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Day 9: Time to Relax in Burgundy

Today was a travel day and provided some downtime to relax, do laundry, and learn to drive in France. Forget everything you think you know about driving if you choose to do it here. There are rotaries everywhere and very few stop signs, always yield to traffic coming from the right or those on the rotary, and traffic lights are at eye level on the curb rather than above the street. On more than one occasion I have found it necessary to back up so I could see the traffic light. We left Paris Gare de Lyon on time for a one-hour and thirty-six-minute trip to Dijon. We picked up the rental car without a hassle and no pressure to buy the added insurance, which my credit card covers. We then enjoyed lunch near the hotel at Court Paillette, which is a French chain that cooks the food on an open grill in view of the diners. Lunch consisted of burgers for Grace and me, while Kate had a Croque Monsieur that was out of this world! The food was so good, we went back for dinner! I chose the Boeuf M
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Day 8: Versailles

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  Let me start by saying that Versailles is humongous! There is no way to experience all the sights there in a single day, though we bought the passport ticket that includes the palace, the musical gardens, the Trianon Palace, and the Queen's Hamlet (who ever heard of a 'hamlet' bigger than the biggest American houses?). The art above is a diagram of the palace and grounds, which makes the palace itself seem tiny. It is not. All visitors to the palace follow the same path through the exhibits and rooms, which makes for a very congested experience. We ended up skipping the king's bedroom because the wait was very long. We bypassed it in the hall of mirrors and went straight to the queen's chambers. Her bed must have been four feet off the ground! Did she need servants to help her get into it at night? Grace wanted to know why the king and queen had separate bedrooms! Some of the other sights were spectacular and I have posted a few below, though my phone battery was
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Day 7: Paris and the Louvre Museum

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  Yet another gorgeous day in fair Paris. The weather has been comfortable up to now with highs in the low 80s and a mild breeze under brilliant blue skies. That's all going to change this weekend as some kind of inversion layer is moving across Europe. Highs are expected to rise to over 100 degrees in some parts of France. Heat warnings are being issued for the weekend. Having lived in Florida for the past five years, that seems mild. But...many places here have no air conditioning or very weak systems (you know, energy efficiency and all). Almost all cafes and restaurants are open-air with seating on the sidewalk in front of the cafe.   In the morning, we wasted a few hours traveling to Gare du Nord to try and get Eurostar to put us on a train on the day we were originally booked. No luck and the call center was unhelpful. They sent me back to Eurail, which does not have any contact except email...no response. At this point, we'll cut a day from France and may have to skip Di
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Day 6: Paris (Musee D'Orsay and the Arc De Triomphe)

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  While I have seen the Arc de Triomphe on TV many times, I wasn't prepared for how big it actually is! We took the commuter train (RER A) from our hotel after dinner to visit the Arc and the Champs Elysees and we were not disappointed. We did not climb the Arc but noticed that many people did as we could see a number of them peering over the top down the street. It is an amazing site that I hope we do visit on a future trip and make the trip to the top. Backing up, we spent the morning at the Musee D'Orsay. We purchased timed entry tickets for 10:30 AM but were directed to the 10:00 AM line when we arrived and we were admitted at about 10:05 AM. Strolling into the museum we were guided to the elevator at the far end of the first floor and told to begin on floor five, the Impressionist Gallery. Walking in, we were greeted by wall after wall of paintings by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, and other masters from that era. Water Lillies (Monet) The Portrait of the Artis
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Day 5: Monet's Gardens in Giverny

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  Giverny is a small village about an hour west of Paris. It is where the artist Claude Monet (1840-1926) lived and worked for most of the last 40 years of his life. He was instrumental in the impressionist movement that dominated the art world in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The photo above is of the lily pond at his house where his most famous paintings originated. Most of them prominently feature the water lillies and the bridge in the background. The photo was taken from the other bridge crossing the lily pond. The one below features two boats similar to those that appear in some of Monet's paintings. Getting to Giverny from Paris is easy, whether by car or train. There are also guided tours that originate in Paris for those who are not independent travelers. We chose to take the train to visit Monet's Gardens . The train departed from Paris Gare St. Lazare at 10:11 AM and made one stop prior to arriving in Vernon, Normandy, at 11:03 AM. From the tr
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Day 4: Brussels to Paris

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  We have had a few interesting days in Belgium enjoying everything from history to fine food and great beer. Oh, and all that chocolate! How do these people stay so thin? There is a chocolatier on almost every corner. Sometimes they are next to each other. Between those shops and the ubiquitous patisseries and boulangeries, I found myself wishing for simple amenities like that in America. Plus, the chocolates and pastries are much cheaper here than in the states. For about three dollars, I purchased twice as much delicious, handmade chocolate as I can at a chocolate store in the Orlando area. Starting each day with a pain au chocolat  or a croissant for about a buck seemed reasonable to me. The photo above is of the Starbucks next to our hotel in Brussels. It was taken on Sunday morning around 8:00 AM. The store didn't open until 10:00 AM. After the usual breakfast, we packed up and headed for the Brussels Gare du Midi/Zuid , which is the south station in the center of Brussels. T
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Day 3: Bruges!

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  Our third day in Europe featured a day trip from Brussels to Bruges. Travel is quick and easy here. Trains run frequently from Brussels major rail stations to Bruges, sometimes as little as 20 minutes apart. The trip took about one hour and eighteen minutes from Brussels North station. We boarded there since it is just two blocks from our hotel. That was a good choice because the train was standing room only by the time we got to Brussels South station. Just before boarding, we grabbed some croissants and a cappuccino for the journey. There were plenty of cafes and restaurants at the station to choose from.  Upon arrival in Bruges, we chose to take the bus from the station to the centrum area near the main square. Once there, we decided to do a city tour by open-air van. The driver pointed out all the major sites with some commentary about a few important ones. After the tour, we lunched on the main square despite being warned by the driver not to unless we wanted to pay way too much
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