It's a 2 1/2 hour flight from Seville to Paris. We unload from the plane and cross the tarmac to a waiting shuttle bus. We are taken to a teeny-tiny terminal to collect our luggage. My suitcase is one of the first to come around the carousel. Wow, I am so impressed that I don't have to go into a huge terminal at Charles De Gaulle. The signage is good so I walk for a good 10 minutes or more towards the RER train that will take me into Paris. Inside the terminal I get some good advice from the information booth, buy a return RER metro ticket for 21 Euros and head towards the train.
The RER train into Paris only makes two stops. It's supposed to take 30 minutes to get from the airport to Gare du Nord station but it feels like it's taken closer to an hour. The train is spacious and not even half full. I look at Google Maps and follow the route and can barely wrap my mind around how many train tracks are in Paris.
All the gray lines are train tracks.
I finally get to Gare du Nord station and then things get hairy for me. I have to find a place called Place d' Italie which is where I catch the regular Paris Metro train. Geez Louise! I go up escalators, down escalators, stop to buy a sandwich and the nice lady at the sandwich shop attempts to point me in the direction of Place d' Italie. I head off in the direction she thinks it is. It's still unclear to me where the hell I'm supposed to go. I ask a few more people and someone tells me to go down the stairs. I start to lug my suitcase down the stairs and a nice guy helps me carry it to the bottom. It appears that all the trains that come through Place d' Italie are going to Oberkampf station which is the one nearest my Air B&B. It's a busy commuter train just like any big city metro, packed full, but I only need to go four stops. I get to Oberkampf but I have no clue which exit I take out of the station. What the hell, I'm just going to take my chances as it's broad daylight and if I have to walk around a huge block to find my way sobeit.
Rue de la Folie Mericourt is apparently only a 4 minute walk from Oberkampf station but I'm so fricken pathetic with Google maps I head one way, back track, then head back the other way, then the other way! I don't have any data on my phone in France so I am just flying by the seat of my pants and the downloaded Google map on my phone. I find a woman on the street who speaks good English. She isn't sure where Rue de la Folie Mericourt is but "thinks" it's off in "that direction" as she points. So I walk in "that direction" and I find a young woman who knows of it. I'm less than two blocks away so I head off in the way she has pointed me, past the makeup shop she told me about, and voila. I am finally on Rue de la Folie Mericourt but where the hell is #39? Up and down the block I go. I am supposed to pick up the keys to the Air B&B from the book shop across the street from the apartment but do you think I can see a book store? Nope! I know I'm close because I see #43 and #35... where the heck is the book store. Oh! It's called a librarie! I walk in - it's a tiny store. I give the clerk my name and she hands me an envelope with my name on it and the keys. I cross the street. Geez Louise I've never been in a building like this in my life.
Here's the outside of the building Exterior entrance to the Air B&B No wonders I walked right past it. It's literally two wooden doors! Not a "building" front that I was expecting to see. This area has been around since the 17th Century but the street itself started to become a part of Paris in the 1830's.
I plug in the digital numbers for the secure lock on the exterior door, push open the massive wooden door and lift my suitcase up over the door jam.
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| Inside the "lobby" of the Air B&B. The street is on the other side of the blue doors |
More digital numbers to open this secure door and then I have to carry my suitcase up 5 flights of curved staircase!
I finally get to the floor I need to be on and then fight with the locks on "Fort Knox" for about 4 or 5 minutes. Geez Louise! She's got three locks on the door, using two different keys. Do you think I can figure out how to turn the locks. Damn it. I turn them one way, then the other, then back again. She has literally typed out instructions for each deadbolt - to turn it a half turn, then turn it the opposite direction, then turn it back the other direction two full turns. Finally I managed to get inside.
