Walls in France: Paris!

Because I have been dwelling on my children and their transition to school over the past couple of weeks, I have not had the chance to bask in the joy of our Christmas vacation nor taken the time to post pictures of some of the highlights. Now that both girls are settled in school, I will take the time to share our memories with the masses…

As some of you know, Hank (also known as Charlie), Barb and Grace (my uncle, aunt and cousin also known as Wall friends!) came to France for the Christmas holidays. Unbeknownst to Barb and Grace until last October, Hank rented a quaint little apartment on Ile St. Louis and bought plane tickets to bring his family to Paris for Christmas. He also made train reservations to bring them down to the south of France to visit us for New Years. They were very excited about their trip, but the Walls were almost as equally as thrilled since we would have them here for almost a week after Christmas. As the holidays approached, Bucky and I talked about what we would do the week before Christmas so that we wouldn’t be homesick, and I had an “aha” moment and suggested we take the train to Paris for a couple of days to see the sites with Hank, Barb and Grace. I consulted with Barb and she was excited about the idea and we agreed to make it a surprise for Hank and Grace.

We arrived in Paris the morning of December 22nd and headed straight to the apartment. Barb was expecting us around 11am and we were pretty much on time, but she had a tough time stalling Hank. Apparently, she showered and did her hair and make-up in slow motion to stall! When we arrived, we had to buzz up to the apartment so Barb sent Hank and Grace (sans shoes I might add!) to answer the door. They were totally surprised to see us!! With suitcase in hand, we tromped up the stairs to their quant abode and made plans for the day in Paris!! After dropping off our stuff at the Hotel St. Louis where I had made reservations for the night, we headed to the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area for lunch and then on to Sacre Coeur for sightseeing. We took the funicular up to the church and stopped for a crepe with Nutella on the way back down to the metro. Hank and I were in charge of navigating so we then lead the crew to Barb’s domain, the shopping district. All of the girls (Barb and me included!) were eager to see the huge Christmas tree at Galleries Lafayette and on our way there we were pleasantly surprised to find the display windows at Printemps exquisitely decked for the holidays. While the girls shopped, the boys hit a bistro for some bonding. We then headed back to refresh and dress before going out for a night on the town.

We ate dinner at a lovely little restaurant, Le Florimond, by the Invalides. The food was fresh and delicious and the staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. It was a fabulous French dinner! We then walked over to the Eiffel Tower to witness the dazzling light display in honor of its 120 year anniversary. We were totally wowed and all agreed that we should take the trip to the top of the tower to see the city from above. Wow again! Finally, we decided to head back to Ile St. Louis and bed…easier said than done…Hank and I had every intention of taking a quick subway ride back to our part of town, but it turned out to be a trek of a lifetime. Barb and Bucky both wanted to grab a cab at the base of the Eiffel Tower , but we convinced them to forge ahead to the metro meant lots and lots and lots of walking. Luckily, Barb had us in hysterics the entire time, keeping our minds off of our aching feet and freezing bodies. We were thrilled (and relieved) to finally make it to bed that night. We all agreed to take the cab next time around!

The next morning, we hauled ourselves out of bed for another day in Paris. We all had breakfast at our little hotel and made plans for the day. One of the things on Hank’s to see list was the sewers of Paris, a surprisingly popular tourist attraction and a place that my dad (Hank’s brother) is fascinated by. I had never been and thought it would be interesting so I was for it. Bucky was up for it too and the rest of the gang went along with the plan. We took a quick (thank goodness!) metro trip, paid our fee at the entrance and headed down. Can you say, “P-U?!!” It is a real, live, working, stinking sewer. Yuck-o. The boys were fascinated with the place (lots of wet pipes and oozing cement walls), but we girls got through there as quickly as possible. We were thrilled to get up into the street and the fresh air. It was definitely gross, but great fodder for jokes and reminiscing. Been there, done that. Won’t do it again.

A nice brisk walk along the Seine cleared our heads and noses and we actually worked up an appetite for lunch. (We were all banned from talking about the sewer trip!) We headed to the Saint Germain area again for a traditional French lunch. We then spent a lazy afternoon shopping at Shakespeare & Company (a great English language bookstore that Barb had read about) and other cute stores on Ile St. Louis. We had to catch our train back to Eygalieres that afternoon so we said good bye to the Muirs without any qualms since we would be seeing them again on the 27th. Paris – a great way to start Christmas. With friends – even better.