Who's who in "Our Paris"?

[ladyjicky]

I really enjoy this site and had to join. I live in Australia and I have travelled to Paris 4 times . I am 51 years old and married with one adult daughter. I hope to go to Paris next year but that will depend on my health as I have a heart/lung problem and the long flight is not easy on me but I will do anything to get to Paris!!! I really envy you lot in Britian! LOL just a train ride away ! I have travelled to Mexico, Europe and Asia but its Paris that I love. I have one spoilt dog called Oscar who is on my avator . He is 12 years old and a pug x maltese. My husband and I love to garden and that is the reason I got him to go to Paris - the gardens! We love the Bagatelle for the roses and iris. I have about 60 rose bushes in my garden and as its spring here they will soon be out. I paint with pastels and love to go to class. I have very basic french and was thrown out of french class by a nasty teacher who said as her passing gift "You are so poor at french - go to library and study - you will never need to know it!" Well, I have used that little knowledge to get around France a few times! Ha! Even had a lady in Angelina Tearooms say my french was not bad! Oh, I am Ladyjicky as I did have a pekingese who lived for 17 years and died a couple of years ago - well her name was Lulu and we would call her Lady lulu but I can never grab it - lulu is always taken so I put in a favourite Guerlain perfume of mine called Jicky - I now get in the sites on that name and its means something special to me. We had Lulu for 17 yrs! As you can tell, I love dogs and so do the french! LOL

[kurgy]

Hi, I live in sydney and as some of you noted turned 34 today. I am an anaesthetic/anesthesiology registrar/resident and have another 2 years of training to go before I finally reclaim my life! I have final exams in april next year that i should really be studying for instead of reading the fun things on this forum. I met my husband (of 3 years) in medical school and he is currently training in urology. There was a urology conference in paris a couple of months ago which is what brought us to Paris, we had already arranged to go on holidays to prague/budapest and then found out about this conference so I jumped at the chance to go back to paris, extending our holiday to 3 weeks with 9 glorious days in paris.

I have been a francophile since i was in grade 6. we had a project where we had to write a biography of an imaginary person and i made myself a french girl. I did french in high school for 6 years and I was quite good, but since I never used it, I lost it. I can read most things and understand what people say, but cannot have any meaningful conversations. I first made it to Paris in 1997, then 2000. In 2000 I spent 8 weeks in Paris doing my final year elective in an Orthopaedic Hospital, the Clinique Nollet in the 9th I think. My dad's cousin married a frenchman, so I stayed in their apartment in the 16th and visited them on weekends in savignies where they lived (20min from Beauvais). It was one of the most memorable times of my life. They lived in a 16th century hunting lodge next to a chestnut forest. I got to experience city living and country living. Unfortunately, they are now divorced.

This years trip to paris is by far the best as I got to share it with my wonderful husband. He loved it, and I am so happy about this. He is even contemplating doing a 6 month unpaid fellowship there a few years down the track, which would fulfill my dream of living there, and hopefully speaking fluent french! We will have no income, but it will be worth it!

Work takes up about 90% of my life at the moment, and its a bit stressful. I attended a cardiac arrest on saturday at the hospital, and we lost him after 55min of CPR and some slick work by the interventional cardiologist...he was only 56, I cried before i fell asleep that night. It still affects me.

I love this forum as everyone seems to be quite friendly and I love to hear about everyone's experiences. Its also a great escape, allows me to day dream and plan my next trip....whenever that may be.

please cross your fingers for me so i can pass my final exam in april! no holidays for me next year as I am using all my leave for study....!

[suzanne]

Hi guys,

I thought I would read everyone's posts first before posting my own. I have done my best at getting to them all and each has been well worth reading.

I live in Southern California (Orange County). I am 54 years old and married for more than 31 years. We have three lovely (at the moment) children. My younest just brought me a Taco from Jack in the Box. How bad can he be ? Considering I've been on the Nutri system diet for 3 weeks I scarved it right down and am now enjoying a glass of red wine. I have worked for many years as a manger in a large dental clinic. The job's ok but I don't get much time off, so we have to make the most of our travel time. I spent lots of time with my gradndmother in Missouri. She was crazy about New Orleans, so maybe that is why I seem to be crazy about Paris.

Our first trip to Paris was with an organized tour. We did not have the best time and both got terrible colds. We had no plans to return.

