Paris Review

     We had a great trip to Paris.  Our hosts/friends Danny and Bea and friend Sonny were spectacular and very doting.  I had had some trepidation before we left Philly but by the end of the vacation did not want to leave Paris.  Because of draught conditions in France, we had by far the best weather we ever had in France: sunny and in the 70's nearly every day.  Linda and I had rarely seen Paris in the sunshine.  Sonny and I went up the Eiffel Tower which is only a few blocks from Danny's apartment and twice we went out to see the Eiffel lit up in gold lights every night with a sparkling light show for 5 mintues at the top of every hour after dark.
     I lost 2 of 3 games in ping pong to Sonny at an outdoor table in the park near the Eiffel but Sonny and I never take ping pong very seriously (except from the first point on.)  We slept late everyday but then kept pretty busy.  We did a Seine boat tour (and as you know, anyone who jumps off a bridge into the river is in Seine.) 
     Sonny, Danny and I had two days of modest biking, one around farm land south in Paris using the nice home of a friend of Danny's as our starting and end point.  The other bike ride was Sunday along the river where the roads are closed.  Mostly easy riding with two spurts, once when I was annoyed at a roller blader who had passed me and once when I thought Danny was going too slowly up a small hill.
     We celebrated my birthday on Rapture Day at a nice restaurant where the waiters all sang me happy birthday in French.  Linda got to do a lot of window shopping and actual shopping with Bea on several days while the guys did other much more fun things (staring into space would be more fun) including the biking, the Pompidou Center with its modern art galleries, and walking around.  We all visited the Luxembourg Gardens, the Pantheon, Notre Dame, Berthelon for ice cream, the Rose Garden at the Bois de Boulogne, and other nice restaurants.  Linda got to the Louvre and Richelieu's Palace and Sonny and I went to Napoleon's Tomb which is not your typical piece of land with a headstone.   
     By the way, keyboards in Paris are not exactly the same as here:  a and m, punctuation and numbers are in the wrong place.
     On the return flight, I was able to upgrade to the last first class seat which was great.  It was like having your own cubicle and the wide, comfortable seat could recline so that I was almost horizontal.  Whle the food was plentiful, it still tasted like USAir food although I did enjoy the ice cream sundae.  Rachel and Dave met us at the airport.
     Thursday we're off to JH to begin the chemo although I started with related pills last night.

   Elkan