DAY 9

July 22, 2022 (Day 2 of Paris, FRANCE)

Gotta Love That Breakfast...

By now, if you didn’t love breakfast or were not use to having breakfast, you are loving it – everywhere we have been it has been the cheeses, sliced meats, cereals, breads, juices, pastries, eggs, sausage, coffee and more. And today was no exception. The first breakfast in Paris was très magnifique. Into the basement we went (the floor below the lobby) and down the stairs to the buffet waiting for us.

The Bus Tour Around The City Of Paris...

Again today we have a local guide from the city of Paris named Aurore, who explained many interesting facts about the city. She also pointed out many historical buildings and told us the story of each, all with exact dates – this guide was EXCELLENT.

A Word About Our Guide...Michal/Michael

I must stop and pause to highlight one of the most patient and kind people we have come across in a long time. Michal (pronounced MEE-how) is originally from Poland and has been living in France. His wife is from Spain and they presently live outside of Paris. He speaks 5 languages – English, French, Spanish, Polish and a little Russian). With a group as diverse as ours with some young some mature and some in between, he has had his hands full, especially trying to understand Bahamian Time, especially in the mornings and when we are supposed to meet up at a certain point.

He was asked yesterday how long it would take to walk from the hotel to dinner and his reply was “5 minutes or maybe 15”. By now he had gotten use to Bahamian Time and walking at a leisurely pace, despite needing to be at a certain place at a certain time. He has gentleness about him and when he speaks this is obvious. Even when he tried to shout, it was gentle. We are grateful to have his expertise and gentle spirit with us so far and look forward to his continued guidance and wealth of knowledge during the remainder of the trip!

On to Rue Cler...

After the 2 and a half our tour of the city of Paris, we were in awe over how awesome the builds were along with the history behind it. We got out of the bus and walked to Rue Cler (the name of the street) where there were many quaint little restaurants, cafes, sweet shops, fruit and more.

Lunch At Leclair....

On Rue Cler, myself and Mrs. Turnquest stopped at a very nice restaurant with a brilliant white and yellow striped awning and chairs outside called Leclair for lunch. The varied menu made it a little hard to decide at first – burgers, mozzarella sticks, calamari – and then my eye caught the FISH AND CHIPS – that was it! Mrs. T got the escargot and some crepes. When offered a snail to try, I hesitated, and then was reminded it ‘taste just like conch’ – and it did. It was delicious and layered with butter and garlic. When I asked the waiter where he was from he said “the west indies” and when probed further he said “Martinique”. We told him we were from the Bahamas and there sparked a conversation and a kindred spirit for the remainder of the lunch. Of course we had to take a photo with Andrea and made sure we left our Caribbean family member a good tip and also left him smiling.

The Eiffel Tower Awaits...

You can’t come to Paris, and not visit the EIFFEL TOWER – and we were only a short walk away. So ably led by Michael, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and encountered many of our Caribbean looking men with their mats on the ground selling trinkets and replicas of the Eiffel Tower. They were from Senegal came up to each person two and three times, insisting that we buy something from them. After a few minutes, we thought something was wrong when we saw the men yank up their mats with their trinkets in the middle forming a bag and they were off – many others started running toward them and they disappeared. When we looked the police were nearby. Apparently it is not legal for them to be selling these trinkets outside the Eiffel Tower and spend their days selling trinkets to tourists until the police are in the area and they have to run away temporarily.

Now, Time To Explore...

While a part of the group went into the Eiffel Tower, those of us who have already been up before decided to go explore Paris for a few hours. This was AFTER we spent about 10 minutes PANICKING over not being able to find Tanaz’s cell phone. After trying to get the FIND YOUR PHONE app working, I called Andrew who revealed that the phone was given to Olivia and that he had the phone. After a huge sigh of relief we headed out to the main street to find an UBER. While having some difficulties in this, we noticed a set of taxis a little ways up the street and thankfully, they were available. However, they would only take 3 people at a time and there were 10 of us. So what did we do – we took multiple taxis of course and ended up at the Avenue des Champs Elysees (ask me how to pronounce it – epic fail). This street had all the high end stores – Zara, Paul, Laduree, Sephora and Louis Vitton. And on the way back, of course, the outing would not be complete unless we stopped at some souvenir shops for overpriced trinkets. We even saw a gentleman on the bench who obviously was very tired and had to take a nap. We tried not to disturb him…

Its Dinner Time AGAIN.....

I feel like every time I turn around we are EATING again. However, the lunch today was a simple fish and chips.

And after all of the walking done – my Fitbit clocked 14,249 steps, I was ready for food!

Tonight was a buffet-style meal but you couldn’t go back for seconds….yes I didn’t get it either.

You took a prepared salad, and dessert and then chose a meat and two side dishes, bread and a drink.

In all fairness, it was quite sufficient and the food was very tasty.

Tonight for me was lamb, roasted potatoes and string beans with a cucumber, tomato and lettuce salad with a cherry yogurt parfait for dessert.

The Metro Ride Back Home...

The group that went to the Eiffel Tower had the experience today of riding the Metro from the tower to dinner. After dinner, those who did not have that experience got the chance to ride the Metro back to the hotel. After walking a few feet to the metro station by the Arch de Triumph, and going downstairs, we started the metro adventure. First we had to take the M1 to the eighth stop and then switch trains and take the M4 to the fourth stop. The group had to to stand a distance from each other in front of the spot where the doors would open to ensure we all got on together. The first leg of the journey was good. However, when we went to catch the M4 train when it came it looked like it had 1000 people on it. We didn’t even bother and by the next train a few seconds later, we got on and worked our way back to the hotel.