December 25, 2003 Merry Christmas!!!
Laurie made her tradition breakfast--Eggs Benedict. It was the first time I have had them. They were good.
For our Christmas, we decided to go to the movies. It was the most expensive movie we have been to. It cost 8.50. We saw, "In the Cat" with Meg Ryan. I didn't care for it much.
It was surprising to see so many people out and about. There was this one street with lots of restaurants and many of them were open.
Later at night, Laurie and I walked down along the Seine. We could see the Eiffel Tower all lit up. We walked for about 1 1/2 hours. It felt good to be out in the fresh air. It was a mild night.
I had tried calling home, but the circuits seemed busy and I couldn't get through.
December 26, 2003
Laurie and I walked to BonMarche--a large department store. We then walked to the Pantheon. We didn't go in because it cost too much. The Pantheon was finished in 1789 as a church. It wasn't always used.
We picked up movies. The guy knows us pretty well by now. We picked up a couple of movies. It is hard to get new movies because most of them are in DVDs.
I was able to get through on the phone and was able to talk to my family. It was good to talk to everyone and I am looking forward to going home and seeing them.
December 27, 2003
My notes are short because I am writing three days later and I don't remember what I did. Laurie had to remind me. I went to a museum, which was free. I don't know if I have the correct name, it is called the Carnavalet. It was an old hotel that was converted into a museum. It had paintings and old furnishings. I was there for about an hour.
I went back to the apartment for something to eat. Laurie had gone to St. Chappel to see the stain galss. She met me at the apartment.
We stayed in to watch one of the movies. It was French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Cline. It was cute. Afterwards we were going to go out to take the boat ride down the Seine at night. When we went out, it was raining so we decided not to.
December 28, 2003
I got up and started cleaning and packing. We are leaving tomorrow morning for London. We needed to get the apartment in order.
After cleaning, Laurie and I went to the Cluny museum. It has a collection from the Middle Ages. There is a series if 6 fifteenth century tapestries called "The Lady and the Unicorn". It was beautiful. They had a pamphlet explaining the tapestry and it made it more meaningful.
Olivia, the girl we met from the Don Quixote school and her friend came by for a visit. It was good to see her. She is leaving for India in a few days. She is only 18. She is quite brave at such a young age.
Laurie and I had to run to Monoprix. I had ripped a pillowcase while I was changing the bed. I wanted to go and replace them. Most of the stores are closed on Sundays, but Monoprix was open. They didn't have much of a selection so I just picked up a white one.
It was a decent sky for the boat ride tonight, but much too windy and cold. I decided to wait and come back in the future.
Paris has been fun, but I am looking forward to going to London. I have loved walking around and seeing the buildings and river, all the cafes where people sit outside bundled up drinking coffee, the several merry-go-rounds (all operating), there also is an outside man-made skating rink.
