Paris: Day 1

We left the train station having not paid any extra charges (or, rather, having not paid what we should have in the first place). Our taxi driver into the city was a very fragrant man. I'm quite sure he was also somewhat ageist, as the couple in front of us at the taxi stand were over 50 and he idled on the sidelines until they were taken away. The drive through the city was a trip down memory lane for me, and a whole new experience for Jim. We didn't pass too many landmarks during those few moments, but I did point out the Bastille and the Republique. Turns out, that was the closest landmark to our new temporary home.

We arrived at the apartments many hours before check-in. We handed them our bags (for a fee); I changed outfits in the luggage holding room (because I smelled like train), then we headed out on the town, rather fragrant ourselves.

We accomplished a great deal pre-shower:

Petit-dejeuner at Cafe Temple, which is decorated entirely in leopard print and full of altars and homages to Marilyn Monroe. Even the toilet seat cover is covered in Marilyn. There are posters in the washroom whereupon she is done in sepia, but her lipstick is made of red rhinestones. We had espresso and sheep's cheese omelettes.

We strolled to Palais Garnier, passing a surprising and saddening number of Starbucks, noting that there had been NONE of these in Venice. We found Eglise Madeleine (which we noted is Presbyterian, although for the life of me I don't know why).
We walked to Place de la Concorde, where I cheered Jim with the sight of the Eiffel Tower (he was as tired and smelly as I, and did not approve of my cherriness). We strolled down Rue Rivoli, passed les Jardins, passed the Louvre, up Ponte Neuf and eventually back to Apartments St Martin.

The apartment itself was extremely cute. It reminded me of our friends' bachelor apartments in Toronto, but with a much tinier kitchen. On the plus: it HAD a kitchen (!), the bed was unbelieveably comfortable, and it smelled nice and clean.

We spent the afternoon showering, napping, grocery shopping, cooking and convalescing after several nights of bad bad sleep.

I set up the washroom to accommodate our needs for a week and a half.

I made a dinner of red wine, mashed potoatoes, salad with lemon juice, baguette, hummous, and cut veggies.

It even started to rain! One must order some rain on one's first night in Paris.
We took in a few (english) episodes of Grey's Anatomy before falling completely, utterly, blissfully asleep.