Through the looking glass, FFS for Tia Anne

[anne_indy]

Tia - definitely a 2 piece, probably on a nice tan Spanish form.
Ha!!


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[Debi]

Monday, March 25th and it is travel week. We get on the plane tomorrow and Wednesday we will be on the streets of Paris. SQUEEEEEE!!! (Paying Stephanie royalties is worth it as it so describes my emotions). The bags are packed. Three times, but I am now comfortable with what I am taking. We decided to go with only carry-on for each of us for a four week trip. Way different then having an over packed SUV. Tia has more then I do but she did get the bag zipped up. Today is tying up all the loose ends with being gone from home for four weeks. I have a trip to the doc to see how the finger is healing, we have an appointment to get nails done this afternoon and one more trip to the bank for more cash and we are ready. Excited and nervous! Oh dear! I just remembered that I haven't packed the books on language translation. And I am also going to figure out how to change my profile picture. Guess I'm not ready to travel yet.

Signing out for now,
Debi

[KathyLauren]

I know this trip has a serious purpose, but, hey, you are going to see Paris in the springtime.  So enjoy it!  And I hope that Tia's surgery goes well and produces happy results.

[Michelle_P]

Oh, you are going to have such fun!

I've been in Paris a number of times.  One of my favorite places!

One nice benefit of travel in much of Europe is that even if you forgot something, there are plenty of places to pick up that odd item.  In Paris the Monoprix stores (like Target) are a reasonable place to get the odd grocery item, bit of clothing or makeup.  And don't worry, their clerks are short with everyone!  For aspirin, ibuprofen, and other over the counter meds, look for the green Pharmacie signs.  Those are the only places that sell meds.

Dining is, well, everywhere!  Boulangeries (bakery) for breakfast, and I have had some fantastic prix fixe bistro dinners (several courses, at a fixed price) for cheap at little neighborhood places.

I usually get a Metro pass, or a book of 10 single-ride tickets, "carnet a' dix", to get around.  Options at parisintfo.com ...

[anne_indy]

Bon Voyage!!

If you have Google Translate on your phone, you can use it for translations, including printed text captured through your phones camera. Should work fine for Spanish and French.

Also, in case you're concerned about which wine to buy there is a very nice app that will tell you the quality of the wine from a picture of the label. A friend who recently moved to Mallorca uses it routinely. It is equally adept in Europe and North America.


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[LizK]

Good luck and have fun...you lucky girls...

[Laurie]

  I'll add my best wishes for an enjoyable trip. You kids do have fun.

Hugs & Love,
  Laurie

[Julie -2010]

I miss you two already. 

Have a great trip.

Julie

[Debi]

Day 1 and 2

The flying was fine. From Denver to Munich we had what would be called a sleeper car if we had been on a train. Thank you Tia for booking the upgrade. Even with the ability to sleep on the plane, I am having trouble dealing with the time change. All my body wants to do is climb into a bed and sleep. We are in Paris and the bod is not going to get what it wants. I want to tourist. Some pics to prove and a poem, just because.

Night Flight
She lifts smoothly
Stretching into the blue above
Landscape flattening below
Until the cloud layers obscure.

Wings outstretched
Carrying us toward dreams of whimsy and magic.

Night light descends through the easterly sky
And destination comes slowly closer.
As darkness engulfs sleep
And starlight becomes the guardian.

And still she flys skipping off the moonbeams.

 


Debi

[Debi]

Day 3
We slept in. Had breakfast at the cafe on the corner. Omelet of ham and potatoes along with a green salad with tomatoes and fresh squeezed orange juice. Tia added a croissant and coffee to her side of the meal. It was tasty! After breakfast we walked (was pushed) over to the Louvre and Tuileries Garden. (designed for Catherine de Medici in 1564.
 

Tia pushed me from one end of the area to the other. Which  is a mile one way from our hotel. We then went to the Orangerie Museum where we saw Monet's Waterlily Pond panels. I was overwhelmed with emotion to the point of tears. This experience is definitely part of a lifetime dream for me.

Also got to view Picasso, which didn't ring my chimes but Renoir. Oh my!

Thank you, Tia for making it happen! The rest of the day found some frustration when I couldn't get my photos to download to my computer and some pain for Tia, as much of what she was pushing me on was hard-pack dirt and gravel and the wheelchair didn't want to roll easily. She pushed me for about three miles worth and paid the price.

