Our Abode in Paris
We spent a lot of time researching apartments. Certain requirements were agreed
upon: air conditioning, no or few
stairs, and at least 2 rooms. We
used the website VRBO. The
apartment itself is as advertised; however, the access to the apartment was not
very clear. There are about as
many steps to get to the apartment where we are staying as there were to the
apartment in Montmartre where my sisters and I have stayed in the past. The closest main street is rue
Monge. Here are the stairs we have
to go up and down in order to get to the street. Then there is a stoop and a winding staircase in order to
get to the apartment on the first floor.
First floor in France is the second floor in America.
Dragging my suitcase up to the apartment was a major feat in
itself. I did pack one suitcase
and one carryon that I decided to check as well. I used some of those vacuum packing bags where you suck out
the air with a vacuum or press out the air to sort of shrink-wrap your
clothes. My suitcase still had plenty
of room, and at the airport in San Diego, it weighed 53 pounds! And I still had plenty of room! The
United agent asked if I would take something out to make it at least 51 pounds,
so I took out a bag of shampoo, and voila! All I took on the plane was my laptop and my purse. Pretty light for me!
Once we have a chance to sit, I hear about Mom’s and Tom’s
adventure getting to the apartment.
It took over 2 hours for them to get into Paris from Charles de Gaulle
Airport since it turns out to be a holiday weekend. It sounds like their traffic issues were 10 times worse than
my trip from CDG to Paris. Not
only that, their taxi fare was based on a meter, while mine was negotiated
before we left the airport. I
lucked out on that one.
We break open the bottle of wine from our welcome basket—a
nice Bordeaux. While I am almost
always ready for a glass of wine, I was thirsty—water, water, water! A moment to breathe! Thankfully, Mom and Tom did get out to
find lunch and had time to unpack before I arrived. After I unpacked, we ventured out to rue Monge in search of
a baguette and cheese and meat.
What looked like a small Carrefour Market but which was really very big
inside was open. We saw people
walking by us with grocery bags before finding the market. It was packed. Saturday night grocery shopping! We found a wealth of wine and cheese
and meat and other sundry. A
perfect dinner—brie and French bread—my idea of heaven.
After a refreshing shower for me, we headed for bed. Tomorrow is another day . . .
Sunday, May 20
Ever try to get 3 or more people going in the morning so you
can get outside and see Paris? It
is not as easy as one might think.
Mom gets up hours before Tom and me. She makes coffee and has to get something to eat. I am sleeping on the couch in the
living room. I start to stir. She says, Finally! It’s about 8 am. There’s coffee, and Mom puts our
grocery store croissant and pan chocolat in the oven to get warm (which takes
forever), then once Tom is up, Mom announces she is off to the shower. Tom and I wait and wait for the
croissant to get warm. It takes
hours! Not literally. We discuss, and I eventually make
another pot of coffee. We had been
given directions of 7 spoons to 10 cups.
I start doling out the spoonfuls, only my spoonfuls are heaping, and Tom
stops me at 5 since he is sure Mom had level spoonfuls. French Café Noir turns out well, so no
complaints. Thereafter, it’s Tom’s
turn for the shower. Thankfully,
when it is my turn, I only had to get dressed. We made our way down all the stairs with a mission to buy
carnets of metro/bus tickets. The
Tabac isn’t open. Neither is the
Carrefour—which explains why it was so busy Saturday night. Mom wants us to take a bus, but we end
up descending stairs to the metro where we proceed to purchase metro/bus
tickets. Talk about an exercise in
futility! Mom and Tom try using
the automated machine. I ask the
woman at Information, after Tom has made her get up and tend to business at the
Information window, who tells me my Navigo card won’t work until Monday. This is a card for which you can
buy a week’s worth of passage instead of using individual tickets each time you
travel on the metro or on the bus.
The line behind us grows.
They finally take pity on us and help get the steps right. Success! I tell them to go before me, but they start the procedure
for the Navigo card. First we try
the card to see if there’s anything on it. It doesn’t, so we add credit to the card; however, it turns
out the week begins on Monday, so while my card now works, we dig into the
individual tickets for our travels today.
We decide to head to the direction of the Louvre. I thought we had picked the metro stop
wherein you get out right at the bottom floor—no steps. Alas, steps, steps, and more steps.
Here is a little girl on her scooter with her dad. I think of a French story called Zazie dans le metro.
We head to the Louvre:
The crowd is enormous in front of the
Louvre and the Pyramid—holiday weekend, remember? We notice a group of policemen—a couple on bicycles and
several more on roller blades.
Mom wants to get on a bus. I insist that I want to go to some shops at the
Carousel. It is still a madhouse
of people. We are all hot and
tired, so I send Mom and Tom off to go find someplace to sit and get a drink
while I visit the 3 shops on my agenda.
At the first, I purchase a Paris-themed Pandora-type bead for the
bracelet I bought at that same store in 2009 when Jessica and I visited Paris. I had an Eiffel Tower charm and didn’t
really want an Arc de Triomphe, so this time, I chose a windmill, with actually
moving windmill arms! The second
stop is at L’Occitane for some verbena (lemon-scented) eau de parfum. As I head to my third stop, I see Mom
ahead. They couldn’t find a place
to sit and were anxious get a move-on.
Outside, Mom wants to get a bus.
We decide we need to find a place to sit down and get a drink. I remember that one of our favorite
restaurants, Le Nemour, is close-by.
It is also next to a favorite art deco decorated Metro entrance. Tom points out L’Opera Garnier down the
other side of the street.
Respite. A cozy
corner in Le Nemours. Tom and I
order the quiche of the day which comes with a small salad and a glass of wine. Mom gets a salad called the Comedien,
which became a comedy of errors.
The quiche of the day is goat cheese and zuccini. Parfait!
Angelina Jolie sat out here in one of the opening scenes of The Tourist
Wherever we go in France, and in Paris, in particular, we see what must be fashion photos being taking of brides. Today is no exception. I first catch a view of the faux bride in question in front of the Louvre, but miss her. I see her walk by while we are in Le Nemours
While finishing our wine, the Paris Bus book and Paris
Practique come out. Mom wants to
get on a bus. We find a bus line
that will take us in a general direction; however, by the time we find the
correct bus stop, we have just missed the bus.
Street sign: "Riders of Rohan!"
After some discussion, we decide to get back on the metro
that brought us to Louvre/Rivoli, but instead of making the change of metro
lines we had before, we stick with the one line that will take us one metro
stop past the metro stop where we had bought the tickets.
Advertisement at the metro:
On the metro, a little boy is fast asleep with his mouth
wide open. We went through about 7
stops, and he slept through it all.
Out of the metro, we find an escalator to take us up to the
street. And, it is starting to
pour down rain. Our street is in
the middle of the distance between the two metro stops. We also need to stop to get a baguette. Mom wants to go to a boulangerie across
the street while I said there’s one right here, why don’t we go in. She buys a baguette, croissants, and
pain chocolat. I buy milles
feuilles and chocolat. At the
stairs up to our street, while it is still pouring down rain, Tom decides he is
going to see if he can find some place to buy a bottle of wine, since we only
have part of an open bottle. Mom
and I climb the stairs . . . and more stairs . . . and crash into the
apartment. Tom comes in a little
bit later, with no success in finding some wine—it’s Sunday! It’s a holiday! We finish the Chinon with baguette, cheese, sausage, ham, and mille fueilles!
A totally off the subject note. My wonderful niece Jessica graduated from University of Missouri at St Louis on Sunday, May 19, Magna Cum Laude! So proud of her!
Jessica and brother Drew!
A bientot!
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