9/11/08
We’re married. It’s official. The wedding was like being in
a movie. My face still hurts from smiling so much and my
feet are still swollen from all of the dancing. I was so
excited to go down the aisle, the coordinators assistant
had to hold me by my dress to keep me from running down to
my groom too quickly. Mom looked wonderful and Dad made
this strange sighing sound when I danced with him to Tori
Amos’ “Winter”. I wore my converse the whole time, which
made me feel at ease in such a big dress. Brian and I got
to share our goofy intimacy with everyone close to us. He
blew us all away with a speech before we cut the cake. I
had no idea it was coming. My surprise of Rob Dickenson
playing “Black metallic” went off even better than expected
and he was brilliant. Brian was surprised. JPs words were
very appropriate, the DJ played everything I wanted and the
food was fantastic.
Meeting Brian’s extended family was awesome. They are all
so warm and friendly. Seeing the women in my family always
makes me feel good. Megan was freaking amazing!!! I love
her. Her speech as well as Alex’s best man speech was so
well put and touching. She bustled me up all by herself.
It was wonderful to see my friends and I got to talk to all
of them a little. Catching up with my cousins around the
hotel was great. I seemed to run into them at the steam
room and the pool the most. Our guests were pretty darn
generous and I actually can’t wait to write some of them
their thank you notes. The vendors were so perfect as was
Tobey. I was so super tired by the end of the day. Also
super sad to know that this sort of affair was a once in a
lifetime event. I hope to hold on to the memory of it as
best I can.
Honeymoon
The flight over was almost fun and I didn’t get sick.
Business class was fantastic with the lounging seats and
the yummy vegetarian food. Lufthansa really knows what they
are doing.
The hotel Victoria Palace is awesome. Our room is a decent
size and the balcony is perfect. We slept with the doors
wide open at our feet last night and I watched the sunrise
at the foot of our bed. I had a nice soak in the huge tub
before going to sleep. We ate a local brasserie/café. The
neighborhood is quiet yet cosmopolitan with a Fnac store on
the corner and many other retailers such as H&M and
United Colors of Benetton.
The breakfast that comes with the room is chalk full of
French goodies, like cheeses and breads. We walked around
along the Seine for a while this morning after Brian
consulted our various maps. We found a creperie near the
Halles station/Lourve and enjoyed some goat cheese, tomato
and walnut crepes followed by a shared chocolate crepe. We
walked back to the hotel and caught our minibus tour of the
city. There were 2 older couples on the tour One from
Philly and another from Ohio. The guide was perfect, not
cheesy at all, just factual. We started with a stop in the
Montmartre area, which was full of artists and painters. I
saw actor, Gabriel Garcia Barnal (I think that is his name)
from Motorcycle Diaries. That was random. There were a lot
of tourists, but they along with the street performers,
were tolerable. We saw many other things as well including,
but not limited to, Notre dame, the Eiffel tower, the arc
de triumph and Hotel Deville. We took a lot of photos. The
driver dropped us off near Luxembourg Garden. We walked
around for a while and found a falafel joint. We got our
snacks to go and sat in the garden while watching a group
of 20 or so children play soccer in a gazebo. Their voices
were loud and joyful and I found it to be a very enjoyable
scene. We continued to walk around and ended up back at the
hotel. We slept for an hour or so with the doors to the
balcony opened once again (it was about 80 degrees today).
I was woken up by the rain pelting our balcony. It was so
refreshing. I was thrilled to be enjoying a nap with the
love of my life while listening to the rain outside our
window here in Paris. Once we woke up, we got our act
together and decided to hunt down one of the vegetarian
restaurants I had researched. It was a bit late and since
there was another hotel guest using the computer in the
lobby, the front desk clerk was kind enough to call for us.
The lobby had been full of a large group of brits that got
stuck here over night after a day trip due to the Eurostar
getting shut down. Not sure if an accident had occurred or
if it is due to the fact that the Pope is in town tomorrow
and the next day.
