Airline Lurgies and All That Good Stuff!

The day after we arrived back on the boat, and I was outside washing our baby clean of all the green stuff that had grown on her in our absence, I got a headache when I put my head down. It was windy out, and overcast, which was a blessing, and I enjoyed the hard work, but felt a bit off, as you do after flying half way around the world in the opposite direction and have a little bit of Jet Lag.

The following day (Saturday) Waz's sister and friends arrived and we took them to St Simon's Island for a tiki-tour, but I still had the pseudo migraine. I say pseudo because it wasn't THAT bad, but annoying enough to not go away with hydration and rest. Drugs were taken to ease the pain.

Eyes felt funny...just tired, right? hmmm... felt a little stuffy in the sinus...Just airlines, and jet lag...and a bit weary still.  Hmmm....sneezing...a little at first, then that feeling like you KNOW you have a Lurgy! Bah! It is so long since I had a cold of any kind I had to think long and hard about what to do with it...or better still...for it! I now swear by Nyquil Night/Day! They dry you right up...make you feel a bit like a space cadet at the same time, but perhaps that was the lurgy too?

So, four days later, I'm dried up and not sneezing at all... a little stuffy in the sinus and heaviness behind the eyes, but no sneezles...good, right? On the mend!!yayaya!  NOT!

Two days later...COUGH! DRY!  Bah x 2!
So for the next however long we have been home...Since the 8th  Oct...I have been hacking dry coughs, tight sinus and then Waz came down with it too! The two of us had Dr appointments for last Monday 19th, in Jacksonville, so we went and saw to all that stuff...Waz took an hour, and I wondered what was going on, in there. Turns out he has fluid on his lungs and they tell him he is sicker than he thinks. They put him on the nebulizer (he is asthmatic anyway) and waited for his breathing to clear a bit more before releasing him. We then went a long way to buy us a mini nebulizer of our own for the boat. He has made good use of it so far, and the last 24 hrs have seen improvements to both of us. It has taken it's time, and thank goodness we weren't this sick while we were in France! Phew!

So, some good news?? Lets see!

On the 16th, we were feeling ok enough to go with the dock gang for Soul Food and Ribs! This meant we had to go over to St Simon's Island to the Soul Bar-b-q place. There was a line out the door, and we had to make our selections fast. Waz got the half rack of pork ribs and I got the pulled port sandwich without the bread.


Our fun dock mates from L-R...Brent and then his lovely wife Susan, George and Tam, and Tam's hubby Craig, and then Waz and lastly, Georges wife Mary. They are all just a bunch of Old Hippies!:) I guess they look like it. George and Craig have SO FAR managed to side step my offers of free haircuts for their rather piddling pony tails. Craig in particular is trying to grow enough hair at the back to comb right over the gap on the front...or so he tells me... Good luck there Craig, lol.

There were a few tables inside, but those were full, and though we were sitting right next to the parked cars, it didn't seem to matter much. We took George and Mary in our car and went off in search of ic-cream, which Brent said he HAD to have, and then said NO...so we left the others and went our own way...in search of the Ice-Cream, and we knew exactly where, on SSI (St Simon's Island) to go for it.

George and Mary had not been to the Island before, so we gave them a tiki-tour in the waning light, ending up at The Cow, a little hole in the wall Ice-cream parlor in the Old Town, that makes all it's own ice-cream, with some interesting flavors...including Bacon! We tried it, but decided to go with something else. Waz had a Georgia Peach and something else, which was divine and I had salted caramel and something else, which was to die for. I'm now writing this blog on the 28th, so my memory is a bit dull when it is now so far down the line.

Soooo...all good things come to an end at some stage, right??? Well, this one wasn't on the agenda, unfortunately, and I didn't see it coming, though we had our doubts as to how long the fabric would last out in the sun and sea air. The Olefin fabric has been widely used on the boat for fender covers and seat covers, but they don't get quite the workout the dinghy cover gets.
This is what the dinghy cover looked like when Waz put it back on the Dinghy. Hmmm....the blue color comes off on our fingers and the fabric is just shredding. We thought it would stand up to the sun and salt much better than this. It is almost exactly a year old!

