France: Day 1, 11-20-24: OO la la, Paris!

France: Day 1, 11-20-24: Why Paris and Why Now?

Since the kids couldn’t join us in Egypt last January, we booked this trip hoping that they could get off for a vacation together. (See Egypt blog below)

This trip was planned from the start with the kids in mind. It’s only 8 days plus the add on and bridges Thanksgiving for minimum days off —and it fits between rehearsals for both Caltech and Pasadena Pro Musica. We will be missing turkey with family and friends as usual, however. Sorry! We decided on the Viking Christmas Market Cruise in the Heart of Normandy, so it was going to be very special. November seemed like a great time to go to France.

A few months later, however, Viking called to let us know that we would be a week too early for the Christmas Markets and did we want to cancel. They followed with, “There might be a few Christmas markets at the end of your trip.” With all the priorities otherwise met, we decided to stay with the program as is.

In preparation, I spent the last few weeks rereading the French program that I used 9 years ago when Katie and I took our getaway trip. With that, I was ready for a wonderful family trip, which is more and more precious the older we all get. 

France: Day 2: 11-21-24 Nous Somme Arrivès!

As the plane descended through the clouds, we saw the magic of the season. Snow! And the flakes were as big as confetti at a victory parade! In the Viking transport, we spent quite a few minutes taking photos out the window of the giant flakes floating down on the freeway. So cold, but so beautiful!

Viking had a big, comfortable van waiting for us and whisked us off through the snow to the ship. Once there, we had a lovely pasta and rueben sandwich lunch, then donned our warmest gear for a walk. No holding this crew back. The snow was  magical but it was also blowing sideways. It drifted onto the sidewalk and melted into puddles that we jumped over, but we were all determined in our destination. With the cold wind blowing in our faces, we were eating snowflakes and hurrying forward. The trees were mostly bare with a few yellow leaves showing and a few scrubs with the last of bright flowers. Snow was balancing on leaves and creating frequent photo stops. Every time we took a picture, we took off our gloves, getting wetter as we went. Quick click, then hands back in pockets.

And then, through the overcast sky and floating snow there it was. The Eiffel Tower. Between the few leafless trees and the snow… we took lots of photos. Still, we walked until we were under it. Sadly, it was closed because of the weather, but we were able to walk around it. When I saw three local men hanging out, I gathered the family for a photo. The guys were very helpful, which is both terrific and hysterical since I’m dressed like a big yellow tent—but very cozy inside all of that. In fact, everyone was perfectly dressed for the weather.

From there, we discussed walking to Les Invalides, the former army hospital, now a military museum and very interesting, but a little far away. And despite our best attempts, our shoes were leaking and we were all starting to get wet and cold. So, saving all good ideas for another day, we hiked the twenty minutes back to the ship and back to our cozy rooms to warm up and rest for the port talk and a gorgeous beef dinner…more coming soon.

France: Day 3: The Grand Paris Tour

This was a Wow-Day!  Wow, we did it all! From the Eiffel Tower (where Buffalo Bill officiated the opening in 1889, with a troupe of Indians (their word) who scaled the outside top to bottom.) The Tower was meant to come down after the World’s Fair, but became useful and essential for radio transmission, especially during WWI so it stayed. It was also an inspiration for Ferris and his wheel, the great attraction at the Chicago Colombian Exposition in 1893. And then the obvious, but forgotten reason why Paris was spared during WWII— the Nazi Occupation. We went by a statue of George Washington who died at about the same time as Napoleon took over and was a great inspiration for France.

Champs Elysèes and Arch d’Triomphe—Napoleon went through the arch feet first when he died and his body was brought back to Paris. Then, by Fouqets, the cafe where Hemingway hung out, hoping to meet James Joyce…

As you can see, hours of information and then finally Notre Dame from the outside—very clean and brand new! And a walk to St. Chapelle where we couldn’t get in without tickets… we’ll take care of that for next week!

This was our special day for the Louvre. Henri/Hank did a terrific job of guiding us through the Caravaggio paintings, Da Vinci, and Rafael. then we did the Mona Lisa—same smile as the other Da Vincis!

Not too long after that, I asked Hank if we could slip away to the Egyptian exhibits, with a specific agenda. He gave some instructions, directions, and a wave good bye. Gosh the Louvre is gorgeous, and big! I had to ask two guards if we were going in the right direction, but we got there and basked in hieroglyphs, reading the name of Ramses and searching for more.

