I am unsatisfied with my Field Reports. Years from now, when I look back and want to recall my adventures, they will not do the job… so here I go again using maps, our pictures (including the ones I posted on Facebook), and my memories before they fade!
The flight from Montreal was not great. Transat is cheap for a reason; I have never felt so cramped! And the aisles… SO NARROW! wow. I didn’t get much sleep – mostly due to the screaming kicking brat behind me.
We landed at Terminal 3 which looked like something you would see in Cuba!! however the good thing about that is because it was so small it all went quite fast; we were through in no time. We took the RER B to Gare du Nord and transferred to the metro arriving at the hotel by about 11:30. Predictably the room was not ready, so we just left our bags and went out to hit the town.
Our friend Lou (on a 2 week vacation) was travelling with us, staying at another hotel not too far from ours. The idea was not to spend the days together since we have different interests, but to meet up at the end of each day for dinner or a drink – however we agreed to spend the first day together. We joked that we would give him an orientation tour. (His first big trip abroad)
The plan was to met each other at Place de la République since it was between our 2 hotels and then walk down the Boulevards to see if Brasserie Printemps was open for lunch, and if not onwards the Café de la Paix near the Opera House for lunch. (a little over 2KM / 30 min walk)
It did not work out that way! We waited at the agreed upon spot but there was no Lou. We tried Wi-Fi and Fongo but when by 12:30 there was still no Lou - we left. I kept sending him emails plotting out our current location for him to catch up – like bread crumbs! Turns out we missed him at République by seconds! UGH I felt bad about it all day, and from then on assumed the cost of texting him because it was the most reliable way to connect (75 cents per text… but it adds up!) We never did connect on that day.
Because it was Easter Sunday, we concluded Brasserie Printemps would be closed (it’s in a department store) and went straight to the Café de la Paix – but we could not get a table. I suspect we did not look ‘nice’ enough (at this point we had been up about 22 hours but we were feeling fine – no jet lag).
So instead of a beautiful table inside, we ate outside facing the Opera House. Poor us. We shared a cheese plate, a plate of cured meats and a glass of wine. I was in heaven!
After lunch, we walked to the Place Vendome and discovered that the Ritz was closed for renovation. There was one planned activity gone! In 2012 when we stopped for a drink we did not get enough pictures and were looking forward to getting more this time. Not to be.
From there, we walked to the Place de la Concorde, and onwards to the Petit Palais to see the schedule for the exhibition I wanted to visit: Paris 1900
By then it was around 3:30 and we needed a boost! (remember, we had no quality sleep on the plane) We walked along the Champs-Élysées for awhile and decided that a hit of coffee and sugar would do the trick.
We went to the venerable Ladurée and it was a flop.
My dessert was great - not too sweet, fresh, I loved it... but the coffee never came. We asked twice and eventually told them to stuff it! over 45 minutes waiting for a coffee? Lousy service for such a popular place. Humpf!
A little more alert, but unsatisfied, we strolled down Avenue George V to Place d’Alma (near the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed).
We stopped for a drink around 5PM at Le Grand Corona but we were fading again.
After this little sit down, we gained a bit of energy but decided not to explore the area more as first intended, but instead head back to our hotel to unpack and stay within our neighbourhood so we wouldn’t be too far from the hotel in case we hit a wall. We crossed the street to snap a few shots of the Eiffel Tower, then took the metro back to Place de la Bastille (across the city) and walked to our hotel from there.
Once we checked into our room, freshened up and unpacked, back out we went. We explored the ‘marina’ in the Canal St Martin, strolled around the Seine for a while…
… then stopped for supper in the Place de la Bastille at Café des Phares.
By now it was about 8PM and we thought we’d done enough for day 1! I didn’t have much of an appetite, but the camembert sandwich insisted upon being ordered so I had no choice.
We got back to room around 9PM, pleasantly exhausted and looking forward to more on day 2!
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