Celebrating in Paris & Barcelona
Nov 23rd, 2012, 07:35 AM
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Celebrating in Paris & Barcelona
Any excuse for a trip to Europe! This time it was my 60th and our 40th. We chose two of our favorite cities, Paris and Barcelona. If we had been celebrating on our actually dates it would have been a summer trip but I couldn't bring myself to pay the airfare, so November it was. I found a good fare on Aer Lingus ($642) BOS to CDG and BCN to BOS. At that point I figured we would book a cheap flight between cities. I had many months to figure that one out.
So now my planning began in earnest. I love the planning! I get to relish and savor the idea of a trip for many months before it actually happens. The hunt for the apartment came first. We were only spending 4 nights in each city. I can't easily get long periods of time off from work so short trips work best for us. In terms of other trips we have taken, this would be the longest. I browsed the internet for apartments and eventually ended up choosing one that was recommended by DebitNM. Here is a link to the Paris apartment. http://www.vrbo.com/371220 The pictures looked good and the reviews were good. The response from the owner was quick and the transaction would be easy using Paypal. So we booked it for 4 nights. We really enjoyed our stay. The location was perfect for a quick stay, right behind the Pompidou on rue Quincampoix. The owner was personable and easy to deal with. The apartment itself, while small and compact, was very comfortable and had english tv channels and free phone calls to the US, and wireless internet. This was especially important to us as we were there during the US elections and wanted to stay in touch with results and speak with family. We voted before we left. Everywhere we went in France, if people found we were from the US they wanted to know about the election and who we were supporting.
When we arrived at the apartment Sylvain, the owner, was cleaning the apartment. We left our bags and he took us on a "tour" of the area, although he realized that we were already very familiar with this section of Paris and was happy to get back to his job of getting the apartment ready. We walked a few blocks north to a vietnamese pho place that we had walked by on other trips, but never went into. The name is Song Heng at 3 rue Volta in the 3rd. It is a tiny storefront type of place. There is always a line out front. They only serve 2 dishes, pho and bun. You go in and they seat you where ever a seat opens up so you are squeezed in next to strangers who mostly seemed to be intent on what they were eating and not on conversing which was exactly what we wanted. It was an experience, the food was ok, not sure if I'd go back, probably would seek out another vietnamese place as there are lots in Paris. However, it was within easy walking distance from the apartment and very near to the Monoprix at Temple, our next stop.
We picked up apartment essentials; water, coffee, cheese, snacks, wine, etc. at the monoprix at Temple. While probably not the highest quality of food and beverage, it's fine with us. We headed back to the apartment and were able to "check in" at this point. So, here we were in Paris, rainy skies and all, which is pretty much the norm for the times of the year that we go. We absolutely don't care; we're in Paris after all!
I'll continue more later for those interested in reading.
So now my planning began in earnest. I love the planning! I get to relish and savor the idea of a trip for many months before it actually happens. The hunt for the apartment came first. We were only spending 4 nights in each city. I can't easily get long periods of time off from work so short trips work best for us. In terms of other trips we have taken, this would be the longest. I browsed the internet for apartments and eventually ended up choosing one that was recommended by DebitNM. Here is a link to the Paris apartment. http://www.vrbo.com/371220 The pictures looked good and the reviews were good. The response from the owner was quick and the transaction would be easy using Paypal. So we booked it for 4 nights. We really enjoyed our stay. The location was perfect for a quick stay, right behind the Pompidou on rue Quincampoix. The owner was personable and easy to deal with. The apartment itself, while small and compact, was very comfortable and had english tv channels and free phone calls to the US, and wireless internet. This was especially important to us as we were there during the US elections and wanted to stay in touch with results and speak with family. We voted before we left. Everywhere we went in France, if people found we were from the US they wanted to know about the election and who we were supporting.
When we arrived at the apartment Sylvain, the owner, was cleaning the apartment. We left our bags and he took us on a "tour" of the area, although he realized that we were already very familiar with this section of Paris and was happy to get back to his job of getting the apartment ready. We walked a few blocks north to a vietnamese pho place that we had walked by on other trips, but never went into. The name is Song Heng at 3 rue Volta in the 3rd. It is a tiny storefront type of place. There is always a line out front. They only serve 2 dishes, pho and bun. You go in and they seat you where ever a seat opens up so you are squeezed in next to strangers who mostly seemed to be intent on what they were eating and not on conversing which was exactly what we wanted. It was an experience, the food was ok, not sure if I'd go back, probably would seek out another vietnamese place as there are lots in Paris. However, it was within easy walking distance from the apartment and very near to the Monoprix at Temple, our next stop.
We picked up apartment essentials; water, coffee, cheese, snacks, wine, etc. at the monoprix at Temple. While probably not the highest quality of food and beverage, it's fine with us. We headed back to the apartment and were able to "check in" at this point. So, here we were in Paris, rainy skies and all, which is pretty much the norm for the times of the year that we go. We absolutely don't care; we're in Paris after all!
I'll continue more later for those interested in reading.
Nov 23rd, 2012, 02:03 PM
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Of course our arrival day is drizzling and on the cold side. It's Saturday and the time change has already taken place, so it gets dark fairly early. Who cares, there we were traipsing about the Marais picking up supplies, baquette sandwiches, the obligatory eclair for my husband and for me a stop at Gérard Mulot at 6, rue Pas de la Mule for my first, but not last caramal beurre salé macaron http://www.gerard-mulot.com/paris/ma...atisseries.php We also stopped at Nicolas http://www.nicolaswines.net/ for a couple of bottles of wine and bought a wine bag that came in handy for picnics during our trip.
