Paris
Friday December 21st, 2018
With a clean apartment, freshly vacuumed and featuring laundry drying from the scramble of the day before, Alex and I had a relaxed breakfast before heading into London’s Heathrow Airport. We were very fortunate to have chosen Heathrow as this was during the three days when Gatwick Airport had significantly halted flights due to the reports of drone sightings.
We didn’t sit together, so after an hour of Jenn accidently having a nap on a strangers shoulder, we arrived in Paris at Charles de Gaulle Airport. We took the train and subway to our AirBNB, which was located very close to the Bastille. Shortly after setting our things up, we went to Le Reveil Bastille. Alex’s duck confit had an amazing crispy skin, and the owner was very welcoming. After dinner we went for a walk down The Seine, and the architecture of Paris really stood out as quite remarkable. Even the neglected side streets have character and charm (Paris is quite clean, a welcome relief from Gillingham’s littered streets). While walking, we came across a large garden which was holding the D’Illuminations light show. The show was primarily animals made in the style of larger-than-life paper lanterns. We enjoyed our first night of our “honeymoon” walking hand-in-hand through fantastically lit gardens, and it was a wonderful beginning to a week in Paris.
Friday, December 28th
The Miss Manon café was our start to mornings in Paris, with Alex grabbing a latte and Jenn her signature hot chocolate, with an almond croissant for each of us. We were making our way to visit Notre Dame when we saw St. Paul church and decided to have a look inside. It was beautiful, as it seems most buildings in Paris are. The pale colour scheme of the church is quite a refreshing change from the darkness of the larger gothic cathedrals we have seen in England so far.
We continued on our way to Notre Dame, and let me tell you, the Disney movie made it seem absolutely huge, but it isn’t! Among the queues for tours were many signs warning of pickpockets, fashionably dressed young Asian couples or groups of friends, and many older men wearing their backpacks on their fronts to protect themselves from the aforementioned pickpockets (seriously, these signs are everywhere in Paris!).
The cathedral is interesting, and seems larger when inside, when the stained-glass windows are lit up. The high vaulted ceilings, with their curves, and so many different alters for the various saints and martyrs, with paintings and statues and carved mantles, are magnificent. There was even one for Joan of Arc! Following around the outside, we went into the courtyard/park behind the cathedral, and it was nearly empty, a stark contrast to the front and interior of the church, bustling with tourists.
After sitting down a bit and enjoying the calm, we made our way to the Louvre, stopping for an unremarkable lunch on the way. The line for the Louvre can be quite long but moves quickly, as they have a security check prior to entering the building.
Traveler’s Tip: Non-EU residents aged between 6 and 17 years and EU residents aged between 6 and 25 years may have free entry upon presentation of proof. Currently England is still in the EU, so my driver’s licence qualified. Double-check if you are eligible as you can save quite a chunk of change with this!
We arrived and first saw the Louvre’s underground area, which included the buildings history as a fortress in 1140, and all of the later additions, as well as a history of the buildings purpose. From a fortress to king’s palace to an art academy, and then closing in 1796, only to be reopened by Napoleon in 1801. Here we saw some of the world’s most famous paintings on full display: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and The Winged Victory of Samothrace. Jenn’s favourites included some which seemed tucked away in quiet corners, despite the admiration and use in art history classes-Delatour and Boucher’s “Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour”, for example, as well as the rooms of furniture, somewhat arranged as living spaces which hold intricate rococo and baroque pieces.
Alex pointed out The Seasons from his art classes, and found the underground area which showcased original structure and went into the creation and history of the Louvre fascinating.
Overall, we spent nearly 5 hours in the Louvre, and still didn’t see everything, but your eyes can only take so much!
Directly behind the Louvre was one of the multiple Christmas fairs, which rides for children, a variety of sugar and fat-filled food, and products for sale from local merchants. We grabbed our dinner (a hotdog is called a hotdog in France, NOT un chien chaud!) and had a look at the vendors before returning to our airBNB for a much-needed nap.
Our evening ended with seeing a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at St. Paul’s that had approximately six encores, 4 of which were Ave Maria. Alex would like to start a holiday tradition of seeing live music but Jenn is thinking no to that… She was definitely missing wearing a onesie and watching bad movies at that point, as the main violinist seemed entirely preoccupied on himself and unaware of the squirmy, uncomfortable, and tired audience in front of him.
We went to sleep, exhausted from a long, cold day, and ready to take on Versaille the next morning!
Sunday, December 23rd, 2018
Today was the big day that Jenn had been looking forward to for months, if not years. VERSAILLE! The Royal Palace of Marie Antoinette, Louie XVI, and their daughters, where they relocated to during civil unrest in Paris. A bit less than an hour’s train away from Paris, Versaille is a monster of a structure. The symmetry in design in play with the intricate features on otherwise looming structures creates an amazing depth throughout the palace, and it is a sight to behold for those who adore historical aesthetics.
