My wife and I just took a semi-vacation (who really vacations when they work for themselves?) to Spain and France. We spent a week in Marbella, in the Costa del Sol on Spain's southern coast, and a week in Paris.The trip was our first non-working trip to Europe in a few years. 

We got to Marbella the day before the biggest soccer match in the last forty or so years in Spain - the championship match of Europe 2008 between Spain and Germany. We watched the match in a seaside bar in the rocking harbor of Puerto Banus. When Spain won, the Spaniards went completely nuts, it was amazing. They staged impromptu auto parades in the streets at midnight, and everywhere people celebrated until morning. Unbelievable. We spent some time in the old city of Marbella, toured Tarifa (maybe the windiest place I've ever been), Ronda, and Vejer del la Frontera. We passed by Gibraltar (not interested, apparently its pretty boring). We spent lots of time lounging by the pool, just relaxing.

 Marbella was top notch, overall. I'd love to buy a little place there, but the dollar-euro exchange rate makes that kind of transaction onerous in the extreme at the moment. Also, it is about 10,000 miles from my house, so weekend getaways are not really in the cards. Eating and drinking was relatively inexpensive in Spain. Many retail shops had significant sales running - I could not say whether that's a sign of economic difficulties in Europe, or just seasonal inventory-clearing sales.

Next, we flew to Paris. We stayed on the Left Bank very near to the Catacombs, for anyone who is familiar with Paris. I had not been there since 1996, and I was stunned to see the changes wrought by the integration of Europe. English is now quite freely spoken in most places, and even people who did not speak english were quite happy to tolerate my stumblingly bad french.

We walked the streets and rode the subways for a solid week. I can't even relate how much walking we did. I ate and drank and was merry the whole week and never gained a pound because I burned it all off hoofing it around the city. Paris was amazing, beautiful, and super-fun. The Tour de France kicked off while we were there, and all the cafes and bars with TVs were showing the race everyday. Meanwhile, the city was quietly but conspicously preparing for Bastille Day, with barriers and tents being erected and all manner of other things happening all week.

Also, the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt was rescued in Colombia while we were in Marbella, and she was still the talk of the town when we got to Paris. There is a love affair with her right now in the city, it's remarkable.

Eating and drinking in Paris varied from very affordable to insanely expensive (which I experienced only by looking at the menus. 70 euros for a steak in the Jules Verne, the restaurant in the Effiel Tower. That's about $110 for a steak, right? OK, so you get to eat in the Effiel Tower.) Rue Mouffetard, near the University in the Latin Quarter, provided several great meals at reasonable prices (including wine which, like in Spain, was local and very affordable, even with the exchange rates). A rugby bar near Les Halles which shall remain nameless provided a very unforgettable, and unfortunately unpalatable, steak tartare, which looked when it was served like an uncooked side of ground beef with a raw egg poured on top of it. So much for French cuisine! I guess the rugby bar wasn't the place to order raw food.

One day, we toured Versailles Palace and the grounds. The Palace was totally overrated. Only bits of it are accessible, the crowds (this was the beginning of the high season) were insane, and common courtesy was nonexistent. The rest of the place - the grounds, the outer buildings, and particulary Marie Antoinette's hideaway in the corner of the grounds, was totally enchanting. My wife wants to live in Marie Antoinette's house. Is that a good thing? Seriously, her house and farm was very cute, like a little French village, nothing ostentatious, but very beautiful. The best part of the place by far.

We toured the Louvre on Sunday, which was the free museum day in Paris (first Sunday of the month), so the lines were, once again, unreal. Fortunately, we happened by a guard who directed us to the Lions Gate entrance on the side of the museum, and we walked right in when it opened, no line. My wife had not seen the Louvre, so we spent some time checking out different collections. It's fun but totally exhausting.

Shopping in Paris was, as you might imagine with the exchange rate, off the charts. Our sole retail purchase was a 6 euro umbrella to deal with the unexpected rain showers. I also bought a picture from a street artist (we must support the arts). Prices for real estate were what I would have expected had the figures been in dollars. In euros, wow, it was out of the atmosphere.

Getting to and from the aI got back home Saturday night, but I've only just recovered my wits after an extended bout of jet lag (or perhaps vacation hangover). I wanted to give a quick recount of my trip in case anyone is looking at going to Europe soon.

My wife and I spent a week in Marbella, in the Costa del Sol on Spain's southern coast, and a week in Paris. We got to Marbella the day before the biggest soccer match in the last forty or so years in Spain - the championship match of Europe 2008 between Spain and Germany. We watched the match in a seaside bar in the rocking harbor of Puerto Banus. When Spain won, the Spaniards went completely nuts, it was amazing. They staged impromptu auto parades in the streets at midnight, and everywhere people celebrated until morning. Unbelievable.

We spent some time in the old city of Marbella, toured Tarifa (maybe the windiest place I've ever been), Ronda, and Vejer del la Frontera. We passed by Gibraltar (not interested, apparently its pretty boring). We spent lots of time lounging by the pool, just relaxing. Top notch, overall. I'd love to buy a little place there, but the dollar-euro exchange rate makes that kind of transaction onerous in the extreme at the moment. Also, it is about 10,000 miles from my house, so weekend getaways are not really in the cards.

Eating and drinking was relatively inexpensive in Spain. Many retail shops had significant sales running - I could not say whether that's a sign of economic difficulties in Europe, or just seasonal inventory-clearing sales.

Next, we flew to Paris. I will cover that in another post.