Paris after a study abroad term
 

This trip to Paris was very different from our past trips there. Nearly 1 1/2 yrs ago DD (a college student) talked to us about going on exchange there, so that got the ball rolling. Of course, I was excited from the get go, as this was a perfect excuse for me to get back there, lol. I talked to my best friend to see if she would want to go with us, and sure enough she did. So plans were moving forward. DD took care of all the exchange program stuff and I planned the trip for after that.

I used miles and got tickets for both DD and myself, and my friend used her miles and got tickets for the same flights as me. Things quickly changed though. Literally 2 days after my friend got her tickets, her youngest child was diagnosed with a rare terminal disease. A few months into it, I contacted Delta on her behalf. I have to say, Delta was really good about the situation. All I had was her confirmation number. I explained the situation and Delta put the miles back into her DH's account, refunded the fees she paid, and they did not charge the usual fee to redeposit the miles. There is no way my friend was in any shape to take care of this, so it was nice that Delta took care of it so quickly and easily.

At this point, DD tells me that the friend she was going on exchange with would like to stay and travel with us at the end. That worked well since my friend was no longer coming along.

I booked an apartment through Paris Best Lodge. http://www.parisbestlodge.com/coupole.html was the place, and the owner, Vicky, was amazing! The apartment itself was very nice and came fully stocked with everything we would need. I knew the location was great as we had stayed in the 14th on our 1st trip ten years ago. Anyway, I highly recommend the apartment!

Fast forward to June, and DD finished up classes at her university and was off to Paris for her studies there. It was an intensive language and culture program, which she loved. I arrived on her last day, which was in late July.

I procrastinated on some of the planning, but figured I would get it done the last few days before I left. Nope. Got a call from DS who had spent the summer in Alaska and he got a flight out of the bush earlier than anticipated, so I had to scramble to get him home.

So, the day I left Portland to drive to Seattle, I stopped at SEA to pick DS up. It was nice to be able to see him for a few hours before I left. We had that evening, along with DH, which was nice. Early the next morning DH took me back to SEA for my flight. I flew to Atlanta, and was a big nervous as I had a tight connection. I arrived at T and was flying out of E. The Seattle flight left a few minutes late too. I lucked out and got a seat in the very first row, literally right by the airplane door. I was the first person off, which was good. I do carryon only, so just had my purse and my 21" rolling bag. I immediately got on the tram and went to E, without stopping anywhere. When I arrived my next flight was halfway through boarding, so I got right on. I had purchased the Economy Comfort for this leg of the flight and was glad I did. It was nice to spread out a bit.

Upon arrival in the morning, I went looking for the RER ticket area. I had paper euro, but not coins, and being tired I wasn't about to search for a machine that would make change or whatever, so I just found the RER ticket office and bought my ticket there. Very easy, once I figured out where I was. Then down a short flight of stairs and I was on the train and on my way. I got off at the Port Royal stop, at which the apt owner suggested getting on the bus to get to the apartment. It was early, and I did not see any buses, but knew it wasn't that far to the apartment so I just walked. Very easy and not that far, maybe 10 minutes if that. I stopped along the way and used the ATM. When I reached the apartment, I gave her a call and she came and met met. She lives just a block or two away, so was there in a jiffy. Inside the apartment she showed me how to work everything, and then I paid her part of the rent (the girls would pay more that afternoon) , and then she took me on a little tour of the neighborhood. She showed me her favorite restaurants, boulangeries, etc and where the metro's were, etc. We made plans to meet later to give her the rest of the rent.

So back at the apartment I caved and took a short nap. Maybe an hour. DD was still in class and I knew I would be out and about with them later, so it worked out well. When she finished class she texted me and told me to meet them for lunch. So I went to the closest metro, which was Vavin, literally right around the corner from the apt, and got off at Saint Michel. DD came and met me at the fountain and then we went to where all the girls were having lunch, at Creperie Genia. This was a very simple, but good place for a quick and cheap lunch. A panini and a drink were only 3 euro. If you add a sucre crepe, it goes up to 4,50. The girls had been eating lunch there almost everyday during their program. Anyway, DD got me a panini and it was tasty:) I also got to meet some of the other girls in the program that they had been hanging out with.

