Mom’s Trip Journal = Chapter III
Monday, December 15, 2003
We decided not to worry about the weather and walk up the street to the Schoenbrun Palace. Surprise! Closed to the public today, so we walked all around the main building in the windy cold and then since we were there and the Kriskindl there was beginning to open up we wanted to see what the booths had to sell.
I’m so happy we did. Many of these booths were local artists with their specialty crafts. I love many of them, and thought about buying some of the darling Christmas ornaments and angel things, but when I got to the needlework booth I knew exactly what I wanted as my souvenier from Vienna. I was fascinated by the cloth balls embroidered in beads and metallic threads that I bought one even though it cost 25 euros. I love it, and am amazed by the work they did on it. Bob said he had never seen one so beautiful.
It was quite a long walk from the palace building and the booths to the underground train station, but we walked it. It was good to sit down after all that walking. Bob decided that it might be a good day to try Dommeyer Coffee House, the very elegant café for the musicians of Vienna. The walls were decorated with framed sheet music, and it was beautifully decorated. I ordered Belvedere tea, a fruit blend with pears.
After that we found the internet café and spent an hour checking and sending email. We added an 18 hour account because we would get a little better hourly rate. And we did spend an hour of that time while we were there.
We were hungry when we finished but first we stopped to see if we could get my “lost” scarf, so we rode to the theatre but it wasn’t open. Bob had left his hat at the Dommeyer Coffee Shop and so we took the Ubahn back to the hotel. I got off at Schonbrun and he rode on to the next station, got his hat and came back to meet me at the hotel. He had given me the key and I even opened the two doors myself and was relaxing when he got back. Funny I thought, how a hotel can become “home” or at least ‘home base’ when you travel. For dinner we tried the Austrian Restaurant right up the street from our hotel and were both delighted with our choice and with the most delicious foods we ordered there. The special was deer with gravy and a huge dumpling, and the other entrée was schnitzel with potatoes and veggies. The deer was spectacular! We shared both the entrees and said to each other that we would be happy to come back another evening for dinner there.
After our meal Bob ordered pear schnapps for each of us AND a wonderful chocolate crepe and whipped cream concoction to die for. I asked him what it was called and he said its called: “Palachinkin with hot chocolate sauce with schlauggobers” Delicious. We didn’t even have to relax over wine that night. That dinner with dessert and schnapps had us wonderfully full and satisfied. Tired, but relaxed.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
It turned very cold and snowed a bit overnight and we knew that this would be a good day to spend indoors or at least from train to bus to streetcar and not be out in the cold wind and blowing snow for long.
So we took a long morning ride after breakfast and didn’t get back to the city till 12:30.
We stopped at the internet café for an hour and because its right around the corner from the Café Classic Café – Valet’s place, we checked to see if she was there. Disappointed again, we decided to try the Coffee house right next door. The fruit tea was almost exactly the same as the Belvedere tea I had had at Dommeyer’s. And because it was after noon we decided to try the soup. It was a light broth with beef, veggies and spaghetti type noodles.
Bob got a call from Bernhard Kenner while we were there and made plans to meet him tonite at 9:00 back at Dommeyer’s Café. That means he said that we could stay close here and try again to have dinner at Classic and then go meet Bernhard. So after thinking about it, he decided that as long as we were in this area of town, we could take the bus to the theater to check on my scarf. Then come back and try Valet one more time. If she was there we would eat at Classic.
No scarf, but the rest worked out as planned, we did find Valet at the restaurant, and we had a very delicious meal there. Valet asked about Jeanne, Bob had told me they had gotten to be good friends. So right before we left after having dinner, Valet gave Bob a box of chocolates for Jeanne, as big almost as a pizza box. Bob said after we left, he wondered how he was going to get it home. He just hoped somehow it would fit into his suitcase.
We then took the ubahn to Dommeyer Coffee House in time to meet Bernhard Kenner, and all enjoyed a very nice visit. Even shared a serving of Sacher Torte, the famous Vienna dessert. Delicious.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Laundry Day. So off we went to the Laundromat. It wasn’t snowing, but the weather was still cold. And we had packed our dirty laundry into our suitcases and pulled them the 2-3 blocks to the Laundromat. It took several hours and all of our cash. But we did have enough after that to stop and eat at a local gasthouse on the way back to the hotel.
