Josh Bernstein, DDS, Cosmetic Dentist

Now that we are finally over the jet lag and used to European time, our last day of our trip has arrived. Fortunately the “finale” was the Louvre, perhaps the greatest art museum in the world.

This morning, we got up early and arrived before the Louvre opened, so it wasn’t the least bit crowded during our visit. After over-touring the poor kids with a guide and art history explanations at the museums in Florence, we decided to make this an easy tour and just visit the most famous pieces and anything else that struck our eyes—without a guide.

We went immediately to the Winged Victory, which sits majestically on the landing in the Denon Wing. With signs directing their way, the kids then nearly lost us and made a bee-line to the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa lives up to her reputation. She was larger than I remembered her and the colors were prettier than everyone said they had become. We stood there in awe for several minutes, face to face with one of the most famous paintings in the world.

Outside Mona Lisa’s gallery, we found several other paintings by Da Vinci that had characters we were convinced must have been the same model as the model for Mona Lisa. Some were women, but one was a man. We passed frescoes by Botacelli and made our way to see Venus de Milo, who has an entire room all to herself since she is so popular.

The one other piece that we really wanted to see was the Parthenon Frieze, but it was really difficult to get the Louvre staff to direct us to this famous piece from the Parthenon in Athens. We were persistent, though, and finally found it, virtually unnoticed in a room with other ancient Greek sculptures.

By this time, the kids had had enough art and museums and we were all hungry so we Metro-ed over to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee for lunch. Strolling the Champs Elysee after lunch, we ducked into a number of stores in this world famous shopping district lined with cafes.

We all remembered seeing footage of Lance Armstrong riding down the Champs Elysee on one of his many victory laps of the Tour de France. In our own way, we felt as though this was a fitting ending to our trip. After two weeks of touring so many famous and beautiful sights, meeting so many wonderful Italians and French, we are looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tomorrow night in good old Piedmont, California.

Au Revoir from Paris!

With every intention of getting up early to get to Versailles, we almost succeeded ... except we were so sleepy! We got going at a decent hour, just the same decent hour as everyone else! The fabulous Paris Metro connects with the RER which takes you directly to Versailles in about 30 minutes.

It was a bit chilly and the lines were quite long to get into the palace for a tour so we made a “game day call” and saw Versailles stables. The kings of France, who made Versailles their home, were not known for the humble-ness of their abode and Versailles’s stables are as spectacular as the palace—for a horse!

We toured the stables and watched the “show ponies” in a training exhibition which Allison and Atchie loved. After the show, we toured the outside of the palace and particularly the immense gardens, which are about3 times the size of Piedmont. We rented a golf cart to see the extent of the grounds and had a blast driving it around. Of course when we tried to go off-roading, the GPS made us lose power and back up! I guess they don’t have 4WD...

We went by Marie Antoinette’s private residence and tried to take in the entirety of Versailles’s gardens. There is a T shaped reflecting pool that is larger than the one near the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial!

After Versailles, the kids relaxed while Allison and I went to the Musee D’Orsay to see some of the most famous Impression period paintings by Van Gough, Monet, Manet, Degas, Pissaro and others. Everywhere you looked there was a painting that you recognized! In the evening, we put our coats on and went to the Eiffel Tower. The line was about an hour, then Jack, Atchie and I went straight to the top while Allison indulged in a chilly wait at the bottom. The view from the top is breathtaking and a little unnerving…an experience not to be missed, unless you have acrophobia!

If you're wondering what it looks like from the top, you'll just have to
go...at night our camera got a good picture of us but not the view!

A Demain!

As someone who hasn’t traveled much, it has been a great learning experience traveling to France and Italy—and for reasons I didn’t expect. There are several problems in the U.S. that the Europeans have already solved.

While we continue to slog it out in traffic jams in our big cars, Europeans have a different approach to transportation. First of all, people do not seem to identify themselves by the car they drive. It is common to see a buff athlete or a high-powered businessman riding a little scooter. It is also common to see fashionable women riding very average bicycles. The Metro system in Paris makes a car virtually obsolete since you are never more than a 10-minute walk from a Metro station. Yes, the traffic in Paris is bad but you do not have to participate in it if you don’t want to.

The train system from city to city is also easy. We traveled by train from Rome to Florence, from Florence to Venice, and from Venice to Paris. Our train from Venice to Paris was an overnight ride where the seats folded into beds.