By now we were feeling the jet lag so we headed back to the apartment and as it was Saturday we had long ago decided to take a nap (something we never do on our first day)and wake up around 10 pm so that we could go to the midnight jazz jam at Duc des Lombards http://www.ducdeslombards.com/ Duc des Lombards has a great, free jazz session at midnight. People line up outside and at the bouncer's say so, get let in and find a great seat for some great music. You have to buy a drink, but you would anyway. Our apartment was located perfectly about 3 blocks away.
The Lukmil Perez quartet was running the show that night. From time to time muscians got up on stage and joined in. We didn't see our favorite pianist, Ahmet Gulbay, but we did see Helios Fernandez, a guitarist who we originally saw playing in Place des Vosges many years ago. On one of our past trips we saw him play in a club in the Marais and he recommended the jam session to us. This particular evening we "reintroduced" ourselves to him. He spoke very good english and said he remembered us (from Boston) and seemed surprised that we traveled so often to Paris. Another great evening of music at Duc des Lombards. Back to the apartment after a very full, first day in Paris.
By now we were feeling the jet lag so we headed back to the apartment and as it was Saturday we had long ago decided to take a nap (something we never do on our first day)and wake up around 10 pm so that we could go to the midnight jazz jam at Duc des Lombards http://www.ducdeslombards.com/ Duc des Lombards has a great, free jazz session at midnight. People line up outside and at the bouncer's say so, get let in and find a great seat for some great music. You have to buy a drink, but you would anyway. Our apartment was located perfectly about 3 blocks away.
The Lukmil Perez quartet was running the show that night. From time to time muscians got up on stage and joined in. We didn't see our favorite pianist, Ahmet Gulbay, but we did see Helios Fernandez, a guitarist who we originally saw playing in Place des Vosges many years ago. On one of our past trips we saw him play in a club in the Marais and he recommended the jam session to us. This particular evening we "reintroduced" ourselves to him. He spoke very good english and said he remembered us (from Boston) and seemed surprised that we traveled so often to Paris. Another great evening of music at Duc des Lombards. Back to the apartment after a very full, first day in Paris.
Nov 23rd, 2012, 04:44 PM
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Day 2 - Sunday, Nov. 4th
Woke up to a fairly sunny day, but one that threatened with rain clouds. We went round the corner to Le Petit Marcel on rue Rambuteau for our morning coffee and croissant. It was early for a sunday morning, 9:00, so the café was almost empty. It was a nice spot, but they didn't have the pain au chocolate that my husband craved. We didn't linger. We set off up rambuteau into the Marais. We like to take walks past all of our former vacation apartments. Since they have all been in the marais, this is very doable. That day we walked over to Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie past the apartment that we had rented almost ten years ago with our grown kids http://www.rentparis.com/en/apt-29-r...004-paris.html It has a for sale sign in the window. We headed toward Place des Vosges weaving in and out of the different streets with our goal of ending up at the sunday market at Blvd. Richard Lenoir. I love to window shop and the Marais is a great area for that, especially on sundays. This walk took up most of the morning.
After being truly inspired by the previous night's music, we decided to take the metro out to Porte de Clignancourt to listen to some gypsy jazz at Chopes des Puces on rue des Rosier in the heart of the flea market http://www.lachopedespuces.fr/Accueil.html A few years ago we stopped in on a similar sunday afternoon, but didn't stay long. This day we grabbed a spot at the bar and inched our way toward the front as people came and went. The music of Django Reinhart is played there. Ninine Garcia and Rocky Garcia were playing when we arrived. They are excellent and have a truly authentic Gypsy history. An older gentleman stepped in and took the lead. He was really good and we were determined to fine out who he was. Which we did later on the internet. His name was Marcel Campion and it turns out that he bought chope des puces a few years ago and is a very famous entrepreneur of all things having to do with fairs and carnivals in Paris including the large ferris wheel at the Concorde. Later I requested a song of Ninine Garcia ("The GOod Life"). He didn't understand what I was saying (in english) and I was suddenly struck dumb and couldn't figure out how to say that very simple phrase in french, so he gestured for me to hum it. I did and I had that stuck in time feeling that oh, no if this continues I will feel like a real fool! Luckily he was able to figure out the song and he played it very graciously and it sounded great. I asked for the song because I had downloaded him playing it from Itunes and it always makes me think of Paris. Another great Paris moment.
We headed back to the apartment to rest up and get ready to go to the Edward Hopper exhibit. I had purchased tickets a few weeks before our trip for sunday evening. We arrived at the Grand Palais http://www.rmn.fr/english/les-musees...rd-hopper-2926 15 minutes early and waited in line while a musician serenaded everyone on the clarinet. The exhibit was really wonderful. I had seen many of the works in the US, but I also saw some that I had never seen before, even in books. There were other artists mixed in with the works to give some historical meaning to Hopper's life and works. It was a very popular exhibit and most of the people there seemed to be speaking french.
After the exhibit we took the metro over to the Pont Neuf stop and walked to Brasserie d'Isle St. Louis http://www.labrasserie-isl.fr/ one of our favorite spots for a casual dinner. I had what I always order the omelet mixte with pomme frites and a mug of mutzig beer. My husband ordered his favorite Choucroute Garni. We walked back to the apartment in the cool night air enjoying the lights and atmosphere of Paris.
Day 3 - Reims
Woke up to a fairly sunny day, but one that threatened with rain clouds. We went round the corner to Le Petit Marcel on rue Rambuteau for our morning coffee and croissant. It was early for a sunday morning, 9:00, so the café was almost empty. It was a nice spot, but they didn't have the pain au chocolate that my husband craved. We didn't linger. We set off up rambuteau into the Marais. We like to take walks past all of our former vacation apartments. Since they have all been in the marais, this is very doable. That day we walked over to Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie past the apartment that we had rented almost ten years ago with our grown kids http://www.rentparis.com/en/apt-29-r...004-paris.html It has a for sale sign in the window. We headed toward Place des Vosges weaving in and out of the different streets with our goal of ending up at the sunday market at Blvd. Richard Lenoir. I love to window shop and the Marais is a great area for that, especially on sundays. This walk took up most of the morning.
