Iceland - Thursday morning

Well, here we are in Iceland. And what was the first thing the guys wanted to do in this strange and wonderful land? Why, SLEEP of course! Jim saw the bed and just crashed.

Jeff decided he was going to take full advantage of "nap time" and snuggled right in.

Those weenies. Liz and I decided to take advantage of the fact that all the men were sleeping, and go SHOPPING! First stop - Alafoss factory outlet.

Wool galore! The ladies in the store were extremely helpful (thank goodness, because I don´t know that much about knitting). They helped with everything except the colour selection, which took me at least half an hour. So many to choose from! I can´t show you what I bought because it´s a surprise. Especially for the person I am going to ask to teach me to knit socks and mittens, hehe!

And beautiful sweaters. We hadn´t been anywhere else yet, we didn´t know how good the prices were. It turns out that they were cheaper there than anywhere else. I kind of assumed that the sweaters were solely for tourists, but I during the day we saw lots of locals wearing them. They are no dummies - those sweaters are WARM.

 

We asked the lady at the wool shop for directions to the quilt shop. One thing we have noticed about the Icelanders - they are all so helpful and happy. Jim said it was the most enjoyable experience he ever had renting a car - the man behind the counter gave us all sorts of tips, joked with us, and even told us that we wouldn´t really need a GPS if we knew how to read a map. If you take a wrong turn in Reykjavik, you just turn again until you are back where you started - it´s not a very big town. And there are a few landmarks that you can see from almost everywhere - the big church (Hallgrimskirkja) and the Pearl - a building that actually looks like a half pearl on top of a hill. It is beautiful all lit up at night, I have to remember to take a picture.

The quilt shop was very easy to get to. Except for one thing. When you think you are going to merge onto the main highway, the sneakily make you turn 180 degrees and then you end up heading in the opposite direction. That happened to us 3 times yesterday (and not just to me, to Jim too) But all you have to do is continue to do the cloverleaf a couple of times and you are heading in the right direction.

What a wonderful quilt shop! Better than most I have seen in North America.  They had loads of samples everywhere - on the walls going down the stairs -

and books - holy cow. I had a quick look and they have a lot of new publications as well as a few good oldies. Elaine is there anything that you are looking for that you can´t find? They might have it here :-)

I asked the shop owner if she had any local patterns or fabrics designed by locals, but alas, she told me that all their stock came from the States or Canada. And while they had a wonderful selection and lots of stuff, I wasn´t tempted to buy any of it because it was all at least 1 1/2 times  as expensive as at home. It was inspiring though and I am itching to get back home and work on some of the things I saw made up in the store.

We were a little late getting back to the hotel but we needn´t have worried - the guys were still sleeping. After a couple cups of coffee (which is delicious here), we were finally ready to head into Reykjavik for the afternoon to do some sightseeing.

The internet in the hotel is free in the lobby for a 30 minute session but you have to pay $4.00 for 20 minutes to use it on your own computer. I am switching between our computer to upload photos and the hotel computer to write captions (I know - I have to make my life complicated!) so I am going to try to post 2 or 3 times a day depending on how long I can use the computer in the lobby. Stay tuned for our afternoon adventures...

Hotel Natura, Reykjavik

It's not much to look at from the outside, but I think Hotel Natura will probably be one of the coolest hotels we have ever stayed at! The hotel rooms are included in our package, and Icelandair actually owns this hotel.

I was surprised to find out that they actually have ICELANDIC BEDTIME STORIES every Thursday at 9 pm. Each week’s bedtime story features a different theme from Icelandic literature - the perfect way to spend a cosy evening and start your weekend in Iceland.  They are free for guests to attend, presented in English and... they encourage you to wear your pyjamas! (although everyone is welcome - whether with striped pyjamas and bunny rabbit slippers or not) They provide the hot chocolate and some blankets under which to snuggle during the readings. Hope I can stay awake long enough to hear the story; I'm sure we'll be suffering from jet-lag by then.

