You Know You’re In Paris When…
After traipsing through Spain and the southwest of France with John, it was time for him to return home to get back to work and time for me to head out on Phase 3 of my three week sojourn to France. Phase 3 starts with picking up my travel companions. First stop – grab Laura from Spain. Mission accomplished!
Next stop was to grab my French language scholar (aka Lily) from school in Biarritz. We bid adieu to her host family, picked up her certificate of completion, and her bags, and then she and Laura got to spend a day together in Biarritz before we headed to Paris.
Well, now it is time to admit one of the few mistakes I made while on this journey so that you will “do as I say” and not as I “did”. I made a point of checking on the distance from our hotel to the train station so that I could time our exit to Paris perfectly. I also made a point of going into the train station a week prior to our departure to check on the schedules and prices for trains departing for Paris but I chose NOT to buy a ticket because trains were leaving from Biarritz to Paris every 20 minutes and I figured it would be best to see what shape Laura and Lily were in the night before we left in order to be conscious if their need for sleep outweighed their desire for adventure. Do NOT do this! The night before, as I was checking in with the girls and asking them when they wanted to depart the following morning, I pulled the ticket app up on my phone and every damned ticket was SOLD OUT! FOR THE ENTIRE DAY! Oh, but wait, if I set the filter to the ungodly hour of 6am, there were actually 4 seats left and I booked those tix as fast as my fingers could fly. Then I broke the news to the girls that we had to be up at 4:30 and out by 5 to catch the 6am (I had to return the rental car and we were 30 mins from the train station). Soooo, we did what we had to do and woke before dawn. Sorry girls!
The train ride passed quickly but before I let go of this moment in time, I want to also warn any future travelers that go from Biarittz to Paris via train as we did – if you don’t get on that car early and put your baggage up in the hold, you will ride for four hours with that suitcase between your legs (see this move as demonstrated by Laura in the last image above). Clearly we were not on the first class carriage as I had hoped (sold out) and we were in the cattle car, but don’t do what we did and let others board before you. Get on that train and put your baggage in the hold as fast your body will move you. Four hours with a carry-on between your legs is like riding a horse for four hours. We disembarked and were tired, stiff and sore. But we were in Paris! We made it!
I booked our first night in Paris at “The Villa Parthenon” in the Latin Quarter so that we could lean on the concierge for advice and help as we oriented ourselves to Paris prior to going on our own in our AirBnb for the rest of the trip. I had to find out how to order the necessary COVID tests required for our return to the US and simply wanted to lean on experienced people for general advice.
We were excited, hungry, and tired all at the same time so we simply allowed ourselves to ramble and amble down the Left Bank of the Seine River and in and out of the alleys, discovering Paris at a leisurely pace.
Lily loved perusing the news and art stands along the river’s edge. She is always in her glory when surrounded with books.
Hunger soon became our driving force so we left the Seine and headed inwards in search of some French cuisine.
Our average step count per day has been 18,000 to 20,000 steps and today was no different. We walked from the Latin Quarter all the way down to the Eiffel Tower and back, exploring all the spaces in between. It was finally time to eat dinner and plan our next move.
I highly recommend this restaurant. It is right behind the Musee’ D’Orsay between the Left Bank and the famous Rue D’Universite in the Carre Rive Gauche. The ambience here is pure french bistro. The menu is extensive and allowed my dining companions to order some “safe” foods like pasta and grilled shrimp before diving into Boeuf Bourguignon or escargots. The staff was happy and friendly and Lily did an amazing job with her french language skills. “Je voudrais en boisson s’il vous plait”. Average cost per person is roughly 18 euro for drinks and dinner. Put this spot on your “must-visit” list.
Well, as you can see from the photos, it soon became too much to even hold our heads up so we walked the few short miles from the Eiffel Tower back to our welcoming beds at Villa Parthenon and prepared for the next big adventure. I had pre-planned our day tomorrow and kept it a complete surprise. All that the girls were allowed to know is that no dresses were allowed and they had to wear clothes that they would wear if they were riding a horse, but no horses would be present. The mystery was killing them! They fell asleep wondering what I had up my sleeve for them the next day. What is your guess?