Today was our last day in Venice. Home tomorrow.
We wake up and the sky is overcast. No rain yet, but it looks likely. We head up to the Terrace for breakfast, figuring that we will splurge and enjoy the incredible view up 5 floors, overlooking the Grand Canal. We thought it would be expensive but are flabbergasted to see the actual prices. ½ of a melon is $20. The buffet is 52 EUROS (too painful to even DO the math). I get coffee, Marc gets the continental breakfast (32 EUROS for coffee and a basket of rolls), Em gets pancakes and Sarah gets a scrambled egg (I guess she misses our dinners in our Paris apartment). The view is incredible, but it starts to rain. The Terrace is covered, so that’s OK, but we need to modify our plans a bit.

We head out a bit later after it is clear it is not going to stop raining and head toward L’accademia. We do the quickie tour with headsets, but we are all honest and admit this is NOT our type of art. A lot of Madonnas and religious figures. But we figure we had to see it. Then we head over to the Peggy Guggenheim collection. This is our kind of Art. Great works. Miro, Picassos, Calder, even a Sam Francis! Beautiful presentation. We leave and head to the Rialto Bridge for lunch via public boat. Paul Cohen told us about a great restaurant over there. We walk around and look for it (Sarah loves this part) and finally find it after going in a circle, but it is closed. It is now really raining and the streets are a sea of umbrellas and it is so crowded and it is hard to move. We find the closest café and SIT under it’s outside awning. We decide to move inside because in the rain all the smokers are standing under awnings, smoking. Inside is warm, dry and clear air. We get salads (except Sarah gets spaghetti with pesto). We head out, planning on going to the Jewish ghetto. We find a boat, but the boats are SO crowded we can’t get on, so we sit in the waiting area on the water, waiting. We are crowded in like sardines….really; we’ve had them twice already. After about 15 minutes I realize that the boat we are waiting for is going the opposite direction that we want to go. We get off and venture in the rain to try to walk, not to the ghetto (it’s too far) but to find a bookstore we read about for Sarah and then head back to wait out the rain. We walk around and around and keep ending up on dead end streets or back to where we came from. The girls are getting a bit frustrated and we can tell they are losing confidence in our navigation abilities. We figure out that we can’t find the bookstore so we head back to the hotel in the direction of St Marco. We step through puddles and crash into other people’s umbrellas and finally make it back. Tired and soaked.

We change, rest and some of us sleep. The girls watch yet another episode of I Love Lucy (they have taken to acting them out now, they have seen the ones we brought SO many times. Sarah is usually Ethel and sometimes Fred.

We actually have a reservation tonight, Sarah is happy. I found a place near here that is mentioned in both our guide books and one article. I had the concierge make a reservation this morning. We head out and find it a short 10 minute walk away, but out of the usual tourist area. Good news the menu is ALL in Italian. This is a good sign as many restaurants we have seen post the menu in 4 or 5 different languages. Makes it easy, but clearly this is someplace real. And we are rewarded by stumbling through the menu. For first courses: Emily and I share a pasta with monk fish and Sarah gets a spaghetti with tomato sauce (lest you think she is not adventurous, stay tuned for her main course). Marc gets his new favorite: Sardines covered with pickled onions. I don’t think any of us have ever seen Marc eat so many onions intentionally. For our main courses Marc gets the grilled eel special, I get a grilled Branzino, Emily gets a special pasta with prawn (in the shell) and Sarah gets gnocchi with seafood (in a seafood sauce, including clams, mussels etc.) We all polish everything off, but save room for fruit tart and ricotta cheese cake (Dad, you would have loved this one) for dessert. After decaf espresso and paying the “Conto” we head back home. The night is warm, clear and sweet. Up early tomorrow for our planes home. Talk soon.

We are now officially on European time. We wake up early (Emily still needs to be edged out of bed at 9:30). Marc brings me 3 papers (USA Today {actually it’s USA Yesterday}, Herald Tribune and Wall Street Journal) AND a cup of espresso.
We get out by 10:30 with a plan to see Murano. It couldn’t be more beautiful. Sunny and warm. It must be in the high 70’s. The rain last night seems far away. We walk around a bit to try to find some breakfast, but all the cafes have their lunch menus out and set. We don’t really want pizza or sandwiches for breakfast. We finally end up back on the Grand Canal near our hotel because this is where we will get the boat to Murano. The breakfast of coffee, hot chocolates and toast for four costs no less than $50….

We get on the boat going to Murano and fortunately for us it lets us off on the backside of the island. Fewer people and it seems a bit less touristy, if that’s possible. Compared to Venice there are hardly any people. We walk down from the dock and find a myriad of shops. We cross over a bridge and into a quiet area of small alleys. We stumble on small shop (about the size of a closet-not your closet, mom) where a man is working, making beads. His jewelry is beautiful and we talk to him and buy some things. He has been doing this for 35 years, since he was 10. Really beautiful stuff. Large glass beads, ornaments etc. Then we head further into the island center and come into a larger show room where a woman asks if we want to see some glass being blown. She takes us back in the work room where a man, about 75, is blowing glass. We also see tons of cardboard boxes packed up and labeled with “Bloomingdale’s” “MOMA” “Tuesday Morning”…..this glass is shipped all over. Funny. He shows us how he makes a horse out of a ball of hot glass. The girls are mesmerized. They each buy a little family of animals. I am remembering our trip 30 years ago when we were each given a little family of animals after we bought that glass sculpture that lit up (whatever happened to that??).