People get around in many different ways—particularly by boat in Venice! A lot of people walk, even for grocery shopping, which they seem to do every day. We have seen bicycles, mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, subways, buses, trains, segways and, yes, cars.

Most of the cars that you see in Europe are very small, particularly in Italy. This is probably because gasoline is about twice as expensive in Europe as it is in the U.S. and the smaller cars burn less gas. The car design is very space efficient—small on the outside, but big and roomy on the inside. And the drivers are crazy! Stop signs seem to be optional, but everyone is excellent at merging. Even in the crowded pedestrian areas, the walkers mimic the merging habits of the drivers and it is no problem. We have seen almost no “road rage.”

All of the electrical outlets in Europe are 220 volts, presumably because it is more efficient. We have seen more fluorescent light bulbs here and more motion detection switches for hallways that don’t need to be continually lit.

Europeans are a little more careful with water usage also. Many toilets have 2 different flushes—a little flush and a big flush—for obvious reasons.

Of course, there are some things that we do better, too! We are more health conscious in several ways. We have no smoking in restaurants. We are more conscious of fat consumption. And we don’t allow pets in restaurants or grocery stores! We have also seen a shocking number of nose wipers and sneezers handling food—yuck! A nice, strict hand washing law is in order!

The food in France and Italy is very good, especially in Italy, but the food would be easier to enjoy if the man who served it hadn’t just sneezed into his hand! Handicapped access is virtually non-existent in Europe—and the handicapped are nowhere to be seen. I don’t know how anyone in a wheel chair could get around in the cities we have visited.

Friendliness, customer service, manners and helpfulness can be very good in the US and it was very good in Italy. In France, it is a bit of a mystery.

While the French appear very proper, dignified, educated and civilized, we have noticed some room for improvement in the manners of some. A guest in a restaurant, hotel or shop is not always treated as you might expect. To the contrary, you are just as likely to be treated as though your presence is a bother, rather than necessary to their livelihood. In the Louvre, the staff seemed surprisingly uninformed about the location of certain world famous exhibits, such as The Parthenon Frieze—or else we were purposely sent on a wild goose chase for someone’s entertainment. Paris is a world-class city, but might be more enjoyable if it were run with Italian hospitality.

All in all, it makes a lot of sense for people to travel and learn from other cultures. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. We can learn a lot from others—and others can learn a lot from US!

Bonjour again from Paris! After so much walking lately, we took it easy today, lounging around in the morning over coffee and croissants. We had a minor flood in our room and a minor finger-smashing incident on my part (my dental career is not over just yet…), then ventured out and learned the Metro system, which is very impressive. You are no more than a 10-minute walk from a Metro station anywhere in Paris. There is really no reason to drive a car and most people don’t. We took a late morning Metro ride to Jardins Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens) and strolled around the beautiful gardens where Parisians come to relax, eat lunch, chat and meet. It looked so pleasant that we bought some sandwiches and had a picnic lunch, just as the Parisians do. After lunch and educational conversation about drugs, guns and the U.S. Constitution, we jumped back on the Metro to participate in a famous Paris tourist tradition—shopping! Atchie visited “Cadolle,” the famous custom brassiere maker, who appeared on Oprah. We actually met Popiou Cadolle who was very gracious, considering many of her clients are celebrities. Jack made a purchase of his own at Bon Marche—he bought a beautiful Lacoste sweater. Allison and I even splurged…we left the kids in the room to play on My Space while we indulged in an afternoon coffee at a sidewalk café! We strolled around our own neighborhood, the Latin Quarter, which is lined with all kinds of restaurants, cafés, boulangeries, patisseries, and supermarches. It is really very charming and lively. No wonder Kate recommended that we stay in this area. We picked up some quiches and dessert and had a peaceful dinner in our garden. To top off the evening, we rode the Metro down to the Seine River and took a gorgeous evening cruise. It is obvious now why they call Paris the “City of Lights.”

Everything was lit up so beautifully, especially the Eiffel Tower.

Au Revoir for now!

Bonjour! We boarded our all night sleeper train in Venice and woke up in Paris. Well, that's not exactly how easy it was. Our "couchette" was pretty tight quarters, despite the fact that there were only 4 of us in a cabin built for 6. And there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on. But we did reach Paris by morning. It was very quiet and chilly when we arrived somewhere near our hotel. Of course, we left the address of the hotel on the internet so we had to brush up on our French to ask directions.

