Here we are, at the end of my latest series. I always end my travel series with a list of ten things I learned. It offers me a chance to reflect on the intangible blessings I take with me every time I travel. I may not buy a single souvenir, but I learn new things every time I venture out. These lists are also better read, because they’re much more concise than my exhaustive blow by blow accounts. So… here’s my list of things I learned on our trip to Brussels and Paris.
10. The Atomium is well worth a visit, even though getting there from downtown Brussels takes some time.
Our decision to visit the Atomium, a very cool looking structure that was built for the 1958 World’s Fair, was not something we planned. We decided to go there, kind of on a whim. I didn’t know what to expect when we got there, but I really enjoyed our visit. I got some great photos, and loved the music and light show.
Don’t miss the Atomium if you visit Brussels!
9. If you are approached by a “taxi driver” at an airport or a train station, don’t take the bait.
We were “taken for a ride” in Paris. Although no real harm was done, we spent a lot more euros than we needed to. Always take rides from licensed taxi drivers! French law requires all taxi drivers to accept credit cards and have working credit card machines in their vehicles.
8. Thalys has been taken over by Eurostar.
But if you take a Eurostar train, you will likely see Thalys branding. The current experience on Eurostar is pretty much the same as it always was with Thalys.
On the Eurostar train.
7. If you have an American credit card and want to buy metro tickets in Paris, you might want to pay cash.
I’m not 100 percent sure, but I don’t think the Paris ticket machines are compatible with US credit cards. Paying cash can also be problematic, because I noticed one of the machines we tried to use also wasn’t taking cash. To be honest, I’ve never had a smooth experience using the Paris metro, but that might just be me.
6. Visit the Friets Museum!
We had so much fun at the Friets Museum. I didn’t have high hopes for it, but it really is a fun place to spend some time, especially if you have kids. There are lots of interactive exhibits that are fun and educational. Sadly, I didn’t find the related Choco Story Brussels museum as good. Yes, Choco Story was worth visiting (especially for the samples), but the Friets was more fun for me.
5. If you like beer, definitely visit the Beer Museum in Brussels.
You can’t miss it, because it’s in a huge, grand building in downtown Brussels. The exhibits are fun and interactive, and it’s a good way to spend an hour or two.
4. The Eiffel Tower is well worth the trip, but next time, I might just visit the second floor.
This past visit to Paris was my third. The first two times, I skipped going up the Eiffel Tower. This time, we decided to do it right, and we went all the way to the top and drank champagne. If I do it again, I might skip going to the top. I don’t think the views are better, and it’s very crowded. But I am glad we went to the top this time, so I can say I’ve finally done it!
What a majestic sight!
3. There’s something to be said for exploring whatever neighborhood you’re in…
During this trip to Paris, we stayed in the Montmartre neighborhood. I knew nothing about this part of Paris before we visited, but it offered a very different view of the city than Montparnasse, which is where we stayed in 2009. I enjoyed exploring the area, especially since we went to the Salvador Dali museum.
Pull his finger!
2. Salvador Dali’s famous melting clock was inspired by melting Camembert cheese!
I learned a lot by visiting the Salvador Dali museum in Paris, including what inspired him to create his famous “melting clocks”.
And finally, 1. A visit to Paris and Brussels beats going to Napa Valley, California, especially if you live in Europe…
Well, I can’t say I “learned” this. I mean, it’s pretty obvious, especially nowadays. I’d much rather visit European capitals than go to California and deal with the chaos in the United States. I will mention, too, that in spite of what has been going on in the United States, I have not encountered any hostility in Europe because I’m from the United States. However, I do recommend that any Americans visiting Europe keep a low profile. I would recommend that for any visit to Europe, though, not just in these bizarre Trump times.
We did have an excellent trip to Brussels and Paris, in spite of experiencing a few mishaps. It was just so nice to get away from Germany for awhile, hear a different language, enjoy changes in scenery, and do it all by train, so we didn’t have to worry about a car. I wish I’d made more of an effort to look for some art, especially in Paris. I need something new to put on our walls. But I’ve heard that at the end of the month, actor Johnny Depp is exhibiting some of his art in Wiesbaden, so maybe we’ll attend the exhibition.
So that does it for my Brussels and Paris series! Thanks so much to everyone who followed along!
Saturday morning, we went down to breakfast at Hotel L’Eldorado. Our waiter was a very pleasant man, but I don’t think he had a very strong grasp of English. We first encountered him on Wednesday night, and he didn’t seem to understand us very well.
And then on Saturday, we ordered breakfast and I asked for poached eggs. He brought me boiled eggs. I would have accepted them, but I wondered if maybe I got someone else’s order. I also had hot chocolate again, and it was very different than what I had gotten on Thursday and Friday; this time, it was thick and rich, like I’ve encountered it in Spain! I actually really liked the hot chocolate prepared that way, but I wondered why it was done differently.
Bill had pancakes without blueberries and cream. The waiter eventually brought out my poached eggs, which were perfect. We tried to explain to the waiter that breakfast was supposed to be complimentary, because of the broken elevator. He didn’t understand, so Bill had it put on the room. When we checked out, they took the charge off our bill.
I didn’t order these…
Bill discovered that our hotel was near a Salvador Dali museum, so we decided to go there. We had been planning to visit the Louvre, but decided that maybe it would be better to just go to a smaller museum with fewer people. That turned out to be a good decision. The walk there involved hills, so we were able to burn off breakfast.
Antarctic?Windmill!
The Salvador Dali museum in Paris is based on a collection acquired by Beniamino Levi, an Italian man who met Dali and encouraged him to make sculptures. He would buy Dali’s pieces, as well as the intellectual rights to them.
I didn’t know anything about Salvador Dali before I visited the museum. I mean, I knew about the famous melting clock, but I didn’t know what had inspired it, nor did I know much beyond the famous surreal artwork he was known for before his death on January 23, 1989. By visiting the museum, I learned that Dali’s melting clock was inspired by watching Camembert melting in the sun. I also learned that he was fascinated by the children’s book, Alice in Wonderland.
The museum also had some very interesting and cool art pieces that showed different perspectives. The pieces were ridged, so that if you looked at them in one direction, they’d look very different if you looked at them in the other direction or straight on. Hopefully, the pictures will explain what I mean… Sorry this is a big photo dump! The museum isn’t super large, but it does have a lot of interesting pieces. There’s also a public restroom, which is always a plus!
After our visit to the museum, we walked around the charming village near the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. It was very crowded with tourists visiting the basilica. We walked around near the huge church, but didn’t go in, because there was a really long line. I still managed to get some good photos. Below are some photos near a small church we visited. Bill lit candles for our deceased fathers.
I wish I’d bought a painting.Palm Sunday
And below are some pictures closer to the basilica… It was getting close to lunchtime, but we resisted the urge to eat among the tourists, even though it had started raining. I do wish we’d bought some art, although we bought some candy for Bill’s grandchildren.
Candy shop! It was very expensive!My kind of place.I still need to find out about this…
As you can see in the last photo above, we passed Le Passe-Muraille Sculpture in Montmartre, Paris. It was somewhat close to where we had lunch. After ducking into a tiny French place that was full, we ended up at an equally tiny Italian place just across the street. The restaurant was called Tentazioni. Although it was tiny, it was also a chain, with several locations in Paris. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a very nice lunch there. Bill had linguini carbonara that was insanely good, and I had linguini with pesto and burrata. We started with focaccia, and ended with dessert… Below, you will notice a picture of a very sweet and friendly labrador, who was a service dog enjoying life outside.
This version of focaccia was also excellent, though different what we had on Thursday at Il Sorrentino.A moment off the job…I tried a digestive.
After lunch, we continued walking down the hill and ended up stopping at a wine shop. We bought a couple of bottles of wine to bring home to Germany– one Italian and one French. Below are photos of the Italian wine, which we had the other night. It was excellent. I confess that I chose it because of the label.
Below are a few more photos from the Montmartre area, including a shot of the bottle shop where we found our wines.
And, just to wrap things up, we stopped by Corcoran’s Irish Pub again and hung out for awhile… This was mainly because we were a bit tired of traveling and we were ready to go home. I was glad we stopped by the pub again, because I found some more music for my collection, and I shared a moment with a Brit who appeared to be my age. We were both enjoying hearing “Our House” by Madness, a song that took us back to childhood!
