Paris and Beyond!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Finding good food in Paris has not been too difficult. We seem to gravitate to corner restaurants with sidewalk seating (a good thing) on busy street corners(not such a good thing). Crepes, croissants, Croque Monsieurs, French Onion soups, pinot noirs ……you get the idea…have been part of our routine.
Since training for the Camino cannot be overlooked, even while in Paris, we walked, and walked and walked, and walked, and walked, and finally took the subway. We even took the 250+ steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We found a great place to sit to rest our weary feet. It was in one of the beautiful parks complete with reflection pools, chairs, and a view of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. We had a great dinner with, yep, all of the above delicacies again and followed up with a visit to the Eiffel Tower after dark. We found it much more impressive than in the day as it was showing off its twinkling lights throughout the city. Even more impressive—we found our way home on the subway and really put to use that one-day pass!
We enjoyed listening to the street chatter from our rather large apartment in the 19th zone while washing clothes, re-living the days’ events and planning for upcoming days.
We celebrated the victory of finding a charger for our tablet here in Paris. Thanks, Josh. Yep, he had to find it, call us, and tell us where to buy it. Apparently, there is only one store in all of Paris that sells our tablet but we were, at long last, successful. It seems that the USA is truly ahead with technology for the common folks, at least. Several store keepers kept saying, “Nope, that hasn’t made it to Europe yet.” Of course, it they can find the FNAC store, they will find our Windows’ Surface but they will pay a pretty penny (Or should I say a bonne Euro) for it?
Our time as well as a lot of our money disappeared before we completed everything on our list but we sure managed to complete more than the average bear. So, we didn’t cruise down the Seine but we had a picnic there. Imagine a splendid river view with chic Parisians strolling hand in hand, while we sat on our blanket with fruits, wines, cheeses and chocolate marveling at Notre Dame and the skyline, all the while enjoying the fresh scent of lush Parisian gardens adorning the Seine. Then, imagine sitting on the riverbank of a rather dismal, dirty river, watching hordes of tourists passing by with flashing cameras, as we enjoyed fruits, wines, cheeses and chocolates while attempting to convince ourselves that the distinct smell of human waste was really some exotic Parisian smell not yet enjoyed by our unrefined senses. With certainty, the fruits, wines, cheeses, and chocolates were enjoyed by four friends on the riverbank in Paris. The rest is, well, in the mind and memory of those who were there!
Our VRBO-found apartment was perfectly French in every way and no traditional cookie-cutter hotel room. We had lots of room, even two bathrooms- a luxury in this city, with a green chandelier, gaudy lamps and colorful light fixtures everywhere, and even an authentic, colorful red-headed Madame as the owner. We said our good-byes and spent our last day traveling across town on the busy Metro to visit Chateau Versailles with our packs and all of our worldly possessions in tow. We managed to make the trip without losing a pack, a passport, or anything else but we did see one guy rifling through a wallet, pocketing what he wanted and throwing the rest away.
Versailles, geez, it is a massive place housing an unimaginable amount of wealth and riches. The gardens were beyond beautiful and the furnishing and artwork made it feel more like a museum which, I guess that is what it has become. I think it is worth a visit if you find yourself in the vicinity. I guess the phrase, “living like a king” could have had its start here. No wonder the citizens became restless.
An overnight bus ride is in or future! More tales from the travelers to follow!
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