A few years later I was reading the sunday Times and noticed an ad that offered 5 nights hotel and airfare for something like $700.00 each. We had a trip to Vegas in the works and I commented that it would be more economical to go to Paris. The rest they say, is history.

We got into the habit of going to paris over Thanksgiving (to save time off work) and this is the first year we didn't plan our annual Thanksgiving trip. thought we owed the kids a home cooked dinner.

So despite the terrible exchane rate and the horrible airfares we are working on going in January. We really need our Paris fix.

Thank you to all of you for being such a warm welcoming group as well as very informed.

[kebabs]

Having just returned to this forum after an inexcusable absence, I feel I should tell all.

I live just outside Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. I'm 54 and have been married for 35 years - and they said it wouldn't last! I have two sons (31 and 29) and four grandchildren. My user name is the same as the one I use on 'the other' forum and is made up of hubby's and my first names (well bits of).

First went to Paris on a cheap and awful weekend in 1981. Travelled all night, arrived in wet windy cold weather, absolutely shattered. In 3 days we saw the usual sights and vowed to go back to visit them properly. Started taking family holidays to France in 1983 and have been doing so ever since - minus the children for the last 13 years. I really have lost count of the number of trips we have made, but it's well over 40. We are so lucky living here as we have ferries to Le Havre and Caen, just 20 minutes drive away. Have travelled extensively in the US and Europe and had one amazing trip to New Zealand. However Paris remains our favourite city on the planet and we are currently planning our next trip (December 9th for 4 day break).

Thanks to everyone on this forum for your amazing posts. I thought I knew Paris well, but am finding lots of new ideas here.

[rssilverandlight]

Sorry it took me sooooo long to get around to this.
Born in Ohio during WWII and moved to Los Angeles
where I grew up (actually nobody grows up in Los Angeles,
they just get older !).
Came to Northern California after the US Navy, Arizona
State University and UC Berkeley.
I just turned 65 and have had my photography business
for 38 years. Married to Anne for 27 years, 4 children and
7 and 7/8 grandchildren (our youngest Erica Aimee age 36,
is due to deliver in late November.

We live on the San Francisco Peninsula and have traveled
quite a bit. 6 visits to Paris since 2000 (for my book)
THE FRENCH LANDSCAPE: IMAGES OF A SPECIAL LIGHT
(all B&W infrared images) to be published next April.

After 3 barges in France we have gone by river boat
from Amsterdam to Budapest in 2006 and from
Moscow to St. Petersburg this year.

Since I can't retire and take up photography as a hobby,
I collect antique pocket watches (1875 - 1922).

I do a lot of pro bono work for 2nd Harvest, Service League,
NAACP, History Association and others.

[roundtowngirl]

I guess I should contribute to this thread. I have really enjoyed reading all of your posts. Now that I have been to Paris I am no longer a newbie! (I even noticed that I have posted enough times and am now a junior member.) It's time that I share some info. about myself and officially become part of "the family."

I am 36 years old and live in rural Ohio. I am an elementary school teacher with two beautiful daughters, 4 and 7. My husband is a chemist/microbiologist and works for a pharmaceutical company. An interesting tidbit about our relationship, we met in high school, went to college together and married. This past August marked our 12th year together.

I absolutely love teaching. In fact it is in my blood. My father, who is also my hero, is a teacher as well. I feel blessed to be in a profession where I love to get up and go to work every morning. (Okay...maybe not every morning!) I teach 4th graders which to me is the perfect age because they are independent, but they still love their teacher. Of course if teaching doesn't work out, I would love to be a travel agent. I absolutely thrive on researching and planning vacations. I always have to be careful to get so into planning, that the actual vacation doesn't live up to my visions. Our next big vacation will be the "Disney" trip. We have made it a family tradition to take each child to WDW before starting kindergarten. My parents will be going with us and I do believe that my father is as obsessive compulsive as I am in regards to planning so this could easily turn ugly! Keep your fingers crossed. On a side note, my husband's vacations always consisted of sleeping in late, hanging out at the beach and then having a leisurely dinner. He tells me that our vacations are quite a shock to his system.

I must admit that I am a cat person, although my oldest daughter is begging for a dog. She would have loved seeing all of the dogs in Paris. She is positive that if she wishes hard enough, Santa will bring her one. I enjoy cooking, reading, taking pictures, and traveling. Although I should spend more time on working out, cleaning house, and saving money!!

