2017 Paris, France - Day 5 - Trip home and summary thoughts.

April 12, 2017

 

After a long day yesterday, I fell right asleep.  But staying asleep was tough the whole trip.  I don’t know why, but I’d wake up and then my brain would not shut off.  So I was able to solve all the world’s problems (in my head) and listen to my wife howl at the moon.  Well…now howling…just deep breathing.  I was so jealous!  J  

 

While Denise was getting ready, I went for a walk down to the little super market on the corner to see what fruit they had.   I found some grapes and bought them.  I also grabbed some Orange Juice too.  As I returned back to the hotel, I also hit the little bakery shop on the corner too.  I will miss that place.  Everything fresh and warm every morning.  So good.  I had to pick up some nut bread and a ‘Pan de Cocolait’….or something like that.

 

We had decided the night before that we would get an Uber car to take us to the airport.  To use the Metro and Train, it would cost some 20 euro for both of us…which is pretty cheap for that distance.  But, we had been underground riding the metro most of the time and felt like we’d like a ‘car ride’ through Paris and it would be worth the price difference.  Uber was 35 euro to get to the airport.   Our flight to Chicago was at 11:15 AM.  So we wanted to be there around 9:15 AM.  We guessed it would be about an hour ride…which it was.  I think Uber said the trip was 54 minutes.  And it was at prime time and busy when in the city.  Once we got on to the freeway heading north out of town to Charles de Gaulle Airport the traffic flowed well.  Anyway, at the hotel, after requesting the Uber ride, Uber would not accept payment on ApplePay or my AMEX card.  As a matter of fact, it did not pay for the ride from the previous day to the temple either.  I still had to pay that.  I had to sit down and enter my new AMEX card as the old one is no longer valid.  ApplePay should have been fine.  So I don’t know why it did not work.  But once I entered my new card, I re-requested the car and the payment worked just fine.

 

The driver was a fairly young man who spoke very little English.  But we made due.  The drive through town was cool.  We even drove through the Arc de Triomphe round.  Amazing experience seeing him do that.  Upon arriving at the International Terminal (Terminal 1), I was amazed at how poorly they handled the ‘queue’ of cars trying to drop people off.  It was interesting that you actually pulled into a parking stall to get out, get your stuff and then get out.  I’ve never seen that at an airport before.  But it worked.  Once inside this round terminal, we walked until we found United.  We had already checked in on our phones which was surprising for an international flight.  We still thought we had to check in with United.  But that was not the case.   A fellow pointed us to the place where we started our journey to get out of France.  You first go through border control.  Then, you walk a long ways out to where the gates are.  But just before getting there, you go through security like we do in the states.  It was different in that security was not close to the check in location.  It was in a totally different building.  That was different.  We made it through OK with about an hour to spare.

 

We easily got seats this time.  This plane was a 767 with a 2 by 3 by 2 seat configuration.  So Denise and I were together, initially.  Looking at my phone, I could see that the seat across from us was not going to be used.  And the middle seat next to it was not used either.  I suggested to Denise to move over there so she could have more space and be more comfortable.  She interpreted that to be that I did not want to sit by her.  Big mistake by me, I guess.  Oh well, next time I will not suggest.  But, it was a comfortable ride home.  I even fell asleep for a couple of hours.   This 767 needed to be retired though.  The screens on the seats were these little 4x4 screens.  They had no movies.  I guess the new 787 Dream Liners have spoiled me.  At least they had some wifi and you could watch movies and TV shows using those.  They also have cool windows where you ‘tent’ the windows to a level you want light to come through.  Lots of neat stuff on those.

 

The trip from Paris to Chicago went by fast, in comparison to the trip there from SFO.  Upon arriving to ORD, we went quickly to our gate in Concourse C.  As I sat down, I loaded the app to see what chances we had to get on.  It did not look very good.  But I noticed that a direct flight to SLC, in concourse B, had been delayed 3 hours.  And it showed more seat availability.  So, we made the decision to list ourselves on that direct flight and forego the flight to Denver that we thought we needed to take.  That turned out to be a good decision.  And although the flight did not leave until 4 PM, we arrive in SLC at 6:30 PM…much earlier than had we gone through Denver.  Plus, for us, it is cheaper that way having flown less legs.  So the flight home from Paris to SLC went very, very well!  So pleased…

 

Some last thoughts about Paris…..

