Venice, Paris and US Airways Headaches Revisited

We missed the sights of Venice and Paris so much that we decided to make a stop in Las Vegas to see their mini versions before we made it back home. We arrived in Philadelphia after a very long flight from Zürich and volunteered to get bumped from our flight to Phoenix (giving us two free tickets). We got rerouted through Las Vegas Friday evening instead, flying back to Santa Barbara the next evening, enabling us to spend the night and all day Saturday with Marshall and Mollie. It sounded like such a great idea.

We should have learned from our experience with US Airways on our flight to Europe. They are a disaster. Our original flight to Phoenix was deplaning the previous flight when we were supposed to be departing. We had volunteered to get bumped but we did not get confirmation that they accepted our offer until the plane had left (they did not inform us that it was leaving… we just looked out the window and noticed it was gone). Since we were now committed to going to Las Vegas, we ran over to the US Airways customer service desk at the end of the hall to reschedule and get our flight vouchers before the hoards of other volunteers and irate moms with babies beat us there. We were able to reticket with 5 minutes to spare before our flight to Vegas boarded, in the other terminal. We hustled over to the other terminal, just in time to sit and watch the previous flight deplane (deja vu?). Finally on the plane, we waited an excessively long time while they pulled people off the plane, put others on, and then discovered that there was something wrong with the magic blue fluid in the lavatories. After the maintenance people came to try to fix it (unsuccessfully) and 2 hours later, we were ready to push on, despite the lack of functioning lavs. The captain came on the intercom again to announce that although we were going to push away from the gate, there was a very long line up of planes waiting to leave, some of which had been waiting for over two hours already. Apparently the NY ATC owns the airspace over the Philadelphia Airport, and there was a storm in NY so their planes were getting re routed through Philly. We dutifully got in line and continued to wait. Then the captain came on the intercom again, informing us that if we looked out the windows to the right, we could see the dark clouds of a massive thunderstorm coming in from the Carolinas. The tower closed the gate for all west bound traffic. And so we sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. The storm ended up being lighter than expected, the gate opened, and we were able to depart only 4 hours after we were scheduled to leave.

Marshall and Mollie graciously picked us up at 11:45 pm and took us back to their lovely place. Since it was about 9:30 in the morning in our heads, we weren’t exactly sleepy. They, on the other hand, were. After a blissfully wonderful sleep, we lazily woke up (well, most everyone did. Shane got up at 6 and decided to read a book), and went out to breakfast. Deciding that we should actually do something other than just hang out and play with their dog, we went down to the strip to see the lions at MGM Grand and check out some of the famous sights.

The lions were cute. I want one. We zoomed past the Campanile Tower and Rialto Bridge at the Venetian, past the Winged Victory at Caesar’s Palace, and stopped by the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Not a bad list in one afternoon.

Feeling absolutely zonked (I had also come down with the first cold of the trip, and plus, it was 2 in the morning in our heads), we headed back to their place, took naps and then ate some of Mollie’s marvelous creations for dinner. After a quick stop at the dog park, we were back off to the airport to catch our 11:52pm flight back to Santa Barbara.

And alas, at 1:45 am, we arrived in Santa Barbara (although my checked bag did not). I finished both Harry Potter (I must admit, I cried) and our epic 40 day and 40 night adventure. Completion of such monumental events call for one form of celebration: sleep.

And so we did.

So long and thanks for all the rösti

We are back in Zurich now after a full day of last minute sight seeing in Paris and a lengthy train ride back to Switzerland. The fun part of the adventure ends and the heinous day of travel begins tomorrow morning at 10. We’re scheduled to get into SB at 9pm, making for something like 20 hours of travel. Bring it.

This is a cool neighborhood in Zurich near the main train station. Lots of clubs and takeaway restaurants. Great people watching, albeit of a slightly different flavor than we’re used to. Definitely European.

We made it a full circle by finishing our dinner (kebabs to go…we’re feeling poor now) on the same benches by the river that we ate our first grocery store meal on back in June. Wow. It’s hard to say whether the intervening time has gone quickly or slowly. When every day holds the adventure of a typical weekend (or more) back home, the experiences add up in a hurry.

Perhaps after doing this much for this long we’ll be ready to settle down for a bit. There are a few things that need arranging first though…like JOBS! That will have to wait at least one more day. Stay tuned.

