Jen’s Travel Journal

After an 8-hour direct flight from Philadelphia, Rob and I landed in Paris at around 8:30am local time. There were no problems getting though security or getting our luggage - it just took a while. Neither of us was really able to sleep on the flight but thankfully we weren’t feeling tired yet. We took a cab to our hotel in Montparnasee (it cost just over 50 euro and took well over an hour due to an accident) - the Hotel Concorde Montparnasse. Our room was not ready because it was so early, so we ventured out to find something to eat. Our first experience in French dining was at Le Ocean (or something like that) - a smoke-filled cafe complete with a pinball machine and snooty waiter to boot. I had my first of several Croque Moussier’s on this trip - it’s basically the equivalent of a grilled cheese with ham, except I’m pretty sure they just take a ham sandwich, put a piece of cheese on top, and put it under the broiler. Don’t let the simplicity fool you though b/c it was actually quite good. The other notable thing about this meal is that we learned that the tip is included in the final price of your meal - no need need to leave something extra for your “garcon.”

After that we wandered a bit more and went to the Musee de Poste (Postal Museum) to buy our Museum Passes. (We’re not that interested in the history of the stamp.) This is a great little tip that all of the travel books rave about and it’s absolutely true: Buy a museum pass. This gets you VIP access into all of the major museums in the city - including the Louvre. 4-day museum pass: 45 euro. Avoiding long lines: Priceless.

We then headed back to the hotel to see if our room was ready. “No, not yet. Perhaps in an hour?” So we killed some time in the lobby reading about our Museum Passes (it gets us into the Louvre, Orsay, and the Arc de Triomph, sweet!) and after another hour the response we got from the desk agent was “In one hour for sure.” Sigh. To their credit, check in is not technically until 2:00pm but we were tired man! We walked around outside of the hotel some more and when we came back our room was ready. Hallelujah! It was time for a very very long nap…

We woke up around 6:00pm and it felt like a completely new day  - and time to get some food. I had heard on $40 a day from Rachel Ray that the Latin Quarter is a great place to get some good, cheap food so we ventured out for a walk. We got a little bit lost but it was a very enjoyable walk through cobblestone streets lined with fresh produce and bread stands. I even saw a guy hurriedly walking and chomping off the top of a foot-long baguette. That was a Parisian Polaroid moment. Even though we were technically lost one of the nice things about Paris is that there are Metro stops EVERYWHERE complete with a map of the city and “you are here” dots. So we followed the dots and eventually made it to the Latin Quarter and very quickly found a brasserie (a pub) with our name on it - La Gueze.

La Gueze was a great find. It met both of Rob’s criteria for finding a good place to eat in Paris: 1) It was packed and 2) Everyone was NOT speaking English. Our waiter, fortunately, spoke a bit of English and even taught us how to ask for the check in French by writing “Je voudrais l’ddition” on the place mat. He was clearly not the stereotypical snooty French waiter. Our respect for the French language probably won use brownie points too. We presented ourselves as eager students and he became our teacher. Oh yeah and the food was great too - classic French comfort food at very reasonable prices. Rob’s was particularly yummy - Steak au poivre. It’s just steak (cooked to perfection) covered in black pepper and a creamy sauce.  I had a chicken dish which was also very good and very tender and juicy.

After dinner - to the Seine. Except for everyone speaking French, I was beginning to feel like I could be in any city. I wanted to experience the magic of Paris, and what better way to do that then by taking a moonlit stroll along the Seine. And that’s exactly what we did. We returned to walk here several other times during our trip but there was something very special about the walk this first night. Maybe it was because it was not very crowded - only a few random couples walking hand-in-hand, maybe it was seeing Nortre Dame for the first time (breathtaking!), maybe it was the accordion player as we crossed the bridge onto I’le St. Louis - whatever it was I absolutely loved it.

