old hands...in that we are becoming old hands

before i share about today...i want to say goodbye to Paris...i hope to spend time there again...felt like we merely scratched the surface...look forward to digging deeper...hope that life will present that opportunity...loved the people...the crowds...the sea of black (everyone wears black...okay not everyone but most)...the history...even the language...the cafe creme (yes i have been drinking coffee)...baguettes and crepes...and dogs....people walking in huge crowds with tiny dogs...can not imagine nadou and radar in paris...their leashes would be taut and their noses over loaded...

one last stop at our favorite coffee shop before leaving paris...     

we left paris and boarded the high speed train for avignon

on the train ginny studies up on her italian...i am no help

we arrive in avignon...check in to the hotel and hit the streets...first stop Place de l'Horloge

then off to see the Pont d'Avignon...half of the bridge was washed away in floods a billion years ago...

then back into the city (it is surrounded by a wall) and up to The Palace of the Popes...amazing...

we take a break...many steps on this journey

before leaving the States...ginny carefully sliced one of the rick steves books up...the Avignon pages included a walking tour...we took steve's advice...it was great advice at that...thanks steve...we start out at the the palace of the popes and marking our spot...we have walked on many stones these past few days...we have been watching women walking the streets in crazy heels...how they do it i know not...

steve's tour takes us into the back streets and alleys of the city

along the way we encounter the Church of Saint Pierre...we go in for a look...the time invested..the money invested...i really don't know what  to think about these churches...the Sacre Coeur (a Paris stop) took 40 years to build...40 frickin' years...

St. Pete was serious about silence....as ginny noted the sign and the "shhhhhhh" in 12 languages

our self propelled steve tour ended with the sun saying goodnight...

we ended the evening with dinner, a laptop and maps...we are leaving a day early...off to Nice in the morning...will take a day trip to monoco and another to cannes...

we are having a wonderful time....still feeling that my eyes are not my own...i will say that the cost is shocking...we are being as thrifty as we can....buying from markets (thank you God for french bread)...i have had to stop thinking about euros in terms of dollars...too depressing...a cup of coffee has been as cheap as $3.50 and as much a $7...for a small cup...not a grande super-charged mocha chocca latte...

i have been collecting sugar packets....this humors ginny because i give her a lot of crap about collecting stuff....they are just so cute...i have made few purchases...a striped scarf for for me and one for alejandra (a student who asked about scarves and stripes)...we have also purchased a few post cards...

i told ginny tonight that i feel like we...the collective american/canadian we...have no idea what we are missing...this makes me want to see more more more...

kir and gin too....