Tuesday, April 18, 2023
After working during the day Monday and starting again at 2200 Monday night and working until 0700 Tuesday morning, I got about 2.5 hours of sleep before getting up to make final preparations for our 1830 departure from Dulles to Paris. We got to Dulles by cab… much more expensive than it was to get home from Dulles last summer but….at about 1530 and got checked in and through security by a little after 1600 so we had a good wait until boarding started at 1740. The flight was an uneventful seven hours or so to Charles DeGaulle.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Getting from the plane to our accommodations was another story, however. We had to get off the plane using one of those mobile stairways and get a bus to the terminal. Then it took us 1.5 hours to get through immigration control because they were not staffed for the number of arrivals. My stress level was high… Not having slept but 2.5 hours in the last two nights was not helping. Once we got through immigration we were not pleased to find that the display for baggage had already cleared the entry for our flight so we had to roam around to find where our baggage was. Then we had a nice long wait for a bus into Paris where we got off near the Paris Opera and got a nice “lunch” at the “Cafe de la Paix” before catching the Metro to get to our neighborhood.
By then I think we ate and browsed the neighborhood. It’s amazing how much of a blur it is. I remember getting the key from the owner of a pub a few doors down. We got into our place and checked it out. It is a decent place with a good-sized kitchen, for an apartment in a 17th-century building, and sitting area, a small bedroom with a reasonably comfortable bed, and a small bathroom with a shower. There is decent lighting with a view out into a very small courtyard four floors down and across to windows to more apartments about 40 feet away. It has radiator heating with very unfamiliar controls that we are trying to adjust to keep us adequately warm since the temps thus far have been at a high of 54 and a low of 30 something this morning. Overall we are content with the price, the location, and the comforts of a home rather than a sterile and expensive hotel room.
When we headed out to browse the neighborhood, we found good bakeries, including one right on our street corner, a well-stocked market, Monoprix, with fresh veggies, fruit, meat, groceries, toiletries, and all kinds of other handy things. Think chic Walmart with groceries on a miniature scale. We found a lovely park called the “Square du Temple – Elie Wiesel” diagonally across the street from where our side street hits the main street. It has lots of greenery, flowers, a pond with a resident French version of our Great Blue heron, a playground full of kids, and only a couple of homeless people. Walking around some more, within five blocks or so we found numerous shops of all kinds, more bakeries, Asian restaurants, lovely cafes, and the ubiquitous massive intersection with a statue of something.
The rest of the day is a blur. We ate in. Clare had something she picked up and I had leftovers I had planned to eat on the plane because I thought we only had breakfast provided….silly me. I know we were in bed by 2100 though and slept until 1030 the next morning…waking up late for our 1130 entrance time at Versailles.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
We scarfed down some breakfast and caught a cab at 1100 to go to Versailles. So much for our plans to take the train…. The traffic was maddening but the views mainly of the old buildings, the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, etc., along with Clare’s conversation in French, which I could fairly well understand, with the cabby, who was from Poland, all made for a pleasant ride. Getting into Versailles was another story. We never got the email from our online reservation and w/o cell service, getting email at Versailles meant trying to get on a public network there to get to the email and our tickets. Forget trying to do anything anymore that requires a ticket if you can’t get it on your phone otherwise, you are up shit creek w/o the paddle.
The interior of Versailles was maddeningly crowded with people taking pictures, videos, and selfies. The inclusion of cameras into cell phones has to be the worst thing ever for traveling because everyone has a phone and wants to take pictures of everything. No one has any consideration for what is going on around them. If there is a picture to be taken, damn the “madding crowd” for that picture will be taken and wind up on Instagram and/or Facebook within hours. Then everyone will know where the picture taker is, what they are doing, and how great their life is compared to the poor fools who can share it only through some online venue. Standby while I post this to my website….
As we had a late start to Versailles, we didn’t have time to do much afterward, like stop back by at our place, we found the route up to Anais Nin Garden in Port d’Aubervilliers in northern Paris where we were to meet up with a group of people from a church that our church, Fairfax Church, is affiliated with. The route worked out fine but we arrived considerably earlier than necessary for the 1900 – 1915 scheduled meeting time. As such, we browsed around the small park noting several homeless people and refugees scattered about. There was a whole bunch of refugees gathered at one end of the park for reasons as yet unknown to us but it wasn’t long before a group of three police asked them to disperse. I have noted thus far that the police seem to travel in groups of three.
