France May 2002 Journal

 
FRANCE JOURNAL, 8-23 May 2002
 
My cousin Reenie and I had a great time in France. This was my 4th visit to France (others were in 1997, 1999, and 2000) and Reenie's first.  This was my first trip to Provence, which we spent a week there.  It was great!  Reenie arrived (from Boston) at my house the day before we flew to France, which gave us the chance to go over our notes and brochures, weeding out any duplicates. 
 
May 9, 2002 Thursday.  We arrived in Paris after an overnight flight from Dulles International, Washington DC, on Air France.  The flight, service, and food were good.  We did have some turbulence in the beginning of our flight, but it was a smooth ride for the most part.  We went through customs quickly, and then picked up our Euros at an ATM machine.  I felt there was no need to buy any in advance since there are several ATM machines at the airport.  Plus, my friend Sherry gave us two RER tickets to get into Paris. 
 
For our first three days in Paris, we spent our time using the 3-day museum pass.  Before leaving my house, I checked the weather report for Paris.  We had planned to visit Versailles on Saturday, supposedly a sunny day, but the weather report stated it would be sunny on Thursday morning and cloudy/rainy the days after.  So we decided to head to Versailles on Thursday.  In fact those first three days were overcast with some rain. 
 
After dropping off our luggage at the hotel (room wasn't ready so we placed our suitcases in the storage room), we headed to Notre Dame for a quick peek, then to the Saint Michel metro/RER station to pick up our 3-day museum pass, as well as our tickets for the RER to Versailles.  We made the mistake of getting on the wrong RER C train.  As one train pulled up, a couple standing next to us asked a man on the train if it was going to Versailles.  He said yes, so the four of us got on board.   We chatted with the other couple that got on board, Betty and Gene.  About 40 minutes later, we were at some station and sitting for quite a while.  I began to wonder why the train didn't continue on its route.  I finally got up and checked the map above the train door and discovered we were on the wrong train!  We should have gotten on the C5, not the C3 train.  I didn't pay attention to the tv monitor since I trusted the guy on board.  We were northwest of the city.  So, we had to backtrack all the way into Paris and got off at Champs de Mars station and had to wait about 20 minutes for the right train to arrive.  We continued chatting with Betty and Gene, who told us they were looking for another hotel, as the one they stayed in was very expensive.  I gave them the phone number and directions to Balcons.  By the time we got to Versailles, we were very hungry and very tired.  We said our goodbyes to Betty and Gene and headed out to find a café for lunch. 
 
After lunch, we walked to Versailles and walked straight inside without waiting in line.  It's definitely worth getting the 3-day museum pass as one avoids those long lines!  I visited Versailles in 1997, but enjoyed it on my second visit.  One large room with many paintings was recently open to the public, which I enjoyed.  And of course, the Hall of Mirrors was spectacular.  The gardens were an extra fee (5.5E), so we paid and went in.  Not too many flowers were in bloom, but the gardens were immaculate and well kept.  The fountains were not running, as they are normally turned on on Sundays.  We walked quite a distance and ended up at Grand Trianon, which we toured.  On the way back to head home, I heard classical music playing as well as seeing a fountain through one lane flowing with water.  We hurried back to see the other fountains in action.  It was wonderful!  We watched the fountains while listening to the music and we didn't feel tired anymore. 
 
Before dinner, we unpacked our bags, relaxed and planned our next two days in Paris.  After dining at Polidor near our hotel, I picked up a bottle of wine for 3.80 Euros as well as a bottle opener (since I couldn't bring my on board the plane). 
 
May 10  For breakfast, we had coffee and tea at Le Danton.  We ran into Betty and Gene who had changed hotels and were now staying at Balcons.  We walked rue Moufettard checking out all the great food stands of fruits, vegetables, meats, wine shop, etc; the Pantheon, and then stopped to see Notre Dame.  The lines were very long to get in, so we went to the SNCF ticket office at the Saint Michel RER station to pick up our Avignon tickets that I had previously purchased on line.  We also purchased our tickets for Rouen.  We continued on to the right bank and visited the Musée Carnavalet, which was very interesting.  We walked to the Place de Voges and sat a short while.  The sun started to peek out, but it didn't last.  For lunch we picked up spinach pies at a Jewish deli in the Marais area.  It was delicious and inexpensive. 
 
