Lyon to Paris ………and the final countdown

October 19th

We are up packed and good to go …one more bye-bye to Sue & Bob.

The boulangerie next door which has been closed since we got there is open and boy do they have some lovely breads and pastries….stock up for the drive plus coffee and we are on the road by 7:30 AM. Today it is going to be autoroute all the way ….so by 9AM we are about 200 kilometres out, lots of low-lying fog …stop for diesel and pit stops.

We arrive at the AIR BNB by 1P.M. and meet Karen our hostess, after some minor snafus we have all the luggage in the apartment. We leave almost immediately and Miss Charm guides us for the last time to Renault’s offices to return the car. All goes well and we say goodbye to Miss Charm and our little Clio >>> 7892 kilometers older (by the way the return process is a no brainer > the Renault Lease program is really AAA) and then via Metro (very helpful attendant) we are back to the apartment by 4:00PM. The apartment is well situated on the border of the 5th and 13th arrondissement, a small supermarket below us and a boulangerie next door with the Metro a 3 minute walk. It has been a long day and we do a short walkabout in the ‘hood, pick up breakfast stuff, skype with Ella and then decide to have an early dinner early. No not McDonald’s which is also close to us but an Indian resto…cannot face another confit de canard !!!!

October 20

Morning dawns overcast and cool, croissants from the boulangerie (a must do) and then we take the Metro to the BNP Paribas ….a visit to the bank to meet our Private Banking Officer, with whom I have spoken many times, but never met.

After this we do some sightseeing around the Place Opera:

…..and visit the Galleries Lafayette:

…..which is a veritable who’s who of boutiques and some seriously expensive stuff > tons of security guys, obviously this has no impact on some shoppers who need to be restrained from spending their euros:

….then we save ourselves some walking and take the Metro…

…. before dropping off to do some shopping/ sightseeing, passing the Pantheon:

….dropping into the St. Sulpice Church …quite lovely but undergoing renovations which is distracting:

….with a number of students working diligently at their artwork:

After Annie consults the map (her forte,not mine):

….we decide to walk to the Luxembourg Gardens, since we have never seen this famous landmark and watch some men playing intense chess:

and families enjoying the park and pond…..

…… the gardens are quite nice but we find the park somewhat cold and austere (it is late fall). Since we are in the Latin Quarter we carry on to a famous street which we have wanted to see, Rue Mouffetard > touristy but, nice touristy:

October 20th

Although it rained all night we wake up to some light cloud but it seems to be clearing with promises of sun, so we decide to go on a boat cruise (score a discount buying them on the internet) which we have never done in Paris. We take the Metro to Pont Neuf where the navettes are moored and as it is still early, do a short walkabout, it is relatively early in the morning so not many tourists are around:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…. although a little breezy we enjoy the cruise taking in the sites from a very different vantage point:

After the cruise we wanted to look at Notre Dame from land…hordes of tourists and hawkers, beggars not an ideal scene!

following which lunch on the Left Bank and just wandering around looking at life in the slow lane:

…then make our way back to the apartment to get packed so there would be no panic ….as we need to leave for the airport by 7:30 AM latest. With everything in order off for dinner but alas the place is “complet”…..we walk on (mildly bummed out) and find a place on Rue Mouffetard:

…..nice dinner but nothing special…return hastily as the rain has started up …good timing as the instant we are back the heavens open up !

October 21

Morning comes quickly ….a cup of coffee and we trudge of into the dark pulling our bulging suitcases…packed a few bottles of wine too many methinks as we struggle with the bleepers into the depths of the Metro…..in about an hour we are at Charles De Gaulle and our Euro odyssey is over:

…..the flight is long and tiring, stopover seems short in Toronto as we seem to walk from one end of the airport to the other with several passport checks, full security check etc……finally we arrive in Vancouver as do our bulging suitcases (no wine dripping from them)…Trevor and Andre, aka the irrepressible toddler, are at the airport in Vancouver, pick up Ella at the hospital, drop the gang at their condo and then the final leg: ferry and drive home ….AND WE ARE BACK HOME at midnight >>>>>>

THAT’S IT FOLKS >>>> THANKS FOR TUNING IN !!!!!