Paris Honeymoon: Days 0,1,2,3

The long-awaited Paris Post has arrived!

Day 0:

Riley and I headed home the day after our wedding and got everything in order for our night flight to Paris.

After grabbing a bite to eat and watching a couple episodes of The Office, we made our way to the airport to stow our car in the Park n’ Fly lot. A major mustwhen we travel.

Luckily, our flight was not delayed so, we had a minimal amount of time waiting around past the security checkpoint. Instead, we spent that time waiting in lines! The luggage check line was a little longer than I’m used to, and the security line as well. We made it to the other side with enough time to sit, play Sudoku, and hit up the bathroom a last time before boarding our flight.

We selected our seats months prior to our trip at the suggestion of our travel agent who came with the free round-trip tickets Riley won at his work Christmas party last year. We were as close as one could be to what they call “Option Plus” (aka first class). Pretty sweet deal if you ask me, since it involved next to no bumping and bruising your legs as you walk past dozens of seat rows.

We settled in, it was nearing 10pm at this point, and powered up our individual seat TVs to help us wait for takeoff as everyone else was still boarding. WHAT A SELECTION of newly-released movies and shows! I had planned to sleep through the night flight, so I made a mental note to dive in to Beauty and the Beast and Boss Baby on our flight home!

We popped some gum, and some Melatonin for me, and were ready to take flight. I slept through most of the flight, only waking up whenever the cart arrived bearing our late night/early morning meal and drinks. The ham and brie sandwich hit the spot, let me tell you. My poor Ri-guy husband had a tough time falling asleep and only caught a few Z’s before we landed. It was really exciting at the end of the flight to see the airplane icon on our interactive screen positioned right above the CDG airport label. We were about to arrive at our destination!

First time in Europe for both halves of Ramanda!

Day 1:

We landed and made our way through customs and to the luggage cart. Blessing of all blessings, our luggage had made it! Sighed a huge sigh of relief as I pulled them off the cart.

The journey to our downtown Paris apartment (or flat as the Europeans call it) was a hot one. It was over 30 degrees (Celsius) and climbing and we were in our cozy clothes from the flight. Talk about a sweaty train ride…

We found our location and met with our VRBO host who gave us our keys and the lay of the land. Our “flat” looked bigger in the pictures since the bed was in fact a combo of a Murphy bed and pull-out couch. It was an interesting contraption, but comfortable, so we didn’t mind the confusion. We had everything we needed in our little home away from home to get by for the next week. Except: FOOD!

We decided to venture out to the Chatelet-les-Halles (a short two-minute walk from our place) and hit up the Monoprix (or Monop, as the locals were calling it). The equivalent here in Canada is a Maxi, or Loblaws since they also stock a selection of clothes and a lot of beauty and home products as well as food and WINE!

We came out with a decent haul and made sandwiches for lunch accompanied by our first bottle of French wine. We played some games (such as Monopoly Deal, our classic travel game) and relaxed by taking a cat nap and getting ready for our evening. The time change didn’t hit us too much, but we were definitely tired from the lack of sleep the previous night. We had little eyes we just couldn’t keep open!

We headed to the Louvre that night, a 10-minute walk from where we stayed, and saw the magnificent pyramids in the central courtyard. They were lit up and it was breathtaking. A real “Da Vinci Code moment” that I could barely believe was happening to me after waiting such a long time. The scene did not disappoint.

Knowing we were scheduled to come back for a formal visit on one of our last days in the city, we made our way back “home” and stopped at a quaint café called Louise for some dessert. The chocolate cake and cappuccino were HEAVEN. We even got to meet the famous Louise! Everyone was so friendly and walking the streets at night made it seem like we were in the movie Midnight in Paris, minus all the famous writers…of course.

Day 2:

We woke up after a good night’s rest and were ready for another scorcher in the City of Love!

Our itinerary had us headed in the direction of the Rodin Museum; a long walk from where we were staying. Riley and I decided that throughout our time in Paris, we would make breakfasts in our apartment to allow us to splurge a little more on lunch and dinners as well as souvenirs. After all, we don’t stuff ourselves in the morning anyway, and got full on toast with JAM (for Riley) and coffee. Sometimes Riley had a bonus yogurt as well for kicks. It was a really great decision in my opinion, and so easy since we were surrounded by fresh bakeries and the “Monop”.

After breakfast, we creamed up (sunscreen is a must in our family of two) and made sure to pack a couple Ls of water in our backpack before setting out on our adventures for the day. It was a gorgeous morning!

We finally made it to the Rodin Museum and saw this beaut of a sculpture.