We took the metro to the Louvre (our feet were beginning to hurt) and spent two hours there.  We enjoyed seeing Napoleon III's rooms.  They were fabulous and we highly recommend a visit here!  The grand room was decorated in rich red velvet, chandeliers hanging everywhere, gold trim, and the walls and ceilings were quite ornate.  The dining room table seats about 40 people.  We were able to see the Mona Lisa painting just minutes before the security guards closed the area for the day.  Not enough time to study her smile. 
 
We had a long day of walking, so we were ready to sit down at a café and have a drink before meeting Tammy and her Mother Alice for dinner.  Before finding a café, we walked across the street from the Louvre and went inside the RoyalPalace grounds.  The gardens were nice, but there were a few modern sculptures that we didn't care for. 
 
After enjoying our break at a café, which is always wonderful to sit outside and people watch, we took the metro to Bistrot de Breteuil.  This was one of my favorite places and my third visit there.  The place was packed with locals and by the time we left, the restaurant was thick with cigarette smoke.  The four of us had a great time together talking about our vacations.  Tammy and Alice had arrived a day or 2 earlier from London and were visiting Paris for a few days. 
 
May 11  We got up early to get to Notre Dame before the crowds did.  It was another overcast day.  We took the stairs up the tower, but couldn't get to the very top portion as it was closed for renovations.  We enjoyed the views from above and seeing the gargoyles up close.  We also went inside the Cathedral as well as the crypt.  We couldn't understand why the crypt was so dark.  There are no paintings to be protected from the sun, just excavations.  Next, we visited Sainte-Chapelle and the Concergerie. 
 
The weather was getting colder, so we went to the hotel so I could pick up my jacket.  It drizzled the rest of the day.  After lunch we visited the D'Orsay museum.  It's one of my favorite museums in Paris.  We took a taxi to the Rodin museum (my feet were hurting too much to walk there).  It was disappointing to see the sculptures outside while it rained.   There were many sculptures inside to see and the place was crowded with tourists.  I had wanted to visit the Rodin museum since my first trip to Paris.  Now I was finally able to do so this time.
 
Lunch didn't hit me well, so I picked up something at a pharmacy to take for my stomach.  Before dinner, my friend Patty came to our room to visit for a while.  She and her husband Paul were in Paris for a short 7th wedding anniversary trip hoping to conceive their first baby (which they did! - see photo of Lauren).  They were able to get a room at Balcons on my recommendation.  This was their trip to Paris.  Patty told us of their adventures of their first night in Paris: bar hopping with a couple of French guys and out till 5am!  Paul was still sleeping when Patty came over.  We enjoyed some wine while talking about our adventures.
 
May 12 Sunday  We got up early and headed out to Gare de Lyon to catch the TGV train to Avignon.  The other morning we picked up our tickets at the SNCF office at the Saint Michel RER station (right next to the Seine).  I had purchased our tickets on line (http://www.sncf.com/) and only needed to show my credit card and confirmation letter I received via email to get our tickets.  It was a quick 2 hours, 40 minute ride to Avignon.  Reenie napped for a short time, while I enjoyed the countryside.  I saw many farms, fields, villages.  We left Paris under clouds and arrived in sunny Provence.  The Avignon TGV station is about 3 miles outside of town and is about a year old.  The rental car office is located out the back exit and to the left on the end, still under construction.  We rented our car through AutoEurope and picked up our car at Europe Car. 
 
We headed to Saint Remy de Provence, which took about 30 minutes.  When leaving the car rental area, head around the perimeter, then turn right through the very large gates to get to the main road.  Follow the signs towards Saint Remy and Arles.  Our home for the next four nights was at Residence Les Sources, a small, charming B&B owned by Philippe and his partner.  His partner's wife, Avern, was very helpful during our stay.
 