Miraculously, our hotel des Grandes Ecoles was prepared for us with early check in. We wasted no time and found a tasty little patisserie for petite dejeuner (breakfast). The chocolate croissants were as buttery and flaky as we hoped they would be! For some strange reason, we all fell asleep after breakfast... I guess the "sleeper" train caught up with us. When we woke up, we hit Paris and we hit it HARD! We walked to Notre Dame and saw the famous cathedral with its flying buttresses and gargoyles…it really is spectacular and a popular tourist attraction. We crossed the Seine River and walked along the right bank, passing a surprising number of pet stores. We have noticed that pets are very popular in Italy and France…even more so than in the U.S. We walked by the Louvre and took pictures of the elaborate old palace surrounding the glass pyramid, which is much hated by Parisians. We relaxed in the Tuileries Gardens and watched local kids, grown ups and seniors play soccer, Frisbee and bocce ball. We continued by the Place de la Concorde, where Marie Antoinette and Louise XVI were beheaded, and found the expensive shopping district where we heard that they make custom brassieres. Since it is still the Easter holiday here, many of the shops were closed but some anonymous women in our little quartet are planning on going back! After all this walking, we were fading fast, but we were determined to walk to the Eiffel Tower. We stopped for some refreshments and rest, then browsed some stores. Before we knew it we were at the Eiffel Tower and we took some classic photos. Exhausted, we took a taxi back to our hotel for some much needed rest and dinner near our hotel. We ate at L’Epoque and Jack found himself seated right next to a photo of Kelsey Hafferkamp, the famous Piedmont Water Polo Champ! Tomorrow, who knows what the City of Light has in store for us!

Au Revoir for now!

Another smooth Eurostar ride out of Firenze and we were in Venezia in 3 hours. We immediately fell in love with Venice! It is so picturesque, unique and charming that you just want to move right into one of the gorgeous decaying but elegant palaces. And you can drive your boat every day!

Venice gets very crowded during the day with tourists but it's very easy to get away from the tourists by walking down any of the very narrow (7feet wide) streets. We are not shoppers but Venice is one of the nicest places to shop that I have ever seen. Extraordinarily cute shops, reminiscent of back alley Disneyland, with true Venetian crafts are everywhere... with hand blown glass, masks, jewelry, calligraphy paper... you name it... and of course the big designers such as Gucci, Prada and the others.

We stopped for lunch at an out of the way deli and had salami, olives, cheese and bread, relaxing by one of the hundreds of bridges on the canals. Everywhere we have gone in Italy, the food has been delicious and reasonably priced.

We strolled many kilometers over bridges and narrow alleys and saw countless shops, canals, boats and gondolas. As the day drew to a close and a sleepy evening approached, we walked a few short steps from our charming Hotel Flora and made an excellent bargain of 80 Euros for a gondola ride. The prices vary according to demand but at around 7:30 pm, it was quiet. During the day, the prices go up to as much as E 150 for a half hour ride! Our dusk gondola ride was absolutely everything we always imagined--pleasant, quiet, dimly lit, peaceful and romantic.

The kids were lulled practically to sleep on the gondola so we put them to bed and went out for a quiet dinner at one of the hundreds of delicious restaurants that are everywhere and casually sipped on red wine, enjoying la dolce vite for the last wonderful night in Italy. The next morning was Easter and we were awakened by the most impressive chorus of church bells I have ever heard! (Somehow some chocolate eggs wound up by the kids bedside, too!) The bells went on for a long time—a really long time!

We toured the most famous sights of Venice... but not in detail... we just wanted to see them. We saw Piazza San Marco (St Marks square and Cathedral), the Bridge of Sighs, and Venice's signature Rialto Bridge. By sheer coincidence we ran into Tanya
Glazier from Piedmont at an internet cafe! (Go Piedmont Swim Team!)

There was a light drizzle of rain so we spent some much needed time in the lobby and garden of our hotel, which we decided was our favorite so far. As the day neared an end, it was time to say Arivaderci to Venezia--and to Italia--and board our overnight train to Paris, our mouths watering for the chocolate croissants we knew awaited us in the morning at some Parisian patisserie! Ciao!