Paris, France

This hotel is the highest rated on TripAdvisor for Tours, but we are unsure why. It may be because it is value for money – its not expensive, but you are getting what you pay for which is a nice clean budget hotel with no frills. So with that in mind I was looking forward with anticipation to our little ‘splurge’ hotel in Paris which cost nearly 4 times as much. This does not mean 4 times better – Paris is expensive but we chose something that was on the better side of middle of the road rather than entry level.

We packed, and I loaded Vernon up like a mule as my back was still a bit tender and we slowly made our way to the train station down the narrow shaded streets. Last night at the restaurant there were a couple of other diners outside – a local and a dutch couple who were talking about how popular Tours was as a weekend, holiday and living destination. It is a university city and has a young, arty eclectic vibe – apparently. We didn’t quite get that, but perhaps we had not been there long enough or in the right parts. It is not horrible by any means, but I would say one of the least impressive of all the French towns and cities I have had the pleasure of visiting. Nantes, probably would be bottom of the list only because it was so huge. Perhaps in fairness to both of them it has been on extremely hot days which does not endear one to doing too much and affects impressions. The French man had bought a home here but worked in Paris which is 1.5hrs by express train.

We looked for a eating place along the way for breakfast but nothing was open until we got to the station and I spotted a Brioche specialty bakery. There were plain ones or chocolate chip ones and for an extra 40 cents you could get an internal squirt of jam, marmalade or nutella. The ‘small’ ones were 2 euro each so I got one of each flavor with a marmalade shot in the plain one. At this point I will add that French preserves are very nice – more fruity and less sweet than cheaper run of the mill types and as for the REAL brioche – simply NOM NOM. Soft, springy, tender, hint of sweet, hint of buttery, as light as angels wings …. I went back for seconds (to eat later). I know, terrible self control but I figured I may never come across such delights again. Vernon was a willing participant.

We also got a coffee in the station and a heated ‘sausage roll’ which was a 12 inch fat baguette style roll, hollowed out, filled with a good frankfurter and topped with melting hot mustard cheese sauce like on a croque monsier. Nom nom too, especially as the outside of the roll was crispy. I don’t know which is worse – finding good food everywhere or not?

Our train trip flew by quickly and before we knew it we were in Paris – it felt familiar and good. Once there we made our way from the regional section to the metro, and then worked out the best ticket fare to get and found the right metro color and route to our hotel. For the few days there we just got a book of ten tickets which gives you a discount rate on the standard fare. The metro nearest to our hotel was not as close as indicated on reviews – or perhaps it was that it was mainly uphill that the 12 minute walk was more like 15-20 dragging our bags in the hot 30 degree day.

Our hotel is near the Pantheon which is a crypt for famous French people including a ‘Firmin’ (my maiden name). It was originally a church built in 1790 and is in the ‘ Latin Quarter’ which has a lot of students and eateries not too far away. It is also possible to walk into town near the Notre Dame if desired – about 20 minutes – downhill. Our hotel is an 18th century hotel renovated and decorated beautifully, and I am pleased to confirm that it is as nice as we had hoped. Like most Paris accommodation it is economic in room, but is well designed, has a huge comfy bed (yeah) air conditioning and opening windows, and a separate bathroom with a good sized bath, hand shower rinser, and shower over bath with its own shower rose. The toiletries are very upmarket herbal ones which is also nice after having a few more economic ones which are harsh on my delicate skin.

After that quick inventory we went to see a ‘Harrods’ store equivalent which is in a beautiful heritage building built in 1865. Galleries Lafayette has three big stores in the same area of Boulevard Haussman which is near the lovely opera house – one mens, one womens, and a gourmet food hall and shop. It is known for a beautiful glass dome – which was added in 1912. Friday night is a late shopping night so we thought it would be good to go and do a bit of shopping in air-conditioned comfort. We wont get a chance to see the Opera house this time, but I read it is a nice place to visit being of the same era and very grand.

