A few days in Paris

As Ty mentioned below, we have been holed up for a few days but ventured out yesterday to enjoy a picnic in the Jardin du Luxembourg which is about 5 minutes away. We were starving and ordered a bunch of food at this great boulange and headed over.  We picked a small park with purple and pink flowers and a tree in the middle with leaves every shade of autumn, it was picture perfect. Yes, there was a bum just waking up to the right of us, but some french policewoman was kicking him out so it was all good and if I switched off my periferal vision, he was out of sight. It was a beautiful day until it started to rain but thankfully that was after we ate. Wouldn't want to miss a meal!  These pics are a little out of order but I am in the gardens walking back after it started to sprinkle at the bottom of this entry.

Today we had lunch at a fabulous Italian place. We were joking that we are in Paris but keep finding great Italian food restaurants. We actually weren't totally psyched on the food while we were in Italy, but the stuff we find here is to die for. Below is the pizza I took down, it was Four Framages. Ty was mortified that I took a pic as the restaurant was a small, dark, cozy room and we were seated right on top of each other and the flash was really bright. But I had to take one for the team for my blog!  In the back is Ty's lasagna and it was decadent.  Every bite (I stole 2) melted in your mouth and was full of cheese and had a crusty top that crunched perfectly.  He was in heaven, I knew because I don't he said a word from the time they dropped his plate. 

Ok, so this is embarrising because the pic is supposed to be flipped to the right. I am not sure why exactly I am posting this but last night at the Greek restaurant, the waiter shouted the dessert options at us and I replied, "Peaches!!" This is what came and after we had some wine, I thought it was hilarious that I got canned peaches for "Dessert''.  I am not sure this would fly in SF nor would anyone believe me.  I can't really further comment on this...
Here is Ty with the wonderful Greek wine we had, the waiter was full of personality and talked us (well, mainly me, Ty said no) into ordering another 1/2 bottle. I have no idea why this was a good idea but it was so cheap and we were having fun talking with these 2 guys next to us so I went for it.  I was also kind of terrified of the waiter, I am not gonna lie.  He shouted out our bill tab at the end of the night and for a moment I was thrilled to be somewhere where gratuity is included as I am sure he would have announced that to everyone as well. It was comedy forsure. 
Below is a pic of the gardens from yesterday, I am smiling so big because it started to rain and we had no umbrella. 

Shut-ins

For the past few days, we have been essentially shut ins!

When we got back from Rome, we both had developed colds.. C worse than I was...

So we spent a few days resting, recuperating, I did a load of laundry that ruined some of Courts clothes (I hate french Laundromats... How come the same machine that leaves you soaking wet clothes one day, leaves you fire hot uber-toased clothes the next?), and watching DVDs..  We found an english video store about 15 minutes away, so I joined..

Sunday I went to the Musee Armee..  It's an awesome museum, but I got there at 4 and it closed at 5:15..  I plan to go back for 3 or 4 hours one day..  I hit armor, and a bit of WW2, then I had to leave...  

Then Monday, C was feeling a bit better, so we went and got sandwiches and sat in Luxembourg gardens and had lunch. After that, I went and sat in the train station and bought out tickets to England... We are going to try and hit a soccer game while there..  Before that, we are contemplating a trip to Switzerland..

Last night we went to a greek place for dinner.. It was listed in one of the Paris guides that Courtney has.. It was a fun, loud place, where the waiters argued loudly amongst themselves all night.. when we asked if there was an English menu, he just took our menu, pointed to everything, and yelled out what it was, in English. Nice. Embarrassed and deaf is a great way to start a meal!

Today we tried to go to the Delecriox (sp?) museum.. It's only a block from the apartment, and I have no idea how we have never gone before...

.. and we still havent gone.. Closed until Nov 26th.

SO, instead I told Court I wanted to take her to this American bookstore I found nearby - Last night, while searching for a chinese place in the rain, I found this bookstore, and it turns out David Sederis is speaking there Nov 6th...  