Ciao for now.

Mona’s fans say hello

We visited the Mona Lisa at the Louvre today. She’s quite popular. It was the closest thing I have experienced to being a member of the paparazzi at some must see event. Personally, I think that the crowds of specators were more enjoyable to watch than the actual painting. The Louvre is huge, and the crowds of people are even huger. Intimidated by the masses, we made a game plan that covered all the sections we were interested in and made sure we swung past the “must sees.” The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the Code of Hammurabi (no crowds there) and others were easy to find because of the swarms of people that surrounded them like ants on a drop of honey. They were impressive and it was neat to see all the paintings and statues that I’ve known about since I was little.

Post Louvre, we headed towards place de la Madeleine, which is a square filled with ritzy stores and gourmet shops. Dad would have loved this place. We walked into a couple fancy caviar, chocolate and tea shops and finally arrived at Fauchon, where we had a couple over priced sandwiches (delicious and packaged wonderfully) and mineral water on their pink terrasse. Oh to be a packaging designer (or pastry chef, for that matter) for Fauchon. They made even the simplest things look elegant and delicious. Such fun.

We took the metro over to Sacre-Coeur, the white basilica that sits on top of Montmartre (featured in Amelie). We climbed the stairs (I can’t believe people actually take the funnicular) and admired the spanning views of the city while listening to a girl play an unidentifiable instrument very well. One interesting thing to note about the street musicians in Europe: they’re all amazingly good and all have great set ups (music stands, amplification, unique instruments, talent). Unlike the infamous bongo player that sits out side of Borders back home (who has what we like to call “negative talent”), these musicians are incredible and are making serious bank. We watched people throw in several euros at a time. After walking around and admiring the views, we headed back down for dinner (we have priorities).

We’re now by Rue Cler and the Eiffel Tower, where we’ll find somewhere to eat before heading back to pack up our things before we leave tomorrow afternoon. Luckily I’ll have Harry to keep me company on our long train and plane flight.

Orsay, Rodin and Arc de Triomphe

The weather in Paris is fickle. We woke up this morning to wet drizzle, so we dressed/planned accordingly. However, it was sunny and warm the rest of the day. We just can’t win.

Our first stop today was the pastry shop across the street, where we got our usual pain chocolat, petite baguette and apple pastry. I properly identified the apple pastry when I saw the word “pomme.” Shane was convinced we had gotten a potato-filled one. You can say I’m pretty much fluent in French.

Our next stop was Musee d’Orsay, home of a very large Impressionist collection, among other things. It was great. The museum is located in what used to be a large train station. The setting was a good canvas for the artwork. Get it? “Canvas” for the “Artwork”… I’m just like the pedantic people who write the signs about the artwork. It was sad to note that I’ve forgotten nearly everything that I learned in my art history classes in college. It would have been useful to have Kara along, for sure. We took our time as we strolled through the rooms filled with works by Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Matisse, Monet, Vangogh and Whistler, and zipped through the Pre-Impressionism and other floors. I know what I like and plus, it was lunch time.

After a lunch picnic in a park, (take away quiche lorainne and a tuna panini), we hit the Rodin museum, where we strolled through the mansion he lived in, peaked at his private collection of Japanese art (he was a big fan), and perused his garden where we imitated the burghers of Calais, thought with the Thinker, and smiled in front of the Gates of Hell. Pretty eventful afternoon, no?

Figuring we hadn’t done enough yet, we headed over to the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. We made one short stop to purchase Harry Potter, and we were off.

The street was bustling and super crowded with people shopping the various “soldes” (sales). We only stopped in a couple (Merceds and Peugot, upon Shane’s request). The traffic circle surrounding the Arc is just that.. a TRAFFIC circle. There doesn’t appear to be any right of way, and about5 plus streets and lanes of traffic just do whateve rthey want in the circle. It was amusing to watch the busses, smart cars and mopeds try to navigate the mess. Luckily there is a pedestrian underpass so we could skip that adventure.

We climbed to the top of the huge arc just before sunset The views were incredible. Thwarted only by the pang of hunger, we went back down in search of dinner. Upon Jamie’s recommendation, we sought out some falafels in the Jewish Quarter in the Marais District. It must have been some sort of holiday today that we didnt’ know about (Parisian or Jewish, we are neither), because almost everything was closed. We got two falafels from one of the only places open and sat and ate it on a curbe in front of an art gallery. It was quite delicious.

