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Hi everyone, I wrote the below on June 3 (Wednesday). I added more details than was in the email I had sent to friends.

I'll finish writing the second half probably early this week. I will likely also flesh out the below. If there are things you would like to ask me/want me to add, please do!

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Well, today is the mid-point of our trip! We left Friday and fly home Monday. It is going quickly, too quickly. We could not have had more perfect weather. "Severe clear" would be the pilot's term for it - blue blue blue skies, no clouds, and full-bore sun. We had no humidity and the high temp in Paris was roughly 80 degrees on Monday.

I am typing this from a Chambre de Hote in Landean, which is very near Fougeres. We came here both to see the huge medieval castle in Fougeres but also as a base for a visit to Mont St. Michel, which we saw this morning. I will have photos to share later.

Dad is really blown away by all we've seen and the people we have met. He keeps talking about how much Mom would like to see this, and it sounds like he's already planning a trip with her to visit Brittany next year (and we have seen but a tip of it). He is bowled over by all the flowers! Roses roses and more roses. My Dad loves people, loves meeting them and talking to them, and he's charmed many of the French on this trip.

Here is a quick summary of what we've done:

Saturday morning was our arrival and despite the jet lag, we walked at least 8 miles that day in total including a WWII walking tour. Dad is fascinated by history but mostly his obsession lies with the Civil War (and there is no other word to describe it than obsession - I believe Dad could be a professor or tour guide for the Civil War). My hope was by showing him France, and some of the history of WWII, that it would light a fire under him and he would have a whole different avenue of history to enjoy. There are so very many layers of history in France (and Europe in general) that even with all of my travels I only have some grasp of it so I hope I didn't give him a fire hose of information (or a fire hose of sightseeing...)

Before the walk which started at 3 PM, we wandered around on the Ile St. Louis and of course had Berthillon ice cream. Our morning walk took us from the Pantheon (our hotel is literally a stone's throw from it, Hotel des Grands Hommes), down to the Luxembourg Gardens (my first visit there, and it's a new must-do for the next time) and then down to Notre Dame and from there on the walk all the way to the Louvre, Tuileries, and then the Place de la Concorde. We wandered back to the Pantheon through the 6th arrondissement, going up and down the side streets. Part way there we stopped and had a Kir Royale - in fact each night we had one as an aperitif. I wanted to make sure Dad had some local foods that I enjoyed and crepes and Kir Royales were high on that list.

Dinner Saturday night was at the Restaurant Perraudin, only a short walk from our hotel. The 30E (per person) 3 course menu was a very good value - the entree was easily a meal in itself. The main course put me over the top but I had dessert anyway. I have to admit, that first night I did not think 30E per person was a "good value", I thought, whoa, 60E for a meal was one of my/Mom's most expensive meals in Italy and she and I ate very well there. It was a little bit of initial sticker shock but I quickly found out that it was actually a pretty reasonable price for dinner when you consider lunches were close to 40E plus tip. Our Sunday dinner was both fabulous and spendy: 115E plus tip and that gave me some good perspective (we had Kir Royales as our aperitif, at 10E a pop, which didn't help). I haven't been to Paris in 5 years (eek) and I don't remember spending this much on restos before, so either I was less discerning on food the last time (i.e. cheap and cheerful re-fueling ruled the days) or I just have a bad memory.

Neither of us could believe we walked so far on the first day, especially with about an hour of sleep! Dad is a real trouper - despite his double knee transplants (yes, he has fake knees - and they set off security bells wherever he goes) he has been keeping up just fine. I'm glad we are doing this now (age 68) because I told him who knows what 5 more years will bring! My Dad is a cancer survivor, open heart surgery survivor, a diabetic, and has a herniated disk to match his double knees transplant,so the mornings are pretty stiff for him until he starts moving. He is a non-complaining trouper and always has been.

Sunday... we headed over to Saint Chapelle via walking to the Notre Dame and I bought 2-day Museum passes at a kiosk in the main square near the Notre Dame. These are a decent value at 32E per person, but, to be honest, you're better off getting the 4 or even 6 day pass because you simply won't see more than a few museums a day (or rather, shouldn't). If I could redo one thing from this trip I would have cut out a few museums and spent more time cafe sitting.

Over Sunday/Monday (from the pass) we visited:

Saint Chapelle (you can't believe it until you see it - someone went to heaven for sure after building this)

Musee d'Orsay (Dad had a sugar crash and we saw very little of this - just the top floor and then we left to find him some OJ and crepes). This is one I would have saved for a second visit.

Arch of Triumph (as far as the eye can see - Dad exclaimed over this the most)

l'Orangerie (Dad was thoroughly impressed not only with C. Monet's paintings but that the space clearly was designed just to show them off)

Cluny Museum (We spent over 30 minutes talking to the curator about the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and in fact when I get home I am buying the Tracy Chevalier book about them - apparently she weaves a novel/story into the history of them.)

Pantheon (right next door, how could we NOT? Dad was really impressed by Foucault's Pendulum. )

We also visited Notre Dame (just the church itself, not the Towers (on the Pass) because the line was not only very long it was also in full sun - neither of us wanted that) and of course finally the Eiffel Tower. We did not go up the Tower, we just walked around under it and then viewed it from the Place Trocadero. I think with Mom I will leave it to just one museum per day and spend more time walking and cafe sitting (which means - do we get the pass?).

We did not get into the Louvre, as I told him that Monday would be a better day to visit just the Louvre and Les Invalides (both on the pass)... until at dinner Sunday night we realized that Monday was Pentecost.. you guessed it, CLOSED. Bummer! He was more interested in Les Invalides (Napoleon's tomb, and the Musee de l'Armee) and we visited neither. Well, there is a next time as always.

Sunday's dinner found us sitting outside at Le Petit Pontoise, which was very good but very spendy - I paid 115E for the both of us (do the math - yes, yipes). I guess the de rigeur Kir Royales with three courses and of course espresso after that did the trick. Monday's dinner was sitting outside at a cafe on the Rue Cler before the walk over to the Eiffel Tower - decent but nothing to recommend although we did sit outside which was wonderful on such a nice night.