Visiting my sister in Paris!

Flight reservations:\r 14 Feb Air France Flight:AF995\r From: Johannesburg Int'l (JNB), Johannesburg, South Africa\r To: Charles De Gaulle (CDG), Paris, France\r Departing: 21:00 Arriving: 06:30\r Air France bus to Neuilly sur Seine (12 euros)! \r \r 15 February \r Arrived in Paris and the sunrise in the clear skies was gorgeous...now it is overcast and trying to snow! Much colder than Johannesburg.\r

\r 16 February \r We walked to La Defense to meet my brother-in-law who works for IBM and to get our Starbucks fix and then around the shopping mall....very cold today!\r

\r 17 February - more walking...found the english bookshops of WH Smith and Brentanos. Also purchased snow boots on sale for twenty euro at Bata as my Tevas do not keep my feet very warm. We found the offices for Czech Airlines and enquired about airfares; their cheapest is 42 days advance fare...which will not work for me....maybe the train....picked up some good Prague map/info stuff there. Walked around Place Vendomme.\r

\r 18 February - more walking (warmer)....shopping at the local outdoor marche for filet de poulet for supper and creme d'ail for the pain. We took the train to Chatelet and walked to Les Halles looking for Starbucks which we found at Beaubourg. Found the American Grocers of Thanksgiving and The Real McCoy where I bought some Swiss Miss even though very expensive, it is still cheaper than a 4.30 euro Starbucks mocha grande every day. Also found 50% off sale at Columbia store so bought a sweater and down parka.....which I really needed as it is much colder than Africa! Walked across the Pont d'Alma and visited the site above the tunnel where Princess Diana died.\r

\r 19 February (Saturday) - It rained all last evening but the sky is clearing today but very cold. We walked to the Ile de la Grande Jatte on the Seine River and took photos at the Temple de l'Amour. We then took the #73 bus to the Musee d'Orsay but when we arrived around 4:30pm, the queue was too long as we would have to leave at 5:30 before they closed at 6 and therefore not see very much. So we gave it a miss and walked a bit and then hopped the number 73 bus back to Neuilly and then to Leon's of Brussels for mussels (moules) and chips (pommes frites).\r

\r 20 February (Sunday) - Pam and family went to church and then after lunch we took a walk in the Jardin d'Acclimatation.\r

\r 21 February - I had lunch with Viviane, a woman that I worked with at IBM while living in Montpellier. She works for IBM France and like me has worked with DB2 forever! Pam, Katie and I then took the train to Bastille/Filles du Calvaine station to research a hostel where some friends of theirs are planning stay and to do more walking and window shopping. We visited Place des Vosges, Maison de Victor Hugo, Hotel de Sully, a great African shop, Notre Dame des Blancs Manteaux church, Forum des Halles and eglise St Eustache.\r

\r 22 February - Woke up to a bit of snow on the ground and very cold temps. Picked up our Switzerland train tickets at the SNCF office down the street but still having trouble booking the train for Prague. We walked the Champs Elysees to WH Smith to get books on Switzerland and to Angelina's to buy hot chocolate. We went scarf shopping near the Notre Dame....these scarves are everywhere and everyone wears them cos of the cold and wind....and they are five euro....they come in heaps of colours....so will need to buy one of each colour to take home!\r

\r 23 February - It is snowing! Took the train to the Musee du Louvre and spent most of the day walking the entire museum. Enjoyed the top two floors of paintings from 9-12 (visited Mona first) and then explored the sculptures on the lower two floors until 3 when I encountered more people and more groups of people. Walked to WH Smith and found Michael Chabon's 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay' that I wanted to read before going to Prague and then meandered back to Pam's via many of the back streets that included the US Embassy and a few more churches. There is still snow on the ground and a few flurries in the air.\r

It was great at the Louvre as I found the painting of which I have a print in my bathroom...done by Jean Auguste Ingres.\r

