Travel Tuesday - On Wednesday - Paris, France

This picture of the Eiffel Tower was taken in 1999. If you look closely at it, you can see the countdown for the year 2000. I loved going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, what a great overview of the city, but to be honest with you I think the view from Montmartre is just as great.
This is the Sacre' Coeur and it is magnificent. I don't think it's showing well in this picture from 1999 but that is a carousel in the bottom left of the picture. I went to Paris in January of 1999 with a group of travel agents and we climbed the steps here at the Sacre' Coeur and when I say climbed the steps, the steps were these twisting winding steps that were kind of scary. We went as far up as you could go. The Sacre' Coeur is in the Montmarte section of Paris and well worth the Metro trip there. This is the area where all the artists sell their wares and I have to say they are good. And the church itself is beyond beautiful.
Everyone knows what this is. It's the Museum de Louvre. Well worth the visit there to see the Mona Lisa and other famous works of art.
This is the equally magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral. That's me standing in the front of it. Do go and see this if you ever get to Paris.




Okay, where do I start with Paris? When I first became a travel agent in 1996, Paris was at the top of my list to go and see and I was so excited when the travel agency I worked for then sent me there in January of 1999. It was my very first time to Europe and it was so special to go there first. My sweetie and I went back a few months later in March and it was even more fun going with him. There are so many places to go and see in Paris. And as usual, I can't give as much space as I would like to for this city they call the City of Lights.


So here is a quick overview of the highlights when you go to Paris. The Arc de Triumph is really something to see and the cars going around it is another eye opener. The Scare' Coeur is probably one of my favorites. Gorgoeous views and beautiful church. The Notre Dame is just amazing. The Montmarte area of Paris is just plain fun. The Museum D'Orsay is another great museum. And while we are talking museums, don't forget the Louvre. Really there are many museums in Paris worth visiting and too many to mention in this post. One of my all time favorite places to go in Paris is the Sainte Chapelle. Go when the sun is shining to see the beautiful stain glass windows which shows the Bible from the Garden of Eden to the Apolcalyse. Prepare to be blown away by the beauty of it. I know I've just highlighted a few of what to see in Paris. Not to mention the outlying areas of the city. But Travel Tuesday is more about giving you the highlights. One of my favorite memories is just walking or taking the metro around the city and just discovering the different restaurants and outdoor cafes. The food is just amazing and you go from corner to corner just to compare sandwiches and pastries. I know people say the French have a problem with Americans but I never came in contact with that. My attitude when I visit another country is to respect their culture and heritage. Anyway, I would love to go back with my daughters and granddaughter Maddie and possibly more granddaughters some day. I think Paris would be an awesome girls trip. And Pippi, you can come too since I know you love Paris. Pippi (aka Allison) is my niece. Okay, we are going to hop on the fast train and go to London next week. Might as well stay across the pond and have some fun.

Please Stand By While We Fix Our Technical Difficulties

Okay the last two days have been plagued with techno issues around my house. First off our home phones are not working. So I called the telephone company from my cell phone and the girl says "let me check on that for you" and she comes back on the line and says "Yes I see there is something wrong with your line". HELLO?? Okay I say what can be done to fix it? So she tells me I need to go to the back of my house and open some box with a flat head screwdriver (a what?) and check it out there. And if that's not working they'll send a technician and charge me $30.00 something dollars to figure it out. So I go out back and the little box has a lock on it that looks about a hundred years old (slight exaggeration). So I have to call them back and have the techno guy come and fix it. Flat head screwdriver----hahahaha.....
And then I go to write some letters for work and my word is missing from my computer. Can't find it anywhere. I'm beginning to think it's me and not the machines. And then this morning I went to copy all of the names for the giveaway to put in a bowl and my printer decided it didn't want to print anything at all. So this is what I did. I wrote everyone's name down and put it in a bowl and picked from there. Sometimes the old fashion way still works the best. So I had my trusty friend, Mr. Gorilla do the picking of the name. I wanted Maddie(my granddaughter) to come over and do it but Mommy(my daughter who's pregnant) isn't feeling great this morning. So Mr. Gorilla who's the lucky winner? And the winner is: Maria from Me at this moment . Maria is a new blogging friend, she's a teacher from California who's studying for her Masters. Congrats Maria. It's been so much fun getting to know you and all of my blogging friends. Thanks again for being so welcoming and kind. Today on my giving thanks list, I am giving thanks for all of my blogging friends who I feel I have been blessed with. I'll be e-mailing you Maria. And now back to the techno problems that need to be taken care of. Flat head screwdriver................hahahaha...............

