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The café across from our apartment. Notice the communal trash bag.
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One has to ask, "why blog about my trip to Paris"? Do I want you to envy my fabulousness? Not hardly. Do I need to prove I've been there? I don't think so. Then, why?
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| Space invader mosaic graffiti. |
Maybe you've been yourself and you like to experience the thrill of recognition you get when seeing pictures of places you've been. Maybe you're going soon and you want to hear my recommendations. (I recommend research and lots of travel guides). Some people only need to hear that I had a great time; some quite the opposite. And possibly, you too would like to go one day, and you want to know if I still think it's worthwhile.
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| What's left of the Templars presence in Paris. Space invader mosaics. |
This trip was a sort of graduation present for Robert and me. It's been 15 years since Connie or I have been to Paris. Even though Robert was born overseas and has travelled more than many adults, he's never seen much of Europe. Basically, I said "D-day beaches" and he was in.
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| Obligatory Eiffel Tower photo. At least neither of us is trying to "hold" it. |
I was concerned that Robert like Paris. If you've ever been, you don't forget the first time you saw it. But the drive in from Charles de Gaul is not promising. It's a seemingly endless expanse of industrial zones and dingy low cost housing projects. The apartment we selected was not in a touristy, glamourous part of town and it was 100 percent Ikea. Also, it was not as clean as we would have liked. No air conditioning which normally isn't an issue but we happened to arrive in the midst of an uncharacteristic spell of nice weather which really means it was hot. And it seemed like there was graffiti everywhere. So I was a little depressed. I was taking responsibility for Paris!
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| Close up of the water cannons at the Eiffel Tower. |
We spent the first few days walking around, eating in cafés, drinking rosé, buying bread and croissants and metro tickets. We fought the crowds at the Eiffel Tower: people having their pictures taken "holding" the tower, vendors clutching giant rings strung with little souvenir towers. We did not go up in the Eiffel Tower. You need to book your tickets online, months in advance if you want to do that. It's good to get your tickets to the Louvre in advance too. There we avoided people having their pictures taken "holding" the glass pyramid in the courtyard and struggled to grab glimpses of the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory.
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| This guy! |
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| Bateaux Mouches, oui, oui! |
I'll not lie; there were a lot of tourists in Paris, and they were getting me down. So finally, on day 4 we ditched them. We headed over to the Canal St. Martin and watched a boat go through the locks. We ate at a café recommended on the Time Out Paris website. ( I totally recommend the Time Out Paris website). We witnessed a huge group of cyclists in yellow jerseys and funny hats ride by. (Probably something to do with the Tour de France coming through the next day). That night we stopped in at the café across the street from our apartment. It was our best day so far.
And the next day we were off to Normandy.
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| View from our window, Porte St. Martin. |
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| What's on at the Comédie Française. Moliére, Baby! Memories ! |
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View of locks on the canal.
For your viewing pleasure: a boat going through the locks at the canal.
Cyclists at St. Martin canal
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| Bob and His Friends, a shoe store. That's euros not cents, so, not really cheap. |
Stay tuned for more adventures in France!
