Paris is always a good idea...

It’s almost midnight (Pacific Standard Time) and we’re somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean…just south of Rykjavik (Iceland?).  We have two more hours and 1197 miles left to go before we land in Paris.  We’ve already gone about 4,400 miles in about 8 hours. 

Full of energy and ready to board our airplane!

My butt feels bruised and I have a bit of a headache, but there’s a baby crying a few rows in front of us (I have ear plugs in and headphones over them) and I can only imagine how his mother is feeling right now.  As much as I’d like to be done with this flight, I’m sure she wants it more. 

We were fortunate enough to have an empty seat in our row, so Lauren is lying down between Jennifer and I, asleep.  I’ve watched a movie, several tv shows, and I have an episode of “Friends” on now while I’m typing.  I think Jennifer is on her third movie. 

Dinner was pretty good, but I’m hungry again.  We had chicken, baby potatoes, and vegetables, orzo pasta salad, a roll, applesauce, and pound cake.

 I should have eaten all my orzo.

How did I find myself here, obsessing about the Eiffel Tower cookies stowed away in our overhead bins?

Eating the Eiffel Tower cookies my friend Barbara made us. 

I had a trip planned to New York in October with my cousin and a family trip to Maui in November, so this wasn’t the most logical year to plan a trip to Europe, but the thought of a summer break with no travelling had me feeling uneasy.  I started researching solo travel.  Not because travelling alone is my first choice, but I knew I’d have a hard time finding someone who a) had the free time and funds to go b) were free to leave (have no small children) and c) wanted to go. 

I started researching solo travel.  There are a lot of blogs and websites out there with great tips and tricks for traveling alone.  I knew my parents wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about it, but as my friend Barbara said, “If Sabrina can do it, then why can’t you”.

My thoughts exactly. 

Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn, 1954)

Sabrina (Julia Ormond, 1995)

I’d found a hotel and a flight to Paris and planned to book them one Sunday after church.  As I was sitting waiting for Sunday school to start, Lauren slipped into the chair next to me, leaned over and whispered, “Mom and I are coming to Paris with you!”

“Oh really?” I said, not believing her for a minute. 

“Well…I’m working on it,” she said. 

I didn’t think it would happen, but the next night, Jennifer and I were online booking tickets.  My parents offered to pay for Lauren’s plane ticket…they really didn’t want me going by myself.  Apparently the going rate for a parent’s peace of mind is about the same as the cost of a round trip plane ticket to Paris. 

Jennifer and Lauren had to hurry up and get their passports!

I got updates like this a lot!  Anticipating a trip
is definitely more turn when others are as excited as you are!

So here we are, 8 weeks later, 40,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, and really wanting to get those Eiffel Tower cookies out of the overhead bin…or sleep.

It was fun to check in with our interactive maps during the flight

We finally landed...and our landing was rough!

Now, I’ve been home for a few months and I know I need to write about our trip before I forget the details!  Unfortunately, some of them are a little hazy already.  I meant to blog every day of our trip, but each day ended with me falling into bed, exhausted from copious amounts of fun.  

            After 11 hours in the air, we landed in Paris, exhausted and weighted down by our luggage, and the first thing on our minds was to get at least one of our phones operating.  I went into one of those “catch all” stores in the airport, stumbled my way through buying a sim card, only to realize it was too big for my phone.  I went back to ask if they had a smaller card, but they didn’t.

Fortunately, there was a French MacGuyver working at the Relay Store in the Charles DeGaulle airport.  He pulled out a pair of scissors, laid my sim card on top of the new one, and cut the new card to fit.  I cringed a little as he stuck it in my phone, but it worked!  We decided to wait for an actual cell phone store before we got Jennifer’s phone up and running.  

We also decided to take a cab to our hotel instead of a train.   A cab ride from the airport isn’t cheap.  However, while it was 11 am in Paris, it was 2 am to our bodies, we’d been on an airplane for 11 hours, we each had a suitcase and a carry on bag, and we were unfamiliar with the train system in Paris.  I still don’t regret the 70 euros we spent on the cab ride. 