We decided to try the La Victoire Supreme du Coeur. We took
the metro to the Hotel Deville stop and were content to
find that the restaurant was much to our liking. All
vegetarian cuisine and very very yummy. Brian had a salad
with fake chicken and then a mushroom loaf type dish with
potatoes and greens. I had a small plate of greens topped
with a light green creamy dressing along with a fake
chicken and toasted shitake dish that also came with
potatoes and greens. We were EXTREMLY satisfied. We walked
along the Seine for a bit and took the train back to the
hotel. We loaded up and sorted thru a few photos and now
Brian is falling asleep next to me after watching that
idiot Sarah Palin talk on the BBC.
9/12/08
Wow. Today was a long day...My shins feel like they are
about to split open at the front of my legs... My limbs are
so spent from walking around that they are shaking
uncontrollably. I am however, excited about all of the
ground that we covered today.
We started around 9am with a hearty breakfast of
croissants, cheese, yogurt and other yummy freebies from
the hotel breakfast. It was so hard to get up this morning,
but Brian was raring to go. We hit the Lourve first, now
that we are experts at the underground. No worries, we
still manage to cover a lot of the streets on foot. The
Lourve was overcrowded with tourists and we took a ton of
photos. The oversized French paintings and the structure of
the building itself were the most impressive part of our
visit. Once we made our way up to the 1stand
2ndfloor
galleries, it got a bit more quiet. We REALLY did not see
what the big deal about the Mona Lisa was.
After the Lourve, we went on a journey past Bellville in
search of Krishna Bahavna (sp?), an all vegetarian Indian
restaurant that I had read about online. Because Brian
freaking rocks, we have been finding our way around some of
these off the path locations. This one was in an ethnically
Indian neighborhood and we lucked out that it was open. It
was cheap and, oh so, yummy. We were a few of the only
white people in the place and the food was awesome. It
wasn’t even spicy, which makes us believe it was northern
Indian cuisine. Recharged with our bellies full, we headed
to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. There, we went in search of
Jim Morrison and Chopin’s graves. Again, we took a LOT of
photos and enjoyed the peaceful (yet dead) surroundings.
Did I mention that the weather was perfect today? Chopin’s
grave was much more impressive than Jim’s. Jim’s was so
small and out of the way, it was almost a little sad. I,
however, had renewed faith in the human race for paying
more attention to Chopin’s memory.
We went back to the hotel for a quick catnap. My legs and
feet were killing me, but waiting for a taxi was taking
wayyyyy too long, so I powered on and we hit the Metro once
again in search of another vegetarian restaurant that I had
read about on the Happy Cow website. Aquarius was also in a
more local friendly neighborhood a little north of our
hotel. The staff of 3 people seemed to know every other
person that came thru the door and it was a small joint.
They spoke broken English but managed to communicate well
enough to describe to us the specials of the evening. This
place also appeased our curious appetites. I had a bowl of
split pea soup with a main course of mushrooms and filo
dough. It came with a ragu of veggies, a yummy salad of
fresh greens with beets and some smooth mashed potatoes
that had some parsnip or leek going on in it. Brian had a
lasagna that he practically sucked right off of the plate.
Again, another brilliant find. It made me wish we could
travel the world and review veggie restaurants everywhere.
These places are really helping us see the REAL Paris that
is free of tourists and cameras.
From Aquarius, we hit the train to the Eiffel Tower in
order to catch the last cruise of the night on the Seine.
The tower is lit up all purple /blue and flashy at night.
It is SOOOO cheesy, but it does look kind of neat. The
night cruise was very romantic and, besides all of the
tourists taking photos of only the major monuments, it was
enjoyable. From there we caught one of the last metro
trains of the night and made our way back to the hotel. We
had every intention of getting some dessert, but my soar
feet and Brian’s full bladder ran us straight back to our
room.
9/13
Saturday in Paris was filled with movement just like the
previous days, but Brian was not having a good day. He had
a cold surface and I was feeling the beginnings of it as
well. I slept in a bit and that made me have to rush to get
ready for our Versailles tour. We grabbed some snacks from
the corner store and awaited our mini bus. This is where
things started to go sour for my new hubby. He took a
dislike to our tour guide immediately. He was a typical
pompous French ass, making slighted comments in regards to
America and Paris’ superiority to, well... everything. I
found him amusing and I could appreciate his knowledge and
expertise of his city, but Brian was severely displeased.
