Autumn in Paris

Old Oct 18th, 2014, 04:59 PM
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Autumn in Paris

Here goes my attempt at writing a trip report. This could abruptly end at anytime just as a heads up.

So we finally got to do most of the things we had wanted to do this trip that we didn't have time to do on our first trip. I forgot the Marmottan again, darn. I need to be more organized. My brain tends to be mush in Paris. When we first went last year, we got the 6 day museum pass and I felt guilty that we only used it 4 times. This trip, we once again bought the 6 day museum pass but went to 13 museums. A much impressive improvement. A drive-by overview and we loved it. Will definitely go back for more in-depth.

The Rodin was beautiful. And I couldn't get enough of the L'Orangerie...too bad we only had an hour before closing. That's definitely one I will return to and take hours breathing in all the wonderful art. We went to the Arab Museum and I really should have followed my Fodors Best Travel Tip when I got cranky and became completeley impatient. I saw a gigantic torpedo at the Maritime Museum!

I discovered my current fleeting favorite... the Architecture Museum - it's the one with all the amazing replicas and that super cool apartment unit in Montmarte. We also went back to St Chapelle and of course it was as breathtakingly stunning just as I remembered it. I must report that by the end of Sept, half was still in scaffolding. Renovation 2008-2014. This means it will be up the next time we're there, excited for that. I prayed about a certain thing to change about Codes...the only thing really that bugged me enough to pray that hard....and just like magic it was resolved. St Chapelle has super powers.

The loveliest favorite moment was seeing the same man I saw the previous year at the same restaurant, at the same hour, in the same month, drinking the same thing and wearing the same clothes...a suit. The best part? We smiled at each other.

This is now becoming a diary so I will just keep writing. There was also that day when codes pissed me off so much I walked out on him, went to a cafe and sipped one small glass of rose for 3 hours. It was all I walked out with. On my early morning walk, I shared all of Notre Dame with 8 other people... if you don't count the small group attending french mass contained in the very front surrounding the alter. We outsmarted Versailles and it outsmarted us back. I will never forget our 6 hour sunset dinner at le Georges sitting at a lovely table under the perfect Parisian sky. There are many more. I will arrange my jumbled notes from my mushed brain in Paris and share as I go. I just needed to get something out to get the ball rolling...
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Old Oct 18th, 2014, 05:32 PM
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Sounds wonderful. I'm so excited for my fourth trip to Paris next year. I am especially excited for the Rodin Museum as I've never been. Also looking forward to L'Orangerie.
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Old Oct 18th, 2014, 05:41 PM
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Took 5 trips for me to get to the Marmottan but worth it once you do! Will look for your next entry.
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Old Oct 18th, 2014, 06:50 PM
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I think it was on trip #8 that we finally got to The Marmottan and it is now on my favorites list. Make sure you get there next trip.

Your enthusiasm is contagious and I wish I was in Paris right now. I will look forward to the details of your wonderful adventure.
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Old Oct 19th, 2014, 04:54 AM
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We were in Paris at the same time you were there so I am looking forward to reading more.
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Old Oct 19th, 2014, 05:00 AM
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TESSOETOES, enjoying your impressions and enthusiasm. Love Paris...
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Old Oct 19th, 2014, 12:19 PM
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Happy to see you liked the Cité de l'Architecture museum. It seems like many people who post trip reports here don't mention it, but I think it's one of the best museums in the city.
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Old Oct 19th, 2014, 02:56 PM
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tessotoes....waiting to hear more of your memories of Paris, especially who or what is codes...inquiry minds...well my mind anyway...needs, ok not needs...wants to know
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Old Oct 19th, 2014, 08:22 PM
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Codi (codes for short) is my man!

Glad you're reading. What is it about Paris that makes us keep coming back.

We couldn't wait to get to Paris and relax. It's been a busy year and we both needed a vacation. Planning for this trip gave us an exciting thing to look forward to. Booked in the Spring to leave in the Fall.

Fast forward two seasons and we're officially in Paris... Charles de Gaulle. We were forced to check in our carry ons because we lagged getting on the plane and they ran out of overhead space. We lost track of time in the Prague Citigold lounge eating crabcake sandwiches and drinking champagne! That was a great Codi perk. They even have their own security line.

I spent a lot of time rolling, squishing and contorting our belongings transforming them to their tiniest versions to avoid checking in, so when we got to baggage claim, we were relieved to see them forcefully spat out on the carousel. Codes ordered UberPop using the free internet at the airport as soon as we retrieved our bags. The car arrived in 5 minutes; it was nearing midnight. We were happy to bypass the long cab line when a small Renault showed up on the curve.

