Unbelievable

Today I was in Harrods at Bentley’s Seafood Grill.  A young lady sat down one bar stool away from me on my left.  When she sat down I noticed her sunglasses, high heeled designer tennis shoes, black leggings, white “doctor’s coat” and little black purse with fluffy yellow feathers in the face of a cat.  The first thing she does is pull out her cell phone and without removing her sunglasses she began to order her meal.  I could tell right away that she was going to be a difficult customer for the waiter.  She quizzed him on several of the dishes and then ordered the lobster with rice.  She finally removed her sunglasses and I noticed that she also had designer fake eyelashes on both the top and bottom eyelids.

She was served the lobster in a very short amount of time and as soon as it came out she began to complain.  It evidently did not have the right topping as she wanted some special dip for it and needed tomatoes and basil in olive oil salad.  So the first waiter proceeds to talk to the chef about the sauce and orders the tomatoes and basil salad dish.  She then asks for bread and a sprite with extra lemon.  The waiter goes to retrieve her bread and drink while she finishes off one of the two lobster tails and begins on the second one.  The first waiter comes back and she complains the lobster was not cooked right and asks for a replacement but instead of lobster she wants the Dover sole grilled.  He tries to take the remainder of the lobster away since she did not like it but she says no just leave it I am eating my rice from that plate.  A second waiter then brings the tomatoes and basil in olive oil and the Dover sole just as the young lady finishes the second lobster tail.  The young lady then complains again to the second waiter and and asks for the fried prawns as a replacement for the lobster.  She also demands the shells be removed but not the plate because she has spread her rice on it and was mixing her tomato salad with the rice.  The second waiter returns with the fried prawns and sets them on the shelf above her place because she has no room for another large dish.  Mind you she now has finished two lobster tails on one plate, eaten half of the Dover sole with baby asparagus on another plate, a bowl of rice, a large cereal sized bowl of tomatoes, and four pieces of bread.  The first waiter comes out and she complains the prawns are undercooked as she turns one of them halfway over with her fork. He takes the plate back to the chef who evidently puts them in the oven to make the outside more crispy for her.  The first waiter brings it back to her and she tells him she doesn’t want them and to take it away.  He looks at her and asks did you not order them and calls over the second waiter.  The young lady said they were to replace the lobster but it took too long so she no longer wants them.

Meanwhile, I look to the gentleman on my right and had to fight not to laugh.  He was evidently as astonished and I was because he started witnessing her demands about halfway through.  He whispered to me, did she really just tell that waiter to remove those from her sight?  I said yes and now she wants the bill, I’m curious as to what dish they are going to charge to her and whether she will agree to pay for anything except the sprite.  The second waiter brings the bill and instead of looking at the bill the young lady proceeds to fix her makeup and ignores the waiter.  Finally after she is done with her lipstick and has replaced her sunglasses she reviews the bill.  She calls the second waiter over to complain about what she was charged.  The first waiter had to come back over to review the charges with her and of course she wanted the tomatoes and basil salad removed because that was supposed to go with the lobster.  He had to explain to her that she ordered them as a separate side after the lobster and she continued to eat them with her Dover sole.  I took a picture of her food because it was so unbelievable.

 

 

1st Day in London

First afternoon in London.  The apartment is amazing and is only 7 minutes from the district underground station.  Very easy to move in London using the district line, however I still walked 10.74 miles today.  I decided to map out my plan of attack on London and did not take my big camera with me.  I exited at Westminster Abbey and saw the big ferris wheel (not sure yet that I am going to ride that one).  I walked around to Whitehall Palace, Churchill War Room, the Horse Guards, Trafalgar square, St. James Park, the Monument, Buckingham Palace, the edge of Mayfair and back to St. James Park to take the underground from that station back to apartment.  Prior to returning I stopped at an English pub for fish and chips and topped it off with Kensington apple pie.  It was a good day even though I started at 3:00 due to travel from Paris.

The changing of the guards is at 11:30 everyday so I will either head back to Buckingham Palace in the morning, then onto the National Gallery, the National Portrait gallery, Piccadilly Circle and that area or go in the opposite direction to  Kew Gardens and possibly then to  Windsor Castle which is a 30 minute train ride.   I only have two full days in London which is tomorrow and Monday so I want to make sure I see as many sites as possible.

I have a lot of pictures to take over the next 2 days so I am getting to bed early tonight.

