We're on our way to the Rodin Museum and to tour (on our own) the magnificant gardens there, including seeing "The Thinker". We will visit Versailles, France and the palace with the Hall of Mirrors, the Louvre, plus we have some beautiful photos of the Eiffel Tower at night. But I don't have room in this blog, so I'm going to create a blog #5. If you're interested, please continue in:

Our European Adventure - 5

From Saturday, May 21 through Tuesday, May 24, 2005

The Tomb of Napolean

After leaving the Eiffel Tower, we walked to the Tomb of Napolean and the museum that went with it. The building that housed the Tomb was pretty incredible. And the Tomb itself was mammoth - which seemed kind of odd for a person who was small in physical stature. Anyway, this area didn't mean a lot to us, French history and all, but we wandered around and did find a floor in the museum that had some interesting artifacts from Hitler and WWII - something we never found in Germany, interestingly.

The Eiffel Tower Garden

Bob took some stunning photos in this area and this is one of them of the Eiffel Tower Gardens. It might have helped the quality of the photos that it wasn't sunny - although we would have preferred a little less wind and a little more sun. There were so many people in so many lines that we didn't wait to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. And the wind was whipping up the gravel on the ground and the people waiting in line were getting dirt and dust in their hair and on their clothes. We just didn't want to fight that battle.

The Eiffel Tower

We walked over to the Eiffel Tower and thought it was pretty amazing! In this photo Marti is holding up part of her baguette sandwich in her picnic lunch bag. We found a place to sit on a bench across the street from the Tower, not on the grass in front of it which we wished we had done (hindsight is wonderful). We had the most delicious lunch - the food was yummy and the desserts were to die for! All this from a little open market in Rue Cler. Rick Steves did not fail on this one. We definitely would go back if we had the opportunity!

Rue Cler District, Paris

We awoke on Saturday, May 21, 2005 knowing we only had three more days in Paris. Even though we weren't all that impressed with the "City of Lights", we still wanted to see some things. Rick Steves suggested having a picnic on the Eiffel Tower grass and going to the Rue Cler District to buy picnic items. We did just that, got a bargain sack lunch and headed over to the Eiffel Tower, hoping it wouldn't rain, because it looked iffy and it was breezy and cold.

Bob at Chateau Chambord Castle

It was strenuous to climb all the steps to the top of the Chateau Chambord, but you had to. The views from the towers were fantastic! Here Bob is leaning over one of the tower walkways. Marti took the picture from another walkway. We didn't want to leave this castle, but our all-day tour was coming to an end. The afternoon was wearing on and we had to get back to Paris. It began to rain (story of our life on this trip), but we'd had a wonderful day in the Loire Valley and even got ideas for future trips in some of the little villages in that area. We really enjoyed getting out of the city and into the countryside - it was definitely more our thing!

Actual Staircase at Chambord

Marti is standing on the staircase of this unusual and intriguing staircase in the Chateau Chambord. It looks totally different than the model in the previous photo, but this was what it looked like in reality. Fascinating!

The Chateau Chambord Staircase

This was one of the most remarkable parts of the Chateau Chambord - a staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci. This photo is a model of the actual staircase in the castle- a staircase that Bob and Marti climbed and descended. The idea was that two people could be on this staircase at the same time in the castle, but they would never see each other until they reached the top or the bottom. Marti and Bob tried it, and it was absolutely true! We never saw one another. The next photo shows the staircase in actuality in the castle.

Chateau Chambord

Well, they left the best for last, for sure! This castle, the Chateau Chambord, was unbelieveable in terms of size, but also in terms of grandeur. Surprisingly, this castle wasn't used much by the nobility in the 17th century. Evidently it was mostly used as a hunting "lodge". One king, Francois I, lived in the castle for six months.

Chenonceau Village

Before leaving this area, we wanted to visit the little village that was near the Chateau Chenonceau. We only had about five minutes to survey this little town, but we got enough of a look to believe it would be a fun place to stay. Once again, we were drawn to the peacefulness and solitude of a more remote village in the countryside.

Leaving Chateau Chenonceau

This was the parting photo Bob took as we left the Chateau Chenonceau grounds. It was a beautiful sight, so serene and peaceful. We actually just wanted to skip the rest of the tour and stay here to contemplate our wonderful surroundings in the Loire Valley in France.

