How do you describe that which is beyond description?  That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out for the past 10 days.  We visited the Palace of Versailles on January 17 (2013) and I’m still trying to wrap my head around what we saw.  The Palace of Versailles is the epitome of opulence and a lesson in what can go wrong at the same time, while it has stood for centuries as a showcase of French history, art and culture.

Yesterday, our day did not start off very well but somehow it transformed itself into one of our best days here in Paris.  We are walkers and thus far we have managed to walk to every place we have visited.  Yesterday though, we wanted to visit Sacre Coeur and it’s way too far to walk so it was our first experience with the Paris Metro system.

We’ve been in Paris for 9 days now and I think we’re finally getting the lay of the land and figuring out how best to fit in.  Yesterday, we took our first day trip out of the city and managed to get on the right train without getting lost and with only having to ask for help twice.  I would like to “lift the lid” off of the city and see the whole underground world known as the metro/RER system.

Here we are in Paris! I bet you’ve been wondering why I haven’t written until now?  We left Portland, OR at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday (1/8) and arrived in Paris on Wednesday (1/9) at 10:00 a.m. having had just a couple of short naps, but no real sleep in the 12 hours of flying time.  We opted to take a taxi from the airport to the apartment and I’m so thankful we did.

You know how when you’re getting ready to travel everyone has an opinion; a word to the wise tidbit for you?  Mostly, you tend to smile, nod your head and feign interest in what they’re saying.  Today, I was given a tidbit that was awesome, something I had never thought about but will definitely do before we leave for Paris.  But before we get to the tidbit…

I met Christine (via online) a little over a year ago, she is a B&B colleague.  She posts, on Facebook and her blog, the most beautiful photos of views from her garden and when you see them, you can’t help but wish yourself there.  She also tells many great tales of their cat, Spud. I invited Christine to share her lovely farm with all of us and I am fairly certain that once you’ve read the following, you’ll add Cornwall to your “must see” list!

I googled the phrase, “How cold is it in Paris in the winter” and I am baffled by the number of different opinions out there.  But before we get to the answer, how did we get along before we could use the word, Google, as a verb?  Remember encyclopedias?

Over the past couple of years we have not been able to travel as often (or as far) as we would have liked; sometimes life’s moments take precedence.

October 8 & 9, ’04 – Abi and I rented a car and quickly learned to drive on the “wrong” side of the road.  Actually, it wasn’t the driving that was the hard part, it was turning on the blinker when you wanted the windshield wiper!  Everything is opposite of what you know, that’s the challenge!  Oh, and driving round-abouts when you’re on the wrong side of the road, those are tough.  We drove our rental to the Tongariro National Park, the land of the Lord of the Rings.

October 8, ’04 – Our friend, LeRyna, was living in New Zealand for two years while studying for her Masters Degree.  She drove north and we drove south, or vice versa, and we met in the middle at Tongariro.  Later that evening we had at “The Station” and it was surprisingly fine dining and we had a grand time, especially when the train roared by and the whole building quivered just a bit.