This was our first trip to Europe!  We finally had 5 weeks of vacation and the plan was to pack in as much as possible because…….who knew when we’d get back!  Some research on Italy for the trip and it became apparent that there was more than enough to see in one country…….definitely in Italy.  Even that got a bit overwhelming…….now it was how do we see everything in Italy in 4-5 weeks.  Impossible to do of course, so planned a route that would get us to the main places we wanted to see without rushing……sort of an abbreviated version of “slow travel”….no one night stops.    Four couples on this trip, Rae and Glen,  Blake and Susan, Jill and Larry……a couple people had been to Europe back in the 70’s and had spent only time in Rome…..and on trains!  Us and one couple would do the 5 weeks in Italy together, with the other two coming from different parts of Europe.  We’d all be together in the middle…..one week in Tuscany and one week in Umbria.  Ken decided that we’d better get a few days in Paris…..just because.  So that is where we started this trip, then meeting up with Susan and Blake in Venice to start our Italian adventure.  I called it our “Italian Sampler Trip”.

Also of note, this trip happened just over a week after the thwarted terrorist bombing plot on a flight out of  London to the US.  As a result of all the precautions being taken we were allowed NO carry-on baggage, not even a purse, other than essential medications and documents……what you did have had to be in clear plastic baggy.  We were allow a small camera and cell phone but not the chargers or extra batteries.

Mon Aug 21

British Airways flight left Vancouver over one hour late……not looking good for our connection in London.  Have almost 2 hours but we’ll see.  We cleared British customs in Vancouver because of the security issues. (this is not normally done but because of the terrorist threats extra security and precautions were in place and it was also to ease the custom line ups in the UK.)

Great flight…..9 hours.  Complimentary bar service and reasonably good airline food.  Managed to grab a few hours sleep (wine and a benadryl worked wonders!)  The middle seat for me, so as good as it could be.  Terribly hot on the plane though.

Tues Aug 22

Arrived at Heathrow just past 2……right as our Paris flight was taking off!!  Not good.  Lots of extra security right now……a bit of an issue here.  Not very efficient or organized, a bit chaotic.  Not a simple process for connecting flights….still had to go thru security again.  Found the BA desk and managed to get on to the next flight to Paris (5:30).  Asked about the luggage and they suggested we check once we were on the plane.  All luggage was going thru security checks as well.  A couple hours to kill so grabbed coffees and people watched.

This flight was also almost an hour late!  Once on board I asked the flight attendant if there was a way to check for our luggage as we’d been told to do.  She checked and advised that our luggage “would not be traveling with us today”!!  Ah sigh……told us to go to the BA lost luggage desk as soon as we got off the plane.

Finally arrived in Paris!  How exciting!  Went directly to the lost luggage counter and filled in all the forms etc.  They hoped it would be on the next flight from London, should usually be within 48 hrs at the most BUT because of all the extra security etc. they were a bit backlogged with missing luggage and it could take up to 10 days to “re-unite” us with it!!   Oh well, not much else we can do.  Turned around to leave and the line up was miles long!!  Lucky we’d been told a head of time or gawd knows we’d be standing at the back of it somewhere.

Decided to treat ourselves to a taxi to our hotel.  Had planned to train in but enough chaos and excitement for one day…..one long day.  Not cheap E50 but so worth it just to get to experience driving through the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe!

We are here, 4 hours behind schedule and no luggage but we made it.  The Hotel Duquesne Eiffel is wonderful (have been back since this trip and even better now since renos!)

Guy at the desk was very helpful finding little emergency toiletry packets for us and giving suggestions on where to go for dinner that was close by.  Chatted a bit about our luggage and he said a couple others had been waiting days and still no sign of it……ah sigh.   Our room is on the 4th floor.  Very small, big bathroom though BUT the view is to die for!  You can see the Eiffel Tower from the bed!!!!

Since it was well after 9 we didn’t venture too far, only a couple of blocks and came to the La Terrasse.  Great location where three, maybe four busy streets converge and a metro station…..great people watching sitting at one of the outside tables.  Our first glass of wine and baguette avec jambon in Paris!  Still tons of people out and about so we wandered around a bit before heading back to the hotel.

Had hoped that just maybe our luggage would have showed up but no.  To bed close to midnight.  So exciting to be here.  Can’t wait to start exploring tomorrow.