The thing we were looking for, however, was in a section of the Egyptian collection that is closed on Fridays!! Our one day. Trés triste. From there, we went in search of the special exhibit on Antoine Watteau, the pierrot painter.

Watteau (early 1700s) painted charming, sad, white clowns with ruffled collars. We toured the small room in just a few minutes then headed off to the gift shop and the inverted pyramid to meet our group.

Group travel is different and a bit difficult, but Viking takes us to great places!

Back on the ship, we did the usual stuff, then after a lovely dinner with new and interesting friends (Eric, Deborah, Christine, and Keith), we stuck around for the French lesson, which was advanced enough for me to both impress the teacher and learn a few things! So there we have another day.

We are on the move now as we sleep, so tomorrow we will no longer be in Paris! OO la la! Au revoir!

France: Day 4, 11-23-24: La Roche Guyon to Auvers-sur-Oise to Vernon

I started the day with a watercolor class that was for anyone interested. The model was the teacher’s painting of a scene from Giverny—water Lillies. It was lovely, but I finished early and dashed out when I heard that the local Christmas market had opened. 

By the time I got there, the family had already toured the chateau. I raced past the Christmas Market (ooo!) searching for a way in. Meanwhile, a text said that the family was now climbing the chateau tower. Where was that?

I used a bit of French to ask a vendor of homemade jewelry which way to the entrance to the Chateau de Guyon— she answered me in French. Très bien!

The chateau was gorgeous in a very rustic, unfurnished way. If I wanted to join my family, I was told to go upstairs to another set of stairs and then up, up, up. In the main room with just a grand piano in it, however, there were no stairs. I went back down the grand staircase to the entrance. “Je ne comprend pas. Pardon mois, mais, où est l’entrée de la tour?” At that point, the young man nodded and walked me up the grand staircase, past the grand piano to a panel in the wall. Oh yes, he did know the secrets of this place. Push on the panel and voilà—a door opened and a steep, rugged stairway appeared! “Merci beaucoup!” So up up up I went. Around a corner in a rock-carved walkway, I saw Katie. They had just descended, without incident, 300 treacherous steps. 

From there, we went into the pigeon cote, a room for 1,500 pigeons for the purpose of harvesting pigeon-poop. I kid you not! The chateau was big, built from stone, very cold, and mostly empty, but with lots of places for discovery. Three chapels in a row anyone? From there, we went to the Christmas market—our first ever. It’s like a giant fair with people selling spiced nuts, handmade faux fur neck warmers, ornaments, homemade earrings, and the most wonderful shadow boxes made from old-fashioned radio cases. Very clever, very charming. 

After lunch, we were back on the bus, heading for Anvers-sur-Oise, where Van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life, and perhaps his most prolific. Our tour guide, Virginia, started the talk as soon as the bus moved and an hour and a half later, I was asleep, but she was still talking. So much information about Van Gogh’s life! She was just talking about how close Vincent and Theo were and that after Vincent died, Theo only lasted another 6 months. 

We went to Van Gogh’s church first, Notre Dame du Asumption. Van Gogh lost faith in God when his true love broke up with him. Van Gogh’s big life dream was to have a wife and family. Sadly, he never achieved either. His personal discouragement became a discouragement of faith and yet still he painted the church. Inside the church, we saw statues of Joan d’Arc and St.Terese of Lisieux. Then off to the cemetery where we laid flowers on Vincent and Theo’s small and plain graves.

From there to Van Gogh’s room in the small hotel where he lived the last months of his life. The famous room is very small, now with just a chair. Very somber, very touching.

We all walked quietly back to the bus and, now in the dark, we rode up the river to Vernon where the ship was waiting.

Dinner was A Taste of France. All the servers wore colorful berets and Paris aprons, très chic!

France: Day 5, 11-24-24: Rouen, St.Joan, and Monet

We awoke at 5 am when the ship started up and almost immediately crashed (bumped very hard) into the loch. John was out on our balcony to survey the damage. It’s hard to tell from this far back in the ship. Perhaps this is something that happens all the time and perhaps there is no more damage than scuff marks that can be cleaned up with spray and a rag! In any case, that is how we left Vernon.

We were back to bed and at 9 am (!) up again for breakfast. The ship was not expected to dock until 11:00 so we had plenty of time for a leisurely morning and a stroll around the ship. 

