Friday, Feb. 27

5:40p (B) Waiting to board...

Sat., Feb. 28

5:15p (B) Charles De Gaulle Airport Sheraton, Paris

E's asleep (an extra hour) cuz she didn't sleep much on the plane. (I konked out.) The reservation for the room was a little odd...the price difference wasn't based on the size of the bed, but on the floor it would be on. (The higher the floor, the better the amenities, I guess.)

The pay-per-view thing for the TV is different...you get to watch up to like a minute, then you have to hit the OK button on the remote (cost for most of the 5 different ones is 55 FF). They had things like The Preacher's Wife, and the Larry Flynt movie , but also at least 3 porn movies that you're allowed to see without any special steps...how odd.

The flight was pretty good overall, ending up being just over 10 hours. Two losing points for Air France: coach seats are firm and uncomfortable, and they're also very tight, making two people sitting next to each other feel rather uncomfortable, particularly if they're trying to eat. (If we'd reversed seats, with E at the window and me on the aisle, our lefty-righty collision hassle would have been really annoying.)

Saw my first Concorde out on the runway! When we went through Customs, they didn't really even look at us, much less ask us any questions or search anything. I woke up (starting a regular pattern) as we went over Ireland. The plane was going to fast! Like over 600 mph at 39,000 feet. The only nasty part of the flight was going through a layer of clouds over France--a nasty sudden drop of more than a few feet, scaring the daylights out of the both of us.

Time to wake up E, I think, so we can clean ourselves up and go on the journey Gumby suggested. (I'm starved!)

6:05p (B)

Just showered, the mirror has the coolest thing...when the lights are on, a heater is also on under the mirror so it won't fog up!

Shower is really nice...E used the tub, which has this cool super boost thing (high water pressure).

Sunday, March 1

8:45a (B)

Made reservations at Negresco at 04-93-16-64-00, at least one night, rm facing garden is 1750 FF (~$300, ow! Ah well, it's a vacation, right?)

We were able to make our return train (both parts) be 1st class for ~350 FF. Ooo-la-la.

According to the Cadogan Guide, bus 23 goes between the airport and the train station every half hour. Yay!

11:25a (B) TGV (Train de Grande Vitesse--High Speed Train)

Wow this train goes fast! E fell asleep, I"m really glad, she needs the rest. We were both awake around 3-3:30a, and were never really able to fall back to sleep. So we're both pretty pooped, to no surprise.

Last night (before not being able to fall back to sleep), after settling into our room and resting, we went down to the station (gare) and got on the train to Chatelet. Tickets were about 95 FF per person each way. The ride was fun, taking about a half hour.

It's funny when people ask you a question in speedy native French, then laugh forgivingly when you apologize that you're an American and couldn't really understand what they said. With a glint of "I realize you can't help it", they repeat their question in often very good English, like the two guys asking if it was the train to the north station (Gare du Nord). A couple of other people , at different times, acted much the same; only one guy offered a look of powerless exasperation, giving up any hope that you'd be able to help find out something about the TGV train sitting in the station.

We arrived at the Chatelet station, and followed the signs that read "Route-de-Chatelet" simply because it was the only sign that had a recognizable name. That led to our walking a fair bit, up what seemed like an impossible number of staircases, until we fianlly come out to the street...(logistically, we should have been a half mile underground given how often we were going "up").

We were greeted with exactly what Gumby had described...a bunch of shops, restaurants galore, and plenty of people. The Siene River was right there, and some *nasty* traffic.

We'd considered the driving habits of people in New York, Boston and San Francisco to be generally nasty. Ha! The drivers in Paris are pure fatalists--suicidal can't quite make the cut when you want to describe the speed at which they drive, much less the feeling in your heart watching three streams of traffic join together as one. To those who would consider giving way to your fellow driver, thou shalt rue the day such a foolhardy step was taken!

After walking around a bit looking at all the different restaurants in the immediate area, we settled in at Zimmer. For 135 FF, we each got a small glass of Kir (black currant juice in a really nice white wine), followed by Elana having 6 escargot (snails taste a little like cooked mussels, presented here with garlic and pesto), while I had a yummy quiche. This was followed by a pretty good (but different from the U.S.) filet mignon coupled with french fries. (Dunno.) Dessert was: apple pie with vanilla ice cream at it's base and a yummy caramel over it, and three something or others with vanilla ice cream in 'em and a tasty chocolate sauce (profiteroles--made from puff pastry--E.).