Another thing they do is show a movie called AMAZING ICELAND every night in German and English. The film is about an hour long and "captures the magic of Iceland, a land where nature paints in powerful strokes and strong colors. The country is full of massive and wonderful extremes, thundering waterfalls and dramatically spouting geysers as well as tranquil lakes with rare-breeding bird life and powerfully active volcanoes that lurk menacingly beneath silent majestic glaciers and towering misty mountains overlooking lush-green pastures". It even has volcano scenes from the 2010 Volcano eruption in Eyjafjallajökull Glacier. I'm not sure that is something I want to think about too much while touring Iceland, so maybe we'll wait a few days before we go see that movie, lol.

The indoor pool is filled with salt water, and there is also a cozy fireplace near the pool. Hmmm, that makes me think it might be cold in there. But no, almost all the pools in Iceland are geo-thermically heated, so they can keep them warm at relatively low cost.

Right now I'm waiting for Jeff to pick me up and the two of us will meet Jim, Liz and Boris at the airport. It's only a 5 hour flight, then we'll arrive at 6:30 am Icelandic time and hit the ground running!

We're off Again...

Going to Iceland, Woo Hoo! Or as they say in Icelandic:

Luarginavirul Havorginilit!

(Not really, but that's what is kind of sounds like!)

Encore Paris

While in Paris, we bought tickets for the Hop On, Hop Off tour bus.  The double-decker buses follow different routes around the city, coming every 10 minutes or so. On Friday, Liz and Boris went to visit some sights that Jim and I had already seen, so we split up. Around lunch time we hopped on the bus and Jim pointed to the left and said, "Look at that!" I didn't see anything particularly interesting, then noticed that Liz and Boris were sitting a few rows in front of us!

 They didn't notice us until we got off the bus and waved at them.

Jim and I went to find some geocaches in Paris. This was our first stop, and according to all the photos on the log, this was the common stance to take when being photographed in front of this statue ;-)

Elaine had told us about a multi-cache (one where you visit several spots) on the Ile de la Cite. It seemed close by so we walked over. We had fun figuring out all the clues, but it was even more fun hunting through the log book to find Elaine's entry!

When Elaine was in Paris, one of the quilt stores that is well known was closed for holidays. She made me promise to go check it out. It seemed close by so we walked over. I am always tempted by something different in other quilt stores, but unfortunately I didn't find anything I liked in this store. She had about 9 books, the fabric was not to my taste, and the fat quarters were 5 euros each! Good thing I don't live in France (although Jim was astonished I didn't buy anything and probably thinks it would be cheaper if we lived there).

After that we walked all through the latin quarter. It didn't really look that far. Jim did find a Warhammer shop and went in to buy a couple of things. I stayed outside and watched the dogs follow their masters without leashes, then poop on the sidewalks while their masters ignored them. Paris didn't have a lot of garbage around but you still had to watch where you were walking!

We met up with Liz and Boris after dinner and since the  Champ des Mars wasn't too far away, we walked over to see the Eiffel Tower lit up. On the hour it has little strobe lights that come on and make it look like it is sparkling. It was the perfect night to be out, nice and warm, and there were people sitting on the grass (with several bottles of wine!). It was kind of like a big party.

Since we were close by where I used to live, we walked over to the street so I could show everyone my building. I couldn't remember the number, and so much was unfamiliar (remember, it has been 32 years) but I did manage to find it. My apartment was on the 7th floor - and no elevator! There was a fountain on the street that I was sure wasn't there before, but it had a sign on it saying it was built in 1901. Guess I noticed different things when I was 20 (like the french men??)

137 rue St. Dominique

With all that thinking that things weren't too far away, I think Jim and I walked about 10 kilometres through the streets of Paris that day! Good thing, because these french pastries and baguettes are starting to add up!

