PARIS-Day One

Gigi and Larry met us after breakfast in time to take the metro to be at the Eiffel Tower when it opened. However, nature must not have gotten the message we were coming because the Eiffel was mostly covered in clouds for the day. We agreed to climb the tower anyway and to get a look at the city from the second floor. Turned out, one of the feet of the tower was closed for renovation and those of us with cameras were most entertained by painters and welders than by the view. Even though the view and the photos weren't "postcard quality," we saw a completely different and more artistic experience with the Eiffel and were grateful for it.

Coming down off the Eiffel later than I had planned, we quickly walked to the beginning of the Champs-Elysee to see the Arch of Triumph and to watch cars speed around the round-about that encircles the attraction. We toddled down the Champs-Elysee to pass the expensive stores that yell "Paris!" By this point we realized that our schedule was too tightly packed to visit the planned lunch locations. We stopped at Paul for a quick snack. See a future post for notes about our experience at the bakery.

Following our lunch/snack, I ran into Sephora, a chain now available in America, but that is said to have some amazing items available only in France/Europe. I didn't last long in the loud and crowded store. It smelled strongly of a great mix of perfumes, and the items I had read about were not easily found in the store. We were tight on time, and my allergies were not appreciating the great selection of perfumes, so we moved on.

Following Born to Shop and (ironically) the Delta Sky magazine from the flight over featuring Paris photos as a cover story for February. We stopped at Maille, a beautiful shop for French mustard. What's great is that there are pre-wrapped packages of gift packs and many options for gift packages. Audrey, the sales associate, speaks English well, and I give her a lot of credit for a superb job in directing me on my purchases. I hope those who receive the gifts are as happy to eat them as I am to purchase such a quality product. As usual, after I left, I started thinking of more mustard I should have bought for myself and for gifts.

We popped into the Gallerie Lafayette to see the Art Deco domed ceiling of the main shopping building. I must say all the photos I've seen, even on the pamphlet advertising the Gallerie Laffayette did not do the the ceiling justice. It really is something that must be experienced and admired in person.

Near the Gallerie Laffayette was a shop for Yves Rocher. About three years ago, on a visit to Italy, I stopped in an Yves Rocher in Termini (the train station) to pick up a small gift for my aunt. I picked up a pre-wrapped item that had no label, but was discounted, and quickly paid for it to get back to my friends before the train loaded and departed. Since then, the vanilla-scented bath items are all my aunt ever wants for presents. As far as I'm concerned, it is a small, easy-to-maneuver-around bath and makeup store with reasonable prices. All this makes Aunt Linda easy to buy for! I also picked up a few shower gels because they were on sale. They may become gifts or I may just keep them for myself. I always seem to forget that Yves Rocher requires you to purchase or bring your own bags. Since this was the first time I had walked around a town without a book sack, I was forced to invest in the reusable bag and was not disappointed. It had a cute design and when not in use, it folds up nicely into a packet with Velcro to keep it all together. I haven't yet decided if it will go with the gifts for Aunt Linda or not.

Saint Chappelle was the only church I really wanted to see in Paris. It is known for its fabulous stained glass windows with each vertical window focusing on a book of the Bible. We got in line at 4:00 pm, but a museum attendant who knew little English could only tell us the line was closed because only the number of people in line were going to be able to get through the cathedral by 6:00 pm, when the church really closes. So, I resigned myself to the fact that my tight-fisted schedule was not perfect and that I would not see the cathedral at all.

By this point, we were ready to give our hiking boots a break and returned via metro to our hotel to catch up with Brina, my friend from America who now lives and works in France, and with Paul's parents.

A few of us agreed to have dinner as close to the hotel as possible because we were tired and our feet were not used to our chosen shoes (let that be a lesson for me to bring two pair of shoes on a trip). The closest restaurant on my list to our hotel was Le Grenier Notre Dame, halfway between our hotel and Notre Dame Cathedral. Please read a future post for our review of this fabulous restaurant.

After a fine dinner and catching up with the latest arrivals, we fell into bed exhausted, knowing tomorrow would be just as busy.

Would you like to know what we're eating next?