The
wife and I got back from a trip to Ireland, England and Paris
Saturday. I'll never make it as a travel writer as I did not take
any notes, but I'll give you the quick tour.
We
arrived in Dublin and managed to stay up until about 8pm IST. We
were across the street from Christchurch. My wife's got all the pics
on her FB page, so you can friend her to see them. She'll be glad to
hear from you. Maybe. We
took the on and off bus and got a look at the Book of Kells and a
tour of the Guinness factory. The pint at the end was my personal
highlight. We saw a bunch of other stuff I can't remember.
We
rented a car and headed down to Doolin, My wife adapted quickly to
the left hand driving and #1's Garmin helped us avoid innumerable
arguments. We caught part of the Ring of Kerry before settling into
our B and B, run by a woman from Boston who married a townie. Doolin
is a nice little seaside town, where you can get a ferry to the Aran
Islands. We did not do that but did see The Burren and Cliffs of
Moher. There was a good pic of me there that did not accentuate my
gut. Maybe it was the black t-shirt. We caught some authentic music
at the pubs there. We also saw our first castle, The Bunratty.
The
next stop was Adare, which the guide books describe as being like an
English village, because of the gardens and thatched roofs. We hit
the pubs in all towns, enjoying Swithwick's Pale Ale or Guinness, but
we ate dinner at one in Adare, sitting at the bar, where my wife
struck up a conversation with a local. At breakfast the next day, we
were seated next to an older woman, a fellow Yank, on her cell phone
saying "Hello Amy. How are you Amy?" about five times. We
couldn't figure out if it was the grand kid or her cat. We
referenced that about twenty times during the rest of the trip for
grins. Breakfast there and at all the B and Bs was very good. We
stayed away from the black pudding.
At
Kenmare, we stayed at the Coachmen's. The owner informed us a
prominent musician was playing there that night so we watched the
tail end of his show, after dinner at Number 35. The dinner and
show were both very good. I didn't do too much walking around
Kenmare but there were two main streets that were very quaint. I
stopped into one of the used bookstores and bought a copy of Far From
The Madding Crowd for 2 euro, because I am cheap and have alleged
literary pretensions On the way out we saw Blarney Castle. The line
to kiss the stone was about 2 hours long so we bagged that.
Cork
was the last stop and our jumping off point to England. We didn't
see a whole lot of the town but had a good dinner there. The wife
noticed that about 90% of the folks in the restaurant were women.
I'm not sure what that means but I was OK with it and the food was
fine. Our hostess at the B and B was very accommodating. She gave
us afternoon tea upon arriving and had quite and array of options for
breakfast. I decided on porridge to give my gut a break.
The
next day we flew to Bristol and took a cab to Bath. Our driver was
quite friendly. His parents had emigrated from Italy and recently
moved back upon retirement. He dropped us at Henrietta House, a late
18th century row home. The only beef is that we were on the top
floor so I did a lot of stair climbing. I think this contributed to
the attack of dead leg syndrome I had developed by the end of the
trip. The lift went to the second floor and we were on the third so
the young man at the front desk handled the baggage, for which he was
generously remunerated with a 5 pound note. I never stiff the help
but I do lose a sense of money when traveling That is probably a
combo of relaxing and viewing foreign currency as monopoly money.
In
Bath we saw several architectural gems, such as the Roman Baths, The
Circus, Pulteney Bridge, and The Royal Crescent. We also got a spa
treatment which we both enjoyed, although the massage was a little
light for my liking. It made me appreciate the massages is get at
Thip Arpa in FC even more,
We
left Bath via rental car and arrived in Leicestershire, where we
began our visit with our first au pair, her husband and super cute
kids, a 7 year old boy and 3 year old girl. She's a big wig in the
Hilton organization and got us our London hotel room at a major
discount. I practiced my grandpa routine by reading many story
books. They didn't care for the Thomas Hardy passages so I put that
one away, They live in the storybook village of Rothley, in an old
farmhouse that the hubby is doing a great job of renovating. We
enjoyed a few pints at The Woodsman's Stroke across the street. We
were treated like royalty by them and her parents, as they understand
royals, and I plan to repay them with a mention in the Christmas
newsletter. What more could one ask?
The
last UK stop was London where we met up with Unc and his missus.
They had just flown in and were off to Eastern Europe in a few days.
We did not do too much tourist type activity as we had all been there
before. For dinner the first night we went to the Borough Market, a
foodie paradise that doubles as an open air market and restaurant
hub. Our stop was Tapas Brindisa.
The
next day was spent mostly waiting for the London leg of the Tour de
France to roll through. We were situated outside Parliament. Unc
and I chased down some sandwiches after the first hour or so, which
was a good idea as the wait continued. They caught a few pics as the
action passed quickly. My thoughts, as I am not a cycling
enthusiast, is that it was a grand waste of time. We did dinner at
The Crutched Friar pub right by our hotel that night and then said
our goodbyes.
We
took the Eurostar to Paris with apprehension as the tunnel had
problems the previous day. Four trains were canceled on the day we
went, but ours was not one of them. We lucked out as we arrived in
Paris about 15 minutes later than scheduled. We had planned to take
a cab to the hotel but the taxi line, without exaggeration, had
hundreds of people in it. As we are resourceful and adventurous, we
took the Metro. The Metro, as well as London's tube, were
indispensable as they are easy to navigate and can get you anywhere.
We
stayed at the Hotel Michelet Odeon, the same place the ten FCMC women
stayed at during their '08 trip, where we connected with The Wigs and
their two daughters. Dinner the first night was at Le Vin de
Bellechasse and the second night, a block away at Les Racines. These
were two excellent neighborhood spots. Our first full day brought us
to The Eiffel Tower, where I got a great pic of me tying my shoe. It
was my little FB joke, which everyone loved. We also went to The
Louvre, but decided to come back the next day, given the line and the
rain. We ducked into the nearby Cafe Tabac, aka Cafe Tourist Trap,
where we had a mediocre lunch. I enjoyed a $12 draft beer, paid for
with monopoly money.
The
next day was The Louvre. I was a bit worn out by this time so I
quickly caught the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa and made a hasty
exit. My feelings on museums are similar to those on cycling. The
rest of the crew, which is significantly more culturally aware, spent
several hours there.
Our
much anticipated dinner that evening was at Le Chateaubriand, #27 on
the recently released list of Top 50 restaurants in the world.
Here's our course listing. These are my terms, not theirs.
Cheese
Puffs
Liquid
Ceviche
Fried
Sardines
Monkfish
Liver
Cold
Tomato Soup
Mackerel
with Onions, Fried Sage and Blueberry Sauce
Cod,
Purslane in Almond Sauce
Squab
Cherry
Sorbet with Frozen Capers
Egg
Yoke on Meringue
That
evening, The Wig and I, aka the weaker sex, returned to our hotel
with stomach issues. The women were all fine. Quite frankly, I
enjoyed the neighborhood restaurants much more than Le Chateaubriand.
I found the food more accessible and it did not give me the squirts.
That's
about it. The flight home went well, after some long waits at
DeGaulle airport and going through customs in Dublin. Thanks to Mrs.
#1 for picking us up at SFO and to her hubby for a ready meal upon
our return.
