In Paris

I have been finding it difficult to find the time needed to fill in the blog on the past weeks of travel. I will try to at least get some of the photos uploaded, and certainly will fill it all in after we return to the states next week.

The THIRTEENTH
They say that friday the thirteenth is bad, well...
The day was actually pretty great. We got up, packed, checked out of the Shining-esque hotel in Chateaux Chambord, drove back to LeMans with only a 35 minute wrong way detour, got on the TGV, and ended up in the Paris Montparnasse Gare. We navigated the circuitous MC Escher stairways into the Metro and bought our tickets in french at the defacto computer terminal, rushed up and down stairs, me carrying both bags as usual, packed onto a rush hour daily commuter train, and popped out dead smack in the middle of insane rush hour Hotel DeVille area with luggage. I was sweating like a pig and I guess was smelling just as fresh, and we started our insane walk of torture 10 blocks to our new Hotel. This place had been recommended both in the Rick Steve's books, but also by Florence and Niko. This is where they stay with the kids. We arrive to be greated by a huge-eyebrowed man with a very "I only speak french" attitude and get our key with Jen's nearing fluency elegance. We get in the elevator and begin our ascent to the 4th floor. We open the door to find that this room should be used in a CSI episode. Initially smelling like cigarettes, we notice the following: mold on the walls under the window; walls and door jambs caked with dirt from all the hands of travellers from years past; the shower door was duct taped together and rotting, the pole for the shower handle was broken, so it was really a "self service car rinse-style" shower; a long black hair in the sink; hairs on the towels; a moldy towel rack; ad the cigarette smoke faded in our nostrils, the smell of urine; and the piece de resistance, a blood stain on the wall that went from the phone table upward and onto another wall (email me for pics, not bloggable), my guess... a junky passed out shooting up and pissed himself as the needle blew out the vein. Well our bushy-browed hotel friend ended up speeaking very good english as we soon found out and knew of the condition of the room. We cancelled the remaining nights as he was booked up that night and could not promise a better room. We decided to go on a hotel hunt. The two-star €60 rate was soon to be upgraded to a 3 star €100 rate back at our Paris favorite, the Hotel Castex. We decided to stay in the room for the one night as we were out the 60 anyway... then some reasonable and rational thought came over us and we decided to charge it with a letter being immediately written to the hotel, a note about bloody walls on the charge slip, and we were outta there. My contest letter to Visa, Niko and Florence, and Rick Steves should be pretty funny.

We went back to the murder site and gathered our things, I wreaked, Jen hobbled, but we got our bags and went and watched french TV and slept very well, thank you, on the simple Rue du Castex.

Valentine's Day
The day got the usual start with coffee and cereal and a croissant in the limestone cavern of our hotel. And the unusual, "thank you Jimmy for getting us outta there last night." Then, to the LAUNDROMAT! I was overdue for some washing and I think scared a couple people with my euro-fresh scent yesterday after a day of trains and rushing in the underground carrying 100lbs of bags. We met an american ex-pat in the laundromat who moved to paris as a consultant in the oil business, from texas. I bet he has a hard time explaining Bush and Oil to Parisians. We got our clothes back to the hotel and bought a baguette sandwich on the way and ate in the lobby as our room was being cleaned. We hung our wet stuff and I washed my wool sweater in the sink. It was overdue too and smelled like fine stilton soaked in wet lamb as I pressed the water into the almost impereable fabric. I laughed and Jen gagged. haha.

