Travel With Betsy

My last day in Paris was saved for my “splurge” meal of the trip. I made a reservation at Benoit, an Alain Ducasse bistrot near the Louvre. I wanted to have a really good meal by a famous French chef but didn’t want to break the bank. My friend Linda, who lived in Paris for 2 years, recommended this busy little bistrot. My hat’s off to her!

As some of you know, I like to cook and have fancied myself to be somewhat of an expert on French cooking. Well, at least knowledgeable. A number of years ago, I started to make my way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” cookbook like the woman who wrote Julie and Julia. I didn’t get nearly as far through the book as Julie did. But, I did make an effort and learned many of the basic French techniques that are used in almost every type of cooking. I also learned the names for a lot of the French foods, which I have to say, has helped me immensely with the menus in France. Very few surprises so far, for which I am grateful.

Anyway, the meal at Benoit was spectacular. We started with a small plate of pate choix (small puff pastries) as a teaser while I was deciding on my meal. I opted for the price fixed lunch menu because it is the best deal….very important… But, it’s also the best way to get a taste of a variety of menu items. For the appetizer, I chose the lentil soup with fois gras and creme fraiche. I love fois gras, even though I also know how this is obtained. There are varying schools of thought on whether the force feeding of fowl is humane or not. I choose to think they like overeating like most Americans do, and so, are OK with this. It helps me to justify this small pleasure.

My main course was a beef pot roast of a type that was melt in your mouth tender. For dessert, I had a savarain, pieces of pound cake that were absolutely drenched in Armengac and whipped cream. The waiter was steering me away from this dessert. I assume he thought I could not eat such a large portion or handle the Armengac. He doesn’t know me. I may be small, but I can be a pretty hearty eater. Mike tells me this all the time when I say I can’t eat the volume of some meal or another. “I know you.”, he says. Humph! He’s usually right..but not in this case. I could only get about 1/2 way through before I thought my stomach would burst open and they would have to take me to the French hospital. To top it off, about mid-way through the dessert, the waiter brought me some small samples of cookies to try, as is often done at the end of a fancy meal …a Madeleine, chocolates and some other type of cookie that I couldn’t identify. I took a small bite of each so as not to offend. But, really who can eat all of that?!

I also decided that I would splurge and have a very nice glass of wine and so opted for a Pessac Leognan from Bordeaux. This was the perfect match for the beef dish that I had. It also impressed the sommelier and the waiter. It was not, however, the best deal. Oh well, you only go around once!

The bistro itself was very cute and not pretentious, as some up scale restaurants can be. Don’t get me wrong, the service was very nice and very formal. But, the atmosphere allowed you to relax and enjoy the meal. The seats were also very tight. I was sitting almost in the lap of a man who was part of a young couple. Very friendly. They also chose the price fixed luncheon menu. When their food came out, they took a photo of each course. So, I did the same thing with mine…..fun times! We had a nice discussion about the beautiful presentation of the food. The main course for the man was a sausage pudding that had julienned apple strips piled decoratively on the top. it was a work of art…..really. These French love a nice presentation.

All in all, the meal was just spectacular…and filling. I went out happy and fat, deciding that more than anything I needed to go to bathroom and then to walk.

I finished my day walking through the Latin quarter, which is where all of the universities are. As you might guess, the atmosphere is pretty lively here with all of the students hanging around. I admired the Pantheon, Sorbonne, and the Jardin du Luxembourg as I strolled along. I had visited these places on previous visits in the spring and summer seasons. It was quite a different picture doing this in the winter. The Jardin (garden) was particularly different without the greenery that makes it a lush garden. There is a pond in the middle of the garden where young children sail toy boats in the summertime. There were no boats now, only birds skimming across the top of the pond hoping for some bread crumbs from the children that were playing near the pond. This is such a peaceful place even in the winter. If it were even a little warmer I would have spent some more time here with a book or my journal. A great place for quiet thoughts.

