Sarah and Jamie’s Paris Vacation
posted in Uncategorized |Paris Trip, June 29-July 4th
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June 29: Departing DFW to Charles de Galle
Jamie and I arrived 4 hours prior to departing so we could check in early and try to get high on the priority list. No big deal, other than it created a few hours extra down-time on that day. Jamie and her mom took a trip after checking-in to Dee Dee’s house in Grapevine, and David took me to Mimi’s Café for a lunch together before leaving.
We met up at the gate around 4:10, and our names were called at that very moment! We got seats! They weren’t in business class, but at least we got on. And we got to sit next to each other. The plane ride offered a couple meals…I don’t really remember them. Nothing remarkable happened on the flight, but we got to watch “27 Dresses” before knocking out for the night.
June 30: Arriving in CDG
At 9:38 am, we arrived! We got our luggage, used the restroom, and then started toward the RER Line B (suburban train to take us to Paris). The airport was very crowded, and the walk was very long, but we were confident we were navigating it like pros! That is…until we were told to STOP and TURN AROUND by men and women carrying machine guns. This was a turning point. Do we stay? Do we turn around? Jamie is really wishing she had packed Dee Dee’s “French for Dummies.” Okay. We turn around and eventually find out to just wait in that area. A bag was left unattended, and the police had to secure the area. After about 10 minutes of confusion, we were on our way and feeling like pros again!
We bought our RER tickets and took the train to St. Michel where we bought our 5-day “Visite” pass for the Metro. After helping some Chilean tourists, we made our way to our hotel stop at Vavin. We’re almost there! We get out on the street and are a little confused by the 5-star intersections. We walked around a bit, and then we finally got to our first hotel, L’Atelier Montparnasse. Upon arrival, the nice assistant showed us to the hotel elevator and explained “it is small, and I will send your luggage up later.” What?! Could it be that small that we wouldn’t fit? … Well, uhmm… this thing was like a tiny phone booth. Jamie and I crack up, but my claustrophobia sets in, and I start thinking “Jamie, stop breathing my air!”
We squeeze out of the elevator and go to our room. It is so cute! We knew we’d have blast here. We decide to unpack, and Jamie is ready for trail mix her mom made her. As she unzips the bag, trail mix literally pours out of the suit case and onto the floor! Oh my goodness, I had no idea how excited she was to pack her trail mix! After cleaning it up and changing clothes, we walked to the second hotel we will stay in and visit the nearby Luxembourg Gardens. The sun was so nice, and we sat and sunbathed with hundreds of others.
After our break, we get ambitious and want to navigate the area right away. We plan to walk to the river and visit Isle de Cite. We stop at the Pont Neuf for pictures. Then we continued to Saint Chapelle. We didn’t have a museum pass yet, so we take pictures outside. Not far was Notre Dame, where we strolled through the inside. Out back, we listed to a jazz band play while resting our feet. We were really starting to fall in love with the culture.
We read in Rick Steve’s to go to La Pallete and sit outside. La Pallete was very hip, bursting with young Parisians. We orded cold Perrier but later found out there was no food served. So, we were off to find food! Near the Luxembourg Gardens we stopped at the News Café for dinner. After refueling, we had a few miles left in our marathon, so we head to the Eiffel Tower. As the sun was setting, we walked around and watched others having picnics on the lawn. The evening was clear and cool, and we hoped to come back later in our trip
July 1st
We went for a run around the Luxembourg Gardens, and enjoyed the morning there with many other runners! Jamie got a touch of asthma, so we headed back to the hotel for her inhaler. We walked a bit to find coffee, and I order my first café au lait. We packed up, and we moved to our new hotel, Hotel Perreyve on rue Madam. Our room was ready for us, and we checked in!
Our first tour was at the Muse D’ Orsay. We stood in line with hundreds of others, and bought our Museum Pass. Jamie’s favorites at the museum were the Renoir and Monet paintings. I agree…I love Monet! We stopped at Café de deaux Musee to refuel. After a late lunch, we went to Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to go up in it, but it seemed to be blocked up. So, we decided to walk the Champs Eleyse were we toured the Toyota store and were amazed at all the futuristic designs. We also toured Louis Vitton and picked out a new set of luggage. We continued to the Petit Palaise for a short walk and cold drink. We loved the small café there, as it has cold a/c pumping!
We hopped on the Metro and headed to the Moulin Rouge. The only shows available were at 11 pm. What?! Are we even acclimated yet? No…we decided to skip a late show. We decided to pick up some fresh fruit, nuts, and biscuits for a picnic on the hill of Sacre Coure. So many people had the same idea, but it was lovely! The view from the mountain was incredible, and all of Paris shined before us! We took some pictures and headed down the mountain to a shopping district. Too bad we were late in our shopping, since the stores closed up at 7pm. But we found a nearby internet café and let our loved-ones know we are safe.
Jamie and I were hoping to sit on a café porch and drink wine this night. We went by a popular area, but very few seats were available to sit. We decided on a front-row table at one café. Jamie ordered a red wine and I a white wine. However, we both got white wine. The waiter didn’t get the order right, but the gentlemen next to Jamie were more than eager to help her! (Ooh, La La!) She declined their help, and we enjoyed ourselves, anyways. The sun was going down, but we couldn’t believe it was already 10:45 pm! Never would it have been this light at home.