Our post dinner stroll took us through the Bastille district (the prison is gone but an obelisk now stands), where we ate or dessert crepes in Place des Vosges while watching a French movie get filmed. The 10 second scene that they kept reshooting looked pretty dramatic. I’m sure the rest of it will be good, too.

We’re back at the hotel now, early for a change. I can’t believe that we only have a day and a half left before we head back to Zurich to catch our flight home.

Sorry for the image density. Hopefully this isn’t displaying too weirdly on other people’s machines. We get to do so much each day that in hindsight it seems like much more than that. The number of photos we like from each day probably reflects that too.

Whoah, it RAINS Here

Shane again. We’re still in Paris (our last major stop before heading home later this week). Today we learned something new about Europe in the summer. Apparently it rains on occasion. All day. Hard. We’re mainly pedestrian travelers once we’ve reached the district of the city we’re interested, so today’s rain made things interesting. Also, unlike Italy and southern France, it can be chilly in Paris, even in the summer. So, a chilly day, lots of rain, and lots of walking on the agenda. Now that the day is nearly over we can still declare the day a complete success.

After the long day yesterday today was declared (by me, who has the only working watch and the only working alarm) to be a sleep-in day. When Jayna noticed that it was raining this morning, that sleep-in extended into a generally slow morning. We did manage to get out the door before 11, but I nearly lost an arm to Jayna’s panicked gnashing in search of nutrients.

Holding to a minor theme, we once again grabbed breakfast at the bakery across the street (chocolate croissants, and apple tart, and a bit of bread) before heading downtown on the metro. The metro dropped us on an island in the middle of the river where we began our tour of wet sights.

I don’t think I have time for full details, but we hit a couple cathedrals including Notre Dame, which was cool for its gargoyles and flying buttresses (better in person than in photos), stood in some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever tried to stand in, and finally bailed on the rain-soaked walking and hit the Pompidou.

First, a note on the rain. Some of the gargoyles are actually open-mouthed creatures designed to funnel the water off the roof our away from the building, and one of these drooling creatures really hosed me during a downpour when the wind picked up. Maybe it knew I wasn’t Catholic.

The highlight of the day was probably the Pompidou, which houses France’s National Museum of Modern Art, the best of which was modern in the early 20th century. People like Picasso, Matisse, etc. figure largely. This was probably our favorite gallery so far owing to it’s classical yet recent works and greater variety of styles compared to the mostly gothic and renessaince collections we’ve seen so far.

When we were finishing our tour through the very modern section, we hit an area devoted to the modern product-designer, Stark. A few of the pieces in this collection were molded plastic cups with a distinctive indentation in the corner intended to hook to a post on a serving tray. On seeing these, we realized just how ignorant we actually are, because we had used these very cups our first night in Paris, not knowing that they were art. I suspected that they were designed to hook to something, but Jayna thought the indentations were cigarette holders. The horror. The maid threw them away yesterday and replaced them with cheap plastic cups. Double horror. We’re so sorry. We had no idea we were drinking from art. Hopefully they’ll give us another chance.

It’s getting late and the guy who runs this shop is acting restless so I’ll end here. Paris is amazing and wonderful, even when wet. Jayna and I still think we’re witty and fun, even though we’ve been stuck with each other every day for the last month and a half. I’d have to say that’s pretty good.

Sunday in Paris

Shane’s turn to write. Bed came late last night, and morning came early. That’s kind of been a theme for this trip, but what can you do? We started the morning with a great pastry breakfast (the chocolate criossants in France are THE BEST!) across the street from our hotel and then rode the metro a little way out of town for a Sunday morning meeting. This was another of our many privledges this trip, and once again we were fortunate to meet with people who had a free afternoon and didn’t mind playing tour guide.

We joined Kristina (lives in Paris) and Kirsten (vists Paris from Wisconsin and has a blog) for a quick lunch and a trip out to Versailles to see the formal gardens in full bloom with their huge fountains in full spray. The palace at Versailles is huge, and the gardens make it look tiny. We walked for miles down the network of paths enjoying the views, fountains, statues, people-watching, and company. Since most days the only people Jayna and I speak with that we know are each other, it’s fun to hang out with new or old friends for a while when we get the chance. The fountains are intense, and their water usage is substantial. Apparently they only turn them on a few hours a day during summer weekends and not at all the rest of the time, so we felt lucky to catch them.