Happy to be off the plane and in a cab

The only thing I regret about the cab ride is that Jennifer and Lauren didn’t get to experience coming up out of an underground metro station and into the bustling, beautiful heart of Paris.  I did this in New York, during a blizzard, and will never forget the feeling.  Instead, our cab took us through a little French countryside, then through “Ugly Paris”, before finally bringing us to the center, or “Pretty Paris”. 

Our hotel was just as I’d pictured it, since I’d done my research on Google Earth.  The only surprise was the size of the elevator.  We had to go up in shifts with our luggage.  I’d requested when booking online that we get a room up high and with a view.  They didn’t disappoint.  We were on the sixth floor, with a corner balcony.

The view from our room

Lauren and Jennifer on our balcony

 Our room was small, which is common for Europe, and the bathroom resembled a phone booth, but we were actually really comfortable.  Jennifer and I both brought adapters for the electrical outlets, but only hers worked, so we had to be really creative when charging cell phones.  We found that if we charged laptops by day, we could plug two phones into the computers to charge at night.  Unfortunately, we also all had back up external batteries we had to charge.  Twice, I set an alarm to wake me up in the middle of the night just so I could switch the devices that were charging.  You gotta do what you gotta do!

Once we’d settled in to our hotel, our plan was to stay awake at least until 8:00 that night.   (By this time, it was about 2 pm Paris time, 5 am our time).  I had to shower, because after spending 11 hours sitting on an airplane, you just feel gross.  So, after we freshened up, we set out to explore Paris.  Our hotel was in a great spot.  We were one block up from Boulevard Saint Germain, which is a main street that runs through a great part of Paris.  Once you get on Boulevard St. Germain, there is a wide array of cafes and shops, as well as fun narrow streets that branch off with treasures of their own.  We spent some time wandering on these great narrow streets, taking in the sights and sounds and getting the lay of the land before we settled on a pizza place.  It felt a little odd eating at an Italian restaurant in Paris, but I’m so glad we did.  It ended up being our favorite place and we went back two more times after that.  Months later, and I’m still dreaming about their pizza.  We sat and ate, did a little planning, and a lot people watching, then asked for our check.  In Paris, Europe in general, I think, people linger a lot longer at restaurants than we do in America.  As a result, we often had to ask for our check because the waiter’s hadn’t brought it out yet. 

The Rim Cafe (Our favorite Parisian Pizzeria)

Planning over pizza

Refinement

After dinner, we hit the cobblestone streets to explore a little.  Just in our neighborhood, without venturing far, we saw the Fountaine de l’Abbay de St. Germain,  St. Severin Cathedral, the Shakespeare Bookstore, Notre Dame, the Seine River, and Bouquinistes.  Bouquinistes are people who sell used books (mostly), antique posters, artwork, and knick-knacks at these great little pop-up shops along the banks of the Seine.  They lock up at night in these little boxes, and unfold every day.  We heard that there is an 8 year waiting list to be a Bouquiniste!  The riverbank is dotted with them on both sides from one end of the city center to the other. 

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Seine

Bouquinistes

Shakespeare and Co. (English Book Store)

\

Fountaine de l’Abbay de St. Germain

St. Severin

We went back to the hotel early to get some sleep because we knew that we had a big day ahead of us!  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sleep.  I do this quite often on the first night of a trip. I don’t know if it’s exhaustion, excitement, or unfamiliarity, but I often stay awake the whole night.  Jennifer didn’t sleep well either, so we were both up getting ready around 5 am.  Lauren slept well, as most teenagers do, the entire trip!

Writing in her travel journal the first night

Bedtime Snack!