Our driver spoke limited words of English that rivaled my limited words of French. When he said he was from Barcelona, we chatted in Spanish. I always love putting four years of high school Espanol to good use even years later. When I asked if he liked living in Paris, he said Yes, it is great for romance, nice museums, beautiful architecture pero la gente... muy frio. Here we go again with le frio French. We later found out his wife was from Paris and was French, but apparently the "caliente" kind.

We hit a lot of unusual traffic closer to the airport due to construction I didn't even see. We were at a total stop. The cars next to us had people getting out and yelling in frustration. I've never seen this in Paris. To pass the time, Barcelona asked, "Te gusta caramelo?" I replied, "Si". He then got out of the car in the middle of traffic and began searching deep in the trunk! He came back and handed me a large container of gummy candies and apologized for the traffic as if it were his fault.

Ecstatic but quite exhausted, we finally got to our apt on Rue St Paul. Door to door, 38 euros. This was an apt in the 4th arrondissement I found on VRBO. When I saw it on the site, it was only available for Sept and had no reviews, which are usually very important to us. He lived in the apt year-round but was going on vacation on the Caribbean so he decided to rent it. After weeks of back and forth emailing with the owner, we decided to take a chance and booked it for three weeks. The studio came out to $80/night and we were about to find out if that was a good decision.
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 01:27 PM
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So there we were standing in front of the building. Suddenly, the location looked familiar. I remembered the narrow alleys and boutique shops from last year's meandering. I knew there's a Monoprix down the road which was one of the things on my "Should we rent this apt PROS" list, not to mention Amorino being so walking distance; Notre Dame to satisfy my fixation, St Chapelle for more prayers, and Place des Vosges to simply sit and reflect. We previously stayed in the 7th so we had to "commute" to the center but now we can just walk and criss cross the islands to revisit these places throughout our stay.

We entered the numbers on the code box and the large gate door opened. Proceeded to feel our way into the pitch black courtyard looking for the buzzer. Activated the flashlight app on our phone and found it on the wall. Pressed it and the lobby door buzzed then opened. We were greeted by the owner's contact and we followed him up an old, wooden, spiraling staircase that felt like eternity.

One... two... three --pause--
four...five --rest--
six. The 6th floor landing had a small fountain with a snippet on the wall where you can attach a hose, how interesting.

Six long flights of uneven, creaking stairs. We packed light but we were totally out of breath by the time we got to the top. Geez, this terrace better be worth it.

We walked in to the studio and it was much smaller than the pictures, as we anticipated. No curtains on any of the glass windows, but there were plenty of windows - two in the kitchen and two in the living area. The shower head was broken so we were handheld for three weeks which frankly was worse for us than the stairs. I draped two of my thin large scarves across the windows to have some privacy. The kitchen was sufficient and well stocked, the bed was very comfortable and we had enough space to store all the things inside our carry ons. There was a round table with two chairs and a small couch, enough lamps for reading and the wi-fi was fast. It was definitely smaller than our previous one bedroom but it worked for what we needed.

The terrace had lovely views of the rooftops as well as the dome of St Paul which was under construction. We had great views of the quiet streets below that soon will be bustling. There was also a wooden table with two chairs on each side, a bench, and some very well cared for plants. We sat down for what seemed like a long time, soaked in the soft breeze and knew the risk had paid off. We were back in Paris and we were overjoyed.

...Until the baffoon upstairs started rearranging, dropping and banging his furniture right when we were about to sleep.
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 01:53 PM
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At the top, were there really other windows facing you to require privacy?
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 02:03 PM
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I don't understand your question. Rephrase, please. I'm glad to see you're reading my trip report. You seem to know a lot about Paree.
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 02:13 PM
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Yes across but also on the bottom. The units across us rarely covered their windows. They let it all hang. The only time the woman across from us shut her window was when she was fighting with someone else and it echoed in the street.
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 02:13 PM
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Well, you wrote: I draped two of my thin large scarves across the windows to have some privacy.

So I was wondering who might be peeping at you.

My own apartment does not have a vis-à-vis on two of the three sides, so I do not require curtains on most of the windows.
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 02:27 PM
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No the windows were direct peeping vision across from the neighbor. I'll attach a picture of the view from the terrace at night.
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Old Oct 20th, 2014, 04:49 PM
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sanderskn, You'll love the Rodin and L'Orangerie, I'm excited for you. Take your time with them unlike us who rushed the L'Orangerie.

denisea and TPAYT, I won't miss the Marmottan this time, for sure! And I missed Opera Garnier too. Those were my 2 "must-sees" but we just didn't think of them. I saw Garnier lit up at night though...from inside a car which was nice. The awesome part was when I recognized that it was, in fact, the Palais Garnier.

mamcaline, how nice! Would love to hear what you did, how about a trip report?

