Antonio met us at our apartment , he was going to use our car while we were away. So to get used to it, he drove to the airport, this did not put me in a comfortable feeling, as Antonio drives very very slow, and is always turning his head to talk, never seemed to turn to watch the traffic, just slowly poked out and presumed they would stop as he talked. But we made it, even the boys noticed his driving, and looked at us, “what are you doing to us“!!!
We entered the airport, wondering if we were going to be allowed on the flight, as our permesso's had expired two months ago , and we have been waiting for the new ones. This has meant we are not allowed to leave Italy, unless to Australia. Thankfully we were flying with Easy-jet, and they seem much easier than Ryanair, who we had an issue with to Malta. So we bordered the flight, after spending an hour watching one of the world cup matches (France/Germany) on the tv at the airport cafe, along with hundreds of others. I think people deliberately got out to the airport early to watch it.
We arrived in Paris, taxi to Stefane's apartment, as he was letting us stay there, he stayed with his girlfriend Melanie. I then shot of to meet Rob and James Fennessey, and a couple of other guys, finally getting to the restaurant after many phone calls with James, l found out it was not just a few guys but about 20 people, of all shapes sizes, sex and colour. Anyway at 1pm l came home, after travelling back by taxi, l noticed dozens of people, family's sleeping on the streets of Paris, quite sad.
Saturday was the day of the party, Jayne and l had travelled the week before to an outlet near Florence to get some snappy cloths for the party, so we caught up with James and Sue, and another wonderful couple Craig and Annik, who live in Demoyne, Iowa, Annik is from France. So we had lunch, looked in a few shops, and then got back to the apartment for an hour snooze before the 7.30 party.
We ended up getting the subway to the party , as there was an African festival on where the taxi rank was, it was a huge festival that went on all day and well into the evening. The metro in Paris is l think wonderful, though you can end up doing a lot of walking, which is not great with Jaynes leg, and in a long dress. But we made it, running a bit late which is never good with a boat, as we came out of the subway, the next trick was to find the right boat, after 10 minutes we were back on track and arrived looking wonderful. Thankfully the weather was perfect, a cool breeze, sometimes a bit extreme, but no rain, as it had rained early that day, and ended up raining for the next couple of days. There were about 60 people, friends of Robs from Fosters days and Nick Anthony from Puckett, James and Sue , and Annik and Craig from the USA. A few relatives, and of course friends of Maite's.
It was a great cruise, along the Seine, seeing things from a different point of view, seeing the Eiffel tower of course gives you that feeling of place, we had drinks on the top open deck, and dancing, magic show down stairs. It was a great night, the food was average, but that happens on these things, met some interesting people, and some not. Ended up all dancing even Jayne, l went on a wild tour of my own unique l gather dancing style, which was commented on that evening and the next day. (The strange thing is , last night we had some music on in the apartment here and Hunter dances just like me!?)
We got home after 1am, and slept well. The next day we decided to go to D'Orsay, but the line went on for miles in the rain, so we met up with the folks from the USA and headed of to a cafe where Rob, Maite,Nick and a few others where having lunch. Typical Parisian cafe, apparently used in movies, so we stayed there ate, drank, and then moved on to some shopping and another bar to watch the Wimbledon final. After that we did a bit of shopping in the sale shops, and headed to a dinner reservation we had at a restaurant called L'Rounda, which was terrific. That was a 5 bottle of wine night, after all the drinks and food during the day, l was spent, and happy to collapse into bed.
Monday, the others left, and that allowed Jayne and l to visit some galleries, but most were closed, so we ended up in the Tokyo museum, which is very alternative, performance art, and that ain't easy after a big weekend. So we spent more time travelling on the subway and walking. Later we ended up at Stefane's new office, and had drinks and dinner with him and Melanie. Getting to bed early and tired.
Tue morning we woke, cleaned up the apartment, and left to the airport, only to be hassled by Easy-jet about carry on, the fact we had small bags, much smaller than others but another item to carry, handbag and suit carry, we had to somehow squash them in out bags to get on, and as soon as on, l pulled them out and out them comfortably in the overhead locker.
We arrived in Bologna at 1pm, with Antonio and the boys waiting for us, Antonio allowed me to drive home, much to the boys happiness.
Janye and that big stick
Lunch
Friends on the Seine
Jayne, Graig, Sue
Lunch in a famous cafe!
Boys on a boat
Rob and me and a stick