Day Two

Our first full day in Paris, and what a day it was!  We were getting picked up at 9:00 am for a tour, so we wanted to find breakfast first.  We set out around 7:30, but most of the cafes hadn’t opened yet.   As much as we hated to, we ate our first breakfast in a Starbucks!   

Heading for breakfas

At Starbucks

We got back to our hotel to be picked up by this:

The Citroen 2CV

A yellow 1981 Citroen 2CV.  These vintage French cars make Volkswagon Beetles look substantial.  They’re tiny! 

I sat in front with Arjan, the girls were in the back.  

Our driver was Arjan.  He was from the Netherlands, but has lived in Paris for a number of years.  He spoke very good English and knew a lot about the city.   We planned this tour for our first morning so that we could get a sense of the city before setting out on our own.  Arjan drove us around for an hour and a half….and he drove like a maniac!   He said he wanted to give us a true Parisian driving experience, which included going fast, getting honked at, honking at others, and making pedestrians nervous.  He drove us on sidewalks, through pedestrian only crosswalks, and down narrow, ancient streets that only tiny cars can drive on.   He took us around the Arc du Triomphe, which is where 8 streets converge into a giant roundabout without lanes.  I won’t soon forget that.  

The Arc du Triomphe Roundabout

Narrow streets

Pont (Bridge) Alexandre III 

He stopped the car in the middle of the street so I could unbuckle, stand up (2CV’s have open tops) and get a picture with the Eiffel Tower.   

Out of the roof of the car

If you’re ever in Paris, do the 2CV tour…it was a highlight of our trip!  And ask for Arjan…he had us in stitches the whole time!  Since it was just us on our tour, when the hour and half was up, Arjan dropped us off at the Musee D’Orsay….one of my favorite museums.

With Arjan

The Musee D’Orsay is in an old train station right on the River Seine and across from the Louvre.  It has a lot of Impressionist art, which I love. 

Sacre Coeur from the Clock at Musee D'Orsay

Sculpture Gallery

Musee D'Orsay used to be a train station

Model of the Garnier Opera House

Monet...my favorites

Artist recreating works

Monet's Little Dancer

The Louvre, across the river, seen from the balcony of the Musee D'Orsay

Lauren getting pictures with boxers on the naked sculpture

After the Musee D’Orsay, we headed for the Eiffel Tower.  We decided to walk, since we hadn’t gotten our metro passes yet.  It was fun to walk places, because we got to see so much while we walked, but it was really hot.  “How hot?” you ask?  Well, it was only in the upper 80’s.  I know, I know, it was in the 100’s in California while we were away, but it felt really warm!  Part of it, I think, was that they don’t have a lot of air conditioning in Paris….like, almost none. The stores, the restaurants, our hotel, the metro…none of them were air conditioned, so there was no reprieve.  But, we were in Paris, so we dealt with it!

We got to the Eiffel Tower and got in line to go to the top.  The line is at the base of the tower, which is so much bigger than you think when you see it in pictures.  We had to take an (hot) elevator to the first level of the Eiffel Tower, and then another to the top.   The views are spectacular.  We were able to see all the landmarks we’d driven by on our Citroen tour and all the landmarks we wanted to visit.   It’s a surreal experience to be at the top of such an iconic tower.  I must have a dozen Eiffel Towers, in various forms, in my house…paintings, maps, pictures…and here we were, standing on top of it.  Don’t worry, it is not lost on me how fortunate I am to be able to experience things like this.   

Going up!

Guys replacing bulbs on the Tower

We decided to buy our metro passes and take the metro back to our hotel for a nap.  We bought a five day metro pass, but it retrospect, I’m not sure it was worth it.  Paris is actually a really walkable city.  The only time we really needed to take the metro was to go up to Montmartre, a neighborhood on the north side of town.  We used our pass for shortcuts, though, when our legs were tired. 

Their first metro ride!  It took Lauren awhile to warm up to the Metro...

