It had been 7 years since our trip to Paris and there was an anniversary to celebrate, so we headed to JFK where Suzanne and I were glad that the people in black hats were there. Suzanne was less glad when we were taken off the plane which had electrical problems and the two of us had to wait for the next plane during which time one of the black hats shared this card with us.

Once on the plane, this was Suzanne's meal and mine and my drink. After some sleep, breakfast was served and there was land below us as we gathered our tickets and headed to the Hotel Verneuil where this was our bed in its setting and the bathroom which may have been larger than the room and the view from our window which was limited but made for a very quiet environment which we appreciated.

Once settled, we decided to leave the room and have Suzanne pose in front of the hotel with its sign and the impressive grafitti across the way. This day, we decided to explore our local area heading to the Rue de Bac where we first saw this kitchen appliance store and our first boulangerie and a taverna selling good wines across the street followed by a sign for a play about isoscoles triangles (though I suspect not in the mathematical sense) and a deli selling Italian comestibles. By and by we passed street corners and scenes where Suzanne consulted her guide and the Musee Maillol where a crowd was gathering before we admired the wine store and the ice cream stand which was famous but the day was too cold. We passed through a park but didn't need to worry about our dog though we were in the period where the park's purpose was changed and on we went to the pastry store which we bypassed and the Musee Maillol for which we had seen signs before going into the cheese store of amazing aroma and broad choices. Having gathered our provisions, we walked past the penguins at a neighboring hotel turned onto our street and came home to put our goodies on our bed where we had a picnic of wine fruit water and cheese before taking a nap to get us over jetlag. When we awoke, we headed out towards dinner pausing for the obligatory phone booth picture and this picture of Suzanne with a Paris backdrop before we found our street and then our restaurant, Chez les Anges where this was the menu and the welcoming vegetables bread (tap) water and starter taste (which contained fish) before we ordered our wine Suzanne had her foie gras, I had my pumpkin soup, I had my vegetables and Suzanne had her bar fish and we ate on as the famous mashed potatoes came leading me to make the clean plate club even as the dregs of the wine remained in my glass and these were the profideroles that led to my last clean plate before the bill came and we went off to explore the Eiffel Tower where we were too late for entry but we could take a self portrait of ourselves and passed by this museum as we walked along the river back to our hotel.

The next day, as Suzanne checked her guide I checked the beams in our ceiling and the view from our window (hoping for no rain) before we headed off and Suzanne and I were at Les Deux Magots where the old people used to hang out staring at the menu and getting a cafe au lait a decaffinated coffee and some croissants ultimately accompanied by the check (l'addition) before we went off past the Academia with this sculpture and this lovely piece of art before we walked to the river and looked at the tour boats the scene by the river and down the river and by and by we came across to the Louvre where we befriended the pigeons and looked down upon the cooking area of a man who lived under the bridge (but chose to not be photographed). As we walked on, there were flowers and this building which was not Notre Dame and Suzanne leading the way on our walk past a Metro stop and to some more pigeons at the controversial pyramid at the Louvre before we saw an Arc d'Triumph on our way to THE Arc d'Triumph along with some statuery as we moved away from this Arc en route to the real Arc passing this food stand and people acting as human pigeon feeders and these lovely trees before we came to the fountain that was surrounded by more statuary and this direction sign which pointed the way to the Musee de l'Orangerie and so on we went past this lovely sculpture the merry-go-round with the obelisk ahead until our destination was in sight and after noting the statue outside we passed through the entrance to admire the massive Monet paintings covering the double ellipse (in the shape of infinity) that was the first floor. I took many pictures to get both the breadth

detail more breadth

and more detail and then breadth

before we headed downstairs to a remarkable collection of paintings. Gentle viewer, life being short I can share with you ALL that we saw but I leave it to you to self document all that we saw. I provide you with valuable hints (such as painting names and often great detail shots). Suffice it to say that this is a museum all should see.

and the man we have to thank for all of this before seeing the art outside the museum as we made our way to the obelisk with the Arc d'Triumph in the distance and details of the spot where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads and the base of the monument before we marched on past the fountain and towards the Champs Elysees with Suzanne pointing the way as we saw various food stands (which would have required eating outside on a day when I had to purchase gloves from a street vendor to be able to survive) and an information stand as we got to the Champs-Elysees took the obligatory phone booth picture and looked towards our ultimate goal as we passed souvenir stands and Suzanne continued to lead the way while we recorded the memorials under the Arc

and the tomb of the Unknown soldier.

As we left the Arc, the rains started (but not enough to require an ark) and so we ultimately made our way to the brasserie Le Magdebourg where Suzanne liked the flower and I studied the menu before Suzanne's hot chocolate came with the bread ketchup and tap water to accompany Suzanne's salmon salad and my croque monsieur before the check came at varying levels of clarity. After discovering that we could not navigate the metro ticket machines, we walked on in the rain (which was becoming no fun) to the spot of excellent views of the Eiffel tower the memorial to Lady Di and the overwhelmingly wonderful chocolate shop (you will want to study these images in great detail and then appreciate that they are made of pure chocolate).

After a rest (and a slow down of rain) we headed to au Gourmand where they had a vegetarian menu (though they were out of prunes) which featured vegetables from the famous Joel Thiebault and we were happy to have Arlene and Mike join us as the first wine and meals were ordered

and then a second wine and ultimately wonderful chocolate dessert and cheeses after which we called it a night.