We ended our day with dinner at one cafe and dessert at another. I finished off with creme brulee and Tia had a chocolate lava cake (french style) with creme and espresso. Both were delicious. Good start to our Paris adventure.

Signing out for now,
Deb for Tia too

[Jessica_Rose]

Congrats Tia and Debi!

I am late to the party, but I just found this thread. Apparently it was started the day of my GCS, and that has kept me on the inactive list for quite a while. It has only been a few days since I began to feel somewhat normal again. I hope the two of you have an awesome time in Spain and enjoy your time together.

Love always -- Jessica Rose

[Laurie]

  You two by the looks of it are having a lovely time there in Paris. Thanks for the stories and the pictures of those two lovely women. Keep enjoying life.

Hugs,
  Laurie

[Debi]

DAY 4
Hello to all you lovely ladies who have been following our day to days. Today I have very little to post. I awoke with a bad episode of fibromyalgia. We got dressed but not beautified and had a quick breakfast at our corner café then back to the room, a pill to cut the pain that was running around in my mind and sleeping the day away. The only thing positive is that we ran into no yellow shirts. Saturdays are the day they strike but we weren't out to know where.

I wrote this sometime ago but is very appropriate for days like today.

FM
The pain feels real... but it is not.
Nerve endings firing at imaginary problems. Skin feeling stretched and raw.
I look perfectly normal... All my insides constantly screaming at me.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It runs around inside finding points and spots to trigger
It debilitates... but because of it I know I am alive.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It shrieks at me from unexpected places and yes it hurts
I will not allow it to define me... but some days I do.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It insinuates itself within in a form of fatigue that cannot be overcome no matter how far I flee. But flee from it I must.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
Ankles throb, arms and fingers hurt, the brain feels too large for the bones that enclose.
The assault is debilitating... but the pain is not real. I will not allow it to define ME!

The pain feels real... but it is not.
The fog sets in and causes me to stumble through my words and thoughts.
It worries those who love me. They see the pain... the pain that is not real.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
Cane and chair have become a part of me and a form of freedom in allowing me to go.
In accepting them I suppose I have allowed it to define me, despite the fact it is not real.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It shrieks at me from unexpected places and yes it hurts!
I will not allow it to define me... but some days I do.

The pain feels real... but it is not!

Debi

[steph2.0]

DAY 4
Hello to all you lovely ladies who have been following our day to days. Today I have very little to post. I awoke with a bad episode of fibromyalgia. We got dressed but not beautified and had a quick breakfast at our corner café then back to the room, a pill to cut the pain that was running around in my mind and sleeping the day away. The only thing positive is that we ran into no yellow shirts. Saturdays are the day they strike but we weren't out to know where.

I wrote this sometime ago but is very appropriate for days like today.

FM
The pain feels real... but it is not.
Nerve endings firing at imaginary problems. Skin feeling stretched and raw.
I look perfectly normal... All my insides constantly screaming at me.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It runs around inside finding points and spots to trigger
It debilitates... but because of it I know I am alive.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It shrieks at me from unexpected places and yes it hurts
I will not allow it to define me... but some days I do.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It insinuates itself within in a form of fatigue that cannot be overcome no matter how far I flee. But flee from it I must.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
Ankles throb, arms and fingers hurt, the brain feels too large for the bones that enclose.
The assault is debilitating... but the pain is not real. I will not allow it to define ME!

The pain feels real... but it is not.
The fog sets in and causes me to stumble through my words and thoughts.
It worries those who love me. They see the pain... the pain that is not real.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
Cane and chair have become a part of me and a form of freedom in allowing me to go.
In accepting them I suppose I have allowed it to define me, despite the fact it is not real.

The pain feels real... but it is not.
It shrieks at me from unexpected places and yes it hurts!
I will not allow it to define me... but some days I do.

The pain feels real... but it is not!

Debi

<< Big Hug >>

[Debi]

DAY 6
Today was a much better day. We started early with breakfast at a cafe' just off the outer court of the Louvre. It wasn't the one I was planning on but the food was good. My first choice had been closed down and was being turned into something else. C'est la vie!

Tia in silhouette checking the time at Musee D'Orsay

Most of the day was spent at the Musee D' Orsay where we were immersed in the Impressionists. Lots more Monet. I am so impressed with the amount of work he produced. He painted so many different subjects of just daily life and all of it amazingly complex. We finished our artistic tour with the exhibit of Van Gogh and Gauguin.

