Planning a Trip to Europe - London and Paris Part Deux, Hotels and Activities.

9:57 PM AirplaneFoodCritic 0 Comments

Paris as seen from the top of Notre Dame Cathedral

Once you know where you are going, in my case right now, a quick getaway to London and Paris for my 40th birthday, and you know when you are going, as in what days you are flying then you get to do what I consider the most enjoyable part of the trip planning, the activities and hotel finding.

Oh you know, just opening a TARDIS with my own key.

Finding a hotel can actually be tedious after a while but it is also exciting because it is looking for what will be your home for a few days and that is important. It will have a big impact on how your trip goes, how it feels. If you have a hotel in a bad area, you might be afraid of leaving and venturing out. If you have a hotel that is way over your budget, you might be afraid, or worse, UNABLE to spend any money on fun things and attractions. If your hotel is funky, then you might not sleep well and that ruins your day ahead. I have a great way to find out what a hotel is really like. I will share that in a moment. First you need to know WHERE in the city or town you would like to stay. London is massive and I almost had a panic attack when I looked at it trying to find where I would want to stay. Then I calmed down a little and thought it through. I actually asked my good friend who lives in the area where was best to stay and he told me...BUT...normally I do what I did to find where to get our hotel in Paris which is first to plot on a map the most popular attractions I want to see. Once you do that, you can -hopefully- see a grouping. When you see a cluster you can know that is might be best to stay in a hotel in the middle of that area. This will save you time and money getting to the majority of the attractions. It is even more paramount for me to be in the center of the activities I want to do because of my illness that prevents me from being able to walk for long periods of time without exhaustion and extreme pain.


I thought to ask my friend in London where to stay because I recall him visiting me in San Francisco and I knew right where to tell him to stay. If you are wondering, I always suggest the Fisherman's Wharf area for lots of reasons that I won't get into in this blog posting. He immediately suggested I stay in West London. I looked at the map of London on Google and I could see the attractions I wanted to see all grouping in that area so I knew it was sound advice. I would recommend anyone visiting London to stay in the same area as well because of all there is to do there. Their Underground/Subway system is simple and effective so getting to any out of the area places is easy to do as well on those days you want to check something out not in West London like Abbey Road for example.



To find a hotel, I next zoomed in on the whole of West London and again pinpointed the attractions I knew I would want to experience like the National Gallery, Buckingham Palace, The British Museum etc. As I noted the locations of these places I naturally zeroed in on the Piccadilly Circus area. Next I went to a booking website and made a narrow search that kept me in the general area. I noted the prices of hotels in the region and decided on a price range that I was willing to spend to stay there. It will always be that the better the location, the higher the prices, but there are things you can do to balance out the costs. You certainly can choose an out of the way hotel but I can't do that. You can give up amenities like a spa or even internet. You can skip breakfast as well but I like to include it usually because I have found that I can save money if I stuff my face at breakfast and skip lunch. This does not always work as I found out on my recent trip to London this year where the breakfast was skimpy for the huge price. I asked at the desk to have the breakfasts removed from my bill and they obliged because they agreed that there were too many people and food was too scarce. In fact, not only was food scarce but plates, bowls and utensils were also unavailable so in this case we were able to cut loose. It became more cost effective to find an outside cafe to eat at. Then we still stuffed our bellies and skipped lunch. In London, and really in the area we stayed in, there was an abundance and variety of places to have breakfast so it made sense.

Full English Breakfast at one of the cafes we visited for breakfast.

Once you have figured out a price range you are happy with for the area you are willing to stay in, and the amenities you are willing to keep and/or give up, do a search on the booking site with your parameters and see what comes up. I have trouble believing the "star system". I don't really know who is giving these hotels their stars. Is it a 5 star hotel? Out of how many stars? What is the criteria for the stars? I use the star system as a guide knowing just that I don't want one star and I don't need 5+ stars. After that, I go from hotel to hotel looking at how cute they look and their exact location. Once I find one or hopefully several that I am interested in I go to another website to get the REAL info on the hotel quality and appearance. We all know that most hotels use professionals to market themselves. I belong to several travel blogs and have read many horror stories about people seeing these great photos of massive pools, quiet rooms and clean streets only to find out it was all a trick of the camera lens.