We all attended the St. Joan of Arc talk and were amazed at the complications of her life story. So many things went right until all went wrong.. The final thought from the fabulous lecture given by Valerie (our shipboard historian), was that because of Joan’s help, Charles VII was finally crowned king. When Joan was executed (because of a trick), Charles no longer had the support he needed so he immediately petitioned the pope to allow him to retry Joan. This time she was exonerated and he was allowed to remain king. Because of this, France remained France and was able to support the US during the revolution and neither country was conquered by England! And that is how you spin history!

While John hung out in the bow, I did laps, went to the wheelhouse and chatted with the captain about navigating the river. The kids (adults) did both. Amazingly, we arrived in Rouen without incident though later we heard that when we did a brief brush with a dock before moving on to our official dock, the ship’s captain left the boat for the hospital. Apparantly, he was severely ill, which made me wonder, who was I talking to when I spent a few minutes on the bridge chatting about river silt?  It was his second in command. (The real captain was apparently too sick to sit upright!) At dinner, we were introduced to the new captain, a much liver heavyset man with a thick Russian accent and a jolly disposition.

After lunch (yes, we had to eat again!), we were assigned groups and had Christoph as our guide. He was wonderful and told us way more than I could absorb. Basically, Rouen is famous for its great cathedral, which Monet painted 28 times in varying light. During WWII, both sides bombed Rouen heavily taking out the entire town from the Seine to the cathedral. The cathedral was also hit but sustained reparable damage. Church officials thought ahead and removed all the stained glass from all the churches in town so most of the glass is original—though there is a story about one priest who thought the medieval glass was too dark, so removed one section from his own church so that it could be replaced with clear glass and give more light. 

The first church we came to was the cathedral, another great gorgeous church called Notre Dame (a very popular church name became it literally means “our lady” but also “our church”). We started with the exterior which was so full of detail. Along the ridge of the right apse was a recently regilded flange with St. George rearing up on his horse. St. George was thought to be a protector here as well as in England because the dragon he slayed represented Satan and was brought down to France during the Hundred Years War. 

The Rouen Cathedral (Notre Dame) was magnificent from all sides. No wonder Monet was fascinated with it. It is a medieval masterpiece with small windows of the early medieval style and larger windows of the high medieval style. The spires swirling upwards were an attempt to reach God and saints are carved into every corner of the outside and fully crammed in above the great entrance doors. It is possibly the greatest medieval church in Europe.

From there, through the low and heavily carved archway in the street with its prominent one-handed clock that still rings the hour. Then to the reason for the walk.  The place where St. Joan was burned at the stake and the church next to the plaza, rebuilt after the original church was destroyed.

But we’re not done yet!  There is still the Christmas market to visit. I had my first mulled wine (quite good) and Katie bought a baked sticky treat that we all tasted. Back on the ship, we were all exhausted and without any discussion, We all slept until the ship talk. Tomorrow is a big day. Stay tuned.

France: Day 6, 11-25-24: The Bayeux tapestry, a fancy lunch, and the Commonwealth Beaches

Since Katie and I had gone to the Normandy Beaches in 2015 and we had seen the Bayeux tapestry, the family decided to take the tour that included the tapestry and the Commonwealth beaches. Katie and I remembered from our previous trip that the Americans hadn’t been as successful as the other countries. Or maybe another way to say it is that they had endured greater losses. We’ve all seen the cemetery with 20,000 white stakes in the ground. Now it was time to see what the Brits, Canadians, and Australians both accomplished and sacrificed.

Our group was very small. Three full buses headed for Normandy. One half-full bus headed for Bayeux. Bayeux was as we remembered it. Charming and very medieval. Cobblestone streets and stained glass windows. Little shops and churches. We exited the bus in a park and the path to the museum took us by a little stream with a waterwheel. It was an easy walk but full of sights. At the museum, Claude, our guide, got the tickets, and boom we were staring at the first panel of the tapestry. All of the 58 panels are embroidered in an elaborate style that creates thick color. The faces on the figures were so earnest and intent on their tasks— rowing a boat, riding a horse, shooting an arrow. I don’t remember being this taken with the tapestry the first time. The colors were simple: brown, red, yellow ochre, black, and the white of the linen. The museum and gift shop really completed the tour with information on how the tapestry was made, abused, and preserved. I especially loved the diagrams of life-sized figures. Our guide told us that we were among the last to see the tapestry before the museum closes in just a few days for the next 5 years. Put a date on your calendar now if you’ll want to see it then. It’s worth the wait.