In our younger days, I think Bill and I would have gone out to dinner or something. But it was a Saturday night, and as we’ve found out from many trips to France, you really need to make reservations if you want to go anywhere remotely special. So we stayed in again, and Bill picked up some very reasonably priced Korean fried chicken for dinner. He got it from a “hole in the wall” place near our hotel. There were quite a few places like that near where we stayed.
Not bad at all…
And… since we’re now at the end of our Paris trip, I’m going to go ahead and describe our chaotic journey home, so I can wrap up this series.
As it was on Friday night, it was very loud and busy outside of our hotel on Saturday night. I had forgotten all about the time change, so when I woke up to pee, I looked at the clock and it said 3:30 AM. I’m sure to the loud revellers, it actually felt more like 2:30 AM.
We had one more breakfast at the hotel. I had avocado toast with a poached egg, which was perfect! And more hot chocolate, again, done differently. This time, they brought it out rather thick, but included a side of steamed milk.
Hot chocolate done three ways at Hotel L’Eldorado… But I loved them all.
After breakfast, we decided to check out of the hotel and head to the Gare de L’est train station. That ride cost us a mere 22 euros. 😏 In retrospect, I wish we’d waited a little bit longer, because we ended up being an hour early. But that gave me the opportunity to listen to some talented people play the piano. Train stations in France often have pianos which people are encouraged to play!
This kid was especially good! I think he’s going places!French soldiers were in the station, fully armed.
We boarded our first class seats and enjoyed a very peaceful ride back to Germany. I was even impressed by the pizza we had for lunch, and were able to order directly from Bill’s phone. It was (seriously) among the best I’ve ever had in Europe. We had plans to change trains in Mannheim and get home by about 3:00 PM. Fate had different plans.
This pizza was surprisingly good!Crossing the Rhine!
Bill noticed that the train we were supposed to catch from Mannheim to Frankfurt Airport was delayed. As we got closer to Mannheim, the train was further delayed. Bill was getting more and more agitated, because he needed to pick up Noyzi and Charlie between 5:00 and 6:00 PM. A delay would put his ability to make that time more difficult. It was also pretty chilly outside, and Bill wasn’t adequately dressed.
He was a bit pissed… and I think it’s time to retire that jacket he’s wearing.
I needed to use the restroom, so I went into the station and encountered a VERY annoying public restroom. It cost 1,50 euros, and the turnstile wasn’t working properly. There was a line, and in spite of being attended, it wasn’t all that clean. But, I was able to relieve myself, and after about an hour delay, Deutsche Bahn let us take a different train. We were also lucky enough to score seats, which would not have been a given. Thankfully, it was just one stop, so our ride was only about 30 minutes.
Once we got to the Frankfurt Airport train station, we were able to find a great cabbie, who spirited us home. And Bill was able to get the dogs in time, and they were very happy to be home!
Overall, we had a really great time visiting Brussels and Paris, and we got to see a lot of places. It was fun visiting places we saw in 2008 and 2009, and discovering new places, like the Atomium and finally going up the Eiffel Tower. I especially enjoyed exploring the Montmartre area of Paris, which is a district I had never seen before. We did have a few glitches during our travel, but we learned from them. I will never again allow anyone to approach me at the train station offering a cab ride, for instance! I also got to learn about potatoes, chocolate, beer, and Salvador Dali!
More than once, I also said out loud that Brussels and Paris beat the hell out of Napa Valley… 😏 And, I also noticed that I left Paris liking it just a little bit more. The first time I went to Paris, I didn’t like it at all. But every time I return, I find myself more charmed and thinking I’ll someday return. I hope that turns out to be true. As for Brussels, it remains one of my favorite cities!
So that about does it for our trip to Brussels and Paris. I will be doing the usual “ten things I learned” post next! Stay tuned for that!
Friday, March 27th, Bill and I had thoughts of going back down to the touristy part of Paris. However, we did not want to walk there. Instead, we thought we’d take the famous Parisian Metro. But first, we had breakfast. One Friday morning, I had pancakes with blueberries and cream, and a side of bacon, and Bill had the continental breakfast I had enjoyed on Thursday, except he had scrambled eggs instead of poached eggs. Once again, I also had hot chocolate!
As for using the Paris Metro, I guess life had other plans, because first, we went to a Metro station that did not offer the ability to buy and load a Metro card. Then, we went to the other side of the metro station, and found the proper machines, but they would not take Bill’s credit card, probably because it’s not a European issued card. And the employees behind the desks were either unable to speak English, or their line wasn’t moving. I wasn’t even that surprised, because every time I’ve experienced trying to use the Paris Metro, I’ve been disappointed, confused, or both. I’m sure there’s a mysterious trick to using the Paris Metro that I just haven’t figured out yet.
Sigh… Not all of the machines were accepting euros, either.
So we gave up on the idea of using the Metro. Instead, we walked around the famed cabaret, the Moulin Rouge, which was close to our hotel. That area is also rife with artsy stuff.
The entrance to an art school.
The area is also loaded with sex shops. They were EVERYWHERE. And while we were sitting on a bench on the boulevard, we were joined by familiar folks… They casually set up their JW display near us. It was a sign to move on, I guess…
Guess we could have told ’em we were LDS…Dakota Johnson’s Calvin Klein ad.
During this time, we mostly just did some people watching and talked. When we take trips, we love to sit and watch the world, and just take in the local vibe. It wasn’t long before it was lunchtime, so we started looking for a place to eat. I noticed one place called Bouillon Pigalle. There was a long line of people waiting to get in there for lunch. I noticed they were mostly young folks, and when I looked up the restaurant, I noticed it got mixed reviews. We gave it a miss…
I love these little garden areas in the city…This is one of two locations of the Bouillon. chain The other is called Bouillon Republic and is located in another area of Paris.
We started to head back the way we came, but as we were passing some of the sex shops, I noticed this…
😳 WTF!Dayum! I do kind of like the dick mug, though.
Yeah… the mood was definitely different in this part of Paris, the 18th arrondissement! We spotted a rather authentic looking French restaurant, but again, it didn’t appeal… But then I noticed an Irish pub called Corcoran’s. God knows, we LOVE our Irish pubs. So that’s where we went for lunch.
As I’ve looked up Corcoran’s, I’ve noticed that it appears that it’s actually part of a chain, and there are several locations in Paris. The one we went to was in Place de Clichy. There was a friendly bartender who spoke perfect English and invited us to sit where we wanted and order at the bar. Bill had bangers and mash, and I had fish and chips. And, of course, we drank beer and listened to some really good music. I even discovered a 60s era singer I had never heard of before, the late Marva Whitney.
Looks vaguely pornographic! But the sausage was very good!A successful lunch stop in Paris!
The one thing I didn’t like about the pub was the restroom, which, like so many others we visited on this trip, really reeked of urine and was a bit damp, dirty, and chilly. But I’ve certainly encountered worse places to pee.
Some photos I took as we walked back to Hotel L’Eldorado.
I love the flower shops!
After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel room so I could do some writing and have a rest. Unfortunately, when we walked back into the hotel, the receptionist informed us that the elevator was broken again. I must have looked pretty annoyed, having to climb five flights of stairs again.
I skipped the fries!It’s handy to bring a computer so you can watch 41 year old movies…
We never did make it out again, because the weather was not so great, and I needed some time away from the crowds. While we were in our room, we decided to watch National Lampoon’s European Vacation for the umpteenth time. 😁 And we had Five Guys for dinner, which Bill went out and picked up. The staff must have noticed I wasn’t with him, because they called the room and told me that, to make up for the broken elevator, they were going to offer me (not Bill, apparently), free breakfast. So, I guess, in a way, we got back some of the money we lost to the scammer taxi driver.
Friday night was a bit noisy. Lots of people were outside partying at a nearby wine bar. I was grateful for the many panes on the windows, and glad that it wasn’t super hot outside. Even with the panes, we could hear the people outside until well in the wee hours of the morning!
That brings me to the end of my Friday in Paris– 2026. Stay tuned for my next post, which took us to the Salvador Dali museum!
This is going to be a very LONG post. Sorry about that!