Unexpected Dalek attacks can ruin a trip

Hotels will also hire people (or I guess do it themselves) to write great reviews so they look better on sites like Yelp. This might be a bit more difficult to discern between the lies and the reality but there is a website you probably have heard of called TripAdvisor that is like a Yelp for hotels. TripAdvisor offers lots of information on travel beyond just hotels but it is by far most useful at ferreting out good and bad hotels. The asset it has is the photos from the travelers themselves. You first find the hotel you are interested in on TripAdvisor by Googling the hotel name and using the word tripadvisor or you can go to the TripAdvisor website and do a search. Once there, you can do a little reading about the people's experience and more importantly, check out the photos. When you see the page of your hotel you will see the photos separated out by "Hotel Photos" and "Traveler Photos". It is the latter that you need to look at. These are the photos that you can trust to have no trickery in them. Sure, sometimes you find a hotel dominated by one person's horrible experience but despite their bias, the photos still don't lie. The Traveler Photo section is further divided into several categories like Room/suite, Bathroom, View from room, and more. I recommend you have a good look around at the photos to make your decision on where to stay. If you still are having trouble deciding between a couple, then it's time to read the comments on TripAdvisor. Here, again, I don't much care about the star ratings unless it is extreme. If one person complains about the cleanliness or something I also don't care. People are all different and all have different tastes. What I am looking for in a hotel might not be what you find ideal in a hotel. It is time to worry when everyone starts complaining about the same thing. Then you know that there is an ongoing problem. Things like hidden charges, ripoffs and bugs are things I run from.

It's tough work being the Doctor's companion

After plenty of research of this nature, I choose a hotel and book it, either through Booking.com or sometimes through the hotel website. Sometimes I can find a coupon or I find that one site has a lower price than the other. Spend a little time googling the hotel, using sites like booking.com and even priceline.com or kayak or hipmonk to find the lowest price. If upon checkout you see a place to put a coupon code, do a bit more googling to find one that might be posted somewhere. Don't forget about AAA discounts and AARP or any other discount you might qualify for.

I like to get insurance if it is affordable. Sometimes it costs half the price of the hotel itself rendering it pretty much moot. For an extra $25 or so I am happy to pay for the security of having insurance. Insurance on a hotel means that you can get your money back if you have to cancel for unforeseen reasons like if you get sick. This almost happened to us on this very trip which would have been unfortunate because, as an unemployed person, I could not really afford the insurance so I did not buy any for the London hotel. Then a couple weeks before we are supposed to leave for our lovely trip, I get a little indigestion. That turned into an emergency room visit. That turned into surgery to remove my appendix! If it had happened any days later than it did, I would not have made the trip and would have lost a LOT of money.

Me, a couple weeks before our trip with an emergency Laparoscopic Appendectomy! 

Now you have done all the hardest of the work, the REAL fun begins. You get to figure out what you are going to be doing all day and night. My method is to make a plan of everything I want to do for each day of the trip but I don't follow it to the last detail. It is more of a suggestion. We always stray from the original plan. Sometimes we find a new thing to do entirely and often we skip an activity or two. Either way, I like to know what all the options are so I can decide when I get there what is best. This is where google and travel books come in. The best travel books, in my opinion, are the EyeWitness books. I downloaded the London and Paris ones. I used google for searches like "Paris for Vegetarians" or "London on a budget", "Secret London", "Most Romantic Places in Paris" etc. I make a google document with copy and pasting of anything that interests me. I make a list of all museums in the area. I love museums. Then I research each one, making a written list of the things in each museum and why I might visit it, the significance of each one, the cost, hours and restrictions. I use YouTube to do walkthroughs. For massive museums like the Louvre or the British Museum I used these tools to make a plan of attack because we don't have the time and I don't have the energy to see every piece of art in it. There are things one MUST see like the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo and more then there are the things we are interested in, personally, like Flemish paintings and Egyptian artifacts.

The Ravens at the Tower of London are an important part of it's history

Once I have a huge list of all the things I want to do, I mark it all on a map. This way I can look at the map and group nearby things together. I break the groups up into days and make the quickest route. Doing this, I also have to take into consideration the days some attractions are closed or a certain event is happening. Once I put that all together, including the way I will get from one place to another I make a play by play itinerary. I include what we will be doing, the time it takes to do it, the cost, perhaps things I should be ordering to eat or drink, and more.

I pretty much gave you the light version of how to plan a trip but I hope that it helps at least a few people who are on the fence about going to Europe from the US or Canada. If there are any specific questions I would be happy to answer them in the comments section. I am hoping to blog my most recent trip in the following month or so.






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Planning a Trip to Europe - London and Paris Part One, The "Bones", When, where and for how long

9:56 PM AirplaneFoodCritic 2 Comments


Have you always wanted to visit Europe? Are you like me and are terrified to do it wrong? I have to know every little detail before I do something that "BIG". There are so, so, so many questions that need answering. How much will it cost? Where should I go? How do I get there? When should I go? What do I need to bring? What, if any, languages do I need to speak? What kind of food will I have to eat? What if I get lost? I am having a panic attack just writing this.

