We had been having croissants for breakfast every day and we weren't going to break that streak on our last day. I went out to Pret a Manger again and picked up breakfast "take-away" before we took an Uber to the airport. Our flight was at 2:55 PM Paris time so we had time for lunch. There was a McDonald's so M1 finally got her Best of Chicken McNuggets (meal).
On the plane ride, I thought about our trip and replayed many incidents in my head. This is how I transfer thoughts from my short term memory to long term memory and hopefully the good ones will stay with me forever.
In each day's blog, I wrote about specific events of that day. What about the overall impression of Paris? That's one thing I thought about on the plane. What would I say to someone asking me, "How was Paris?" I would say, "It was great!" The weather was perfect - mid 20s, not too hot, no rain until the last day when we were driving to the airport. The food was good (not great, but good) overall, but the pastries, croissants, and duck were amazing. The people we met were very friendly. We were warned by others that if we didn't speak French or say "Bonjour", we would not get good service. But we didn't experience that at all. I think everyone was very friendly to us.
The absolute value of the cost of food and activities would be comparable to Canada, I would say. But the 1.62 exchange rate hurts you! I mentioned the narrow streets, narrow buildings, and traffic patterns already. The general feeling I got when I was outdoors was "cozy". There was a rich, antique-like feel to the city and every restaurant had outdoor seating. Even though the frontage of their restauant was not much, they would squeeze about four 2-person tables onto their "patio". I know YC would love enjoying a pastry and a cup of coffee on a cool spring afternoon outside a cafe.
I thought about the stress and turmoil I experienced leading up to the trip with the strike and all. My mood was completely opposite during the trip. Things went smoothly for us. Other than a last minute pee by M1 that caused us to be late for boarding, the flights went well - no real delays. It was my first time ordering an Uber and I got $15 discount. There were no hiccups with any of our bookings. I'm always afraid that when I do things online, there will be a problem - like I show up at the hotel and they say I never booked. Or maybe our City Pass doesn't work for one of the attractions we wanted. But nothing like that happened. Even with the transit pass we couldn't buy, it turned out that we saved 68 Euros by buying individual tickets. We walked a bit more, but also got that free ride to the Louvre on the tour bus. We also got to skip the line at the Arc de Triomphe.
So were there any negatives? Well, the only things I can complain about have to do with toilets. First, there aren't many free public bathrooms in Paris. You have to pay to use them or be a customer at the restaurant. In the shopping malls we went to, there weren't many public bathrooms. So there was always a line up and never any soap. I carried hand santizer for us after the first day. Second, the toilet paper holder in our hotel was vertical instead of horizontal. So the toilet paper kept spiralling downwards. Okay, so if these are the only issues I had, I would say it was a very good vacation.
I never said which attraction was my favourite. I mentioned the favourite foods and attractions of each of the girls but I could not decide on which one I liked best - the bike tour, the bus tour, the Louvre, Versailles, or the Eiffel Tower. I'm going to pick the Eiffel Tower because prior to the trip, that's the one thing I wanted to see most. The lights were really cool and I know YC would like it too. I was really emotional when I saw it and I'm not sure what emotions I had but sadness was not the dominant feeling. Maybe it's a growth moment for me. I think all my girls had growth moments on this trip too. We talked about Mommy on several occasions - would she like the bike tour, would she like the food, would she walk up all the stairs of the Arc de Triomphe, would she want to pay for any audio guides? Well, I know she would like the bike tour, the museums, the pastries and bread, the escargots, the duck, and yes she would pay for and make us listen to the audio guide. And I know what she would say when we got home. After every vacation she says, "The best part of vacation is coming home."
Big Oh
No comments:
Post a Comment