Thursday, March 26th, was our biggest day in Paris. We had tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, something neither of us had ever previously done. We decided to visit the iconic site at 7:00 PM and have champagne at the top. That decision cost us a lot of money, but I think it was worth it for that one time. I doubt we’ll bother going up to the top of the tower again, but I’m glad we did it that one time, especially since it was a beautiful evening.
But what did we do before we went to the tower? Well, we did lots of walking, taking pictures, and people watching. All told, we racked up about six miles on that day, which for me, is quite an accomplishment.
We started off Thursday with breakfast at the hotel. Bill had avocado toast with a cappuccino and orange juice. I had a continental breakfast, with bread, butter, jam, orange juice, poached eggs, and delicious hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was especially interesting, as I had it each of the four mornings we were at the hotel, and each time, it was served differently. Below is the cup that seemed the most conventional to me. It was very good. The guy who waited on us had to confirm that I could get poached eggs with a continental breakfast. I guess they require more work than scrambled, boiled, or fried eggs.
After we ate, we started our long walk into the city center. I paused somewhat frequently to take pictures and stretch my hips and back, which ache a lot these days. It was a crisp, sunny morning, and just slightly too cold for the v-neck wool sweater I was wearing under my bigger “coatigan”.
As we got closer to downtown, we came across Parc Monceau, a gorgeous spot that I read is a sort of mirror image of the Jardin du Luxembourg in northern Paris.” It’s interesting we went there, since our hotel was close to the Jardin du Luxembourg when we visited Paris in May 2009.
I wish we’d spent more time visiting the Parc Monceau. It was absolutely gorgeous. And a little girl drew our attention to it by blowing bubbles as she crossed the street. I wish I’d gotten a few more photos of this magical place… totally free to enjoy, and with lots of benches for weary backs. If anything, I wanted more photos of the beautiful flowers and landmarks. Parc Monceau is “unusual” in Paris, because it’s more of an informal English style garden, rather than the more formal French style. Just looking at these photos make me want to find a garden and explore it today.
You can’t see it that well, but there were bubbles all over the place when I took this photo.A school at the edge of the park. A bunch of children in navy blue uniforms were playing in the park as we passed it.
But the chilly weather insisted that we keep walking, because sitting down, even in the sun, was a bit too cold. Besides, there was a lot more to see. So we kept walking until, as we were about to pass through the gates of the park, Bill looked up and noticed a familiar arc…
Arc de Triomphe 2026From our visit in May 20092026
Lots of people were taking photos of the majestic Arc du Triomphe, which loomed imposingly across the street. We crossed over, soon finding ourselves on the Champs-Élysées, a very famous shopping boulevard in Paris… We cut down another street, where we passed the American Cathedral in Paris and The Crazy Horse, a legendary cabaret.
One of those guys who doesn’t move a muscle…The kid was intrigued.We couldn’t visit the American Cathedral in Paris because it was closed for renovations…The Crazy Horse
After we crossed a major road, I looked to my left and noticed we were passing the Bateaux Mouches dock. Even though we took a river cruise when we visited Paris in 2009, it seemed like a good thing to do before lunchtime. We could get out of the chill by sitting inside the boat, while taking in views of the major Parisian sites from the Seine. It was also especially handy, because there was a restroom at the dock, and on the vessel itself. It also happened to be a great spot for an Eiffel Tower pic.
So we bought a ticket for 17 euros… it was a strictly no frills cruise. And as we waited for our 11:30 AM departure, we were suddenly joined by about a hundred teenagers! They descended on the dock like the famous anchovies from the first episode of Spongebob Squarepants. I wrote more about this experience on the day after it happened. You can follow the link to my main blog to read what I wrote then.
For those who don’t want to click the link… I remember sitting there at the dock, as dozens of teens crowded in. I was sitting next to an automatic arm with a boxing glove on the end of it.
Everybody was looking at the boat that was nearest to where we were waiting. I figured that was the one we’d be boarding, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a good spot that allowed views, while not forcing me to be out in the cold. I looked at all the teens who had congregated. Quite a few of the girls were dressed stylishly, but not for comfort or practicality, as they walked around Paris. Some had on short, tight mini skirts, lacy tights, and high heels. I was dressed more appropriately, but I’m old and cranky, and I don’t like to be chilled.
So I was feeling a bit doomed, but then I noticed an annoyed looking man standing near the boxing glove. He was obviously an official, and he was trying to get the teens’ attention. He saw me looking at him and invited me to board… and it was a different boat, beyond the boxing gloved automatic arm I’d been staring at as the teens descended on us.
I jumped up, and was the first to board the boat. We took an inside seat at the rear, near the bathrooms and a vending machine that sold candy, water, and soft drinks. We didn’t move from our spots. I didn’t have to worry, anyway. The boat was huge, so there was lots of room, and it was kind of fun to listen to the kids shrieking when we went under the many Parisian bridges.
The only unfortunate thing was that I wasn’t in the best spot for picture taking. At one point, two guys stood outside our window and smoked. One of them noticed me scowling at him when he dropped his butt on the floor. He stomped on it again and walked away, but left the smoldering trash on the boat, where I think it eventually rolled off into the river. 🤬
We used a different cruise company when we did our boat ride in 2009. It was very similar, and had the same “guide” that came on over a loudspeaker that we couldn’t really hear very well. But it was okay. We were just there to kill an hour and experience something different. I enjoyed the cruise, even if I wish it had been a bit warmer outside. There are MANY boat cruise companies in Paris, and they offer a variety of experiences, so this is an activity I would happily do again and again.
Maybe next time, we’ll do a champagne cruise. That might help us avoid huge groups of high school kids… although in fairness to them, they were mostly pretty well behaved. A lot of them were wearing jackets that indicated an affiliation with the International Rotary Club. My dad used to be a member of Rotary. I also enjoyed the kids who were singing and playing songs that were popular when I was 12! One guy was singing Wham’s “Careless Whisper” (and quite well, I might add). Another was playing “Down Under” by Men at Work.
After we got off the boat, it was time for lunch. We started walking on the Left Bank of the Seine. I was looking for a charming place, not too crowded, where we might have some lovely food. I was starting to get a little frustrated until we turned on a street with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. As we got closer, I noticed a couple of places that looked like they might fit the bill nicely. I almost went into a French place, but decided I didn’t like the look of their tables and chairs. I thought they’d be uncomfortably small.
But then I turned down another street, where people were taking pictures. To my right, there was an Italian place. It wasn’t packed with people. And when we went inside, we were warmly greeted by a lady who invited us to sit down at a two top near a rather crotchety looking elderly French couple. They were finishing up their desserts. Il Sorrentino turned out to be an excellent lunch choice for us, side eyes notwithstanding…
We started out with focaccia, some of the best I’ve ever had. Bill ordered sparkling water and a lovely Brolio Chianti Classico from Italy. Then, for our main courses, I had spinach cannelloni gratinati, while Bill went for ravioli stuffed with chicken on pecorino cheese and black truffle. It was absolutely delicious!
Then, for dessert, I had lemon creme brulee, which was served in a half of a lemon. Bill had a strawberry dessert served in a cookie crust with pistachio sauce. We had a round of espresso and, as we were paying the bill, enjoyed a digestive of limoncello.
The whole time we were dining, I noticed a bunch of people who appeared to be v-loggers outside, talking into cameras. A trio of girls, who looked like they were about sixteen or seventeen years old, were taking turns posing for the camera. One of the girls seemed to be particularly engaging. She had long, red, curly hair, and I noticed she was wearing a very stylish jacket. I would not be surprised if the girls had dreams of being models. However, although they were very pretty, they seemed a bit too short. But what do I know? They did look like they were having fun.
We closed down Il Sorrentino, and were the last ones to leave before they enjoyed a pause after the lunch rush. We continued walking toward the Eiffel Tower, which we hadn’t seen since 2009. I remember on that trip, I had been able to just walk under the tower without having to go through security. Now, they’ve got the area fenced off, and if you want to go in, you have to be screened. It is free to walk around the Eiffel Tower, though, and they have public toilets that are free of charge to use. We didn’t go in there until it was time for our visit. Instead, we did some people watching in the park. I noticed more people getting photos with the Eiffel Tower in the background. One girl was a dancer doing jetes while another woman took photos.