We tried the wine shop next door to the gasthouse, but it was closed for “mattag pause” which means midday pause or rest. Many local shops (individually owned) close from 12:00 noon to 3:00 every day in Vienna. Then reopen till maybe 6 or 7:00. But luckily for us the tavern/gasthouse was open.
Lunch was a bowl of goulash and a mixed salad. Very, very tasty. It was mid afternoon when we got back to the hotel and we put our clean clothes away, folded or hung up. And wished by then that we didn’t have to bundle up and go out again. We talked it over and decided that since we hadn’t had to use our bus passes yet that day that we could stay there and save our day ticket for the day and use it when we got back from Paris. Of course what made it even more attractive to Bob was the 1996 and 1997 Soccer Champion Finals that he found on the TV, and after that we found some local Christmas programs too. Very cute.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Well rested, we planned a full day out for today. It was sunny and clear and the high went up to the 40’s. A beautiful day it turned out (but we had no clue at that time) to do the Rathous, the Punch booths and the Graben.
We started at the Stephansdome ATM and then walked down to the Julius Meinl. I shopped and Bob rested and read on a bench. Meinl’s don’t ship I found out. And I was a bit disappointed at that. But later I decided it may have been ok after all.
We wanted to have a punch so we walked to the bus and stopped to shop at the Arts and Antiques Kriskindl. After looking around we rode to the Rathous and found a bench for Bob. Each of us had a punch and a bratwurst and I shopped the booths while he read. I got some tiny packable Xmas decorations, 3 wonderful soaps and 2 small bags of flavored nuts, peanuts and almonds.
After we did all that in the sunshine, we went back to Julius Meinl and I got some candy bars for the kids. And had one more punch on the way home. Took the U4 back to the hotel and stopped at the gasthouse again for something warm for supper. I had the roast pork and dumplings (Knockerl) and Bob had a nice big schnitzel with salad and rice. Yum.
We did stop at the wine store after that and got some wine and cookies for our dessert. And arrived back home by 8:00 to relax and rest while we planned our Friday.
Friday, December 19, 2003
After showering, dressing and breakfast we were off to get our return train tickets from Paris. And were we happy to have done that. Less crowds and we were able to get the two top bunks. So now we really do have all we need for our trip to and from Paris. We again rode the bus to the Graben area and it happened to be almost noon. Bob heard the clock and even though it was chilly he told me where to stand for the best view of it and I watched as it turned and each figure moved across the face of the clock and it played a musical piece as each figure moved from the left to the right and another moved right behind it. I watched until all 12 figures had crossed. Bob was chilled and said he was going to warm his ears. When the clock stopped, I found myself alone on the street and realized that I had no idea where he went. I stood there a while trying to decide where to go and what to do. I tried some places close that he might have ducked into. But he wasn’t there. So I just started to walk in the direction he went. And then looked up and … the internet café!! Of course. He knew it was right up the street and so he headed there. And I’m sure figured that I also knew it was right up the street… wrong.. but, I did find it and him too. He laughed when I told him I had no idea where he was, and didn’t remember that the internet café was this close.
I sat down and warmed myself too, it was cold out there standing watching that clock. After sending several notes I logged out leaving at least an hour for another time. And also because I knew we had to leave soon, today was the day we had planned to meet three of his former students this afternoon at the Prukel Coffee House. Bob was finished too so we left and walked to the café. We were a few minutes early so we got a table for 4. Phillipe and Franz were going to be there for sure, Bob wasn’t sure about Marco. He said he would try, but he wasn’t sure he could make it.
A few minutes past one o’clock Phillipe and Franz arrived. Two very handsome Viennese young men. Phillipe was the taller of the two and the most confident and talkative. Franz, it turned out, was just back at Webster after his 8-9 months service in the Military, which is required of all young Viennese youths. Either that or one year doing other public service work.
Marco arrived right after we moved to two smaller round tables with more room for the 5 chairs we needed. Marco did tell us his years at Webster were growing to a close as he is in fact a senior. It was a wonderful meeting and I very much enjoyed the exchange of thoughts and experiences since they had last seen each other.
