It is here at last: the FINAL PARIS POST. I have loved slowly re-living our trip while posting about it over time, but I am also glad to finally be done posting about it because it means I am making progress! How has it been only six weeks since we got back from this dreamy trip?
Here is a list of all the Paris 2018 posts, since they are all spread out over the past six weeks:
Leaving Paris
The third time is the charm. After our Paris trip this February, Jeff and I agreed that we were both satisfied with the city and for future travel-date-trips, we would [probably] choose to get to know a different, new-to-us place (even if that place happens to still be in France). We don't presume to think we have seen everything Paris has to offer, but we have drunk deeply of the city three times and feel very satisfied--ready to branch out. We did decide that we will still come back to Paris to show friends and family around as needed, so maybe on one of those trips we will find more of the hidden gems de Paris.
Excerpts from my journal, dated February 19, 2018
3:35pm Paris time, 2:35pm London time. We are buckled into the plane, waiting while the flight attendants close overhead compartments before wheeling over to the runway at London Heathrow airport. I enjoy how British Airways plays lovely classical music throughout the plane while we wait.
We had such an adventure getting to the airport this morning! We left for the airport at 8am with plenty of time to spare for the 90 minute journey. Our hotel's landlady asked us if we were taking a taxi to the airport, and when we responded no, we're taking the train, she flexed her biceps and said with a grin "Vous etes sportifs!" (you are athletic!) It really was quite the workout hauling two extra suitcases (one filled with books for Jeff's classroom, the other filled with crepe pans) through the public transit, and it turned out to be even MORE of a workout than we anticipated.
The RER B line we were going to take had a wreck further down the track so our train couldn't leave. Thank GOODNESS for train station free Wifi, which allowed Jeff to Google a bus route to the airport. We had to get out of the train, reverse course, and walk all the way back to the metro with our luggage (it was a long walk underground), get fresh metro tickets, take two metro lines (the number 2, two stops over to the number 12 at Pigalle, then 6 or 7 stops down). We then emerged above ground, huffing and puffing after climbing stairs with the bags, and hunted for the bus station, which I finally spotted after a few tense minutes of scanning. We waited in the cold for about 15 minutes among a bunch of smokers, then boarded the 350 bus to the Charles de Gaulle airport. We didn't know if the bus took credit cards so during our wait, Jeff went dashing off (literally--he sprinted) to a Post office to withdraw some Euros (we had used our Euros up). Thankfully we didn't end up having to buy a ticket at all because we showed the train tickets we had already purchased and were unable to use thanks to the train wreck, and the cranky bus driver actually let us on (he either knew about the train accident or brushed us aside as pathetic Americans not worth his energy to talk to). We stood for the first 20 minutes of the bus ride before a seat freed up, then we were able to sit down for the last 40 minutes of the bus ride to the airport. Whew!
{later} We made it to the airport with just enough time to check in, grab a last pastry, and walk to our gate. We didn't even sit down at the airport once. Whew! We connected flights in London, and arrived in Seattle 15 hours after we left our hotel. Then a sleepy hard 2 hour 45 minute drive and we were home at last! We arrived home at 8pm Pacific time.
Here is a list of all the Paris 2018 posts, since they are all spread out over the past six weeks:
- Paris walks
- Les iles et Notre Dame
- Le Temple
- Revolutionary run
- Parc de Bellville
- Leaving Paris (this post)
Leaving Paris
The third time is the charm. After our Paris trip this February, Jeff and I agreed that we were both satisfied with the city and for future travel-date-trips, we would [probably] choose to get to know a different, new-to-us place (even if that place happens to still be in France). We don't presume to think we have seen everything Paris has to offer, but we have drunk deeply of the city three times and feel very satisfied--ready to branch out. We did decide that we will still come back to Paris to show friends and family around as needed, so maybe on one of those trips we will find more of the hidden gems de Paris.