Travelling Tip: The Palace of Versaille is included in the list of museums free for EU citizens! If you have any ID, save yourself a 40 minute line-up that pre-faces the hour-and-a-half long wait once you have tickets. Or, better yet, buy skip-the-line tickets ahead of time.
Once Alex was able to get his ticket and hold our spot in line, Jenn ran off to McDonald’s, the nearest place that serves coffee. McDonald’s in France is expensive and not well organized—we do not recommend it. Waiting in line, hot beverages in hand, we were finally able to come in, and the first order was taking a tour of the princess Adélaïde and Victoire’s chambers (no really, it’s a series of chambers that become more and more private/lavish, depending on your relationship to the princesses (daughter of Louis XV)). http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/palace/louis-xv-daughters-apartments#
Many of the rooms that Jenn was most excited to see/visit were under construction, primarily the King’s, Marie Antoinette’s, and the Dauphine/Dauphin’s apartments, likely due to it being Winter and not their busier season. However, we still saw the Hall of Mirrors, which was absolutely spectacular--wonderfully featured in many films and lived up to high expectations. Despite the many tourists and the difficulty in taking photographs without the crowds, one could still imagine all the lords and ladies in their finest, merrily dancing through the long hall, candles brightly burning and the shininess of it all.
The King’s State Apartment and the Royal Opera House are also magnificent works of art in their own right. The rest of the main halls primarily function as galleries for paintings, sectioned in to those about war, those for enjoyments sake, and statues of important Frenchmen.
From there, we went to the gardens, and my oh my, they are extensive and well-maintained, one can only imagine what they would look like in the Summer months. It isn’t difficult to understand why so much of Sofia Copoldi’s “Marie Antoinette” was filmed outdoors—the gardens would be a lovely oasis from the political drudgery and expectation of royal life.
There are so many places that we did not get to see, as we hadn’t thought to take a guided tour and the property is simply so large, so the Palace of Versaille is something that, should we ever be in Paris, will definitely be visited again.
Monday, December 24th, 2018 – Christmas Eve Day
With both of us exhausted from a long day of walking and not eating very much, the next morning we were up for a traditional breakfast like back home, so we ate at The American Breakfast, close by to our lodgings. After having been in England since mid-August and not having many opportunities for chit-chat with locals, it was really nice to have a ridiculously portioned breakfast (the French don’t really serve large breakfasts) and be surrounded by North American accents again. The milkshake for breakfast may have improved Jenn’s mood as well. After a little piece of home, it was up and out to the shopping for the day to see what souvenirs we could bring home, and to see the renowned stained-glass ceiling of Galeries Lafayette. Filled with expensive designer brands I couldn’t fathom to afford, most of the 7-story shopping centre didn’t apply to our budget, but it was interesting to see the differences in brand design as well as what was being produced. The layout was interesting as well, with the Galerie spanning two buildings across from one another, which one side being dedicated to men, and the other to women, until they joined on the 4th or 5th floor. The first floor was entirely for shoes, the second for make-up, and the 3rd for perfume and a smidge of jewellery. Continuing upwards, you had the clothing, a food level, the children’s section, and the souvenir/gifts level. On the very top level there is a roof-top look-out, where you can see for quite the distance, with the Eiffel Tower looming somewhat surreally amongst the aged urban sprawl of Paris.
This morning was quite beneficial for Alex, as he found a very warm scarf and found he (and Jenn) both liked Chanel’s Allure Men: White Edition, and picked up some gifts for others for good measure. Alex also found inserts for his poor feet, which could not handle all of the walking that was being required for our trip; these would come in handy for our next day at Disney as well!
After a day of shopping, Alex and I returned to drop off our things before we went to the Eiffel Tower. Having planned a few months in advance and having tickets printed out and ready to go, the lines ups were still terrible! However, we were still able to celebrate our Christmas Eve on the summit of the Eiffel Tower, watching the sun set on Paris through a cloudy haze. Engagements were had and champagne glasses were flowing all around us. We took the time to FaceTime with Jenn’s parents and Joy, before making our slow descent down the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the once-an-hour light show occurred while we were on the Tower, so we missed that, but it still was an amazing experience and is something I’m sure we’ll be talking about for years to come.
December 25th, 2018 – Christmas Day
With everything being closed in Paris on Christmas Day and neither of us having been to any Disney theme parks before, the smaller Euro-Disney of Disneyland Paris seemed like a perfectly fitting idea, especially during the Christmas season with the extra shows. Needless to say, we were both very excited.
Tickets in hand and all bundled up, weather estimates were originally around 10 degrees, but it was mostly around 3-5 degrees throughout the day, with it dropping to 1/0 after nightfall. With this in mind, the first thing we did was purchase some fine Disney headwear. Classy, if I must say so myself.
