O.K. after reading RPL67%26#39;s day by day amanzingly detailed (to the last blister) trip report, it will be very difficult or even impossible to match such a complete, interesting, funny and magnificently written piece, therefore, I won%26#39;t even try it, but will fulfill the promise to others in this Forum for a more %26quot;detailed%26quot; report.
I will start by stating that I%26#39;m not, nor ever been a supersticious person, but I must admit I had my reservations about choosing FRIDAY THE 13TH as the traveling day to our 25th anniversary %26quot;dream vacation%26quot;. Of course I did not tell anything of this nature to my trusting wife, thinking just mentioning anything could ruin everything on our trip.
So we departed sunny south Florida to Paris via JFK, with a bit of concern since we only had about one hour and fifteen minutes between connecting flights-%26quot;Not to worry, said the ticket agent, everything is taken care of...%26quot; Well to our surprise, we arrived 15 minutes earlier to JFK,great I said, but it took 25 minutes to find a free ramp agent that could connect the plane to the terminal, I began to wonder...
Then we start looking for an airline agent as soon as we deplane to ask what gate is our connecting flight leaving from, but no one seems to know where the Air France terminal is. Finally, after pulling an O J Simpson, and after going thru Airport security(taking shoes off) one more time, we make it to the gate. I reassure my wife everything is going to be O.K...
After exchanging pleasant Bonjours, I present my boarding passes, but I%26#39;m told they need to see the tickets. So I pull the E-tickets, the ramp agent looks at them and tells me in plain English...%26quot;Sorry Monsieur, but we do not accept E-tickets%26quot;
%26quot;Splain that to me Lucy...? Now my Latin blood full of Black beans and mojo is rushing to my head faster and faster, all those months of plans, the dreams, the anticipation everything going down the drain faster that I could think.They take the tickets, the Passports, the boarding passes and go into a conference even making several phone calls. A tall gentleman appears and in a very heavy accent tells me ...Sorry Sir, but we can not accept E tickets... I went thru the roof... but fortunatelly before things got ugly, a very young agent picks up the boarding passes, looks at them one more time and calmly tells me... Sorry Monsieur, but you are in the Royal Air Marroco line to Marraquesh, not Paris, and hands everything to the Air France ramp agent just two feet from her in THE SAME COUNTER...Finally we all break in a big laugh (beleive me that%26#39;s all I could do) and after apologizing in English, French and Spanish proceeded to board our awaited dream trip.
That was the end to Friday the 13th, because very soon thereafter we were enjoying a very nice dinnner crossing the date line and doing a lot of LOL wondering what would have been like to spend our 25th anniversary in Marraquesh...
Fine, that%26#39;s as much detail as you are going to get, O.K., from now on is strictly business:
Paris is so happy to see us come that pours buckets of tears on our sleepless and tired souls, but don%26#39;t fear my darling, I tell my wife, the weather is so unpredictable here in Paris, that we will be basking in the sun in a few hours... %26quot;I think you spent too much time on that Paris forum%26quot;, she said...
After checking-in, unpacking, and taking a refreshing shower, we are eager to take on the streets of Paris, so off we go, and start walking to become familiar with the area around our Hotel. We begin at the PLaza Vendome, continue on Rue de la Paix to the Place de L%26#39;Opera, what a sight. Paris is beautiful even when it is raining. We paid the 7 euros per person to visit the interior (well worth it) and got the bonus to see the auditorium during a rehearsal%26#39;s break. What a magnificent place, well worth the visit.
Upon exiting the Opera building and looking down the Avenue de L%26#39;Opera, another sight, to the cafe de la Paix, we quickly realize that Paris provides a constant gratification of the senses.
No matter where you stand, just look and you%26#39;ll find a visual gratification, the statues, the buildings, the architectural details, and I really mean the details even on the most insignificant lamp post.
By now I realize I%26#39;m already breaking my well planned itineary, since I%26#39;m already doing things I supposed to do three days from today, who cares, that%26#39;s the beauty of Paris, to let yourself go, to discover, to improvise.