There were a few train changes, but we managed them ok to pop up right where the shop was. What we were not prepared for was the crowds – including what seemed like a jumbo full of Asian tourists! As with Harrods they have security at the doors and around the shop and it is usual to have a bag check before entering. I do not mind this, as there are nutters around and I would rather mitigate that risk. These stores are very big, but we found an escalator and began to check out some of the many eateries on the levels – but aiming for the ‘dome’ which was of interest.

On the way up we were amazed and slightly dazed at the number of frantic shoppers. I wondered if there was a sale on, but couldn’t see any signs indicating one. They were mad, crazy women on missions to purchase like there was no tomorrow shopping. Totally makes me get turned off and want to exit the shop – Vern is with me on that one. A lot of the items are luxury – well all of them and there was a line outside the Louis Vuitton shop which had a ‘rope’ with guards only letting a few people in at a time. Inside shop assistants had gloves on, so as not to mark the items and shoppers sat in plush armchairs at tables to view the items in comfort. Well now you now how the rich shoppers do it. Quite different from me handling and sniffing products!

When we arrived at the cupola – dome – it was certainly a work of art. Chairs and tables were arranged in a circle beneath it with some tables being mirrored so you could see the art work without straining your neck. Even though the price was very high for a cuppa and cake, we chose to stay as a treat for the experience. It cost 9 euro for a cake and 5 for a coffee. The choice was limited as it was around 5pm at this stage so we got a creme brulee scented with earl grey tea and a raspberry cake, a cream topped coffee and a skinny chocolate with cream on top (of course). The serving portion was very large and very delicious – the brulee especially was soft and creamy and felt like a soft caramel on the palate.

When we had finished our delicacies we thought we would find the food hall building and get a picnic dinner. As we exited and went into the next building we realised we were not in Galeries Lafayette but in a store called Pintemps. Pintemps is also a luxury department store and built in 1865, with its 42m high cupola added in 1923. Lucky us we got to see two domes as we progressed the one in Galeries did not disappoint. It is visible from the ground and very stunning with decorative balconies leading up to the main dome. The food hall was not in that shop, so we exited and found it on the other side of the street adjacent to the opera house.

The food store was crazy busy like Pintemps was and it just became too much walking around trying to understand how to order some things. We saw some giant lobster – not like the variety of crayfish we get back home and every gourmet stand you could imagine – cheeses, meats, Asian, chocolate, bakery, grills, general supermarket, fruit and more. We enjoyed viewing in wonder and lust and changed our plans to just buying some breakfast (we have a little fridge but not tea or coffee) and have dinner near home, hopefully somewhere quiet. We got a couple of peaches (they are very nice here) and a semolina pudding in little jars and braved the crowds and subway home.

We took a detour from our station to come around the back of our hotel area in search of a little place to eat. We found some suitable options quickly – 7 minutes and sat on the street in the cooled off but still warm and pleasant evening. Diners in this area appeared local, just out and about enjoying the evening. Many of the shops are below apartments which are 6 stories high – older style buildings, on narrow streets. This is what we love about being on holiday and avoiding where we can the main tourist traps – getting local instead. Its exciting just sitting, looking, smelling, and tasting as residents do and getting a window into their daily lives. Its not uncommon for me to say to Vern – hey do you realise we are actually in …. London or Paris etc. Wow. While it is really cool sitting at a little table in a Paris street and drinking Italian wine and eating French produce, we still would not like to live in an apartment in a big city (anywhere).

Our dinner was Italian influenced and tonight I had steak as I needed the iron – eating mostly seafood for weeks! Vern had a Camembert Pizza, and prices were very reasonable for Paris and the portions – 16 and 9 euros respectively. Funnily enough when we had finished and wandered around the corne we found a really busy section of streets bursting with restaurants and nightlife, just as we had experienced in Nantes! We weren’t worried as we had eaten a lovely dinner in a quieter area than what was on offer here.

We hadn’t been home long when I thought I heard something strange and looked outside to see a heavy downpour in the last of the evening light complete with thunder and lightening! This was something else to see Paris with this sort of weather as we have had nothing but very warm weather both visits, yet it had a real romantic charm of its own. It certainly felt like a nice reviving wash down of the city which has to put up with so much activity all the time. Things seemed to be quieter and it was even nicer to snuggle down with the fresh cooler air of a rainy night.