Tuesday 8/30/16

We are on our way to Iceland!  We fought Boston traffic and got to the airport at 5:15 PM only to discover that Icelandic Air goes out of a remote terminal and there was no line at security.  We ate dinner at Legal Seafood and then had a wait until our flight left at 9:30 PM.  I am not complaining though as I would much rather be early than late.  We had a good flight except that our area of the plane was quite hot and Lana John and Kelly who were about ten rows behind us were freezing.  About 4 in the morning, an elderly woman fell into the aisle, whether from dizziness, sickness or stumbling we do not know.  The flight crew was wonderful and reacted immediately and there was a doctor seated two rows in front of me who helped out.  They started oxygen and an IV and had her in the aisle administering first aid for quite some time, but she seemed to be much better by the time we landed.  An ambulance crew came on board and took it from there.  We were met by our guide after we passed through passport control/customs and then waited a few minutes for some of the others of our group to get through.  We took a long ride in morning rush hour traffic and finally got to our hotel in Reykjavik.  We had breakfast at the hotel and then were able to get into our rooms before meeting Loftur, our guide, for a walking tour.  We walked by some lovely and colorful houses before stopping at the Hallgrimskirkju, a lovely Protestant church in the city.  The organ was very unusual with some horizontal pipes and we were lucky as the choir was practicing for a concert and we got to listen in.  There is a big statue of Leif Eiricsson (their spelling) outside of the church.  The statue was given to Iceland by the United States on what is thought to be the 1000th anniversary of his landing in North American - 950 AD.  Continuing our walk, we passed by a few houses that were sided in corrugated iron - very unusual, but after a fire in the 1950's it became quite popular.  We then went to the Harpa, the concert hall.  It was a great building made of glass.  The glass is in blocks meant to remind us of basalt columns as was the church (concrete, though, not glass).  The group then split up:  A few went back to the hotel for a nap as few of us had slept on the plane, a few including Lana, Kelly and I went back to a wonderful shopping street that we had passed on our walk, and the rest went with Loftur to see the parliament buildings.  Unfortunately, the shopping looked better from the street - I only bought a few postcards.  We made our way back to the hotel and had a short nap before going down to a welcome chat and then dinner.  I will have to put pix on later as my eyeballs are falling out of my head.  We are on the road tomorrow so will tell you all about it when I can.

Tuesday 7/26/16

Dave and I went down to Maison Plisson again for pastries for breakfast and then took off for the Catacombes.  Nick was able to purchase tickets for us online yesterday so we were able to skip the long lines and go right in.  The tour was amazing, yet macabre!  The cemeteries in the city were full and were beginning to collapse into church basements so it was decided to move all of the bodies in the dead of night to the abandoned quarries.  The work was begun in 1756 and was not completed until 1814.  One of the young men in charge decided to place the bones in arrangements so that there was some order and design to them.  There are the bones of over 6 million people in the Catacombes, including some famous people as well as plague victims.  When we came back out into daylight, we texted Nick and met them at the St. Paul metro stop.  Dan was getting his hair cut nearby so we waited for him and then walked to a famous place for hot chocolate.  It poured out of the pot like melted candy bars - it was that thick and it was wonderfully delicious!  We then walked down to the Bastille Tower and hopped on a canal boat for a tour.  We went under the Bastille Tower through a 2 km. tunnel and then through a series of locks.  The ride was delightful until we came to a lock which would not open.  The tour took a short walk to the other side of the lock and were going to reboard, but since we were almost at the end of the tour, we opted to walk to the nearest metro station and head for home.  This is our last day in Paris and we are going out for a fancy dinner tonight so I will go and get ready to change.  I will put pictures on when I get a chance at home.  This has been a magical trip, it is sad that it is ending, but we have had a wonderful time with many great adventures.

Monday 7/25/16

Laura and I walked up the street to a wonderful bakery, Maison Plisson, and picked up croissants and other goodies for breakfast.  These must be the best croissants in Paris, if not France - melt in your mouth delicious!  We then all walked to Notre Dame Catherdral - great gargoyles and a first for us:  a stained glass window with opening panels to let in fresh air!  We walked back and on the way stopped to pick up empanadas for lunch - very good.  We then took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe.  What a wonderful view from the top and what a crazy traffic mess!  There are 8 boulevards that come into a circle around the Arc, including the Champs Elysees, which is 4 - 6 lanes wide.  There are no lines in the circle so people just make their own way around and cut in front of others when they want to get out onto one of the boulevards - fascinating to watch!  There was a quick little rain shower when we were at the top - this thinned out the crowd.  We stood under an overhang until it passed.  It was a warm day so the wet shirt felt good.  When we came down, we decided to walk along the Champs Elysees so that we could window shop in the very expensive stores and Dan could fancy car spot for his blog.  We came back and had a nice dinner at the Cafe Hugo at the Place de Vosges, just down the street from the apartment.