For those of you Dr Who fans out there this is the place in the episode where the Doctor and her team take Van Gogh to, to prove to him that he had significance and would not be forgotten.

I am in art overload and feeling very fulfilled.

Did my own form of photographic Impressionism. The River Seine next to the Louvre.

Finished our time at the Orsay Museum with a lunch of fish sticks and french fries. They called it fish and chips. It was tasty enough and the room they served lunch in was down right opulent in it's design. Back to the room for a late afternoon nap and then out to what is becoming our favorite cafe' for dessert this evening. Tia finished off with a crepe with ice cream and chocolate sauce and a cup of espresso and I had three scoops of sorbet in raspberry, peach and chocolate. Yum!

We finished the day doing a little laundry in the sink, which is now hanging all over the room and bathroom and both of us are thinking about calling it a night. Just a good day touristing.

Bonne nuit,
Debi

[Debi]

DAY 7
Hi to All.


Spent most of the day at the Louvre being frustrated. The wheelchair has it's perks but it also has a downside. Most of the transport of people from floor to floor at the Louvre is done by stairways and escalators. Elevators seem to be few and in obscure corners of each of the floors meaning that we could not go from bottom to top or vise versa. We had to get off at each floor and find that floors elevator before reaching the next floor. Sometimes the elevators were on the other end of the galleries plus there were a number of areas that were closed today which meant we had to go the longest way to find our next move. I felt like I was in a computer game having to figure out what the next move was and what treasure or tool I needed to obtain before moving on. All the while doing this while hundreds of people are also playing the game around you. They are all wanting to take pictures with there phones of everything they see so they are paying no attention to others around them. We literally had two areas we wanted to view that took hours to get to. We did finally learn that we needed to ask every docent we saw how to get to where we wanted to go. Using the game analogy, WE DID FINALLY WIN! The Venus De Milo and paintings by Rubin were both collected. Seeing the statuary of the Greeks and Romans was quite impressive. It is amazing how lifelike a figure carved out of stone can be. Some of the women had an expression that gave them a softness that belied the fact that they were marble.



Last view of the Louvre as we travel up the handicap lift.

After our foray to the museum Tia was in need of a nap. She is the one who has done all the pushing of the chair and she still has a foot that is healing from surgery last December. Anyway we are done with the chair. Tomorrow the plan is to take a tour bus and spend our last day here seeing the sights that are too far to walk to.

I did do a little walk around our neighborhood while she napped. Plus a little tourist shopping. The fact that I have my cane in my right hand and a finger that is still healing on the other means I really can't buy much because I can't carry much. It does help the pocketbook.

Tia was still not feeling well at supper time so I went down to our corner cafe and ordered myself a dinner, wine and dessert of crème brulee and Tia a pizza because the wait staff decided pizza was the best item on their menu for take out. They also recognized it was for the "tall" lady who had been having meals with me at the cafe. We have had no conversation (other than ordering food) with this group but still Tia has made an impression. I love my "tall" lady. Tomorrow is our last day in Paris. Then it is on to Marbella, Spain via Zurich, Switzerland. Hopefully I'll be able to get onto the internet before we leave here tomorrow.

Signing off with Au revoir,
Debi and Tia

[Michelle_P]

Thank you for sharing so much of your trip, Debi.  The Louvre is a challenge to get around, even without the extra hardware.  A 12th century fortress turned into a 16th/17th century palace somehow doesn't meet 21st century standards for accessibility.

I'm happy to read that you took on the challenge, and won the game!  Say "Hi" to the Tall Lady for me!

Michelle P.

[Anne Blake]

Hate to break the magic of it all but this tall lady got sir'd at dinner this evening. Maybe it is just to prove my need for going to Marbella tomorrow. Personally I just think that he was being a jerk towards a tall American lady holding hands with her wife.

Tia Anne

[KathyLauren]

Hate to break the magic of it all but this tall lady got sir'd at dinner this evening. Maybe it is just to prove my need for going to Marbella tomorrow. Personally I just think that he was being a jerk towards a tall American lady holding hands with her wife.

Tia Anne

Oh, poop!  No tip for that waiter!  Or better yet, a one cent tip, so he knows you didn't just forget.

[Michelle_P]

It's France. Tipping is spotty and generally not much (unless one is willing to snooker Les Americains.)


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