My room is right in front of me. First impressions... not great. It looks like she's dropped a bed right in the middle of a junk room. The room is spacious but it's definitely not a room that I would ever rent out an Air B&B that's for sure. She has a "closet" of sorts but it doesn't have any doors on it so I can see all of her coats and shoes; a bunch of wooden make-shift shelving full of chachkis, and drawings and certificates scotch taped to the walls. She has typed out instructions on how to close the blinds (!) seriously! Told me to close the windows when I leave the room in case it rains but I really think it's so the freaking pigeons sitting on the window ledges don't fly inside. The bed isn't even made but she did tell me in an email that the housekeeper would arrive before 5:00 PM to make up the bed. There's no place for me to put anything in the room. No nightstand, no place to sit, no place to hang my clothes (unless I wish to hang them in her "closet" (no thanks!), I would at least think you'd have a coat rack or some hooks on the walls. The room definitely didn't look like I remembered it to look on the Air B&B website that's for darn sure. Moments after I get inside the apartment, the housekeeper arrives. I go and sit in the tiny living room while she's making my bed and vacuuming the room. Even the living room area doesn't look like the photos... the furniture has changed and it definitely doesn't look "staged" any more.
The kitchen is teeny-tiny and the bathroom isn't much bigger but it's modern. Apparently it was renovated recently. It's got a large shower, a very small sink, a vanity that is full of "stuff" so nowhere for me to put anything, and a washing machine. Laundry is hanging from a rack that pops off out of the wall. The cleaning lady only stays an hour in the entire place.
It's now about 4:30 PM or so and I head out to wander in the direction of the tourist information office which looks to be about a 20-30 minute walk. It's open til 7:00 PM so hopefully I'll find it before it closes. It's nice to be out walking in Paris. I think my Air B&B is in the 11th Arrondissement (similar to a sector or suburb). There are 20 Arrondissements in Paris. and they circle outwards like a snail from the 1st Arrondissement to the 20th in a common-sense fashion. I'm not sure of the name of my "suburb" but it's in between RePublique and Le Marais. From what I researched before booking my Air B&B, Le Marais is "the" place to stay in Paris so I feel pretty good about the location. I don't know exactly when I cross over from my suburb into the Le Marais sector because it's not obvious what street is the divider between sectors.
I just happen to pass by a cell phone shop that has an internet cafe. I walk in and ask about a sim card. The clerk says he can put in a sim card for 15 Euros. I only need it for 2 1/2 days and feel absolutely helpless without data on my phone. I think it's a bit pricey but whatever. I am helpless without Google Maps and find that the downloaded map doesn't measure up as good as having it "live" so to speak so I pay him the cash and am happy to have data for the next few days.
I find the tourist information office quite easily. Imagine my surprise when I have to put my purse through an airport-type security scanner, and I have to put my cell phone on another counter, walk through a detector and collect my purse and my phone. Geez Louise! I'm definitely not in Canada that's for sure! Of course I understand the reasons for having to be diligent and vigilant given the terrorist acts that Paris has experienced in the past couple of years. I spend a good half hour or more in the tourist office. Looking at the very good map that they hand out and trying to make a plan on how to spend two full days. The clerk tells me that I can walk to the Eiffel Tower in about an hour from where I am at this moment. Hmmm... I really want to see it in the evening when all the lights come on so I decide to head in that direction. I walk only about 15 minutes and it starts to rain and gets very windy. Dang it. My raincoat and my umbrella are in my suitcase! I stand on a bridge where I can see the Eiffel Tower way off in the distance and try to decide if I should keep walking in that direction or head back. It's now approaching 8:00 PM and a very few lights are coming on, on the Eiffel Tower. It looks so far away and my sense of direction being the pits I decide I'd better not walk any further being as it'll soon be dark.
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My very first time seeing the Eiffel Tower in person.
I'm quite a ways away from it so the photo quality isn't great.
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Too bad about the car in the photo.
I "think" this is Hotel De Ville (City Hall) buy I'm not 100% certain.
Beautiful old buildings in Paris. It's really unfortunate though that I have no clue what building is right in front of me or any of the other beautiful buildings I see across a street. Signage is seriously lacking. It could be a really important landmark and I'd be none the wiser.