We decide it is lunch time. First we sit at a “snack shop” as it is called, just drinks and sandwiches. But Emily is not happy and we move on. Although there is no smoking IN restaurants in Italy, you can smoke at OUTSIDE cafes and patios. Oh well. The smoking law which took effect two years ago (Jan 10, 2005) fines violators 250 EUROS but if the smoker is caught smoking in the presence of a child under the age of 12 or a VISIBLY pregnant woman, the fine is doubled. We do find a place on the water and have a nice lunch. Salads for all except Emily how has Gazpacho. We take the long way back to the hotel (one hour boat ride ALL around the area) because we got on the wrong boat…but it’s a nice rest and a great tour of the islands.

We come back to the hotel room for a few minutes and regrouping and decide to go out again to check out the Lido Island, across from Venice, and where this hotel has a sister hotel on the beach. We take a water taxi, provided by the two hotels, from our hotel to the Westin. The boat ride is about 15 minutes and not too choppy. We arrive and start to feel some raindrops. It is so amazing how the mornings and early afternoon can be so sunny and warm, sunscreen weather, and the late afternoons with a cloudy sky and raindrops. So we quickly check out the beach and feel the Adriatic (not too cold, certainly warmer than Le Lac). This place almost looks like Hawaii with fabulous covered cabanas right on the sand. We contemplate coming back tomorrow earlier in the day when it is not raining until we inquire about the price. 300 EUROS apiece…for a covered cabana?? Crazy. We will make other plans. We quickly run to catch the next boat back to our island.

We come back, Marc decides to walk around a bit on his own because he spots a sign for a hospital and follows it. He comes back with a few pieces of fruit and some ideas for dinner. He found some less touristy areas and we head for them. We find a restaurant on a square and sit outside. It is overcast but very warm and we sit outside with just t-shirts on. Unfortunately that smoking ban only applies to inside, but it is too warm and nice to sit inside. Marc and I share sardines for a first course and Sarah has a vegetable soup, Emily has fried calamari. Then Em has a pizza (margarita), Sarah and Marc share gnocchi with 4 cheeses and I have ¼ grilled chicken. Too many smokers to stay for dessert so we head across the square for gelato. Marc and Deb: Pistache, Sarah Chocolate and Em: Café. I think, but am not sure this may be their second gelato today. Oh well, vacation is almost over.

There is a lot of cell phone usage here…as expected. But the BEST we have seen (other than the elderly woman on her blackberry) is…..the gondolier talking on his cellphone while steering the gondola. Sarah says they are gifted in multitasking!

Last night we spent in the Lyon Airport hotel. The hotel is in the terminal, so we went into the terminal at about 9:30 to look for dinner. Who would ever think we would be eating dinner in an airport. We found a small café (some pilots were eating there so we figured that it must be OK…they should know).

We woke up early to catch the 9:10 plane to Venice. It’s a small plane. There are two seats on one side and a single seat on the other. But they do serve a good cup of coffee and a nice crossiant. A short flight, one hour. Sort of like LAX to SJC.

Venice is warm and sunny! We take a water taxi to the hotel (just like a fairy tale relived). This hotel is right on the Grand Canal, very old and very elegant. This building dates back to the 14th century. In 1822 it became a hotel. Dickens, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Balzac all have stayed here. This is a place to stay. We have two rooms that connect by a corridor, these hotel rooms are perhaps bigger than our Paris Apartment. The connecting corridor is bigger than most of our hotel rooms. The bathrooms are certainly bigger than ours in Santa Monica. Our rooms aren’t ready so we drop the luggage and head out into the sunshine. We walk over some bridges and through some back streets and stop in at a small canal side café for lunch. Sarah has gnocchi with tomato sauce, I have spaghetti with tomato sauce (can’t remember the last time I had a plate of pasta for lunch!) Marc and Em have incredibly thin crusted pizza. Yum.

We walk back to our hotel and get set up in our rooms. We then venture back out. The sky now looks a little gray, maybe it’s going to rain later. We go to Piazzo San Marco and watch all the pigeons and the people. Not sure which there are more of. Marc read somewhere that 20% of the pigeons carry salmonella. A lot of the tourists are buying corn from vendors on the square and feeding the pigeons so that they will sit on their arms. Yuck. Hope they have their Purell.

For the next couple of hours we roam around. Marc says this is “one big gift shop”. It’s sort of true. TONS of shops with Murano glass, masks etc. . The girls need to check out every store, so we do. And they make some purchases, some for themselves and some for friends. Em and I buy wallets and Sarah buys a beautiful purple notebook for writing. Marc buys a shoelace (his broke). Sarah is out of all of her books (even the ones we bought in Paris, so we are not sure what we will do for the ride home), so I think we will be looking around Venice for a bookstore with English books.

Just when we were commenting on how there didn’t seem to be any locals around, we see an older woman (at least 80) coming out of her walk up with grocery bags in hand. I guess there are a few locals. We are walking behind her and then suddenly she is a bit stooped over walking more slowly…I am worried that something is the matter, maybe she is having difficulty? I catch up to her to see and can’t believe that she is hunched over her……blackberry, texting away! Oh well.

It starts to sprinkle so we decide to head back to the hotel. Now the street vendors are selling umbrellas! The hotel is so comfortable, we decide to hang out here for awhile before our dinner reservations at 8:30. Marc made reservations at the hotel restaurant, which is supposed to be really great. Marc and I open the wine the hotel left for us and relax. The girls break into their usual game with new found gusto.

