I would like to say I am making my triumphant return and there will be a Arc De Triumph II raised just for me here in Burlington... but I am seriously jet lagged and feel like a deflated balloon. My special lady and I returned from our 10 day odyssey in France last night and let's just say it was great! While a great time it was not like a relaxing beach vacation, this was serious and we are tired. So I figure this trip deserves a little time and multiple posts, the first involving our time in Paris. Before I start let me dispel a bit of unpleasantness that would naturally come at the end. When you think of Switzerland you think of cleanliness, efficiency, chocolate... well the Airport in Geneva is inefficient, dirty, ugly, and looks like a Eastern Bloc Cold War reject. Scummy dudes doing construction on a falling apart piece of concrete. But they were showing number one new show... Miami Vice!!! We tried to return our rental car and were told we had to return it to the "French side" of the airport or pay 155 euros. That is like $260!!! to return the f*ing car to the other side of the f*ing airport!!! Stupid Hertz, of course they did not mention this when we rented the car, or picked it up in Paris. So we drive around for 10 or 15 circles and cross the French/Swiss border several times before finding a non descript side road that took us to the gross side of the airport. I could not have found that if the signs were in English!! On the bright side all of our flights were on time and United did us pretty solid.
OK, on to the good stuff. We hopped on a plane in Burlington on a Friday and had a very comfortable and on time trip to DC. We then had a timely but not so comfortable flight to Paris. 6 hours, my wife and I were separated and stuck in the middle of the middle of a 747. Not good times. On the bright side I was able to watch the new Transformers movie. Pretty good plane movie, dumb, fast moving, and a time killer. 2 plane-worthy thumbs up. The pasta dinner? yikes... 1 plane worthy thumb down!
We arrived in the "city of lights" at around 7am France time... so we basically found ourselves up super early, w/ no sleep, and no way to check into our hotel until after lunch... good times! Gunny thing was it was really dark until well after 8am. The day started great, it was quiet and we were able to stroll around in peace. We wandered around the Louvre and the streets around our place which we very nice and then headed North to check out Sacre Coeur. Then it started raining. We wandered aimlessly for a few hours getting rained on and more lost, and more cranky at each other as the lack of sleep set in. We did however stop at a nice little cafe and had our first delicious petite dejeuner. Espresso, croissant or toast, and freshly squeezed OJ. It really is a perfect breakfast. The juice and espresso were fabulous and seriously the croissants in France are as advertised. Out of this world. We found ourselves off the Parisian map, and huddled in a phone booth w/ a compass trying to figure out where we were?! Well, we finally found the church and it was amazing. What is really great about Paris is that the city is beautiful. All of it. Almost every building is wonderfully detailed and an architectural beauty. It is just old and detailed in a way that could not exist in a new world country like the U.S.. After that it was time to hop on the Metro and get to our hotel for a nap.
This is a good time to mention how awesome my lady is. She did the heavy lifting on planning this trip and nailed it. She picked amazing hotels, restaurants, and activities. Then, she toured us around Paris (I was lost in seconds and never really got my bearings), and then to top it off she translated for her oafish husband the whole time making everything a thousand times easier.
OK, so we stayed for 3 nights at the Hotel Verneuil on the Left Bank in Paris. Great location, clean (small) room, and decent service. The rates were very reasonable. 1 1/4 thumbs up... mostly for location and price. Needless to say we hit the bed and slept for an hour to get ourselves back to normal. After a rest we pulled it together and headed out to dinner @ Les Itinaires. Wow... my wife started w/ an amazing scallop cruto that was melt in your mouth delicious w/ an amazing delicate flavor. I had a potato soup that was light and subtle and also phenomenal. The mushrooms were cut so thin they disappeared on mouth impact! The entrees were good as well, but not quite as good as the apps. Ladybird had a solid cod with good flavor but a bit much on the plate. I had a chicken dish that was good and possibly great by American standards. The service was very good and the wine (white Burgundy as I recall) was out of sight. ! 1/2 french thumbs up... 2 American thumbs up. The soups and scallops were real highlights of our culinary experience in France. We were really able to turn day 1 around and make it a good day after a tough start. Go Team!!!
OK, I am a little wiped out... part two of Paris tomorrow!
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