Day 76 – not new city day, our second time to the real Paris
Aug 11 (Mon) – to Paris, France
- Travel days have a routine: wake, pack, breakfast, checkout, get to the train station. It was very helpful that it was only 200m away.
- Along the way, we saw a mom trying to control one a screaming kid. We are grateful every day that was never us.
- We bought train Cokes at the station, watched the board for about 15min, found our platform, and walked directly to our seats. Train travel in Europe is lovely.
- Upon arrival, we fought our terrible AirCon and Wifi before adventuring out for a very late lunch at Belushi’s for a burger, fries, and wings. Except for all the French, it was like being back home.
- We walked to a grocery store for some supplies and started to learn some funky Paris laws. Takeaway alcohol can’t be sold after 1700 (Yes, 5pm!) in three Paris neighborhoods, so of course we are in one of those.
- Later, we grabbed dinner at a nearby cafe: he had a steak that was good, but my avocado toast was weird and cold, but I got wine (and, because it was a restaurant, wine to go). We made one more stop on the way back to the hotel to get him a cold Coke.
- Throughout the evening, a couple of people told us to go 2 blocks over and one down for alcohol sales that don’t end at 5pm. It’s clear that everyone thinks these laws are stupid.
Day 77 – “that’s hot”
Aug 12 (Tue) – but hot like Paris France-not-HiIton
- Having seen all the big sights back in 2004, we didn’t really have plans, so we used breakfast to search for options. We found a church and a park that weren’t too far to visit via metro.
- Getting metro tickets wasn’t easy; their kiosks are confusing. A lot of the machines are broken, so the lines were also long. Still, we managed to get on the correct train for the church and get off at the correct stop.
- We had no idea what we were in for. We found the church, but the line to get in was massive, even for those with tickets for timed entry. We had no idea. Churches are pretty, but Notre Dame this was not, so we abandoned that silly religion and looked for a way to get to the park.
- The nearby bus stop was out of commission for “work.” The French are literally cute with their language laws. So, we back-tracked to the metro station to move towards the park. It’s a beautiful park, but it was blazing hot at that time of day, so we grabbed a few photos quickly. We found a place for a short break and drinks, but it was hot there too. We got back on the train and used all the tools at our disposal to make sure we got off at the correct stop so we could go back to the hotel to cool off and rest.
- After it cooled off a bit, we found a nearby cafe for dinner of good baked chicken.
- I don’t know if it was the heat or just trying to push through our travel, but I relapsed into another energy-zapping sinus infection.
- We did our evening dance: grabbed supplies for early-morning breakfast in our room and recharged our transportation cards.
Day 78 – Monet’s Little Garden in Giverny, France by way of Vernon
Aug 13 (Wed) – it was hot, too, but not in a good way
- For this adventure, we had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn. We were so slow moving that we just ate our breakfast sitting on the foot of the bed and then packed for the day.
- We did the metro hustle to get to Fat Tire Tours. We took several of their tours in 2004 and Monet’s little garden was the only one we wanted to do but couldn’t squeeze in (because it takes all day).
- Unfortunately, the experience was both too different and too much the same in the wrong ways.
- They were late getting the shop (and the restroom) open. It was a disaster. The funky little shop we remembered looked like a small-town “antique” shop full of old junk that no one would want at any price.
- Getting dozens of bikes outside was their priority. I don’t know why we needed to be there early enough to watch them do that. Once they were finally set up, we were given the same bikes from when we were in Paris 21 years earlier….and it showed.
- They told us that the ride was flat except for the bridge (at the beginning). They told us it was a short ride.
- About 20 of us boarded a bus to Vernon.
- We all wandered the local not-just-farmers’ market and shops for picnic lunch materials.
- There were some light sprinkles making for a very humid day.
- Our leader, a 6′ tall man with the codename Speed Demon, took us blazing through town and over a bridge to our picnic spot where we had time to inhale our food. This was not the Fat Tire experience we had at Versailles.
- The ride not flat. It’s not short; it’s literally to another town. We continued up the bike paths and roads towards Giverney, France and the Monet Gardens. This is a difficult ride. It’s doubly so on a bike so old that Monet himself could have ridden it. The route is nearly all hills, and the humidity made the hot temps much worse.
- I gave up and sat on a parking barrier in the shade. I no longer cared if I ever saw these damn gardens. (I also didn’t care about their “stay with the group” rule when they were rushing everyone and leaving me in the dust.) The meager estate could have the most perfect gardens ever, but they weren’t going to be good enough to overcome the heat and the ride. He went through the gardens and was not impressed as much as one should be for an impressionist’s inspiration. The photos here are the best spots in the whole place. And guess what? No. Water. Lillies. I guess even the water was too hot. He left the gardens quickly and came back to my shady spot. At least I made the right choice…? We started biking back towards town before the others and made it back to the bike barn.
- One more piece: Fat Tire Tours just sold to new owners. The new owners were selling all the old bikes and getting ready to buy new ones. At least that explains the wildly different experience.
- In town, we went inside Monoprix (a store similar to Big Lots) to cool off in the AirCon.
- We also wandered over to the frog bar (with no AirCon) for drinks, where they broke French law by charging us for bottled water when we ordered tap. And that was after we each paid them twice to use the restroom. assholes. At least the name fits.
- Back on bus and headed for Paris, we got a decent shot of the Eiffel Tower.
- After a metro dance to get back to our ‘hood, I went to refresh our breakfast/lunch supplies while he picked up some spicy French chicken from Popeyes.
- I didn’t think I could be any more soaked, but we both managed to shower all the moisture off our bodies. Then we ate ALL the food and rested from the heat, exertion, and frustraions of the day.
Day 79 – All Alone in Paris
Aug 14 (Thur) – since she’s down for the count
- Pushing so hard through my relapse tried to kill me, so I used the day to rest, rest, rest.
- After we ate some breakfast at foot of our bed, he went out for resupplies and pharmacy goods.
- Being sick for the third time on the same trip (and in less than 3 months) was super annoying, but I was super grateful that we had already seen Paris. If I’d gotten too sick to go see all the major sites, I would have been extra pissed off.
- He left me to rest and went out for a while.
- After a metro shuffle, he ended up at the Paris Aquarium. It is very small, compared to ones in other major cities.
- It was still a very hot day, so he found some photo spots for shots of the tower from the west side of Paris. New since 21 years ago is a glass wall blocking the complete underside to anyone without a ticket.
- The metro brought him to our hotel.
- He then made sure we had dinner. He got me some Chinese beef soup and found grilled chicken for himself.
