Change of Plans, as usual

As always, there has been a change of plans. Forget Burgundy, rather like that movie with Billy Crystal, "Forget Paris." In this case, it became let's go to Paris and spend three days, then get to our house rental earlier as it became available.

My husband is so unpredictable sometimes that I have learned to go with the flow, make suggestions, but go along with his ideas without getting upset, as he is usually correct in the final decision-making process.

So we have now spent our three days in Paris and traveled south to Provence. Paris was lovely, not too hot, no rain, unlike New York for the last month of horrible cold weather in June. Instead, Paris was beautiful, lots of walking. New experiences included getting my hair cut at a salon near our hotel, the fabulous Plaza Athenee, attending a concert at the Palais de Congress, taking my son to see Napolean's Tomb at the Hotel de Invalides (I have been there several times). I was pleased to learn that my son had actually read and learned some history in his school and new who Napolean was - shocking!!.

I also was able to experience the new Institut Dior at the Hotel for the anti-jet lag treatment. I never know if it works, but it certainly didn't hurt. Very relaxing. We walked at 1 a.m. on the Champs des Eylesses and ate ice cream at Hagen Daz and watched people. It was like street theater to the utmost. People from all over the world.

Outside the hotel was parked a car I dubbed the batmobile, a souped up mercedes that had everyone stopping to look, including photographers who wanted to photograph the owner as the car had foreign (middle eastern-Arabic) license plates. Also at the hotel were Liza Minnelli and Vera Wang. We literally ran into Minnelli in the elevator coming back from dinner our first night. When we turned on CNN we realized she had been leaving to appear on Larry King to discuss the tragic death of Michael Jackson. So, we went on her website to see where she was performing in Paris and when, learning it was the following night at the Palais. So off we went. A beautiful venue, very professional, including the ushers who seat you then demand one Euro per person for the service, and quite aggressive at it.

We shopped at Monoprix and noticed almost all stores with sales open on Sunday which is unheard of - truly a recession even in Paris. The only stores not open - Cartier and Hermes. Louis Vuitton was open and busy.

Our room had a view that was like a postcard of the Eiffel Tower - my husband put chairs out and we ate breakfast out there every morning.

We had two excellent dinners at our favorite brasserie - Chez Andre - two blocks from the hotel and a terrible dinner at a brasserie - fish restaurant across the street from the Palais de Congress. Took a taxi back to the hotel by a master cab driver who knew how to arrive without transiting through the Etoille. As the Etoille is a terrifying experience to drive, even as a passenger. It is not even organized chaos, it is just chaotic and it is always a miracle that accidents do not happen every minute despite the number of cars entering and existing through the numerous streets.

As always the energy of Paris is like magic. In contrast the pace of Provence is so peaceful, I actually slept well last night, on our first night. The first of many.

More Planning

The last several years we have been renting a house in the same small town in Provence outside of St. Remy (the community where Van Gogh was institutionalized).  This year we will rent there again, but will be arriving a week before our rental begins.  Due to the economy my company folded, and I am running my own business.  Each year we go for two to three weeks.  The first week is just about winding down from the year.  The second week we move into a different mode, more into truly relaxing, exploring, enjoying what we are doing.  If we are fortunate enough to stay into a third week, it is a completely different experience.  We truly slow down, contemplate the flowers, enjoy doing nothing without rushing to explore yet another beautiful French village, and we feel no guilt about not pushing ourselves.  Maybe we will even sleep well for a few nights in a row.

This year will be an entirely new experience, at least for me.  We will be staying nearly four weeks.  So, while we have a house rental for three weeks, we are left to plan an extra week to explore somewhere I haven't been yet.  My husband of course has been everywhere, but has been there so long ago sometimes that he doesn't remember it all. 

Initially, I looked at Vendee since our very French dog's breed is from that region, but it seems that it is largely British tourists in that area due to its proximity to several channel crossings.  Although we have nothing against the British, we try to travel to areas where not much English is spoken, forcing us to speak more French.  We have opted against Alsace/Lorraine since it is North and near the German border.  We have explored the Alps during our stays at Courcheval 1850 (meters).  We will be in Provence for three weeks. We have spent considerable time in Paris over the years.  Normandy is too cold.  Thus, it appears we are headed for Burgandy, close to Paris and at least heading South toward Provence.  Perhaps we will find a new Autoroute that will not take us through Lyon on our way South.  

But then again, every time we try to travel South from Paris, be it toward Provence, Cote d'Azure or to the Alps, it seems as though all roads lead to Lyon.