Paris 2019 Day Two

Today, 22 March, Ann and I headed around the corner to Anthony Bosson to buy a fresh baguette for breakfast. The baguette was incredible: beautiful crisp crust and a soft, but well structured, almost soft spongy (almost elastic) middle. When all were ready, we headed out on the Metro to Trocadero and the Palais de Chaillot for that first incredible view of the Eiffel Tower. At the river, we took a boat cruise on the Seine before walking around the the tower which is now sealed off for security reasons and slammed with tourists even in the early spring. A few blocks away on the Rue Rapp it was like another planet -- not a tourist anywhere to be seen. The Italian restaurant directly across the street from the Lavoritte House at #29 (our reason for being on that street), provided a delicious meal! A small patisserie nearby served up some mediocre pastries (tragedy), and we made a visit to the Eglise du Dome and Les Invalides. A late afternoon visit to Rodin Museum finished the day's itinerary. We traveled home by way of Galeries Lafayette to acquire a French press and some wonderful French charcuterie for our supper.

 A most excellent local boulangerie

 Off on an adventure on the Metro

 The splendid view from the terrace of the Palais de Chaillot

 Down to the river

Headed up the river

 It really is impressive if you can ignore the masses

 A few streets away is an island of tranquility

 A splendid Art Nouveau house at 29 Avenue Rapp

 That's quite a door

 Lunch across the street at Su Misura

This photo of Dickie by SKT reminds me of Tony 

carefully crossing the streets of London

 A pleasant al fresco lunch

 Lasagna, ravioli, cannelloni, and pasta with tomato and basil

 Annie hates having her picture taken, this one following

the mediocre pastries that soiled KBT's scarf

 Eglise du Dome and Les Invalides...

 ...contain Napoleon's huge tomb...

 ...directly below the dome

 Baroque Dickie

 Hotel Biron is the Rodin Museum

 As you may know, I love an alley of trees

 Wonderful natural (unpainted) oak boiserie

 A fine example of a house from the period of  Louis XV

 Rodin's Penseur

 Varrene Metro

 Galeries Layfayette

"Not much of a cheese shop"

Every good thing for supper

A very fine day with more to come tomorrow. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Paris 2019 Day One

On the inward-bound trip, the first two days run together, so this post will be for 20 and 21 March, which for us feels like a very long single day. Millie picked up Ann, Stephen, Kris, and me dark and early and whisked us off to the SLC for our flight to DTW (Detroit - a very nice, newish, and HUGE Delta hub) where we transferred to our LHR flight through the night. A driver picked us up at Heathrow and drove us into London to Saint-Pancras International. We spent a couple of pleasant hours eating breakfast  and sorting out our Oyster Cards before taking the Eurostar Channel Tunnel train into the Gare du Nord in the heart of Paris. A very scenic taxi drive took us from the Right Bank to the Left Bank where we were dropped in front our digs at 11 Rue Rollin. We were a couple of hours early for check in so we had a delicious supper at a pub on our corner near the Place de la Contrescarpe. It turns out that our neighborhood is extremely lively, but our street is quiet and peaceful, which is wonderful. We were checked in by Lily, our host, and after getting settled, we went out to get some food, buy some electronics for Annie, and walk about until bedtime.

 SLC

 An interesting play of light on the wing at sunup

as we descended into London

 Saint-Pancras International

 Linenfold paneling in the former ticket hall (now a posh restaurant)

 Less posh but very delicious al fresco breakfast

 Fabulous egg on toast with bacon and cheese

 Jet lag got the best of us on the Channel Tunnel train

 Headed to the stairs at the bottom of Rue Rollin

 Place de la Contrescarpe around the corner from us is lively

 The Rue Mouffetard on the right

Opa relaxing back at the Airbnb

Good, but long day. Let's see what today holds. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

February and March 2018

Katy and Daniel sold their Provo home, and Daniel, after 10 days of quarantine with C-Diff, left for Roosevelt and his new job at the Uintah Basin Medical Center. He stayed in a hotel there and Katy and the kids lived with us until all the thorny details of the purchase and refurbishment of their new place in Vernal were complete. Life was filled with the normal routine made interesting and exciting by the Colver's stay. There were walks, Cousins' Breakfasts, theater, and a wonderful, but short, visit from Meagan, who is a consultant for the Provo School District. Stephen and Annie rode to Vernal with us to see Katy and refamiliarize ourselves with Vernal.

 Weekly dinner with Opa and Annie at Strap Tank Brewery

 This little girl loves to help cook

 I taught her how to peel ginger with a spoon

 Young Arthur is becoming grabby

 Magic Mountain on a morning walk

 Her own cart at Trader Joes

 Angel baby

 We made pink cookie bars for Valentines

 Some real foods go down well, others like poison

 The Colver Provo house was empty and clean

 Good Japanese dinner at a new Provo restaurant

 Ready for the snow

 EAC loves puzzles

 With the cousins in downtown SLC

 Two babbies, two dogs, and a momma heading to Vernal

 She moved on the right day, because the next, the

weather turned nasty

 The theater is always a treat

 Last load from the last storage unit finally headed to Vernal

 A quick week with Meags 

 Lunch at Freddie's in Vernal

 The Calder farmhouse is still there

 The church did a nice job of saving this Tabernacle

 The Uintah Community Center is nicer than Provo's

 Katy at home in her new house in Vernal

 Creating order one bite at a time

 A very nice home for their family

 Daniel's new office at the hospital is almost ready

 A stop in Midway for supper...

 ...at the Mercantile Restaurant

The food was delicious!

In just a couple of days we are off to Paris and London for three weeks, so there will be more, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.