Paris - Yes, it's everything you think it is!

We headed out last Friday with a friend of Dave’s that had to drive to Paris for a business weekend.  We thought it would be nice to spend time in the car getting to know him and his girlfriend a little better.  Well, about 8 hours later, due to GPS errors, we made it to Paris.  It was a good time just talking except that minute by minute a cold was hitting me hard – sneezing, runny nose and eyes, achy – not the way I wanted to start my short adventure into Paris for the first time.  When we finally found our hotel that we were staying at, Danny dropped us off and we checked in.  I went straight to bed!  Dave headed out to check out the Trade Show he was there for.  I spent the afternoon and evening in and out of sleep and reading my book.  This first night we were staying outside of Paris in a little village called St. Denis.

The next morning I was actually feeling a “smidge” better.  Dave decided the night before that we were going to use some of his Marriott points and stay in the center of Paris for the next two nights.  So we checked out of the St. Denis Courtyard by Marriott and got on the subway to Champs D’Elysee.  The Renaissance Marriott was beautiful and just a five minute walk to the Louvre and D’Orsay museums!  The day turned out to be a beautiful, sunny but cold day.  Perfect for walking around, of course, that is if you’re feeling well.  However, I was a “trooper” (if I can say so myself) and we ventured to the Louvre.  I have to say it is such a tremendous gratifying feeling to see original masterpieces that you have only seen on cards and stationary previously.  As everyone says, the Mona Lisa is, what shall I say, much smaller than you expect.  Botticelli’s Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman is one of my favorite paintings but the sculpture is so amazing and beautiful.  Venus D’Milo – Winged Victory of Samothrace – The Three Graces – Cupid and Psyche.  I love sculpture and ever since visiting Italy three years ago and seeing Michelangelo’s sculptures I just love the European art culture.  After the Louvre, Dave took me to a very nice Paris café that was a local favorite.  We had the best bowl of French Onion Soup I have ever tasted – there was no skimping on the crusty bread and melted cheese on top!  Beef Bourguignon was my entrée and Chocolate Mousse was my dessert which topped the meal off perfectly.  We did not need dinner after that!  After lunch we began walking to Notre Dame.  I must say Paris is probably one of the most beautiful cities of the world – the architecture, the Seine River – just stunning.  We visited Notre Dame and again another work of art in architecture.  The massiveness of the cathedral – you realize how amazing the workers were to construct such a remarkable building of magnificence.  I remember when we were in Italy going into all of the Basilicas how amazed I was at each one of them.  Later that afternoon we met up with Danny and his girlfriend, Susanna, and they were going to go “out on the town” that evening to listen to music and asked if we would like to go with them.  We told them to give us a call when they were headed out, but all of you that know Dave and I, nightlife is not really our “thing.”  Of course, we were already in bed when they called at 9:00 PM.  Maybe if I had been feeling well we might have gone?  Probably not!

Sunday morning we got up and had a really good breakfast in the hotel and then headed outside.  Not as nice as Saturday – cold and raining but we were in Paris and had to go see the sights.  We headed over to the Musee de L’Orangie where the Monet Water Lilies in the round are in exhibition.  I enjoy some of Monet’s paintings but I guess I didn’t really appreciate the two rooms with the lilies in the round.  Parts of it were beautiful – parts were a question mark for me.  In the lower level was an exhibition of Heinrich Kuhn’s photography that was extremely intriguing.  I really enjoyed his work.  After the L’Orangie museum we began walking to the Eiffel Tower.  On the way it was so cold I had to purchase a hat from a street vendor.  Luckily I had brought a scarf and gloves.  On our way Dave took me down the street with the designer offices and shops – I found a pair of Prada shoes I wanted but, darn, the store isn’t open on Sundays!  Guess Dave got out of that one. 

  

So on we went – just around the next corner –oops – no, the next corner – and then there it was – whoa, it is much larger than you think.  So I said to Dave, I’m going to the top – he just looked at me like, “Really?”  Of course, you can’t go to the Eiffel Tower and not go to the top.  Dave has been there several times but never stood in line to go to the top.  Standing in line is not his favorite thing to do but he did on this day and it turned out to be a great experience.  While standing in line there were three college girls in front of us and all of a sudden two of them turned and said to the third girl, we’re not going to stand in line, we’re going to go climb the stairs, we’ll see you later.  I looked at the girl standing there and said they’re just going to leave you?  She said it’s OK, I’ll meet up with them later.  Well, we made a new friend – a delightful young girl named Alex from Syracuse, NY studying in Florence, Italy and was in Paris to visit for the weekend.  We ended up sticking together and taking each other’s pictures.  She was such a joy.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get any contact information for her but we did give her Dave’s business card so maybe someday we’ll hear from her.  Going up the first lift which takes you about a third of the way up, you realize just how high the Tower really is and you say I’m not sure I really want to do this.  Then you get off that lift and head to a second one – do I really want to go up higher? – I’m here, yep, here we go.  It was bizarre how high up it is and the view from the top.  Unfortunately since it was a cloudy day it was pretty foggy at the top and we couldn’t see a distant view but just the immediate city view was incredible.  Of course, when we got to the bottom I had to buy some of the dorky Eiffel Tower key chains – Five for one Euro – why not!  After the Eiffel Tower adventure we jumped in a cab and headed back to the hotel to drop a few things off then headed back out to go over to the D’Orsay museum.  We were running out of time but decided to take a quick breather when we got there and went into their café for a quick bite to eat.  Even in the museum we had an absolutely delicious “snack.”  Dave got an unbelievable cheese plate with greens and I got a French version of Caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, arugula and Parma ham.  Dave also got a hot chocolate (he saw the lady next to us having one) and said it was like drinking melted chocolate – delish!  When we got done snacking we headed into the museum – again so many masterpieces – Renoir, Degas, Millet, Manet, Monet, Cezanne, the list goes on and on.  I definitely want to go back to spend more time there.  Before heading back to our hotel room we stopped and had a small coffee and dessert in a typical, very crowded, small café.

Monday morning we got up and enjoyed the great breakfast again in the hotel and headed to the train station.  Before leaving on the train we met up with a dear French friend, Olivier.  We met in a little coffee café across from the train station and enjoyed about an hour catching up on what’s going on in his life.  He invited us to visit him and his wife in Chamonix located in the northwestern French Alps just 15 km from Switzerland.  We’re hoping we can make that happen before we head back to the states.

I will say that Paris is one of those places that should be in your bucket list.

Hugs to all.