Between our metro stop and our hotel, I picked up my first crepe of the trip. I had a crepe every day that followed, and the same one every time: a nutella crepe with almond.  The almond is pulverized into a powder that resembles parmesan cheese, but tastes absolutely scrumptious. 

Putting almond on my crepe

After a nap, we went to a café for fondue.  The fondue wasn’t great, but we got gelato afterward and strolled around the Latin Quarter (what our neighborhood was called) as it got dark.  The sun doesn’t go down until almost 10 pm there in June.  (It’s about the same latitude as the US/Canada border).  We went to bed early to try to catch up on our sleep!  

Fondue

Day 3

The Louvre!  We set out to take the metro, but after one leg, decided to walk the rest of the way instead of switching trains.  We stopped into a boulangerie to get some breakfast pastries and ate them while we walked to the Louvre.  The Louvre is humongous.  Fortunately, we had no plans to thoroughly cover the whole thing.  We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Napolean’s Apartment, and so much in between. 

Primping...Louvre-Style

After the Louvre, we walked through the Tulieries Gardens and ate lunch at an outdoor café.  I had a croque monsieur…the French version of a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was delicious, but I think the coke I had was the highlight of the meal because it was hot afternoon! 

Croque Monsieur...French grilled cheese

It was so warm, we decided to take the metro to the Arc du Triomphe instead of walking.  The Metro took us to the Champs Elysses, a long, wide, famous avenue lined with shops and restuarants.  The Arc is in the middle of it, surrounded by the roundabout Arjan drove us on the previous morning.   To get to the base of the arc, you must go UNDER this roundabout through a tunnel (as it would be nearly impossible to cross the street with all your limbs intact).  The Arc, just like the Eiffel Tower, is bigger than it seems in photos.  It provided us with some much appreciated shade.  We rested there for a bit before walking down the Champs Elysses.   We stopped in a giant Sephora store, but didn’t make it far down this long avenue before we got overheated.  Jennifer was also getting sick, so we decided to go back to our hotel for an afternoon rest. 

It was really stuff on the metro...

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On our way back, I took a different route than Jennifer and Lauren so I could get some pictures of the love locks.  Lovers come to Paris and attach locks to the metal railing of a bridge.  It’s meant to be romantic and symbolic, but the locks have gotten so out of hand, that they’ve had to replace railings because they’ve collapsed under the weight of the locks.  I understand why many Parisians are sick of it, but I also think they’re kind of beautiful.  

Back at the hotel, I napped for a little while, but Jennifer and Lauren were in a deep REM cycle, so after awhile, I decided to strike out on my own! I walked about 15 minutes to the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens.  I sat by the pond and watched little ones sail boats on it.  It was beautiful.  There were tourists, but there were also a lot of locals who looked like they came after work to soak up some sun and relax. 

Afternoon nap in Paris...not too shabby

Luxembourg Palace and Gardens

You can float a boat in the pool

On the way back to the hotel, Jennifer texted and asked me to stop somewhere to get her some cold medicine and orange juice.  I stopped at a “Monoprix” store, which is like a miniature Target.  I got orange juice, but they didn’t sell medicine.  Apparently, the only place to get any kind of medicine is a pharmacy.  Fortunately, there are a lot of pharmacies and they are easy to locate because they all have a green cross lit up outside their store.  I stopped into one, only to find that all their medicine is behind the counter, so I had to interact with the pharmacist…who didn’t speak English.  Here is how our interaction went (it resembled a game of charades):

Me:  Parlez Anglais?

Pharmacist: Mmmmm….a little.

Me:  I need medicine (point to her shelf of medicine) for (grab throat, make pained expression and moan) and (sniff, sniff).

Pharmacist:  Okay….um…(covers her mouth and coughs with a questioning look)

Me: No.

French meds

It worked, because I left with throat spray, nose spray, and cold medicine.  When I got back to the hotel, Jennifer took the medicine and went back to sleep.  I decided to go back out.  This time, I walked down Boulevard St. Germaine.  

