Category: Travel

One week.  Bang!  It’s over.  The speed at which a week goes is why Konnie and I try to take three week trips when traveling this far.  But since the time available is merely Isabelle’s spring break, we do the best we can.  I think we hit the highlights except for Saint-Chapelle which continues its…

Finally two places with no line to get in.  We started our heavily overcast, snow spitting day walking to the Arc de Triomphe and were able to go right up.  The weather was acceptable and we could see Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower so the visibility was adequate if very drab.  After picking up our…

On Wednesday we managed the Metro system and headed to Montmartre.  Montmartre is highest point in the city with great views and historically has been the home of artists, writers and poets.  It remains a major tourist destination with its street artists, shops, restaurants and the beautiful Sacré-Coeur church.  Unfortunately Sacré-Coeur is among the growing…

Today we headed for the Musée ď Orsay which has always been one of my favorite spots here.  Not too big, great impressionist collection and a beautiful building (an old train station).  But holy mackerel.  I don’t know whether to skip spring break or Easter week travel in the future.  There were way too many…

About a week before we left Denver, i.e. mid-March, I attempted to purchase advance tickets to visit the Eiffel Tower.  There were no tickets for March and but a few for April.  I reviewed various tour company packages, finding no March tickets.  Finally I found tickets for Sunday afternoon for a three hour walking tour…

We’ve headed to Paris for the fourth annual Isabelle version of the “I Never Knew My Grandfathers So I’m Taking My Grandchildren Anywhere I Can While They’ll Still Go With Me” tour.  The first three years with Isabelle were to NYC, London and Madrid. Our trip over went smoothly as in no missed connection and…

We’ve finished our four week stay at Casa Playa Bonita in Playa Flamingo Costa Rica and are back in Denver for more winter. One thing we learned on this trip is that if you want to be assured hot weather in the winter, go way south where it is actually summer. In this case we…

Our next adventure returned Benjamin and me along with our new adventurers, Dave and Lisa Wangsness, to Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja but to the Santa Maria station rather than the Las Pailas station where we hiked earlier.  Santa Maria is more remote taking nearly an hour to go the final 15 miles resulting…

On February 5th we headed to Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja Las Pailas ranger station.  It is about a two hour drive from Flamingo Beach.  The jungle hike was gorgeous with wonderful vegatation, streams, falls, and a swinging bridge made of rebar, wire and fence material.  We saw a beautiful Toucan that did not…

Well, it has been nearly a week since my only post from Costa Rica.  That’s because our guests of this past week have not been able to pull themselves away from the pool or ocean which are equally accessible from this house.  It is a very special location so we understand. Our new restaurant for…