France
Paris 12 Ancien - Quartier Saint-Jacques

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    • Day 3

      Galleries Lafayette and the Blue Line

      August 19, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Up off the grass and off to catch the bus to Galleries Lafayette (the shopping centre) and I end up getting lost trying to enter The Opera Garnier. We didn't end up going in though as I thought it does not really catch my interest. Let me know if it is worthwhile please?

      I asked a young female how do we get to the dome in the shopping centre. The look on her face reminded me very quickly that I am not in my own country. I forgot to speak French, can you imagine?? 😂 She pointed right then left. So off we trot. She soon enough tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the correct entry doors, which weren't where I thought she'd said.

      Inside is like a massive exquisite Myer, In the middle is the glorious dome. Very pretty. Athena was impressed. We headed to the rooftop for a coffee. Go up the top, it's free, you can see all of Paris from up here.

      Our Big Bus tour has a 'Blue Line' which drives around Montmartre main streets. Whilst waiting for the bus I popped into a lindt shop. Athena wasn't coming in with me until she saw them hand me a lindt ball. Then straight in behind me she followed.

      Martin was our guide, he stood in front of us up the top and spoke in English. He shared all the quaint details of getting around Paris and the buildings history.

      We passed the sex shops, Moulin Rouge, Nord Gare station, Sacre Couer. Great idea to sit up in the open air and be ferried around the city.

      Once back at Notre Dame I decided to make sure Athena could find her way back to our hotel. I made her read a map and remember the street names to follow and cross. I pointed out any landmarks. Then shut up to let her lead. She did well mostly. She is not too great with following directions.

      For dinner I spied Athena's massive hoop earrings she brought along. I asked if I could wear them (to show her how ridiculously too big they are)

      So big hoop earrings on, Athena lost the plot laughing at me. She told me that they suited her as her head was bigger. She advised me she wouldn't be seen with me in public wearing them. I said ditto. So she agreed not to wear them.

      We were stuffed, so to the corner restaurant for steak tatare, soup and a wine. We are eating bread constantly here. Night!
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    • Day 2

      In a Paris cafe eating onion soup!

      August 18, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      So thankful to arrive at Charles De Gaulle at 3.00PM. Baggage took a while. Our transfer taxi was lovely.

      Overcast and a humid 23 degrees in Paris today. Our hotel is Le M Saint Germain.
      The room is perfect and the first thing I see is a balcony, my favourite thing in any hotel. I step out amongst the zinc roofs and look out onto those fabulous sandstone buildings. Am very thankful. Paris is gorgeous.

      Athena spies a lovely gift from Amanda (our travel agent, such a blessing, go see her at Berwick Travel) Colourful French macaroons. They were great with a tea, thanks Amanda.

      After a much needed shower and mobile charge, we head out for a stroll towards the Seine.

      I spy the Pantheon at the end of our street so we head up that way. I discover we are walking the wrong direction, whoops 🤭 The Notre Dame is the other way!! We stroll past beautiful cafes full of diners and head back for the river. The streets are full of tourists.
      The Notre Dame is closed off and we see the fire damage and works being done. Grateful that we had both already visited inside four years ago. We were shocked when we heard the news.

      We walk up to Saint Chappel church and Athena looks longingly at a beautiful restaurant. So, we take a table, order onion soup and a 'chardy' and settle in.
      Half way through dinner, I realise that, this is it! Sitting outside a beautiful Paris cafe, watching people walk by, drinking wine with my beautiful friend! This was my absolute wish for my birthday.
      Dream big I say, with some effort, they come true!
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    • Day 11

      Tour de France @Paris part deux 😜

      July 30, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Nochmal kurz quer durch Paris, um letzte Souvenirs zu kaufen, den Louvre, die Champs-Elysees, den Toure Eiffel und vieles mehr zu verabschieden, letzte Fotos zu machen und den Füßen zu zeigen wo das Tageslimit ist 😂😂😂

      Von der Piratenflagge am Boot inspiriert, musste dann auch noch passend im Weingummiladen aus Fässern genascht werden...und auch der letzte Einkauf war ein kleiner Schatz. 😉

      Und nach einem letzten Café dann ab zum nächsten Ziel - 4:20min bis Luxembourg - bonne voyage!✌️!
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    • Day 4

      From here to there and back again

      September 16, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

      Walked a HUGE loop from our hotel in the Latin Quarter to the Eiffel Tower, then crossed the Seine to the Arc de Triomphe. Stopped by Saint Sulpice first to confess our sins before heading to Deyrolles to see what’s new in the taxidermy world and take illicit photos. (The priest said we were covered.)

