Home At Last!!!

Vive La France ! but Oh, my goodness it's good to be home. Despite several gate changes at the airport it was thankfully a very uneventful trip home. The cutest little 6 year old was waiting for me at the airport with a huge sign and has been attached to my hip ever since. I have been told not to go away again.

What an experience. Such beautiful sights. Such great food. And yes, such nice people. I have learned a lot about myself on this trip (good and bad). I would also like to think that France is a little better for having two (sweet and) crazy Americans there for a few days this summer.

Held Hostage On A Double Decker Tour Bus

Today was the day that we would see Paris via Tour Bus. We had discussed it the night before and I told Genvieve we need to get to the bus stand early because all the good seats are taken, which are on top, if you are not there on time. So off we go and the bus stops and we pile on and find two great seats on top up front. Great! NOT, were on the wrong bus tour. We are on the Blue one that only goes around fora short loop. Well I'm not giving up my perfect seat because Genvieve cannot tell Blue from Green. By God we'll see everything Paris has to offer.



So we made the loop, 1 hour, came full circle and exited from the Blue bus and waited eagerly for the Green bus to take us to all the spots we had heard of or read about. Well here it comes and we board, not so lucky this time. All the top seats were taken and to make matters worse the bottom ones that we were forced to sit in, the earphone slots were not working and we could not hear what was going on and only able to see eye level. Everyone on the bottom was vying for the seats on top, people were standing in the stairwell ready to pounce on the vacant ones when someone would exit to see that particular sight more closely. Jennifer would wait patiently and not be forceful at all, this was against every fiber in my body and I had to refrain from pushing her and anyone else that would get in my way to wait for the next vacancy. She must have felt what I was thinking, and not wanting to see a slightly deranged grandmother of 10 and mother of 5,because she got up and told me in her school teacher voice she was going up on the stairwell and I should not move til she motioned to me when it was time to follow her.

I sat and waited for the signal, at last it came and I hauled buns up the stairs. You guessed it we had seats at the back of the bus and the earphones did not work. Genvieve seeing my disappointment said a lot of the people will get off at the Eiffell tower site and we can get seats up front then. Okay, I could take some pics now and then get the good ones later on after the Eiffell tower. Well it was as if everyones rear ends were glued to their seats and did not move.

I told Genvieve to get comfortable because we were riding to the end and then coming back again to hear and see all the sights we had missed because of our earphones. She was such a good sport, since I had threatened to tell all the passengers what I thought about having all their heads and arms in my otherwise perfect pictures. It was a beautiful day

P.S. Yes I do have great pics, just wanted to share some of the "gems" with you. Ah Revore! Ahn.

Attention: France is Out of Crepes

I think I'm gonna burst! You don't think you can eat anything else and then you walk past that little creperie stand and it all smells and looks so good, they suck me in every time. I've had banana, banana and chocolate, stawberry, butter and sugar, and my personal favorite - Nutella. Now if you're not familiar with Nutella, I will wait here while you go to HEB and get a jar. It's better than chocolate - it's a creamy chocolately hazelnut gooey yummy spread. It's by the peanut butter.

Are you back yet? Ok now imagine that spread on a warm crepe and folded so gingerly and handed to you with a smile and a "bon appetit". Who can resist? Not I, apparently. Is it wrong that they gave me a frequent buyers card at the one by our hotel?? Won't they feel an economic let down when I get on the plane tomorrow?

Oh yeah, we did all the Paris stuff today too. Eiffel tower, Champs Elyses, Arc de Triomphe, blah, blah, blah..

Crepes - my Kryptonite

An American in Paris (subtitle: Is it time to go home yet?)

Just a quick note on what Genvieve had to say about The "Psycho" scene. If I had not taken precautions everybody would be singing a different song now.

We have arrived in Paris. What a city!!! Take Houston and New York double them and call it Paris. I have never seen so many cars, bicycles, motorcycles, taxis and pedestrians vying for the same piece of asphalt. These people are territorial. I now know why they drink so much wine.

