Honeymoon: Day 4

We woke early on the 23rd to catch the shuttle at 6:15.  We had learned our lesson with cabs in Paris, and opted for the economy shuttle back to the airport.  Breakfast wasn't supposed to be served until 7am, but our friend from the front desk had started baking the croissants early and we were able to have a quick breakfast before hitting the road.

The flight to Rome was only an hour and a half, but seemed much longer due to the screaming child two rows ahead of us.  He was crying when he arrived at the gate an hour before the takeoff, and continued to cry until he finally fell asleep under the seats on the airplane 30 minutes into the flight...... thank goodness.

It didn't take long to gather our luggage and head out to find a taxi.  Our driver was named Massimo, and he scared me to death.  The posted speed was 80km per hour, and he was driving 140km.  I've not checked to see how many miles per hour this is, but I do know that it was fast enough to terrify me in the cab.  He drove in two lanes at once.  He passed cars when there wasn't room.  He slammed on his brakes at the very last moment.  I am thankful that Jtl did not have any injuries from my death grip on his hand during that very long drive.  He did point out a few sights along the way.  He also charged us 60 Euros for our trip from the airport, but offered to take us back to the airport for a mere 40......so generous, right?  We took his number and went to check into our hotel.

We stayed at Hotel Tarmino.  We had to climb two flights of stairs to check in at the front desk.  Our room was ready, and we headed up the next couple flights to find our room...... which was actually more of a suite. Marble floors, king size bed, desk in the entry and an entire REAL bathroom.  It was wonderful.

Heading out to explore Rome, we noticed that everything around the hotel was run by Chinese people.  Even the signs were in Chinese, but after a few blocks we found Pizza Yok.  It was wonderful.  We were able to get a square of sausage and mushroom pizza, a beer and glass of wine for 12 Euros.......and it tasted wonderful even without red sauce.

From there we followed the map around town.  The weather was nice at first, but the rain began to fall about an hour into our exploration.  We still saw three Basilicas and more statues and fountains than I could keep track of.  When the rain began, there were Italians everywhere offering to sell us umbrellas.  By this time we were soaked, and just kept going.  Jtl used his gps to get directions back to the hotel, but I was able to get us back on track.

This looks like a split shot, but is actually looking across at the altar with the chapel below.......so beautiful.

Second Basilica we visited on Day 4

We rested for a bit, and headed out for dinner at a restaurant two blocks from our hotel that the man working the desk suggested.  It was wonderful.  I had Scaloppine ai Funghi Porcini and Jtl had Veal Saltimbocca.  Both dishes were amazing and the table red wine was wonderful.  We split a tiramisu for dessert.  This was unlike the tiramisu that I have always seen in AR........but it was sooooo good.  The couple next to us joined us for a bit after dessert.  They were celebrating their 25th anniversary, and had been given the trip as a gift.  They were from Germany, and the wife did not speak any English.  The husband spoke some, but still we had difficulty with our conversation.  It was the first time we've met anyone while traveling outside the US that weren't from Canada.  haha!

Veal.  Not pork.

The owner of the restaurant sent us lemon sorbet to finish the night before we went back to the hotel to crash.  It was a wonderful first day in Rome.

Honeymoon: Day 3

We began day three with the same breakfast as the day before.  Warm croissants really are wonderful.  The yogurt was a bit different than what you get at the store here, but it was not bad.  The weather outside was great, and we were out for an early start looking for the RER line C train station.  This was the day we were heading to Versailles!

The RER line was not easily found.  We had a map and gps, but it took about an hour to locate the station.  The train ride was about 20 minutes.  We saw areas of Paris where people had homes and yards, and it wasn't all apartment living.

When we arrived, we spotted McDonalds across the street, and decided it was time to stop for a quick lunch.  It was our one fast food meal while we were traveling, and I must say that it was really pretty good.  Jtl went with the Royal with bacon and I had the McChicken sandwich.  We attempted to place our order using the touchscreen kiosks, but had technical difficulties.  When ordering, you get a choice of ketchup or mayonnaise with your fries.  I went with mayo.  Yum!  Before leaving, I did get yelled at by an employee.  It seems it is not possible to use the restrooms at McDonalds while they are mopping in France.  Oh well.....

The road that we followed up to Versailles was probably the most beautiful road I saw while we were travelling.  The fall leaves were absolutely beautiful, and there were wide sidewalks with little roads off to the side that were narrow and twisty.  The cars actually had room to park in this area without being bumper to bumper as well.

The palace was amazing...... so much detail and so beautiful and so BIG.  I wanted to get a picture in front of the gate, but after waiting patiently for this one girl to finish taking her gazillion pictures it became apparent that an off center picture with her in the background was the only option.

Jtl wasn't a huge fan of the crowds inside of the palace.  I would get carried away taking pictures, and then turn around to find that he had moved on to the next room.  Have I mentioned that the lack of personal space that the people we encountered on our tours allowed us?  Well, it was worse in the tiny roped off areas that you have in the different areas of the palace.

Palace chapel

ceiling of palace chapel 

Most of the areas seemed to have been restored to pre-revolution style, but some of the first ones that we walked through had some of the tackiest Brady Bunch-ish furniture I've ever seen.  The bright yellows and avocado greens just didn't have the right feel for these elaborately decorated rooms.

Detailed carvings in window arches

Us in the Hall of Mirrors

I had to throw some elbows to get this bedroom pic

Just your typical French dinner service

We finished walking through the palace, and headed through the garden towards Marie Antoinette's estate.  This was quite a distance from the main entrance, and we walked past several fountains and lovely garden areas on our way.