With time still to burn and the desire to sit down and warm up a bit, we stepped into an eatery for tea and Middle Eastern pastries. We were the only people in the place. The tea hit the spot and I thought the pastries were delicious. We hung out for a bit which didn’t seem to be a problem for the staff but as 1900 approached we headed back out into the park to look for Alice, our contact for the group that we were meeting. It was quite some time, probably thirty minutes before she showed up but come to find out there was another woman there from the group already but we weren’t aware of who she was or that she was affiliated with the church.
A van from the Secours Protestant organization showed up with hot water and the fixings for tea and coffee, some fresh fruit, and cold weather gear like gloves, hats, and neck warmers. We helped to serve tea and coffee and keep the crowd under control while Jonathon, the Secours Protestant representative handed out fruit and gear. We met a least five people from the church that we are affiliated with including a young man from Florida, a young woman from Egypt, and Alice. They all seemed to be very devout Christians and very committed to serving the homeless and refugee communities. We were very encouraged to see the work they were doing and felt blessed to meet and be able to serve with them.
At some point, while we were in the area, Clare talked to someone who gave us recommendations for our trip back to our place which involved getting right back on the tram a block away and taking that to a train that took us right back to the station near our place. This took us about a half hour to get home which was a much better option than that which we had found which involved I think 3 buses, two or three walking connections, and 1.5 hours in transit! Praise God for helpful citizens!
I am not sure exactly what we were up to when we got back to our place but I believe it was nearly midnight by the time we got to bed. That was another long day!
Friday, April 21, 2023
It took me a bit to fall asleep and I was wide awake at 0500 so I ended up getting up shortly thereafter. Jet lag was taking its toll presumably. Clare said she had trouble sleeping earlier in the night so I of course tried to be as quiet as possible when I got up, made coffee, and did my devotionals and some travel writing.
Getting restless after hours of quiet time, I got dressed and packed up my knapsack with camera gear and headed out for a walk. I decided to walk down the Rue du Temple, which is the street our place is off of, and head toward the Seine. The street, which is narrow and busy with narrow sidewalks, seems to be a nest of jewelry shops mixed in with the usual sort of other shops and cafes. I found that whereas I consider myself to be a fast walker and usually in a hurry, the French have me mostly beat in both areas. I feel like there is always someone coming on my heels behind me so I am constantly stepping aside to let them by.
As I walked down the street, I was always peeking down the side streets to see what I could see. At one point I saw what looked like a very old church or gate with a small turret on one side. Thinking that looked interesting, I went down the side street to find that what I saw was part of a very large wall enclosing the national archives. I snapped a couple of pictures and got back on my way. Before I knew it, I was at the Seine. The walk might have taken me 20 to 30 minutes which surprised me because Google Maps indicated that it would take me nearly an hour. Quel plaisant surprise! I had ended up in a very large open plaza with an ornate, municipal (I think building) on one side and in one corner of the plaza, a very colorful, carousel.
As I turned off the road along the river and headed up the Rue de Sebastopol, I quickly noticed a gorgeous tower that I found out was the Tour Saint Jacques located in a small park of the same name. The tower was cool and there were beautiful flowers in beds around the park. To cap it off, there was a free public restroom there. As I stood in line waiting for the current occupant to finish, a woman cut in front of me and blazed into the restroom before me. She came out shortly after yelling for her husband to give her some tissues. No toilet paper….sometimes it is good to be a man.
I took the Rue de Saint Martin to get to the front of the Museum of Modern Art (George Pompidou Center) which involved a wide boulevard of restaurants and cafes and a magnificent church the name of which was the Church of Saint Merri. After taking a gander at the offerings of a plant and flower shop, I decided it was time to head back to the apartment to catch up with Clare as we had plans to head out to Notre Dame, get on a boat (Le Batobus) on the Seine for a round trip up the river to the Eiffel Tower, and then back down to get off somewhere close to where we were supposed to meet Clare’s friend Isabelle. As such, I walked down the Rue Rambuteau to Rue de Temple and back to our place.
