HOW WE GOT THERE
We all converged on JFK less than a week after Sandy – my sisters from Manhattan, Mom from CT and me from the Philly suburbs. Fear of Sandy-related traffic caused us to arrive at the airport many hours early, but fortunately there were no surprises and our Iberia flights to Paris via Madrid were on-time and uneventful.

It has become a tradition to start every vacation with a brisk walk through the sprawl that is Madrid-Barajas Airport. Just typing those words make me sweat. There is a reason there are defibrilators on the wall every 100 yards in this airport. It’s a terrifically well-laid out and modern airport, but HUGE and can be a bit exhausting to traverse after a sleepless overnight flight. Thankfully there are also lots of places to stop for a café, and when we settled in at the gate to wait for our Paris flight with a cafe con leche and the smell of ham in the air, a small part of me almost wished Spain was our final destination.

Soon, though, we were very happy to be in a taxi in Paris on our way from Orly to our home for the next week on the Quai des Grands Augustins, directly at the foot of the Pont Neuf.

WHERE WE STAYED
www.vrbo.com/237796

This apartment was perfect for us. It had four single beds, was in a great location for walking to many sites and attractions, and had plenty of storage and sitting room for relaxing and game-playing (it is vacation, after all, and we have become addicted to the dice game "Farkle". How can you not love Farkle? Just saying Farkle is fun). It may be a bit too cozy for some. There’s only one bathroom, and the area with two of the beds wasn’t really a bedroom but a curtained-off nook with room for just the two beds and about 6” of space between them, but for close friends or a family it was fine. We all loved the colors and comfort of this place, and were really happy with this choice.

Checking in was an adventure, and my French lessons quickly paid off as the owner (actually the owner’s Mother, I think), did not speak English. The apartment has three keyed entrances, and a code one must enter to access the building after 8PM and on Sundays. I was pleased that even though my French is really crummy and we did need some charades, I was able to (mostly) understand what she was telling me.

Also an adventure: leaving the apartment. Owner-Mother showed us how to open one of the building doors using a magnetic key-fob, but never showed us how to get OUT. Day one and we were trapped in the building, able to see passers-by through the jail-like bars but unable to figure out how the blasted thing opened! While I ran back up to the apartment to try to search for clues and fret about this being a fire hazard, C and K stayed by the door in hopes they could figure it out.

Using a few “bonjours” and her womanly charms (or at least her ability to gesture wildly), C proved herself to be an excellent addition to our travel-group as she lured over a nice Frenchman who said “there must be a button…” Aha! There was a button, and pressing that released the magnets and allowed the door to be pushed open. C and K thanked our hero (while also hoping not to run into him again, as not being able to work a door is a tad embarassing) and we were freed! In our defense, the button was not very close to the door (though now that I’m writing this, of course the button can’t be so close to the door that an outsider could stick a hand thru and open it. Duh) and in our jet-lagged state, we figured it was a broken light switch. Oops.

Interesting start so far. Just about every residential building in Paris has a button to push to release the street door. In most cases it is even labeled "porte".

A label would have been most helpful!

Nice summary!

Good report thus far!

WHAT WE DID

We were bursting with culture when we left Paris (along with foie gras and vin rouge). There are endless choices of things to do and see, and it was hard to whittle the wish list down. Here’s what we ended up doing, with plenty left on the “next time” list (and the next time and the next time after that, too)

Part 1, Museums and Exhibits

Musee D’Orsay
In addition to the marvelous collection here, we saw a really enjoyable exhibit called Impressionism and Fashion.

Bibliotheque Forney
We saw a small exhibit here of ad posters designed by Bernard Villemot. This was a fun little show, featuring posters he created for brands like Orangina and Perrier.

Paris Seen by Hollywood @ the Hotel de Ville
This was another fun exhibit, free at the Hotel de Ville. The exhibit focused on the way Paris and Parisians are portrayed in films and how the view has changed with the times. The exhibit features all sorts of drawings, snippets of films and costumes worn in different films, and of course there’s lots of Audrey Hepburn. We really enjoyed this.

Orangerie
This was a nice space and Monet’s Waterlillies are beautifully presented here.

Louvre
Ok, we didn’t actually go INTO the Louvre, but we did walk to it and past the i.m. pei pyramid to walk thru the Tuilleries, so that should count for something, right? This is my second trip to Paris and second miss of the Louvre. We are museum people, too. We go to museums in real life and not just when on vacation. I don’t know what it is, but we all just looked at the building and the crowds (and this was in November) and said – meh, next time. I felt the same way at the Vatican and even the Met sometimes. It’s too much. The volume is overwhelming. The way to manage it would be to go to a special exhibit or focus on an area of interest, but nothing tickled us on that day so we were happy to just keep walking.