Only one thing for it....replace it. We have to have the dinghy covered, and my sewing machine doesn't like sewing Sunbrella fabric, which is the best choice for such things, apparently, so Waz spent a long time online trying to find a cover that would fit not just the dinghy, but the dinghy with the engine on it. These are somewhat hard to come by in the right size, and when it arrived, having found the appropriate cover, we had some doubts that it was indeed the right one. For a start, the straps that go underneath the dinghy were on the inside going out. Because we cant get to the outside of the dinghy, they were useless like that. Off they came, and off to West Marine we went to buy some marine grade webbing to sew new ones on. But wait? we already have marine grade webbing straps on the old cover, and they are perfectly good! yay! So, off the old one and onto the new one, and while I had the sewing machine out, we sewed one on in the middle as well, so the cover is well and truly not going anywhere! Problem solved. The new fabric is sturdy and much better quality than we anticipated. Let's hope it lasts more than a year!

While the machine was out, and we had purchased new webbing, we thought to replace the webbing on the straps that keep the back curtain tied down. The webbing that was now falling apart on those, we had purchased from JoAnn's fabrics, and it was definitely inferior quality. You live and learn!

Everything ship shape, I decided to scrub the back and two side curtains while I was at it. We had discovered a Clorox product (spray bottle) that cleans mold of pretty much anything! It sure does, and the curtains are now all clean and mold-free.

The Eisenglas is almost all clean, on the fly deck, with only the front windows to clean, now. I will do those this weekend, because there is little use in cleaning them now and have to clean them again just before we set sail on the 4th November.

This last weekend...Sunday, to be exact...my, how time flies! (Today is Wednesday!) Rhonda, Waz Susan, Donna and I went out for brunch to the Coastal Kitchen at Morning Star Marina on Lanier Island, just across the Causeway on the way to St Simon's Island. Rhonda and her hubby Bruce have been here all summer...she is the Social Calendar queen!, and Susan and her hubby David are boat owners and dock residents (sometimes) living in Cincinnati. We thoroughly enjoy their company when they fly in. Donna and Susan have been best friends for 30 years, and were enjoying a weekend without the menfolk. Waz enjoyed the attention and the wit and conversation, even though he doesn't look too happy in this photo. Rhonda was trying to give him bunny ears!:) She is just a bit of a girl!:)

Waz, Rhonda, Donna and Susan...not mentioning the excellent waitress on a very busy morning.

The girls were drinking Mimosa's to our coffee, and then Susan ordered the best looking  Bloody Mary I have ever seen...shrimp and all! in a Jam Jar, which is the latest craze, apparently.

 We left just as the band was getting off to a good start after a delay due to rain, but the girls stayed to listen for a bit.

Waz and I went for a quick stroll down the walkway to take a look at the Marina. They have a few live-aboards here, but nothing like the population over at Brunswick Landing where we all are.

 Susan and Donna didn't have the quite girl's weekend that they had planned. They arrived at the boat, a Carver 53, to find that they (David and Susan)  had not turned off the water pump before they left the boat last time, and over the course of 6 weeks, it had dripped a significant amount of water to cause flooding throughout the galley and salon. The wooden floor in the galley cupped and had to be pulled out, and the salon carpet was drenched, and they removed the sodden underlay. The two of them managed to dry out the carpet, over the next few days, so that the boat was dry when they left it this morning. Not a fun trip!

I forgot....while the sewing machine was out, I also though to replace all the plastic anti-bird flags on the boat. The second lot of flags didn't last as long as the first, and we thought to replace the plastic with rip-stop nylon fabric. If you cut it on the bias, as I did, it wont fray...so they tell you.

I chose Orange, lime green, blue and purple for the new flags and sewed twice as many as the previous flags. I figured this would work better ...??? Maybe! Jury is still out on that one!