 

Public transportation is really easy to use.  You can buy a block of tickets (10 minimum) for 1.40 euro.  They are 1.90 otherwise per ticket.  I made the mistake of buying two blocks of 10.  We ended up not using 8 of them.  I donated them to our Uber driver as a tip, even though he said he did not use the metro at all.  He said he would give them to his friends.  Maybe I should have just kept them.  I have no idea what the shelf life of them are.  Oh well.  Moral to the story, don’t over buy if you can avoid it.  Use the RER B train to get to the Rue de Nord Train station and then figure out the metro from there.  Once you pay for the RER, the metro transfers are included.  Cost 10 euro per person to do that.  Don’t try to drive in Paris.

 

Paris is huge.  So much to see and do.  Honestly, 3 days is not enough to even touch it if you are a museum and art lover.  People come alive around 8 PM.  The restaurants are full at 9 PM.  At 6 or 7, very easy to sit down and eat.  Lines to sites are LONG!  Plan on that.  I was amazed at the length of lines we had to stand in.  Look for ways to get tickets in advance or with tour groups.  Get a hotel near a metro station.  Makes your life easier.  We really enjoyed being out by the Eiffel Tower.  That worked out well.

 

Our hotel ‘Hotel Relais Bosquet’ was really nice.  The rooms, naturally, are not big.  Our room was newly remodeled and very modern.  It had plenty of space.   The hotel does offer a nice breakfast in the morning.  It sounded like if you booked the hotel from their Facebook page, it was included in the price.  We did not get that since I booked through Booking.com.  It would have cost 16 euro person.  My chocolate croissant each morning was a lot cheaper from the corner bakery.

 

The food is very good there and it is everywhere near where we stayed.  I suspect that is the case near most metro stops.  The bakeries we found were awesome.  I’d weigh a ton if I Iived near one of them here in the states. 

 

I found the people very kind.  Those that would look me in the eye would usually respond nicely to my inquiries.

 

We had great weather.  It was in the 70’s the first day…quite warm.  It gradually got cooler each day.  But still, it was beautiful.  Great to go to Paris in spring time.

 

What can I say…another great trip and another country to add to my group of flags in my office!

No pictures at this point.....

2017 Paris, France - Day 4 - Versailles Palace, France LDS Temple and the Moulin Rouge.

April 11, 2017 - Versailles Palace, LDS Temple

Before I jump into today, a couple of interesting stories that occurred last night.  

First, while buying tickets at the Eiffel Tower, the fellow in the kiosk asked where we were from.  When we told him Utah, he responded saying his sister lived in Utah.  We asked where...but he could not remember.  So while selling the tickets to us, he called her!  Made me laugh.  Turns out his sister lives in Centerville.  Small world.

Second, turns out we have some grocery stores nearby.  We went in to one looking for some stuff.  I wanted some low cal, low fat chocolate milk (does that exist?).  They had everything but cold milk.  Now, I found some stuff that said it was milk on the shelf not cold.  I was going to buy some but Denise came over and told me it was baby formula.  I said it was milk.  She said it was impossible that milk had to be refrigerated.  I don't know...it looked like milk to me.  What is your vote?

I slept until 4:30 AM this morning and then stared at the ceiling until about 7 AM.  Crazy...feeling it now.  We got ready and headed out around 9 AM to the Palace at Versailles.  We had to use a metro and catch the RER C train.  It was pretty crowded.  After landing in Versailles about 40 minutes later, we followed the crowd like good sheep to the palace.  I could not believe what I saw.  There were thousands of people there making a line that went about 250 yards 10 times!  And it was going slowly.  This was the line for those who had tickets!  We did not.  So we split up.  Denise stayed in that line and I went to the ticket line.  I was afraid that we would never see each other again!  I stood in line for about 30 minutes when I noticed a 'Cash Machine' line.  I wondered what the lines looked there.  So I asked someone behind me if I could check it out and come back.  When I got to the machines in the other room...no one was using them!  So I thought, what the heck?  I put in my credit card, selected 2 tickets and paid for them in about 30 seconds.  I was amazed.  I went back to my place in line and told people to use the machines if they have a card.  Then I left.

