The French

2- What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages?

-trilingual

What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages?

-bilingual

What do you call someone who speaks 1 language?

-French

Good Morning Paris!

We had our first night in Paris in our lovely apartment on Isle of St. Louis.  It's the perfect size and in beautiful area of the city.  Being August, the locals vacate the city and go to the south of France, Italy and other exotic locations for their month long vacations.  This allows us to move around he city easier than any other time of the year.  Don't get me wrong, it's still busy but at least I can get a cab when I need one.
 

It was a great day of shopping and selected a couple of items from a local French designer.  I was surprised to see a long line at the Louis Vuitton store of at least 20 people waiting to shop for that perfect French item.  The prices are better here and I’m sure it's because we are buying a French item in France.  

The apartment sits above a couple of very nice cafes.  I opened the large windows which allowed cool, crisp air to fill the room.  Below in the cafes was the slight clinking of glasses, soft chatter and lovely French music.  It was a perfect formula to lull me into sleep and  into nice dreams of what my next day will bring me here in Paris.

"Are we there yet?...Are we there yet?......how about now?"

It feels like I'm 5 again sitting in the back of my parent's 1955 Chevy that was the size of a small apartment anxiously awaiting my destination.  I would pass the time with my arm out the window making wind waves.  I just knew from the hype from my parents, that our destination was going to make me happy! Or was it a trick to get me to go and spend time with relatives who smelled funny? hmmm......

At that age, it's hard to grasp the concept of time.  So asking your parents over and over helped with the anxiety of the trip.  I promise I won't do that to my travel friend on the flight, and I promise the pilot I won't try to hang my arm out the window and play with the wind, but I can't say that I won't be ready to get to my destination as quickly as possible.

I have a normal and very quiet life so I can't blog about how "tough" life has been this past year.  What I will tell you is that I have worked my booty off.   I start my day around 6am and I don't really stop working until my eyes get droopy and my mind is mush, usually around 11pm.  I get up and do it all over again each day.  Of course some days are lighter than others, but for the most part they are endless meetings, presentations and conversations that take the hours away and leave me in a slump at night.

So....to sit in a Paris cafe and sip on a coffee or leisurely ride the Seine river at night and watch the world go by with no mobile phone going off endlessly, or stroll the cobblestone streets of Brussels with my daughter is going to be wonderful. 

Now back to the mad race to make a dollar! Paris! I'm coming! 

Wait...need manicure, pedicure, pick up new eye glasses, wire money to child, drop off dog....oh my....never enough time!   

Check List

Arranged for mail to be picked up - Check.  Confirmed the house-sitter - Check.  Paid bills - Check. Got my passport? Check!  Delegated stuff at work - Check. As I sit on the sofa scratching Clyde's tummy I keep thinking that I have forgotten something.  Think....think..think!  I run the list through my mind again and again as I take Clyde for a walk.  Still nothing.  I shower, grab Clyde and snuggle up into bed when all of sudden it hits me. CLYDE! What do I do with poor, little Clyde?  Oh my....I better call the ex-husband tomorrow and see if he will dog sit his daughter's dog.  These are the times I wish that dog could talk. He would of heard me calling out my list and respond "Hey, crazy lady!  Do you think I'm going to walk myself? And who do you think is going to give me my treat every time I go potty in the right spot?  Humans are so daft".  Then he would try to lick my face and remind me why he is part of the family.

Count Down!

Work is crazy and I would never consider time away from the office IF I had not already done so.  The count down begins now! Getting away from the office will be well-deserved when the time arrives for me to slide into the back seat of the town car that will start my next journey into another time and place. The driver, Ed, will place my one little bag (and I do mean little) on the curb and wish me a good trip as I prepare myself  for my next experience of Europe.  There are good things on the horizon!

I'm a light packer but I always worry if I forgot that one little thing that I may not be able to find at my destination.   I have the debit card, the credit cards and clothes for at least 2 days, so I think I'm good.  Paris here we come!

The Winner is....Brussels!

My travel partners and I put our heads together and decided that our home base will be Brussels when we leave Paris.  The picture to the right is the hotel.  Unless it's a trick, this hotel is the best value in the world.  We are only paying $150 per night!  It's not a cozy, boutique hotel that I would normally select, but I think I'll like it.  ;-)

Selecting Brussels does not mean we're stuck or even staying full-time; it just means our suitcases have a home ;-)  I have also purchased our train tickets from Paris to Brussels. 


We are planning a day trip to Brugge....stay tuned for more details on that excursion!

A few fun notes:  In the summer, average daily maximum temperatures rarely exceed 22ºC (73ºF). The summer visitor should always be prepared for rain in Brussels.   Brussels operates as a bilingual city where both French (80%) and Dutch (Flemish) (20%) are official languages. Thus all the streets have two names, which can sound totally different.

The country’s reputation for chocolate began with the creation of the praline in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus, founder of the iconic Neuhaus Chocolatier.  Belgian chocolates stand out from the rest because of the use of only natural products.

Belgium gets on average approximately 200 days of rainfall per year, both which are more than that of London and Paris

Paris Apartment Secured!

I found an apartment on the Isle of St Louis, Paris.  It's not as "Paris" fashionable as I thought it would be, but the extra space and the quietness will replace any of it's shortcomings.  It will be a great place to land at the end of an exhausting day of shopping and viewing the city.  I shall walk around with Parisian music piped into my ears; take in the lovely aroma of croissants; watch the people in the cafes and listen to a language that I can only wish I could speak. Ahhh...I can't wait!   

Now we (travel partner and I) need to decide if we stay in Bruges, Brussels, Antwerp or Ghent when we leave Paris.  I, personally, think she is going to meet a fabulously rich aristocrat while wandering the streets of Paris who is going to invite her to spend the next few days on his yacht and all of these decisions will be moot.  :-) Of course, I can't let her wander off by herself and I need to make certain she is safe (to a certain degree).

Now back to reality.....One of our choices is Bruges with lovely canals, great architecture, and stay-awhile cafés. We can bike along a canal, munch mussels, drink monk-made beer, see a Michelangelo, and savor heavenly chocolate, while listening to the bells that rings out "be happy" jingles.  I'm meeting with my travel friend tonight for dinner and we will make the tough decision on where we go after Paris.....what will it be?  Brussels? Bruges? Antwerp? or Ghent?  TOUGH decision.  Stay tuned!

I'm so excited.  I have another trip to Europe in the near future. Yay!  Lindsey has been invited to play and study with an orchestra group in Nuremberg, Germany and as most people know, I'm an over protective mom and I can't allow her to go all by herself! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  ;-) 

I've recruited a girlfriend to go along with me.  We will be arriving in Paris (watch out Paris) on the 10th of August.  We will be on a mission to exchange dollars for posh and fun European items.  That's my kind of vacation fun!  All of that shopping will require us to stop for libations and croissants regularly.  Fun!

We decided to book an apartment in Paris instead of staying in a hotel.  It will give us more space and allow us to cook our own dinner some evenings if we are just tired of the French cooking.  I don't see that happening too much, but I like the option.  The apartment is on the Isle of St. Louis which is where Paris began.  It is much quieter than the rest of Paris and has a different energy level.   A level that I will enjoy after a tough day of being a shopping tourist.  Stay tuned for more plans on the exciting trip to Paris ...oh, and Brussels, Antwerp and Brugge.  :-)