We rest and the rain continues. So we decide that the Terrace restaurant maybe isn’t the best choice for dinner tonight. We pour through our guide books and look for something closeby. The concierge gives us a recommendation and we head in that direction but get a bit off track. We stumble on another place and it looks good. The absolute BEST thing about Italy is that there is NO smoking in any inside venue. That includes, hotels, restaurants and stores. This is amazing compared to the last time we were here. It makes all the difference at meals (especially compared to Paris). The restaurant is crowded but we take the last table for 4. The other interesting thing about this restaurant is that they have an entire page offering “1/2 portions” I have never seen this outside a children’s menu. We all get a first and second course, but only ½ portions….all except Sarah’s first course: Caprese salad. She gets spaghetti with pesto for her second course, as does Emily. Marc, Emily and I all get stuffed squash blossoms for our first course (stuffed with ricotta and basil) and Marc and I both get cuttle-fist with polenta for our second courses (this is a Venetian speciality). The girls (and Marc get ½ desserts). Marc and I have espressos (full size!). The other interesting thing is that at this restaurant, as at the restaurant at the Abbaye, had differential menus for men and women (no prices on our menus). I haven’t seen that in awhile.

We walk home in the sprinkling rain. I am hoping that it is clear tomorrow as we want to do a lot of walking. We are planning to go to Murano and also to the Jewish Ghetto.

In Europe WiFi is pronounced "wee fee"...we just love that!

We left St. Remy at about 11:30 and headed south to Aix. Tania said it would take 30 minutes, but it took us about 60, with only one wrong turn. We called Paul from the exit and he met us and we followed him to his home. Good thing because we never would have found it on our own! Up a long gravel road to their home. It's pretty incredible. Completely remodeled (we saw before photos). Beautiful, decorated in the Provence style. See attached photos of the group and of the lunch table. They have a dog (that somehow came with the place) named "Bob". They assured us that they did not name him. He only eats people food, and I should say French people food....cheeses, meats etc. We have a tour of the house and sit down for lunch. Livio is there too. He has lived in Aix since his heart transplant exactly two years ago and is doing OK...he seemed a bit depressed, unsure of what he can do now with his life and medical training. He cannot practice pediatrics because of all the infections that could put him at risk. Not sure what his plans are. We saw photos of Phillipe's three children. He bought a "castle" in St. Emillion and has just bottled his first harvest. Marc volunteered to be a taster.
We start lunch with an anise drink and some olive spreads (Emily is very happy, Marc and I are polite). Then we have a lentil salad and then a wonderful eggplant with tomatoes and cheese. This is followed by pork and beef brochettes that Livio grills on the built in BBQ/hearth in the back. Yummy green beans that Sarah has two servings of. We are again polite and "Bob" eats more than all of us! This is a lot of food for all of us! For dessert we brought a chocolate tart we picked up in town, unwilling to come empty handed but unsuccessful at finding flowers anywhere and we couldn't bring coals (I mean wine) to Newcastle (to the Cohens in Aix). We also have berries and grapes (that are growing above us) with mint and balsalmic vinegar. We taste fresh figs from their trees and make a get away at about 3:30, later than we want but it's difficult to get away....they seem good, but certainly a calmness that I don't remember. Paul tells some good tales of time with Bop and Gok in Paris and we catch everyone up to date with Palo Alto. Maybe we will see them next June when we are in Tuscany...Aix is about 3 hours away. Driving for us is nothing, we are pros as it turns out. Especially after we figure out the gear shift and the navigation system (which we never really did, but we did get the french voice instructions to stop!).

We hit the road and get on the right road north thanks to Paul's help and head up to Lyon. There is actually a lot of traffic (makes LA look tame) so it takes us about one hour longer than we expect. We stop once for diesel at a gas station north of Valence, about 2/3 the way there. There is a mini mart there and the difference between here and the US is that inside people are not just getting coffee (espresso actually) from the machines, but they are sitting down to take them. No cup holders in these French cars.

We find our way to the Lyon Airport (second largest in France next to Paris) and the hotel is actually IN the terminal...what a great concept. It will make tomorrow morning easier. Marc goes to return the rental car and we figure we will have dinner here tonight. The Sofitel is supposed to have a good restaurant.

Flight tomorrow at 9:30 to Venice.

It’s Monday morning and I am awake early in Provence. Paul and Annie have rented an old stone farmhouse in St. Remy de Provence for a week and we drove down from the Alps yesterday to stay the night here and visit. They have been in France for about 2 weeks already, most of the time in Nice and they went to Verona to see an opera. Laura is here too, but Matt and Vanessa are still in Nice with Annie’s sisters, coming today. Also here are Annie’s parents (who send their best to all), Annie’s cousin, Gil (owner of Gastro Louvre) and his wife Veronique (also an MD) and Gil’s mother, Nunu, who just lost her husband about two months ago. So we had a very full table at dinner last night!

The trip here was quite a driving adventure. We intended to leave Annecy about mid morning and finally got out around 11:30. First we had breakfast in the courtyard. The buffet breakfast (this time, not just coffee) is pretty spectacular. Different from a Hawaiian buffet breakfast. Baskets of breads, pastries (including pain chocolat) with a variety of jams. Also Nutella, which Emily has discovered tastes excellent atop a croissant. Then there was yogurt with an entire table of toppings of grains, seeds, nuts and dried fruit. Made for Marc. Some of the seeds we had never heard of and one of them even had a small grinder with it. We didn’t try that one. They also had an incredible cheese platter, a platter of charcuterie (avec cornichons) and if you want, they will bring you any type of eggs. We all had scrambled, which of course were very buttery and a bit runny for most of our tastes. Sarah polished off the entire bowl of eggs. The girls had hot chocolate and we had coffee. They also had bowls of fruit, which was go great. I hadn’t had a banana in awhile.