We eventually walked back to our hotel. It’s a relatively long walk (about 20min), tt was raining and my feet hurt but I didn’t care. I was filled with a sense of “this is a once in a lifetime experience” and after we returned to our hotel room and I looked at the Eiffel Tower twinkling from our window, I know knew that I was surrounded by the magic of Paris - a city unlike any other.

Ah Par-ee. I promise I’ll return.

I’ve just returned from my first trip and I can honestly say that it
was everything I expected - packed with a few pleasant surprises. I
was at the same time inspired and reluctant to write about my
adventures in Paris; inspired by its beauty and magic but reluctant
because I don’t think any words can really describe Paris completely.
In the end, inspiration won.

On the plane ride home, I had three somewhat connected thoughts on Paris:

1. It’s fast-paced

Paris is a fast-paced metropolitan city swarming with locals,
students, tourists, and everyone in between. Everyone wants to “go go
go” to get to their final destination. The people walk fast, the
vehicles (including a surprising number of mopeds and motorcycles)
drive fast, and there is even a “high speed” people mover lane in the
Montparnasse Metro station. (This “high speed” 9km/hr people-moving
conveyor belt was, unfortunately, under construction when we were
there so we had to settle for the 3km/hr conveyor belt.) There are,
however, some great places to escape and take it down a gear including
two of my favorite places: Anywhere along the banks of the Seine and
Ile Saint Louis. More on these later.

2. It’s a city of contrasts

Contrasts are everywhere in Paris. Parisians will “go go go” and then
sit in a cafe for hours nursing a cafe or glass of wine. An example
of an architectural contrast are the pyramids in front of the Louvre.
The pyramids are very contemporary but the Louvre itself is a
centuries-old royal palace. One more: Paris is made up of several
contrasting neighborhoods from the artsy, hip Latin Quarter to the
seedy yet quaint Montmartre to the grandiose Arc de Triomphe and
Champs-Elysees.

3. It’s inspiring

Even though Paris is fast-paced, given that there are so many
contrasts, it’s hard not to be inspired. Inspired to look, inspired
to listen, inspired to live.

While Rob and I were enjoying a glass of wine in a cafe right in the heart of it all
(with some great people-watching seats), I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head in
disbelief when I saw tourists walking around with their head in their
maps. (One was walking in circles obviously wondering where she was.)
I am a fan of maps, but they have their place and time. “Stop,” I
wanted to tell these silly tourists. “Look around. There is the
Seine over there. Notre Dame is right there. Take your eyes off of
your map, look up, and be inspired.”

Last day in Curaçao. We enjoyed our final breakfast at the Palm Café and I said good-bye to my mischievous avian friend. Check-out went smoothly and a larger tour van (as opposed to a slightly dilapidated van) brought us to the airport. The flights home were smooth (no hurricanes – we just missed Katrina by a couple of days) and my parents picked us up at Bradley. All in all, it was a very interesting, very adventurous, and very hot honeymoon.

Rob’s note: Our previous observations were correct. Like everything else on this island, the airport is under construction. The ticket counters are in an open air area (there are no doors at the curbside dropoff. Once you drop off your luggage, you head through one door into an air conditioned security section, then to customs where you have to turn in a survey they give you when you land. From there it’s down to the concourse where all 11 gates are. By gates, I mean glass doors that lead out to the tarmac and the waiting turbo-props (although some of the European and Asian carriers did have bigger jets waiting out there). I like parts of Curaçao and I really feel that we would have enjoyed more of it during a slower part of the “on-season” when the air is slightly cooler and we tourists out number the locals thereby making them slightly friendlier. I really think it’s a completely different place during high season and maybe even on Wednesdays. We’ll go back… after we get SCUBA certified. I think right now though, Kauai is a higher priority. So long Curaçao.