Tomorrow I leave for Arles in the Provence area. I’m looking forward to a smaller town and exploring some new territory…… But, I’ll always have Paris and will look forward to my next visit.

I have walked about 100 miles in the last 2 days here in Paris…in the freezing cold. I’m loving it, but I think I should get some kind of a hardship medal. Yesterday was by far the coldest day I had here….just brutal. I don’t know what the temperature was, but the wind chill off of the Seine made it feel like about 30 below 0. It makes me remember one of the reasons we left the east coast. It’s warm and sunny in California! If we ever go back to the east coast, I’m not sure I will be able to acclimate again.

Anyway, yesterday I decided that I would walk to the Gare de Lyon to get my train ticket to Arles. This is not something that I had prearranged, and I have spent some time over the last few days wondering whether I should get a ticket now or just show up at the train station on Sunday. Then, I realized that I didn’t know the times of the trains. So, off I went.

I do know some French, but I didn’t brush up before I left for the trip, which in this case proved to be a mistake. I sometimes try brush up a bit because it’s helpful to be able to communicate some basic words like ticket, days of the week, numbers, etc. Actually, I know all of these things even without a tutorial, but under pressure how can one remember! After 2 stops at the wrong place for ticket purchase, I met an elderly man from the UK in line. He was traveling alone and trying to get to Montreaux (I think…can’t understand the British version of english either, as it turns out.) He was on holiday and thought I might be able to help him with his ticket purchase….blind leading the blind. But, between the 2 of us, we both managed to get our tickets. I think mine is for the right days and locations. The ticket sales person had very limited English, and we just discussed my expertise with French. Finally, he got a pad of paper out and I wrote down what I needed. Even with that, he still almost issued me a ticket coming back from the wrong location. He was very nice and we had a good laugh about it. With the numbers of Americans traveling to Europe, I am always amazed at the lack of English speaking ticket sales people. Some of them aren’t very nice, either. But, this guy was great!

After I got my ticket, I went back out into the sub-zero weather to do some walking. Actually, my plan was to go to the Picasso Museum. Because, even for me, fun seeker that I am, I really couldn’t see how freezing to death would enhance my experience of Paris. So, I started out in the direction of the museum. It’s one of my favorites in Paris, and I was looking forward to visiting again.

On my way, I passed the Bastille monument…very impressive. This is the site where, in 1789, a mob of people attacked the Bastille and sparked the French revolution. The revolt is a symbol for change for the French and the monument is a visible testament to this.

The Place de Vosges was on the way, so I decided to stop in there to take a look. This site was the location of a future home for King Henry IV. Sadly he was assassinated and his wife had the home torn down. It is a square of connected red brick houses. The “Place” now houses a series of cafes and trendy artist studios. I took a picture of a painting that I saw there. It appeared to be a depiction of the French vision of the United States. It included the Golden Arches, Route 66, a drive-in sign, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts and a variety of other American icons. An Anerican ossis in the middle of Paris.

Now, my feet were really getting cold and numb. So, I decided I’d better move on and get involved in an inside activity. So, I forged on to the Picasso Museum only to find that it is under renovation and was closed. How disappointing for me and my cold feet!

The Picasso Museum is located in the Marais district. This area is an interesting mix of old architecture and new capitalism, but done in a very nice way. The buildings here are very old and the streets are narrow and maze-like. Were it warm, one could spend days wondering around on the cobblestone streets, exploring the area. It’s filled with cafes and small, very fashionable clothing stores, and unique boutiques. I decided in the short term to step into some of the stores so that I could warm my feet and plan my next move.

I decided to move on to Rue de Rossiers, the Jewish section of the city. I remembered a small falafel stand called La Du Falafel that Mike and I had visited a number of years ago. I could get lunch there and again, warm my feet. This was not an original idea, as there was a line out the door. I guess everyone’s feet were cold. So, I opted to step into one of the Delis instead and have a pastry…..much better than the falafel. It was late afternoon on Friday and as I was finishing up my lemon tart, 2 young Jewish men came in to sing Shabat Shalom with the staff and patrons. Time to move on, as I really can’t add anything to the mix on this one.

