A Sad, Gray Paris
Dear friends,
We are back in Paris after our river cruise on the Danube. The traffic yesterday from the airport, because of the closing of the expressway by the river, was chaotic and resulted in a very long and expensive cab ride. There has been a prix fix or fixed price fare from the airport but that has been placed on hold as best we could understand from our cabbie. Everywhere he tried to turn was either closed or so jammed he couldn’t enter, so after many twists and turns we finally made our way down St. Antoine.
I know the first thing on everyone’s minds is the flooding situation so here are a few pics we took last night along our small portion of the river near Pont Marie bridge. The Seine was 19 feet above normal and expected to crest tonight. This has been the wettest May in France in over 100 years. The area you are looking at below with the metal canopy is a restaurant! There were flocks of people coming to the river to take a look. Of course, none of the small tourist cruise ships are running since they can’t clear the many bridges of Paris. 
Now that we are back in our usual nook with pretty good Wi-Fi, I will try to catch up on our pictures along the Danube.
First are some shots from the beautiful Danube Gorge between Passau and Vienna.
Our tour in this area of the Göttweig Abbey was one of our best. Sitting high above the river, it is a working Benedictine monastery with absolutely one of the loveliest churches we saw. It is 900 years old and located in the small city of Krems. Constructed in the 11th century, the abbey was nearly entirely ruined by fire in 1580. In 1728, the monastery burned down and then was reconstructed by Lucas von Hildebrandt, the emperor’s architect. In 2001, UNESCO dubbed the abbey a World Heritage Site. Approximately 50 monks currently live at the abbey. It has 26 hectares of vineyards, and wine-making is its biggest revenue producer along with a divine apricot nectar.
Tomorrow, we promise more flood pics and a tour of Vienna and Budapest. For today, a little rest and catch-up time.
A bientôt
L & B
June 4, 2016 @ 10:08 am
Beautiful pictures love them sad about the Paris flooding be safe !!! Love the blog merci
June 4, 2016 @ 11:57 am
Thanks for your kind comments!
June 4, 2016 @ 2:57 pm
Yesterday I was heaving a sigh of relief that you weren’t in soggy, inundated Paris and today you are there! Sorry for the difficulty getting home from the airport! Thank you for the beautiful pics from your cruise and for the Paris pics. I believe the one you show across the Seine is looking at our little corner! Hoe it is dry inside!
Peggy
June 4, 2016 @ 3:38 pm
Yes, that is your corner. It was raining again this morning! More blog pics on the way. Truly has changed everything. And glad the Paris Plages is 45 days away.
June 4, 2016 @ 4:00 pm
It looks like the Paris Plage would be entirely under water! I hate the thought of the muddy mess that will be left when the water recedes.😕
June 4, 2016 @ 5:19 pm
I think they will clean it up very quickly so they can open the road. The crest was last night and now news is reporting that the waters are receding. Good news! It is very different, however, and sad to us.
June 4, 2016 @ 3:38 pm
Thanks for the update, although distressing. We’ve been so worried about beautiful Paris! Keep us posted.