Paris – the city of love – the city of lights – a city of hidden alleys, surprises, and wonders!
We arrived on the 13th and will leave on the 20th. We have one week to explore and discover and delight.
(By the way… I KNOW I’m behind in the posts. I have much to write about and many pictures to share. I got quite behind while in Egypt and Jordan, and just couldn’t get my mojo up and active again until now. Sorry!)
I HATE when our AirBnb hosts ask us what time we arrive, because I can NEVER be accurate with our estimate. I try VERY hard to check all the maps and apps and guides to find out our ETA, and then I always add in at least an extra 30 – 60 minutes, and then we’re STILL late! I guess, for the next leg, I’ll have to add on TWO extra hours (I’m sure that will guarantee that we’ll be early, but better than the alternative.) If we do get in before our stated time, I’m sure we can either sit on our backpacks ? and wait, or find a cafe somewhere and relax.
This time, we had our usual comedy of errors getting to where we were supposed to go. We had booked a Flix bus this time, to take us from Lille to Paris, but we weren’t absolutely sure where we were getting off! The ticket had two destinations on it – Terminal 3 at the Charles de Gaulle airport (apparently, it’s also a bus ? terminal) or the Quai de Bercy. I THINK we were technically supposed to get off at the CDG terminal, but when I checked my google maps (love that app WHEN we can get it to work correctly), it stated that we would have to get off, find another bus or train, and take another HOUR to get where we wanted to go! That didn’t seem like a good idea, so after some fumbled French with a woman seated near me, an eavesdropped conversation with another passenger with the same question, and exasperated sign language with the bus driver, we got back on and continued closer to our new home. I was a bit worried, when back on the bus, I checked out where Quai de Bercy was (we had just taken it for granted that it was closer to the centre of Paris where we needed to go), and and mistakenly found a similar name 2.5 hours out of town. STOP THE BUS! ?
Quai de Bercy wasn’t exceptionally close to our stop, but it was within walking distance of a metro, and so we made our first foray into the underground of Paris. We found the metro, figured out where we needed to be, and bought our tickets. Off we trundled – down the wrong staircase – and but up we trudged so we could descend once more, but this time, to the correct stop – just in time to see our train pulling away! ??♀️
That was okay, though, as we realized another was soon on its way, and so were we. We ‘landed’ at Chatelet les Halles, and I tell you…. it is the biggest, most freaking crazy station we’ve been in so far! I’m sure there is an order, some organization, a system that all makes sense, but we certainly didn’t see it! There were renovations everywhere, gates and ‘portes’ and exits everywhere. Arrows seemed to point one direction, but when you went there, they appeared to be pointing a different way! Aaaiiiiyyyyiiii! We were tired, bamboozled, confused and overwhelmed!
Luckily, a lovely older man (yes… older than us!) helped point us in the correct direction, even though he had no English, and my French vocab consists of about twenty words – not all of which can be strung together to make a coherent sentence!
After a few more assists from kind people, we emerged into the light – to find we were still completely lost! We went back down to get some free wifi (wee fee for those of you who aren’t Canadian), and tried to pull up a google map. Armed and dangerous, we ascended again and lugged our backpacks and weary selves through the throngs of people.
As we made our way through the streets, we marvelled at all of the sights. The little shops, the bakeries, the creperies, the chocolatiers, the outdoor cafes. Man, the French (and the Amsterdammers and the Copenhagers …) love their outdoor cafes. They lined the streets and solidified the picture I had in my head, of people sitting outside, sipping coffee (or wine), reading the paper or writing the next great novel, watching as the world walked past. Ooh la la… tres magnifique! I could hardly wait. My spirits and energy lifted just a little…
Until we realized we were lost… again. ?