Oh! Paris.  Just saying the name takes me back to the gardens, the countryside and the cuisine. 

I only speak a few words of conversational French, but that didn’t hinder me at all from meeting new friends.  I stayed at small hotel near the Saint-Lazare train station, which made getting around Paris, very convenient.  The hotel was called Grand Hotel de Normandie and although it wasn’t at all upscale, it did provide a very nice breakfast of fruit, yogurt, sweet breads and coffee or tea.  I found the “lift” to be less than the size of a phone booth, but as far as I’m concerned, it only added to my list of new wonders.  My first night in Paris, I headed to the Eiffel Tower to find a representative from Fat Tire Bike Tours www.fattirebiketours.com; someone told me, they speak English and most of them are from Texas.  Well, it was true.  The couple that owns the business is actually from Austin and they recruit employees from UT and A&M Universities.  I was also very happy to know that they have an internet café available for a small fee and as a bonus; they serve Heineken in the shop. My first night there, I made friends with some of the employees and we all went to dinner in the Italian Quarter, then afterwards, to drink wine, laying on the lawn in the parc de champ de mars at the Eiffel Tower.  During the week, I was able to see all of Paris on just the day tour and the night “wine” tour.  By the third day, I was giving directions to other tourists and felt quite comfortable in my surroundings.

 
The bike tours also take a day trip to Versailles.  It sounds at first as if it’s a feat for Olympian, but you actually, very strategically ride the train out to the countryside before actually cycling to the palace.  The tour stops in the town of  Versailles for a little lunch shopping and that’s always an interesting experience, especially if you don’t’ speak French, but somehow we managed and were most happy with our purchase of tomato and cheese “fromage” sandwiches, a bottle of wine (and an opener) and a pastry for dessert.  Sitting on the lawns around the lake after touring Marie Antoinette’s home has got to be one of the most pleasurable picnics I have ever been on.  The weather in France in the summertime is like the perfect weather we see in the spring

I managed to meet up with a friend in Paris, who was traveling the wine country and we were able to find a very quaint and very old restaurant in the Italian quarter in which to dine. Le Coup Chou, which translates in to “melon” was not only hundreds of years old in construction and design, but the service, wine list and ambience was beyond words.  I really love the old buildings, especially those with so much history and Paris is most certainly a place for history.

Of course the other highlights of Paris are ones you’ve heard before, The Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysée, Musée du Louvre as well as the Musée d’Orsay, and Notre Dame as well.   I hope you enjoy my pictures and experiences; since this trip I’ve visited again but will update you on that excursion in my next installment of “Paris”.