Phillipe seemed the most desirous of another meeting with Bob. But they all would have loved that too. Franz is the student with the biggest struggle with English. He himself told us that. But he also said he would love to go to Post Graduate University in the United States.
They asked Bob what he was doing now that he is no longer teaching. About Haiti and his work there. He asked them about their levels of school work and what year they were in and what plans they had for themselves after graduation. Marco said he plans to do his required year for Vienna (Military) after he finishes his Baccalaureate in Economics. Phillipe is a junior in International Relations and wants to “make a difference” in the world. He told us that he had just recently returned from Cambodia.
It was getting close to 3:00pm by then and Bob told them that we needed to get ready to go, that my Third Man tour was starting at 4:00. Philippe and Marco both said they hadn’t done that but it sounded interesting. We said our goodbyes and Bob and I walked through the park, the one where the waltz bands play in the summer. We got to the meeting place early enough to have a wurst in a hot dog from the stand there and believe it or not, we went back into the park and sat on a cold bench and ate them. Then we walked back to the bus/train station to meet the tour guide, Kirsten.
While I was paying my 16 euros Bob asked where the tour would finish up. Kirsten told him and off he went.
For the next 2 hours Kirsten gave the most interesting tour of "The Third Man" and Post War Vienna. We even climbed down into the sewer under the streets of Vienna with candles for light!!
She told us about the city, the buildings that were bombed, the sewer of course, and the actors, director and author of the story/movie. We walked the city and many of the famous settings where the movie was filmed. She gave the entire tour twice. First in German and again in English!
Bob was there when we reached our last destination and Kirsten’s surprise ending. She had arranged to have a zither player playing the Third Man Theme, and the other song from the movie when we arrived at the small gasthouse at the end of our tour. I enjoyed the tour very much, I was very cold, but wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
Both of us were tired, hungry and just wanted to get back to the hotel and relax. We stopped at Schwendenplatz and got three more Kabobs and headed for ‘home’ cold and exhausted.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
We had lots of plans for this Saturday. And I had our cloth bag and our Bila bag with me for the treasures we planned to bring home with us from the Naschmarkt and the Graben. Major shopping day!
We started with another apple punch at Maria Hilfer Strasse and then planned to go walking to see if Bob could remember how to find the Speryl Coffee House near the Naschmarkt. While we drank our punch we were looking at the signs on the wooden punch stand, and we noticed that they had some other interesting drinks advertised. Also they had several interesting bottles of liquor. So we asked the woman behind the counter and she gave us samples of her hot apple liquor with whipped cream on top.
Oh, was that ever delicious. We both looked at each other and thought can we carry that bottle with us all day? So we told her we loved the apple liquor and would have to come back later. They had a different type of apple liquor too that came in a wooden case with 2 ‘shot’ glasses, and we also considered getting one of those. But we were just getting started and had a whole day of shopping ahead of us. And carrying either package would have been too much.
So we walked down the street toward the Nashmarkt and looked both ways at the bottom of the hill. Bob thought he remembered which direction it was to the Coffee House and sure enough he found the way. Speryl is a very old Vienna Coffee House and the décor is “old Vienna” but we were lucky to have found a table by the window and enjoyed a cup of tea. I tried to catch up in my journal while Bob read a while. I was finding that a journal takes more time than I ever thought it would. Or am I just too windy?
We left the Coffee House and walked down the street and were at the Naschmarkt. It was a little later in the day than on our first trip to the market. And we had more shopping that we wanted to do. Too late for the meat shop as we found out right away. But we did get some yummy goodies. Wonderful dark black cherries, cherry tomatoes, big red peppers, tangerines, figs, cheese (smoked) and of course honey wine for dessert. And three more wines. Searched for some sliced meats but couldn’t find what we wanted. So Bob walked to the Bila Market down the street while I waited with our shopping bags. Again my little cloth bag came in handy for the wine bottles. Its so much more reliable than plastic. By the time Bob got back and we had all our shopping there done, it was 2:00 pm!
We were going to bring these things back to the room and then go out to the cyber café, Bignet.com. But we chose to just take everything out there, do all our errands, and then stay home when we got back. We didn’t get back till 6:00 but we had done everything we wanted to do, and had the most wonderful picnic and enough leftovers for a late day snack on Sunday. Bob did his usual detailed record keeping of all our purchases that day and declared that… our picnic was NOT cheap!
