THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB - FIRST EXPEDITION

March 20, 2000 - Monday - It's my birthday, and at 12:32 pm, Judy, Loretta, Melba and I are leaving for Paris, at long last!  Sandy, Loretta's husband drove us to the airport, we checked our baggage through and went to the gate for a short wait.  We flew from RDU to Chicago, O'Hare for our connecting flight to Paris, Charles DeGaulle.  We were all so excited!  The flight to O'Hare was quick and there we were, finally ready to board the plane for France.  We didn't have too terribly long to wait.... our plane left right on schedule at about 4:30 p.m.  The flight seemed to be crowded at first, plus we had to wait for 45 more passengers to board, before we could leave.  They arrived, but there were still seats unoccupied in the tourist section, so we were able to spread ourselves out and have some room, which was good, because Judy's back was bothering her.  She was able to have 3 seats to lay on, and the rest of us had two to ourselves.  So it made for a rather comfortable flight, albeit LONG!  Dinner was rather good... some sort of steak with vegetables, rolls and chocolate mousse.  I can't remember what the movie was, but I don't think any of us watched.  We were all keyed up and couldn't get much sleep, but we all did manage to doze a little. 

 
March 21, 2000 - Tuesday - Of course, we flew into darkness rather quickly, and the most memorable sight  that I saw as we were flying, was suddenly flying over land... I surmised that it must have been Ireland or Scotland... but it was like something out of a dream... very light gray mist and clouds, with sudden patches of light... looking more like firelight than electricity.  It had a fairyland look about it.  The two women in the seat behind me, saw it too, and we were mesmerized, watching how beautiful it looked.  Morning slowly dawned as we drew closer to Paris, and the landscape below became very familiar.... beautiful patchy farms... even saw the White Cliffs of Dover, as we flew over the English Channel.  When we landed, we collected our luggage and headed for customs... then we went to the American Airlines desk, where we were directed to the ground transportation that had been arranged for us.  It was a large bus/van and there were a few other passengers, as well.  The driver took them to their hotel first.  Watching him maneuver his bus around the tiny, tight corners of Paris was rather frightening!  We were amazed that he didn't leave his bumper wrapped around some car or person! 
We arrived at the hotel, safe and sound, though, and were absolutely amazed at how beautiful it was.  The lobby was incredible - all marble and Baccarat crystal chandeliers.  When we checked in, only one room was ready and the other wasn't to be ready until around 11 or 12 - so Judy and Loretta took that one and they put our baggage there until  Melba's and my room was ready.  I think we made a major faux pas, though.  None of us were very UP on tipping the bellhop, so we asked the desk clerk how much was the usual "tippage".... he said 10 ff.... obviously he meant per bag, but dopey us.... oh well... we'll probably never go to that particular hotel again! Ha!
We charged up to their room, threw water on our faces, went to the bathroom and tore out to see some of Paris.  We really didn't have a plan, (more about PLANS later... such as Plan A, Plan B... sometimes dropping down to Plan E! Ha ha) but knew that we shouldn't go to sleep just yet - that we should try to adapt our bodies to France time and be able to sleep that first night through.  We weren't really sleepy - too keyed up for that!  But I think we were tired but just kept on going! First thing we did, was to go to the Cash Exchange for some Francs.
Then, we went to a Metro Station and bought our "Carnets" (packet of 10) of Metro Tickets and our Museum Pass.  Then, we decided to just walk and explore where we were located... right away, Judy spotted some patisseries.... Paul... as we strolled along. 
We walked down to the Blvd. Haussman and passed Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.  The hotel we stayed in was the Saint Lazare-Concorde.  It was so convenient to the shopping area of Paris.  We were no more than three blocks from those two major department stores.  About four more blocks south, we were on the Rue d'Rivoli just at the Tuilleries.  We walked to the Place de'Concorde and strolled the length of the Tuilleries toward the Louvre. 

Then we walked over to the Seine and watched the Bateau Mouche float down the River.  And there it all was... the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame.... We walked back up to the Rue d'Rivoli and wandered almost the entire length, looking at all the vendors and checking out the souvenirs.  Judy and Loretta decided they wanted to go back, at some point, to buy T-shirts for people.  We had lunch at a little sidewalk cafe on the Rivoli.... Salads and bread, and that sort of woke us up a bit, giving us a bit of energy.
 