\r 24 February - A bit of clearing today so off to try and book a train to Prague. Initially I went to the Paris Gare de l'Est to enquire about buying tickets and after much time working with the woman at the ticket counter at the station, she indicated that she could only issue tickets to Germany and recommended that I visited Die Bahn at 13 rue de l'Alsace. I went to 13 rue de l'Alsace and the woman stated that this address was only for cargo and that the offices for clients had moved eight years ago to 47 avenue de l'Opera. I went to 47 avenue de l'Opera and found a sign there that indicated they had moved to 4 rue Daunou. This is the office of tourism for Germany though, so I was able to pick up some nice maps. I then went to Die Bahn around the corner at 4 rue Daunou and worked with Sandrine who was very helpful at booking me a train ticket to Prague and at a reduced price....finally!\r

I then visited many of the travel agencies and tourist offices of neighbouring countries that are located near/on avenue de l'Opera for the planning of future trips for either myself or my sister. Morris took us to dinner at Convivium for italian pasta with shellfish...yummy! Walked backed in the light falling snow although none was really sticking.\r

\r 25 February - Beautiful clear cold day in Paris! We walked to the British Commonwealth Womens Association (www.bcwa.org) but you must be English to join so kept walking toward the Eiffel Tower to visit the American Library of Paris which has heaps of books, newspapers, magazines, videos, CDs....so we spent over an hour catching up on the news and perusing their shelves. Home at 3 for lunch! We also visited Musee Guimet exhibit. Then off to Monoprix for grocery shopping and stocking up for our train ride. I purchased the wonderful Reglisse Mints Cremas (similar to taffy and tastes like licorice mint) but unfortunately, my crown on my tooth did not like it as well as I did and it fell off my tooth. Visited the pharmacy on the way home and found some dental adhesive (I made sure that it was not superglue for paper) and it stayed in through our supper.\r

\r 26 February - Unfortunately, while eating my cereal for brekkie, my crown fell off again....so glued it back in and will wait....maybe visit a dentist in Switzerland? A gorgeous cold day in Paris. Pam and Katie went to the American church for some activities and Morris read his book and I am busy organizing my stuff. I have not really done any paperwork since leaving full time internet in Amman with Jan so went through all my accounts online to cross reference with my paper receipts. Also packed for our trip to Switzerland but will not be much for me as I will just wear everything that I have to stay warm and carry my toothbrush and books! And also spent time updating my airtreks journal with a few more bits and pieces. An afternoon walk through Park Monceau and a visit to a Russian Orthodox Church where a service was in process with beautiful singing.\r

\r Our schedule:\r 27 February Sunday (RHNJBZ)\r Depart Paris Gare de Lyon 0744 (#9281)\r Arrive Zurich 1352\r 1 March Tuesday\r Depart Zurich for Liestal\r 4 March Friday (RIAMDO)\r Depart Basel 1201 (#1044)\r Arrive Paris Gare l'Est 1717\r \r 27 February - We took the 0744 train to Switzerland to visit Barbara in Zurich and Franzi in Liestal near Basel (which spans Switzerland, Germany and France). Not sure if we will have email/internet access. We had heaps of snow all the way with stops in Dijon, Dole, Mouchard, Frasne, Pontarlier, Neuchalet (in Switzerland), and Berne. Our train arrived a bit late (about 25 minutes) in Zurich at 1415. We missed the 1420 train to Kloten so waited for the 1450 train and enjoyed the busy Zurich train station with its many shops. Barbara met us at the train station as she lives across the street. She works for Singapore Airlines and the airport is nearby also. We had a wonderful homecooked dinner of fleischkase and risoto.\r

\r 28 February - A beautiful sunny and cold day to walk Zurich. We took the 0925 train to Zurich (a 15 minute ride) and stopped at Starbucks in the Central plaza before walking the Limmatquai through Niederdorf. We enjoyed watching the people, the trams, the architecture and the river! We visited Grossmunster and climbed the 187 steps to the top of the tower for great views and also ventured downstairs to catch a peek of Charlemagne's statue and sword. Many museums are closed today (Monday) but we enjoyed our walk in the sun and visited many of the churches such as Fraumunster (with beautiful Chagall windows), St Peters kirche (largest clockface in Europe and largest church in Zurich), Augustinerkirche and also the Lindenhof park where we enjoyed watching the men play chess with oversize chess pieces. We met Barbara at the Movie Restaurant for dinner and then the train to her house for dessert of Movenpick icecream and great pastries from Sprungli.\r

