These messages are from a series of e-mails written after our vacation to Paris and Italy, in the summer of 2002. The events recounted in this internet diary occurred on Wednesday, June 19.
--Jim McQueen
Wednesday I woke at 7:30 AM... finally, a full night's sleep! We let the kids sleep 'til noon. Mom and Susan turned up about 10:00 AM.
After rousing the boys, we head out to the Arc de Triomphe. The metro let us out near the Place Charles de Gaulle, where twelve boulevards converge in a huge traffic circle. An underground passage led to the center.
We spent a few minutes looking around, and saw the French Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We bought tickets, and climbed up inside -- something like 267 steps!
The view from the top was superb. Mom and Susan posed in front of the Champs-Elysées -- pretty much the opposite end of the Sean's photo on the first day.
When we were done admiring Paris, we got another tourist to take a photo of all seven of us, in front of the Arc. Then we strolled down the Champs-Elysées until we found a sidewalk café to our liking.
Our arrival caused a spat between two of the waiters, who disagreed about whose table we should have been seated at. For lunch, Mom had an omelet, and Sean had crêpes and café latte. The waiters were still quarreling as we set off for the Louvre.
Love,
Jim
Wednesday afternoon we took the metro to the Louvre. We entered through the big glass pyramid, and decided so split up, and meet again in one hour. (It was late, we were tired. We told ourselves we'd return another day, but we never did.) The boys knew a couple of famous pieces of art, so we set out to find them.
Number one on most people's list -- at least all the tourists on that day -- was the Mona Lisa. We located it on a map, then followed the signs pointing the way. A lot of people must make a beeline for that painting, just as we did. We walked the length of a couple very long galleries, peripherally aware of the huge number of wonderful paintings we were skipping.
We finally found the Mona Lisa, surrounded by security glass and a crowd. Before we pressed our way through, I posed the boys in front of the throng. Scott was getting tired of having his picture taken -- maybe this photo will teach him to be patient with photographers. I certainly plan to show it to every girl he ever brings home.
Nancy and I didn't fight the crowd, but the boys did. Sean actually was very interested the painting, and spent several minutes enjoying it. After a while, we all left to join Mom and Susan.
Love,
Jim
The Mona Lisa wasn't the only thing we saw at the Louvre. On our way in, we passed the statue of Winged Victory. From the Mona Lisa we found our way back to the statue of Venus de Milo. As you can see from the photos, the place was pretty busy. We did get to stroll through the Italian renaissance painters, looking at random. But we didn't get much time to study anything we found particularly interesting.
When our hour was up, we met Mom and Susan, then headed back to our apartments to clean up for dinner. That night we ate at a restaurant that specialized in soufflés, named "Le Soufflé". We had the first of only two meals eaten indoors that week -- I even put on a tie.
We mostly had soufflé for appetizer, entree, and dessert. My first course was escargot, but Mom's mushroom soufflé was the best starter.
For my entree I ordered "homard" without even knowing what it was. Susan was brave enough to ask, and when she learned that homard was lobster, she ordered it too. It came sliced in half lengthwise, still in it's shell, with a mild soufflé topping. (The lobster probably would have been better without the soufflé -- but it was still good.)
For dessert, we ordered five chocolate and one Grand Mariner soufflés (I was the oddball.) When our desserts arrived, each had a little server of chocolate syrup. The waiter carefully poked a hole in the top of each soufflé, and poured in the chocolate. Scott was so excited at the idea, that the waiter volunteered a second helping of syrup. But mine was best -- the waiter must have poured a cup of Grand Marnier into the little hole in my soufflé, then he left the bottle for me to add more as I ate.
Love,
Jim