After that we took the metro to the girls dorm, which was on the very edge of the 14th, barely still in town. I can't remember which metro stop it was. The outside of the dorm looked fine, but omg, once inside and in the hallway, I was cringing. DD showed me the shower room...ick!!!!! Then on to her room. Extremely basic, which was fine, but it really didn't look like it had been cleaned in years. She and her friend each packed most of their stuff up, and we took one load back to the apartment.

We decided it was time to do a bit of shopping, so headed over to the Longchamp store. DD and I each got a new handbag, as well as one for my mother. We were good and kept our purchases at those:D

Then it was back to the dorms to take the rest of the girls stuff to the apartment. Also hit the ATM to get rent money. We met Vicky at her place and paid her the rest and got an extra key. She talked with the girls quite a bit asking them all about what they have been doing, etc. Very nice lady.

It was close to dinner time by now, so we headed over to Monoprix and loaded up with food. Jam, baguette, ham, cheese, wine, refrigerated desserts, yogurt, and some odds and ends like lavendar soaps. Oh and some of the best tasting strawberries ever!!! Back at the apartment we feasted on most of that for dinner and were in bed fairly early.

The apartment had a queen bed and a twin, so DD and I were together and her friend in the other. The twin bed was near a window that had a clear view of the Montparnasse Tower. Not overly exciting, but at least it was something.

Great, someone is already spamming on this thread, lol!

Today was Saturday and we all slept in a bit. Then we headed down towards Monoprix as there is an outdoor market near there on Saturdays and Wednesdays. We picked up some chicken and potatos for dinner, which came to 15 euro total. Then just wandered the stalls before heading back to the apt to drop the food in the fridge.

Took the metro to Sacre Coeur as I wanted to wander some of the back streets behind the church. We got off the metro and walked up the stairs towards the church. We did wander over to the touristy area for a moment, towards the square, but then retreated back to the back streets. There are some very pretty areas back there! Saw the vineyard, lol.

After that we headed over to Creperie Genia for lunch. This became a habit with us as DD's friend was on a really tight budget.

We wandered the area for quite a while, and made a quick pit stop at Cite Pharmacie. Wow was that place packed to the gills! Too many people to even move around, so we quickly left and said we would come back another time.

We were not far from the girls school, so we headed there so I could see it. The girls went to use the restroom there, and I asked in the sort of gift shop area if they spoke English. I did ask in French, but they were very stern in their response, which was "Speak French!!!". Uh, well that would be nice if I knew it, lol. When the girls came out I relayed the story to them and they said there were quite a few older students, so the person probably assumed I was a student. Oh well:)

From there we just kept walking back to out apartment. We did a pitstop at Monoprix for a bit more food and made dinner back at home. I was tired, and the girls wanted a quiet night, so we watched "The Bachelorette" on DD's computer.

Enjoying your report. Waitng for next installment. Merci.

Great start to your report! (love seeing the spam already removed this morning ~ kudos to Fodors).

The apartment looks terrific, mms. Thx for link.

I ditto klondike. What's French for "ditto"? :-)

Sunday morning we slept in again. Then headed over to the Montparnasse Cementary. Wandered through that for a while. Found some of the famous graves, but really we were just more amazed at how different it is from any cemetaries around us at home.

Wandered towards Amorino, so had to stop. It was warm out, so ice cream is always good:) I had limon and pistachio...mmmmm!!! Took our ice cream and continued into the Luxembourg gardens. Took our sweet time there, wandering all around just enjoying the nice day.

Continued wandering til we got to Creperie Genia, which was lunch as usual. When we left there, we were headed towards the Marais. We were about to cross the street when all of a sudden a bunch of rollerbladers came down. That was pretty fun to watch though. All ages, all abilities, all sorts of attire:D

When we were crossing a bridge to one of the isles, there was a really odd street performer. It was like a one man circus. He had a bike which he would balance above him by using his mouth by biting the seat, and then took tiny plastic kiddie chairs and lined them up across the street in 2 rows, facing each other. Then he got people off the street to sit in them. There was one poor little boy and his parents, and the boy was not too sure about it. When he got off the chair to go to his dad, the circus guy yelled at him to sit, which the boy did. It was just odd, and not funny, so we left. But it sure gathered a huge crowd.