After lunch we headed out down the Rue de Temple to see Notre Dame The walk was nice and wasn’t much different from the walk down to Notre Dame I took in the morning but this time I was with my honey. We got to the river, crossed Rue de Rivoli, and came out in the Courtyard of City Hall with a small carousel, City Hall, and a walk across to the bridge to take us to Notre Dame. Unfortunately, as many of you may know, Notre Dame is closed indefinitely to repair the damage caused by the fire last year. Cranes and much scaffolding were blocking the sides of the cathedral. The front was accessible for viewing and pictures and such, I was able to get some photos of the flying buttresses ensconced with scaffolding but I am not even sure how accessible the rear of the building was if it was accessible at all.
From there we had planned to get on Le Batobus boat to tour the Seine up to the Eiffel Tower where the boat turns around and heads back to the Ile de la Cite. The boats cruise frequently from the Ile Saint Louis to the Eiffel Tower in a continuous loop. We wanted to disembark at the Louvre to meet Isabelle at the Palais Royale Gardens. We walked around the gardens for a bit without seeing Isabelle before we decided I should sit in a central location and keep my eyes out for her while Clare walked around looking for her. Come to find out Clare found her waiting at the Metro stop for us. A bit of miscommunication….
We browsed around a bit in the gardens before finding a cafe called “Bistro Victoires” where Clare and Isabelle got a glass of wine and I had a nice green tea. We chatted and Clare and Isabelle caught up on life. We took a brief walk through the Jardins des Tuileries before heading back behind the Palais Royale to tour the streets. We went through some “Passages Couverts” which were generally old-time enclosed shopping areas Haussman created. Then we spent some time trying to figure out what to do for dinner and we ended up at a duck place.
We walked some more after dinner looking for someplace to have dessert before giving up near the Opera Metro station where we split up and Clare and I took the Metro back to our place. Both of us were fatigued and sore in our legs. The more the worse for Clare because something was going on with a muscle in her calf that was very annoying and painful for her which turned out to be a blood clot from the long flight. We had tea and shut down shortly after 2200.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
We are on the train to Rotterdam where we switch trains to get to Utrecht. We missed the train we were supposed to get on but were blessed by God the Father to find that there was one more train from Brussels to Utrecht on the schedule. We lost an hour but it could have been worse. I was having nightmares about having to find a place to stay in Brussels, paying for that and the hotel in Utrecht that we wouldn’t be in, and having to get the train the next day to Utrecht. Anyhow, I am writing and was getting started on 4/22 and had to ask Clare what we did on that day….which happened to be just yesterday…
We both slept in fairly late again but until what time I do not remember. I got up to have coffee and do devotionals, AA readings, and pray. It felt really good to do something so routine sounding but so reviving and refreshing. I had another blessing from God the Father in that I got to an English-speaking AA meeting at a church less than a two-minute walk from our place. We had passed the church any number of times in our travels since we got here noticing that there was at least one homeless person who camped out in front of it. Across the street was a “Monoprix” grocery store that we were making good use of.
Anyhow, what a great meeting! The group reads from the AA book “Living Sober.” The day’s chapter was on seeking professional help. As background, it has often been said that AA and higher power are all we need to keep us on track, healthy, and sober but that is not the official AA stance. That stance says that there are times were we need professional help such as lawyers, doctors, psychologists, accountants, etc. I followed the opening share with a story of my history of depression and the benefits I got from psychiatric counseling and antidepressants. I also noted that I was traveling and had been getting back into my routine of devotionals, readings, and prayer and how good that was for me. That led to shares that almost all included mention of the benefits of counseling and maintaining that daily routine of spiritual development and growth.
We started off a bit shaky when I was standing around trying to figure out how to get into the meeting when a woman asked me if I was there for the AA meeting. I said yes and she said she was concerned because the door was locked, it was 15 minutes before the meeting, and she figured since no one was there yet, the meeting was not happening. Fortunately not minutes later someone was there unlocking the door and we got in to start setting up. The gathering consisted of about twelve of us all English speakers, some French natives, some expatriates to France, some vacationing in France, and some there for business. So we had American, French, Irish, Australian, and British attendees. I had a good chat with a few of the guys afterward before heading off to the Monoprix to pick up a few things for Clare and me.
At the Monoprix, I struggled with the fact that there was a process to weigh things like fruits and vegetables to get a bar code to stick on the product. Not only were the instructions in French but the concept was alien to me as an American. Once I finally got past that I got stuck in the self-checkout when I got in a loop and was unable to use my card. A young woman was checking out next to me who was French but spoke good English and had just returned from New York City and was very helpful. That was good because the store employee who was supposed to help was not very nice and not very helpful.