Too Much Fun This Weekend

So we had a BIG slumber party Friday night when Maddie spent the night with Grams and Gramps. We went downtown and then came home and watched the Wizard of Oz. She loved the Munchkins and Cowardly Lion the best . Hey what happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's. (I seen a little kid with a tee shirt that said that). I can't believe a 14 month old would be so into this show.

This is my youngest daughter, Christina and Maddie at Buca Di Beppo's on Saturday night. We went there to have dinner with my family. Have any of you been there before? The noise level is high and the food is family style. Which means loud and alot of food and it also means fun. We had a good time. Hope you all had a fun and safe weekend!

Ray of Sunshine Award

Karen from Karen Ramblings came over for a visit to tell me she had this award waiting for me at her site. She describes this award as blogs who are a ray of sunshine as you share God in your everyday lives, struggles, triumphs and joy and at other times flow with encouraging words through humor testimony and experience. Wow, that just describes about all of you that I have come in contact with. I also want to say please go visit Karen if you have never done so before. Her love for God shines through all over her blog and she has a really nice blog also. She likes to change her banner as much as I do. LOL Thank you so much Karen from me to you way over the big pond in New Zealand. Oh, and anyone who is on my blogroll, this award is for you.

Christmas Cookbook Giveaway

Don't forget about the Paula Deen's Christmas Cookbook that I'm giving away this coming Tuesday. Go here to leave a comment.

Weight Blues

Many of you know I've lost weight with Weight Watchers in the past year and a half but I've been struggling with my weight here since I came back from my Alaska cruise. It started on the cruise and I came home with a few extra pounds and have not been able to get them off. I have three mindsets when it comes to my weight. The first one is I just don't care and I'll sit down and eat a whole pint of United Dairy Farmers Cookie Dough ice cream or I'll go for the really hard stuff and eat a pint of Greater's Mocha Chocolate Chip or I'll hang out with my two good friends Ben and Jerry(you get the picture). I'm not there (yet). The second mode is being determine to take the weight off. I know what to do on Weight Watchers, I've done it before but 90% (maybe 100%) is in the mind, you have to want to do it. I'm not in that frame of mind right now but I want to so bad to be back there. And the third mindset is the maintaining part. I've been doing the maintaining longer then I was doing the losing and I know exactly what to do to maintain. So I've been in this maintaining mode with going over a little and I can see the scales sliding into the first mode if I'm not careful. And with the holidays coming, I'm afraid of going way off. Did anyone see the movie The Devil Wears Prada? There's a scene in the movie where one girl says to the Anne Hathaway character "I'm just one stomach flu away from my ideal weight." NOW I know that's not the way to lose weight but I did laugh at that line because I understand the mindset if I am being totally honest with you guys. So anyway here are my new jeans I want to wear for Christmas, just look at how pretty they are. They do fit me right now but I am not a tight jean person so I like them have a bit more room. I'm determine that these jeans will fit better by Christmas. Hey, it's as good of an incentive as anything else. Wish me luck. And with that whining done with, don't forget to go here and sign up for a chance to win Paula Deen's Christmas cookbook. I know there is something not quite right about giving away a Paula Deen cookbook and going on about my weight. But I'm not sure how many of you guys would want a Weight Watchers cookbook. Though they do have some great recipes in the Weight Watchers cookbook.

And just because I could not resist putting this picture up. Maddie has been making this funny face all the time, kind of like a frowning smiling face. It just cracks me up and she knows it so now she does it to make me laugh. She's coming to spend the night tonight and have a slumber party with Grams and Gramps. Hope you have a great weekend!

Giveaway

Hey Ya'all, look at what my BFF sent me and guess what? I have an extra one and it's signed by my BFF . We're really tight ya know? So I'm giving my extra one away, if anyone wants it just leave me a comment on this post and I'll pick a name on Tuesday, November 13th. I told you I love to collect cookbooks but I really am not the worlds greatest cook but I looked all through this book and it has some great recipes in it. I am using it for our Christmas Day open house because last year we had an Italian Christmas theme and this year we are having a Southern Christmas theme. I had wanted to do a giveaway for my 100th post but who would have thought I would have reached that number so fast. She not only has recipes in the book but stories from her favorite holidays. Now I have to figure out how to work that random.org or just pick names from a hat. LOL It's just a little thing because you all have become a part of my world and have been so kind. And don't forget to leave an e-mail address if I can't link back to you.