Here are links to all of the videos I uploaded of our Paris trip:
Friday, 1 May 2015
Au Revoir Paris--reflecting on it all
This trip has been wonderful and *just* long enough. I'm very much looking forward to going home where the only language I need to interpret are my cats' meows, where I can drink my Diet Dr.Pepper and I can jump in my car any time and head somewhere.
Of course there are far more meaningful reasons to return (family, friends, work, dance etc), but those are all a given and I love them all. I know that Molly is looking forward to her familiar surroundings and the companionship of her 90-year old sister.
This trip has challenged me to try learning a language so that I can communicate well enough abroad and I'm pleased that my pronunciation is a little better and I was able to come up with more things to say than I expected. I will continue trying to learn French so that should I ever come back, I will be prepared. I also developed the confidence to ride on two of the world's best and probably biggest subway systems. The next time I'm in Toronto, the TTC will be a breeze if I need to use it.
Indirectly this trip has challenged my mother and sister to grow their courage to travel to and from my city in order to look after the cats. They went outside their comfort zone to drive around the city doing some shopping and walking; I'm thrilled for that! It builds confidence when you face your fears, large or small and push yourself to get out there and try. As of late June we will now all be situated a short distance from one another and with their newfound confidence I can look forward to showing them more of London more often.
We've seen a lot of Paris, the city. We dabbled in some of the museum offerings but you really do need stamina to walk and climb up and down stairs to get through the best of it. Being a people-watcher, I was totally fine not immersing myself in museums, but there are a few of them I wished I could have explored. To see more of the Louvre would have been great, but it is not an accessible place and there aren't elevators or ramps to work around the marble steps leading to areas one would want to go to.
Taking the Metro is a fantastic way to get everywhere fast, but again--there are always steps going up and down in most areas which can subtract from your stamina for the day if you have any sort of knee/hip or lower back issues going on.
Here are some incidental tips I would pass on to any travelers coming to Paris for the first time:
I put a ton of research into this trip beforehand and was well-advised on how to handle the 'gypsies'. Today was our last day and it was the first time that there were two girls waving papers and pens at us; literally that's all that they did--they didn't try to talk to us or tell us why they wanted us to look at their paper, they just waved it at us while being slightly in our path. I knew right away about the distraction this is designed to create, but thanks to inside information, a Parisian would only look annoyed and wave a finger at them and they would back off. That's what I did today.
My small cross-body purse with lots of zippers was secure enough and I never felt the need to wear a money belt.
To everyone who razzed me about bringing my two 42" suitcases, carry-on and tote: HA!!! I used everything I brought except for 2 shirts and the knee brace. Leaving half of one of my suitcases empty was a good idea. All the souvenirs I'm coming home with fit perfectly in that half. The weather was pretty variable going from hot and sunny, to cool and sunny, to chilly and rainy.
The apartment has been a wonderful place to live in for two weeks in a great neighborhood. I would recommend this apartment specifically to anyone, and would recommend AirBnB.com as a resource to find and book these accommodations. It's so much nicer to live amongst the people than to spend two weeks in a hotel.
We are already checked in for our flight tomorrow, mirroring the exact things we did to get here. Blacklane car service will pick us up, we'll land in Toronto and shuttle back to the Hampton Inn and the next day we'll shuttle over so Gran can fly out to Dartmouth and Robert Q will pick me up and bring me back home.
My wonderful sister has kindly done some preliminary grocery shopping and plans to have dinner ready for when I get home :)
Merci mon soeur et maman! Je vous aime!
Of course there are far more meaningful reasons to return (family, friends, work, dance etc), but those are all a given and I love them all. I know that Molly is looking forward to her familiar surroundings and the companionship of her 90-year old sister.
This trip has challenged me to try learning a language so that I can communicate well enough abroad and I'm pleased that my pronunciation is a little better and I was able to come up with more things to say than I expected. I will continue trying to learn French so that should I ever come back, I will be prepared. I also developed the confidence to ride on two of the world's best and probably biggest subway systems. The next time I'm in Toronto, the TTC will be a breeze if I need to use it.
