Coming to You From Paris: SOLT May 11, 2014

Almost there

View from the Magda Royal

Rain for our start

After the rain…some sunshine

Tuvia is charming here

YES YES YES

At the Arch, just like that 🙂

End of the day Cap

Day 1 in Paris Wrap-up1

Tuvia is in a sweet snore right now and I have the guilt-free time I need for this end-of -the-day moment to capture something before the freshness slips away.

First, let me say that I miss Continental and their customer service. The merger with United is just not working for me but then the airlines in general seem to have figured a way to stay out of the red, they are torturing the passenger who is not ready to move up to first class. We did pay extra for the economy plus upgrade but I can’t imagine what regular economy feels like on these newer planes. We weren’t feeling the comfort when we tried sleeping on our 7 hour plane ride from Newark. Good thing we had this first day to take on the cold and the rain with short bursts of walking, stopping for wine and circling back to our sweet boutique hotel, perfectly located a block away from the Champ… and the Arch de Triumph 🙂

We arrived early, say 9:00 AM after a long ride from the airport in Paris rush hour. I had to stop watching the meter as it ticked beyond $100. Our room was ready and breakfast was set with endless cups of strong coffee and warm croissants. We were transitioning and with the energy we had after unpacking we hit the streets with umbrellas and winter jackets. We were prepared after careful updates from the weather channel all last week.

It was a short first adventure into the streets around the Arch. Just a few pictures and a first glass of wine by late morning before we gave in and returned to the room for a necessary nap for the afternoon. After all we were missing more of the rain and cold because magically when we were up and ready to get back out into the city the sun was breaking and we weren’t alone. We had a great first meal at the Hippopotamus and then meandered back up the street to examine the Arch close up and we found that we were not alone. Big doings at the Arch all captured on my iPhone and Facebook 🙂

And as we headed back, just one block closer to the hotel, with a bit of energy for an early evening drink and some people watching, I’d say we were ready more more activity to come tomorrow, when we start hoping on and off the tourist buses and crack into our 2 day museum passes.

But there’s no way we could say goodnight without at least one episode of the West Wing Season 7 downloaded just for this trip.

So my friends thanks to beginning this journey with me. We are off to a great week in the City of Love 🙂