It's raining and dark so I head back towards my Air B&B. I need to find something to eat and I stop by a few restaurants and look at their menus. I don't understand any French at all so I glance and then walk on by. I have no clue what they're serving. I come up to another restaurant with lots of people sitting outside trying to avoid the rain. I look at their menu and they have an English version. Eureka! I see my favourite French dish: chicken and potatoes cooked in white wine. Yummo! This is a dish I have cooked at home and it's so delicious. This dish was way more delicious than what I cook so I have something to aspire to. The waiter was excellent. I think English was his first language. He brought me a large chalkboard with an English menu on it and propped it on the chair across the table.
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| Chicken and potatoes cooked in white wine |
It's now about 9:30 PM so I walk back towards my Air B&B. The restaurants I walk past are all very busy, the outdoor sidewalk tables and chairs are full up with people eating and drinking and smoking.
It's now Friday morning, October 13, 2018, and I enjoyed a good sleep in and finally get around to leaving my Air B&B around 11:00. I walk down the street and walk a block and am shocked to see a huge outdoor market. It wasn't there yesterday but I did see a lot of metal piping set up and wondered why it was there. Goodness, there must've been at least 50 vendors. I wondered how early they would've had to get up to haul all of their goods and set it up. The displays were really lovely. It made me realize just how teeny-tiny our farmer's markets are. Goodness, the Farmer's Market in New West isn't even 25% the size of this one. Apparently this market comes to the neighbourhood twice a week.
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So many varieties of cheese
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Desserts
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The vendors are selling fresh vegetables, fish, chicken, meats, cheese, cheese, and more cheese, beautiful looking breads (sold by weight) because they're made with real flours, not the stripped out of all healthy goodness flours that we buy in Canada, baked goods, clothing, and all sorts of odds and sods that you would find in a hardware store (plungers, sink stoppers, brooms). I buy a container of salad: watermelon and feta cheese with fresh herbs, and a chunk of bread that is sold by weight and put it in my bag for eating later on today. Generous samples are given freely here. Want to try the bread before buying it, not problem. They just cut off a thin piece for you. I tasted some large portions of fresh bocconcini simply because I was looking at the different salads. I also buy a lovely and large wool scarf for only 10 Euros because it's chilly out this morning. It was nice and warm yesterday afternoon when I arrived but this morning it's definitely chilly.
My goal today is to walk to the Eiffel Tower. I saunter slowly, window shopping, stopping here and there along the way, take in the sights. The tourist information office told me that it would take an hour to walk there but it ended up taking me four hours because I dawdled so much along the way.
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These are like "pop up shops". I presume you rent them by the month and sell whatever you desire. At the end of the day, you close the wooden lid and lock it up. There are a lot of these green wooden structures attached to the cement walls abutting the Seine river. Old books were a very popular item that many of these booths were selling.
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Case in point about unnamed buildings. No clue what this is but it sure is lovely to look at.
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I liked the detail on this bridge
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Atop a pillar on a bridge
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| Atop a pillar on a bridge |
I'm walking along and I hear a crash, turn around and see a motorcycle on its side sliding down the road. Hell! Two motorcycles have crashed into one another. One has come to a full stop and one is still sliding down the road. The second bike finally stops sliding and the driver gets up off the cement. The first driver, however, is laying there. People approach the guy and move him off the road. After a couple of minutes I see him getting up on his feet but it's obvious that he is injured. The second bike that had been sliding down the road, the driver walks to collect pieces of it and he picks up the luggage carrier that had, only seconds earlier, been attached to the motorcycle. The two drivers talk to one another and look over their bikes; a couple of witnesses hand over business cards to the drivers. Geez Louise! I watch from the other side of the road and guess that they must've been taking off from the light and there were a bunch of motorcycles huddled and obviously got too close to one another.