We turned in the keys to our Jeep today which meant we spent our last full day in Curaçao in Marriott-land. We wanted to see what all the hype was about. We awoke at a leisurely hour and had breakfast in our usual spot in the open-air Palm Cafe. We did a little bit more snorkeling at the hotel too – the conditions were much better today with not as much choppy waters. Lunch was a bit later in the day and we had some yummy pizza from the deli. While we were eating in the open-air lobby, we got to see a bride and her entourage pile into funky classic cars. That brought back some lovely memories of our wedding day. (She was tripping over her wedding dress too. After having my share of problems with that, it’s nice to see that is a common setback for brides. Ah, the things we do to be beautiful.) Later, we had dinner at Portofino. It was, regretfully, sub-par. I had requested a table outside but they seemed to have ignored my request because there we none left. We were instead seated in the slightly too-frigid air-conditioned interior at a table that seemed to be more suited for a business lunch – honeymooners should have their chairs much closer together. The food was also not as good as the other times. We thought that perhaps the regular chef was working at “Caribbean Buffet Night” which we happily passed on. It was silly, though, because the buffet festivities took place right outside of our patio. (“Why are people eating dinner in our backyard?”). After spending the entire day at the Marriott, we were very happy that we got to experience the rest of the island.

Rob’s note: I cannot believe that Jen left out the thoroughly surprising quality of the ice cream at Viola, the deli at the Curaçao Marriott. Yes it was that good. It was nice to just hang out at the resort for a day. I wouldn’t recommend it for longer than that though. It’s too bad we didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the rental jet skis or the catamaran lessons. That would have been cool. On our last day there we got to watch some guys riding the waves on wake boards with parachutes. It was like extreme kit flying. Once they got some speed coming in-land they could get about 10 feet or so above the water and just hang there for what looked like an eternity but in reality was probably only a few seconds. At this point I would also like to mention that Curaçao’s many beaches are top-optional for the ladies. And while that may sound great on paper, the women to take this option are the female equivalent of the guys that think speedos are family-friendly beach wear. They really should get their own beach so the rest of us can easily avoid them.

We awoke at 6:30am to leave for horseback riding at 8:15. We rode for about 45 minutes following a lead rider who showed us around a 200 year-old estate in central Curaçao. I rode a very relaxed and compliant horse which was only trained to walk at a leisurely pace (called pacifia by our Dutch guides) while Rob’s European style horse wanted to run the entire route (come to think of it, the horses fit the riders very well). The winding path took us through groves of thorny bushes, to dusty hills where you can see each corner of the island and finally under a centuries old mango tree before returning to the ranch. All in all, it was a fun, if not a dirty ride. We did get to meet a couple from Pittsburgh who were also on their honeymoon and also got married on August 20. Cue the “It’s a Small World” theme.

After a decent lunch in Marriott-land’s local deli, we set out for the Curaçao Seaqarium just to the east of Willemstad. It took a few tries to get there due to some navigational issues on Rob’s part. Once we were there an overwhelming sense of “this is it?” washed over us. The regular Seaquarium (which, much to my annoyance, has no air conditioning) consists of 12 tanks of varying size fish, 5 dolphins which did a pretty substandard show (trainers fault, not the dolphins), a snack bar in the center, and a gift shop that was not open. We walked around for about an hour and gave up. On the way out we paused to watch a single sea lion go through some standard “give paw” type commands. The real draw for the Seaquarium seems to be the Animal Encounters exhibits which put you in the tanks with sharks, dolphins, or sea turtles and are fairly expensive. The best encounters also require SCUBA certification. Maybe next time…

For our final night with our beloved Suzuki Jimmy, we again headed out into Ottrabanda for a meal at Bistro Le Chocard. The meal at Astrolab the night before was very hard to live up to, and while Bistro didn’t quite make it, it was pretty close. We were again offered a “chef’s appetizer” but here it was a simple yet delicious bruschetta. I played it safe and ordered a chicken dish (I can’t remember the details, which means it was good but not outstanding) and Rob had the Chateaubriand which was simple and delicious. I passed on the dessert wine this evening – the Crème Brule was good enough as is.

