Paris, Part 1
I’m in my fourth day in Paris and am just getting around to blogging (bad Karl). Where are my priorities?
Things have been going well so far. Quite well. The weather predictions that had me so concerned before we left have been nearly completely wrong. Friday was gorgeous, Saturday was mostly cloudy with a few downpours in the afternoon, but the evening was clear. Sunday was a mixture of Sun and clouds and today appears to be the same.
Even still, weather.com predicted rain each morning I checked (including today). One time when I checked yesterday, it even said “the current condition”was rain while the sun shined outside the window.
Anyway, enough meteorology.
I arrived in Paris bright and early Friday morning after a flight with no in-seat movies (what’s up with that?). Feeling a second wind, I did some walking around the Marais and Left Bank. I returned to the flat and went to lunch with Mark at favorite local creperie.
I did manage to squeeze in a nap prior to heading out to a dinner party at some friends of his near the Bastille. The party was so….French. The host was an ex-pat American photographer/artist, the the guests were all gay French men plus one other single woman. The gazillion course meal was Persian, prepared by one of the gay men.
Saturday morning as when Randy arrived and I met him near Notre Dam. He napped upon getting here (I joined) then we did a walking tour of the Latin Quarter….from the nearly 2,000 year old Roman ampitheatre to the Jardin des Plantes. We ate lunch along Rue Mouffetard before visiting the Pantheon and climbing to the top. It offered great views of the city, but also provided wind-swept rain.
That evening we had my birthday dinner on the Ille St-Louis (yum), then went to a barnear the Bastille.
Sunday was when we really start exploring things. We rented bikes through Paris’ brilliant bike rental program. enormous bike racks are located at nearly every subway station and around nearly every corner. You pick up a bike and ride it to where ever your destination is and then drop it off. The first half hour is free and the 2nd half hour is one euro. So, if your destination is within a 30 minute ride, it’s free. We did that that to get to the Eiffel Tour.
We also walked around Les Invalides and viewed an art exhibit in the Gran Palais. At night, we had dinner at La Gai Moulin (the gay windmill) in the Marais, then walked leisurely through the Marais.
It’s currently Monday (and sunny) so we’re off to explore!
Au Revoir!
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Did you mean Parisian meal instead of Persian?
Sounds lovely either way!
Despite me being notorious for my typos, Persian was actually the word I meant. The food was prepared by a gay Iranian!
As to the rain forecasts…my understanding is that Paris’s climate is notoriously changeable to (relatively brief) rain, much like London’s – so they’re safe forecasting it almost daily…reminiscent of the old weatherrfolk here before better radar, satellites, software…might just as well look at chicken entrails to predict…
Happy (few days after your) birthday, again – best to Randy and enjoy what sounds like an amazing trip (envy, envy!).