Afterwards, we strolled around a little more, and went back to  Paul for some pastry.  We walked back to the hotel, with the thought that we'd go to our rooms and get some rest, then go out for dinner.  Well, we got back, and our other room was ready... really nice and had just been redone.  I had about two bites of the Tarte au Citron, and immediately fell asleep.  So did Melba, although, I think she did wake up later in the evening for a little while.  Me, I never woke up until the next morning!!  Judy and Loretta did the exact same thing.  I guess we all needed that rest to get over the time difference, but it still hurts to think of wasting any of that precious time in Paris!

 
March 22, 2000 - Wednesday - We woke rather early after our nice sleep... I rolled over and saw my droopy little pastry that I was too tired to eat.  But I felt awake and ready for our first adventures.  I decided to take my shower first, cause I was worried I'd take a long time and didn't want to hold any of us up on our first day out.  That was the best shower I've had in ages - It eased all my poor, tired muscles a bit and I felt almost human!  While Melba and I were dressing, Judy called to find out if we were awake - our rooms were on the same floor (fourth), but there were about 3 rooms between us.  We all went down to the breakfast room, and discovered a very nice gathering place.  There was a buffet breakfast, that was basically the same each morning, but very, very pleasant.  We all discovered Fromage Blanc, and even though we had no idea of what it is (whether very fat or lo-cal??), it was delicious.  We had it with fruit and granola.  There were also the usual assortment of breads, croissants, pan au chocolat and brioche with raisins.  Then they had the hearty English style breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes and hash browns.  All sorts of yogurts and fresh juices, too.  But the best thing, was the coffee!  Judy didn't particularly care for it the first morning, finding it a bit too strong.  But as each morning passed, Judy became the strongest aficionado of it!  The combination of hot coffee and hot milk is luscious and I find myself putting milk in the microwave in the morning.... sooo spoiled!  I'll bet the other members of the Adventurers' Club (which we decided to name ourselves)  are doing the SAME thing!
 
Afterwards, we all walked down the few blocks to Printemps and entered a side door to walk through, heading towards Galeries Lafayette.  Loretta saw some makeup mirrors that she had been looking for, and purchased one of those.  We tried on all the beautiful hats that you always find nowhere else, but in Paris.  We looked at some beautiful costume jewelry, very unlike the sort that  you find in the states.
We then went to GL and had to take some photos of each other, under the magnificent stained glass dome.  Then we went up, floor by floor, "window shopping".... believe it or not, no one made any purchases that day.  Guess we were all on "overload".... but as we walked around, they had a Moroccan Bazaar set up, where they were selling all sorts of interesting pieces.  And, lo and behold, there was a tagine!
Well, I knew I would be coming back to pick that up, but I didn't want to have to carry it around  all day.  I tried to find the Galeries Food area, but since the last time we were there, they had moved it to another building, putting it upstairs.  So we passed it right by, not knowing where it was!  Then we walked over to the Madeline area, and strolled around the beautiful food shops... Fauchon, Hediard, etc.  Food much too beautiful to actually eat!  After this, we walked over to the Opera Garnier to check on tickets for the ballet (Cinderella) and the Opera (Carmen).  Unfortunately, we all wanted to see the ballet, but all the tickets were sold out for the days we were there.  For Carmen, there were only two seats, so since Judy and I weren't as enthusiastic as Melba and Loretta, we decided they should go, and we'd do something else to amuse ourselves.   So, they purchased their tickets for Thursday evening.   Then we caught a cab to the Samaritain Department Store, so that we could go to the rooftop and see the view of Paris.