Wandered the Marais. Really needed a bathroom so resorted to Starbucks. DD had found some second hand store in the area that she liked, so we went there. Did get a LaCoste sweater for DS for something like 10 euro, and it looks brand new.

Headed over to Hotel de Ville and watched the beach volleyball there for a while. Then wandered down the street along the Seine where there are a bunch of pet stores. Had to go check each of those out:)

Decided it was time to take a cruise on the Seine, so headed over to the Pont Neuf area. I bought tickets online earlier, and had the paper with me. Buying tickets online saves 5 euro pp, yet you are not committed to a date or time to use them. So we showed up, and bypassed the normal line and just headed to the little window for people with prepurchased tickets. We sat uptop and just relaxed and took it all in. We have done this cruise on previous trips, and since it is so inexpensive (came to 8 euro pp) it is something we enjoying doing again.

After that we walked back over to the metro at Saint Michel and bought my Navigo pass and recharged the girls for the coming week. The day before, I used the photobooth at Monoprix since you need a small pic for the pass.

We took the metro back to the apartment, made dinner out of leftovers and crashed. Tomorrow we lead to London, so we needed to pack and get a good nights sleep.

Today we had an early start. We are headed to London for one night, so had to pack. We each just took our Longchamp Pilage bag as that was plenty of room for a few toiletries and a change of clothes.

We took the metro to catch the Eurostar. I bought tickets a few months ago as soon as they went on sale, so they were very reasonable. We bought croissants before boarding at the station, which were not good at all, but we didn't expect much. The train ride was uneventful. The Eurostar arrives at San Pancras, which is a really nice station. We headed to the exit and asked the information booth about hop on/hop off buses. The Big Bus comes right there at the station, so we opted for that. It arrived within minutes and we bought our tickets which were about 28 pounds each. We took that in a bit, til you get off and get on one of the regular lines. It was all very easy. We took the bus tour quite a ways on the route, but then got off to do the river cruise. That was included in the price of the ticket. It was a very warm day, so it was nice to sit on the top deck of the bus, as well as do the river cruise. After that we hopped back on the bus, getting off near the Hard Rock Cafe. This is the original HRC, and we were hungry so it was a no brainer for us. Plus the girls were ready for some American food. Then we went next door and got the token T-shirts, of course.

Made a pit stop at Boots to get a few things, including some cold water. Got on the HOHO bus again and headed towards our hotel. A few months ago I snagged a deal at a Travel Lodge in Covent Garden for 32 pounds for a family room. DH laughed when I told him, as he commented that I wouldn't stay at one here in the states and so he wondered what possessed me to stay at one there. I told him I could suck it up for one night, if it was bad:D Anyway, we wandered up and found the hotel, which actually has two locations. One on Drury Lane and the other (ours) on Holburn. We got checked in and went to our room. Basic, but clean. We did need more towels and soap, but we just got those later.

Headed back out and back to the HOHO, as we used this for transportation for today. It worked for us since we had all been to London before and seen the sights up close, and this time is was just a quick overview. We headed over to the London Eye, which I had prepurchased tickets for. It was a clear evening and so the views were nice. After that we wandered a bit and then took the last HOHO bus back towards the hotel.

As I said, the room was fine. However, we faced the street and the building directly across had been vandalized, and nearby was a nightclub that I believe closed at 5am. At least that is when the party noise stopped. The girls slept through it, but I heard it. It wasn't awful, but if one is a light sleeper this is not the place for them.

In the morning we walked down Holburn to the tube station and purchased tickets for the day. We were headed to Wimbledon for a tour. We took the tube, and at Wimbledon village you need to change to the bus. I was not sure where the bus came as the bus number we needed was not listed on the bus station right outside of the tube, so I went in a store and asked. The lady was so helpful and actually came out and walked us to the right bus stop. We arrived at Wimbledon a few minutes before our scheduled tour. This was a big deal for the girls, who were tennis partners back in high school.

