The return

Well, we flew back from Paris yesterday but it wasn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill flight. We were randomly upgraded to first class, which completely surprised us. I've never flown first class and to get the chance on a flight that was 10 hours long was a sheer delight. The food was great. The wine even better. The seats were HUGE with Grand Canyon-size leg room and a variety of reclining positions, including full sleep recline. Needless to say, I will be sad to fly economy next time, but at least I got this chance. Thanks, Delta!

I'm not going to post a lot this time since I'm feeling ready to take another 12 hour nap (I awoke at 3:30 this morning ready to go). Hopefully, I can hold out until 8. I've just started uploading photos and reviewing them. I'll plan to post a bunch during the weekend.

Here's a poster we saw a bit of around Paris and Lyon. It's apparently from a union protest in 2009 and refers to Sarkozy's attempts to reduce worker rights. I thought it was pretty amusing.

More later.

Paris

We've made it to the last stop on our European vacation. Paris is lousy with tourists at the moment (of course, we add to that teaming mass of humanity gawking at buildings and statues, etc.). Our hotel has limited Wifi (read: pay by the hour), so this may be the last post until we return.

Although we briefly contemplated going to witness the end of the Tour de France, we decided we would skip the party of thousands of spectators and just watch the final bit on tv. Didn't miss the crowds at all...plus we could watch while having our afternoon lie down.

The weather is lovely - sunny and warm but not hot. Perfect summer weather. Not much more to say but we're enjoying the food, the weather, the sights, etc. Expecting to see a Eugene Atget photo show on Tuesday (he took photos, many many many photos of Paris...I'm not sure he photographed anything else). Who know what other things we'll see. I'm sure it'll all be good, or at least interesting.

The Hell's Angels on scooters

This crew of scooters were revving their engines outside our hotel this afternoon. We decided it was definitely not something you'd see in the US.

Our cool hotel in Lyon

The hotel used to be a school and it has kept with that theme. There are wooden desks, blackboards, maps, lockers, etc. beautiful place. We may never leave.

Giant lollipops!

I don't really understand how anyone would ever be able to eat one of these monster candies. I had Levi stand next to the display for perspective. They're huge and can be bought at the duty-free in Prague. Make a note of that.

Leaving for Lyon

I haven't posted anything over the past couple days. Long days and late evenings so I've been a bit too tired to write.

On Tuesday, we met my friend Fanda who took us on a walking tour of Prague (Prague 6, 7, 8) - through parks, to the zoo, the botanical gardens, the national technical museum and the residential areas of the city. We also met a couple of his friends, Irena and Jiří and their very cute baby, Christina. The first evening we went to Irena and Jiří's apartment for coffee. Last night we went out to a very good Italian restaurant near their apartment (though I was completely lost since the apartment blocks are huge and numerous - some from the communist era and some more contemporary). My Czech is still awful but it was good to have three people try to help me. We worked on Czech and English tongue twisters to round out the evening. A very pleasant way to spend vacation time.

We're now waiting at the Prague airport for our flight to Lyon. The weather turned warm and sunny yesterday and continues to be pleasant today. I'm pretty sure it will be delightful in France. I've got a bit of the traveler's malaise - longing for my routines and not to be pulling clothes from suitcases. It will pass quickly but I still miss home a bit. Anyhow, it's onward and upward.

Of course, by the time I tried to upload this post, my free 15 mins (15 mins?!! Are you kidding me) on the airport WIFI has expired, so I'll have to post this when we arrive in France.

 

Driving to Prague

Despite our map-studies and the contingent plans we made in case we missed our turns to get back into Prague, we got lost en route back to the city. The most frustrating thing seemed to be "banging a u-y" wasn't the simplest activity. At one point, after figuring out where we were (a minor miracle to my mind), we realized we needed to turn around, so we took the next right in order to turn around. Unfortunately, the street turned out to be a tunnel that spit us out somewhere else. Still, I managed to keep my cool (I was the navigator).

Finally, we managed to get directions from a fellow on the street and made it to Malá Strana only to miss our left turn to get us to the hotel. No problem, right? Well, there was a massive backup and the road we wound up on had massive construction on it. Missed another turn after turning around again (at this point I lost it...I kept insisting that the soccer stadium was just an illusion, that we couldn't possibly be passing it and the map must be wrong). Finally, calmer minds prevailed and got us back to where we needed to be and finally to our hotel. This is the second time we've driven into Prague and both times have been extremely challenging. Somehow I believed this second time would be easier. I can drive in NYC but here is extremely nerve-wracking.

Prior to arriving in Prague, we had driven to Jihlava, which is the birthplace of Gustave Mahler. He is a picture of a park built in his honor:

And here is a picture of Levi enjoying an RC Cola in the Smile Bar:

 

After a run this morning, we'll meet my friend Fanda for a local's tour of the city. Hopefully, it doesn't rain too much (I'm wishing I brought at least one more pair of pants since it's been a bit on the cool side).