As I left the ticket office, I looked out across the sea of humanity.  I'd never find Denise in that.  The line was like a snake...going down from the palace and back up towards the palace.  It did this at least 10 times.  I decided to go to the head of the snake and wait until Denise came to the head portion.  It took about 30 minutes, but finally she showed up.  She was mad and thought  should have been walking the snake until I found her.  No way was I doing that.  But...we found each other.  It took over 2 hours standing to finally get in the 1 set of double doors to get in that silly building.  By then, I had lost interest and the desire to see anything was gone.  But I pressed on with a smile on my face <not!>.  The Palace was like most of that day.  Pretty ornate with a lot of 'rich' overkill.  I'm amazed in their ability to over do back then.  Pretty similar today I suppose among the rich and famous.

After a couple of hours, we headed out of the palace to 'walk' to the new LDS Temple that is about to be dedicated later this month.   I had taken a picture of a map showing how to get there.  But it was not good.  And as we started walking, we quickly knew we were in trouble.  We were hungry.  It seemed like it was a long ways away.  We sat down at a bus stop hoping it would show a way there.  But nothing.  It was decision time...turn on my cell phone, pay $10 for the day to use it and then fetch Uber.  We did just that.  Worked like a champ.  For 5 euro, we were there in 5 minutes.  When we arrived at the temple, it sits right on the street.  There is no fence that goes around like many.  The temple doors go out to the street.  But. There were people in suits standing on the street.  It was VIP day at the temple and they were hosting folks of that status to come and see the temple.  They fellow that saw us get out of the car, came over and asked if we had been invited which we had not.  He then said that we could wait another 1.5 hours and we could get a tour.  We said...that is kind of long and probably not.  But we talked our way in to go see the grounds.  As we did that, a young lady who was an usher came over and guided us to an information desk where they said a couple would come and take us through speaking English.  It was Elder and Sister Woods from AZ.  They are to direct the Temple Visitor center there and had only been in Versailles two weeks.  He was a former Mission President of the Baton Rouge, LA mission in the states.

The temple is BEAUTIFUL.  The stained glass in there was amazing.  Represents the beauty of France very well.  I'm sure this gift to the Lord will be well accepted by Him and greatly used by his children in this part of His vineyard.

In the garden area, a Christus that is an exact match of the one in Denmark stands.  It is wonderfully done.  It is so beautiful standing there.  The young lady told us that the day it arrived, the locals upon first seeing it said that the Mormons brought Christ there.  They were right!

After seeing the temple, the Woods had a young lady that they were taking to the train station.  They asked us if we wanted a ride.  We said sure.  I hope this guy is a good Visitor Center Director...better than he can drive a clutch car.  I now have whiplash as a result of his crazy driving!  :-)  

We made it back to the hotel around 6 pm.  We quickly ran and got some food.  We were starving as we had not eaten since our bakery run before leaving for the day.  We ended up in a Diner just down from our hotel.  It was ok.  Pretty overpriced.  But we were fed burgers, fish and chips.  We came back to the hotel.  I quickly listed us on flights for tomorrow and packed a bit.  Denise did some packing too.  Then, with a number of metro tickets in our hand, we decided to run take some pictures of the Devils workshop... The Moulin Rouge for our daughter Ashley.  It was easy to find.  It was in a fairly seedy area.  We came up out of the metro.  It was right there.  We snapped some pictures.  And then headed back into the metro and back to our hotel.  I think we did the round trip thing in about 50 minutes.

Well, our trip is complete.  Off to the airport tomorrow we will go. I will not blog again for this trip unless something really crazy happens.  I hope it doesn't.  It has been a great trip.  Really fast for a place like Paris.  It is SOOOO big with SOOOO much to see.  We'll have to come again.

Pictures:

Our hotel...it was small, but nice. Well located.

Sheep following each other to the palace....

The crowds weaving like a snake trying to get in....

The single little door where the thousands entered...crazy!

Palace golden gates....

Us in front of the palace...

Lots of art about Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV....

The mirror room.  This one was pretty....