It's really a great sight, being able to walk in a circle and view the sights of the entire city.... Sacre Coeur, Eiffel Tower, the Seine, Arc d'Triumphe, etc... and they have a circular map as you circle the roof, indicating all the famous landmarks, showing you where they're located.  Really a great start to the tour.  Afterwards, we went downstairs to the restaurant (The Terrasse) and had a lovely luncheon.  Very elegant, including wine.  Time was running short, so we decided to catch a cab to Le Cordon Bleu instead of trying to find our way there on the Metro.  First mistake!!  We piled into a cab, and told him where we wanted to go, with the specific address.... he whips out his book of maps and proceeded to try and find the street.... with the meter already running of course!  Needless to say, he managed to trap us in loads of traffic, and was ever so courteous and let many cars and people go ahead of him.... as the meter clicked away!  Finally, we arrived at our destination.... SECOND mistake... it was the wrong DAY, thanks to me!!
 

After a long deliberation with Seiko, my Email friend, we determined that it was definitely my booboo.... it was Thursday, not Wednesday, that was the day of the demonstration class.  I felt awful, making us race like crazed people to get there in time!  DAMN!  We got specific instructions on how to take the Metro to go back to our hotel.  At least, we were able to "practice" the route, so that we could come back on Thursday!  The Metro was so far superior to those miserable, expensive cab rides!  What a pleasure.  We then decided to find our way to my favorite spot in Paris.... E. Dehilleren - the famous cookware shop.
Naturally, I wanted to buy everything I saw, but settled on a copper paella pan and a copper Bain Marie, a flexi-pan shaped like a pyramid and some Canelle Molds.  I can't remember what everyone else bought, so they'll have to fill me in, to correct this trip report!  I do remember that Loretta bought a paella pan, and Judy and Melba bought omelet and crepe pans.  After this heavy shopping, we all wanted to rest and have a drink, so Judy ran over to the sidewalk cafe across the street and had them make us all some delicious iced tea.  It was fun, sitting there sipping our tea, talking and laughing.... that was the great thing that I remember most.... all the laughter that we had together.  This shop is located in the Les Halles area of  Paris, and a major Metro stop, so we found our way back to the station (after I got rammed by a child in a stroller), and caught the train back to the hotel.   We all took a small break and rested a bit at the hotel, before going out for dinner.  We deliberated about where to eat, and finally decided to go to Al Diwan, the Lebanese restaurant that Dan and I love.  We decided that the Metro was the only way to travel, now, so we managed to find our way to a very close stop.
We walked to Fouquet's, the famous sidewalk cafe on the Champs Elysees, and that's the street that we walked down to find the restaurant.  We went rather early and were the first there, but we needed to eat and get a bit more rest.  The food was really wonderful and I think everyone truly enjoyed it.  We had the Meza for four which gave us about 20 different dishes to sample.  The waiter was very helpful and the food was so fresh and delicious.  We were so stuffed that dessert was out of the question, but Judy, the TRUE Lebanese, stopped by their bakery on the way out, and bought a box of  Mamool and Baklava for later on.
We walked back up to the Champs Elysees and strolled a bit, seeing the Arc d'Triumphe and all the hustle and bustle all around us.  The sight of that giant Ferris Wheel that they put up for the millennium celebration is a bit of an eyesore... I hope that they take it down Tout Suite!!  From what we heard, the French people feel the same way about it.  Paris at night, though, is truly wondrous.  The lights are spectacular and never cease to amaze me.  Somewhere along that walk, we found a Metro Station and took it back to the Hotel area... I think we got sort of turned around (as we always did) and had to backtrack our way to the Saint Lazare, but we did find it eventually.  We could never seem to emerge from the Metro Station at the same exit!  This was a VERY busy day, but so much fun.  When we got back to the Hotel, we sat and ordered something to drink in the lobby and ate some of Judy's pastries from Al Diwan.  Then, off to bed.  Oh, I need to mention here, the amazing way that we all sort of fell into our specific "jobs".... Right off, it was evident that Melba was the superior map reader... Judy's natural financial ability enabled her to immediately decipher the currency - being able to whip out her little "cheat sheet" and give us the correct price in American Dollars in a nanosecond!  Loretta doesn't speak much French, but for some reason her very demanding tone set the taxi drivers aquiver when they seemed to be giving us a merry chase around Paris with the meter running!  Me, since I have an affinity for food in any language, gave me a smattering of French to make sure that all of us were fed!  So we all fell into our roles, without even thinking about it!