July 2nd
Neither of us brought a watch to Paris. So, that meant we would either wake up very early or very late. So far, we did good waking up around 7am. But on this day, we slept until nearly noon. We had no idea until we checked our email that it was so late! So, I made us dash to the Louvre to have enough time to visit. On the way, we went by Saint Chapelle, but it was closed to visitors. We went next door to the Conciergerie. We loved it and got to see the prison room where Marie Antoinette was kept.
On upon arriving at the Louvre, we were taken in by enormous crowds and others eager to see the great works. Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa were our two main stops. (Jamie decided to join a party in the room opposite the Mona Lisa.) For lunch…or dinner…whatever, we went to the food court at the museum. Jamie ordered sushi, and I had crepes. We shopped and bought some museum souvenirs and headed back to our hotel. We needed our jackets for the bike tour, but Jamie decided she didn’t need hers after all. After a short break, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to meet our bike group. We met our guide, Chris, who is a native of Amarillo, TX and a graduate of Texas Tech (Go Raiders!). The rain was starting up, so Jamie was going to need a jacket at some point. Chris said he would have one at the bike shop, but he didn’t explain it was simply a plastic bag! We trusted him, and Jamie tucked her soggy sandwich in her pocket. We were off! We loved our tour with Fat Tire Bike Co.! (www.FatTireBikeToursParis.com) We stopped at Notre Dame, and then headed for some ice cream. We zipped by Saint Chappelle and rode to the Louvre. Upon entering the Louvre, we could see the sun setting behind the pyramids. Jamie was taken in and rode round and round the plaza! We took pictures and took in the nice scene.
Jamie left the group momentarily to buy some scarves. The night was getting cold, and we were a little unprepared! It was a great idea, because by the time we made it to our boat ride, the sun was down and the temps were much cooler. The boat tour lasted around an hour, and we were given a couple glasses/cups of wine to help us enjoy the experience! We loved it!
The tour ended around 11:45 pm, so we walked quickly to the nearest Metro to not miss our ride.
July 3rd
Jamie woke up early, and we started getting ready. Today, we are going to Versailles!
We went to the RER and bought the combination ticket for the train trip and chateau entrance, the Le Passeport. Around 9:30 am, we arrived. Lots of tour buses were unloading, and we made our way into the palace. We strolled along the Chapel leading to the Hercules Room and through the King’s and Queen’s living quarters, looking at the beautiful artifacts and peeking out the windows at the impressive views of the surrounding gardens. Our next stop…the gardens! They were so beautiful and immense. We took some photos and decided to go down lower for more views. We quickly realized the gardens are HUGE and would need either time or help getting around. Ah hah! There were bikes to rent! We eagerly paid for an hour long rental on the bikes. Because we didn’t have watches, knowing when an hour had passed would be difficult. So, we decided to use Jamie’s camera to help us. Each photo had a time-stamp, so we took pictures early on to know what time it was in relation to when we needed to come back. We were able to go all round the Grand Canal on the bikes. The views, the freedom to ride, and the amazing view of Versailles from the far end of the property was breath-taking!
We returned the bikes and went to the Grand Trianon to see Marie Antoinette’s dwelling. We saw more beautiful gardens in full bloom but decided not to walk the rest of the property. I got some fresh squeezed orange juice from a vendor, and we went back to the main palace and headed back to the train station.
When we got back to Paris, we were ready for dinner. We went to Le Deaux Magots, and we were lucky to get an outdoor table. After getting our wine, and strong wind storm blew in, blowing over wine glasses and flowers. We waited a bit, but after the rain started, we went further back on the patio to a covered area. Unfortunately, the people in front of us were smoking heavily, and we had to leave. We walked through the Latin Quarter looking at all the cafes and souvenir shops. To our surprise…we found a Starbucks! Jamie was ready for a mocha latte with SOY! I got a regular mocha latte. As we walked down an neighboring street, a girl shouted in an American shrill, “Where did you find a Starbucks?! Where is it?” We happily told her where to go, and enjoyed sipping our very Dallas-ite, or American-ite, coffee!
On our last night, we just headed back to the hotel to pack up. We were still affected by the coffee, so we stayed awake chatting.
July 4th
At 4:00 a.m., we got our wake up call. We peeled our eyes open and started getting ready for the long trip home. Jamie had done some excellent homework, and she knew which train we needed take at 5:35 am to head to the airport. So, at 5:10 a.m., we left the hotel! Au revoir!
We walked around the Luxembourg Gardens in the early morning. The streets were clean and calm and peaceful. We made it to the Luxembourg station with plenty of time to wait on our train. At a little after 6:00 am, we were at the airport. Unfortunately, the check in lines were not opening until 7:30, so Jamie staked out some coffee for us. Getting to the airport early was a priority for us, but we probably got there a little too early. No big deal. In a few short hours, we should be on the plane and have lots of time to nap.
The only negative experience at the airport occurred just after Jamie checked in. A very loud, hostile woman came up to us shouting, “Who is the D3 that is traveling today?!” Jamie calmly turned and said “I think that’s me,” and the woman attacked her verbally saying, “Why? Didn’t you know there’s an embargo?!” My ears perked up, as I knew Jamie probably didn’t understand the code this lady was speaking in. Unfortunately, we did not know that people traveling with a D3 priority with the AA travel benefits were not allowed to travel internationally between July 1 and mid-August. We had no idea! David had no idea! So, after a few seconds wondering if Jamie would be left in Paris, another lady behind the counter said everything would be fine. We proceeded to security and on to our gate!
The flight was only 7 hours to New York. We had a few hours in the JFK Airport, and on to Dallas. It was hard saying good-bye at the airport, but we were happy for our experiences together.