What a cute, bright apartment---good choice. Also what a great way to connect with your sisters and mother. It's fun to follow along with you in my favorite city.

We really loved that apartment. The owner is an artist and the paintings on the wall are his work, and the colors made the place cheery even when it was gray outside. It was really comfy, too (I can picture my sis rolling her eyes as I type this - I must have said 50 times that I loved the comfy couch), and there was no way we would have been able to find a hotel room for four people with this much space at the price we paid. It really worked out well for us, and gave us a spot to just hang out and spend time together.

Part 2, Touring, Sites and Performances

Mass at Eglise Saint Germain des Pres
One tradition when traveling with Mom is to go to mass in a language that we don’t understand (a favorite was in Lisbon, where the only words we understood the entire mass were “Senor Cristo.”) The tradition remained alive as we attended Sunday mass at this beautiful church, the oldest in Paris. The church faces some of the famous cafes of Hemingway’s Paris, and having recently re-read A Moveable Feast, it was fun to see those.

Discovery Walks Montmartre Walking Tour
We loved this walking tour. It was about two hours long, and we thought it was a great way to see some of the nooks and crannies of this neighborhood. Honestly, if we had gone right to Sacre Couer as originally planned, we would have made a quick stop there and then made a hasty retreat to get away from all of the souvenir stands and hawkers. We would have missed out on a lot of interesting stories. The woman who guided this tour was really passionate about Montmartre, and it was infectious.

Ballet at the Opera Garnier
A tip to anyone interested in taking in a performance at the Opera Garnier: plan to purchase your tickets as soon as they go on sale, or else the choices may be limited. I made my purchase the day after, and ended up with limited choices and pretty lousy seats, in the third row of a box. Of course, they were super cheap at 12e each, but you get what you pay for. Our view was very limited, and we had to wait for our box-mates to leave to get a look at the magnificent Chagall ceiling.

The evening was a tribute to Merce Cunningham, featuring a ballet by Cunningham and music by John Cage. I’ve seen a Merce Cunningham performance before and loved it, but in that case the music was done by Radiohead and Sigur Ros. I enjoy modern dance (not that I’m any sort of expert) but I can’t say the same about John Cage. I think his music (aka collection of noises) sucks the energy out of the dance. I’m sure there’s something I’m not getting, but no matter. It was still a great experience to see a performance here, and well worth the 12euro 

Sainte-Chapelle
We went here twice. The first visit was to admire the stained glass windows of the upper chapel. It was the first Sunday of the month so admission was free, and we love gratuit! I was expecting long lines here, but we must have timed it nicely b/c there was hardly a wait at all. It was a sunny afternoon so the colors of the glass were brilliant and we were all enthralled.

The second visit was to take in a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. What a nice way to spend an evening (well, an hour of the evening. It’s not a long concert). The setting is beautiful -- you can’t see the windows as well in the dark, of course, but they turn off all lights and illuminate only the altar, where the musicians perform, and it’s just lovely. Even if you don’t like classical music, I would highly recommend this.

Vedette du Pont Neuf cruise
We usually have a ban on water attractions. K and I once had a harrowing experience on a tourist boat in San Francisco, when some other cruisers started throwing food to the flock of seagulls shadowing our boat. The boat was quickly besieged by frenzied seagulls looking for lunch, and K and I were forced inside the boat to escape the attack. We felt trapped, and a ban against water attractions was established. BUT, but this is Paris and we needed to get a little closer to the Seine, plus the dock was about 10 steps from our apartment, so we lifted the ban and spent a chilly hour on the upper deck during one of their evening cruises. We got a really nice of view of a twinkling Eiffel Tower (and that is as close as we got to the ET, BTW) and it was lovely seeing the buildings and monuments of Paris illuminated at night. And, best of all, there were no seagulls.

I am enjoying reading your report.

Merci.

Nice report, thanks.

I'm enjoying reading your report. We were in Paris for the first time in August, and I LOVE Paris!!! We went on the Vedette du Pont Neuf, too, and really enjoyed the ride. Paris is so beautiful at night.

We had a tour of the Opera Garnier, but didn't see a show there. Went to mass at Notre Dame, which was amazing, and unplanned; we just happened to be there when there was an evening mass being held.

Your story of the sea gulls in San Francisco reminds me of Hitchock's The Birds!

It did feel like a scene from the Birds!
Thanks for the nice comments.

Great report. It's nice to see another mother/daughter(s) travel team! My mom and I leave for Rome tomorrow!

Ohhhh, I long to return to Rome. Have a great trip! I'm already looking forward to reading your report!