 
March 23, 2000 - Thursday - Again, we all woke up about the same time in the morning... me, around 6:30, still trying to get a head start so as not to hold everyone up!  We all showered and dressed and headed up to the breakfast room for our usual - needed that fuel to keep us going!  But before I go further, let me tell you how Judy almost burned down the historic St. Lazare-Concorde Hotel.  She had brought her curling iron from home, and I had given her our adapters, but none of them would work.  She phoned the concierge and they sent up a hotel adapter.  She plugged it in and, Viola!, it started heating up (to say the least!)  The darn thing suddenly burst into flame and the plastic casing melted, running onto the carpet.  This was so scary!!  Thank God she wasn't hurt and we could all laugh about it later!!  Good lesson, though.... just leave those electric appliances HOME!   Back in the Breakfast Room, we noticed lots of people from all over the world... many Asians and for some reason, people from Seattle!!  Good "people watching" here.
 
Our first destination was to be the Louvre - hoping that getting there early would keep us from having to wait in lengthy lines.  Actually, we didn't have to wait, but some dopey Louvre employee sent us to the wrong entrance, after seeing our museum passes.  But, we backtracked and went in the right way.
We were trying to determine the most expedient path to take, to see the most memorable sights in the museum.  We tried to take the path that Rick Steves laid out in his book, and we sort of did it.  We were surprised to find out that some areas of the museum were closed to the public - for what reason, we never found out.  But we were able to see Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and much, much more.
We were there for about two hours or more.... then we stopped by the cafe to have some refreshment and drinks.  This was the day that we had to be at Le Cordon Bleu at 3:30 for the demo class.  We decided that we could probably go to the Eiffel Tower before the class, so we headed to the Metro and found our way there.  When we arrived at the foot of the Tower, the lines of people were unbelievable, but we decided to try for it, anyway.  After standing in the line all the way to the ticket window, they told us it would probably be an hour's wait just to get into the elevator!  By this time, we only had about an hour before our class started, so off we went, back to the Metro.  We easily found our way to Le Cordon Bleu and were there in plenty of time before the class started.  We paid our fees and got our notebooks and off we went.  The class was very interesting... but, I think Loretta and I were getting very dozey because the room was rather warm.
We were the only four "visitors"... the rest were actual students.  Very different from the demo class I had attended with June Nelson - where all the audience were visitors.  The subject of this class was a Jamaican Tart... using mango, passion fruit, coconut creme and pineapple.  It was a very complicated recipe, but so interesting to watch him prepare.  We learned a few neat tricks watching him and the interpreters were fairly good.  One was an English fellow who was easily understood, but the other was French and his English was a little unclear at times.  After the tart demonstration, the Chef created some darling animals out of almond paste.  It was surprising to see a few "older" students in the class.  One was a professor from a university in Seattle, Washington.  He said that he was on sabbatical and was taking a course from January to August.  That he was considering changing his career.  The other person was a French chef, who was taking some "brush up" courses.  How I envy them!!  We all got to have a "tasting" of the tarts and then we had to make our purchases from the school "store" so that Loretta and Melba could be on their way to the Opera.  We didn't even have time to have a dinner together this evening.
Judy and I got the Metro back to the hotel, rested up a bit, then decided to walk down to Galeries Lafayette and have dinner at the Gourmet Food Shop there.  Unfortunately, when we got there, they had already closed up that portion of the Gourmet Shop!  So we went into the department store, as I wanted to pick up that tagine I had seen.  Judy decided to pick up a French curling iron, after that harrowing experience with the other one!
We were getting hungry, so we started back to the hotel, and decided to have Pizza at the Marco Polo Cafe just across the street.  Judy was amazed at the Choucroute Garni.... that it was actually french, not german.  Most of the cafes and bistros serve this Alsatian dish and most of the people seem to order this.  Not very appealing to me, for sure!  Our pizza was fairly good... wood burning oven made the crust very tasty.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and had an expresso with those delicious little cookies,  before going up to bed.  Melba and Loretta had a later night than us, as they had to catch the Metro back to the hotel after the opera.

