Sacré bleu!

I won't go into all the details other then to say France has NOT won any allegiances from us. Everything in relation to that country has been a problem - getting there, finding things, getting out of there. The city of Paris itself IS pretty but it is so crowded and everyone smokes and the subway is jammed packed at all times of the day and night and, with a few exceptions, the people ARE rude. In the UK and Ireland, if I had any problems, people were so helpful, but not in Paris.

And along with all the issues we had, I was not able to get WiFi anywhere. The only place around that seemed to have it was....McDonalds..which was also packed all the time. And the one time I tried there, it said their internet was down! We've had to rearrange some plans because we couldn't get the overnight train we wanted out of Paris tonight to Milan, so instead are going to Brussels (only 1 hour 20 minutes away) and will see Brussels and Bruges tomorrow before returning to Paris and hoping on the overinight to Milan then onto Venice.

This nice train has WiFi (which the announcement in English pronounced wee-fee) so I wish the ride was longer! I really have been annoyed by the lack of internet access as so much depends on be being able to get online and make reservations and look things up. Hopefully I will have some time when I actually can connect long enough with a good connection to upload my pics.

In general we are having a great time - wearing ourselves, and particularly our feet, out every day with lots of walking and seeing. All three of us are still well despite almost continuous close contact with millions of people on trains, subways, buses, in museums, etc. And for that I am VERY grateful!