\r 1 March - Another sunny cold day and internet is good but difficult with Swiss keyboard (where the z and y are swapped) so this will be short. A stop at Starbucks and then to Coop to pick up snacks for the train. All of the Starbucks that we have visited in Switzerland have a keypad at the loo so you must enter a code (from the barista) in order to pee here! Decided to take the 1334 train to Liestal as they run every hour and takes 52 minutes via Lenzburg, Aarau, and Sissach. We walked the small town of about 10000 people and stopped for afternoon coffee at the Hotel Engel and read through our brochures and maps on the area. Franzi was planning to meet us at 5 at the train station but I had an address for her and it was closeby so at 4 we decided to find it and found out that it was her work so she was ready to leave for the day. We took the 76 bus to her home which she shares with Martin in Fullinsdorf which is a 300 year old house and we have the upstairs loft accessible by ladder! We then took a walk up the hill behind her home to some wonderful ruins and views of the valley including the village in which she was raised (Arisdorf). Home to meet Martin, enjoy photos of Franzi and my trip through Middle East and Africa in 1999-2000, and to enjoy pasta dinner.\r

\r 2 March - Up early to use their internet and catch up on my airtreks journal. We took the 0944 train to Basel today (sixteen minute train ride if via Prattein and Muttenz or ten minute on the express which we took home in the afternoon) after walking from Franci house in Fullinsdorf to the Frenkendorf station (about fifteen walk). We visited a few dentists on the way the the Theatre Plaza but I was not going to pay 166 chf just to glue my tooth in! We enjoyed the artwork of Tinguely in the Plaza and the beautiful frozen water fountains before a mocha at Starbucks. Because our train ticket is good for continuous one way transport within Basel, we took the #6 tram from Barfusserplatz to Claraplatz and then transferred to the #31 tram/bus to the Museum of Jean Tinguely. He is Switzerland's best loved artist and we had seen his art near the Kunsthalle and in Zurich. He uses scrap metal, plastic and bits of everyday junk to create room-sized Monty-Pythonesque machines that move. We saw his partner Niki de St-Phalle's work at the Zurich train station (flying blue angel) and she has a Tarot Garden in Toscana of her artwork.\r

http://www.tinguely.ch/en/index.html\r http://www.nikidesaintphalle.com\r We then walked along the river Rhine in the warm sun along Solitude Park. We took the Wild Maa/St Alban F\228hre across the river to visit the papermill (which was not open yet but did enjoy the waterwheel alongside), the St Alban Tor (one of the city's thirteenth century gates and enjoyed a snack on a knoll in a nearby park. We continued down St Alban-Vorstadt and crossed the bridge for a short walk to take the Leu/M\252nsterf\228hre back across the river. These are cable ferries (www.faehri.ch) that have plied to and fro for centuries and we really enjoyed them! We then spent time exploring the M\252nster (Basel cathedral) built in the thirteenth century of red sandstone with a beautifully patterned roof and two towers (one behind scaffolding being restored...typical site as one travels through Europe). We climbed the 242 steps to the top for the views....for me though only 219 as the last few were on an outside stairwell and not good for me who is afraid of heights!\r

http://www.muensterbasel.ch/index2.html\r We then continued our walk along Freie Strasse enjoying the shops, visiting Marktplatz and the elaborate scarlet facade of the Rathaus (Town Hall), the Fischmarket with another fountain, the Gothic Peterkirche, the university, and the Spalentor (the most elaborate of the surviving city gates). We returned to Liestal on the 1744 express train to meet Franzi and Martin for dinner at Ziegelhof Brewery for bratwurst and r -- sti (http://www.ziegelhof.ch/).\r

\r 3 March - Up early to catch up on more internet and to listen to the church bells chime. Martin left at 0615 as he works Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday in St Gallen which is about 2 1/2 hour train ride away so he spends the evening there. Instead of returning to Basel today, we are planning to do some walking locally to Arisdorf over the hill. We had thought of visiting Franci parents but they are flying to Paris for the weekend. We had a great walk to Arisdorf and found Franci parents house near the church. We caught the number 83 bus to Liestal (about six kilometres back over the hill) to roam around the small town one more time although we were there while the stores were closed (12-2) which of course saved us heaps of money! We then walked back home for lunch and then down to the supermarkets of Coop and Migros in Fullinsdorf to stock up on Swiss chocolate and biscuits and cheese for our train ride home tomorrow. The clouds are moving in this afternoon so looks like the snow will return.\r