Anyway, the tour was very good! IIRC, it was about 90 minutes long. After that we bought a few things in the gift shop, and then caught the bus and tube back to downtown London. We got off at Harrods and shopped there for a couple hours. Didn't buy much, but a few things like tea. Had lunch at some tea room nearby. Don't remember the name, but it was good. We of course had to have fish n chips.

From there we took the tube to San Pancras for our trip back to Paris. It was a bit early to check in, so we wandered there for a bit. I wanted something to drink, so told the girls I would meet them right where we were in a minute. I hit the nearby store for some water and came back and the girls were not there. Great...I looked everywhere and did not see them. Tried calling them and their phones were turned off. I didn't know if they had gone ahead and checked in or if they had headed to the restrooms or what. So I had to ask the Eurostar people to see if the girls had checked in. They didn't know, but they took me right through and then paged the girls. Seems they had not checked in, but went and sat on some benches. They were not happy with me for having them paged, as they felt like children, but I told them they should have stayed where they were then;) Another uneventful ride back to Paris.

Today is Wednesday, so we are scheduled for another tennis tour. Grabbed croissants at the boulangerie across the street from the apt and headed to Roland Garros. DD and I have seen this before, but her friend had not and we were up for it again. The tour is good, but they cut some stuff from it from past years, so we were a bit disappointed. Still very good though!

After this we headed to the girls university as DD's friend had an issue with one of her grades. This became a fiasco. Not sure why she did not take care of it the prior week, but whatever. Anyway, it is now August so the university is closed and her professor is not there. She is a mess, so I suggest we go to the office of the exchange program and see if anything can be done. That is near Chatelet, so we head over there and find someone there. The lady explained the August thing to her, and says nothing can be done til September. Let's just say that before this point DD and I were both fed up with her, but now we just felt bad for her. DD suggested we go to a nice lunch nearby, which was the perfect remedy for the time being.

DD and I have been to Au Chien Qui Fume 3 times before on past trips and really like it. So we headed there. We had a leisurely 3 hour lunch. Started off with Kir Royales, and then I had a starter with shrimp, tomato and smoked salmon. Girls had the farm chicken, which is DD's usual here, and I had some duck and potatos. The girls had dessert, chocolate mouse for DD and apple tart for the friend. We all thoroughly enjoyed the meal and it was nice to just relax. The only drawback is the construction going on at Les Halles across the street, but it wasn't noisy, just not scenic.

After lunch we walked back down to Cite Pharmacie as DD's friend was having a tooth issue as well. She found some orajel equivalent and said it worked much better! I stocked up on Humex cold medicine, lol. On the way to the pharmacie, on a corner we noticed a guy that just didn't look right. You see so much of that, so we just kept going. When we came back the paramedics were there taking him away. Turns out it was a drug overdose.

Walked back to our apt area and hit Monoprix for camera batteries and then just relaxed in the apt that evening. Watched another episode of "The Bachelorette", lol.

Really enjoying this trip report! Makes me wish I was back in Paris with my mom.

Can't wait for more! :-)

PS - "Speak French!" Lol, I am still laughing at that one.

Yeah, the girls got a good laugh out of that too, lol! DD said I should have told them I was not a student, but I was afraid to say anything at that point. Especially since I didn't know how to say that in French, lol!

Love those "leisurely three hour lunches" in Paris!

Looking forward to more.

>>What's French for "ditto"?<<

Idem.

(as in Latin = the same).

Au Chien Qui Fume was a fave of hubs and moi! Wonderful report and the flat looks interesting! More please.

Today is Thursday and we are off to Bayeux for a night. Once again we pack light. This time we just took a backpack with our stuff as I knew the hotel was fine with us leaving it for a day when we needed. Anyway, we hit the boulangerie on the way to St. Lazare and got a few croissants to start the morning. We arrive at the train station in time, yet the train is delayed for nearly an hour. No biggie for us, just that the station isn't really where you want to spend any extra time.