Today after we unloaded our bags in the room we took off to see the city. Went to see the Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame and the River Seine. We must have walked 5 miles.

And then we walked another 5 trying to find our way back to the hotel.

We made it back and then when out to eat dinner. Decided on Italian and it was great. We had a sidewalk table but then it got so cold they had to turn the large portable heaters on. Tomorrow we are taking a bus tour of the city. Am enclosing some scenes from the city.

Bon Jour Ahn

I'm Traveling with MacGyver

It is my opinion that as people get older, they develop a strong sense of paranoia and cynicism. I would like to offer my mother up as one of these people. Let me make my case…

We had just finished the most lovely of dinners at our little hotel in Sentheim. This hotel is owned by a very sweet couple. The husband manages the hotel and restaurant and the wife is the chef. He was so accommodating to us and we chatted a while earlier in the afternoon. He brought us a special dessert and was very attentive to our needs. After dinner we went back upstairs to get packed for our journey to Paris today and finally settled in to bed to snuggle as we were left with but one bed in the micro-room. It’s late – about midnight or so – lights out and we are trying to wind down from the day. My internal clock is still out of whack and I am wide awake. As the window to our room on the second floor opens to the parking lot, I can hear people leaving the restaurant and driving away. I decide to look out the window to check on the situation. I discover that we are the only patrons of the hotel that evening and tell mom . The only other car in the lot must be the owner’s.
Well, you have never seen a 70 year old woman spring to action so quickly - I thought she was moving fast in the train station. Before I knew it a chair and 2 suitcases were wedged against the already locked door. I pointed this out to her. “They have a key!” was her response. “This should slow them down. By the time they get through the door, we can be out the window.” I sat there in awe and amazement. I thought she was protecting us from strangers , but alas no, she was protecting us from Norman Bates and his lovely wife. This is the same couple who would have breakfast waiting for us the next morning so we would have something to eat before we left today in spite of the fact that their restaurant is closed on Monday.

Mom will say she did the right thing because “See, we weren’t attacked last night; were we?” I guess we’ll never know what could have happened if the door were not barricaded so skillfully.

Thank you dear mother for protecting us. Paranoia? You be the judge…

On the Road Again..

We set out this morning for Sentheim after a quick breakfast of every croissant type thing we could find. Got checked out of the hotel in Colmar - so fabulous to us. Here is a picture of the hotel dog. He just hangs out in the lobby waiting for people to love him.

With detailed notes about where we left the car this time, it took us only moments to locate it! Much less stress this time. Loaded with maps and a sense of confidence and adventure on the road we headed for Sentheim - the mother country. Mom's great grandfather came from this town before he adventurously brought his family on a boat out of Strasbourg to Galveston eventually making their way to the Alsatian settlement of Castroville (west of San Antonio). We were here for the reunion. There is actually no one here we are visiting - she just wanted to get a feel for the town and possibly do a little research.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I have left out the part where we get totally lost and start to freak out just un tout petit peu. You see it's time for another shout out to my TXDOT homies. Maps and all are great IF there are clear markers on the actual roads. Somehow we ended up on a toll highway -let the freak out begin. This went on forever with no chance of a turn around for miles. When we reached the toll plaza, luckilly everyone stops to pay. I had visions of the Texas toll system where you have to have a TxTag like thing on your car to get through. When we got to the toll taker lady, I pretty much wanted to hand her my purse and say just give me back what you don't need. However, I gained my composure and actually got out some money and we were on our way to Who The Hell Know's Where? After a quck tour (69 seconds) of the MINUTE town of Belfort, we managed to get turned around and headed back to - you guessed it - the toll plaza. This time armed with exact change - like a local - we passed through once more. Crazy American drivers. After a hunch on an exit, eventually got headed in the right directon once more. When we saw the name of the town Guewenheim, clearly we were close, right? Sentheim had to be just moments away. For once we were right. As we rolled into town (if you blink you miss it) and found the hotel, we parked in the lot and took a moment to hold each other and unclench MANY parts.