I am lucky, VERY lucky. I have been to Europe several times because a portion of my family is in Switzerland. The first time I went I was two years old. If you are reading this then you probably also know I just went last Spring. That trip was the first time I went on my own, without family. Over the years I have had a bigger and bigger hand in planning the trips but the next trip I am taking I will have done absolutely everything all on my own. And I will tell you, it is still scary.

I managed to figure out the Underground system and get around relatively easily using it.

I thought I would post a bit of the process of planning a trip like this for those of you out there who are as afraid if the unknown as I am. I will start by saying I am turning 40 this October (2014). I am sick with many illnesses but it can be summed up by saying I have Chronic Lyme Disease. This means that I am too sick to work because I am too sick to walk, run, jump, clean, dress, or any other normal daily activity for any extended period of time. I was getting an income from disability but that ran out. That ran out the DAY AFTER I decided to go to Europe for my birthday. THE DAY AFTER I purchased non-refundable plane tickets and hotel reservations! But that is not YOUR problem, it is mine and I want to turn it into something that might help someone else who is on....a budget...which I am now on....SERIOUSLY.

London and Paris is Easy:
The trip I am planning is a simple one. A great first timer. I am going for only 10 days but anyone reading this and using it as a guide can extend it out to at least a couple weeks and I recommend you do so because if you are paying a couple thousand per person on plane tickets, you want to spend as much time over there as possible.

Paris on my birthday

Why do I say London and Paris is easy? First of all, you do not have to rent a car, so it is easy and cheaper too. When you are not driving you do not have to worry about driving laws, reading another language, reading maps, accidents and more. London and Paris have so much to do that you can spend a lot of time without traveling from one town to the other to the other. You can get a feel for two whole countries by only staying in two different hotels. Staying in the same hotel for a few days in a row is helpful because you can have a home base of somewhere you can become familiar with. You can hang your clothes up. You can make friends with the staff who will speak English to you without being rude. They can get to know you and give you suggestions too. Another reason London and Paris are a great starter pair is that they are close to one another yet they are worlds apart. They are an inexpensive, few hour train ride apart but they are two COMPLETELY different countries. You say, duh Steph, we all know they are different countries. But they really, REALLY are. I have friends in London who were born and raised there and have never, ever been to France, let alone Paris. The English and the French are not what you would call, BFFs. This will give you, the tourist, the experience of two very different countries with very different cultures, very close to one another but not affected by the other at all. So it's like you went much, much further.

I chose a quick trip to London and Paris for my 40th birthday!

Another reason London and Paris is easy is because they are big cities and as such, you have a lot of modern amenities. I love staying in small, European villages because they are off the beaten path and often full of charm but there are downsides to them as well. Many small towns will not have many English speakers so communicating is very difficult and often people will get frustrated or even mad at you for not understanding them. If there is any sort of emergency or even if you need something simple like toothpaste or a Band Aid, it can prove very difficult to get what you need. In a big city, you will find enough things similar to home that you can be comfortable but of course you still get the vibe, look and feel of being in another country. People usually speak and understand English, there are pharmacies and large grocery stores. You can find restaurants that have food you are familiar with too. My boyfriend is a vegetarian and he has loads of trouble finding food to eat in small towns. France has a hard time understanding vegetarians. In this case, despite being a big city, Paris has trouble providing a variety of food beyond salad for vegetarians. If you have any other food allergies or diet restrictions, or if you just don't want to eat weird, foreign to you food every single day, this is a great option.

Among many other reasons London and Paris is easy is the fact that everything is basically at your fingertips. Sure, both London and Paris are massive. They are even bigger to me, coming from San Francisco which is a tiny city comparatively. I am sure to people who only know small, rural towns it is totally massive. But still, the museums, attractions and sights are all compacted into one general area so you won't end up driving 3 hours the wrong way on a country road with no help in sight. I have never been to a city that didn't have nice people to help when you are lost too. I have been in small towns where they will ignore you when you try to get help but in a city, you can always find someone who can be understanding, and in most cases, they will find YOU. I have had many expereinces where I am totally lost and it shows on my face or by my gestures and someone will come up to me and offer help without my asking. This includes cities famous for being rude like Paris and New York. Of course, practice caution in those situations as well. Don't get out your map and look like a lost tourist in a bad neighborhood. Research what the bad places are before you go and make sure you avoid them if at all possible. Don't go out at night to places that are not heavily populated. These are common sense things to do. If you are in broad daylight and aren't flinging your purse or money around, you are perfectly safe telling someone you are lost and asking for help. In New York I found so many helpful people I was totally shocked. Most of the help I got was using the Subway which I had heard was dangerous and rough. I had heard New Yorkers are in their own world and don't have time to stop for a dumb tourist. Not true in my experience at ALL.

Right off the airplane I managed to figure out the tube system and get to our hotel via public transportation. I was very proud of myself for that.

