Paris-day one

---

Paris in May



We arrived at CDG after a seven hour flight. Joe slept all the way while I tossed and turned, if that can be said to be done on a plane. The day was warm and sunny and our taxi ride to the hotel was a great introduction to the perils of driving in Paris. We arrived safely, if a little rattled, checked in and met Linda and Ed who are just down the hall from us.



We immediately walked to the cafe next door for a lovely meal; I had a shrimp and avocado salad, Joe, a cheeseburger, Ed, Pate de Frois Gras and Linda a chicken Caesar. Then Ed and I headed back to the hotel while Linda and Joe scouted out the area for restaurants, cafes, pubs, creperies, groceries and whatever. We are on the Grand Boulevard. There is a Metro station immediately in front, a bus stop close by and a taxi stand across the street. We could stay on within three blocks and never starve.

Our Holiday Inn Opera Grande Boulevard hotel is small but immaculate. The room is European size, read small, but ver comfortable and clean. The view of ongoing construction could be better but I don't expect it will impact us at all.

After a nap we headed out to Boullon Chartier for dinner, It is just around the corner and surprisingly it was a featured restaurant in the USA Today travel section. It read "This former soup kitchen founded in 1896 id still popular for traditional fare." It was also recommended by the French triathlete who was rooming with Linda and Ed last week.



This would have been a pretty fancy soup kitchen and it was packed! We were seated immediately and had a bottle of the house wine, a cabernet/merlot blend from the vineyards of Baron de Rothschild. It was perfectly drinkable if a little thin but for 15e it was very good. Joe and I had escargot, barely a C, I had a endive salad with Roquefort cheese for a main, B+ and the rest had duck, a solid A. Back to USA Today, "at meal's end, the servers don't present you with the (modest) check; they just scrawl it on the table covering" Our scrawl came to 89e for the four of us. Modest indeed.



After desert, Peach Melba, us and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce for Linda and Ed, (actually much more elaborate than that with sliced almonds and some sort of pastry) we toddled back to the room for a great nights sleep. It is great having Linda here to translate the menu for us. We could muddle through but this is so much easier.



Tomorrow Paris awaits........

---