We picked up a couple about our parents age and the woman
had a hard time getting into the van cause she had a busted
knee and was using a cane. These 2 were an addition to
Brian, myself, and a group of 3 older women (2 from Canada
and one from Florida). The guide made it more than clear to
the new arrivals that he would send them on their own
around Versailles so they would not hold the rest of us up.
Even when the woman insisted she could try and keep up. He
went so far as to suggest a “rendezvous point” at a café
that had amenities for disabled people. A (large) part of
me was happy that he was trying to show us as much as
possible during our (way too) short visit to Versailles,
but he didn’t have to be so insulting to them. The pace
that Brian and I had been working at while in Paris, would
probably not afford the group, including our guide, the
luxury of keeping up with us anyway. We were dropped at a
side entrance and made our way up to the palace. Soooo many
freaking tourists... made it very hard to get around, much
less appreciate what we were there to see. We skipped the
audio guide and walked around a bit. Our potty break alone
took up about half of our time before meeting up with the
group again. One thing the guide was right about was that
the gardens and property were way more interesting than
that palace rooms that were o display. We went to the
gardens and he just sort of strolled us around. At times, I
was the one holding us up due to my exhaustive efforts to
get a few photos. I HATE taking photos of beautiful
historic landscapes with so many people in them. I guess
this is a price one must pay when visiting these places as
a tourist (on the afternoon tour no less). We wandered the
Enceladus Grove, the Domes Grove and the fountains of
Apollos chariot. We were running out of time and the guide
sent the 2 of us ahead so we could run around and see some
fountains on our own without having to wait for the older
generation of our group to keep the pace. Brian and I gave
ourselves a limit of one or 2 photos per garden and we went
running off. With 20 minutes on our own we saw The Ballroom
fountain and garden, the Bassin du Miroir, Garden du Roi
and the Salles des Marronniers. Once we made our way out of
that section, we ran right into our group again and took
some photos back by the Apollo fountain. I had been looking
forward to seeing the Queen’s hamlet, but we had run out of
time and only got to drive by it. Brian and I vowed that
next time, we would go on our own and devote a whole day to
a visit to Versailles. We will start early in the morning
to try and see it without so many people around. The guide
continued to annoy Brian when it came out that we were on
our honeymoon. All of the other passengers offered their
joyous congratulations while he offered his condolences.
Brian managed to tolerate the guide on the ride back by
engrossing himself in a conversation with the only other
gentleman on the bus. The couple in their 60’s were from
Huntington Beach and the husband was a retired CPA from the
US defense dept. They had all sorts of fun discussing all
of the information Brian finds on the internet. We were
going to go shopping near the Louvre, but due to the Pope’s
visit, traffic was all jacked up and we ended up near our
hotel anyway. We settled for shopping at H&M. The area
we stayed in (St Germain), is REALLY crowded on weekends. I
grabbed a bunch of clothing options from level 1 and 2 of
the H&M and waited for a good 20 minutes to try items
on. They would only let me in with 7 at a time and seemed
slightly annoyed that I did not speak French. At least
retail clothes’s shopping is a universal language. I bought
4 items and discovered that Brian had been standing outside
waiting for an hour. I thought that the
3rdfloor of
the store was menswear, but I was wrong and he stood there
the whole time waiting (even during a short rain
shower)...who knew the lack of a cell phone could be so
complicated. This of course did not help his worsening cold
or mood. We freshened up at the hotel and made the journey
back to the Montmartre area to try the final veggie
restaurant on my list. I have decided that Montmartre is my
favorite part of Paris. No, its not cause that’s were I
spotted a celebrity or that I have Dj’d at a club called
the same name. You can tell it is where a lot of artists
live and it feels like they share a sense of community and
support for one another. The shops and residences have an
old, yet hip feel to them and people seem to take great
pride in their businesses there. Whether they own a shop or
paint little pictures for the tourists that make their way
there. I actually enjoyed a few of the street musicians
that we passed by in this area. One young guy playing
modern covers to a large group of students on the stairs
and another playing the violin. Brian’s keen sense of
direction navigated us to the correct exit from the metro
stop right onto the street where our dinner was located. Au
Grain de Folie was tiny. There was a capacity of maybe 10
people and (British?) girl ran the whole show. She was
hostess, waitress, cook and buser. She was very friendly
and did her best to whip up any of the 3 dishes on the menu
for her patrons in a quick manner. Even after cutting her
hand and running to the next shop to get a band-aid from
her friend. Brian was not so happy with the food, but I
cleaned my plate and almost got up to help the girl at one
point. My meal was some seasoned seitan, lentils, cabbage,
brown rice and carrots. Brian waited in agony with me as
his health deteriorated while I waited for and ate the pear
crumble that came with my meal. I gave the girl running the
place a healthy tip and told her I hoped her hand felt
better. We jumped on the metro back to our part of town and
Brian stopped to get himself a nutella/hazelnut crepe from
a crepe stand once we emerged from the station. While we
watched them make the crepes, we witnessed a scene outside
the bar next door. The 2 male wait staff had ejected a
middle aged drunk woman who would not leave. She kept
coming back even when they repeatedly and physically pushed
her across the street. I got the feeling that it must have
been personal. French people sure are passionate. We
returned to our hotel as Brian polished off the last of his
yummy crepe. I stayed up late that night finishing the
first of the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. I am so
hooked...