We checked out and set out for Provence. We had to get back up to Annecy and go down. Before we left the states, Marc had printed out the Michelin version of Map quest for our trips to Provence and Lyon. They were detailed, but unfortunately the numbers of the routes on the map don’t seem to always match the numbers (when they are posted) on the roads. We somehow got stuck in Annecy, trying to get on the road south. We could only get on the main road going north (toward Geneva). Some how we managed to do it and we were off. The drive should have taken about 3.5 hours but I think it took us over 5 hours. Much of the time we were on the major highway but we did go for sometime on the small parallel road and saw some incredible old farm towns and a lot of grass eating cows. This made Marc happy as he is reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma right now. After about 3 hours of driving we stopped in a small (very small) town of Montemilar. Turns out this is the Nougat capital of the world. Really. They even have a nougat museum, which, owning to the fact that it was Sunday, we were unable to visit. But we did stop in a gas station for a bathroom (where the girls were a bit freaked out by self cleaning toilet seats…they rotate after you are finished) and the minimart had a bar in it (seems like a particularly bad idea for a gas station off a major highway), and the girls had ice cream bars. We bought some nougat to bring to Paul and Annie (Marc reports that “when you get the real thing, from the nougat capital of the world, it doesn’t stick to your teeth!).

So we were off again, on the road to Provence. Most of the towns we went through were pretty quiet because it was Sunday, but they were small and exactly what you would think a small French farm town looks like. When we finally got closer, our directions failed us and we ended up in the town of St. Remy, but couldn’t find ANY of the streets on the map. We were wishing we had GPS (Marc had thought he had reserved a GPS system from Hertz, but in Annecy, was told by the same woman who couldn’t figure out how to open the trunk, that “This is not Paris, we do not have cars with GPS”). We didn’t really have a map of St. Remy and the streets were not wonderfully marked (and most one way), and they always seem to change name. The town is quaint, filled with people, a merry go round, lots of people, but we couldn’t find the street the map was telling us to turn on. Then, trying to adjust the air conditioning, I pushed a button that started the GPS! There was GPS after all. But then it started talking to us and we hadn’t given it any direction. All in French of course. We didn’t want to necessarily follow it, as we didn’t know where it was trying to take us, but if you can imagine how annoying it would be to be lost in a small town, know you are so close, but unable to get on the right road, to keep seeing the same shops, people and landmarks as you circle around and around and then on top of that to have some one giving you directions is French!!!

We finally broke down and called Annie and she came and met us in town and drove back with us. Not before Marc went down a small (and I mean small, now we know why they make such small cars in France) alley way, one way of course that dead ended in a T and we had to turn the car around (a nice sized, four door Peugeot) and some how get out and back on the street. He did it, but it was amazingly tight. It was a good thing that Annie came to meet us and lead us to the house, because the route was nothing we would have found independently and involved going down a one way street the wrong way.

We just rested for the rest of the evening. The girls played and we drank wine and had a lovely dinner outside on a big long table. We had a salad with tomatoes, beans and squash from Annie’s father’s garden outside Nice.

Today we plan to head down to Aix to have lunch with the Cohen’s. It’s about 45 minutes away (presumably), but I am a bit worried. Paul emailed that we should call him when we are close and he would come out to the road to guide us in….sounds familiar.

After lunch we plan to head up to Lyon (about 3.5 hours) and we will stay the night at a hotel near the airport so that we can catch an early plane to Venice on Tuesday morning.

We are at Paul and Annie's house in Provence....long story about the car trip here....but must go eat dinner.
Catch up tomorrow.

We all slept well. I awoke first, everyone else was sleeping, so I went out to find coffee. No Peets here. Breakfast is served until 10am (for a price) and I didn’t really want breakfast, just a cup of coffee. It’s not that simple here. I walked out to the lake, hopeful that they would have a little coffee stand (a la Hawaii?). No luck, so I went into the restaurant and outside into the courtyard, passing by the breakfast buffet (more on that later). I decided to just ask a waiter for a cup of coffee. I did it in my best French, but she had a hard time understanding that ALL I wanted was a cup of coffee. Then she asked “what about my husband and two daughters?” How did she know? I said that they were still sleeping and would have breakfast later. So I went out into the courtyard and sat down. I thought she would bring me a cup and I could take it to walk around. Well she brought out more than a cup. She re-appeared with tablecloth, cloth napkin, silver coffee pot and a silver pitcher with steamed milk. So I couldn’t exactly take it to go. So I sat and drank and even added a bit of steamed milk in honor of Ellen. What a relaxing morning. Looking out over the lake, quiet. No paper, no blackberry, no laptop. Forced to just enjoy the peace. When I went back up the girls were waking up and we finally got Marc up and out. We peeked at the buffet (now closing) and noted that they have quite a spread. Baskets of pain chocolat, croissants, baguettes etc. And then an entire table of cereals and seeds. Marc vows to come back tomorrow morning. Eggs of course. And I think I saw a bowl of cornichons.

Before leaving the room, Marc wants to leave a tip for the maid, but we didn’t know how to say “for the maid” in French…then I remembered “Le Femme de Menage”…we wrote that, but then thought, maybe that is not the right term for 2007 and maybe has a different connotation now than it did 25 years ago in the French primer…so we wrote “pour vous” but she didn’t take it. Oh well.

We go into town because we remember a boulangerie that we saw yesterday. The girls get pain chocolat (surprise) and we get a pain au noix. I buy a few jams that look incredible and we head back to our deck and chaise lounges for a leisurely breakfast on the lake. The girls go up to put on their swim suits when they discover a windsurfer board (without the sail) and spend the rest of the morning playing on the “surf board”. All sorts of games. (see photos) Marc and I lie back, read New Yorkers and watch them.