Not far past the motorcycle accident, there is an expansive set of stairs leading down to the river. Lots of people are sitting on the steps taking in the sights. Good opportunity for me to take a break and have a few bites to eat.
Of course, I wandered off course by about 20 minutes and by the time I finally got the Eiffel Tower in my sights I'm exhausted. I entered on the side of Champs de Mars which is the long patch of grass that you see in so many photos.
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Champs de Mars was disappointing. It was so very littered with cigarette butts that there was no way I would ever sit on that lawn although there were hundreds of people whom it didn't bother at all.
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I find a bench off to the side and eat my salad and some of the bread that I bought at the street market this morning. People watching was great! I keep my eyes on some African men who are selling bottles of wine that they are carrying in buckets. They are trying to evade the police and the police are trying to spot these men selling bottles of wine from a bucket! One guy stashes a bucket of wine in some low bushes which reminds me of the Africans in the park in Barcelona stashing their wares in the bushes too. It's all very sad that refugees/migrants have to resort to breaking the laws in order to make money. I can't help but wonder what they thought it would be like when they were still in their home country hoping to make a better life for themselves in a foreign country.
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| He didn't look to be a day over 3-years-old and he was already trucking along on a scooter. |
The area around Champs de Mars appeared to be well-to-do. The park had lots of foreign nannies caring for children.
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| Policia keeping a watchful eye |
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| Enjoying a bottle of wine |
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Enjoying a picnic with wine at Champs de Mars
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I walk across the Seine river and see the Eiffel Tower from another angle. It's beautiful even with the trees obstructing the full-on view.
I'm literally beat from walking so far. So happy to see the very first bus stop I've seen thus far in Paris. It's got so much information posted on the bus stop that I can easily figure out that this bus will take me back to Centre de Ville (City Hall), and I know that I can easily walk to my Air B&B from there. The electronic sign says the bus will come along in 7 minutes. 2 Euros and I enjoy the ride and the views. By this time, it's already approaching 6:00 PM. I've walking for several hours by now and am tired.
This day, I don't eat a proper dinner. I ate a very late lunch while people watching at Champ de Mars, and I picked up a slice of flan at a bakery and ate that. I wander the streets and slowly make my way back to my Air B&B. By the time I am ready to call it a night, my phone says I walked 15 km today and by gawd my body feels like it's walked that far too. I've been walking for several hours a day for the past month. I don't go back to my Air B&B during the day so I'm on my feet from morning til night every day. I'm getting tired of all this exercise.
On Saturday morning, on the recommendation of a couple of friends, I decide to head off in the direction of Jardin du Luxembourg. Initially I thought it was a museum and I had no desire to go to a museum but then one of my friends described it to me and I thought it would be worthwhile seeing.
I feel like I'm getting to know the area well and even have a general sense of which way I should go without looking at my Google Maps.
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| The yellow dots (upper right: my Air B&B; Left side is the Eiffel Tower) |
First thing I do is stop in to a cafe to have some breakfast. Yesterday, I had a headache most of the day. I wondered if it was because I didn't have any coffee yesterday but there are days I don't drink caffeine and feel fine. Anyways, not taking any chances today. Cafés seem to be everywhere and at this time of day (it's about 10:30) they aren't too busy.
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| A standard fare breakfast. |
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From my Air B&B to Jardine du Luxembourg |
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This street was full of wholesale jewelry shops not open to the public but I did peek in the open doorways. These are where buyers go to shop for "costume" jewelry the likes you'll see any any North American chain store.
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I happened to overhear an English speaking guide tell her clients that this place had won "the best baguette in Paris" which is why it was so lined up. She said the line moves fast. On that note, I decide to grab a baguette to put in my bag so I can eat it later on today.
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Art sitting atop water
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Jardin du Luxembourg was built in the early-1600's and is in the 6th Arrondissement near the Latin Quarter of Paris. I walk through the gate to the park and am immediately in awe. So gorgeous.
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It's October 13, 2018 and it looks like fall but feels so much warmer
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So very many chairs and benches throughout the park.