 
March 24, 2000 - Friday - It seems the days we have here are just flying by way too fast!  But we're trying to pack in the most that we can do, so that we won't miss too much.  Again, we all get ourselves together post haste and take our usual breakfast in the Breakfast Room.  Seems that the number of people here is increasing daily!  Must be the weekend, when lots of tourists arrive.  I haven't mentioned this, but the whole of Paris seems to be teeming with people - way more than I ever remember from past visits.  The lines are always staggeringly long.   I asked Dan if he remembered the long waits when we were there, and he absolutely said that we did not have any of those.  Being off season, the travel costs are less I suppose, causing more people to come now.  We decided to go to the Orsay Museum this morning, and caught the Metro there.  It was wonderful.... the museum itself is gorgeous, and the art there is incredible.  Judy said it was her favorite place in Paris.  She loved the Renoir painting of "Girl with Umbrella" and purchased the print from the store.  I won't name names, but "one of us" dared to touch a painting, and set the alarm off!!   But some were so beautiful, it was hard to control the "touch" factor!  I loved watching the artists who set up their easels to copy the great masters... so incredible how exact they can copy them!  I tried taking some photos, but I'm such a lousy photographer - they're passable, but do not capture the true beauty of what we saw.  We spent a few hours there, and then decided to find a nearby cafe for lunch.  The cafe was very pleasant and cozy, but Judy and Loretta ordered the hamburger and fries - sounds rather normal, huh?  NOT so... the hamburger arrived without a bun, with a fried egg perched on top!!  When they tried to ask for a bun (that word is not in my French vocabulary!), it was met with the waitress pointing to the basket of French bread!  They gave up with that!  Melba and I had salads, Nicoise, I think.  Not exceptional, but very good and filling.  After our disastrous visit to the Eiffel Tower the other day, we decided that it was now or NEVER!  So we caught the Metro and did the "correspondence" dance to get there.
 
Sure enough, the lines were even LONGER, but we patiently got in line and wound our way up to the elevators.  It didn't really take all that long.  We got to the second level, and the lines were unbelievable to go to the top.  Judy and I opted to just hang out on the second level, while Melba and Loretta braved it to the top!  Judy and I took some photos around the perimeter, then went inside to the coffee shop (where we were to meet up with Melba and Loretta when they came down) and had a chocolate crepe and coffee/tea.  It was rather dull, but where we were sitting having it, made it special!  We people watched and wandered around and started wondering when they were ever going to come down!
We worried that they were looking for us someplace else, by this time - plus, we had made plans with the driver for our Limo Tour of Paris that evening.  Time was passing, and we were afraid we'd miss it.  Well, finally, they managed to get an elevator back down to the second level, and we had a merry chase trying to get the elevator back down to ground level!  We inadvertently got off on the first level, thinking we were on ground level.  Then, the trial of trying to get back on, was unbelievable!!  Just suffice it to say that it took us probably another hour or so to do just that!  Of course, we did miss our time that we were to be there for the limo, and we headed to the Concierge to apologize.  He said that it was no problem at all... that we could reschedule.  We were so relieved, because we were really looking forward to that event!  So we scheduled it for Saturday night at 7pm.  We were all getting hungry, especially Judy and Loretta, after their horrible lunch!  We asked the Concierge for recommendations for a nice, cozy place for dinner that wasn't a Metro ride away from the hotel.  He recommended the Pub St. Lazare, which was just around the corner from the hotel. I need to say here, that we were truly blessed with the weather that we'd had, so far.  Very warm and sunny - not a drop of rain in sight!  Everyone told us that it was very unseasonable for this time of year.  It truly made our visit so special, not to have to contend with rainy, cold weather!  Anyway, we freshened up and walked around the corner to a really darling looking restaurant.  We were taken upstairs to our table and the waiter came to take our order.  He was darling and enjoyed bantering with us.  I was trying out my "menu French" with him, and I think he was rather amused at my murdering the language!  The dish that I ordered had lots of vegetables in it, and I was trying to get him to tell me the different ones that were in it.  I knew them all, except one that he kept calling "poireau"....?  I'd never heard of that one.   Finally, he drew a picture of it... it was a leek!  I think they'd been having the same question asked of them before, by Americans, because he called out to another waiter that the English name was Leek...he seemed happy to know this!  The food was very good, although we led Judy wrong when we told her that the French usually prepare steak VERY rare... hers was overdone, poor baby!  But everyone else had delicious food. Let's see... Judy had the steak, Melba had Salmon, Loretta had....?, and I had the beef which was prepared like a pot au feu... braised in stock with vegetables.   We had the Prix Fixe, which was always easy.... everything, including wine and dessert.  The place seemed to be popular and started filling up rather quickly.  At one point, a group of Americans came in and our waiter seemed to be having language difficulty with them.  He had a cute sense of humor and came over to our table and asked if I'd be his interpreter (with tongue in cheek!!).  We seemed to have a leisurely dinner here... very relaxing and I do think the fact that I drank most of a bottle of wine, made it even more so for me!  I love sharing wine with Melba! Ha ha  We were all pooped, so a short walk back to the hotel was a very good thing!  I think we might have stopped for a drink near the bar in the hotel, but I'm not positive.  Someone will have to correct me on this.  Then we all were happy to crawl into bed!

