We got Reamed in France

Well really we got champagned in Reims.  We took a side trip from Paris to Reims, the capital of champagne and bubbly good living. The arrival was a bit stormy with constant showers and an Airbnb owner who kept pushing out the time of our arrive.  Picture us sitting on her doorstep, melting in the constant wet patter, only to get a text saying let's meet in another hour.  We went through this 3 times! I was ready to kill Sihame.  Just as I was looking for other accommodations on Booking.com under an archway which was next to a monument for the people mistreated by the Gestopo, Nicholas appears.  He is her charming boyfriend of 2 months.  He took us to a swank bar inside a push hotel for tall glasses for champagne.  He offered us coffee but we strongly urged a bubbly upgrade.

The water and dismal spirit ran from us like water from a duck.  Nicholas is a hospital HR manager at a teaching hospital.  I loved his strong FREEENNNCH accent and his good looks didn't hurt the gals any either.  Eventually our timeless host arrived Sihame.  Her olive skin, smirky smile, excellent English made us all smile.  She is half Moroccan and works for a Cognac and Beer company in their laboratory.  She was testing an experimental beer wort cooking method which caused all the delays.

The apartment was clean, roomy, and just what we needed.  We went out to a nice restaurant  and prepared to wait out the rain.  The next morning was magnificent and eventually a bit warm for us Northwesterners. I think Caro thinks we are crazy always crossing the street to stay in the shade and acting like were on a death march at 85 degrees.  We just followed Caro long strutting steps to Pommery champagne house for a tour that Sihame arranged.  This famous bubble house was run by a woman starting in 1856.  This was in an era where that simply was not done.  But she ran it well caring for the winery and the employees, making it one of the largest champagne houses in Reims.

Our arranged English tour was rather odd.  Our guide was perfectly English, think the butler Carson on Downton Abbey now added a 30% strong French accent.  Yup you got it, another tour where we understood maybe 35% of what was said.  I dropped into camera mode and tuned into the talk on occasion. When the tour was done we each got two smallish glasses of bubbly. Here is the deal, you can spend $100, $50, $25, but here in Reim's it all tastes good.

The next morning we took off early to take in the farmers market and to walk through the cathedral.  In the church we found a free catacomb walk in French in a half an hour.  We waited, and waited, and 35 minutes later a nun/guide pops up and tells everyone in French that the tour is in French.  She looks at us with her evil, red pinprick, Gargoyles eyes and asked Gayle if she could speak French.  "Yes I understand French" timidly replies Gayle.  "Well can you understand rapid French, it is very important in the catacombs", speaks the demon spawn.  Gayle buckled, and the she devil, kicked us out of line.  I should have gotten her picture but I know it would not have worked, there would only have been emptiness.  Oh Van Gogh, I know your troubles friend! (Originally Van Gogh wanted to be a preacher but was kicked out for strange behavior)

Our last day after the market we ran into Sihame and

You Can Buy Anything at the Market

Band that Serenaded us at Coffee

Cathedral

Cathedral

Nicholas, Sihame, and Caroline

The Loser but Good Form

Nicholas in a bar courtyard drinking very expensive champagne.  They told us to join them as they were waiting for friends.  Oh that cool frothy nectar was nice.  We talked and talked and then decided to play boules besides the tables in the courtyard.  Gayle lost, Nicholas won, we all won.  This was our time in Reims!

So Many Visitors, So Much Fun

I am way overdue for a blog post. It truly not that were sitting around our little apartment watching

cars and people whip by.  We are just out and about, savoring each moment with people we love.  Jenny and Basti from Marbourg left 4 days ago. Poor Basti had a nasty cold and was coughing and sneezing and probably feeling like death warmed over.  If I get his cold I am going to make him feel worse.  Ha.

But the cold didn't keep him down and we kept him fueled up with Bordeaux and Beer's.  On one of our days, I contacted a retired school teacher to take us on a tour of the Luxembourg gardens and the historic area nearby.  Martine was really special but her accent was as thick as a brick.  It was English but really sounded more like FinGlish. We did learn about 25 percent of what she said.

On another day we toured the main sightseeing sights, Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triumphe, Notre Dame

and the Sacre Coreur to name a few. I think all of the people and all the rush, rush, was making Basti crazy especially in his cold induced haze.   Our last day we spent relaxed walking trip in our favorite park, Parc des Buttes.  It is a park that was design to imitate nature.  Of course it was built over a mountain of trash, toxic wastes, horse entrails, and it was the ideal spot for local hangings.  It's lovely just keep the history in the past.

Walking back from our the parc, we stopped at a Brasserie.  Two guys run the place and they were precious. We tried to ask for our bill at the end in nearly perfect french.  Our waiter called out to the

bartender that he needed the "Biiiillllll"  He was teasing us of course.  I asked him if he knew how to speak German.  He said he knows "I Love You" and they other one was a curse word.  Basti feel he could go far with those two!

Below are just some of our candid moments we spent on our last days walking about.

Lazy Drunk Man Walk

I am having a considerable difficulty keeping up with my blogging these days.  Too many fun balls tossed into the air at one time.  Right now we have Caroline and Jenny and Basti visiting us.  Yesterday we went on a free walking tour with Martine a retired teacher here in Paris.  She has an interesting story.  A number ofT years ago she had cancer. The doctors started treatment and told her she must stop teaching as she is susceptible to infections.  They gave her a "make work" job of grading papers which she hated.  After the treatment they told her she could continue grading, or retire early, regardless she only had a short time to live.  She said screw this, retired and started guiding people from across the globe. Now the doctors say she will live a long life but sadly by retiring early she has little money.