When I got back to our place, we had some lunch. Clare laid low nursing her sore leg. I decided to go for a walk and explore. I ended up all over the place to the east and south of us nearly getting myself lost going the wrong way, which I thought was the right way, to get back to our place. Silly me I forgot to bring the map with me and in usual male fashion refused to ask for directions until it was nearly too late. I did see some beautiful sites, buried myself in the heart of the Marais, picked up some medications for Clare’s sore leg, and took all kinds of pictures of the streets (and street names so I could remember where I had been) and buildings, and general goings on. It was a really fun walk with good exercise but I was relieved to be back in one piece and not have gone too far wrong in my wanderings.
We had intended to go out for a real French dinner, something we had not, surprisingly enough, yet done but Clare asked since her leg was still bothering her considerably if we could do takeout. We found what sounded like a good Thai, Le Chef Thai, place (yes, we are in France eating Thai food) not too far away that I walked to, placed an order, got the food, and returned home in less than 30 minutes. The food was very tasty and well worth the trip out to get it. By the time we ate, chilled a bit, had tea, and read for a while it was probably about 2330 when we hit lights out.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
I got up at 0840 for coffee, devotionals, prayers, and writing. It was mostly a lazy, relaxing morning for me. Clare slept in and rested her sore leg. I went over to the Monoprix to pick up a few things including a salad for Clare’s lunch. By the time we had enjoyed the quiet morning, it was time for lunch and then to pack up what we needed for our trip to Utrecht. We planned to be out the door at 1330, and we were, to head to northwestern Paris to attend the church service of Fairfax Church’s affiliate.
Fortunately for us, our destination, Levallois-Perret, was at the end of the Metro line that ran right through our neighborhood. We made it to the general area without any problem but finding the church was a little more difficult and further from the Metro stop than we expected. Clare’s leg was bothering her so we took it slow and got to the church about 1445, 15 minutes before the service was scheduled to start. We met Samir, the pastor, and his wife and chatted with them a bit. Clare chatted with Maude who is French-American, active in the church, and who we met at the outreach mission on Thursday.
There were not too many people there, 15 or 20, mostly Middle Eastern and South Asian also a few English-speaking individuals who might have been Americans but we never got a chance to speak to them because we had to leave promptly at 1600 to get back on the Metro to head back into Paris to the Gare du Nord to catch the train north to Brussels and from there to Utrecht.
We got the train w/o any problem. It was a comfortable 1.5-hour ride through the mostly flat farmland at nearly 180 mph. We got messed up in Brussels with our transfer and missed the departure we should have used. The documentation on the transfer was not too helpful and getting assistance was iffy. We finally got good help from one woman who made sure we knew where to board and what the departure time was including a list of stops and times along the route. By boarding time we had gotten hot drinks and we were able to take our seats on the train. There was still one more transfer to go at Rotterdam but that was jumping from one train on one track to another train on another track.
When we got to Utrecht, later than planned, and got to the hotel, which was just a short walk from the train station, the clerk couldn‘t get my passport number into the system. He bypassed that and got us room keys which you need to use to get in the elevator as well as the room and then they didn’t work. We got that squared away pretty quickly and here we are in our hotel room.
Monday, April 24, 2023
We had a great day with Clare’s son Christopher and Christopher’s wife Elizabeth. We met at their apartment, which was less than a mile from our hotel, for lunch at 1300 and chatted until about 1730 when Clare and I went out walking, got a cup of tea, and then met up with Chris and Liz to have dinner at an Indonesian place, Restaurant Blaww Utrecht in town at 2000. It was delicious. The service was really good. It didn’t hurt that our waitress was a friend of Christopher and Elizabeth’s whom they know from working in the service industry. Come to find out that a good friend of the woman lives in the apartment above Chris and Liz. We ate too much and it was late when we got to the hotel. Clare and I were pretty wound up so sleep was elusive.