When one of the girls took a photo of the other imitating one of the highly manicured bushes (think poodle-grooming), I mentioned that Jayna and I had been doing that with statues throughout our trip. They seemed to like the idea, so we took a little detour through a courtyard full of statues and did our best to retroactively pose for them. Good fun.

Following the garden tour in Versailles we parted ways with Kristina and Kirsten and headed downtown toward the Eiffel Tower. I’ve seen plenty of pictures and figured I knew what the tower was about, but it defied the dimensions I’d imagined. It’s that incredible. We paid the discounted fare to take the stairs rather than the elevator (it’s what we do) and climbed to the second floor, probably a little below the mid point. We were rewarded with stunning views and a fun feeling of exposure looking through the open lattice structure. The tower doesn’t really have to hold anything up (except for itself), so it has a pretty easy job, and the fact that the load-bearing structure is openly visible makes it easy to relate to for anyone who has built a toothpic bridge or tower.

After a slow dinner a few blocks away, we had to walk back past the tower on the way to the metro so we caught the night light show on the lawn. The tower is covered with strobe lights, and for ten minutes at the top of the hour they fire them randomly every second or so to make the whole thing twinkle. We watched for a while and enjoyed the cool evening before catching a train to the hotel. I napped on the train, and we made our stop right at midnight.

Another so long (and great) day finished. We don’t have too many left, so I’m savoring each one. I haven’t been disappointed yet.

I love Paris in the Summertime

The last Harry Potter book came out today and I didn’t even think of it until we saw a sign for it in a store in the Paris train station. Shame.

Our train from Chamonix to Paris didn’t leave until noon, so we made the best of our morning. We slept in and had breakfast at 8. We then said au revoir to our French roommates (who, we confirmed, do not wear deordorant), and hit the town for some last minute wanderwegging.

We came across a street market that was selling regular farmer’s market fare plus spices, tea, cheeses, meats, honey, jam, jackets, china, and rugs. It was great fun to browse and sample the local products. Shane loved the pepper encrusted cured meat, but I was opposed to carrying it in our backpack for another week… it was pretty pungent.

On our way back to pick up our bags, we visited the alpine slide, where we each took the chair lift up and sped down. Well, Shane sped (excessively). A dad and small son went before me and I underestimated just how slow they would go. I had to make several rest stops mid course so I wouldn’t run into them.

After 7.5 hours on the train (including one leg on a TGV train which went over 180mph), we are now in Paris. I napped and Shane feverishly read his book. We’re staying at Hotel Cosy in the 12th district, near Guar de Lyon and the Bastille District, kind of. We’re actually not near anything in our guidebooks or anything to note at all, but we’re next to a metro stop and it’s cute and inexpensive.

We had a lovely Italian dinner (we didn’t know it was an Italian place, even though pastas were featured prominently on the menu. Then the waiter said, “grazie,” and we knew) across the street. I had veal (it was called something with the Italian word for princess in it) with whit easparagus covered in mozzarella cheese, served with a creme fraiche sause and fresh taggiatelli. Yum.

Tomorrow we head out to meeting at Kara and Jamie’s friend, Kiristina’s parent’s house, and then we’ll visit Versailles with Kristina. Ciao!

A Day on the Train, Mainly on the Plain

Shane typing. This keyboard has the most messed up layout I have ever seen, so we are in hunt and peck mode. Hint, that period there required the use of a shift key. So did that one. And so on. Insane. Anyway, expect brevity and typos. Shift.

Let us see what touch typing yields:::

Jqynq zrote up the dqyùs qctivities in her journql; but zith the keyboqrd being i,possible; thqt zill hqve to zqit for qnother dqy:

Todqy involved riding the trqin for 10 hours or so{nu,bers reauire shift keys qs zell} in order to trqvel fro, Nice; in Southern Frqnce to Chamonix {no typos there} in the Alps on the boqrder zith Szitwerlqnd: This is zhere extre,e sports, qt leqst qs fqr qs the ,ountqins qre concerned, zere invented: It is super cool, qnd ze qre hqppy to be bqck in the ,ountqins for noz:

This is neqrly intolerqble qnd probqbly i,possible to reqd so ze zill zrite lqter: For noz; qn excerpt fro, Jqynqùs journql: “The mountains, lakes, and greenery are very familiar. I have a feeling my days of hiking are not over.”