Excerpts from my journal, dated February 19, 2018
3:35pm Paris time, 2:35pm London time. We are buckled into the plane, waiting while the flight attendants close overhead compartments before wheeling over to the runway at London Heathrow airport. I enjoy how British Airways plays lovely classical music throughout the plane while we wait.
We had such an adventure getting to the airport this morning! We left for the airport at 8am with plenty of time to spare for the 90 minute journey. Our hotel's landlady asked us if we were taking a taxi to the airport, and when we responded no, we're taking the train, she flexed her biceps and said with a grin "Vous etes sportifs!" (you are athletic!) It really was quite the workout hauling two extra suitcases (one filled with books for Jeff's classroom, the other filled with crepe pans) through the public transit, and it turned out to be even MORE of a workout than we anticipated.
The RER B line we were going to take had a wreck further down the track so our train couldn't leave. Thank GOODNESS for train station free Wifi, which allowed Jeff to Google a bus route to the airport. We had to get out of the train, reverse course, and walk all the way back to the metro with our luggage (it was a long walk underground), get fresh metro tickets, take two metro lines (the number 2, two stops over to the number 12 at Pigalle, then 6 or 7 stops down). We then emerged above ground, huffing and puffing after climbing stairs with the bags, and hunted for the bus station, which I finally spotted after a few tense minutes of scanning. We waited in the cold for about 15 minutes among a bunch of smokers, then boarded the 350 bus to the Charles de Gaulle airport. We didn't know if the bus took credit cards so during our wait, Jeff went dashing off (literally--he sprinted) to a Post office to withdraw some Euros (we had used our Euros up). Thankfully we didn't end up having to buy a ticket at all because we showed the train tickets we had already purchased and were unable to use thanks to the train wreck, and the cranky bus driver actually let us on (he either knew about the train accident or brushed us aside as pathetic Americans not worth his energy to talk to). We stood for the first 20 minutes of the bus ride before a seat freed up, then we were able to sit down for the last 40 minutes of the bus ride to the airport. Whew!
{later} We made it to the airport with just enough time to check in, grab a last pastry, and walk to our gate. We didn't even sit down at the airport once. Whew! We connected flights in London, and arrived in Seattle 15 hours after we left our hotel. Then a sleepy hard 2 hour 45 minute drive and we were home at last! We arrived home at 8pm Pacific time.
Religieuse after dinner. Oh that chocolate cream filling.
An extra-rustic dinner.
Cute little carrots to balance out our baguette and cheese dinners. All of that rich food had my tummy crying out for crudites!
Mmm at a raclette restaurant.
Oh heavenly patisserie
THIS BREAKFAST. FOREVER. Granola with toasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate chunks with strawberry yogurt poured on top.
Another pastry selfie. I think eclairs are easier to eat than religieuses and they taste just as good.
Your average kebab shop, with a rotating stick of lamb slowly cooking. To make a kebab sandwich, they use these funny electric razor type buzzers to shave off bits of the meat. A worthy 5 euro meal--hearty and filling.
Washing dishes in our petite kitchenette.
This next series of pictures are of our cute hotel, the Hotel Residence de la Mare. I can't say enough good things about this place. Quiet, comfy, kitchenette, tall-enough-shower, friendly staff, chocolates on our pillows every day. From the street, we entered a small reception area, then walked through those skinny glass doors in the left hand picture into the skinny courtyard with colorful chairs in the right hand picture.
Our room door in the tiny courtyard, room #1.
Our skinny little room. It had everything we could have asked for and more!
Even the bed was comfortable--never a guarantee in my budget travel experience.
into the bathroom...
Seriously, I didn't know Europe had hotel bathrooms this big, with a shower nozzel hanging above five and a half feet.
The front room
We FaceTimed the kids most days, and mostly spent the ten minutes making faces at each other.
The Boulevard Periphique, which circles Paris like a belt. It was kind of a rush to walk over this bridge above it.
Carrefour: a Walmart-ish store where we bought ten crepe pans: 2 for friends, and 8 for Jeff's classroom set (he does a crepe cooking class each year).
