eiffel tower

3 days in Paris

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3 days in Paris

I should say 3 SPRING days in Paris!  We arrived at Paris’ Gare du Nord on the afternoon of April 9, 1997 with a suitcase full of dirty clothes. A local man helped us sort out the Metro and we arrived quickly at our hotel (Hotel de l’Esperance Paris)…and found a laundrymat 3 doors down. Figuring out even the most mundane things–like how to get detergent out of the vending machines and making the dryers work–make for fun travel experiences 🙂

We would spend alot of time in Paris walking, drinking wine, eating cheese, and watching people. It turned out to not be enough time there–and to this day, I long to go back.

Paris Eiffel Tower in the Spring
Paris Eiffel Tower in the Spring

Some memories:

We found an Irish bar…Le Galway. $8 pints of Guinness and $1 glasses of red French wine. We saw a dog on a short stool at the bar with an old woman who wore every piece of jewelry she ever owned. We listened to bluegrass music played by a guy from Indiana via school in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The River Seine, Paris
The River Seine, Paris

Our local cafe was in a street market. Tasty cafe-au-laits and croissants of chocolate. Sitting among all those flowers, fish, vegetables, bread and fruits. Somehow seeing it all at the market made it seem so easy, so natural, to buy the ingredients + a bottle of wine, and stroll to a cute little French apartment to cook!

There were also the expected sites.  The Notre Dame gargoyles. The Eiffel Tower.  We took a LONNGGGGG walk from our hotel in the Latin Quarter to the Eiffel Tower. We strolled along the Seine (was it the “Left Bank”?). We saw artists painting, books/papers being browsed and sold, and chickens in coops on the sidewalks between postcards, posters and food vendors. On Brady’s birthday, we tried to call him from under the feet of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower had a digital countdown on the side of the number of days until Y2K, January 1, 2000.

We sat at a busy corner cafe (Le Roma) in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, on the sidewalk in the sun, to enjoy a cheese plate and a bottle of wine. A French couple with a french pooch sat next to us, smoking and chatting away. Ladies walked by in pristine heels and dressed to the nines with long skinny loaves of bread tucked under their arms. We made a list of things we wanted to do by the time we were 40 (at the time, that gave us 7 years to do the list): BRYAN: New Zealand, Norway (4 new countries), Fly a plane, Speak another language, Hike the Grand Canyon, Fly fish in Montana, Have his own business, Own 10-20 acres of land. CAROL: See the Northern Lights, Speak Irish fluently and have a working knowledge of Dutch, German, French, Write a short story, Learn to play piano, fiddle or mandolin, Have my own business, Travel to 3 new countries.

How do you describe Sainte Chapelle and all the colors of light from the stained glass windows…and the floor tiles of dogs and worn gravestones?

Sainte Chappelle Paris
The chapel of stained glass: Sainte Chappelle in Paris
Floor of Sainte Chappelle
Light reflects on the floor of Sainte Chappelle, Paris, France
Sainte Chappelle, Paris
Sainte Chappelle, Paris
Wandering Sacre Coeur
Wandering Sacre Coeur

How do you explain walking up those steps to Sacre Coeur or being in Montmartre at a sidewalk cafe sipping French wine over lunch near the only vineyard in Paris?

Paris from the dome of Sacre Coeur
Paris from the dome of Sacre Coeur

We visited Jim Morrison’s, Oscar Wilde’s, and Isadora Duncan’s graves at Pere Lachaise. Jim Morrison is now a grey cat according to Bryan. The cat followed us–peeking from behind headstones along the way.

We took a boat cruise from Pont De L’Alma at twilight down the Seine, past the mini-Statue of Liberty. In just a few months time, Princess Diana would lose her life near this place. But on that night, the place twinkled and sparkled, as only Paris can.

3 beautiful days filled with French onion soup, wine, and cheese…many times over 🙂

countdown to year 2000
The Eiffel Tower counts down to year 2000
Flag of France
Flag of France