Paris

Day 1, Sept. 9, LA to Paris, via Frankfurt, Germany, on Lufthansa on a Boeing 747. I flew for free using United miles. I arived at LAX 3 1/2 hours ahead of flight time and it still took me 1/2 hour to get checked in at the counter, 1/2 hour to have my checked–in baggage checked for explosives, and another 1/2 to get through security and then more time to get to the gate. Then I changed some dollars into Euros to add to the ones tha we had left from our trip to Europe last year. There was little leg room on the 747, but my seat mates, a very nice Chinese couple who had retired in Las Vegas, let me out often from my window seat. No German food was served––we had pasta for dinner. After taking off from LAX, we flew quite low over Long Beach and I could see the Queen Mary, the Spruce Goose, and the harbor. Quite a sight. It was a 10–hour flight from LA to Frankfurt. We went through an immigration check here. It was easily a mile walk from the gate that we arrived at to the gate for my connecting flight to Paris. You could stop off to do some real gambling at the airport’s casino––complete with a dealer––or have your first cup of real European coffee (which I did). With a nine–hour time difference between LA and Frankfurt, it was already Day 2 when I arrived. I was very very tired when I landed a couple of hours later at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. I was met there by daughter Britt and her boyfriend Chris. We took a bus into Paris and walked from the bus stop to their apartment. Britt and Chris have been in Paris since the middle of May except for the time that she came home in June to stay with me. They have been taking French classes at a school in Paris.

Hotel Le Relais Saint-Honore

I was not supposed to arrive in Paris until Sept. 14, but flew early because I wanted to meet my cousin Meg and her husband, Jovan, in Paris before they flew home to Chicago. The original plan was for me to stay with Britt in her apartment from the 14th on and Chris was to stay at a hotel until he traveled to London on the 18th to meet his mother there. I offered to stay at a hotel until the 18th and asked Britt to find me an inxpensive hotel near her, which she did. She did not have any idea of what my standards were, but I liked the price of the hotel that she had found, which was across the street from her apartment. I went to check in there and decided that I would get the creeps staying there, so I checked into the much more expensive Hotel Le Relais Saint–Honore at the corner of her street, the Rue de la Sourdiere, and the Rue Saint–Honore. I loved the hotel. It has about 15 rooms and all three rooms that I had (I left and then came back twice) were brightly furnished and the hotel staff were wonderful. I highly recommend this hotel. The rule of thumb probably is to stay at a least three–star hotel in Paris.

Rue Saint-Honore

Looking down the Rue Saint–Honore.

Rue de la Sourdiere

The street where Britt and Chris’ apartment was. There’s Britt.

Their Apartment House

Their apartment was on the fifth floor, which would be our sixth floor as the ground floor in Europe is #0, not the 1st floor as in the USA. The windows on the right were theirs.

Front Door of Their Apartment House

After taking a much needed nap, I walked down the street to Britt and Chris’ apartment. I was invited for dinner. I punched in the code to be able to open the door and went inside.

THE STAIRS!!!!!!

The Apartment

View of the dining room and part of the kitchen. Yes, the refrigerator is on top of the counter. But the apartment also came with a very modern always hot water appliance.

More of the Apartment

The living room. Note that there aren’t screens on the windows in Paris. But if you want to find out what the weather is like outside, all you need to do is to open your windows.

View from the Kitchen Window

Very Parisian.

View from the Bathroom

Also very Parisian.

Jardin des Tuileries

Britt and I ate an excellent dinner prepared by Britt. Chris had taken a nap and missed dinner, but when he woke up, we all climbed down those stairs (me very slowly)and I was given my first of many personal tours of Paris by Britt and Chris. Their apartment was in a very good area of Paris on the Right Bank of the Seine and close to many tourist sites. All we had to do was to walk a short block down Rue St. Honore, then left at Rue St. Julliet, to reach Rue de Rivoli. This is a high–speed four lane one–way avenue and directly across it is the Jardin des Tuileries. Toward the right on Rue de Rivoli, are some five–star hotels and expensive stores. To the left, are a number of great souvenir shops. This photo shows the Tuileries with the buildings on Rue de Rivoli in the background. If you continue straight through the Tuileries, you will end up at the Seine.

The Louvre

But if you turn left in the gardens, you’ll see Britt and Chris’ neighborhood museum––The Louvre.

Place de la Concorde

If you face the opposite direction, there is the Place de la Concorde (in the background), one of the main squares of Paris.

Arc de Triomphe

From both the Tulieries and the Place de la Concorde, you can see the Arc de Triomphe (in the background). The Champs–Elysees begins on the other side of the Place de la Concorde, though this section of the Champs–Elysees is of gardens, not sidewalk cafes.

Eiffel Tower

You can see the Eiffel Tower (the Tour Eiffel) from both the Tulieries and the Place de la Concorde, but the Eiffel Tower is on the Left Bank of the Seine.

Place de la Concorde

This square, which covers over 20 acres, was first known as Place Louis XV, because it had a statue of the king in it. It next became the Place de la Revolution and the statue was replaced by a guillotine. The death toll here was over 1000, including those of Louis XVI and Marie–Antoinette and the revolutionary leaders Danton and Robespierre. The square was renamed Concorde in a spirit of reconciliation. The square is the end point of parades down the Champs–Elysees. You can see La Madeleine Church between the two taller buildings.

Plaque

Even if you cannot read French, you should be able to read this plaque which appears in the Place de la Concorde.

Obelisk

This obelisk also appears in the Place de la Concorde. This Luxor obelisk was 3200 years old when it was placed here in the 19th century. You can also see the Eiffel Tower in this photo.

Fountains

There are two of these fountains in the Place de la Concord.

Fountain

Close up of one of the fountains.

Paris at Sunset

Eiffel Tower from the Seine. I took this from the bridge next to the Place de la Concorde.

More Paris at Sunset

The Musee d’Orsay on the Left Bank of the Seine, across from the Tulieries.

And more Paris at sunset

The Eiffel Tower seen from the Tulieries. At this time, the Eiffel Tower’s lights were flickering. The lights flicker for about 15 minutes each hour. Very beautiful.

Britt and Chris

Britt and Chris on the Pont (bridge) de la Concorde. We ended the day by going to the restaurant at the end of Britt and Chris’ street, La Sourdiere Resto, so that Chris could eat some dinner. Here I was so very impressed that both of them were speaking (which I thought) was very fluent French to the waitress.