Professor Sharon

We had a great first day in Paris. It was part of the river cruise tour so we spent the afternoon and evening with people from that cruise.

We went on the organized tour of Versailles. We had not been there before as about 10 years ago when we came to Paris, there had been some kind of storm that damaged the park and part of it was closed; and they were renovating some of the interior and we were told that many of the treasures were on tour.

It was packed with people and we were glad to be on a tour for this one. We didn’t see too much less than others on their own did as they send you through pretty quickly. We would have liked more than an hour for the gardens as they are HUGE and beautiful.

It’s quite the statement in decadence to say the least. And, makes us curious to know more of the history than we know — but that’s been almost everything we’ve done this trip!

Last night we went to the Moulin Rouge – again with the organized tour. And good thing as well in this case — the line went around the corner. We also benefited by getting to sit in the second tier of tables – quite good seats for show watching. Most folks react to it as a tourist trap and i suppose it is. But it is also over 100 years old, and we wanted to say we had been there. We danced to the band that played during dinner. The show was great fun, although we thought the can-can they did was not very good. We’ve seen it on old films and documentaries and the updated version is not the way to go!

It’s now Sunday and we leave Paris tomorrow. We have found internet in all the public parks (in fact we are sitting in a 1st century Roman theatre with wifi!), but alas my laptop’s battery has decided its dead; so I can’t post away from a plug. At the moment I’m using hubbie’s laptop so I won’t be able to post pictures of our Paris fun until we get to London.

We go to London tomorrow via Eurostar and the Chunnel – we’re looking forward to it. Here in Paris, we’ve been to the L’Orangerie and Musee Rodin to see a special exhibit on Camille Claudette which was stunning (and we had to wait nearly 1 1/2 hours to get in). We found the cafe we went to 10 years ago and had dinner and a chocolate ancienne – delicious!

From London we are going to Winchester to stay a couple of nights with a couple that we met at language school in Spain, and then before we know it, it’ll be June 2 and we’ll be on the Queen Mary II headed home!

It’s really hard to believe the time has gone by. Our adventures have been many and wonderful. We are really enjoying ourselves and just beginning to wish for home – and really what we miss at this point is routine. We are beginning to be weary of lugging our stuff and moving about. Stay tuned for more pictures from the cruise and Paris once I find a plug to sit next to!