Jennifer and Lauren met me at our favorite Pizza Place for dinner.  While we were at dinner, I got online and bought tickets for a ride on the bateaux mouches...a riverboat cruise on the Seine!  We wanted to go when it was dark, so we had to wait for their 10 o’clock cruise.  We left the restaurant and I grabbed a crepe to eat on our walk to the Pont Neuf, the oldest of the bridges crossing the Seine in Paris and the one where we would board the riverboat from the tip of the Ile de la Cite. 

Our boat was not like this one...ours was open and adorned with flowers.

            The cruise was beautiful.   We were on a boat festooned with silk flowers and vines and lanterns.  Guady in the light of day, but pretty at night.  It was all open air and it had cooled off nicely.  We headed west on the Seine, past the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay, to the Eiffel Tower.   We turned around there and headed east, this time going past the Notre Dame.  All of these places are glorious at night.  The city is filled with floodlights, lighting up all of its monuments and bridges, showcasing their beautiful architecture.  The city, along the river in particular, comes alive at night.  Below the level of the street, along the Seine, are banks that you can walk on.  We didn’t go on them because they smell pretty bad (like urine), but it doesn’t deter thousands of people from hanging out on them.  They sit, with their feet over the bank, drinking, picnicking, kissing, laughing, playing music (we saw a couple of musical groups), and even dancing. 

People were all over the banks of the river

           

Day 4 – LONDON!

After we’d booked our tickets to Paris, we thought maybe we’d want to hit up a third country.  Originally, when I planned on going by myself, I didn’t want to travel around much, since it would be my first solo trip.  Now that it was the three of us, we thought it might be fun to go to London.  We’d already booked our hotel in Paris, so we found a day trip to London.  We could take the train first thing in the morning, and return late at night.  Everyone in Spain was appalled that we went to London just for the day.   Our cousin, who lived there for a year, said that even a year wasn’t enough to experience what London has to offer…but we thought a taste of it was better than nothing.   Looking back, I’m not sure if I would have done it.  It’s kind of like take one bite of a big piece of cheesecake, then not being able to eat the rest. 

We had to get up early to get to the tourist office.  We’d seen it the day before when we were in the Tuilieries Gardens, so it was easy to find again.  The tour company took us by bus to Gare du Nord (North Station) where we went through customs and boarded our train to London. 

Metro to the tour office

Gare du Nord Train station

Getting settled in!

The seats on the trains are in groups of four: two chairs facing two chairs, with a table in between.  The gentleman sitting with us figured out we were Americans, not just by our accents, but because we were talking about this being Lauren and Jennifer’s first time traveling by train.  In Europe, it’s commonplace…in America, especially the west, not so much. I dozed in and out on the 2 hour and 15 minute train ride through the north of France and under the English channel.  As cool as it sounds to be riding in a train UNDER the English Channel, it’s really just a tunnel, so it’s not that interesting when you’re in it.  The French countryside was beautiful, though.  Green plains with little villages every few miles, all with a pointy-steepled church popping up from their center.  It lives up to its stereotypes.  We pulled into London, to St. Pancras station.  Once there, our group was loaded onto a double decker bus.  We, of course, took seats on the top.   It was a beautiful day in London…cooler than Paris!   We spent the day taking a circular tour of London on the double decker bus, listening to narration on headphones and getting off at major landmarks.  We got off at the London Eye, the Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace.  We also took a frustrating ride on a river ferry, but I won’t get into that. 

Getting on the Eye

Photo Bomb by Ben

Tower of London

After the Tower of London, we drove over the Tower Bridge, which is one of my favorite things in London!  Buckingham Palace was our last stop.

We were working on a Father's Day video for Joe

Lauren wanted to see the Guards

We ate dinner at an English Pub near the Palace called the “Bucket of Nails”.   Jennifer had Fish and Chips, while I just had chips and malt vinegar.  It started to sprinkle as we rode the bus back to the train station.

