God bless the English tongue
We’re about to enter the channel tunnel on a Eurostar train — on our way from Paris to London. The tunnel stretches across the English channel and should take about 20 minutes to cross. Pretty amazing.
Paris was great. (It’s Jamie’s favorite city thus far.) I had been there once before but was excited about being there with Jamie. The city has a great feeling with all the cafes, narrow streets, French people, etc. We were a bit shell shocked by the prices ($7 US for a cup of coffee) but it was a memorable experience nonetheless. We didn’t exactly embrace the French menu, but instead took advantage of some ethnic stuff we haven’t seen at home.
On Thursday, we got Labanese take out and a bottle of wine and went down to the Sienne for a picnic with Josh and Evy (a friend Josh met in Rome). Evy’s a Norwegian studying and living in Paris, so it was fun to hang with a local. We sat on the side of the river and watched the river cruise boats pass by before heading off to a cafe for $14 drinks.
We ended up eating on the banks of the Sienne again last night, but with Turkish takeout and some Kronenborg. Jamie and I stumbled upon a harvest festival on the river, where we were able to sample some wines and desserts.
In all, it was a pretty relaxing four days. We avoided a lot of the touristy stuff (we only saw the Eiffel Tower from a distance) and basically just hung out a lot. We’re pretty sick of eating out, so it was nice to just get some takeout and eat it outside somewhere.
We had hoped to meet up with Doug (my brother in law) this weekend in Paris, but we ended up arriving there a lot earlier in the week. Oh well. Maybe we’ll meet him at Au Bon Pain in the mall when we get home.
Well, we just emerged from the tunnel on the English side. It’ll be nice to speak our own language (sort of) for a little while. Looking forward to dark beers, football and bad exchange rates.
More later …
September 16th, 2006 at 8:51 am
hey tom
have a Bass for me
September 16th, 2006 at 10:24 am
Hi, you world travelers, you,
What a great way to spend a month. From the sound of your reports you’re doing this the way I’d like to some day. Staying away from the touristy stuff and even getting to meet people along the way. I’m sure you’re glad you decided to take a month, but maybe that’s not even enough.
We had a great time with your folks and Dorothy, Arnold and Joy last week. We were tired from all the activity. We went to San Francisco (didn’t have car trouble) and rode cable cars, Lombard St and a few fish restaurants. It was foggy and only half the Golden Gate was there, but it was fun. Then we went to Tahoe and drove all around it, stopping to see the views and listen to Kathi tell us how they would be so much better if we just hiked for five hours to this great spot she knows… Actually, she was really good and didn’t try to organize backpack trips. We stopped at Donner Party memorial on the way. Also went to the train museum, Old Town and Joe’s Crab Shack in Sacramento and attended a 9-11 memorial on the steps of the capitol. Didn’t see Arnold. Your Dad got up on water skis and was pretty happy about it. Not in Sacramento - at Lake of the Pines. The weather was great and so we kayaked and sailed and boated quite a bit. It was a great week and it went really fast.
Now we’re back to work. I’m hoping to finish my latest article on communication challenges between generations in the workplace.
Well, have a great time. Thanks for keeping us up on where you’re going and what you’re doing. It’s almost like being there…well, not really…
Love to you both,
Ed
September 17th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Well, Doug is in Paris without you guys. :( He toured Versailles and enjoyed it.
I hope Jamie is feeling better and you guys are enjoying England. We hope you can go see a futbol game there…Go Manchester United!!! :)
September 17th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
did you go to wagamama?? yummy noodles………..
September 18th, 2006 at 4:14 am
Great flight to Paris - you gotta love exite rows. Landed in Paris on Sat. AM and toured Versailles - pretty cool even with jet lag. Went to a french church on Sunday, didnt understand too much - later in the afternoon went to Trinity International Church - WOW what a church, if the commute to church would not be so expensive I would go to that church!!
After church we hung out in the latin quarter, now that that was great!! We had Middle Eastern Food as well!! Today the meetings start.
Missed you but glad you had a great time!! See ya on the other side of the pond!!
September 18th, 2006 at 6:53 am
So glad you guys are having an awesome time. We’ll be praying for Jamie that she feels better. :-) Can’t wait to see more pictures!