Finally a vacation! Long pause from the blog.....

It has been too long a pause from this blog.....not much going on....just day to day living and always longing for an escape and a continuation of our adventurous life in France! The time finally came when our friends in Paris decided to take a 3 week vacation to the French Alps and asked us if we wanted to enjoy Paris in their apartment in the Marais near the Place des Vosges. We were hesitant because we have been so careful about the COVID virus and had not even stayed away from Kerdruc for one night. The closer the time came, we decided to give it a try! What a fun time we had....the first 2 weeks, there were wonderful cool, cloudy days to enjoy being outdoors. The final 2 days there, it was above 85 degrees and very humid with hot sun all day! We were so lucky!!!!! We started out seeing the new things in Paris which our friends told us about. We visited the newly remodeled Sanmaritan Deparment Store; visited the finally opened Musee Carnovalet and visited the Hotel de la Marine; We shopped for shoes for Shirley (bought 2 pairs); walked half of the Promenade Plantee; shopped for the best boulangerie, found different grocery stores, and ate most of our meals in the apartment. We also ordered meals for delivery....found a Chipoltle which tasted very much like the US; African food; and Cuban food (which we shared with Victorine who now lives in Paris). Tom picked up a pastrami sandwich from a Schwartz's in the Marais near us and we got food to go from the taco storefront El Nopal which we found 3 years ago. We ate lunch at the MELT restaurant on their terrace ... the best BBQ brisket we had tasked in Europe!!!! Owned by a Texan. Visited the Victor Hugo museum and visited the Place des Vosges many times. We joined Benoit and Aude at the Egyptian area and had lovely French food finally! Bought chocolate from Alain Ducasse's factory and Fancoise Pralus for gifts. Shopped at the Bastille outdoor market Thursdays and Sundays for food and flowers. We decided not to take the Metro as it is too dangerous for many reasons and extended our bus passes which worked well, except we had to go to the Gare de Lyon twice to validate them. We used Uber and taxis. Just too much walking...more than one day over 6,000 steps! Watched the July 14th military parade on television and saw the airplanes fly over our heads at the apartment. Also while we were in Paris, we heard of the death of my sister-in-law Michelle of cancer. She is now free of pain. My brother will have a long recovery and a very long adjustment. We feel very sad that we could not have been there and we will miss her so very much! So, no broken bones this trip (formerly broken femur & nose). I was amazed I was able to walk so much as my ankle is still healing and my knee replacement is gradually needing a renewal.....We survived our vacation and looking back, we really did have a wonderful time! Photos: BBQ; Heart at perfume store; Promenade; Musee Marine; Victor Hugo; Caire Passage; pretty street; chocolate factory; tacos