There was a little drama when we learned that AmEx travelers checks are fine but not us U.S. dollars, only in French Francs. Visa to the rescue! (That problem will be getting corrected in Nice tomorrow.)

We then walked to look at Notre Dame. It's beautiful. I didn't see the flying buttresses, but its front is spectacular. Even got a picture!

As we walked along the Seine, we were periodically blinded by these huge tourist boats that carried large numbers of people ooo'ing and aaahhh'ing. That wouldn't have been so bad, but the lights on those boats were like dozens of hyperlucent blasts of sunlight, or that great test you get at the eye doctor. They used these fluorescent beacons of death to illuminate the buildings (and everything else) that they passed by.

After getting some pictures of Notre Dame (and one of yours truly in his tourist laden glory), we figured we'd try to go to the Eiffel Tower before going back to the hotel. It shouldn't be too hard, we figured, since from what we could tell looking at the peak of it in the distance, it couldn't be too far away--five, perhaps ten blocks at the most.

(Oops, gotta mention that we came by this stunning factoid after first deciphering how to get a taxi for this bit of the trip, and learning form this kind soul of a taxi driver that is was perhaps only a two minute walk from there! Such a nice man, to ever so slyly prove the age-old mantra that a sucker is truly born every minute. Hell, faster than that, we were two fools happily heading off in the direction that he pointed.)

So half an hour later, we began to really feel the cold and weren't getting perceivably any closer. We also realized we had no idea how late the trains ran here, and whether or not we'd be able to get back to the airport...at least, not on an expensive taxi.

We accepted that latter possibility, and walked c couple of blacks to the next street we saw that had cars appearing on it with each change of the lights. Darting across the street (green guy means you can cross, red means you can't), we were able to snag a taxi relatively easily.

Man that guy could make a fortune just being advertised as a Paris thrill ride. Aggressive driving that. He very quickly brought us to the Eiffel Tower. Turns out if we had kept walking, not only would it have taken another 30-45 minutes, but we wouldn't have been able to go up into the tower. They close at 11, and we barely made it to the last ride.

There are three levels (one a bit off the ground, a second midway up, and an observatory at the very top). They only had rides tot he first two, for whatever reason, so we chose the second. (BTW, the third was noted as being Eiffel's studio.)

I'm really glad that's as far was we did (could) go...it felt like we were as far up as in a plane approaching its airport.

The view is simply breathtaking. You can see for miles, and (much like a king) get the rare privilege of surveying the land around you. The Arc de Triomphe was there (we'd wondered how far from Notre Dame it was--perhaps a mile and a half), as were buildings we were at a loss to name. Two nice retired folks were nice enough to take our picture on the upper deck of the second level. We couldn't believe we were on the Eiffel Tower!

On the ride back down, the girl working told us that to catch the train, we only had to go left after getting outside, and the station for the RER C line was only about 100 meters away. We only had to take it to the St. Michel stop, and we'd be able to switch to the B line which went back to the airport.

It was a bit of a wait at St. Michel (came at 10 past midnight, and was the last of the night), but we got the one that would bring us to the hotel. By this time we were both exhausted, and very glad to finally sleep. What a wonderful first day!

(E)

Okay, I'm awake. The City of Lights (after looking at it from the Eiffel Tower I know why) is incredible. The women are all very stylish, the cars small, the streets sometimes smaller and the feeling of it makes you feel alive. The cold helped too. We walked for a while, crossing the Seine twice, walking along it until we found the taxi. Those tour boats are wild. Same candlepower as a TV studio--at least on one boat. I thought someone was taping something. Ever tried writing on a train going really fast? It feels like we're ready for takeoff. Last night was incredible. When we saw the Eiffel Tower, actually got out of the taxi and looked up, it was lit up by sodium lights, making it look like it was made out of gold. The elevator to go up was interesting--it had 2 levels and windows on one side and went up at an angle--sliding along the girders. We, stupidly, stood at the window, right up against it. About halfway up, oh, yes, we are scared of heights. The don't look down, look out mantra worked okay.

It's wild to hear all these people speaking something so naturally that you have to struggle to get. I'm sure it's like that for foreigners in the US, just when you hear a young child pronouncing perfectly that nasal sound, I guess you get a little jealous :-).

(B wants me to mention the woman playing the recorder on the train coming into the city--she was standing there, swaying with the train, playing beautifully, then came around with her hat asking for money.)

The train is surprisingly smooth for something that goes so fast. We started out in flatlands with bright green patches of farms and every town has a church. Some houses are old, some are new. I saw a castle looking building at one point. The hill are coming more and more frequently and within two hours (we just stopped at Lyon) we should be in Marseilles. They'll be mountains there. The train from to Nice should be mice (no pun intended). The houses look like the ones in Ireland. It's funny--everything here is the same as at home, but it just looks different. I like it.