I made my way back to the hotel and did some window shopping and stepped into some of the more interesting shops as I went. I viewed a wide array of goods in all different styles. That’s one of the things I love about Paris. It’s so eclectic. If you can’t find it Paris, it’s not available.

You gotta love Paris!

Today was the day for touring the Loire area, specifically Sancere and Pouilly Fume (not Fuisse as I said on my face book page….OOPS!) We also visited a winery at the very top of Burgandy. What a fun…and long…day!

I met Jean Bernard (JB), tour guide, and 4 fellow wine tasters from Boston at the appointed location this morning at 7:15 am. I was up at 5:45 am getting ready for this little venture. Am I on vacation or getting ready for work!? I’m a pretty early riser, but this is early, even for me, particularly when I am on vacation!

I have to say that I had some trepidation about taking this tour. First of all, it was expensive, which goes against the rule of getting the best “deal”. I contemplated this over the last 2 weeks or so and finally decided that I would make the investment. I may never get a chance to do this again…you never know. However, when I got up this morning, I was still deciding. I found this tour on the internet. It got good reviews on Trip Advisor, which is one of my main websites for travel information. But, still….I wondered, who was this Jean Bernard. For all I knew, he was some kind of serial killer. I realize that this is very irrational, but when traveling alone, I become hyper vigilant. Thus, I wondered if this is a good idea….getting into a car with a man that I didn’t know who would take me away from Paris for the day to a place I don’t know. What if something happened to me? How would anyone know where I was? But, I forged ahead and decided that this would either be the worst day or my life of the best. As I climbed into the van, I was relieved that there were 3 other people coming too, and they were all women. I found comfort in that. I’m glad I took that chance. I would count this as one of the highlights of the trip. What a great time! (By the way, as I got to know the women from Boston, one of them pulled me aside and said that she had also given the serial killer issue some thought. This made me feel better about things. I think we all watch too many Law and Order SVU shows!!

JB was a delight. I guess because I was alone, JB asked if I would like to sit in the front of the van with him. This is the best spot, so, of course, I said yes. His warning was that if I was in the front, I would not be able to sleep on the 1+ hour drive out of Paris to the wine area. I would have to talk to him. For those of you that know me, this is the best of all worlds. I love to chat!

I learned about JB’s family, children and wife and how he came to be doing wine tours. I also learned about how difficult it is to run a business such as this one. JB shared some information about his business struggles as well as some personal struggles. It makes you realize that people are the same everywhere. Everyone has ups and downs in life. I was impressed with JB’s resilience and ability to adjust.

JB learned about my interest in wine and my work at Adelaida Cellars in Paso. We talked a lot about wine and how the wine industry differs in France from the United States. The French have a very negative impression of the industry in the United States. There are so many rules in France about how the grapes need to grow, which grapes can be used in wines that are labeled by area, the rules around manipulating the juice to get the desired flavor, and the marketing of wines. There are many differences, which doesn’t make either way bad….just different…in my opinion. Anyway, I found this banter very interesting and entertaining. I also really enjoyed getting to know JB. As you may know, I have a real interest in people and getting to know them. He has a great story.

First, we visited a goat farm in Chavignol where they were actually making cheese in a very small, family run processing area. The cheeses from this area are in the top 3 that are well-known and respected. Here’s a fun fact for you…there are over 400 cheeses in France. I’m amazed that they can get so many different iterations of what is essentially the same process. Remarkable!.

As in the wine industry, the cheese industry in France also has a lot of regulation. In order to say that the cheese is a Chavignol, the people who make it must follow every rule. If they do this, they are given a stamp of approval from the government saying that they can use the name. Otherwise, the cheese is just goat cheese. We spent a lot of time here looking at the small operation and tasting the cheese. We also met the goats that contributed the milk so that we could have the yummy cheese! The cheese tasting was a real hardship for the 4 of us who were tasting. None of us likes cheese. HA HA! We all, of course bought some. I’m hoping I will be able to get it home in my suitcase. We’ll see.

