This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land…
We bid Venice a fond farewell through the back window of a water taxi, as we sped off toward the train station. We can't get over the ease of travel here. When we asked the owner of our small Venetian hotel how much time we should allow at the station before our departure, he said, "Oh, about-a ten-a minoots-a. Si...that-a should be enough-a." (I love the Italian accent on English.) Ten minutes? Really? But, sure enough, that's all it took. We got cozy in our seats and watched as Italian countryside flew past our window. Green rolling hills, golden stucco houses with barrel tile roofs, tall straight cypresses pointing to the skies. Breathtaking. Before we new it, we were...
With Hands Wide Open
Sometimes things go wrong. Like when you are awakened at 4:00 in the morning with a frantic call from your daughter who is caring for your little dog while you are away, to let you know he is in critical condition. And you have to make quick decisions with a wildly beating and close-to-breaking heart. Like when you get another call fifteen minutes later, from a crying daughter, to let you know your dog has passed away. And you make more decisions through tears, as you cry, yourself. Partly for the dog, and partly for the daughter who is having to deal with it alone while you vacation on the other side of the world. But then you get another call, another fifteen minutes later, that...
The Power of Fresh
One of the things about Paris that I've always found so charming are the street markets. I've dreamed of roaming through the aisles of flowers and produce and meats, and watching the street artists painting au plein aire. While yesterday was still a bit brisk, it was clear and beautiful. The perfect day for just such an activity. We had heard of a market near Jardins de Luxembourg, the largest city park in Paris. This is actually the grounds surrounding the Palais de Luxembourg, of which we have a painting at home, so we were excited to see it in person. We entered the park through a gate, and found ourselves in a lush, heavily treed area with flowers and walking paths, the leaves...
Simple Life
We woke up yesterday, and decided that we would go visit Chateau de Versailles, the famous palace of the French Kings. The gal at the front desk said it was a 45 minute train ride from the Eiffel Tower, so we got ourselves down there and settled in on the RER train. However, about two stops in, they said "terminus" and we found ourselves at the end of the line. It seems the train doesn't run directly to Versailles on the weekends, so we had to take a bus to pick up the train at a different station. The bus toured us through the business center of Paris and on into other small villages on its outskirts. It was charming, and gave us a peek at how the "real people" live. Finally, after about...
Reminders
We slept LATE yesterday. I haven't slept that late since...well, I don't know! It was actually very delicious to not care. We decided to head across the street to a local brasserie for lunch. Crammed with locals ducking out of the rain, it was warm with conversation, and steaming plates of French food. Afterward, we decided to grab a cab to Notre Dame. The couple of cabs we'd taken so far had the radio tuned to rap music in French. It's interesting to hear that beat with the melodic sound of the French language, but I still didn't like it much better. So, it was a very noticeable difference when we entered this particular cab and it was quiet, save for what sounded like a familiar gospel...