Once on the train, it was an entertaining ride. There was a family next to us with the absolutely most adoreable child ever! This little girl was maybe 18 months old and had the cutest smile I have ever seen! There was a school group of kids about 8-10 yrs old behind the family as well as us, and even they were having fun with her. They played with puppets with her, and she decided DD was her new best friend, lol. DD loves kids so had fun with it. It definitely made the 2 hour ride seem very short.

Back up a bit...I bought the train tickets several months ago. I got PREM tickets when they went on sale, so they were only 15 euro pp each way. Very easy to do and a great deal.

Once we arrived in Bayeux, we walked to our hotel, the Reine Mathilde, which was in the center of town. Last time we stayed at the Churchill which great, but they were already booked. The Mathilde was just as nice though, and the staff were very helpful. We checked in and went to our room. It had a double bed and a twin, a skylight style window that opened, and then the toilet and sink were in one room and the shower in another. Everything was spotless and very well kept. Our room was a 73 euro for the night.

We headed over to the cathedral and checked it out, then just wandered the town. The area behind the tourist information office is really pretty, with lots of flowers and the water mill thing (blanking on the proper name of it right now). We wandered all through the town, main streets as well as all the side streets. Tasted some cider rose, which we loved so had to buy a bottle. At one of the chocolate shops, DD spotted some chocolates in the shape of her sorority mascot, so she had to buy a full box of those.

Dinner was at the hotel tonight. I wanted to go to La Fringale, where we have been before and really liked, but the girls were hungry (we never had lunch) and they were not open yet. So the hotel it was. The girls dinners were fine, but mine was not very good. I don't even know what it was...fish of some sort, but I was really disappointed.

After dinner we walked around for a while longer, then back to the hotel. The view from our room was of the cathedral, which is beautiful when it is lit up at night.

Today we were up early as we were booked on the shuttle to Mont St Michel. If course I somehow managed to slice a toe pretty bad on the shower door, so my morning didn't start off so well. It really hurt and took a ton of bandaids to get the bleeding to stop. Very painful all day too. We headed down to the boulangerie and got croissants for breakfast and then headed over to the Churchill Hotel for the shuttle. We booked this several months ago. It cost 58 euro pp, and leaves at 8:30am and returns close to 3pm. We check in at the hotel, pay, and meet the driver and the other passengers. They are 2 older couples, all very nice. Turns out one of the couples is from WA and lives a mere 5-10 minutes from our old house. Small world.

Anyway, the driver was wonderful and acted basically as a guide during the ride there and back. Once we arrived at MSM at 10am, he took us up the back way, which saved a ton of time and avoided the crowds. He left us there and said to meet him down by where he dropped us at 1pm. It was raining the entire day, but we live in Oregon, so are very used to constant drizzle:D We got tickets at the abbey, and the girls showed their student ID's and so got in for free. I think my admission was 8 or 9 euro. The line to get it was very crowded, but once inside you didn't feel like a herd of cattle. People were pretty spread out. I really enjoyed seeing this, DD liked it, but the friend did not. She was still in a "mood" from her school stuff the day before, so I did my best to ignore her.

After the abbey, we walked down the main drag and checked out a few shops, bought some salts, and had a crepe.

The drive back to Bayeux was good as our driver was still telling us so much information. I would love to go back with DH and stay the night at MSM and see the abbey when everyone else has left for the day.

Back in Bayeux we did a bit more shopping, including the amazing caramels, and some Calvados for DH. I got small bottles since they could go in my toiletry bag in my carryon. I found a store that had some amazing salts. They are wine infused/fragranced and different from what all the other stores had, so I bought several jars as gifts as well as one for myself. I also hit the pharmacie for antiseptic for my toe. It was still hurting pretty bad. We bought some ham sandwiches and then headed for the train station to head back to Paris. DD's friend was in a mood at this point...not sure what was up, but I am not used to being around moody people so this was interesting. DD and I just ingored it the best we could. Even DD was at her wits end with the constantly changing moods, lol.

When we got back to Paris, we took the metro back to the apartment. We could see water running down the small gutters within the passageways of the station, as as soon as we got near the stairs to exit, we could hear the rain. And the thunder. Most people were huddled inside the station debating about exiting. We just went for it as the apt was so close. Still, in those 30 seconds or so from the metro to the apt door, we got thoroughly soaked. Lots of thunder and lightening that evening.

