Introduction to Paris
  I'm going to post this a little late.  As soon as Grace and I got to Paris we got very busy with little time for going online.
  Our flight from LAX went smoothly and we were able to sleep a few hours in our cramped Premium Economy seats.   After our London to Paris connecting flight, we caught the RER train into Paris.  I knew the stop we were supposed to use was Saint Michel, but the Notre Dame station looked closer to our hotel so we got off there.  Yikes!  The station was underground in a dark, tile-lined tunnel.  The only way out seemed to be a flight of stairs.  Up we went, dragging our 40 lb. suitcases and small carry-ons with us.  There was an old man coming down the stairs.  He had few teeth, a 4-day beard stubble, a long, red woolen coat and some large packages.  He began yelling at us in French and pointing to our bags.  In my sleep deprived state the only word I could make out was "Madam".  After climbing the very, very long and steep stairs, we erupted onto Quai de la Tournelle, one of the busiest streets in Paris.  It was night and the street corner was a mass of zooming cars and fast walking people, reminiscent of Back to the Future.  We felt like we'd been dropped off in a different time.  We looked around to see if we could hail a taxi, but soon recognized that that was impossible.  Finally, we saw a line of taxis about a block away.  Once we dropped our bags at the Hotel Des Deux on Ile Saint Louis, we walked to the end of the street to the closest bistro for some nourishment.
  Le Saint Regis was the perfect ending to our day.  We ordered beer, cheeseburgers and fries.  The beers came quickly and the burgers followed right behind. 

  The following day we were up and about early as we had a 2 o'clock tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours at the Eiffel Tower.  Our first full view of the Eiffel Tower was from the park just below. 

 After Victor, our tour director gave us the history of the Eiffel Tower,  we took the elevator to the first level to begin our tour.  The view was amazing and we were fortunate that it was a sunny day. 

After the tour, Grace and I took the elevator to the 3rd and highest level.  The fast ascending elevator is open framed so you see the city rapidly falling away. 

 

 The "Champagne Bar" at the top of the Eiffel Tower cheesy and very overpriced.

But the views were free and breathtaking. 

 

Beware of pickpocket signs were everywhere.

The daffodils and tulips around the Eiffel Tower were in bloom.

PARIS PUG

 

 

 

29 March 2014 - Riding on the Metro

29 March 2014

Today, Grace and I had our first Metro experience.  We walked from our hotel to the Saint Paul metro station where we bought tickets.  We agreed that if we got separated we would meet at the very next stop.  That was a very good thing because the trains were very crowded and although I made it on, Grace did not.  I turned to see her face outside the train window.  We both mouthed, "Next stop."  We easily met up at the next stop and boarded the train together.  We switched trains at Concord and then got off at Pigalle.  This is the metro station.  The doors open when the train is ready for boarding, but you'd better be quick as you only have about 10 seconds to board.

 
This is Tissue Reine on rue Saint Pierre.  I was looking for Liberty of London fabrics and found 2 tables of bolts.  Still quick expensive, but not as much as in the U.S.  If you look closely, you can see the very petite doll like figures to show how the fabrics will look make up into garments.  We had to secretly take a photo because they do not allow photos taken in the store.

Just up the street from Tissue Reine is Sacre Coeur.  It is on a hill overlooking Paris.  Today was Saturday so the park in front of the church was mobbed with people.  There were musicians performing, guys with cases of beer walking around selling bottles of beer, and vendors with their wares laid out on blankets.

There was also an Asian bride getting her photo taken with her new husband.  We could not help but notice that she isn't touching him and he barely touches her. 

 
On the way up the hill, we passed girls playing with their bunny.  He was dyed blue and violet.  Perhaps he is the Easter bunny.

 

And we saw our first Paris cats.  Lucky for the gray one, some ladies were putting food out for him.  The black and white one had a perfect spot in the sun overlooking the park area next to Sacre Coeur.

 

 

People in Paris use creative ways to earn some money.  This couple spread out their rug with a hat on the corner and danced a tango.  We have been serenaded in the metro by women singing, two men playing clarinet and sax, and twin blonde women playing guitars.  The first two merely boarded the train with their pig amp and Walkman on a wheeled cart and began their act.  One of the men continued to play clarinet while the other walked around with a paper cup collecting coins.

 

Our final stop of the day was the Moulin Rouge.  Grace pointed out that there is no pink elephant.

 

 

 

T minus 6 days and 6 hours. 

Another fabulous adventure is planned and I will be taking off via Virgin-Atlantic to London where I will transfer planes and fly on to Paris.  Yes, Paris!  I have wanted to go to Paris since I was 13 years old, and I took French classes in junior high school.  My grand-daughter, Grace will be coming with me to the Paris portion of my trip. 

We have a tour of the Eiffel Tower planned for Friday, March 28 with Fat Tire Bike Tours.  This should get us off to a good start and give us insight into the building and history of the Eiffel Tower. 

The following Tuesday, April 1st, we will be going out to Versailles, also with the Fat Tire Bike Tour group.  Once in Versailles, we will shop for picnic supplies and then pick up our bicycles and go to the Versailles gardens for a picnic and the beginning of our tour.  The gardens are huge so with the beach cruisers, we will be able to cover a lot of ground and see more than if we were walking around.

I am so excited about going to Paris. 

