May 26, 2008, Day 4

Finally we get ourselves up early! I think we are used to the time change, now. We get to the Eiffel Tower via subway before it opens, not too bad of a line, and we ride to the top. What a view...and something you must do if you are in Paris. We subway'd much more today than any other day, discovering the city. After the Eiffel Tower we headed off to the Louvre, in awe of the most beautiful things we have ever seen. The Mona Lisa is of course the most well known of it all, it seems.

Then off to the Montmartre - very rainy afternoon. We wandered the very hilly streets in the rain, discovered an amazing artistic part of town, visited the Basilique Sacré-Coeur, Madeline found her special French purchase that we had talked about - a most beautiful french doll she named quickly 'Jolene'. Jolene joined us for much of the rest of our trip. A lovely dinner in the Montmartre, many cool art shops and artists hanging in the (wet) square. I think exploring the different districts was my favorite part.

After Versailles

After a long day at Versailles, we hopped a riverboat and cruised the Seine for an hour. The sights were amazing. From the river you saw the bridges up close, even the undersides of the bridges are amazing. It was also cool to see the banks of the rivers, as well as another view of the amazing city.

May 25, Paris continues

May 25, Sunday, and we take a tour of Versailles. Our first subway trip (note the acordian player on the subway! very fun. suddenly it is a party and all are smiling and laughing!) and very crowded but lovely Versailles. Madeline was spectacular as we dragged her through the gardens - the golden fountains, amazing grounds. 2 hours in a huge crowd learning about the kings and queens, I can't even begin to repeat. Madeline did love the 1st and 2nd bedrooms of both the king and queen - the 1st where they would have the grumpy disheveled wake up, then the 2nd room where the "wakeup" was beautiful and made up - where they could 'receive' people and continue the facade that they were always perfect.

Day 2 in Paris - May 24, 2008

the Brocks have been remiss - got so busy that we didn't write every day, and then we left Paris for Rome - no internet. Then to Tuscany, internet didn't work. SO -- going back is today's task.

As mentioned earlier - Day 2 we ended up waking up late and went to Luxembourg Gardens - just a great area with carousels, a puppet show in a theater that had been active for 50 or more years with the same puppets and run by the same family. We rented an old wooden toy boat and Madeline raced it in the lake with the other kids. It really was a lovely day.

From there we made our way to the Church of Madeline - a must see considering our smallest member. Another amazing, beautiful structure.

Madeline films Luxembourg

Madeline's Greeting from Versaille

Day 2 Paris

Today was our second day and we intended to hit the Eiffel Tour first thing before the lines developed and then use the second day of our open air tour bus pass. Problem was that we woke up middle of the night thinking that wouldn't get back to sleep and the next thing we knew, it was almost noon! This jet lag thing is a real bugger. We changed our plans and headed to the famous Luxembourg Gardens to relax and play. Madeline sailed a boat on the man-made lake, played with the Parisian children in the child's playground area, rode a carousel and saw a puppet show (all in French of course, but as we discovered in the morning, much like the Pink Panther, it didn't matter because you could tell what was going on). While we were at the Gardens, it clouded up and began to spit a little rain. People were running for cover and putting up their umbrellas and we were thinking that they were all wimps until the sky opened up on us. It was still warm -so wasn't so bad. We used the second day of our pass and rode the open air bus in the rain to the Madeline Church where we went in and were in awe of the massive structure and beautiful artwork. We stopped for a little espresso across the street to wait out the deluge that had developed and then hopped on the bus to head back to our Parisian home. We grabbed a french pannini and a baguette on the way back to eat with cheese we bought the day before and some wine we bought at the market right next to our apartment. The wine was chosen blindly off the shelf and wasn't very expensive - but it was very very nice! Denise is putting Madeline to sleep now and I'm going to wrap up this message. Tomorrow we will explore Versailles, take a boat tour of the Seine, walk through the Marais district and get some world famous ice cream at Berthillon Glacier. Monday and Tuesday are museum passes to hit the Louvre, de Orsay, Rodin, Arc de Triomphe andNotre Dame. Finally on Wednesday, we'll pack our bags, leave them here and explore the Montmartre and then head to the airport to move on to Italy.

Day 1 in Paris

Hey everyone. We got here safe and sound - finally! After a long 9 hour flight into Heathrow, we had a 6 hour layover that extended to 7 hours after delays to our connecting flight. Madeline slept a total of 3 hours for two days - you should have seen what that can do to this girl. When we got into Paris, we discovered that they lost my bags - luckily, Denise and Madeline's came through just fine. This meant a little more delay at the airport to straighten out the details and then off to our Paris home. My bags came middle of the next day - so no real harm done. Our first day consisted of getting pasteries and coffee in the morning, meeting with our Paris Genie (personal planners for $75 - fantastic suggestions and inside info on where to go!), waiting for my bag until around 1:00, exploring our neighborhood and then hitting the open air tour bus. This was a great way to soak in much of Paris on the quick. We got lots and lots of pictures and video while riding in comfortable 73 degree sunshine. This gave us a lay of the land and has helped provide some scale to the maps we've been studying.

More First Day in Paris

First Day in Paris

We are here! got in last night at 8:30 ish finally. Madeline finally fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the apartment and was un wake-able until 330 in the am when she was excited like it was Christmas morning. I finally got her back to sleep for awhile, now we are watching Pink Panther because everything else is in French. :)

I am showered, finally after 2 days of travel and the airline lost Eric's bag - it should be delivered today. So he will be on 3 days of same undies....

Update - Eric got his bag - said Gracias to the guy - now we are all good.

***This morning we went out and got croissants and espresso, Eric asked for another cup because it was too hot, the guy laughed and mimed the shape of a woman and pointed at him (translation: Eric is girly, can't take the hot ... ) then he shoved his fingers under the running espresso machine water to show how he could take the temp. Eric says - I think we have found our morning boulangerie.... !!! all is good.

Amiata in Montalcino

Where we stay is here:
http://www.italyrentals.com/catalog/ViewProperty.aspx?id=4186

Amiata is part of a 15 hectare wine estate and it is surrounded by olives groves, vineyards and oak woods. It is within 10 minutes of the historical center of Montalcino and the Abbey of Sant’Antimo. It is beautiful!

and Tuscany - just why are we going to Montalcino?

We land finally in Montalcino to stay with our friends. And to celebrate the long awaited 40th year for Melissa.

Where are we in Rome?

3 Days in Rome

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/files/apt_paradiso.html

The apartment is two steps from the Piazza Campo dei Fiori, Panthenon, Piazza Navona and Trastevere. this is a view from one of the bedroom windows.

Where are we in Paris?

It was suggested to me that I actually put in where we are staying during our travels. hmm - an excellent idea and just goes to show you how bad I am at these things that I couldn't come up with that myself. so here we go.

Paris Apartment where we are staying:

http://www.parisaddress.com/paris-apartment-rental/qs.php?ref=DOMA14

Planning

A little less than 2 months and we are headed off to Paris, then Rome, then meeting up with the Petersons in Montalcino. I am excited to show Madeline the eiffel tower, real castles. Very exciting. Here is something to keep us all entertained.