3/2 9:13a

Nice

I sit at a table in our hotel room looking out at the Mediterranean across the street.

It is a beautiful day, the sun very warm and a light mist so we can't clearly see the crescent of land on the other side of the Bay Of Angels. Yesterday was *total* adventure. We made it to Marseille. First let me say that from now on, if we travel where we have to carry our bags for more than a total of 15 minutes, we're getting backpacks. We packed a lot :-). Brendan's so tired he's still asleep. Anyway, we go from the TGV to the Nice train and we're in 2nd class car 12. That's after the 5 or so 1st class cars, which is where we are standing when the train comes in (A gardener is walking along the center of the Promenade des Anglais with a cart and picking off the dead flowers with a long handles grabby thing.) So off we go, to car 12. We find our seats, in a compartment with 8 seats and 3 other people. We both try to sleep, but the sun is in our eyes and it is uncomfortable. The man sitting across from us (in 612 which is technically our seat, but...) keeps his feet sticking into the hall, so we can't close the doors or drapes. We stop in Toulon, and I find an empty compartment. We move in there and stretch out on the seats and nap. Turns out that this train makes me feel sicker than the TGV, so I keep my eyes closed for most of the ride. We are alone there for about 1 1/2 hours, worrying at every stop that someone would come in saying these were their seats. A man did come in, and we both got up, but he waved us down so I laid sown again and Brendan read. He just sat there reading quietly, only saying au revoir when we arrived in Nice. When we got to Cannes, I traded sides with Brendan ( I think going backwards is what made me feel sick) and he read while I watched the scenery go by. I kept catching glimpses of the Med. and we went right along the beach for a bit--it was on the right side of the train, and we were on the left, so I caught glimpses through the curtains going out to the passageway. Once we arrived in Nice, we went in search of the 23 bus to the airport.

After waiting a little while, and watching the bus groups gather and split up, along with the driving and parking (people just drive up on he sidewalk and park!) the 23 came and on we hopped. It wasn't a long ride to airport (the buses go pretty fast), and we walk down to Avis. What we didn't realize is our car was with Budget. Oops. We walk down to Budget, get our car, go back in and get a map, and go. I'm driving because if B doesn't like driving in the City, he really won't like it here. Basically, it's a nation of road rage. Even the scooters are like that. Tailgating, cutting you off, speeding, passing on any side. The man at the hotel said to look for a specific boulevard off the Promenade des Anglais. Once block before that boulevard., we realized later, is where the police diverted all traffic. The Carnival was in it's last night, and blocks of Prom. des Anglais was made into pedestrian only. It's stressful driving for the first time in a city you don't know, with the ragers all around you, but you know you're on the right road. Well, all of a sudden we were on a different road, and we didn't know what to do. The street signs are small and B really had to look for them, and I was concentrating on not stalling (yes, the car's a stick shift. The only other time I drove a stick shift was in Ireland). We eventually parked on the street where we thought the hotel was, except about 5 or 6 blocks away and walked to it. We asked them what to do, and we all eventually agreed that a bellboy (need to get his name) should walk with us up to the car and drive back with us. About halfway to the car, he said "I am almost home!" He guided us back, and when we had to do a right turn where the hotel was it was blocked by police and a barrier. I put on my turn signal, and they looked at us and I pointed to the bellboy sitting next to me, they laughed and pointed us through. Phew. We parked at the hotel and handed over the key to the car and went up to the room. We thought we were going to get a view of the garden, but when we walked in we had a sea view--for the same price! We're guessing they upgraded up because we looked a little stressed when we walked in. We went downstairs in search of dinner and the bellboy told us of the fireworks (we're guessing that's why the Promenade was closed off). We wandered around the...

(E got interrupted by B waking up).

To add:

--we wandered around Negresco and came across an original painting of Louis XVI that E had in her history book.