After lunch in town, we spent the afternoon visiting the Roman ruins of Glanum, just south of Saint Remy.  It was about a 30-minute walk from the center of town.  The day was bright and sunny and a little on the warm side, but much, much better than the weather in Paris.  Glanum is a very interesting place to visit with its ruins.  We spent some time there before heading back to town.  See http://www.beyond.fr/sites/glanum.html for a detailed description of Glanum.  Saint Remy is a lovely town and we were glad to use this place as a home base for our day trips.  We were even happier to be staying at Les Sources because it's a 10-minute walk to the center of town and away from the traffic noise.  I can imagine the crowds during the high tourist season.  
 
May 13  Time for Provence sightseeing to several villages.  We headed out for the day and started with a visit to Oppede.  We had to pay to park our car, but it was very inexpensive.  We hiked up to the village and walked around the area.  Higher up, the buildings were in ruins.  The next town we visited was Menerbes, followed by Lacoste and Bonnieux.  All were lovely villages, but my favorite was Lacoste.  It had very old buildings and was quite unique.  There were arched passages and small streets.  These villages are close to each other, but it took a full day to visit them all without rushing to each one.  In each place we picked up postcards and small souvenirs. 
 
May 14   We started our morning with a visit to Romanin, near St. Remy.  Romanin sits at the foot of the Apilles along with vineyards.  We stopped at the winery to sample some wine.  Reenie purchased a bottle for our evening meal.  We then headed to L'Isle sur la Sorgue (lovely with its canals and many antique shops), Fontaine de Vaucluse (too touristy for me but enjoyed seeing the rushing of the water), a short photo op at Gordes (fabulous!)   Will have to visit there on my next trip to Provence), and Roussillon (lovely colorful town but we didn't give ourselves enough time here to really see the ochre-color mountains).   In L'Isle sur la Sorgue, I purchased some material for my kitchen table.  I picked up two different patterns, both typical of the region and quite colorful.  
 
May 15  Market Day in Saint Remy de Provence.  I wish we had spent more time at the market, as there were many wonderful things to see and buy.  It was a lively morning with many tourists and locals shopping.  We gave ourselves probably just over an hour.  I highly recommend anyone going to these markets in Provence that they give themselves at least 3, maybe 4 hours.  Or, don't plan to do anything else that day, take your time to enjoy the market, and if there's time to go someplace close in the afternoon, then do that.  I enjoyed looking at all the wonderful things: fruits, vegetables, herbs, olives, colorful soaps made into the shape of the Cicada, and barrels full of lavender.  The market sellers were lively and fun to talk to. 
 
I found a little wine shop where one can bring in empty water bottles (or wine bottles) and have them filled with very inexpensive, tasty wine.  The shop had 5 or 6 large vats of wine, with various types of wine.  I purchased a liter of Cote du Rhone for 3.45 Euros, $3.19.  This included the cost of purchasing an empty bottle.  Had I brought my own in, it would have been 2.30 Euros.  Reenie purchased a bottle too.
 
We dropped off our purchases at the B&B, and headed out to Nimes. About a mile or so outside of Saint Remy, we saw a beautiful field of poppies.  It was such a bright vivid color.  As I was pulling over to stop, I noticed a movement of brown color coming towards the poppies and road.  They were sheep!  There must have been a hundred of them running towards the poppies.  At first I thought they were going to run across the road, but no, they stopped in the middle of the poppy field.  A border collie ran off to chase a straggler back to the group.  We got out of the car and took a few photos.  Finished with our photography, we got in the car and drove off.  We saw this same field the next day and not one red poppy petal was to be found.  Those sheep ate every flower!  I wish we had taken an "after" photo.
 
Nimes was a nice town to visit, but frustrating and difficult to drive in.  The streets are tiny with a lot of one-way streets and cars parked on both sides.  After driving around for 20 minutes, we found an underground parking garage, not too far from the Roman amphitheatre.  Unfortunately the amphitheatre (one of the best preserved in the Roman world) was closed for repairs.  We were disappointed.  We walked around town seeing some of the sights, including the Maison Carré, a well-preserved Roman building, once part of the forum.  
 
