Saturday, June 2nd -- Happy 48th Anniversary wake up!! We met our driver at the hotel and arrived in plenty of time for our EasyJet flight to Paris scheduled to leave at 9:15 am.  We had absolutely no problems with our luggage, and we were airborn at exactly 9:15 am having pushed back from the gate 20 minutes before the scheduled flight time -- a full flight. As we had paid for early boarding and were first in line, we easily found overhead luggage space and took isle seats across from each other. We arrived at Orley in Paris early, found our luggage almost immediately upon reaching the terminal area, our driver waiting for us at baggage claim. he took our luggage to his Mercedes Van and we were at our apartment in the Marais area of the 3rd District in about 30-minutes. The apartment manager met us at the apartment, showed us what  we need to know, and we were ready for our first day in Paris well before noon.  The apartment is lovely with three bedrooms, two baths, laundry, modern European style kitchen, dining room, den and rooftop patio.  As Karen had not yet shown up from her week on the Riviera, Daniel and I decided to do some grocery shopping.   As we left the building and started up the street, we met Karen walking toward us. She had actually arrived about 30-minutes earlier, but didn't know the apartment number, she decided to walk around the area to orient herself.

After getting Karen familiar with the apartment we all left together and began our first day's tour of  Paris.  We stoppped first for lunch at a nearby cafe, but were very surprised when our chicken salad arrived with lettuce covered with fried chicken strips and loads of fried potatoes.  Not a great start to Parisian cuisine.  We did hit some of the high points almost immediately crossing the Seine to the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine, and bought tickets to see the stained glass windows of St. Chapelle.  We wanted to see them with the sun shining outside, and it was indeed a most magnificent day, hardly a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the mid-70's. The windows were a marvel, with oldest dating to 1485 (the rose Window), a gift from Charles VIII. The magnificent chapel was built in 1248 and the stained glass windows added several centuries later.  The windows are 50 feet tall, a total of 15 windows with over 1.000 religious scenes.

From there we walked to Notre Dame.  We waited in line for about 15-minutes to enter, and found ourselves in the middle of a very formal service with choir, organ and many high level dignitaries.  Karen was familiar with a memorial (also on the Island) to the 200,000 Deported Martys, Jews, homosexuals, and resistence fighters deported to concentration camps during the war, so went there next. After all that touring, we just had to stop at Bertillons on the Ile Sainte Louis, the most famous ice cream parlor in Paris.  Afterwards, we walked back across the Seine into the Marais and stopped to enjoy a lovely park, the Place des Vosges, considered by Parisians as the most beautiful park in the world, dating back to the early 17th century.  On the way back to our apartment we stopped to do some grocery shopping for some basic food supplies. By the time we finally arrived back we decided it was too late to go out for dinner, so we I went to a local couscous shop and brought several dishes back to the apartment.    Karen did the translating as the owner didn't speak any English. He told me to take his platters and bowls with me and return them when we were finished.  We had a bottle of wine with our meal, enjoying it beyond its gourment values and revelling in the joy of not having to go out to a restaurant.  We were all bone tired.  We fell asleep to the muted roaring of the crowds celebrating the joy of life in a Parisian cafe immediatley beneath our windows.  Bon soir.

Friday, June 1st -- A short goodbye to our lovely hosts at Fontelunga and we're off to Pisa, arriving around 1:30 pm. With Daniel's expert navigational skills, we once again had no problem finding our hotel near the Pisa airport. We unloaded our luggage into the very adequate rooms and left for a tour of Pisa. despite the warnings of not driving our car into the old section of Pisa, we had no problem finding a parking space on the street and wandered about the town. When we turned a corner and first saw the Leaning Tower and Cathedral, we were really taken aback.  The Tower certainly does lean, seemingly precariously so. And it, the Cathedral and grounds are stunning. The crowds were heavy, especially around the Tower, so many tourists doing the traditional pose of holding up the Tower for their own special Kodak moment. We purchased tickets to enter the Cathedral, which was itself one the most lovely we've seen.

We left Pisa after an hour or so of wandering and headed on the Lucca, the oldest city in Italy we were told. It is completely surrounded by a well maintained wall and entry is limited to only a few very narrow gates. Inside, we discovered one of the most lovely cities we've visited.  It was after 4:00 pm and we hadn't eaten all day, so we found a wine and cheese bar, ordered a bottle of Prosecco and a cheese platter, enjoyed the lovely surroundings and spent a quiet half-hour or so watching the people in the square.

We wandered about for another hour or so, and decided that being so late, we had best head back to our hotel. We also had to return the car at the airport which we found to be more of challenge than most of our other navigational experiences. It took us two trips around the airport which required a return to our hotel before finding the entrance to the auto rental return. All that was required was dropping off the keys -- no one to check us in and no paperwork.  The clerk didn't even want to know where we parked the car in their lot. He said they would find it and email me the receipt. Isn't Italy great.

We picked up four salads at the airport and brought them back for dinner which we ate in the lobby cafe area of the hotel -- the cafe was a group of vending machines. Back in our hotel room I repacked our suitcases to be sure we didn't exceed the combined 80 kilos of allotment for the four of us. I had about 15 kilos in my newly purchased duffel that I used as a carry on for the flight in the morning to Paris. We arranged for a driver to take us to the airport at 7:30 am the following morning, asked for a 5:45 am wake up and went to sleep on very firm mattresses.

Thursday, May 31st -- Today we went to the Avignonesi Winery for a tour and lunch. On the way there we stopped at a local outlet mall to purchase an extra bag for our trip to Paris. I mistakenly believed that by paying an extra $20 for an additional bag allowance, we would be able to add an additional 20 kg (44 pounds) of weight between the Fellers and ourselves.  Wrong!! I paid the extra $20 only to find that we could check an extra bag, but not an ounce more of weight. We have a total of 80 kg between the four of us, and it matters not a hoot if that is spread between four or now five bags. So we bought an extra bag for $50 and gained not an iota. Who says flying within Europe is inexpensive?

Well, our lunch at Avignonesi made up for the screw up with the luggage. The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot, an incredibly gorgeous landscape, an interesting tour, and a fabulous lunch served in a magnificent outdoor patio. We were served a total of seven different wines starting with a lovely proseco before the tour, a chardonnay aged in stainless steel, three reds, a late harvest dessert wine, and grappa. Our waiter never allowed any wine glass to remain without wine until the next was served. We chose a three course lunch beginning with zucchini flan that was indescribly delicious, a fried, a garden salad from their own gardens, a fried lamb dish that was good (not great), and a coffee parfait - fantastic!

We arrived for the tour and lunch at noon and didn't leave until after 3:00 pm.  As I was in no condition to drive, Daniel took the keys (he had as much wine as I, but somehow believed he was in better condition to drive).  We drove to the hill town of Cortona where we parked and walked through the old city inside the walls.  The town traces its roots to the sixth century, but most of the buildings are from the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries. Another jewel of a town and one we were glad we had a chance to visit.

For dinner we chose to have a light snack at the local pizzaria in town.  After the lunch and wine this afternoon, we had no appetite for a full dinner.  Tomorrow we leave for Pisa.