Beautiful City-Paris 

Saturday Day 1:  Checked in to our two hotels near the Place de 
la Madeleine, The Beau Manoir, and The Newton Opera.  We were 
very pleased with our accommodations.  These have been our best 
two hotel finds in Paris to date.  The breakfast room in the 
Beau Manoir was charming and the rooms in the Newton Opera, 
though small, were very nicely appointed.

   The Place de la Madeleine
  
We chose this location because it is convenient to the sites 
on our agenda.  We wanted to be near the Louvre, Notre Dame,
and the Musée d'Orsay.  We could walk to the Champs Elysée
and along the Seine.  We were near the Latin Quarter and 
the Boulevard St-Germain.

   Notre Dame At Dusk
  
Spent the afternoon at the beautiful Galeries Lafayette where 
Gilles Pons, one of our good friends, was having a wine tasting of 
his latest rosé.  This was one of the best rosés I have ever tasted.  
He also produces whites and award winning reds at his winery, 
Château Les Valentines, in the south of France.

   The Galeries Lafayette
 
Finished the day with a ride on the Metro and dinner at Bofinger,
a typically Parisian restaurant specializing in seafood.  The 
oysters were superb and to our delight, Gilles joined us after 
his wine tasting was over.  

Sunday Day 2:  Saints and Sinners Day
We started out with Mass at beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral.
Regardless of your religious preference, this church is awe
inspiring.  Afterwards, several of us had a leisurely breakfast
at a sidewalk café overlooking the Place Madeleine.

Spent Midday at Père Lechaise Cemetery - Why a cemetery?  
We are not a morbid group but the people that have been there 
before say it is a Paris site not to be missed. We visited the 
graves of so many famous historical figures: Molière, Balzac,
Chopin, Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde.  Some of the more modern 
notables are: Edith Piaf, Isadora Duncan, Gertrude Stein, 
Alice B. Toklas.  Buried together are famous lovers from the past, 
Heloise and Abelard, and from the present, Yves Montand 
and Simone Signoret.  The most visited grave (and closely guarded) 
is that of Jim Morrison.  Being a Doors fan, I found it a very 
touching site.  People are leaving poems and flowers on his grave 
more than thirty years after his death.  Père Lechaise is a 
beautiful, peaceful spot.  If you’ve got to go, this is not 
a bad place to end up.         


Four views of Pere Lechaise

                  


Pere Lechaise Images 

Sunday Evening At the Moulin Rouge.  I can't say enough about a 
hundred-year-old burlesque show that is still magical.  We were 
thoroughly entertained by the singing, the dancing, the spectacular
costumes, and of course, the gorgeous girls.  The ladies in our group 
were equally entertained by the men in the performance.  This is one
cabaret that successfully packs a four hour show into two hours.
They really gave us our money's worth.

Monday Day 3: This was a walk till you drop day.  We went first 
to the Champs Elysée and further along to the Luxembourg Gardens. 
Then we took in the beautiful bridges along the river Seine.
My favorite is the Pont Alexandre-III.

                  

Some of our group took the "elevated" tour of the Eiffel Tower
and then a partial tour of the Louvre, to be enthralled by the works
of Leonardo Di Vinci and Michaelangelo.  Later on the Boulevard 
St-Germaine we frequented the most famous of the outdoor cafés, 
Les Deux Magots, where Ernest Hemingway, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre,
and Simone de Beauvoir would spend the afternoons as we did, conversing
and watching the people show on this famous boulevard.

   The Café Deux Magots
  
The last stop was Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, where the
famous fashion houses: Chanel, Sonya Rykiel, Lanvin, Yves St Laurent,
Ferragamo, and many others are based.  Good thing I’m carrying some
weight.  I had to wade through hordes of whisper-thin super models.  

We finished the day with a meal at super chef Alain Ducasse’s 
new restaurant, Spoon, just off the Champs Elysée.  It was 
everything we hoped, fine food, unique presentation, and 
excellent service.  The dessert was a chocolate lovers medley. 
I told the waiter to kill me because no dessert for the rest of my life
could top this one.  Several of the group split off and took the Bateaux
Parisiens dinner cruise on the Seine. This was a brand new boat with very
classy appointments. The dinner began with exquisite violin serenades
progressing to an Enya style vocalist with orchestra accompaniment...
ending the evening with dancing. The sites from the dinner cruise were
"postcard", with the boat stopping to make full turns at just the
perfect moments for the best views...the sun setting behind Notre Dame 
and the Paris copy of Statue of Liberty lined up directly in front of 
the Eiffel Tower, both exquisitely lit with white lights. As the
romantic cruise glided along the Seine, we saw lovers along the river
banks sharing picnics and kisses, and many small groups dancing to our
music as we passed. We watch them and they watch us...each admiringly. 


Tuesday Day 4: This was a travel day.  We took the train 
from Paris to Munich where we met with friends and other 
members of the tour.  We were at full strength with nineteen 
happy travelers.  Bernie and Annette, our two closest friends
from the Munich area joined us along with Catherine Lindner 
from the BMW factory.  We had a traditional Bavarian meal 
at Dom Andechs near the Marienplatz.

Wednesday Day 5:  Delivery day at the factory.  The gang 
picked up our nine BMWs at the Freimann Delivery Center.
We sailed through the details of paper signing with no hitches.  
With typical German efficiency, Judith and Bernhard had
our cars lined up and ready to go.  Lots of smiling faces 
as we got the first look at the vehicles that would take 
us through Italy and Switzerland with some of the group 
finishing in France.  We were off to a great start with all 
nine cars lined up at the gate of the factory. We were each
outfitted with fully charged walkie talkies and beautifully 
organized packets including driving instructions and destination 
hotel phone numbers just in case we got separated. 
 
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