The highlight of the afternoon (and one of the highlights of the trip for me) was a visit to Pont du Gard.  It was about a 30-minute drive from Nimes.  There is no fee at Pont du Gard except for parking.  There are two parking lots, one on each side of the river.  It doesn't matter which side you park on since you can walk across the bridge to the other side.  What a spectacular sight!  It was a beautiful afternoon and with the blue skies in the background of the bridge.  It was a perfect postcard scene.  Reenie even took her shoes and socks off, rolled up her pants and dipped her feet in the water. 
 
We headed back to Saint Remy via Avignon.  That was a big mistake as it was rush hour.  It took longer to get home than going back the way we came.  Around 6pm, we met some people at the B&B where we were staying.  Philippe had arranged a dinner party for the evening.  He set up a bar and food area where we all enjoyed wine, Pastis (a very inexpensive liquor similar in taste to Ouzo or Zambucco and served over ice with a little bit of water), and delicious appetizers (Bull salami, olive tapenade on toast, cheese, chips, etc) while talking with one another.  Philippe also has a Boules game area where we played a few rounds (this is similar to the Italian Bocci ball game).  Eleven of us (Philippe and Vivian, Tom and Gretchen, John and Priscilla, George and Wendy, and Patricia (Hi everyone, email me sometime!), Reenie and me) went to dinner in Rognonas (located 3 km south of Avignon) where we enjoyed one of our best meals of the trip at Restaurant Norbert Dusserre.  We sat out on the terrace as we had perfect outdoor dining weather.  Only a light jacket was needed at night.  It was a fun evening and everyone had a great time including singing some songs!  It was a good group of people and we enjoyed each other's company.  And to top the evening, our waitress complimented me on my French accent!!!
 
May 16  Before heading to Avignon for the next three nights, we took a morning trip to Les Baux, which is high up on the Alpilles.  It's a 15-20 minute drive from Saint Remy.  Get there no later than 9am, preferably closer to 8:30am.  By the time we left (around 11:00am) the place was packed with tourists.  We counted a dozen tour busses parked in the area.  Les Baux is an interesting town with great views of the surrounding area and was one of Reenie's favorite places to visit.  I did a little shopping (Avern suggested a shop near the top of Les Baux, which had very good prices) while Reenie hiked all the way to the top of Les Baux. 
 
Back at the B&B, we finished packing and said our goodbyes to our hosts. Avern was wonderful.  When I had mentioned we were going to return our rental car to the Avignon TGV station, she told me she would call the company and verify that I could drop the car off at the location in town, saving us a taxi ride.  Throughout our stay, she helped us, advised us, and gave us suggestions for our stay.
 
Getting into Avignon was easy, but it was difficult getting close enough to our hotel to park the car and drop off our luggage.  We ended up parking about 5 blocks away.  We stayed at Hotel Garlande, which is on a pedestrian street.  I found out later I could have driven down the pedestrian street had I gone to the right location and pressed an intercom button to be let in the street.  The hotel has no elevator and we had to carry our luggage up two flights of stairs.  It was exhausting as our bags were heavy.  To top that, it was a spiral staircase.  Reenie collapsed on the bed while I went back to the car to drop it off next to the train station.   From the train station, it was a 10-minute walk to the hotel.  
 
In the afternoon we visited the Pope's Palace.  We had cassette recorders to listen to, which made it for an interesting visit.  However, it was quite long and after a while I would move on to the next room without listening to the rest of the story.  The place was quite large and very empty.  There were some tapestries on the walls, but no furniture to speak of.  Next, we walked to the Pont St. Benezet and walked to the end of the bridge. Reenie started singing "sur le Pont d'Avignon.".  The visit to the bridge was included with our Palace ticket. 
 
We shopped a little before heading back to the room to unpack, have a little wine, and to rest.  We had the manager of the hotel make dinner reservations for us.  There was one restaurant I was interested in, but it was closed for a few days.  We dined at Au Petit Bedon, which was very good.  It was about a 10-minute walk from the hotel.  Stay away from the restaurants at the place de l'Horloge with the exception of enjoying a glass of wine or Pastis and people watching. 
 
