Paris: Day one & two

Day one Of Paris Trip:

22 March 2011

The day got off to an early start with my husbands parents taking us to the airport. Our children skipped school for the day to come and say goodbye to us at the airport. With a big lump in my throat, I squeezed and kissed them goodbye and willed myself not to cry...

So we sat and waited to board our plane...


23 March 2011
20 hours later we were in Paris, France.... on the other side of the world...
The first thing we did upon entering the terminal was get two tickets to Paris by train.
And then got on the train. The journey well under way...
So here we sat on the train, tired, cold but terribly excited.
This was about 9am.
We sat watching the views flash past us...

green banks scattered with little white daisy-like flowers.
smoke billowing out chimneys.
people off to work.
people waiting at the stations, hands in their jacket pockets or reading the paper,
drinking a cup of coffee.
trees laden with heavy white or pink blossoms {clearly Spring in Paris!}

We made it to Gare Du Nord Station and with our bags stumbled out into the street of a bright, Parisian sunshine morning. I think we both stood a few minutes just taking it all in. I felt the same awe I felt two years before when I had stood on that same street, looking around me, hardly daring to believe I was in Paris!

We began our walk with bags in tow, down Rue La Fayette. Soon we reached out Hotel.
Villa-Fenalon.


We stayed there for 4 nights. The Hotel is quite sweet. Full of charm and character and has a lovely atmosphere. I liked the lobby and decorations and it had a cozy little breakfast area. The breakfast was good. Croissants, Chocolate pastries, rolls with butter and jams. A good sized cup of coffee and fresh orange juice. (included in our room rate). We were on the first floor. Our room was not brilliant but it was comfortable. I didn't like the floor to ceiling mirrored walls in the bathroom! {I mean, who wants to see themselves on the toilet from every angle!!?? ha ha} And the bathroom could of done with a bit more effort in decoration and fixtures, like covering the exposed plumbing pipes and putting a better bin in besides the orange plastic one they had! Other than that, it was decent and we had clean towels everyday. It is not like we spent any time besides a quick bath and a good nights rest there anyway. I would recommend it as it had a lot of charm, quirkiness, character and the location is excellent.

We arrived quite early, I reckon around 9:30 or 9:45 and left our bags in their luggage hold.
And then we walked to Montmarte.

Don't you just love this light???I am in love with the carousels of Paris.
I stood and watched a man feeding some pigeons, a mother laughing as her daughter passed on her on the carousel, a lady reading the morning paper...

Lot's more walking around...


a lovely little park up in Montmarte Square Buisson I think it was. (behind the Sacre Coeur).
You won't find many shots of the typical buildings and monuments of Paris amongst my photos...sure I took them, but I concentrated my efforts and gazes more at the REAL Paris, the people going about their daily lives, the beauty hidden in every crack and down every alley way.
We looked past the graffiti and saw a city brimming with life and beauty.

Mothers with children and babies enjoying the early morning. Made me miss my peeps...
Spring blossoms...
More spring blossoms.
early morning dew.

It's no wonder people were inspired to write songs and elope to Paris and get married there!! There truly is no place as romantic as Paris. There is just something about it...It gets into your bones.

Eating yummy fruit tarts...

life creeping out of every crevice...

The only vineyard still left in the city of Paris.
Us...
Louvre..I won't bore you with typical tourist photos of the Louvre buildings, pyramids, water fountains etc...I wanted to show you the Paris I saw...the Paris I breathed in and the Paris that spoke volumes to me...

Jarin Des Tuileries




A common mode of transport...

towards the end of the day...enjoying the most beautiful time of day..dusk...
Watching the little boats...

And that concludes our first day in Paris.
I will be back tomorrow with day 3.




In the meantime enjoy a video I made of little clips taken throughout our stay there.

{For best results, pause the video and let it load to the end and then click play, then you can watch it without breaks or waiting for it to load}