Had a NYC stopover after landing in JFK.✈️. Was amazed that no longer do you have to go through customs at JFK. Had 4 checkpoints in Dublin Airport, and guess that is the reason why.

My daughter tells me that this is being done with other EU countries as well.

What a treat to deplane and walk out the door!

Found NYC balmy, and the AirTran working at optimum efficiency as was the Howard Beach Station MTA. Made it to Brooklyn in record speed — 90 minutes!

🚊🚊🚊🚊🚊

Arrived at my daughter and son in laws apartment, and presented them with their souvenirs of Paris, and from there was on my way to Radio City for the Christmas 🤶 Show. (Run on sentence— sorry).

Had snagged a tix for $44., so who can say no to that!

The ticket 🎟️ was a good seat but a gal was sitting in it. She only spoke Spanish and through hand signals understood she wanted to sit with her family. Somehow she screwed up the ordering of the tix..

Guess hand signals didn’t work when she ordered the tix!

Parisian’s were so wonderful to me during my journey had to continue to extend the kindness.❤️

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

So as a good American I took her seat becoming a win win for all.

The show was amazing as usual, and a standing ovation was received!

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Sorry, no photos allowed, but if you ever get the chance GO!!!

👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯👯

And can’t leave Rockefeller Center without seeing the Tree from West Stockbridge, Mass

Remember that blog?

This is the second time I’ve been to Mount Michel, and it never ceases to amaze me. it’s been over 20 years and much upgrades have occurred to accommodate the comfort and numbers of the tourists. It is the second most visited spot in France 🇫🇷 behind Versailles.

🪜🪜🪜🪜🪜

Before you go know there are 330 steps to the top of the church, get there early, and bring food 🍱 as lines are long.

The statute of St Michael on top of the spire – gold and over 1000 #. This also required a helicopter 🚁

And with this comes the end of my tour. Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.

While Tom Wesselmann was the main artist displayed, there was a collection of others of import. Here’s a pic of the pop art group from this era..

Wesselman -examples of some of his work

And nice to see the museum involving children. Never to early to instill the appreciation of the arts.

Lichtenstein

Rauschenberg

Warhol

And some new faces..

Katherine Grosse – she works in metal with varied paint colors. This work hung through several floors in the building. Breathtaking!

And will end with Frank Gehry, the architect, showing a preliminary sketch on how he devised the building.

Amazing what purchasing a pocketbook can create.

Thanks, Louis

👛👜👛👜👛👜👛👜👛👜👛👛

I now know what this man was doing with all the money he acquired from his expensive pocketbook company. He was buying pop art, and creating an imaginative Museum like none you will ever see.

Designed by American architect Frank Gehry, this contemporary artistic creation was opened in 2014 to rave reviews. While many attend to see the art, the building itself is art.

The Building is a unique, artistic architectural experience with interior spaces and exterior 🪴 gardens. To build the design required new modes of building never thought to be possible.

Gehry’s work defies architectural norms.

The following pictures describe the construction better than words can say…

I

The Rooftop Gardens

In the rooftop gardens there is a combination of steel and wood however, the wood is ground with steel and glued to ensure the strongest possible building material. Beam and metal form the construction and were individually soldered.



If you ever get the chance, grab it and put this on your bucket list.

Decided to splurge and have dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Service was good but food akin to my hospital’s, well, actually the hospital’s is better. And daresay won’t tell what I paid. However it’s a weeks worth of Aldi’s groceries. And they didn’t even put me by a window!

Wine was delicious, 2 glasses came with dinner as well as a glass of champagne 🥂.

The first course was cold soup and now I know I can no longer have creamed products.

The next course was a blue lobster in cream sauce with linguine. Another problem.

Dessert

But aside from dinner did get to see the Park under the Tower.

The Park

And since I didn’t wait for the elevator for the exit walked down several 100 steps. Quite an experience! The top tier of the Tower was closed due to fog but made for an eerie pic.

From here on to the Seine boat ride. Passed museums, government buildings, and a Ferris wheel.

Paris truly is the City of Lights.

After my horrific dinner and beautiful boat ride, had to find my way back to the hotel. It was quite a challenge with the trains. The weather had become colder, and it was approaching 10 PM. I also was vomiting up most of my dinner along the way.

