Vacation: Day 2-5

Day 2 (November 14th, 2024)

I honestly don't know what to call this. Technically it was the first day, but after a nap, it felt like the second day. We'll stick with it's was Day 1 and just accept the first day of our trip was 36 hours long. 

The other thing about international travel is that you should probably leave the first couple days free of plans in the morning. We broke this rule, thinking we were going to wake up at 5 am, and slept right through our alarm and our tickets to go to the Louvre. 

We didn't wake up until 11:30, and in a panic, started trying to pivot. The entire plans for the day hinged on being in that museum. 

I had found a restaurant that looked really cool called Le Train Bleu. Located in one of the larger active train stations, the restaurant is located in an old part of the station that has been largely untouched. The stark contrast between the modern concrete ugliness of the active train station and the beautiful painted ceilings, statues, chandeliers that made up the old, gave you whiplash. 

Here we see that beauty used to be part of design. Sure, maybe modern architecture is more functional, but the world is tough and it would be nice to have a little bit of beauty in your everyday life. Unfortunately, beauty cost money and no company wants to spend more money on any project. So I don't know that we'll ever return to this. 

After Le Train Bleu, we wandered around the corner to the Cinémathèque Française, a movie museum. The big draw for me was the Georges Méliès section. He is one of the most talented early film makers and has inspired so many present day directors. The way he melded his magician background with new technologies to come up with special effects at the turn of the 1900s was nothing less that incredible.

Museum was great. Sal's French came in clutch here. My Google Translate app was having some issues, so Sal had to essentially figure out every plaque and give me the gist of it. 

We walked the hour back, through a nice park and got to see a large portion of the non-tourist area of Paris. 

That night, we had the most amazing dinner cruise on Le Calife. It took us up the Siene to essentially the museum we were at earlier in the day and ended at the Eiffel Tower, perfectly timed for when the tower sparkles at night. 

After the cruise, we wanted to see what the night life in Paris was like. We were staying near where the university was, so many of the quiet cafes had turned into nightclubs. Not exactly the vibe we were looking for. We eventually found a place called Gueuleton that had maybe 12 people inside having drinks. Like all great French spots, our wine came with a snack of some cured meats. Delicious. 

The other table in the place had been drinking many bottles of wine and taking shots. They were pretty drunk. One of the older ladies (mid-50s compared to the 30 year olds she was with?) was making out with several of the guys at the same time. She ended up chatting us up to somewhat apologize for being loud, but also to tell us being married to a single person was boring and that we should come and do shots with them at the next place. She then got on a motorized scooter and ate shit immediately. 

• Total steps: 17,905
• Total miles: 8.42

Day 3 (Friday, November 15th, 2024)

Sal had an upset stomach on Friday, so we had a slower wakeup. We ended up going to a bakery called Maison Mulot. In Paris, there's a bakery on every corner that sell premade sandwiches and desserts. A simple ham and cheese on a French baguette is such a great snack. 

We then walked through Luxemburg Palace.

Wandering the streets of Paris is a true joy. The city still takes great pride in the arts. Paintings, sculptures, book stores, art galleries, they line the streets.

Go in any direction and you will run into the river walk on the Seine or a park.

You can also see why the French Revolution happened. Anyway you could throw a rock, you'll hit a palace among the streets. The poor lived staring at the rich daily. While crawling through the slop of the street, hoping the factory still had a shift for you, you'd stare through the gates of Luxemburg Palace and see the family playing croquette. Let them eat cake? Nah, sharpen the guillotine.

We stopped at Le Bullier for a quick coffee before heading to the Paris Catacombs.

Death is silent. You descend stories worth of stairs, wander some tunnels, turn a corner, and all sound leaves the area. It's thick like syrup. Millions of Parisian's bones, stacked five feet high, sometimes arranged in heart shapes or crosses, but no complete bodies.

The group behind us (and eventually in front of us) treated this like a tourist attraction rather than the final resting place for so many of their ancestors. One man screams "boo" scaring the younger woman with him. Another woman in their group, spent the entire time taking as many full flash selfies with the dead as she could squeeze out. (The number 1 rule posted everywhere is "don't steal the bones. The number 2 rule posted everywhere, don't f-ing use flash when taking pictures)

We got through the catacombs quicker than we expected and had time before our dinner reservation. 

We stopped at a place called Maison Edgar and split a bottle of champagne. Sitting at a cafe, staring at a street that Hemmingway likely did a hundred years ago was exciting on it's own. The cafe overlooks a park, which was nice at first. Then there was some sort of car accident right in front of our window. We still don't know what happened, but people looked angry, then turned on their flashers, then all came in and sat down at a table together near us. 

We then had an excellent dinner at Le Bistrot Des Campagnes to finish off the night before we walked back to the hotel. 

• Total steps: 13,713
• Total miles: 6.37

Day 4 (Saturday, November 16th, 2024)

It was my turn to have a stomach bug. I wasn't able to leave my hotel bed the entire day. Sal had a great time exploring on her own and eventually brought me ramen noodles in a cup. It was the only calories I had all day. 

• Total steps: 1863 (mostly from the night before)
• Total miles: .88

Day 5 (Sunday, November 17th, 2024)

I wasn't 100% still. I didn't have the nausea anymore, but I just felt incredibly full. Like I had eaten two large meals back to back. But I had only had about 400 calories the day before. 

We walked around a little. Saw Notre Dame up close. Walked the Seine riverwalk. Statue of St. Michael. I was feeling somewhat human, but the smell of food, perfume, cigarettes were all getting to me. We went back to the hotel so I could rest before our dinner reservation. 

We ate dinner at Avant comptoir de la Terre. The food looked great. I still wasn't feeling the best. I had a poke bowl that was mostly falafel and some fresh cut fruits. It was all I could keep down. It's a shame because I was excited about the menu here, but it was all I could do. 

• Total steps: 10,983 (mostly from the night before)
• Total miles: 5.19