Au revoir, Paris
July 16th - July 20th
Dropping our leased car off at the Charles de Gaulle Airport location was quite the challenge. The address given to us was not correct and even after calling the location and receiving a new address we got lost. It seems the location is at the end of a street that you are not allowed to enter (according to the signage). Another phone call revealed that we should indeed drive up the wrong way to get to the gate which doesn't open unless you actually bump into it. We decided from now on we will go to Orly to pick-up and drop-off as it is extremely easy and right off the A6 motorway. It also costs less for transportation in and out of the city.
Moving on...we checked into our cute room at Hotel Le M near the Montparnasse Tower and then took a metro over to the Marais for dinner at Eataly. No reservations are required but I did one online anyway. Most places really appreciate it if you make a reservation.
 |
| We always reserve a room with a terrace |
 |
| Complimentary half bottle from the hotel |
 |
| Montparnasse Tower |
Because we store our gear in Paris at StoragePal, the next few days were spent buying new suitcases to store our bikes in and packing materials. There is a fantastic store in Paris called Leroy Merlin that has everything from dishes, linens, appliances, tools, packing boxes, etc. Once we accomplished all of our chores we were able to do a little sightseeing walking about 20,000 steps each day! We went over to the Trocadero to view the Eiffel tower, beautiful even on a cloudy day. We visited a portion of the Carnavalet Museum which is the Museum of the city of Paris. It has a lot to see and learn about so we only stayed about an hour. It's a free Museum so we plan to return and spend more time there. We took the Metro to the Abbesses metro station (the deepest Metro station in Paris) to start our VoiceMap tour of Montmartre. So much to see and do in this city! We weren't able to get inside the Notre Dame this year but there were great displays all around explaining the refurbishment after the fire. The inside looks so pristine after all the cleaning they did and the outside is magnificent. The photos don't do it justice. A couple of our favorite things to do is to stroll along the Seine and to stop at La Place Dauphine to watch the Petanque (bocce ball) players and enjoy a glass of wine.
 |
| Trocadero |
 |
| Trocadero |
 |
| Musee Carnavalet |
 |
| Musee Carnavalet |
 |
| The Wall of Love |
 |
| One of the Wallace Fountains |
 |
| The man who could walk through walls |
 |
| Saint Denis |
 |
| Sacre Coeur Basilica |
 |
| At Place Bastille |
 |
| The new spire at Notre Dame |
We of course had some great meals at Combo, La Coupole and Leon of Brussels.
 |
| Tuna Tartare |
 |
| Lamb Curry was Mitterand's favorite dish |
 |
| Our favorite neighborhood cafe |
Saying goodbye to Paris is so bitter sweet but knowing we will return makes it easier!
