On Wednesday the 11th it was Versailles Day. Le Chateau de Versailles to be exact. I got up early and got on the train to Versailles. It is rather close to Paris metro ... I guess they didn't want to travel too far for their summer jaunts. I think it started out to be a hunting lodge that just got way out of control. The subway really takes you to the town of Versailles and then a short walk to the Chateau.
It is one of the biggest tourist attractions and it was quite busy. Again the weather was great. Sunny and warm.... which eventually turned into Hot which is is nice. I had done my homework coming here and the best way to approach this was thru the Guided Tour. With the extra charge you do get to see the King and Queen's private quarters, the Opera House and you don't have to wait in any lines. That also includes the audio guide, and the gardens, and the other houses the Trionon's and Marie Antoinette's house as well. I spent the entire day going thru it. The main Chateau is very nice, large, beautiful, and there is so much history which I now know some of it. I ended up walking all thru the gardens to go see the rest of the places on the other side. It was quite a place.
Wednesday night brought another dinner in a great restaurant and also meeting some new people. I met Stephanie who is 30 and just moved/transferred to Paris a few weeks ago. Her mother Ann was visiting from Seattle as well. Stephanie works with my friend Rosemary's son's mother in law and that is how we all got connected. Dinner was great but the best part is they have travelled to South Africa, and Dave and Rosemary has lived there so we got on to talking about that. They had been on a great tour with a local that really took you to the local parts and really got to see the real deal... www.ilovecapetown.com Selwyn is his name. So I have contacted Selwyn now and have a great connection for when I go to South Africa with Tim in July. They were both very nice people. Little envious of Stephanie... 30, single and just decided to jump, transfer and move on to a new chapter of life. Something I would have done given the opportunity when I was younger. Well got home late again and off to bed for another fun filled day.
On Thursday, it was the Eiffel Tower Day. We also had dinner plans on Thursday night at the Shangri La Paris as well which I had to coordinate getting my gift certificates etc for that night. So I went on line and their website was down. You can only do this the day you are going to use them so this one I couldn't do ahead of time. So in light of this situation, I felt that the best thing to do was to go over to the hotel in person. I went over and explained this to one of the front people. Again, the people at this Shangri La as in Manila, were very good. They took my info for my account and said that they had to call Hong Kong and they would call/email me that day. Went back to the house, had my coffee and then headed to the Eiffel Tower. Another nice sunny day. Was pretty sure it would be a little chilly up on the tower but was so sunny and blue skies.. Perfect for picture taking. Again got the reserved ticket ahead of time for 11:30 and I was up on the top in 20 minutes after getting in line. I walked outside and just took alot of pics. Had a couple of me taken and even tried to take self portraits which worked out pretty well. I took the lift to the next floor below which was good. I got some lunch, and then walked around. They have 2 interesting and fun things on that floor as well. They have signs with the history of building the tower with many facts. They also have historic sites where they show you where they are, and also some history as well of those. Some you can see, and some you can't :). Then I walked down to the first floor and took more pics. So when I was done I had pics of the view from 3 different heights. I walked down to the ground and relaxed. By that time the Shangri La did get back to me and all was set for what was going to be a spectacular dinner later on.
Dinner at the Shangri La... hmmmmmm Ahhhhhhhhh.. to remind folks that is the hotel I stay in when traveling to Manila for work. It is a very nice hotel (5 star) and this is the same. The decor is very french. It consists of 2 buildings, 6 and 7 floors. The original building was the home of the nephew of N. Bonapart. The government added the other building around 1900 I guess and now it has been completely renovated into a beautiful 81 room/suite luxury hotel. The spa/pool aren't done yet. They just opened in December. So the staff had all the details, sat us and the event began. We started off with Champagne of course.. This which we didn't think about or include on the price when I took out my points for dinner. Then we had appetizers. Dave had Froi Gras, Rosemary had Beef Curry Salad, and I had green and white asparagus with leek cream sauce. For main meal, Rosemary and I had the Steamed cod which they served in a peanut sauce in one bowl, a rice bowl, with 3 kinds of condiments. Dave had a meat dish. It was so good.. we ended up with 2 pieces of art, Strawberry Shortcake (their style) and I have no idea what Dave had.. but it looked beautiful. Then I had ice cream... vanilla and black licorice. We had a very nice bottle of wine as well. The service was IMPECCABLE!!! Well I ended up having to pay extra because of the champagne. The total bill was 455 Euros... which equates to $705.00. I had taken out $600 in points for dinner which would have been perfect if not for the champagne which was $50.00 a glass. A big glass and VERY GOOD!! so all in all was 100 dollars and a wonderful evening. But wait... there is more.... :)
Since the hotel is near their house, near the Eiffel Tower, we took a stroll down to the tower to see it all lit up. On the hour for 5 minutes each night, it goes off like sparklers. It is very cool to see on a nice nice after a great dinner. Rosemary was going to help me buy some keychains from the South African men at the tower. She was 1/2 way thru the negotiations, when the police came thru... and these guys flee like there is no tomorrow. Rosemary had 20 in her hand and hadn't paid for them yet. We tried to find him but couldn't. So we did buy 30 more from someone else... and got a REAL GOOD DEAL for the 50 of them. Got home late and another long and FUN Filled day.
