Bon jour, rather bon nuit.
We are back in France, Paris to be exact, and it feels sooooo good!!!
We left Cortona around noon, changed trains at Florence, and arrived in Milan about 4 in the afternoon. Our hotel, Hotel Berna, is a short walk from Milano Centrale (the train station). After we freshened up, we walked about a mile to the downtown center to see La Scala and the magnificent Duomo. The city's Christmas decorations are beautiful, and the Galleria, a partially enclosed shopping area, is lit with blue and silver lights. It was an evening with a surprise treat -- an open-air, free concert by Natalie Cole in the Piazza of Milan's incredible Gothic Duomo. If we had tried to plan the evening like this, we couldn't have done!!
This morning we left Milan around 8, the train scheduled to arrive in Paris at 3:15. Since it was our train, there had to some hitches. First the border police between Italy and France conducted a thorough search of passports, eventually taking in 3 people who were illegally on the train. Then, the engineer announced that we had to change trains on Lyon as the one we were on had faulty wheels that didn't allow it to go TGV speed. So change trains we all did -- at this point most of us in the car knew each other (given the incident with the border police, a 7-hour train ride, and a broken-down train). Despite the mix of French, Italian, and English languages we all spoke, we all helped each other with luggage and baby/toddler watching (several families on the train).
At 4:15, we arrived at Gare de Lyon station and caught a taxi to our apartment that borders the Marais / Les Halles-Beaubourg areas, just north of Notre Dame. The apartment is small, but charming with a fireplace. Mussels for dinner tonight at Leon de Bruxelles in Place de la Republic.
Tomorrow -- the market for food, some Santa errands, the Picasso museum. Ahhh, France! It feels wonderful to be back.
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