Indirectly this trip has challenged my mother and sister to grow their courage to travel to and from my city in order to look after the cats. They went outside their comfort zone to drive around the city doing some shopping and walking; I'm thrilled for that! It builds confidence when you face your fears, large or small and push yourself to get out there and try. As of late June we will now all be situated a short distance from one another and with their newfound confidence I can look forward to showing them more of London more often.
We've seen a lot of Paris, the city. We dabbled in some of the museum offerings but you really do need stamina to walk and climb up and down stairs to get through the best of it. Being a people-watcher, I was totally fine not immersing myself in museums, but there are a few of them I wished I could have explored. To see more of the Louvre would have been great, but it is not an accessible place and there aren't elevators or ramps to work around the marble steps leading to areas one would want to go to.Taking the Metro is a fantastic way to get everywhere fast, but again--there are always steps going up and down in most areas which can subtract from your stamina for the day if you have any sort of knee/hip or lower back issues going on.
Here are some incidental tips I would pass on to any travelers coming to Paris for the first time:
- don't buy the umbrellas at the souvenir shops. As cute as they are, they may break the same day and they're not keen on exchanging any, and certainly not after a replacement one also breaks
- wear durable, comfortable shoes, for the love of God
- the baguettes sold in Carrefour City are a little softer than the "traditional" ones sold at artisan boulangeries, get them so you don't hurt your molars trying to chew through tough baguette
- research your French wines before coming here because it's hard to know which ones are fruity or full-bodied etc.
- bring more than one set of conversion adapters. It can be annoying to have to prioritize what needs to be charging and what needs to be in use because you only brought one set of adapters. I could have used a couple more sets of adapters and then I wouldn't have had to keep rotating my electronics to be charged, or pause their charging to use the hairdryer.
- oh yes--don't bring your nice hair dryer. It may not be compatible with the voltage here despite having the adapter to make it plug in. Look for a travel hair dryer or buy one when you're here
- don't bother with buying the expensive travel packs with your cell phone service provider. Pay $25 online to unlock your phone (watch a youtube video to learn how to do it yourself) and then when you get to France, locate your nearest Orange store and go in asking for a SIM card and plan.
- If you've been to a local shop trying to get assistance and no one spoke any English, it helps to go home, use Google Translate to figure out what you're trying to say in French and go back the next day and show them what you wrote down or try to say it. You may encounter someone new working who may know English "a lee-tle".
I put a ton of research into this trip beforehand and was well-advised on how to handle the 'gypsies'. Today was our last day and it was the first time that there were two girls waving papers and pens at us; literally that's all that they did--they didn't try to talk to us or tell us why they wanted us to look at their paper, they just waved it at us while being slightly in our path. I knew right away about the distraction this is designed to create, but thanks to inside information, a Parisian would only look annoyed and wave a finger at them and they would back off. That's what I did today.
My small cross-body purse with lots of zippers was secure enough and I never felt the need to wear a money belt.
To everyone who razzed me about bringing my two 42" suitcases, carry-on and tote: HA!!! I used everything I brought except for 2 shirts and the knee brace. Leaving half of one of my suitcases empty was a good idea. All the souvenirs I'm coming home with fit perfectly in that half. The weather was pretty variable going from hot and sunny, to cool and sunny, to chilly and rainy. The apartment has been a wonderful place to live in for two weeks in a great neighborhood. I would recommend this apartment specifically to anyone, and would recommend AirBnB.com as a resource to find and book these accommodations. It's so much nicer to live amongst the people than to spend two weeks in a hotel.
We are already checked in for our flight tomorrow, mirroring the exact things we did to get here. Blacklane car service will pick us up, we'll land in Toronto and shuttle back to the Hampton Inn and the next day we'll shuttle over so Gran can fly out to Dartmouth and Robert Q will pick me up and bring me back home.My wonderful sister has kindly done some preliminary grocery shopping and plans to have dinner ready for when I get home :)
Merci mon soeur et maman! Je vous aime!
Paris, à la prochaine. Bon nuit!
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