at the expense of our guests.

#10 - 87 years old guests should be exempt from riding the subway - it’s not the riding but the getting on and off that is tricky (sorry Dad)

#9 - Our ‘jet lag quick recovery strategy’ (tour Versailles the day of arrival) is uncomfortable for adults but can be pure torture for children (sorry Swopes)

#8 - A ‘short’ hike is relative and downhill doesn’t mean easy. Actually, we learned that one already but forgot it. It won’t happen again... (sorry Lainey)

#7 - A stampede of goats is to be avoided (we fortunately avoided this one,  but narrowly)

#6 -  ‘I love cheese’ is relative (sorry Marie - we should have been paying better attention)

#5 - Marmots are elusive little buggers (sorry Jay)

#4 - While 90% of people will steal if they will not get caught, the percentage increases when the target is cookies left in the dortoir (sorry Jay and Marie)

#3 - The entire TMB does not have cell coverage (sorry Av)

#2 - Having a ‘universal remote’ meant that rather than 5 we had 6 remotes that I couldn’t use to turn on the tv (sorry Brahm - Joe ‘fixed’ it and it really is universal now)

The #1 lesson learned this summer: The Paris metro closes at 1AM.

I knew this at one time when it didn’t matter and then forgot it when it was really important. Christina. Bobby, Melody (14), Abbey (10), Miles (7) and I were at the top of the Eiffel Tower when it occurred to me to be mindful of the time but the thin air kept that thought from evolving into anything productive. We arrived at Trocadero  at 12:55, in time to hear an unfamiliar announcement which echoed off of the walls and translated to, ‘You are screwed.’ We returned to the entrance where a metro employee was having a ‘life and death’ texting conversation.  She could’t look up and all she could manage to say was ‘twal’ over and over. There was a train that was still running to Etoile, not close to our destination, not in the direction we needed to go but we were more likely to catch the bus or get a taxi near the Arc de Triumph so we took it.  First, we stood in line for the bus with people who take the bus at 1AM. There is a dress code and a certain percentage of skin must be showing to ride.  We decided to take cabs.  Christina and her team took the first taxi.  They had the only business card between us and a head start.  Our team’s driver had been on the job for three days and had just moved to Paris a few weeks earlier but I knew how to get there so we won.  Their driver got lost...

All ended well and we are much smarter hosts now and yet no one has signed up to visit in 2010???  Coincidence or strategy?  Seriously, who is coming?