Rob’s note: Driving on Curaçao is enjoyable for the most part. The roundabouts have excellent signage as do nearly all of the enter sections and side streets. The one place it all falls apart is in the town of Salinja, immediately east of Willemstad. There, they have a roundabout with 4 stop signs and 5 entry points which empties onto a busy street running perpendicular to the circle. It is here that we were supposed to turn for the Seaquarium. Oh well. At least we got to see Jan Theil Baai again.

We ventured out to the east end of the island for some more snorkeling. This part of the island is markedly more developed – there is even a McDonalds and KFC. We drove through a high-class residential area (think Hollywood hills in the dessert) to get to Jan Thiel Beach. It was a very nice beach and the snorkeling was very interesting – but the water was a little choppy. We did get to see a HUGE school of fish and a sunken yacht. Very cool! The seafloor drops off pretty dramatically not too far from the shore and lots of fishies congregate in that area. We only stayed there for a little while b/c the waves were becoming a bit too much to handle (I got water up my snorkel one too many times) so we headed back to Marriott-land to enjoy a lunch a la our all-inclusive plan. After that, we tried snorkeling in the beach right at the Marriott. There was a lot more to see there than we expected. There was a great variety of coral spread out on the sea floor in a pattern that made us feel like we were in someone’s fish tank. The number of different fish so close to our room was very surprising. We had to cut the excursion short though due to more choppy waters.

For dinner, we went to Ottrabanda (in Willemstad on the other side of Punda – Ottrabanda literally means “otherside” - not too creative are they?) and enjoyed an exquisite meal at the Astrolab Observatory at the Kura Hulanda Hotel. It was very romantic as we dined beneath the massive ficus tree surrounded by bubbling fountains. We knew the meal would be special when after we ordered, the waiter brought us the “chef’s appetizer” (i.e., we didn’t order it but they brought it to us anyway) served on a zen-like rectangular plate. It felt very much like we were judges on Iron Chef. The said appetizer was a salad of the best tomatoes we have ever eaten with alfalfa sprouts. To the side of that was a salmon mousse. It was very creamy and delicious with a smoky flare - like a really good, soft cheese. For our appetizer, we tried the Ostrich Carpaccio. Very interesting. Very different. When we didn’t eat much of it, the owner came out and asked us why. We explained, to his surprise, that we never had ostrich. We were being adventurous. (I imagine he was thinking, “those silly American tourists.”) The next course (which we also didn’t order) was a sorbet of orange and carrots. You wouldn’t think that these two would go together but we discovered it was very, very good. Like peanut butter and chocolate. For the main course, Rob ordered the day’s special: Duck with a tea sauce, which he described as “a religious experience” and “the best steak teriyaki I ever had – but it’s duck.” I ordered the Pan Seared Filet of Grouper. It was very good as well. And it was served with a polenta that was absolutely out-of-this-world. Yes, polenta can be part of a fine dining experience. And then dessert. Chocolate mousse with a yummy glass of Rothschild Sauternes. It was the perfect end to a perfect meal.

Rob’s note: To drive from Ottrabanda to Punda and all points east you have to cross this bridge that oddly resembles a rollercoaster. Jen tried a few times to get a picture of the colorful buildings 200 feet below us while we were crossing. The contrast between the western portion of the island and the eastern portion is huge. Grass is impossible to maintain here and on the west it looks like they simply gave up while in the east, they seemed to have found suitable replacements. The landscaping and general upkeep of the various buildings is significantly better. It does sting some to see the scarring of American tourism, most evident in the east here. For one, the new constructions here are enormous (by the island’s standards) McMansions and what the hell are McDonald’s and KFC/Pizza Hut doing on a remote tropical island?? Where is Tattoo? I need to talk to him.

