Day 1 April 11, 2012. Paris

Today we got off the plane after about a seven hour flight at 6:30am this morning. Since neither of us was able to sleep much during the flight we had to spend the day being active. That was not hard since we took the train from the Charles De Gaulle airport to the center of the city. That is where the fun started. We spent the next 20 minutes trying to find our way out of the train station. Finally, we found daylight and made our way to the street. As it turns out that was the easy part. Finding a taxi was the hard part. 45 minutes later we finally got a taxi to take us to our hotel. Our room was ready so we dropped off our luggage and began our walk.
We headed toward the Louvre since it is on the river Seine. The day was partly cloudy with a chilly wind. So while not comfortable for sitting outside it was great for walking around. And that is exactly what we did. We spent the rest of the morning exploring the area. First we walked to where we thought we might have dinner and found our restaurant. Then we stumbled into the Royal Palace gardens which was very pretty. We headed toward the gardens outside the Louvre on our way to the Eiffel Tower. It is a long walk to the Eiffel Tower. We stopped for lunch before approaching the Tower. The line was long and after Chris reconoitered the situation and learned there was a two and a half hour wait just for tickets we decided to bag it and wait for another day. Some how the walk back to our hotel was much longer. Back at the hotel it was time for a much needed nap. The alarm rang at 6:00 and we were off to dinner. The place we had selected, it turns out did not open for dinner until 8:00 . Too late for us. We found another place near our hotel where we ate. My selection of the sausage was not good. When I ordered it I was told it was made of the stomach of some animals but I figured it would be ground up finely so no problem. Bad choice on my part. The taste was bad and the stomach pieces were relatively large. Together these two aspects combined for a memorable dinner.

Chris

Our flight from DC was pretty smooth and despite no sleep on my part and 3 hours on Paul's part, it was a good flight. It was 39 degrees F when we landed and was pretty cold all day, but no rain as predicted! Paul told you the problem we had getting to the Hotel Gramont Opera, I now know where there are jobs...Paris needs cab drivers!!!! First order of business was a hot chocolate and croissant, now I don't eat croissants at home, but love them in France. They know what they're doing here , they are warm and everywhere. We also found a great bakery near our hotel where I had a caramel macaroon to die for! I believe I'll return tomorrow for the toffee cookies :)) As Paul mentioned we walked most of the day. The long walk to the Eiffel Tower was gorgeous. I love the French architecture, particularly the Black rod iron balconies everywhere. I also love the gardens, the budding trees and tulips are magnificant right now. Particularly striking was the Royal Palace Gardens. Certainly there were some other interesting choices as well, like the building that had plants growing all over the front of it! We decided to try the Eiffel Tower and see how crowded it was....REALLY crowded. I was told 2 1/2 hours to just get the tickets not to mention the wait for the ONE elevator they have working right now to the top! So that was moved to an early morning Fri. or Sat. After a loooonger walk home and a short nap we headed out to dinner at a restaurant Paul had chosennand I learned I could NEVER live here full time. They, like a lot of restaurants, don't even open for dinner until 8pm...I'd starve! We ate at a bistro Le Gramont Brasserie, just down the block from the hotel and I ordered smartly, a Croque-monsieur, a hot ham and cheese sandwich, while Paul told you what he ordered. When HE thinks it's bad...trust me it's bad!!! Presently as I type we are watching GLEE, spoken in French but sung in English. Looks like they are at least a year behind too.

One observation is that you see a lot more when you're not the one leading the group...a new phenomenon for me! I really loved walking and the absolute beauty of Paris.

Tomorrow....the Louvre.