That system we had, worked wonderfully though, even if our picnic wasn’t cheap. I would get euros when he did, and I gave him ¾ of it. Then he had enough to get whatever we needed, and with his record keeping, we would know exactly how it was split up. Amazing. I would have gone crazy trying to figure it out myself. Truly crazy. Turns out we are very good travel companions.
We are finding out that our trip is not only going very well, and we are enjoying it very much, but per Bob, we aren’t spending nearly as much as he thought we would.
Tomorrow we pack and leave for Paris – 15 days in Vienna gone already, and amazingly fast. Paris fun ahead, but I know I will miss Vienna already, the apple punsch, the coffee houses, the UBahn and public transporation, the Rathouse and the Ring. So many other things too, the Naschmarkt. Is it me or do they have much nicer fruits and veggies than Soulard?
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Our Sunday was a relaxed day with more time riding on busses, strassenbahns (streetcars) and Ubahn’s (underground subways) and reading there. Some times we even sat in separate seats to not disturb each other. I’ve started "The Awakening" and Bob is reading a book about two Viennese Philosophers. In between our travels we visited two coffee houses, but they were both completely filled, and with people waiting. Both were beautifully decorated and more elegant than the others that we had visited. Bob did tell me he had been more comfortable at both when he could sit outside. But not in December!!
On the way to the town of Grinzing, we stopped at the Vienna Cemetery. Bob wanted to show me the musician’s area and the chapel. We saw the burial places of Ludwig Von Beethoven, Johannes Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. If it hadn’t been so cold we would have stayed longer, but we did wander around a bit more to see some of the famous Vienna Architects and others buried there. Grinzing was a nice surprise for me. That’s where we knew we wanted to eat our main meal of the day. Martin Sepp is the name of the heuigen, and its amazing! They are the vineyards that not only serve their own homegrown grape wines, this one serves a buffet type meal that is just wonderful. Austrian in décor, they do serve the most delicious food. The only problem, its a buffet, and you tend to take too much food. Of course the wine was excellent, and we drank the entire ½ liter.
It was getting dark when we left and though we were very happy with our day, we couldn’t have fit much more into our relaxed Sunday. On our way to the bus stop it started to rain so we grabbed the next 10A bus and took the scenic route back to the hotel. It was really scenic and we went through some places Bob didn’t recognize. And didn’t know exactly where we were when all of a sudden he said ‘look’ and we were passing the Schonbrunn Palace.. just a block or so from our hotel.
A wonderful day and we had time to relax and snack on some of our ‘leftovers’ from the Naschmarkt on Saturday before it was time to at least begin packing for Paris. Because we had eaten so much at Martin Sepp, I mostly had dessert, which consisted of; a tangerine, some cherries, figs and nuts. Bob finished the cheese and ham and the tara spread on some flat bread.
Monday, December 22, 2003
We showered, dressed and had breakfast at the hotel and then finished our packing. Bob had asked the manager if they could store a bag or two for us so we wouldn’t have to take everything we had to Paris. We had already accumulated extra goodies, mugs, candies, etc. They were so kind as to say yes. I still don’t know his name.
Then we left everything and went off on our last day there -before Paris. We did have several stops that we hoped to make. One was the Post Office Bank, designed by Otto Wagner. I just had to have a set of post cards that reminded me so much of Lisa. Black and white and though stark, very artsy. Of course that meant standing in line for 30 minutes. Bob was good about it and explained to the clerk when we got to the window what I wanted. It took a while before they found the right person but we got them.
After that we looked for and found their ATM and we got some euros for our trip. Then rode to the Stephansplatz and after stopping at the cyber café (Bignet.com) we decided, since we had plenty of time, to do something we hadn’t done yet, find Garasdorf.
