Wednesday – October 26, 2011
It took well over an hour to get through Charles de Gaulle Airport because it’s so big and you have to walk a distance that feels like miles following signs to the baggage area. Then we trudged through Passport Control to get our passports stamped and then the last obstacle: Customs. Finally, out beyond the Sortie signs and into the Paris sunshine! Yes, the sun was shining in Paris, France! Every other time we arrived in Paris, it was always raining. So it became our standard joke that “it always rains in Paris”. It’s nice to be wrong about this one!
View Across the Seine River
We decided to opt for the more expensive taxi transport into the city because we were very tired and we didn’t want to negotiate trains, buses, and/or subways with our luggage. Public transportation into Paris is the cheaper way to get into the central part of Paris. At our age sitting in a taxi is a lot more appealing than lugging our suitcases up and down Metro steps. Been there, done that. There was lots of traffic and the taxi ride took almost an hour and cost 55 Euros. It was lovely driving through the farmlands outside the city and through the historic streets down rue Malesherbes and into the majestic La Place de Concorde and finally to our hotel.
Place de la Concorde
We arrived at the lovely Hotel Le Relais du Louvre on rue des Pretres St. Germain l’Auxerrois. It is a charming little hotel on a side street across from the Louvre Museum in the First Arrondesment.
Le Relais du Louvre
We chose this small ‘hotel de charme’ because of the location in the center of Paris and their off-season rates were reasonable. Also, Le Relais received excellent reviews from the Trip Advisor website which we always consult before traveling anywhere.
Pont Neuf – The New Bridge Built in 1578
Our room on the fourth floor is a typically small Parisian room, with exposed wooden beams on the ceiling. Our window overlooks the Gothic 13th Century Cathedral of St. Germain l’Auxerrois across the street. Our home-away-from-home is very clean & cozy and has a modern bathroom. We also have free WiFi in the room. What more do we need?? :-)
View From Our Window
After we met the receptionist and left off our luggage, we went out for a walk in the City of Lights. This was our first time back to Paris since our last visit which was during Europe’s “hottest summer ever” heat wave in 2003. Now the late October morning was cool and brisk and sunny. We walked toward the Seine River in a state of disbelief that we were really in beautiful Paris! The sun glistened on the river. The Louvre Museum was behind us and we could see the top of the Eiffel Tower farther down the river.
View Down the Seine Looking Toward Le Louvre
We walked across the Pont Neuf and kept taking pictures and marveled at the beauty of the city. We continued down rue Dauphine where we had stayed on another trip to Paris. I noticed that there were many more Smart Cars and Japanese restaurants in Paris than our previous trips. We stopped at the Cafe Buci on a small triangular corner for coffee. They had outdoor tables despite the cool temperature and we sat down to enjoy real French coffee. Wow! It was wonderful!
Foot-Bridge Across the Seine
Then we walked back to the Seine and back across the footbridge to the First Arrondisment. We returned to our Relais to settle in and after a short while went back out toward the Louvre. We knew that no matter how tired we were from sleep deprivation, we had to stay awake for as long as possible to reset our body clocks to Europe time.
Going Toward the Entrance to Le Louvre
We walked down the busy rue de Rivoli along the museum building and cut through the center of the building to emerge near the famous glass pyramid which is the main entrance to the Louvre Museum. We continued toward the Tuileries Gardens for a leisurely walk.
Entrance to Le Louvre Museum
We started to get hungry and stopped at a crowded booth in the park, simply named Paul, to purchase two sandwiches on French baguettes. Jeff had the jambon et fromages and I had Camembert cheese on a sesame baguette. Wonderful……..
Paul Patisseries
We sat on a stone embankment with the other tourists and ate our yummy French sandwiches. Then we continued on to La Place de la Concorde. This traffic circle is an overwhelming oval of rushing traffic around the Egyptian Obelisk and another monument. La Place de la Concorde is also the beginning of the Champs Elysees and we could see the Arc de Triomphe beyond, at the other end. We aren’t in Kansas anymore…..
Fountain in the Tuilleries Gardens
I was getting really exhausted and feeling “punchy”. We found the nearest Metro station and descended to purchase discount carnets (tickets) to ride the public subways and buses. The Number 1 travels along rue de Rivoli and we took it to the third station which is near our hotel.
New Glass Walls in the Metro
We were shocked to discover that the French government installed glass walls with doors along the Metro platforms. We wondered why. Was it to keep people from jumping in front of trains or to control crowds of people from entering the cars? The stations were more worn and dirtier than I remembered them from previous trips.
Place de la Concorde With Darkening Clouds
We returned to the hotel about 4:30 and tried to stay awake as long as possible but finally couldn’t do it. I fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from being awake so long but so happy to be in Paris.
Le Tour Eiffel