The Innes Saloon

When I was about 13 years old, my grandmother, Elizabeth Grace Innes told me that her father, George Innes and her grandfather, John Innes built houses in Inverness, and George named the streets after himself.  One street is George Street and one is Innes Street.  You might recall that last year, my grand-daughter, Grace and I went to those streets, took lots of photos and ate in the Innes Saloon.  We found the house on Innes Street where they lived.

Today, I found out that the houses on Innes and George Streets were not built by George Innes or John Innes.  In fact, the houses were built by a variety of different people.  The original land was a part of a tract called Wester Shipland and different trades men, carpenters, slaters, joiners, etc. secured long-term rentals of the individual lots and then built the houses on Innes and George Streets.  It may be that my great-grandfather, George Innes worked for these people to construct the houses, but he did not "build" the houses himself.

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that my grandmother, Grace was misinformed about the houses on Innes Street. My grandmother was a strict and proper Scottish woman and would never make that up.

I also found some new and rather interesting information about the previous owners of the Innes Saloon.

In 1841, at the age of 21, Margaret Paterson (1819-1895)  married Donald Paterson. They lived in Inverness and had 8 children. Donald Paterson was a seaman, who owned 10 shares (out of a possible 64 shares)  in the 78 foot schooner, Lillias. The Lillias ran a trade route, probably carrying wheat or oats, along the Scottish coast and then to Prussia. In 1830, Donald was lost at sea on the return voyage from Pillau, a Russian seaport town in Kaliningrad Oblast. The ship and all hands were lost, leaving Margaret a widow with 8 children. She received about 445 pounds from insurance on Donald's interest in the ship and his life.

Their daughter, Alexandrina Paterson married Hugh Paterson, my great-great grand parents Thomas and Elizabeth MacIntosh Paterson's son.

Are you following along so far?

Margaret's brother, Harold Paterson (1824-1889) never married.  He worked for the Scottish version of the IRS.  He was an Exciseman and levied and collected taxes.  In 1875, he purchased the Innes Saloon  from Jessie Ross Taylor.  Harold and his older and widowed sister, Margaret Paterson (1819-1895) and her daughters, Grace and Margaret lived and worked in what they called The Innes.  After Harold passed away, his nieces, Grace and Margaret inherited the pub.

Scenes from Inverness

The Inverness sky is like no other.

Most of my day is spent researching my family history in the Highland Council History Center.  

The History Center has been open for about 2 years and everyone working there is knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.  Every morning, as I near the front door, security guard, Grant Begg,  comes out to greet me and walk with me into the building and every evening he walks with me and opens the door as I leave.  Wednesday night, heavy rain began just as I was leaving, Grant grabbed an umbrella and walked me to my car.  His mother would be proud.

This is Inverness' version of rush-hour traffic.  I usually sit through 3 to 10 changes of this traffic light.  It feeds into the Ness Bridge, one of the 2 bridges that cross the River Ness and get me back to my hotel.

This is an artsy photo of a building taken through the rain covered window while I waited for the light to change..

Inverness Castle from Ness Bridge

Ness Bridge

St. Andrew's Cathedral

Looking North along the River Ness
 toward the Ness Bridge

 These are views from in front of my hotel, aptly called the Waterside Hotel.

Inverness Castle

On Thursday nights, St. Andrew's practices ringing its church bells between 8 and 9 P.M.  They ring the bells about every 15 minutes for about 2-3 minutes.  When I heard it, I had to ask if there was a special reason for the bell ringing.  It sounded like the bell ringing you would hear if a Royal was born or married.

Fly fishing on the Ness

This post is for my Dad and Mom, who for the last 20+ years have spent their summers fly fishing in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Here in Inverness, every morning and evening, there is a group of men who fish the River Ness.  They wade and they fish from the bank.

And sometimes, they catch fish.

Kilmuir Burial grounds, Scotland

As promised, I can now share the photos from my trip up to the Kilmuir burial grounds.  This is the small cemetery surrounding the ruins of St. Mary's church on the Black Isle.  The Black Isle is neither black nor an isle.  It is a penninsula just north of Inverness.  You access the Black Isle via the Kessock Bridge. You can see from the photo that it is a very modern bridge.  If you look closely near the center of the bridge, you can see the cables that hold it up.

This is the narrow road leading to the church yard ruins.  The fence in the picture above is beautiful, hand hewn fencing that surrounds an estate.  The picture to the right shows a hand built rock barrier.  There are a million of these fences all over Scotland denoting property limits

After driving about 4 miles down that little road, through the woods, I made a left turn and found Kilmuir burial grounds.  There's my car parked right next to the cemetery wall.  Off in the distance is the Beauly Firth.  It's hard to tell, but the cemetery is on the bluffs above the firth.

This wall surrounds the cemetery on all four sides.  It's about 6 feet high.  There is a gate at the entrance, but it is locked and the only way over the wall is via the stone stairs you see here.  On the other side of the wall is a second set of stairs for getting down to the other side.  This wall protects the cemetery from intrusion. 

You can see how thick the wall is.  These are the stairs on the inside.  In the distance, you can see the locked gate.

Here is the grave marker for my great-great-grandparents.            Captain Thomas Paterson, shipowner, from Inverness, who  died 12 January 1905, aged 84 years and his wife, Elizabeth Macintosh, who died 19 December 1901, aged 69 years.

Here are some views from the cemetery toward the Beauly Firth.  The photos really don't capture the feeling I got standing there looking out over the water while the wind fiercely whipped up from the inlet below.