Vacation Day 10? Tours of Paris

What day is it, Friday, no it's Saturday. That is the question Mary and I keep asking each other. I can't believe this is our tenth vacation day, we only have a couple more left.

This morning we woke and had cafe au lait, a crepe, and a cheese and salad baguet under the Eiffel Tower, while we waited for our Fat Tire Bike tour of Paris to begin. It took awhile to get everyone assembled and split into groups, but once we did we were off. First was a return to the Champ du Mars (field of war), at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Next we visited the UNESCO world heritage headquarters, the Invalides, the Pont Alexandre, Concorde, Tuileries Gardens, and then the Louvre. We stopped for a sit down lunch at the Tuileries Gardens, where we had savory crepes with drinks. After visiting the courtyard of the Louvre, we speedily raced back to the Champ du Mars for more pictures and then back to the office to return the bikes. All and all a great experience, and our guide Jackson was great. On the way back to the office, one of the customer's bike chain fell off, Jackson gave her his guide bike while riding hers like a scooter for the remaining 5 minutes back.

We are now getting ready to depart for a walking tour of Montmartre, the romantic artist quarter of Paris. I need to get dressed and then wake Mary up from her nap. More to follow later.

Evening Update - Montmarte was beautiful, but the climb was steep and somewhat rough on my battered feet. I (without thinking) wore my dress shoes (with gel heels), which I had previously worn on previous day's walks. Unfortunately for me, this tour was too much. Maybe it was the steep hills applying pressure to the edge, maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the specific pair of socks I was wearing. Whatever the cause, my feet felt broken once we reached the top.

As a consolation, we now had sufficient cause to take the funicular down (future note, take funicular up, then walk down). By the way Montmartre has some very interesting sights, including a market, museum, basilica, view over the city, and the very first bistros in the world. Evidently the word bistro stems from Russian soldiers slammimg their fists on the bar shouting "bistra," which means faster. So faster Parisian food can be found in a bistro.

After decsending from Sacre Couer, I hobbled though three metro stations until finally reaching Ecole Militaire. We decided to try to eat dinner in our hotel neighborhood. We spent the next three hours enjoying an excellent dinner at Fountain de Mars. On a side note, President Obama and the first lady dined here while on a state visit to France.

The meal was delicious, I had grilled breast of duck, while Mary had lamb. We each chose house wines (Vin du Maison blanc/rouge) to go with out meals. We also opted for dessert, which was also very good. Mary had creme brulee, while I opted for an assortment of sorbet from Bertillon.

Vacation Day 9, Heading to the City of Light, Paris

After a light breakfast we are preparing to depart for Paris on another high speed Thalys train. It is a gray, drizzling day, but the temperature is perfect. We've decided we must return to Brussels to see more of the sights, this trip was more about soaking up the atmosphere. I will miss our amazing view of the Grand Place.

Update from the Train - After checking out of our B&B, we decided to do some souvenier shopping before walking back to Gate du Midi train station. We bought four magnets for €10 and a cheap minature of the City Hall for my desk collection at work. The stroll to the train station was just what we needed before sitting for an hour and a half on the train.

Getting on the train and finding our seats turned out to be quite a challenge. The train was slightly late and once it arrived everyone jumped onboard at once (including me). Unfortunately, we boarded at the wrong end because there was a problem with the digital numbering displays on the ends of each car. Eventually, after dozens of excuse-moi and pardon's, we made it to our seats. Mary was upset that I charge into crowds, but then she hates when I place her in front of me and push her through like a cow catcher on the front of a train. Oh well, such is life, I think we need to invent the husband and wife travel leash, guaranteed to keep you together no matter how bad you smell.

Speaking of smelling bad, I cannot wait to check into our next hotel. While the last was great, it did not have shampoo and I can only get so far on hand or travel soap. Mary just returned from the dining car with water and Orangina, so I'm off to rehydrate and enjoy some of our Belgian chocalate.

Afternoon update - Made into Paris! I forgot how great this city is, I was like a kid in a candy store. The avenues are amazing and I'm overjoyed to get to share it with my wife (who is an urban planner). As we left the Gare du Nord train station, we followed the clearly marked signs to the taxi stand. After moving through a Disney like que (without the wait), we were assigned a driver and off we went. Explaining where we wanted to go took a little effort. Eventually, after mixed communication in french, english, and even some spanish, we were able to describe Place d'Alma, which is close to our hotel. After disembarking from the cab we caught our first glimpse of the Tour de Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). It is breathtaking, even when you've seen it before. We walked about ten minutes further, finally reaching our hotel.

When we opened the door to our room I was pleasantly surprised to find it exactly matched my expectations. Paris rooms are tiny, so small it is hard to judge scale from pictures. But I knew that ahead of time, so I was prepped.

The bed is very comfortable, with quality sheets, and not too firm or soft. The window opens out into a view of the street and the bathroom is tile with a towel warmer. But most importantly, we have air conditioning and WiFi in the room, two basic neccesities for me.

We have begun to develop a bit of an odor, so we decided it was time for a shower (with real soap and shampoo) and to do some sink laundry. Funny story, last year for our 14 day UK trip, we brought along a lot of quick dry clothing (t-shirts, underwear, and socks). During the course of the entire trip we never had to do it ourselves because the B&B owners qalways offered.