Jen layed down for a nap and I went down to the pub on the corner to read 3 chapters John Maeda's "The Law's of Simplicity." Drinking Leffe Blonde and making diligent notes and highlighting segments of the text, Jen arrived for a coffee and off we went for another walk about the Marais. Back to the hotel after a quick crepe to get ready for our reservation around the corner at Le Bastoche. I dozed for about 3 minutes in our 12 sq ft room and got up to shave, iron, primp, and run out the door to have a 3 course set menu where all the food was made in heart shapes. I ate the Frois Grois, beef and pastry with berries and Jen had the salmon, scallop plate, and the chocolate mousse/tiramisou. We got a tip on a cool neighborhood for a drink and decided to skip the grumpy doorman at the spanish disco for the flavour of a smokey Che Guavara inspired dive. Drinking Leffe and Jen with port, I broke the ice and asked about this glowing green drink served from a beer tap in Chinon and if they knew what it was. We met some new friends at the bar and stayed and talked about Paris and politics and valentines. Then we said goodbye to Sebastian and friends and headed back to the Hotel. I got the hiccups REALLY bad. I think I hyperventillated trying to stop them and passed out. All I remember is after Jen stubbed her toe, laying back in the bed, then waking up in the darkness without the hiccups... ah living.

Thursday, the 15th
Right now we are back at the hotel after a day of being on our feet. Jen stubbed her pinky toe on a bench in our room before bed and after 2 glasses of champaign, a 1/4 bottle of wine, and two glasses of port on valentine's day. We missed breakfast and, nursing our slight hangovers, headed out late to eat Croque Monsieur and Madamme with Bastille plaza people watching seating. Two cups of coffee, a caraffe of water, salad, and cheese and ham on toast, we headed into the bowels of the metro to emerge at the Champs du Mars. Her swolen toe adding to the pain of her already sore feet, she stuck it out in queues for over 1.5 hours to reach the 3rd summit of the Eiffel Tower on a GORGEOUS sunny day. We then waked the Rue de Cler for a coffee and street-side crepes then to the Grand Palais to see the Egyptian artifacts uncovered in the lost capital of ancient Egypt sunk by the rising sea.

It's nap time for her now.

Back episodes: Italy and France in Feb

February

2nd or 3rd Day: Train from Padova to Milan to Como, Check in to hotel, walk around insanely busy Como ped area, nap
2nd or 3rd Night: Met by Anna and Paolo, apertif at modern bar by lake, fantastic 4 course Dinner at top of crazy hilltop road
4th Day: Late start; Walk around Como, lunch with Anna, her mom, kids, and Paolo at their apt
4th Night: Nap, eat sleep early
5th Day: Visit Bellagio with all other tourists, drink thick chocolate
5th Night: Eat at Hemmingway restaurant, joined by Paolo. Turned in.
6th Day: Leave Como for Milan and take trains on wrong day and kick all the correct passengers out of their seats, then train from Milan to Paris where we realized we were wrong and played musical chairs for 4 hours. Arrive in Paris, take Metro, check in to hotel, Walk around Marais
6th Night: Eat at Le Bastoche watch CNN and Eurosport
7th Day: Visit Notre Dame during mass, buy a votive for Cecily, walk around Marais, take nap
7th Night: Eat at "long bench" (translates) and walk into scarry west of Pompidou, then back to hotel for CNN, again, same stories...
8th Day: TGV to LeMans, pick up rental car, drive to who knows where... just nortwest.
8th Night: Check in to hotel at S Michel and eat in hotel
9th Day: Drive from Mt S Michel, get lost, ogle at scale of nuclear plant on Loire, check into Hotel in Chinon
9th Night: after not knowing how to knock at one restaurant, dinner at GREAT little other restaurant, drank REALLY good wine, fear of mugging in dimly lit Chinon by rag tag group of moped riders (hahah)
10th Day: Explore Chinon castle ruins where Joan of Arc proclaimed french heir to throne and long walk of stairs , lunch seated next to a 1-eyed dog and fat man drinking perrier and wiskey apertif and whole bottle of rosé wine.
10th Night: Dinner at 30something and sleep in Chinon again
11th Day: Driving nad getting lost, drive past Chateaux Ussé, visit Chateaux Assey Le Riddeau
11th Night: dinner and bed in a 2 star Hotel in Chenenceau
12th Day: Chateaux Chenenceau, Driving low on gas, Chateaux Chambord
12th Night: dinner and bed at Hotel Chateaux Chambord, drink young wine from bad plastic cups in room while wathing american tv all with french dubs.