Paris & Rome Trip Recap---REALLY LONG!

By now you've probably seen the pictures, but here is our recap of vacation....about a month overdue! First, Paris.....

Let's see...flew overnight (love the sleeping mask they give you....wore it the whole flight!), woke up in Paris, went through immigration in 5 minutes, found the shuttle driver, and headed off to the hotel. Ok, these people are CRAZY drivers!!! I tried to appreciate the sights and not look at how many near-collisions we had. Checked into the hotel where the desk clerk asked us if we had the swine flu!! After assuring him we most certainly did not, we ditched our bags, grabbed our maps, and headed out into the city to a bike tour which met next to the Tour Eiffel!! Honestly...I thought it was going to be bigger...not that it's not big, but I had built it up so much in my mind that I was surprised. The bike tour was terrible but only b/c our guide was a young guy who was completely stupid and our group was much too big so those at the back of the pack almost kept getting run over by the crazy drivers. After that nonsense, we found a grocery store, put together a little picnic (I swiped plastic silverware from the airport in Atlanta just for this purpose!!), headed back to the Champ Mars park to view the Tour Eiffel and parked our selves there to eat. That's when it really hit us that we were in PARIS!!! We then headed across the street to the Trocadero and climbed the steps to wait for dark and the tower to light up....so pretty. Back to the hotel to crash (if you're familiar with European hotel rooms you know how different they are....I never could figure out the reasoning behind our strange shower!).

Next morning was Notre Dame....stunning! I am still in awe (as evidenced by the fact that we went twice!). I am in love with it. Had ice cream at the famous Bertillon (sooooo yummy!). We then crossed to the left bank and began our walk through the Latin Quarter (very cool!) and meandered through there. Eventually we ended up at the famous Luxembourg Gardens. The weather was so cold and gray those few days, but we still tried to enjoy the outdoor parks as much as these Floridians could take in the cold. It's amazing the history that these places have and the everyday ppl are just hanging out right next to palaces like it's second nature. After the gardens we got lost trying to find the Pantheon, but wandered into this other church (still have to research what it's called) that was breathtaking....a happy accident! Then over to the Pantheon and then on to Sainte Chapelle....again, stunning!!

Monday was the Louvre....holy moly. How do you describe it? Massive is all I can say. Gorgeous, historic, confusing....but really wonderful nonetheless. Saw all the "biggies" and some happy accidents off the beaten path too. Headed through the Tuileries Gardens and had hot chocolate and desserts from Angelina's on Rue de Rivoli....to die for! On to the Musee Orangerie (Monet's "water lilies") and then did the Champs Elysees Walk; saw the former home of Thomas Jefferson and the flagship Louis Vuitton store (of course). Then headed over to the Arc de Triomphe....watched two older gentlemen try to cross the traffic circle on foot...was pretty sure they were going to be killed, but they made it to the other side. We went under the street and then climbed the Arc and took in the sights. I think this was the day that we did the Tour Eiffel too.

Tuesday began with the Musee Orsay...we really liked this museum too. Had lunch there and walked over to the Musee Rodin. Interesting, but probably wouldn't have done it if we didn't have the Museum Pass as we didn't spend much time there at all; saw the highlights and were off to Napoleon's tomb (Palace Invalides??). It was an unplanned side trip, but we popped in and were glad we stopped to see it. Interesting history. Off to Montmarte to stroll around and hang out the rest of the evening. We did the Sacre Couer first and climbed the dome too; we also saw the crypts under it. Found an amazing pastry shop in Montmarte (still thinking about it) and just really enjoyed all the little streets and shops. We ended up buying two small paintings from an artist and had dinner there where we tried our first "cheese plate"...didn't enjoy it, but we tried all of it!! :) And yes, we tried to speak as much French as we could and it was appreciated just as much as we appreciated their attempts at English!

Wednesday was a "catch-up" day. We strolled the streets and went to this very large department store that had a "fine foods" grocery store. We spent so much time in there just looking at all of the different foods, produce, desserts(!!), and just general differences between our foods/products and theirs. It was so much fun! We also picked up food for the train ride to Rome so we wouldn't have to eat yucky train food (although Bill roamed the streets gnawing on our large baguette and ate half of it before we even got to the station!!). We strolled our favorite places once more (and ate Betillon ice cream again!) and headed out to the train station early since I was a little apprehensive about how it all worked (turns out we were there much too early and I could have spent more time roaming!!). We never did make it out to Versailles, but we decided that a return trip to France is in our future and we would see it then.

Some general thoughts on Paris: would have definitely enjoyed more sun. The ppl dress nicely even when they are dressed down....lots of jeans, but still nice jackets and always scarves!!! They really take care of their history and beautiful places....the city was very clean and monuments were given their due justice (Rome was very different). But the people were really nice and Bill really liked when the bakery ladies would say "merci beau coup" in a sing-songy, sweet way. But all in all, we loved Paris and when we got to Rome we were missing it already!!!

