Tim & Denise Tiner Travels: 2017 Paris, France - Day 1 & 2

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.