We went on a 2-day trip to Paris with Chloe in tow and since it was her first time in the City of Lights we wanted to show her the major sites so she could brag about her trip to Paris to her international friends back in Beijing!!.
In fact we did exactly what we used to laugh about when we lived in Paris: people telling us that they visited Paris and found out it was in the middle of a 10-day/6-country tour!!
Anyhow in two days (included the 6-hour round trip TGV/train ride) we managed to introduce to Chloe:
- The Louvre Museum: No queuing line, we know the short cuts and have a free entry pass from Jeff’s work!! Mona Lisa at her new location (courtesy of a Japanese company), Winged of Victory of Samothrace, Coronation of Napoleon…
- Walk (under the rain!) the Jardin des Tuilerie and pointed out the Obelisk.
- The Eiffel tower: 2 hours waiting line to get to the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor was an extra 30 minutes and Jeffrey couldn’t have handled the height so we skipped the top!! But well worth the wait since when we reached the top the lighting was superb and I took some of the best pictures of Paris and its roofs that I have yet
- Ice cream at Bertillon on the Ile Saint Louis
- Quick outside glance at Beaubourg and place Igor Stavinsky
- Stroll through our old neighborhood in Les Halles: show her that mommy and daddy used to live here (yes, the woman at the corner of the street is waiting for her friends!!!??)
- Another quick sprint through the Marais and a visit to my favorite tea store Mariages Frères (yes I am NOT ashamed: I buy my tea in France and import it to China!!)
- Quick stop at my old office and lunch with my friend (has it been 5 years, really? She still looks like Claudia Schiffer!!)
- But decided to skip on the 2+ hour wait to go to Notre Dame: damned Dan Brown and his DaVinci Code! It was a Tuesday, though, and the museums are closed that day so the tourists have to go somewhere!
- Last but not least since it was the purpose of our trip, the medical exam we have to take each year.
All this while it was freezing cold, rainy and everybody in Paris seemed to have forgotten it’s supposed to be summer and were already wearing their autumn cloths (think: boots, trench coat and umbrellas). It was nice to be back in Paris (it had been a few years for me at least) but I felt a little too rushed. I would have like to enjoy a ride on the Bateau Mouche (I know it’s cheesy but anything for my daughter), a stroll (not a run) by the Seine, eating Laduré Macarons, fighting for the best Sales at Le Printemps and Les Galeries Lafayettes, taking the time to sit at a café and do some people watching, going to Montmartre… and so many other little pleasures that comes with living in a city and not just visiting it!.
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| Beautiful Paris |