From there, we walked across town to Lion Dior, a small restaurant for a very French lunch. Wine was at the table and we were served a hot Brie salad, chicken and potatoes au gratin, and lemon meringue. Très français. 

Back on the bus to the first of four stops along the coast: The Juno Beach Center. This is just what you’d expect from a WWII museum— tanks out in front, a D-Day beach to walk on, and lots of artifacts to “ooo” over. Finally, we saw the movie which showed films of actual landings and young men falling as they offloaded from amphibious vehicles. 

Next, was another stop that we expected and something Katie and I did not do. We visited the Canadian cemetery, a small but perfect grassy area completely filled with white grave markers. Most had names, some had inscriptions. The Jewish headstones were mostly marked with a few rocks on top to symbolise that someone had visited. Our guide read the poem “In Flanders Fields” aloud while we listened sombrely.

Next, was the Pegasus Bridge and museum. Raise your hand if you knew how essential gliders were in the war effort. We were both amazed that there were so many and that these light aircraft could transport up to 30 people each.  The gliders were a huge highlight to this long, long day. After a quick swirl around the museum to see the bagpipes and dented bugle, we were back on the bus. Two hours to get back to the ship, a lovely meal aboard, and to bed. Tomorrow we move early.

France; Day 7, 11-26-24: Les Andelys, France. A steep climb to a great reward!

What a gorgeous day! We slept soundly and didn’t have breakfast until 9:00, but didn’t miss a thing. The Seine, like the Mississippi in some ways, turns and snakes along in places. We were at a part that narrowed and turned and even had an island in the middle. The sides were mostly vegetation with the occasional country house…so picturesque. The sky was blue with a few clouds, then suddenly overcast. I walked a mile on deck as John hung out taking pictures. 

Somewhere mid morning we noticed that the gentle waft of music playing through the ship was subtly changing to classic Christmas tunes with lots of choir—absolutely gorgeous. After the port talk, we were ready for the Andelys chateau.

This is the chateau tour we’ve been waiting for—Scottish style. This was a ruin at the top of the hill— a long walk. It was so beautiful, with a bit of blue sky in between  the clouds.

The chateau was built by Richard the Lionhearted, king of England and Duke of Normandy which ran from the coast down the whole west coast of France, 1198. It was huge. And the castle (chateau) he built was also huge, meant to keep the enemy out. With thousands of builders, Richard finished the fortress was destroyed by Felipe August in just 2 years. It was perfect and impenetrable, but in just a year and a half, Richard died and the French took over the chateau. Bad leadership helped when they stored the food in an underground area outside the chateau and the enemy snuck in through the chapel. Anyway, the castle/chateau still stands, but is a proper ruin with the bones of the dead crying for justice.

From there, we went back down down down the steeply graded hill to the church and the town where we said our goodbyes. Katie and I did a little Christmas shopping and then back on the boat!  That took us until 3:30. After that, we pushed out to sea, had our REV party (Return Expedition Visitors—people who had sailed with Viking before). It was lovely, but surprisingly, John and I each had gathered cocktails and a toast and were just a bit tipsy!  Laugh if you must, but it was true.

I suggested we go to the dining room by way of the upstairs patio, but John didn’t feel safe taking that route. He stumbled through to our room while I went up up up onto the dark, slippery, wet upper deck, feeling my way along— it was very dark—then down down down to the third floor. Oh goodness. No stumbling on that walk!

We met again in the dining room and found the first table with four spots and ended up meeting some very interesting women who went immediately into deep conversation about work and family. It was a big of group therapy, especially for one of them, but good. John and I had nothing to drink but water. All I had for dinner was a few bites of the entree and two bits of dessert.

After dinner came the music quiz. By the time I finished counseling my new friends, I found John asleep so I went to the third deck for the quiz and joined a group… They only played four seconds and all of it— unknown.  What a quiz. It was eclectic and bridged old and new from the 60’s to the 2000’s. Very difficult, but I know there are couple of music people in the audience so there will be some big winners. Not my little midwestern group who did more laughing than answering.  So much fun. Bon nuit…

France: Day 8, 11-27-24: How was Josephine’s decorator influenced by Versailles?

Wednesday was a dreary day, but full of such beauty. We were in St. Germaine with two destinations planned—Malmaison and Versailles. Malmaison was close by down a very narrow, leaf-covered street. The atmosphere was set before we reached the gated wall. Inside the wrought iron gates was a long path to the front of the house. Off to the left, workers using scaffolding were camouflaged behind a scrim that looked just like the building.  What a great idea!

