Brace yourself…you are about to see many photos about our short trip to Paris in March. Or not, if you are not interested LOL.
There will be outfit photos, pretty buildings, funny stories and a video of Ron playing the harmonica in an underground passageway. I promise you, I really tried to make this post a fun read.
The train journey to Paris went smoothly and we hoisted our suitcases up and down and down and up the stairs of the underground (subway or as the French say, le metro). Ron had a small suitcase and I had a larger one (below).
OK, I just don’t travel light, I am sorry, but in my defence, it wasn’t fully packed. I insisted on wheeling and carrying it myself. Ron did help a few times but usually I didn’t let him.
Below: View from our hotel room. I never noticed the old-timer car driving down the road.
Below: The breakfast area of the hotel (Grand Hôtel des Balcons). We always stay here when we are in Paris. It is such a sweet hotel, dipped in art nouveau, some of it authentic, some of it more modern made to fit (like the chairs).
Quartier Saint-Germain-des-Prés
On the day of our arrival (Tuesday), we explored the area where we were staying, Quartier Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a very popular neighbourhood.
OUTFIT number 1 the first photo of this post shows what I was wearing that day. Flared jeans, a thrifted shirt, my black blazer and white trainers.
We went for coffee straight away and I spotted a cute coffee place with nice cakes and chocolate. We dared ordering two cappuccinos (the French are notoriously bad at making cappuccino) and I also had a macaron. When I discovered we had to pay €17,30 for that, I inhaled sharply…we never visited this place again. And the cappuccino was so-so.
Below: Three photos of a church and its surroundings on Boulevard Saint Germain.
Below: Many restaurants (and shops) have adopted the fashion of embellishing their building with artificial flowers. It does make a pretty picture.
Below: Book shop on Boulevard Saint Germain.
Below: The interior of one of the three Hèrmes shops, the one on Rue de Sèvres. The doorman let us in to look around. It is an amazing shop, built in a former swimming pool as I was told by my friend Susan of Une Femme d’un certain âge.
We only stayed very briefly; this shop is WAY out of my league.
As we were near anyway, I wanted to go to Le Bon Marché. When I get a moment of insanity, I might be able to buy something in that department store. I love it but it is also expensive.
While Ron was reading a book, I had a look around the fashion departments. I told one of the sales assistants about an Instagram account called Miserable Men (here is the link to the Instagram account). It shows hundreds or more photos of men waiting for their wives in all sorts of awkward positions, usually sleeping while holding the bags. She thought it was hilarious.
Anyway, I saw a beautiful green skirt for € 1,500. It came with a matching top, which price I didn’t even check. I’ll never get enough pleasure out of such expensive things.
Below: Looking at a little doggie in Le Bon Marché.
By the way, I wore my hairpiece every day in Paris so I didn’t need to worry about my hair. It was brilliant.
Below: Speaking of doggies…the department store had ‘dogs‘ as a theme and we created this video in Le Bon Marché for our granddaughter. Ron was moving his head just like the “dogs” did. She loved it.
Below: Out to dinner on our first day. It was reasonable.
We had decided to take the bus to the restaurant but contrary to what we read, we couldn’t use our underground card and we also couldn’t buy a ticket in the bus. We had to download an app, put in all our personal details, add a ticket and pay for it through Apple Pay or credit card. A friendly American helped us but by the time I had everything in place, we arrived at our destination. Two free rides. In the following days there once was a ticket inspection on a bus fare and once in the underground. We never experienced that before, but luckily we had valid tickets by then.
Chatou, the brocante and antique fair
Wednesday was the day we travelled to a Paris suburb, called Chatou to visit a brocante (vintage) and antique fair. When we were still very much into this stuff, we had such great days at this huge fair. Now, our interior decoration is finished and we like modern stuff more. Ron was sentimental and wanted to enjoy the fair like he used to. Too bad (tant pis as the French say)…it was cold and there weren’t many visitors which ruined the atmosphere. I bought a blue workman’s jacket but I am not sure whether that was wise.
Below: We had to wait for the shuttle bus to the fair and went into one of these silly photo booths.
Below: One of the brocante/antique stalls.
Below: Little doggies, patiently waiting.
Below: The French take their lunch very seriously and they take their time. Stall owners gathered to enjoy lunch together.
Below: After two hours we returned to Paris. On our way back we passed this grand house with the gilded gate.
Below: Lunch at Paul and OUTFIT number 2, my black barrel jeans with the blue shirt. Link to original post with this shirt and I think the shirt looks better with the jeans below.
Below: Close-up with the yellow and black earrings, in restaurant Astair that evening.
Below: Restaurant Astair is situated in Passage des Panorama, one of the three old shopping arcades.
Below: We also went into the second arcade but had no time for the third one.
They must think the Christmas decorations are so good, we leave them.
Below: As we were on our way to the Passages, we passed this impressive arch.
Musee d’Orsay
Thursday. As we have been to Paris countless times, we had been to Musee d’Orsay too, but it was so long ago that I wanted to go again. It is magnificent. If you ever want to go there, go as soon as it opens. We were there at 11 o’clock and by lunchtime it was packed and we fled.
Below: The ground floor where lots of art students are drawing.
Below: The four worlds depicted by women.