The next day was Halloween. We began with some CNN as Suzanne and I pondered the outside world and made our way to the local cafe whee after posing together we had our coffees and croissants and then took the metro to Porte de Clignancourt and followed the sign to the Flea Markets walking down the street until we saw the walking directions to many markets (though unfortunately most of them were empty) many of which looked like this as we made our way through and took the obligatory phone booth pictures and photos of the local art as we made our way down largely abandoned corridors and saw artwork and goods for sale, but not today before we wandered the local streets past the Uptown mural as Suzanne explored a shop and we visited the next market with many promises which led us to enjoy sculptures and objects in windows of closed stores

before making our way away from Rue Jean Henri Fabre and beyond the gas station and this well lit shop to Place Albert Kahn where we forgot what we were to look for. To fortify ourselves, we stopped for a chocolate almond croissant (which was excellent) and then started up steep streets to the Rue Saint Vincent, the last vineyard in Paris and still further up through windy streets

until we reached this poster shop in Montmartre and went into the old church where we respected the signs and took no flash pictures though we did enjoy the tour bus and artist offering to sketch us hoping that they were following the rules before we made our way down the street to Sacre Couer with views of the city the church and an ad for Rabbi Jacob before we went to the local park and took pictures of Suzanne and me an a few pictures of the church from behind before we passed the Israeli Nursery school and made our way past the lawn of the church and then to the gift shop that had an Eiffel Tower made of cans of Red Bull

and as we made our way down from the church we saw packaging from some of the cans used in the sculpture as we made our way down Rue Gabrielle and the Bateau Lavoir where Picasso lived after which we admired the Croque Monsieur sandwiches quiches and paninni before buying this massive merringue of pistachio.

Next we stopped at a crepe stand and recorded the making of a French crepe (cheese and mushroom) in 16 easy steps

until it got into Suzanne's hand and fueled our entry into the metro at Abbess down a staircase that wound like this for quite a long time and then the train took us to the Rue de Rivoli where one of the locals found an extremely creative way to try and hustle a meal from us. Our next stop was at Angelina where these were the pastries I saw on the way in

after we had emerged from the line below and Suzanne and I settled as she studied the menu and Suzanne's service arrived along with her macaroons and my Kir before she poured her very pure hot chocolate and we paid the bill and head off through the city

to follow the sign to Notre Dame with its Rose Window and toured around the interior

enjoying the artwork and St. Denis to whom we didn't make an offering and saw the old cardinal and the history of the church as the priest lit the incense and the singers sang the mass before we took one final picture and headed home for a rest.

On our way to dinner, we passed this store named after one of Jane's lab instructors and then made our way to Le Florimond where we started with little pumpkin breads and nice plates and wine before Suzanne's lobster ravioli and my vegetarian starter and some bread arrived before Suzanne's stuffed cabbage and my vegetable plate so that we could see the dessert menu and Suzanne could order cheese as I ordered creme brulee which made Suzanne and me happy even as we recorded the rock oriented bathroom and paid the bill.

The next day was our last full day in Paris and we began by recording the spiral staircase in the hotel and then the elevator before we went for a walk in the rain past the animal statues in the pet store part of Rue de Rivoli and then we passed up an opportunity to Eat Fresh at Subway and had coffee which excited Suzanne and made my finger stick on the camera key at the Cafe Comptoir before continuing on to the Pompidou Center

and on to the whimsical figures in the Stravinsky Plaza fountain

which used up one battery but there were pictures still to be taken on the new battery

and then we were on to the Hotel de Ville about which it was written and beyond the fountains you can focus in on the watch words of the revolution. Next we walked through the Jewish area of the Marais which didn't work well because the Kosher places were closed on Shabat so we missed the fallafel stand though the boulangerie and Florence Finkelstein were opened so that we could buy this latke and then walk past this store front with the artwork of Niger and after the Acmai de Chevaux we went to the metro at Hotel de Ville and rode on to Chatelet so that we could make our way through the rain to meet Arlene and Michael for lunch though they looked better once we dried off as did Suzanne and I as we studied the menu at Fish la Boissonerie with this friendly waitress who brought us our bread and wine and my salad and the other foods

before the waitress took this group picture before I recorded the art on their walls and we made our way to the metro for the journey to the cemetrie where I recorded the locations of the famous buried there. We began by exploring with no real agenda to understand the scope of the place which ws vast

until Arlene asked these people for one of their maps which was forthcoming and then we headed off and found the grave of Jim Morrison where crowds were and even in a different view we saw the crowds before we headed to a number of touching Holocaust memorials

and Spanish Civil War brigades with beautiful flowers as we passed through more Holocaust memorials

before we happened on the grave of Gertrude Stein and a memorial to those killed in a plane crash before we found our way to the grave of Oscar Wilde

and that of Georges Bizet

After a short rest, we headed to the Bistro Allard where these were the salads the breads some main courses Nancy and Bert our dinner companions the other main courses and our desserts

All good things come to an end and this was the case for us as we had coffee and croissants at the airport restaurant and paid our bill though we didn't donate to the deaf person before getting on the plane and having these drinks to go with our meals and then as we hit landfall on this side of the Atlantic, pizza was served to help us forget the good foods we had had on a wonderful trip.