ParisEncore: Paris

Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2016

~Our 2016 Paris Holiday~

Our 8th trip to Paris began in Orlando; taking Icelandair to Reykjavik, Iceland for a brief stop before continuing to Charles DeGaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris.

Our plane in Orlando

The airport in Reykjavik is very small and does not have enough gates or jetways yet to accommodate the increased traffic. When we arrived, we had to de-plane on the tarmac and were then transported to the terminal by bus. When we reboarded, we followed the same routine. On arrival, it was cold and raining. Since Iceland was the first stop out of the country, we went through customs there.

We arrived in Paris at Terminal 1 which we hadn't done before. We found the taxi stand eventually. It was quite a surprise to see that the fare to Paris was a set fee (55 euros). The result of Uber competition.

Our apartment was located on Avenue de La Bourdonnais, in the 7th arr. This was the view from our 6th floor apt window; as you can see we were quite close to the Eiffel Tower. We stayed in this same area the last time we were here, so everything was quite familiar.

We were so fortunate to find this apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Usually the apartments with a view of the ET are booked way in advance.

We have apt hunting down to a science now. Having a set criteria is the most important aspect in the apartment search. For us, #1 is an elevator. The closer you are to the central part of the city, which is the oldest, the harder it is to find apartments with elevators. Then we want to be close to transportation. We no longer use the Metro because I have difficulty climbing stairs. Using the buses is so easy; being in the vicinity of a larger correspondence makes traveling to various parts of the city convenient.

The first surprise when we arrived was finding the elevator landing between floors. We try to avoid stairs.Christophe, the landlord, greeted us at the apt and showed us around and answered all of our questions. He lives above us and was available if there were any problems. (There were a few.)

The apartment was full of light. The living room faced the street which was only a problem when the windows were open. The double-paned windows really reduce the street noise. The owner of this apartment probably lives here at times because it was filled with personal and family possessions. The furniture was a bit 'tired' but certainly adequate. I loved the small roll top desk. I hooked up to WiFi right away.

The kitchen was narrow but well equipped with a full refrigerator and freezer, dishwasher (which we did not use), stove, oven and microwave. It was well stocked with pots, dishes, glasses and utensils as well.

Woody spent more time in the kitchen than I did. My job was to wash the dishes.

French bathrooms are not the same as American bathrooms. This room which included, tub/shower, sink, bidet and washing machine was connected to the bedroom. The toilet is in a separate room, the water closet (WC). It was adjacent to the bedroom.

I'm not including a photo of the bedroom because it was a bit 'messy', but there was SO MUCH storage! More than we've ever had in any previous apartment. They are quite resourceful when creating storage space. The bed was queen sized but the pillows were flat, hard and square; very awkward and uncomfortable. I bring my own little memory foam pillow so I wasn't as uncomfortable as Woody.

View looking South towards the Champs de Mars

Walking along Avenue de La Bourdonnais.

You are going to see many photos of the Eiffel Tower, it seemed to be everywhere. Even after 8 visits, I do not tire of looking at it.

After arrival, our first task was buying some staples (eggs, milk, bread, raspberry preserves,paper towels and Coke). The Franprix, the local supermarche, was only 2 doors from the apt...very convenient. Since it is on 2 floors, it seemed very roomy. There was an elevator to the lower level, which I never saw. My job was to get the items on the upper floor and Woody went down. We have our own tote bags for carrying the groceries to the apt.

After Franprix, it was off to Rue Cler for the fruit and pastries.

I love the produce stands. Everything is arranged so creatively. We got some fresh squeezed orange juice and bananas. Then bought our pastries across the way at the boulangerie. I eat Pain au Chocolat (flaky pastry with bits of chocolate inside) and Woody usually gets Chaussons aux pommes (an apple filled beignet).

Having our chores done, we rested a bit before going out for dinner. Our routine includes a walk after dinner, usually down to the river.

This is the view of the Eiffel Tower from the promenade along Quai Branly; the perfect ending to our first day in Paris.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

~Paris 7.0~ Prologue

We've just returned from the "city of light". I intended to call this post Paris 7 (which it was) but it was also a celebration of a milestone birthday that I wasn't particularly looking forward to. That resulted in our 7th visit to my favorite city and the revised title.

Each of our Paris stays has been different, but there are things we always do, places that must be revisited and food that can't be missed. This trip was, indeed, different. We didn't go to the Louvre or Montmartre ; no nutella and banana crepe or tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, therefore no feeding the pigeons; but, we survived ~another perfect Paris holiday!

Our apartment for the 2 week stay was located on Ave de la Motte-Picquet in the 7th arrondissement. The area is clean and fairly quiet because of the many embassies located there. We were between 2 main tourist attractions; the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides. The Ecole Militaire Metro area was a main hub for many buses, which was our main mode of transportation. Only a block from the apartment, near the Champs du Mars, the Place de l'Ecole Militaire is a sprawling intersection of 5 streets. 6 bus lines use this area as a correspondence. The real challenge is finding the bus stop for the correct line, going in the desired direction.

When I was planning this trip, I tried to include many of the sites that were missed on the previous 6 visits. (My plans always tend to be a bit amibitious.) At the same time, I tried to make each day easy on my body (limiting walking and stairs). There were 2 side trips planned; 2 days in Brussels for my birthday and a day trip to Rouen. I also included 3 neighborhood explorations, 2 open air markets and 3 museums. The rest of the time we would 'play it by ear'. My goal was to take lots of photos. We did go to Brussels, 1 museum and did a lot of 'playing it by ear'. I took over 1500 photos

So let's begin this photojournal of Paris 7.0.