World Clock

Bon soir!  Greetings from The City of Lights.  We are doing well although our electronic devices have made time something to ponder.  The iPad synced to Georgia time during our brief stop in Atlanta.  The computer is still on California time.  Phones also synced to Georgia.  It's a constant head-game to figure out what time it really is. I'm relying on the World Clock app on my iPad to help me know what time it is - vs. trying to recall which device is on what time and then adding 5 or 8 hours to it.  I'm too sleepy and/or busy for math right now!

The flights were all good and we even managed to sleep a bit on the overnight leg to Paris.  Credit the sleep to champagne, wine and some kind of pear aperitif with dinner - I slept like a rock for a few hours and then dozed for a couple more.  Arrived in Paris fairly awake.  Then soon wished I was asleep.

The driver who picked us up was professional, nice and an excellent driver.  He'd have to be in Paris. I could not look out the window AT ALL lest I start to panic.  He drove crazy - cccrrraaazzzyyy.... scared me to death.  I'm not used to seeing triple digits on a speedometer and even adjusting for KPH vs. MPH, he was still going very, very fast on a freeway with periodic stop and go traffic.  All the while ALSO looking at his cell phone repeatedly to get road updates and directions to our hotel. Scariest 50 minutes of my life - but we got to the hotel safely.  He did apologize 'if my driving scared you'.  IF?  I hope we have a different driver next Friday.

No room ready.  Guess that's the norm when you get to your destination in mid-morning.  I told J. I'm ready to pay for the prior night and just tell them 'we will be super late arrival as in the next morning' to ensure we have a room upon arrival.  We meandered the neighborhood, found a nice cafe for lunch and killed as much time as we could.  Our room was ready shortly after we returned so not too bad of a wait.  Power nap revived us and we headed out for a nice dinner.

Today, we visited the Musee Marmottan - off the beaten path but so worth the effort.  Huge, huge basement with Monet painting including many of his lilies.  It was stunning - loved it!

When we left, I noticed a bus stop with a number that I'd also seen near our hotel so we decided to try it vs. the meandering multi-bus route we'd taken to get there.  A very well-dressed older lady was near the stop and she heard us pondering our location.  She offered to help - saying 'I am French so I might be able to assist'.  Perfect English with a beautiful French accent.  She was dressed stunningly - her coat was fur (real fur) - not sure it was mink?  but something - and the coat had small feathers (real bird feathers, I'm sure) sewn into the bottom.  Louis Vitton hand bag, beautiful flats. Perfect makeup and hair.  She made conversation and volunteered that she was running an errand because 'there are some things the maid cannot do'.  She said her son was 'very famous' and shared that she'd lived in the States for many years and at one time, worked in fashion on the East coast. Every ounce of my being wanted to ask politely 'may I know your name, Madame?', but I didn't. Decorum over curiosity.  (But I can't say I'm not heading back there around lunch time one day this week in the hopes of possibly seeing her again.  What an amazing lady).

Tomorrow, we are going to Musee de l'Orangerie and Musee D'Orsay.  Then a river cruise on the Seine.  Along with riding the hop on/hop off bus routes.  This year, we went with the company that has 4 routes so we will see a lot more of the city than we did last year.

Our hotel is very nice - much nicer than last year's Hotel Eugenie.  Our only complaints are the climate control in the room is not working.  When we arrived, the heat in the room was stifling. The bellman said 'the cooler doesn't work but we thought it would be OK because it's so cold'.  Yes, it's very cold - but not inside.  We've been managing by periodically opening the window to let some fresh air in.  We both slept on top of our beds most of the night since the covers are thick duvets. Maybe the French are just cooler in general than we are?  It's fine - and the location and staff more than make up for the inconvenience of not having AC.  The staff are warm, friendly, helpful and kind - also a huge departure from last year's experience.

This evening, we dined at l'Absinthe - it was stellar.  The French know how to eat - we had three courses and while they seemed very small by American standards, they were spectacularly prepared with all kinds of nuances that are so missing in American food.  There were always surprises in each course - from the lollipop like candy squares and chocolate 'crust' that accompanied my caramel ice cream and cream puffs (all from scratch!) to the delicious butter nut squash with the seeds as a garnish.  Seeds so perfectly crisped!  Amazing!  It was wonderful.  My only gripe was the waiter kept us waiting a long time after we'd finished to bring us the check - and he offered 'free' water to the French couple next to us (mother and son, I think - she took our picture with J.'s phone) and brought us Evian at 9 Euros a bottle.

The perfection in the portions is we ate three courses but don't feel miserable.  We feel satisfied but not stuffed.  It's wonderful to experience food this way - perfectly prepared and gorgeously presented.

Time for sleep.  We want to get an early start and hopefully ride one of the bus lines before hitting the museums.  We've decided to skip Versailles - planned for Tuesday - because we saw it last year and J. really wants more time at The Louvre.