<![CDATA[Paris CheckOut - Paris Photo Blog]]>Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:45:31 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Clair and Tiffany Urness are happy to share their Paris adventures.]]>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:24:28 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2011/01/1.htmlBLOG NOTE: It turns out that including a blog here doesn't really accommodate all our photos and captions very well.  We created another site, with links to the same photos as below, but better viewing:  The Urness Chronicles.

Highlights from 2011:

April - We return to Paris and settle into our weekly routines; tulips in bloom; starting up again with our Wednesday walking group.
May -  La Defense; American cemetary; climbing the Pantheon; Full Moon Picnic; French cooking.
May/June - Timeshare in the Balearic Islands; Exploring Majorca by car; side trip to Ibiza.
June - Paris when it drizzles; walking the Julius Cesear Road; visiting  Santeil, Bois de Boulogne; rock and roll dancing.
July - Lake Geneva and Lake Annecy by train, bus and boat. Alpine vistas.
July/August - Summer swings with Chopin concerts; Sacramento visitors; Bastille Day; monster singalong;  Tiffany enters totally in the spirit and become an honorary Paris street entertainer; rainbows.

To see our 2010 photos, it's best to go directly to The Urness Chronicles. Highlights:

Country Roads, and More Country Roads - We explore the hills, valleys, chateaux, and forests outside of Paris with the walking group, Ile de France Walks.
Heritage Days - Museums, embassies, universities, banks, libraries and many other sites hold "open house" and we get to see inside fascinating places normally off-limits to the general public.
To the Bastille! - We watch, and join, the well-behaved marchers protesting the changes to the French retirement system.
Laroque des Alberes -  Friends invite us to spend a few days at their summer home in the hilltop town of Laroque des Alberes, not far from the Spanish border.  We take a local bus down to the beach at Alberes sur Mer and continue on to Coulioure, a thriving artist community with a grand stone fort protecting the Greco-Roman era port.
]]><![CDATA[June 2010. Marseille and Les Calanques - 2010 Adventures #1]]>Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:12:37 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2010/06/marseille-and-les-calanques.htmlJune 2010.  Clair and I take the train from the Paris Gare de Lyon on June 9 to meet up with the Ile de France Walks hiking group for 4 days of hiking and sightseeing around Marseilles and the limestone bluffs and canyons known as the Calanques. Picture
 
Looking toward the Calanque de Port-Miou.  To view the complete Album #1 click here.
]]><![CDATA[December 2009. Back to Sacramento; re-adjusting to suburban life.]]>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/12/back-in-sacramento-re-adjusting-to-suburban-life.htmlWe arrived back in Sacramento December 5.  Our home seems so big!  So much stuff.  I'm thinking how well we did with 4 suitcases worth of belongings and a modestly furnished apartment during our year overseas. And here, we have roomful after roomful, closet after closet, of clothes, linens, files, books, office supplies, and odds and ends, clearly not essential to everyday life.  I began sorting and filling bags and boxes to donate to charity.]]><![CDATA[November 2009 - Finale. Almost time to head back to California.]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/12/november-2009-finale-almost-time-to-head-back-to-california.htmlPicture
Report #14 - We make the rounds and say good-bye to our favorite Paris haunts. Click here.
]]><![CDATA[November 2009. Paris CheckOut website is born.]]>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:37:31 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/11/first-post.htmlRenting an apartment from across the world, site unseen, takes a good dose of faith. Can we ever be sure that websites and photos paint the whole picture? What if the room dimensions have been overstated...The outside traffic noise never lets up...The entryway is dark and smelly?  We were so lucky with ours - but we've heard horror stories!

Then I thought: maybe there is a service here that someone like moi could perform.  I will check out Paris apartments. Corporations and universities have staff who do this for the people they send overseas, but what about vacationers, especially non French-speaking?  One can cancel hotel nights if you're not happy. For a vacation rental, once you've arrived, it's darn near impossible, without forfitting your entire prepaid rent.

The ideas germinated.  I gathered information, read reviews and compared website hosting sites, visited apartments, and, the most time consuming part: mulling things over.  What should the name be.  Paris Check Out or CheckOut? Settled on Paris CheckOut.  Then voila! I signed up at weebly.com and got the basics up and published in a day.  Of course, I fiddle with it endlessly.]]><![CDATA[October 2009 - Paris Chocolate Show]]>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/10/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit3.htmlPicture
Report #14 - Let them eat Chocolate. Click here.
]]><![CDATA[August-September 2009]]>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/08/august-september-2009.htmlPicture
Report #13 - End of summer. Click here.
]]><![CDATA[August 2009 - Le Perche]]>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/08/august-2009-le-perche.htmlPicture
Report #12 - Manor homes, jazz, tourist train, Percheron Festival. Lots to see and do, yet Lower Normandy in August seemed almost deserted. Click here.
]]><![CDATA[May-June 2009 Summer arrives, activities abound]]>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/06/may-june-2009-summer-arrives-activities-abound.htmlPicture
Report #11 - Paris Air Show, Nuit de la Musique, north to Boulogne, Tour de France. Click here.
]]><![CDATA[May 2009 - A week in Provence]]>Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://www.parischeckout.com/1/post/2009/05/may-2009-a-week-in-provence.htmlPicture
Report #10 - We rent a farmhouse and a car, and explore Roussillon and the hilltop villages of Provence.  Click here.
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