Friday I finally got to sleep in.. was so NICE. The only thing on the agenda was to be a "lady who lunches" ... kind of.. Rosemary belongs to a touring club and every Friday they go on a tour with this guide named Jean Manual. Today's tour was close by in this Naval Museum. The exhibit that we were going to see was on the old France. This was s cruise ship from 1960 that was then owned by the French Government. They now have in process a new ship also called the France which is due to be finished in 2015. They are trying to get people interested in the old ship so they will then help support the new one coming. It was a fascinating story of cruise ships, the France, the history of the ship, the times 60's to the present time etc. The exhibit was very good. It had great pictures, and items from the original ship etc. Jean Manual was informative, and very entertaining. I want to belong to a Friday Tour Club.... Ahhhh to be a kept woman... take classes, join clubs, and make life beautiful for your spouse.. HARD WORK. Ann (Stephanie's Mom) also joined in as well. After the tour we went to lunch, Rosemary, Ann, Judy (I had dinner with her and her husband Gary on Monday night), Karen and her 90 yr father which was visiting from the States as well. Lovely lunch and now it is 4 PM. Well Ann and Rosemary went shopping and I went back to the apartment to rest, and gather things together for the departure the next day to Amsterdam. We had a nice evening in light dinner, I got my things together and was in bed about midnight.
Saturday morning, got up and basically out the door at 9. Dave dropped me off at the train station which was great since I didn't really want to cart my suitcase thru the metro/train stations. I had plenty of time to people watch at the train station and knew that since this was my first time, always have extra time so I can learn what I am doing. It was quite easy.. the seat has a coach and seat number assigned. I even had no one sitting beside me which was nice. Saw some interesting and fun people... on the way Carl had texted me and asked me if I would meet a co worker in Brussels at the train door to pick up an Ipad he had left there this last week. It fell so like a European Spy film from the 60's and I was Grace Kelly meeting Henrick the Swedish spy to pass along info at a train door on the stop which lasted about 4 minutes. :) We even had a password Carl and I to chat with. His last message even had the message that this would self destruct in 5 seconds... :) My phone even smoked a little.. :) Met Henrik, got the Ipad and woosh.... we were off to Amsterdam. 3 countries in 3.5 hours. NICE.
Got to Amsterdam around 1:30.. sunny but cool day. Amsterdam is much cooler than Paris and forgetting my jacket will be an issue here. I will borrow one from Carl until I buy one. Carl for those that don't know is my friend that I met about 4 years ago in Philly when he was working for Ikea. He is Swedish by origin and a great guy. We have had some fun over the years in Philly. He took a job with Ikea Global last summer and moved to Amsterdam. It has been good for him for professional reasons and also for personal reasons. His European friends can see him much easier here than in the states. He had gone to school here for 1 semester and knew that one day he wanted to come back and just live here as well. He now has a new boyfriend named Zuling Li. Zuling has been here for about 4 years and he is originally from Hong Kong. Zuling (also called by Li) is a great guy. So for Carl life is good which is great and well deserved.
Carl met me at the station platform and walked me back to his place which is near by. He commutes by train 1 hour to get to work, but also travels a lot around in Europe for work as well. Carl's flat is in a low rise building, 2 floors and very cute. Amsterdam is a city of bikes and canals... It is a wonderful city so far. Well we took off walking for lunch and found this great cafe. It got kind of chilly and we got home just in time for Zuling to arrive, and then we had to get ready for a party at a friends house for the final of Eurovision.