Napoleon had been to Egypt before building this house with Josephine (his first wife) and so there was an Egyptian influence in the entryway. Because of Napoleon and Champolian, France was taken by Egyptomania, just as Victorian and Edwardian England would be one hundred years later. Also, throughout the house are Romanesque influences because of the Renaissance.

Other fascinating facts about this house are that Napoleon was a workaholic and loved being in the field so his sitting room looks like a tent and his office had a secret staircase so he could come downstairs at midnight and work whenever he wanted. Josephine loved having big parties (usually without her loving hubby), and even included her orangutang, all dressed up and using a knife and fork! The saddest painting on the wall was Napoleon presenting Josephine with divorce papers because she could not produce an heir for him.

Versailles…what can I say? It’s big and has been reguilded during the Pandemic, so it is very gold. The paintings are very big. There is very little original furniture left because most of it was taken away, sold, repurposed, or burned. We learned lots of cool stuff, mostly summarized in the paragraph above. One of the cooler surprises was the silver Olympic horse that ran on the Seine was displayed in the final courtyard. And it wasn’t gold! 

We did begin the tour in the gardens and had a nice hour’s walk. Henri/Hank, our guide, told us that we did not have enough time to walk all the way to the Apollo Fountain and back again. There just wasn’t enough time. So, taking up the challenge, we walked (no running) all the way down the path to the fountain, around the fountain, and walked back with enough time for everyone to stop at the bathroom. And then it was inside for us, creeping through 50 rooms in one wing of the Palace, culminating with the Queen’s stairs to the exit.

But the day is not done. This is a 3-tour day!!

After dinner, we were all bundled up again and ready for more! Tonight was the boat tour of the Seine, amid the twinkling lights of winter with some Christmas sparkle starting to appear. Bus to Pont-Neuf, down down down and aboard a river boat. The 38 bridges are so low that no tour boat can go as far east as Notre Dame— the real Notre Dame, at last! They gave up the option of upstairs in the open air with a blanket or behind glass. Almost everyone sat upstairs and one of the Midwesterners gave me his blanket with a wave, “Don’t need it!”

Absolutely gorgeous. Packed and asleep by midnight. More to do tomorrow!

France: Day 9, 11-28-24: Thanksgiving Day in Paris!

Day 9, 11-28-24: Did we wake up on the boat?

Oh my goodness what a day!  We were all packed and ready in just twenty minutes. Breakfast, long goodbyes and off we went at 8 am. I was determined to tell the driver that I’d love for him to make two stops. We wanted to go to the hotel and drop off our luggage, have him wait, and then take us to St. Chappell. My French was terrible but the taxi driver almost had it when Johnny asked the Viking rep to help out. The Viking guy said no, I was having too much fun. Then the driver repeated it all back and we were good to go. Once we were on our way though, Johnny looked up St. Chapelle. It was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. I made the correction with the driver who seemed to understand completely. 

It was indeed a short walk and such a glorious way to start the day. We bought the museum pass yesterday and it worked. That was glorious. And then after the great disappointment last week, to actually get in!  November is a terrific month if you don’t mind wearing fuzzy. hats, gloves, boots, and big jackets. There are some tourists, but not many. It all makes a difference. St. Chapelle is one of the most gorgeous examples of Flamboyant Medieval architecture in Europe. There are thousands of tiny windows, each with biblical pictures on them each towering above our heads. This was a private chapel, which makes it all the more powerful. It was meant to house a collection of relics, the greatest of which was the crown of thorns (now at Notre Dame). But that aside, it’s the stained glass that’s absolutely breathtaking.

So what would we do next? I suggested the Cluny Museum, just south of our hotel (thank you Martin and Lori for suggesting the most perfect hotel in the best location in all of Paris!!) The Cluny Museum is where the unicorn tapestries are. They’ve redone the museum since Katie and I were last here, but the tapestries remain so influential. They seem to be a direct influence on C.S. Lewis, “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” and Frank Baum’s, “The Wizard of Oz.” The imagination and colors are so free and so French. We loved every minute.

