Day 6: Bruges on Bikes

After breakfast our hotel owner told us that the old lady down the street was selling some fine Bruges art. Her husband was quite skilled at many media and had recently passed away. Stephanie and I paid a visit and ended up buying 2 of his paintings for much cheaper than they should have been. Downside, Thad has to figure out how to carry around 2 framed pieces of art for the rest of the trip. Stephanie tried to ship them from the post office but was unsuccessful.

Today is Saturday, so the markets were open. We headed to town and wandered around for some shopping. Stephanie did not think she looked French enough, so she bought several additions to her wardrobe including giant boots. (I think she forgot we have limited space in our luggage). Thad ate chocolate waffles while Stephanie shopped.

After the markets, we hopped on the bikes and headed to the outskirts of town. There we found 4 windmills and the city gates from the early days in Bruges. We encircled the town on bike and stopped off at the Lake of love for some relaxing ice cream. We also paid a visit to the Beginjhof (convent) and the Church of Our Lady. This church houses Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child, and is said to be the only one of his works ever to leave Italy in his lifetime. We spent some time just wandering the streets of Bruges to admire the amazing architecture. Pictures will not do this place justice. We had some Italian food at pili pili for dinner before bed. Both nights here we slept with the window open too the sounds of the canals. Our best 2 nights of sleep on the trip.

Day 5: Bruges!

We woke up at 5am to catch an early train to Bruges, Belgium. We had wanted to visit this place since hearing about it from Joan and Warren. This 14th century town is just under one square mile in area but is covered with amazing architecture and art. We hopped off the train and marched into the town square to get a look at the bell tower that has presided over the square since 1300. After taking in some breathtaking views, we found our Hotel Adornes (a Rick Steves suggestion) and checked in.

Rick Steves shout out: We have determined that we are not vacationing anywhere in Europe that Rick Steves does not suggest. His book is very accurate and has been great source of information on a lot of our stops.

At the hotel, we unpacked and hopped on the free loaner bikes. These bikes were so much fun to use around Bruges. By the end of our stay we had a pretty good mastery of the cobblestones. Many times we just had to trust that the cars and motorbikes were not going to hit us.

Our first stop was to get some frites! Bruges is a Flemish town and has a very Amsterdam feel. They eat a lot of street food such as fries with mayo, waffles, etc. Our selections: spicy sausage, spicy pork, and cheese balls. Deep fried goodness! To work off some of those calories, we headed to the bell tower. Three hundred and sixty six very steep steps later, we reached the top of this insane tower.

There was a traveling Salvador Dali exhibit at the town square the we could not pass up the chance to see. Man that guy drew a lot of genitalia. Interesting stuff!

Next we visited the Basillica of the Holy Blood built in 1150 to house the blood of Jesus. The relic is only shown one week a year; luckily for us it was this week of Easter! So we wandered in and laid hands on the vile of crusty blood that supposedly contained ol' JC's DNA. We wandered around the old town a little longer before finally tasting our first fresh Belgien chocolates at Dumon. We are pretty sure these folks make the best chocolates on earth. Oh and lace too if you're in to lace. Meh.

That night we went out for dinner at the Hobbit. A local eatery that had all you can eat spare ribs. Hehehe. According to references, the Flemish specialize in mussels and grilled meats. I must say the Hobbit was an excellent, casual meal twe both needed. Steph also raves about their chocolate mousse. It's a good thing we are walking so much because we are certainly eating!

The town here is very family rich. Each business has been basically doing the same trade for generations. So while the kids are playing in the bar, grandma runs the cash register, dad is grilling meats, and lil' sis is waiting tables. It is an interesting culture. We are loving Bruges.

Day 4: Separated at the train and Russian Ballet

Today we headed for the RER train to again attempt a trip to Versailles. Being a courteous tourist, Thad walked a Canadian to the map to show him what we had figured out on the train schedules. Meanwhile Stephanie yells "this is our train!" from down the tunnel. Everyone scrambles to board except Thad was too far away. So Steph was on the train to Versailles and Thad was stuck at the station. Thankfully, Thad caught the next train and found Steph waiting for him at the station. We are sure glad both of us had the same plan in mind!

Versailles was crowded but immaculate. Louis XIV certainly had a high opinion of himself (and his fine pair of legs). I guess that's what happens when you become king at age 5. After a brief stroll through the gardens, we took the train back to Paris and up to the Marais area of town.

