August 18, 2012 - Day 2 Budapest

Jo napot all,

Our exploration this day took us by bus to the Castle District and North Buda, with our first stop being the Fisherman's Bastion and Matyas Church.  The only bad thing about the bus is, to me, it is not a really true hop on hop off bus.  It once again stopped at the Citadel for 25 minutes and as it was already very hot we got off to get water and I picked up postcards. We then had another 15 minute wait at another stop before reaching our destination.  Once off the bus we walked slowly up a small hill then a number of stairs before we reach the Bastion.  For a very small fee we walked along the walls of the Bastion which gave us views down into the Pest side of the city.  It was extremely busy with tour buses arriving by the minutes.  There were two men with a hawk and a golden eagle trying to get people to pay them to hold the birds so they could get their picture taken with them.  We eventually got a good picture of the birds.  It doesn't matter where we go, people are rude, pushy and irritating.  Makes me wonder if they were taught any manners.

Matyas Church as seen above and on the right is a good example of the city's troubled history.  The original  church was destroyed in 1241 and a new church was built as part of Bela IV's fortified city in 1255-1269.  It was later expanded in the 15th century by Matyas Corvinus who the Church is named after.  Final restorations occurred in 1873-1896 by Frigyes Schulek in the Neo-Baroque style. The roof was burnt down during the Soviet Siege in 1944-45 and was replaced with the colourful tiles now in place between 1950 and 1970.  The inside of the church was undergoing restoration so the entrance was under scaffolding but further into the church we were once again treated to some amazing artwork and architecture.

From the church we walked along to the Vienna Gate Square so named as it was through the gate that you once traveled from Buda to Vienna.  The gate is a replica, built in 1936 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Buda's liberation from the Turks.  From here we took a short walk to the Church of St Mary Magdalene. Built in the 13th century for Hungarian citizens who were not allowed to worship in Matyas Church it now lies in ruins. All that remains is the tower and gate.  We now headed off and walked along Lord Street.  The street is full of Baroque and Gothic facades but sadly are not the original structures as most were rebuilt in the 1950 - 1960 due the heavy destruction during WWII.  The statue on the left was a point for some conversation for Fred and myself.  We had to wait for a bit as group of young Italian girls climbed up the structure to kneel under the horse and hold the horses balls to get a picture.  It must be a popular past-time and hold some meaning that we are unaware of they and the horses rear legs were the only parts of the horse that were shiny.  Fred thought that it would be hilarious if a mechanism could be installed in the horse so that once the balls were cupped the horse peed on the person.  I had a good laugh as I could just picture it.  We continued our walk along Lord Street (Uri utca) which runs into Buda Castle or Royal Palace.  There was a huge arts and craft show going on, an annual event that runs from Aug 17 - 20, which is St Stephens Day and a National Holiday.  We opt not to pay to get into the Palace grounds as it was teeming with vendors and people so  getting any decent pictures would have been impossible.  The Palace is now home to several museums and the Hungarian National Gallery.

We now hopped back on the bus and head off to Heroes Square as seen on the right.  Originally, it was laid out for the Millennium Celebration of 1896 and was the site of Communist demonstrations. The Millennium monument itself commemorates the 1,000 year anniversary of the conquest of the Carpathian Basin by Magyars. The central column is 110 feet tall with the Archangel Gabriel on top.  The base are the seven chieftains representing the seven tribes that settled in Hungary.  Once photo's were done we found a small cafe for a late lunch as we had booked for dinner at the hotel.  I had the best ice tea that I have had for quite a long time.  It was so refreshing.  I had two while Fred enjoyed a bottle of Borsodi, a Hungarian beer.  From here we caught the bus and headed back to the hotel to cool off and get ready for our anniversary dinner.  While I am cooling off Fred headed off to the grocery store to pick up beer and wine for the room.  He also picked me up a cider which he spotted, a Strongbow Gold.  More on his buys later in the blog.