The Maze at Chateau Chenonceau

Marti's being a little silly in the maze. She's pretending she can't figure out which way to go. It actually wasn't that hard, although in trying to get back out, we did take some wrong turns and hit dead ends! So it was kind of funny and we thought it was very neat!

The Path to the Maze at Chateau Chenonceau

This photo shows the path that led to the maze in the background. Amazingly we were the only ones, of hundreds of people walking around the grounds and castle, that were at the maze at this time.

Le Labyrinthe at Chateau Chenonceau

After lunch we wanted to check out the maze and we weren't disappointed.

Lunch at the Chateau Chenonceau

It was a beautiful sunny day in the Loire Valley on Friday, May 20, so it was perfect to have our lunch on the grounds of the Chateau Chenonceau under an umbrella. Here Bob is getting ready to enjoy a French version of a hamburger, which turned out to be pretty good. Marti had some yogurt that looked and tasted very strange. Fortunately Bob shared his french fries with her and bought her an ice cream cone for dessert so she didn't starve (yeah, right).

The Gardens at Chenonceau

The Castle Chenonceau had a number of gorgeous gardens and the one pictured here was especially large and beautiful, complete with a fountain and scrolled designs in the lawn. It's interesting because this garden was the King's wife's, Catherine de Medicis. There was another garden on the other side of the castle, though, that was Diane de Poitier's, his mistress's, garden. Very strange, we thought. In addition there was also a very neat maze garden - just like the ones you see in pictures.

Chateau Chenonceau in the Loire Valley

Bob captured this unique castle beautifully in this photo! This is the Chateau Chenonceau. The story is that King Henri II had a wife and a mistress, which was common. The King gave this castle to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. She built a bridge across the river, linking the castle to the right bank. But when the King died, his wife Catherine de Medicis, forced Diane de Poitiers to return the castle to Chenonceau and Catherine de Medicis then commissioned a great gallery to be built on the bridge. We toured the entire castle and it was magnificant!

The Entrance to the Chateau Chenonceau

We were very impressed with this stop. The grand entrance to the Chateau Chenonceau was truly amazing and beautifully maintained. There were a lot of people walking up this path with us, but Bob has digitally removed them to show what a beautiful canopy of trees it was.

The Loire Valley, France

Here's Marti about to board the bus for the next stop, the Chateau Chenonceau. The bus was nice and our tour group was nice too, although no one interacted with one another much, which was fine with us. The tour guide was French, of course, but spoke English poorly. That happened in Italy too where the tour guide barely spoke understandable English. It's unfortunate because the tour information can be boring anyway, but when you can't understand what they're saying, it makes it even worse. This tour guide spent most of her time carrying on long-winded conversations with the bus driver in French. And the New York couple who sat behind us in the bus spent their time talking on their cell phone to their children's governesses and their maids in Spanish! Very annoying!

Castle of Blois

The first stop of our Loire Valley Tour on Friday, May 20, 2005 was the smallest of the three castles we were to visit, the castle of Blois in Blois, France, about 2 1/2 hours outside of Paris. We actually were more intrigued with the cute little village of Blois than we were with the castle. We're not thrilled about guided tours anyway and much of the information on this one was boring. The most interesting part was being in King Henri III's bedroom. This was the place where an ambitious Catholic Holy League leader of the time was stabbed to death. A painting of this event is prominently displayed and it was strange to be standing in the same spot where someone was murdered hundreds of years ago, the King's bed chamber!

Place de la Concorde

This was an impressive monument in The Tullerie Gardens, the Place de la Concorde. But it's apparent that the clouds are gathering and rain is threatening. We actually didn't do a lot on the 19th because of the threatening conditions. We were on foot for the day without umbrellas, so would have been drenched if it would have rained. And we were not close to our hotel. We end the day not feeling very satisfied.

But the next day, Friday, May 20th, will be a busy one. We are going on a bus tour of the Loire Valley to three castles: Blois in Blois, France; Chateau Chenonceau and Chateau Chambord in the French countryside. We're looking forward to this trip.

The Tullerie Gardens

This photo shows what we were dealing with in Paris in terms of so many people. We are walking through The Tullerie Gardens and wondering what all the fuss is about here. There was no grass to speak of and we ruined our shoes walking across blocks and blocks of white powdery rock. We were not interested in returning here.

