Beth blessed with the attention of foreign men~

Essay by Kathy:(first on the left) Then Pam, Alex, Beth (the man magnet), Chee, and Pam Taylor
Our trip thus far~

Today we started our girls trip to Paris and Italy. We arrived in Charlotte on time only to find out that during our 7 hour trip to Paris the video system was down. If you are a light sleeper this made for an extra long flight. In my boredom I turned behind me to talk to Pam and Beth. The flight attendant said we were too loud so I had to go back to my seat.  Pam and Beth fell asleep right away so I decided to  open the hatch and reach for my backpack. Unfortunately my can of Hershey nut mix fell on Pam and woke her up. . The lid was missing so Pam T lent me her mini flashlight. After creating a laser show on the plane I never found the lid so I had to eat all of the chocolates. I still don't know why the flight attendant did not like me.

Our chauffeur arrived on time at the airport and was very good at driving while turning completely around to make eye contact with us.This did not help my motion sickness. Note to self--- only ask questions at stop lights.

We arrived in the beautiful city of Paris with not much sleep. So we decided to cram as much in as we could. A couple cappuccinos and glasses of wine got us through the day. Beth is a trooper since she takes at least two steps to our one. We did 29,000 steps and she did probably close to 100,000. Pam and Alex were great at navigating us through the subway. We had to learn not to hesitate or you get squished by the doors. Fortunately a hefty guy pulled the door open so Pam T and I could slide through. We have now come up with a safety plan if one of us goes missing.. Oh and always carry lots of hand sanitizer.

We visited the Arc de Triomphe and got a lot of panoramic pictures. It was breathtaking. We saw several men walking around in their soccer shirts chanting for their team. They are friendly and seem harmless. Well time for bed and hoping to get a few more hours in.

Today was our last day in Paris. For breakfast we had French crepes and croissants. Need I say more. We headed to Notre Dame to observe mass and I was able to take communion. The church is breathtaking. We walked down memory lane with Alex and saw her hostel where she stayed three years ago. We saw the Pantheon and then went to the Louvre. Pam, Pam and Beth went through the museum. They got to see the Mona Lisa and the rest of us saw it too through Pam’s photos. After dinner several gay men were gathering in the street. When we got back to our room we understood why. Our prayers go out to the victims families.

We leave in a few hours for the airport. The pilots are on strike so hopefully we have no problems. Yesterday we were on the subway and the driver on our route decided to strike. So we followed everyone off the subway to the next one where that driver wanted to stay employed.

We arrived at the airport at 3:45am for our 7:00am flight. The Paris airport is one of the largest in the world like a miniature city. The driver dropped us off and the entrance doors were locked. We flagged down the driver who intelligently said try the next door and drove away. 10 doors and a few hundred steps later we found a door that was open. Guess we should have tipped better. We are now waiting for the workers to arrive.
We finally arrived in Rome and decided to eat at a quaint outdoor café by the hotel. The food was great and we were enjoying our first few hours in Italy when a large bird decided to poop in Pam T’s drink which splashed on her food, shirt and Chee’s salad. Nothing says welcome like that! We received free drinks on the house for that christening.

Yesterday  we visited the Basilica and the Sistine chapel. Having a tour guide made it more enjoyable. She was very knowledgeable and we never had to wait in line. The artwork was incredible. We also visited the Coliseum. There is so much history here it’s amazing. After our tour and a well deserved nap we went to one of the squares for dinner. The food was fantastic and there is entertainment everywhere. After a few drinks Pam was convinced David Crosby was sitting by us . Well it was not David Crosby but a very nice Italian man who politely told Pam he wasn't . Like I said there was entertainment everywhere.

 Beth seems to attract the foreign men. I forgot to mention at our Paris hotel  a couple was very friendly with Beth. The husband insisted Beth get a picture with his wife. We are not sure if this is the Parisian way or Beth is on a website somewhere. While in Rome at the square, the owner of a restaurant offered Beth samples of his “world’s best gelato “ and to come back tomorrow for free champagne to celebrate his divorce. Angelo (yes we are all now friends) seemed to own more than a restaurant and Pam thinks  he may be a Mafia boss.

Today we had our cooking class. We met at the market and went to our host’s home to make pasta in a 16 th century home.We made farfalle and several other pastas I can't remember how to pronounce. Our chef was a great teacher and very passionate about his food. We made 3 pasta courses that was delicious and very filling. We decided to walk off our pasta and go throw our coins in the Trivi fountain. Guiseppie wants to be Facebook friends with Beth because he has a friend that looks just like her. Did I mention that foreign men like Beth?