Thirty nine years ago today we said "I Do".  Were has the time gone and who would have thought we would be living our dream.  Fred researched this trip as I always say lets go here or do this.  Originally, I thought of a visit back to Rome would be a great place to spend our anniversary but Fred found this Signature Hotel, which is part of the Marriott Chain in Budapest, a five star hotel.  A bit of history of the hotel.  It was originally commissioned by the New York Insurance Company as a palace and cafe in a Italian  renaissance and baroque style and opened in October 23,1894.  The New York Palace Cafe gained its literary rank in the first decade of the 20th century as it became the centre of intellectual life for writers, artists.  The First World War ended the golden age of the cafe and it then became a restaurant.  After the threat of war and with the 1930's economic crisis social life declined which lead to the cafe being closed and operated as a warehouse, the most beautiful in the world.  In 1954 it re-opened as the Hungaria, but not as a cafe but almost in its original splendor.  In February 2001 the Boscolo group undertook the restoration and reconstruction of the Palace.  In the spring of 2006 it was re-opened with all its former splendor along with upgrades to bring it into the the 20th Century.

The hotel is splendid but as a five star goes we found the service rather lacking at times.  At breakfast on the last morning we had to ask for tea and coffee and experienced poor service at other times during our stay.  We decided to have pre-dinner drinks in the bar and waited a good 10 minutes before anyone appeared for service.  I did have a rather healthy Boscolo Champagne which was brandy, cointreau and champagne and Fred had a Soproni beer.  Our dinner itself was delicious.  For appetizers Fred had foie gras ravioli with apple sauce and I had a foie gras with a tiny brioche loaf.  Fred's main meal was duck with cabbage ravioli and I had chicken this was accompanied with a very nice Hungarian red wine.  More photo's can be seen on my Facebook page.  We were then treated to a free dessert of a chocolate cake and ice cream to share.  We did find the service in the Cafe to be good, the waiter was attentive but not overbearing.

We headed back to our room to download pictures and enjoy another drink.  You recall Fred bought himself a beer.  Well it turned out the beer he bought, while recognizing the beer name as one he had while we were out and about, it was non-alcoholic.  He said it tasted odd and discovered when he looked closer at the tin what it was. My cider was not much better, it did not taste like a Strongbow, it had a very strong apple flavour.  We had a good laugh and poured the drinks away and enjoyed a glass of red wine as a night cap instead.

Jo jobb all,

Sandy & Fred

August 16 - 17, 2012 - Budapest

Jo napot all,

We headed off again for a short 4 day break, this time to Budapest to celebrate our 39th Wedding Anniversary.  Our flight left mid afternoon from Manchester so we didn't arrive in Budapest until 7:00 p.m. local time.  This was our first time using Jet2.com and we were amazed at how quickly we were boarded once the gate announcement was posted on the board.  The flight was non eventful and approximately 3 1/2 hours from gate to gate.  The drive to the hotel was about 25 minutes and our cabby used his phone a lot on the way so I guess no rules about driving and using the phone.  We arrived safe and sound and the hotel is a very impressive building from the outside (picture on the right) and does not disappoint with the interior either.  Once checked in, we took a short walk to locate a grocery store to purchase a bottle of wine for the room while we planned our attack for the next day.

For our first full day we headed out at a decent time after breakfast.  As the weather was very hot, we decided to do the "Hop On Off Bus" and checked with the concierge as to where the stop was.  It turned out the hotel sells tickets for one of the "Hop On Hop Off" bus lines which are good for 2 days and the stop was right outside the door.  We had timed things rather well, quite by accident, as the bus arrived in 15 minutes.  Our original plan was to ride the bus around the whole route to get the lay of the land then stop where we wanted.  The plan changed though as the tour stopped at the Citadel a high point that gives you a good panoramic view of the city for 25 minutes.  This stop is a long one as there are a number of souvenir vendors and they want you to buy.  We got our photo opportunity

in and grabbed water as it was already hot.

We decided to get off at St Stephen's Basilica rather than do the whole route.  St Stephen's Basilica was built from1851 to 1905 in the form of a Greek cross and is the work of three successive architects.  The dome is 315 ft, the exact same height of the Parliament.  The dome was designed in 1867 after the original dome caved in due to poor workmanship and materials.  The outside of the Basilica is posted on the right.

The inside of the basilica is truly magnificent considering it was seriously damaged during World War II, having gone through major renovation and restoration between 1983-1989.  The Basilica also houses the mummified right forearm of St Stephen a very holy relic to the Hungarian people and on August 20th the hand is carried through the crowds, by Basilica priests, that gather for St. Stephen's Day.

After the Basilica we walked to the Hungarian Parliament taking in the sights and stopping to take photo's of interesting buildings and sights along the way.  The Parliament was built in 1902 and was inspired by London's Houses of Parliament.  The designer was Imre Steindl a professor at Budapest Technical University.  The picture on the left (below) is the Parliament Building taken from the boat tour we took later in the afternoon. 