This morning is the (hopefully) final day of a family reunion that has been taking place at the hotel since we got here. On Sunday they had the pool cornered off for them and on Monday they had the nice, quiet section of the beach sectioned off for a concert that you could hear all over the resort. While it’s great to have such an engaging reunion, the influx of people has smeared a little grit on our honeymoon. The family in question is mostly American and of Jewish decent. When they are all around us at breakfast, you can close your eyes and swear you’re smack dab in north Jersey. So much for exotic seclusion. Breakfast, by the way, is otherwise very nice. We have it in the same place every day. It’s in a huge open-air patio where exotic birds like to fly by. My favorite is a black and yellow one that’s a bit mischievous. He likes to steal the sugar packets when no one is looking. And he won’t settle for Sweet-N-Low.

Today we headed out snorkeling again, this time to Playa Porto Marie. Despite being a bit crowded (with mostly Dutch tourists), it was great. This beach is the epitome of the Royal Blue Caribbean. There is a protected bay with coral reefs surrounding it and cliffs on either side. The view was breathtaking. The snorkeling was also very good – in addition to all of the colorful fish of various sizes, we also saw several types of rays and even a lobster! And we saw a HUGE iguana! He was sitting on the steps as I was going to the bathroom. A guy scared him away before Rob could get a picture though. Also of note, there was a marked difference in the clientele at Porto Mari. The attendant first requested the payment for the beach in Dutch. His English accent wasn’t much easier to understand (think Scotsman underwater… blub blub blub). There were very few people speaking English at lunch which brought back some of the exotic nature we were looking for. The sea life and iguana (HUGE I tell you) also helped. On our way out of the beach, Rob decided to have some fun with the little truck and he pulled off a “perfectly executed” drift in the dusty parking lot. I was not impressed – it frankly freaked me out.

Upon returning to Marriott-land, we had some yummy tropical drinks at Seabreeze (perhaps one too many) and then dined alfresco at Portofino again. It was just as yummy as the other night.

Rob’s note: This is what a beach is supposed to look like! Cloudless sky, gorgeous sand, very few large people, a bar and gentle waves in the pristine, clear water. The waitress at the bar was attractive and friendly and we got a free soda with admission. All in all it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

We ventured out to do some snorkeling on the far western tip of the island – Playa Kalki. Before heading out there we stopped at a local market where I went inside to do shopping and Rob waited in the Jeep. Not only is there no a/c in our beloved Jimmy, there is also no back window so no real way to lock it. We can’t be too trustful of those “friendly” locals. Grocery shopping was an adventure, especially because mostly everything is in Dutch. A kind teenage local took the bags out for me and he hung around for a tip. Told him all we had was American dollars. Another frustrated face. Well. Driving out to the beach, the landscape was very arid and everything was very underdeveloped. Think dessert and small shacks that are Curaçaoans’ minimalist homes. As Rob said, it seems as though owning a Kia is a status symbol here. We got to Kalki and did some snorkeling – the place is swimming with marine life! We even saw a manna ray (or was it a sting ray?). I tried to use the bathroom at the beach and the woman who apparently works there asked for a “guilder” for the key. I didn’t have to go that bad. (We later found out that a guilder and a florin are the same thing. Rob immediately started with the Princess Bride references because as everyone knows Guilder is the sworn enemy of Florin).

We left the beach and found a place for lunch down the street and I used the bathroom there, free of charge. The lunch place wasn’t all that great – microwaved chicken nuggets – but it was good enough. Can’t have fine dining all the time. At night we headed back to the hotel and ate at one of the other restaurants - Seabreeze. It was not as nice as Portofino. And we found out (after being transferred to someone who can actually speak and understand English) that the 12% and 5% charges are included in our “all inclusive” package. We took a nice walk on the beach at night and lounged on the loungers to stargaze. We saw a helicopter go by and Rob quipped that they must be looking for us – we didn’t stay in Marriott-land that day for lunch and we didn’t return our snorkel fins. I feel so sad for the poor vacationers that never leave the hotel – they are missing so much. Don’t get me wrong - the hotel is beautiful - but it doesn’t capture the distinctiveness that is Curaçao. To really experience Curaçao, you have to leave Marriott-land.