May 17  We took the 10:30am train to Arles, which was only a 17 minute ride.  My original plans were to drive there, but we had changed our itinerary while we were in Saint Remy.  Someone had suggested we drive to Arles and take the train to Nimes, but then we would have missed out on seeing the Pont du Gard.  Taking the train to Nimes is a good idea, especially if one wants to avoid those small streets with a car. 
 
Arles is a lovely town with a lot of small streets.  However, we saw more dog poop in Arles than in any other town, including Paris!  We purchased the museum pass and visited several sights: the arena, the Alyscamps, the theatre, the Roman baths and the crypt.  It was all very interesting.  We even saw Le Café "La Nuit" that Van Gogh had painted.  In one of the store windows, a  cat was sound asleep enjoying the comforts of a cushion and toy stuffed dog.   
 
We found a place for lunch near the Alyscamps, which was very good.  We sat in the back on the terrace.  People in business suits arrived and the place quickly filled.  I ordered off the menu instead of having a single entrée.  It was very filling and I wish I hadn't ordered such a big meal.  Most of our lunches have been very light and "on the go," saving the big meal at dinnertime.
 
We arrived back in Avignon around 4:20pm.  We had plans to meet up and spend time with Miriam and Oliver (from Frankfurt) for the next 2 nights.  We weren't sure what time they would be in town, so planned to call each other's hotel around 9pm or so.  We had drinks at a café at the place de l'Horloge, then took a walk to find a restaurant for dinner.  We came upon Restaurant Le Vernet where we dined outdoors.  As we were walking back to our hotel after dinner, we ran into Oliver.  They had arrived a little earlier than planned.  We sat at an outdoor café at place de l'Horloge and waited for Miriam to arrive from their hotel.  Miriam arrived a short while later and the four of us sat outside having drinks and having a good time talking for a couple of hours.  As always, it was great to see Miriam and Oliver.  We made our plans for the next day, and then went back to our hotel for the night.
 
May 18  Reenie and I headed out to Les Halles, a wonderful indoor market place.  We saw all kinds of fish and seafood, patés and terrines, fruits, vegetables, take out foods, and even a bar to have a glass of  wine. After, we headed to the PopesPalace. Just in front of the palace were many tables set up for a pottery market.  There were many vendors selling varieties of ceramics.  However, nothing stood out that I wanted to purchase.  We walked to the river and came upon an antique market.  There were many people were picking and weeding through the piles of antiques: plates, glass, chairs, picture frame, cooking utensils, old clothes, watches.  We walked to the jardin nearby, which is the highest spot in Avignon, to take in the views.
 
We planned to meet Miriam and Oliver at noon at hour hotel, so we headed back and waited for them.  We all headed out to Chateneauf du Pape, which was about a 15-minute drive north of Avignon.  It was an overcast day, the first since we arrived in Provence.  We walked around town (very pretty with small streets and many wine shops), had lunch, and then decided to try a few places to sample some of the famous Chateneauf du Pape wine.  Unfortunately two places that we went in to said we were required to promise them we would purchase their wine before we could taste any.  That blew our minds.  How could we say, yes, we'll buy some wine, if we don't know if we'll like it?  So, we walked out and found one place that had a sign "Free Wine Tasting" was sort of willing to let us taste their wine.  We had to share the glass between 2 people and only after we stood there for the longest time.  Had we been in the area other than a Saturday, we could have gone to the wine caves out in the countryside.  Maybe those places would have been more open to people wanting to try their wines.
 
We took a drive to Orange to see the famous Roman theatre. It was a little pricey to get in, but it did include the recorders as well as a visit to the small museum across the street.  The winds had picked up by the time we were towards the top of the theatre steps, and just after getting back to the bottom, it started to rain.  I wouldn't have wanted walk on the stone steps when they were wet.  The recording gave a very informative narration of the history of the theatre.  We shopped in a few shops where Reenie finally found the perfect mustard jar to purchase. 
 
We drove back to Avignon and Oliver dropped us off near our hotel.  We planned on meeting again in the evening for dinner, so we went back to our hotel to rest, have some wine, write some postcards, and pack our bags for our return to Paris the next day.  We enjoyed our evening and dinner at Restaurant Brunel with Miriam and Oliver.  After dinner we said our goodbyes to them and headed back to our hotel. 
 
