Day 2 Paris

 

We walked a couple minutes from our hotel to the train station to catch the Eurostar early. We arrived ten minutes early, thinking that was sufficient because we had our tickets and everything, but you have to check in thirty minutes early. Ahh, we missed our train and were bumped to the next train. It was about two hours to Paris. We got there and checked into our apartment near the Centre Pompidou. We booked a little studio through Airbnb and saved a lot of money. It was also nice to check in before the usual 3 pm of a hotel. It was a cute, small place on the third floor with a murphy bed that was as comfortable as any hotel bed, a kitchen (though we didn’t end up cooking), a decent size bathroom and a washer/dryer. This was so great because we packed half the clothes we needed and were able to do laundry Sunday evening.

We stopped at a little street stand for crepes. I had strawberry and Scott and ham and formage, then we took the train to the Louvre. In Paris we did buy a four-day museum pass. We also bought a pack of ten metro tickets and ended up buying another pack of ten later in the week.

The Louvre is overwhelming. As soon as we walked in I forgot everything I ever learned in my art classes and wasn’t sure what to see, besides of course the Mona Lisa. Some of the highlights for me were the enormous canvas paintings and tapestries, the Egyptian mummy and tombs and the grand chandelier in the apartments of Napolean III.

After we had our fill of exquisite paintings and sculptures, we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. We went to the top and saw all of Paris. Paris is a city full of symmetry. The view was stunning. We walked along the Champs-Elysées and took a sugar break with a raspberry macaroon and chocolate eclair.

Then it was the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to be around the tower in the evening, so we could see it lit up. We did not go to the top. Some advice I got for Paris was choose one or two things to go up to the top for. Then we went to Les Cocette for dinner, which was a short walk away. We had a reservation. Scott started with a pumpkin soup that was delectable, then pigeon for his main and for dessert a waffle with Chantilly cream and a caramel sauce that tasted like liquid crème brulee. I started with a fresh and delicious green salad with shredded crab meat, then beef for my main and the chocolate mousse to finish. It was so rich and chocolatey.

Then we had a romantic stroll around the Eiffel tower all lit up with views of the river Seine.

In our second day we visited five sights!

I was worried about what to pack for Paris. Everything I read talked about how fine people in Paris dress and a sloppy American really stands out, but I wanted to be comfortable, too. Once there, I think Parisians dress about the same as New York City, so I was totally fine in jeans. I think my jeans were a little too nice for Paris, as a lot of women wore the ripped-up jeans trend, some wearing black pantyhose underneath.  They love their pantyhose and wear them with shorts and short skirts in the winter. I do think men dress better in Paris than in the states, no hoodies or baseball caps and everyone wears a scarf. I didn’t really need to worry since most of the time my clothes were covered by my coat and  I had on a scarf and hat. We never used our umbrella we packed, but I was so glad to have a great hat on the trip, especially in London where it drizzled. The weather was sunnier and more mild in Paris.

On three different occasions someone asked me for directions, like I was a local French woman! I, of course, couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, but Scott jumped in and told them in French it was our first time in Paris.