Paris | Travelwithconnie

Imagine the excitement. After planning for months, thinking about packing, packing, driving to LA, flying overnight, landing in France at CDG airport, taxi’ng to the 6th Arrondissement [6e], we are finally in Paris. We first check into our hotel for the night, Hotel Atlantis at 4 Rue du Colombier. We are in the St-Germain-des-Prés quartier, near Saint Sulpice Chapel.

Hotel Atlantis

Kirk and Marcy are right around the corner in their apartment where they have been living for a week. We have been up for 24 hours I am sure, so after checking in, we longed for a shower and to stretch out. Bags are delivered to our second-floor room overlooking the street by an attendant. The elevator had just barely enough room for Bill and I if we stood facing one direction with our arms at our side, no movement. With the windows open, all the excitement of Paris floats through the open window.

Welcoming Bed in the Hotel Atlantis

Before I realize it, I am asleep when I awake with a start, hearing people shouting and chanting, more shouting, more chanting, horns blaring, sirens. Jumping up to look out my balcony window, I see a street full of people with signs, balloons, loud speakers, and I don’t understand a word they are saying. But apparently we have arrived just in time for a protest march.

Parisians marching in protest

The loud speaker continues to interrupt my attempt to rest and marchers keep coming for blocks. I believe it is related to education. So begins our Parisian adventure. No rest in sight, we meet up with Kirk and Marcy at their apartment for cheese, bread and wine and a tour of their pied-à-terre. On the 4th floor, they have views in both directions, a kitchen, a separate bedroom, and lots of space and Paris nightlife entertains them at night through the open windows. We set off at last for our first dining experience. Kirk has scouted the restaurants and found one he thinks will work.

Marcy leads the way to our dinner at Pizza Chic

Alas, it appears our restaurant is chic with lots of people and without a reservation on a Thursday night, cannot seat us. An excuse to wander the streets, passing the patrons eating on the street and peering into restaurant after restaurant. We finally decide on another Italian restaurant. It is our first night in Paris.

Kirk contemplating at our Italian Restaurant

We are all ready to get some rest in preparation for our auto trip to Le Pecq where we will board our Viking Cruise Ship Kadlin.

DAY 1 of Cruise

I can’t wait to find a cafe for morning cappuccino. Our small table is right on the street where workmen are installing a Metro sign. Always in Paris workmen are hammering, sawing and busy with construction. Imagine our surprise when the cafe owner asks us politely to move our table toward the street just a pinch; not quite far enough, just another inch. We comply, with no idea why he wanted our table moved two inches. Then the owner pulls up the floor boards directly to the left of us to expose a large cavity beneath the restaurant. A delivery man pushes in several loads of food and supplies that are stacked on a lift that disappears down the cavity, the floor boards are restored to their position and we are charmed by the ingenuity of the French to utilize every inch of space. We continue with our cappuccino

Always so elegant, even on the sidewalk at table for two

First cappuccino and croissant in Paris

kirk has arranged a van to pick the four of us up and drive us to Le Pecq. But when I fry to fit myself and one luggage piece in the minuscule elevator, I end up jamming the elevator door. I can’t seem to get the elevator to move and I can’t get the elevator door open. Baffled, I finally decide I better get downstairs somehow so I force the door open, grab my suitcase and sprint down the stairs. Kirk is waiting and the van is double parked. Between Bill and I, we manage to shuffle the rest of the luggage down the stairs while waiting for the attendant, who has gone to see what the problem is. Out the door we run and down the street. Soon we are on our way through the French countryside and before we know it, arrive in Le Pecq where our ship hostess, Mimi, gives us a big welcome.

Our first glimpse of Viking Cruise Ship Kadlin

Our main task now was to find our staterooms, get unpacked, explore the ship, eat lunch, and be ready for our first tour of St. Germaine en Laye. Remember what the first day of school was like? Excitement, dread new clothes, new classmates, learning so many things — I felt all of it. So excited to be on our ship, home for eight nights, to see and learn as much as I could.