Later in the afternoon, we decided to look for a bar to enjoy a drink before we finally took our turn going up the tower. I couldn’t find exactly what we were looking for, but we did find a very busy restaurant called Brasserie de la Tour Eiffel, that served authentic French food– frogs legs, escargot, charcuterie, etcetera.
Of course we didn’t want to eat, but we were down for a couple of beers… I got a kick out of our very professional waiter, Philippe, who immediately gave us tokens for the toilet! This is not a spot where I’d want to have dinner, as it was very chaotic and touristy. However, it served fine as a place to enjoy drinks and people watch. And we lucked into having a great waiter, who wasn’t stereotypically rude or arrogant. It was fun watching people eat very stereotypically French cuisine, and I appreciated their selection of draft beers.
Below, outside the barrier to the tower… more people were dancing for cameras, and there were lots of Africans selling Eiffel Tower souvenirs. Or… I assume they were Africans. They looked the part.
Finally, it was time to head over to the Eiffel Tower and experience it for the first time. Since we already had tickets, we were able to get in a somewhat shorter line than those who still had to buy them. I believe it’s possible to go to the first floor of the tower, using the steps, without buying a ticket. We didn’t even visit the first floor, which is too bad. Below are a few 2009 era photos… Again, we didn’t go up the tower during that visit, because of the lines. But at that time, there wasn’t a barrier around the tower.
We crammed into an elevator, which took us to the second floor. I was immediately reminded of National Lampoon’s European Vacation and glad I wasn’t wearing a beret. I took many pictures of the magnificent evening views…
Then we found our way to the elevator to the top, crammed in, and up we went… Bill had neglected to print the last page of the tickets he bought, which was where the scanner code for the champagne was. Fortunately, he had it on his phone. Below are some photos at the top of the tower. I think the second floor may be better for photography, since you aren’t going to be behind a plastic barrier. But it was fun to be up there and get a view of Paris as evening set upon the city.
Our journey back to the second floor was uneventful. But then we got on the elevator to the ground floor, and that’s when things got especially entertaining.
A young woman with long brown hair and a beautifully made up face was running the elevator. She commanded that we all crowd in to the elevator together, and seemed a bit absent minded as she made an announcement that came out staticky. She apologized, and then said she’d be stopping on the first floor, for those who wanted to visit there.
Maybe one or two people got off, and she let one couple get on…. I’m not sure why, because she had told those waiting, that there was no room on the elevator for any more people, and they needed to go up a level. Even though she had clearly made that statement, one gentleman and his wife still tried to board.
The elevator operator then said, “I told you there is no room! Why do you not listen to me?! Go up a level, and my colleagues will take care of you!”
Everyone on the elevator was dying laughing at this lady, who was reprimanding the guy trying to board her elevator. She was so completely unabashed, telling off those folks who hadn’t paid her any mind. I happened to be standing next to her, and saw a peculiar mixture of amusement and befuddlement on her pretty face, and she fearlessly addressed the tourists. It was absolutely hilarious, and really capped off the experience for us!
Once we were finished with the tower, we decided it was time to go back to the hotel. But instead of walking, we took a taxi… Thank God for that! I accidentally connected the seatbelt to the wrong buckle, though, so the alarm was going off… and the taxi driver gently scolded me. Luckily, Bill was able to help me find the right buckle in the dark.
One last look at the majestic Eiffel Tower! I definitely recommend going at nighttime, if the weather permits.
So, now, this finally brings me to the next installment, which I will probably post tomorrow. Have a good Easter! We will be going out to lunch at Villa im Tal!
Below are some more Paris photos from 2009… We missed most of these spots on this trip. Paris is a VAST city. You could spend a week there and not see it all.
On Wednesday, March 25th, Bill and I got up early, packed up our stuff, and had some breakfast. We had a date with the Eurostar train, which would take us from the Brussels Midi train station to the Paris Gare du Nord station. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Eurostar train took over Thalys, which was the French and Belgian train company that used to handle trips between a network of cities in France and Belgium, along with a few places in Germany and the Netherlands.
Bill and I used Thalys when we took our trip to Brussels in 2008. I remembered it to be a comfortable train system, if not a bit less modern than the Deutsche Bahn trains. Our trip from Brussels to Paris would be fairly brief, and included a meal, since we were sitting in “Premier”, which is their version of first class.
Our stay at Le Fleur de Ville was prepaid, and we only had one drink each at their bar. We settled up and made our way to a taxi, which would spirit us to the big train station in Brussels. I wasn’t sorry to be leaving Brussels, although we did have a nice time. I was ready for a change of scenery, especially since the weather had turned cold and rainy.
The cab driver in Brussels was very kind and honest. I can’t remember what Bill paid for the fare, but the guy rounded down for us. I mention this because of what happened when we got to Paris. But we’ll get there. 😏
Thanks to our Premier tickets, we were allowed to use Eurostar’s lounge, which was in a building across a courtyard from the train station. The person who checked us in invited us to enjoy complimentary beverages and snacks, as well as plush seating in the lounge area. They played jazzy music and had handy screens available for monitoring the status of the trains. I think use of the lounge is the best reason for booking first class seats. It’s nice to be able to wait in a quiet place with seating, instead of milling around the train station.
Below are a couple of photos from the lounge. It has a bar, although it was too early in the day for it to be manned. There are also restrooms, although they needed to be stocked with toilet paper during our visit. Several people were doing work on their computers during our hourlong stay.
When it got close to our departure time, Bill and I walked to the Midi train station and found our way to the right track. We happened to get there just as our train was emptying out with passengers who had come to Brussels from Paris. After a brief wait, we boarded the train. I recognized the plush red seats– same ones I remembered from 2008. I looked up and saw the old Thalys branding. We didn’t find places to store our luggage between cars, so Bill and I had to hoist our suitcases onto the racks above our seats.
The train ride itself wasn’t very eventful, except for when I needed to use the toilet. For the life of me, I could not find the flusher! I looked all over for it and finally gave up. Thankfully, I only had to pee, and it seemed to go down the hole, anyway. Bill later said he found it, but it was in an obscure place. Maybe it was a foot pedal?
As I mentioned before, we got a meal included on our trip to Paris. I didn’t remember liking the food on Thalys in 2008. The same could be said for Eurostar’s offering in 2026. Bill said he did like the food. In our case, it was cold chicken breast with some exotic sides, cheeses, and dessert, as well as a beverage. I had champagne, which Bill had red wine. A vegetarian option was also offered. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t eat much of it, and I probably wouldn’t have ordered it on my own. Luckily, Bill was happy to eat my cheese course, because I don’t typically eat cheese unless it’s been melted and is very mild.
It was early afternoon when we arrived in Paris. As we made our way up the escalator at the busy Gare du Nord station, we made a rookie mistake. There were a bunch of people standing near the escalators, some of whom were holding up signs for arriving passengers. I had just muttered, “Now to find a taxi.” I didn’t think I’d said it very loudly, but maybe I did, because a friendly, but assertive man asked us if we needed a taxi.
Although it was against my better judgment, I found myself following the guy and Bill, who for some reason, agreed to use this man’s “services” to get us into the city. Paris transportation hubs are notoriously PLAGUED by scammers– especially when it comes to taxis. They pick up clueless tourists and rip them off. I wrote about this in the main blog, so if you want the story in detail, click here. I warn that I tend to be a lot more profane on the main blog.
Suffice to say, this guy who picked us up was an “unlicensed” driver. He did the usual con, claiming he didn’t have a working credit card machine, so he’d need cash. And he charged us way more than a licensed taxi driver would have. It was very annoying to be ripped off in that way, especially since the guy had the nerve to offer me unsolicited advice on avoiding being pickpocketed in Paris. 😡 But, on the positive side, he did get us to our hotel safely and quickly, and he didn’t try to rip us off for as much as I’ve read in some horror stories. And it’s unlikely we’ll ever make that mistake again, now that we know more about French law regarding taxis. At least we had euros, and didn’t miss the money as much as we might have when we were younger and poorer.
I booked us four nights in the Sapphire Suite at the Hotel L’ Eldorado, located in the Montmartre area of the city. The last time we were in Paris, back in 2009, Bill and I stayed at Hotel Le Six, which is in Montparnasse. We liked Hotel Le Six, but wanted to experience a different neighborhood. I also visited Paris in 1997, but I don’t remember where my sister and I stayed. I think we were in a no frills hotel somewhat close to the Eiffel Tower. I remember it was owned by Indians, and was quite nice, especially for the price. But that was a very long time ago.
