another day with the dead...

up and at 'em...a stop at the coffee shop and off to the catacombs...another "new" experience for ginny (pere la chaise and the cruise on the seine were also "new")...the catacombs tour is a 2 km walk under ground...130 steps down and 83 back up...tiny spiral stair cases...not for the faint of heart...i believe the sign said not for those with a "nervous disposition"...WE LOVED IT!

our feet on the catacombs floor...when we were done with the tour there was a muddy clay film covering them...

creepy walk...the flash kills the eerieness....

this is a well dug at some point...

the brightest point in the walk (2 km total under ground) 

row after row after row

where is death? always in the future or the past.  scarcely is it present when it is no more.   (thank you "translating ginny") 

sign exiting the bone room where the remains of 6 million people are believed to reside...

the climb out was heat thumping...83 steps...

after the catacombs we went to bercy village (we stayed there in november 2009)...love the shopping area there....

our favorite spot for cafe creme and baguettes on our last trip...today we stopped for lunch...baguette sandwiches and coffee all around...

we called it a short day...they rain began to fall and so we hit the metro and headed home...
we will venture out later for dinner.  tomorrow? not sure what we will find...something fabulous i expect!

my dawgs are barking..a sign of miles walked and many sights seen

the day begins with a walk through a neighborhood market on our way to the metro....

on our last trip we did not visit pere la chaise...this was our first official stop today...curious ginny is checking to see if anyone is home...

there were many celebs on our tour of the silent city...sarah bernhardt...jim morrison...gertrude and alice...moliere...proust

 at la fontaine's tob our ginny recited "the ant and the katydid"...

 took dozens of photos of tombs...offered to have one built for ginny in kenmare nd...nope was the answer...those north dakotans would wonder about a fancy outhouse in the cemetery...have to admit she is probably right...they do indeed look like high end outhouses...

 then we were off to the arc de triomphe...rendez-vous point for our meeting with friends tim and bonnie rietz...

 after coffee with the rietz's we walked to the eiffel tower...had been before but a beautiful day for a revisit...

later in the day we took a cruise on the senne 

as is our way...we document our journey with marking our spot...sister-in-law deb asked about our feet...here they are deb!



a short walk to the next metro provides photo ops...

 at the end of the day we encountered one of paris's best kept secrets...the white picnic is an annual event...date and location changes...I have attached an article written about the event...it is a few years old but you will get the idea...

http://www.secretsofparis.com/heathers-secret-blog/2008/6/14/white-picnic-on-the-champs-elysees.html

there were hundreds of people spilling into the latin quarter...all in white...all toting picnic baskets...it was something to behold for sure...was wishing we too were dressed in white...

tomorrow we will visit the catacombs...

here we go....

i am hanging out on the balcony of our hotel (sitting under the "hotel" sign...wonder if this thing will flash and if so will it do it all night long)…am watching traffic and people go by…the sun is pushing through the clouds and the temp is great…gin is asleep…a long night…she really is an amazing traveller…she looks great!

we arrived about 7:30 am after a great flight…flew by (hee hee) and caught the train to paris…after finding our hotel and dropping off our luggage we ventured out in search of the longed for café crème and a baguette…oh how i love baguettes…mission accomplished…my tummy is very happy…

after eating we decided to roam the neighborhood and visit a few of our favorite spots…nothing too crazy on day one…the craziness will begin tomorrow I believe J…

we are staying in the latin quarter….2 star hotel…nothing amazing…but the location rocks…friend kristen has directed us to a favorite place for dinner tonight (gyros) and it would not be a day for kir & gin in paris without a crepe at the end of the night…

one happy ginny!

farewell diet coke

well we are on our way.  the plane is leaving the sun of june 14^th and will soon greet the dawn of june 15^th…

i have  been thinking a lot about what this trip means...to me...to gin.  gin has been calling the first part of the trip her “farewell tour”.  three months ago i would have agreed with her and now here we are…i have declared that this trip (the first half anyway) should be our Annual Farewell Tour…i would be happy to say farewell to europe with ginny again and again and again…

i am really excited about paris.  it was my favorite stop in 2009 on the lindbloom-larsen france and italy tour (it was on this trip that ginny’s cancer began showing symptoms…that was nov/dec 2009).  Wow what a year and a half!   Anyway, we will be spending 4 nights in paris on this trip.  on thursday we will be having coffee with austin friends tim and bonnie rietz…our paths cross in the city of light for one day…i am humored by this for sure.

the second leg of the trip takes us to germany.  ginny is thrilled to be returning to “her village” (rimbach) and visiting life-long friends.  i am really pleased to be making the trip with ginny.  her years in germany as a young woman are often talked about…i want to see  it…hear it…taste it and smell it.  we will have several days of visiting.  ginny has provided a cheat sheet for me…

erika – former landlady – NO ENGLISH

thea (dorothea) – widow of willie jakob – NO ENGLISH

hans jurgen schmidt – our host in rimbach – retired director of martin luther school – ENGLISH  (yippee – the man speaks english)

we will spend a day in heidelberg visiting a friend of ginny’s from the german department at the university of north dakota in the late 60’s…and then off to hamburg to meet another und colleague. brother dan will meet us in hamburg and then we are off to copenhagen.  denmark will bring more visiting and an opportunity to explore the larsen’s roots (she be a dane)…

on july 30^th i say goodbye to ginny…put her on a plane bound for home and i travel on to turkey.  this part of the trip excites me quite differently than the “farewell tour” with gin.  turkey seems so much more exotic…a land unlike any other I have been.  the plan was that gin and i would make the trip to turkey together.  we have dear friends living there this year and promised to visit.  for a number of reasons, not worth explaining, i am making the trip alone, representing the lindbloom-larsen household.  i am very much looking forward to time with joce, byron, haakon and allegra johnson-pihlaja.  oh the sites we will see…istanbul…ephesus…izmir…turkey’s largest water park (haakon and allegra are 9 & 11)…hot air balloon rides at dawn…and living life with friends in their 300-year-old ruin rental.  i have followed their life this year through blogs (www.omightycrisis.com) and facebook and am anticipating the experience that has been their life for the past 11 months…

well the sun is gone and my fellow travellers are settling in for the night.  i believe it is time for criminal minds (i downloaded a few episodes for the trip)…will finish up the second to last diet coke (have one stashed away for later in the trip...no diet coke in europe and this girl is addicted)...

we arrive at 7:30 am wednesday.  first thing on the agenda? café crème and a baguette….

bags are packed

well in the morning the adventure begins and the travel blog will resume.  we are hoping for regular internet access and will post as often as we can...

we fly to paris in the morning (june 14).  will spend 5 days and 4 nights in the latin quarter.  on june 19th we take the train to germany.  our first stop...4 days...will be in rimbach and heidelberg (ginny's old stomping grounds).  on june 23rd we move on to hamburg.  ginny's brother dan will join us there.  after 3 nights in hamburg we will take the train to denmark (copenhagen) for 4 more days.  on june 30 ginny will return to the states and i will travel on to turkey for 2 weeks with friends jocelyn and byron johnson-pihlaja and their kids haakon and allegra.  we will be checking email regularly (klindbloom@gmail.com).