After the bookstore, we found this pizzaria, and we decided to stop in.. It was so nice and cozy. totally packed.. C got Pizza, I got Lasagne, and it was the BEST lasagne I have ever had!

That's about it. The last few days havent been very exciting, but they have been restful!

The rest of this week is on fire... Tentatively, we are going to some professional tennis matches tomorrow, then Eurodisney Thursday, and MAYBE Switzerland on Friday or Saturday!

Obama or McCain??

A trend here that I have noticed is that when people find out we are from California, they all seem to ask "Obama or McCain?"

There is SO much coverage of the US election over here.. Obama and McCain are on the covers on magazines, on billboards..  everywhere!! 

Just this morning, our phone at the apartment rang. It was a French man who was calling to sell double pane windows (??)  Anyhow, since the apartments owner wasnt here (aka- my mom), he asked "Do you own an apartment?"  I replied "Yes, In California!" he laughed.. then said,

"Obama McCain"

I said Obama (being that I am a sell out to the pressures of France, and I knew saying McCain would get me hate-crimed) and he laughed and said "That is great, man!!" and then hung up.

Strange, strange place we are in.....

Now I'm off to spend another 15 euro on a load of laundry.. Be back with damp clothes in two hours!

Court at Trevi, Rome!

Court throwing a coin into Trevi Fountain, Rome!

Italy: Conquered!!!

Hi Everyone!

Tyler posting with his wrap up of our Italy trip! I'm sure Court wants to post her thoughts on it also, so I figured we would do separate postings!!

We did Italy in 6 days, 5 nights... Fast and furious!!  We started by flying to Venice, where we stayed 2 nights. We stayed in a really nice hostel.. Private room and bathroom, etc..  Like a hotel! Venice was awesome! It doesnt feel like Italy, more like an Italy themed amusement park, mixed with a handful of Disneyland. Our Gondolier (Yeah, we did a gondola ride) told us that 70,000 people like there, and it gets 20 million visitors a year! In Venice, we hit:

St. Mark's Square

Doge Palace (Where C and I got lost in the 16th century prison because there are no signs on that part of the tour)

And a Gondola ride!

Venice is all about walking, and we did a lot of it!!!  Here are a few pics from Venice:

Next stop was Florence. We only stayed one night in Florence in a really nice hotel! Florence was hot, and PACKED with tourists. We got there on  Monday, and sadly, all the museums are closed that day.. SO we went to Santa Croce church, which holds the remains of some of Italys most important people, like Galeleo and Michaelangelo!

On Tuesday, we tried to get into the Uffuzi Museum, which is supposed to be very Louvre-esque! However, there were lines HUNDREDS of people deep all day, so we skipped that and went to boboli gardens, which was beautiful! It was a HUGE garden full of statues and fountains! After that, we walked to the Gallery Academia and saw the Statue of David! That was spectacular!! It's much larger in person than it seems in photos! The museaum also had several unfinished Michelangelo sculptures, which were fun to see!

In Florence we hit:

Santa Croce Church

Boboli Gardens, and the Fashion museum that is attached

Gallery Academia

I dont know what it was called, but there is a huge outdoor sculpture exhibit that was awesome!

Our last stop was Rome.. We got into rome Late Tuesday night.. We were SO excited, because we found a really great deal on a "4 star" hotel! It was going to feel great sleeping in a fantastic bed, with a glamorous room, etc...

Well... I dont know who doles out stars in Italy, but this place was a dump.. The place was a dump, and the staff was really seedy. It was actually such a dump that for the first time in my entire life, we were both so disgusted that we grabbed our bags and left. We walked to a corner Cafe and started calling hotels recommended in the EYEWITNESS EUROPE guide! We ended up at the Hotel Lancelot, and stayed for 2 nights... THAT hotel was BEAUTIFUL!! If we go back to Rome, we will stay there again!!

But aside from that, once we got to Lancelot, we got a late dinner and went right to bed! Wed was a furious pace all day! We started at the Colosseum, where we got roped into an "English tour," which turned out to be awesome and really informative! That lasted about an hour. As a bonus, with that tour, we got a free guided tour of the Roman Forum (We saw the exact spot where they creamated Julius Caesar.. People still bring flowers!) After that, we walked to the Pantheon and went inside, and then Trevi Fountain. 