TDudette--I am far from a foodie, but I sure love that place!

Now that DD is home, she is interning in Seattle. She was quite pleased with herself as the company received some article in French and she was asked to translate it, and could. So she realized how much she did learn there! Guess we got our money worth:D

Thanks for your time, mms. I was pleasantly surprised to find your report on La Reine Mathilde as we are a trio who will be staying there in September. I already knew the food didn't receive great points (Next time, may I recommend La Rapière instead. Delicious fare) and now I know to watch out for the shower metal sill!

Today is Saturday and we all slept in and were very slow to get moving. So much so that we never even thought about breakfast. We started with lunch, which was at Creperie Genia yet again. After that, the friend wanted to get her trinket souvenier for friends so we hit every shop along the Seine. Twice. This is the thing when traveling with others...the different styles come into play. I was not into this at all, but just kept my mouth shut as this was something she wanted to do and was having fun. So who am I to squash that?

After that we hit Cite Pharmacie one last time. DD wanted to get more face cream, and I got some Roc emolient.

Then over to Rue Cler to wander. We bought some chicken for dinner, but got there too late for the place that we have bought duck and potatos before. I was bummed about that, but oh well. We hit the post office at the end of the street and the girls bought stamps and mailed their postcards. We went back to the apt to drop the chicken, and then went to Galleries Lafayette, the one near the apt right by the Montparnasse Tower. I found some beautiful silver bracelets that would be perfect for some birthday gifts, so got those. Also got another style of bracelet for another gift.

Around the corner from the Monoprix there is a boulangerie, so we hit that one and got baguettes and one mini macaron...;pistachio.

Across from our apt was a Franprix, so we went there for some food. I was very happy to find nopulp OJ finally, lol. DD also found a carton of a smoothie that was very good, and we got some cheese and a tub of chocolate mousse:) Back in the apt, we had another picnic style dinner.

The girls skyped with another girl they met in the exchange program. Other than that it was a quiet evening.

klondiketoo--I knew the food didn't get raves, but I figured how bad could it really be, lol. DD had fish soup which she loved and my starter was very good, but otherwise I would say it was very mediocre. The only thing with the shower is that it is one of those raised ones, so when I got out, the foot that was still in there slipped and that is how I managed to slice my toe. The door itself was in great shape...just me being my typical klutz:D Last trip I fell down stairs at Versaille and ended up with 2 knee surgeries, so at least this little episode was nothing. Our room was #12. I really liked the view we had over what most of the others would have had.

ttt

Oh so glad I found this! What a delightful report. Though it looks like you just cannot go to France without sustaining an injury...sliced toe, broken knee.......Welcome home.

Hi mms,

Love your report.. I remember you booking the Travelodge. I opted for the Waterloo one for my son and his girlfriend. I think this is in a quieter location plus it's newer.

I feel like a kindred spirit after spending my summer vacation in Europe with 4 teenage girls plus my DH and son.
One of the girls (my son's girlfriend,19) was rather moody but it was never clear what exactly was bothering her.
I tried for a few days to be as patient as you but after a week it was obvious that something had to give and luckily she was old enough to 'ditch' LOL.
We suggested an early start for the last few days and 'Moody' preferred to lie in so we just met up for a pre-arranged dinner.

I'm going back to London for a week in November, solo this time but my DH will join me for the last 2 nights and I'm looking forward to doing exactly what I want!

cmcfong--I know, lol! Even my dad missed the last step at the Eiffel Tower and tore his rotator cuff. So I guess it runs in the family:D

sassy cat--I remember you too:) I kept asking DD how we could ditch her friend, but this girl was like glue. Like you, most of the time we had no idea what her issue was. How fun to go go solo!!!

I have been talking to my friend a lot. She really wants to go to Paris, so I look forward to that. It will probably be at least a year, maybe 2, til we can pull it off, but I am glad she is looking ahead and still wants to go. We travel really well together, so no issues there, lol.

