Au Revior Paris!

So I leave tomorrow for Amsterdam. Today after the tennis excursion in the rain, I went on a walk about. Up to Victor Hugo, down to the Trocodero, down under the Eiffel Tower, and then I walked through the Invalides till I got the St. Germain and then I crossed over the Seine and walked throught the Twilleries and up the Champs and then down Foch till I got back sister's place.

It was a good walk. But I must have opened and closed my umbrella a dozen times, and put my sweatshirt on and off and dozen times. A little bit of rain, a little bit of sun, a little bit of clouds, a little bit of rain. It was all such a tease.

I did do some window shopping. It's Soldes time in France. So you're only allowed to have "sales" in France in July and January. But I was having a hard time finding my inner shopper. I don't care if they are Dolce and Gabbana underwear. Even at 30% off, 60 Euros is just insane for underwear. I'll tell you what. If you can guarantee that I'll look like the guy on the cover. Or,if you can guarantee I'll get laid every time I wear those underwear. Then yes, I will buy them. But get real!

The other problems is that while I did find a couple of good deals, I really don't need anything. Do I really need another pair of khaki cargo shorts? No. And I've got he weight issues for what I have right now. So it just wasn't happening. Oh well, I'll save it up to spend once I get on the ship.

I thought about going out tonight to a bar or something, but I'll have plenty of time to do that in Amsterdam, so it was a psuedo quiet night at home. We walked to get ice cream and then my sister, my niece and I went back to Trocadero to watcht the Eiffel tower sparkle which was nice.

Anyways, off to Amsterdam tomorrow AM!

Uncle Trey Brings the Rain!

So the first time I visited my sister and her family in Paris it was for Thanksgiving. The first day I arrived it was sunny, but a bit chilly. And I was jet-lagged so I didn't care. But then it rained and was overcast for the next 6 days. Ok, it was winter time and that's to be expected. The next time I visit it's March and again it was okay for the first day, and then rain, overcast and grey for the next few days. But it was spring time, so I'm like okay. Okay, it's FRAKKN JULY people! Where is the sun? I was really hoping to get some good photos but the weather has not cooperated at all. While the BnL takes the kids for their school physicals, I think I'm just going to brave the weather and do a walk about and take some photos. Of Paris on a cold grey summer afternoon.

So far we've gone out to a French air base to see an air show, in the rain. It was a haze getting there and the weather sucked. Then yesterday we went to the pool which was fun. The sun did peak out a couple of times, but mostly it was passing rain showers. And cold rain. Not pleasant at all. I did get to swim some laps and I ran yesterday, so I don't feel too guilty about the pan au chocolat that I had for breakfast. Today in the light misting rain, we went to some tennis courts so the kiddos could hit some balls. It was okay and I actually borrowed my niece's racket when she stopped for a juice box to get a couple of swings in myself. It's been years since I played tennis and I should probably take that up again. We'll see.

I'm off to Amsterdam tomorrow AM. Hauling my two huge suitcases through the Metro. So the deal with my luggage. I'm gone for two weeks and I over packed. Which is bad because I'm going to have to pay out the nose for the luggage since within Europe you only get 20kgs. About 44 pounds. Anything over that, you have to pay for. 10 Euro for for every extra KG. Since I had to pack for 2 weeks, and two different climates (or so I thought at the time) it was not good. Of course, it's on the flight over that I realize that I should have just packed for one week and then when I get on the ship pay to have my laundry done. It's not like the laundry is going to be more expensive that paying the extra weight for the luandry. Oh well, live and learn. It's just money (he says as he grinds his teeth). And seriously if this is the major drama I have on this trip, then in the grand scheme of things, it's no big deal.