\r 4 March - An overcast day with no snow last evening but looks like snow today. We walked with Franzi to the bus station and took the #76 bus to the train station and the 0914 train to Basel. We hopped on the tram and got off at Aeschenplatz for Starbucks. Walked back to the Basel train station where we bought calzones and pizza for lunch and Sprungli biscuits and chocolate for dessert....I had twenty cents left when leaving Switzerland!\r

The Confiserie Sprungli is a great place;ninety percent of all Sprungli products are made by hand and they are all delicious! The primary draw for us was a delicate confection called Luxemburgerli, which is a miniature macaroon with a creamy filling that may be vanilla, champagne, chocolate, hazelnuts, caramel, coffee or a seasonal treat like apricot. Luxemburgerlis were inspired by the bite-sized macaroons that were a rage in 19th-century Paris, where they were called 'little kisses.' They are essentially little mounds of melt-in-your-mouth heaven!\r

http://www.spruengli.ch/\r We thought we would have to be at the gate early because of the border crossing but they just waved us through with no perusal of our train ticket nor our passport. This train is an older train than the TGV that we took from France to Switzerland and it really filled up as we headed for Paris via St Louis Haut Rhin, Mulhouse (where we changed engines), Belfort, Lure, Vesoul, Chaumont, Troyes, arriving in Paris at 1717 (and the snowfall got heavier and heavier as we neared Paris). We then found the metro 4 line to connect to the metro 1 line to Pam's (and very very crowded during the rush hour time). We spent time looking at the digital photos on the computer and sharing our experiences with Morris.\r

Someone else's photos:\r http://www.docbug.com/Pictures/Switzerland-2002/Zurich/\r \r 5 March - We all bundled up and took the Air France coach to Charles deGaulle airport to meet my nephew Christopher who arrived from NC via NY for their ski trip to Austria 7-10 March. We met Jeannine and Mark Denning and their children Alexander and Natalie and Kathy and John Allen and their son Kevin for dinner at Convivviums where I enjoyed veal piccata.\r

\r 6 March - Cold and windy early morning walk to Musee d'Orsay. \r www.musee-orsay.fr\r On the first Sunday of the month, a select number of museums are free so decided to do the Orsay and I was the first one in the queue at 0830 for the 0900 opening...when I left at 1315, there was a very long queue so glad that I went early. I really enjoyed the impressionist paintings (and the nabis, neoclassicism, romanticism, realism, eclecticism, naturalism etc) in addition to the sculptures and architecture/decorative arts. There are great models of the buildings of Paris especially the study of the Opera district with a cross section through the Opera Garnier showing the foyer, auditorium, the state and its machinery as well as its decor. They have a section devoted to the making of cane furniture, another for the Art Nouveau work of Josef Hoffman, JJ Kohn and the Thonet Freres, and even have a section showing the works of Frank Lloyd Wright.\r

Since 1986, the immense space of the former Gare d'Orsay (train station) has served as a fine arts museum whose collection covers the years 1848-1914. Everything is wonderful about it! When I left, I took the new footbridge across the Seine to the Tuileries gardens that are opposite and stopped again at WH Smith to buy another travel book on Tallin as I am now planning a ferry ride from Helsinki to Estonia while I am in Finland. I then took a different way back via Saint Marie La Madeleine and the Gare St Lazare (since this was a painting by Claude Monet I had just viewed at the museum). \r

http://www.mystudios.com/art/impress/monet/monet-gare-st-lazare.html\r Pam, Morris, Katie, and Chris had all gone to church today and then for mussels at Leons so when I returned home just after four, they had just gotten home themselves. We were waiting for friends of Pam's from NC (Becky, Katie, Mary) that are doing a whirlwind tour of London, Paris, Rome and Naples in less than a week. Becky was a student teacher for Pam last year and they are doing low budget travel so Pam and Morris offered them a bed for the evening before they take the train tomorrow to Rome. After our spaghetti dinner, all of them have gone for a quick evening tour of the Arc and Eiffel and I am here enjoying the quiet home and updating my journal!\r

