January 4, 2022
Saying goodbye to Fabienne and Francis at the train was very difficult. Long hugs. My trip to Alsace was terminated but I know that I’ll be back. (This photo was one of Fabi’s doors that she decorated for us.)
The ride to Paris was uneventful BUT in Paris we discovered that there was a taxi and metro strike. As we left the station, we were approached by someone who told us that taxis could only leave Paris, not drive into Paris. He escorted us to a parking kiosk where soon, a woman showed up and took us to her car. It all felt rather sketchy but what could we do(!?). The woman, with the help of Google as needed, explained that she worked for SNCF, the train company. SNCF hired ordinary people to drive in their personal cars. So, for 3 times the cost of an ordinary taxi, we were taken to the hotel. Good News: SNCF would reimburse us 50% with the voucher we were given. Bad News: We had to go to the SNCF office…at the train station… to get our 50%. Oh, and we had to pay cash which took most of our euros. (Sigh)
After checking in at the hotel, we took a walk around the area and took in the ambiance of Paris. It was very touristy. We had dinner at a bistro. I had chicken with rice and a sauce that was very good but not special. Sarah’s “pasta & frommage” was mac and cheese. Both dishes were American-sized and we were disappointed.
The Seine River (taken the next day)
January 5, 2022
In the morning, the first museum we went to was l’Orangerie with its Impressionist paintings. There was a room of panels, all done by Monet. I’m not much into art but once Sarah explained to me what those splotches of paint meant, I found it quite fascinating.
For lunch, we went to a little hole-in-the-wall place that looked more authentic than the other touristy places I’d seen. It had a large crepe grill outside the building for take-out. We went inside to eat and had a rather interesting cultural experience. There was only one other person in this 7-table place when we arrived. We greeted the woman server and sat down. I said a few words in French and she asked us if we wanted French or English menues. I said English. Most of the menu was Crepes BUT they all had tomatoes. (Yuck) I asked for one with “jambon, champignons, oignon, sans tomate.” Then we sat back and watched some drama play out. A young couple came in and got menues in English. They both spoke American English but the man spoke some French. The server asked them in English(!) what they wanted. The man answered in French, the server responded in English and the man “translated” English from the Server into more English for his companion. This was a humorous exchange. Translating English to English.
Meanwhile, there were some young Italian people who were outside ordering at the crepe grill. But then, three of them walked into the restaurant and sat down at the table next to ours. The server asked if they wanted menus in English or French and they said English. When they got the menus, apparently they told her that they had already ordered outside. The server wasn’t too thrilled about this but was polite about it. The server than had to go to the outside person to re-negotiate the inside order. Then a woman with a “mama” look came in and, in Italian, quietly chewed out the three young’uns. Not sure why, but they looked unhappy. The woman left, then after talking for a minute, the young’uns left. The server noticed and went out to find out what was going on. By this time, the restaurant had filled up. After the server came in and hustled to serve the others, the young’uns filed back in and sat down. A fourth young’un joined them. By this time the server was fed up and screamed something in French. I only understood the part, “on y va” which, in this sense, I think means something like “you can go” ….or….. maybe more like “you can get the hell out.” A few minutes later, the “mama” came in again and chewed them out again, in Italian. Then a man came in and chewed them out in a louder voice. These two left. Eventually the food came and the young’uns ate quickly and quietly. As they were leaving, the server, in English, loudly told them something like, “When you walk in, you always say a greeting and treat others with respect. Then you get respect back.” By this time, Sarah and I were ready to leave so I made sure that I spoke French in as polite a way that I could and we were sent on our way with smiles and a mutual “merci.” After that, both Sarah and I were very careful to say “bonjour” whenever we entered a place. I already knew this but it’s so natural to slip into my American ways. So sorry no pics but the food was authentically excellent.
In the afternoon we went to Musée d’Orsay. We had a tour in English at 2:00. It was an excellent tour. After the tour, we went for tea.
Then, we wandered over to the Eiffel Tower for our 6:30 pm reservation.
We were there very early so we wandered around and ended up buying the best Nutella crepe e-v-e-r. (Even if we did have to wait in line.) Then it was dark.
We knew we needed to get through security so at 6:00 we got in line to get our bags checked and go through the security doorway. We walked by the line of people getting tickets. The sign said there was a 1 and 1/2 hour wait there—then the line for the elevator. By 6:15, we were in line behind the sign that said “Wait in line here for 6:30 reservations.” By 7:00, we had snaked through all the barriers and taken the lift up to the 2nd level. Sarah and I explored all around the outside rim, and around the inside shops.
Then we were ready to go. We didn’t want to wait in the long, long line to go down the lift, so at 7:25, we decided to take the stairs. A sign told us “10 minutes max so I set my timer. As it turned out, it took me 12 minutes to do the 674 steps but I stopped to take pictures.