We continued our exploration, walking along the Danube Embankment to Margaret Island an escape from the city hustle and bustle.  The island has been inhabited since Roman times and was named after Princess Margit, daughter of King Bela IV, who spent most of her life in a convent on the island in the 13th century.  The island was a popular hunting ground for medieval kings and monks were drawn to the peace and quiet.  It has been a playground for the city since 1869.  The picture on the right is shot of a garden on Margaret Island.


More photos of the area can be seen on our Flickr site and my face book page as the blog does not allow us to share enough of
the beautiful sights we saw.

We decided to take the river boat from Margaret Island to Central Pest or the Inner City, which is included with our Hop on Off bus tickets.  From the boat Fred took some great pictures of the Parliament, bridges and other sights as seen from the River Danube.

As we continued to explore and headed to Vaci Utca.  This is an area that is considered the heart and soul of Budapest.  Divided into North and South it is a commercial and social hub.  We headed to the north end as this is where all the restaurants and cafes were and we were in need of refreshment and food as it had been a long hot day.  We found a cafe in Vorosmarty square and I had pork kebabs with the most amazing potatoes and diet coke.  Fred had Hungarian style pork and Dreher (Hungarian) Beer.  Satisfied, we headed back to the hotel stopping for more photo's on the way and a bottle of wine for the room while we planned our attack for the next day.

Viszontlatasra,

Sandy & Fred

July 14, 2012 - York

Greetings All,

We headed off to Leeds to pick up Sandra and take her on a whirlwind visit to York.  It has been a couple of years since we last visited York and never on a weekend.  While we prefer to visit places mid week there is something to be said about visiting on a weekend.  There was a lot going on with open-air markets as well as churches being open for viewing that were closed on our previous visit.  The picture on the left is the gateway into York which we had not seen on our previous visit as we had taken the park and ride.


The picture on the right is of a stained glass window in the church St Michael le Belfrey and dates back to 1330.  The glass is the original glass from when St Michael le Belfrey was a Chapel for the Minster before it became a church for the people living nearby.  During Henry VIII's reign St Michael le Belfrey was completely rebuilt in the Tudor Gothic style.  St Michael was also the church where Guy Fawkes was baptised in 1570.

We wandered around the York taking in the sights with Sandra.  We stopped and had lunch at Gert and Henry's Pub.  I tried mussels for the first time and really didn't find them that appealing.  Fred and Sandra had the good old English standby fish and chips and I had a lamb burger.  After lunch we continued to explore and came across the Shambles another area we had previously missed.  This area was mentioned in William the Conquerors Doomsday Book

and took its name from Shamel which means benches or stalls were meat was displayed.  The area was rebuilt in 1400 where it assumed it's present day character.  We wandered around a bit more then headed off to Liverpool.  It was great to discover some new sights in York that we had not previously discovered.  On the way back to Liverpool we stopped off in Warrington so Sandra could check out the Marks and Spencer superstore and I made a brief stop in Ikea.

Once back in Liverpool we relaxed and I tried out a new recipe for bruschetta for our hors d'oeuvres and then a late supper of barbecued chicken and sausage and capresse salad.  Dessert was a jelly fruit cup and cream fraiche.

We had a fairly early night as Sandra was exhausted and we wanted to be well rested in order to show her some of the sights in Liverpool tomorrow, before she headed back to Leeds.


Ta Ra,

Sandy & Fred

June 14 - 21, 2012 - Tenerife

Hola everybody,

We took a much needed break from the miserable weather in the UK now that I have my Indefinite Leave to Stay visa in place, and hopefully, the sun will burn out whatever bits of a virus I have been suffering with since our Paris trip.  The flight was only 4 hours but seemed much longer as there was a kid that screamed and cried the whole flight which was really annoying.  The picture on the right is a view of a volcanic crater on Tenerife that we flew over as we came in for our landing.  Fred booked us into a H10 hotel that caters to couples only on a half board basis, which is breakfast and supper.  We arrived at the hotel in time for supper and the buffet seemed to offer a good variety of food from what we saw on our first night.  Our room was what they call a bungalow style and it was on the ground floor which we really were not too happy about as we prefer to be higher up due to the ease of breaking in.  I asked at the desk about changing the room and the lady at the desk informed us we had been given a premium room and that if we had booked through the hotel website we would have paid an extra 40 euros per night so we decided not to move.

