Paris, France: A little bit of a sleeping-in this morning as we had a mid-day train and the hotel breakfast buffet is open until 11a on Sundays.
We checked-out at noon, left our luggage with the concierge, and took one last stroll around our ‘hood. The Pisser was undressed again today, so I will not shock you with yet another photo of a toddler peeing.
We picked up a few last minute postcards and Dave went to his favorite cafe (from our last trip) for a latte. Then, just as we did on our last morning of our last visit to Brussels, I had a Leige waffle (plain - though still very sweet) from Obe.
When we boarded the Eurostar train for Paris, the kids were bickering and squabbling about who could have the front-facing window seat. (Lucile gets carsick when riding backwards.) Leo was using his brotherly power for evil and would not let her sit in the window seat. She chose the rear-facing aisle next to me, while planning to puke on Leo as soon as she became sick. (Siblings are so sweet!) But Leo lost this battle as the train pulled out of the station in the opposite direction! Too funny.
Lucy 1; Leo 0.
It was not a nice journey. The ride itself was clean, smooth, and the rural scenery nice. The hostesses brought us a glass of champagne and then a stone-cold lunch that was completely awful.
tarragon potato salad at 7, puréed carrot at 6
and we-are-not-sure dessert at 5.
We have been on Eurostar many times now and every time it is worse than the last time, and the fare just goes up and up. We paid $170 each for this 90 minute ride.
But we didn’t care. We were in Paris and the sun was shining. (It was 50°.) For the first time ever, we rented an apartment - in the 6th (Saint Germain area) arrondissement. Dave and I love this neighborhood. Close to everything. Great restaurants and shopping. Access to public transportation (let’s see if we can manage it all) and good green spaces.
The apartment has one open space with a living, dining and kitchen. Everything in the kitchen is built-in so cleverly that we didn’t even find the dishwasher on our first search! Oven, induction cooktop, microwave, dishwasher, espresso machine, tea kettle, toaster. What else could one need?
A clothes washer.
Yep. This apartment was chosen first due to the location, and secondly because it has a washing machine. I told the kids to pack for one week and we would do laundry then. This really worked out for all concerned.
The apartment is on a busy street, but the window glass has sound-proofing, so it is quiet and the bedrooms are in the back of the building, with near silence. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms… but neither bathroom has a toilet. The lone toilet is in its own room. (I will happily trade this inconvenience for the washing machine.) Furnishings in the living area, kitchen and baths are modern and newly renovated, but the apartment has retained many of the original features: curved moldings, gold mirrors over the TWO (non-functioning) fireplaces, and gorgeous original parkay floors. We have high-speed WiFi and a TV (mounted on the wall) in each bedroom and in the living area. (Leo commented there are 3 televisions and one toilet.)
After unpacking and starting the washing machine, we went out to a nearby supermarket for bread, butter, fruit and water. The market was PACKED and it was self-checkout only. Long lines. Ugh. We figured it out, but never saw the produce section because half of the store was blocked-off by plastic barriers to hide the wine. Wine is not sold after 12:30p on Sundays in this shop.
We headed back to the apartment, only to find a produce shop with perfectly ripe strawberries, gorgeous bananas - and wine. At this time, there is no plan to cook while we are in Paris, but we need breakfast stuff and DT needed peanuts.
And we still have enough Belgian chocolates to get us through a pandemic.
Dinner tonight was just nearby to Brasserie Lipp (founded 1880), a seriously old-school restaurant. They have efficient uniformed waiters, lots of cutlery, and mashed potatoes that may include more butter than potatoes. We had a tuna salad to share as an appetizer and also an avocado salad. Lucile and I had duck confit. Leo had steak. DT had a veal chop.
Our meals were going well, and everyone was having a good time - until the paramedics showed up.
(Don’t worry, Lisa - they did not come for us.)
As we do not speak French, we are still uncertain what happened at Brasserie Lipp tonight. We were seated at an upstairs table under a window. Suddenly the room was filled with paramedics. We never heard a siren. They came up the stairs and proceeded to take a man from his table and place him in the sitting version of a gurney. He did not seem in distress and it seemed to me he did not really want to leave the restaurant. One of his table mates went off to the awaiting ambulance with him, the other two stayed. The upstairs head water came to our table to maybe apologize (like it was his fault?) and told us he had to call the emergency services several times to get a response and they threatened to not even come at all if he didn’t change his attitude. What??? Then he surprised us by saying he told them he didn’t give a crap (in English) - just get here!
A few minutes later the abandoned couple at the ailing person’s table had their meal delivered and the dog under the table next to them peed all over the floor.
Paris!
Back to our new apartment in Saint Germain. Big day tomorrow. Enough Spring Break. We are taking the kids to school - stay tuned.
Until my next update, I remain, your Paris correspondent.
LINKS:
Brasserie Lipp
* Jimmy Buffett song reference