 
March 25, 2000 - Saturday - I can't believe the weekend is already here!!  We're just getting started here and already we're having to realize that Monday is not that far away.... so sad!  But the weather is still gorgeous, and we have our usual gathering for breakfast this morning.
 
Today we're on our way to see Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cité.... we catch the Metro there, and found the usual MOB lined up to go inside... we walked around to the rear of the church on the outside to see the flying buttresses, and much of it was draped, as they seemed to be cleaning it or repairing it, so we really couldn't see a whole lot of them.  We sat for a bit on a bench, just absorbing the park like area there.  Then we decided to walk and see if we could find a restaurant that had been recommended to Melba, called Le Soufflé... no luck.  We walked around then walked over the bridge to the Ile St. Louis.  What a darling street that we walked along, with all sorts of charming shops.  We found an Olive Oil Shop, where Melba and I purchased some Truffle Oil.  The packaging was incredible.  I still have not had the heart of open mine! Then we passed a patisserie that we all salivated over.  We decided to walk down the length of the street, then backtrack to the shop for some and take it to the corner cafe to have it with coffee.
Trying to decide which to buy was the real problem here - all looked decadent and delicious.  Each of us bought two and again, the packaging was so intricate.  The clerk managed to take a square sheet of paper, and package our pastries into a neat pyramid shape - amazing!  We gingerly walked back down to the cafe which was perched next to the Seine, ordered our coffee and dove into our pastries!  I had Dan's Leatherman... with the teeny knife, and I had just started dividing up the pastries so that we could all have a taste... the waiter was so nice... he came running over with implements, napkins and plates for us - all for the purchase of coffee!  Seems they don't mind if you bring your own food!  Everything was just TOO luscious... good thing we didn't have too much more time here, or we would have been back and probably added a few more pounds!  This turned out to be our lunch, though - we were all stuffed!
Melba and I had been bemoaning the fact that we didn't purchase those Tete d'Lion Soup Bowls from Dehilleren the other day, and decided that we needed to go back and get them.  Loretta and Judy both agreed that they'd not mind going back there, so we headed for the Metro to get there.  I think Frank was happy to see us again... we made our purchases, and he packaged them up for us.  I really was worrying about how in the world I would get all these things stuffed into my luggage.  As we left, he called out, "Bye.... see you in ten minutes!!".... ha  I wish!  We decided to go back to the hotel to drop off our purchases and then go back to the department stores for our last shopping expedition.  Melba and I wanted to get the Poire William, and Judy and Loretta wanted to buy some of the interesting jewelry we had looked at before.  The stores were jam packed!  It was hard just getting from place to place - seems that all of Paris was out shopping on that Saturday.  Melba and I decided not to purchase the liquore and wait to pick it up at the Duty Free at the airport.  Judy and Loretta bought their gifts, and we made sure that we got back to the hotel in plenty of time to freshen up and keep our date with the Limo Driver!  We made it!  Judy, Melba and Loretta were hungry and decided to go over to the Marco Polo Cafe for pizza.  I was tired, and not very hungry, so I opted to just take a rest in the room while they had dinner.  They were so funny when they got back... seems they had a waiter who could not understand them and went into all these gesturing dramatics over everything they were ordering!  They gave me a dressing down for leaving them alone without an interpreter! Ha ha  When they got back,  we went downstairs to wait for the Limo and were laughing about the sort of limo that would be picking us up... a Citroen... or a Fiat - something that was so teeny we'd be stuffed inside like a clown car.  Well, were we in for a surprise - up drives a long, low sleek limousine.  Pascale, the driver, puts us in the car and goes back inside the hotel, emerging with a silver tray complete with flutes and champagne!  What class!!  We had a wonderful "tour by night" of the whole of Paris!  It was truly wonderful.  He took us to all the "high spots".  There we were, driving through the narrow passageway by the Place d'Tetre, and then parking at the foot of Sacre Coeur, just enjoying the view from up there!  People were trying to peer into the limo, wondering who in the heck was inside!  We loved it!  We saw the Eiffel Tower in its beautiful golden lights, but what a surprise when every few minutes, it would turn into sparkling white diamonds... unbelievable sight!
He complained to us, as a Frenchman, of the Louvre Pyramid, and the darned Ferris Wheel.  His english was impeccable, as he lived in Santa Barbara for ten years or so... making it very pleasant to chat with him.  He drove us all around the Latin Quarter - such a beautiful area that I'd like to have been able to spend more time in... the elegant Avenue Montaigne where all the gorgeous boutiques are... down and around the Champs Elysees to the Arc de' Triumphe.... it was like a dream to see this all by night.  Even drove us through the seamy part of Montmartre... live sex shows that Judy was horrified to see!  We laughed at all the German busses that bring people to this area... Pascale said that they loved to come here.  I could go on and on, but this will have to suffice to bring the memory of what we saw back to us, a bit.  We must have been driving around for 3 hours, and I do think he would have driven us for as long as we wanted, without complaint, but Judy's back was starting to bother her, so we headed back to the hotel.