Today is the first Sunday of the month, so free museum day. Our plan was to be up early and be at the Louvre when it opened, but we didn't get moving quite that early. We did arrive just before 10, so it wasn't too bad. We got off the metro and headed to the Carousel entrance there. There was a long snaking line, but it moved very fast. I would guess it took us at the most 15 minutes to get in. We have all been there several times, so we didn't stay too long, maybe a couple hours.

On the way out, we stopped at the Fragonard store there in the shopping area. I saw a cute totebag that I had to have:) A beautiful pink floral pattern with brown leather straps, in case anyone is interested, lol.

We wandered over to the Palais Royal gardens. Near the fountain, there are 4 things that were rather interesting. They were set in a square, outside of the fountain, and my best guess is either "art" or windmills. Anyway, the red ones looked like ladybugs, lol.

While walking in the garden, a cat approached us. OMG, this was the ugliest cat I have ever seen in my life!!!! Not really sure it was a cat. The cats face looked more like a pug, but then the cat was hairless, fat, and then had a rat or armadillo looking tail. It had a harness on and was walking sort of with a couple that was passing us. It seriously looked like what you would get if you crossed a cat with a rat.

After that we headed up Avenue de la Opera, but most things were closed as we had guessed. However, one place was just opening, which was Foucher, a chocolate store. DD and I had been there before on our last trip so we had to stop in. We bought a box to take home, and then tried these peach marshmallows that the sales clerk insisted we try. Wow, those were good!!! And so pretty...almost too pretty to eat.

Walked over to Creperie Genia for lunch. Then to the Champs Elysees. At one point, we were choking on the smell of cologne. Yup, we had neared Abercrombie and Fitch. UGH!!! The smell so far away was awful. Thank goodness the girls don't care for that at all, so we hurried past that. We did go in Louis Vitton. The scarves there were so nice, that we almost caved and bought one. But common sense kicked in in time;) After that was Laduree. The line was long, but moved pretty fast. We bought a small box to take home for our family, and DD bought a box for a gift.

Then it was on to the Arc d' Triumph. We didn't go up this time, but just wandered around the bottom. We also hit a few of the car showrooms along the street. Renault and Peugeot. Then the girls wanted to shop at H&M (which has some very different stuff than what we can get at the same store near us) and NafNaf. Both girls found some great deals.

We took the metro back to the apt and hit the boulangerie across the street for baguettes. Dinner was more leftovers.

Today is our last day in Paris. When I arrived, my 21" rolling bag was maybe half full. I pack very light, yet did not need to wear anything twice (unless I wanted to). The key for me is fabrics. Anyway, DD had accumulated lots of stuff over the course of nearly 2 months in Paris, and with some of our purchases, we needed to ship some stuff home. So first thing in the morning, I headed down the block to La Poste and bought a box which I brought back to the apt to pack. We took that back and got it shipped out. Today is Monday, and the box arrived later this week on Friday, to Oregon, so pretty darn fast!

We start the morning at Cafe Vavin for cafe cremes. Yum!!!! Vicky, the apt owner, suggested this. I REALLY wish I would have started each morning this way, with or without the girls.

After that we head to Monoprix and get some croissants. It is really windy and we try crossing the street to Galleries Lafayette and just about get blown over. So we head inside to escape for a bit. After that we head over to Les Halles just to wander, but none of us are interested so we leave and head for Notre Dame. The line was very long, but moved quickly. We have all been there several times, but it was still nice to go in and check it out. After that, DD's friend wants Creperie Genia for lunch. Finally, I just couldn't do it anymore, lol, so DD and I let her get that and then we eat later. We did stop across from Genia at Creperie Suzette and got a nutella crepe to share. Yum!!!

We head to Sephora as DD wants to check out some nail polish. Then the girls take me to a boulangerie that was near their university, and it was very good. We got baguettes for dinner and croissants for the morning.

After more wandering, we head back towards the apt, but one street over, to rue du Montparnasse where there are creperies lined up. This was the plan, to have lunch/dinner here instead of Genia. DD and I spotted the place that our family ate at 10 years ago, so we went there. La Creperie Bretonne is the place and it was good:) DD's friend didn't eat, but did sit with us. As much as I like the paninis at Genia, I was more than ready for a change, and this was perfect. Mine was ham and cheese, and DD had something with mushrooms. Anyway, it came to 14 euro total, so very inexpensive.

