1 week ago
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
We are home, safe and sound.
Got in last night around 7:30 pm local, we were all tired and went to bed early, then the four of us woke up very early today. Lots of laundry to do and other errands to run. Maybe I'll get some more pictures up later today.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Back Online Finally!
Just checked into the hotel in London, we are tired and hungry. The cruise was great but the internet onboard was just too expensive to keep this thing going the entire time. We had a great time, met some really nice folks from all over. Overall it was a really fun and interesting trip for all of us.
Maybe I'll get back online later tonight and make put up some pics. Otherwise it will have to wait until we get back tomorrow night. We get into NM around 7:00pm, gonna be another long day.
Maybe I'll get back online later tonight and make put up some pics. Otherwise it will have to wait until we get back tomorrow night. We get into NM around 7:00pm, gonna be another long day.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Some of the usual Paris stops - day 1
Got settled into our hotel, it's a small, older hotel around the corner from the National Opera. Not bad, but nothing compared to where we stayed in Kensington (London).
The first thing we picked up on in France (well Paris specifically but I suspect France in general) was that no one here, the locals, were very interested in helping out the Americans. Just getting a big enough taxi, not to mention an idea of what it would cost, to get us to our hotel (which turned out to be very close to the EuroStar terminal) was a huge challenge! Then similar experiences with the waitress at the restaurant when we asked about the breakfast menu*.
*breakfast was odd, the menu seemed big enough but what they actually had was limited, or at least the way they could prepare it was limited. We all, each of us, ended up having the exact same omelet because the waitress did not seem to want to ask the "chef" if he could vary the ingredients. Yeah, and they were like 12 euros each, and a 15 euro bottle of water did not help things.... don't get me started! I'll leave it at that.
After breakfast we hopped on a Red Bus (the standard open top tour bus you see everywhere. Here is how my first interaction goes with the driver:
Me - how much for two adults and two kids?
Driver - how old kids, 11?
Me - no, 12 and 16.
Driver - 96 euros!
Me - you take credit cards?
Driver - no credit cards! You have check?
Me - no, how about cash?
Driver - Yes, cash.
I give him 100 euros (its 96 so I should get change)
He gives me back 5 euros and asks for 1 euro back.
Me - you don't have 4 euros?
Driver - no, you give 1 euro to me!
Me - I don't have one!
Driver - you give me one!
Me - I'll tell you what, I have my change and my tickets and receipt, get it from someone else!
Driver - ok.
Need I say more?
Off we went. Started feeling the effects of the early wakeup call later in the day, kids falling asleep on the bus, etc. Wrapped up the bus thing, got dinner, back to the hotel. Off to the Louvre tomorrow and some sightseeing via foot.
The first thing we picked up on in France (well Paris specifically but I suspect France in general) was that no one here, the locals, were very interested in helping out the Americans. Just getting a big enough taxi, not to mention an idea of what it would cost, to get us to our hotel (which turned out to be very close to the EuroStar terminal) was a huge challenge! Then similar experiences with the waitress at the restaurant when we asked about the breakfast menu*.
*breakfast was odd, the menu seemed big enough but what they actually had was limited, or at least the way they could prepare it was limited. We all, each of us, ended up having the exact same omelet because the waitress did not seem to want to ask the "chef" if he could vary the ingredients. Yeah, and they were like 12 euros each, and a 15 euro bottle of water did not help things.... don't get me started! I'll leave it at that.
After breakfast we hopped on a Red Bus (the standard open top tour bus you see everywhere. Here is how my first interaction goes with the driver:
Me - how much for two adults and two kids?
Driver - how old kids, 11?
Me - no, 12 and 16.
Driver - 96 euros!
Me - you take credit cards?
Driver - no credit cards! You have check?
Me - no, how about cash?
Driver - Yes, cash.
I give him 100 euros (its 96 so I should get change)
He gives me back 5 euros and asks for 1 euro back.
Me - you don't have 4 euros?
Driver - no, you give 1 euro to me!
Me - I don't have one!
Driver - you give me one!
Me - I'll tell you what, I have my change and my tickets and receipt, get it from someone else!
Driver - ok.
Need I say more?
Off we went. Started feeling the effects of the early wakeup call later in the day, kids falling asleep on the bus, etc. Wrapped up the bus thing, got dinner, back to the hotel. Off to the Louvre tomorrow and some sightseeing via foot.
Revisiting the sarcastic name of this blog
So it turns out the name was really accurate, the kids are even suggesting that I change the blog to "They Hate Us Here!" We're off on our first Paris sight seeing tour, this should be interesting, to say the least.
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