After being truly inspired by the previous night's music, we decided to take the metro out to Porte de Clignancourt to listen to some gypsy jazz at Chopes des Puces on rue des Rosier in the heart of the flea market http://www.lachopedespuces.fr/Accueil.html A few years ago we stopped in on a similar sunday afternoon, but didn't stay long. This day we grabbed a spot at the bar and inched our way toward the front as people came and went. The music of Django Reinhart is played there. Ninine Garcia and Rocky Garcia were playing when we arrived. They are excellent and have a truly authentic Gypsy history. An older gentleman stepped in and took the lead. He was really good and we were determined to fine out who he was. Which we did later on the internet. His name was Marcel Campion and it turns out that he bought chope des puces a few years ago and is a very famous entrepreneur of all things having to do with fairs and carnivals in Paris including the large ferris wheel at the Concorde. Later I requested a song of Ninine Garcia ("The GOod Life"). He didn't understand what I was saying (in english) and I was suddenly struck dumb and couldn't figure out how to say that very simple phrase in french, so he gestured for me to hum it. I did and I had that stuck in time feeling that oh, no if this continues I will feel like a real fool! Luckily he was able to figure out the song and he played it very graciously and it sounded great. I asked for the song because I had downloaded him playing it from Itunes and it always makes me think of Paris. Another great Paris moment.
We headed back to the apartment to rest up and get ready to go to the Edward Hopper exhibit. I had purchased tickets a few weeks before our trip for sunday evening. We arrived at the Grand Palais http://www.rmn.fr/english/les-musees...rd-hopper-2926 15 minutes early and waited in line while a musician serenaded everyone on the clarinet. The exhibit was really wonderful. I had seen many of the works in the US, but I also saw some that I had never seen before, even in books. There were other artists mixed in with the works to give some historical meaning to Hopper's life and works. It was a very popular exhibit and most of the people there seemed to be speaking french.
After the exhibit we took the metro over to the Pont Neuf stop and walked to Brasserie d'Isle St. Louis http://www.labrasserie-isl.fr/ one of our favorite spots for a casual dinner. I had what I always order the omelet mixte with pomme frites and a mug of mutzig beer. My husband ordered his favorite Choucroute Garni. We walked back to the apartment in the cool night air enjoying the lights and atmosphere of Paris.
Day 3 - Reims
Nov 24th, 2012, 03:20 AM
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Day 3 - Monday in Reims
When I was planning this celebratory trip I had decided to include my love of champagne and cava. I bookended our week in Europe with tours from producers of both. So on Monday we got up early, had a morning coffee at the bar at Le Petit Marcel and headed over to the Les Halles metro stop bound for Gare de l'est. I had purchased our train tickets exactly 3 months prior for the lowest price to Reims, 30 euros each rt. I was able to print the tickets online. We arrived a bit early at the station so that we could pick up our Paris to Barcelona tickets. Oh yes, I decided after researching and asking opinions on this website and others to take the train to Barcelona. It was the right choice. There was an American woman and her daughter at the counter trying to do the very same thing for their trip to Reims. She had neglected to bring her confirmation email (she said she had paid 200 euro for the trip!) and was almost forced to purchase new tickets when she found the email on her phone. Not sure why she didn't print the tickets ahead of time unless she had purchased them very recently with no access to a printer.
The train ride to Reims was quick, 45 minutes, and fairly unremarkable. It was cold, damp, and gray when we arrived in Reims at 9:45. I had reserved a spot on a tour of Charles de Cazanove for 11:00. It was located in Reims at Place de Republique, not far from the downtown and the station. I did this as I have recently been hindered with a foot issue and I didn't know how well I would be walking. We headed into the downtown area, which I found to be very interesting. It was old, yet clean and looked quite prosperous. We found our way to the cathedral and went inside for a look around. Of course I took pictures of the Marc Chagall windows, which are so popular. As cathedrals go it was impressive. From there we meandered around making our way toward Charles de Cazanove http://www.champagnedecazanove.com/u...t/visit-us.php for our 11:00 a.m. appointment. We were the only people on the tour so it began as soon as we arrived. The young man giving the tour greeted us and showed us to an upstairs room to watch the perfunctory video about the making of Charles de Cazanove champagne, which is owned by G.H. Martel. I have to say now that another reason for choosing this tour was the price was less and they served 3 glasses of champagne at the tasting.
Half way through the video we heard someone come in and sit in the back of the room. This person turned out to be a young Chinese student who spoke perfect english and was living in the Burgundy region on a student visa studying wine production. We were then shown the storage areas underneath the building. This is a fairly new facility, but the tour was interesting and we did learn about the making of champagne. The Chinese student was taking lots of pictures and asking lots of questions. We were then brought to the tasting room which consisted of several large round tables. The three of us sat and quietly awaited our 3 different flutes of champagne. Well as you all know alcohol can loosen your tongue. We began polite conversation amongst ourselves which turned into almost an hour. We discussed everything from, "Have you been to other champagne houses?", he had, and he didn't like them, "Just pretty houses" to "yes, Mitt Romney does wear special underwear". We parted our ways with handshakes and au revoir's to the tour guide and crossed back into the downtown area to eat mussels at Le Grand Café http://www.le-grandcafe.com/ I had the champenoise mussels and my husband had the provence mussels. We both thought I had made the better choice. Instead of champagne we had beer with our meal. Not a gourmet restaurant, but comfortable and very tasty.
We had time to kill before our 5:00 train back to Paris so we walked back through the downtown area and I stopped in to my favorite kids clothing store DPAM http://www.dpam.com/?gclid=CNyNgpfI57MCFQvznAodq2EAqg to buy something for our granddaughters. Our next stop was the Musee de Beaux Arts http://www.ville-reims.fr/index.php?id=895 There was some sort of renovation going on so a very small section of the museum was open to the public. That was fine with me. It was now raining in earnest and we needed a place to get in out of the rain and this was perfect.
