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I do have to say, the weather was quite different than my last trip to Paris in July, plus it was not the ending weekend for the Tour de France so there were fewer people with us.

We arrived Friday afternoon and after a few false starts made our way via the metro to our Henry IV, small but elegant hotel per the brochure. The hotel was located on the left bank in the Latin Quarter, which was quite different than the last visit where we stayed on the right bank. We arrived at the door of the hotel at the same time my cousin did from Arkansas so we had a great big American/English speaking reunion right in the lobby.

This was Jim’s first trip to Paris so we got off the metro at the Concorde Square and walked a few miles to the hotel. You know a first time visit has to include an obligatory walk along the Seine past Notre-Dame and the Louve with a cross over to the left bank to see all the vendors. We saw American car license plates from just about every state being sold, so you may want to check the back of your car when you go out today

It was cool, windy and overcast when we did this initial walk. Later this cloudiness turned into a downpour with rain, hail, lightening and thunder that would do any city proud. Afterwards, a great crisp clear weekend was the order of business. So Friday evening/night consisted of walking, walking and more walking. We went back to a restaurant I knew about from a previous visit where they serve a starter of an onion that has been previously baked with its skin still on, then the top is sliced off, add some snails, garlic, butter and served. It is so yummy. You need to do a lot of walking after this.

Saturday we took a trip out to Versailles for part of the day where we toured the great royal apartments, the hall of mirrors and the Queen’s apartments. We didn’t tour the gardens but walked around and gawked at everything. When Christine and I were there before, we went out to Versailles but it was too hot and the lines were too long so we didn’t try to tour. I’m glad we didn’t, because I couldn’t imagine how hot/stuffy it would have been during the heat wave of July because once you were inside, it was quite crowded/warm this weekend. Jim took lots of pictures, so hopefully they will have turned out nice. Check the website.

A very close friend of mine had asked me to get her some more lipstick which she had not been able to find any longer in the states so when we got back into Paris, that was the order of business for the day. Definitely an adventure. I went into a store that I found out later was a major discount store for all types of cosmetics. Let me tell you, if you think a pool of Piranhas in a feeding frenzy is bad, try going into a name brand cosmetic outlet in Paris. There were women in there from all over the world trying to find the elusive fountain of youth. You had to get the attention of one of the sales ladies while elbowing your competition out of the way to find your product(s). The sales lady then wrote up a bill of sale. Off you go to another line where any type of money/checks were taken and converted into Euros and you paid for your purchases. Once this was completed, they gave you a paid voucher back, and sent you off to another line to claim your product. I felt mauled by the time I got out of that place.

We then went to visit a place where many visitors would never think of going while in Paris. To the Catacombs. This was the underground resting place of thousands and thousands of people and is located in Denfert-Rochereau, which is also on the left bank. The catacombs in Rome have nothing on this one in Paris. They have relocated the remains of people here dating back to the 1700’s and the Resistance movement as a headquarters area also used this underground maze. I just can’t imagine what it was like before they had electrical lights and air circulation equipment installed there. If you are the least bit claustrophobic, you don’t want to take those steps down under the ground.

Out in the fresh air once again, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of lunch, bottle of wine, and nap to get ready for the evening. We had booked an illumination tour advertised as the "City of Lights Tour" which started at 9:00. I think we had a driver that failed the Indy 500 races for our tour guide/driver who was also an American movie buff. There was another couple from Florida and one from Ireland. Our driver said the traffic was worse than usual this Saturday night and he blamed it on all the tourists who come, rent cars, try to sight see and read their maps instead of driving. To drive there you need one hand for the steering wheel/horn, one for waving at the other drivers out the window while one foot stays on the gas and the other on the brake. Jim asked to ride in the front seat with the driver so he could get a good view of all the sites, I think later he regretted that decision because he said the break did not work on his side of the van at all. It was beautiful, we saw Opera Square, Concorde Square, Champs-Elysses, Arch of Triumph, Trocadero Square, Eiffel Tower, Invalides, Pont Neuf, Bastille Square, Notre-Dame etc. When we got back to the hotel later, we needed a beer.

Sunday we went to church at one of the local Cathedrals where they still said the mass in Latin, which was nice. They had no kneelers in the pews so you had to go down on the cement floor. I decided my sins would have to wait a bit on that because the knees couldn’t take the cement, it was lovely.

By the time we got back, checked out, got to the train station, had a cup or two of tea, it was time to head back to Germany. Amazing but when we got back to Dusseldorf, we all said, "Isn’t it good to be home". Kind of scary what home can become.

Have a good week and we are really looking forward to seeing you and being home in November.