We stopped at 2 wineries and the Sancerre Museum, where we learned about the wine region, the soils, the grapes, etc. About 70% of the wines in the area are Sauvignon Blanc and the rest is Pinot Noir. We tried some of each. At each winery, JB let them know that I work in a tasting room in California. Of course, that garnered some extra attention, which was fun. At the second winery, we did barrel tasting of every 2012 wine they had, which was also a lot of fun. (I say barrel tasting, but most of the wine was in stainless steel. So, we were really tasting from the stainless containers. Still fun!) The wine maker was interested in what kinds of wine were made where I work. We talked about this as we went. This winery was actually, technically, in the Burgandy area, although it right next to Sancerre. We had some very nice Pinots there….light and spicy. We also had a very nice pinot rose. The wine maker wanted to know if we make rose in California. So funny!!

Of course all 4 of us bought wine. I have 2 bottles…the Boston ladies had a lot more. I am hoping to bring at least one of the bottles back in my suitcase. We’ll see on that one, too.

Here’s where the rubber hits the road in terms of connections. As we were driving through Sancerre, JB saw the mayor of the town, whom he knows. He pulled over to introduce me to the mayor, since I have experience in the wine industry. The mayor was happy to meet me. How’s that for meeting and greeting in France?!

Anyway, around 5:00 pm we started to head back. What a fun day! If anyone is in Paris and wants to do some tasting, I would highly recommend this tour. Let me know if you want the contact information.

So, I made it back to my hotel at about 7:30 pm unscathed. In addition to having some yummy cheese and wine to bring home, I now have a new friend in France and 3 new friends in Boston. I love it!

There is an up side and a down side to visiting Paris in January. The down side is it’s just plain cold and sometimes drizzly and dark. The upside is that there are no crowds and you can walk, look, eat and drink unencumbered by a bunch of tourists who don’t know what they are doing. I had the most amazing day.

first, let me say that the Frye boots that I purchased last year at Christmas are not warm or waterproof. I gave them the test yesterday. They didn’t pass. As much as I love them, I considered buying a new pair today that are rubber on the top and bottom are fur lined so that I could keep my feet dry and warm while I am here in France. I looked in every shoe store in Paris (and believe me there are many) and decided that since I live in the central coast of California where it doesn’t typically snow, I would not be able to amortize the cost of the boots….you know, it’d the deal thing again. Also, I did a purchase like this once before when I visited Zermatt, Switzerland. $350.00 later, I had the warmest and most waterproof boots that money could buy. I still have the boots, at home of course, I just couldn’t justify another pair. So, I started our this morning with my bright white gym shoes. I wore 2 pairs of socks with them and can happily report that while I was spotted as an American tourist and a geek, my feet were dry and warm all day and did not feel like ice cubes like they did yesterday at this time. I am grateful.

I got a bit of a late start this morning…woke up at about 8:30. My cocoon room at the top of this hotel is so cozy, I had a very hard time waking up. By the time I was up and moving, had breakfast, etc. if twas about 10:45. Way too late for a full day in Paris. But, I’m not on a schedule this time, so I just relaxed into the day at a leisurely pace.

I walked all over Paris. I did some window shopping for the above mentioned boots and whatever else was available as I walked along the Rue de Rivoli, the main drag in Paris. This is where the Louvre, the Tuilleries, garden, and the L’Orangerie museum are located. The streets are lined with stores, cafes, restaurants and museums. Lots to do and see here. I passed by, but did not stop in Angelina’s Cafe, where they have the best hot chocolate and pastries in Paris. I wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to spend the time, but it was tempting to say the least. I did manage to have a chocolate crepe as I walked along….so good.

