the day is finally here...paris vacation recap post day! hooray! :) don't get too excited though, i think the pictures are going to be way better than anything i could share in writing. i must admit that i have about 22 teeny pages of my fancy new moleskine notebook with travel journal documentation but i'm going to spare you the gory details of my inner monologue and just touch on the highlights.
so we left the good ol' u.s. of a thursday night around 7pm...almost missed the flight since we were sitting in a waiting area a gate or two away due to the crowds near our gate. not a very smooth start but once we were on the plane for a couple of minutes i settled back into the 'yay, vacation!!' mindset. we arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport an hour early...what?! yes i said that right an HOUR early and it wasn't just because i messed up the time zone change! Let me tell ya, this airport was so snazzy looking. Really beautiful with glass everywhere, put philly to shame, but you have to walk/people move/shuttle about 15 million miles before you can even exit. That was slightly exhausting but who cared, we were in PARIS on the RER speeding towards our hotel! eek!! :)
Friday turned out to be a gorgeous day, mid 70's and sunny. just perfect! our hotel room wasn't ready so we got changed, left our bags in the care of the pleasant (and english speaking) concierge and were off to get acquainted with our new neighborhood, the Latin Quarter. And to find food of course. We wandered past Saint Severin church, the Pantheon, the Sorbonne, through Luxembourg garden, many winding side streets that took us past Boulevard St. Germain and eventually back to the river Seine. Chocolate croissants were purchased along the way...i think i read that they help combat jet lag ;-). We later had lunch in the shadows of our hotel and Notre Dame at Le Petit Pont cafe. Super touristy with the waiters/host calling at people on the streets to get them to come to their cafe, but it hit the spot and was a fun first experience. After lunch we checked into our room and it was so funky, totally different than the place i've stayed in Paris before (or really any other hotel i've been to...maybe similar to the vibe at cork, ireland airport hotel?). All i know is it was perfect for a much needed nap!! After getting refreshed we headed west down the Seine to an area i'd never seen before and to the Jardin des Plantes (Paris' botanical garden). It left a little something to be desired, looked a bit more like a city co-op than an impressive garden like i was expecting, but it was something new to see and there were some animals that appreciated our company in the menagerie area. we found a place for dinner in the area right behind our hotel. The pedestrian area of the Latin Quarter is kinda like a philly south street on steroids....packed little alleys, people selling art that they're making on the street, restaurants of all sorts at every door...and i swear it's like a bermuda triangle, such a maze of streets. Dinner didn't knock our socks off at Le Bistrot 30, but it was good for the price and we were too tired for anything more impressive anyway!
wow this is getting long already...can you imagine if i transcribed everything in my journal!? gosh. sorry, hang in there!!
Saturday - did something mom would never do on vacation and slept until 10! Grabbed a quick croissant (almond for me, choco for mz) and cafe crema at my fave place - La boulangerie de Papa! Then we were off to walk our feet off again. Past Notre Dame and all around Ile St. Louis then over to the right bank area and up to Bastille until we made it to the old Jewish section of the city and Rue de Rosiers. I had read about L'aus de falafel in a few books so I wanted to try that out, but they were closed so we settled for King Falafel Palace. WOW, who knew something so simple could be so delicious?! Two pitas (almost like a bowl), really crispy falafel, eggplant, fried onions, tomatoes, cukes, cabbage & tzatziki sauce. Unfortunately that delectable experience was slightly ruined once MZ became the target of an evil pigeon, waaah. waah. I was determined to not let that ruin another sunny day though, so he changed his clothes (and eventually attitude) and we decided to head out of pigeon territory and inside for a tour of Notre Dame. In the afternoon we also saw the flower market on Ile de la Cite, the Champs d'Elysee (although very much under construction), and everything in between - Grand & Petit Palais, Invalides (from a distance), Musee D'Orsay, Pont Alexandre III, and Rue de Seine with tons of great art galleries. We also happened upon Rue de Buci with great restaurants and a little hidden alley way that I had forgotten all about from my previous trips! We had our first parisian baguette along the way and picked a place to return for dinner....
More tomorrow but here are the pictures to tide you over! Paris pictures part un & part deux.
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