Rob’s note: A funny thing happened on the way to the exotic, remote tropical island that no one had heard of before… apparently every American under 30 with some money to burn has decided to crash our honeymoon! Sitting at breakfast at the hotel, and then at lunch in Westpundt we were surrounded by Americans… I’m starting to see why we were welcomed in Willemstad with perhaps less than open arms… its an invasion.

We rented a Jeep today – actually a Suzuki Jimmy with no air conditioning. The Curaçao travel books that I had read said you need 4WD to get to some of the beaches. I’m beginning to not trust those travel books and wonder if the writers have actually been to the places they are writing about because we soon learned that we did not need 4WD and a/c definitely would have been nice. Anyway, today we headed into the capital of Willemstad. We drove the 5min from our hotel, parked (parking is very easy and it’s all free) and took a ferry over to Punda (the “shopping” district). We enjoyed a European-style (i.e., 2-hour) lunch at the Vienna Ice Cafe overlooking Santa Anna Bay. It was very nice if not excruciatingly hot out. I had a cheese “toastie” which is basically a panini but with a much more amusing name. We then walked around Punda a bit to explore the shops. We kept getting the feeling that we weren’t really welcome there – so much for hospitality from the locals. Rob bought some toenail clippers and the woman made a frustrated face when we said we were paying in dollars (Florin is the official currency). After that, we headed back to the hotel and had an exquisite dinner at Portofino – now this is what fine dining is supposed to be like. We dined al fresco and the service was excellent. I found it amusing that the waiter offered up not 1, not 2, but something like 5 choices for water (tap, 2 choices of “flat” bottled, and 2 choices of bottled “with gas”.) I think we just choose one of the flat bottled varietals which was placed in a metal container on ice beside our table as if it were a fine champagne. For dinner, I had the shrimp and Rob had the red snapper. We both don’t normally eat fish but we tend to get adventurous on vacation. It was delicious. I can’t believe I’ve ignored shrimp all of this time. I finished off the meal with some tiramisu and dessert wine. It was perfect.

Rob’s note: I get the feeling that the locals here like having fewer tourists (maybe Americans in particular) for the early part of the week. The nice lady at the rental counter in the hotel told us that Willemstad floods with tourists on Wednesdays when the cruise ships dock in Annabaai. Having worked plenty of mall jobs, I can see where a “you’re not supposed to be here yet” mentality can creep in. Still, if you want service with a smile learn Dutch and pay with guilders.

Rob and I arrived in Curaçao after relatively smooth flights. I wore my tiara in hopes of inspiring the ticket agent to upgrade us to first-class, but to no avail. The flight attendant from Puerto Rico to Curaçao did address me as “your highness” though. The airport appeared to be under construction as we exited the plane onto the tarmac and walked towards what we hope is a terminal of some sort. A very nice gentleman with a slightly dilapidated van met us at the Curaçao airport and brought us to the Marriott. He took a few minutes to explain Curaçao a bit (38 miles long, 3-7 miles wide; very diverse population; “on some days you can see Venezuela – it’s always there, you know, but just some days you can see.”) Our room at the Marriott is beautiful –the sliding doors lead right out to the ocean. It looks like a Corona commercial. A little more privacy would be nice but the location is great. We got the “all-inclusive” package so we were under the impression that meals (and all associated fees) are included, but while taking a leisurely stroll through the resort grounds, we saw some fine print on the menus outside of the restaurants about 12% and 5% fees. We asked about it at the front desk and the very kind woman told us in her best English that these fees are not included in the “all-inclusive” package. Alrighty then. We later found out that they are, in fact, included – the kind woman’s best English was apparently not good enough.

Rob’s note: The van wasn’t so bad. We saw many people piling into vehicles in worse shape on the way out of the airport. What struck me though was how small all the cars were. The “van” we were in was no larger than a VW minibus and unfortunately, no faster either. Good thing the island is so tiny.