After the museum it was time to get back to the train station but we did have time for a coffee in a café not far from the station. I excused myself to go to the ladies room, which was located in the basement. It had the floor to ceiling door, which all bathrooms seem to have in Europe. I closed the door, locked it and upon leaving couldn't get it to open. Momentary panic set in and visions of me pounding on the coffin like door yelling in my very limited french for help briefly flashed into my mind. Fortunately for me, the lock clicked open and a very relieved me went upstairs to join my husband and walk over to our train.
Back in Paris I had the best intentions of taking a night tour of Paris by metro, but my feet and the steady rain kept us from doing that. I wasn't sorry, I needed to just take it easy. We walked over to L'as du Falafel http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/f...iew-52420.html and picked up a couple of falafel pita's to bring back to the apartment and then get a good night's rest for our last full day in Paris.
When I was planning this celebratory trip I had decided to include my love of champagne and cava. I bookended our week in Europe with tours from producers of both. So on Monday we got up early, had a morning coffee at the bar at Le Petit Marcel and headed over to the Les Halles metro stop bound for Gare de l'est. I had purchased our train tickets exactly 3 months prior for the lowest price to Reims, 30 euros each rt. I was able to print the tickets online. We arrived a bit early at the station so that we could pick up our Paris to Barcelona tickets. Oh yes, I decided after researching and asking opinions on this website and others to take the train to Barcelona. It was the right choice. There was an American woman and her daughter at the counter trying to do the very same thing for their trip to Reims. She had neglected to bring her confirmation email (she said she had paid 200 euro for the trip!) and was almost forced to purchase new tickets when she found the email on her phone. Not sure why she didn't print the tickets ahead of time unless she had purchased them very recently with no access to a printer.
The train ride to Reims was quick, 45 minutes, and fairly unremarkable. It was cold, damp, and gray when we arrived in Reims at 9:45. I had reserved a spot on a tour of Charles de Cazanove for 11:00. It was located in Reims at Place de Republique, not far from the downtown and the station. I did this as I have recently been hindered with a foot issue and I didn't know how well I would be walking. We headed into the downtown area, which I found to be very interesting. It was old, yet clean and looked quite prosperous. We found our way to the cathedral and went inside for a look around. Of course I took pictures of the Marc Chagall windows, which are so popular. As cathedrals go it was impressive. From there we meandered around making our way toward Charles de Cazanove http://www.champagnedecazanove.com/u...t/visit-us.php for our 11:00 a.m. appointment. We were the only people on the tour so it began as soon as we arrived. The young man giving the tour greeted us and showed us to an upstairs room to watch the perfunctory video about the making of Charles de Cazanove champagne, which is owned by G.H. Martel. I have to say now that another reason for choosing this tour was the price was less and they served 3 glasses of champagne at the tasting.
Half way through the video we heard someone come in and sit in the back of the room. This person turned out to be a young Chinese student who spoke perfect english and was living in the Burgundy region on a student visa studying wine production. We were then shown the storage areas underneath the building. This is a fairly new facility, but the tour was interesting and we did learn about the making of champagne. The Chinese student was taking lots of pictures and asking lots of questions. We were then brought to the tasting room which consisted of several large round tables. The three of us sat and quietly awaited our 3 different flutes of champagne. Well as you all know alcohol can loosen your tongue. We began polite conversation amongst ourselves which turned into almost an hour. We discussed everything from, "Have you been to other champagne houses?", he had, and he didn't like them, "Just pretty houses" to "yes, Mitt Romney does wear special underwear". We parted our ways with handshakes and au revoir's to the tour guide and crossed back into the downtown area to eat mussels at Le Grand Café http://www.le-grandcafe.com/ I had the champenoise mussels and my husband had the provence mussels. We both thought I had made the better choice. Instead of champagne we had beer with our meal. Not a gourmet restaurant, but comfortable and very tasty.
We had time to kill before our 5:00 train back to Paris so we walked back through the downtown area and I stopped in to my favorite kids clothing store DPAM http://www.dpam.com/?gclid=CNyNgpfI57MCFQvznAodq2EAqg to buy something for our granddaughters. Our next stop was the Musee de Beaux Arts http://www.ville-reims.fr/index.php?id=895 There was some sort of renovation going on so a very small section of the museum was open to the public. That was fine with me. It was now raining in earnest and we needed a place to get in out of the rain and this was perfect.
After the museum it was time to get back to the train station but we did have time for a coffee in a café not far from the station. I excused myself to go to the ladies room, which was located in the basement. It had the floor to ceiling door, which all bathrooms seem to have in Europe. I closed the door, locked it and upon leaving couldn't get it to open. Momentary panic set in and visions of me pounding on the coffin like door yelling in my very limited french for help briefly flashed into my mind. Fortunately for me, the lock clicked open and a very relieved me went upstairs to join my husband and walk over to our train.
Back in Paris I had the best intentions of taking a night tour of Paris by metro, but my feet and the steady rain kept us from doing that. I wasn't sorry, I needed to just take it easy. We walked over to L'as du Falafel http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/f...iew-52420.html and picked up a couple of falafel pita's to bring back to the apartment and then get a good night's rest for our last full day in Paris.
Nov 25th, 2012, 06:38 AM
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Thanks all for reading and commenting. Today I am up in Portland, ME with the granddaughters who got the clothes from DPAM. It's the annual weekend away doing all the crazy things you can't do at home with your parents. when I get home I plan to pick up where I left off with my trip report. It helps me to relive and remember what we did. It's part of the whole trip experience. It begins with the planning and it wraps up with the trip report.