Apparently there were three super tides while we were in France. We didn't know about this until we got back, and in the past three days, we have had the same. This is a sight to see.

 and is not just a *little* freaky! There is almost no definition of the area, and it would be very tempting, if you didn't have a chart, to veer off into the marsh!

This is what the marsh  NORMALLY looks like at High Tide.....below.

 

There will be another Super Tide in the morning.

 

Around 11am tomorrow, we have to go down the dock  and help JC, on the Moxie 61 Cat, leave the dock. He is heading south to the Ft Lauderdale boat show. The boat is for sale...$2.9 mil.

 

She is a unique craft built for racing. An all carbon fiber hull.  She is a big girl, as you can see here with Waz standing next to her port side.

He told us earlier today that he has been the Captain of this vessel for 4 yrs, and hasn't seen the owner for the past 3 yrs. Being a Captain of a private vessel (that isn't chartered) can be a lonely life.

 

There isn't much room for him to manoeuvre, where he is, so all hands will be on the dock, I imagine.

 

The boat is a mess. We have our new outdoor seats piled high in the VIP cabin up front, our suitcases still in the pilot house...they have to go under the VIP bed, which is pile high....you get the picture...and no show of that changing any time soon.

 

 

We are going down to Jacksonville (Jax) for all my pre-operation 'stuff' early next week, and then we too will be casting off the lines for the two day journey down to Jacksonville.

 

Life may be a bit hectic when we get there, but we will have more opportunity to put things away once we are settled there.

 

In the meantime, we help others off the dock, say our farewells...mostly fondly, and get on with out lives. We will miss our happy Summer family, but know we will see each other some time somewhere...maybe back here is Brunswick next summer??? Who knows.

 

Ciao for now. Time for a cuppa before turning in.

How NOT to Tow or Raft a Boat that has no Engine.

 This Sail boat has no engine, and they had enlisted four small craft to tow/raft them some way down the coast to St Marys. We came out at 8am, this Wednesday morning, to find this going down, just off the bow of our boat, as you can see. The boat to the left is supposed to be towning (pulling) the yacht. There are two small boats on the starb'd side and the black one on the port side.
We watched in horror as the lead boat wove its way all over the place, while who knew what the other boats were supposed to be doing. IF they had been attached to the yacht properly, they would easily have rafted the yacht to it's new home without much effort. Pushing where necessary.The lead boat was redundant and causing all kinds of issues. Well meaning, no doubt, but we wished there had been someone on board who knew how to do this properly, for their own safetly.

They were headed for the marshes at one stage, and I honestly thought the lead boat was going to plow them through. What a nightmare...they just didn't know it. I guess they got to their destination ok!:)

Making Movies and Sets in Brunswick.

The Restaurant BASIL is being covered by an iron awning....You may or may not remember I told of Waz and I meeting a Movie location scout on the main street, one morning when we were out walking? Well, I guess this is now movie town. Newcastle Street is a Movie set in the making. How exciting, and how good for the old town. It is a Ben Affleck Movie set in the 1920's Florida....never mind that this is Georgia!

When we left town 6 weeks ago, this was a vacant lot, which now sports two buildings.!

 It all looks very authentic.

Fake facades of course make for good movie sets

The local rag....

 We poked our noses in where we weren't supposed to, of course...this is the sign and paint shop for the movie set

Sign designs that will no doubt we on the street soon.

We were told by one of the security guards that it will all be over in three months, and the town will be back to 'normal'..what a pity. It makes such a wonderful difference having buildings where the vacant lot was, and how nice some of the old buildings look with new iron work. I will take some more photos this week as things get finished.

We are seeking to keep some of our fitness, which was established in france We love walking anyway, and enjoyed a long walk this fine Sunday. We will do this every day from now on.