Which brings me to another point, yes, research where you are going and understand the customs and where the good and bad neighborhoods are and all that...but also don't necessarily believe all the rumors and stereotypes. Before visiting Paris for the first time, my boyfriend had preconceptions that it was full of rude people. This came from first, we were in France for one day last year and the people were very rude to him because he said the dreaded, taboo phrase that you should avoid at all costs if you can: "Do you speak English?". Most Europeans and in my experience, all the French, dislike it when you don't even TRY. When you act like a privileged American who owns the place and you are owed communication on your terms. If you just try a little bit, if you stumble through just a couple words, again, the French especially, will either get tired of hearing you butcher their language or be happy you gave it a shot and speak English to you. So the boyfriend had a bad experience in our one day in France from a server whom he asked the question to. The other way he got is misconceptions was from his coworkers and friends. They were all telling him how rude the French are and that they smell because they never shower. He was told that the whole of Paris has a bad odor because of bad hygiene. This, of course, is ridiculous and not true. Once he arrived in the City of Lights he realized it was not true and it became one of his favorite cities despite his horrible trepidation before visiting. I mean I had to force the guy to go. Now he can't wait to go back. He realized that his problem from our last trip was not The French but a disgruntled waitress. We had a few encounters with unhappy people in the service industry. I imagine they are not paid enough to put up with so many bumbling tourists from not just the US but all over and it shows in the way they treat patrons sometimes.

I did some research and found a Doctor Who Museum. This costume is from one of the best episodes involving Vincent Van Gogh

OK, back to planning a trip. Once you have decided you want to go to London and Paris you have to decide when and how long you want to go for. This usually will depend on when you get time off work or when a special occasion is. In my recent case, I went to celebrate my 40th birthday so I wanted to make sure I went in the time surrounding October 8th. Once I decided that, I began checking various flight options to see what was cheapest. I learned that, in my case, flying into London and out Paris was FAR cheaper than the opposite. I learned that by using Kayak and several airline websites and typing in scenario after scenario of flight options. I kept in mind where weekends fell and what was closed when. For example, when traveling to Europe, many places are closed on Sundays. This is most obvious in smaller towns but also rings true in the bigger cities so you don't really want to land or take off on a Sunday because you may need things that aren't available to you. I also wanted to maximize the boyfriend's vacation hours so he was missing minimal days of work. I decided on leaving on a Thursday, spending four full days in London, split a travel day between London and Paris then four full days in Paris. I made sure we flew home on a Saturday.

There are many fun things to discover when you are walking around Paris.

That is something I learned the very hard way. Always give yourself a day of rest when coming home from a European vacation. Traveling East is always more difficult than traveling West but that doesn't mean that you will adjust right away coming home. The worst jet lag you will experience is when you arrive in Europe because you traveled East. I don't know the science behind it but it knocks me on my butt every. single. time. I am a blithering idiot for at least 24 hours after traveling East. Coming home is also difficult but not so much for the jet lag as the acclimation back into the real world. One time, I went to Ireland for two weeks and didn't give myself the proper resting time of at least a day. I flew home on Sunday and was working that Monday. I worked at a company that provided a database to winemakers and the first thing I did was erase the entire database from the records because my mind was groggy and still in another time zone 9 hours away from where I was. If you were worried, we were able to reset the database to the last time the computers were backed up but we lost a few days and my boss was livid. I never heard a man's voice make that sound before when I made the dreaded call to tell him. So, for you, your sanity and your job, make sure you plan a buffer day before you go back to work or responsibilities. That may mean taking an extra day off despite being back in your home town. Trust me, it is worth it for everyone involved.

Once you have the where, how and when of your trip, you have the bones. The next step is finding a hotel and planning your activities. That is when the real fun of trip planning begins. I will share that in another blog.







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Part 9 London and Paris 10 Day Getaway - The Louvre