About 2:30 we have to pry them away to get some lunch (are these our children?). This is different from walking the streets of Paris and visiting museums and obscure areas of the city! We walk 8 steps to the outside café of the hotel and order lunch. Marc starts with a kir royale (and has a second one before the meal is over). Emily has a dish of seared salmon on a marinated cucumber salad and Sarah orders that we think is spaghetti with tomatoes and basil, but it is actually “spaghetti” of a vegetable (squash?) prepared like pasta. It is really good and she devours it. Marc and I both have the “Grand Salad” but we tell them “pas de jambon” and it comes with some of Sarah’s “spaghetti” and some of Em’s salmon. Perfect (or is it just that the kitchen is closing and they want to get rid of the remains of lunch?). There is also a tiny bowl of melon soup on the plate that is so fresh and so good. Marc has a cup of coffee and we set off into the small town again, this time to find Marc a cap to wear out on the boat. We stop on the way at a patisserie shop next to the three star Pere Bise restaurant and buy a few little after lunch sweets for the girls (and us). Almost into town, Emily has to go to the bathroom and right there is a WC public. Perfect. Except that it is one of those French type without a toilet per se. “No way”. So we buy the hat quickly and head back to the hotel.

We rent a 4 person pedal boat (two people pedal) and go out onto the lake (see photos). The girls decide they want to be the pedalers so we let them, and Marc and I sit back and relax, taking in the sights. We see an old castle that we swear is BeauxBaton (Isn’t that Madame Maxim in there?) –see photos. We also have a great view of the mountains from the middle of the lake and all the hang gliders (there are tons of them and they sprinkle the sky with dots of color). Earlier in the day, walking to town, we walked by a man with TWO broken arms and we figure we know how he got them!

Two hours later (!) we head back to shore. The day couldn’t be more spectacular. A few high clouds but mostly all blue sky and the temperature in the mid 70’s. The sun is strong, even at 5:30pm. We think the girls are probably ready to head back up to the hotel room (it’s 6:30) but no, they want to go back to their “surf board”, so we go back to our deck. Marc and I find two chaise lounges and our New Yorkers and the girls play. We order some “lake side” drinks (fresh squeezed lemon juice for Sarah and fresh squeezed pamplemouse for Em). We make it back up to the room at about 7:30 and contemplate the rest of the evening.

We don’t make it out of the hotel room until 9:45. We walk into town (5 min) and go back to a small place we saw this morning. Le Café de la Place. There is outside seating and the night is warm enough. There are some smokers but there is a lot of fresh air around. Limited menu on a chalk board but we are all happy with what we get. Deb: marinated vegetable (eggplant and peppers) on greens. Emily: Salad chevre chaud (her new favorite) Sarah and Marc: Vegetarian lasagna with salad….warm and good. By the time we finish (10:30) it is too cold to stay for dessert and coffee. We walk back home and tuck in for the night. The girls feel as though they are still rocking on the boat. Tomorrow we leave for St. Remy (Provence) to stay with Paul and Annie et. al. We are planning on staying one night there and then before heading up to Lyon on Monday, heading down to Aix to have lunch with Paul and Tania.

Sarah and Marc have been playing chess every night. She is turning into quite a player. Marc thinks she should be on the chess team at Archer. I personally think she should be on the debate team given all the negotiations she is doing on this trip!

Check in tomorrow.

The Abbaye where we are now has no internet access, so I am typing this now to attach to the blog later.

We were up early this morning to make our way out of Paris to Abbaye de Talloires. Marc went out to get some breakfast goodies and to get a cab to come back to the apartment, take us two blocks away with our luggage to return the key and then to Gare de Lyon. We caught a 9:50 train to Annecy. The train ride was about 4 hours and stopped in Lyon at about the two hour mark. Marc slept most of the way and the girls played and watched I Love Lucy videos. I mostly looked out the window at the small towns passing by. We arrived in the Alps at about 1:45 and somehow made our way out of the train station (not as easy as it sounds) and tried to locate Hertz car rental. We finally asked someone and saw it across the street. When we got to the office there was a sign that the office is closed from 12-1:30 but it now was almost 2pm and still no one there. Then we noticed a note on the door that said “we will return in 5 minutes”….in french, of course. We waited. And waited. I took Emily around the corner to find some lunch (she didn’t like the fare offered in the train café). We found a small place with some pizzas and chose the one without anchovies, but when we were walking back and took a bite we realized that under the cheese there was ground beef…oh well, in the trash.
The Hertz woman finally back and we got the car. No GPS available and there are no “non smoking cars” Marc was told that, “this is not America, we are still allowed to smoke in our cars”. We were OK with the lack of GPS (little did we know at that time). The woman pulled the car around and we tried to put the luggage in the trunk, but she nor Marc couldn’t figure out how to open it up. We tried everything, the key remote, looked inside the car and finally she was calling the main office, when I looked in the manual in the glove compartment and somehow in French read that there was a small button disguised in a logo on the side of the trunk. Push it and the trunk pops open.

The town is a bit seedy. Small and with a lot of vacationers on the lake. Reminds me of Oxnard or Carpenteria or some other small CA town. There are a lot of direction signs but an insufficient number of street signs.