Wed Aug 23

Up at 3AM!  Wide awake after only 3 hours sleep.  Definitely going to take a day or two to adjust to the time change.  Looked at the Eiffel Tower and read for an hour or so then managed to fall back to sleep until around 8.

Called the desk to check on the luggage….nope.  It was easy deciding what to wear today!!  Sunny and just nice and warm today, good thing since we didn’t have anything other than tee shirts, sweaters and cotton pants to wear.  Had breakfast at the hotel (not included E6, which seems reasonable for continental)

Off to the Eiffel Tower.  Only about a 15 minute walk.  The view of the ET and all the apartments along the Champ de Mars was really lovely….so French!  Don’t know how else to describe it.  The buildings are all very neat and tidy with flower boxes and terraces loaded with plants.  Just so very exciting to be seeing the Eiffel Tower.  Beautiful!

Bought our tickets for the elevator to the top.  Waited in line about 15 minutes.  It is pretty spectacular….the views in all directions are awesome.  I’m not a height person but you just have to go up to the top.  It’s all fenced and very safe.  You can see everything from up there.  Took tons of pictures in every direction.  Stopped at the gift shops on the way down and bought the usual stuff….post cards, fridge magnet and a Christmas ornament.

Grabbed a “hotdog” (2 European weiners drizzled with dijon and french fries in a paper cone……no bun but very good!) from a stand under the ET.  Off to the Arc de Triomphe.  Crossed the Pont d’Ilena to the Palais de Chaillot and walked along the tree-lined Avenue d’Ilena.  Just beautiful.  A bit of a walk but really nice and good for getting over jet-lag.

The traffic around the Arc is something else….we just sat and watched for a while and were very thankful that we were not doing the driving here.  Took the tunnel over to the Arc.  Didn’t climb to the top….sore feet….but still great views down to Le Defence in one direction and the Champs Elysees in the other.  Found out that the 3 arches all line up……Le Defence, the A de T and the Arc du Carrousel near the Louvre.  Wandered a bit admiring all the details.

Down the Champs Elysees for a late lunch and drink.  The weather was just perfect for all the walking we did.  The shoes, not so much!  Not cheap to eat or drink on the CE….probably a lot better, and cheaper, restaurants just over a street or two, but was fun.  And worth every penny to just sit for an hour or so to rest our feet.  Our “walking” shoes were in the missing luggage.  Just enough battery left on my phone to call the hotel to see if our luggage had arrived…..it hadn’t.  Not a good thing to be in Paris with no clothes except what’s on your back and no essentials.  Found a Gap that was having a sale, so picked up a spare shirt/tee shirt each, some underwear and a hoodie for Ken, I at least had my denim jacket and it does get a bit chilly in the evening.  Decided to not buy shoes yet…..one more day then we’ll have to for sure but walking around in brand new shoes isn’t going to be that great either.  Found a pharmacy for toothpaste, deodorant and some cheap mascara……figured we’d manage with the hotel shampoo and cream for another day.  Hand cream works OK on you face when desperate.  Spent just about as much in the pharmacy as we did at Gap!

Wandered down as far as Place de la Concorde and then headed back towards the hotel.  Popped in and out of some very nice shops, stopped for a coffee and an eclair at a fantastic patisserie……hard to decide what to get.  Beautiful display of all their goodies.  Paris is a great walking city.  There are little cafes around every corner, beautiful tree-lined, shaded streets just full of hustle and bustle.

Back to the hotel just before 7 to get a bit of a rest before dinner and lo and behold there was our luggage.  Yeah!!  It had just arrived…….thank goodness.  With our luggage also came someone elses.  The desk guy said he’d been at the hotel for a week and had just left this morning…..not sure what happens to it now.  Felt bad for that person but so glad it wasn’t us.

Had time to get cleaned up and proper shoes put on and out for dinner.  Didn’t venture too far again…..down the street to a place called Cafe Le Dome on Rue St Dominique.  Sat outside with a great view of the Eiffel Tower, sparkling on the hour.  I had the chicken special (g) and Ken had the steak (v.g.), and a bottle of wine for E44.  Not too bad I guess.  Wandered around the area after dinner.  Some great restaurants tucked away in little courtyards and alleys, tons of shops.

