Paris

This was our first trip to Paris together, and my first visit altogether, and Paris didn’t disappoint in the slightest. We boarded the high speed train in Marseille and spent just over three hours crossing the entirety of France, and arrived at the Gare de Lyon in the late afternoon. We elected to get a cab as opposed to taking the excellent Metro simply because we didn’t feel like lugging our bags up or down any stairs, and so we were dropped off at the front door of Normandy le Chantier on Rue San Honore, about 10 minutes from the Louvre. It is an eclectic hotel in a lovely old building currently being remodeled. The staff were wonderful and our room was very large by Paris standards.

After unpacking, we headed out to find a bistro and spend some time gazing at the Eiffel Tower. Not quite hungry enough for dinner, we enjoyed some champagne and olives along the way.

It was a lot of fun to see the Tower in it’s many aspects the closer you get to it. You can always get your bearings in this city by simply sighting it.

It’s such a splendid structure. I can’t really describe the feeling of simply standing in it’s presence along with many other people, just looking at it or having a picnic in it’s shadow, chatting with friends. It’s swoopy and glorious and being there was an experience utterly different than looking at the many photos I’ve seen over my lifespan. We warded off the slight chill of the evening by standing with our arms around each other, gazing.

And then it was time to eat, because heaven forbid we go for two hours without a three course meal! We found a menu we liked at Bistro San Dominique and enjoyed an excellent dinner under the beacon light of the Eiffel Tower.

It was the most lovely introduction to Paris that I could have hoped for. We headed back to the hotel and tucked ourselves in. We would need our energies for the Louvre, tomorrow!