Our Paris trip in October was my second visit to Europe. My husband and I went to Germany together in 2006. He gets the opportunity to travel a lot with his company. It was an amazing trip and I can't wait to go back. My next European destination will be England, with a side trip back to Paris. I think we'll take the girls this time. I want them to be able to say "I've been there" when they are discussing these places in school. Think how meaningful learning will be to them when they can actually visualize the places that they see in the textbook. I also think that exposing the girls to places outside the U.S. will be a great way to teach them that the world is full of so many people with so many differences. Too often in my profession, I come across children who are stuck in their own personal world and have trouble relating to others. I work hard on helping them to open their eyes and prevent them from being closed minded and stereotypical.

(Now as I climb off of my soapbox)
I want to thank all of you! This is such a great open forum. I don't feel threatened that if I say something I will be openly attacked. I enjoy following your posts and contributing now and again. What better way to start my morning than with a cup of coffee and looking over the postings.

[cigalechanta]

My husband and I are both retired (he was with the Boston Globe)We travel to France every year except the year before last when we had to cancel because of his Cancer. He's in remission so we were able to go in September. Unfortunately he doesn't like big cities, so I have been to Paris on my own. My name means singing cigale. A cigale is a cicada and is one of the symbols or motifs of our favorite part of France, Provence I wish I had a friend to put me up in Paris. I'd go often when I could afford it. I love fashion, music, animals, anything creative. My adopted dog's name is Pastis, named after my favorite summer drink of Provence.

[jsmla]

Hello everyone!

I've only been on this board for a few days but you have all been so helpful I thought I'd introduce myself. I've been reading your bios and am more than a bit afraid that mine is going to be the most prosaic of the lot.

My name is Jennifer. I'm 47, born in southern Mississippi but have lived my entire life in South Louisiana. I attended LSU for many, many years acquiring one husband and several useless degrees in the process. Before our children were born I worked as a curator for an historical collection. Scott (51) and I have been married for almost 27 years. We're complete opposites in every imaginable way and there have been more than a few "disagreements" over the years but we've loved every minute of it.

We have two children Sam (22) and Lizzie (19). Sam is the most like me. He's a perpetual student studying English education and linguistics. He's arty, bohemian (a nice way of saying he shops at the Goodwill), quite loud and very much a free spirit not often given to worrying about what anyone else may think. He's a gifted writer and teaches writing lab for ESL students at LSU. He also helps me take care of his 83 year old grandfather who has Alzheimer's and may just be the nicest person I know.

Liz is Sam's polar opposite. She's also a student at LSU studying pre-med. She's a girl who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. Liz graduated from our magnet high school with a 4.5 GPA and currently owns the only A in a very tough organic chemistry course. She has been known to leave the excitement of the LSU-Florida game behind in order to go back to her room and study. She's the preppy, sorority type and loves all things designer. We took a trip to Paris together in 2005 and I swear I saw every boutique and department store in the city. In addition to school she's currently working three jobs, one of them as a ballet instructor(Hi Shoesy!). She's a very talented dancer and danced for 16 years before giving it up to concentrate on college. At 19 she's definitely the most mature and responsible person I have ever known.

My husband Scott is my soulmate which is very ironic because we couldn't be more unalike. He owns an equine supply business and works six days a week. He works hard and plays harder. Scott loves the outdoors and any activity that happens out there. He's an avid horseman and competes in cattle working events. His ideal vacation would probably be backcountry horse camping in Wyoming. He also loves to ski and kayak. He's not fond of travel abroad but is willing to go for me.

As for me, I'm the most boring of the lot. I'm pretty much you're typical dumpy American, middle class and middle-aged. I'm lazy and not a fan of the great outdoors. I've always loved to travel but really got bit on a trip I made as a chaperone to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Liz was performing and I couldn't resist the opportunity to tag along. Since then I've been to London, China and Paris (twice!). I did make a trips to France back in my misspent youth but I don't remember much about it. It was the '70s and I had an extremely good time in the '70s. That's part of the reason why my memory is what it is today. In the past I've also worked as a tour guide and a part of the education staff at a local plantation home. Currently I'm a full-time caregiver to my father-in-law.


Scott and I are not sophisticated travelers. He's very picky about strange foods and I'm usually in bed by 9:00. I hate shopping of any kind and Scott is really only interested in the junky tourist stuff. We are not connoisseurs of much of anything other than BudLight. I do like museums, though. Does that count for anything? I speak a minute amount of high school French. Scott speaks fluent English (Most of the time. He is a Southern boy after all.) We do try our best to not be ugly Americans when we travel but sometimes, despite our best efforts, a little slips out anyway.

