Up at a civilized hour, on the train to the airport at 8AM and on the way to Paris in emergency exit row seats is how the day started. Our uneventful flight culminated in a blown tire on arrival and a delay of about 20 minutes on the runway before we were towed to the gate. If that is the worst that befalls us on this trip, we are laughing. Mr. U would like it noted that after a brief struggle, the airport surrendered.
The airport was quiet...
We hopped on the RER B to town and found ourselves at Châtelet/Les Halles in 38 minutes flat. It had been almost 12 years since my last visit and the landscape has changed somewhat under the corrugated, silver and green construction screening. Naturally, we went the wrong way once we emerged at street level. Unlike St. Petersburg, however, we did not walk for 2 km before I/we noticed that something went wrong. A quick course reversal later we found ourselves on Rue du Temple, checking into our awesome little hotel.
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| excellent soaking tub, rain shower and funky fixtures |
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| Notice the stairs on the right side. You go down a few steps from the front door -very cool. |
Airport/airplane feck scrubbed away, we left the hotel in search of sustenance before venturing off to the Champ de Mars and L'Étoile Charles De Gaulle. Since we are staying in the Marais, there are plenty of little cafés to choose from. We decided on Le Pavé (the cobblestone) as they had steak tartare on the menu. We split escargots, Mr. U had the tartare and I had the confit duck for a change.
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| Once I figured out how to hold down the shell with the tongs and extract the ecargot with the fork things went somewhat smoother. I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman at one point! |
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| la Tour Saint-Jacques on Rue de Rivoli at Rue Nicholas Flamel (any Harry Potter fans out there?). |
Our energy restored, we hopped on the metro and zipped over the Seine to visit Gustav Eiffel's crowning glory. The lines were long, the crowds thick and the structure as momentous as I remember. We satisfied ourselves with a walk around the grounds and down the Champ de Mars.
This couple was very obviously on a date. It was sweet. There was no line up to get into the "resto". Quite obviously it was not meant for Hoy Polloy.
Across the river to the Trocadero and down rue Kléber, we walked towards the Arc de Triomphe and then made our way "home".
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| le Pont d'Inéa |
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| houseboat moored on the bank of the Seine photo: Mr. U |
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| detail on the Pont d'Inéa photo: Mr. U |
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| looking back over the bridge from the Trocadéro |
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| Carrousel |
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| this building caught my eye |
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| This building caught my eye too! |
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| Charles de Gaulle Étoile, l'Arc de triomphe |
There is treasure everywhere. I'm looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning in the City of Lights.
This couple was very obviously on a date. It was sweet. There was no line up to get into the "resto". Quite obviously it was not meant for Hoy Polloy.
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