2018-05-28 Paris-Last day in France

Our first trip to Paris - 1993 - Pont du Nord

We awake leisurely in our very, large room in Paris after the sleep of the dead. Ah, the grand bed, soft mattress, fresh-smelling clean sheets! Off to breakfast BrasserieGrand Palais. 

Brasserrie Grand Palais

Harvey has the Omelet, I have the bagel with salmon and crème fresh. He eats half of mine. 

Metro!

 We are in an expensive district, Arronessmont 8, next to Arronessmont 1. There are no little shops on the corner, no neighborhood patisserie/boulangeries in sight or on google maps. This is a high rent district – probably one of the most expensive in the world. Here you will find the Austin Martin and Maserati dealership and flagship stores for all of the great clothing designers. No pret a porter here! We are not, in our comfort zone.

Balcony at Hotel du Roy

Today is Mother’s Day in France and a Sunday to boot. We stroll up the Champs Elysee. The broad, tree lined boulevard is virtually empty except for a few joggers and restaurant workers setting up the side walk cafes for the afternoon. The absence of large groups of people, make this walk very special. We come upon the Louis Vuitton store – established in 1854– there is a line formed out front ready to enter the store when it opens. Really, who goes on vacation just to stand in line to buy a bag? Champs Elysee is one of the most expensive open-air malls in the world. 

Harvey runs to the middle of the 6-laned boulevard, to snap a picture of the Arc de Triomphe, which is ahead of us. A black Mercedes tries to run him down.

The prerequisite selfies are taken at the Arc de Triomphe. One the  side of the monument, are medallions, of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. We spot one named “Jewapes” we are confused, it doesn’t sound good in English. Thank goodness for Google and looking closer at the photo I took of the medallion. The carving makes the “m” look like a “w”.

Map of the roads at Arc d Triomphe

The roundabout enclosing the Arc du Triomphe has roads radiating in all directions. We head away from the pricey Champs Elysees.

First stop is for more coffee at, Pret Manger, which is a better and healthier version of Starbucks. Sitting out on the street, we engage in a conversation with Filipino man from Manila who is waiting for Louis Vuitton Store to open, so he may buy his wife a purse. He is in Paris on a 10-hour layover, just for this reason. Hahahaha. We tell him about Diane in Tambobo Bay. He googles Tambobo and there is her picture, like we said. He gets a great kick out of this. 

Saying goodbye, we stroll aimlessly thru the streets, until lunch. This is a down day so back to Residences du Roy, for naps and showers: to luxuriate in the big room.

Electric cars for rent outside our hotel

Dragging me kicking and screaming from the room, Harvey and I are off to the Metro for a  short ride to Pigalle. 

I loves me some graffiti

Harvey wants a tee-shirt from this very famous section of town but, there is nothing with Pigalle emblazoned on it to be found.  This is such a great part of town! Still touristy but filled with locals and stores and little bistros serving food, famous and not so famous sex-shops - musical instruments too. I highly recommend this part of town for someone first visiting Paris. Pigalle is the home of the Moulin Rouge, the haunts of Toulouse- Lautrec, Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Josephine Baker. It has not lost its bohemian or seedy side since these famous artist haunted Parisian streets.
 

I want this boat on the Seine

We wander the streets back to the hotel, about a mile and a half. The walk was totally worth it, as we discovered a street behind St Lazare Station, which solely consisted of Luthiers.

Back at the hotel we search for a good place for dinner. If we are going to pay $50.00 for a ham sandwich and a ½ carafe of wine, let’s find something nice. In our neighborhood, just a block or two away, we find Minipalais, located in the Grand Palais.

Not my pictures of the Mini Palais

The decision is made. We arrive to find them not open for another 15 minutes. Harvey makes us a reservation for inside table, as there is nothing available on the porch. They say we can be seated “for wine” until the kitchen opens at 7p. We’re good with that. We sit. The maître de comes over and offers us a table for 2 on the porch. “the reservations for this table are not until 9pm. You will finish by then.” We take gratefully. Wow, we’re sitting on a grand terrace, built for a queen palm trees and the Seine our view. We have an amazing meal and absolutely do not leave until 8:50p.

Full moon over Paris

 Tomorrow, it's back to reality.

2018-05-27 SMDLM-Paris

This morning we take our leave of SMDLM. Caty will drive us to Arles, so we may catch the bus to Avignon, where we will board the TGV Train to Gard Lyon in Paris. 

Ladies on horses

Up for a good breakfast before our long trip, we note that many of the SMDLM restaurants which were closed during the gypsy fete, are now open. We decide on an open-air place located across the large, central field, where the gypsy Walmart used to be. Not trace of it remains, like it was never there. We buy an expensive omelet and ham plate with the required café du crem.  Waiting for our plates to arrive, we are asked by a lovely French woman, could she join us at our table, as there was nothing else available.  We proceeded to have a great conversation and a lovely breakfast with Helene. Her English was quite good. She informed us that she had been to the states for a conversational vacation and stayed in “Minnesota” for 2 weeks.

Breakfast always has salad

 Helene was quite well traveled and was spending a few days in SMDLM, which she said was only a couple of hours from her home. We were on the main street, closest to the Mediterranean. A low siren began and soon one of the small police wagons was in front of the establishment, clearing the streets. In the distance, we heard the clomping of horses and 2 -3 riders pass us. Next came the unmistakable sound of a stampede. The locals were herding bulls down the middle of the street. Surrounded by many of the white, ubiquitous horses from the area, the bull was swiftly led thru the streets to the bullfighting ring. Then another group and then another. Wow, we picked the best place possible to have breakfast! Plus, I made a new French friend in Helene.

We said our goodbyes to Caty at the Arles bus station with Harvey almost missing the bus because he forgot his lunch in her car! I love bus travel here. It’s not on the highway. The bus goes thru the luscious countryside. One just sits back and admires the landscape and random castles.

First Class on the TGV

Back to where we began our France adventure, there was an hour wait in Avignon for the TGV. We spoke to the woman who Harvey bought shoes from at the mall here, several weeks ago. We all got a grand laugh out of that. She too, was on her way to Paris.

Pianos in every station, free to play

Aboard the TGV with first class tickets and a split of wine, I had the best nap of the trip and was ready to face the challenges of Gard Lyon and traveling the metro to our hotel.

Gard Lyon- Trains to the rest of EU

The trick of course, was to find the Metro within the very large station and procure tickets. Not as easy as it seems. The tickets must be paid for by card, as you cannot use cash in any of the self-dispensary’s. Our debit card would not work because it requires a signature in the EU. While Harvey stood in the very long line at the ticket counter (remember, French Rail strike), I tried my regular credit card and whoopee, I got tickets.

6 stops on the Metro later, we emerged in front of the Grand Palais next to the Champs Elysee at The 8^th Arrondissment.

View from the balcony

2 blocks later we were ensconced in our upgraded suite, complete with small balcony with a view of the Seine and the spires of Notre Dame. Residence du Roy.

Such heaven. We both luxuriated in the large shower and went in search of a bistro table, a bottle of wine and a croque monsieur.