I am at CDG airport in Paris standing by for my seat assignment.  Place is empty at the moment.  Raining and overcast out today.  Would have been an icky day to sightsee.  Glad yesterday was sunny at least.  Anyway, took a couple of trains to get here this morning.  Had a nice breakfast and hopefully get business to eat good on the way home.  I only have a few minutes of wifi.  I should arrive in ATL about 9pm tonight.  Strange not to have to get up so early this morning.  So I will write more when I can....

I have been all over the city today. Taking the open air double decker bus and freezing. My legs ache a little and decided to view the remaining wing in the Louvre. Its warm in here and I can just sit and relax. I can hear echoes of people talking in the giant hall I am in. It has sculptures that date back thousands of years. Most everything is in French. I can at least make out the dates :)

It feels good to be warm and sit for a bit. No wifi here so I will just update until I can publish.  Called it tonight around 6pm.  I could not take it anymore.  My feet are tired and I think a blister formed.  I got to see a lot of stuff today.  So cool to just sit at a coffee shop and look out at the people walking by.  It is so fantastic to be able to do this.  Thank you Bronda for allowing me to live out a dream......

I wandered the streets today endlessly.  The sun was out most of the day, but the temps were in the 40's.  It made it easy to duck into a shop or a pub to get warm.  I finally figured out the trains today.  It is really a very easy system.  People just walk thru the tubes to get to the next train.  Like cattle into a truck.  Some of the cars on these trains are piss smelling.  I am sure bums hang out in them, nasty :(

Other cars are very modern and clean.  Once you get on the train, I look at the routing and view the next station.  I have gotten on the wrong train and had to get off at the next stop.  Stupid stupid....

This morning I bought a ticket on an open air tour bus.  Spent the morning shivering, but got some great pix.  I got off at the Musee de'Orsey stop.  Found out its closed on Monday.  Bummer.  So back on the bus.  Made it up to the Arc de Triumph.  Once I got out I realized the battery on my phone was going dead.  Did not get many pix of the main street Champs Elysees.  Too bad.  Funny thing just happened.  In the backgrd is the tv on just for noise.  Its the tv show Castle.  Only thing on in English.  Right in the middle of them talking, the dialect went to French.  Unbelievable.  Crazy to do that in the middle of a show.  Subtitles are still in French  :)

I was really tired and wanted a nice place to eat tonight.  Some that looked inviting were not opening for dinner till 7.  I did not want to wait.  Stopped at a very cool place.  Windows all around the street looking at the traffic and walkers.  Had a chicken meal with a glass of wine.  Almost got the gluwein.  Its a hot wine.  I just decided to skip it.  I hobbled on back to the room.  Legs are too tired to move.

I think I will pack a little to organize.  Good thing I washed some socks and skivvies.  Ah fresh skivvies!  I do believe some of them will be trashed.  :0

This is tricky to write.  I have used the recorder on my phone to help visualize for later along with the pix.  I think back to review the day and constantly forget something.  A mind is a terrible thing....

I will try and put something together that sums up the entire trip when I get home or maybe on the 12 flt back tomorrow.  I think I took like 500 pix.  I downloaded Daniels and Kens to the pile.  Should be a neat little slide show.  I want to bring out the movies and some music to go with it.  

Well good night for tonight.  Miss everyone a lot.  I will attach more pix.

   

Just a quick update...Had a pastry / coffee breakfast this morning.  Caught one of the many open air upper deck tour busses.  Makes it real easy to get on and off.  Only problem you freeze in the cold air.  Yikes its cold.  Nice sunny day but really cold.  My phone is my camera this trip and it has run down.  In the room charging to hit it again.  I'd like to stop in at one of the many pub restaurants for lunch today.  Sounds like a plan.  This is my last full day in Europe.  I will be heading back over the pond tomorrow evening.  :(  I miss everyone though and its time to go.  I will write when I get back in tonight.  au revoir