Anyway, my main goal was to get to the L’Orangerie Museum and spend some time with Monet and his water lilies. So, I headed in that general direction. I wasn’t sorry. This is my absolute favorite museum in Paris. There are 2 rooms that are dedicated to life-size Monet paintings, in the round, depicting the water lilies that you see when you visit Monet’s home in Giverny. These are my very favorite paintings. When you see them in this way, it’s like you are at Giverny communing with nature. This is my second time here. My first visit was with Mike right after we had seen Giverny. I will always remeber this when I sit in the L’Orangerie and view these works. There are 2 rooms that are set up in this way with the lilies in the round. I spent a lot of time moving from room to room just looking at them. They are spectacular and very moving. Besides this display, the museum is well worth a visit if you happen to be in Paris anytime. INcluded in their collection are a few Renoirs, Cezannes, Gaughins, Matisses and Picassos. But, the highlight is definitely the Monets in the round.

After that experience, I walked over to the Rue Cler area, near the Eiffel Tower. I have never visited this area, but have wanted to explore here. We use the Rick Steves tour books as a rule and he loves this area. I do too. Rue Cler is a street where there are no cars. But, there are lots of fun food markets, cafes and stores to look at. I think this would be an interesting area to stay when next in Paris. Again, there is no shortage of patisseries (bakeries) and fromagneries (cheese shops) in this area. A great place to put together a picnic to eat as you walk. I stopped for a Cafw au Lait here and then walked back to the hotel.

I went through the St. Germain de Pres area. This is the area where Hemingway and his contemporaries hung out in their day. I passed the Cafe Flores and Le Deux Magots. These were Hemingways main places to get a meal and a drink now and then.

I finally made it back to the hotel at about 5:30. I bought a baguette along the way for a snack and contemplated where I should have dinner. I chose a small restaurant with an “early bird special” type meal. An appetizer and main course for a nominal fee. Sadly, I counterbalanced this with 2 glasses of St. Emillon wine from Bordeaux which cost me almost as much as the meal. As I review the meal in total, I think that Gene would be very disappointed that I spent this kind of money on wine. But, it was really good…..and worth it!

Tomorrow I am going on a day long wine tour into the eastern part of the Loire Valley ane the northern part of Burgandy. It took me awhile to decide on this one. I coucln’t figure out how they could cover so much ground in one day.. But, we are leaving at 7:30 am and getting back to our hotel at 7:30 pm. So, I’m guessing that’s how it’s done With a long day.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow! Until then….

I was the first to leave the group of travelers on Monday to head for Paris. Gene, Carrie and Mike will all leave on Tuesday to go their respective ways. It was a great time with everyone. Gene and Carrie are great travelers and a lot of fun to be with, if anyone is interested in hooking up with them for another trip. And, of course, Mike is the lead traveler. We decided that he is the common thread among us. None of us in this group had ever traveled until we met Mike. What a great thread to weave.

As for Miami, Mike and I agreed that we could come back here for a long weekend type vacation again…minus the large Mojitos. Not only is it a clean beach with great accommodations, it is also packed with really interesting food options, which is the second most important thing after getting a great deal. As I mentioned, we stayed in a hotel on Ocean Avenue where there were lots of fun (and expensive) restaurants. But, one and two blocks back from the ocean, there were lots of inexpensive (relatively speaking) ethnic restaurants that had some pretty tasty food. The Cuban and South American food that we had on the first two days was very nice. But, on Monday, we had the best ethnic food, in my estimation. We ate at a small French bistro owned by a young french man. The meal was a perfect send off for me as I headed for Paris. We had escargot, onion soup, a warm oat cheese salad and a nutella crepe. YUMMY! On my way out, I mentioned to the owner that I was on my way to Paris and then on to Arles, which seemed to make him happy and certainly garnered a lot of attention from his staff and the other customers there.

As it turns out, I am glad to have had the nice lunch. My flight was delayed for 2 hours out of Miami. And, of course, we all know the delightful quality of the airline food. I had the cheese pasta surprise….a real treat….NOT!! I’m wondering if Chef Boyardee has the food contract for the airlines these days. It was about the same quality. They did give me a free coffee with Baileys for my inconvenience in waiting to board the flight. That was nice.