6th Full Day in Paris

Yesterday was a full day in Paris and I did not get back to the apartment until after 11:00. I was able to fit in several must see places yesterday with the help of the Metro. However, even using the metro I walked 9.21 miles. I was able to see the Moulin Rouge area – racy stores and questionable people hanging out trying to lure tourists into shell games. That was until the police came riding through the street on their bikes. I’ve never seen people and games disappear so fast, they obviously had a lookout because by the time the police rode by there was nothing and no one to see.

Went to Montmartre area and toured the Sacre Coeur Cathedral – absolutely beautiful and walked the steps from the road to the entrance instead of taking the gondola. Visited several shops and stopped by several artists’ booths while in Montmarte and had a great lunch. Chef salad French style which was thinly sliced and cooked garlic potatoes, chicken, Caesar dressing, black olives, romaine lettuce, hard boiled egg, cheese and tomatoes. Then toured the Opera National de Paris – stunning. I finished the final full day in style with Arc de Triomphe Etoile, Avenue des Champs Elysees, and the Eiffel Tower in early evening and then at night with the light show. I am now at the train station waiting for my Eurostar to London.

Total miles walked in Paris 81.88 miles.  Total miles walked in New York 22.65 miles.

Grand total 104.53 miles.

5th Day in Paris

I spent the 5th day in Paris at the Concierge where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before her execution, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, the Jardins de Luxembourg, the Rodin, and then back to the Museum d’Orsay.  I walked 16.51 miles even with using the Metro for the first time.  Some of the trains are still on strike so the metro RER lines are either very crowded or not running.  There is so much history in Paris it is hard to decide where to go for a visit.  I know there are several places I am going to miss on this visit but hopefully I will be able to return another time.  After walking so much yesterday I had reached my limit and fell asleep on the couch before I could even think about posting.  Today I am going to try for a marathon whirlwind tour of the places I have missed.  My biggest regret for this trip is missing Giverny but that takes 5 hours on a tour bus.

 

4th Day in Paris

Today was my 4th full day in Paris.  It was sunny this morning with clouds and a few scattered showers.  I was somewhat slow in getting started – I slept in until 10:00 am.  My feet needed the rest.  Today was the first day of my second week of travel.  Last week I walked 67.61 miles and today I added another 9.91 miles.  My hope is I will reach 400 miles before my journey ends.  I want to thank my trainer Ian from Impact in Southlake for the help in preparing my legs for all of the walking.  Those lunges have paid off and so far only my feet are complaining about the abuse.

I visited the Museum d’Orsay, the Jardin des Tuileries and the Museum de l’Orangerie all of which were a must see on my list.  I was not disappointed – both of the museums had wonderful collections.  I must have timed my visits just right because they did not appear to be as crowded as the other places I have visited.  This allowed more time to linger which I took full advantage.  I had attended the Claude Caillebotte exhibition at the Kimball Museum in Ft Worth a couple of months ago, two of the paintings in that exhibition were from the Museum d’Orsay but are in Paris again.  Evidently the museum has recently loaned most of their Renoirs for an exhibition in China.  However, the Museum de l’Orangerie had several on display.

I walked across the bridge of love locks between the Museum d’Orsay and the Jardin des Tuileries.  Thousands of them with initials, dates and messages – I even witnessed one couple putting their lock in place.  I believe they were the same couple I saw on Sunday close to the Eiffel Tower with a red umbrella kissing.  They have their own personal photographer so it has been fun to watch them.  Speaking of photography – I have taken over 400 pictures so far.  Some I really like but I am trying to figure out the best way to post them more often.

Tomorrow it is the Rodin, Opera House, Notre Dame, Pantheon and possibly the Eiffel Tower.

