A very nice apartment

Another Triumph!? John and I had to find something to do for 4 hours before we could get into the apartment.  We needed to check out of the hotel room at 11am and we could not move into the apartment until 4pm. Luckily we were able to store our luggage in a closet at the hotel until 4.  The gentleman at the front desk has been helpful to me.  He told me that he would call a cab for us to get to our apartment when we were ready. so for four hours \john and \i were off and about.  The first thing  john wanted to do was to find a restaurant that would have ham and eggs.  We had gone to the continental breakfast at the hotel, but he had only a cup of coffee.  now he was hungry.  finding a restaurant that had fried eggs and ham was impossible but we did find a restaurant that advertised omelette with herbs. I saw on the same menu poached egg with Stives.  But I could not recomend that to john as I could not find in the french book what was stives.  Some how the french translation booklets seem to leave out the translations for condiments, sauces and ingredients.  It dawned on me later that stives was chives.
The omlettes were cooked with potatoes and it came with a little salad.  John asked for catsup and ate the whole thing except for the salad.  Our coffee was good.  We have learned to order Coffee Grand which is not a small expresso cup of coffee but a ordinary cup of coffee.  I like it au latte and John likes it noir. Well that took us to 12:30.  Next I led John to the Pantheon which was only a few blocks away.  I knew it was close but I had to consult the map to find out how close.  The Pantheon is a big building that is a molument to the heros of France.  It has a huge rotonda and dome.  In the basement are crepts and many very french  famous people are buried.  Inside the building on the sides of the walls are murals depicting important events beginning with the Huns invading France. Also at various points were statues.  In the middle under the dome is Foucault's pendulum.  We from the midwest can relate to this pendulum as a replica of it is in the Museum of Science and Industry.  But apparently Foucault was a scientist back in the early 1800's.  John checked it to make sure it was keeping the correct time.  It was.  I might add that as we walked in the door to pay for our admission their was a line.  John told me he refused to wait in any lines.  He said he would wait outside.  As it turned out the line did not take long and it was only to purchase tickets.  Once the tickets are purchased ther is no line to get in.  I bought 2 tickets and went outside to find John.  He did come in and I do believe he enjoyed the murals, the architecture and the information regarding the pendulum.
We sat down for awhile and finally 3pm came along.  We could have gone over to the Luxemburg Garden which is only a block away from the Pantheon but it had started to rain and we were anxious to get in the apartment.  It only took us 5 minutes to walk back to the hotel so John recomended we get something to drink to pass the time away.  We stopped in the bar that we had eaten at the night before and the waiter was very happy to see us.  If you know John you know why the waiter was happy to see us. In fact he almost hugged us as we came in the door.  Anyway we had some drinks and when it was almost 4 we went next store to the hotel to collect our luggage and get a cab.  Now the apartment is only about 6 blocks away but my suitcase is so heavy that even with it on wheels it is a  tiring feat to move it any distance.  The gentleman at the Hotel was very kind and got our luggage and called us a cab.  I gave him a nice tip for his help and he was happy and told me to come back if I needed more help.
The cab knew the street but passed the door entrance by a few buildings.  For some reason the number is not on the building, but because I had checked out the address on Google Earth months ago and last night checked out the building, I was able to get him to back up.
Now the scarey part for John and me.  Would the codes work to get in the gate, the building and the apartment.  I did not get to put in the gate code as a young woman who apparently lives in the complex was coming home and opened the gate and we walked in with her.  We found the right door and I put in the code.  the first time it did not seem to work so i did it again.  As many of us have done this in the past, I realized that I was pushing the door to open when I actually had to pull the door open.  Voila it worked.  The apartment is on the second floor and the stairs are winding.  The combination for the key box worked and the key worked.  I had a hard time getting the key out of the lock but John worked on it as I dragged my suitcase up the 2 flights of stairs.
The apartment is very cute and as you can see the computer is working.  We have not completely figured out the TV yet to get an English channel.  Grey's anatomy was on in English with french subtitles but I do not think we will be that lucky with all the shows.  Very thing appears wonderful.  The kitchen has two burners, a microwave, coffee pot, toaster sink and refrigerator.  There is a table with four chairs a little couch.  In the main room is the double bed on tilts and in a little room attached to the main room is a bedroom with two bunk beds and a dresser.  So this will be my home for 13 days or maybe 15 days as Glenda and I have to find someplace to sleep for the 14th and the 15th.  It looks like from the information on the internet about this place that it has not been booked for those days so I may contact the owner and see if we can purchase those two days too.
It is now 7 pm and I have had a nap and ready to go again.  John has been working on the tv and has found a channel that has classical music.  What he needs is a English newspaper to read.  We have not decided yet weather we want to get food to bring in and eat here tonight or go out to eat.  It is nice to have a choice. N'est pas?