It took several trains and busses to get there, but we had time. Garasdorf was the small town where Bob and Jeanne had lived for 2 years, or 2 school years anyway. We found Garasdorf and he did find the Gasthouse he remembered so well. The Polocek Gasthouse and we ate our main meal there. He ordered the Zum Joschi, it was called –the mixed grill and two beers. It was a platter with six meats (two of each –beef cutlets, pork cutlets, chicken cutlets, sauerbraten, 2 pieces of liver and a two homemade sausages … plus potatoes and salad! Bob did change the order from fries to petercillin (parsley potatoes). And of course the salad was the same as all over Vienna, a mixed salad, greens yes, but also potato salad, cucumber salad, shredded carrots and tomatoes. It was a huge platter of food- for the two of us! Oh, and as we were feasting Bob remembered that Garasdorf was famous for their schnapps. Actually known for its homemade schnapps. So he ordered us a ‘grosse’ pear schnapps for after our dinner. It was wonderful, very smooth, even better than the other schnapps we had had at the Viennese restaurant around the corner from the hotel.
We were both happy that we had eaten earlier in the day so we didn’t stuff ourselves right before boarding our train tonite. We rode home on the busses and went straight back to the hotel. By now it was 6:45 and we had time to pick up our suitcases and take time to charge the phone and rest a few minutes. I took the time to catch up a little more on my journal.
I was concerned that I might not be able to sleep on the train tonite, but after we walked around in Garasdorf in the chilly weather and having eaten that huge meal, I wasn’t so worried any longer.
While we were sitting there in the breakfast room (our hotel didn’t have a lobby) Bob got out our tickets and was checking the time we leave Vienna when he sat up and said “Sally, we have to go….now!” I said what? He said “Our train leaves at 8:30, not at 10:12… oh my, we have to go now!!” “Tell the man at the desk we need a taxi” I did just that. Got my coat on and took my suitcase to ask that the man at the desk call us a taxi.
How lucky are we??? If Bob hadn’t looked at those tickets when he did we could have missed our train. We had a very nice cab driver and Bob told him what happened as he helped put our bags into the trunk of the cab. He didn’t dally, we were on our way! And on the way to the train the driver told us… “Just part of the adventure!” wonderful comment and we laughed. In only a few minutes we were at the train station and thanks to our quick thinking, we were there in enough time to breathe easy and walk to our track and train car.
Turned out we were the first two there of the six people who would be riding in the sleeper compartment. Bob knew where to put our bags and I tried to help him lift them up to the top of the compartment and into the top bunk luggage section. All of the bunks were down and ready to be made up. The next two passengers were young men, French students. One very smartly dressed and one much taller and less well dressed. Later we found the second was from a small town in France and was going home for Christmas and needed to make a connection in Paris.
Bob suggested that we put the middle bunks down and sit and visit for a while, and the four of us did. The students were very interested in US politics, so that was the topic of conversation. The taller student had more trouble with English, but was just as interested in discussing President Bush and would he be re-elected, the war in Iraq, etc. Bob said the shorter student was very intelligent, and he could tell by the school he attended that his family was wealthy. The school (high school) he went to is a very well known and as impressive as Eaton in England. But that same student (we never asked their names) told us he had worked as a steward on the trains somewhere during his first few years in college.
We talked until after 10:00 pm and then Bob said he was getting tired. I decided to use the bathroom on the train before I climbed up to my bunk. When I got back I was able to climb up easier than Bob and smoothed out our sheets and blankets for us. The taller student had traded me his top bunk so Bob and I could have both top bunks, which was very kind of him.
It wasn’t the smoothest train ride ever. In fact we stopped many times. Somewhere along our way two female passengers joined us and took the two empty bunks. It was close to dawn when Bob woke up and climbed down and out of the compartment. Because I was awake and had to use the restroom again, I put my socks and shoes on and climbed down too. One of the ladies had brought a huge suitcase with her and it covered the entire floor between the two bottom bunks. That meant that our climb down and over and out of the compartment, was a bit tricky, but we did it.
When we got outside, we found that the train was stopped. Completely stopped and not just for a few new passengers. We didn’t know it then but, it was a sign of some trouble ahead for us all.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
I hadn’t even washed my face or brushed my teeth and we were being told we ALL had to change trains. That the train we were on (never were given a reason) was NOT going to Paris. Some passengers were still asleep. It was the crack of dawn! But everybody was awakened and told to get dressed, and take all their belongings with them, that they needed to board another train to Paris.
Bob and I were at least awake and out of our bunks. And so we began another new adventure. Packing up, putting our coats on, getting our bags down from the very tip top of the compartment and trying not to disturb the students who were only half awake.