After asking the train station attendant for directions I found the 63 bus 🚌 didn’t arrive. After 40 minutes decided to explore on my own as the bewitching hour was fast approaching.

⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰

After finding some helpful tourists, a new train station with a somewhat helpful attendant I was able to maneuver back to my hotel.

So from this experience decided to offer some tips on the Paris train 🚊 system.

Here they are..

• Always know the name of the station at the end of the line in the direction you are going.

• It also helps to know the line number as well. There are several tracks.
• When they say mind the step as you depart the train do so.
• Check the area around your seat prior to departure,
• Take a picture of the subway line on the wall of the train and follow along as the train goes through the various stops.
• Prior to my visit I scoured the Internet for information about the Paris subway system. I’m still looking for this information.
• Parisians are very helpful, especially the young ones, and if you’re older, it helps even better. Unsure how they’ll feel about us once the rapist is in but for another day.
• While I attempted to use an across the chest bag on this journey, I found my shoulders very tired. I will be returning to my classic fanny pack next journey. Female hips can carry the weight better.😆😆😆🤣😂😇😂😅😁
• Pick pockets and beggars are plentiful on the train. As a single tourist, I found myself targeted several times. At one point, I was startled, made noise and the beggar fled.
• Moving your seat helps. At one point I sat near another older single male passenger. I smiled at him and he nodded his head. He knew.
• Always wear a wedding band. No diamonds 💍.

That’s all for now.

I’m loading in for the journey to Mount Saint Micheal as I write.

Stay tuned.

Let’s visit the inside of the Chateau

The Chapel.

Next.. The Gallery, where there is an extensive collection of religious works.

The Library – with a collection of priceless treasures.

More Christmas

The Salons

The grounds of the chateau were also equally beautiful. To visit in summer must be a delight.

Sunset at the Chateau

Henri of Orleans was the son of King Louis Phillip and in 1830 known to be the greatest collector of his time. He was also a horseman. Above is the racetrack on the grounds.

There is also a Museum on the grounds with elaborate stables.

This is included in the billet (ticket) to the Chateau.

Don’t miss it!

While there a horse 🐎 show was in progress as Chantilly is a horse community. Believe its origins began in lace, and almost overlooked this jewel as my driver from the airport said it was a dump.

However, sometimes it’s best you make your own decision, and in this case glad I did.

The Museum

More Horse Memorabilia

Carousel Horses

Saddle Collection

An Arabian Horseman

Should you visit the Chateau once off the train take the free bus at the Metro station as it is a long 25 minute walk, and you’ll want to save your energy for the gardens at the Château.

Tomorrow…

And…

Will end with this Christmas shot of decorations in an Inn in old Chantilly.

You never know what you’ll find when you travel.

This is my third trip to the Moulin Rouge and it always amazes me! For $130., Expedia rates, (buy early, I bought in August), you receive one hour and 45 minutes of nonstop entertainment and a free bottle of champagne.

This is one for everyone’s Bucket List..🪣

Tonight I arrived late, so was given seating next to the backstage exit of the dancers. While I squawked at first, it was interesting to see the backstage costume area, and the dancers close up.

They are not only beautiful, but have gorgeous bodies and watching those legs move makes me envy. Always wanted to take lessons but never had the opportunity.

So all that said arrive early and enjoy!

And as always check out Expedia prices.

The Audience

Welcome 2025!

What a fascinating tour. If you are ever in Paris, put this on your list, and order tickets ahead of time. I was grateful to snag one through Expedia last minute, but there are lines for this, and only 200 people are let in every 15 minutes.

And for those that have disabilities know there are 131 steps going down into the Catacombs, and 95 or so returning.

It is always 60 degrees in the Catacombs.

After the stairs is a long walk through tunnels.

Now that you know how to traverse the site here is some history.

In 1774 the buildings of Paris began to collapse into the ground. This came due to centuries of quarrying granite under the homes. A brilliant engineer arrived at a solution, and this was implemented immediately thus the catacombs began and Paris rescued.

The idea for depositing bodies and bones in the catacombs began when a cemetery literally fell into the area as it was being built.

It was the idea of a French King to tidy up the area, and increase its size. Visitors are instructed not to touch the bones as the bones are fragile and it is deemed a place of great reverence.