Finally, Paris

Our earliest wake up call of the trip got us up in Luzia's apartment outside Zurich at 5:15am.  We needed to catch the 6:15 local train to get to Zurich HB to get on the train to Paris at 7:02.  Thanks to explicit instructions from our hosts, we got on the correct train and found the train to Paris in plenty of time.  We got into our four-seat cozy couchette and managed to get some sleep and a little food as we headed into France.  Luckily, when we got to Paris it wasn't raining and after being shown around the apartment with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower, we walked around our neighborhood in the 16th arrondisement surrounding Place De Victor Hugo to grab some food to take back to the apartment for a mid-afternoon lunch.  Later, we found a supermarket around the corner and grabbed some basics like cereal and milk and bought a herb chicken from a vendor in a storefront market.  We ate that for dinner in a great setting in the enclosed deck on the tenth floor apartment and enjoyed the top of the hour light show from the Eiffel Tower.  After a tasty meal, we caught a cab for the 15 minute ride to the Olympia Music Hall in the 9th arrondisement, to see The National for Ben and Marley's first concert.

They are a band from Cincinnati who we've seen in concert before and  we sent a woman in their management a note saying that we were a family from Ohio and would be seeing them in concert in Paris and wondered if they could dedicate the song Bloodbuzz Ohio to Ben and Marley.  We got there as they were playing their opening song, Runaway and hurried to our seats in the last row of the balcony of a beautiful theatre.  We had just settled into our seats when the lead singer, Matt, said this next song is for Ben and Marley from Ohio, and as Annie and I started screaming, he said is anyone else here from Cincincnnati?  Then they played Bloodbuzz Ohio much to our delight and with Ben and Marley smiling and stunned, Annie and I looked at each other in tears.  The rest of the show was great, my best concert experience ever, and made for a great night, a fantastic start to what promises to be a fantastic stay in Paris.