We washed the boat down on Saturday and did some more cleaning  on Sunday. The boat was filthy! Lots of mold...green stuff, and lots of black dust all over her. She really was very dirty, and I wasn't feeling the best suddenly. I had a migraine on Saturday, and again on Sunday. Perhaps I wasn't hydrated enough? It turned out I was brewing for an Airline induced LURGY! Yes, the three to four day incubation period was about correct, and I was running at the nose and feeling achy all over. Oh well, these things happen. To date, Waz has not succumbed, thank goodness.

Ok, I am back to taking lovely sunset photos. We took our coffee up to the top of Dock 15 where we could sit and watch the sun go down...spraying ourselves liberally fist, due to the No-see-ums that come out at dusk.

 

 

 

We sat and drank, and then the train came through. You can see how close the tracks are to the boats in the marina. We all know the train drivers, and we all wave to each other:) Friendly bunch!

Another day done and dusted...jet lag leaving on a train, me thinx

Returning to Normal??

Ok..we know there is no such thing as 'normal', and there certainly isn't for us, but some semblance of NORMAL does exist when you have been away for so long. Isnt it funny how we like our own pillows and beds? Not really...having slept on second rate beds for the past 6 weeks, there was none so good as my own!

Laundry, Food, walking, catching up on people, things, news, tragedies...yes, they happen too....and all that goes with being Boaters and Live-Aboards..and not necessarily in that order.

We did take time to just hang out, after undoing all the bags and stowing what we weren't laundering. We had guests arriving the next day, so we had to have some space in the main walking areas.

Waz's big sister Glenys, her hubby Irv and their friends from Florida were due on Saturday morning. They turned up just after lunch, and we took them over to St Simon's Island and for a Tiki-Tour around the Historical parts of the city of Brunswick. We all ate dinner at Chicken Fil A on St Simon's, before coming back to the boat and saying farewell. Too bad we didn't have more time with them, but they have a schedule while in the USA.

They left as the sun was going down, and were treated to one of the better sunsets we could stage for them:)

 

Let me just go back to our first day home....Jet Lag is a terrible thing, lol....I woke at 2, and then again at 5, so thought there was no point going back to sleep. I got quite a lot done, getting up so early, but of course it was still dark, and now that we have turned the corner from summer into Fall, it is dark until almost 8am, now.

 

I have to say it was lovely to get up and see this sunrise. Such a gentle view out over the marshes ahead of the boat, facing east.

We even found some Kiwi Anchor brand butter, in the Harris Teeter supermarket on St Simon's Island that we have taken to visiting for our comestibles. We didn't like the price, at $3.99 for just 8oz. Daylight robbery. That makes it about $12 NZ per pound! aieee!!1

We have seen many Sea Turtles, but never one that cleans boat hulls. This juvenile was quite a surprise to us, this morning. He was nibbling his way around the giant Cat, at the end of our dock.

 

Friday, late afternoon, we went down for 'normal' drinks and nibbles at the Yacht Club. We all get together, Mon/Wed/Fri, and this Friday night was the 9th birthday celebration of our youngest member, Kieley...a Kiwi kid whose company we have all enjoyed. He is being homeschooled on his parents lovely 54ft Beneteau. The celebration was early because they were to leave the Marina on Tuesday, bound for the British Virgin Islands, or BVI as they are known around here.

Kim, (Dad) has a job to start there, and we are glad they are getting a new opportunity and to sail where they had been planning, and being paid to do it! What more could you ask for?

Saturday morning was not much better than Friday morning. Up at 6am, daylight saw me out with my camera again, rather taken with the light over the Wood Pulp Mill, just over thar!....The smell coming our way was not pleasant though.

I am rather camera happy when it comes to reflections. I love this one!

 ...and this one:)

Walking along to the Yacht Club on Saturday night for Drinks and farewell to the Kiwis and Mark, their crew, I was enamored of the light...and the light stand!

We said Bon Voyage to Kim, Kerry Ann and young Kieley. We have enjoyed many Mexican Train Games with Kieley, and will miss his youthful energy and loving nature. We all got hugs from him! What a sweetheart!

 And so we walked home as the sun was over the horizon...still water, and a glorious sky.