My favorite way to eat "chips"

More of the Father's Day video...

This sums up Lauren's feelings when on the metro.  Here, we were on the Tube in
London.  A man was standing in front of her and he's just stumbled a bit when the train rocked.
It makes me laugh every time.

We headed back a smidge early because we were afraid of missing our train back to Paris.  Unfortunately, we ended up having more than enough time because our train was delayed an hour.  

On the train ride home, our seatmate was a man from our tour group., and he sat next to me.  He fell asleep almost instantly.  The rocking of the train made for an interesting ride because, as he slept, the man next to me started bobbing toward me…leaning closer and closer, until I was leaning against the window, trying to avoid contact with my slumbering neighbor.  Of course, this led to stifled laughing.  Occasionally, we would let a giggle slip, he would start to wake up, and we would have to act composed.  It wasn’t easy. 

My sleepy neighbor...and his drink.

The rocking train caused issues for Lauren, too.  On a sharp turn, our seatmate’s juice, with the rocking of the train, slid from his side of the table to hers, and nearly off onto the floor before she caught it and put it back in front of Mr. Sleepyhead.   Where it slid back to her.  And she caught it.  Put it back.  And it slid again.  This happened 5 or 6 times before the train leveled out.  It took a little longer for us to stop laughing about it.  Silently. 

We got back to Paris later than planned…so late, the bathroom attendants at the train station barely let us go to the bathroom before they turned the lights out.  One of the metro lines ran from Gare du Nord straight to our neighborhood, so we took it back.  When we came out of the metro in the Latin Quarter, I made Jennifer and Lauren go with me to get my daily crepe.  The night was just getting started for many.   It was Friday, so a lot of young people were walking through the narrow streets that had become “our neighborhood”, with our pizza place, our crepe stand…places that had become familiar to us.  This is what I love about staying in one place for more than a couple of days.  You get a familiarity and a fondness for places and people and sights and sounds.  It’s this connection that sticks with you when you come home and brings the longing to return.   We didn’t get to experience this in London….this time. 

Day 5 

Day 5 dawned and we finally overcame jet lag. We slept in until 10:00!  I, of course, woke up in a frenzy and upset because we’d lost two precious hours in Paris.  I woke Jennifer up and told her what time it was.  She raised her fists in the air and said, “YES!” (We hadn’t been sleeping well, so she was happy to have had a full night’s sleep).  We started getting ready, then woke Lauren up. 

Lauren: “I thought we were going to sleep in today!?”
Me:  “Lauren, it’s 10:30!”

Lauren: “Oh.”

We got ready, and headed to do some shopping.  Jennifer and I hadn’t packed enough clothes for the hot temperatures.  We went to H&M, loaded my SIM card with more data at an Orange store, then after a lot of walking, settled on a corner café with views of Notre Dame for lunch.  Lauren and I got giant sodas with firecrackers in them that were delightful (and exhorbitant in price, but equally refreshing in the heat of the day).  I got a hamburger, but it was terribly rare, so I only ate the perimeter of the burger.  Our waiter felt bad that I wasn’t completely satisfied, so he brought us a complimentary crème brulee.  I’m not a fan of custard, but with the crunchy top, it was pretty good! 

This one makes me laugh, too

            After lunch, we headed to Saint Chappelle.  Saint Chappelle is a medieval chapel that was built in the 1200’s on the Ile-de-France (an island in the middle of the Seine River).  It was built to house religious relics, including what King Louis IX thought was Christ’’s crown of thorns. 

            We had to wait in line to get into the gates of the Palace of Justice, where Saint Chappelle is.  We went into the lower floor of the chapel, which was beautiful, but we followed others up a narrow spiral staircase to the main chapel.  I was first, and my breath was actually taken from me when I reached the top and saw the chapel.  I stopped at the last step and looked down at Jennifer and Lauren with my mouth agape.  The building is almost solid stained glass windows, telling stories from the bible.  The ceiling is bright blue and gold.  It is striking, how beautiful it is.  I’ve been in a lot of beautiful cathedrals, but Saint Chappelle tops them all.  