The Opera Garnier

After seeing the Eiffel Tower from the River Seine Bridge, we walked around Paris and took pictures of historic sights like this one, The Opera Garnier, which wasn't far from our hotel.

Eiffel Tower from the River Seine

The next morning, Thursday, May 19, 2005, we awoke to threatening skies. Marti had a feeling that it could rain for several days and she was concerned that of all the things they could visit she would not be able to see the Eiffel Tower.

Bob did not agree. He thought the weather would be fine and we'd have many opportunities to see the Eiffel Tower, but because he couldn't guarantee it, we walked all the way to the River Seine near the Eiffel Tower for a picture on the bridge.

At this point, Bob was not a happy-camper. They had walked all that way, two miles plus, and although it had sprinkled, it really had not rained and it was hard to say whether it would.

Hyatt Regency Madeleine - Bob

Bob's enjoying a relaxing glass of white wine at the Hyatt Regency Madeleine, our hotel in Paris. Afterwards we ended the evening. The next day, Thursday, May 19, 2005, we were planning to do some exploring and hoping the clouds would not turn into rain.

Hyatt Regency Madeleine - Marti

We decide the nicest place is actually in our own hotel, the Hyatt Regency Madeleine, so we head back there for a nice glass of wine and some canapes in the reception area. We were ready for a break in all the sightseeing anyway and we wanted to check on the babies' progress in Chicago. The internet was "free" at the hotel and we had full use of it, so it was convenient. However, the keyboard, like those in Germany and Italy before, was weird with many keys not in their customary spots, making it very frustrating, especially if you were trying to type quickly.

Avenue des Champs Elysees

We have only been in Paris a few hours and we aren't impressed. As we walked from the Arc de Triomphe down the Avenue des Champs Elysees (seans zay-lee-zay), fighting the crowds for every step, as shown in this photo, we thought it was understandable to NOT be that enamoured with Paris - too many people, too much traffic, and too much noise. Plus so far, the tourist sights, the things we'd heard about all our lives, have not been that great! We're hoping the Eiffel Tower, Napolean's Tomb, the Tullerie Gardens or the Louvre will be more impressive.

Arc De Triomphe

We walked around the area after getting settled into our room and discovered that we were within walking distance, a mile or so, to a number of tourist sights including the Arc De Triomphe that is located at the end of the Champs Elysees, as shown in this photo, and the others that are to follow.

The Paris Subway

We make our way to the subway to go to the Hyatt Regnecy Madeleine, but things do not improve. We are swamped with people walking in every direction (not shown in this photo). As Bob steps on the subway with his luggage, Marti is lagging behind a bit and just as she begins to step aboard, the doors slam shut and the train speeds away. Marti will never forget the expression on Bob's face as he sped by and Bob will never forget the expression on Marti's face as she's left behind without a passport, money, driver's license or virtually any identification at all as Bob has been carrying everything in his waist purse for safekeeping! Time to panic?

Hyatt Regency Madeleine - Paris, France

Well, it's safe to say that Bob and Marti got back together after the disastrous separation in the Paris subway. Marti stayed put and when Bob realized that she was not coming on the next several subways, he doubled back to the station where they had gotten separated and found her -whew, disaster averted! And she knew he would come for her, although it was a scary 30 minutes or so of just standing and waiting.

They quickly boarded another subway, got off at the Madeleine station and walked to the Hyatt Regency on the Boulevard Malesherbes. It was nice to be in an Americanized hotel, the first of our trip. It was also nice to be in a 4-star hotel - the service was wonderful and the people spoke English - hurray! I guess after 22 days, we were ready for some touches of the good old United States of America!

Our room was so nice and we had a beautiful, large bathroom for a change. Stephanie had arranged for a bottle of French wine to be waiting for us in our room with a package of these delicious pave candies that we grew to love! Welcome home, we thought. We were ready for some luxury!

We Arrive in Paris, France

We arrived in Paris on time, but it was what we would call 5:00 rush hour. There were people everywhere, although not shown in this photo, and Marti's not happy.

Welcome to France!

We left Switzerland in Album 3 via the TGV, the bullet train to Paris. We had a brief change of trains in Geneva, France and Marti wanted a photo of this unique building near the train station. She liked the large wheeled bicycle on the side of the building and the whole thing looked very French to her. The trip from Interlaken to Paris took about 7 1/2 hours.