9/14
Brian woke up in a much better, well-rested mood. In fact,
true to form, he jumped out of bed early and went on a solo
excursion to find some shops to look for a possible new
coat. Unfortunately, it was Sunday, and even though the
hotel staff said the shops would open at 10am, he found
that this was not the case. I enjoyed my last yummy
breakfast at the Victoria Palace hotel and packed up to go
to the Chateau Montvillargenne. Our driver was very prompt
and helpful with the luggage, even after I had given him
his tip.
The chateau is beautiful. We went to check in but they
informed us that our room was not ready. I was starting to
come down with the same cold that Brian seemed to be
suffering. We were both looking forward to some down time
in the peace of our own room. To kill time, we had lunch in
the bar. The language barrier is larger here. The desk
staff speaks good English, but the wait staff... not so
much. We managed to order some pizzas. They were made with
really rich cheeses including but not limited to blue
cheese and they were topped with kalamata olives and
walnuts... I know... it was salty and odd. But we were
hungry and the veggie options were almost ziltch.
Everything seemed to have fioe gras or smoked salmon. After
our lunch we walked around the property to explore our
surroundings. Our driver mentioned that this location was
seminar friendly. I don’t think they see too many
honeymooners here. Good thing we are not your typical
honeymooners ;).
The property and building are truly representative of the
French countryside. I took a lot of photos and we enjoyed
our walk. There was moss on the ground and the trees were
green green green. The fresh non-city air was good for our
suffering lungs. Our room was ready at about 3pm and we
made our way to the first floor quarters. It is technically
the 3rdfloor,
but room 101. My only complaint is that our room was at the
back of the building right over a service entrance, so you
can hear the coming and going and the loading in and out of
the staff. Even still, we were surrounded by many tall
trees and it really wasn’t so bad. One wall of our room was
covered with windows and we enjoyed a lovely nap while the
breeze gently blew thru them.
We got dressed up for dinner in the dining room, but none
of the other guests took the same care to. Brian was still
feeling less than great and I was not 100 percent either.
Dinner was stuffy and the place is supposedly known for its
seafood. The dining room was nice and the orchids on the
tables were amazing. They brought us an array of seafood
pates and quickly informed them that my “husband” was a
vegetarian. They quickly replaced his plate with a bowl of
gazpacho. I had a starter of different types of raw tuna.
The tartar was the best with a pleasant balance of tomatoes
and tuna. I liked the use of fresh pepper on the carpachio
but the sushi samples had a lot to be desired. Of course,
that’s on me cause who goes to a French restaurant for
sushi... My main course was cod with tiny little baby
shrimps and these fried seafood croquettes. I was longing
for some green refreshing veggies, but made due without.
Brian had a plate of vegetables that seemed well prepared,
but not very sustaining. He told me he would “carb up” at
breakfast. I noticed a certificate on the wall for an award
that they won, but it was dated in 1987. That made a lot of
sense. It wasn’t awful, just outdated. We shared a dessert
of warm chocolate cake that was garnished with mango and
kiwi to give it an island flare. It was good, just a bit
overdone and unnecessary. All in all this meal probably
cost us over 150 dollars and by the end, the service was so
poor, we had to get up and pay the matre de. Brian went to
sleep almost straight away after watching the news of the
Hurricane hitting Texas and the eminent bankruptcy of
Lehman Brothers firm. I continued reading the
2ndbook of
the twilight series, “New Moon”. I almost cried when the
vampire broke up with the young heroine of the
story...These books are ridiculously good and a super fast
read. I hope to get this one to last until I get home to
Nashville and can buy the next 2.
