Navigating the underground

Paris - wonderful old buildings, lots and lots of charm, vibrant city.  Out hotel was a block from the Louvre with a dash of Americana in the next block in the form of a Starbucks and a McD sandwiched in with a few bistros and cafe's.  Our hotel was very French but thankfully had a working lift and French doors that opened letting in a cool breeze.

We arrived onWednesday after lunch and working on my daughters information went to the Louvre to take advantage of the late night hours to wander through the galleries, exhausted we walked back stopping at a bistro advertising a menu in French and English.  Next morning we mapped out a plan to go to Nottre Dame, the dOrsay, hopefully the Rodin and Champs Élysées for a little shopping.  We also had a river cruise up to the Eiffel Tower on the wish list.  This aggressive schedule relied on a combination of metro, bus and walking.  First metro was at the bottom of the world and the lift was out of order, the hike up multiple levels left us exhausted and concerned we would never make it through multiple stops so we invested in a bus map.

Here I digress and confess my addiction to the Internet.  I have grown lazy and rely on Google.  I am lost, want to know a route I Google it   The other confession is I am cheap.  I just could not bear using cellular minutes to pull up a Paris bus map and try to figure out what the heck it said, and access to hot spots is limited.  Lots of hotspots but they want an account number.  So after some wrong turns and a few back tracks we arrived at Notre Dame and stayed for noon Mass, then off to the dOrsay.  Thank you daughters for the suggestion, wonderful museum.  We stayed for an afternoon nibble to hold us over.  Then off to shopping.   Now the bad news.  After waiting in line at LV to fill a request, the handbag was out of stock.

We wrapped up the whirlwind trip the next day with a walk in the gardens before heading to the Eurostar Station for the trip back to London

Our London hotel treated us like royalty giving us a river facing room with a front row seat for the Saturday crazy rowing competition that started one quay  up river from our hotel.  We spent the afternoon with Ted, Laura and Felix while we begged the use of their washer to refresh our supply of clothes.  English washers take forever, luckily it was a sunny breezy day so we hung everything out on the spin dryer and went to lunch.  I have not hung out laundry on a spin dryer in more than 27 years, but once a clothes pin Queen always a clothes pin Queen.  I had it out and spaced to dry in no time.

Today we drove out to Dover.  Ted rented a Zip car and arranged for a proper Sunday lunch at a Dover tavern before heading over to explore the castle, fort and enbankment. Tomorrow we head out to Dublin.

Just in case you are wondering every bone on my body aches.  I have walked a trillion miles in museums, city streets and between metro levels.  Paris had NO handicapped or less able people because their lifts are all out of order, escalators stopped or non-existent and everything has steps, preferably marble or stone steps guaranteed to be slippery.  Everyone we stopped to ask for directions were very nice and helpful but we were our own worst enemies in being too smug (well at least one of us) about knowing where we were and not studying the maps before we headed out.  London just finished hosting thr Olympics and Para-Olympics so in the center city the signage for lifts and escalators is excellent.  It is still a new skill to leave the hotel walking down a steep (historic) stone driveway to catch the bus to the over or underground trains to head out to our destination.  The hotel has a complimentary ferry across the Thames to the more metro side which is great but the Thames is a tidal river meaning sometimes of day when the tide is out it is like walking down a sliding board to reach the ferry.  All whining aside it has been a wonderful trip.