Game room at Marie Antoinette's estate

Fireplace in kitchen of Marie Antoinette's estate 

After we had seen all we could see, we decided to head back to the train.  On the way, we decided to look for a place to stop for a snack down one of the side streets.  We quickly abandoned this plan when a loud crazy man began following a woman and yelling at her right behind us.  Instead, we stopped at Lelyautey for an afternoon snack of Diet Coke and onion soup.

As with every afternoon, wandering back to the hotel took longer than planned.  It was our last evening in Paris, so we really didn't mind too much.  We were still soaking it all in.... there was still lots we hadn't seen.

We had dinner at Au Roi Du Cafe that evening.  I had a steak with wonderful fried potatoes.  Jtl had roasted chicken.  The restaurant was really pretty, but there were fruit flies everywhere.  I opted for a glass of white wine that evening, but the waiter brought me a red.  We were having a bit of trouble communicating with him as it was, so I stuck with what he served me...... which ended up being the most expensive red wine served by the glass.  Oops!  For dessert, we ordered "tarte coco, sauce chocolat & glace coco".  This is not a chocolate tarte.  This is coconut.  It was served warm, and it was wonderful.

After dinner, we called it a night.  The shuttle to the airport was scheduled to pick us up at 6:15 the next morning!

Honeymoon: Day 2

We woke early on Monday, November 20.  After a quick breakfast of freshly baked croissants, yogurt, cheeses, juice and coffee, we headed out to see the Louvre.

Not sure why this guy is hanging out of the window at the Louvre

I knew that the museum would be big, but I have to say that I was still surprised by the size when we got there.  There are three wings to choose from.  We chose to start with the Denon wing because that is where you will find the Mona Lisa, and you don't go to the Louvre without seeing the Mona Lisa.  Right?  It took a couple hours to wander through the crowds and see most of the art.  The first floor we came to was full of sculptures.  Next we found rooms full of Egyptian art before finally getting to the halls filled with paintings.  The main stairs led you to the Winged Victory of Samothrace.  The museum was packed.  You couldn't turn around without bumping into someone.  Frustrated by this, we decided to break for lunch downstairs.

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Ceiling in one of the rooms at the Louvre

Madonna & Child pic for my mom

The ham and Swiss sandwiches were amazing.  I wish I could describe how wonderful they were.  It was probably the best ham and cheese sandwich I've ever had......perhaps we were just really hungry?  For dessert, we split a flourless chocolate torte.  Yum!

After lunch, we decided to head out and wander about a bit.  We knew Notre Dame wasn't too far away, so we headed that way.  As we walked along the river, this man walking towards us finds a gold ring on the ground.  He came over to show it to us.  Jtl told him it was a good find, and we headed on our way.  Then the guy calls out to us and rushes to where we are.  He tells Jtl that the ring is too small for him, and he would like for us to have it.  In return, he would like 2 Euros for coffee.  We told him that we couldn't possibly take it from him and had no use for it.  He pushed a bit, but ended up keeping it.  As we walked away, we talked about the entire chain of events.  Did we actually see the ring on the ground?  Or had he had it all along?  Why would he want to give us this gold ring for 2 Euros?  It was all very bizarre.

Not much further down the road, we were approached by some teenagers.  They wanted our address and some other information.  I told them that I was not interested, but Jtl was nicer and began filling in some random information.  Moments later a French woman starts yelling at the teenagers to leave us alone.  She tells us not to share any information with these kids.  She tells us that they're everywhere collecting information for the hotels.  This part is true.  We saw the kids with clipboards everywhere.

Notre Dame is beautiful.  They were working on putting the Christmas tree up in front of the church when we arrived.  I wish that we could have seen the finished result.  The tree was huge, but didn't seem so big next to the front doors of the church.  The details inside and out are amazing.  The stained glass, the art and the gargoyles.  Since this was one of the first churches that we visited on this trip, I did not take as many pictures as I wish I had.

After we left Notre Dame, we kind of just started wandering in the general direction of the hotel.  We found a little narrow street full of Greek restaurants.  I really enjoyed walking through the side streets where we saw these little restaurants and felt so far away from the main areas with the wide streets and so much traffic.  Not far from this little Greek area, we found Shakespeare & Company.  Jtl was thrilled with this find...... I had no idea we were even looking for it.

We walked for about an hour before deciding to stop at Relais Odeon Brasserie.  The sign said that it was established in 1900.  It was on another little cobblestone road that we wandered down.  (We wandered a LOT in France!)  On the corner of the street was a restaurant named Tennessee and across the street was an olive oil store.  I regret that I did not purchase anything from this shop.  It had the most amazing selection of fresh olive oils.  From our table across the street, you could see the bottles in the window waiting to be filled.  They had so many wonderful specialty oils and gift baskets.  While we were sitting at the bistro, two teenage girls walked down the street and began singing Christmas songs in the area between the shop and Tennessee. A British man joined them in singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", and then gave the girls a couple of Euros.  It was definitely an enjoyable break.

Olive Oil Shop

We decided to head in the general direction of the Pantheon as it is marked on our map as one of the tourist attractions in the area we were in.  We walked and walked before we ended up on the street that runs into our hotel.  Oops!  For the record, we did not visit the Pantheon in Rome either.

That night we dined at Les Artisans.  It was probably the best meal that we had in Paris.  I had Bavette d'aloyau and Jtl had Emince de volaille.  These were chicken and steak dishes served with the best mashed potatoes.  Yum!