That night, we went to an "authentic" Rome restaurant, on the rec. of our tour guide. We had fried appetizers, ravioli, and Ox Tail  (all their specialties). 

The next day we got up and saw Circus maximus, where the chariot races were held (its just a field), and the Vatican Museum, which has over 5000 roman and greek statues, and is attached to the sistine Chapel! The sistine chapel was indescribable.. It's huge and breathtaking! I wanted to take photos but they have people all over who yell at you and shove their hands in front of your cameras. "NO PHOTO!"

That night we came back to Paris.. 

In Rome we saw:

The Colosseum

Roman Forum

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Circus Maximus

Vatican Museum

Sistine Chapel

Trevi Fountain - We threw coins in!

Our view from Hotel Lancelot

This is C and I in front of the Pantheon

Beuno Cera!

This is Tyler posting as Courtney!

We only have a few minutes of online time but here is an update!

We spent the last two nights in Venice, Italy!

It was a really cool city.. very busy..  We did all the 'tourist' stuff..

Gondola ride, St. marks square, etc... All fun!

The Gondolier told us that over 20 million tourists go there every year!

Amazing but it felt like it.. Some of the narrow alleys there were so packed with people everyone just stopped.

We also noticed that things were seemingly really inexpensive (euro rate aside)  We had a few 4 Euro lunch / snack breaks...  Considering a Coke in Paris is 8 euro, thats a deal! I bought a carnival mask...

Venice is really really cool... I don't have enough time to write it all out but it was awesome!

The Gondola ride - a must..... Cliche aside it's awesome! Every meal we had was also on point.. From the street vendors and sandos, to the full sit down meals! We also got to go to a few "standing only" bars  (There is only 1 seat on the whole island - seriously) 

Tonight we are in Florence.. We are sort of iffy on the place, so we are only doing one night. the Train depot drops you off in a slum, but once you walk into the older area it is really nice.. We are staying at a nice 16th century building that is a hotel for the evening..  Just a drop in and they had room  (Thanks EYEWITNESS BOOKS) ...

Tomorrow we are seeing the statue of David and the uffizi  (sp?) museum, which is supposedly up there with the Louvre as far as quality!  Then at 5:30 pm we are taking the train to Roma and who knows next!!

Ciao!

(Photos coming after we are back in Paris!)

George V

Ok so last night, Ty and I ate a moderate dinner in, and headed out in our best black to the George V for a drink. This place is known for their gorgeous flower arrangements and this pic doesn't do it justice. They always have flowers dunked in water that look beautiful, I have no idea how they do that without them turning into mush.

Incase you would like to know what 25 euro gets you, I have included a photo. Its a Lychee martini served in a 2 part glass with a martini shaker that filled it up 2 more times, thank god! 2 waiters served us our drinks, 1 for Ty's and 1 for mine which he poured an ounce in and looked at me. I had no idea what to do so I said, come on, don't tease me, he laughed and filled it up and walked away. Its hard to know here who speaks english and who doesn't so its awkward at times. I think this place is pretty used to tourists though so I am sure he got it.. and thought I was hilarious. Right? 
After some good people watching and nursing of our 1 cocktail each, we called it a night. 

Today, we headed out as it was clear skies and we wanted to see if the Trocadero had their pumpkins out for Halloween which they didn't. We are so glad that we went over there though because it was a great day to shoot the Eifle Tower, the light was perfect!
Ty in his new fancy outfit that he put together by himself, I was impressed! 
Oh, here is when we thought were were being artsy, not original, but artsy. Check out my shades on the right.
This is a picture of me outside of the George V, it was supposed to go at the top of the blog with the other pics but that's not happening. Me and blogger.com are not always friends, we are working on it though. 

Off to pack, we are leaving for Venice tomorrow and plan to be in Italy for a week going to Florence then Rome. 

Au Revoir!!!