Anyway, I arrived in Paris finally and checked into my hotel after being ripped off on cab fair, which kind of ticked me off. Oh well…

I chose to stay at a small hotel in the Isle St. Louis area, which is near Notre Dame. There are shops and small bistros lining the streets right out of my hotel making it easy to get a quick meal. Directly across the street from the hotel is a fromagerie (cheese shop)…my favorite. I can’t get enough of the French cheese. I can hear my arteries screaming every time I take a bite. But, I continue to do this anyway. After all, I am in the land of cheese. There is also a wine purveyor on my street. I have already made friends with the proprietor and purchased a very nice bottle of 2009 bordeaux, which I am sipping on as I write this. I don’t ever need to leave this street. It has everything.

My room here is very cute. It’s tiny…again, the size of a postage stamp. I am on the very top floor that is reached by riding in an elevator that barely fit me, my suitcase and the porter, and then by walking up a set of winding, narrow stairs. I’m not sure how one exits this room in an emergency. I guess I’d better investigate that and form an escape plan. I can’t see how I would ever get out of here if there was a problem. Just a small problem.

The room itself has an exposed beam ceiling and fits into one of the corners of the building. Right next to the bed is a tiny sitting area in case I get tired of sitting on the bed. I’m always amazed at how they can make these small spaces work. It’s a miracle. In this case, it’s almost like being in the loft of a ski chalet. I feel like I am in a cocoon….and, since I am on the top floor, it is very warm…heat rises, I hear. All in all, I think I will be very happy here for the next few days.

I did leave the street and my cozy room to do a little sightseeing this afternoon. I walked over to Notre Dame and then to Sainte Chappelle. I have not been to Notre Dame since my first visit to Paris in the 90’s. It’s still the same. The building is huge and very impressive and the stained glass windows are beautiful. It’s also very commercialized, which I don’t love. If you want to see some stained glass windows and less commercialization, though, Sainte Chappelle is the place to be. The whole chapel is one big stained glass window. I have never seen anything like this. I have been here 3 times and I never get tired of viewing the windows. They are incredible.

Sainte Chappelle is part of the Palace of Justice. The chapel has 1,113 religious scenes depicted in the 15 stained glass windows that make up the building. They tell the story of mankind from Genesis to Christ’s resurrection. Some of the window series read left to right and some from the bottom upwards. If you take the time and look carefully, you can actually follow the stories. I have toured many cathedrals and churches in Europe and this is usually how it works with the windows. But, I still find it fascinating. The stained glass windows are how the religious teachings were communicated to the masses back in the day because of poor literacy levels of the common folk.

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped to have a double hot chocolate as it is freezing here and I needed to thaw out my toes that were like blocks of ice. There is snow on the ground and it was drizzling all day, the only downside to Paris in the winter. Oh well, the cheese and the wine make up for it.

I am going to call it a night at 7:15 pm. I am jet lagged and full of cheese and wine….a perfect combination for sleeping. Tomorrow, I plan to do some museum hopping. It’s a good time to be inside where it’s warm and dry.

Sweet dreams!

Well, so much has happened since I last connected. We are now in Miami staying in South Beach. This s happening place! So far, we have experienced “Art Deco” weekend, had a very large Mojito and visited Mt. Sinai hospital…in that order.

Our last stop on the cruise was in Cartegena, Columbia, which we all enjoyed. Even though it is known for its association with Columbian drug lords, it was very enjoyable. And, we discovered, one doesn’t need to participate in the drug part in order to have a good time. Imagine that! We shared a taxi into the old part of town with some of Gene’s buddies from exercise class.

The town is very European looking with lots of Spanish influence. There were small winding, cobbled streets that were great for walking. They were lined with shops…..Mike’s favorite….walking and shopping.. (We did manage to get him off the ship for a quick look.)

