October 5-7 PARIS

October 5, Friday---PARIS

We got to Paris from Avignon in 3 ½ hours by train. No moseying around in the countryside, but we did see it from the train. We both did not want the hassle of driving in France. We know we gave up a lot, but we did see some pretty countryside. The Rhone river and the Rhone valley are very pretty.

The TGV was the fast train and their service was able for us to get a room in Paris....a very difficult thing to do because of the World Rugby Championships. We have our room through Sunday night.

When we got off the train and went into the Metro station, it was pretty overwhelming. A security guard was most helpful in figuring out the lines we wanted and Ray figured out the machine to get the tickets and I guided us through all the direction signs. The hotel is located at the south edge of the old city. We took the #14 Metro and changed to the #4. Of course, getting off the Metro we didn't know which way to go to the hotel as the map was pretty vague. We walked several unnecessary blocks until someone in a Pfizer building was able to help us head in the right direction.

We stayed at the Ibis hotel. Very basic, once again. It did have a nice hair dryer, one of the few encountered on the trip.

Ray and I are not certain why people like to travel. We are really longing for our own beds and pillows, good morning coffee, sitting at our computers, looking out at the lovely view, showers that have doors or shower curtains and shower heads that are fixed to the wall, larger spaces, a lot fewer people, friends, cats....I could go on! And on!...

October 6, Saturday---Paris

Took the Metro into town and walked through the Tuilleries, Place de Concorde, across the Alexander Bridge looking for Musee d’Orsay. Thinking that we found it we actually went to the national Petite Museum across the street from Le Grande Musee. After that we finally found the Musee d’Orsay. When finished with that we were really tired. We must have walked miles.

October 7, Sunday---Paris

This morning I was determined to be able to place a phone call to Virgin Atlantic to see if we could get our flight changed (regardless of cost) and come home before scheduled. Using my MCI Costco phone card, I was able to make the right connection. It used up almost all of my minutes, but I was able to get the reservations changed (for $500)to come home on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of schedule. It was worth it to pay the extra air fare. J I, then called Erik and asked him to call John and Ethel Ann and let them know we would be home sooner than expected and that we would call them as soon as we got back to the US. I asked the hotel to make a reservation in London near Heathrow for Monday night, so we could get to the airport on time. With that done, we set out to find the Louvre museum. We did and we saw a great deal of it.

Exhausted, we stopped at a nearby outdoor café and I had my first Croque-Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) and a lovely cold beer.

Au revoir!