Headed back to La Terrasse for a glass of wine before heading home.  At night the street cleaners come out….we loved the little sidewalk sweeper things, called them sidewalk zambonis. It’s really very clean here……had heard horror stories so pleasantly surprised.  Can’t say I’ve notice any more garbage or mess than anywhere at home. And no doggie poop either!  Just sitting and watching all the people with their dogs…..tons of them small and big, some really BIG dogs, like woolly sheep dogs.  Where on earth do they manage to keep these big guys in their apartments??

To bed around midnight.  Just exhausted today but so, so happy we have luggage!!

Thurs Aug 24

Slept much better last night…..still woke up around 3 but dozed right off again.

A bit cloudy on and off and quite cool this morning.  Occasional rain and thunder/lightening too.

Had breakfast at a great little cafe, Le Cafe du Musee, on the corner of Blvd des Invalides and Rue de Varenne, acrosse from the Rodin Museum.  Excellent omelets and toasted baguettes with cafe au lait E18.

Bought our two day pass, which is a good deal if you are planning to visit at least three museums and/or you don’t want to stand in line ups.  With the pass we avoided the ticket buying lines.

The Rodin Museum was great.  Saw “The Kiss” and “The Thinker”.  Beautiful gardens but the rain had started so we wandered around inside for over an hour.  All quite impressive.  Lots of local artists sitting around doing sketches….kind of cool.  The museum is in the Hotel Biron, which is now owned by the city.  Rodin lived there for many years around the turn of the century.  Beautiful old building with very impressive woodwork.  Very interesting exhibits and displays on how bronzes are made.  Also an area of stuff by Camille Claudel, who was his assistant and lover for many years…..beautiful.  A number of paintings from his collection included a Renoir and a Van Gogh.  The rain finally stopped and we had a nice walk thru the garden where The Thinker is and the Gates of Hell.  Loved this museum!

Quite a long walk to the Louvre. Weather semi-cooperated, was a mixed bag of everything, including lots of thunder, one major downpour, then a some sun!!  Crossed the bridge over to Place de la Concorde. Loved the barges/houseboats on the river.

Great view down the Champs Elysees…..can see the Arc de Triomphe in the distance and then the view south of the Tuileries and the Louvre. The Tuileries is just lovely…..chairs set up around the fountains for a rest, people sitting and feeding the pigeons, some sketching, some dozing …..fun to watch.
Arrived at the Louvre around 2 and there was no line up to get in…… Bonus we thought until we got inside. It was absolutely packed. Hoping the crowds would let up a bit we went to the snack bar, had a drink and a bite to eat. Off to see Mona and just as we arrived at the entrance to the Denon wing, so did a couple of tour groups. We re-routed and headed to off to see Venus de Milo and then slowly worked our way back to Mona. The crowds had somewhat subsided but rather hopeless getting a good look at her…..but we did see her! You can’t appreciate what you’re looking at because of the crowds, noise and the heat! Very warm in that room. Other beautiful art in the same room, completely overlooked unfortunately. Spent another hour or so in the Sully wing, some great treasures (Greek and Egyptian) and way less crowded. Beautiful museum but spread out for miles……can’t imagine anyone actually managing to see the entire place, even over a number of days. Some stuff I recognized but many I’d not heard of before. Loved the sculptures.

A short walk to Notre Dame……just  a spectacular building!  It is incredibly massive.  Beautiful stained glass windows, especially the rose window, there are 3 of them.  It’s the original glass from the 14thc….amazing when you think about it!  During WWII they removed the glass from the window to protect it…..so glad they did.   The atmosphere inside was very subdued, which made wandering through very pleasant and peaceful.  The sun peaked thru the windows every now and again creating beautiful colourful sun rays.  Beautiful chapels surround the main chapel, some interesting artwork.  Even the ceiling was lovely.  Nice park behind the cathedral too….Square Jean XXIII.  Walked all the way around it, across the river. Had a quick little visit to Shakespeare & Co…..could have spent hours in there browsing through all the books, old and new.

Had planned to visit St Chappelle but it started to rain again so we popped into a cafe across the street from it for some cafe and a French onion soup!  Was very good and a great place to people watch.  We watched some nuns with a group of little girls in uniform walking along and up the step…..it reminded me of the Madeline books I read as a kid, all they were missing were the hats and balloons!