Back at the hotel, we rested for an hour before heading out again!  This time by bus to meet Sally and Jean-Max, who live here. What delightful people and such artistic lives!! We loved our pre-party and our fabulous dinner. Wow. Because it was Thanksgiving, I did make them wear the Turkey hats, though.  Good idea?  It’s late. Goodnight

Even though we were hungry, we opted to go directly to the Musee d’Orsay. We activated our Metro passes and off we went—one stop. Okay, a waste of money, but not much. Lunch was under the gigantic clock on the 5th floor and right next to the Impressionist Exhibit hall.  Perfect. This was our destination!  We soaked it in picture by picture, then went looking for more. The 5th floor was our place. We looked around a bit more, but by this time of day, we were starting to fade. In the lobby, we had a family meeting. If we were ever going to see the rest of the Egyptian exhibit at the Louvre, it would have to be today. The exhibit was closed on Friday. Since it was close by, that is what we did. But the Louvre is large and even getting inside takes 10,000 steps! We did it and we saw the best of the best, but we were also tired.

Back in the room, we rested for an hour before heading out again!  This time by bus to meet Sally and Jean-Max, who live here. What delightful people and such artistic lives!! We loved our pre-party and our fabulous dinner. Wow. Because it was Thanksgiving, I did make them wear the Turkey hats, though.  Good idea?  It’s late. Bon nuit!

France: Day 10, 11-29-24: Running Around Paris without a Guide!

We started off late because the list of museums we wanted to visit was short and nothing opened until 10 am. We were also a man down as Johnny woke up under the weather and decided to stay behind. Topping up our train passes didn’t take long and off we went, but while exiting the Orsay train station, I had an incident. Good to know I’m tough. When we started racing up the escalator when it stopped, the 30-something man behind me reached into my purse (which was open, oops!) I felt the bump and turned on him, grabbed his hands, and yelled at him in English. Then I gave each of his hands a little slap. That showed him!

From there, we crossed the bridge and headed for Le Orangerie, a museum with a single fabulous attraction that Katie really wanted to see again—Monet’s garden pond painted on giant canvases and hung in an oval room. Surround-sound in visuals! It was so worth it as each panel captures different light and different colors.

Just as we were finishing, Johnny arrived! He and John went to look closer at the Luxor obelisk (possibly a gift to France), standing nicely at the end of the Tuileries Garden. From there, we had options. We could go to the Christmas Market at the end of the path, or regroup back at the hotel. We decided on the latter. While regrouping, we all took advantage of the very charming Christmas Market (Marche de Noel) near our hotel. Of the cheeses!  Too smelly to even approach! The little booths were full of charming fur-trimmed scarves, gold and pearl earrings, and lots of food to taste and buy. Imagine the smell of roasting chestnuts. They were everywhere in Paris, not just the markets, but on every street corner…buy some and they come wrapped in today’s newspaper. So warm and tasty!!

After a quick turnaround, we had lunch at Le dèpart St. Michel, right on the Seine and with a perfect view of Notre Dame at no extra charge. We had skipped breakfast so the warm meal with a second serving of bread was welcome. I asked the waiter for “un sac pour le chien” (a doggy bag) for Johnny’s extras. The waiter said, “Non! Mai j’ai un sac pour vous prendez.” (A box for you to take with you.) 

Lunch was a good time to make the next plan. Our other suggestions were the Musee de l’Armee and Napoleon’s Tomb, the Sewers, The Catacombs, and/or Le Grand Marche du Noel (the big Christmas Market). After a long and very strenuous trip, it was good to have a simple last day. We decided not to overdo it and headed for The Museum of the Army, full of weaponry and military history. Indeed it was!  My favorite memory from before were the dioramas and military reenactments in some of the corners of the displays. Katie likes all weapons and so went from swords to guns, to canon and had a great time. The guys wandered and picked up all the information they could. From there, it was down a floor to the temporary display of musical instruments— bassoons and serpents, early clarinets, natural horns both of the trumpet style and French horn style.

Napoleon’s Tomb was grander than anything in Egypt or Rome. Built by his nephew, it’s clean and interesting, but still over the top. So much marble, Italy must have been cleaned out! Since another few hours had slipped by, Johnny decided to head back to the room, while the rest of us headed to the Big Christmas Market under the huge Ferris wheel in the Tuiliers Gardens. This would be our fourth Christmas market: Le Roche-Guyan under the chateau, Rouan, the charming market in Paris, Le Grand market in Paris. If you are interested, we highly recommend the smaller markets for charm and homemade goods, but always be sure to taste the mulled wine!

By 7pm, the temperature was dropping fast and John only had a thick jacket and hat, none of the extra layers that Katie and I wore, so he was feeling it. We headed back to D’Orsay station and just one stop away, cross the street, and there we were at our darling hotel!  Thanks again, Martin and Lori! And bonne nuit de Paris.