MaineGG, the Cité de l'Architecture was a fantastic museum. And the views were shocking. Full unobstructed views of the Eiffel Tower next to the stairs leading to the crypt...that massive clear glass wall.

Fab & latedaytraveler, excited you're reading along. I know what you mean, I love Paris too.
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Old Oct 21st, 2014, 03:28 PM
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tessietoes---I learned from you about the Cite de l'Architecture and will put it on my "next" list.

About the Opera Garnier---we seldom take organized tours, but the tour of the opera was one I will always remember. The guide was so informative that I hardly think we would have got much out of it on our own.

OMG! I want to be there---NOW!
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Old Oct 21st, 2014, 09:25 PM
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I made a photo report about the Cité de l'Architecture long ago, but in any case it remains one of my favorite museums, especially to get away from the crowds: http://tinyurl.com/m87o63k
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Old Oct 21st, 2014, 10:53 PM
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We have passed that museum (architecture)so many times! Will be sure to stop in during our December visit!
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 10:33 AM
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We were kept up late by Monsieur B upstairs who had the sudden urge to redecorate his apt at 2am. He was not very gentle with the furniture. He dragged them across the floor occasionally banging against each other, or worse, the walls. This made our ceiling shake, dusty pieces would fly out from the cracks surrounding the beams. We wondered what it would take for the building to cave in.

Next morning we slept in and didn't care. It was nice to just wake up whenever. Codes figured out how to use the Nespesso espresso machine and brought me a cup in bed. We loved fiddling with that red thing every morning.

We wanted to try the pizza place, yes.. it was late lunch time, so after sitting out on the terrace, we finally got ready to eat at La Cerise sur la Pizza on rue St Paul, very near the apt. Closed. Kept going and the first pâtisserie we saw turned out to be excellent, Ms Manon, on the corner of our block. Codes would always get the pain au chocolat, I'd mix it up between the cheese & fruit concoctions and they were all délicieux. This was also where we would buy our tradicion baguettes for just a euro.

There was always a line out but it would go fast, they're efficient. So much so that the woman in front of me was too slow practicing her French picking out pastries, and the French lady behind the counter, aghast, switched to loud English, as if to say... what are you trying to tell me spit it out NOW there's a line!

We got our pastries successfully, no shouting, and headed down St Antoine towards the church, St Paul-St Louis, and sat on the steps in front. Same dome from our apt views. This was a lively street with tourists and locals, bikers, and some cars just going about in all directions. We peeked inside the church ...beautiful chandeliers. Next time I will look for the Delacroix I missed.

The Orange Store on rue de Rivoli took a while, like two hours, but we finally got our phones working. Crossed the Seine towards Notre Dame passing the Conciergerie and the long security line to St Chapelle. Week two is museum week so we kept going, spotting Berthillon in the corner instead and picked up our cones, citron & caramel beurre for me, framboise & chocolat for codes.

At Notre Dame, while standing and eating, we noticed the front was now a courtyard with benches. The bleachers were gone from last year, also a bit more crowded. Maybe it just looked that way because the bleachers organized the tourists vertically. The garden in the back is so lovely so we head there and just people watched... children playing, shoe-watching. There were two girls next to me drinking rose in plastic champagne flutes, looked to be my age, dressed to the nines with their cute little heels, pastel silk blouses and dark washed jeans... hair effortlessly wavy, red lip, bare eyes. You know, that look.

We said goodbye to the buttresses and crossed the bridge back towards rue des Archives & rue des Temple to go window shopping. Stopped in at Diwali to glance at their jewelry & scarves all over the tables and walls. Browsed more stores then by 8pm, we head to Monoprix to get some general items... handsoap, large water bottles, grapes, figs, a couple bottles of rosé. We also grabbed large tape for the cracks on top of the bed for Monsieur B's redecorating.

In the middle of shopping, we decide to enjoy dinner on the terrace so the shopping got bigger. Codes picked up a bottle of Jameson while I focused on the charcuterie... prosciutto, saucisson, a small tub of roasted tomatoes in oil, a chocolate bar of salted caramel, terrine, a pack of 4 cute jars of Bonne Maman yogurt & preserves for snacks later on. Also picked out some cheeses - morbier, comte, brie & chevre and since Manon was already closed, threw in a baguette.

We were happy the apt was only around the corner but tried to keep our wits about the stairs. The 5th landing was always the clincher... What!! I thought this was it!
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