As you can see we need all of the help you can give us.

Jennifer

[framboiseetrose]

Now, I think it is my turn. You already know I love Paris - I wonder how! I am a young 66, married to a wonderful young 68, 3 adult children and an almost 4 year-old petite fille with surprisingly, red hair (who thinks she is a princess). Born in Manila, emigrated to SF in the early 60s and being crazy about Paris, we sold everything we have and took the two youngest to Paris (the oldest having just started college), stayed for 5 years and the rest is history!



This is a picture of hubby and me taken during our last trip to Paris. The glow is always there!

The picture came out but I thought I rotated it. Well, maybe AndiandGaz can help..................

I look forward to having many good laughs and fun reading in this forum and meeting as many of you as possible..........

[framboiseetrose]

Becky,

I have a grant working with Native American Tribes in the environmental field. Our group helps them establish an environmental program in the reservations. Our region is composed of 146 federally recognized tribes and located in Arizona, California and Nevada. My main function is help coordinate several meetings and conferences during the year and help track the allocation of grants. It is a fun job and has given me an opportunity to learn about the different tribes and acquire some wonderful friends.

My office is about a 15 minute walk to the Ferry Building. I am so looking forward to Anjou to meet you and Randy!

[inlovewithparis]

Yup--it worked so here goes.

I am 58 years old, married 23 years and we have a 21 year old son. I have a law degree from Univ of SF and a graduate degree in Clinical Counseling from Cal. State Hayward. For years now I have done marriage counseling (premarital counseling too). Before I get too far into this introduction, I want to say that I would like to figure out how to get to Paris more frequently. My thought is that with all the ex-pats and English speaking people in Paris, perhaps I could go a couple of times per year and stay a few weeks while doing marriage and couples counseling. I need to figure out how to get couples in Paris to know about me and use my services. Does anyone have any ideas for how I might do that or who I could contact to help me make this dream come true? Obviously at this point I don't have a work visa or anything like that. I don't know how it works in France/Paris. Thanks in advance.

I have been to Paris/France 4 times. My first trip was when I was 25 years old and just graduated law school. My girlfriend and I traveled for 4 months across Europe until I had to return home to start Counseling graduate school. We traveled "last class". After the trip, I calculated that, except for airfare, I only spent $650 for the entire trip and 10% of that was on pastries in Paris!!!! I literally dreamt about the wonderful food in Paris for the next 27 years. Six years ago I went back to France with my 15 year old son who was nearly finished with a grades 1-12 French Immersion school experience. I designed the trip so it was totally immersion (in French). For 10 days he played in an Intl. adult chess tournament in Creon, France near Bordeaux, we stayed in a beautiful pensionne in Vaux-sur-seine for 11 days and took the train into Paris everyday to experience Paris, we went to Lyon for 6 days and fell in love with Lyon (and met a woman who is a dear friend of ours today). Then in 2006 I went back to Paris for 10 days, 4 days in Lyon/Digne and 8 days in Florence, Italy (the other favorite city from my 4-month trip). Sept.-Oct. '07 I spent 26 days in Paris and 4 days in Lyon/Digne with my Lyonnaise friend. I had to pinch myself-several times per day it was so great. I said thank you over and over to my husband (a musician in his past life who is "all traveled out"). I live, breath and dream Paris. I thought about moving to Paris but truly after a month I began missing, grass, houses with yards, wide streets for cars, relaxed pace (I live in a fairly small city), and I decided I don't want to live in Paris--just visit regularly. My son loves Paris too and I am sure he will be returning to visit at his first opportunity. So hello to all of you, and thanks for helping me smile, think about Paris, and plan my next trip--which I think will be Sept. '09 (oh so far away). This year we head to the east coast for our son's college graduation and then I head to Mpls--where I was born and raised--for a workshop in my counseling field.

[inlovewithparis]

No, I live in Eugene, Oregon. I need to fix my bio so it says Oregon on it. We've lived here since 1990--right after the big earthquake in 1989. When it happened we were actually in Eugene checking it out and looking at houses to buy. We went back, sold our house and hi-tailed it out of there. We do return regularly for visits though. I love the Bay Area--just not to live there.

[phread]

My body has been wandering the earth for the past 42 years, but don't tell my mind, because it thinks it is only 22!!! I am a native Californian (third generation & quite proud of it), but have been Parisienne since birth.