We are hungry by now, but the hunger of discovery fuels our desire to continue walking and discovering something new, so we continue on Rue Auber until it meets Boulevard Haussman, where we could not miss a visit to the Galeries Lafayette, where we immediatelly proceed to the Gourmet floor. Wow, what a treat. Bought ham, cheese, bread, wine and other goodies and continued to ther area of La Madeleine. We took e breather in the church and proceeded to investigate the beautiful shops around the church.
We are now really hungry, but continue to walk while munching on some bread and salami, what a life! We are now coming to the PLace de la Concorde, but my feet and my stomach are now interfering with my senses, so we head to our hotel via Rue de Rivoli.
It has stoped raining by now, but it is a bit too cold for us for a late lunch in the Tuileries, so we agree on the comfort and warmth of our Hotel room. Not a bad idea, because after a fabulous hand picked lunch and half a bottle of wine later we proceed to a well deserved nap.
We wake-up two hours later to find out there is still daylight left not to waste. We walk on the Rue de Rivoli towards the Louvre, taking a peek at the souvenir shops and cut across the Tuileries to the Arch de Triomphe de Carrousel to the Pyramid court. The line was huge, to get to the bottom, so we continued to the Seine thru the Pont du Carrousel. What a grand view. We are amazed by the amount of boat traffic and hope to take a peak at the Bateaux we will be on in a couple of days, but decide to continue walkin. By now I feel really confident about my knowledge of the streets of Paris. All this walking without a map, and without asking questions. That was my goal, this was carefully planned during the two months I had the large map of Paris two feet from my bed, remembering to close my eyes and try to visualize the streets and areas.
First mistake, in trying to reach Saint Germain I turn rigth towards the Musee d%26#39;Orsay, and continue on Rue de Bellechasse to Boulevard Saint Germain. Once on the boulevard, we find everything close and not lively at all. That%26#39;s when I tell my wife %26quot; I%26#39;m glad we did not stay here%26quot;.
Second mistake, not following the boulevard and finding myself now on blvd. Raspail without a map, tired and starting to get hungry. But, no, I would not admit to my wife that I was misserably lost and had no clue where we were at.
Save the day-quick turn on Rue the Sevres and I come across what at first thought was a mirage, The Cigale Recamier. I knew the name was familiar from being posted, and I said, Honey, this is where I was planning to bring you for dinner... I think after 25 years I was the only one that beleived that one, but since it was already past 10 P.M. we decided to give a try.
We walked in and the place was packed wall to wall, and we were fortunate to be seated within five minutes without reservations.
We were pleasantly surprised that we were the only non-french customers at that time. The place was full of locals. This restaurant specilizes in souffles, but we tried the beef and the lamb. Both our meals were fantastic and including Kirs, and a bottle of wine the bill came to around 80 euros for two persons.
We then proceeded to walk all the way to the Hotel, but quite happy now, because our first meal in Paris was really memmorable.
I have to admitt I asked for directions to get back to the Hotel.
This concludes our first day in Paris, and I promise the rest of the trip report will be real short.
Merci,
OEC57
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Good report! Where did you stay in Paris?
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Great reading, OEC57!
You have no need to take a back seat to RPL67 (a cousin, perhaps?). I see a great rivalry developing here!
Good to know that your plan for dinner worked out so perfectly! ;%26gt;)
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oec, thanks for the full report...please, don%26#39;t make them short. Your format is great!! I could just picture you being at the wrong ramp...and how fortunate that they didn%26#39;t accept your e-ticket or you would have ended up in Maraquesh!!!
Can%26#39;t wait to read the rest.
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oec57-
just read your huge and appreciated compliment to me on my trip report. Thank you sooo much for the kind words. I enjoyed your report as well. I am wondering if we are lost relatives- not only from the trip writing but check out our screen names!
Robin
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what a great report
i laughed so hard i think a little pee came out
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