Walk till you drop day in Paris.....

Wednesday, September 13th, 2000 Walking in Paris

Wednesday was spent walking! First we walked to the car and put the bag of extra books and several of the water bottles in the trunk of the car. [We had not learned that it is okay to drink tap water in Europe at that time and only drank bottled water...has saved us a bundle since we learn to live as the locals and drink the tap water!] Then we walked past the Pompidou Center on our way to Notre Dame. Spent some time inside of the Cathedrale and then headed through the park located behind Notre Dame to enjoy the flowers before crossing the bridge to St-Louis-en-I’lle. On the street we met our concierge from the Du Lettece Hotel that we’d stayed at on the island. That hotel is closed for remodeling we discovered. He seemed very happy to have seen us. Apparently, having stayed with his hotel four times in the past, he remembered us. Had an ice cream and then stopped at the post office for postage before settling down on a bench on the Seine River to have our lunch of bread (from breakfast), a banana and water. Shared the bread with the pigeon. Saw two boats with film crews aboard…one had their stars in a bed on the boat!

On the to Musee Carnavalet for the afternoon. It is the historical Museum of Paris. Found it very informative and always free! Picked up food at the grocery store for dinner in our hotel room. We purchased cheese, bread and a chocolate bar for desert along with a bottle of coke, plastic cups and napkins!

Jim watched TV after washing his hair while I worked on the computer. Lights out about 10 PM, I continued to read by book light until I finished my book about 1 AM. People having a loud evening one floor below continued until about 1 AM. So much for a quiet room. Jim used earplugs and slept through. He seems to wake up about 2 AM each night for several hours…still adjusting to Paris time!

Thursday, September 14th, 2000 Another day in Paris

Thursday morning we were up about 8 am and off to breakfast early. Then Jim left to explore some Museums on his own while I washed my hair and some clothes. Also managed to get ten postcards written and posted to family and friends in the States.

Jim is due back to the hotel by 5 pm. Per instructions from the parish priest, this is our day for some alone time from each other; necessary for surviving the trip he said!

Jim arrived back at the hotel about 4 pm. By 4:30 we were off to find some dinner, we ended up with the Chinese place again with chicken and rice…at least we knew what we had. Walked around a bit, found everyone sitting in the park as they have very small apartments and generally no air conditioners! Found the Laundromat, but too far to go back and get the clothes that were still damp from the morning laundry in the sink. Finally arrived back at the hotel about 8 pm, just in time to make business calls to the USA...yes...I'm still working in real estate and must check in weekly with my Managers. All the TV stations are in French not even CNN that gives the same news over and over and over. I had finished my novel last night and the new ones were in the car. I suggested we take the Metro somewhere but Jim was tired from his five hours of walking in the museums. (Me thinks this is the last day "on our own" as Jim is not comfortable with me wandering the streets of Paris by myself!) He had done the Medieval Museum and the d’Orsay.

So it was early to bed after setting the alarm for 7 am for an early start tomorrow morning for our trip to northern France. Neither slept very well. Had a loud neighbor earlier in the evening but couldn’t really blame any noise. Really didn’t get to sleep until about 2 am. At one point, Jim turned on the TV and found an English movie, it was Thelma and Louise with French subtitles. I played Solitaire until I fell asleep. The alarm rang at 7 am and woke us both up!