texans on the autobahn

A Wintry Parisian Holiday

We had hoped, and had thought, that although it would be cold in Paris the week of Christmas, that at least it should not be as cold as Munich. We were proven wrong, and much of the weather in the UK and Paris and Northern Germany was colder than it had been in recent history. But, we carried on, an enjoyed our planned Parisian holiday, seeing much of Paris each day and ending each evening watching 3 or 4 episodes of the Lost DVD’s my sister Dinah sent us for Christmas!

Our itinerary

On Monday, Dec. 26 we arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport and took the metro to our hotel. It required only 1 train change and dropped us off at a metro station right in front of our hotel, the Holiday Inn Republique. It was a great hotel, unlike any Holiday Inn I have ever stayed at! We immediately dropped off our luggage and hopped back on the metro to head to the famous Eiffel Tower. I had read that it’s best to arrive at a place called the Trocadero and then walk to the tower. The Trocadero offers a spectacular first time” view of the Eiffel Tower. It is definitely something you want to see in person as it’s an amazing piece of architecture. The strangest thing though is approaching the tower and seeing armed guards with machine guns ready. I guess they were preparing for security for New Years. The sight was a bit disarming though.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes to get our tickets to ride the lift. I can’t even begin to imagine what the wait for tickets is like during peak tourist season in the summer months. We all rode up to the 2nd level and exited for some amazing sights of the city. Even though it was cold and overcast, we could see all of Paris. Joe and I wanted to finish to ride to the very top of the tower, but Robin and Sam chose to remain on the 2nd level and just wait for us. I must admit, it was a bit scary going that high up (and remembering the armed guards with machine guns). It seemed like the lift kept going and going, kind of like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when the lift finally went so high it just exploded out of the top. Fortunately for us, no exploding out the top, and we reached the final level. The area is quite small and we didn’t spend too much time up there as it is also quite crowded.

We returned to find Sam and Robin and then walked to the Hotel des Invalides where the tomb of Napoleon is housed. We walked through the basilica and then the war museum before heading back to the metro and our hotel.


On Tuesday morning, we headed out to the Champs-Elysees Quarter which is where the
Arc de Triomphe is located as well as lots of great shopping (at least great window shopping). Joe counted 276 steps that we walked to reach the top of the Arc. It was an incredibly cold day, with snow falling and when we reached the top it was icy and windy but we were able to take in the view before heading back inside and walking back down 276 steps. It was a triumph for me as it was the first monument I’ve walked up and down since my knee surgery, but it was not problem, I just went slow and held on to the rails. The stairs in these places are always circular so you need to be careful anyway.

After a short walk down the shopping area we stopped in a nice café known for being good for hot drinks and snacks before starting your walking again. 40 euros later we were on our way, yes an expensive couple of cups of cappuccino and hot chocolate, but we’re in Paris!

After shopping at the Virgin Mega Store and of course, the Gap, both stores we do not have in Germany, we headed towards a restaurant I had read about on Rachel Ray’s $40 a day show website, the Cremerie Polidor where we ate authentic French cuisine, pumpkin soup and Beef Bourgouine and Joe ate a Guinea hen, we told him it was chicken!!!

Of course, a visit to the toilet was in order before leaving, however, after seeing the hole in the floor that was the toilet, we left and headed towards the Starbucks down the street to use a proper toilet! Ah, the Europeans and their toilets! This isn’t the first hole in the floor I’ve seen for a toilet, but it was one I didn’t want to use!


On Wednesday a day of fun was in store with a long train ride to the outside of Paris to visit Euro Disney Paris. It was typical Disney, full of shops and everything Disney. Since we’ve been to Disney World in Florida and Disney Land in California, we knew what we wanted to ride first. Again, it was a very cold and snowy day, not the best kind of weather for riding rides at an amusement park. We chose our favorite rides and then left after about 2 hours to go to the Disney Studios, ride the Rock n Roll roller coaster and catch a few shows. When we went to Disney World a few years ago, Sam rode the Rock n Roll roller coaster and then proceeded to barf everywhere when it was over. He decided he wanted to try it again, and he was successful, though he wasn’t interested in riding again. However, Joe jumped back in line, just to have the ride closed down while he was riding because it had broken down. At least it didn’t malfunction while he was on it! A few shorts hours later, and frozen toes we decided it was just too cold, and we weren’t all that interested in Mickey Mouse anymore and we headed to Planet Hollywood for a hamburger before the long train ride back.

On Thursday, we headed out to the Louvre where we saw the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, the Glass Pyramid, and many of the famous works of art. The most amazing aspect of the Louvre to me, besides it’s enormous size, was the size of some of the paintings we saw. Picture in your mind the large size of your house, then imagine a painting that same size! One painting just this size, enormous, was a painting of Napoleon’s and Josephine’s coronation. Upon seeing it for the first time, even Napoleon apparently remarked about how it was a painting one could just walk into, referring to the lifelike size.

After leaving the Louvre we walked again strolling through the high end hotel district of Paris. Again we came upon military or police exiting their van machine gun ready. They didn’t appear to be looking for anything, but it is really disarming to see that. Anyway, we moved on and headed towards the Gallerie Lafayette Department Store a famous shopping store in Paris. We had lunch in the store and did a little shopping. They say a nice thing to leave Paris with is French lingerie, so I did. . .just a little sumthin, sumthin. . .We perused the wine department picking up some French wine and then strolled through the gourmet food area, though it reminded me of Central Market but it was much smaller here and more crowded, if you can imagine that if you’ve ever been to Central Market.

On Friday, our destination was Versailles, the famous palace where the Versailles treaty was signed. Of course, as it turned out this was the coldest day of the week and we had to wait in line for almost an hour in the freezing snow and sleet just to get in through security. Once in, the line for tickets was a breeze. We toured the art and architecture of three museums inside the building. There are acres and acres of parks at Versailles with fountains, but they were covered in snow and ice, and the fountains weren’t working. It is probably quite beautiful in the spring and summer, and you could easily spend the entire day there but not in the winter!!! We had a great lunch at a café on the way back to the metro station. The food was similar to crepes but the batter they said was made of buckwheat and wasn’t sweet and had a bit of a crunch to it. You could put whatever you wanted inside. It was quite delicious, including the ones for dessert that we had before heading back for our last night in Paris.

We had wanted to take a nighttime boat tour down the Siene to see Paris all lit up at night, but alas, it was just way too cold, so we ended up back at our hotel for an early evening and final 3 episodes of Lost!

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 9:20 PM