2:12 PM AirplaneFoodCritic 0 Comments

Today we visit the Louvre. My feet will barely make it. They are so sore and swollen from all the walking of the last 7 days but I am determined to do it! We approached the pyramid along the same path the took the night before. It was fun to see the glass structure at night then again in the morning. It is another beautiful day but we must go inside. But first we had to take a bunch of silly photos like tourists do so we did. We are HILarious! And no where near original except for the fact that most people were putting their fingers on the tip of the structure.
Having a lean on the Louvre. 
Getting a leg up on the Louvre
I did all kinds of research saying how to avoid the long lines to get into the Louvre like buying tickets in advance or finding secret hidden entrances. We just walked right into the front door with basically no line at all. We entered the glass pyramid and took the escalator down to the main floor. The first thing one must do is see the Mona Lisa so that is what we did straight away. I have seen this painting a couple times before and it always strikes me how small it really is.
Right when we got there there were very few people crowding around the Mona Lisa so I was able to walk right up to it!
We were so lucky that there were not a lot of people around. In fact, I later learned that yesterday, when we had originally planned to visit the Louvre, it was closed so that Beyonce and her family could tour it all by themselves. I was able to walk right up to the Mona Lisa and many, many other famous works. We made our way along the long corradors looking at all the most famous paintings like Liberty Leading the People, The Wedding at Cana, The Raft of the Medusa and multiple Caravaggios and Vermeers, two of my favorite artists.
Vermeer's The Lace Maker. Amazeballs.
We also saw all the famous sculptures you are supposed to see like Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. We went through rooms and rooms of statues in fact. Every time I found a bench I had to sit down for a bit though. My feet were killing me and I could barely walk at this point. The bf had never been so we had to see it all. Who knows when we will be back again? And you might recall that his method of visiting a museum is to see Every. Single. Thing.
Venus de Milo and me.
We made our way down to the depths of the Louvre where the Egyptian artifacts are. It felt like we came full circle from our first day in the Egyptian section in London at the British Museum and now our last day in Paris, in the Louvre. We saw more mummies, sarcophaguses, the Book of the Dead and canopic jars. They even had actual tombs that were disassembled and reassembled in the basement of this museum! Pretty interesting. I really liked the actual furniture the Egyptians used. They were small.
The real hot chocolate. So think and chocolatey!
After all that walking...well, for me hobbling...we hit up Angelina's again. This time I fueled up on their famous hot chocolate. It is basically a slightly melted chocolate bar. We also got a big meal. We have not been eating all that normal in Paris because of the lack of good vegetarian options. It is a bit disappointing, really. You are supposed to eat a lot in Paris but we made up for it in sweets I think. At Angelina's this day though, we had big meals. We realized if we want to have anything close to hearty without meat we have to go with Italian food. The bf had truffle mushroom ravioli and I had a rolled up chicken breast with herbed mashed potatoes.
Last meal in Paris
After eating we went back to the hotel to pack up all our goodies. Again, we were so happy that our friend, Andy, in London, leant us a duffel bag because with the snorkels and everything we bought to take home, there was NO way we would have fit it. I normally take with me a rolled up duffel bag but this trip I was using a smaller spinner suitcase the didn't really fit it and I usually borrow the duffel from my folks who were on their own trip at the time! Until next time, Europe!

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Part 8 London and Paris 10 Day Getaway - Saint Chapelle, Notre Dame, Berthillon and Angelina's in the park.

11:54 AM AirplaneFoodCritic 0 Comments

Another wonderful breakfast at the hotel of meats, cheeses, rolls, croissants, butter and jams all washed down with tea and fresh juice. The best way to start a day. I swear, I think it is the breakfasts that I look most forward to when I travel to Europe! The day was bright and sunny with white, puffy clouds. What a great day! We filled our bellies and headed out the door. This whole trip we never once bothered taking any public transportation in Paris besides getting from the Eurostar to the hotel. We were able to walk everywhere. I think yesterday was the longest we will have to walk though. When planning a trip to Paris, you have to make a decision when picking your hotel. The Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are quite far away from things like the Louvre and the D'Orsay. I always choose to stay in the 5th, 6th or 7th Arrondissement. I find that these are much closer to most of the things. Today we are walking the short trip to Notre Dame.
The people's chapel at Saint Chapelle
Our first stop was Saint Chapelle. Saint Chapelle is pretty cheap to get into and it had relatively short lines. You get two chapels for one ticket. It is a two story building. The bottom chapel was made for the people. It had some stained glass, ornate ceilings and some nice statues. Very cute. Then you go up stairs to the second chapel that was only for the king to enjoy.
Close up of the altar.
Looking up from the ornate floors. You can see where the rose window is supposed to be on the left. 
This one was much more ornate. All the walls were composed of stained glass. The entire bible is represented in the glass and on the walls. It was so colorful and intricate. We stayed here a long time just looking, staring. There were seats and benches to just sit and enjoy the sight.
More detail of Saint Chapelle's windows.