This sector is known for it's shopping and unique (gay and lesbian) lifestyles. We wandered the vendors but found the stores mostly to contain American retro style merchandise. We saw a shirt that said "someone in Nebraska loves me!" and a lot of Buffalo Bills gear. We had some lunch near Victor HugLo's house and headed home to get ready for the ballet!

The Theatre des Champs-élysées was showing 3 Russian ballets for our night's entertainment. Let's just say we had a different opinion of the ballet. Stephanie loved it; Thad was completely confused and unimpressed. Nevertheless, it was fun to get out amongst the French elite.

A couple of observations on the French:

1) They do not smile in the street. Everyone looks very serious all the time. They stand in their shop window with arms crossed as if to imply, they would be extremely pissed if you came into their store.
2) They do not speak to each other unless there is business to discuss. For example, when passing in the street, they do not say hello or even acknowledge others. Only if you are needing to stop someone, should you ever say hello. Steph found this out when an old man began grumbling angrily when she said bonjour to him on the street.

After the ballet, we headed home and picked up some more sandwiches and chocolate crepes for dinner. we did some more laundry, and packed for tomorrow's trip to Bruges!

Day 3: la jour de la morte

zzzzzz

Still working out this jet lag; we woke up later than planned again. After some pain au chocolate (Steph's new favorite breakfast), we headed to the RER (big metro) to head to the Palace of Versailles. After spending a good bit of time trying to figure out the train schedule, we boarded, rode 1 stop, and got off after our train was unexplainably canceled. The alternate train to Versailles was a 4 hour trip so that plan was nixed.

Instead we went to the Louvre for some fine art. Museum passes in hand we headed in excited to see all the great works. We were equally unexcited to see the zillions of patrons that also decided to see the Lourve today. Since we did not want to be bumping into people all day long, we focused our tour on the Denon wing. There we saw many of the Italin artists including Raphael and of course Da Vinci. Like everyone and their brother we saw the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, and Ms Lisa del Giocondo, aka Mona Lisa. All in all a good trip in and out of the Louvre.

mmmm more jambon y fromage (Thad's new favorite lunch).

Next stop...the catacombs. Apparently in the late 1700's Frane moved all its dead people into the catacombs because the city began to stink too badly. Stephanie and I really enjoyed touring their (2nd) final resting place. More bones and skulls than you could imagine! It was 136 steps underground and very dark and damp. Unlike the Lourve, the place was nearly empty so we had plenty of quiet moments to take in the silence of the catacombs. After seeing all those dead bodies, all we could think was that we are truely only dust and bones.

Why stop at 500,000 dead people. We needed more! We headed to far East paris to the Pere Lachaise Cemetary. Home to some of the world's finest Parisians and world figures. Chopin, Moliere, Wilde, and most importantly Mr. Mojo Risin. RIP Jim.

Back at the flat, we went to the streets again to find a great Italian place. Pizza and pasta just seemed right on a cold and dreary day of the dead. Some fondant au chocolat and pain au chocolate capped off the night.

Day 2: My feet are killing me

Our second day in gay Paris began with breakfast at Les Deux Magots (The Two Traders), a prominant establishment in our neighborhood representing business success. Our order consisted of 2 eggs, smoked salmon, coffee, and tea. Our bill...$45 Euro! C'est la vie.

After choking on our breakfast bill, we metro'd over to the Musee d'Orsay to check out the impressionists. Line was outrageous, so we decided to come back to this spot after we bought our museum passes. (The passes allowed one to skip the long lines and go right to the front...a valuable investment for any tourist wanting to knock out 3-4 museums in 2 days).

We instead headed over to Sainte-Chapelle, a small gothic cathedral built to house the crown of thorns worn by the world famous Jesus. These are only displayed on Fridays during Lent; so we did not get to see the crown...but the church was amazing! Tons of stained glass and butresses made this a worth while stop.

Feeling all Catholic, we then headed down the street to Notre Dame to see Knute Rockne. Suprisingly, all they had there was a massive church. Wandering around the church did not take too long; we lit a couple candles, said thanks to Jesus, and hit the streets.

Next on our list was the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. We walked though the Tuileries (giant gardens near the Champs) across the river to the military museum where his crypt was displayed. If Napoleon ever had a "little man's complex," it was evident by his final resting place. Certainly worth seeing.