There was no problem finding a place to sit.
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Pony rides in the park
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| Jardine du Luxembourg |
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| The Eiffel Tower which, surprisingly, you can't see from many places around Paris. |
I really enjoy this park. I found a bench within listening distance of a live band. I sit for almost an hour, eat my lunch, and people watch.
I leave the park and walk towards the Latin Quarter of Paris. There was nothing in this area that I particularly wanted to see but I see an interesting old church so go inside to check it out. Lots of tourists in the church and and some babies are getting baptized.
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| I really liked this massive seating area |
I start walking back towards the river. Look at the prices in this wine shop selling collector bottles of wine! 1 Euro = $1.53 Cdn at the time I was in Paris so the $1200 Euro bottle of Chateau Haut-Brion from 1948 is about $1900 Cdn.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
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| Like Spain, I really love how they built these ramps so that people can get to the waters edge |
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| Enjoying a glass of wine sitting by the Seine River. |
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A caged playground set up in a very tight space.
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Bike sharing.
I really love how Europe has a plethora of bike and scooter sharing options |
I walk and I wander and head back in the direction of my Air B&B. I begin to notice lots of police vans parked on the sides of the street I am walking along. Geez... there's so many police vans packed full of officers getting out of the vans dressed in scary looking armor. I walk for another 10-15 minutes and finally look at my Google Maps. Oh hell, I've totally over-blown my Air B&B. I've actually walked further past my "suburb"and am now in the 11th arrondissement called Republique. I notice more police vans - like seriously a LOT of police vans. By now I guess that I have seen a good 30-50 police vans along my walk. The officers are dressed in what I now realize is riot gear. What the hell! What's going on?
Oh, I can hear a lot of commotion and I see a sign saying something about climate change.
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I didn't need to understand French to understand the shouts of "Fuck Trump!"
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I couldn't believe my eyes when this couple walked past me.
I have to leave my Air B&B by 6:30 AM for my 10:20 AM flight. I expect the train will take a good hour BUT I need to allow time for getting lost as I do need to transfer trains and my trip into the city from Charles de Gaul took me twice as long as it should have so I am back in my Air B&B by 9:00 PM. I rearrange and pack my suitcase and weigh it to ensure I'm under the 23 KG allowed. I make it with 1 lb. to spare!
I never travel without a luggage scale and it has saved me a handful of times knowing ahead of time just how much the luggage weighs when it reaches the scale at the airport check-in counter.
I leave the Air B&B right on time and it takes me about 3 minutes to walk to the train station. I carry my luggage down the flight of stairs then hesitate if I need to go straight or down the first flight of stairs I come to. It's 6:30 AM so the station is quiet and there's no one around for me to ask. I decide to go down another flight of stairs. I have to scan my ticket to get through the gate - oh this better be the the right direction otherwise I've probably wasted transit fare (I bought the return train ticket when I first arrived at Charles de Gaul - am very glad I did that though so I don't have to figure out the ticket machine this morning). I walk down the platform spot someone walking in my direction. I confirm that I'm on the platform going in the direction of Gare du Nord which is where I need to transfer trains.
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Empty at 6:38 AM
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I travel two or three stops to Gare du Nord...now to try to find the proper train to the airport. There are two trains that go to the airport - a fast train and a slow train that stops at every station. I try to find someone who speaks English... finally the third person I ask says he speaks a little English. I tell him "Charles de Gaul - 2 stops". He points me in the direction but I can't really follow where he's telling me to go. The nice man walks me part of the way and now I see the sign that I am looking for: The M5 fast train to Charles de Gaul. I thank the man profusely "Merci Boucoup" and I'm on my way down the stairs and my train comes along in less than 5 minutes. My timing was perfect as their fast train only comes by a few times per hour.
I cannot stress enough how thankful I am that I allowed almost FOUR hours to get from my Air B&B to the airport. I needed all four of those hours! Geez Louise!
