Joyeux Noel

Wishing everyone a Joyeux Noel

from the Wisemen and their Landlady!

Eiffel Tower

Dear Landlady,

This trip has definitely had its ups and downs.  First we made it all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The view was stupendous!  At least, that's what we heard as we are far too short to see out the window. And for some reason, unbeknownst to us, we have been placed looking in the opposite direction!   

 

 

Eventually we made it all the way back down to the bottom and had an opportunity to look up at where we had been.  We decided that it was probably wise that we had not been able to see out the window when we were at the top.  You know how queasy #3 can get.

   

 

I'm not sure if it was the ride to the top of the tower or the ridiculous traffic but #3 became a wee bit carsick as we made our way to the restaurant for dinner. 

 

 So in order to settle our stomachs after all that driving around in circles we ordered a bottle of wine but you know how poorly #2 holds his alcohol.  Before we knew it he was completely tipsy. 

 And I mean that in the most literal sense.

 This type of behavior is completely inappropriate for men of our stature (and I'm not talking about height here dear landlady.  I'm talking about our being known as "wise.")

Rest assured, I do plan on having a talk with him when we return to the room. 

 

So we ordered some food to absorb the fine French vino!

It's at times like these that arms would definitely come in handy....

 

We are very grateful that the day is ending.  As delighted as we are for having seen the Eiffel Tower we are in need of rest.  Tomorrow we will be heading out on the train to Normandy to see an ancient site of deep spiritual significance.  Until then, Bonne Nuit!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Dear Landlady,
Sorry for the delay in writing but Paris is just too much fun!  This week we spent a good bit of our time touring the Notre Dame Cathedral, which, as you probably know, is one of the best known cathedrals in all the world. Such architecture! So different from that feeding trough that we found the Christ child in oh so many years ago...

And we had the good fortune to meet some fellow astronomers.  So colorful.  They hail from Mumbai where they dwell within a Zoroastrian community.  Turns out there was some confusion when they were purchasing their tickets online to return home from their tour of Rome.  Somehow they wrote 'Paris' instead of 'Parsi.'  They thought the question had to do with their religious identity, not their flight destination.  Can you imagine?  So a simple spelling error compounded by a misunderstanding caused quite the mix up.  As you know, wars have been started over less!  But the Parsis have been delightful companions for us.

 

Of course there was an awkward moment when #3 blurted out that he didn't quite understand how they could possibly have been able to type, never mind purchase tickets online since it's quite obvious to everyone present that their arms are only painted on.  Oh my, dear landlady, there was such a cumbersome silence at that point, but the Zoroastrians were kind enough to eventually find the humor in the situation. I'm going to have a word with #3 when we get back to the hotel. 

 

 

Will write more tomorrow.  We're off to see the famous Notre Dame bells.  I hope the vibration does not knock us off of our nonexistent feet. 

Are we there yet?

Dearest Landlady,
Just a quick update on our trip so far.  We were quite excited (and a wee bit anxious) while waiting to board our plane to New York.  It's been several years since our trip to Ireland and we truly hoped we would be allowed to sit together.   Here we are waiting patiently while watching our plane being prepared for take off.



Once on board we were delighted to meet up with our old friend Santa Claus. It seems he has "gone commercial" as he is now hawking carbonated beverages.  But it was delightful to spend some time with him again.  Such a happy fellow!

So here we are in New York.  Your friends Karen and Elizabeth (who have now become our dear friends) gave us a delightful ride on our luggage.  What a hoot!  But I guess you would have had to be here to realize just how hilarious this was.  Speaking of which, we miss you....

Well, after boarding yet another flight we finally made it to "Gay Paree" as they used to say in the late 1800's!  That's how long it's been since, while en route to the Holy Land one December, we made a bit of a detour.  Those were happy times!  But we digress....It's a joy to touch down on Parisian soil at last.  Here we are checking out all the brochures.  So much to see! So little time!

Here we are arriving in our room.  What a lovely view!

 

But after such a long journey we were experiencing some significant jet lag. The only place we wanted to see at this point was our bed, with the mint on the pillow (which we shared.)  Tomorrow the adventure begins!  Good night dear Landlady.