I should explain about Genia a bit. The girls were on tight budgets while on exchange, and food was included in the program. But the place where the food was, basically the cafeteria, was no where near the university nor their dorm, so they rarely ate there. Instead they used their money to eat, which meant they ate cheaply. So Genia fit the bill quite well. The paninis were good, and the ladies that run it are very nice. Really I have nothing bad to say about it at all, except I don't want to eat the same thing every day, lol. The place has an area upstairs with lots of seating, and there were lots of regulars there. Lots of students too.

Anyway, back at the apt we pretty much packed up. Had to shuffle quite a bit to make it all work, but we got it. Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower as I bought tickets before we left. Backing up a bit, yesterday I glanced at the ticket printout to make sure of the date. I couldn't remember if we were going on Sunday or Monday night. I glanced, and saw the date, and thought Monday. So we arrive for our scheduled time and darn it, but I goofed! UGH!!! When I glanced, I glaced at the month, not the date. I felt so bad for the girls. They would not let us up, but said we could buy new tickets. At that point we all just said no, forget it. I bought these tickets right before I left home, in the midst of trying to get DS home from Alaska and so I dropped the ball on this. The girls were very nice and said they were ok with it.

So we went over to the Trocadero and hung out there for a few hours. It rained hard for a few minutes, so we took refuge under the big trees off to the side, and then when it cleared we went up to the top area and found a nice spot to people watch. There was a double rainbow after that, so we got some nice photos of that. We actually waited there at the Trocadero for nearly 3 hours! The girls were intent on seeing the tower twinkle on our last night. It was cold, and we were shivering, but we were going to wait it out. The fountains came on, including the cannons, so that was fun to see.

Also saw some group gather down near the fountains. They had big signs that read "Jesus rose 4 U", and two of the men wore long brown robes. The police were there just in case, but it was peaceful. We people watched, and especially enjoyed everyone posing for pictures. One guy, he had his girlfriend run and jump and he was clicking away. Then she had him do the same thing, but he turned around and mooned her as she shot the photo. So it was entertaining:) We waited for the tower to twinkle, and took lots of pics, and then raced back to the apt as we had an early morning.

I was fine with taking the RER back to CDG, but DD's friend refused and so we did a taxi. Vicky, the apt owner, arranged that for us and the driver arrived exactly on time. He took me to terminal 2e, and then the girls to terminal 1.

It took me only an hour to to the VAT refund thing, check in, get through security, etc and get to my gate. I know CDG can get busy, but I lucked out with the timing, as did the girls. So I spent my time shopping at the airport, lol! Seems DD did the same thing. Great minds:D

I flew to Minneapolis and then onto Seattle. I arranged it that DD's flight and mine came in roughly an hour apart. DH stayed at work a bit late, and then just picked us both up. We got back to his place quite late, and then he took us to the Amtrak train station early in the morning to head back to Portland, where DS picked us up and brought us home. Plaines, trains, and automobiles, lol!

It was a good trip, although traveling with someone you have not traveled with before is always hit or miss. This one wasn't ideal, but you do have to make the best of it. I really wished the entire time that my friend would have been able to come along. I know DD would have loved that too. Her son passed away before the trip, and there was no way she was ready to go. She and I have already said we will go in due time, so I look forward to that. She and I travel very well together, which I will appreciate even more, lol!

Like all things in life, with travel you need to adjust as you go and be thankful for what you have. This was not the trip I envisioned when we first planned it, but we still came home with big smiles on our faces:)

Great report and loved the details!!!!!

As usual, an excellent trip report.
Do you only injure yourself in France ? Maybe Italy would be a good idea next trip ;)
I have already told the Yankee that I am gathering new info for our next trip .. his brilliant idea is to go to France and stay for a month or 3 .. wandering.
So I am taking notes like mad.
Besos.. how is the toe ?

LOL! I have not hurt myself in other countries, besides France and here at home. We went to Italy about 12 years ago and absolutely loved it...and didn't get hurt;) BTW, the toe is good.