Mike and I lost the rest of the group early on as we were engrossed in looking at Columbian emeralds, apparently one of the main products of Columbia. Who knew?! There were emeralds everywhere…and, there were also people selling random things on the street. Mike made the mistake of stopping to view some sunglasses that one of the street vendors was selling. I need to hire this guy for a sales position! His persistence was admirable! He followed Mike all over town with his wares trying to get him to buy the glasses. The vendor started his negotiation at about $35.00. At the end of our time in town, he was down to $7.00. I offered $5.00 and was turned down. Vendor loses. Too bad!

The last days of the cruise were sea days, which we all enjoyed. Again, lots of sleeping and eating. But, we were glad to get to solid ground. We got off the ship in Fort Lauderdale, but were going to Miami and, of course, we didn’t have prearranged transportation. Using my new negotiation skills, I was able to get us a van ride to Miami for $20.00 per person. Not bad, considering it was a 30 minute drive.

We are staying at the Beacon Hotel in the south beach area of Miami and are right on the beach. Neat! What a cool hotel! It is done in the style of art deco, which is the case with all of the hotels in this section of Miami beach. Lots of neon is used to illuminate the hotels at night, which is really impressive and very retro looking. The street is lined with hotels and fun restaurants, and we can walk out of our hotel and step right into a place to eat or drink whenever we want to. We love this!

We happened to luck into staying here during a fun Art Deco festival. There were vendors set up right along our street. You can find anything here from Jewelry to furniture. There was also a parade of classic cars, which was of particular interest to Mike.

On our first night, we were right in the swing of things and decided we would have a drink at one of the fun bars. We happened into a place that was run by someone calling himself Chef Boyaredee. You may remember the name from the canned spaghetti and other Italian delicacies that are found on supermarket shelves everywhere. This should have been our first sign. He talked Gene, Mike and I into each having a giant mango Mojito, Apparently, the “chef” grows the mangoes right in his own back yard. Who could turn this down!? The drink was the size of the Atlantic Ocean. It had to be the equivalent of 6 alcoholic drinks. WOW!

Now, you would think that we would recognize the down side to finishing the Mojito and quit drinking before a real problem could occur. But, in our zest to minimize waste, we managed to down all 3 of those drinks. Gene and Mike had the lion’s share. After we paid our million dollar bill, we made our way back to the hotel and went to bed.

About 2:00 am, Mike woke up with a malady. I would give you some details on this, but I gave my word that I would not go into detail. We were up all night researching home remedies for this issue on the internet with no success. At 8:30, I insisted that we make a trip to the Miami emergency room. This, of course, met with much resistance. I don’t understand why men have such an issue taking care of health problems. Silly!!

But, finally, I convinced Mike that we needed to go. So, I went to the front desk to get help with a taxi to take us to the hospital. On my way back to the room, I met Gene’s daughter in the hallway. She had been out running. She looked at me and said, “I think Gene’s in the hospital. I have a note.” We discovered after some discussion that both of the boys were having the same problem. So, the 3 of us piled into the taxi and made the trek to the hospital to check on Gene and get help for Mike. What a morning!

I’m glad to say that the men are doing fine. Gene took the biggest hit. Let’s just say that he will be taking a souvenir of the hospital home with him on Tuesday and is moving a bit slow. We have all vowed not to have copious amounts of alcohol again. It’s just not worth it.

After our hospital ordeal, we realized it was going to be a drizzly day in Miami…no beach time. So, Carrie and I treated ourselves to a fun movie. We figured we deserved a treat for our hard work and support of the troops. We saw Argo, which I highly recommend….very well done.

We do love Miami, though. Today, we were able to get on the beach and it is absolutely pristine and gorgeous. Carrie spent some quality time there today with the sun and was very happy with this. We have also found some very interesting food. We had Cuban food last night at a place called Puerta Sagua and South American food today at a restaurant called Bolivar. We went twice, it was so good. YUM!

Tomorrow I will leave for Paris. Mike, Gene and Carrie will leave on Tuesday. We will fondly remember our time here in Miami, hospital and all.