Our trip started off well (we thought) when we all got upgraded to Polaris on the flight to Paris. It turned into a nightmare, however, as Nathan’s bag, which contained all of his clothes for his semester in Lyon, was lost by our “friends” at United Airlines. Despite our continued efforts through countless phone calls, the bag remains lost.

Our trip started in Paris for a couple of days in our familiar neighborhood of the @nd Arrondissement. This rosé from Provence was a lovely choice despite the cool temps (low 60s) and close to constant rain.

The weather cleared enough on the second day in the capital so that we could visit Le Tour St. Jacques, once a part of the third largest church in Paris (can you name the two largest?), but it was dismantled after the revolution–all but the tower which was spared because it served as a lookout point for the new republic.

None of us had ever taken the tour of the Tour but it was an hour well spent. The workout (300+ steps to the top) and the views were incredible. I would argue that the views are even better than those atop the Eiffel Tower since one can see the Eiffel Tower from the Tour St. Jacques.

Every Parisien landmark can be spotted, here, Sacre Cœur, atop the hill, and the second largest church in Paris in the center (can you name it?).

Our boys on the Tour St. Jacques.

Even on a cloudy day, the evening light in Paris takes your breath away.

I usually jump at the chance to have some Beaujolais blanc, since it is pretty rare.

The highlight of the evening meal was our waiter, who was quite the character and upsold us on the wine (which was not very hard to do).

The Côte Rôtie was great, the veal? Not so much.

Sebastian was happy with his escargot, though.

And Nathan was not letting his lost luggage dampen his trip.

Before leaving, we stopped by Notre Dame (the largest church in Paris), which is still very much recovering from the devastating fire in 2019, and remains closed to the public.

We also managed to squeeze in another bottle of champagne since, well, champagne.

We then headed for the Haute Savoie and the lake resort town of Annecy, known for its canals and, well, lake.

And virtually any position.

More rain and cool temps greeted us in Annecy, but it is such a beautiful town.

The other recurring theme is that my lovely wife “needs” to take photos every three seconds or so.

Hopefully, we will explore more of the lake today, as the forecast is much better.

That night was, I believe, my first Rosette.

But not my first Moulin-à-Vent.

On the walk back to the hotel, we turned the tides on my wife and made her stand for a photo.

The week drew to a close, but I will be back soon with more photos from the trip.