Bonjour, mes amis! I’m writing to you from the heart of Paris. I’d hoped to provide an update of my vacation last weekend, but couldn’t find a computer. (I left my wireless keyboard on the train from Rome to Paris, and wasn’t about to compose an entire blog entry using the built-in iPad keyboard.)
Kris and I are continuing to have a great time exploring the history of the Old World. Since I last checked in, we’ve seen a lot. For example, we spent a day exploring the ruins of ancient Rome, including the Colosseum:
After four days in Rome, we took the night train to Paris (and, as I mentioned, I left my wireless keyboard behind, which is not very frugal). We spent three days exploring Paris on our own. Of course, we climbed the towers of Notre Dame:
We also climbed the steps of the Arc de Triomphe to view Paris at night:
But perhaps the highlight of our trip so far was the afternoon we spent at Versailles, the mind-boggling palace built by Louis XIV. It’s impossible to take a photograph that does the place (and its gardens) justice. We were fortunate enough to catch the fountains in action. They were like fireworks with water. This photo can’t even begin to convey what the display was like:
For the past week, we’ve been on a river cruise from Paris to Normandy (and back again). This was okay, but not worth the cost to me. (Live and learn, right?) Still, it was an efficient way to see a lot of history, including Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery, as well as the Bayeux Tapestry, which I’ve waited over twenty years to see (since my “history of the English language” course in college):
As you might expect, over three weeks of travel, we’ve eaten a lot of good food:
But I’ve also tried to squeeze in some exercise!
J.D. jumping rope in front of the Eiffel Tower
As great as the trip has been, Kris and I are both itching to return home. Twenty-four days on the road is too many. We know that now. In the future, we’ll budget for maybe 14-17 days of travel at once. (Or maybe we can find a way to bring our cats with us, which would help ease the homesickness.) We still have three days in Paris (which may be complicated because we’re both sick!), but then we’ll fly home to relieve the housesitter.
Most of all, I’m itching to write again. I’ve been writing in my travel journal every day, and I’ve even written some about personal finance, but it’s not the same as sitting in my office and pursuing my passion, you know? I miss interacting with you folks; I miss the conversations at Get Rich Slowly. Left to my own devices, I’d sit at this computer for the next three hours and write, but there are other hotel guests waiting to use it. For Africa, I’m taking my laptop.
If you want to see more photos from our trip, you can check out my Flickr photostream. Otherwise, I’ll check in again next weekend, and I’ll be back here full time on the 25th!
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Glad to hear you miss us as much as we miss you! Do you still feel as strongly that travel is one of the main things you want to spend on?
Dont bother with the laptop on your safari – chances of internet access are extremely small (except at internet cafes – abundant in towns) and chances of hardware destruction are very high. To get to the safari areas you will be on bad roads with lots of dust – check with the tour operator – but I had a hard drive destroyed with this lethal combo
. Feel better!
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We’ve found exactly the same thing – two weeks or so is just right. Enough to make flying worth it, without so much that it becomes tedious.
On the other hand, we found the exact opposite – Versailles was the most memorable “lowlight” of our trip to Europe!
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The two weeks sounds about right JD. We were just in Paris at the end of March this year and by about day 10 I was ready to head home.
If you’ve not gone yet, may I suggest climbing to the top of Sacre Coeur Church in Montmarte? Also, I found St. Etienne in the 6th (I think) to be the prettiest church in all of Paris. Finally, check out the restauraunt Fontaine de Mars on Rue de St Dominique in the 5th/6th….fantastic French food…Obama ate here when he was in town!
Enjoy, enjoy, looking forward to further blog posts when you return!!
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Very pretty! Get better soon.
For trips, I like 5 days with family, 2 weeks on major vacation, or 3-12 months in a different city.
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24 days is a long time to be away from home. I feel like after about 10 days my wife and I start to pine for the routine of “home”. Even if you’re at the most fantastic place in the world, after awhile of travel, you get a little homesick…well, at least I do.
Glad to see you back, great pictures!
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You’d better be careful, J.D., word has it that “it is no longer legal to publish contemporary photographs of the tower at night without permission in France.”
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Thanks for updating us on your travels. By the way, you are looking quite fit — have not followed your exercise blog, but seems you’ve been sticking to it
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Loving the beret! Hv fun and safe travels
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JD, you look awesome. In the 4 years I’ve been reading this blog, those are the very first pics I’ve seen where you didn’t look a bit “chubby”.
Kudos on the crossfit!
Mike
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J.D.,
Sorry we couldn’t have ordered up better weather for you here in the City of Lights. It’s been way too cold this past week, which might explain why you’re not feeling well.
You were just a couple blocks from my house when you were at the Arc de Triomphe. Hit me up at eddiebraverman at gmail dot com if you’d like a personal tour guide for any of your remaining days here, or if you just have any questions about Paris.
Hope you’re feeling better, and have a safe trip back.
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I second Kate. The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur is worth the trip & the view of the Paris skyline from there is wonderful.
