniers (The Chestnut Trees)

We both had Onion Soup

Good French Bread

Bob  had a Coke and I had an Ice Tea.

 

By this time Bob has had it with no or little ice in his drinks.  I think he was obsessed. 

 

Then we continued our walk across the Tuileries Gardens to the Louvre.  This is a large and I do mean  LARGE  museum.  When we were in Paris in 2008 we saw the Mona Lisa and a lot of other paintings and the statue Winged Victory so we didn’t want to see them again.

 

bfBob wanted to see The Code of Hammurabi, Venus DeMilo and he wanted to see some of  the Napoleon  rooms.  I made it through The Code of Hammurabi, Babylonian/Persian schulptures and artifacts,  Venus DeMilo and some other sections with wonderful statues but when Bob went off  to see the  Napoleon III  rooms I people watched.

 

We got back to our hotel about 6:00PM both really dragging.  We spend a couple of hours reading (me) and Bob planning for the next couple of days.

 

About 8:00 we walked across the street to Creperie LA Margasse.  Our dinner consisted of  vin Blanc, Crepe Facon Tatin (apple)  and Crepe Melba (peach) .  We shared these 2 crepes and both were absolutely delicious.

 

The Rodin Museum

The Thinker

The Thinker with the dome of Hotel de Invalides

The Kiss

The gardens of the Rodin Museum

The courtyard of the Rodin Museum

The Seine - we were walking from the Rodin to the Orangerie

The Eiffel Tower

The outside of the Orangerie.  Unfortunately we have
no pictures inside this museum as they were not allowed.
 

Bob in the Tuileries Garden

Sitting and watching the ducks in the Tuileries Garden
 

One wing of the Louvre

A miniature of the Arc de Triomphe

Entering the Louvre

The Code of Hammurabi

Venus DeMilo

The Sphinx
 

 

 

 

 

Interuppting the Paris Trip to post my laatest Cross Stitch finish

This is a freebie design I got from a Facebook group, Candy Cross Stitchers, that I belong to.  I couldn't resist joining a group where I would get 12 free Christmas designs in 12 months.  Now I just need to figure out how to finish it.

Project:  Silent Night
Designer:  Barbara Ana
Fabric: 18CT Antique White Aida
Floss: DMC
Started 10/15/2015
Completed 10/25/2015

Paris - Tuesday 9/23

9/23/2014 Tuesday

 

We took a Go Ahead tour to Versailles.  Traffic was horrible getting there but Isabel, our guide, was wonderful talling us all about French history.  When we got to Versailles it was mobbed.  We were divided into 2 groups.  One group of 7 and one of 25 (this was dictated  by Versailles).  We were in the group of 25 so we had an hour in the gardens before going int the house.  They were lovely and would have been even better except for the construction that was going on.  Finally it was our turn to go into Versailles and it was so crowded it was unbearable.  We lost our guide, Isabel, in the Hall of Mirrors.  We spent a few minutes looking for her and the rest of the group but couldn’t find her so we just walked through the rest ourselves and then went to the designated meeting place.  Went back to the hotel and went to lunch at the little café next to the hotel.

 

Lunch

Queyrelou

Alysee (wine)

We shared 2 Entrees (Appetizers)

Tomates Mozzarella

Foie gras entire de carnard

And of course bread

 

We had planned to go to a museum in the afternoon but ended up not having time as we had a 7:30 PM dinner reservation on the other side of town.  Se we took the metro to Madeleine, which is an exclusive shopping district.  I wanted to visit the gourmet food stores we had heard about.  A mistake since I didn’t really find out exactly where these food shops were.  We ended up at the Opera House.  Beautiful, ornate, lots of steps.  While on a smaller scale, the Opera House rivals Versailles in the interior halls and rooms.

 

Went back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes and then off to dinner in a taxi to the other side of Paris.  You wouldn’t believe the traffic in Paris.  It is amazing that anyone gets where they want to go.

 

Dinner

Chez Geraud

Entre (appetizer)

Bob:  Terrine De Lapin (rabbit)

Iris: Gnocchis A La Parisienne (Gnocchis with Escargot)

Plate

Bob: Souris  D’Agneau Cpmtote (Lamb Shank)

Iris: Supreme De Volaille (chicken)

Wine:  Aoc Ventoux

Dessert:  Paris-Brest (we shared) Ring shaped éclair filled with praline cream

 

We came back to the hotel and crashed.  I must say by this time my feet were hurting so bad.  The brace worked as far as my ankle was concerned but it rubbed the ball of my foot so bad.  It took me several days before I could find the solution to the problem and by that time it was really too late as my right foot constantly hurt.

 

Our 1st glimpse of Versailles

The hordes waiting to get into Versailles on this
beautiful September morning

Looking at Versailles from the gardens

Gardens at Versailles

More of the gardens at Versailles

Versailles Gardens

Versailles Gardens

The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles

Me at Versailles

The Opera House

The Opera House
Doesn't this remind you of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

The Opera House

Me at Dinner at Chez Geraud

Chez Geraud