Waiting for Jeff to use the Carrefour bathroom (travel does throw off the digestive regularity, necessitating unexpected pit stops). This was my average outfit each day: leggings, lace-up boots, and a few layers underneath my rain jacket, topped with a hat and gloves. A bit drab, but also rather warm and functional, and...dare I say, also a bit European.
Ah, Sacre Couer at night. It glows bright under the intense white spotlights.
It is quite a hike up Montmartre hill to Sacre Couer, but the view is sweeping.
Eiffel Tower from the side of Montmartre.
Zoom to the rescue!
Historically, Montmartre was dotted with windmills. Only two remain and when I read about them in my Paris guidebook, we knew they would make a lovely grand finale to our Paris visit.
Both windmills have expensive restaurants underneath them, and I'm almost positive that the windmills are no longer operational.
Windmill selfie!
The second windmill was a bit harder to see, so this was the best we could do there. Moulin de la Galette. I think both windmills even had the same name on an arch out front.
Ah, the Belleville metro stop--one of our most frequented bits of track this time around because it was close to our hotel.
Blurry everyday picture of a subway tunnel.
One of my favorite things about Paris is the sudden unexpected views of beloved famous sights, like this peek at the Eiffel Tower as we were walking home one night.
Oui, oui. The view from Le Parc de Belleville was my favorite discovery this time.
Oh yeah! On our second morning in Paris (Thursday, Feb 15th), I woke up so early and got so bored waiting for Jeff to wake up that I went on a run at dawn. I brought my phone with GPS map for backup, and ran the sleepy city streets.
It is fascinating to jog along watching a big city slowly wake up.
Crowded metro ride.
On the bus, headed for the airport. We are both feeling exhausted and relieved in this picture, after our runaround on the public transit to find a viable route to the airport!
Le Tour Eiffel at night, January 2017
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Paris 2008
Paris Recap: for fun, here is a list of all the past posts I have done about our trips to the city of lights:
Paris 2018 (links also listed above at the beginning of this post)
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Paris 2018 (links also listed above at the beginning of this post)
- Paris walks
- Les iles et Notre Dame
- Le Temple
- Revolutionary run
- Parc de Bellville
- Leaving Paris (this post)
Le Tour Eiffel at dusk, February 2018
Paris 2017
Le Tour Eiffel at night, January 2017
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Paris 2008
- Paris (I used to write blog posts in the third person and it is weird to read now)
- Wow, I can't believe that I did Paris in ONE post back then! HAH! To be fair, back in 2008, we were on the road for 3 months straight without a computer, and Paris was one week out of our 16 week trip. To do blog posts, I used our little Nokia tablet and tapped out the text with a STYLUS. No wonder I did such a minimal Paris post! For fun, and since I'm on a hyperlink roll, I found this image of the style of Nokia N800 palm pilot tablet thingy in a Wikipedia article titled "History of tablet computers." I LOVE getting older and I LOVE that we traveled around Europe before smartphones were commonplace. What a delicious adventure that was! Oh to backpack around Europe for three months with a laptop. I could write VOLUMES about travels! If I could have any dream job, I would be a travel blogger. Kind of like Rick Steves without the video (I prefer writing to talking, if you didn't already know).
Here is an internet stock image of a Nokia N800. Oh the days before reliable finger-touch screens! I think we still have our little Nokia fella somewhere in Jeff's electronic bits-o-junk box. This thing did have GPS though which worked through a separate receiver which we connected to the tablet. We could download maps at free wifi hotspots in major cities. (it's crazy that wifi used to not be a guaranteed amenity at hotels and hostels!) We could connect the GPS receiver to the tablet and find our dot on the GPS map on the tablet while we were on the go. That feature saved us numerous times.
Le Tour Eiffel at night, April 2008
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"The world is a book, and those who don't travel read only one page."
Amen, St. Augustine. Amen.
Paris, we will always come back to you.
Paris, we will always come back to you.
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