In any case, when we checked in, Bill reminded the receptionist that we had reservations for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. They confirmed our reservations, and then informed us that the elevator was out of order. The Sapphire Suite, which is one of the best rooms in the hotel, was on the fifth floor. Sigh…
Alas, I am not as young, fit, or thin as I once was. I am capable of climbing stairs, but it’s not my favorite thing to do. I do get a bit winded. I also hate it when I lead the way, because I feel pressure to go faster than I should. But we got to the room, which was covered in dark green, patterned velvet– the curtains, bed dressings, and walls were all done in the same funky style. I liked it, but I imagine it might cause sensory overload for some people.
The room had a sitting room connected by a hall to the compact bedroom. There were double doors that closed off the bedroom from the sitting room, which were a bit of a pain to deal with at night, when going to the potty.
There was a green marble bathroom with a sauna in it and a nice shower, as well as a separate water closet. The receptionist didn’t show us how to use the sauna, nor were there any printed instructions. I might have liked to try it out, but maybe it’s better that I didn’t. This was the second French hotel I’ve stayed in that had a sauna in the room. The other one was in Sessenheim, in rural Alsace.
The back terraceSaunaFront terraceZoomed in…Reality…
I did like that the room had two balconies. One faced the little hidden garden at the back of the hotel. The other faced out into the street, and if you stood on it and looked East, you could see the Eiffel Tower. I took a photo, but zoomed in a lot… We were maybe a three to four mile walk from the Eiffel Tower, which we did undertake on Thursday.
As it was, Wednesday evening, Bill had an online class at the Jung Institute. That’s why we decided to have dinner in the hotel. It was good that we made reservations, although to be honest, I didn’t love what I ordered. Bill loved his dish. He had duck leg confit with beans. I had a sirloin faux filet with frites. My filet was cooked medium, but the meat was a bit tough.
Bill and I also had to trade starters, because I ordered soft set egg Meurette style, and it had mushrooms in it (I should have Googled before ordering). He ordered butternut squash and chestnut velouté, which was mushroom free. Again, not something I necessarily would have ordered for myself, but it was okay. We also enjoyed a lovely French wine, fresh bread, and champagne aperitifs. For dessert, I had profiteroles, and Bill had a red berry crumble with ice cream. Our waiter was very pleasant, but didn’t seem to speak English well. This became a problem at breakfast, later in the week. More on that in a subsequent post.
After dinner, we were both pretty tired, so we decided to go to bed. By the time we finished eating, the elevator was working again. I think the mood was kind of spoiled by the scammer and the broken elevator, but we figured a good night’s sleep would fix that issue.
Thursday was a big day for us, so I’ll write about that in the next post!
Well, hello out there in Internetland. Long time, no read. It’s been over two whole weeks since my last travel post. We didn’t even do anything special for St. Patrick’s Day this year… although since that’s the day we lost our sweet beagle, Arran (in 2023), March 17th is now sort of a “day of infamy”.
The good news is, Bill and I just got back from our latest trip, so this blog is about to “spring” back to life. Well, it’s good news if you like reading about other people’s vacations, I guess. For me, it gives me something to remember when I can’t do this kind of stuff anymore. As our world gets more complicated, that day could come sooner, rather than later.
If you follow my main blog, you might remember that we had a really hard time deciding where to go for this trip. In fact, I even “lost” a family member over planning this vacation. That’s a really stupid story– how I got publicly “disowned” by my cousin over our decision to go to Belgium and France– so I’ll spare you the details here. If you really want to read about it, follow the link. My main blog needs the love.
I think I wrote at least three posts about the ridiculous fight I had with my alcoholic cousin over planning our spring vacation. 🙄 Yes, I know it’s “personal business”, but sometimes people enjoy reading about that kind of shit. If you don’t, though, no worries. I’ll understand completely!
Anyway, on with my story about Brussels and Paris, 2026!
This trip to Brussels and Paris was decided by a “champagne bucket drawing”. Regular followers of my blog might know that many times, Bill and I decide on where to go for our vacations by drawing slips of paper from our champagne bucket.
For this trip, we had initially drawn Croatia, which would have been amazing! But I didn’t think we had enough time to do what I really want to do in Croatia. So, we drew again, and picked Belgium. I was cool with Belgium, because I always have a good time there. I remembered how much fun we had in Brussels, when we went there in 2008. I wanted to go back there for more beer, frites, and chocolate. We added Paris, because we also enjoyed that city, last time we went there in 2009.
Although we often drive when we take our European trips, for this one, we decided to go by train. The main reason we opted for trains this time is because driving in European capital cities can be a huge, expensive, pain in the ass. The trains in Europe are usually very efficient and comfortable, especially in first class. However, using trains can also be problematic, our personal story of which I’ll get to in the course of writing this series.
In any case, on the morning of Saturday, March 21st, Bill took our dogs, Noyzi and Charlie, to their favorite Hundepension. Then, that afternoon, we took a taxi to the Frankfurt Airport train station to catch a mid afternoon high speed Inter-City Express Train (ICE) to Brussels. The taxi driver remembered Bill from a previous booking. I think he’s a local guy! He wanted us to book him for a ride back to our house yesterday… and kept talking about how he could drive us to Brussels. After what happened yesterday, maybe we should have considered doing that. But again, I’ll get to that part of the story later.
The taxi driver dropped us at the Frankfurt Airport train station and, as usual, we were pretty early. So we stopped for a coffee break… something I very rarely do.
I had a caramel macchiato… first time for me, I think!Bill’s cappuccino. It looked like a well spanked ass.What, me worry?
The first time we went to Brussels, back in September 2008, Bill and I took an ICE train from Stuttgart to Cologne (Köln), then quickly caught a French/Belgian Thalys train from Cologne to Brussels. Thalys, as a brand, is now defunct; it’s since been merged with Eurostar, the folks responsible for the English Channel Tunnel (Chunnel).
Because we used Deutsche Bahn’s ICE train, we were able to take a train directly from the Frankfurt Airport station to the Brussels Nord station. Our convenient jaunt ran for just under three hours and included stops in Cologne, Aachen, and Liege before arriving at the Brussels Nord station at about 5:00 PM. Bill booked us first class seats at a four top table, with seats facing each other. He did that so that I would be assured of not having to ride backwards. My husband is remarkably considerate. 🤭
First class seat…First class husband…
Below are some photos from the ride. It was a little bit rainy, and I was on the wrong side of the train for the best photos… I took these at the Cologne stop, which is where we were joined by a very tall man who was apparently a hacker. He kept looking at what I was doing on my iPad. I don’t know why the guy sat next to us. The car had plenty of empty seats, as well as a totally unclaimed “four top” at the front of the car. But he sat next to me and typed away while we made our way to Brussels.
I wish we’d gotten one of these “two tops”… He was too slow on the draw.A European river cruise ship I am going to investigate.Locks of loveAlways a provider!
We have been to Cologne ourselves a couple of times. It’s a great city! I wouldn’t mind going back there someday, if the fates allow. It’s not a long trip from the Frankfurt Airport station, but it has a different feel… plus, I enjoy their local beer.
As we passed the Aachen station, I was feeling a little wistful. I’d actually considered booking a hotel in Aachen, because we’ve never been there, and I have heard it’s an interesting city. But it had been so long since we last left Germany for any reason, and I was eager to go somewhere that felt different. Although our last trip to Belgium was in the fall of 2024, our last trip to France was in March 2022! We were way overdue for a visit!
I didn’t take pictures of the Aachen or Liege stations, because I didn’t see anything worth photographing from the train. However, both cities are places I hope to visit someday.
We arrived in Brussels right on time, and made our way out of the Nord station to find a taxi to our hotel, Le Fleur de Ville. This hotel happened to be a block away from The Dominican, the hotel we stayed in when we visited Brussels in 2008. I remember really liking The Dominican, which is a former abbey turned into a “design hotel”. I also remember watching Barack Obama and John McCain debating on the television in our suite… Wow… those were the days!
We stayed here for Labor Day weekend in 2008.
