This past year on my seventy-fifth birthday, my daughter ask me what I wanted and I jokingly said a Trip to Paris – well guess what? – I got a Trip to Paris the first of June!
My daughter wanted her daughter (my only granddaughter) who is quite the artist to see Paris while she is in high school.
My daughter is great at making travel plans — she could be a travel agent. She started back in December with a print out of all the sites we might want to see and a scoring system to rate what we just had to see and what was not that important. Of course we all wanted to see the most popular — Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc De Triumph and Notre Dame (which we did). So I will tell you about and have photos of this incredible trip in the coming months, when I have room (at least once a month).
Traveling overseas is not easy when the long leg of your trip is 7 hours. And when you travel to Europe you are flying into tomorrow and when you come back you are going back to yesterday. You have to have your passport and Star Drivers Licence or ID. The lines are long and with the roping of the walk up lanes you meet yourself coming back. The only good thing about being 75 is I didn’t have to take my shoes off. (What did they think, I would hold up the line trying to get them back on?) Our first leg of the flight was to Philadelphia which didn’t take long and then we had a couple of hours to kill, so we had lunch.
The American flight to France was a huge plane with 2 aisles. Luckily my daughter can reach to put in our overhead bags. Each seat had a TV screen on the back of the seat in front of you (very convenient). Rather soon they served us dinner with either a chicken & rice meal or a pasta meal with roll and cookie. They even served red wine (we are going to France) so of course I had a glass – thought it might help me sleep. Well it didn’t and we all were given little pillows and a blanket and they dimmed the lights. I ended up watching 3 movies. The three of us watched Ratatouille first, since he’s a french mouse. I just kept trying to sleep, but the seats don’t recline as much as they use to – it’s those TV screens on the back of the seat I’m guessing. A couple hours before landing they gave us another meal – I can’t remember what, but not good.
We found a taxi driver right away who loaded all our luggage and drove us the 35 min. to the hotel – I don’t recommend – too expensive (we used Uber if necessary the rest of the trip).
Our hotel The Prady was in the middle of a block down the usual narrow side streets very close to the Louvre. Most of the buildings in Paris are 6 stories high, limestone exteriors with shuttered windows that have iron decorated panels or balconies. For many years, the city enforced strict height restrictions. During the reign of Napoleon III (1850s) architect Haussman redesigned the city. If you’re a history/architecture buff read up on it.
Our suite in the hotel was very comfortable, but small with a living room (pull out sofa for my granddaughter and bedroom with king-size bed for my daughter and I). Very comfortable mattress — I slept great. The windows had no screens and you could leave them open and only the echoing street noise could be heard and no flies.
When we got checked into our room we all took a much needed nap. We got up before dark and walked over to the Tuileries Gardens (royal garden 500 years old) in front of the Louvre which is massive with little outdoor cafes and we stopped for a drink. My granddaughter got out her sketch pad every chance she got and drew her surroundings. We all had sketch pads and mine turned into a journal for this trip.
We found a French cafe around the corner from our hotel and had a wonderful dinner at the tiny sidewalk tables. We shared a lot of meals since none of us are big eaters.
Next morning we had breakfast in the basement of the hotel which had a stone rounded ceiling and had a full buffet. It included scrambled eggs, sausage & bacon, potato cakes, salmon, cheeses, lots of fresh fruit, and baked goods of all kinds – croissants, chocolate filled pastry, nut bread and baguettes. I filled my plate full every morning.
We had a scheduled boat trip down the Seine to get the lay of the land. It was on the other side of the Louvre – an easy walk. The Seine is not wide so you can see everything and the bridges had such unique carvings. Great way to see the city. We stopped at the Eiffel Tower to see what time would be good to schedule a trip to the top. It’s magnificient – the structure is very ornate made of wrought-iron lattice. A duck and her 4 little ducklings crossed right thru the open area under the tower like this was their home.
When my daughter checked at the ticket window we were able to go right on up to the top. The elevator seemed small, but they packed 22 of us in shoulder to shoulder. It has windows so the view was incredible. On our way down later, a large American man made the comment that 22 Americans wouldn’t fit on these elevators and I thought 10 of you wouldn’t fit.
At the top you are let out onto a glassed in viewing floor with breathtaking views and then there is a stairway up to the open (but fenced in surround) where you can feel the breeze. Wow— my granddaughter was so thrilled (it’s her favorite part of Paris). If you have vertigo it might not be your cup of tea. It’s 81 stories (tallest structure in Paris) compared to our Empire State Building which is 103.
On the way down we stopped at the glassed in area which is 30 stories up with souvenir shops and a little cafe with sandwiches, desserts and wine. It wasn’t busy so we got great seats overlooking the city.
We got back on our bus boat and traveled down to Notre Dame that was open later and less crowds that time of day. There was a line, but not long. What can I say – it’s breathtaking! They restored everything — it’s so bright and beautiful. We wandered around taking in every gorgeous painting and remarkable stained glass window. It can bring tears to your eyes. There was a service going on and the voice of the priest echoed through the massive cathedral.
We went back on the bus boat to our hotel to recharge our phones and take a quick nap. We ventured round another corner and found the cutest Cafe Carrousel with the red Toile fabric chairs. The rigatoni and french onion soup were delicious!
That evening back in our hotel my granddaughter complained her cheeks hurt and thought something was wrong, but my daughter said “you haven’t smiled this much in a long time!”