Nov 25th, 2012, 10:57 AM
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I'm enjoying your report. We love checking out jazz spots in Paris, have been to Duc des Lombards a few times. Thanks for the recommendation of Chope des Puces. I'll put that on our list for our next visit. Looking forward to Barcelona1
Nov 26th, 2012, 01:29 AM
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Day 4, Tuesday - Last day in Paris; Election day in U.S.
We awoke to a sunny, brisk day. It was a good omen for our last full day in Paris. This morning I planned for us to go to André Cleret in the 1st for breakfast. This is a spot that we happened upon our first or second time in Paris. We love it and attempt to stop in at least once each visit. However it seems that every other trip it is closed for vacation. They are a small boulangerie with an area to sit either inside our out. This particular morning we chose to sit indoors as it was pretty chilly out. My husband finally got his pain au chocolat and I had a huge flaky croissant with a delicious cafe creme. From here we walked over to the river along the Quai de la Mégisserie where the pet stores and plant stores are located. It's something I totally avoid in the U.S. The animals seem so pathetically sad in their cages. But in Paris, I (hold my nose) and step inside the half dozen or so stores and look at all the tiny breeds, yorkies, french bull dogs, and increasingly larger dogs like cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, and this time even a beagle.
Our last morning we are on a souvenir hunt for our granddaughters. We always make a point of picking up souvenirs with their names on them as they have names that are not on any similar items in the U.S., but are very popular in Europe. We struck it rich over on rue Rivoli by the Louvre. The man we bought them from was so excited to sell them to us that he threw in several eiffel tower key rings for "Eva and Elodie". So happily, our quest for personalized stuff was successful and we didn't have to think about it the rest of the trip.
We headed back to the apartment walking back the way we came and cutting up so that we could walk past the fontaine des innocents in the 1st http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontaine_des_Innocents We make this part of our stop at André Cleret. It has an interesting history. We dropped off the sandwiches and pastries that we had purchased at Cleret's for our dinner and upcoming train trip and took the metro up to the Anvers stop. It was such a beautiful day that we decided we would like to get a view of Paris from Sacre Coeur. We skipped the funicular, despite my foot problems, and walked up the long, steep steps. The graffiti on the buildings alongside was an art show. I took several pictures that I will try to post later. I couldn't resist picking up one more name souvenir for the girls when we were up there.
to be continued.
We awoke to a sunny, brisk day. It was a good omen for our last full day in Paris. This morning I planned for us to go to André Cleret in the 1st for breakfast. This is a spot that we happened upon our first or second time in Paris. We love it and attempt to stop in at least once each visit. However it seems that every other trip it is closed for vacation. They are a small boulangerie with an area to sit either inside our out. This particular morning we chose to sit indoors as it was pretty chilly out. My husband finally got his pain au chocolat and I had a huge flaky croissant with a delicious cafe creme. From here we walked over to the river along the Quai de la Mégisserie where the pet stores and plant stores are located. It's something I totally avoid in the U.S. The animals seem so pathetically sad in their cages. But in Paris, I (hold my nose) and step inside the half dozen or so stores and look at all the tiny breeds, yorkies, french bull dogs, and increasingly larger dogs like cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, and this time even a beagle.
Our last morning we are on a souvenir hunt for our granddaughters. We always make a point of picking up souvenirs with their names on them as they have names that are not on any similar items in the U.S., but are very popular in Europe. We struck it rich over on rue Rivoli by the Louvre. The man we bought them from was so excited to sell them to us that he threw in several eiffel tower key rings for "Eva and Elodie". So happily, our quest for personalized stuff was successful and we didn't have to think about it the rest of the trip.
We headed back to the apartment walking back the way we came and cutting up so that we could walk past the fontaine des innocents in the 1st http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontaine_des_Innocents We make this part of our stop at André Cleret. It has an interesting history. We dropped off the sandwiches and pastries that we had purchased at Cleret's for our dinner and upcoming train trip and took the metro up to the Anvers stop. It was such a beautiful day that we decided we would like to get a view of Paris from Sacre Coeur. We skipped the funicular, despite my foot problems, and walked up the long, steep steps. The graffiti on the buildings alongside was an art show. I took several pictures that I will try to post later. I couldn't resist picking up one more name souvenir for the girls when we were up there.
to be continued.
Nov 26th, 2012, 04:13 PM
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Still Day 4 - Tuesday in Paris
I totally forgot to include our lunch on our fourth day. I will have to backtrack a bit. I didn't do a good job filling in my trip journal. I just jotted down notes this time and it wasn't always in chronological order.
Before we hit up Sacre Coeur we actually took the metro over to the 7th and walked up rue Dominique to Café Constant http://www.maisonconstant.com/cafe-constant/ We got there a few minutes past noon as they don't take reservations and it fills up very fast. We have only been there once before, but really enjoyed it, so thought we'd try it again. My husband ordered the special of the day. I wish I had. I wasn't adventurous enough. The plat was a blood sausage patty on a deliciously seasoned, melt in your mouth mashed, whipped potato with a sauce. The starter was a really wonderful scallop soup. They placed a bowl with scallops and other various ingredients (?) in front of my husband and poured a creamy rich broth over them. I knew immediately that I had gone wrong by playing it safe with a chicken dish. My dinner was tasty, but tame; not nearly as good. I did enjoy a nice wine of the day, which I have forgotten what it was and they served a basket of very fresh, and chewy bread (in a good way). We sat upstairs in a table overlooking the street below. It's a popular restaurant and we definitely weren't the only American's there, but it also was filled with locals.
So now getting back to exiting Sacre Coeur. From there we went over to the Cité de la Musique up by the Parc de Villette
http://www.citedelamusique.fr/anglais/default.aspx We were there specifically to see the Django Reinhardt exhibit. Django Reinhardt is and was the king of gypsy jazz. The exhibit was well done. It was of course all in French, but I was able to figure out much of what was written and some of what was said. There was alot of audio involved. They had booths set up around the exhibit where you could sit and watch movies and listen to music. At one point I found myself being serenaded to sleep, but nodded back to reality. The day had been long and my feet were killing me, but on a vacation like this, I just had to put that all in the back of my mind.