I loved Christopher and Liz’s apartment. It was comfortable, cozy, and representative of their past and current lives. There were all kinds of art and knick-knacks around the place that made for entertaining viewing. Americans might have been a bit freaked out by the way the apartments in that building were laid out. They were in a three-story building configured in kind of a townhouse fashion. To get into the three apartments, one above the other, there was a common locked door and an open stairwell going up to the third floor. What might be disconcerting to some was that, at least on Christopher’s floor, part of their apartment was open to the stairwell and accessible to anyone who could get in the front door. So they had an office/storage area, the bathroom, and their kitchen in this open area then their bedroom and living area sectioned off behind a lockable door.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
It is 0900 now and I have been out for coffee and started journaling and reaching out already. Utrecht is beautiful…pictures to follow… Clare, Christopher, and I will do more of the town early this afternoon before meeting up later with Liz. She has a function at the New Zealand Embassy where she works. Clare and I will head back to Paris ce soir. Today is day 7 of our 13 days on the ground..…
I was up at around 0745 reading a few devotionals before I was motivated to head out to get coffee as I did yesterday. I went to the same place, Lebkov, where an Americano was reasonably tasty. I confess to missing our home-roasted coffee… Anyhow, I tried to see if I could get any info on our train departure times while I was there but didn’t have much luck. Come to find out, as I did on the web, nearly 60 trains are going daily from Utrecht to Rotterdam so we just had to catch one train that got us to Rotterdam in time to catch our 1958 train to Paris.
Clare got up at about 1030 after a rough night…. We ate too much for dinner and ate late to boot. We cleaned up and packed up and reached out to Christopher to see about meeting at the Museum Speelklok, a museum of self-playing musical instruments, in downtown Utrecht. We got checked out of the hotel and were able to stow our bags in a secure area there for retrieval later in the day en route to the train station.
Christopher was running a bit late which worked out fine because Clare and I had a light lunch at the museum cafe and then we had a bit of time to get on the guided tour scheduled for 1430. I won’t even get into the description of the museum and/or the tour because it is complicated. Suffice it to say we saw lots of very interesting and in many cases colorful and ornate self-playing instruments from the size of a music box to an organ grinder to devices mounted on trailers. Let my pictures be your guide and follow the link to the museum website for more detailed information.
When we left we headed in search of an ATM and Liz both of which/whom we found. We had time to kill before Clare and I had to pick up our bags at the hotel and get to the train station so we stopped for hot drinks and confections at a place near our hotel called 30ml Coffee Roasters.
Christopher and Liz were kind enough to see us off at the train station even considering the cold and wind on the platform. It was sad to say goodbye but we are grateful for the good time we had together. The first leg of our trip to Paris en route to Rotterdam was uneventful but train and traffic problems led to a 45-minute late departure that left us searching for warmth while we waited because the platforms were damn cold. Then when we got underway for what is mostly a straight shot to Paris, we were told due to some other issue that we had to switch trains in Brussels. Thankfully that meant only getting off our train, onto the next platform over, and boarding there on a different train but same car and seats. And so we are on our way…. next stop at Gare du Nord, Paris.
It was so nice to meet and spend time with Christopher and Liz. They both are great people who are very supportive of each other in dealing with tough lives in foreign countries. Chris has lived in at least France, Germany, and England, where he went to school at Oxford, Scotland, and the Netherlands. He met Liz, who is from New Zealand, in Scotland where they both worked in the hospitality industry. They moved to the Netherlands because Liz’s visa wasn’t good for her to stay in England. They continued to work in the hospitality industry while Christopher worked on his music building up followers and touring around the Netherlands and Europe. Liz now works at the New Zealand Embassy and Christopher continues to tour playing gigs himself and playing roadie for others he tours with.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Not even sure how we got going in the morning. It was I think about 2300 by the time we got off the train and took the Metro back to our apartment. I was sure to be wound up and not ready for sleep at that time. So assuming it was a late night the morning must have been tough but I honestly don’t remember. Certain there was breakfast and coffee.
We took the Metro over to the Arc de Triomphe which was a bit roundabout but worked and brought us up right to the site. It was tempting to go up in the monument but it was crowded and the line was long so we decided against doing so. We walked back down the Champs Elycee which was just a little bit touristy for me. Clare spent a bit of time in Pharmacie Publicis, a shop she had fond memories of. Then we sauntered back down the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe and down Avenue George V where we stopped to eat at Le George V. We ended up having tea and an early dinner which was very pleasant.
