Paris Pt.1
Day 1
The joy and thrill of waking up at 3:30 am to get ready and go to the train station… I couldn’t contain my excitement -_-. I only had to transfer at Lyon Part Dieu; a close call. There was an issue with the platform where I was supposed to board and they were announcing everything in French (glad my year of French came in handy). I raced to the revised platform and safely arrived at CDG.
I met up with my friend, Catie, who I haven’t seen in four years. It was so great to see her. I can’t believe we finally made it happen to see each other. We took the train to Gare du Nord and dropped off our bags. We had reservations at the Louvre so we headed back to the metro. There was a huge line for the ticket machines so we went looking for a taxi, but there weren’t any taxis, so we resigned ourselves to being late to our appointed time slot. And so began the tale of Rose and Catie being late to almost every reservation we made on our trip; the transportation was confusing and unreliable.
There were a lot of people at the Louvre but we managed to still have a great time looking at many of the exhibits. We sadly didn’t see the Mona Lisa (the incident with the man who threw cake at the frame was only the day before), but still saw a lot of other artwork.
We were quite hungry, so we stopped in Baguett’s Cafe. The owner was very friendly and the drinks and croissants were delicious.
We made our way across the Seine River and over to Bibliothèque Mazarine. The staff there had a laugh when we appeared confused on how to enter through the gate. The library was much smaller than I thought it would be and there were quite a few people actually studying there. We looked around briefly and then snuck out. No photos of inside the library because you probably would have been able to hear a pin drop, it was that quiet. The interior was beautiful though and reminded me of something out of Harry Potter.
On a whim, we decided to go to Sainte Chapelle. When we were approaching, there were police carrying guns and blocking off the area. We had to show our IDs and they inspected our bags. Catie asked them if it was safe and they nonchalantly replied that they it was safe and they were only looking out for terrorists. Not the kind of statement you want to hear. The chapel was stunning inside. I was in love with the stained glass windows.
We were quite tired so we only glanced at Notre Dame from across the river and then made our way to Le Chalet Saint-Michel for dinner. The waiter was hilarious and taught us how to ask for the bill (l’addition s’il vous plait).
We returned to our hotel and checked in. The room was tiny, those photos online made it look deceivingly larger. The bathroom was even tinier. However, the view of Sacre Coeur was worth it. Also, the sunset was so late. These photos were taken at 11pm!
Day 2
The next morning, we started the day off with a croissant and carrot and ginger juice at Cafe Rollin. The woman was so nice and welcoming. I loved the vibe at this cafe. The bread and croissants in Paris, *chef’s kiss.
We went to Arc de Triomphe, which we had planned to climb up but there were so many people in line that we decided against that since we had a reservation at the Catacombs. Unsurprisingly, we were late getting to the Catacombs because we had issues finding the metro and reading the tiny signs to get to where we needed to be.
The Catacombs were deep belong the streets where it was cool; a nice escape from the heat. The bones were neatly organized and even shaped into hearts and other designs. I heard that there is another Catacombs that is more locally known but you have to go with someone who knows it well, because you could get lost. I would love to do that next time.
Back outside in the heat, across from the exit was a restaurant. The food there was amazingly delicious. I totally recommend it. I forgot to look at the name and even tried finding it on the map, but I can’t remember the name of it.
We took the metro over to Luxembourg Gardens. There, we sat and chilled in the chairs. We observed people renting little boats to put on the water, people chatting, and people just enjoying a stroll.
The rain started pouring when we were almost to Champ de Mars, so we stopped in Aux Cerises for a drink while we waited for it to cease. I think we got about five minutes of enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower before it started raining again.
For dinner, we wandered in the rain over to Alcazar Restaurant where we had made a reservation. There were many bars and restaurants around this area that I would love to try sometime. The interior was beautiful and the food was tasty. Then we went back to our hotel and passed out.
Day 3
This next part still pains me. Catie and I reserved tickets at Versailles for 9am, so we decided we were going to leave very early so we could finally be on time for our reservations for once. We left and were at the metro at 7:30. The train said it was late, then it was late again, and then it was all of the sudden cancelled. We wasted over an hour waiting around for the train to come. What also made it more difficult is that each announcement from the speakers and on the board was all in French so we had no clue what was happening. Icing on the cake was that neither Catie nor I had functioning data so we couldn’t look up alternative routes. Thankfully, two very nice Canadian girls saw us and asked if we were trying to go to Versailles. They told us we were welcome to join us. It took us three hours to arrive at Versailles. We arrived around 11am instead of the 9am we were supposed to be there. We quickly walked through the rooms, which were magnificent. The gardens were amazing with a lake where you could boat on.
We exited Versailles and met a friend at L’Aparthe. First time that Catie tried foie gras. All the food was delicious.
Nicolas took us to the huge lake that we had seen to the left of Versailles and we walked around there and then walked through the Potager du Roi. It is a garden that provided fresh fruit and vegetables for Louis XIV. After all that walking, we went to a cafe and just chilled for a while before Nicolas drove us to Sartrouville’s station where we caught the train back to Paris.
When we told our other French friends about the issue with the trains, they were not surprised and said it was a common problem.
Day 4
We needed a chill day after all the chaos from the previous day. We slept in and then went for lunch at Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji. I loved the concept of this place. It looked like a fish market with the fake fish in the containers. The ramen was also to-die-for. Heads up though we got there a little after opening time (the wait time wasn’t bad) and there was a huge line, and once we were seated we had to wait quite a while for our food.
We took the metro to Montmartre and we sat down for some hazelnut and sugar crepes. Those were so good. From there, we strolled up the busy streets to Sacre Coeur and spent the rest of the day eating some more croissants, looking at Moulin Rouge, wandering down streets, and stopping for another drink at Chez Ginette.
We planned this trip so that we would do all of the super touristy things for Paris Pt. 1 and then when we do Paris Pt. 2, we will be able to relax and experience more of a local vibe. Tomorrow we are on our way to Barcelona, Spain!