Back at the apartment we drank a half bottle of Charles de Cazanove champagne and ate our baquette sandwiches from Andre Cleret; tomato/mozzarella, rillettes with cornichon, and another I can't remember. We also had our pastries, the eclair for my husband and a luminette for me. We watched some tv and scanned the internet for news of the election. We spoke with our kids and sadly packed our bags for the next morning when we would be leaving very early for Barcelona.
I totally forgot to include our lunch on our fourth day. I will have to backtrack a bit. I didn't do a good job filling in my trip journal. I just jotted down notes this time and it wasn't always in chronological order.
Before we hit up Sacre Coeur we actually took the metro over to the 7th and walked up rue Dominique to Café Constant http://www.maisonconstant.com/cafe-constant/ We got there a few minutes past noon as they don't take reservations and it fills up very fast. We have only been there once before, but really enjoyed it, so thought we'd try it again. My husband ordered the special of the day. I wish I had. I wasn't adventurous enough. The plat was a blood sausage patty on a deliciously seasoned, melt in your mouth mashed, whipped potato with a sauce. The starter was a really wonderful scallop soup. They placed a bowl with scallops and other various ingredients (?) in front of my husband and poured a creamy rich broth over them. I knew immediately that I had gone wrong by playing it safe with a chicken dish. My dinner was tasty, but tame; not nearly as good. I did enjoy a nice wine of the day, which I have forgotten what it was and they served a basket of very fresh, and chewy bread (in a good way). We sat upstairs in a table overlooking the street below. It's a popular restaurant and we definitely weren't the only American's there, but it also was filled with locals.
So now getting back to exiting Sacre Coeur. From there we went over to the Cité de la Musique up by the Parc de Villette
http://www.citedelamusique.fr/anglais/default.aspx We were there specifically to see the Django Reinhardt exhibit. Django Reinhardt is and was the king of gypsy jazz. The exhibit was well done. It was of course all in French, but I was able to figure out much of what was written and some of what was said. There was alot of audio involved. They had booths set up around the exhibit where you could sit and watch movies and listen to music. At one point I found myself being serenaded to sleep, but nodded back to reality. The day had been long and my feet were killing me, but on a vacation like this, I just had to put that all in the back of my mind.
Back at the apartment we drank a half bottle of Charles de Cazanove champagne and ate our baquette sandwiches from Andre Cleret; tomato/mozzarella, rillettes with cornichon, and another I can't remember. We also had our pastries, the eclair for my husband and a luminette for me. We watched some tv and scanned the internet for news of the election. We spoke with our kids and sadly packed our bags for the next morning when we would be leaving very early for Barcelona.
Nov 29th, 2012, 03:53 PM
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Day 5 - Wednesday - On our way to Barcelona
I didn't sleep much our last night in Paris what with the US election and worrying about not waking up in time for our train. We had a 7:15 a.m. train from Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants, a 7 hr 45 min. trip. It proved to be longer, but that will come later. We awoke and turned on the tv for news and the internet for more news. Our candidates won so we were happy for that. We called our kids back in Massachusetts and congratulated one another and got more insight from them on what was going on.
We were already packed and the apartment was neat and clean, so off we went saying au revoir, until we return. It's always so sad to leave. I know we will be back asap. The weather as usual was not so wonderful, but bearable. We had already figured out exactly where we were going to get on the metro and which line to take. The Les Halles area is so torn up with all of the construction going on, that many of the metro entrances have been closed. We used Line 14, the driverless line and we had to go only one stop to get to Gare de Lyon. The Gare was busy with people waiting for their train to come up on the board. We had time for a coffee and croissant from the Paul at the station. Our train was called and off we went. I had booked tickets 3 months earlier. They were 144 euro for two of us. It was a bit more than flying, but you would have to factor in the cost of getting to and from the airport and the stress of the security hassles and the weight of our carry on luggage. We only have carry on and I didn't want to have to abide by the very restrictive weights on carriers like Easy Jet or Vueling.
We chose a high car to see better. We settled ourselves in and were almost ready to go when a nice looking couple came by to tell us that although we were in the right seat we were in the wrong car. It was slightly embarrassing, but we just bundled up our stuff and thanked them, smiling and hurried off to the next car and plopped down in our correct seats, correct car. The train went at a slow to moderate speed leaving Paris, and didn't really get to the speeds that I thought it would. Announcements started to come on at a fairly regular interval and I knew something was up. It seems that they were saying that due to a problem with the train, we would be arriving later. Of course we had to change in Figueras, Spain for the train to Barcelona. I just hoped that we would be able to catch another if ours didn't wait. We asked and they assured us that they would hold the Figueras train.
The scenery was pleasant going down through Burgundy and then the train climbed up into the Pyrenees and the scenery changed and then we saw mountains and towns and rivers and then there was snow on the mountain caps and they seemed close on one side and further on we saw what definitely had to be the Mediterranean and pink flamingos!! What a beautiful sight, flamingos on one side of the train and snow capped mountains on the other. There were palm trees and beaches. We did stop at Nimes, Narbonne, Perpignan and probably a couple of other places, but I can't remember before stopping in Figueras. In Perpignan we sat in the station for some time before we became aware that they hadn't let anyone off the train or on. The platform was filled with heavily armed policemen. They finally let the people off slowly, checking them, I presume, and then they came aboard and searched the train. So of course now we were even later. I wondered if this was the real reason that the train had been going slowly, giving the police in Perpignan time to formulate whatever plan they had. But now it sounds as if I am writing a crime mystery. Anyway, nothing came of it that I could tell. The train took off and a couple of police stayed aboard and looked through the train for something, but what we never knew. My first thought of course was a bomb of some sort.