--ate at La Rotunde that night; doll Turning the crank of the music box and the carousel horses, fireworks outside (B caught very end, E just missed them)

--our hike along Promenade des Anglais and then up >400 steps to the waterfall and great view on the tower/dome thing (mentioned Nietzsche)

--traded the US dollar travelers checks for francs

--Menton, stayed at Hotel Des Ambassadors; are at the Hotel des Arcades restaurant (mussels, salads/tuna and E's anchovies, guy placing fresh flowers on the tables)

--Ste. Agnes- long winding road, heights, lunch

--Monaco and Monte Carlo--lunch, how speaking ill of Monaco publicly can make a resident get kicked out

--La Turbie, Roman thing

--ate lunch at Ste. Agnes, yummy cheese (had it the day before in Nice, but it wasn't bad) oranges

--St. Paul, fancy ass place that would've been a mega splurge, instead staying at La St. Paul inside the village (glad. Lots to see around here)

--the dogs playing together, weird old guy walking with his wife

The room was small, but cozy. The hotel was in one of the old buildings that are all these small towns are made up of. It seemed like they took over two of the buildings. The view from the window was beautiful..heck, the windows were beautiful. They were recessed a bit, and opened out. In the morning, we couldn't figure out what time it was, because unbeknownst to us, the maid had closed the shutters on the outside of the window and it was pitch black in the room. The TV was tucked away in the corner an a shelf, and the walls were whitewashed. IT was a room that I could see my parents designing. Either set. :-) The bathroom was small but nice as well...the smallness was because everything there was small. It had 8 rooms I think. Sigh. I could have spent sooo much time there.

The town was lovely. Art shops everywhere, and what do you know, a fountain! If I ever see a picture if the fountain there, I'm going to buy it. There were a lot of paintings of it, but none that seemed right to me. Many artisans as well. LOTS of tourists. Lots of steps...is this whole country mad out of steps or what?

the size of the room and bathroom in Menton' glasses of Kir before dinner, breakfast snafu, 95F for their continental breakfast per person--2 or 3 pastry bits, orange juice an tea--ow!nice guy at the front desk.

Walking around Old Nice and the cemeteries

Princes yacht in Monaco

driving up to Eze to get away from Monaco, walking around village and finding the pretty church and the film shoot

Why pay 2FF to pee?

Galleries Lafayette

Dinner at Koundoun--waitress didn't speak English

E's french getting better, B recognizes words

One word--McDrive

A great quote from Charming Billy--"...that afternoon he fell in love with the rest of his life"

3/4

After the *meal*

Started with Rabbit Terrine and onto" Foie Gras, Lobster and Roasted Red Pepper cannoli in cream sauce, cod in boulliabaise juice, veal cutlet, cheese, petit dessert (grapefruit sorbet, lemon cream, candied oranges, milk chocolate), thyme creme brulee.

the elevator already waiting/called for us to go upstairs to the fireplace.

cheese that reminded us of Jill

wine (!!!) was Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol 1978, wooooow. Floyd Christmas present.

seven folks from Japan, girl among them who fell asleep of was drowsy at the fire.

the younger waiter in the white shirt.

opening of the plates of cod simulateously

all the art shops in the village

bed turned down with herbs on the pillow and the two bottles of Evian and Perrier bathroom cleaned.

3/8 Sunday 1:30 pm

on the beach in Nice after lunch

went to Frejus/St. Raphael stayed at the 3 star hotel (no heat in bathroom, guy at night didn't speak English, asked for grande but got two twins (sigh)

on the way from St. Paul down on Thursday, got to stop and see the waterfall in the Gorges du Loop

went west on Friday to Aix en Provence, spent the night (another film crew!) and did the Cezanne walk.

In Aix, met the rich dude ("a kick in the ass!") stories about his many trips in the import export business all over Europe

Cyber Cafe -- hoping that E might hear about her job

Backwards keyboard

Titanic, THX, but in French (boo hoo) at Aix en Provence

Frejus/St. Raphael breakfast was yummy Egg McMuffins

Aix en Provence market day (first time we'd seen one)

back to Nice Saturday afternoon for the 3 o'clock observatory tour (all in French, more steps) couple from Canada

remembered Negresco concierge "if I was Monsieur" for dinner

Molinard Perfume tour in Grasse on Thursday

market on Sunday, ate lunch watching the crowds go by bread makers really nice (huge loaves of bread)bought beignets to nibble on later

Sat night bought some chocolates (sigh) Bought sterilized milk..ugh. Didn't taste it--it smelled rancid.

Planes landing over the beach in Nice.

at dinner Sat. night, Americans from Wisconsin

Trying to find the tourist office in A-en-P.

A-en-P loves fountains--2 mossy blobby ones, le Quatre Dauphins, one with Cezanne medallion, large one by tourist office *tons* Ever square had one

Cathedral in A-en-P that we found while doing Cezanne tour. In one corner the original foundation of the 1st church on that site (~ 3 AD) an the Roman road. Nice guy telling people about the cathedral-seemed very happy to be doing it...took joy in showing it to others.