Once we had gained our composure, we entered the hotel. For those of you who haven't heard the story, this is the hotel where they ONLY had my first name for the reservation and NO OTHER information. The inn keeper took one look at me and said in his too cute accent "Jennifer?". I said "Mais, oui! ". After I pet this hotel's dog, he led us up 2 flights of stairs to room number 1 and we got situated in the smallest but cleanest, most efficent use of space hotel room I have ever been in. Maman will continue with the rest of our afternoon...

First off I was planning on eating lunch here since it had been awhile since we had eaten breakfast. Oh
no,mon cher, that was not going to happen. The Innkeeper said the restaurant was closed for lunch and would not open again til 7:00 for dinner, which is 5 hrs. away! Genvieve suggested a walk to take our minds off of food,fat chance. We strolled all two blocks of the town in about 10 minutes. Here are some of the pics I took. The view from our room. Our automobile is on the far right.

This is a stork on its nest! Last but not least our Hotel.

After the grand tour we returned and I inquired of the Innkeeper if perhaps he had any wine on hand. And yes he did, therefore, I did partake. As I sat there and reminisced about the morning I realized we had to get up a lot earlier tomorrow in order to turn the automobile in and once again catch a train, I don't know if I have it in me to get the first seat.

I could only imagine what lays ahead for us on the road to Mulhouse. I love it when Genvieve in all her urgency says quick which way, make a decision, after she has just told me to get money out for the toll that lies ahead, with a map wrapped around my lap and sheets of directions all over the place because none of them have been right! Ah yes, I did tell her but it cannot be posted here! Paris here we come!!!!!

Weather Report for The Jackal

Weather for Saturday, July 19. We have enjoyed beautiful skies, a slight breeze from the SW at about 4 mph, 66 % humidity, and a glorious temperature of 73 degrees. It was perfect weather for a light lunch of quiche, salad, and people watching. We have discovered a new way to spot "the Americans". Check out which way they hold a fork. It's a dead give away - that and jogging in a park.

Motoring to Riquewihr

After the Run/Walk humiliation in the park, we cleaned up and decided to go to the Vin Country.

We asked around and everyone recommended Riquewihr overall. Just a short trip away, 10 miles we found on our way back.

We walked across the street to the underground parking lot to get the car we had parked on Wed. when we got here. The first thing we noticed was, the car was lost. We looked up and down several rows to no avail. Then I remembered there were two entrances to the garage, but we didn't know how to get to the other one. Genvieve and I had a slight discussion as how to do this. It entailed us coming back up the elevator, walking to the other end of the park, Genvieve standing out in the very busy street looking for the other entrance. I figured she needed to do that to redeem herself, since she was the one that parked the car and really didn't believe me when I told her about the other entrance.

So here we are on our way. 30 minutes later we are still on our way it would appear that the circles in the streets were giving us a bit of a problem. Genvieve has become quite the navigator around these intrusions, knowing who will yield and who will not, WELL, I have to tell you not everytime. She took off around one like the proverbial bat, I told her the other 3 cars were not yielding, she said they have to, I said they are right at my door handle, please move, to which she replied I have the right of way, I said not if we are dead. She made it around the circle with horns blaring and much rubber burning.

We made it to Riquewihr and I was looking for a bar! The place is covered in wine cellars and hanging baskets. We walked around for a respectful time before we looked for a place to dine,as we had not had breakfast. Around 11:30 we ordered lunch and a carafe of " Gewurztraminer"
our new best friend. Well let me tell you, you may think Genvieve does not drink much, think again. I was enjoying my first glass when I looked at the carafe and it was half gone, Genvieve smiled and said "I may have had some more while you were taking pics" some more is an understatement. Anyway we had a fantastic meal and then we went shopping some more and returned to Colmar to finish out our day.