Sunday. 7/24/16

This morning we made our way by Metro to the Louvre.  What a massive museum - you could come here every day for a week and still not see the whole thing!  I had chosen two pieces as "must see" items so we enjoyed other pieces of art on our way to see Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa.  We came out and walked through Tuileries Gardens, where we stopped to let Ella play for a few minutes on the playground equipment (and where Laura got christened by a bird overhead) and tried to make our way to the Arc de Triomphe.  Unfortunately, all of the pathways and roads were being blocked off as it was time for the end of the Tour de France, which come down the Champs Elysees to the Arc.  We gave up that quest and made our way to the Luxembourg Gardens (beautiful) and then back to the apartment for a small rest.  Dave and I tried to go the the Catacombes, but the line to get in was blocks long so we texted Laura and Nick and we decided to meet up at the Eiffel Tower.  Laura, Nick and the kids opted to walk up the first two levels - Dave and I took the elevator all the way up to the top.  There was a great view of the city from the top!  We spent a lot of time walking around and enjoying the views from every angle before taking the elevator back down.  We got back to our general area and found a restaurant in which to have a late dinner.  We got back to the apartment around 11.  Before going to bed, we discovered that we could see the Eiffel Tower if we leaned out of Laura and Nick's window.  It is lit at night and changes color - quite spectacular!

Saturday 7/23/16

It rained heavily last night, but that was okay because we were inside and it was our last night.  We had just over an hours ride to the airport this morning.  Fortunately, the car rental return is just across the street from the terminals.   We got our boarding passes, got rid of our luggage and had a very easy time going through security as there was a special line for families traveling together.  Our flight was short.  I sat next to a young man (9th grade) from Melbourne, Australia.  His father is French and he comes here every other year to visit his grandparents in Toulouse.  He must be a great kid as his favorite subject is math!  We took a taxi van to the apartment that we are renting for the few days we are here in Paris.  We are located just a block away from the Place de Vosges, which is the oldest planned square in Paris.  It was built between 1605 and 1612.  The surrounding grand buildings are all of red brick - very impressive.  Dave and I took Dan and Ella to the square so that Nick and Laura could have some quiet time to figure out dinner plans, etc.  We walked along one side of the square which had all of the art galleries and had a contest about the weirdest painting or sculpture - there were several in contention for first place.  We ate at a small restaurant a few blocks away.  We found a bakery that they had been in on a previous trip here and Dave and I volunteered to go out tomorrow morning for fresh croissants for our breakfast.  Dave and I are relaxing at the apartment while the others have gone for ice cream - we were just too full.

Friday 7/22/16

It is a bit rainy today so it was a sleep in day for Dan especially.  When Ella woke up, we left Dan sleeping and went into Mirepoix for fresh croissants.  Dan was awake when we returned so we had eggs and croissants for brunch.  We had a relaxing morning - caught up on a bit of laundry, which we had to hang inside, did some reading and straightening of suitcases.  The sun came out weakly and it was pool time!  When everyone was dressed we drove to another vineyard - this one featured sparkling wines and then went into Mirepoix to get a few more postcards.  We decided to have leftovers (mostly pizza) for dinner as we will leave tomorrow after breakfast.  We will be flying from Toulouse to Paris for the next part of our adventure.  La Prade has been a wonderful and relaxing haven.  We have enjoyed the local sights, but it has been nice to come back to the pool and the lovely gardens.  Everyone is feeling very relaxed.  I will catch up with you all again once we get to "The City of Lights".

Thursday 7/21/16

Happy Birthday to Laura!  We got up earlier than the kids would have liked to drive to Grotte de Niaux, a cave famous for its prehistoric cave drawings.  Unfortunately, all of the tours were booked until Saturday.  It was a disappointment, but we went to plan B.  We drove up to a ruined castle, Le Chateau de Miglos high up on a hill and admired the wonderful views of the mountains and the valley.  We decided to drive across the mountains - spectacular scenery and sometimes we were above the clouds - on an unsaved, winding road.  We stopped at a small village, but there was no bakery so we continued on to Ax-Les-Thermes, a city built on hot springs.  We had lunch in the main square and put our feet in the springs.  Ella was excited as her child plate had a hamburger and purple mashed potatoes!  Unfortunately, while we were having lunch, the market and most of the shops closed.  I took a picture of a little girl in the cafe who had the larges lollipop I had ever seen.  I took a picture and then went over to talk with the father.  It was not the huge lolly I supposed, but a round container filled with about 20 smaller candies.  The shops close up for "lunch hour" - usually from 1 or 1:30 until 3:30.  We did get to admire a mountain bike that was for rent.  The young man who owned the shop says he rents the bikes as they cost 5000 euros to buy!  I must say that it had all the bells and whistles - shock absorber on the front fork and in the frame and a specially raised chain so that you wouldn't bottom out while going downhill, but really - 5000 euros?!  On the drive back we drove through beautiful countryside.  There were many places where trees were planted next to the road making a lovely shaded alley for the car.  We stopped at Domaine Gayda for a bottle of wine for Laura - beautiful grounds - huge bunches of lavender and a rose bush planted at the beginning of every row of grapes.  We came home and jumped in the pool for a refreshing swim and then Laura and Nick went up the road for pizza (a small RV fitted out with a brick oven) for our dinner.  The choices were different and wonderful - we tried several: chicken with pineapple, ham, asparagus, and mushrooms, lamb, sausage, onions and mushrooms.  We came in and had cake and ice cream to celebrate Laura's big day and then played a game of pinochle.  It was another wonderful day!