Paris

We can't find a place to stay in Versailles for less than $300 a night, so we move a bit west to another suburb of Paris, Plaisir. Nothing special about the town, just a suburb, but the girl at the desk recommends a restaurant "just down the street" which turns out to be a fabulous place for dinner, the Restaurant de la Ferme. Traditional French cuisine, very nicely done.

In the morning, it's on to Paris, but first I need a little nourishment. I thought a pain au chocolate "maxi" would be about right.

Unfortunately, it's mostly hollow

 Today is our last day on the road, and it is a short one.

 In less than an hour, we have reached Paris.

Jayne's sister Susan is working in Paris for Boeing and has invited us to stay with her. She has a fabulous place in the 7th arrondissement, a great base to work from. 

We meet Susan, drop our luggage and return the trusted Mini Cooper S. It's been a great car for a great road trip, but we certainly don't want a car in Paris.

Our plan is Paris is to not have much of a plan. We have one appointment, on Friday night at Le Cigalle. We're going to get our Parrothead on.

The fans have taken over a traffic island in the middle of a traffic circle on the Blvd. Rochechouart.

If we weren't all crazy, we'd all go insane

The island

Champagne glass, anyone?

Jacques Monte

The Parisians thought we were bonkers. The Japanese tourists in the tour buses thought we were cute. "Click-click". We didn't have a corkscrew, so we drank champagne.

The venue was fabulous at La Cigalle, only seating 954 people. It has been around since 1887.

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers

Manifique!

And now for a love song. But first a story. On our honeymoon on the lovely island of St. Martin, at a bar on Orient Beach, we were having a fine evening. Perhaps there was a bit of overindulgence. At any rate, we had a French bartender who Jayne was in love with. She's flirting with him and asks him for a glass of water. He replies and asks "Why, are you drunk? She indignantly drew herself up and said, "Maaaybeee..." I had to ask "Comment dit on 'drunk' en francais?" He replied, "bourré". If you listen carefully you'll hear Jimmy use the word bourré at the end of the song.

We enjoyed visiting with Susan and getting to know her boyfriend Victor better. Great people.

We had a couple of carnets of Metro tickets and we put them to good use. Sometimes we would just pick a line and take it until we got to a station, get off and wander around. We probably averaged walking five or six miles a day.

Le Jardin du Luxembourg

Concert in the metro

Fashion week at the Salon Louvre

Arc d' Triomphe at the Tuilleries

Alexandre Dumas

Nightshade at the Montmartre Cemetery 

Notre Dame

Some of our family friends have been traveling through Europe at the same time as we have, but we've never been able to connect. It worked out in Paris. We had a fabulous day with Toolie, Jadyn, Darik and Brittany.

Jayne and Toolie at the Orsay

On the Pont des Arts

Sacre Coeur

Clock at the Orsay

Typical French staircase

On the Batobus

686 steps to the 2e etage

Le Seine from the Eiffel Tower

Weird sensation looking through the glass floor

Child's armor at Musee de l'Armee

Chevalier

Dome at Les Invilades

Napoleon's tomb

Place de la Bastille

Place des Vosges

The Kiss

Caryatid with Sphere

Hotel Biron

We wind up the trip with a spectacular dinner with Susan at Le Chardenoux des Pres, a bistrot in the Saint-Germaine. It is owned by Cyril Lignac, who has his own cooking show and a Michelin star for one of his other restaurants, Le Quinzieme. It is the perfect ending for a perfect trip.