Paris in the Autumn

I love Paris. Did I ever tell you that Paris is the absolutely most beautiful city in the world? It's spacious, gracious and elegant. Everytime I go to Paris, I remember how much I miss living there. Didn't someone say "When good people die, they go to Paris"?

OK, enough of my gushing. Gini and I had such a good time. She was able to come to France on a long lay-over in London while traveling to Turkey. How lucky I was to have been able to spend time with her in our beloved city.

We spent 4 nights and 5 days. I found a cute little hotel near the Centre Beaubourg called "L'hôtel du Cygne" (the hotel of the swan). It was on Rue du Cygne in the 1st arrondisement. We both took lots of photos, but of course, I didn't get one of the hotel.

The first day we wandered all over Montmartre and visited the Cathedrale de Sacré Coeur. We climbed up 300 steps to the top and had a look from the dome over the city. Hope you're not afraid of heights!

To the northwest

How many more steps to go?

Looking out over the city

At the end of the day, we found a cute restaurant which wasn't too touristy near Montmartre. A good glass of Chablis and a nice salad rounded out the day.

A well-merited dinner

The next day we went SHOPPING!!!!! I had been coveting a pair of ankle high boots by Geox and a long cardigan. I found a cardigan that I liked at the BHV (Bazar d'Hôtel de Ville). I found the boots I wanted at the Geox store on Rue de Rivoli for 140€!!! So I forgot about them. Then as we were going back to the hotel, Gini saw some signs and lo- and behold, there was a Geox outlet store a block away from our hotel.

I found my dream boots for 98€! Of course, I bought them.

That evening, we went to a play. Most people visiting Paris wouldn't think of going to a play due to the language barrier. But thanks to Mme. T, I found a play called "How to Become Parisian in 10 Lessons" in English. A Frenchman (Olivier Giraud) does this one-man play all in English. There were people there from all over --- France, as well as Britain, Spain, Germany, Brazil, USA, etc., etc.
Here's a short promotional video about the show.



It was a very funny piece. You had to have lived a little in Paris to really get all the inside jokes. I highly recommend it if you need something to do in Paris.

On our way to the theater, we stumbled upon one of France's most endearing traditions -- la grêve (the strike). There were tons of people all over the place, marching up the road to Bastille. All the roads were blocked so there were no cars anywhere.

The tip of the iceberg

I didn't get a picture, but there were people perched up around the first floor of the Bastille monument. No one should come to France without experiencing something so uniquely French.

Gini took my photo standing beside a CRS policeman, but I don't yet have a copy. The CRS are the crisis intervention force and are usually decked out in slick armor and riot helmets. These guys were standing around joking and they were very  nice when we asked to take their picture.

CRS stands for Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité and this force is part of the Police Nationale.

By the end of day 2 we were pooped and glad to find our hotel.

I'll tell you about the last 2 days as soon as I can get some pictures from Gini.