On to Paris

We left Rick's Tuesday Morning about 7:15 am for the train station. Had to lug two large suitcase, 2 carry on's and 1 back pack down 3 flights of stairs to the car. At the Gare (station) I again had to lug them down stairs and again back up to get to the other side of the tracks. On to Les Arcs where we had to layover for a couple of hours. Again down and up to the station and then down and up again to get on the train. This time the LGV which goes over 160mph. Guess what, our car is a double decker so I have to haul these things up a tight stairway and find a place to stow them. Finally Paris, Gare de Lyon station. Back down the stairs, and then more stairs to get a taxi. On to the hotel. More stairs up on flight to reception and then our room on the second floor ( 3rd in US Hotels). In Europe the ground floor is the ground floor and what we call the second is the first floor and so on. If I ever do this again, we will use small bags, back packs, or get a slave. Karen cannot lift much so I was tired by Tuesday night.

Our Hotel was in the Latin Quarter in an area called Little Athens because of the number of Greek Restaurants. We overlooked the narrow street that was usually noisy from 11 am to 3 am. because of the restaurants and bars, and from 5am to 6am for trash pickup and deliveries.
Really noisy, but no matter, when your tired you sleep, and it was fun being where all the activity happens.

We would go out of our Hotel, make a left, go about 100 feet and we would see Notre Dame.

Tuesday night we took an hour cruise of the Seine River at night and then ate dinner in one of the Greek Restaurants, and that concluded a long day.

Wednesday we toured Notre Dame, an amazing architectural wonder, with its flying buttresses and is quite beautiful. We then walked to the Bastion to check in to a trip on the Canal, but nothing was open. Had a big lunch, took a nap, and then walked around the area for a few hours.

Thursday we went to visit Sainte Chapelle, a very beautiful church built by Louis lX between 1242 and 1248 to house the relics of the Passion of Christ. The most famous of these was the Crown of Thorns, which cost more than the Chapel itself. The Chapel consists of two sanctuaries, one above the other. The lower was for the servants while the magnificent upper chapel was for the King, his family and close friends.

The upper chapel consists of 15 truly beautiful 15 foot tall stained glass windows depicting in over 1100 scenes the story of mankind from Genesis to the Crucifixion.

The on to the Louvre. Saw some of the must sees (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc) and then somehow Karen and I got separated. Took over 2 hours to re-connect. We then viewed art and statues by many of the famous artist. Got a light lunch, walked home, and then out to dinner at a French Cafe. The restaurants try to get you into their places by talking and telling you how good they are. This one was good.

Friday, walked to a park, Jardin du Luxembourg, said to be the most popular in all of Paris. This a a green oasis of about 60 acres around the Luxembourg Palace. Its center piece is an octagonal pool. It also consists of broad walkways, formal terraces and statues of various queens of France.

The Palace is now home to the Senate, but has been used as a prison and during WWll the German Luftwaffe used it as its headquarters and even built air raid shelters underneath the gardens.

Back to the Hotel and packed up for our trip home on Saturday.

We arose about 8:00 am (2:00 am our time). We were told we had to be at Charles de Gaulle Airport about 3 hours before flight time or 11:00 am. Guess they were right. From the time we checked our luggage to the time we got through security it took about 1 1/2 hours. Our flight left around 2 pm (8:00 am EDT) and got to Detroit around 4:30 pm. Had to go through Customs, pickup luggage, take it to security to finish its trip to Grand Rapids and then through Security again for us. Arrived in Grand Rapids a little late and our daughter Pam picked us up and we were home around 10:00PM. No heat for some reason, house is about 60, will get it fixed Monday.

Now to download and sort pictures, get new passports, get haircuts, pick up our mail, etc, etc.

All for now.

Mom & Dad Browne