The grounds were beautiful....and huge!

This is the part of the temple facing the street.  The entrance doors are in the lower left hand corner down the street.  We entered by the Visitors Center.

Plaza outside the temple...taken from where the Christus stands.

The plaza....

The Christus....

In the Visitors Center, they have a replica of the temple and its inside....

The temple is full of etched glass with beautiful flowers grown in France.

Another etched glass on a wall....

Happy couple....

Amigos de Mexico en el tren...

Bakery stop!

Waiting for another metro train to take us to the Moulin Rouge...

Us there...nothing spectacular.  Devil's workshop... :-)

2017 Paris, France - Day 3 - Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and back to Eiffel Tower.

April 10, 2017 - Paris, France - Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and back to Eiffel Tower!

Where do I start....now about midnight!  That is when my body decided to are up and stare at the ceiling.  We were asleep by 8 PM.  So I ended up awake at midnight.   Denise eventually woke up and wondered why I was awake.   I had not reason.  I think I saw 4 AM roll around before I finally dozed off again.  Crazy.

While Denise was getting ready, I mapped our entire day out relative to using the metro.   My plan worked well.  We started off by going to the metro nearest us.   And naturally, we made our first mistake right out of the gate.  We entered on to the platform on the wrong side.  And naturally, this was the only metro stop where you had to exit the metro to get to the other side.  The turnstile there would not take our ticket.  But...there was a lady in a booth there.  We explained what happened and she graciously just let us in.  So it worked out.  Would have cost us 4 euros...whooh!    :-). 

Off we went to the Louvre.  I had searched the best way to get tickets.  And most folks said to use the Tabac in the mall area where the metro lets you off.  We did that and getting the tickets, for a few extra euros was really fast.  However, upon going topside where the famous triangle is to enter, the line for those with tickets was extremely long.  I think it took about an hour to get inside.  The fellow in front of us, well you know me, I struck up a conversation wit him.  He told us that he and his wife were there at 9 AM and no one was there.  Unfortunately, he had left his pass back at his hotel.  By the time he got back, the line had formed.  He was worried that his wife would think he had died or something.  Anyway, I offered my phone so he could text her.  He tried.  But we got no response.  She was waiting patiently when we go in.  

The Louvre...crazy large museum.  If you laid it all out in a single line, you would have to walk 8 MILES to see it all.  We were there two hours seeing the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, The Sphynx, and lots of other paintings and statues of various undress.  Those people must have never worn clothing...not even in battles!  It was actually quite fun to see 2 hours worth of the exhibits.

After the Louvre, we headed off to go to Notre Dame (remember the Hunch Back of Notre Dame?....I did not see him.). Anyway, in trying to get there, naturally the subway line we needed to connect with was not running.  They had lots of military police packing lots of heat there for some reason.  They told us to go catch the RER B line to St. Michaels stop.  That worked out great after a little walking.

Before heading into the Notre Dame cathedral, we searched out some lunch to eat.  We went down a little alley way where I saw a sign saying 'Crepes'.  We had to go in.  It was a small place that was tended to buy a guy and his wife.  We got in just in time before it filled up and they started turning people away...from sitting down and taking out.  The crepes were yummy.  I had one that had egg, Swiss cheese and ham in it.  Denise had one with cooked apples, homemade chocolate sauce and powdered sugar.  Naturally we split.  I now have some new ideas when I make crepes at home.  

Notre Dame cathedral was impressive.  Beautiful stained glass and lots statues of Christ, Saints and Popes.  Very dark, however.  And lots of opportunities to light candles and donate 2 euros.  That apparently will cause your prayer to hang around longer in case God is deaf or not listening at the time.  At one point, they had a place where a priest was hearing confessionals.   Only this was not behind 'closed' doors.  They were glass doors.  And from what I could tell, the fellow who was confessing as I walked by..and the priest...we're having a jolly good time!  Smiling and laughing they were.  His sins must of been transgressions only...nothing too deep.

After leaving the cathedral, we headed out to find the metro.  We went back to where we came in...but you could not get in.  So we started walking around the block.  We asked people and some just looked at us with blank stares.  We finally went into a post office and the lady there directed us to it.  The map I had was not even close.