There is normally a beautiful rose window of stained glass on one side but it was being repaired. Boo! We had plenty to look at though so no complaints. After the Saint Chapelle, we crossed the street to visit Notre Dame.
Happy to be in Paris. Happy to be visiting Notre Dame as you can see it in the background. 
We walked around the outside of the church then went inside. We were trying to figure out how to get to the top. I know that I saw people at the top of the towers and I wanted to be one of those people. Turns out you go around the outside to the left of the front of the building. It was a long line and we started to get hungry and antsy. I did a little shopping then bought a big tub of fries. We munched a little in line then I had to hide it in my purse for the tour. Up and up we went around circular stairs until we came out right between the two towers. Looking down I felt like I was secretly spying on the city.
It was quite difficult picking out just a few pictures to share.
I, being the goofball I am, did not see the sign saying it was a one way tour and I ran ahead only to have to shove my way back to the start to find the bf. A little embarrassing but you gotta do what you gotta do. We took loads of great pictures and had tons of great views. My favorite photos are of the layout of the city with the gargoyles looking over it. I was up there for so long I felt like I was becoming one of the "grotesques" myself! This was a highlight of the trip for SURE.
More great views. Last night we had views at night and today we have all the day time views we could ever want!
After we looked out between the two towers we had the choice to go up one of the towers and of course, we took that chance. We got even more views of other parts of the city from up there. We stuck around while a couple tours came and went before we went back down. I felt like Quasimodo! We were so hungry that at one point we just stepped back, pulled out our fries that were sitting in my purse and ate them all. That was probably the best picnic spot in all of Paris!
A look back at where we were.
We climbed back down all the stairs and exited Notre Dame. We walked behind the building trying to get off the island that Notre Dame is located on and found a darling park. We let our inner child out when we found the swings and other things to play on. We were like little kids the way we played.
Having a bit of fun.

After getting that out of our system we crossed a bridge off the Ile de la Cite. We followed all the ice cream eaters to Berthillon which is probably the most famous ice cream shop in Paris. Along the way there were many shops that boasted serving Berthillon ice cream but you really gotta get it from the source. It was a short line and a long list of flavors. I got fig flavored.
Eating both my figgy ice cream and the bf's under the Berthillon sign.
We took a nice stroll with our treats. We had planned on going to the Louvre today but this afternoon was too lovely to spend indoors. So we passed back across Notre Dame and headed back to the shopping street, Rue de Rivoli. We went to Angelina's, another famous cafe that sells great treats. We forewent the African Queen Hot Chocolate which they are best known for to buy some cakes to go. We took the desserts to the Jardain des Tuileries which is in the shadow of the Louvre. We grabbed an open set of chairs and took a break.
Our booty while we enjoyed people and flower watching in the jardain. 
We may not have gotten the hot chocolate but we did get the Mont Blanc which is another thing you are supposed to get at Angelina's. It is a dessert of pureed chestnuts. The original recipe is from somewhere in the late 1400's. We also got a raspberry pistachio tart and a strawberry eclair. I was LOVING sitting in the reclining chairs. I was pretty darn tired from all the walking of the past few days. My feet were beginning to swell. We took an extra chair to put our feet up.
This was the second highlight of the trip of the day! That is the Louvre on the left there.
We stayed at that park until the sun set. Then a woman in a cop car drove around to each person in the park and told us to gtfo. So we packed up and left through the Louvre. On a hunch that the bf had we went back to the Decathlon store and guess what was there? Our snorkels! Now I can work out without feeling like I am drowning!
Snorkels were fully stocked again! Hooray!
A perfect ending to a perfect day. 

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Part 7 London and Paris 10 Day Getaway - My 40th birthday in Paris!

11:14 AM AirplaneFoodCritic 0 Comments

The big day has arrived. It's my 40th birthday! This is the day that I have all my favorite things about Paris planned to do! We began with a lovely French breakfast at the hotel. French breakfasts are one  of my favorite ones to have. They had croissants, rolls, meats, cheeses, cereal, coffee, tea and excellent jams and jellies. I don't know why, but the butter in Europe is just fresher and tastier than in the US. I used to think it was because it was unsalted but that isn't it. Perhaps it is the fact that I see more cows and small farms scattered around the countryside. Unlike in America where the poor cows are hidden away. After breakfast I put on my Hermes perfume, grabbed my Happy Birthday tiara and we headed out for the Musee D'Orsay.
The charming breakfast room at our hotel.
The D'Orsay is my favorite museum in the whole world...that I have been to, that is. It is a large museum built into a train station. The structure alone is stunning with the giant clocks, massive space and art deco glass and iron work. But what I love the most is the art that resides inside.
A view of one of the many giant clocks at the Musee D'Orsay