 Who is that? shadows on the boat! 'Untide' is in the background. I have a new 'thing' taking shadow photos of us, now:) Just be warned!

 The end to another day. We are feeling a bit more like earth travelers until the water rocks the boat and then I remember...we live on a boat!:)

On Our Way Back Home

We had set the alarm for around 7am, and put the pot on for tea....there was no kettle, so we had to fill a pot and put it on the brand new Induction stove top. No hardship there!

With tea underway, I slipped our final Parisian Croissants and pain chocolat into the over to warm before heading off to get dressed for the journey back to the USA.

We took our time eating and enjoyed a second cup of tea while relaxing, opening the window to the street to stick our heads out to test the air...too cold? too warm?? what to wear??? as over things?

 Last looks, smells, and finding that the latte wasn't so pleasant because the trash was a day late being picked up! hmmm..... We were to pick our way between trash bins, to Port Royal Metro, which would take us all the way to Charles De Gaulle/Roissey Airport.

Having cleaned the apartment the night before, I managed a few more chores and a final look around prior to walking out the door with everything...minus the umbrella, which we had to leave...we doubted that customs would allow us to take that weapon with us on the plane.

DId I tell you about the Air France Pilot's Strike?? Oh, I didn't?? careless of me!
It was cause for some anxiety the day before..Day 4 of our trip, and the night of Day 3, we had both registered with Delta (our booking was with them, and code shared with Air France) for updates. They would not give us an update until 6 hrs before the flight! eh? We would be on our way to the airport!

Anyhoo....we trusted that their news was good news, and they said our flight was leaving on time, so we went anyway.


Quelle Surprise! to find my favorite Macaron Shop has wheels at the airport!

The shop assistant was very slow and thorough and he took each and every macaron and placed it ever so nicely in the pretty Laduree ( Lar doo ray) box, before coming around the side of the cart to put it in the hands of the purchaser. Service!:)

NOt to be outdone, Fauchon also had a display of Macarons, but not nearly as classy.

WE don't go near Duty Free, no, not even to look....so I took these photos on the fly!
Maxims used to be THE Restaurant to go to, back in the 30's through 50's.

We were a little horrified to discover we were booked on a 747, for the 8 and a half hour flight to Atlanta.

It took forever to board this giant, and the time passed where we should have had the doors closed and been leaving the gate. People really are pushing the boundaries rather with some of their 'carry on' luggage. The airlines should be stricter about their allowances, in our opinion.

Waz always has the window seat, and I usually have an aisle because of my bad hip...easier for me to get out of....but this time I was parked right in between Waz and a very large African American Priest, who put his mailing address down on his inbound reg. card as The Vatican...I just noticed, right?

There she is!

The food was excellent, coming out of Paris. The meal was tasty and we even got a chocolate covered ice-cream bar for a snack 2/3 the way through the flight. Flight crew were excellent and attentive to the infants and parents on board, and we had nothing to complain about...well, who else gives you a complimentary glass of Champagne when you first sit down, in cattle class??

We could all have done with more room...the fellow in front of me put his seat back, effectively cutting off the circulation in my legs, and the screen flickered a lot, so I thought my eyesight was failing, lol.
We endured, as you do, and have never been so happy to get off a flight and find American toilets at the end...dozens of them. We still don't understand how a huge airport like Charles de Gaulle has only three toilet stalls in the Ladies...come on!! and of course, flights land, and the queue is out the door and down the hall! aiee!

So, Atlanta was a welcome sight...only....the first, and VERY FIRST thing we noticed was the number of obscenely obese people everywhere. People walk, bike, scooter everywhere in Paris and in the rest of France too. We saw so few large people, and no children that we remember, who were obese.

NOT a welcome sight. It made us more determined to only choose fresh food form the outside aisles of the supermarkets and lose those extra pounds. Having walked so far, we had already made a good start.