Off we went to the Arc de Triomphe.  That was pretty cool.  I think we counted 14 streets piling into the one round-a-bout.  I swear I saw almost 3 wrecks where people who were on the inside were trying to get out and exit.  It was crazy.  The Arc was pretty neat.  We thought it would be better to see at night and thought we might come back and pay to go up it.  But, we did not come back because our time, later, at the Eiffel Tower took too much time.

After the Arch, we headed back to our hotel for a quick stop.  But I have to tell you that Denise's bladder started to give way.  So entering the metro, we asked a lady if they had any 'Toilets' nearby.  She thought there was one open and pointed to the left.  We headed over there.  Sure enough..it was open.  Denise pressed the open button and the door swung open.  Oh my heck, a poop bomb had gone off in that place.  Disgusting.  But when one has to go, one has to go.  When Denise came out, I told her that was how people die from crazy diseases.  I have no idea how she did it.

After about an hour or so at our hotel, we headed back out again to get some dinner.  I had quickly looked to see where some recommended eateries were nearby.  There are lots.  We went to an Italian place called Gusto Italia.  It was really quite good.  Denise went with the Carbonnara...I went with a 4 cheese pizza.  My pizza was the soupiest pizza I've ever had.  But....really, really good.  Denise loved the Carbonnara too.  

At this point, I have to go back to the beginning of our day.  We were complaining on Sunday that it did not appear that there were any bakeries nearby.  Well, this morning, upon coming out of our hotel, no less than 20 yards from our door was the BEST bakery!  We loaded up on pastries for breakfast.  They were the best.  Pasteries in Puerto Vallarta were dog food compared to these.  And we loved Puerto Vallarta's pastries!.  

When dinner was ending, they asked if we wanted dessert.  We shipishly said 'No' as we knew we had some pretty good stuff waiting for us!

Lastly, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to get in the 'queue' to purchase tickets to take the elevator all the way to the top.  I think it took over an hour to get a ticket.  The sun was starting to set.  By the time we got to the top, it was dark and it was COLD!  Denise only had a thin sweater.  She was freezing.  It was a beautiful site up there.   I'm glad I went.  Paris is a HUGE city...and very pretty at night.  By the time we came down, it was after 9 PM and too late to take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe to see it at night.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

It was a really good day.  Things worked out really well.  More to do tomorrow and then Wednesday...long flight home.  Yuk!  Until then!

Pictures:

Beginning the day the right way!

The famous Louvre Pyramid...

The long 'queues' at the Louvre entrance...

Mona Lisa...still on the wall.

Nobody wore clothes back then!!!

I think this is Venus de Milo....but what do I know.

The Sphynx and Denise....

Notre Dame Cathedral....

Lots of cool stained glass...

Police and military were everywhere....

Arc de Triomphe....

A tired soldier....

We loved the facial expression of the person at the top...

Seine River from the Eiffel Tower mid-platform...

Top of Eiffel Tower...

Not sure what building this was...many were lit up like this.

Eiffel Tower at night....

Home at last.....

A great way to close a fun day out....

2017 Paris, France - Day 1 & 2 - Travel and Eiffel Tower

April 8 & 9, 2017 - Paris, France

Another Tiner quick trip is unfolding.  Denise and I have talked about going to Paris, France for a very long time.  And against all our reasoning, we still decided to try and fly stand by during Spring Break weeks.  No pain...no gain I guess.  Denise's poor parents, after completing a Caribbean cruise, was trying to fly home the same day (Saturday) that we were leaving.  They did not even come close to getting a seat.   As a matter of fact, they are paying high dollar to get out of Miami today (Sunday).  

For us, we went to the airport at a reasonable time for once.  We thought we had no chance getting to SFO where our only chance to get to Paris would be.  We listed ourselves as backups to fly to Denver or Houston, just to get out of SLC if we did not get on to SFO.  Well, Denver started calling our name out to give us a pass.  So I went over to the gate and told the fellow that we were hoping to get on SFO and asked him to wait.  He was very kind and said 'sure'.  As I walked back to the SFO gate, they called our names out.  Apparently 5 seats just came available to SFO and we were #'s 4 and 5.  I gave a thumbs up to the Denver gate agent and he gave me the same sign back.  So off we went to SFO.