It was so awesome walking down the inside of the Eifffel Tower amidst the lights at night. Sarah also thought the whole ET experience was fantabulous.
Next, we decided to take the metro back to the hotel. (Yes, the strike was over.) I’ve taken the Paris metro many times but not since it’s been so automated. Fabi had given us 4 metro tickets that she’d gotten from a friend. Sarah’s worked well but mine didn’t work. I ended up using the others to find one that worked. We had a metro map but it was difficult to read so we had a hard time figuring out which direction to go on the first train. Then we had to figure out how to go farther underground to get to the next train. We had to use our tickets to get from one terminal to the next but they didn’t work. We bought new ones. They didn’t work. Other people were buying tickets from the kiosk and going right through but ours didn’t work. Some of the others didn’t work either but they were obviously adept at sneaking through on someone else’s ticket. Finally, after a very long time, a woman who was trying to help us, noticed that a security door had been forced open so we slipped through that. We finally made it to a familiar street and Sarah declared she didn’t want to ever take a subway again in Paris. We were glad to be outta there.
By this time, it was after 9:00 and we were hungry so we went and had sushi. Very good sushi too. I know. I know. We were in Paris and eating sushi. It WAS very good.
January 6, 2022
The next day, we decided to go to the Catacombs. This is something Sarah was very interested in. Unfortunately, the website showed no tickets available. Viator, a private travel company, had a few slots open but while the regular tickets were $18, Viator charged $62. Bad News: We did not make it to the Catacombs. Good News: We didn’t have to take the metro. So, what did we do?
We’ll, first we walked over to Notre Dame which is totally unimpressive. Temporary buildings and walls and scaffolding have been put up around most of the whole cathedral during the reconstruction since the spire fell during the fire. Sarah said that the Strasbourg Cathedral is so much more impressive which is true, although Notre Dame has some awe-inspiring features, but we just couldn’t see them.
After sadly seeing what we could, mostly the upper part on the back side, we wandered around the Latin Quarter which was medieval in its design with some small alley-sized streets and lots of little shops and markets. There were some oddities, too.
A SELF-CLEANING TOILET!!!!!!!!!!
Back to Friday. After the Pantheon, we went to lunch. I did not want to go to a place that served hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, or churros. Neither did I want to go to a place with ketchup on the table, so we found a quiet and authentic little cafe with the nicest woman as the server and she probably did everything else, except cook. It really helps that I can have a conversation with them in French so when I do, we’re always treated extra nice. I had the menu du jour which included delicious(!) soup, galette (similar to a crepe but with rye flour) and a dessert of mango, crème fraîche and honey. It was the last gasp of real French food. (I’ve been heavily investing in pork belly, so my future plan is a diet of lean meat, vegetables, no wine, no bread,and especially, NO PASTRY(!). Here is a picture of the inside of this restaurant.
After lunch, we didn’t really have any place to go and our feet hurt—probably leftover from walking down the Eiffel Tower. We stopped and Sarah got some ice cream…or was it gelato(?).
(I was trying to get lots of photos of Sarah in Paris but by this time, you can tell she’s saying puh-lease, stop already.)
We’ll, just as we were deciding whether or not to go back to the hotel at 3 in the afternoon, we passed a nail shop and we decided to get our nails done. Odd…first the sushi and next the manicure. What other authentic Paris experiences could we find? (LOL).
We went back to the hotel and just vegged out. In the evening, we went out for a sandwich and we got these individual sized “Galette des Rois.” It was January 6, officially, and galettes and crowns could be seen everywhere.
Back at the hotel, we packed, organized, checked in for our flight, etc. Fabi and Francis called to say that they missed us and wished us a safe trip home. Waaah! I miss them too.
January 7, 2022
We took a taxi to the airport early in the morning. There was nothing especially interesting about checking in but the usual— lines, security checks, more lines, more security checks and more lines. OK, enough.
The whole trip was pretty uneventful. Flying is so emotionally painful and the food was inedible—and I can eat just about anything (except tomatoes). Both Sarah and I were very grateful that we had Global Entry upon arriving in Seattle. Their were 15 regular check in desks and hundreds of people in 15 lines and others that snaked around. We were in line about 10 minutes. We had about a 4-hour wait before I left. We decided that we still liked each other—the old lady and the teenager (LOL). Sarah’s flight left at 8-something, about 3 hours after mine. She probably didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I was in bed by 8:30.
Back home, I’m feeling so glad that I visited our cousins in Strasbourg. They went out of their way to be ultimately accommodating and I realized how close I feel to Fabienne and Francis. Now there will have to be a next time.