All we have is a quasi map from the Hertz people (just the surrounding streets around the office) and a map off the web from Michelin website. The Hertz office is all out of maps. But we figure, we will just head for the lake. We start off and it doesn’t take long for us to get completely lost and on roads not mentioned on either map we have. We also end up going down a street he wrong way and did I mention that the car is a manual shift? It’s been awhile for Marc, but it comes right back. We end up going in a BIG circle but finally see some signs for Le Lac and just follow them…except then we turn right instead of left and we want to go left to go to the east side of the lake. Shouldn’t be be problem, just pull into a driveway and turn around. We do that but then Marc can’t put the car in reverse. We sit there for about 10 minutes (and it felt like an hour) trying to get the Peugot’s stick shift into reverse. The notation on the stick shift seems to indicate upward is reverse, but every time we try that the car just goes forward again, so now we are inching into traffic with each attempt. Finally I try something, pull the stick shift up and move it forward. It works! We can back up and turn around, back the right way. So now we are on our way around the lake to Talloires. It should be about a 20 minute trip, but the roads are crowded with bicycles and walkers with sticks. We go slowly around the lake and stop in Menthon St. Bernard (where are the dogs?) for a rest and a picnic. We pick up crackers, cheese (roblechon, but we had to buy half the wheel), couscous salad, figs and raspberries and find a bench in this sweet town for our picnic (see attached pictures). We get back in the car for what now should really be about 5 minutes (fortunately we can back up out of our parking space). The trip takes us about 45 minutes because although our map seems clear, there are no road signs anywhere and we keep going in circles. I feel like I am in some sort of a Marx brothers movie. FINALLY we go a different way and end up here at the Abbaye de Tallories. This is a special place. It is a converted monastery. We have two attached rooms with one bathroom. The girls have two tiny twin beds (low to the ground) and I can picture two nuns sleeping in them. The floors are all stone and the ceilings high and beamed. There are echos. Outside we are on the lake and the hotel has a lovely dock with chairs and umbrellas. It is 6pm when we leave the room to explore around. Sarah is determined to swim in the lake, so she does (see photos). There are boats, water skiing and in the air, many hang gliders (very high, in the clouds)…we all decide that is NOT for us.

After our (that’s the royal our) swim and relaxing on the deck we go back to our room to shower and dress for dinner. We have reservations (Sarah is happy). There is just one seating and we get there at 8:45 for what is to be a very elegant meal. The service is great and we have two amuse bouches, the first of which is a wooden platter with three different items and the next is a mini cheese fondue for each of us. The decisions are difficult. They do have a children’s menu, which at first glance seems great (three courses, all for only 20 EUROS!)…but when we inquire, the main course is assorted charcuterie. No thanks. This makes Sarah happy since she was not too keen on a children’s menu to begin with. So here’s the damage:
Sarah: tomatoes three ways (too hard to explain) and for her main course she had a char on spinach with hazelnuts and a side of gnocchi (that’s why she ordered it).
Em: Smoked Salmon with tiny (and I mean the cutest, tiny pancakes) with some caviar and then the three tomato dish for her main course.
Deb: a wonderful Bar (sea bass) and I shared Em’s smoked salmon for first course.
Marc: Guinea hen and he shared Sarah’s tomato first course.
Dessert is almost too difficult to explain, so we took photos. But the highlight was Marc’s. For some reason (we are still not sure what possessed him) he ordered something called “Flower Power”. Not sure what it all involved, but it was very colorful and pretty. He moved the plate in front of me. After dessert they brought out a plate of small French macaroons and we had coffee. Marc and I washed all this down with some champagne and Chassagne Montrachet (sp?). Sarah and Marc played a game of chess in the “common room” and Em and I came up to the room. We are determined to get up early so we can make the most of our day here tomorrow.

We are back in the apartment after a long and mostly sunny day out. We all woke up late and didn't make it out until almost 1pm. It was Sarah's day to plan and she wanted a picnic in Jardin Luxembourg. We started off toward Rue Muffetard to gather lunch goodies. We found the open market just closing (they are open 8-1 and 4-7...not made for the late risers that we are). We bought some mini bananas, fraise de bois and cherries. As we make our way toward the Jardin we are stopped by another older French woman, who offered her assistance and guided us in the right direction. We make our way and along the way stop for some tarts, sandwich with mozzarella and a little pasta salad with onions, tomatoes and olives. A lot of things here are heavy on the olives.

Once inside the gates we find a spot with some chairs and a bench. It is really a beautifully sunny day and I am wishing I had applied more sunscreen. We have a great picnic and fortunately the woman at one of the stores put in a fork and a napkin so we did not have to search around for a pea pod. The parc is crowded, tons of people, kids, enjoying the day (see photos).

Sarah really wants to rent a boat with a stick, so we do and she has a fun 30 minutes (for 2 EUROS) chasing it around the fountain (see photo).

Then we head off to her next destination of choice, Ile St. Louis. We walk down Blvd. St. Michel to get the metro but on the way stop in some stores. There is a GAP on the Blvd and we stop in just for fun. Same sorts of stuff at twice the price. Amamzing! We take two metros and exit at Pont Marie. The sun is still shining but there are a few sprinkles. On the island we find a wonderful candy shop and buy a few things for some friends back home. Then we see Bertillion. Em: Melon Sorbet Deb: Poire Sorbet and Sarah: Chocolate glace. Marc tastes all three. We go in and out of tiny stores and see all sorts of whimsical things. No purchases (much to Emily's dismay). It started to rain as we crossed over the Seine and we made our way back tot the apartments, tired and a bit wet. We stopped off at a pharmacy on the way home to get some "rolaids" medicine (just in case, to carry with). It's actually amazing what you can buy in a French pharmacy without a prescription.

It's our last night here. These few days went FAST. It was a different type of visit than last year....minimal museums and a lot of Right Bank...not our usual haunts. I think the girls had a good time. A lot walking. They will be in great shape for the Archer mile!

Tonight we will probably go somewhere local for dinner...but will blog later. We need to get up early to return the key and catch a 9:30 train to Annecy.