I decided not to book The Dominican again, though, because I wanted to try a different place. Hotel Le Fleur fit the bill nicely, although we didn’t get the greatest first impression. The hotel itself is in a very beautiful building: according to it’s official Web site– it was once the “Caisse Générale d’Epargne et de Retraite, an 1850s national savings bank.” But when we arrived in the late afternoon of March 21st, we found the front desk completely unmanned. We waited several minutes before two swarthy men in suits arrived to check us in. Unfortunately, one of them also really needed a breath mint. Sorry… I know that’s kind of a rude observation, but it did make an impression.
I booked us in a room they called The Beyaert Suite, which was on the fourth floor. It was a very large and well appointed room. Below are some photos from the hotel lobby and our suite, which offered everything but a great view. The window was too high up to see out of, but that was okay. We weren’t in a particularly scenic area, anyway.
Bill was excited by these books.
We were very happy with the room, although it wasn’t cheap. I think for four nights, we paid roughly 2,000 euros, which I’ll admit is a lot of money. But that’s still not as much as what we paid in Paris. I’ll get to that part later. 😬
I know some people would be shocked by the price of the hotel lodging. We certainly didn’t need such a grand room. But when I go on vacation, especially now that I’m well into my 50s, I like to spoil myself a bit. We’ve spent many years staying in inexpensive places, so I figure we deserve a splurge now and then. We also really needed a proper vacation, since our most recent travels were for specific things like visiting our dentist, getting Bill into the Jung Institute, and traveling places for Bill’s work. Our last pleasure trip was in June 2025… which I know is more recent than a lot of people’s most recent pleasure trip has been.
Anyway, enough disclaimers and explanations from me. I do want to state for the record, though, that there are cheaper rooms at this property. And it is a very lovely hotel, convenient to Brussel’s most popular tourist sites.
After we got settled in our extravagant room at the hotel, we went for a walk around The Grand Place, and got some dinner. That story is going to be a lengthy one, so I’ll put that in part two.
Featured photo is Bill when we were younger and cuter… trying a flight of beers in Brussels, back in September 2008.
So… after a VERY dramatic weekend (detailed on my main blog), Bill and I finally figured out where we will be going on our next vacation. Although it’s not usually difficult for us to decide where to travel, this time it was really hard to make our choices. A lot has to do with what’s going on in the world right now. We wanted to avoid risk and hassles, yet still have fun.
For this vacation, which starts on March 21st, we considered Croatia, Albania, Poland, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, and Austria. I didn’t really want to go to Italy, because we went there a year ago. I love Italy, but I wanted to go somewhere different. However, I had it in mind that I wanted to go to a nice spa, and a lot of the best ones are in South Tyrol, which is in Italy.
My mind started changing about the appeal of the spa hotels when I realized that a lot of them are resorts. Sometimes I enjoy the resorts, which usually come with half board. But they do have a drawback, because sometimes having included food means that we don’t try as many restaurants or get off the resort’s property as much as we should. Sometimes resorts can be noisy and crowded.
Also, some resorts kind of have a cruise ship feel, which I didn’t think I’d enjoy right now. We went to a resort hotel in the South Tyrol back in 2020– during the height of the pandemic– and we got the side eye from so many people because we were Americans in Europe at a time when Americans weren’t supposed to be in Europe. Now, our dumbass POTUS has taken us to war with Iran. The last thing I want to deal with is people blaming me personally for what Trump does, especially when I am on vacation.
When we were finally ready to make a choice, I put my hand in the champagne bucket and pulled out a slip of paper that read… CROATIA! Yea! I love Croatia, and there are a lot of places I want to see there, especially after our visit in 2021. But then I started looking into the logistics of doing what I really wanted to do, and I realized that it would work better as a road trip. We don’t have enough time for a proper road trip for this vacation.
However, March is a good time to go see places like Split and Dubrovnik, because there aren’t so many tourists at this time of year. It’s also not hot right now. Maybe next year, or in the fall, we can do that… if we haven’t been kicked out of Europe.
So, I drew again, and pulled out a slip of paper that read… BELGIUM! Great! It’s funny, because before I started getting totally overwhelmed with choices, I had thought to myself that I wanted to go to Belgium again. We’ve been a few times since we moved back to Germany in 2014, but we have not ventured back to the capital city– Brussels. Bill and I visited Brussels in 2008, when we were a lot younger and poorer. We had an absolute BLAST!
I remember just before we went for Labor Day weekend, Bill was working really hard and putting in a lot of overtime. He sent me a funny email that read, “I want to go to Brussels and see Mannekin Pis.” It was mainly because he was really pissed off! We spent the weekend eating frites, waffles, chocolate, and croissants. We also drank a shitload of excellent beer! And we also took a day trip to Bruges. I don’t think we’ll go to Bruges again this time, since we’ve been back there since our 2008 trip. But I do know of some bars I want to visit again. I have also booked us a very nice looking and rather posh hotel!
Check out these old photos from September 2008!
We last went to the city of Paris in May 2009, for Memorial Day weekend. It was right after Bill learned that we were going to have to leave Europe a year sooner than we planned. I was PISSED. This was something that had been orchestrated by Bill’s narcissistic war boss, who was later very publicly fired. Going back to the US a year early ended up working out for us, in the long run. Still, I was not happy about being yanked a year early, especially when it turned out that the job Bill had been “handpicked for” was just a bullshit billet so that Bill’s ex boss could move a different guy to a more prestigious job. But, as you can see, we got that year back and then some… many times over.
Below are some photos from our 2009 trip to Paris. I went there once before, back in September 1997, right after Princess Diana died. Unfortunately, that trip was with my sister, who was driving me crazy…
We had a great time in Paris. I remember at one point, we went to this very unassuming little brasserie and had the most wonderful lunch. Bill discovered a new favorite wine that we actually found a couple of bottles of in the States. I actually considered going to the the winery that produces that wine, down in Narbonne. I decided not to because, again, the logistics were a bit difficult for the amount of time we have.
We decided to go to Paris after considering going to the Champagne region. I actually wanted to go to Champagne, but realized that it would be a logistical hassle getting back to Frankfurt because we are doing this trip by train, instead of driving. Going to Brussels by train is a snap from Frankfurt. In fact, we went by the now defunct Thalys train in 2008. And going to Paris from Brussels is also easy; I think we’ll be using the Eurostar train, which is what replaced Thalys. Last time we went to Paris, we flew Air France, which was a mistake, mainly because it took FOREVER to get to the city from the airport.
We can still visit Champagne if we want to, as it’s only a 39 minute train ride from Paris. But I have a feeling we’ll just drink bubbly in the City of Lights!
I have found us a lovely hotel in Paris, too… in a different area of the city than where we stayed last time we visited. In 2009, we went to Montparnasse, and stayed in a hotel near the Luxembourg Gardens and a bar where Ernest Hemingway used to frequent. This time, we’ll be in the heart of the city, near the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. Maybe this time, we’ll even go up the Eiffel Tower, which I haven’t done on either of my previous visits. We’re also finally going to visit the Louvre.
Anyway… this adventure starts in twelve days, and will last until March 29th. Hopefully, all will go well, and nothing horrific will happen between now and then. Knock on wood!
The featured photo is of a cell that was once used in the KGB detention facility. That facility has now turned into the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in Vilnius.
You might be wondering how a proposed trip to Paris, France turned into a trip to the former Soviet Union. Bill had asked me months ago where I wanted to celebrate my birthday. He said maybe it was time we visited Paris again. Our last visit there, and first time visiting Paris together, was in May 2009.
I like Paris fine, and truly have been wanting to go there again. At first, I was all for the idea. But then I started thinking about the crowds. June is the beginning of the high tourist season in Europe, and people from other countries are currently swarming the most popular European cities. So then I started thinking of other places I’ve never been and want to see. We did a champagne bucket draw, and it came down to the Loire Valley in France (which I did visit in September 1997) and Vilnius. We flipped a coin and Vilnius won.
So, we arranged for five nights in Lithuania’s capital. I was excited about it, because we have already been to Latvia and Estonia, the other two Baltic countries. I was eager to see what the largest one would be like. Then I started reading about Vilnius, which people described as a “gem” of a city. I remembered a couple of really nice people from Lithuania who were working on SeaDream I, a gorgeous mega yacht Bill and I have sailed on three times. And, as an informal Soviet Union history buff, I was curious to go to another former republic from that failed regime.