In SFO, we arrived at 1 PM'ish and the flight to CDG (Paris) was to leave at 2:50.  There were lots of seats available and it was pretty sure that we would get on.  So we sat down and searched Paris for a hotel fairly close to the Eiffel Tower.  Denise did not want to do AIRBNB.  So I did not even look at that.  We found a hotel that seemed to be in the area we wanted.  It was a little bit more than I would have liked to pay.   But what the heck.  We booked.  But I swear, the moment I hit 'Book', they announced that our flight would be delayed.  And...since the plane was not at the gate, I started to get uneasy.  All for not though, we got tickets, the plane showed up and we left about 4:15 PM.

Naturally, we got middle seats.  But at least they were in Economy Plus.   The gal next to me...and I'm not exaggerating...went to the bathroom right before we left...then put eye shades on and did not wake up until 30 minutes out from Paris.  I'm not kidding.  The fellow on my other side was from Beirut, Lebanon but has lived in the states for 40+ years.  He now lives in San Ramon, CA.  He was a very interesting fellow.  He owns many Optometry centers in the East Bay.  He was quite wealthy.  He showed me pictures of homes and yachts that were friends of his where he and his family vacationed.  Pretty amazing stuff.  Anyway, neither of us slept.  Denise did not sleep either.  I watched a couple of movies and then just tried to sleep. No luck.  These long flights are for the birds.

We arrived in Paris around 11:30 AM.  It was about 10 hour flight once in the air.  Customs, in my opinion, were pretty benign.  Not much checking of anything.  But the line for non-EU folks was really long.  It took a good 20+ minutes to get through that.   We then headed off to get to the RER B train.  To do that, we had to take a train from Terminal 1 to 3.  But prior to boarding, we bought 2 RER B tickets and then about 15 euros each of Metro tickets for use the next couple of days.  The RER B train took us to the central train station Gare du Nord.  There we had to find the metro that would take us to Gare de l'este Station....one stop away.  That was our first mistake.  We got off there but then quickly realized we needed to go 2 more stops.  So we waited only a few minutes for the next train.  We made the next connection and then got off near the Eiffel Tower.  We now were searching for our hotel.  It was supposed to be close.  But when you look at a map and then come out of a metro and see streets going everywhere, it gets confusing.  So before I went to my GPS, I asked a few people on the street where our hotel's street was.  It took about 3 asks...and then someone used their GPS to give us directions.  We then got to the street and I could not remember the hotel name.  I scrambled to find my email telling me the info...and being tired...I just kept over looking it.  I thought I had deleted the email.  Fortunately Denise had the complete address and name and we were standing about 20 yards from it. :-)

We put our luggage into our room, and then headed out to see Paris and the Eiffel Tower.  It was about 3 PM by then.  The park and the tower were pretty close.  Lots of people out enjoying the sunny, 70+ degree day here.  It is a pretty cool thing to see and walk under.  We plan to walk back there at night and possibly go up it then.  We'll see.

After walking around for about 2 hours, we stopped at a Cafe and had dinner (Cafe Constant).  It was pretty yummy.  We thought we'd have a bakery on every corner.  WE have yet to see a bakery by itself yet.  We'll keep looking.

We're both really tired.  It will be an early night for us.  Enjoy the pictures and keep us in your prayers as we conquer more of Paris tomorrow!

Pictures:

Started the trip well by leaving my coat in the airplane.  First time I've disembarked out on to the Tarmac at SFO.  I'm waiting for the coat to be retrieved.

Either excited to be on the metro in Paris or just plain crazy....not sure which.

Our 'selfie' photos all have us looking like we are in pain.  Our eyes were tired and we left sun glasses back at the hotel.  Big mistake....this is Denise getting a bucket list item off the list.

Too much sun!

Pretty impressive tower it is.  We hope to climb it later in the week.

You can go underneath the tower and there, at each leg, they will sell you the ability to take a tram to the platform area or all the way to the top.  11 Euros gets you to the platform...17 gets you all the way to the top.

Looking up in the inside of the Tower...

The river Seine...

River cruises coming and going....

What it looked like while walking back to the hotel....