The staircase to Saint Chappelle

This was in the tiny elevator at our hotel.  I was eating as loudly as I could to annoy Lauren

            After Saint Chappelle, we went back to our hotel to get ready for our evening at the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte.  We booked a tour at this Chateau that included a bus ride to it (its about 45 minutes out of Paris), a fancy dinner, a candle lit tour of the chateaux, and a fireworks show you can watch from the gardens where 1,000 candles are lit.  In other words….magic. 

            We got on the (air-conditioned!!) bus in Paris and it took us to the Chateau. 

An AIR CONDITIONED bus!  With Phone Chargers!

We had dinner in an old outbuilding on the estate with pale pink walls, exposed timber, and oil paintings hung on the wall in gilded frames.  We sat with a woman who was visiting Paris by herself.  She was a retired lawyer from San Francisco and very well traveled.  While we ate our Foies Gras appetizer (or, picked at it, because our palettes aren’t that refined), she told us about all the places she’d traveled.  I sat across from Lauren, which was entertaining.  She was good and tried everything (I didn’t tell her that Foies Gras is goose liver until she’d tried it) and kept her “disgusted faces” to a minimum.  The main course was chicken, rice, and vegetables and was delicious.  Lauren’s favorite was the strawberry tart for dessert.  

Foie Gras and apple something-or -other

She was relieved to see chicken and rice

After we ate, we walked across the grounds to the back of the Chateau.  The candles had been lit, even though the sun was just starting to set.  We crossed over the moat and up the steps into the grand hall.  We got listening devices that would lead us through with an audio tour.  We learned about the Nicolas Fouquet, the man who built the Chateau in the 1600s.  He worked for King Louis, as a financial officer.  After he built the Chateau, he threw a party and invited the King.  The king was jealous (he hadn’t built Versailles yet) and suspicious, so he had Fouquet investigated and charged with embezzling.  He was arrested by Dartagnon (one of the famous musketeers) and imprisoned. 

          

When did she get THIS much taller than me?

Make yourself at home!

Learnin'

Lauren's "Periscope" is a video camera

       After the tour, we sipped champagne and waited in the candlelit gardens for it to get dark.  It had cooled off nicely (being out of the city made such a difference) and the crickets were starting to sing.  By 11:00pm, we were sitting by a pool with the chateau in view, watching the fireworks show.  Magic, I tell you. 

            After the fireworks, we walked back to the bus and left the fairy tale behind.  The bus dropped us about a ten-minute walk from our hotel.  It was almost 1:00 am, but it was Saturday night, so the city was still wide-awake.  Not us, though…we went to bed.

Day 6

            Our last day in Paris.  We decided to have breakfast at the same café where we’d had the giant sodas with the firecrackers in them.  We were up earlier than most of Paris on this Sunday morning, so the narrow streets that led to the café were nearly empty, as was the café, so we got our choice of seats.  I sat where I could see the towers of Notre Dame right across the river.  As we at our breakfast (mine was a Nutella crepe), the Sunday morning bells started.   Sunday bells are so much better than any other day of the week.  It’s not just bells, its entire songs.  It was a beautiful way to eat breakfast. 

            After breakfast, we found Laduree, a French confectioner famous for their macarons.  The shop is adorable, and the macarons are beautiful…every pastel shade you can imagine.  We chose cute little boxes…mine in pink…and filled them with 6 perfect little crunchy/chewy macarons.   Lauren chose a strawberry tart, but in the confusion (they are always busy there), it didn’t get put in their bag.  We didn’t notice until we were too far to go back.  We decided on lunch at our favorite pizza place again.  This time, we got desert, too.

