After two short flights to Paris via Madrid, we arrived on time and in good spirits if tired. We took the bus from downtown Santiago de Compostela to the airport. It was easy and cheap but crowded. In fact, the bus couldn't take any more passengers after we boarded at the stop near Praxa de Abastos.
Arriving in Paris, we purchased the Navigo Decouverte card as planned. The process was easy once we found the ticket office. We also had our little pictures ready. The card is valid for one week and allows us to take unlimited public transportation including metro, RER trains and others that we didn't use. That took care of the trips from and to the airport and to the Palace of Versailles on top of the metro rides everywhere.
The Airbnb we booked turned out to be a hike from the metro station, in addition to the fact that it took some time to get to the outskirt of Paris by metro. It didn't look that bad on paper but the tired legs said otherwise. That is a sure consequence of a lower price. The unit is nice. It has everything we need. Lots of cooking and eating utensils but would have been nice to have some bonus basic cooking supplies, but there was nothing: no cooking oil, salt or spices. Three bedrooms for the four of us was just right. Headline in the listing said 2 1/2 baths but it is actually two bathrooms with wash basin but no toilet, plus one separate toilet (correctly described in the details of the property). We made good use of the washing machine and the dishwasher. Overall, it is a good place, very quiet and clean.
We did a whirlwind tour of the famous sites of Paris on our first full day; including the Pantheon, Shakespeare and Company, Notre Dame, the Seine River banks, the Louvre, Champ de Elysee and the Eiffel Tower. Our Navigo card enabled us to go to all the sites within reasonable times. We finished the day by going all the way across to the east side of town to get baguettes from Au levain des Pyrénées, supposedly best baguettes in town. Then we went home for home cooked chicken dinner.
Paris day 2 was a day for Versailles. Good thing we left really early because we took the train going in the wrong direction initially, based on the wrong assumption that if you get on the right platform, all trains will be going towards Versailles which is not that far.
We corrected ourselves and ended up arriving with minutes to spare towards the end of the 30 minutes grace period from our booked time.
Versailles is really an amazing place with numerous paintings and artefacts. Not as big as The Louvre but plenty big for just a slice of history. Too bad we did not know too many of the characters in the French history. We did know Marie Antoinette, through television shows and Gigi was determined to visit her hamlet at the far side of the estate. The hamlet looks beautiful and quiet but we couldn't get into any of the buildings.
A few wrong turns made more walking through the huge complex. It turned out it was the most tiring day of the entire trip, bar none. With more walking, we detoured to the market looking for ingredients for dinner. We got a 3 for 2 deal steaks there for dinner at home. That turned out to be the best meal of the entire trip.
Not much was planned for the third day in Paris. That turned out to be a good resting day after Versailles. We did a stroll midday through the neighborhood and went to a pastry shop which was amazing (Boulangerie Pâtisserie F in Villejuif). We had pastry for lunch there outdoor, just like the French would do.
We have tips from a couple of different sources about dinner at Bouillon-Cartier and decided to give it a try. There are three different locations and we picked the one closer to the Eiffel Tower with the plan to go on an evening river boat tour. Bouillon-Cartier did not disappoint. We arrived just after six to find a lineup outside. Didn't take long to get in and discovered that the restaurant was not yet full but it took time to seat everyone. The food were all very good. We had pig snout, pig ear, prawn, escargots for starters and whole sea bass, spaghetti Bolognese, pig's Trotter (feet) and beef steak for main course. The food quality for all the dishes was outstanding. As we got out after finishing dinner, the lineup had gone perhaps 10-fold. Indeed a very popular place.
Off to the river boat tour. We had been trying to get it in but in the first two evenings, we were just too tired to stay out until sunset. We joined Bateaux Parisienne. That was the biggest boat and the best organized boat tour operation I have seen.
We started out in daylight and ending with Eiffel Tower lighted up. Along the river, there are many sights to see. As the evening goes on, there are more and more people just sitting at the river bank, enjoying themselves. Life in Paris looks pretty good.
I think we have done the tourist bit in Paris and perhaps also experienced the daily life of the locals through our metro rides. Paris is big and crowded and very multi-cultural. The mix of people I feel is much more so than in Canada although I might have a different opinion if I live in Toronto. I just don't see that kind of diversity in London.
I am glad that we visited and experienced it a little differently from almost 20 years ago when I visited the last and only time.
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