The train from Figueras to Barcelona was slower, but did breeze through some of the stations with people waiting on the platform and looking up at us as we sped by. We got into Barcelona and passed through many underground stations, Passeig de Gracia being one of them. We would have to back track to that station on the metro. So we arrived and we weren't even going to be late for the arrival at our apartment. I always allow more time than necessary and this time it proved to be necessary. We switched over to the metro buying the T10 tickets from the machine and one change and a few stops later we were on Passeig de Gracia. The weather was warm and sunny and it seemed like ages since we had been in Paris.
I did forget to mention that we brought our sandwiches from Andre Cleret on the train and they were delicious. My husband bought another from Paul, in case ours weren't fresh. So we had more than we needed. We did have wine, but the train just didn't seem the place to be drinking wine. We were surrounded by families, so we stuck to water and drank the French wine on our balcony in Spain soon after we arrived.
I didn't sleep much our last night in Paris what with the US election and worrying about not waking up in time for our train. We had a 7:15 a.m. train from Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants, a 7 hr 45 min. trip. It proved to be longer, but that will come later. We awoke and turned on the tv for news and the internet for more news. Our candidates won so we were happy for that. We called our kids back in Massachusetts and congratulated one another and got more insight from them on what was going on.
We were already packed and the apartment was neat and clean, so off we went saying au revoir, until we return. It's always so sad to leave. I know we will be back asap. The weather as usual was not so wonderful, but bearable. We had already figured out exactly where we were going to get on the metro and which line to take. The Les Halles area is so torn up with all of the construction going on, that many of the metro entrances have been closed. We used Line 14, the driverless line and we had to go only one stop to get to Gare de Lyon. The Gare was busy with people waiting for their train to come up on the board. We had time for a coffee and croissant from the Paul at the station. Our train was called and off we went. I had booked tickets 3 months earlier. They were 144 euro for two of us. It was a bit more than flying, but you would have to factor in the cost of getting to and from the airport and the stress of the security hassles and the weight of our carry on luggage. We only have carry on and I didn't want to have to abide by the very restrictive weights on carriers like Easy Jet or Vueling.
We chose a high car to see better. We settled ourselves in and were almost ready to go when a nice looking couple came by to tell us that although we were in the right seat we were in the wrong car. It was slightly embarrassing, but we just bundled up our stuff and thanked them, smiling and hurried off to the next car and plopped down in our correct seats, correct car. The train went at a slow to moderate speed leaving Paris, and didn't really get to the speeds that I thought it would. Announcements started to come on at a fairly regular interval and I knew something was up. It seems that they were saying that due to a problem with the train, we would be arriving later. Of course we had to change in Figueras, Spain for the train to Barcelona. I just hoped that we would be able to catch another if ours didn't wait. We asked and they assured us that they would hold the Figueras train.
The scenery was pleasant going down through Burgundy and then the train climbed up into the Pyrenees and the scenery changed and then we saw mountains and towns and rivers and then there was snow on the mountain caps and they seemed close on one side and further on we saw what definitely had to be the Mediterranean and pink flamingos!! What a beautiful sight, flamingos on one side of the train and snow capped mountains on the other. There were palm trees and beaches. We did stop at Nimes, Narbonne, Perpignan and probably a couple of other places, but I can't remember before stopping in Figueras. In Perpignan we sat in the station for some time before we became aware that they hadn't let anyone off the train or on. The platform was filled with heavily armed policemen. They finally let the people off slowly, checking them, I presume, and then they came aboard and searched the train. So of course now we were even later. I wondered if this was the real reason that the train had been going slowly, giving the police in Perpignan time to formulate whatever plan they had. But now it sounds as if I am writing a crime mystery. Anyway, nothing came of it that I could tell. The train took off and a couple of police stayed aboard and looked through the train for something, but what we never knew. My first thought of course was a bomb of some sort.
The train from Figueras to Barcelona was slower, but did breeze through some of the stations with people waiting on the platform and looking up at us as we sped by. We got into Barcelona and passed through many underground stations, Passeig de Gracia being one of them. We would have to back track to that station on the metro. So we arrived and we weren't even going to be late for the arrival at our apartment. I always allow more time than necessary and this time it proved to be necessary. We switched over to the metro buying the T10 tickets from the machine and one change and a few stops later we were on Passeig de Gracia. The weather was warm and sunny and it seemed like ages since we had been in Paris.
I did forget to mention that we brought our sandwiches from Andre Cleret on the train and they were delicious. My husband bought another from Paul, in case ours weren't fresh. So we had more than we needed. We did have wine, but the train just didn't seem the place to be drinking wine. We were surrounded by families, so we stuck to water and drank the French wine on our balcony in Spain soon after we arrived.
Nov 30th, 2012, 08:55 AM
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Fabulous! My husband and I are doing this trip (in reverse and with one extra night in Paris) in May. We, too, decided to take the train after weighing the pros and cons, and are looking forward to it.
We love Gypsy Jazz and Django - never heard of La Chope des Puces, but I think it's going on the list! Too bad we'll miss the exhibit.
A trip bookended by bubbles - I love it.
Great report - looking forward to the rest.
We love Gypsy Jazz and Django - never heard of La Chope des Puces, but I think it's going on the list! Too bad we'll miss the exhibit.
A trip bookended by bubbles - I love it.
Great report - looking forward to the rest.
