Today we decided to take the train into New York City to do some shopping, check out the big tree at Rockefeller Plaza, and for me to get my fix of art at the Metropolitan Museum.
What we didn't realize was that this was one of the coldest days of the year. Ugh!
So we get to Penn Station and grab a taxi to the museum. While waiting for the taxi, it started to sink in just HOW cold it really was. We got to the museum only to discover it was CLOSED. Duh... the same thing happened to me and Georges' daughter in July because IT'S MONDAY and the museum is ALWAYS closed on Mondays. Only then it was like 85 degrees out. Oh, what I wouldn't have given for 85 degree weather today. Instead of a single-digit wind-chill factor.
We should never have bothered getting out of that first taxi. We tried to walk the 30 blocks down 5th Avenue to the shopping area, which normally would be a lovely walk, but we got exactly 2 blocks and decided we were insane and would end up as human ice sculptures if we didn't get to some kind of sheltered transportation and FAST, so after some minutes we finally flagged down another cab. So far we were out 20 bucks in cab fare and hadn't seen or done squat.
We exited the taxi near the Plaza Hotel and ducked into the fancy Apple Store where it was blessedly warm and where Georges could happily browse while we both thawed out. After that, our day was spent walking a few blocks and then looking for someplace to keep warm. Such as a tatty-looking diner that served pretty decent burgers and lovely hot tea, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the Metropolitan Museum Store at Rockefeller Center.
We did manage to sneak in a little additional gift shopping for some of the kids back in Paris, so that was good, and in Barnes and Noble we heard Josh Groban singing "Petit Papa Noel" on the PA system. It's a classic French Christmas song and Georges has been teaching it to me. So of course I had to buy that Christmas CD ("Noel" by Josh Groban).
We had planned to take the 5:20pm train but it was so cold we left over an hour earlier. We still had fun (because we always do have fun together no matter where we are) but it sure wasn't quite the day in New York we'd had in mind. But you can't control nature and at least it was the first purely clear, sunny day we've had in ages, even if in this case the sun didn't mean WARMTH.
After a good home-cooked meal (thanks to my sister) and some alcohol, we seemed to have defrosted our toes and brains a bit. We're both exhausted, between days of shoveling snow and now traipsing around the city trying to avoid frostbitten noses. At least we got some pix of the tree and a few other interesting sites (will post soon as possible).
Meantime, enjoy this to get you in the holiday spirit (might need to give it time to download fully before playing) and here are the lyrics and a loose translation:
