And so it begins

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Brian and I arrived in Paris early Wednesday morning for a quick 36 hour stop on our way to Jo's wedding in Avignon. I was, for the second time in a row, violently ill upon landing in Charles de Gaulle, but as soon as I got off the plane I was completely fine. I even got them to stamp my brand-new passport! Brian and I went straight to our hotel, which was in the Marais, one of the oldest parts of the city. We couldn't check in until 3 pm, but we were able to drop off our bags in their luggage room. It was technically a youth hostel, but it was in this great old mansion, and had fantastic style. We had our own room, which had a shower and sink in it, but no toilet...kind of odd, but it must have been one of the cheapest rooms in Paris that was still safe and enjoyable. We then went for a morning walk, and stumbled upon Notre Dame. Because the 15th of August was the Feast of the Assumption, there was a big mass being celebrated, and we couldn't really walk around much, but it was still quite a sight as always.

We wandered around Ile de la Cite for a little while longer before heading over to the Louvre. It was absolutely packed! I have never seen it so busy...I guess it was because it was a holiday and everyone was off of work. We did the Louve supre-fast: we saw the Islamic art, the Greek and Egyptian artifacts, the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa, all in about two hours. We were both exhausted, so we went back to the hotel to check in, and unfortunately tried to take a short nap...which turned into a long nap...oh well.

We then went out wandering in the Marais. It turns out it's a big Jewish/Israeli area, and we saw a yeshiva with lots of side-locked boys outside. We also got some hummus (which was terrible) at a sidewalk falafel place. We wandered around a little more, passing by the Pompidou, and going into my favorite boutique in Paris (I couldn't believe it was still there after four years!). We were headed for a restaurant that was recommended in the guidebook, but got lost and ending up popping into a little street cafe that was possible cheaper and had amazing food! It was modern and not stuffy the way some French cafes can be. It was also nice to be able to have a glass of wine with dinner without feeling like a criminal. We headed home a bit early, and turned in for the night.

The next morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast at the hotel. It was typically French, with a baguette, croissant, hot drink (coffee or hot chocolate) and orange juice. Then we needed another nap. We left the hotel at 11 am and headed for Rue Cler, one of the cutest Parisian streets! We stoped at a boulangerie for a baguette, a fromagerie for some Grueyere (and a half bottle of red wine), and a take-out place for some ham and salami. Then we took our feast to the Champs de Mars and had a picnic under the Eiffel Tower!!!!! It was amazing! I've wanted to that for so long, and it was just so relaxing to sit in the sun and snack on our sandwiches. It felt so French!

To summarize the rest of the day (which took much longer than it should have), we bought tickets for the top of the Eiffel Tower, and had made it to the second level when it began to rain and we realized we would miss our train to Avingon if we didn't leave. At any rate, we made it on the train in time, and it was a quick two and a half hour ride on the TGV to Avignon.

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Photos

Our Hotel
The MIJE Fourcy

The River Seine
From the street that our hotel was on.

Notre Dame
From the side.

Gargoyles
Looks like Sphinx!

Ile de la Cite
And the Seine

Courtyard of the Louvre
With the (in)famous pyramid

Comments

[christine]

sweet!
So apparently I still get the travel blog emails and I'll be keeping up with all your goings on. I hope the wedding goes well. i'm sure it'll be fabulous. Tell Jo I say hi and congratulations. As always I'm jealous of your worldly travels. We'll have to take a trip someday.