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Published: April 17th 2013
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Two years ago to the day, I was getting on a plane to realize a dream of taking a leave of absence from work and travelling for an extended period. That trip started in Paris and ended in Paris and it took me through France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. It was therefore ironic that I ended up on that exact same flight to realize something that I had wanted to do for a long time ... have my mom travel with me to Europe. Although my parents have had the opportunity to travel to a number of places, this would be the first time for my mom to cross the Atlantic. And iconic Paris is, in my mind, the best place to start!
Our journey over the pond was relatively uneventful but we were definitely sleep deprived. I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of sleep and my mom probably only got a few minutes here and there. We were definitely rough looking getting off the plane. The jet lag hit my mom right away who uttered "good evening" to the stewardess as we de-planned .... at 8:30 am!!
Seeing that the Hotel Eiffel Saint Charles is
only one block from the hotel where I stayed last time, it was no trouble getting to our hotel. As could be expected, the room was not ready and so we headed out towards the Champs de Mars ... the first thing on the list was to have my mom see the Eiffel Tower.
But first, we had to eat! We stopped at this great little cafe where the owner seemed to warmly greet the regulars with a handshake, a sassy comment and a smile. And of course, my Quebec accent always opens the door to a great conversation. We both enjoyed a traditional croque monsieur and a glass of wine all the while doing some people watching and enjoying the great weather. So then it was off to the Eiffel Tower ...
We can actually see it partially from the hotel so the surprise for my mom was not as much as I thought it would be but it was still nice to see her reaction to it (and with most of these iconic places ... and I have often had the same reaction ... she thought it looked smaller than she had anticipated). We stayed around
the Champs de Mars and made our way to the base. We also agreed that we would come back and climb it on foot during our stay here.
After poking in to a couple of souvenir shops and enjoying the grounds around the Eiffel Tower, the effects of jet lag were starting to show. We therefore decided to head back to the hotel and have a nap to catch up on all of this lost sleep. We both fell asleep quite quickly. The beds are tiny single beds. So tiny that it will definitely take some taking used to ... to the point, where I rolled over and fell out of bed. Probably last time I did that was when I was a toddler!!
Otherwise it was a quiet evening ... we grabbed a couple of salads, baguette and a bottle of wine from the nearby grocery store and we just whiled away the hours. So a perfect and relaxing first day in Paris. Tomorrow the real sightseeing begins!!
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