Our stateroom

Our stateroom shower room

We were ready for lunch. Our dining room was beautiful and the staff gracious and almost over-the-top with meeting our every need.

Our beautiful dining room aboard ship

Cups, utensils, neatly lined up waiting for the 300 guests

Our first tour was to St. Germaine en Laye just a short bus ride up the hill to the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, begun in 1124 by Louis VI as a fortified hunting-lodge in the forests of St Germain. Next to the Chateau is a park with a view of Paris and the Seine.

Overlooking Paris from park next to Chateau, St. Germaine En Laye

War with England and subsequent actions resulted in the village and the chateau being burned between 1337 and 1346. Charles V, the richest monarch in Europe, demolished the burned buildings, and between 1364 and 1367, rebuilt a château on the site of Saint Louis’ defensive walls.

Inside the Chateau

Between1230 and 1238, the chapel was erected, separate from the other buildings, and the entire complex was surrounded by a defensive wall. The chapel survived the burning of the original chateau.

Chapel at Chateau St. Germaine En Laye

Today the Chateau is an archeological museum which we did not go through. We were on the run to catch the bus up the hill (we missed the first bus), then catch up with the first group from our ship, then a quick view of the chateau and chapel before we were ushered back on the bus. Except for those of us that preferred to walk back down, which, of course, Kirk, Marcy, Bill and I did.

Trekking down steps and road to our ship

We stopped at a church to read the plaque (which was in French) but I was more intrigued by the beautiful, old tree that shaded the courtyard.

Beautiful, old tree

The chapel

Kirk, Marcy, and Bill studying the plaque

We rushed back down the hill, but not so fast that we didn’t stop to enjoy the goats in someone’s yard along the way.

Goats on the path down

Our first day with Viking was passing too quickly. Back on the ship, we showered and dressed for dinner. But first was cocktail hour (we skipped), safety briefing (all on deck with life jackets even though the depth of water was hardly enough to drown in) and Welcome Briefing with our Program Director Mimi.

Briefings every evening with Mimi who charmed us all

Mimi not only briefed us on the following day’s events, but kept us laughing with her stories. Mimi was down-to-earth and outstanding at her job and was a favorite among all the passengers. We had our first of many dinners on board, with staff bending over backwards to fill every empty glass, bring any tantalizing dish we desired, and enough food for an entire day with dessert.

Typical dining experince

Then we were off to talk to the concierge about arranging a taxi to take the four of us to Versailles the following day while most of the passengers had an excursion to Paris, about 40minutes by taxi from Le Pecq.

Swans on the Seine outside my stateroom window

How was one to sleep? So much had happened in the last 48 hours and tomorrow we would leave for Versailles early to arrive before the crowds. Well, I don’t think we did sleep much that night. We were too busy thinking of all we had seen and all that was to come.

Watching a barge go by from the upper deck

Barge passing us

Coming Up. Day 2 Versailles

We arrived Paris eager and exhausted. Our hostess, April Tash, met us on the Boulevard at 4:30 p.m. and spent over two hours chatting with us about the area, fascinating history of our apartment, and we even took a stroll of the neighborhood with April as she pointed out the boulangerie, pharmacie, wine shop, cafes, mini market, and the freshwater spring that still supplies the drinking water of the neighborhood. Below are photos of our apartment, beginning with arriving at the door on the street, then to the inner courtyard, and finally up a flight of very old stairs to the second floor.

Entry Door to 11 rue Moulin des Pres

Behind entry door a passageway to courtyard

Starting down the courtyard

The courtyard is very old and uneven

Walking down the courtyard is stepping back in time. Our neighborhood is a working class neighborhood with mixed tenants, some very poor and others well off. April, herself, is Harvard educated and works at the United Nations. Obviously April is not poor. But on the courtyard, you see spaces in front of other apartments fixed up for a garden, a patio area with table, and other things, some looking a step above a tenement, some looking cared for, but very mixed.