 
March 26, 2000 - Sunday - Well, here it is... our last full day in Paris.  I think we're all feeling overwhelmed that the time has gone by so quickly.  There are still so many more things that I would have liked to have had the time to see.  Especially the Mouffttard Market, which is always so fun on Sunday.  But we want to go to Versailles, which will not give us time to do anything else, since it will take most of the day to do this tour.  We went down to breakfast, relaxed a bit, then left  for the station.  We have to catch the train - not the RER or the Metro, and we're a little worried about which train to take.  Turns out, it was very clear cut and simple... the station was just behind the hotel, and the train left within minutes of our getting on.  The train was NOT crowded... in our car there were only the four of us, three young girls and a young man.... and all of us American!
 
When we arrived in Versailles, we had to walk through town to get to the Chateau, and right in the middle of town, the Market was set up. I was so happy that they got to see a market, even though not the size of Mouffttard - it was still wonderful - the variety of produce was staggering.  Things that you never see here in the states.... fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads, meats... incredible.  They even had a cow pulling a cart with children dressed in traditional provincial clothes - some sort of festival going on... all very picturesque.
Unfortunately, we wanted to buy some cheese and fruit to take back to the hotel, but didn't want to have to carry it around Versailles!  And the market shut down at 1:30, so we weren't able to do this.  So we continued on with our walk, which was a few more blocks away from the Town Square. 
 
