Departed Amsterdam on Sat 9 April for a couple nights in Paris. Arrived in Paris about 1800 (6p), headed via metro to my hotel and called it a night (wasn't in the mood to venture out). I found that I can navigate the metro pretty well since the machines to purchase tickets have the option for English and if you know any subway line, you know to choose the line (most are numbered and/or colored) and then make sure you know what direction to head and you are good to go! Plus, the Paris Metro App was pretty amazing to use (SO different traveling now than in the early '90's!) I was so lucky that I happened to book a hotel only a couple blocks from my stop! The hotel was small and nothing fancy but just needed a place to sleep and shower since I was planning to be out all day on Sunday.
Paris!
Sun 10 April - Departed the hotel by 10:00a, catching the metro to the Louvre (there are actually 2 Louvre stops, I happened to choose the one that put me in a huge mall, what?). After I found my way out of the mall and to the world again, I popped out at the pyramid, surrounded by the many buildings of the Louvre. Again, WOW.
Outside the Louvre
Inside the mall at the Lourve
Walked around near the river and museums for the morning, heading to Montmarte area for a brunch with Em, her husband and some of her friends. I hired Em in the Philippines for Miss Universe in 2018 (I think) and we have kept in touch. Since then she moved to San Francisco, met her husband (who is French) and now been in Paris for a bit over a year. So it was great catching up with her. But way too short. I had booked a bike tour at 3p, and our brunch was at 1:30p (cross town) so, of course I was late for the tour and didn't have enough time with Em. Nothing new for me!! We biked around the main "tourist" areas of Paris until about 7p. I met Shelly (on the tour, from Memphis!) who I instantly connected with. We decided to go to dinner together in a neighborhood area of Paris (near Le Maraise neighborhood). We found just that and have a great time. I found out that Shelly was originally from Birmingham AL and went to Auburn! What the heck? Crazy how small the world can be. If you know me, I went to Auburn for 2.5 years. What are the chances of me meeting someone in Paris who went to Auburn? We had lots of laughs. Good day in Paris. On to the South of France tomorrow.
beauty
Em
on the bike tour
beauty all around
the "typical" Paris photo
Neighborhood we found for dinner.
I must say, I have never been one to say...let's spend a week in Paris. But now that I had a DAY, I really think I would like to come back and actually spend some time exploring this beautiful city and all it has to offer.
Till then...:)
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