On Saturday we went to the Orangerie to see Monet's Water Lilies paintings that are displayed in huge oval rooms built for that purpose. I had read that someone had written a piece of music that is played at specific times so you could listen to it while viewing the paintings. We made sure we were in the room in plenty of time to experience this blending of the two senses. While it sounded like a great idea, we weren't too impressed with the music. I think that while it was supposed to sound calming, it actually sounded kind of depressing.

Water Lilies covering the whole wall

We had taken a cab home from the Musee D'Orsay on Thursday and we found out a few things from the cab driver. One, that if you have more than 3 people in a cab you have to pay extra. What is it with the french people and the number 3?? He told us not to even try to find a cab on Sunday morning because the Parisians party till about 4 or 5 am and all the cab drivers go home to sleep after that. He  also said that we absolutely should go to Montmartre.  The Hop on/off bus had a line that went up there but we had to change buses at Madeleine. While we were waiting we noticed a La Duree shop around the corner. Jim and I had tried their macarons the day before in the latin quarter, and told Liz and Boris they had to get some.

La Duree

 These macarons are only slightly better than Stephen's. All the other ones we have tried on this trip didn't even come close. Good for you Steve! Funny thing, while I was waiting for Jim to pay at the shop in the latin quarter, two girls came in and asked if they ever had any "stages" work in the kitchen because they were 3rd year pastry students!

Right behind the bus stop was the famous Fauchon's. When Jim and I were in Paris for New Year's years ago, there had been a line around the block to get into that store. There are an awful lot of rich people in Paris. The window was full of enticing desserts, and look at the prices!

 Believe it or not, most of the desserts were sold when we came back later.

Fauchon "little bites" for with drinks - 40 euros

Chocolate/Candy tray - 400 euros

We stopped to see the Moulin Rouge on the way to Montmartre. I didn't take a picture because I have already seen it, but a good blogger would have taken one for the blog! I didn't take any of Sacre Coeur either. But I did take one of these cheeses shaped like Eiffel towers!

And of the wonderful onion soup I had for lunch.

And the mussels Jim had for lunch.

Looks like this post is mostly about food! Well, while in Paris...

We ended up walking up the stairs to get to Montmartre, but took the funiculaire down. I recommend taking the funiculaire both ways. That is a lot of stairs! 

On the way down to the bus stop we walked down a street with lots of fabric stores. (I knew these stores were there and it was a little bit of a detour but everyone just followed me thinking I was leading them straight to the bus. Shhh) I couldn't believe my eyes. Fat quarters! and only 2 euro! But the quality was very, very poor. So again I amazed Jim by not buying anything.

One store had a Patchwork corner and I found some cute orange fabric with white polka dots. Can you see why I didn't buy any? That price says 20.60 euro per metre. Man, I should take my fabric stash and open up a store in France!

It was fun riding the double-decker bus because you had such a good view of everything. Like this gridlock for example! The Vicar bus is blocking the traffic going in our direction, and for some reason the traffic going in the other direction wasn't moving either. This is when you want a bike or a scooter because they just zipped right through the cars!

Another food stop - the Maille mustard shop.

Who knew there are this many kinds of mustard??? I expected 5 or 6. It was really difficult to choose.

On our way back to the hotel we got stuck in traffic on the Ile de la Cite. These bus drivers must have the patience of Job. I didn't mind that it was taking so long, I enjoyed just watching all the people, but navigating those tiny streets with a big bus crawling along at 1 foot a minute could get on your nerves. As we rounded the corner, I saw what was holding us up. A protest march going to city hall. Ah, now our Paris experience was complete!

We couldn't even see what the protest was about. We did see a police boat racing down the Seine though. Cool - I didn't even know they had those in Paris!

Paris........ or I just spent $5.00 on a coke

My feet hurt.

Ok, enough complaining, after all, we are in Paris!