A view of the center portion of the museum
The Musee D'Orsay is the largest collection of Impressionist art in the world as far as I understand. I am a humongous fan of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art so pretty much every single work of art inside this converted gare is especially wonderful to me. We started walking the main part of the museum where most of the statues reside.
Here is one statue that greets you as you enter the  museum. There were many more fascinating works.
The we made our way room to room to look at the paintings. They have loads of famous works like Whistler's Mother by Whistler, and then whole rooms of famous artists like Renoir, Van Gogh, Manet, Monet...whole freaking ROOMS! I remember the first time I ever visited this museum. I became overwhelmed by the beauty. Once I stepped into the Van Gogh room, I began to cry. My body and mind were so full of emotion that I was just overcome with feelings so there I stood with  my head in my hands, weeping. I got emotional this time as well but I had a bit more control over myself.
Me, standing among only a small number of the Van Goghs in this museum. 
The bf and I go through museums differently. Visiting museums is a big part of me, my life, my hobby. I have a membership to several museums in San Francisco and I go as often as I can. Many times it isn't because of a special exhibit. I just like to spend time looking at the works of art, mostly paintings but sculpture too. I pick out the ones that catch my eye the most and I stare and I stare. I don't think there has been more than a handful of times that I have been to a museum when I WASN'T asked to move away from the art because I like to get in there and FEEL the brush strokes or chisel strikes in my mind. No, I don't actually ever touch anything, don't worry.
As you wander about the D'Orsay, you come across some alluring glimpses of the city outside. This is a view through the face of another clock.

While I pick and choose which works of art I like to inspect and admire, the bf chooses to check out every single thing the museum has to offer. Because of this we did get lost from one another for a little while. We reunited eventually and it was time to leave my favorite museum. There was much more to get done on my birthday! The light rain from the morning had ceased and left us with some bright clouds as we walked through Paris on our way towards the Arc D'Triumph and lunch.
I won't participate in the destruction of the bridge by putting a "Love Lock" on it but I will take a photo there!
Along our walk we passed many popular attractions. We crossed over the Pont des Artes, which is famous for lovers putting padlocks with a love note written on them on the railing. The idea being that you write a note of love, or your initials on a lock, lock it to the bridge and throw the key into the Seine. We did not participate in this ritual because there have become so many that the historical panels of railing have been falling off the bridge into the water. I find that ugly and destructive. There were people selling locks and sharpies all along the way though. We, instead, bought a painting of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre Coeur from a woman who was making the paintings right there on the bridge.
You can see a bit of everything from the Place de la Concorde
We continued walking until we arrived at the Place de la Concorde and the Luxor Obelisk. We spent a good amount of time here because the views were spectacular. There is the golden obelisk standing 75 feet high. There were beautiful, ornate fountains on either side of the obelisk. Then you could look down the whole Champs-Elysees to see the Arc d'Triomphe. In the distance you can see the majestic Eiffel Tower. The Obelisk is an actual part of the Luxor taken from Egypt in the 1800's. It is over 3000 years old. Very well preserved if you ask me.
The view of the Arc d'Triomphe from the Luxor Obelisk. We were heading down this road next.
We walked down the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc d'Triomphe heading for a super special lunch spot. It was exciting to make our way closer and closer to the Arc. Just a beautiful, but long, walk. The walk takes you past lots of shops. The streets were full of people, both French and tourist alike. We were a little nervous and a lot hungry when we started to doubt our ability to find our special lunch spot but we were well rewarded for not giving up. We found Laudree!
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Laudree is more known for it's pastries and especially their macarons. I am a macaron F-R-E-A-K. I am not misspelling the word, it is spelled macaron because it is not a macaroon. It is pronounced the same, essentially, but instead of being a mound of toasted coconut, it is a delicate cookie sandwich that comes in any array of flavors. My favorites being hazelnut, earl grey, vanilla and green tea but I love every flavor. Laudree is famous for it's macarons but I learned that there are a few shops that sell lunch stuffs as well and that is where we ended up today. I ordered some sliders that came with fries and the bf ordered a veggie sandwich that had a million things in it.
Laudree Sliders and look at those FRIES! Very tasty.
So far, London was not too difficult to find vegetarian meals for the veggie bf but we started struggling a little bit in Paris. We found that if you asked what a bistro or restaurant had by way of vegetarian meals they would all just point to a lettuce salad which is not that satisfying to eat every day for every meal. After eating a wonderful meal out on the sidewalk in a cute little area with benches and tables we went into the little shop. There was a very, very long line to buy sweets. We could have ordered after lunch and they would have brought us the cookies and cakes but I really wanted to look at everything. The line went all the way back to the end of the shop then led along the long counter so everyone got a real good look at all they had to offer. There were cakes, champagne, perfume and much, much more. The decor inside was also a lovely, flowery, feminine design.
Large array of macarons.
We got the beige and red cakes in the center as well as a round box of cookies like on the far right.
I bought a mixed box of about 11 different flavored macarons then we both bought a cake. We got a praline cake and a raspberry one. They put it all in beautiful, delicate boxes and handed up the bag. I was literally like a kid in a candy store. Loaded up with cakes we made our way to the Arc d'Triomphe.
Pretty bag with pretty cakes in pretty boxes.
The Arc de Triomphe is situated in the center of a massive intersection of like 8 streets and there are no designated lanes. We wanted to get to it but couldn't find a way. We circled the whole structure. It is magnificent to look at as we walked it's perimeter. The traffic between us and the Arc was not quite as crazy as it could be. I recall having to cross this area when I was younger and it was just pure anxiety with cars going any direction they feel like trying to get to their destination.
You can see all the wild traffic and there is the ONE police man helping out.
We finally realized there is no way to cross the street to the Arc, instead you take a tunnel! Makes so much sense now. There are a couple tunnels that lead to the structure. They are not unlike a subway tunnel with tiles. When you emerge you get a remarkable view of the building. It really is breathtaking. We circled the structure once again, much closer this time. The carvings are so life like and intricate. We noticed that there were a lot of people gathered under the actual arches. Something was happening. All these young men began marching towards the center. They were dressed in some sort of uniform. I tried to listen in but couldn't get close enough. I think it was some sort of graduation. I saw firefighters and military looking people. We were not able to get to the very center of the building because of the ceremony but we found a little seat under the protection of the Arc and had a rest. We pulled out our cakes and cookies and had a snack.
We had a snack on one of the benches under the Arc. You can see the flags of the ceremony in the background.
After the snack we continued our trek to the Eiffel Tower to complete my birthday to-do list. A light rain started to come down but we had rain jackets and the umbrella so it was still a enchanting walk. The sun was just beginning to set and by the time we reached the tower it was night time. The whole walk we could see the tower so we got to see the sunlight leave and the lights go on on the Eiffel Tower. I must have stopped to take a photo every 10 meters because it was just so exhilarating, romantic, beautiful, endearing, bewitching.
You do not need a map to find the Eiffel Tower because you can see it from wherever you are. 
As we walked the rain came down harder and harder so that by the time we reached the Eiffel Tower, the whole area was thoroughly drenched....the tower, the ground, us, my bag of pastries. We stashed the delicate boxes of pastries in the bf's backpack and buffered it with jackets. We had planned on taking the stairs all the way up just to save money but it turns out you are not allowed to do so in the rain so we took the elevator.
Would you take the stairs all the way up there? This was actually taken from the first landing at the top of the elevator ride.
We got in the line for the elevator that takes you to the first landing. In line there was a group of young Americans who must have had a few drinks. They were being rowdy and yelling things out....generally embarrassing the rest of us. We had to go through a security check before getting on the elevator. I don't know if it was the annoying 20-somethings or just that the security guard was having a bad day but he asked us to take out all the stuff from the bf's backpack. So we happily obliged. The guard say the Laudree boxes. There is not a soul in Paris who doesn't know what is in a Laudree box. But still, he decided to dump the boxes of delicate pastries upside down and shake them. What a dick.