When we got inside, we found we couldn't use our Museum Pass, as we misunderstood or were told the wrong thing by the person we bought it from.  We decided just to see the first tour... ending with the Hall of Mirrors.  I was truly appalled at how shabby the Chateau seemed to be this time.  I remember the way the Hall of Mirrors just danced with light, so sparkling and clean... this time, everything needed a good "windexing"!!!!  The dust on those gorgeous chandeliers was awful!  Then we took a little tram to the Petite Trianon and got off and walked toward Marie Antoinette's little country village.  It was so sad to see the storm damage there.  Huge, ancient trees felled all over the place.  It will probably never be quite the same.  Also, we were told that the fountains only ran on Sunday and that's why we postponed our visit until then... but, naturally, they were NOT running... seems they don't go on until April!  BOO.... 
We were getting a little hungry, and on the tram ride back, we saw a darling little restaurant by the water, called Ile Flotille (I think).... sort of a greenhouse with a view of the boats bobbing on the canal.  We decided to have lunch... onion soup (delish) and we ordered a club sandwich to share.  Just right for us!  Of course, they served the soup in the Tete de' Lion bowls, which made it taste even better.... right Melba? Ha  While we were eating, it started pouring!  We just missed getting drenched.  And as luck would have it, it stopped just before we finished so that we never did get a soaking!
We walked back to the train station, hoping the market would still be up, but it was way too late, and we saw the men breaking down the poles that held up all the awnings.  While we were sitting on the platform waiting for the train, Judy and Melba decided to use the WC there on the platform.  It called for 2,5ff and they managed to fish out the change.  When they opened the door, such a howl from both of them... and they started holding their sides, laughing... seems they had quite a shock when they peered in.... I wouldn't look, but Loretta took a picture that we will have for posterity... hee hee  Actually, the picture doesn't look half bad.... but they said it was the aroma that added the horror to it.  Just then, the train arrived and we laughed until we cried, all the way back to the hotel station.  We decided to take a little rest in our rooms and freshen up for dinner.  We took this time, also, to try and get ourselves repacked for the trip home.  Now that we had all this "extra" baggage of purchases, it was a bit of a feat getting everything in!  After a little rest,  we were going to try to find the little Chinoise restaurant near the Hotel Mansart that Dan and I loved.  They had the most delicious Spring Rolls I've ever tasted.  The weather seemed to have cleared, so we decided to walk.... of course, halfway there, the heavens opened up and we only had two umbrellas between us... we decided to turn around and find our dinner closer to the hotel.  We ended up at the Hotel Brasserie, which turned out to be our most elegant dinner!  The name of it was the Brasserie Terminus - an apt name for our last dinner in Paris... BOO HOO  They weren't serving dinner yet, so we went into the Hotel bar and had a drink.  Very cozy.  Melba and I, last of the big spenders, had a Kir Royale, and Judy and Loretta, a Pina Colada.  It was very relaxing and pleasant, just sitting there for a bit.  The restaurant was quite crowded, probably due to the fact that the weather didn't permit straying too far from the hotel.  But the food was wonderful and beautiful!  A delicious ending to our stay.

 
March 27, 2000 - Monday - Ah well... all good things must come to an end, and here we are... sigh!  We dressed for breakfast, all having mixed emotions.  We were a bit homesick, but still feeling that we'd just arrived.  Yesterday, we'd received faxes telling us that our driver would be picking us up to drive us to Charles de Gaulle at 1:15.  Not too much time for a last day in Paris.  Plus, we had to figure out our "tippage" once more... for the bellhop, the maid and concierge.  No small task! Ha  And to check out and settle up for our charges.  Judy and Melba wanted to go back down to the shopping area for a few last minute items... shot glasses and ballcaps.... After this, we settled up with the hotel and called for the bellman to take our things downstairs.  We sat in the lobby, rather sad and quiet, waiting for the driver to pick us up.  He was right on time, and we got to the airport in a short time.  When we got there, we check in, and went to the waiting area.  We decided that now was the time to hit the Duty Free area.  Sadly, the Poire William we wanted wasn't to be had.  The one bottle left, was broken and leaking - so we settled on Calvados with an apple in the bottle.  We didn't have too long to wait, before our flight was ready to board.  This time, it was packed to the gills.... no room to spread out, darn it!  We took off and were flying for about an hour or so, when the pilot announced that we'd be landing at Heathrow, due to some sort of air conditioning problem with one of the engines.... yikes!  We did one of those.... almost landed and then swooped back up immediately... sort of things.  Pilot said that he was told not to land at that particular time.... next try was successful, thank goodness, and we sat there for an hour or so while they did their repairs.  Of course, the delay caused us to miss our connection in Chicago, so when we got there, we had to stay overnight until the next morning, when we had a flight out at 6:15.  But it was an uneventful trip the rest of the way, and wonderful to be back home again.  Sandy, Jim and Dan were waiting for us at the gate.... I think they missed us!  And it was so good to see them all.
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