Back for more pizza

            We went back to our hotel to drop off our macarons and freshen up, then took the metro to Montmartre.  Montmartre is an area of Paris on the top of a hill where the artists of the Belle Epoque lived and worked.   Artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne, Dali, Picasso, and the like.  Montmartre is where the Moulin Rouge is (along with other windmills), and the Sacre Cour, a basilica on the hill.  This little neighborhood has its own feel, different from the rest of Paris.  I wish we’d spent more time exploring it. 

            We went to the Sacre Cour, which, I think because it was Sunday, was really crowded.  We took a funicular to get up the hill to avoid all the stairs.  Once on the top of the hill, we were able to walk around inside the basilica even though there was a church service happening.  It was strange to be there amidst worshippers, but they kept us quiet and moving around the perimeter.  It was a beautiful church, and different than most cathedrals I’ve seen in Europe. 

            On our way back from Montmartre, I wanted to stop at the Grand Palais Opera House.  It’s the opera house where the “Phantom of the Opera” was set.  We saw the model at the Musee D’Orsay and it looked amazing.  Unfortunately, when we got there, it was closed for a special event.  Fortunately, our trip wasn’t wasted, because we got to enjoy a piano player, playing his piano on the sidewalk in front of the Opera.  We were also blessed with an accordion player on the Subway…our second accordion player of the day, so I was delighted. 

This model, at the Musee D'Orsay, is of the Opera House

Looking down on a model of the Opera House at the Musee D'Orsay

            That evening, we were going to end our time in Paris with the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower.  We decided to walk instead of take the subway because it was a pleasant evening.  On our way, we passed Laduree again.  Although it closed at 7:00 and it was 7:10, they hadn’t closed the doors yet, so we snuck in and got Lauren’s strawberry tart that she’d been unjustly denied earlier that morning.  She was giddy.  We got to the Eiffel Tower and found a place to grab a bite for dinner.  I got French Fries.  We sat by the river, at the base of the Tower, and ate our French Fries and Laduree desert. 

She was so excited to get her tart after all 

            Next, we crossed the bridge to the Trocadero…a former U.N. building that sits up high, for a great view of the Eiffel Tower.  It has steps and benches to sit on and fountains to enjoy…the perfect place to wait for dark when the Eiffel Tower glitters with lights every hour, on the hour.   Jennifer and Lauren found a spot to sit while I explored a little.  

Trocadero (From the top of the Eiffel Tower)

At 10:00, although it was really dark yet, we got to see the Tower do her thing.  The little lights we saw when we climbed the tower were sparkling.  Again, magic.  

It only lasted for a few minutes, then we decided to walk back.  The metro station was further than we anticipated.  We had to walk south along the Seine, and across a bridge.  We needed to use the bathroom, and the nearest one was a restaurant, so we decided to get drinks and sit down so we could use their restroom.  Lauren ordered a fizzy fruit soda that had us in a fit of giggles.

Apparently, it tastes like "Pschitt"

            By the time we left the café to find the metro station, it was time for the 11:00 Eiffel Tower light show, so we stood at the top of the metro station stairs and soaked it in before we went down the steps to the train.  The metro line we were taking was a busier one, so the station was bigger than others.  We stood and waited for the train, just as we had in other stations.  We saw the train coming,  and then we watched it zoom passed us.  We looked at each other for a second, in confusion, as the train stopped about 50 yards away from us.  No trip is complete without running to catch a train or plane, right?  Fortunately, we made it.  And we made it back to our hotel.

            We packed up our suitcases for our departure in the morning and I went out onto the balcony to soak a little bit more Paris in.  

I thought about breakfast earlier that morning, while the bells of Notre Dame were tolling, when Lauren said, “I’m sad...this is our last day in Paris.”.  I was sad too, because I love this city and there was still so much I wanted to see.  But, I knew something Lauren didn’t know….how much she was going to love the family we would be visiting in Spain!

Au Revoir, Paris!  Until next time!