Color of the Med while sitting here on the beach

dinner at the wine pub- good wine but she was too busy

film crews at 2 places we went

Rocky beach in Nice, but pretty rocks once the dust is rubbed off

Tuesday, March 10 9:27p

Like I did have time to write all day :-). Left Nice Sunday afternoon. Took forever to get on the A8--damn tourist maps--they suck. Got to Sophia Antipolis about 10-15 minutes later. I thought it would be further away, but it's not. :-) Checked in realized out room would be next to the service elevator and asked if we could change rooms. Nathalie (the person at Reception) was having a bad day. We found out that right before we came up to change our room, a man had locked himself into his room (accidentally--he had the patio door open and the wind slammed the door shut and broke part of the lock mechanism.) She has been very nice over the past few days. We get in, unpack, and see Tom Plum and other C++ people (I've yet to see Bjarne, but who knows?)

Went to do laundry (Nathalie thought that there wouldn't be any open on a Sunday, but we found one that was open til 8). There wasn't anyone there, and it had a buzzer door, and the machines automatically shut off at 8, done or not. We didn't have enough change for the machines, so we walked down to a small pizza place (only did delivery or carryout-- it was basically a shelf to order at and the kitchen behind--very small. Did deliveries on mopeds). Took us a little while to explain that we wanted a pizza and some change as well, but they were nice about it and gave us as much as they could. We tried to understand the directions for the washing machines (nothing ruined, so that's good :-) ) and did crosswords while the clothes finished. Nathalie showed us the shortcut to get to Antibes (through the other town), which was wonderful until we couldn't figure out how to get back.

One night we went into the town for dinner, and found a nice quiet place that looked fancy, but the waitress was wearing a sweatshirt. It was okay food...the thing that stands out in my mind was the cheese course. She brought over a large glass jar/jug thing, filled with thyme, olive oil and chevre. There was an olivewood spoon in it and we basically helped ourselves to the cheese. Kinda wild. Oh, there was a type of berry in it too, that you're not supposed to eat, and I did. They were hard red berries. Used for alcohol? Ah, juniper berries.

The hotel was a country club type of thing, with tennis and golf. It was windy though, and we couldn't do any of that. It was also a little cold and the pool wasn't open for the season yet. The bar was nice. Nathalie we really liked because while were were in Menton, the Citrus Festival ended (we got there on the last evening). The theme for the festival, which was all over town, as Tintin. There were all these great posters, and I couldn't find one to get to take I was so happy that I have the poster...it's now framed and hanging in our dining room. e home with us! I was getting bummed, but resigned to the fact. When B and I are exploring the first night, we saw the poster through a window. It was in the Front desk's office, and I eventually got up the courage to ask Nathalie if she knew who's poster it was. She said that it was hers, and if I wanted it I could have it. Some friends brought it back for her from the festival, and she really only kept the Nice Carnival posters. (That ended on the night we arrived as well).

Wed. March 11th, 6:15 pm

called Mammy about Nana

fax delivery @ breakfast yesterday

dinner after happy hour yesterday

zen down last night sometime

booked flight for Chicago yesterday

Thu Mar 12, 10:30 am

nice breakfast with Andy Koenig

going to antique show with the Plums

nice out, the rain was in forecasts

6:45 p

fun day in Antibes with Tom and Lana

blue glass perfume jar (tiny...Napoleon?) an the explicit watch

went thru the Picasso museum in Antibes (where de did much of it) learned that Picasso apparently started in his late teens, moved to Paris when he was 20/21. and finally started selling some of his work at the start of his Blue Period.

Confirmed flight got the number form hotel desk--00802802802

Plums invited us to their place sometime, he's also very interested in B working together on the libstdc++ rewrite and libsuite++ so things to there's in good shape ...if not in person, over the phone. A number of wintel systems and an new solaris sparcstation.

digital camera

lunch (afternoon) was great...I had a sea bass, and Elana (only dish) tried a salmon salad that looked yummy . As an appetizer, I also tried a lobster soup. The place looked like a wine cellar of sorts.

big guy in a suits sits down in bar, in an s shaped set (one side one other side) and says to the guy across from him, "Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky". Then B noticed his wedding ring.

nice waiter last night who gave is two free Kirs from the Cigna reception asking if I'd please not mention where they came from :-)

Shared compartment with girl from Santa Cruz who was going from Italy to Spain on train from Nice to Marseilles.

On TGV going back up, dog across from us that E wanted to play with...didn't know any doggie commands in French :-)