Day 2 in Paris. Today we had a bus tour of Paris and a trip out to Versailles. Finished it up with good wine and a fruit minestrone that I’m pretty sure I can make at home and will be perfect in the summer.

This morning I finally got to have my pain au chocolat with breakfast of scrambled eggs, yogurt and earl grey tea before hopping onto the bus for our city tour. Our guide, Veronique, took us through the most famous places in the city. Here are a few pictures:

After a short break, we headed out to Versailles. To see the whole place would require a stay in the nearby village and at least a week focused on the palace and grounds.

Louis XIV apparently didn’t really care for Parisians, so when he was 17 he moved the court from the palace in the city (now the Louvre) to his father’s hunting lodge about two hours by horse outside of the city. It took a bit, but he turned it into the most impressive palace in the world. There were three kings who lived there before the revolution destroyed the monarchy and replaced it with an empire.

Finally, we ended the day with a nice dinner at a nearby cafe in Paris. I had fruit minestrone for dessert:

Tomorrow, mom and Joanna are headed to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur and then to the Louvre with the tour group. I’m going to the D’Orsay museum to see the Edward Munch exhibit along with a few impressionists. If I have time before mom gets back from the Louvre, I may also visit L’Orangerie where there is a large Monet exhibit. I’m hoping to acquire some art for the house as well as interesting Christmas gifts for family.

Of course there are many more photos, but it’s time for sleeping now.

I suppose I can start with safely saying that we have identified the rowdy people inside of the tour group. Free alcohol is probably one of the very best ways to go about this task and there was plenty of that tonight.

But enough about the rowdy bunch.

We started the evening with a welcome drink (aperitif) at the hotel while introducing ourselves and learning about the next several days. I won’t spoil the surprises here though.

After the introductions and wine, we went to an authentic French restaurant for good food, good company and some fantastic entertainment provided by two gentlemen who sang while playing the guitar and a squeeze-box.

Of course I have to share what I ate! We started the night with a kir royale, a blend of black currant liqueur and sparkling white wine. Basically another aperitif. it was beautiful and delicious. After that mom and I both had an appetizer of escargot where we got to learn how to scoop the snails out of their shells. Fortunately, there were no “Pretty Woman” issues and all snails stayed where they belonged. Easily the best escargot I’ve ever had, but that’s not a surprise since I am in Paris after all.

Next was the main course (and I’m literally rolling my eyes while I type this) where I ordered the same thing I order every Friday night: filet mignon cooked medium rare. I did get mashed potatoes instead of broccoli though.

Nothing against my favorite weekly restaurant, this was just in a completely different category when it came to quality and preparation.

We finished up with dessert, which for me was a pear with ice cream. It was delicious, but by then I’d had something like 3 glasses of wine and forgot to take a picture. The entertainment was flirting with me (and several others) and I may or may not have agreed to meet one of them later at La Moulin Rouge. Since I’m in my room typing this up one letter at a time, you can guess how that ended up.

Finally on the ride back to the hotel, we saw some beautiful Christmas lights

A beautiful evening.

Tomorrow we have our city tour and then out to Versailles to gain an even better perspective regarding the start of the French Revolution.

But now, it’s time to sleep.

Bon Nuit!!

I’m sitting in the coffee shop attached to our hotel in Paris having my first latte of the trip and of the day.

Unfortunately there was no sleeping on the flight. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but sleep absolutely eluded me. Fortunately, there were cocktails, bubbly, dinner, snacks, more snacks, and finally breakfast of an egg sandwich and orange juice.

Getting through customs was an absolute breeze because they opened up a new line and I got in it. I’m not sure that France has any idea that I’m here though. I didn’t have to scan my passport or anything except hand it to an extremely bored man. I’m not entirely sure he even looked at it before giving it back and waving me through. Baggage claim was equally easy and I was in the arrivals area in nothing flat.

That’s where the adventure begins. My flight was 30 minutes early, but I dutifully looked for a person with a sign that had my name on it. No joy, but I wasn’t surprised because I was super early. So just to be sure, I went to the tourist help desk and asked them if I was in the right place. Yep. The shuttle just wasn’t there yet. This was at about 7:40 am. Flight was supposed to land at 7:55.

So I wait.

And I wait…

And start to get a little concerned around 8:20.

About 8:30 I spotted a man from the shuttle service, but his sign was for someone else. Nevertheless, he got my name and reservation number and called the main office. After a little while and some back and forth, it was determined that because I didn’t fly United, I was not in the correct terminal. The man was intent on taking care of me until the other driver came to pick me up. Grabbed my suitcase (that concerned me) and took me to a chair. Told me to wait 5 minutes and the other driver would be there to collect me. It was now getting closer to 9:00.

He stuck pretty close to me while watching for his passenger, and called the other driver at least 5 times. Eventually, around 9:30 the other driver finally got there! I tipped the first guy because I felt so much better after he started shepherding me around and making sure I got where I needed to go.

Got in the shuttle with 6 other ladies all in the same tour group. And then we saw this:

It took an hour and a half to drive to the hotel because of traffic!

And now I’m hanging out on the couch in the coffee shop waiting for mom and Joanna to get here. Probably will be around 1:00 pm. In the meantime, here is my current view:

I may have to get another coffee while I wait so I don’t fall asleep.