Family’s patio area in courtyard

Window geraniums in Courtyard

Gardening in the Courtyard

At the very far end of the courtyard about a block in length, is our apartment. The stairs are very old and with each step, you sway one way or another. The old steps seem to be holding the building up. There is a very modern light switch at the bottom of stairs that is connected to a sensor so that the light turns off after you have left the stairwell. Light is a necessity as the stairs are like an obstacle course.

Beginning ascent up stairwell

Our Stairwell, looking down from the top, it curves in a U shape

Bikes parked along the courtyard; for some, this is their transportation

Once you enter the apartment, you are transported to a Parisian pied-a’-terre. Every inch is packed with practical application. We found the ironing board stored under the sitting room beds. The dryer [an old-fashioned clothes drying rack] was stored behind the pantry [an armoire restored to hold plates and a few food items]. The iron was stored in the upper cabinet above the sink along with the hot water heater. The washing machine was behind a small cabinet under the toaster oven. The refrigerator was behind a cabinet door under the sink.

Our kitchen

April had hired an architect to update the apartment after purchasing. The architect had to make do with a building that could not have any holes knocked out for fear the entire building would collapse. Therefore, to run the AC, we open the window and hang the vent over the iron railing, and run the AC with window open.

Washing machine and dryer in one machine

Child’s chair crafted by owner’s father

I fell in love with the charm of our Parisian apartment. We had windows all along the courtyard and could open them for fresh air. The sun would pour into the sitting room and table in the afternoon. Armoires were used to store clothing and as a pantry.

Beautiful armoire in bedroom

Pantry armoire [door is open and shelves are lined with blue checkerboard paper]

Even though we thought we were exhausted, we ventured out that evening to the rue de la Butte Aux Cailles filled with cafes and bursting at the seams with young people drinking, smoking and probably eating as well. Everyone seemed under 30. We wandered until we came upon a Thai Restaurant and a delicious meal.

Eating on the street at our Thai Restaurant, one of our favorites

Of course we couldn’t wait to shop at the open air market on Auguste Blanqui where every Friday, Sunday and Tuesday the sidewalk is transformed to a market that goes for blocks of produce, flowers, cheese, clothes, rugs, soap, roasted chickens and potatoes, fresh fish, cheese, olives, spices. It was very trying for me to pretend I could shop, not knowing a word of French. By this time my head was so muddled with Italian and other languages, all that came out was Gratzie, muy bueno, as I fumbled for the right French word. Rather than rudeness, we encountered only patience and smiling tolerance at our befuddlement.

Vegetables at La Butte aux Cailles open-air market

Olives at La Butte aux Cailles open-air market

Spices, nuts and dates at La Butte aux Cailles open-air market

Sausages at La Butte aux Cailles open-air market

One man felt so sorry for me, he tried to show me how to use my fingers to hold up how many peaches I wanted instead of trying to say the number of kilograms. He was very gracious.

Fish vendor at La Butte aux Cailles open-air market

Flowers at La Butte aux Cailles open-air market

We arrived home to our apartment with a bounty of fresh fruit, bread, and wine, plenty to provide lunch and breakfast [as the French seem to only eat a croissant and coffee for breakfast].

One-days shopping in open-air market

We later strolled the streets of our neighborhood and found some of the original streets and single-family cottages.

Walking historical streets of our Paris neighborhood

Cottage homes in our Paris neighborhood

The neighborhood overflows with cafes and at any time of day locals flock to them to enjoy their cafe, wine, and smoke. There are also small parks and a fountain. There is a lot of very old history in this neighborhood, mixed with modern high rise apartments.

Fountain in La Butte aux Cailles

Closeup of Fountain

And so it goes. Learning the language, learning the French customs, learning the transportation system — we have challenges and many rewards. For now, I will say Au Revoir, until another day.

Looking from bedroom window to street below

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