The sun was setting in Atlanta when we arrived, and we were hungry and anxious to walk for a bit, and then sit for a bit...and mostly to walk for a bit more. The only food that looked not too obnoxious to eat was a Pulled Pork Sandwich, and a salad, which we shared. Long distance travel is never fun, and we felt sorry for the 83 yr old woman sitting near to us who had come from Jordan and Israel, through France, to Atlanta, and had an onward connection to San Antonio...She was exhausted, but had really enjoyed her trip. She didn't think it would be her last one either:) Good for her!

We had to wait for about 7.30pm to catch our little bunny hopper plane to Brunswick, which took around 50 minutes. It was with much relief that we found our car waiting in the parking lot and she started first time. Phew!

After gathering our bags, I had to get used to driving an automatic car again. I have since wanted to put my foot on the non-existent clutch...and have to laugh at the memory of all the bunny hops I did when I first got into the VW Polo we hired in France.:)

Home to the very dirty boat. We plonked our bags down in the middle of the salon, and went to bed. It was 4am, France time! We were exhausted. Bed never felt so good, I can tell you.

Reconnecting with people who were taking care of things for us, was fun. My Orchid, which Rhonda had been nurturing was throwing out new leaves, spikes and roots all over the place! heavens, what had she done to make it flourish so?? Lots of love!

It is always a bit of an anti-climax, coming down to earth after a long time away. We have had two long trips this year, and look forward to sitting tight for a while....well, we will be forced to, I'm afraid.

So, I'm going to call it quits here, folks, and wake my snoring husband... for a cup of tea before turning in for the night.

Day 4 in Paris: Montmartre and Dinner Out.

Being rather tired, by this point in time, we didn't rush out, but 9am was pretty good to get out of the apartment.
We had to walk back to Montparnasse Metro Station in order to get all the way to Abbesses, at the bottom of the Butte (Beaut, not but) that is Montmartre. We love walking the back streets first thing in the morning, when restaurants are putting out their chairs, and butchers are sorting their window displays:)

By now we were wearing our rain coats, which were a whole lot easier to carry than our puffy blue jackets.

It is a steep climb up yonder hill. The cobbles are rather hard on the feet, but we set off. As it was time for a Grand Crème (10-ish), we stopped at a café not far from the Metro Station, and were directed to the upstairs room which was petty full of patrons. We waited, and waited, and then decided to not wait any longer and walk out...which we did, climbing all the way to the top of the hill.


Of course I had to stop and take a photo of a display in a Patisserie! Always good to begin the day with one of those....photos, that is!

I seem to not be able to get enough photos of these precious pastries...are they not just divine? I don't want to eat them, just imagine eating them, lol.
Let me go back a moment....

Making our way to Montparnasse Metro station, we passed through some little back streets, where the Rotisserie is out on the side walk! but...no matter! No room inside!

I love these Metro Stations!:) especially the Art Deco ones.

Now this is a Jewish Temple, and very different . Still ornate, and rather beautiful, but definitely different:)

 ok...Moving right along to the bottom of the hill....One of the fountains at the base of Montmartre.

 OOps! a dead end.

City of Paris Heraldry.

Such beauty...and this garden was locked. Private?

Arriving near the top of the hill (Butte) we could see the first of the Sacre Coeur Domes.

We were on the look out for a coffee, having had that first attempt thwarted at the bottom of the hill. I have to say I was both horrified and grateful to find a Starbucks near the top! not this one, below!

We entered, ordered a Tall Café Latte and were happy to discover that American sizes are still the same in this country...larger by far than the average French size...good or bad? In our case, good...except that we then had to queue for the ONE toilet. There was a code to get in, but most people were just holding the door open for the next patron to enter. Thankfully THAT toilet was pleasant! phew!
Per usual, there are street vendors lining the streets on the way to, and all around the Place du Tertre at the top, where the artists of the Impressionist school used to gather.

Some memories from this little restaurant, going back to my visit in 2001.  I seem to remember a lunch here. They serve take away Crepes from the window.

 not here...this is just down a side street...I was trying to find the street I stayed on in 2001.

Voila! There it is!

Looking down the stairs, to the rest of Paris.