Exploring this world is my life. I've backpacked through SE Asia and Eastern Africa, enjoyed luxury visits of Europe and the Middle East and traveled to all kinds of places and in all kinds of styles in between. I am passionate about color, light, flavours and textures, which makes me a fashion mad, museum addicted, foodie who loves hiking (I am also spontaneous, so sometimes that means rock climbing along the Britanny coast in cashmere & Dior pumps). Conservation is core to my life style (I'm working on installing a worm composter in my Paris apt) so I LOVE vintage. I am taking all these loves and passions to start a new business, Shop Like a Parisian, an online consignment shop of designer and vintage fashions.

I have two wonderful girls. 10 and 13. They are the pride and joy of my life, my partners in crime and the biggest adventure I've ever set out on. I was married to a wonderful, kind, generous man for nearly 20 years. But that seems to be changing...

As an expat living in Paris like a local, I get to socialize (and sometimes become friends) with some of the most fascinating people : journalists, ambassadors, artists, cafe owners, Russian novelists, professors, movie producers, actors, Gov't Ministers, business leaders, tailors, chocolatiers and philosophers. My world is incredibly rich and I feel blessed EVERYDAY!

[Megan]

Hi

My name is Megan, I am 40 years old, single, no kids , a Marketing Manager and live in Auckland, New Zealand. I have lived here most of my life with the odd stint in Australia and London I have travelled extensively but Paris is my favourite place in the world and I try to get back as often as possible. It is a 32 hour trip so I have to plan well. I and a friend have just rented an apartement for five whole weeks in Dec 08/Jan 09 so I am looking forward to that .

[mez]

I just realised that I have never put my own entry in here, so here goes…

I'm 36 years old, born in Germany and living in Sydney, Australia since I was 1 1/2.

I have always been interested in travelling - especially to Europe. Don't get me wrong – Sydney will always be home and the best place on earth to live to me, but we just don’t have the history I crave to be surrounded by. The architecture, the art, the history and even the landscape. I jump up and down with joy when I see a forest of fir trees especially with snow on them. All we have are boring old bland eucalyptus trees.

When I reached 16 I got my first job and started saving for that first overseas trip. This continued right through until I finished my B. Arts. As soon as the graduation ceremony was over and my Mother got her photos of me in the graduation gown, I was off like a shot to do the regulation overseas stint that many Aussies seem to do.

Most of the time was spent living and working in London, but I had a great employer who let me go off travelling and hired me back whenever I landed back in the UK. This is the time I first experienced Paris.

I spent one magical week there at a dinky youth hostel with so many others who were travelling on the smell of oily rag. I still recall the one night we all headed to sit at the Eiffel Tower to marvel at the twinkly lights, warming ourselves with cheap wine and listening to one of the guys play the guitar he'd brought along. A worse rendition of Billy Joel's Piano Man en masse Paris had never heard before us, but we were in the zone and loving it!

After coming back home after 2 ½ years away, it was time to settle on a career but nothing was jumping out at me. I fell into banking of all things. Me – who loves to read novels and social histories – was doling out loans! Somehow I strayed into the training & development field. I am now a corporate learning consultant (doesn't that sound classy ;D) for a bank.

2005 saw me visit Europe for the first time in 10 years. Paris didn't make the list but I did get a taste of France as I walked through the French Alps while doing the Tour of Mont Blanc – now that's a walk!

2007 saw me visit Paris again for the first time in about 12 years. It was familiar yet new all over again. No drunken singing this time, but still a magical week.

I have recently commenced studying again, and am on my way to completing a Masters in Adult Education. One of the subjects I am doing this semester is eLearning Technologies. I'm trying to figure out how to use my fascination with Paris, and this forum, to complete some of the assessment tasks.

The next Paris visit is looking like it will be 2009 and I am trying to make my stay be a lot longer than a week next time.

