World Quest

I was not looking forward to this day. Paris has been a wonderful experience, one that I do not wish to see come to an end...and yet it must. Like any good book, movie or experience, this one has left me wanting more. More time to enjoy the artistic atmosphere of Montmartre or the Louvre, more time to lazily indulge in the rich historical past of this City of Lights, more time to stroll arm in arm with Cindy beneath the Eiffel Tower and more time enjoy the things I did not have time for on this trip. Perhaps another time, but if not, well, as Rick says to Ilsa, "We'll always have Paris."

So, this morning we finish packing our suitcases (now bulging with souvenirs, brochures, books, etc.), so I can take them down those 4 flights of winding circular stairs to await the 9:15am arrival of our shuttle service that will take us to the airport where we can pick up the rental car we'll be using for the remainder of our time here. When we arrived 6 days ago we had 3 large suitcases; 1 weighed 39 pounds and 2 weighed 47 pounds each. We now have those same 3 AND a 4th that we brought along empty for extra packing that is now filled. And we each have a carryon.

At 8:30 we start our game plan. Since I am freshly rested from a good night's sleep, I will take the 2 suitcases that weigh 47 pounds each (one in each hand) down the stairs, followed by my mother-in-law (so if she should fall she would fall into me and not the hard wood stairs) and then Cindy with one of the carryons. In the courtyard outside the apartment, we will leave the 2 heaviest bags and the carryon with my mother-in-law seated next to them on a bench to watch them while we return for the remainder of bags and carryon. Here's a picture to remind you of what those wonderful stairs looked like.

So we start our first trip down the stairs. As we're approaching the landing of the 2nd floor I turned my head to look back at my mother-in-law and said something along the lines of "Watch your step" and promptly missed the next step below me, falling forward to the landing and smashing my right knee into the last step and then into the landing itself, as well as slamming my right elbow first on the wooden stair rail and then into the landing. Only the suitcase in my left hand kept me from hitting the landing face first, acting as a barrier that my chest ran into.

My first instinct was to stand up immediately so that neither Cindy or her mom would rush down the stairs and fall themselves, but my right knee had other ideas. It was feeling like I'd been in a Ric Flair figure four leg lock and made it clear in painful statements that it did not care for my first instinct. But I still managed to stand, assure them I was ok, and then continue down the next flight of stairs.

I must have subconsciously enjoyed that first fall so much that I decided to repeat it again just before the NEXT landing. Somehow, as careful as I was trying to be, I still missed a step and crashed down onto the first floor landing. Maybe my knee was proving the point it tried to make earlier. Or maybe I really, really didn't want to leave Paris, lol.

But leave we did. We were picked up and taken to the airport where we in turn picked up our reserved rental car, a nice Citroen C5 mid-size sedan, which was a free upgrade from our original compact model. It turned out to be a good thing we got the upgrade as it meant Cindy's mom only had to sit with a suitcase and a carryon next to her in the backseat, instead of baggage on her lap. Oh, and the car had a beautiful, built-in GPS system with voice, except we had no clue about how to use it that first day. We would regret that ignorance later in the day.

Our plan was to drive to Versailles and, after consulting our maps and our host's directions, we were on our way. About an hour later we arrived and were a little perplexed by what we saw.

The entire complex was being renovated, outside and inside and even the parking area was a temporary lot with rocks and dust. Lots of dust. Still, the former palace WAS open for business and we were here so...in we went.

And then around to the back

We then returned inside to see the famed Hall of Mirrors

Our necks in pain from looking at painted ceilings, we returned to our now dusty car and hit the road again, on our way to Giverny.

Next post: Do You Know The Way to Giverny?