A Well Kept Man

We spent the weekend in Paris being good tourists...most of our time was spent walking around trying to avoid looking like ugly Americans (Alli never has this problem, I on the other hand like to wear blue jeans and t-shirts, so it's hard for me to avoid this problem). We started Saturday by me trying to locate Alli at the Charles de Gaulle Airport without really knowing where she would arrive. The airport has five terminals (I think) and they aren't close to each other...I equate this to telling someone to pick you up in New York City by the tall buildings in Manhattan (at least that is how I felt driving in wondering how the heck we would find each other). Thankfully Air France uses the same terminal for most of it's Paris bound flights from the US and after parking in the garage I found Alli quite quickly (I didn't even have to pay for parking because I was there less than 10 minutes).

We then headed out to Versailles and spent the day wandering around this huge estate. I can't imagine what it would have been like to live in a structure this large, but suffice to say that it would have been fun riding horses through the house and hunting for wild baguettes in the gardens. We had lunch in a quaint bistro, we each had a croque madame (basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top...delicious!) and Coca-Cola. Alli then took a nap while I got caught up on our mail that she brought back from Minnesota. We finished the afternoon in the Gardens of Versailles and made our way to our hotel which was literally next to the Odeon theater (the word literally bothers me, because when used I would think it means that it implies that words or letters are physically present, as on a page of a book. Sure I could use physically or actually, but neither portrays the sense of sarcasm or immediate surprise that literally does. Is there a better word to use? Do I have any school teachers or sage octogenarians who could provide me with a new word?)

We decided we need to have a French meal for our anniversary so we found an upscale restaurant (well, not too upscale...I was buying) near the hotel that provided a delightful experience. Rick Steves recommended a place nearby that we decided to try. (We don't personally known Rick, we just have a couple of his books. Which reminds me, if Rick doesn't have something in his book, then he doesn't think it's worth visiting. This has caused me to invent the expression "Rick Steves is a punk!" It bothers me when we see some cool building in a little town, or stumble upon a great find and wonder why there is no mention of it in his book. This is especially true when it comes to places we have been so far as it seems we like to go places that Rick does not. Hence, Rick Steves is a punk!) Alli had a wild mushroom risotto with chicken, I had roast suckling pig stuffed with something too incredible to describe (or I can't remember so I am sensationalizing it). We shared a trio of sherbets (How do you pronounce 'sherbet'? I say "Sherbert" even though there is no 'r' in the word. Must be a Midwest thing...) and spent the remainder of the evening walking along the Seine River taking in Paris at night.

As this post is getting long I'll leave the rest for another post. I've gotta go research our upcoming Italy vacation (we're going for 4 nights in October somewhere near Cinque Terre and I haven't found lodging yet...).