I get a strange feeling as we walk along the streets. First of all, our hotel is only a few blocks from where I used to live when I went to university here. I catch myself looking for people I know (not that I would recognize anyone, they have gotten older too!) It has been 32 years since I lived here. I did come back with Jim for New Year's eve in 1985, but I don't remember much of Paris then, I must have had eyes only for Jim! I do remember that they had new lights on the Eiffel tower, that the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe actually stopped at midnight, and that the metros were free that night but they were as busy as the ones in Japan where they push the people inside to close the doors. Jim and I celebrated New Year's eve in the typical French fashion, with champagne and chocolates. We still do that!

Jim came to Paris in the summer of 1984 as well, so both of us have seen the major sights. I have to say that they haven't changed much in the last 32 years. Of course not - these buildings and streets have been here for hundreds of years. I know where everything is, but I don't remember how to get there (which metro did I take, or did I go by bus?)

The atmosphere seems a little different to me too. Maybe because I am not 20 any more, maybe because I really am a tourist this time. It is still beautiful, that will never change. I realize that when I was a student here I didn't really pay attention to the tourist spots - I went in the Louvre once or twice (although I did visit the Jeu du Paume many more times because that is where the Impressionist paintings were). I didn't see Napoleon's tomb until after I graduated, even though it is within walking distance of where I lived. I agree with Elaine, it seems like a very clean city, cleaner than when I lived here.

Of course, there is an advantage to having lived here. I know a few tips and tricks. Like that there are side entrances into the Louvre. It sure is easier to go in there now that there are huge line-ups because of security. (We didn't have security in those days - the Mona Lisa wasn't even behind glass, just a cord about a metre away.) Anyway, we arrived at the door at 9 am and we were second in line. We went straight to the Mona Lisa. It was weird walking through the halls as there was no one else there - we had the place to ourselves.

Empty Halls

Almost empty room with Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa - now behind bullet-proof glass

I also wanted to see the Venus de Milo - the few times I had ventured into the Louvre before, she had been away on tour. Again, we almost had the room to ourselves.

Venus de Milo

Another quilt pattern from the floor of the Louvre

This statue was pretty gruesome:

Hercules and the Hydra

It was actually a fountain. Can you see where the heads are cut off that there are some holes? The water would come out of the holes representing blood!

Fountain

Da Vinci Code picture

Jardin de Tuileries from the Louvre

We decided to cross the river and find a cafe to eat lunch. We tried to get out of a direct line of sight of any of the museums, thinking that that might save us a few euros. We found a nice little place and I ordered a Croque Monsieur Complet. A Croque Monsieur is the French version on a grilled ham and cheese, only it is open faced. Complet means that they added the tomatoes and egg. I was huge! And yummy. And meant that I certainly didn't need a big dinner.

As we walked along the streets we looked in all the shop windows. I was thinking of buying these scissors as a Christmas present for you Elaine, but then I found out that they cost 35 euros. Way too much for a pair of scissors that probably don't even cut well! And they were also probably made in China, not Paris. 

Bird scissors

 I also did not buy this for Stephen:

For chefs with a lot of aggression

 We then walked to the Rodin Museum, where we saw a lot of his works, including The Kiss.

The Kiss by Rodin

 I didn't take a lot of pictures. This is another museum that I did frequent when I lived here and have seen the statues a number of times. Rodin also made The Thinker, The Gates of Hell, and The Burgers of Calais  (not hamburgers - the citizens!) and The Hand of God.

I have always liked one of his quotes: "Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely". Another quote of his, a little less lofty - "I choose a piece of marble and chop off what I don't need."

Our last stop was the Musee d'Orsay. Yes - 3 museums in one day! And we walked from to the other. I told you my feet hurt!

You are not allowed to take pictures of any of the artwork inside the museum, but I took a picture of the clock over the entrance. What a grand building this is. It used to be the main train station in Paris, right on the banks of the river Seine, in the middle of the city. People coming into Paris by train would see all this ornamentation and know what a rich, important city Paris was. I used to take the train home to Holland from the Gare du Nord, and I hate to admit it but I never really looked at the building. Maybe if we have time we can make a quick stop and I can look up and around, instead of just looking for the exit!

Clock in Musee D'Orsay