Bonjour Sweet Friends!
Paris is often called the City of Lights, and rightfully so as it is gorgeous at night; but I call it the city of smiles. Everyone we have met or talked to has been over-the-top friendly and offered help with directions, translating menus and signs, and just offering smiles and air kisses! We have not met one person that was unkind, unfriendly, or otherwise rude. Sometimes when walking the streets of Koln I smile at people and never get a smile back. Here, I always get a smile in return. I love that! I love talking to new people and engaging them in some way. Parisians seems to like it too!
My friend Doc, who I’m living with in Koln, has been to Paris many times and has been uber helpful on our trip. He accompanied me to CDG airport, which is HUGE, to hook up with Rickey Lee who was arriving Saturday morning. It was not an easy hook up since navigating that airport is confusing and time consuming, plus I was having phone trauma and I could not text or call out. After almost an hour and a half, we connected. WOOHOO! But then we had to get from the airport to the main train station in Paris to store our luggage since we were not able to check into our apartment until later. Getting around Paris is easy but very time consuming. The metro system here is very much like New York City so it’s familiar and fairly easy to understand once you’re oriented. But the airports and train stations are a challenge. Thank goodness for my friend Doc who has navigated them many times and knows the ins and outs, literally!
We stored our luggage, bought our Museum Pass and Metro 3-day pass and were off for the Montmartre area to visit Sacre Coeur and the Dali museum. We found a little café just off the metro stop and had lunch first, then began climbing the uphill trek to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur. It is an amazing place and packed full of visitors. We toured the inside, the crypt and then climbed to the top of the dome for a spectacular view of Paris. It was well worth the 300+ steps on the small circular staircase to the top!
Afterwards, we walked through the bohemian area of Montmartre with it’s cafes, art galleries and artists that pack the squares. It’s a beautiful cobblestoned area, but it’s packed with tourists and cheap gift stores. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and did not make it to the Dali Museum before having to leave to make it to our apartment. We had to be at the flat no later than 5 PM to get our key and orientation; and not being that familiar with the train station or metro yet, we wanted plenty of time to retrieve our luggage and find the apartment.
A wise move indeed! It took longer than we expected to find the apartment as it’s sort of out of the central area, which is in the 19th arrondissement close to Buttes-Chaumont park. It’s a quiet area and the park is said to be one of the most beautiful in Paris! We arrived at 4:35 and met Alice who showed us to our flat. She did not speak English, but was very helpful and showed us everything we needed to know. She smiled a lot and communicated the best she could and said if we needed anything just to come to her apartment and knock. At least I think that’s what she said! 🙂
We walked down the street towards the park and stopped at a local pub called Danny Hills, a burger café with outside table across from the park. We decided to have some coffee before going back to the city for dinner. It was here we met Patrick – the world’s biggest Elvis fan! Rickey and I were talking to two other guys and Patrick overheard us say we were from Memphis, Tennessee. He started taking off his leather jacket and then rolled up his sleeve to reveal a huge ELVIS tattoo on his arm. He said he was an huge Elvis fan (uh, yeah!) and that he’d been to Memphis and Graceland, aka Mecca for Elvis fans. Patrick has built a shrine in his apartment to Elvis and his music; he’s even named his two cats Elvis and Aaron (Elvis’ middle name)! I gave him a pack of Elvis matches that I picked up on Beale Street when I was in Memphis and he was thrilled! He insisted on buying our coffee and showing us his apartment and Elvis shrine. So off we went to his apartment, which fortunately was very close. We bid our other friends, one of whom was enormously helpful to me in finding our dinner restaurant, au revoir and started walking to Patrick’s place.
It was literally just down the street and practically next door to our apartment. It was indeed a shrine with tons of Elvis memorabilia everywhere. We met Elvis – the biggest black cat on the planet – and got a glimpse of Aaron who is timid and did not like visitors. Patrick invited us to dinner but we begged off and promised to see him again before we left the area.
Armed with our subway map and my Happy Cow app, we launched out for 42 Degres, a raw, vegan, organic restaurant not too far away. We managed to find it and scored a table outside. The food was amazing! One of my favorite restaurants in Honolulu is Greens & Vines, a raw, vegan place with wonderful food. I especially love their Pad Thai, and so I was delighted when I saw Pad Thai on the menu at 42 Degres. I ordered that and the spring roll. Rickey ordered the veggie tacos and the mushroom “burger.” Everything was fantastic; I mean really good. Rickey even loved it and was hugely surprised at how wonderful raw food could be! The wait staff was super helpful with the menus and even moved us inside when it started to sprinkle. It was a very small place and completely full so scoring a table was true luck!
After some more espresso, we returned to the metro to find our way to Le Marais area to walk around. Along the way, we met a sweet Paris couple on the train who assisted with metro connections (we were on the wrong train!) and an elderly gentleman who on the return trip saw us looking at the map and literally ran over to assist us. He told us he “loved Americans” and everything American, and that he had been to Colorado Springs last year. He was delighted to escort us to our train and hugged and kissed us several times. As our train departed, we saw him standing there waving his arms and blowing kisses to us from the platform.
Now you know why I call it the City of Smiles. Everyone has been uber friendly!! Today’s pix are from Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre area. More pix to come so stay tuned!
Cheers!
Bon Jour, Weezie and Rickey Lee! Glad you’re having so much fun! Wish I were there!! Love, TamTam
Bon Jour Tam Tam!!!! having a super time but with you here it would be spectacular!!! Smooches!!