Enjoy the rest of your vacation & have a safe trip home
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I want to second what someone else said about not bringing your laptop on safari. In addition to the dust, there is also the problem of irregular electricity supply. Both availability and surges and electrical wiring that is jury-rigged. Mine and a friend’s Mac batteries were both destroyed by this in Zambia. Proceed with caution.
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So glad you are enjoying the trip! I adored my trip to France 12 years ago, but I agree about the lenght of the visit… after 8 or 9 days I was ready to go home to my dogs!
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Now that’s what spending your blog income is all about!
Love Paris! Awesome you are living it up now.
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JD
Of all the pictures posted here, I am envious of only one thing. You having lost a lot of weight. How did you do that.
Could you post an article someday of what you do to lose weight, what you eat etc..
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My husband and I also get the itch to be home when we’ve traveled more than two weeks at a time. But sometimes, that makes things so rushed. We solved the problem by participating in house swaps for up to 6 weeks. It’s frugal, and by staying put in one spot, we have our Internet so we’re still able to work on our biz (just the bare bones minimum as we’re technically on vacation), establish a routine and have a home base. It’s great and we are able to stay away for much longer periods if we so choose.
Sorry you’re under the weather. That’s a sure sign that it is time to come home.
We’ve missed you!
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Oh dear! I’m feeling guilty now about not appreciating the Bayeux Tapestry more when I was last in France (about 4 years ago). I always read up on places and their history before traveling so that I can better understand what I’m seeing, but to be honest, I didn’t even know the Bayeux Tapestry existed, and never would have known, except that we randomly happened to stay in Bayeux en route to visiting the D-Day sites (which were unbelievably moving, by the way). I can, however, appreciate that amazing feeling you get when you finally see *in person* something you’ve heard about all your life. Congratulations!
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Kris and I are still sick, but we did a second day at the Louvre anyhow. I’ll relay the recommendation for Sacre Couer. All we have scheduled for tomorrow is a kitchen store. Grocery-store dinner tonight and early bed with meds from helpful French pharmacist.
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You look fantastic, by the way. Keep up the great work.
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Glad to hear your trip is going well, sorry about your keyboard.
Katy
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Enjoy the rest of the trip! Bring back a tarte chocolat for me, wow that looks good.
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RE: Raghu Bilhana @ 15 – You’re in luck, J.D. has been writing about his fitness progress over at his personal blog. Here’s a good summary write-up from July.
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another vote for shorter vacations — we spent 5 days in St. Louis recently; it was the perfect amount of time to see a lot but not feel like we’d been gone from home too long. But at the same time we like to vacation often!
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I always get antsy about three or four days before it’s time to go home, regardless of how long I’m away for!
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We did a week in Paris and basically spent the time walking the neighborhoods! We were 20 min walk from the Seine and Notre Dame so were able to walk to Champs Elysses, Luxembourg Gardens, Left Bank, and the Republic. We took the metro to Montmartre (probably the highlight of the trip with the local artists doing their thing) and Versailles (not quite so impressive for me basically because of SOOO many people). But the walking and stopping at cafes along the way – that was the ticket and that is my memory of Paris…
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A week away works for me – and I really go on vacation, no computer, bring my cell but turn it off and after day 1/transit day I ignore it until I return (basically it’s only in case of emergency – my emergency, not people who want to talk to me). I figure nothing too extreme can happen in one week!
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Agreed. I spent 3 weeks abroad earlier this year and really needed to come home.
Knowing that you’re a big fan of history, I hope that you get up to St. Denis on the north side of town.
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10-12 days is just the right amount of time for a vacation for me. I remember on one trip to France I was so homesick for my cats. We had stopped at a tourist spot and I saw a couple get out of their car and the woman was holding her cat, who was obviously traveling with them and a very calm creature. I stood and looked so longingly at the cat that the women walked over to me and handed me her cat. I cuddled it and buried my nose in its fur for a minute or two and then handed the cat back, smiling and thanking the woman. She was clearly a cat lover and understood the need for a cat fix!
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Could you look any more adorable jumping rope in your beret in front of the Eiffel Tower?? Loved it!
You should post that to the Crossfit website!
A fellow Crossfitter.
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Dude, you’re a hottie!
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Good job on the hat and sweater JD! You look very European
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Thanks for checking in. I was just stopped by the blog to see if you were back yet.
It will be curious to get your feelings about frugality in Europe.
Glad you’re having a wonderful time. And part of traveling or any vacation is the desire that you have to get back home. It’s part of what makes it worthwhile to take a trip!
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Looks like fun! I love the jump rope picture. Classic!
I agree, three weeks is my upper limit too. I wonder if it would be better if you had more of a home base for a chunk of your travel? (Perhaps you can try that a few trips from now.)
In the mean time, bon voyage!
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Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering with those pastries photo, they all looked so delectable! I’d love to visit Paris someday, it seems like a must see city.
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The Olive Garden example above is perfect. We avoid chains of all fashion as much as possible even if it does cost a few more pennies here and there. The reasons: better food, better products, better service and yes, we are also supporting our neighbors and not some multi-tiered
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