A look down the Jardins du Trocadero
 I was a bit upset, standing there with my jaw dropped wide open, wearing my Happy Birthday tiara. Like a kid whose ice cream just fell on the ground. It didn't keep me down for too long though. I knew that even if it was now deconstructed, the contents of those boxes would still taste out of this world. Thank the cosmos we got photos of them before! We took the cramped elevator up to the first landing. We circled the whole area taking photos and taking in the scenery. We could see how far we had walked today.

Still have my tiara!
We waited in line and took the other elevator to the very top and took a whole new round of photos. We went to take the elevator back down when we saw that there were some open stairs. We decided, despite our aching feet, that we would rather take the risk of hitting a dead end and having to come all the way back up for the chance to take the stairs all the way down to the bottom. I really wanted to be inside the actual structure. We were lucky and found no obstructions to the first landing. There was a little shop and a closed restaurant on the landing. The shop was so over priced it was laughable so we kept on moving. It was another highlight of the trip to walk down the stairs. There were no other people anywhere near us. We were all alone, on my birthday, me, with the person I love most in the world, inside the Eiffel Tower that was lit up almost like candlelight.
Inside the Tower
 We walked around a little bit until we found some more stairs. We made our way all the way to the bottom. It was so quiet and delightful. Every 30 minutes these white strobe lights on the outside of the tower go off and if you looking at it, it looks like it is twinkling. We never really got to see that view because we were inside the tower. We could tell when the lights would go off though because they were right next to us as we made our way down one of the legs. It was pretty cool being inside the tower, all alone, when the whole thing starts to sparkle.

A stop for some fun photos
At the bottom we found the rain had completely stopped. We walked back to our hotel. It was a long walk as I knew it would be. We stopped in the middle of a deserted street (pretty much all the streets were deserted at this time of night) to take some artsy photos with the good camera. We were so happy that we were just giggling and smiling the whole time. we walked along the Seine through little parks the whole way. We watched as the lights reflected off of the river. It was so magnificent.
Good night, Paris. Thank you for the best birthday ever!

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