Originally my title was to be Evening In Paris, because of the wonderful evening we had last night with a farewell supper, and a cruise on the Seine River, and then watching the fireworks of the Eiffel Tower, and then a driving tour of the highlights of Paris. It just seemed like the perfect title of how we ended our day, but after reading Sue's comment, it brought to mind the old song from WW1. That prompted me to change the title, but going back to my first title....
Surely I am not the only one who remembers a perfume called "Evening in Paris". As young girls when we would stand at Mom's dresser and look at all the pretty things gathered on her dresser my eyes would always look longingly at the pretty sapphire blue bottle with the shiny pointed cap. Just the name of this perfume was pure magic..."Evening in Paris". It conjured up a name of place I would probably never visit and when we looked wistfully at Mom dabbing her wrists and neck with her perfume, sometimes she would "share" it with us and we felt special too.
I am jumping ahead of myself though. Today we breakfasted in Avignon, (and yes, I hummed the children's song, "Sur le Pont, d'Avignon" many times while visiting Avignon). Just as a matter of interest, did you know that Avignon Bridge does not go all across the river? It stops about 3/4 of the way across. Know one really knows why; whether they ran out of funds, changed their mind, or possibly that it was originally finished but damaged in a flood and just never repaired.
It has been a very pretty drive from Avignon to Paris. Much more open farm land than I expected. Lots of cattle...white cattle; called Charolais, beef Cattle.
We had a brief stop over in a little village called Beaune. Today being Wednesday, it was market day which was a treat for us. Many of the local vendors were in the village square with, cheeses, meats, breads, soaps, linens, herbs, pastries, mustards and much more. We stopped in a local cafe for cafe au lait and pastries. I could easily live in Beaune... Sigh.
...but Paris was a big surprise! Rome was dark, huge, congested and stunning, but Paris...! Such wide wide streets, much lighter stone works, the River Seine, the gold of the Palace of Versailles... Ooh la la !
So much to see and do that we just scratched the surface. Have a look.
Arc de Triomphe
Eiffel Tower at dusk.
And in the morning mist...
Paris from up on the Eiffel Tower.
...and from the bottom the sunlight. We took the lift up but walked back down from the halfway point...700 steps.
The opulence of the Palace of Versailles.
Yes people that is real gold...at a time when the people of France were starving...thus the revolution!
Lunch on the Avenue Champs Elysees.
Yes Sue, I'm wondering now, just how can I ever go back to the farm, now that I've see Paris!
Well the good thing is that you really don't live on a farm so the return to reality will not be as difficult as it could be and BESIDES... you are returning to somewhere pretty nice. Your next blog title could be from Paree to Paradise!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that three weeks have passed so quickly. Looking forward to hearing all about it in person.
Sue W.
Yes indeedy Sue, it sounds like she has been having a mahhhvelous time, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteWendy I'm so glad you have enjoyed such a great trip- you have seen many wonderful and famous sights and I am grateful that you have taken the time to share it with us. Have enjoyed reading of all your adventures, but I have to agree- you ARE returning to a pretty wonderful place too... there's no place like home, even after Paree....