This time it hasn't been so easy, so we've decided it's laundry time. We washed our socks, underwear, and some undershirts in the sink, while we washed a couple of outershirts in the bath/shower. I put the towel warmer to good use drying my shirt, while we used our Rick Steve's travel clothes line for the first time ever. It's use is somewhat ironic considering not only does RS recommend our hotel, but his tours operate out of here too. Well that is all for now, we're off to see the Eiffel Tower up close and have dinner in one of the local cafes.

Evening update - We just returned from an amazing dinner at Les Ombres, a restaurant on top of the Musee d'Branly with one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower. Before dinner we decided to check out the museum. Unfortunately it did not captivate our attention. We would have been better off walking around the grounds, because by this point I was a little tired of artwork, even cultural items.

But back to dinner, it was delicious. We opted for the €65 prefix menu, were I had rabbit (lapine) and Mary had freshwater fish from Lake Geneva. We also ordered a bottle of Cote du Rhone white wine, which lasted the evening. While we started our meal inside, we eventually transitioned outside for coffee and the rest of our wine to enjoy the view of the top of Paris and the Tour Eiffel.

After dinner we walked back to Champ du Mars and caught a truck scooter (small three wheeled carriage tour). We chose the cheapest option (#1), a 30 minute cruise of the city for €40. It was a great experience, we saw the Invalides (where Napoleon is buried), Pont Alexander, Petit Palais, Champs Elyses, Arc du Triumph, Trocodero, and back to the Eiffel Tower.

On an interesting side note, when queried by the driver what type of music we wanted, we selected romantic. This consisted of 30 minutes listening to Boys2Men, 80s rock, and of all things Rap. I asked if there was any classical or instrumental, but our driver responded, "there is no good french romantic music."

Vacation Day 8, Day Trip to Bruges/Brugge

This morning Mary and I decided to sleep in and take advantage of a late breakfast offered at our B&B. The Grand Place stayed pretty lively the night before, until about 12:30, at which point, I closed the large picture windows into our room. Staying up so late necesitated a late start.

Once we got the day rolling, around noon, we set out for a stroll down to Midi/Zuid station, where we caught a twice an hour train to the medieval city of Bruges (French)/Brugge (Flemish). The walk only took about twenty minutes, but buying tickets and finding the right train was a little confusing. After consulting an information kiosk, we found a train stopping in Bruges that was departing in 5 minutes. The ride out was uneventful and took about an hour. Once we reached the station we prepurchased two bus tickets for the trip into town (€1.20 in advance, €1.60 from driver).  The city center, or centrum, was impressive and filled with even more people than the Grand Place in Brussels.

We lined up for a 30 minute carriage ride (€36, €4 tip) that takes you on an interesting narrated trip around the city at street level. One word of warning, the ride stops for five minutes to feed and water the horses, which surprises many visitors. We used this time to take some pictures and have some pictures of us in the carriage taken. The ride continued on and ended where it began in the Market Square, where afterwards we tried Flemish fries with mayonaisse for lunch.

Our next activity was some small shopping, I bought my daughter and wife some small hand-made lace embroidered with their initials. We then stopped by a boutique chocolate shop and purchased a small box of mixed truffles. After, we embarked on a canal boat tour, where we learned Bruges is called the Venice of the north. The boat tour afforded us some great views, but the commentary was split between, French, Dutch, and English (which was the least used). I was proud of myself, because I completed our transaction for the tickets entirely in Flemish/Dutch.

We then took to the streets to find a cafe where Mary could use the restroom. Eventually we found a series of cozy cafes nestled into a small tree-filled courtyard (they are found at every second left turn on any street in town). Seriously, this place is filled with picturesque squares, courtyards, parks, and little alleyways. We settled on hot chocolate milk for Mary, a local Brugge Zos beer for me, and a Brussels waffle with ice cream to share. After we walked the ten minutes back to the station (to burn off calories) and hopped one of the twice hourly intercity trains back to Brussels Centraal station. Now it's time for Moules and frites (mussels and fries) with some great Belgian beer.

Evening update - We just got back to the room and settled in time to catch the 11:00 light show at the Grand Place. While it is very cool, four times is really enough for us I think. Before dinner we took a walk down Rue de Bouchers, where we saw numerous (and niave) tourist being cojolled into dining at expensive and subpar establishments (research goes a long way). For our dinner we stopped by a place on the Grand Place that I had found during my own trip research, T' Kelderkerk. It was great, I really liked that we were able to order without reverting to English or asking for the English menu (which all restaurant's on the GP have, just ask).

Mary had steak and stoemp, while I had mussels and fries with Bruggs Witte bier (little one for Mary, big one for me). I rarely eat mussles at home, but for my first time in Brussels I figured why not. I was not dissapointed. If anything, I was worried I would not be able to finish (the pot was huge!) The stock was amazing, beer, onion, and celery (which I do not usually like). The mussels themselves were very delicate, not rubbery/chewy in consistency.

After dinner, we decided to go for another walk, which led us back to the Grand Place. We found a cafe that had Framboise (raspberry) lambic, and other types as well. We stayed for a couple Framboise and Krieks (cherry), then returned to our room. Well we have a full day as we set out for Paris tomortow, so Au reviour.