Took the bateau bus back along the river to the Eiffel Tower.  The Seine River is an attraction in itself.  People live on some of the boats, some are pretty elaborate too.  People also live along the river banks in tents, campfires and all.  Nice little ride but rained so hard really couldn’t see out the windows.  Oh well!  Luckily it had stopped by the time we arrived…..the sun was out and it was nice and warm again!  Weird weather.

Back to the hotel.  Some time for a bit of a rest, journal updating too because if I don’t do it now I’ll never remember where we went and what we saw.  Found a great little place a couple blocks away for dinner.  I had the sausage special which came with the most decadent garlic mashed potatoes I’ve ever eaten.  Ken had beef bourguignon which was excellent too.  Very nice evening so we wandered around Les Invalides and over to the Quai D’Orsay for a bit.  Just so much more to see here but it’s impossible with only 2 and half days……I could spend at least one day just wandering up and down all the little side streets, or alleys.  So many beautiful shops……ah well, another time!  Musee D’Orsay will also have to wait as will the Latin Quarter.   Definitely need to come back. Paris has to be one of the best walkable cities ever!! The word “flaneur” comes to mind!

Very tired tonight.  I absolutely love Paris!

Fri Aug 25

How sad…..our last day in Paris.  But also exciting…..will be our first day in Venice too!  Two of the most fantastic cities in the world in one day.

Beautiful sunny and warm today.

Off to Rue Cler first thing this morning for breakfast at a great little crepe place called Ulysse (they are still there….no website but tons of great reviews).  They make crepes to order and nothing is over E5.  I had the strawberry, Ken had the ham and egg.  It was a huge piece of ham almost as big as the crepe and then two fried eggs on top.  Mine was E3 and Ken’s E5, with coffee the total was E12.  The best deal in Paris I’m sure. What a great street to wander along. Lots of food shops……..fresh veg and fruit, seafood, butchers, bakeries on and on…. Some even had “to go” items alreay cooking away like the huge paella!! Other shops too….shoes, clothing etc. and a few cafes.

Our plan was to go the Musee d’Orsay this morning since we don’t have to leave for the airport until 3.  Just about got there and Blake phoned from Venice.  Our lady from the apartment had not shown up!  We had to head back to the hotel and get all the confirmation papers with her phone number etc. (which they had too but he was a little too freaked out to even try and call her!!)  He was calling from the lobby of a hotel near the apartment and didn’t have the number for me to call him back….so told him to give me an hour and then call back and I’d let him know what was going on.  Managed to get in touch with her…….she had the dates mixed up and thought it was tomorrow!!  Argh…..not off to a good start!  Blake called back and I told him to go back to the apartment and wait, that she’d be there within the hour.  Didn’t hear back from her, didn’t hear back from him, so could only assume that all was well and that we’d have a place to stay tonight when we arrived.

Too late by then to head back to the museum so we we wandered around Les Invalides for a while before heading back to catch the shuttle.  Also not good….they didn’t show up!  I tried calling, the desk person tried calling….nada.  So far not such a good day today!  Hopefully no more issues. 

At 3:15 we grabbed a cab to take us to Porte Maillot where we could catch the Ryanair shuttle bus to Beauvais.  Another whirlwind trip around the Arc de Triomphe.  Quite a pleasant bus ride out to Beauvais (13E each) through the outskirts of Paris and into the countryside….about an hour or so drive.  This is the only airport that Ryanair leaves out of……but for at total of $30CDN for both of us for Paris to Venice I guess I can’t complain too much. They also do NOT fly right into Venice….we land in Treviso which is about an hour north of Venice.

Very tiny but efficient airport.  Grabbed a quick snack at the cafe and into the waiting room.  Ryanair has a very different process for getting people on board.  Since there is no seating assignment, it’s kind of a free for all thing.  There are some signs saying 1-99 lines up here and 100-199 there, numbers on your boarding pass, but honestly as soon as that plane landed people we jammed up at the gate in no order at all.  And I swear they were still unloading people from the front of the plane when we started boarding at the back!!!  I will assume that the pilots or whoever were checking over the plane while this was happening.  I don’t think the plane was on the ground more than an hour.  We did manage to sit together…..and I had my purse and our carry-on bags for this trip.

Flight left right on time at 6:45PM

Next stop Venice!