Paris, France

Ahh . . . Paris, a unique, historical and beautiful city with a feel that cannot be described but must be experienced. Since we have been to Paris several times and pretty much "done" all the tourist sites, we decided to take our last several days of vacation here to just explore the neighborhoods and experience the city at a slower pace. Not to say that we won't re-visit some of the classic sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame cathedral, etc., but we'll try to approach them from a different "angle" than in the past.

Our hotel is in the 7th arrondisment just off Rue Cler -- the pedestrian area that's lined with restaurants, cafes and patisseries. We could probably spend our entire time in Paris within the 7th and feel that we had experienced the city. However there is so much more to see and the Paris Metro is so easy to navigate (especially after Moscow) that we chose a different section of the city for each day's wanderings.

The only things "special" that we planned beyond walking the neighborhoods was a wine and cheese tasting that Cindy had found on-line, a visit to Sainte Chappelle (on a sunny day for the stained glass), and the Cluny (medieval) Museum. We chose to finish our trip in Paris to "wind down" after nearly six weeks on the road. Although it was taken at a slower pace, the city is so vibrant it is difficult to slow down. Our mornings began at a nearby cafe with a cafe aulait, pastry and the required french baguette. Then it was off -- walking the neighborhoods and absorbing the feel of Parisien life.

The iconic Eiffel Tower

The magnificent stained glass windows of Ste. Chapelle










Notre Dame Cathedral












The Pont Alexander III (Bridge)





Arc de Triomphe

The Eiffel Tower light show

Moscow, Russia

On Tuesday, July 28, we left our tour group and the security blanket of our tour guide, and headed out on our own aboard a train for five days in Moscow. Although Moscow is actually older than St. Petersburg, it has a newer, cleaner and more modern look, due mainly to the Stalin-era construction projects.

Our first stop was a tour of the Kremlin. Since it is the seat of the Russian and former Soviet Union governments, less than half the buildings are open to the public. However, we were able to tour the State Armory (a museum housing the collections of Russian royalty over the centuries including an exquisite sampling of Faberge Eggs). There are also several golden-domed churches in Cathedral Square which survived Stalin"s architectural "cleansing."

Adjacent to the eastern wall of the Kremlin is Red Square. Even though we had seen pictures and videos of events held in the area such as the May Day military parades of Soviet armies, tanks and missiles, we were not prepared for how large and open the area actually is -- over five football fields long!

As you enter Red Square from the north end through the intricately carved arches and spires of Resurrection Gate you see the colorful onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral in the distance. The whole experience takes on a sort of "Disney-esque" feel. And if Red Square is Disneyland, then St. Basil's Cathedral is Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Legend has it that Ivan the Terrible was so impressed with the cathedral he had the architect blinded so that he could not design anything else to rival it's beauty.

Along one side of the square, next to the Kremlin wall is Lenin's tomb where you can view the embalmed and preserved body of the former Soviet leader and architect of the Bolshevik revolution. The entire experience is a bit surreal. Initially you file along the Kremlin wall past the graves and tombs of heroes and former leaders of the Soviet Union. Then as you enter the mausoleum, the pace slows and you actually feel a chill -- not sure if its because you're getting closer to "Comrade Lenin" or just due to the high-powered air conditioning to keep him looking his best? Overall, he didn't look too bad for a guy who's been dead for 85 years. However, we felt Madame Tussuad could have done a better job with a few kilos of wax.

On Friday we took a day trip to the outskirts of the city to the town of Sergiev-Possad to tour the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius. The monastery was the seat for the Russian Orthodox Church for a time after WWII. It remains one of the country's most important religious centers and is a place of pilgrimage for many of the believers.

On Saturday we toured the Old Arbat section. Although originally the first "suburb" of Moscow, it is just across the river from the Kremlin. It has had a varied history of inhabitants from artists to aristocrats to intellectuals. Today it is home to a lively pedestrian area lined with restaurants, souvenir shops and cafes including that bastion of American capitalism, McDonalds, and the cradle of western decadence, the Hard Rock Cafe.

Part of the day was spent exploring Moscow's Metro system. Thanks to our guide in St. Petersburg, we were armed with a basic working knowledge of the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet. All the signs in the Moscow Metro are in Cyrillic only. So to find the stop near our hotel, "Pushkin Square," we had to decipher, "ПУШКИНСКАЯ." Proudly, we have to admit to only a single mistake — getting off one stop too soon on one occasion — and we're blaming that one on the tiny
printing on our copy of the Metro map. At least that's our story, and we're sticking to it. In addition to being one of the world's busiest mass transit systems, some of the stations are works of art in their own right with crystal chandeliers, mosaics and stained glass. Most of the artwork extols the virtues of Communism and the Soviet
State, but it still makes for interesting decor.

Although Moscow was added almost as an afterthought to our St. Petersburg trip. It turned out to be one of our favorite cities. In spite of the language barrier, remote location and drivers who
constantly play Russian Roulette, it has a feel that is hard to describe. If you have the time and energy and are looking for a bit of a surprise, don't overlook Moscow.