Day 5 - Paris

When I woke up, I stepped out onto our terrace and snapped a couple of pictures: 

Way in the distance in the picture above is ‘La Defense’, or the business district of Paris.

Then we got on the train and met our friends, who had just arrived.  Once we found them, we told them about the Navigo pass which they found and purchased and we got back on the train so they could put their luggage away and meet our hosts.  Then we got back on the train and went back into Paris (see why those unlimited train passes were so helpful?)  Ha ha.

First thing we did was head to the Arc de Triumph and Champs E’lyses.  

We decided to forego walking up the bajillion stairs to the top.  Our friends were jetlagged and it was warm outside so we opted to have lunch instead.  Omelets and wine.  Wine with everything!  Especially when it’s cheaper than water.  I’m not kidding!

We walked along Champs E’lyses and gazed at all of the shops.  Then we came across Louis Vuitton.  

It was one of those moments where I saw it and stopped dead in my tracks.  And then immediately kept walking (because….Louis Vuitton?  Yowza) but my husband stopped me and said ‘just go in and look around’ and I told him that would be a bad idea and he kept encouraging me to do it.  So I did.  And I bought a wallet.  Even if I hadn’t have bought anything, it still was a fun experience.  Everyone that works there looks like they could be a supermodel (even the men) and they all wear white gloves all the time because of handling the bags and shoes.  When I asked to see the wallet (it was behind a glass case of course), they brought it out and laid it out on a silk cloth and they looked like Price is Right models ha ha.  Oh, and I had THREE people helping me.  THREE.  Just for me.  And then once I bought the wallet, they wrapped it in a cloth bag, then put it in a box that was actually a little drawer, then put the box in a bag.

Security is insane there too.  They have these guys that look like the secret service at every entrance door (I think there are 3 entrances), plus they are all walking around with their ear pieces on.

Anyways, it was a fun experience.  And I love my wallet.

After that, more walking.  And then went back to the Eiffel Tower (we just gravitated towards it!).  But before that, we stopped at a market and got some wine and cheese and bread and found a shady spot for a picnic and a nap.  I’m the only one that didn’t fall asleep.  It was very lovely though.  

Then we found a restaurant for some coffee and to use the restroom and called it an evening.

Day 4 - Paris

Day 4 started out with fresh croissants that our hosts had picked up that morning along with coffee and watching the local news (in French of course) in their kitchen.  This is the day that I also started drinking black coffee.  Can you believe it?  I’m telling you, everything tastes better in France!

After our breakfast of buttery croissants, jam, and coffee, they dropped us off at the train station.  We could have walked to the train station, but it’s a bit of a hike.  And they are retired and insisted that they didn’t mind taking us back and forth each day.  

We decided the first order of business in Paris was to see the Eiffel Tower of course.  I got myself oriented and we were off.  I had downloaded an amazing Paris Metro app on my phone.  You find your starting station and your end station and plug them in and it will tell you exactly which route to take and where you need to get off to switch trains/metros.  It was awesome!

We wandered around the 7^th district just walking.  It’s a very pretty district…lots of beautiful streets, just exactly how you would picture Paris in your head.

Then we spotted the Eiffel Tower and took about a hundred pictures.  It’s just so beautiful.  My friend Nancy said it looks like lace and it totally does.  

We walked in the surrounding parks nearby and then found the river and walked along it.  I bought a book from the used booksellers along the Seine.  We also walked across a few of the bridges.  

Then we headed to Notre Dame.  We didn’t go inside, we just walked all around it to take pictures.  The detail on it is amazing.

Then, we headed back to the 7^th District for more walking.  We found an adorable street with an adorable cupcake shop, so we stopped of course.  

Then we had some wine and some lunch.  We just took our time and then started walking around more.  We headed back to the Eiffel Tower hoping it would get dark so we could see it light up, but as you can see from the following pictures, this was when we learned that it doesn’t get dark until about 10:30 at night there.  It was so weird!!  So we sat on a park bench and people watched and talked (it was about 8:30 p.m. when these pictures were taken….crazy!)

So we headed back to the train station to go back to Cormeilles.

Here’s a map of where Paris Central is vs. where we stayed in the suburbs.  It wasn’t that far of a train ride…maybe 20 minutes?  It looks much farther on the map than it actually was.

The blue dot is Cormeilles, so it was a bit northwest of Paris.  

And that was Day 4!

Day 3 - Travel & Paris

On our last day in London, we woke up, repacked, had breakfast in the breakfast room at the Grosvenor while we waited for our cab.

Our cab arrived on time and took us to the train station to board the Eurostar (also known as the Chunnel…..the train that goes underwater through the English Channel to France).  Technically we didn’t have to take a cab, we could have just hopped on the tube but we didn’t want to mess with the stairs and all of our luggage.  So we called a cab and he dropped us off (and our luggage) right in front of St. Pancras station.  We found our train and boarded early.  

It was very nice!  We had assigned seats that were right by one of the luggage racks so it didn’t take us long to get settled in.  I think the train ride took about 2 hours.  And we were only underwater for maybe 25 minutes?  It was hard to tell.  It’s pretty cool though because they make announcements every 30 minutes or so and so we knew when we were in France waters because the announcements came on in French first instead of English.

We arrived at Gare du Nord station in Paris.  We were a bit more prepared this time with our luggage, meaning we knew what to expect with the stairs.  It wasn’t that bad though.  I had done a bunch of research before we left (shocking right?) about what train passes to get, and so we immediately found a photo booth.  Sounds crazy, right?  But the pass we got is called a ‘Navigo’ pass, and it’s basically an unlimited weekly pass that runs from Monday – Sunday.  But it works on ALL trains…the metro, the RER and the actual trains.  And we would be using all three during our week in Paris.  It was about 40 euros per person, but TOTALLY worth it.  Once we got our pictures taken, we went to the counter and got the pass.  I was worried at first because I read on some websites that depending on the person you get behind the counter, they may or may not sell you the pass.  Typically, the Navigo pass is only sold to locals.  Well, I printed off the fine print in French that stated that it could be sold to anyone, regardless of their citizenship.  So I had that with me and was ready to make my argument, but fortunately I didn’t need it.  The gentleman was very nice and sold us the passes and we were set for the week.  All we had to do was swipe our little plastic card each time we got on the train/RER/metro and always have it with us.  It worked out great!

Then we navigated our way to the St. Lazare station from Gare du Nord and found our way to the train that would take us to Cormeilles de Parisis (where our hosts lived).  It took a while.  The last time I was in Paris, we stayed right in the heart of Paris, so I never had to navigate to the trains for the suburbs.  But we found it and got settled and then when we arrived, texted our hosts that we were there.

Here's a picture of the little village we stayed in.  It was taken right outside of the train station.

 Our hosts came and picked us up.  They didn't speak any English, but we managed just fine.  I won't post pictures of their home, but it was very nice and we had our own bedroom with a large closet and our own terrace!  It was so nice. 

We were zonked though so as soon as we unpacked, we were off to bed.