Now that I’ve been to Lithuania, I’ve come away from the experience deeply moved and newly educated. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I heard a lot about the Soviet Union. Not knowing the history behind it, I assumed that the countries within it were “happy” to be in the Soviet Union. What can I say? I was an ignorant child, and didn’t have the greatest critical thinking skills. We weren’t necessarily taught about the Soviet Union’s history when I was in school. We were just taught that the “commies” were “bad”. It didn’t help that we had right wing movies like Red Dawn promoting stereotypes and propagandizing. Red Dawn came out when I was 12, and it was the very first PG-13 movie. Of course I watched it, and was seduced by its ignorant scaremongering messages.
Eleven years after I saw Red Dawn for the first time, I moved to the former Soviet Union to work for 27 months. I never thought I’d ever visit the former Soviet Union, let alone live there. I went to Armenia, which is not at all like Lithuania, except for the fact that it was also a Soviet country. The Armenian attitude toward Russia seemed to be somewhat more grateful, as Armenians were being threatened by Turks.
Armenians definitely don’t seem to have the same attitude about Russia that Lithuania and other Baltic countries have. Maybe that’s changed since Russia basically abandoned Armenia when Azerbaijan, another former Soviet republic, basically evicted Armenians for Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, part of Azerbaijan that is historically Armenian.
My time in Armenia didn’t inform me that not all of the former Soviet republics appreciated Russia. My much briefer time in the Baltic countries has taught me that, indeed, the Soviet Union was an extremely vast country with many different peoples, divergent attitudes, religions, languages, cultural traditions, and mores… and no, they certainly weren’t all “happy” to be Soviets.
I did have a basic understanding of this concept before we traveled to Lithuania, but the idea was definitely driven home when I visited museums and churches and looked around the city of Vilnius. Just seeing all of the pro-Ukraine flags, as well as this huge sign atop of a high rise building, was a big clue about how many Lithuanians feel about Russia. (I won’t say all Lithuanians, because I don’t actually know if they all feel like that…)
Putin is definitely not widely esteemed in Vilnius…
Once we had decided to visit Lithuania, I set about making plans. It wasn’t easy, because our trusty dog hotel staff was on vacation when the decision was made. We had to wait for them to come back to work before I could book plane tickets and get the hotel reserved. But once they were back to work and confirmed the dogs were welcome, I booked us five nights in a deluxe room with a balcony at the Grand Hotel Vilnius, Curio Collection by Hilton.
It had been years since I last stayed at a Hilton. I think I chose it because of the location, the fact that it had a pool and hot tub (which I sadly didn’t get to use), and because Bill collects Hilton Honors points. I am a member of Hilton Honors, too, but I had never actually collected any points. When we’ve stayed in Hilton hotels before, it was because Bill did the booking. Then I did some reading and figured Bill wouldn’t be able to get points unless he booked straight from Hilton, which was much more expensive than booking the hotel and flights through Expedia (where I also have a lot of loyalty points). So the booking was under my name.
I also booked business class flights on Lufthansa, because we can afford it, and I prefer to travel in comfort. Business class on flights within Europe isn’t all that special. You get access to the lounge, expedited security screening, a meal and drinks, and no one sits in the middle seat of your row. You also get “priority” baggage handling, and checked bags are included in the price. But the seats on the plane are no different than what you get in economy. You just don’t have to worry about offending a stranger who might be sitting next to you, or vice versa. To be honest, that’s really the number one reason why I try to book business class when I fly.
Once all of that was booked, we waited for the big day– June 18th. I was stoked, but kind of wondering what we were in for… I do love what little I’ve seen of Estonia and Latvia. This break would be a longer look. I was thinking maybe we’d be ambitious and take day trips or something. We didn’t end up doing any day trips, and yet it was still a very educational visit. More on that in the next parts…
Bill got home from Stuttgart yesterday afternoon. He was pretty tired from the traffic he faced on the drive home. We were supposed to go to Wiesbaden and join people from his company at Wiesbaden’s wine week festival, which will go on through next weekend. But, because Bill was so exhausted from driving, we decided to go to the much quieter wine stand that was hosted by the SPD last night.
Our village square has a communal chess set. Sometimes, people even use it!
We could have brought Noyzi and Charlie to the event, since it wasn’t very busy. I think they would have been fine. We decided not to, though, because I think we just wanted to hang out for a bit. The weather was pleasant– kind of cool with a breeze– and we just wanted to enjoy the ambiance. Other people brought dogs. One guy even had his little white dog in a baby carriage!
After we sat for a short while, and older local couple joined us, and then we saw our American friend and neighbor whose house was being “sat” by the American couple we met last week while she was on vacation with her family. She said they’d gone to Paris and she caught a glimpse of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics!
It turns out our neighbor also had a colonoscopy at the same hospital where I had mine done… but hers was not done by the chief. She described her experience as much better than mine was. I think maybe the secret to decent German healthcare is to have someone more junior do the procedures. Our neighbor also highly recommended the local Hausarzt (family doctor) in our town, although it’s hard to get an appointment with her. Maybe it might be worth seeing her.
We chatted more with our neighbor, who is also fluent in German. She translated a little for us with the older German couple. As it turned out, they did speak a little English, and Bill and I used our budding German skills. Then friends of theirs showed up, and we had a little party going on. As usual, I drank too much wine. 😉
This dog was so cute and well behaved!
After we went to the wine stand, we came home and Bill cooked burgers on the grill. Then we talked for a bit, mostly about how busy the summer has been, and how fast it’s flown by this year!
It’s hard to believe that pretty soon, we’ll be in Iceland, enjoying Arctic breezes and hoping for sunny skies. After that, fall will be upon us once again. I’m sure we’ll get to the wine festival, too. I’m kind of glad we skipped it last night, though. I’m sure it was very busy!
Friday, November 10th was the big day we’d been waiting for since September. I chose that date because I wanted to have an extra Saturday in Armenia. I had big aspirations of finding new art for our home, and I knew that the Vernissage would have more people there on the weekend than during the week. It also turned out that Stepan had a work project he had to attend to over this past weekend, so it was a lucky thing that we opted to leave on the 10th.
Right now, Bill and I have the good fortune of living in Germany, which makes getting to Armenia comparatively easy. One can fly directly to Yerevan from several European cities, including Frankfurt, which is just 20 minutes or so from where we live. However, Lufthansa currently only offers direct flights from Frankfurt to Yerevan once a week. If we wanted to fly there directly from Frankfurt, we’d have to leave on Saturday, the 11th. So we flew to Vienna on Friday night, enjoyed a few hours in the Lufthansa lounge, then flew Austrian Airlines to Yerevan. That was an interesting experience!
It wasn’t the first time we’d flown on Austrian Airlines. When we lived in the Stuttgart area, we’d had layovers that involved flying on Austrian and Swiss Airlines, as they are code shared with Lufthansa. It had been several years since our last experience with Austrian Airlines, but I did remember that all the ladies working for them wore bright red tights!
Since we were in business class, we got a somewhat elaborate dinner service… for being on an airplane, that is. They brought out “tablecloths” for our tray tables. The food was relatively decent, too. Below are a few photos from our visits to the Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt and the Austrian Airlines lounge in Vienna. You’ll notice a certain theme… Free beer and wine is a nice perk of flying business. Of course, it’s not really “free”, is it? Our usual lounge in the Frankfurt airport was closed, so we had to go to a different one. It was pretty busy! Travel is definitely back in full swing, post pandemic.
I was very excited in Vienna when we went to our gate. After 26 years, I was finally going to Armenia, and it was a treat to hear the language again. I looked around at the other passengers, many of whom looked like they might have been coming from the United States. I also saw a few Americans, at least one of whom was traveling with an Armenian. I wondered if any of them were fellow RPCVs… or maybe even a current PCV. One American guy must have noticed our blue passports, because he came up and asked us in English if we were in line.
Then we were called up to the desk by the Austrian Airlines rep, a pretty young woman wearing a bright red Austrian Airlines approved hijab. She told us that she needed more information. I wasn’t surprised, since Lufthansa’s Web site hadn’t let me properly fill out our profiles. We handed over our passports, and she took care of it quickly. Soon, we were on our way.
