adventure, Champagne Bucket trips, Paris

Pardon My French: Brussels and Paris 2026 (part eight)

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 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…*

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…*

We started to head back the way we came, but as we were passing some of the sex shops, I noticed this…

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!*

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.

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.

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!

BeNeLux

Ten things I learned in The Netherlands…

I usually like to sum up my trips with a list of things I learned while traveling. The trip Bill and I took to The Netherlands was our first time really visiting Holland, though we had been to Belgium and Luxembourg, which are the Be and Lux parts of Benelux. I thoroughly enjoyed the week in The Netherlands, despite missing my dogs. So here it is… ten things I learned in The Netherlands.

1. Bikes are EVERYWHERE. Seriously, everyone in The Netherlands seems to enjoy riding bikes. If you visit, you can rent them with ease. I didn’t rent a bike during this trip because I spent enough time riding them as a kid. But it really did appear to be a great way to get around. I saw a lot of happy looking families riding together. It was pretty cool.

2. Pot is not everywhere. A lot of people think there are coffeeshops on every corner in The Netherlands. I didn’t see any in Apeldoorn, though for all I know, I was looking in the wrong places. I only saw one in Haarlem, though I know for a fact there are more there. In Amsterdam, pot is everywhere. It is quite the tourist attraction, along with sex. Buying marijuana in cities with coffeeshops is no big deal at all. It’s totally legal. And space cakes can be fun, as long as you don’t overdo it.

3. Beer comes in smaller bottles and glasses than it does in Germany. In a way, I kind of liked this because it made it easier to try different ones. I did discover Jopen beer in The Netherlands, which I will be looking for here. It’s good stuff.

4. Many Dutch people are very tall. I say this as a woman who is only 5’2″ tall. I would have thought no one would think of me as a local simply because I am so short, but quite a few people spoke Dutch to me before realizing I am American. That, in and of itself, is kind of cool.

5. A lot of Dutch words resemble German words. A lot resemble English words. And a lot are totally unrecognizable to the uninitiated. Fortunately, many people in The Netherlands speak English beautifully.

6. Free WiFi is widely available, much more so than it is in Germany. I also found that it’s easier to watch YouTube videos in The Netherlands. They aren’t as strict as Germany is about copyrights.

7. If you want tap water in a restaurant, you can get it. You don’t have to buy bottled water. It’s totally fine and even offered. Bill and I actually prefer German style bubbly water, which not everyone had. I was surprised about that.

8. Stores aren’t necessarily closed on Sundays like they are in Germany. Some are closed. Some have shorter hours. You won’t have to sit on your can on Sunday, though.

9. Sex is no big deal. Prostitution is legal and you can see women selling their wares in the Red Light district of Amsterdam. Don’t take pictures of them, though. I didn’t try to because I had been warned by Samantha Brown.

10. If you are in Amsterdam on a Saturday, you may see some rather raunchy hen and stag parties in progress. For that reason, I think it would be funny if one of the Duggars honeymooned in Amsterdam. I think it would cause Ma and Pa Duggar to have a stroke. I almost had a stroke when I saw the huge masses of people walking away from the train station. It was crazy.

Pretty tulips! I think these were made of wood, though.

Bird takes off in Haarlem.

anecdotes

Is sex in hotel rooms really THAT much better?

Last night, Bill tagged me in an article he shared on Facebook that was on CNN. He wanted me to read it because we have had the ability to travel a lot and have stayed in a lot of hotels, some of which were really cool. But I read the article and my mind ended up going in a completely different direction.

Susie Crane, author of the article entitled “Why sex is better in hotels– and other confessions of a constant traveler”, is apparently very blessed. She and her husband spent about two years traveling the world and staying in a series of luxury hotels. Crane explains that she met her man in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Their next three dates were in Venice, Big Sur, and Milan, respectively. All of their biggest moments were spent in hotels… not Motel 6s, mind you, but luxury properties where there are beautiful views, blackout curtains, and perfectly pressed sheets.

Though Crane and her husband are clearly jet setters, they also apparently have homes in Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, California, and New Zealand. After reading her article, I kind of wonder if she counts hotels as “homes”… that’s a lot of property for someone who never goes home. But I guess she and her husband must be rich. Or maybe their “homes” abroad are just shacks. Somehow, I doubt it.

I read the comments related to this article and noticed that quite a lot of people felt the author was “vapid” and “spoiled”. Indeed, given the current employment climate, I can see why people were annoyed by the article and the author’s boasting about staying in really nice hotels. But what got me was when she wrote about having sex on a dining room table at The Ring Hotel in Vienna, Austria.

Crane writes:

Sex requires surfaces, and if the surface of your partner never changes, the location can add the variety you crave.

At The Ring Hotel in Vienna we were once given a magnificent suite with an enormous dining table that we eyed lustfully.

If we were at home, such escapades never would have happened: naked on the table where we’d eat Thanksgiving dinner?

And my first thought was that it seemed odd that the author would object to having sex on her own dining room table, which she had presumably kept clean and knew what or who had been on it, but would happily screw on a hotel dining table where lots of people may have gotten the idea to do the nasty. If you have a wild idea to do something crazy in a hotel room, chances are good someone else has too. Just sayin’.

To her credit, Crane does mention that she’s probably not the only one who has had sex on unconventional surfaces in hotels, but just like Scarlett O’Hara, she decides not to think about that. Frankly, I’d rather have sex in a bed than on a table. Guess I’m not as adventurous as Susie Crane is. And now that I know that she enjoys having sex on dining room tables in hotel rooms, I guess I might think twice about eating a meal on one… That is, if I ever stay in a hotel room that posh.

The truth is, though, I don’t remember ever having sex in a hotel room. I thought I might on my wedding night, but I was a virgin on the big day and we stayed in a really nice B&B. I started to think about what could happen and decided I’d rather do the big deed in my own bed. Then, a few hours after the ceremony, I promptly started my period. Couple that with Bill’s headache because he neglected to eat at the reception, and you have a couple of people who weren’t feeling all that sexy on the day we tied the knot.

Probably the best comment on the article is this one…

This is so incredibly out of touch, privileged, and just creepy enough to force me to leave this comment…please stop writing. I mean completely. Just stop. You’re truly a vapid, spoiled individual.

Not surprisingly, it was voted the top comment and has over 2300 “likes”. 23 people thought it was a sucky comment and voted it down. The down voters accuse the up voters of being “jealous”. That’s probably a fair enough assessment. On the other hand, I notice that the author also writes fiction, which explains why her article has such a breathless quality. She’s probably written more than a few sex scenes in her fiction… That’s probably why I prefer to read non-fiction.

Anyway, I don’t think sex in hotel rooms is that much better… even though I’ve never experienced it. I’d rather do that in my own home and my own bed, where I won’t bother anyone if things get noisy or messy. Not that they ever do…

I’m gonna stop now. 😉

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: sex

Pardon My French: Brussels and Paris 2026 (part eight)

Ten things I learned in The Netherlands…

Is sex in hotel rooms really THAT much better?