Below: Some clock! This museum used to be a railway station.
Below: At the top floor you could stand behind the big clock on the building.
Below: Through one of the windows upstairs I took this photo showing Paris at its finest.
We had lunch in the area of the museum but not too close as you want to avoid tourist traps. Usually, you only have to go two or three streets further to find a decent place.
And back to the hotel again for a bit of a rest. We are old people after all; going up and down stairs and strolling around is tiring.
Below: Our granddaughter really likes this old song (Une belle histoire), so Ron learned how to play it on his harmonica. He thought it would be fun to play it in the Paris underground/subway and pretend to collect money haha.
Below: Ron booked a show Thursday evening. It was stand-up comedy / cabaret, with the title How to become a Parisian in one hour. It was highly amusing.
Below: OUTFIT number 3. Before attending the show, we went for a drink and a little bite to eat. With my flared jeans I was wearing a cream top and black suede boots. I originally bought the boots for walking through Paris with Susan. I chickened out going with her because I got a bed bug phobia. Worked hard to get over that and I am now, although I still inspect the mattresses when I arrive in a hotel.
Below: The new earrings were the start of this outfit. I bought them from an American woman (Anne of Baublehaus). She stopped making and selling earrings but she still had a few stored.
Shopping
Friday we headed to a district called Le Marais, my favourite area. You will find high-end stores and quirky boutiques, prices high and low.
Below: Beautiful church building in Le Marais.
Below: Another instagrammable restaurant for coffee. By this time I was either drinking espresso or ‘noisette‘ which is espresso with a bit of warm milk. Ron ordered cappuccino and it was horrible.
Below: OUTFIT number 4. I tried to pack smart with two pairs of jeans, a few tops and my black blazer. The blazer was for layering. So this outfit is similar to outfit number 3, but different jeans, footwear and earrings. I took the belt off a matching jacket and used it as a scarf for this outfit, just to add some colour.
Below: Some stunning buildings and gates in this area too.
Below: And how about Places des Vosges? It would of course, be much better with green trees. I think ‘Emily‘ of the Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris‘, sat here quite often.
Below: All around the park there are these arched but open passages. So beautiful.
Below: I left Ron with his e-reader and iPhone at a restaurant to go shopping. He got thrown out half an hour later because they wanted to prepare his table for lunch. He found a good spot in another street where we had a tasty lunch and some fun banter with a French couple our age. It is fun to communicate with other, random people even though I don’t really speak French. I just know quite a few words. Conjugating is too hard.
I went shopping at my favourite little quaint shop in Paris, Addicted. They used to sell unique pieces of upcoming designers but I don’t know whether that is still the case. If you look at the photos on their Instagram account, you’d probably think “Oh my God, what on earth did she buy there??!!”
I said to the shop assistant that I was looking for something unique but befitting my age and went through the racks from left to right. Among the really wild stuff, I found six (!) pieces that I liked. Four of them make two co-ords but the items can be worn separately as well. Did all that in half an hour. When it is good, it is good. Four items were only €49 each, one item was €95 and one was €89, so €380 altogether. At these prices (remember the designers are still upcoming), you can afford to buy more items. I spent quite a bit but I got six splendid and unique pieces. I am very happy.
Below: The shopping haul haha.
We took a taxi back to the station. Too much stuff to carry and we were too tired.
What happened in my life this week
Below: Saturday I decided that easy dressing was still the way to go. I only went outside to pick up dog Watson with Ron. He had a marvellous time with Wil. Spent the rest of the day doing laundry and such.
Below: Close-up of the earrings. They are also from Anne of Baublehaus. Ron said they look like a fried egg. Whatever…I like them.
Below: Sunday I went for lunch with Yvonne. We laughed so loud, we startled two elderly men. They thanked us though, thought it was very cheerful. Yvonne and I burst out laughing a couple of times; there is nothing as nice as that. I live for laughing.
Monday my physiotherapist said he had probably done all he can and it is now up to me. I wonder and I hope. Spent the rest of the day clearing things away and ironing.
Below: I wore this outfit, but only when I went out the door. Heels are fine again but not for long. Still in the black mood, this time with green accessories (earrings and belt).
Tuesday: I did so many things but they are not really worth mentioning. Put a box of vacuum cleaner bags on the Dutch equivalent of e-Bay for someone to get them for free. It felt wrong to just throw them in the bin. A nice lady picked them up and offered me a little bowl with spring bulbs as a thank-you. Sweet.
In the afternoon Marcella came by for a cup of tea. The weather had changed considerably and it was warm enough to sit in the sun in our garden. Halfway through March!
Wednesday I met Ariane, a former colleague and now friend. We had decided to go to Amersfoort, which is chosen to be Europe’s loveliest city. You have seen some of Amersfoort in this post with Aafke.
It was a glorious day and I regretted not having left my coat in the car. Everybody was sunbathing on the terraces. It was fantastic. As you can imagine, we had a wonderful day and Ariane took photos of one of my Paris outfits. I don’t know whether you will see it next week as I still have two other photo shoots in stock.
Thursday I went to Nicky and the granddaughters. On my own this time as Ron came down with the flu.
Friday was another gorgeous day and we went to the beach with Watson.
I hope you enjoyed this post.
Greetje
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