Lufthansa’s offerings on the way to Vienna.Off we go to Yerevan!Looking pretty good here…Austrian triangular dinner. It wasn’t bad, although I never eat a lot of the food they offer on planes.A view of Vienna as we flew away.
We enjoyed an uneventful 3.5 hour flight to Yerevan, making our landing at 4:40 AM. Before we left Germany, Stepan sent me a private message asking for our flight details. I had never managed to get ahold of our hotel before we arrived, so he called them for us to ask about hotel transfers. Then he decided he’d just pick us up, which was very kind and generous of him! Stepan is the bomb for doing that for us! շնորհակալություն, Stepan jan!
I braced myself on arrival to Armenia, remembering what it was like to arrive in Yerevan via Paris, France in June 1995. At that time, the old Soviet era airport was still operating. I remember getting there at about 3:30 AM, and there being very few lights anywhere. Our flight was courtesy of the now defunct Armenian Airlines, which was still flying 70s vintage Soviet planes.
My 1995 Peace Corps flights were my first flights anywhere since I’d moved home from England with my family in 1978. Whenever my parents traveled by air after that, they left me at home with my sisters or a housesitter. So while the United Airlines flight to Paris was more modern, the Armenian Airlines flight was a lot like what I’d remembered from my last flight from the 70s.
Looking around that Armenian Airlines plane, it really felt a lot like 1978, complete with people smoking the whole time and standing in the aisle. The day prior, we had flown from Washington, DC to Paris, and then spent twelve hours in Paris. Actually, I stayed in the airport for twelve hours, while braver and better traveled souls went into the city. I was in a pretty exhausted, frazzled state by the time I first laid eyes on Yerevan in 1995. I left Charles De Gaulle airport swearing off another visit to Paris… Of course, I have since learned that one should never judge a place or its people by its airport(s). I love Paris, now.
When my Peace Corps group got off the Armenian Airlines plane in 1995, we got off on the tarmac, and then walked through an old, dimly lit office, which I guess was passport control. I remember the airport itself was crumbling a bit, and there were few lights on in the terminal. The restrooms were a nightmare. You could smell them much easier than you could see them. If you’d like to see some photos of the airport, click here. It didn’t look nearly that bad in 1995, of course… but those pictures do bring back some vivid memories.
Volunteers from A2 (the second Peace Corps Armenia group) had come to greet us, and were passing snacks over a barrier. It took about three hours for our group of 32 to get all of our luggage because the airport lacked the modern equipment to unload the aircraft expeditiously. Then we all had to get through customs. I remember we were all loaded on a bus with curtains on the windows several hours later. I think it was about 8:00 AM when we finally got out of the airport. I remember staring at the half built buildings in the area near the airport, people’s laundry billowing from their balconies. The landscape was so different. I could see Mount Ararat, as it was a bright, sunny day with relatively low air pollution.
CP53N6 Armenia – Yerevan – Piazza della Repubblica. Hotel Armenia.Photo licensed by Alamy.
This is a photo of Republic Square the way I remembered it in 1995. Hotel Armenia is in the background.
CP529N Armenia twentieth century nineties – Yerevan – Piazza della Repubblica. Hotel Armenia. Photo licensed by Alamy.
Another look at Hotel Armenia in the 90s. This is exactly how I remembered it. The signs on the roof are now long gone.
Our group soon arrived at what was then Hotel Armenia, and is now the Marriott in Republic Square. We had a brief meeting with our training director; then we were allowed to go to our rooms on the less expensive “old side” of the hotel. I remember the rooms were very Soviet, with no hot water except in the early hours of the day, twin beds with wool blankets, and linoleum floors. There were ladies in uniforms there who “guarded” the halls and made sure we turned in our keys before we ventured out anywhere.
I remember chandeliers in the conference room, with long tables that had bottles of sparkling Jermuk mineral water, Pepsi, and juice. I distinctly remember thinking the water tasted like Alka Seltzer… and so did the Pepsi, which probably came from a Russian bottler. The chandeliers only had a few light bulbs in them. We were presented with borscht and smoked fish… and I remember a lot of sour cream, which I don’t really eat. I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.
By contrast, in 2023, getting out of the much newer airport was a breeze. We went to passport control, where a rather dour man asked me if it was my first time in Armenia. I smiled and said, “No. I used to live here.”
The passport guy was obviously not as excited as I was. He gave my passport an aggressive stamping as he grunted a disinterested welcome and sent me on my way. Bill and I rounded a corner, where our bags were already waiting for us. I could feel the excitement welling as we walked out of the secure area. There was a small group of Armenian men standing there, obviously waiting for new arrivals. Some of them held up signs.
Then I saw him… Stepan jan was there, holding a huge bouquet of flowers and wearing an ear to ear smile! We were easy to spot, especially since my hair has turned platinum blonde in my middle age years.
“Jenny Jan!” he exclaimed as he handed me the flowers.
I let out an emotional cry as we shared a warm embrace. The Armenian men loitering in the arrivals hall kind of stared at us curiously. It was obvious Stepan and I were very excited to see each other, and they probably wondered why… I’m clearly not a local!
The scene kind of reminded me of when Bill came home from the Iraq War in 2007. I had come to what used to be called National Airport in Northern Virginia to pick him up, and I will never forget how he came charging toward me, still in his ACUs (uniform), walking just behind his narcissistic war boss from Hell. Bill almost knocked me over with a huge hug, so relieved was he to be done with that particular patriotic chore. Bill and I shared a kiss and a long hug, and people looked on, smiling at the scene that was unfolding. It was like a movie moment.
Totally goofy picture of me at 5:00 AM, holding the beautiful flowers Stepan brought for me. Yes, I was happy! And yes, I needed a shower and sleep.
Think of our first meeting with Stepan as kind of like a much less romantic version of meeting Bill, as he came home from war. It was dramatic and exciting, but also kind of heartwarming and sweet. I remembered Stepan as a 15 year old kid, and I’m sure he remembered the 24 year old version of me. Now, we’re both a lot older… but Stepan graciously said, “You didn’t change!” And neither did he!
Stepan took my bags and we ran into Naira, the Peace Corps doctor, who had come to the airport to see off her brother. We said hello to her, and Stepan loaded our bags into his car. We chattered excitedly as we headed to the Paris Hotel in Yerevan. It’s located on Amiryan Street, very close to Republic Square and just steps away from Hotel Armenia/Marriott.
I remember being flabbergasted by the drive into the city, as everything was lit up. I can’t belabor this point enough… in 1995, there was an energy crisis in Armenia, so there were very few lights then, even on the streets. By contrast, in 2023, Yerevan is a city that doesn’t really sleep. There are a number of businesses that operate 24 hours. Bars and restaurants stay open late. And there are colorful lights everywhere!
A smiling man was waiting to welcome us at Paris Hotel Yerevan. He spoke excellent English. I had made the mistake of not booking our room for the 10th, which would have allowed us to check in immediately upon arrival. Or, maybe it was Expedia.com’s doing, since we weren’t technically arriving until the 11th. Our deluxe king room wasn’t ready for us to check in early, but they did have a lower grade room available. Bill and I agreed to that arrangement, since we were both so tired.
When Bill went to pay, the transaction failed. Stepan paid for the temporary room with his card, and after a chilly shower, we gratefully went to bed. We later learned that the transaction failed because of the WiFi system. Once we learned to use the chip on our credit cards, we had fewer problems with failed transactions. I think the room they gave us was one the hotel staff uses for situations like ours. Its condition was not nearly as good as the room we’d booked and moved to later that afternoon. But honestly, we were both so tired, we didn’t care. Below are pictures of our temporary digs. The room was fine for what we needed it for.
A few hours later, we got up for breakfast in the hotel, which is included in the rate. Paris Hotel has a great spread in their rooftop restaurant, Montmartre, which as you can see in the above photos, is also beautifully decorated. I enjoyed the relaxing jazz music that played as we enjoyed views of Yerevan. Yes, I still recognized it, as there are still a number of familiar Soviet style buildings and cranes in the landscape. Mount Ararat was tucked behind the clouds. It was so great to be back!
Stepan had said he wanted to take us to Garni and Geghard, a place that everyone who visits Armenia should see at least once… More on that in the next post!
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