Sunday May 19  We had TGV tickets for the 9:30am train to Paris.  We took a taxi to the train station (about $16).  It's a neat train station, just one long building.  Inside there are monitors, which show the whole length of the train, the car number and track area where the train will stop (i.e., car 18 at area Y).  It was a nice ride to Paris, taking 2 hours 40 minutes.  The day was sunny, but by the time we got to Paris, it was cloudy. 
 
We went to Grand Hotel des Balcons via the metro, dropped off our luggage and headed out for the afternoon.  We went to the right bank to see some of the Paris passages (covered shopping gallerias).  Most of the shops were closed since it was a Sunday.  We walked around the area and window-shopped along the way.  We had plans to meet a fellow fodorite at 6:30pm at Le Danton, near our hotel, but got back to the area too late. 
 
May 20  We took the train from Gare Lazare to the town of Rouen in Normany.  We had purchased our train tickets the week before and were told to get seat reservations for the trip home as it was a holiday and many people would be taking the trains.  The old section of Rouen reminded me of Bayeux with its buildings.  We toured the tower where Joan of Arc was kept and threatened with torture, the ceramic museum, and the wrought iron museum, all very interesting.   We visited a few churches, including the very contemporary and ugly Joan of Arch church.  Most of Rouen is modern with the exception of the small area of the old town with its small streets.
 
Our train ride back to Paris was horrible!  There were so many people at the train station.  We stood by the track area where our car #15 was schedule to stop, but when the train arrived, I couldn't see any numbers on the cars.  Someone near me said "this is car 18" so we moved to the left and got on quickly after we realized we had stood in the correct area in the first place.  The isles were pack with people and it took a good 15 minutes to get to our car.  We had to squeeze by and climb over people and baggage in the isle.  People looked at us, probably thinking, "Where are you going? It's not going to get any better!"  I knew it would be a battle to get our seats once we got to our car.  Sure enough, there were 9 adults and a young child sitting in an 8-seat compartment.  The young men in our seats refused to get up, claiming they too had the same seat assignment.   One guy produced an empty ticket envelope, waved it at me stating, "here's my ticket" then quickly putting it back in his pocket while another one said, "You're on the wrong train."  Of course, they were lying.  I was tired, hot, and irritated.  We paid for our seats while these guys probably got on board without paying a Euro.  No conductor was going to check tickets on this fully packed train.  A young guy standing next to me argued with the guys for the next 5 minutes.  Finally, they got up and we sat down.  One stared at me the whole trip.  I stared back.  I don't think I could have ridden the train standing up all the way back to Paris.  Reenie was exhausted and fell asleep for a short while.  Back at our hotel, I had to take a shower before we went out for the evening.  That was such a nightmare.
 
May 21  We spent the day in Paris, starting out at the EiffelTower.  I was going to sit and wait for Reenie while she went up (been there, done that twice now), but she insisted I go with her and even paid for my ticket.  So up we went.  The line wasn't long at all and took only a couple of minutes to buy our tickets and get to the elevator.  It was a sunny day, which we were very happy about.  All other days in Paris were cloudy and rainy.  That didn't bother me since I've been to Paris on three other trips, but Reenie was disappointed since this was her first trip to Paris.  We enjoyed the views from the top while we snapped away with our cameras along with the other tourists. 
 
We walked to Les Invalides, then to rue Cler, one of my favorite pedestrian streets.  Nearby, we had salads for lunch at a bistrot before walking over to the right bank.  We window shopped along the Champs Elysees and purchased some perfume at Sephora's.  Reenie went into one eyeglass store, where they fixed her eyeglasses at no charge (one of the screws kept coming out).  While I was waiting for her in the lounge, I was offered coffee.  Great customer service!    
 
We walked to the Arc de Triomphe around 4:30pm, but were told it was closing in "15 minutes."  Apparently some birthday celebration of the Legion of Honor was to be held about an hour later.  We couldn't stay to see the parade and event as we had reservations for a concert at Saint Chapelle.  I was disappointed in not being able to go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe because the last time I was there it was an overcast and rainy day.  This afternoon was just lovely. 
 