With our bellies full we decided to walk back toward home on the other side of the Seine as far as we could make it. From Le George V we crossed the river on the Pont d’Alma, where I stopped to take pictures of course, and got on the Quai d’Orsay to continue our walk along the Seine. En route, we stopped at the American Church in Paris where Clare got a book she had been looking for. The church was gorgeous so I of course got several photos. We chatted with one of the curates about what was going on in the church community these days. Continuing, we browsed the wide expanse of green grass at Les Invalides and continued toward Notre Dame. Looking at Google Maps, it seems like it was quite a walk.
Knowing we had to get to the other side of the river and that there was a flower market Clare wanted to see, we took the Pont Neuf bridge onto the Ile de la Cite and snuck through the back alleys to get to the market. After checking out the beautiful flowers, we headed closer to Notre Dame and the tourist shops there where Clare had seen a chef’s hat that she wanted to buy for her boss. That task and getting crepes took some time so I hung out people watching. Once done there we crossed back over to the Right Bank and got on Rue de Temple to get back to our apartment. En route, I believe that we stopped to look at the Tour de St. Jacques and the George Pompidou Center.
Needless to say, we were weary and bone-tired and Clare’s leg was bothering her but as ever she hung in there strongly on the long walk.
Thursday, April 27, 2023
We got up and out reasonably early for coffee, fresh squeezed OJ, and baguette w/ butter and jam at Cafe Des Arts Et Metiers a couple of blocks away from our apartment. It was a beautiful morning, the cafe was nice but the location was a bit busy as it was at a five-way intersection at the Art et Metiers Metro station and there were some construction fences up and such. Nonetheless, it was a good way to start the day.
All we had to do was walk across the street to head down into the Metro to get to Sacre Coeur, our destination for the day. As I recall it was a pretty painless trip with no more than one transfer if that. We got off at the Anvers Metro stop and walked up the Rue de Steinkerque to the grounds of the Basilique. It wasn’t too crowded fortunately but there were plenty of people milling about taking pictures and sitting on the various steps taking in the sun and the view of Paris from the higher elevation. Clare got caught up waiting to use the restroom for about 15 minutes so I browsed about a bit exploring and taking pictures.
Once Clare and I hooked back up we took the leisurely route up to Sacre Coeur where the line was unpredictable to go inside which I would have loved to have done but did not once again because of the line and the potential for overcrowding. It did appear that the authorities were controlling how many people they were letting in at a time so it might not have been too bad. Clare however did not want to go in and I expected I would have spent an hour or so inside and didn’t want to leave Clare hanging for that long. And there was still plenty of walking around to do and things to see on Montmartre.
We meandered off the Basilica complex into the winding maze of hilltop streets with views of Paris around every corner, tons of cafes with people inside and out enjoying food and drink, a plethora of shops of all kinds, and even the odd windmill or two which I thought was strange. I don’t know if they were ever in use but these days I would have said no because they were surrounded by buildings where the likelihood of getting any good wind was minimal.
For a break from the madding crowd, we stopped into the garden at the Musee de Montmartre which was quiet, green, beautiful, and had a cafe where we got pasta salads for lunch. We ate and lounged for a bit enjoying the peace and the sunshine. From there we walked around taking in “noted” sites such as La Maison Rose and Au Lapin Agile, an “artists’ cabaret.” Clare is enamored of Rue Lepic so we walked down that which took us to the base of Montmartre. En route, we stopped to pick up France’s famed strawberries, les garguettes. From there we decided to take a stroll home rather than take public transportation.
We got back to the area of the Anver Metro station and took Rue de Dunkerque to Blvd de Magenta to Place de la Republique which was just blocks from our apartment. I think it was an 18,000-step day. The walk was nice but a bit tough on Clare again with the leg pain. She’s a trooper though and has been good about it for the whole trip. We’ve done lots of walking for sure. We settled back in, and for dinner, I picked up a salad for Clare from MonoPrix and I ate the sandwich we had leftover from a day or two before that I had bought at MonoPrix.
Friday, April 28, 2023
We went to Parc des Butte-Chaumont, which Clare has wanted me to see and would be a nice respite from the madding crowds at the major tourist destinations, on foot retracing part of our route home from Montmartre yesterday. So we went up to Place de la Republique and up Blvd Magente to Rue de Lancry and across the Canal Saint-Martin. We stopped for coffee and a snack at La Taquinerie en route. We sat outside and just enjoyed the beautiful day, the atmosphere, and our coffee before continuing to the park. The last street we were on to the park dropped us right at an entrance which was perfect!