Ok.. Eurovision.... Every year for about 55 years now, Europe has individual country competitions for their group/person to represent that country for Eurovision. They all sing/dance etc... the week leading up to the finale. On Saturday they final consists of the top 25 countries (out or 43 total) that are voted by the people watching as well as by the countries themselves bases on the people voting for the top choices. Each of the 43 countries get to give points 1 thru 7 to seven countries, and then 8, 10, and 12 points to the top 3 countries of their choice. So here we are in this fabulous apartment of 2 guys Nardis (from South Africa) and Gordon (from the UK) and about 25 other X pats from all over the place. We had a couple of other Americans, France, couple from South Africa, Poland, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, of the ones I can remember at this hour. Now I told you before Amsterdam is a city of bikes and canals. So our mode of transportation for the night and was about 2 miles or 3 KM's, was by bike. We had 2 bikes for 3 of us.. :)
So off we go, Carl driving the bike, me riding on the back with both legs on each side sitting on this little luggage rack feeling like a 5 year old going thru the streets of Amsterdam which Zuling had the other bike, with a big bag of the goodies that we all brought. They asked everyone to bring goodies from their own countries or something unique. I brought 3 different items from Paris/France. I brought these macarons.. little cookies with filling in the middle, some cookies from Mont St Michel, and then some meriranges. It was very different feeling than I remember riding on the back of a bike. Adults to it here all the time.. so I was feeling very Dutch .. all the while feeling pains where I had never felt pains before. :) nothing to bad and it was really fun to see the sights along the way. We got to the party around 7:30 or so, and oh what a night. !!!!
They had a great apartment, great hosts, had great food and drink, and I met some of the nicest people from literally all over the world. The show as about to begin. We were eating and drinking. We put the 25 competing final countries in a bowl, and for 2 Euro you could buy a country. The money went to the winner that had drawn the country that was going to win. I had the UK... which was the best of them all but didn't win. More on that a little later. So now.. we had 2 hostesses, and 1 host. It was televised in Dusselforf since Germany has won last year. The winning country hosts the next year. I found it is a little American Idol, A little Miss Universe pagent with politics thrown in. Those politics.. they get in everywhere even in other parts of the world.
They basically go thru the 25 groups, have some bio's before hand. The stage for this years show was a football (Soccer) stadium that seated 50'000 people and they made this the coolest stage with a spectacular setting, lights, sound you name it. They even showed a 90 second film clip of a high speed transformation from Football Stadium, to major concert venue. Very cool.
The show began.. There was about 25 of us there and most was there when it started. It felt like a Club 511 night but with a definite international flare. They all know each other basically as they are all X pats living here now. Everyone was so nice, welcoming, and I had one of the greatest nights of all times. Being my first Eurovision Final and being in Europe for it, I will never forget this evening ever. Along with getting to know a lot of the folks, sharing stories, great food, wine and some very entertaining songs/routines.. it was GREAT. Well we got thru to the end. I was so excited that I had the UK... since they were the best. 4 men (HOT MEN all of them in a very different way), great song, great performance etc.. I thought I was a shoe in for the Euro's. Well those politics got in the way. How the voting for the finale goes, ALL 43 countries get to put in their votes.. 1 to 7 points to 7 countries, and then 8, 10, and 12 points to their top 3 countries based on all the texts from the people of their respective countries. So each country came on a split screen and gave us their votes for. Well the countries give their top 3 choice votes as well as the other 7 choices based on their neighbors, or countries that they are connected to for some reason politically, or just based on ... WTF? So it is really NOT based on the quality of the song, performance, or the routines/what they are wearing etc. So UK came in like 14 or so out of 25. We then just partied at the house.. listened to great music, kept eating and drinking til about 4:30 in the morning. We finally left and off we go into the night the 3 of us on the 2 bikes, sans the bag of goodies. This time Zuling was my driver and we were off. The city by night was just as beautiful. It started to rain 1/2 way thru and yes we did get a little wet. It was cold, a little windy, and now wet.. but it was a perfect ending to a perfect day. I finally got to be a little after 5, blinder on, and snuggled warm and dry in bed. Life is so good..
Slept in today til about 11... and now coffee, juice, little music, breakfast coming.. and a day of rest, and just the afterglow of a great day.
Not sure what the week will bring... not as action packed as France was, but some fun things. I have a massage scheduled on Tuesday.. his name is Craig too.. back has been hurting me for some reason.. so it will be good to get that worked on. I am here til Friday which I return back to Paris, and back to the USA... Home is what people call it... on Saturday. I am only home for a couple of weeks which at that time I go back to Manila for 3 weeks.
Sunday, sunny, and in Amsterdam with an old friend and a new friend... can life get any better? Think Not!!! So wherever you are, with whomever you are with, enjoy this Sunday... and have a great day !!!!
P.S. I have all my France Pics on Facebook.. so if you are not on facebook, email me cthomas59@hotmail.com.. and I can see what we can do.
To all ... have a great Sunday where you re
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