The Cabes in Paris

Friday afternoon, after Matthew and I got off work, we all took the train up to Paris for the weekend. After some drama the day before with the first hotel that I had booked, we booked at a great hotel right beside the Louvre. If you are headed to Paris anytime soon, check out the Grand Hotel du Palais Royal. They have the most comfortable hotel beds I have slept in while in France, and an incredible buffet breakfast that was included in our room rate. After figuring out which metro to take, we arrived at the hotel about 10pm. We decided to go for a walk since it was still light outside and we were all excited to be in Paris! We walked acrosss the street from our hotel, through a corridor at the Louvre that opened up to the big glass pyramid in the courtyard. From there we turned right and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, crossed the insane 50 lane round-about (not really 50 lanes, but it seems that way!), and down Avenue des Champs Elysees. After a stop at Starbucks, we headed back to the hotel.

Saturday, we had a full day planned. The first stop was the Eiffel Tower. There was an insane line to go up the Eiffel Tower, so after some picture taking, we walked along the river and towards the Arc de Triomphe. We found a great market on our way, and were amazed at the different types of meat that were for sale. We even witnessed the unfortunate beheadings of some rabbits (already dead, although that didn't make it any better) that were being sold. I was amazed by all of the beautiful flowers. At the Arc, we climbed the spiral staircase to the top, where we had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower and down the Champs Elysees. It was also quite amusing to look down and watch the cars drive in the round-about that goes around the Arc. There was one van, must have been a tourist, that got stuck in the middle and just sat there for several minutes, unable to move with the traffice rushing all around him. I was also able to find the name of my great-great-great grandfather- Louis-Nicolas Davout, one of Napolean's right hand men, known as the "Iron Marshal". Unfortunately, his name was spelled wrong in the engraving- Davoust. Just before an afternoon downpour, we ducked into a restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we did some shopping (mostly window shopping) along the Champs Elysees. The next stop was Notre Dame and Sainte Chappelle. Unfortunately there was a really long line for Sainte Chappelle, and they were stopping anyone else from getting in line. We then headed back to the hotel for a little R&R before going to dinner. We had asked the girl at the front desk for a restaurant recommendation and she had suggested a little brasserie just around the corner. Three waiters rotated taking care of us, each with a very different personality. We had a lot of fun joking with them, in French and in English. At the end of the meal (after some amazing creme brulee!!), our main waiter brought us all glasses of Champagne to thank us for being the best table of the night!

Matthew had to catch a flight to Canada right after breakfast on Sunday. After he left, Annette and Steven headed to the Louvre. Mike and I headed to the Montparnasse area for the Sunday art market. I was really hoping to find some starving artists with great deals on their artwork. We did find some amazing artists, but everything was much more than I wanted to spend. After a quick tour through the Montparnasse cemetary, we headed back to meet Steven and Annette for lunch. After lunch I headed to the train station to come back to Clermont. Steven, Annette, and Mike flew out the next day.

We had a great 2 weeks with the Cabe family. I don't think we could have squeezed anything else into our time together! Now Matthew and I have less than a week before Amy and Trey will be here! Keep checking back for blogs about their visit!

Christmas in Paris, Day 1

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Sunday morning Mom, Matthew, and I awoke early to catch a train from Clermont to Paris. We arrived in Paris about 11:30 and set out to follow signs to the correct metro that would take us to our hotel. I found our hotel online, and booked it mostly based on price. It is a very stressful thing knowing that a decision you make will affect everyone traveling with you. NOT that a bad hotel is the end of the world, but staying in a rat hole can drastically affect the mood of a trip! Luckily, the hotel was very charming and the staff was extremely friendly. I was also happy to see that Mom was given a real bed (I was worried she would be given a rusty, roll-away cot). We dropped our suitcases in the room and headed out in the general direction of the Champs-Elysees. I had figured out on the map that our hotel was "walking distance" from the Champs-Elysees. I think I should have paid more attention to the scale on the map, because it turned into quite a long walk. Around 2pm we finally found a restaurant that had something everyone wanted to order and the price was reasonable. Then we headed across La Seine into the Jardin Des Tileries. At the west end of the garden there was a large Ferris Wheel. We continued down the Champs Elysees, passing a seemingly endless row of stands set up for the Christmas Market. Once we got past the Christmas Market, we strolled past stores like Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana. Stopping only long enough to gasp at the prices of the items in the windows! We did make a stop at a Starbucks, the first Starbucks we have had since September! There were also several car showrooms displaying incredible concept cars...and yes, the cars were sporting Michelin tires! Our final stop was the Arc de Triomphe where we paused for a photo opp. By this point we were all a little tired, so we started our long walk back to the hotel (I mapquested the route we walked, and we walked a total of 5.4 miles!). We rested at the hotel for about an hour and half and then headed out to find a place to eat dinner. Even though it was 8:00, most restaurants were not open for dinner yet (there were also a lot of places closed because it was Sunday). We finally settled on a restaurant called Le Nemrod. The food was very good, there was a great atmosphere, and we had a very friendly waiter.