 Don't you love the chimney pots! That large disc-like area is the new Les Halles dome. See the previous post for that description.

We didn't indulge....it was really expensive! but it looked fabulous. I'm pretty expert at putting my camera and not my person in through doorways and windows to take photos:)..although I have to say that most vendors are happy to let me take photos...I think they like my delight in the subject matter...it is contagious!

Sacre Coeur has never been one of my favorite Churches. It looks lovely and clean for the most part, now, but there is something lacking....age, perhaps? Is it a bit sterile, after all the glorious decoration on so many other old churches? Could be. It could also be that there are not other buildings this size around it, so it stands there like a pimple on a pumpkin, which I guess is the whole point of building it on this site in the first place.

Gorgeous Bronze doors, and some idiot has to carve his name (has to be a guy, right?) in the bottom of it! aiee!

Stunning!

Have your photo taken with this person who is trying to look like who??? and put money in his tin! Occasionally he sang something vaguely Catholic (what does that sound like???hmmm....get it? Hymn???)

We joined the multitudes in viewing the city from the steps of the Sacre Coeur.

Yes we did eventually get some blue sky and it got rather warm for a bit.

Time to walk down the hill....

...and we found an art gallery with some  interesting art inside, but didn't go there...instead took photos through the window..naughty! This looks like touristville, which is everywhere in Paris. Oh give us the quiet, or relative quiet of the countryside, any day.

We didn't opt for the stairs...there is a limit to what my hip will do, and stairs is one of them. Walking is fine, for the most part, but stairs....nope!

Someone lost their bra on the way down the road!

 I am always interested to see such large trees on someone's roof terrace.

Going up? no, not this time!

I felt the pain for this group of young people, but at least they were young!!
They had a long climb ahead of them.

This is at the bottom station of the Funiculaire, which you can pay to take up or down or both.

A last full shot of the Sacre Coeur, Montmartre...the Mount of Martres.

Again, we opted to walk, rather than Metro, just for the sake that we see so much above ground, and to go underground means we miss all the fun, though we do get a foot rest!
We are walking here in a very ethnic neighborhood. We are in the area known as Pigalle. Pigalle is famous for the Moulin Rouge Night Club where so many artists spent their time and their money, and some of them honed their artistic skills. We are walking east, here, towards the Gare du Nord...though we didn't know it at the time! We were just walking, if you know what I mean.

Obviously another  building has disappeared from beside this one...interesting how the two buildings are held together with steel rods!

Indian, Turks, Armenian were just a few of the ethnicities in this famous neighborhood which we dubbed Weddinghood. This is Rue de Fauborg Poissoniere, and it appeared that every other shop was a tailor shop, a shoe shop and a Wedding Shop. Aieeee!  fancy dresses like you have never seen before!

For the little girls....

Wedding suits for the fellas

Ooh la la! Shoes for the fellas...or girls, if they are that way inclined!

This shoe was obviously a Lemon....or is it that the Lemon is obviously a shoe?

Street food...This man is grilling the corn on a brazier in the shopping cart! novel! but that is how he feeds his family, with the proceeds! 1,00 euro per cob.

We were pretty starving by now, and contemplated going back to the apartment for lunch, but seeing as it was already 1pm, and I could barely walk any further, we decided to stop opposite the Gare du Nord at ....McDonalds! Don't hate us....I have been most rude about Americans only eating at McDonalds wherever they go...well, this was rather a godsend in terms of finances. We were running out of cash, so it was a good place to eat relatively inexpensively.

It was decided to catch the Metro home to Port Royal, from Gare du Nord.  I loved this painting inside the great entry hall where all the trains from other countries stop. Van Gogh features rather a lot in France.

This huge and ornate facaded train station is where all trains from other European countries stop, in Paris. There were lots of Brits getting off their train ...the Chunnel Train, as they call it, just as we walked in.

We walked to the right of this main station, and into the Underground to catch the metro home. I have to say I was very glad to sit down and just relax. There is nothing much to see on the way, other than fellow humans, which can be very interesting too, but it was nice to just kind of chill out.