3rd Full Day in Paris

I had planned on going to the Museum d’Orsay today but I looked at the website for the Chateau of Versailles and discovered that today and Saturday they were offering special tours and the gardens would have a fountain show.  Therefore I decided to go visit Versailles instead and truly enjoyed the tours.  However, I walked another 11.88 miles today so my feet are killing me.  The most exciting part other than the hall of mirrors was being able to view the opera house and the kings apartments.  Those were not open to the public unless they purchased the separate guided tour tickets.  I was a little disappointed that all of the fountains were not running but completely understand why they wouldn’t be.  I got lost in the Petite and Grand Trianon groves and mazes.  Truly spectacular and could easily spend 2 or 3 days to fully appreciate the grounds.  However with my time limited in Paris I had to rush through as many as I could.  The challenge was keeping ahead of the weather; I lucked out and was on the guided tours of the kings apartments when it rained early in the afternoon.  The paths were somewhat muddy but worth the trek to Maria Antoinette’s Estate.  I had to hire a taxi driver to Versailles as the SCNF (train from Paris) is currently on strike.  As it turned out, as soon as I got into the taxi to return to Paris it started to sleet.  It was a mixed day of weather, some rain, more sunshine than what I have experienced so far in Paris and a huge ugly storm at the end of the day.  All worth while to see the extravagance of the 17th and 18th centuries.  Ended my day by taking a very short respite to recover my feet and then headed to La Petite Gorille for dinner.  Food and service was excellent, I had pistachio creme brûlée which was magnificent.  Looking forward to a little less walking tomorrow.

Family tells you like it is

I come from a large family, five sisters and two brothers with many, many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.  I have one son who will turn 21 in a couple of weeks.  He is the best thing that ever happened to me and I am so proud of the young man he is becoming.

This past October I had an opportunity to visit with one of my sisters and her family.  She has three kids, two of which are still in high school.  It was homecoming weekend for my sister’s youngest son and daughter.   During that weekend I learned a new acronym – RBF. My niece was concerned about me during the picture taking get together she was attending with her friends.  She evidently thought I was mad or upset because of my RBF.  Her mother told her to disregard because that is just my normal look when I’m around strangers and that I am the queen of the RBF.  I tend to get focused on issues in my mind and forget other people are watching.  Since that time I have been making a concerted effort to smile more often to people I come across.  It has become easier but is not yet a natural response.  I have also found that when you smile first then most often your voice sounds a little friendlier.

 

Update on Second Day

I have decided that if I stayed in Paris for a month I would still not have enough time to see and do everything.  It is an amazing city with so many beautiful buildings and museums.  I just finished my second full day in Paris.  Total miles walked today 14.04 a bit less than yesterday’s total of 14.88.  So far since I left Dallas (April 20th) I have walked 55.71 miles with 22.65 in New York and 33.06 in Paris.  My feet have decided that tomorrow I will take the metro to the Museum d’Orsay.  Since I can’t seem to get a sense of direction, today I came across the Pantheon and Notre Dame Cathedral.  I plan on touring those either Thursday or Friday but I did take some pictures outside of Notre Dame.

I was running late to The Louve because I kept getting sidetracked with incredible buildings and fountains on my walk to the museum.  The biggest attraction at the Louve was the Mona Lisa.  Literally there were no less than 75 people crowded around the painting and all trying to get the best shot on their cameras, phones and tablets.  The objects d’art from the Louis XIV and Louis XVII were incredible especially the watches and snuff boxes – truly ornate.  I’m a little spoiled as far as paintings go since I went to The Barnes Museum in Philadelphia shortly after it opened in its new location in 2012.  As you may know Dr. Barnes was very specific about how his paintings were to hang and each room has a story.  There were obviously incredible paintings at The Louve but knowing the story behind the way Dr. Barnes displayed his collection added extra appreciation for not only the collector but the artists.  The French and Italian sculptures at the Louve were magnificent.  After seeing them, I can’t wait to view the Elgin marbles in London and the museums in Italy.

Have a great night!

Second Day in Paris

I am about to begin my second full day in Paris.  It is still cloudy and cold but knowing that a warm ‘pain au chocolat’ is waiting for me at Max Poilane has me ready to face the day.  I only wish I had my “frogg toggs” here to block the wind.  To my friend Carol – I should have bought the coat in New York.

First helpful tip that I was given for traveling to Europe – bring not only a converter for the outlets but also a power strip.  That way you only need one converter but have several outlets to plug in your phone, computer, tablet, camera recharger, etc.  I packed one for Europe and had it in New York which was really helpful.  However, rushing to pack and re-pack items in New York I left it at The Lexington plugged into the wall.  Uugghhh! Now I have to plug in one item at a time wait for them to charge to move onto the next one.  Second helpful tip given to me by my friend Stan – pack what you think you are going to need then remove a third of the items and repack.  This was great advice and I removed four dresses, three tops and two shorts while in Dallas.  During my stop in New York I reduced my packing even more removing 12 pounds from the weight of my luggage. I sent the extra items home via overnight.  If you are a great planner you can do this exercise a week in advance of a long trip.

Headed to the Louve Museum – have a great day everyone!