My Travel Blog
Just as with the previous post, I am doing this later than it occured. Darn technology!
Written August 1, 2014
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After a decent sleep had by all of us, we got ready for our one and only full day in Paris. We didn’t have much on our to-do list besides walk around and soak up the atmosphere – a task that we easily accomplished. First stop – the bakery for a warm croissant and fresh pressed orange juice. Feeling fortified we hit the metro and took it to the Arc de Triomphe. We toyed with the idea of going up it, but the line-up was long and we weren’t feeling strongly enough about it to wait. We went up it a few years ago but it was drizzly, and the only reason I would’ve liked to go up it today was because there was a gorgeous blue sky with only a sprinkling of clouds. Instead, we took a few pictures and then off we went to the Eiffel Tower. We approached it from a different angle than we’ve seen it in the past, and I must say it was gorgeous. I don’t ever get tired of looking at it!
It was getting close to lunch time so we walked around waiting for the perfect place to call our name. After sitting and ordering our food Jeff and I realized that we had eaten in that same restaurant before! As he ordered the “Quiche du jour” I had a strange feeling and at almost the same time we both said, “We’ve been here before!” I think he even ordered the Quiche du jour last time too! (Yes, real men eat quiche.) This restaurant is not in a highly touristy area which is what made it so unusual.
At some point after lunch Julia’s sandals started rubbing her toes so we launched “Operation New Sandals”. We looked in many stores and even went into a mall, but unfortunately our mission was unsuccessful. Our nearby apartment beckoned for shoe-changing and an afternoon rest, as we were all feeling a little peaked by that time. After a few hours of rest we were back at it – jet lag be gone!!
Destination: Luxembourg Gardens. We’ve walked through it a few times in the past but have never done more than a passing glance. Both Jeff and I read “Paris” by Edward Rutherford earlier this year, and we learned a lot about the history of Paris over the last 300 years. We re-checked out the Place de la Concorde (site of the Guillotine during the French Revolution) and had a pull towards the Luxembourg Gardens for a reason that we couldn’t quite remember. The lack of google in the apartment has really thwarted our research (and made us look less smart to our children). It’s annoying me and I can’t wait to re-remember (is that a word?) why I needed to go there. In any case, we sat in a lovely café under a canopy of trees drinking over-priced (but lovely) rosé with an assorted cheese plate and just soaked in the atmosphere that is Paris in the summer. That atmosphere is happy children speaking a language you don’t understand chasing a ball around a tree, and crazy loud young Portuguese 20-somethings enjoying life and drinking wine, and a waiter who is so nice but a little tired and stressed because it’s his first day on the job and it’s all a bit overwhelming but he’s doing his best. It’s your own children contentedly making friendship bracelets out of embroidery thread while you sit and relax for an hour just enjoying what’s around you. This is why we keep coming back. For no particular reason at all… just a joie de vivre that exists only in this special city.
Written on July 31, 2014
(Disclaimer - written in a wi-fi free apartment with the intention of posting at some point in time. This is that time!) :)
What a whirlwind! As I write this we have been in Paris for a full day already, however the wi-fi in our apartment doesn’t work so we are living in a google-free state circa 1995.
We left our house Wednesday around noon after spending the morning removing all of the furniture from the main floor of our house. While we are away they are ripping out our carpet and tiles and putting in a beautiful thick-cut distressed hardwood; we are super excited to return home to the change but it sure added to the pre-vacation hustle and bustle! I feel a lot less prepared for this trip than all of our other ones so as time goes by we will see if I’ve forgotten anything!
Our flights were great; we flew from Calgary to Montreal and then Montreal to Paris. This made for a much easier transition into French than when we go through London and arrive with a blast of French after drinking tea and watching English movies. We ate dinner in the Montreal airport where the waiter spoke to us in French, and then on our (very civilized) Air France flight there was minimal English spoken. So, even with the jet lag we didn’t feel as confused as we usually do when we arrive. We were so bold, in fact, that we thought we would take the train from the airport instead of a taxi. This proved to be a long process, but we all remained in good spirits as we jostled around with our suitcases while hanging on next to a variety of interesting characters with questionable hygiene.
We are staying in an area very close to where we stayed 2 years ago and so we felt pretty confident with where we were going when we climbed up from the metro station. After only referring to the map once we arrived at our apartment door and (with much anticipation) rang the bell for our contact lady. We rang it again, and again, and after 5 minutes concluded that either she’d fallen and she couldn’t get up, or she wasn’t there. Thankfully Jeff had activated his phone for a small European plan before we left Calgary, and so he was able to both email and call the lady from whom we rented the apartment. It took a bit of phone tag, but after eating some lunch and sitting on our suitcases outside the door for half an hour a slightly frantic lady ran around the corner and started speaking rapid-fire French. We had no idea what she was saying, but luckily there was a friendly lady sitting at a café beside the door who could translate for us. It turns out she is originally from Quebec but has lived in Paris for 8 years – what luck! I don’t need to go over the details of the confusion, just suffice it to say that eventually we got in to the apartment and happily changed our clothes and brushed our teeth.
Our goal was to stay up until at least 8:30 pm and so we headed out in to the wilds of Paris. It was a gorgeous day, but I forgot my camera in the apartment and was disappointed because the light was phenomenal. We had a drink at a café with free wi-fi but I’d also left my phone in the apartment so I was doubly disappointed! We sat next to an interesting couple from Australia who were on their first stop of a 3 month European tour; we had a great conversation and drank some delicious rosé wine from Provence. Fearing that if we sat too long we’d fall asleep, we then drifted around aimlessly looking at random Parisian structures. We found some dinner in a cute café and we knew the night was winding down when Jeff actually fell asleep sitting in his chair! It was only for a few seconds but I witnessed it with my own eyes and it was quite the sight to behold. We still had to walk home afterwards and happened upon the BEST gelato we have ever had. And we have eaten a lot of gelato!! All four of us had something different and they were all incredible. My pick? Salted caramel and pistachio. Chloë had Violet and Rose! Sounds gross but it was so, so good. Mmm, what a fantastic way to end a very long day.
We went back to the apartment where we all went right to sleep. Zzzzz
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