Inside the museum was almost unbearable due to the lack of air conditioning in the building. There were a few fans placed strategically throughout the artwork, but the moment the wind left your body, you were left to soak in the sticky humidity with dozens of other people admiring Rodin’s work. No regrets.

Side bar: There’s something about Riley & I visiting Rodin exhibits… We can never be 100% comfortable! Last time in Montreal, summer of 2015, I had split my toe open on a door frame and Riley had one of the worst summer colds I’d ever heard. We hobbled along through the museum and were completely miserable. Rodin was worth it though. I mean, it’s Rodin….

There was a picturesque garden area just outside the museum where we let our legs rest before heading to our next feat. So many people were taking pictures, reading, studying, and enjoying the atmosphere.

We spontaneously went to ANOTHER museum on day two that was not on our original list. Riley was drawn in by the cannons at the Musée de l’Armée, so we added it to our day’s itinerary! My legs were less than happy about that choice, but when in Paris…

Little did I know, this museum held something for me as well! It had a little Café Angelina in it!! I had read all about the hot chocolate offered at Angelina where you are basically drinking liquid chocolate. The description fit the bill. It was so rich and decadent! I’m glad Riley and I shared a small cup, because there is no way I could have finished one solo mission. The ham and cheese baguette we had was one of my favourite lunches on our trip. Everything was so Paris, so fresh, so yummy!

The museum and café were a nice break from the sun outside. We avoided peak sun hours in the comfort of the COOL buildings. This place had A/C folks, let me tell you. We saw almost every inch of the exhibits… We even got to see Napoleon’s tomb!

When we got home after that long day’s walking (I would have crushed records had I been wearing a step tracker that day…), my husband was BEAT. He fell asleep almost instantaneously for yet another nap, surprise surprise! Naturally, I did what any wife would do when up alone in Paris on her honeymoon: drank white wine, did an eye mask, and listened to Taylor Swift’s new song.

A night in was in store for both of us. We wanted to stay off our feet knowing that the next day would involve, you guessed it, more walking!!

Day 3:

An exciting day ahead of us that was VERY literary themed. We visited the Notre Dame cathedral in search for Quasimodo.

I’m glad I wore a long-sleeve shirt, because on our way in the church, ladies with tank tops or T-shirts were given a piece of material to cover their indecent selves. I wasn’t expecting that, and neither were a lot of the somewhat embarrassed ladies who took the piece of cloth to hide them shameful shoulders! I shouldn’t make fun, but it was a surprise to say the least.

Inside, we arrived just in time for the service (we had no idea) so we saw the heads of the church come out from their quarters. We didn’t stay much longer than that to look around.

It took us a while to find one of the highlights of the trip in my opinion, the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Google Maps with no WiFi was difficult to navigate in that part of town where all the streets are so close together. We finally made it, and had just as difficult of a time finding the one book I wanted: Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame! A kind worker helped us navigate to the Hugo section, which was by the register… of course.

We grabbed a coffee (for me) and a lemonade (for Riley) at the adjoining café before walking further from our apartment to the Luxembourg Gardens. On our way there, we stumbled across STUDIO 5 Bar & Burger restaurant. We were sold at burger, and decided to check it out. We had nachos as an appetizer and they came with a cheese sauce as opposed to real cheese on top. Equally delicious, in our opinion! The burger wasn’t my fave, but it did the job.

Bellies full of burgers and nachos, we arrived at the Jardin du Luxembourg to read our books. There was a small water pool in front of our bench where kids were floating boats. It was so cute! Very Stuart Little of them.

We read for a little bit and then walked back to our apartment for some resting time before our night out at an Irish pub. Our resting time involved a bottle of red wine that Riley cracked open. More card-playing as well.

“Where ever you go around the world you’ll find an Irish pub!” – The High Kings

Ours was called McBrides Irish Pub and it was a one-minute walk from our apartment. Irish beers on tap that we had never tried before were on the menu! Had the bartender lady been a bit nicer, we may have stayed for second pints. She was a crab apple if I’ve ever been served by one! As stereotypical as it sounds, I was picturing a couple of jolly-looking redhead men behind the bar laughing and talking with an Irish accent. Men who serve you and say “Cheers!” with a smile. I realize now how silly that sounds, but nevertheless that was the image I had stored in my head! Guess we’ll have to go to Ireland for that to even be close to true.

To make up for our lack of second-pints, we cracked open another bottle of wine (white this time). After all, we could have got two bottles of wine for the price of a pint anyway… Simple economics.

*The post was getting too long to upload any more pictures, so to continue reading about the rest of the trip, go to Paris Honeymoon: Days 4,5,6,7,8!

#travel