We did all that and bags in hand followed directions, which were sketchy, to the ‘new’ train that would hopefully take us to Paris. Our young French students (primarily the one with the train experience) were of some help to us, but even they didn’t know exactly which train was OUR train, and after trying one ‘wrong’ train car, we found the ‘right’ train car and four seats together. It was still early in the morning and we had maybe 4 more hours before we arrived in Paris. We all tried to settle in to get some more rest. The students had been sound asleep when they were told to wake up and go. So they were still very sleepy. After an hour and a half I just had to find the restroom and at least wash my face and brush my teeth.
When I got back to our seats I found that Bob had moved us to a seat with a bit more leg room. It had been nice to sit with the students, but our knees were touching theirs and nobody had enuf room, not even me across from the tall student with the long, long legs.
Bob and I settled in then, read some and looked out at the French countryside. Saw some beautiful vineyards, quaint homes, read some and just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the trip. Soon we were seeing more homes, then more buildings, then taller buildings as we were coming closer to Paris.
Bob remembered the shorter student saying that we could take the Metro to our hotel. We should take first the #5, and then the #10. So when we got our wheely bags off the train and walked through the station we looked for the Metro station signs. We found a map and sure enough # 5 and # 10 would get us to the St. Jacques. But first we needed tickets! At least tickets for one day just to get to the hotel.
I remember thinking I was so happy I had come from Vienna, and had that experience to know what the Metro would be like. Or I wouldn’t have known what to expect. It wasn’t easy, but after about 90 sets of stairs and two Metro rides, we were at our stop!!
Walking up the last set of stairs with our wheely bags we noticed that it was raining! Of course it was…. But we only needed to walk up 2 blocks and over one block to find our Hotel St. Jacques!! We were very happy to be there. What an adventure!
But the best surprise was waiting for us. The young woman at the desk told us our room was 314, a corner room and from our balcony, she said, when you look to the left, you can see the Parthanon, and when you look to the right you can see Notre Dame!!!
We opened the door and saw an absolutely gorgeous room, decorated in French Provential furniture and the ceiling done in beautiful white and all the corners painted white with cream grograin wallpaper. We just had to open the French doors and step out on the balcony, and even in the rain we could see both beautiful buildings. Parthanon and Notre Dame!!
And because at that time it was only 1:00 pm we dropped our suitcases and went back out in the rain to the open market that we saw as we reached the top of the Metro stairs. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and we needed to have some wine and fruit for our room. We weren’t sure what restaurants would be open either Wednesday or Thursday.
After we got some wine and fruit we realized how hungry we were. No breakfast on that train adventure and it was almost 2:00 in the afternoon by then. We decided we would try the Italian Restaurant for a hot dinner of pasta. It turned out to be a very nice surprise. Bob had his favorite.. seafood pasta with lots of spices. And I had mini ravioli with meat sauce that was made with Italian prechuto (sp). But first we had a wonderful salad of sliced tomatoes, cheese and fresh basil. Bob decided we deserved a special dessert too, so we walked across the street to a little Brasserie, and I had my first ever Cognac! Quite nice actually. We sipped it slowly and watched the people in Paris go by. Paris is great for people watching. So much so, that the tables are all arranged to face the street, inside and outside tables. Of course at Christmas time not a lot of people are sitting at the outside tables.
By then it was getting to be 5:00pm and we were ready to take our packages and walk back to the hotel. We were exhausted! We unpacked, took a warm shower, talked a bit about what we wanted to do on Wednesday and ‘crashed’.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
We didn’t know exactly what to expect. What restaurants or stores would be open on Christmas Eve. It turned out we had a wonderful and full day. We started with a big breakfast at the hotel so we would need just one meal and a snack for the day.
We then arranged for a weekly bus pass, but had to find a photo shop on the streets of Paris. Turns out the best place to do that was right back at the Metro Station. So we went back and had our photos taken. Oh boy, you should see those photos of us! Bob looks like Pierre in his photo with his hat on. And he tried to get us by with the E2 versions, but they were too large for our passes. So we tried it again with the E4 versions and got 4 smaller school type photos. Perfect size for our bus passes.
