Vive Paris! La ville des amoureux! :-)

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In 2002 I went to Oberaudorf, in Bavaria. I was working on Faculty with a music program and at the end of our time we had a little less than a week off. My friend Daniel and I decided to rent a car and drive to Paris. It was a great idea and I spent some of the best times of my life, up to that point, during this trip.

It was about an 8 hour drive from Oberaudorf and that was okay since we had good CD's to listen too. The surprising thing was the cost of the tolls on the way there. Some were okay, but some were as expensive as 16 Euros...if I remember correctly. It was late July and the weather was hot but pretty awesome.

We arrived in Paris late on our first evening and we checked into our hotel, we then ran down to the street , we were in the 6th district, a two minute walk from the Basilic Notre Dame We were pretty hungry and could smell the wonderful food coming from the little crêpes counters, so we got a couple of them. I had one with Camembert cheese and some ham, it was awesome. As we wanted to get some wine to go with them, we rushed to a store, it was about to close, so we grabbed a cheap bottle of Merlot, for about 4 Euros. We thought it was going to taste awful...yeah right, it was awesome! *Sigh* Only in Paris.....

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Photos

Me in Paris
In front of the Eifel Tower on a beautiful July afternoon...perfect!

Hotel Eugenie
This hotel is situated in St Germain des Prés which is the heart of Old Paris, a district also known as the Latin Quartier. Hotel Eugénie is litteraly a few steps away from Notre Dame cathedral, the Louvre and Orsay museums.
When we walked in at 11:00 pm, the clerk was very friendly to us. We climbed up some narrow stares and we were in our little room. It wasn't huge. It had two beds and a television and a private bathroom...that was about it. We went to sleep, after finishing our bottle of Merlot bought for 4 Euros, and slept very comfortably. What I remember is waking up in the morning and opening the french window and absorbing the sounds of the early morning workers, and restaurant owners. They looked up at me and would wave and say goodmorning. I could smell a mixture of the city and fresh bread baking in the restaurants. It was an awesome moment in the morning at the window.
Hotel Eugénie has been entirely renovated and has 28 rooms with bath or shower , with sattelite -TV, mini-bar, direct telephone and an electronic safe. It is very affordable and it is so close to many sites as well as a very short distance from the "Métro". It was a very nice place to stay, small but comfortable.
Where is it located?
31, rue Saint-André-des-Arts
75006 Paris - France

One of the things I ABSOLUTELY wanted to do!
I really wanted to see and go up to the top of the Eifel tower. It was a dream of mine for a long time. So my first time in Paris, this is what I really wanted to do. I didn't see a lot, but I know I will return to Paris some day. So the first day of our time there we woke up and went on our way to the Eifel Tour. We took the Métro, which is a pretty easy system to understand and when we came out, *Poof* we were there! When I saw it, I was overwhelmed, I couldn't believe it, there I was.

What a view!
We waited in line for what seemed to be all day. It was very hot at the end of July that year. There were tons of people there. luckily at the bottome of the Tower there are vendors with water and food. Still, it was a long wait and several times, we almost gave up. We finally got to go in, it was our turn! We got in the elevator, the doors opened and there we were looking at one of the most beautiful views in the world. I only had a little disposable camera at the time, so the pictures aren't that good, but to me they are still a good memory of what I saw.

A view from every side!
Once we were up there we didn't want to come down. I remember that it was quite crowded, but I didn't mind. I stood at every point of the tower and just enjoyed what my eyes were seeing.

What an experience to be there!
Again, breathtaking!
I couldn't believe I was here after all those dreams of seeing Paris. I sure saw it, especially from the top of the Eifel Tower.

Notre Dame de Paris
Our hotel was really only two steps away from Notre Dame. It was a great location. One morning, we woke up, had our coffee and croissant, and strolled down to the church. It was lovely. When I was a graduate student in Montréal, Canada, I worked at the Basilic Notre Dame there. It was said that it was modeled after the one in Paris, and when I saw it, I saw the resemblance, but nothing compares to the beauty and majesty of this church. It was breathtaking and worth seeing.
Situated at:
Ile de la Cité
6, Place du Parvis
F-75004 PARIS

Soaking in the Atmosphere
When I travel it is not about how many sites I can hit in one day, or how many photos I can take, this is probably why my pages aren't filled with hundreds of photos of one same place. I like to soak in the atmosphere. Walking around is one of the best ways of doing that.
A perfect day within my travels would have to be waking up and having breakfast, preferably something traditional of the region. In Paris, this was bread and really some of the best coffee I have ever had. I then we started walking with no particular plan. I liked stopping in the little shops looking at the interesting things. Whenever we came across something interesting, we would stop. Whenever we felt like sitting in a café and having a coffee, we would. it was awesome! That is one of my favorite things to do because that way you come across different things, not just the customary tourist things to do.

All restaurants are good!
I really didn't have one bad meal while in Paris. We didn't want to spend too much money, so my friend and I shared a lot of meals, which is a good way to get something good without having to pay full price. Everything was delicious. One night, however, we decided to splurge and go to a really nice restaurant. We had Oysters on the half shell, I had duck and we had amazing desert, in particular, the Crême Brulée was really excellent. We had a lot of wine and then we walked along the Seine with the Eifel tour lit up in the background. We kept saying:Wow! This would be so romantic...if we were a couple" :-)

The Seine and the end of my trip to Paris
The Seine river splits Paris in two, with the Left Bank Rive Gauche sitting to the south of the river, and the Right Bank Rive Droite to the north. The river forks in the centre, creating two small islands, the Ile de la Cite and the ile Saint-Louis.
Boats ride a long the Seine, you can take a boat tour, but we didn't. As you can see in the picture, it runs right a long the Notre Dame.
One of my fondest memories of Paris is walkin along the Seine one breezy July evening. We had just finished a very good dinner and a little tipsy, we went down to the Seine. People were having parties, the Eifel tower was lit up and we had a nice long walk enjoying our time in one of the most beautiful cities of the world.
This is the end of my little virtual trip to Paris. I was only there a short time, but I will never forget the beauty of Paris. I will never forget what it felt like being there. I will never forget hearing my mother tongue spoken by the French. It was really special. My only wish is to return one day with Jacob so that we can both experience Paris as lovers. It is really a romantic city. Paris, I will be back! :-)

Comments

[cmthomas]

You awaken my desire to return to lovely Paris, a city to see exactly the way that you did it!