Wednesday we woke up to some drizzle and grey skies. Deb and Sarah forged for breakfast pasteries and breads. Today is a major holiday so most of the stores were closed (fortunately Eric Kayser was open and the line formed outside for a reason).
I discovered a delicious fig and walnut ficelle.....excellent breakfast.

After breakfast and an early morning nap (Marc), we ventured out in the drizzle. We had some difficultly charting the metro route to the L'Orangerie and when we did finally make it to Concorde (after the dreaded changer at Chalalet) we couldn't find the museum, had to ask a woman in a bookstore in the Tulleries, only to realize we were standing right in front of it. The line should have been our first clue. The wait was about an hour but the longer we waited, the less we felt we should leave since we had waited that long already. The girls waited on a bench nearby while Marc and I stood in line (see photos of bench waiting) We were also getting hungry again. It was 1:30 and we didn't want to eat lunch too late because we had dinner reservations at Le Dome for 8:00. By the time we entered the museum it was after 2:00, so we thought we would eat in the museum cafe first....alas, no cafe. So we saw the exhibits hungry. Downstairs are wonderful Picassos, Cezannes (a lot of still lifes of food Emily noted.....fruit, bread....and the girls were hungry), Renoir....upstairs of course are Monet's Water Lilies. A beautiful room.

We left the museum and went in search of lunch. We weren't picky, just hungry. We went into a place on Rue de Rivoli and had a quick and overpriced lunch. Nothing special Sat next to a group of obnoxious, loud Americans. This is who gives Americans a bad name. Next door was an English bookstore with a great collection of kids/young adult books etc and Sarah bought two (one was a new Urusla Le Guin, Ellen) and she has already finished one of them. We decided to find our way home via metro, which wasn't too hard, but because of the holiday, fewer trains were running and it took awhile. We were home after two changes by 5:00 and we all slept until 7:00 (all except Sarah who read in the loft).

We headed out to Le Dome (two metros with a change at Odeon). We are shown to a "non smoking" table. True, no smokers in sight but after years of tobacco, it's infused into the surroundings. Emily has been feeling sick since the metro ride and now we are wondering if we should stay.

Emily writing:

yes, I was feeling quite sick. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even sit down or talk. Mommy and I went outside and I got a breath of fresh air. It did nothing for my searing pain in my solar plexus. We went to the bathroom, I didn't feel any better. Then we remembered something...

I had felt the same way when we had gone to a Jackson Browne concert. We were wondering if we should leave and not go to the concert when mommy had one last thought... Heartburn=rolaids. We got some rolaids (Mommy happened to have the leftover rolaids in her purse, leftover from that June concert...she is so well prepared) and I felt much better.

I took them and minutes later I felt much better. I had some water and it was clear that we could stay.

To start mommy and daddy sarted with a split of champangne. Then they brought us our amuse bouche. It was grav lox with toast. It was very good. for our appetizers mommy and I both got the same dish: thinly sliced cured tuna on toast with an egplant tampanade. I thought this dish's flavors were out of this world. Sarah got small fried white fish with an incredible tarter sauce. They were still whole, so daddy, having taken anatomy, disected the fish and carefully took out each skeleton. Daddy got grilled sardines with artichoke hearts, onions and peppers. Then we moved on to the main course. This time it was Sarah and I who got the same dish: langoustine and a homemade pasta with with tomatoes and basil. It was amazing. The langustine were like butter, so delicate, and the pasta was like I had never had before. Mommy and daddy shared a dish: grilled bar with fennel in a creme sauce on the side. It was like butter acording to daddy. They brought the entire fish first for them to inspect, with the skin on and then brought it back all prepared. On to dessert: We had tried to order the apple tart recommended by Bob in advance but there was only plum tart that day. We ordered that for mommy and daddy along with a flowerless chocolate cake with chocolate creme sauce and chocolate gellato for Sarah (it was called "Le tout Chocolate". I got a fresh peach sorbet and a lime (citron vert)sorbet. They were both so good. Mommy called the lime sorbet "a hostile act". The tart was amazing even though it was plum instead of apple. The crust was so light and flaky and the plums were those tiny yellow plums you only see in France. Sarah's dessert was good to but it was very rich. That concludes my Le Dome dinner rewiew. Write comments! bye!

Back to the apartment via a crazy cab driver with some sort of death wish. We made it back safely, but had him leave us off as soon as we spotted our neighborhood. We were all pretty wound up and didn't end up going to sleep until about 1:30am. The girls had their nightly ritual of an episode of I Love Lucy before bed. The only downside of this fabulous aparment is that the downstairs neighbors (never seen, only heard) somehow wake up just as we are going to sleep (around 1am) and watch movies or TV very loudly. We are usually so tired we can sleep through it, but it's odd.

Tomorrow is Sarah's day.....

Yesterday when we were out an about we encountered such helpful and friendly people, eager to lend a directional hand.

In the morning when we set off on the metro (we bought the 3 day pass that lets us ride the metro and busses) we got off at some stop near the Marias, but still a bit of a distance. We were walking and were stopped by an older man on his bike with plastic bags full of fruit and vegetables in his hands. He spoke english and wanted to know where we wanted to go. I am thinking we must have looked conspicuosly lost with our map in hand. He gave us a long description of the Marais and pointed us in the right direction. Wanted to know what country we were from and Emily piped up, "California". He said he loves the US, prompting Marc to ask, "what about the government?" (that part of the conversation in french). I thought it best not to engage in political conversations on the street, but anyway.

Then we had our two young women on the bus ride home and of course our elderly tour guide who actually got off the bus with us. Either we appear pathetically hopelessly lost at all times or the people here are just very nice and eager to help.

