Tuesday to Tuesday; Paris to Long Island

Last Tuesday, we were in Paris, today we are in Southold NY. In Paris, last week, we took the bus from St. Sulpice Church to the Musee Marmottan to see the Monet and Berthe Morisot paintings. Evening was a trip around the Arch de Triomphe and a walk and dinner on the Champs Élysées.

We returned to U.S. through Philadelphia and a visit with Kate, Scott and Nicholas and drove to Southold Sunday, ending our trip. Attached photo was taken in our tiny hotel elevator in Paris.

Monday - Paris

This morning, we went to the Cluny Museum, a collection of architectural treasures from the Middle Ages. Tonight we went on a dinner cruise on the Seine, with live music. The cruise began at 8:30, so we were able to watch Paris transform as the sun went down - wonderful. The Boat docked just below the Eiffel Tower at 11:00 p.m. just as the light show began on the Tower - spectacular!

Sunday in Paris - pinch me...

We walked to Notre Dame by way of a wonderful tea shop, named Kumsi, recommended by a friend. We passed through a market, selling every imaginable bird species and wonderful flowers. We ate lunch at a sidewalk cafe near Pont St Michel overlooking the Seine. They are cleaning Sainte Chapelle Church and attached photo shows the contrast. Late afternoon found us walking from our hotel to the Luxembourg Garden (10 minutes) where we watched the children, young and old, chasing their rented sailboat miniatures. Beautiful afternoon. Found a wonderful, small place for dinner and dessert at a place recommended by our good friends, Loisanne and James.

Wedding postscript

Here is the rainbow that accompanied the rain, the cousins, and the dinner setting.

Wedding day- Friday into Saturday

We drove into St Germain-en-Laye on Friday afternoon, to retrace a visit Lynn made there in 1965.

The wedding and reception Friday night were fantastic. Rain resulted in an indoor ceremony, but did not dampen anyone's spirit - we did not get to bed until 2:00 a.m. Brunch on Saturday morning found most arriving a little late, and yawning, but was a good chance to visit with all, without competing with the music.

We drove into Paris after the Brunch. No problems driving to hotel, near St. Sulpice Church, thanks to navigator extraordinaire,Tom, and GPS. Returned our car and settled in. Wonderful Italian dinner and a visit to St. Sulpice just in time to hear the famous organ with trumpet accompaniment. This church was used for scenes in the movie, Da Vinci Code.

Hotel Bonaparte, where we are staying, is very nice and perfect location, also close to Luxembourg Gardens.

Brief Wedding post

Here are some pictures with story to follow

Bruge to Giverny

On July 4th we drove from Bruge Belgium to Vernon, France, where we stayed, just five miles from Monet's home in Giverny. Lynn drove and Tom and Coquette (our GPS friend and savior - many times) guided us.

Today we went to Giverny, early (thank goodness), just ahead of tour buses. Fantastic and beautiful weather was much appreciated.

Our drive to our "home" for next two nights, took only an hour. We are staying at the Chateau de Villiers-Le-Mahieu, location of wedding of son of Tom's cousin, Ken Celic and his wife, Sharon. Rob Celic is marrying a lovely French woman, Marie.

We have clothes pressed and are ready for the festivities!

Bruges Belgium

We stayed two nights here. We had dinner in a small plaza near our hotel and spoke with an American woman from Washington state visiting from the UK where her husband is employed in the nuclear industry. She was with her daughter and their chocolate lab "Teddi". Tuesday, after our wash adventure, we took the boat tour of the canals, saw the Memling museum, lunched, then took the carriage tour. And walked a lot. We had a very nice dinner at the Novatel across from our Ibis hotel.

Wash day in Bruges.

The inevitable wash day came, and near our hotel was this very sleek place. You just follow the "simple" instructions, and you were on your way! Everything was spotless and all equipment looked brand new.

Oostende

We drove to the coast, Oostende, Belgium on July 2. The next city is Dunkerque. We had wonderful shrimp grilled with herbs, then stopped at the beach. Tom found this sign, sort of looks familiar. The architecture is so European.

Clean plate club

We have noticed that they really clean their plates here. So, in that spirit, we are doing our best.

Ghent

The old part of Ghent is a jewel. We visited St. Bavo Cathedral and the saw the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, the Van Eyck altarpiece. We took a boat tour of the canals (very worthwhile) and chose a place recommended in Rick Steve's travel guide, for dinner - Belga Queen. It was fantastic. Amazing repurposing of a centuries old building into a very modern and upscale restaurant. Went to bed just after Spain won the soccer title. We have worked our way back from finishing dinner at 10:30 to finishing at 9:30.