We took the overnight train from Paris to Rome…took about 15 hours b/c it stopped a few places along the way. The “room” was really tiny and we had bunk beds, but I didn’t sleep very well. We had the smallest little sink, but had to share the bathroom with the whole car; I’m so glad I can hold it for a long time. The scenery was beautiful once we left the city, but as dark fell, we of course missed the Alps and such. Then it was time to transition into Italian. Hit the Termini train station and tried to orient ourselves and find out where to buy metro tickets. Let me just say, after coming from Paris, their metro STINKS! Hardly goes anywhere and underground was creepy and dirty. But we took the metro and then hiked to the hotel from the stop (not especially close). We couldn’t check in yet, but we dropped off the bags, grabbed the map, and headed to a little restaurant. It was there that we had the best spaghetti-looking dish EVER….there was this white sauce (not alfredo…but it was YUMMY!) and crispy “bacon” on top (pancetta?). We ate, relaxed, played Italian charades with the server, drank wine, and took in the area. We stayed in a nice hotel in a more residential area about a 15 min walk from the Vatican. This hotel was more like an American one. After showering at the hotel, we then headed off for our “night walk” of the city that we had outlined from a guide book. It ended up being a beautiful night with a full moon and we were able to see the sights lit up and enjoy the mood and crowds of various piazzas. Again, lots of stunning churches. My favorite moment that night was looking at the Pantheon lit up, the full moon, eating gelato in the piazza while listening to this little band play (I think I shared the video on Picasa)…..felt magical.

The next day we got up early and hit Vatican City. We stood in line (which didn’t end up being all that long) to get into St. Peter’s Basilica first. We went straight to the dome climb first since there was no line (yes!)….breathtaking. I saw some rosary beads at the gift shop at the top that I loved, didn’t buy, and am hating myself ever since!! We then went into the basilica…..AMAZING!! So moving and it really brought home to me the history of being a Catholic. It is a sight we will never forget. We heard mass in Italian and the priests who sung sounded like Pavarotti!! I was upset, though, that ppl were so loud and disrespectful; regardless of your religion, this is a place of worship and should be treated as such. Then we headed into the crypts to see the tombs of the popes. I had tears in my eyes when I saw Pope John Paul II. Then over to the Vatican and the museum. There was a very small line (yippee!) and we proceeded in, got a little lost, then followed the crowds through to the Sistine Chapel. We had audio tours we had downloaded on our iPods, so we listened to the history of the chapel while sitting in there…..truly an amazing human feat. I think that’s all we had planned that day, but that certainly was a full day. Then we ate next to our hotel in a little restaurant that had the BEST lasagna EVER!!! I long for it still!! Can you believe that we had 4 glasses of wine between us for $4??!! Won’t see that here for sure….

Bill came down with a head cold that night and it was full-blown the next day. We went to the pharmacia and played charades there and got some medicine; I can’t believe I packed everything else but that….never crossed my mind. And we were being SUPER careful about washing hands and such b/c of the stupid swine flu. Oh well. He was such a trouper and we went to the colosseum, palantine hill, and the roman forum. The history blows my mind. To walk where Caesar was killed, chariots raced, and one of the greatest empires stood was exciting. More food, more gelato (!!), more walking (Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, etc), so very tired at this point, feet beyond repair, thinking about how nice my bed is at home…..

The next day was our last full day in Rome. I woke up with Bill’s cold except worse (b/c by that time he was over it!!). We headed to the Pantheon, back to Vatican City for souvenirs, and then on to the Galleria Borghese for more art. I have to say by the time we hit the museum, we was done, both physically and mentally. We should have left time to just relax, but decided to squeeze in "one more thing"...famous last words. We hobbled back to the hotel and fell into bed. Bill got take out from the yummy lasagna place for me since the Italian meds weren’t working and I was getting worse. So we hung out for the night, watched some really funny show in Italian, and re-packed for our trip home. The flight was soooo very long (13 hrs) and we each watched 4 movies during that time (everyone had their own little TV and could pick any movie, music, or TV show they wanted…very cool. And they were pretty new movies too.)

I’m sure that I left out a few sights, but that’s the trip!! Rome doesn’t take as good care of their national treasures as Paris and the ppl were the most crazy drivers (more than Paris)…every time you cross the road you play chicken. We enjoyed the main dishes more in Rome (such yummy pizza too!), but the desserts were better in Paris. We never felt unsafe in either city and took the necessary precautions to avoid theft and pickpockets. We froze in Paris and sweated in Rome, ate our weight in food (and then walked it right off), and are so grateful that we were able to take an amazing trip like this. We are already scheming about our next trip to ???? Gotta save up some more Euros first!! :)