The park was gorgeous. The sun came out. We had views over the city including those of the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur. The park is pretty big and has a lake in the middle that you can walk all the way around. In the middle of the lake is a, possibly man-made, rock pinnacle with a gazebo on the top that unfortunately access to was closed off. It would have been a great spot for more great views and photos but we took what we could get. We got some pics of some kind of goose/swan bird with a chick preening themselves.
When we had our fill of the park, we headed back out the way we came and happened upon a bus the route of which dropped us about two blocks from our apartment. How convenient! If I remember correctly, we stopped for ice cream at Moustache a block from our apartment, and sat in the park to eat it. Man was it good! We ate dinner at Le 404, a Moroccan restaurant, which was awesome albeit a bit crowded. We got in right at 1930 when they opened. We enjoyed a famous Moroccan dish called pastilla. I wouldn’t normally be able to do this late start for dinner that they do in France regularly. My body just does not work that way.
We managed to get in without reservations and were seated at a table for six which was reserved for 2100 so we had an hour and a half. We were not the only ones taking a chance on dining without reservations because we were joined by two parties of three at our table making for a crowded eight at the six top…. We ended the evening back in bed watching a movie on Netflix on my laptop. How romantic eh? Just another night in Paris for Clare and Scott.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Got up at 0630, did devotionals, drank coffee, had chocolate eclairs, and left at 0900 to go to St. Germain en Lay to meet Alex, Clare’s son, and his girlfriend Emma who had driven in from Frankfort the afternoon/night before. Getting there on the Metro and RER (train) was no problem but the directions to their AirBnb were terrible on Google Maps. Thank God we ran into Alex after trying to find the directions and asking some locals without much luck. Ironically, when it was all said and done we found that Alex and Emma were staying at one of the Airbnb places we looked at before deciding to locate more centrally in Paris itself. It’s a cute place and it was fun to see it in person.
After chatting a bit and swapping gifts, we took off in Alex’s car for Giverny to see the home and gardens of Claude Monet. The drive was slow due to traffic which seemed odd for a Saturday morning but it worked fine. Alex snuck us in close to Monet’s house to find good parking. On the note of driving, Alex’s car overheated on them Friday night en route to St. Germain from Frankfurt, they had to get towed, have something done to the car presumably, and didn’t get into their place until 0130 Saturday morning.
We walked about the water gardens before going to the house gardens and the house itself. It was very crowded which made for enjoyment of the sights a bit difficult. People were not paying attention and blocking the way while taking pictures and talking which I find very frustrating. I try to be as attentive as possible in such situations so as not to frustrate others but that sentiment is not the norm. To be frank, when we got inside Monet’s house I cracked, didn’t pay attention to anything, and hustled my way outside to wait for Clare, Alex, and Emma.
After browsing the gift shop, where I finally got my souvenir t-shirt, we stepped back out into the very small town of Giverny where we sat outside to have a very nice relaxing lunch at a cute cafe called “Les Nympheas Restaurant.” The weather had turned sunny and warmer so it made for a truly delightful lunchtime. We browsed the town a bit taking some more pictures. Clare, Alex, and Emma stopped in a pretty entertaining hat shop. Emma came out with a cute hat that she sported well for the rest of the visit.
On the drive back to St. Germain-en-Laye, we did a roundabout stretch through very nice scenery stopping at a kind of farm market/petting zoo place, and then ended up just outside Versailles eating at a Chinese restaurant, Le Basilic. We got dropped off at the St. Germain RER station where we caught the train and Metro for an uneventful trip back into Paris and our place. I think it was about 2330 when we got home. It made for a pretty long day or so it seems as I write about it….
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Up at 0930 after having difficulty falling asleep last night. Got coffee, had breakfast of yogurt and apples, and waited for Alex and Emma to meet us at our place. Thankfully they were in no hurry so we’ve had time to clean up the apartment, organize our stuff, and do a bit of packing. Found out our flight leaves at 1350 rather than noon like we thought so that’s a bonus for Tuesday.