Well I made it back to the hotel.  Going out and finding a place to eat in a few minutes.  I hope to get back to the Louvre again tomorrow.  My legs are tired :)   Lots and lots of walking.  I have had a great time so far.  Wish Bronda was here to see it with me.  I will be bringing her back with me next time!!
I am looking into seeing the Versailles Palace tomorrow in the morning.  I hope to get in a run along the Seine in the morning.  Saw loads of people running along there today even though it was raining.
I rode the train back from the Louvre area and had to switch trains to get to the Gare Lyon station.  People just moved like they do this all the time, very hustle and bustle.  Once on the train I usually count the stops and just watch the strangeness of everyone.  I think if you just walk around with a pissed off look, no one even approaches you.  :)
It is very cool just to walk thru the train stations and see the activity.  People just eating and standing up drinking coffee, beer or wines.  The atmosphere and attitude is just so different than anything in the states.  That is what makes you appreciate home so much.  I very much miss Bronda.  Using the FaceTime helps but it is not the same....
It looks like the weather will be better and that is a good thing.  Makes you wonder how all the ancestors lasted with the dreary cold rainy snowy windy weather :)
Till later....

Hope everyone is doing well this weekend.

Ken set off for home today.  We had a nice little breakfast and just watched the people walk by in the rain.  Its strange that the Delta flt did not depart until late in the afternoon.  Some time after 4pm.  No rush, just a leisure day.  Ken took the Metro to CDG airport and I headed south to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  I got see a real mass going on.  It was crowded and people walked in and out of the place while it was all going on.  Kind of like a circus in the background with all the visitors.  I did notice that they have some kind of a walk to the top, but did not see where to do it.  Maybe try tomorrow with better weather.  I just walked along the Seine river and let it rain.  Observation boats went up and down the river.  Water is pretty nasty, but the views :)

I headed over towards the Louvre.  Found a real Irish Pub.  No Yellow Monkey :)

The Louvre is huge.  Took like 15 mins to reach the glass enclosure we all saw on the movie the Da Vinci Code.  That is the way you descend into the Museum.  Place is massive.  Once inside you go to different wings.  I was very turned around.  Got to see the Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo, pharrohs tombs and countless other paintings.   I wandered down a hallway and found that part of the movie where the red rose line to the upside down glass triangle ends.  That is actually a mall entrance.  The Apple store is right there.  Too funny.  I ended up over at the Starbuck's writing this.  Very relaxing and I can blog a little.  A little unique to be here totally by yourself.  I am a long way away from the hotel at the moment.  I will be taking the Metro back and transfer once to get there.  People are out everywhere and its still busy out.  I will publish this and write some more after dinner.

au revoir

Leaving Nice was hard to do.  The city is so picturesque that there is no wonder the rich and famous go there.  If I had to live in France that would be the place.  Ken and I decided to skip the airport easy way to get back to Paris, so the bullet train sounded cooler.  The schedule on line had a 9:30 something departure out of Nice and 3:15 into Paris.  We shot for that one and got the upper deck.  The train left off of track A and actually departed on time.  This isn't Swiss Railway.... :)

This train headed west and followed the Med.  Through the towns of Cannes, St. Tropez and Marseilles.  It was built along the cliffs so tunnels where the normal scenery.  I had hoped to get pix out the window, but the sun glare was pretty intense.  I will attach some pix anyway.  This train was kind of meandering its way for the first hour with a few key stops.  Once we turned and headed north toward Paris this train accelerated faster and faster.  We skirted the highways a few times and blew away the cars.  I know from driving all that way, we must be doing 220+ kilometers and hour.  Wow, smooth as can be, plus a bar  car.  I was hoping for some switchbacks up in the mountains, but I guess France has some huge valleys that cut right through the country.  You could tell the temps outside got colder and colder as  you proceeded north.  Finally the snow and we zipped into the Lyon Paris station.  People were  everywhere and we needed to find a hotel.  Our dinner last night was at the Yellow Mad Monkey.  Frances version of an Irish Pub.  Place was set up like Jimmy Buffet restaurant.  It was some normal food at least.  Digestive system needs some help.  Remember the tp here is little sheets.....very tricky, if you catch my drift.  :)
Will write more in the morning.  Heading off to the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral after breakfast.