Mez

[sandypaws3]

Hi All,
I'm new to the "Our Paris" forum, but not to Paris :-) My husband, whom I've been married to for 40 years, and I have been there several times, with plans to go back in 2009. I just recently got an e-mail from cigale chanta suggesting I join this forum, and I was very happy to so. There's nothing I'd rather discuss more than Paris! Thanks, cigale chanta :-) I'm a mother of 3 sons and grandmother to 3 granddaughters -- 2 of whom I take care of while their parents are at work. My 3 year old granddaughter loves to look at my Paris albums, and we have told her we'll take her to Paris with us when she's a little older. We're planning to take her when she's 6. Two of our children live nearby -- one lives 5 minutes away with his family, and the other lives in a nearby town and teaches at the high school in our town with my husband, who is a high school assistant principal. We usually travel to Paris when he gets his Easter break, but I am looking forward to the time when he retires -- after next year -- and we can go sometime other than Easter. It can sometimes be a challenge. I had wanted to go to Paris most of my life, and my husband and I always said "someday." Well, our first trip there was in 2001, and we've been back almost every year since then.

Sandy

[Katharine]

Hi Everyone,

I am new tot his forum, and I want to thank Becky (Berkley_Travelers) for giving me the link.

I am 47 years old, living in Louisville, KY. I started taking French in 4th grade and took it through college (301 level), but never really had the desire to go to France (go figure). After 9/11, with falling airfares, I scored a ticket from Louisville to Paris $420 r/t (those were the days, huh?). Went with 11 other "girls" and we had a ball. The fastest four days in my life. Went back with husband in 2003, 2005 and 2006. We are heading over there again in May. We are staying in Paris for four nights, Provence (St. Remy) for five nights, Loire Valley (Chenonceaux) for three nights and Normandy (Caen) for three nights. I really can't wait!

I fell in love with Paris in the first hour, unlike London, Athens or any other city in the US (including my hometown of Charleston, SC). There is a certain je ne sais quoi, n'est pas? My husband (being the staunch Republican) was very hesitiant to go, but he, too, fell in love with it. I keep thinking we'll go to Italy on our "next" trip, but we always seem to end up in France. I guess one of these days I'll have to venture forth - but I guess I have time. For now, I just can't get enough.

I am glad I found this forum. Thanks, again, Becky!

Katharine

[grndma]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and just finding my way around. It's great to see some of the TA regulars and find out more about them. Thanks for making me welcome.
So here is more about me.
I've been to Paris nine or ten times, Lost count.
I'm 58 years old, married with two childen, three step childen and six (soon to be eight) grandsons. I am a midwife and took early retirement 3 years ago but now work three days a week. So that gives me plenty of time to browse the Paris forum and general Paris information to plan my next trips in July and October 2008.
Yes folks I am truly addicted, and it is becoming a problem. If my husband knows I've found THIS site he will not be happy because it gives me more scope for Parismania!!
I think I love Paris so much because, not only is it a beautiful and interesting city with lovely language ,good food etc etc , but also because I can escape there and pretend I'm Audrey Hepburn! and my husband is Gregory Peck! (LOL)
I have now been on the computer 3 hours so I had better go and get some life. I will publish a picture when I can work out how.
Denise
Love from England.

[kenandpaul]

I am so thrilled that I have found this community of Paris lovers. I have always had a draw to go to Paris but some how never made it. Then my partner of 14 years surprised me with the news (and booking reservations) that we would be celebrating my 4oth birthday in Paris. I think he was just trying to help me get over the fact that I would turning 40 in August .

My partner and I met in my hometown 14 years ago and have been each other shadow since. We have had one of those magical romances ---saw each other across the street, ---had to find out what his name was, ---met for coffee which turned into, lunch, which turned into dinner which turned into midnight coffee on the beach which ended with watching the sunrise.

Our daily lives are very busy, I am full time primary school teacher who is also working on my specialist works in Education ---with sights on school administration. My partner is a busy chef. But we have learned to work hard and to play hard. We have become very protective of our us time and have learned to balance that between family and friends.

We usually travel to the islands for our vacation times to bake in the sun and re-energize our bodies. But this up and coming vacation will definately be more of a whirlwind adventure.

We have increased our daily exercise to include long distance walking so that we are ready for the many streets we plan to travel down --plus our french spaniel is not complaining about the increasing walks.

As a new traveller to Paris I am sure that I will have many questions and will be asking the experts here for all of your super advice!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone ---Paul

[kenandpaul]

Wow, what an incredible welcome. It was so nice to receive everyone's welcome both here and through messages.

We have always lived as a very open gay couple ---most of our friends say we are more Leave it To Beaver Ward and June than most of our straight couple friends. It is nice to see as we anticipated that it would not be a major problem here.

We are leaving the first weekend in October for 7 days. We are staying in the 16th district, we wanted to be more in a residential area that is less touristy. We are booked at the Victor Hugo B.W.