When Alex and Emma got there, we went over to La Favorite Turbigo for a late lunch. I just had a granola, and fruit, in a type of yogurt bowl while the others were more into the lunch food concept. From there we got on the Metro to head over to the Paris Flea Market, Marches aux Puce, which Alex and Clare were fond of frequenting when they lived in and/or visited Paris. It took us a bit to figure out how to get there and when we did it was just crazy annoying with shady characters and folks trying to sell you ripoffs of name-brand products. I was a bit uncomfortable in that mess especially when we hit the part of the market that was all that ripoff stuff and we were packed too tightly together. I was keeping a close watch on my wallet and Clare’s handbag.
When we got out of that mess, we hit the nicer parts of the flea market which consisted of many “antiques” of all kinds and art of many types but mostly of the French genres. Alex and Emma were enamored of a pair of armchairs that he saw but for them to buy anything like that and get it into Alex’s small car for the trip back to Frankfurt was just not tenable. I browsed a bit seeing some interesting things but not much I would spend money on. Who’s to say the authenticity of any of the antiques? I wasn’t going to buy something big or bulky or fragile to bring back home on the plane. I was surprised to see Kiss and Metallica pinball machines in a shop that had oldies but goodies like that.
The flea market was huge, with 2500 stores spread over 750,000 square feet and rambled all over the place. There were maps showing what was what and what was where but I didn’t stop to look too carefully. It was more than a bit overwhelming for me. I would have been happier walking in a park or garden somewhere but was grateful to be able to share the experience, time, and memories with Clare, Alex, and Emma. We debated getting some nice dinner somewhere but after I confessed to being exhausted and ready to get back to our place, Clare confessed the same so we decided to bag the dinner idea. We caught the Metro again back to a location where we both could split off to head in our separate directions and had good but sad goodbyes before splitting up.
Monday, May 1, 2023
I think I got up early and tried to journal and we probably both did some packing of our gear and cleaning up of the apartment. It was our last day and we had opted for another day in the park, this time the Jardin du Luxembourg. Unfortunately, I woke up with a sore throat that was just on the edge of uh oh and later in the day turned into an oh no.
We worked on eating up what we had left in the fridge breakfast-wise before heading down Rue de Temple to the Seine to cross over to the Left Bank via the Ile de La Cite. We wanted to go also to Saint Chappelle, famous for its stained glass, en route les Jardin du Luxembourg but found out it was closed due to a concert scheduled for that evening….quel surprise et c’est dommage (too bad). To cap things off, including it being our last day in Paris, the sore throat, Saint Chapelle closed, as soon as we got to the park, it started raining…..hard. We, and everyone else that could, ducked into the nearby Haagen Daz for something to drink and eat. It was packed in no time.
Comment about French holiday May Fete du Travail lots of protesting around Place du la Republique
When the rain let off, we ventured into the park. The rain, though, never really stopped so we got a few pictures, walked a bit, then hid out under some trees, which were plentiful, hoping it might stop but it never did. All things considered, we figured it best to turn around and head back toward the apartment. This was not how we expected our last day in Paris to turn out but all things considered, we had fantastic weather, not all brilliant sunshine but plenty of nice, comfortable days with no rain.
I am not sure what we did for the rest of the day other than probably cleaning up the apartment and packing. Honestly, after the walk home and a stop at Rannouch City on the way to pick up more Lebanese food for dinner to augment the leftovers we already had, it’s all a blur. Rannouch City made some good food!
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
We got up, finished packing, and caught a cab to Charles DeGaulle airport where we arrived in plenty of time and as usual had a nice long wait in the terminal. That wait was extended for some reason never explained to us so we got in the air 30 minutes or so later than scheduled. The flight was uneventful, the wait at immigration in Dulles long enough such that our bags had already been pulled off the carousel and were sitting there waiting for us. From there it was a short walk to the Dulles Cab stand and then an uneventful ride home with a minimum of traffic.
Home Sweet Home. It was a great trip where we saw so much of Paris and visited Giverny and Utrecht, Netherlands. We had lots of good quality time together despite what I expect are normal differences of opinions about how to do things and what to expect on travel together when you are in your 60s and have traveled extensively around the world solo. I am so grateful to my wonderful wife Clare who showed me around her favorite city where she lived for 20 years or so. And she put up with all my character defects in an environment where she really couldn’t get away from me for too long. And also of much importance, we are so grateful to have had quality time with Christopher and Liz and Alex and Emma. We wish them a bright, happy future and hope to see them again sooner than three years from now.