We spent most of the day simply going on rides and enjoying ourselves. Honestly, Jenn was very skeptical of the whole “Disney Magic” concept that others speak of, but she was clearly feeling it as she jumped up and down excitedly upon seeing the castle, and in her excitement to pose for photos pretty much everywhere, and for the characters in the parade.
The parks did a great job in separating the areas into themes, and the newly redesigned Discoveryland is a must-see for any Star Wars fan. Star Tours: L’Aventure Continue had long queues, but most of it was indoors and there were plenty of sassy, entertaining animatronics and screens/voiceovers to make the line-up bearable. For those who do visit, keep in mind they have both English and French versions of the ride, and they discontinue the English ones later on in the evening. We accidently saw it in French, which was fine, but for those who don’t understand a lick of it, it may not make sense. We actually went on again, because Alex enjoyed it so much and wanted to do it in English, and we realized that there are multiple versions of the ride that take you to different locations and have different effects, so that was an especially cool touch that we enjoyed. Other rides in this area were a tad lacking, mostly due to technical malfunction, particularly in “Buzz Lightyear Lazer Blast”, where the coasters stopped multiple times (not that Alex minded—he could still shoot things!).
We had originally intended on eating dinner at L’Auberge du Cendrillon when planning months ago, but it’s a busy season at Disney and we didn’t have many options, so we ended up making reservations and eating at the Silver Spur. In the future, when we have kids, we’ll likely do a character meal, as otherwise the service and food is “just okay”, but it meant we could have a real 3-course dinner rather than subsisting on the sugary junk sold at the kiosk vendors.
Travel Tip: When at Disney, every item that is sold in themed stores around the park is available in larger stores right outside (this is the Planet Hollywood area). Save your time and skip shopping during the day, as the park closes much earlier than this shopping/food area.
The last thing we did was watch the light show at the end of the day, which is projected against the castle and features Disney songs and short clips/art of the characters, with a few short cameos that include voiceovers for switching. Cuddled up together and watching this small show, all about loving one another and being kind, followed by a spectacular fireworks display, was bewitching, and had Jenn in tears (but she’s been a bit of a baby lately, so who knows!). This is one way to spend a honeymoon, and man, you could really feel the magic.
December 26th, 2018 – Boxing Day
Exhausted from two full days of walking (our day at Disney lasting 14 hours), we knew this would be a sleep-in-until-noon-no-regrets kind of day. Once awake, there was little left to do on our Paris checklist, so we tubed North to visit the catacombs, and got breakfast (pizza…) at Paul’s on our way. Unfortunately, unlike the Eiffel Tower and Disney, we hadn’t purchased tickets online prior to going, and the queue was reportedly two hours long. After half an hour and minimal movement, we called it quits and decided to walk down the infamous Champs de Elysees. Here we saw many more of the same brands as in Galerie Lafayette, but there were others as well. In particular, the storefront for Etam had a cool pop-up shop called UNDIZ, where you could order the items you wanted to see off of a computer, and they would be air-tubed to you to try on and decide whether you liked it. This is some straight-out-of-Futurama magic right there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eG53mM1CY8. Continuing our walk we saw the Arc de Triomphe (with tourists running across a round-about when there is an underground tunnel right beneath it), Le Petit Palace and Le Grand Palace, which are just across the street from one another, and within eyesight of Napoleon’s “Les Invalides” (a series of military museums and tomb of Napoleon, among others). We also discovered that the shining party lights we had seen from the Grand Palace had been from evening iceskating, which is such a cool idea! We ate at a small, crowded restaurant on a side street of the Champ de Elysees, and finished our evening off with watching the newly released Mary Poppins Returns, as Mary Poppins is one of Alex’s favourite films.
Thursday, December 27th
Our last day was quite confusing and a bit frustrating. Jenn made the mistake of booking an evening flight, and to avoid having to come back for one piece of luggage we took it with us. Unfortunately, the morning of we had booked a bus and boat tour to kill a few hours before we could head to the airport. This worked out fine, until we were told the bus would be leaving and we could not keep the luggage on it, meaning we had to pay to put it in a backroom of a souvenir shop for a bit over an hour. We would highly recommend skipping the bus tours offered and simply seeing the sights yourself unless you are only in Paris for one day. Even then you could easily see all that is shown within a few hours, and it will be at your own pace and at a much better price.
After a disappointing bus tour, we headed back to Charles de Gaulle airport, grabbed some Starbucks, and played Mario Party on the Switch to pass the time, and to keep Alex away from the duty-free whiskeys. Arriving in London and racing to the last train that would take us back to Gillingham after having been in customs for over 2 hours, we were finally home. Exhausted, and definitely in need of a break from our vacation!