We were ready for a bus ride, and did we have a bus ride! Bob wanted to show me Monmarte (sp?) and we took the bus that looked on the map as though it would take us there. Nope!! Bus 95 didn’t get us there. And when we tried to go back on Bus 60, it took us to a completely strange section of the city. Bob didn’t even know where we were, and had never been there before. After a ride to the end of that route, we tried to find out where we were – Per Bob…. NO peeking at the map!! That’s giving up, he said!! So we got off the bus and walked and walked and walked, and then finally he asked someone how we would find the Charles DeGalle stop. He got very quick French directions and we thought we understood what they were telling us… we didn’t. So we walked some more and finally found a Metro station and figured out on their map how to get to Charles DeGalle stop. That’s when I found out where we were going! The Arch de Triomphe! And the Champs Elysees!
By that time, Bob was pretty tired and said lets stop at that brasserie and have a little something to drink. We both got a glass of wine and when he showed me the menu, I (weakened) and just had to try a crepe…. I chose one with chestnut cream and vanilla ice cream with whipped cream…. Magnificent! Even Bob said it tasted good and he doesn’t like chestnuts. But the chestnut cream was mixed with the crepe itself.
After a short rest, Bob wanted to stay and read and rest his legs, but said I should walk down the Champs Elysees, after all it was Christmas Eve in Paris! I did walk all the way down one side and back up the other. And I enjoyed seeing all the shops decorated for Christmas and all the last minute Paris (and visitor) shoppers. Then I crossed the street again and told Bob I had found some nice and not too expensive post cards and asked if he wanted to walk that way to the bus stop. We did that, got some postcards and walked a bit farther to a bus stop and got on another bus.
On the bus, Bob said to me.. “Sally, look out the front windshield when we turn the next corner” He knew where we were and knew that as soon as the bus turned the corner we would look out at the Eiffel Tower!!! We both were startled though, me because I didn’t know what to expect and saw the tower, Bob because it had grown foggy, and all we could really see was the lower half. He had never seen it with fog covering the entire top half. We rode a few stops past the tower and Bob asked me if I wanted to get off and walk over to see it closer. Of course I said “Yes!” We were maybe a block and a half from it and when we walked toward it and were almost right underneath it, the lights went on!!! It was 5:00pm and they looked like Christmas lights, though they were all white and it may be they are on 365 days of the year. The fog still hid the top half, but it was magnificent!!
By the time we left the Eiffel Tower and found another bus to take us back to our hotel, we were tired and hungry and wondering where to eat our Christmas Eve dinner. We got off the bus at our stop and hoped that some restaurant would be open. By now it was 6:30 and it turned out that very few places were open. We tried a couple of places that we had seen and liked, one said their kitchen was closed, another was oriental but it was ‘fast food’ and we didn’t want that.
Last resort was the Metro Café. It was open, and they were serving food. Not a bad meal either. I had chosen quiche lorraine and Bob had chicken and rice. We both tried their tomato salad.
After we ate, it was time to walk up the hill to the St. Jacques Hotel. What a day, we were both exhausted again!! And tomorrow is Christmas!!
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Because Bob had two phone messages waiting for him when we got back to the hotel last night, we have our plans already made for today. They were both from a dear friend, Laurie Chamberlain. Bob was surprised, but pleased to hear from her and called her back on his cell phone after charging it a little bit, but it was still such a bad connection that he asked if she could call him back at the hotel. She did and said his phone sounded terrible. We aren’t certain if its just not working like it should, but its all we’ve got so….
But Laurie was calling to invite us to her place for Xmas Dinner. How sweet is that? Bob said we’d love to. Laurie said one other couple would be there with their 19 year old son.
So today we decided to go out after breakfast and see what ever we could see before we head off for Laurie’s. We headed for Notre Dame … Christmas Mass. We decided to walk, it was that close, and we could see it ahead of us as we walked. There was a huge crowd there out in the square and Bob decided to wait outside and try to find a bench to sit on while I walked inside the church. The church has a wide isle all around the main sitting and alter area, so any visitors that want to view the church and its side alters, etc. can go ahead and walk all around, even though there are masses going on. And for their Christmas Mass, there were at least 5-7 priests on the alter, at likely a high mass.