We have decided to totally veg out on this trip as it is only a week and I wanted to get some much needed sun.  We had made prior arrangements to meet up with John and Anita and their two boys for the European Championship Game England vs Sweden.  So after a day of sunbathing around the pool we headed off to Avenida Playa de Los Americas, the area were they are staying.  We walked along the  promenade and some how managed to miss a turn so we end up walking along the street rather than the beach.  The picture on the left is a close up of a flowering tree.  We had a great evening with John, Anita, Ethan and Seth.  Fred, John and Ethan headed off  to a pub to watch the game while Anita, Seth and I headed off to window shop and walk along the promenade.  The Ethan and Seth are amazing kids and very well behaved.  We meet up at a pub where the boys were watching the match and I found it very entertaining.  You would have thought that some of the Brits had scored the goals themselves given their reaction when England scored.  England won 3-2 over Sweden.  We didn't eat until almost 10:00 p.m. and given the time the kids were still really great.  Seth who is the youngest was very entertaining at the restaurant taking a menu and ordering a drink.

We said our goodbyes and walked back to our hotel.  We passed a section called Veronica where there are 100 bars in 100 yards. We were asked if we were happy on numerous occasions and invited into the bars, something for the younger ones, but not us anymore, definitely a sign of old age but we were never clubbers even in our younger days.

Our time at the hotel was relaxing and the food was good given that the meals are buffet style. On Sunday I decided to have a fried egg for breakfast and as you may or may not know I like my eggs (yolk) well cooked.  That means yolks broken and cooked hard.  I explained this to the chef and while I'm talking to him a Brit says oh American style.  I responded no Canadian to which he says whats the difference.  I bit my tongue but I should have responded British or Scottish no difference but then again he was not worth any response at all.  Man have I mellowed with age.  I also had rabbit or "Thumper" as Fred calls it for supper tonight.  I have not tried rabbit since I was a very little girl, when my Grandma by the River cooked a rabbit that my Mom and Dad had shot.  I remember my brother and I being very sick after eating it so it put me off it for well over 50 years.  The rabbit was very tasty and since they sell a lot of rabbit in the U.K., I think it may be worth a try to cook it once we get back home.  By the way, Grandma by the River was how we as kids we differentiated our grandparents.  My Mom's mother lived on a Reserve by the river Thames in Ontario and my Dad's mother lived on the same street as us while growing up and was known as Grandma down the Street.

We totally chilled out with Fred meeting me at the pool around noon as he updated our iPads daily for the Times and staying out of the sun so as not to fry while I made the most of the rays.  On Tuesday we walked north along the promenade to check out what was along there and to take in the sunset as posted on the right.  The resort which is couples only had a mix of newlyweds, very young couples, some our age and then a large number of much older couples.  While sitting around the pool I spoke with a couple from Yorkshire and the lady was quite interested in my heritage, where I was from and why I was living in the UK.  Thomson Holidays put on a goodbye champagne party which they attended and she requested to have a picture taken with me.  She must have thought I was some kind of celebrity.

On our last night we attended a special 5 course dinner the hotel puts on, in the outdoor restaurant which overlooks the beach/sea.

The menu for the night started with a warm salad of mushrooms and king prawns with current and seed vinaigrette, followed by cod gratin with honey alioli on a nest of spinach.  This was then followed with a mango sorbet with millets foam and then pork tenderloin in puff pastry with port sauce and glazed vegetables. Final course was a papaya lasagna cooked au gratin with pernod cream.  This was accompanied by a nice red wine from Tenerife and Champagne.  The evening's wait staff were fabulous as was the entertainment, a perfect way to end our week in the sun.  We will definitely return to this location and hotel for a longer period so that we can explore the sites on the island.

Hasta la vista,

Sandy & Fred 

April 26, 2012 - Montmartre

Bonjour mes amies.

Our last morning in Paris and, you guessed it, it's not raining.  We decided to head out and complete the walk we had planned to do on Wednesday.

