October 1 and 2 (London to Paris/My Birthday)

On Monday, we had an early start to Waterloo Station. Rob’s Aunt was worried about our getting there on time and was in a near panic when the car we had ordered the night before hadn’t arrived. Rob decided to walk out the Mews and flag down a taxi. After a few minutes, one came trundling down the Mews and it turned out that the taxi driver, Jane, knew Priscilla from their Bridge club. We arrived at the train station in plenty of time, got through customs with the officials there giving our passports a cursory glance and enjoyed a wonderful train ride to Paris. I knew we were going through the “chunnel” but there was no announcement. We had gone through a few tunnels beforehand so it wasn’t until we were a few minutes in before Rob announced we were, indeed, in the chunnel. It was uneventful and I tried not to think of the millions of tons of water over our heads and all around us. The Gare de Lyon is old and beautiful (more on that later). Our taxi driver spoke limited English but we were able to give him direction to the apartment.

We arrived at 149 rue St-Martin in the 3eme arrondissement 15 minutes later to find a very ugly building. The entrance was flanked by a patisserie and a used clothing store. We had the code to enter the building and were even more disappointed once inside. The entrance hall was dark and dingy, lined on one side the metal mail slots. Pushing through the next door, we found ourselves at the bottom of a decrepid staircase leading up to the first floor. I pushed the call button for the elevator and Rob wrestled both our suitcases into the lift. There was barely enough room for them and him, so (not quite trusting the lift) I took the stairs to the third floor. Things did not get much better the higher we went. This building had definitely seen better days. Eventually, the owner, Daniella (“Dany”) arrived, apologizing profusely for keeping us waiting. She led us into the apartment and we discovered a hidden gen. The flat was trés jolie and extremely well appointed with fridge, two burner stovetop, dishwasher, small European washer/dryer combo (in the same machine!) and a television.

We had anticipated paying her a safety deposit equivalent to the rent (320€ for four nights) but were concerned about getting it back. Our flight was scheduled for early Friday morning and she would have to meet us by 7:30AM to refund our deposit. Apparently she liked the looks of us and told us to forget the deposit so Rob just paid her the balance owing and off she went! We unpacked and relaxed a bit before heading out to pick up a few groceries. We went for a stroll around the neighbourhood and ended up at the supermarket for groceries, wine, etc. We had a light supper of salad, cheese, pâté and red wine after taking a short siesta. It was raining but we decided to go for a short walk before calling it a night.

We slept in on Tuesday morning, waking up at 9:45AM. I guess being on vacation was wearing us out! My Beloved quickly dressed and ran downstairs to buy me a “pan du chocolat” (not called a croissant in Paris) for breakfast. Served with a small pink birthday candle (Rob brought two, just in case one broke in transit), along with champagne and orange juice, it was a great start to my birthday celebrations. Once outside, we made our way to the Chatelet des Halles métro station and opted to buy a 3 day pass for 18.60€ each. The line we needed was down 3 escalators and 2 sets of stairs. I found the entire system to be hot, dirty and confusing. (No doubt the heat was caused by our being so close to the Centre of the Earth!).

We arrived at the Eiffel Tower for lunch. Rob had made a reservation online at Altitude 95, the restaurant located on the first level of the Tower or 95 metres up. He didn’t receive any printed confirmation so, of course, they didn’t have our reservation but fortunately had plenty of room for us. We were seated one row back from the floor-to-ceiling windows and, while we could see everything, we were anxiously watching the couple next to us finish their coffees so that we could grab their table. Sure enough, we were able to move over before our first course arrived -- gazpacho soup and Caesar salad for me; goat cheese salad and salmon for Rob; and a glass of rosé wine for both of us. We settled on molten chocolate cake for dessert (guess who got to choose that!) and café au lait. It was a lovely, long, luxurious lunch – perfect for my birthday!

We walked back along Les Invalides and Blvd. St-Germain, not really shopping but stopping to take photos and admire the architecture which was everywhere. We passed the Palais de Justice and asked to be stand just inside the gate to take some pictures. Rob bought me a scarf I admired for 10€ and a velvet jacket on the street, also for 10€. We took the obligatory touristy photos on the bridge over the Seine and finally wound our way back home to rest.

For some reason, we decided to take the subway to dinner at Le Train Bleu. In retrospect, it was not a good decision because by the time we arrived, I was hot, sweaty and cranky. The restaurant had our reservation but seated us next to a wait station so I could watch all the waiters scrape food into the garbage. Not great so Rob asked if we could change tables, which we did – much better! The restaurant is located in the Gare de Lyon train station. The restaurant is quite popular with tourists and locals. It is extremely beautiful, with its high ceilings and huge windows. Its immense rooms are crammed with sculptures, gilt and vast paintings. The restaurant was very busy, with a business conference of sorts going on in the back room, as well as large tables of business suits discussing the days’ events. We shared a plate of smoked salmon and a bottle of St-Emilion cab sauv. I had beef tenderloin and Rob had the duck. We split another chocolate dessert and both had coffee, although I could not drink my espresso – too strong for me. We took the metro home and I slept like a baby!