Friday May 13

We were up and packed and out of the hotel before 10:00am. We went to the cafe we visited yesterday because they made a nice café viennois to make Sharon happy. Rather than the cute, friendly boy waiter we had yesterday we had a somewhat surly female. Yesterday we got our cafe, buttered baguette toast, and juice for 14 €. Not today! She was not accommodating. It seems our only negative server issues were in the a.m. Yesterday we got up and left Cafe du Marche because we could not get the server to even look at us.

Our dinner last night was exceptional. Di Felicie Ristorante Italiano. Wonderful food, good servers, and a birthday celebration at the next table - a French family who spent a year in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Sharon had aubergine, with tomato sauce and Parmesan - sort of a lasagna without pasta. I started with rocket, artichokes, and sliced Parmesan. I had veal Madeira with a wonderful sauce and a side of long pasta. Dessert was chocolate chip ice cream with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and finally I had a well made espresso.

Back to Friday! We took the Metro to Gare d'Est - a very nice, easily navigated train station. We were there early with about a 1 1/2 hour wait, but we had comfortable seats and could watch people, read, and relax.

We boarded the TGV at about 12:40, easily found our first class car and seats, and were on the way on time at 12:57 . It was a comfortable 45 minute ride to Reims.

The Reims Gare is lovely, quaint, and open. We walked out and saw a Touriste info building, stopped and got a couple of maps and confirmed the location of our hotel just a block or so away.

The Hotel Crystal was quite nice, large bright room and friendly staff.

Thursday May 12

Dining is an event for us - any meal allows us to be entertained by food. Last night at Leo Le Lion was an event - as was today's lunch at Les Relais d'Alsace and yesterday's lunch at Pere et Fils. We enjoy the flavors, the sharing, talking about food. Dining is entertainment.

Today Sharon had moules frites and I enjoyed salade chevre chaud. Today's chevre chaud was chevre chaud on toast, tomatoes, and cooked apples all on a bed of greens. Yesterday's chevre chaud was served with sliced jambon and tomato. Each was unique and both were tasty.

Why can't I get salade chevre chaud at home? I've not seen it except at our house. It is easy to make and delicious.

Wednesday May 11

We slept late - about 10:30, but hey, we're on vacation! We headed to Tribeca down the street on Rue Cler for cafe, chocolat and croissants. A good Paris breakfast. Then it was off to the Metro for a cook's tour of Paris - on tap were stores that cater to cooks. We found a bookstore with all their books relating to cooking. Almost all were in French, and we did buy three. We visited D.Hellerin, Simon, MORA, and Bovida and then took a break for lunch at Pre and Fils in Quatier Pietons. We both had Salade Provencales - chevre chaud, jamon, tomatoes, and greens. We washed it down with a pichet of rosé.

After lunch we wandered toward the Louvre, through a park at the Palais Royale, then through La Tuleries and then back on the Metro at Concorde and back to Rue Cler for Kir and Pastis at Cafe du Marche.

We had an outstanding dinner at Leo Le Lion. We split a starter of white asparagus with two sauces. We went on to the salmon stuffed with leeks and crabmeat and poached turbot with seasonal vegetables both were outstanding. We finished with a cheese plate for me and chocolate cake for my wife. We will certainly return and will recommend to friends. 

May 9 and 10....

On May 9 we left for Paris flying on Iberia through Madrid. Because we left late from Chicago and arrived late in Madrid we missed our connection to Paris and had to wait a couple of hours for the next flight.

Once at Orly in Paris we caught the Air France bus to Invalides, walked to our hotel, checked in, and went for a walk, a Kir, and back to the hotel for a short nap. The late arrival in Paris really wiped out a big hunk of our day. After our nap we strolled a bit and headed for dinner around 8:00. At 10:00 we were at the Eiffel Tower for the nightly light show, then off to bed!

I have recently busied myself in final preparations for our trip to Paris, Reims, and Sitges. I've reconfirmed our hotel reservations - and in the process almost made additional reservations in Reims! I've bought TGV tickets from Paris to Reims and back. Interestingly, First Class to Reims was $2 more than Economy - let's go First Class. And on the return, First Class was a lower fare. It was cheaper to get to Reims than to return to Paris. I've made plans from the bus from Orly to Invalides where we can walk to our hotel. I've got the metro routes figured from the Paris hotel to Gare d'Est. Gare d'Est to Orly is still in the air - have not planned that one yet. Getting from Barcelona to Sitges - we may have to take a taxi - at 50 or 60 euros because we are getting in too late for a bus. We will have to do a taxi from Sitges to the airport when we leave because that is an early flight. I think about all of these things because I like to have everything planned. And then I am concerned that I have forgotten something!

I've signed us up for a Skype phone number so we can use Skype to make and return calls while we are there for far less than AT&T will charge. The number is 630-984-5588. We can send text message from Skype also - but not receive them. I also signed us up for Boingo Mobile. With this $7.95 subscription we get WiFi at O'Hare, Madrid, Barcelona, and Orly - plus any other Boingo hotspots, and there are loads of them. Seemed like a good deal.

The iPhone is loaded with all the apps and information I think we can use on the trip. I've printed tickets and copies of passports and itineraries. I've got the addresses and phone numbers of hotels. I've got lists of places to see in Paris - but I am lacking on Reims. I am thinking we might to a day trip from Reims to Epernay, but I have not delved into that yet. We need to visit some Champagne houses. Oh, and there are now trams in Reims that I have not researched yet. I suppose we can do that when we get there.

I've got all the electronics such as charges and adapters organized. Cameras, and memory cards, and readers are sorted out. I've got enough gigabytes for perhaps two or three thousand photos. That should be enough don't you think? I'll do my best to upload photos to Picassa as we travel. I don't plan on doing as much on Facebook as I have in the past. Blogger and Picassa should do it - so watch them for updates. You can subscribe or become a follower of this blog. I will access everything from my iPad and iPhone. It is an Apple trip!

With most of the planning behind me I can enjoy the trip. Sharon and I are both in need of this vacation. This will be my first travel since last spring and the first since my cancer diagnosis and chemo. I am looking forward to taking it easy while seeing places I want to see and visit. The only firm plans are the cities we are visiting and the travel between them. The rest will be somewhat serendipitous. We both are looking forward to new discoveries as they happen.

I did make it out of the house today and spent some time at the Arboretum. Visit my Picasa page for more pictures. Here is a teaser.