Montmartre is a butte located in northern Paris that is primarily known for the basilica Sacre Coeur and a district where the nightclubs are located.  In addition, many artists also had their studios in the area, among them Salvador Dali, Monet and Picasso. We took the Metro from the station near the hotel and exited at Blanche the station near the Moulin Rouge.  It looks rather smaller than what you would expect, but then the movies have probably influenced our expectations.  With photos taken we continued our walk along Avenue de Clichy until we reached the road that took us up to Sacre Coeur.  We walked up to Place St.-Pierre the street at the base of the butte that Sacre Coeur sits on and then doubled back on ourselves walking along Rue de Abbesses towards the Cimitiere de Monmartre.  This area of town is very old and extremely hilly.  Living here would certainly keep you fit giving how steep the hills are.  We came across a church, Saint Jean de Monmartre, that to me was much more interesting than Sacre Coeur.  Saint Jean de Montmartre was built between 1895 - 1904 of brick and ceramic and it is very ornate.  the walls have hand painted murals depicting various religious scenes as seen on the right
between 1895 - 1904 of brick and ceramic tile and it is very ornate.  The
walls have hand painted murals depicting various religious scenes as seen on the right.  Restorations on the pipe organ have recently been completed so that it can once again be played.

Leaving the church we walked down the hill ending at the Cimitiere de Monmartre.  Cemeteries were banned in Paris in 1786 due to the health hazards they posed and new ones were  placed outside the precincts of the capitol.  Montmartre was the one designated for the north of the city.  It is a huge cemetery and graves are packed in very tightly.  Many famous artists and people are buried here from painters to bankers.

We made our way back to the Metro and returned to the hotel to finish our packing and check out before heading to the Gare du Nord to take the Eurostar to London.  In London we will be dog sitting Casper and Ziggy while John and Adrienne head off to Venice for a three day get-away.

Unfortunately, I was really not feeling well as my throat was extremely sore.  We had a wonderful time in Paris in spite of the weather and we hope you have enjoyed this segment of our blog.

Au revoir,
Sandy & Fred

April 25, 2012 - Sacre- Coeur & Louvre

Bonjour mes amies,

We decided to have breakfast in the hotel this morning so that I can get a decent cup of tea and have the convenience of not having to put coats on.  The weather was once again sadly wet and windy, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out though, although we did have to modify our plans somewhat. Once again we purchased tickets from the concierge for the Louvre and he suggested we visit later in the afternoon as the museum was open until 10:00 p.m. and will be less crowded.

We headed off by Metro to Sacre Coeur.  The basilica was built at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city.  It is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the supposed excesses for the Second Empire and of the socialist Paris Commune 1871 crowning its most rebellious neighbourhood, and the embodiment of conservative moral order.  The basilica was designed by Paul Abadie with construction beginning in 1875 and ending in 1914 with it being consecrated at the end of World War I in 1919.  We were somewhat disappointed in the basilica itself  and also that the taking of pictures was not permitted, though I will admit to sneaking photos.  Sacre Coeur just did not seem to have the presence that Notre Dame has, which we visited last September with Jonathan and Amy.  Notre Dame also permitted the taking of pictures, just no flash.

Well the heavens opened so we decided to head to the Louvre Museum or just the Louvre and spent the afternoon rather than the evening as suggested by the concierge.  Once again getting tickets at the hotel was well worth the extra 2 euros as the line ups for tickets was crazy, which I am sure was due to the rainy weather as well as the normal influx of tourists. We got in with about a 15 minute wait in line which was for a security check of bags.  Considering how busy the lobby was, once inside and exploring the various rooms of the Louvre it was relaxing and not that crowded with the exception of a few areas.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began life as a fortress in the 12th century under Philip II.  Remnants of the fortress can be seen in the basement of the museum.  The Louvre went through many alterations during the middle ages with Charles V converting it to a residence in the 14th century.  It remained a royal residence until Louis XIV moved to Versailles. The Louvre did not become a public museum until after the French Revolution and officially opened on August 10, 1793.  It is one of the largest museums in the world.  To start, we explored the Richelieu wing were we concentrated on Mesopotamia and Ancient Iran.  It was very easy to get lost or turned around as the museum is huge, and we do get turned around.  We came across many ornate rooms as well as museum pieces.  Off course we visited and saw the  Mona Lisa.  Fred does manage to elbow his way in to get a decent shot of it.  All of mine were blurred as I got pushed around and had people jumping in front of the camera I moved before I got pissed off and started pushing back.  You would think that given the popularity of Mona Lisa the museum would have some kind of structure in place so all could get to see her.  Here again we see orientals posing with the hand gesture.  After about 3 1/2 hours in the museum the weather had cleared so we head out to get pictures outside the Louvre.

We headed back to the hotel stopping to purchase more wine, some to take back with us and a bottle for our room while we downloaded pictures and started packing for our return to the UK.

