Over the past week, we have noticed that all these British and French flags have been going up all over Paris.  First it started on the Champs Elysées and last night on our way to Alex and Claire’s they were erecting flag poles on the way to Les Invalides.  Now, the cab driver who took us to Versailles said that David Cameron was coming to town, but I was beginning to think that it seemed like a lot of work for a Prime Minister.  I then thought, well, it is the anniversary of D-Day, but it seemed odd that there were just British and French flags.  I started thinking that the queen must be coming to town, and tried to look that up online, but nothing. So, I forgot about it.

Today was a beautiful day, and after taking a nice long walk along the Seine with David, we wandered through town, and headed back home, had a great lunch, and then I headed off to the gym for a little while.  I was walking back, and suddenly found it very difficult to find my way home.  I wasn’t lost, but just came across a lot of closed streets as I came closer to the apartment.  Most of the activity was centered around the British Embassy, which is next door to the Palais Elysées (the home of the French President).  We are a block away in the other direction.  When I reached a point where I could no longer walk any further, I made a loop around and thought I might be able to circle around.  Certainly I would be able to cross the street at Ave. Matignon, I thought.  As I approached Rue du Faubourg St Honoré, I found myself walking in step with a gentleman who was walking with the same determination that I was, and as we both approached the corner, I though we would not be able to cross here either, but there it was.  The motorcycles escorting a large limousine carrying the Queen of England!  Yes, Elizabeth II in all her pink splendor – hat and all.  Didn’t see the purse, but I am sure there was one.  I didn’t see Phillip, but understand that he was with her.  It was at this point that my French friend turned to me and just said “Incroyable!” and I just said “oui!”  He said a lot more, and I caught “Elizabeth” and “rose” but nothing else.

Fortunately, the road opened after the car passed, and we were able to cross.  As I looked head towards the Champs Elysées, I saw that the barricades were up and the roads crossing were all closed, so I figured that the royal procession would be heading back soon.  I got back and David wanted to take a walk, so we headed out, but no sight of the Queen, just the crowds, so we headed home.  I was making dinner and needed to head to the store to shop, so I grabbed my cart and went.  Here is what I encountered on my way:

Anyway, the whole evening has been pretty busy outside the apartment.  Sirens and police.  Poor President Hollande!  It must be a diplomatic nightmare.  The Queen of England, Obama and Putin!  And Obama and Putin won’t have dinner together, so it is dinner with Obama and “supper” with Putin.  I think the commotion I just heard was Putin leaving supper a the Palais.

Things have been crazy for us too.  Not The Queen, but with two of our favorite queens, we have been quite busy.  Yesterday, we slept most of the day away.  It was rainy, so that was not a bad thing.  On Sunday, I forgot to mention that we had a visit from Mitty and her grand-daughter who is about the same age as Theo, and we all had a great afternoon in the park.  So great to see her and reconnect.  She is impressed by David’s progress as well.

The other bit of catching up, and the main reason we were both exhausted yesterday was our full day of Versailles and Roland Garros.  We got up early and headed out to Versailles and after doing some research, we decided to take a cab out, because I was worried about the wheelchair and the train.  I walked to the station the day before, and while there was an elevator, you had to have someone come and open it, and I always hate having to rely on the kindness of strangers.  Particularly when my French is so bad.  It took a while to find a cab, but we did, and he was great.  Mostly because I could sort of understand him.  I was sitting up in front and we actually had, sort of a conversation.  I told him that I drove a Smartcar in Santorini, or that is what I think I told him.  Who really knows.

We got out to Versailles in time, and joined our group.  Rolling over the cobblestones was not easy on me, and even worse on David.  I said that I felt like I had been using a jackhammer and that David must have felt like he was inside.  The short garden tour was nice, but once inside the palace, the crowds were so overwhelming and navigating with the wheelchair was a challenge.  There were a few moments that I thought I would like to ram the chair into a few folks shins.  Ralph and Blade actually bailed on the tour about half way through, and I didn’t blame them.  If I could have found my way out, I might have done the same.  The guide was great, with lots of information, but in the end, it just wasn’t pleasant with all the people.  We got out, and I made David suffer some more jackhammering as we made out way to a cafe for lunch.  Then we walk to the train to head to Roland Garros.  It wasn’t the Metro, but and RER train, and from my research, they were supposed to be accessible.  We were OK, but they were not what we would call accessible.  A few steps up to the train and then a few more to seats.  Then when we got to the station, there was a full flight of stairs to get out of the station.  David handled them nicely and he was pretty proud of himself.

He said he had to use a bathroom and we were a bit worried because we often found that bathrooms in cafes were down stairs or difficult to use for people with limited mobility.  Blade checked out a cafe on the corner, and they actually had a handicapped bathroom.  Then, we took a car to the tennis center, and went in.  Blade and I went into the stadium to check out the seats and figure out what our approach would be to get David in.  Sadly, there was no way he was going to get into the stadium.  The seats were up three flights of stairs and there was no elevator.  We asked, and nobody seemed to have any idea where the elevator was, but they thought that there was one.  There wasn’t.

David and I watched on the big screen, and then went to have a glass of champagne.  I knew there was an elevator to the lounge, but when we got there, there was a plastic chain blocking the way with a sign that the best I could figure out said that you needed to call a number they listed to get help with the elevator.  I called, and they were confused and gave me another number to call, which I did.  They were also confused, but called someone who was less confused, and said that the elevator worked, and I should just remove the chain and use it.  I did.  It just seemed very odd and unhelpful to put a useless obstacle in the way of people who were already dealing with so many other obstacles.  Weird.  I do have to say, I miss the US and the ADA requirements.  Paris is so great in so many other ways, but in this particular way, they are way behind the times.  There is an elevator in the stadium, by the way, but the best I could make out was that it was either for the press boxes or some VIP boxes.

Well, that was a lot, wasn’t it??