Shane says, “Bring it on.”

More to come from a hopefully friendlier keyboard in Paris.

More mountains, more hiking

Sleeping in the same room as two middle aged French men during an impressive thunderstorm was interesting to say the least. The man in the bunk below me snored irregularly but loudly, while the othe rone who was on the other upper bunk must have gotten up to go to the bathroom (and couldn’t figure out how to open the tricky door) at least 4 times in the night. The thunder rattled the open shutters (it was a warm storm) and I tossed and turned on my tube pillow and foam mattress until the alarm went off at 5:30 am. Yes, 5:30 am.

We had breakfast at the hostel at 6 am (french bread, jam, corn flakes, tea and hot chocolate, served in bowls) and we headed out to beautiful blue skies and crisp morning light.

We were nearly first in line to catch the gondola up to Aguille du Midi. At the top, the views were spectacular. Shane was like a kid in a candy shop (or David at an Ferarri dealership) as we watche dmountaineers and ice climbers ascend the snow /avalanche/ glacier covered peaks up to Mt. blanc. We hit nearly every view point (even in the freezing cold… Shane’s idea), enjoyed a cup of tea in the cafe (my idea), and headed back down to the midstation at 9 to begin our day’s hike to Montenvers-Mer de glace.

Kjirsten’s insane guidebook in Switzerland has scared me for life. This “moderately difficult” hike was wonderful and easy. The views of the valley and jagged peaks and sluggish glaciers were well worth the 5:30am wake up call. Plus, when you can ascend almost all of the elevation in a goldola, there’s really little room for complaint.

We ate lunch on a rock overlooking the glacier on a hill that was covered in trail ducks (cairns). As we headed down to catch the train back to Chamonix (yes, train), it started spitting rain on us. We made it back just as it started pouring. Lucky.

We waited out a majority of the rain and then headed out on the town for a little shopping and wandering, with the ultimate goal of finding dinner. All was going well until it started to pour. It wasn’t just rain. It was a downpour. We took refuge under awnings and in various sausage and cheese stores until it passed. It was blue skiles when we had dinner (at the same place as the night before… we know what we like).

Back at the chalet, we cleaned up, attempted to use the computer in the lobby (most messed up keyboard ever… it required a shift for a period). Completely exhausted, we called it a night.

Chamonix must have been Shane’s idea

Today was a long travel day. We woke up at six, took the early train out of Nice, changed in Lyon, then in St. Gervais, then on to Chamonix (which apparently is pronounced “Sham-o-nix” by the 50% of the French natives and “Sham-o-nee” by the rest). The mountains, lakes and greenery are very familiar. I have a feeling that my days of hiking are not over.

We got into Chamonix 10 hours later and walked through the adorable town (it looked just like Switzerland, no wonder, we’re right next door). The mountains engulf us on every side. They’re topped with snow capped jagged peaks, and the glaciers pour down almost into the town.

The shops along the main drag consist of outdoor stores, aromatic cheese / salami / wine / bread / clothing / souvenir shops. I think we’ll do a bit more wandering tomorrow after our hike (Shane couldn’t stay away).

After consulting the TI and a map, we headed for the Chamonaird Chalet. Whoever made the map had a great sense of humor. The “road” that it said we could take was actually a grassy cow path that went up and over a hill, through a heavily wooded area. Once we continued on to find the closest thing that resembled a road (in a very residential area), it started pouring rain. Welcome to Chamonix. Thank goodness the rain doesn’t last long, though. By the time we made it to the chalet, it had stopped.

Braver (and armed with an arsenal of rain gear), we ventured back into town (this time using the alternative route… the road) in the beautiful post-rain glow in search of dinner and a market for tomorrow’s picnic lunch. We found both. Dinner was a salad (with large grain mustard dressing… the first prepared dressing we’ve had since Switzerland’s milky rendition of “French Dressing”), beef bourgingon on fettuccine and blueberry pie and creme caramel (my 4th in a row) for dessert. I was so full I couldn’t finish.

We’re back and in our 4 person dorm (sharing it with two middle aged French men) and preparing for our 6 am breakfast. As you can tell, Shane planned this leg of the trip. Ufta.