Elite Athlete Seen in Colmar Park

An observation about one of the MANY differences between the French and Americans. As ma mere et moi went out for a bit of exercise this morning we were so enjoying the beautiful park across the street from the hotel. The pigeons, the fountains, the cool weather, etc.

As I made my 3rd lap around the park, it dawned on me: we are the only two people out here exercising. Oh, there were lots of people in the park, we were just the only two sweating on purpose. You see, they walk EVERYWHERE ( in very fancy shoes, I might add). As they are bundled up in their trenchcoats, I must look half naked in a tank and shorts. I got used to the stares and decided that these people must not run for "fun". They leave that to the real athletes.
I could let myself believe that I gave myself away as a silly American today out for some mandatory exercise - OR I must be an elite runner out for one last jog before I board a plane for Bejing. Guess which one I am choosing??
:)

We are here!

I would like to say one thing about yesterday. After we had showered, etc, it was time for dinner 8:00p. France time. Genvieve didn't want to eat at the hotel because it was too expensive, so we stroll down the streets looking for a place to dine. Every place we saw and she read the menu(because I have no idea what it says)
She would say not here. After several of these I said let's go back to the hotel and see if we can find something light at that restaurant.

Now I must digress for a moment. There were only two people in the hotel when we arrived, the hotel clerk and the other was the restaurant waitress. They saw us a total of 5 times within an hour as we first walked to the hotel to see if this was the one, next parked our car in front of them, unloaded, said bon jour many times.

Sooo when we came back to eat Genvieve said to the waitress who was standing on the sidewalk next to the sidewalk cafe that had not a patron in sight "we're back, we'd like to sit here and order" She quitely walks up to our table and says in all her French accent "Do you have a reservation!!!!!" I could not quit laughing. She was not kidding, but she let us eat anyway.

ENTER DAY 2 :

We get up at a reasonable hour I thought until I find out it's 11:30, half the day is gone and we hadn't eaten breakfast! We got dressed and headed for the centre as the locals know it. Genvieve took her GPS tracker on her watch so we wouldn't get lost. Along the way I kept hearing her mumbling about couldn't get it. Every restaurant we went to she would read the outside menu and say not this one. Well guess what they stop serving at 2:00 & don't open again til dinner around 7. So she had "not this one" outted us for lunch. But, hey, we could have a picnic in the park
that was across the street from our hotel,Okay? Sure you just have to go to one store for the bread, another for the wine, another for Quiche, and oh yes we must have fromagge, and all of the places are far apart. This was from the lady that thought the hotel restaurant was too expensive but we wound up spending 60 euros on our picnic! And all that mumbling I was hearing along the way, it was her GPS tracker couldn't find a sattelite to position on. Yeah, your right we were having a bit of difficulty finding our way back to the hotel, but hey, what the heck we had 10pounds of food and drink we were carrying around plus a 3liter of zero coke that she bought when she went into a store to get napkins, forks, etc. it was a breeze, NOT.

We got to the park around 7:00 and had our repast. By this time I could've eaten the napkins. It was great. We went out later in search of a Creperie for dessert. The one in the park was closed. We then ventured toward the Centre again and found out we could have been there this afternoon in a third of the time, we had walked the wrong way. We did find a Creperie and each had one and walked back to the hotel full. It was a great day.

What day is it???

Well I just woke up and it's noon on Thursday and it appears that I am in another country.