9/15/08
This morning we got up and sampled the Chateaus breakfast
buffet. I have to say that the Victoria Palace was better.
After breakfast, I went back to sleep due to the illness
trying to take over my body. We must have been exposed to
all sorts of new germs in the big city of Paris and its
metro system. We wanted to try horseback riding or get
massages, but when we checked with the front desk, none of
these services were available for the day. So, I retired
back to bed and Brian rented a bike and took a ride. He
came back about 2 hours later and showed me his photos. He
saw a young deer! I was jealous but happy that he got a
well-composed photo from the experience. We ordered room
service for lunch and enjoyed some steamed vegetables and
French fries. I read some more and we continued to be lazy
in the bed together. We have not been able to do that in a
long time. Since he has a lot of work to accomplish when we
get back to the states, it will probably be the last day we
can share relaxation for quite some time. So I don’t feel
too guilty for not going outside at all today. We had
dinner in the bar (Brian-pizza, Me-club sandwich) and
retired to our room to pack. We have to get up at 6am
tomorrow so we can be good to go to the airport at 8am.
Yuck!
wedding and Paris
putting together gift
bags for the out-of-towners
yes, even Brian
helped
final dress fitting
final dress fitting
Jean and Megan @
rehearsal
Brian and Jean @
rehearsal
Victoria and Alex Sr @
rehearsal
Brian and little Alex @
rehearsal
Victoria and Alex Sr @
rehearsal
Bridal party getting
nails done and shoulder rubs
Bridal party getting
nails done and shoulder rubs
Bridal party getting
nails done and shoulder rubs
Bridal party getting
nails done and shoulder rubs
rehearsal dinner
hair and makeup- Tobey,
wedding coordinator wiz
hair and makeup
hair and makeup
hair and makeup
little Alex showing us
who's boss
our Paris balcony
Brian is so gorgeous
view from our Paris
balcony
view from our Paris
balcony
view from our Paris
balcony
our hotel room in
Paris
Brian in front of a
fountain
Jean in front of the
same fountain
the Seine
French flag
Jean in front of the
National Center of Art and Culture
near the national Center
of Art and Culture
Moulin Rouge
view from Montmartre
view from Montmartre
view from Montmartre
Montmartre
view from Montmartre
Arc of Triumph
eiffel tower
across from the eiffel
tower
across from the eiffel
tower
Arc of Triumph
Notre dame
Notre dame
near Notre dame
Panthéon
Luxembourg gardens
Luxembourg gardens
near Luxembourg
gardens
Brian is so smart
view at night from our
Paris hotel
Brian in front of the
Lourve
the Lourve
the Lourve
the Lourve- medival
the Lourve- medival
Jean @ the Lourve
Brian at the Lourve
The Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
The Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
the Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
Jean @ the Lourve
The Lourve
the Lourve
us @ the Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
Mona Lisa @ The
Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
Brian is so cool
Even hot in glasses
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
The Lourve
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Chopin's grave @
Cemetary du Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Jim Morrison's grave @
Cemetary du Pere-Lachaise
Kitty near Jim
Morrisson's grave @ Cemetary du Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Jean @ Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Jean @ Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Cemetary du
Pere-Lachaise
Brian, master of the
Underground
night cruise on the
Seine
night cruise on the
Seine
night cruise on the
Seine
night cruise on the
Seine
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
us @ Versailles
street near
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
us @ Versailles
us @ Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Versailles
Indian food @ Krishna
Bhavan
Krishna Bhavan
Crepes on our last night
in Paris
so many bikes
last morning in
Paris
these were bikes you
could rent
Brian in the back on the
Chateau Montvillargenne
Jean @ Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
us @ Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
Chateau
Montvillargenne
our room @ Chateau
Montvillargenne
morning @ Chateau
Montvillargenne
Brian saw a deer on his
bike ride near Chateau Montvillargenne