WHAT WE DID, Part 3, Shopping
Typically when K and I travel together our shopping consists of a) visiting every chocolate shop within a 10 mile radius and b) frantically searching the airport for last minute gifts before leaving the country. Mom, though, loves to shop and she quickly sucked us all into her purchasing frenzy. It was fun!

Laudree
We shopped around a charming area of Rue du Bac and found a Laudree on Rue Jacob, where we felt obliged to sample some macarons. So pretty and tasty, too. They could become an expensive habit. Mom bought some pretty linens at a shop near here, too.

Rue Montorgueil
I forget where I had read about this market street, but I’m glad we wandered over to it. There were lots of different shops to poke around, and plenty of opportunities to pick up some fun chocolates to sample and to bring back home.

Rue Dauphine and Rue du Buci
We traversed these rues about 100 times during our stay. There are a number of interesting galleries on these streets, but we also found some reasonably priced little places to buy scarves and earrings and things. We had an interesting time at one shop trying to buy jewelry that was sold by the gram, and lamented that we never quite learned the metric system (the shopkeeper may have been lamenting that, too). Oh, and can't forget that there were places to get twinkling Eiffel Towers around here, too, if one desires.

On "Marais Day" we also hit a lot of the shops in that area, and bought some pretty scarves from a street vendor near the Hotel de Ville.

Went to the Supermarket
At home, I dread the supermarket and would much prefer to go to a small market or markets specializing in produce or bakeries or whatever, and we did go to the local boulangerie and fromagerie while in Paris. But we also made many a stop at our local market (a Carrefour, I think) near the Rue de Buci. At first, it was fun looking at all of the French products (why don’t we have poultry and thyme flavored potato chips??), but when C started pointing out to other customers which aisle they could find things in, we began to think that perhaps we were spending a bit too much time here.

One reason for our many visits - we were challenged with finding a half-and-half type of creamer for the morning coffee we had at our apartment. We never did quite figure it out, though we did accumulate quite a collection of different milk and milk-like products that we tried but failed. We had the same issue during our trip to San Sebastian last May, where we ended up using a tube of condensed milk out of desperation. I really need to make a note to research the milk issue for our next trip!

I am enjoying your report. It is so great to hear of mothers/daughters/sisters travelling together. I bet you did a lot of laughing!

I am so enjoying this. We go back in March for trip #6 to Paris, following 10 in Rome and Sicily. Love Rome and Sicily, but Paris has my heart. We have spent many hours at the supermarkets near the apartment we stay in. Too much fun!!

Thanks!
Yes, there was definitely a lot of laughing. We had a lot of fun together.

"when C started pointing out to other customers which aisle they could find things in"

I thought this was really funny. We are going to Paris in March and sharing an apartment with my sister and her husband. I hope we have as much fun as you did with your family. Thanks.

I am enjoying your report! Whenever we travel, DH loves to explore the local supermarkets! We always purchase snacks for the hotel room. Looking forward to the next installment!

Supermarkets are always surprisingly fun and enlightening.

Talking about milk/cream for coffee----what's with the milk in a box on the shelves that is not refrigerated? In the smaller towns in France that's all we could find. It was good and we refrigerated it after opening but I can't imagine a product like that in the US. In those markets the cold refrigerater sections did not have any milk at all.

An item we loved in the supermarkets in Paris was the sliced, packaged ham in the fridge section. It was so good for a quick snack at the end of the day. Sliced, packaged ham in the US is just nasty compared to the European stuff. The US is a progressive country---why can't we get ham as good as in France & Italy? It's like night and day different.

Great report, jmct! I love it that you passed on the Louvre and yet managed to be brimful of culture.

I got up at 0245 on the day Opera Garnier tickets went on sale here, was all primed to jump on decent cheap seats for either an opera or ballet. Waited... waited... by the time my turn came, incredibly the last expensive tickets for either would have cost our family of four $135. I still would have jumped on them, but half of us wanted dance and the other half preferred opera. So I agonized for a few min and then turned the computer off and went back to bed.

I am thoroughly enjoying your report and travelling vicariously with you to my favourite city. We, too, did the "meh" thing when we saw the lineups at the Louvre, but ultimately did get there (4 times). It's never enough!

I, too, am thoroughly enjoying your report and can't wait for the next installment. We'll be in Paris next September with family members, one who will be visiting Paris for the first time. I appreciate your details and your humor. Thank you!

Gosh, I remember that boxed milk from a trip to Switzerland in 1983. It seemed so exotic at the time, but then our local Kroger carried it for a while.

this is such a fun report. you are fortunate to travel with family and enjoy all the laughs.

the Milk you got was called "longlife milk" 9at least in England) and it is really a lifesaver at times.

As for half and half, I would just buy plain milk, and then cream, and mix them til I got what I'd like in my coffee. It has worked in a couple of places.