 We got off at Luxembourg again....and as we turned down the street to go home, there was the afternoon sun hitting the dome on the Eglise Val de Grace. Strangely, we were walking down Rue Val de Grace...no, not strange at all!

 We were staying on Rue Henri Barbusse, and this Luthier's window was opposite our apartment. We were rather intrigued to see this in his window, but loved how he shows all the parts to a Violin. No small task putting them all together so that they sound sweet!

It was lovely to get home around 3pm. What long days we have had, and how lovely it has been. Really, there is never enough time to see ALL of Paris, and there are never enough hours in the day to then spend time exploring the OTHER places that Paris harbors in her bosom...those out of the way beauties that the average tourist never gets to lay eyes on. I have been privileged, over the 4 visits, to see some of them...just a few, and they are tantalizing!

Next time!

This was Waz's first visit to Paris, and indeed, to France. What did he think??

Fabulous! Lets go again!!:)

The two of us had so much fun, saw so much, went to so many different places that we wished we could have spent more time exploring, but that too will have to wait for another time.

We were happy to have the same bed to come back to each night, even if it wasn't the most comfy. It made a huge difference coming home, lighting the fire, enjoying a routine of sorts in the same place. No, this isn't a sign of old age....I did this in my youth, and it was the best way to get to know the people and the places. Fleeting glimpses a country doth not make! Country people are wonderful. Their honesty, openness and wonderful hospitality is second to none. We feel very blessed to have been a small part of their lives, as they were of ours.

For our final night in Paris, we decided to go out for dinner. I have cooked most of the time on our 6 week stay, so this was to be special. How come we hadn't turned left at the top of the street before??

Well, we had always been intent on going right, to catch the tube on Blvd St Michel. Turning left down Blvd du Montparnasse was a whole otherwise undiscovered world for us...and what a shame we left it so long!!!

Once we were home, each night, we had no need to go out again, so we rather missed out on the night life on the Boulevards.

We strolled along, hand in hand, as we do, and of course had to stop at a wonderful Gourmand Chocolate shop......Feast your eyes!

 I am guessing these themed baskets are because it is Fall.

We purchased a few little choccy things, and went right next door to Café St Jacques. At first we sat in the smoking section because we wanted to be near the pavement and see everything that is going on outside, but soon the smoke got to us, and we retired inside...way, inside.

With a glass of wine for moi and a Bier for him, we were offered some marinated Olives, which were lovely to chew on while we contemplated the menu, and made our choices.

I was trying not to be too obvious, taking a photo of the inside of the café...so I rather rushed this one...sorry...a bit blurry!

The outside where we had initially sat, was now filling up with after-work young people and older folks...all with cigarettes, I might add. Phew, do they all smoke??? One would think!

Waz ordered the Duck of the day which was a Compote de Canard, with a bed of pan fried potatoes. No veg..just meat and potatoes...and a basket of baguette. The meat fell off the bone, and was tender and moist, he said.

I ordered the days special which was Cote de Veau,or Veal Cutlet, and Pommes de terre Grille Dauphinois. a very lovely cheesy little stack of sliced potatoes Dauphinois. I got two halves of a very small and slightly green (as you can see) cherry tomato as garnish.  The sauce was superb...kind of a balsamic glaze, and I licked the pot clean with the veal. Yum!

We sat back in most satisfied silence and contemplated whether we might order dessert....but we were full.

Somehow our order for two Grand Crème to finish, got mixed up and we shared one cup. Not to worry...less on the bill! We sound so cheap!lol.

Much satisfied, we strolled home, hand in hand, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells (some very fishy ones!) of the Montparnasse area we were staying in. What a fabulous four days in Paris!

Tomorrow we had to be up and at it, to get to the airport.

Fortunately we had already packed our bags before going out to dinner. The price for dinner??

53,00euros (no tipping!). About $60 US. We had no complaints, so that was worth everything to us:)