We had already chosen a place for supper.  It was across the street from last night's Bistro.  It was an Italian restaurant called Del Papa that looked very busy so we decided it was worth a try.  We arrived and were lucky to get seated as we did not have reservations.  We were seated near the door and a man said to us "this is where they seat Americans and other tourists".  I quickly told him I am Canadian and as we had no reservations we were happy to be seated.  It turns out he was from Virginia and was in Paris on business which was now finished and he now had the the rest of the week to explore Paris.  We split an appetizer of grilled calamari on rocket and it was delicious.  I had a ham pizza which was huge and Fred also had a pizza with mushrooms, ham and an egg.  The meal was accompanied with a bottle of Beaujolais.  Our waiter was quite comical and gave me the menu showing me the weight watcher desserts as I had left the crusts of my pizza as I was struggling to get through it.  No dessert but I have a cappuccino and it came with chocolate and coco coated almonds.  As I did not use the sugar the waiter brought us more almonds telling me I was allowed a treat.  We really enjoyed our meal and were not rushed at all.  This was a place I would definitely recommend or return to.

Back at the hotel we were able to arrange a late checkout of 1:30 p.m. for tomorrow and hopefully the weather improves and we will get a bit more exploring before catching the train to London.

Au revoir,
Sandy & Fred

April 24, 2012 - Palace of Versailles

Bonjour mes amies,

After breakfast at Micky D's we checked with the hotel's concierge on the easiest way to get to Versailles.  We were also able to purchase our entrance tickets to the Palace from the concierge although it did cost 2 Euros more.  On arriving at Versailles and seeing the queue to purchase tickets and then the queue to get into the Palace it was well worth the extra 2 Euros.  We took the RER to Versailles which was about a thirty five minute train ride.  On the train we met a retired American couple from Washington state who really didn't seem to know where they were going.  They said they hoped they were on the right train and asked Fred if the train went to Versailles.  He pulled out his iPad and showed them the RER map and gave them directions.  One would think you would plan and know which train you needed to take before blindly heading off and ending up who knows where.  It was a cool dull day and started to spit rain as we walked up to the palace.  The queues were unreal.  Thank goodness we had our entrance tickets.  From when we joined the queue until we actually entered the Palace took a good 35 minutes.  While in line we chatted with a school group from the States who were over with their English and French teachers doing some French immersion.  Apparently it was spring break for them which may also explain all the Americans tourists.

I will provide just a bit of history on Versailles; to me the important highlights as its history spans a long period of time.  Versailles began as a hunting lodge in 1624 for Louis VIII.  He later began structural changes to make it a chateau.  His successor Louis XIV was responsible for changing it into one of the largest palace in the world.  The new construction started in 1664 and ended in 1710. Versailles was in those days a country village but Louis XIV made it the centre of political power when he moved court to Versailles from Paris.  It remained as such until October 1789 after the start of the French Revolution when the royal family was forced to return to Paris.  So Versailles  symbolizes not only a  magnificent building but also a symbol of absolute monarchy.

We spent a good three hours meandering through the palace exploring and taking in the rather elegant and decadent designs and decorations.  The Hall of Mirrors, pictured on the right is a sight to behold.  One can imagine the ballroom dancing that must have gone on when the Palace was in its prime.

While at Versailles, the only down side for us was the number of rude tourists, and we don't really understand the purpose of the "pointing pose" the orientals do when taking pictures.  Fred wonders if, when they get home do they put those bubble captions on their pictures when they post them.

We also missed out on the Gardens, because of the rain, which looked beautiful and it would have been nice to stroll through them and see where our son Christopher proposed to Meaghan.  The weather was very windy, cold and drizzly and I was starting to feel sick.  We hope to return someday and just visit the gardens which I am sure you could spend hours exploring as well.

On our way back to the hotel in search of a bottle of wine we came across a market on one of the narrow streets.  The fresh fruit, fish, meats and produce looked lovely.  There will be more pictures of Versailles posted on my facebook page and Fred's flickr page which Fred still has to post to

After relaxing in our room we headed out for supper.  Tonight we tried a little cafe named Bistro Four Seasons.  I had escargot and Fred tried a farmhouse pate.  For my main course I had chicken with frites and Fred had a butcher's peppercorn steak.  The food was delicious and accompanied with a Bordeaux.  We passed on dessert but had our very first cappuccinos.  Hard to believe but true and we did enjoy them.  We had a nice full day and headed back to the hotel to plan for our last full day in Paris.

Au revoir,

Sandy & Fred