They have a rather large crèche there that is lit up via electronics. The lights turn on at different areas at different times. Those areas were; the holy family, the angels, the shepherds and wise men, very sweet. And then when I had seen all I wanted to see, and as I walked outside the church to find Bob, the bells started ringing! We stayed and listened to them for maybe 25-30 minutes. Spectacular !
Bob wanted to try to find the Louvre while we were in the area. So we took a bus just a few blocks away and walked to and through the Louvre Plaza and down the long, long walkway that would eventually end at the Arch de Triomphe. That however, is a long walk.
We didn’t go more than half way through it because it was chilly and I didn’t want to wear my ear warmer! Vanity!! Thy name is Sally! But I couldn’t curl my hair, and at least I thought I could keep from smashing it down all around my face. Bob just laughed at me and said he really couldn’t understand that kind of thinking but it turned out we didn’t have enough time for a longer walk. After taking the three Metro trains to Lauries, we were there right past 1:30.
Interesting area of Paris, just like Bob said it was. Many, many stores there were open too (it was Christmas). Obviously after looking around, we were in an area of muslims, who don’t observe our Christian holidays.
Laurie was a delightful hostess. We had a little time to visit and have some pate’ on toast before the second couple and their son arrived. Mark, Martha and their son Marcus (a student at the Sorbonne).
Martha brought a dish similar to nacho’s (she is from Bolivia) and I think it was a Bolivian recipe. She also brought a cheese cake with chocolate that turned out to have a very different taste but was good. Both dishes were very good.
And Laurie’s turkey was juicy and delicious. The dressing was a bit overcooked, because she wanted it crispy on the edges. It was crispy! She had fixed green beans, little potatoes and bread with the meal and after we ate the entrees she served the salad. Very European! Though, she again apologized to us for not having a cheese dish and for not having small dishes for the cake, it wasn’t a problem for any of us.
I brought back some of the paper napkins because they had come from Paul’s, Greg’s favorite bread store or Boulongierre, as the French call them.
Mark was very interested in Haiti and he and Bob had much in common and much discussion followed dinner about Haiti and the books they read, and authors they admired. Another area of discussion was Americans living in Paris/Europe. What they call ex-patriots, or ex-pats. Laurie, Mark and Martha are all ex-pats. And I wondered if Bob wouldn’t like to be one day. They discussed health care, taxes, jobs (getting them and retiring from them) pensions, etc. Very interesting. I didn’t say much, so as not to show my level of intelligence or lack of familiarity with the writers mentioned as well as the other areas of discussion. Though it was not at all an uncomfortable afternoon, I really enjoyed it and found it fascinating.
When we were leaving, I was happy to hear Laurie say that she would love to meet Bob and I for dinner some night before we left. I’d like that, I thought, we hadn’t had near enough time to talk with her. Bob seemed to be ok with that plan too. He told her he would call her in a day or two. There is another friend of Bob’s in Paris, and he had said that he wanted to hear from Bob too.
Our trip back to the hotel over 3 Metro trains was quite short after trying to find our way home the night before. We had taken a bus that ended up on a street with at least 10-12 lanes of traffic!!! And all lanes were full! The street by the way went into a circle type street with a Convention Center on one side and this bus amazed us. From a side street we entered the huge circle street, which was like a rush hour jam! And we went around the circle from around 9:00 o’clock to maybe 1:00 o’clock and then made its way down a two lane street from there. Amazing!! Paris traffic!! On Christmas Eve!!
Christmas was somewhat surprising at 6:00 pm – We left Laurie’s at that time so we could be home for any of the kids that might call us. And no one did… Or at least we didn’t get a call that night. But we still weren’t sure if the phone worked in the underground Metro trains and we did spend several hours all together down there either getting to or from Laurie’s.
But we were NOT sorry to be home early 7:30. We did however, take a side trip back to Laurie’s before we arrived back home. Bob realized when we got to the Metro station that he had left his day bag at Laurie’s house, so we walked back to get it.
Then wouldn’t you know it, at 2:00 am in the morning, we were awakened by some loud teens that were coming home from their Christmas party(s). For some reason, they were banging on doors and slamming doors and yelling at one another somewhere in our hotel. We don’t have an alarm clock here so it’s hard to tell what time it is in the middle of the night.
Sally Ryan Sharamitaro sally@sharamitaro.com