\r 7 March - Pam and family fly via Zurich to Munich then drive to Austria to ski at St Johann in the Tirol and their lady visitors will tour Paris and catch the 1909 Asteria TGV train to Rome from Gare de Bercy near Gare de Lyon.\r

I spent the morning trying to book my Amtrak journey and found that the prices had gone up and many of the days at end of April and beginning of May did not have the roomettes available...after much experimentation with different bookings I did find one available but at a higher price than I had originally calculated two weeks ago! Now to find flights to USA and train to London.\r

The ladies returned early in the afternoon after visiting the Louvre and shopping so we went to the Monoprix to find them some food to have on the train to Italy...they enjoyed shopping at a french supermarket....especially all of the chocolate and lollies!\r

\r 8 March - Overcast rainy day but a bit warmer.\r Up early to book my travel from London to the USA...still need to book the Eurostar but that should not be difficult as they run almost every hour although I did find some hours of the day are much cheaper ($90 vs $120). I also have dental appointment today to hopefully glue on my crown. I stopped by a hairdresser to get my hair cut because they had advertised coupe at 18 euros...unfortunately, you cannot just get your hair cut but you must also get the shampoo and dry which drives the price up to about 40 euros...maybe I will find a barber in Prague!\r

\r 9 March - A bit of morning misty rain then overcast with a bit of sun at midday. After shopping at the local Wednesday market and a stop at the Monoprix supermarket, took the #82 bus to Montparnasse. First a visit to Notre Dame des Champs church then a wonderful walk through the cimetiere du Montparnasse to see the gravesites of the many famous folks such as Sartre/Beauvoir, Poincare, Guy de Maupassant, Citroen, Baudelaire, Jean Seberg, Samuel Beckett (also saw a burial in progress). Down the Rue de la Gaite with its cabarets to the Notre Dame du Travail church with its interesting interior metal structures then through the Place de Catalogne/Les Colonnes (Place de Seoul) and back to the Gare via Jardin Atlangique. Also visited the Musee de Leclerc with exhibitions dedicated to documents, photographs and artefacts commemorating the Second World War. The train station is quite big with many shops and a vast glass-clad arch entrance. I did not go to the 56th floor of the tower for the view....maybe some other time. I did visit the Starbucks though....I think that this is number five of the ten in Paris. Walked back via the Boulevard Montparnasse to Pont Alma with views of Invalides, Eiffel Tower and the Arc. When I returned to Pam's, I rang Die Bahn to determine if the trains are running tomorrow and they told me to ring SNCF so walked down the street to the SNCF boutique and they assured me that my train is running even though tomorrow is the day of the big transportation strike in Paris!\r

\r 10-18 March - Train trip to Prague via Germany.\r AND probably limited access to internet!\r Paris plans another strike on 10 March so hope that this does not affect me (plus the Olympic Committee will be here 9-12 March).\r

10 March (Hbf = Hauptbahnhof = main station)\r Depart Paris Gare l'Est 0642 (#65)\r Arrive/Depart Karlsruhe Hbf 1153/1200 (#878)\r Arrive/Depart Frankfurt Hbf 1308/1321 (#1651)\r Arrive/Depart Dresden Hbf 1746/1805 (#371)\r Arrive Praha Holesovice 20:23\r 17 and 18 March \r Depart Praha hl.n 2152 (#352)\r Arrive/Depart Frankfurt Hbf 0621/0643 (#52)\r Arrive Paris Gare de l'Est 1303\r \r 11-18 March - Pam has visitors Kendall and Preston from USA/NC.\r \r 5 April - Morris sister Crystal arrives for two weeks.\r \r 28 April - My mother arrives with Jane and Stu for two weeks.\r \r 31 March - 7 April Visiting Greg Smiley and family in Masku Finland near Turku. Also hope to spend time in Helsinki and take ferry to Tallin Estonia.\r

\r Then planning to take train to London\r \r 26 April - fly to USA from there as it looks like flights are cheaper from London than from Paris....and also that return tickets are about half one way tickets!\r

\r 30 April - 3 May Amtrak from DC to SF \r \r Photo of Pam, Morris, Sharon and Katie at Ile de Jatte:\r