Earlier in the day we stopped into a Chocolate store and each picked out a chocolate. The women helping us wanted to speak English with us. Marc asked her if she had ever been to the US and she replied "Oh yes, I spent a year there....in Idaho!" What a great taste of the US?!

Just so you are not siding with Sarah and feeling we are depriving the girls of Paris' culinary treats, we have reservations at Le Dome tonight. Last night it was about 9:00 when we started thinking about dinner and it was raining and outside was not too inviting. Emily and I went across the street to a new Japanese restaurant that we hadn't see before, thinking we could take in, but the cook, owner, host wasn't too keen on that so we headed up to the rue Moufftard area (in the rain) and stopped in at a bakery that was open and bought 2 quiches (salmon and poulet with oninons) and a baguette and an apple tart. That, along with our eggs, cheese and walnut bread from the morning was a terrific dinner at 10:30. What is she complaining about??

It looks rainy out this morning, hopefully it will clear. Today is Sarah's day, but if it is too rainy we may modify her plans of "lunch in the Jardin Luxembourg" and the Ile St. Louis...........Maybe a museum. It is a holiday here in France, so we have to see what's open and what's not. At least Sarah is happy we have dinner plans set!

More later. Maybe I will even try to post some photos.

Hey Everyone! Here we are in Paris, FINALLY on the blog (we couldn't get on the internet, which was a problem!).

Yesterday was kind of uneventful, and you heard about it from Mommy, so I won't go into detail.

Mommy and Daddy came up with a "brilliant" plan that everyone had a day where they picked what they wanted to do.

Emily's day involved (of course) shopping! After walking along, following Mommy and Daddy like blind puppies, we arrived at our destination. It was a bustling street, with TONS of people. The sidewalks were lined with little boutiques and shops. Emily and Mommy explored a few cosmetic shops until Emily decided that she wanted to go to a department store! We arrived at the department store in very little time.

After finally managing to leave the tourist section, we found our way to the bottom level. The bookstore was about ten-fifteen steps away from the teen clothing section, so while Emily dragged Mommy off to the latter, Daddy and I explored the bookstore (both groups had agreed to meet at the entrance to both sections)...

I was upset to discover that the only children books in English were not worth the time! I did, however, happily find some French versions of "Eragon", "Eldest", and the first six translated "Harry Potters". The newest book has not been yet translated, though we did find in British version. They spell 'capitalizing', 'capitalising'! (Sorry Ellen, that was in the last chapter!)

While waiting for Mommy and Emily to arrive at the designated meeting place, Daddy and I shared a DELICIOUS hot chocolate at the cafe, "Wash"(???) We finished it before Mommy or Emily could steal it!

I was a good sport as Mommy and Daddy dragged us around the city (above and below ground), and while Emily rushed into stores. My feet were still screaming as we plopped down on the bus.

With the help of our trusty map and a little old French lady, we arrived home safe and sound (and sleepy!).

Oh great! We're having eggs again, even though I TOLD Mommy I only eat eggs in omlettes. I'm starting to agree with Emily. We're in Paris, home to great food, and all we're having for dinner is bread, cheese, and eggs...

-Sarah

We are back on the grid with our wireless so here is our first entry.
The trip over was great. The easiest I can remember.
AF is the best. Sarah slept almost the number of hours she does at home, but Emily slept none.
The apartment is just as we remembered it and it felt as if we were coming home.

The walked around Rue Mufftard, had crepes (Deb and Sarah) and joined Marc and Em at a greek restaurant where they were having hummus and chicken kabob. The girls wanted some lemonade, so Marc beckoned the waiter and said "lemonada" he looked a bit confused and brought over two cut lemons on a plate. So then we just decided on Orangina instead.
We then found our "flower ice cream" place where the wait is about 30 minutes at any time of day and each cone looks like a flower! Emily had cafe and tart tatin and Sarah had Mango and chocolate. Deb and Marc nibbled both.

While sitting at the Greek restaurant eating, we felt some water dripping....was it raining? The sky was clear and no one had umbrellas out. Then we looked up....that's when we spied the flower boxes overhead. Someone was doing the watering (must have been a femme de menage, not a wife we guess!

Dinner was eggs, breads and cheese later back at the apartment. We managed to stay up until about midnight and woke the next morning at 8am...not bad.

We are reminded that this a very lively area and that the normal waking hours seem to be from about 10am-1am (our hours actually, so I guess that's OK).

Beautiful day today. Few clouds but no rain until now (9pm). Marc ventured out for crossiants and yogurts and fruit. I am feeling grateful for my pre ground Peets coffee.....

Today was Emily's choice, so of course we needed to SHOP. We visited some boutiques in the Marais, and saw the Place des Voges, but then had to get serious, so after a lunch (salads, salmon fumee etc) we headed to Galleries Lafayette. What a zoo. But lucky for all of us (?) they have a "teen section" (conveniently located next to the book section) and Emily bought some fun things (sandals, sunglasses and a pencil case for school). The $ is painfully low and the prices in EUROS just make everything look bad when it really is.

We then took a bus to the Champs Elysee and walked up looking in more expensive stores (I took Emily into Louis Vitton for a reality check). The Arch de Triophe was big and crowded. We couldn't find the Etoile metro stop for some reason, so hopped on a bus going somewhere. When we looked at the map and were trying to figure out how to get back to the 5th two young women tried to help us but gave us and told us to take the metro. We were all overheard by an older (very proper) french woman who spoke NO english, but helped us find a connecting bus (actually took us off the bus and led us to a connecting bus that took us to the Pantheon, near our apartment). Very nice.

Back to the apartment to crash and read the NYT on Deb's blackberry.
Dinner tonight? We are still trying to decide. Stay tuned.