      Picked up sandwiches on Rue Cler for a picnic at Champs du Mars, spent some time examining the rivets under the Tower before trotting over to the Arc and the Tomb of the Unknowns.

      Walked back via the Champs Élysées, waved to the Macrons as we walked past the presidential residence, popped in to Angelina’s for delicious chocolats chauds and some excellent people watching, then tiptoed through the Tuileries, past the Orsay and the Louvre, across Ponte des Artes back to our hotel. Phew!
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    • Day 39

      Le Petite Prince de Paris

      June 10, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      We began our Insight tour of France tonight with dinner at a little restaurant, Le Petite Prince de Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It was terrific and a great start to the tour. There are 30 of us and only 6 Aussies, so it will be interesting. The rest are Americans and Canadians and a couple of Kiwis.Read more

    • Day 2

      Off to Paris🇫🇷

      May 25, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      Was für ein Tag…
      Der Weg nach Paris führte uns durch malerisch schöne Landschaften und Weinberge. Der Weg aus der Champagne war kurzweilig und entspannt- ganz im Gegenteil zum Verkehr innerhalb der Stadt. Für die letzen 15 km haben wir knapp eine Stunde gebraucht, ist nichts für Fahranfänger und Angsthasen. 😂
      Nachdem wir unser Hotel bezogen haben, hatten wir uns das Mittagessen redlich verdient.
      Das Restaurant Kong ist eine absolute Empfehlung, in einer mega Lage 👍🏼
      Danach war Sightseeing und ein bisschen Stadtbummel angesagt. 18.891 Schritte später sind wir müde, aber überglücklich ins Bett gefallen.
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    • Day 1

      Hotel Jardin de Cluny

      October 8, 2019 in France ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      It seems like only two weeks ago since we were last here. Oh it IS only two weeks since we were last here! Some Cream on the journey as Ginger Baker died this week. And we are staying in my favourite hotel. Life is good!Read more

    • Day 2

      Portland to Paris

      September 14, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

      Crossed a bunch of time zones, ate unspecified meals at random times, watched 4 movies, and saw the sun rise over Reykjavik. After riding 2 planes, one bus, several escalators, two elevators, and one very crowded train we ended up in Paris. (We conquered several flights of stairs as well.)

      Checked in to the lovely Hôtel du College de France on the left bank, then wandered along the Seine for a bit hoping to reset our biorhythms. Peeked inside St Séverin church (built between the 12th-17th century with some cool abstract stained glass added in the 18th) before heading over to check out the progress on Notre Dame. She’s looking good for her age. Snacked on pretzels and a banana in lieu of a real dinner and fell into bed. G’night everybody.
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    • Day 3

      Sad trombone

      September 15, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

      Was really excited to go on one of the Paris street art walking tours today. Somehow we managed to underestimate how long it would take us to get to the meeting spot and arrived 9 minutes late. Missed the tour. 🫤Read more

    • Day 3

      Embrace the jetlag

      September 15, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

      Despite missing the street art tour, today wasn’t a total bust. We actually got up and out at a reasonable hour, grabbed a pain au chocolat and headed over to Le Jardin des Plantes (botanical garden affiliated with the Sorbonne, adjacent to the Paris zoo). At the far edge of the garden there’s a cool little carousel, the Dodo Manege, which features extinct and critically endangered animals such as the eponymous Dodo, all sporting cute little saddles on their backs. Who wouldn’t want to ride a thylacine? I sure would. Unfortunately the carousel was undergoing repairs so I didn’t get to.

      Then we walked over to the Luxembourg Gardens where we had a picnic lunch and cozied up to various Medici monuments.

      This leads us to the sad part of today when we missed the tour we had booked. See previous post. Two metro rides, two screwed up metro passes, lots of running, and a couple wrong turns = disappointment. Luckily for Jim Morrison we ended up very near his final resting place at Père-Lachaise cemetery so we popped in for a visit. He says hello. Didn’t have any chewing gum with me so I didn’t add to the disgusting stick-your-gum-on-the-tree ritual, nor did I kiss Oscar Wilde’s tomb. Saw zero feral cats. Odd.

      Had dinner at Le Coup de Torchon, an actual French restaurant,.There are tons of them here, way more than at home. Very good food and somehow the bill was far lighter than we expected. As my French is rather sketchy I decided not to argue with the owner about being so dreadfully undercharged. We paid and raced out the door just in case.

      G’night everyone.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Paris 12 Ancien - Quartier Saint-Jacques, Sainte-Geneviève

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