Now back to the Musee d'Orsay with museum passes in hand. Look at all these chumps standing in line.....hahahah! Straight to the front! We wandered the halls of the great impressiontsis...Manet, Monet, Degas, Gaugin. Where the hell are the Van Goghs? Upon checking the info desk, we picked the one day of the year the Van Gogh exhibits were closed for renovations. Oh, and it was free admission, so our museum passes just got a little less valuable. Fortunately we were able to sneak a peak behind their curtains to see a couple of Vincent's works...one of the self portraits, and one of the sunflowers. Good enough for us!

aside: it really confuses the parisians when you mix in mexican with your broken french and english. "Deux, por favor. Merci." Stupide Americanes.

At this point in the day, we had probably walked 5 miles on 2 croissants worth of fuel. We headed home to rest up before grabbing dinner at Cafe Jade near our flat. We donned our finest clothes and left for the Crazy Horse cabaret. Unfortunately for Stephanie, il pleu (it rained) and her shoes were not made for walking quickly down cobblestones. However, we were rewarded with front row seats to Paris' most risque offering. The title of the first act said it all, "God Save our Bare Skin." Off to bed for our own bare skin. :)

Day 1: Paris, Meet the Toupses!

On the day of our 7th annivesary, we packed the suitcases, found the passports (after a brief scare), and headed overseas for a 12 night adventure...Toups Style.

After the fun-filled weekend of Raja and Tina's fabulous wedding, we had no problems sleeping on the plane. We both woke up around the same time to find out we only had 30 minutes until we arrived at Charles de Gaule. Those 9.5 hours were some much needed sleep.

Upon grabbing our bags from the carousel, we proceeded to the taxi lanes. After the 2008 trip, we learned "less is more" when dealing with luggage in Europe. One backpack and one giant suitcase is all we brought with us.

The taxi dropped us off at our new temporary residence: 22 Rue de l'echele, just between the Mabillon and St Germaine des Pres Metro stops. For those familair with Paris, this was very near the University and one block from Les Deux Magots on the left bank.

Our contact met us at the appartment to collect the rent and deposit. Oops. We did not have enough cash and had to immediately hit the ATM...twice... to settle up on the bill. Nonetheless, we got a great deal on this place, especially for the excellent neighborhood.

Time to hit the streets. After unpacking, we strolled up to the Seine and proceeded towards the Arc de Triumph. Along the way (eh maybe 30 minutes since our arrival in France) we were scammed by a nice old gypsy woman. In hindsight, her scheme was to leave a gold ring on the pavement. As we walked past the ring she pretended to be walking along side of us and picked up the ring. We told her good luck, but then she claimed that we should take it becuase she did not wear any jewelry. She even showed us that it was "real" gold; it had an 18k gold stamp on the inside! A small donation later (so she could get a Coke), Thad's ring finger turned green. Scammed! (but certainly worth the great effort on her part).

We stopped in the Louis Vuitton store on the Champes Elysee and we nearly purchased a 25,000 Euro trunk... but decided against it. Our promanade finally ended at the Eiffel Tower where we lounged and ate ice cream. It's springtime, so there were lots of tulips and blooming trees around. We took the Metro back to the neighborhood, grabbed some jambon y frommage sandwiches, and hit the sack.

Garbage Disposal?

Ok, so, Thad and I have been having an argument about what you can and can't put down the garbage disposal since oh, about five years. He basically thinks NOTHING should go done the disposal while I've always been of the mindset that if it's any kind of wet food, done, no brainer. SOOOO, I was cleaning the kitchen the other day for Thad (which is NOT my typical job), I hate touching any kind of nasty dishes or leftover meat, so this was a magnanimous gesture on my part. Anyway, I dumped two large tupperwares, one full of shredded chicken and one of chili. Now, listen, I didn't just shove it all down at once, I did it little by little so as not to overwhelm the mechanism. Well, I'm down to the last little bit of chicken (ALL of the chili is long gone) when the water starts to back up in the sink. CRAP. Thad shows up a few minutes later and I tell him what I've done and he immediately launches into a tirade about how you aren't supposed to put anything down the disposal. I'm thinking, well what's the damn purpose of the stupid thing if it can't gobble down a little leftover chicken? Long story short, we had to call the drain guy who shows ups and spends, no lie, TWO HOURS unclogging the stupid thing. The unfortunate part here is the diagnosis from the drain guy "I found a thick sludge clogging the pipes". Dang. So now Thad's convinced he's right and I'm stuck with having to throw food in the trash as opposed to down the drain. So here's my question....what is the damn thing for????