We went back to our hotel for a while before heading to Saint Chapelle.  We had reservations for the 7:15pm concert, Les Quatre Saisons by Vivaldi.  The concert started around 7:20pm and lasted just over an hour.  I really enjoyed sitting there listening to the concert and looking at the spectacular stained glass windows.  It was a memorable evening, which I'll remember for a long time.  I purchased a CD after the concert and had my picture taken with the young lead violinist.
 
We headed to a restaurant I had dined in on a previous trip.  I figured we could go directly to Aux Gourmets des Arts get in without reservations.  No problem at all.  There were only a few other people there, so we basically had the place to ourselves along with the owner's fat cat.
 
May 22  We took a morning trip to Chateau Vaux le Vicomte.  We took the RER D to Melun, then a taxi (13.50 Euros each way) to the Chateau.  I really liked this Chateau, as it was much smaller and not as overwhelming as Versailles.  Besides us, there were probably 15 others visiting the place.  The gardens were lovely; however, it was a rainy, overcast day.  It would have been nice to walk around the gardens rather than just the area immediately next to the Chateau.  The Chateau has a very nice gift shop with many items to choose from, including some lovely, but expensive tapestries.  I did much better buying my tapestry in Dijon back in 1999. 
 
For lunch, we just had a croque-monsieur, along with a glass of wine and beer. They were inexpensive and very tasty.  We dined at a café across the street from the train station. 
 
Our afternoon was spent in Paris shopping at Galleria Lafayette and packing our bags.  We had a wonderful dinner Le Maupertu, which had a nice view of the dome of Les Invalides.  The dome glowed from the setting sun.  Reenie wanted to see the EiffelTower lit up at night so we walked to the Champs de Mars.  Along the way (and after sharing a bottle of wine at dinner, I needed to find a restroom).  With none in the immediate area, we decided that if the French dogs could pee in le jardin so could we!  There we took turns keeping an eye out as the other squatted in the bushes while admiring the view of the EiffelTower!  What a way to end our evening! 
 
Thursday May 23  Time to head home.  We got up very early so we could walk to the Saint Michel RER station to get to CDG-2.  Our suitcases and souvenir bags were heavy, but we managed fine walking along Bvd Saint Germaine and the underground area of the metro.  Unfortunately the RER train did not go all the way to CDG-2, so we had to get off one stop before CDG and take the courtesy shuttle bus to the airport. 
 
We arrived at the ticket counter about 2 hours before our flight and were probably the first to show up.  The agent took our tickets and passports to process us in.  She stated, "The flight is very full...(Oh no, have we been bumped?)...So I am putting you in Business Class."  Boy was I the happiest person that day and quite surprised.  I must have thanked her ½ a dozen times.  She didn't explain the reason, but we figured it out as the other passengers got to the gate.  There must have been 100 young French military students waiting for the same flight.  I guess they moved us away from that group into business class.  Fine by me! 
 
What a treat to fly in business class: wide seat, foot rest with plenty of leg room, headrest that you can "wrap" around your head for support, the chair moves back enough to sleep comfortably, a water bottle and accessory case (with eye mask, socks, toothbrush, paste, razor, etc).  We barely pulled away from the gate to taxi to the runway when we were served a glass of champagne (Heidsieck to boot).  Shortly after take off, the carts came down the isle and we had another glass of champagne.  Lunch was a wonderful meal, in fact, one of the best meals on our trip. The foie gras was to die for, the creamiest we've ever tasted.  Wine and liquors were served throughout the meal.  It seemed like every time we were finished with one meal, they were out again for the next "event."
 
At the end of our trip, the head flight attendant came by to each passenger in business class and thanked them for flying Air France and making small talk.  He remembered who spoke English or French and spoke in the appropriate language.  He was a very nice man.  Wonderful service.  Now I need to start saving up for future flights in business class! 
 
All in all, it was a great trip.  We were disappointed with the Paris weather, but were very happy to have wonderful sunny days in Provence.  We met a lot of nice people along the way and enjoyed the many sights we saw.  The concert at Sainte-Chapelle was a wonderful experience and I would recommend a concert there to anyone!
 
Monica