Once my friends found out I was planning to come to France for the year, they immediately started planning when they would come visit. It's understandable, having a local who can show you around and give you a place to stay is kinda nice. And I think they miss me. : ) So this last week I played tour guide, (with assistance from a certain native), and got to catch up with some dear friends. Here's what we did...
Day 1: Arrive mid-day Sunday on no sleep, to be wisked back to the house they'd be staying at and settled in. Nice lunch with lots of cheese after. Then a nice jaunt to the neighboring village of Montfort to walk around and stay awake. To bed early that night to rest up for a long day in Paris Monday.
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| Me, with Janelle and Molly |
Day 1: Arrive mid-day Sunday on no sleep, to be wisked back to the house they'd be staying at and settled in. Nice lunch with lots of cheese after. Then a nice jaunt to the neighboring village of Montfort to walk around and stay awake. To bed early that night to rest up for a long day in Paris Monday.
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| looking at the cathedral in the town square |
Day 2: After a breakfast of croissants, the first thing we do is make passes for everyone to take the train unlimited for a week. Pretty handy and fun to use, then it's off to the center of the city for sightseeing. We started in the Ile de la Cite and went into Notre Dame, then walked around the island and along the water. We went out for lunch at a place in the latin quarter with a 10euro menu option. I had an amazing onion soup.
After walking through the church and a little of the streets around it, we escaped the pushy salesmen to cross back over town to Rue Mouffetard. It's a pedestrian only street with all sorts of different shops lining it. We had lunch and explored, then stopped for some amazing looking eclairs at deNouvelle. The coffee one was my favorite. Since the rain wasn't letting up, we continued the shopping inside at the Forum des Halles, a big indoor mall. That night we were invited to Matt and Talia's place for Matt's birthday. We had drinks and a make your own pizza set up. It was an interesting mix of Americans, French, and English people.
Day 7: The last full day in France, we started the morning with church. They were lucky enough to see both Paul and I up front that morning. I got roped into singing, and then Paul was preaching. Molly fulfilled her last goal at lunch when we had escargot and mussels to eat. Then we went to the Chateau de Versailles to walk around the garden for a few hours. We ended the night with a surprise car ride though Paris at night. The highlight of that was probably driving around the Arc de Triumphe and witnessing 3 almost car accidents. Very exciting. We topped off the evening with huge amounts of cheesy fondue and then collapsed on the couch.
Day 8: Not much to do before heading to the airport. The last week had gone by much too fast, but there will be other trips...
Then onto the right side of the river to the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries. We finished the day shopping on rue de Rivoli, then raclette back at the house.
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| relaxing at the fountain in the garden |
Day 3: We spent the night before buying tickets online so we could walk right up to the elevator at the Eiffel Tower. And good thing we did, cause it was cold and rainy out. But we didn't let that stop us from taking cheesy pictures and enjoying the view. The rest of the afternoon outside was scrapped to stay inside in the Musee d'Orsay. After a nice coffee and croissant break, we had enough time to go out to where I live in Nogent-sur-Marne. A quick tour of the Institute and the town, and we were back on the train headed to Paul's house.
Day 4: Well, the city was covered in fog, but we still went to the Trocadero for some pictures and a nice crepe. Then onto the Arc de Triomphe, where we explored the roundabout and watched cars. By this time, it was turning a little sunny, and we walked the the Parc de Monceau before getting lunch at an Irish pub. Then we tackled the Champs Elysees for some quick shopping and overwhelming perfume at Sephora.
These croissants were our next stop, Pierre Herme. Where we also tasted his fabulous macaroons while sitting in Place St. Sulpice. Divine afternoon. We walked off the indulgence at the Jardin du Luxembourg, where we were joined by our other friends, Matt and Talia Sanders. After getting some wine for dinner, we headed back.
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| someone got a little tired on the train ride back after a long day |
Day 4: Road trip (details to come)
Day 5: Road trip (details to come)
Day 6: We didn't let the rain deter us from grabbing our umbrellas and heading back into the city for a few more out of the way places. We started at Montmartre to see the Basilique du Sacre Coeur. Before going up though, we got off the metro at Abbesses, which is the lowest metro line in the city and has endless winding stairs to climb up. There is also a fun wall in the square outside where "i love you" is written in all different languages.
After walking through the church and a little of the streets around it, we escaped the pushy salesmen to cross back over town to Rue Mouffetard. It's a pedestrian only street with all sorts of different shops lining it. We had lunch and explored, then stopped for some amazing looking eclairs at deNouvelle. The coffee one was my favorite. Since the rain wasn't letting up, we continued the shopping inside at the Forum des Halles, a big indoor mall. That night we were invited to Matt and Talia's place for Matt's birthday. We had drinks and a make your own pizza set up. It was an interesting mix of Americans, French, and English people.
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| Ryan and Molly enjoying a little espresso with their eclairs. |
Day 7: The last full day in France, we started the morning with church. They were lucky enough to see both Paul and I up front that morning. I got roped into singing, and then Paul was preaching. Molly fulfilled her last goal at lunch when we had escargot and mussels to eat. Then we went to the Chateau de Versailles to walk around the garden for a few hours. We ended the night with a surprise car ride though Paris at night. The highlight of that was probably driving around the Arc de Triumphe and witnessing 3 almost car accidents. Very exciting. We topped off the evening with huge amounts of cheesy fondue and then collapsed on the couch.
Day 8: Not much to do before heading to the airport. The last week had gone by much too fast, but there will be other trips...
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| sad to go |
so Molly, do you recommend the escargot?
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing such a great summary of our trip!! Miss you, xoxo.
ReplyDelete