Plane ride was long but good. Mom and I were across the aisle from each other so we both got aisle seats (thanks daddy). I had the good fortune of sitting next to Madge and her husband Hubert (not their real names but could have been). They were en route to a 4 week stay in Paris and Itly (their pronunciation). If you would like details of their plans or any other trip they have taken, I have them. I like chit chat as much as the nexy guy - but come on. :)

Plane landed and we made it through customs. They apparently were not aware that people would be coming to France on a Wednesday because there were 2 people working and about 400 people in line. Zut alors!! Anywho - got our luggage and headed out to find a cab. My French is still in shock at this time and I can barely say in English that we need a cab to the train station. 40 euros later (look up the conversion for the shock value of this) we are at the biggest train station these little country eyes have seen. So we roll in like we own the place and soon give it away as we stand and turn in circles looking for any sign of familiarity. Thankfully we had a 2 hour wait to get our bearings and needed every minute. I must tell you at this point in the trip, I am ready to head back home. Realizing we are only one-third of the way through our journey to our first stop has me a little shaken and the last leg is me driving!! And you have to pay 50 cents to use the potty! WTH??

After talking to several people, we get ourselves situated and wait for our track number to pop up. It comes 20 minutes before the departure time. Now if you know anything about my mother, you know she has this way of being very gentile and sweet. But she also has this way (in times of stress, which this was) of knocking everyone out of her way when it's go time. Well, our track number popped up and by God - she was gonna get us on that train. To her credit, no one was hurt in the process. We found our seats and got situated for a 2 hour train ride. A quick nap as we rolled through the country side and we were in Strasbourg. Now on to the rental car facility...

We find the Avis place and they are very accomodating with the English as my fatigue and anxiety grow. We get our directions to walk down the block to the parking garage and find our car. Easy right? Well, we find the garage and 3 trips up and down the elevator and my mother's CSI-like detective work later we finally arrive at our little car. Nice sized, roomy, and a standard. Haven't driven one in years but it's like riding a bike, right?? Actually it was. We took about 3 loops around the parking garage top floor we were off like a herd of turtles. Now during this test drive, my mother tells me - take your time, get used to all the gears. I don't know what parking garages you have been in lately but it's a little hard to get up enough speed to get into 3rd gear let alone 5th!! Watch out for my mother if you are ever in a parking garage with her. Save yourseleves.

Loaed for bear with several sets of google directions we head for Colmar. Now the traveling gods were totally on our side. After a few turn arounds, we actually got headed in the right direction. A side note to my TXDOT peeps - YOU ROCK!!! Could y'll come over and help out a little? Seriously, that's all I saying. Would clear signage kill anyone? I think not. It wasn't too bad driving and I even felt a little crazy and got in the left lane for a few seconds until a car came speeding from out of no where and promptly put me back in my place in the right lane.

After several traffic circles and a unique road divider system later, we arrived in Colmar - a cute cobble stoned town. About 20 laps around the city and we find our hotel - again TXDOT where are you? French is still not coming to me but we manage to get checked in by a very gracious hotel clerk. We get showerd (finally) and head out to find dinner. We end up eating at the hotel and then off to bed. Mom can give the details of dinner later.

We are hoping for a more calm and quiet day with a picnic. A bientot!

xoxox

July 11,2008

I can smell the French fries and French toast. It won't be long now. Jennifer, or Genvieve, as she is known in France has given me a map, that I am to memorize so as to direct us on our motor trip from Strasbourg to Colmar. Since all the traffic signs are in French she has translated them in English for me. I fear our motoring out of Strasbourg is going to be longer than expected. Genvieve has been practicing her French by making our reservations at the different hotels we will be staying in, however, she has instructed me not to say a word in French. I don't think she knows that I'm bi-lingual, I can say "kwasant" and Jennie say quay! Oh, well, I will be an obliging passenger and speak only when spoken to. NOT. Can hardly wait til we board the big bird. See ya! Love, Ann or as they say in France ,Ahn. Aw Revore : So you won't think Genvieve has a split personality, it says posted by Jennifer but it's really me.

Preparation Begins

The day draws nearer. Passports ready. Maps highlighted. Stopped shaving legs, etc to look more authentic. Checking the Euro exchange rate daily for the best "trade in value". What to pack?? Not too much as we have to carry it from plane to train to car, etc.

July 15 will be here before we know it and France better look out cause it's country comin' to the city!