She took us on an interesting heavily accented tour of  the Port Royal and Luxembourg garden area.  One of the statues we saw represented the 4 phases of the day.  In each statue the man is lounging

around rather helpless, while the woman feeds and nurtures him.  The man in the statue was created by using a real model while the woman is always a representation of the ultimate female.  In the last statue the woman is finally dressed and lays tiredly wrapped around the man's legs.  "Let go to bed, I am so tired", she says, but naked and proud he wants to go out and party.  Shown here is the morning scene.

Below are some photos of our walk through the gardens and the streets of Paris.  You will see one photo of a poem written by a famous French poet.  One night he stole into the tower of a building and got totally drunk.  While up there, he wrote this poem backwards.  The French so loved the piece they plastered it on a wall across from the tower.

Wandering about and still standing

We had two main thrusts in today's adventures. Get food and drink for the pantry and frig, feed

ourselves, and feed the iPhone a new sim card.  We have good news, we succeeded in all three.  Here is the scoop on shopping in Paris.  Number one, if you want cereal your only going to find two dozen kinds and 1/3 of those are special K.  Secondly if you want peanut butter there was a jar of something that looked like PB but the label just mentioned vegetable protein.  Then there was one jar of "Genuine American" peanut butter from an unknown brand since 1865.

Being predominately a chicken eater, we found both Good chicken and Ass chicken to choose from.

No surprise to you, we opted vegetarian falafels.  I am surprised they weren't named Foot Flafels, or Butt Cheek gyros. One of the aspects of Paris (AKA not Sequim) we love is the diversity. We found a little park in the Jewish section of the city and on the right was a Jewish couple, the left 4 Arab men, and directly across a young blonde euro type with heart sunglasses, sun bathing while reading a book on French Food naming techniques. Did I mention the 4 camo'd military soldiers outside one building with automatic weapons.  I think they were watching the gal with the heart shaped sunglasses.

I've included a photo of Gayle ready to devour two amazing falafels from Chez Hanna self proclaimed "Best Falafel in the World".

After we ate ran across the most amazing Roach Coach eating establishment we have ever seen.  Why be outside in the the City of Light and Love when

you can be indoors, sheltered from all the crazed lovers.  Note the young boy with that dazed look in his eyes.  Wait till you reach puberty buster!

Once again, the city of diversity and surprises awaiting each step.  Tomorrow we check out Jenny and Basti's Airbnb, and have a relaxing picnic in one of Paris' many parks. Think Central Park in New York only replicate it in 5 separate areas each with it's own theme.  And who knows what kind of Butt Chicken we might run into tomorrow.

We made it in good shape to Paris. The apartment is very nice and considerably roomier then Merilee's old unit.  The neighborhood is not some place you want to hang around. A bit noisy and slightly shabby. Of course it is where real people live and that makes it interesting.  It is weird seeing so many small boutique type shops closed. Most Parisians leave in August for holiday but come September they will be open.  When we arrived Megan was here to greet and welcome us.  She was a sight for tired red eyes. She even helped us get our bus/metro/train pass for the remainder of the week.  One funny thought. On our first leg from Seattle to Iceland, nearly all the business class fliers were seriously over weight. Could this be the blessing and curse of those with a full economic cup of plenty. The second leg from Iceland to Paris the travelers were a great deal trimmer.  Tomorrow evening Jenny and Basti arrive plus we have a meeting with Marilee, and finally a meet and greet with Jenny's Airbnb owners. Also, we have to try and get a SIM card with a phone number and Internet access. Yikes, can we do it without being ripped off? I am prepared  now, no Puk number no euros and I can put my own nano sim in, mercy very much!

I have updated this blog, Wednesday at 5:06  am, Bob normal time. The fog of flight has lifted and everything already seems cheerier, brighter with the slow rhythmic breathing of Gayle beside me. Keep in mind it 5am, steel shutters closed, and black as a witches cat. All is well in the world!

Megan and Company

Almost gone but wishing we were

Lots of stress around the Selby ranch.  You know this part, when you wished you had never planned

such a trip or you wish you were just there. Poor Gayle is is doing most of the work.  I've been tidying up getting the house prepared for Marilyn and Kimball. I've thought about seeing if some of our friends would like to join us for a dinner out but I don't know if we have the time. By the time we know it will be too late.  Ahh, that is life isn't it. At lunch we watched a video narrated by us of our trip to Paris 10 years ago.  We actually learned something about places to re-see and re-experience. We're actually planning two outings with Jenny and Basti when they visit two days after we arrive. Gotta go, Gayle wants help setting up her blog. Can you relax in Paris? I certainly hope so!

One week and our journey begins

We are one week away from moving from Sequim to Paris.  Naturally, we are in that stage of g readiness when it seem like all work and no play.  Why, oh why, did we decide to do this.  Did we take stupid pills when this decision was made. Plus we have to get our home ready for long term guests.

But in the back of our mind, the obscure part of our heart, we know that we are in for the time of our life.  First we get to see many of our favorite young people from Germany and New Zealand.  We might venture to London to renew our friendship spawned in Kiwi land with our English friends.  Great food, beautiful sights, fine wine, and mysteries uncovered await us.  Now I am not foolish to believe there won't be some tests along the way.  Pushy pedestrians, communication failures, heat, cold, and rain are all in our future and yet we embark anyways.  Did I mention stupid pills, I will be sure and take them just before boarding our flight.