Dec 1st, 2012, 02:25 AM
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Day 5 continued - Barcelona
We stepped off the metro at the Diagonal station. This was the stop that we had used on our first visit and we knew that it was a short walk to the Passeig de Gracia apartment that we were renting from habitatapartments.com We started down Rambla de Catalunya a lovely promenade of a street that is on the very upper ramblas and nothing like the lower ramblas that is written about so often on this forum. Our first apartment is on this street. We loved that one, but it had it's problems, so we decided to try an even nicer looking apartment with the same agency. Here is a link to our first apartment, that I would recommend, but it did need some minor upkeep. http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...ew/pedrera.htm The agency was very good to work with on both of our stays. We looked up to the huge window that we used to love to sit at and look out at the passing stream of people below and there was a man sitting there doing exactly the same thing. I posted a report back in 2009 about our first Barcelona trip. Here's the link to that. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-our-last.cfm
We arrived at our new apartment http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...e-gracia-a.htm on Passeig de Gracia and were met by a representative of the agency. He greeted us in perfect english and showed us into the apartment and familiarized us with everything, especially the tricky lock to get into the second upstairs entry door. It was a very secure building with a concierge in the lobby, not sure what the name for the building super is in spanish. The rep told us that in his opinion it was the best apartment that the agency rented. It was really fantastic. The balcony with it's view was breathtaking. The Casa Batllo directly across the street, the Mediterranean to the left and the hills and mountains of Barcelona with the Tibidabo amusement park and church next to it to the right. I knew it was going to be a very comfortable stay.
We headed down Passeig de Gracia to Placa de Catalunya and the very large Cortes de Ingles department store with the grocery store in the basement. We had shopped at the store in Madrid and knew we could pick up some staples for the apartment. The apartment did come with everything we needed, such as soap, paper towels, sponges, dishwashing soap, washing machine soap (it even had a separate dryer). So we really only needed to buy food and drink. Back at the apartment we sat out on the balcony and had a snack of wine and cheese admiring the wonderful view and getting used to the sensation of sitting out on this very open balcony 6 european flights up.
After resting up a bit in the apartment we went back out and walked over to Ciudad Condal for tapas and cava (Codorniu)http://www.feedmebarcelona.com/resta...ad-condal.html We loved this place on our last trip and we still enjoyed it this visit. Of course we had the patatas bravas, also grilled prawns, and escalavida a tasty concotion of goat cheese, eggplant, and pepper. After all of this drinking and eating we needed to walk off some of the calories so we headed down into the Ramblas in search of the small music club the Harlem Jazz Club. http://www.harlemjazzclub.es/ Again, on our last trip we had been to this club and had heard some great music from a trio with guest singer by the name of Mala junta trio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx0Df2-HEuo I only wish they had been playing around this trip. We did go back later that evening and the group playing was sort of like the jazz band at your local high school. I felt kind of sorry for them and actually for me as now we had to politely make our exit without seeming too conspicuous as there were only a handful of people present. We waited until the set intermission and left. We walked back to the apartment through the back alleys of Born up into the Place de Catalunya avoiding the Ramblas this time and up to the apartment for a much needed sleep.
Tomorrow Day 6, our first full day in Barcelona.
We stepped off the metro at the Diagonal station. This was the stop that we had used on our first visit and we knew that it was a short walk to the Passeig de Gracia apartment that we were renting from habitatapartments.com We started down Rambla de Catalunya a lovely promenade of a street that is on the very upper ramblas and nothing like the lower ramblas that is written about so often on this forum. Our first apartment is on this street. We loved that one, but it had it's problems, so we decided to try an even nicer looking apartment with the same agency. Here is a link to our first apartment, that I would recommend, but it did need some minor upkeep. http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...ew/pedrera.htm The agency was very good to work with on both of our stays. We looked up to the huge window that we used to love to sit at and look out at the passing stream of people below and there was a man sitting there doing exactly the same thing. I posted a report back in 2009 about our first Barcelona trip. Here's the link to that. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-our-last.cfm
We arrived at our new apartment http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...e-gracia-a.htm on Passeig de Gracia and were met by a representative of the agency. He greeted us in perfect english and showed us into the apartment and familiarized us with everything, especially the tricky lock to get into the second upstairs entry door. It was a very secure building with a concierge in the lobby, not sure what the name for the building super is in spanish. The rep told us that in his opinion it was the best apartment that the agency rented. It was really fantastic. The balcony with it's view was breathtaking. The Casa Batllo directly across the street, the Mediterranean to the left and the hills and mountains of Barcelona with the Tibidabo amusement park and church next to it to the right. I knew it was going to be a very comfortable stay.
We headed down Passeig de Gracia to Placa de Catalunya and the very large Cortes de Ingles department store with the grocery store in the basement. We had shopped at the store in Madrid and knew we could pick up some staples for the apartment. The apartment did come with everything we needed, such as soap, paper towels, sponges, dishwashing soap, washing machine soap (it even had a separate dryer). So we really only needed to buy food and drink. Back at the apartment we sat out on the balcony and had a snack of wine and cheese admiring the wonderful view and getting used to the sensation of sitting out on this very open balcony 6 european flights up.
After resting up a bit in the apartment we went back out and walked over to Ciudad Condal for tapas and cava (Codorniu)http://www.feedmebarcelona.com/resta...ad-condal.html We loved this place on our last trip and we still enjoyed it this visit. Of course we had the patatas bravas, also grilled prawns, and escalavida a tasty concotion of goat cheese, eggplant, and pepper. After all of this drinking and eating we needed to walk off some of the calories so we headed down into the Ramblas in search of the small music club the Harlem Jazz Club. http://www.harlemjazzclub.es/ Again, on our last trip we had been to this club and had heard some great music from a trio with guest singer by the name of Mala junta trio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx0Df2-HEuo I only wish they had been playing around this trip. We did go back later that evening and the group playing was sort of like the jazz band at your local high school. I felt kind of sorry for them and actually for me as now we had to politely make our exit without seeming too conspicuous as there were only a handful of people present. We waited until the set intermission and left. We walked back to the apartment through the back alleys of Born up into the Place de Catalunya avoiding the Ramblas this time and up to the apartment for a much needed sleep.
Tomorrow Day 6, our first full day in Barcelona.
