The Briar Patch

  The next morning started out very similar. My wife was up before me, or at least active before me. I watched music videos and news clips of the protests the day before. Again, the only news from the Americas was the Trump trial, and yes, everyone thought it made the USA look dumb. Our breakfast again was a Parisian breakfast, which I still love. Meat, cheese, fruits, and coffee. This morning was a lesson in being early. We had a tour of the Louvre that morning. Google Maps said it was a 20-minute car ride to the Louvre from the hotel. We had a cab called 45 minutes early, 5 for the cab to get there, 20 for the drive, and 20 for safety. Tours don't wait for you. To be fair, they MAY give a tiny grace period while they get organized, but they aren't about to wait too long. We got in the cab and watched the clock. A pro tip is to check drive times when you are actually going, not the night before. Rush hour is going to be a lot slower than nighttime. In the end, the 20-minute gr...

 So, the boat was chaotic to get on. Half a dozen boats load up, and you follow signs, hoping you are on the right one. It isn't complicated, but I will be honest: for some reason, it made me nervous that I wasn't getting on the right one. No idea why. I have done this in other places, and we do it at home all the time, so what's the big deal? We were on the right one. However, we were almost at the cut-off time, so what were probably the best seats were all gone. The best seats would be on the top, right on the edge. No one obstructs your view; you are high enough to see everything. There are also seats inside with a window or in the middle of the boat inside. Why would you ever want to sit there and see nothing? We were on the outside on the bottom. Some seats wrap around the boat. They are right on the water, so they are a bit chilly. They are definitely chilly on an overcast, drizzly day, but they don't have anyone in front of you. They are lower, of course, so it i...

Sticking with blogs around 3000 words this one cuts off half way through the day. The full day would be too long a blog, so that one will come out next week. Or something like that, either way with these blogs sorry for some random ends. I will try to keep them fluid. My traveling companion, my wife, is much different than me when it comes to getting ready in the AM for travel. I could hop in the shower, brush my teeth, slap on pitstick and cologne. Then clothes and a ball cap and I am ready to face the world. She, on the other hand, loves to take pictures. She also wants to look her best. So, almost every day, she is in the bathroom getting ready at least an hour before me. I caved and, most days, at least combed my hair rather than a cap. Of course, once she is awake, though, I am. So that was my time to read, write, or just lay and do nothing. Well, actually, some mornings, I did yoga stretches for my back. The shitty thing was grabbing that bag before it fell really did hurt me, an...

I recently read that the average blog should be 300 - 3000 words. In fact 3000 is almost too long. On average that is a 12 minute read and people move on. Adding these words to an already too long blog. I am changing my strategy, my travel entries are going to be shorter than I wrote. Maybe more entries and a bit more frequently. I am babbling and already making it longer.... When I left off we were just in line at the Calgary airport to board our flight to Paris. Months before we flew, I was offered to upgrade our seats. We could put a bid on premium seats. I have never flown anything but economy; that is what we booked in. My wife convinced me to place a bid. I said OK but the very minimum, which was $750. Months passed, and honestly, I forgot all about it until one morning, I opened my credit card app to pay, and there was $1500 on it. We got our seats, but it was $750 / ea seat. I wasn't 100% prepared for that; this is a prime example of having extra cash when you travel! We bo...

We learned about the good kind of nothing. See when you are on holidays, you need to plan even if it is plan to do nothing. You can see the culture, hit museums and sites like that. You can shop! You can just wander, take in a new city, take pics and enjoy yourself OR you can do the good kind of nothing. Go to a coffee shop and watch the world go by, then maybe head to another stop for a glass of wine and people watch some more. That's the good kind of nothing. Doing nothing but relaxing. However if you don't plan for one of these things you will end up doing the bad kind of nothing. Where you can't make up your mind what you are doing and end up doing nothing but wasting a day. I will be honest, we didn't do the good kind of nothing. We didn't really have time to, if I get back...when I get back I want to spend a day or two doing that. The lesson though is don't do the bad kind of nothing or you will hate it! You will be filled with regret or annoyance that you...