Monday, September 14, 2009

We've Arrived!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Friends,

As I'm writing this, someone just rang our doorbell! Oh, it's the cable guy...our cable is a little spotty. I am sitting in front of our french doors looking out over the Parisian rooftops. It's about 64 degrees, and the wind is blowing, so it feels colder.

So anyway, here we are in Paris. Let me just say at the outset, that we have hit more snags on this trip in 24 hours than we've hit altogether in our last 3 trips. The first snag was when our airplane did not have movies on demand. All it had was a 1975 style screen up at the front. Scott had already picked out the four movies he wanted to watch, until we noticed this first snaf-fu. He was a "little" disappointed to say the least. They only played ONE movie in 8 hours.

We arrived in Paris right on time, no problems. I had talked Scott into taking the train from the airport, instead of the taxi. Told you I was cheap... also this was the trip when we were going to pack light. Upon leaving Florida, we realized we have packed more this trip than ever before. What's up with that? I guess it's because we are staying 2 weeks, and kept thinking of stuff we might need. This time of year in Paris can be COLD or HOT... you never know. After not too much trouble we caught the train at the airport to Gare du Nord. We were feeling pretty triumphant. Now all we had to do was catch the metro to Montmartre, no problem.

Not so fast. It was Sunday morning, and evidently, everything in the train station is closed, including the manned ticket booths. Without going into detail, let me just say, we walked and walked and walked, WITH SUITCASES, until we found some machines. We could not make any sense of the machines. We wanted to buy the same kind of weekly passes we had bought for the last 3 years, and now they were nowhere to be found. I ended up behind a barrier, with Scott on the other side, not knowing how to get back to each other... it was hysterical. When I tried to get back across to him, my suitcase got caught in the turnstyle...we were like rats caught in a maze. Not at all like we thought we would look. We finally got on the metro. We kept staring at each other, like, "What happened to our chicness?" How quickly we realized we were NEVER chic.

We finally made it to our metro stop, and AGAIN our suitcases kept getting caught in the turnstyles, (they are made for tiny french people, not GIANT Americans with GIANT suitcases). Now we had to make the walk UP the hill. Did I mention this was all my idea? Scott was about to have a coronary. While I took pics of the Eiffel Tower, he was lugging ALL the luggage straight up the hill. Oh...did I mention we had never called the apartment people that we were on our way? We were so spent, we stopped at a cafe for coffee and croissants. Once Scott caught his breath, we continued UP the hill, with our suitcases making a horrible racket on the cobblestone streets. We finally got to our building, and the guy that was checking us in was standing in the lobby. He asked if our plane was late...he had been there since 7am...it was now 10am!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just acted like we were on time. He was super nice, but then had to tell us that the elevator was broken! So now, they had to lug our luggage up eight flights of stairs. Our suitcases each weighted just under 50 lbs. FINALLY, he checked us into our apartment just great. Scott fell out on the bed, while Fred explained everything to me, while constantly looking over at Scott to make sure he was still breathing.

We unpacked, layed down, and slept. We got up later on, went to the Champs Elyesees to Scott's favorite hangout, and then on to Trocodero to see the Eiffle Tower. Suddenly, my body started shutting down. We went back to Montmartre and had dinner in a cute little piano bar that I've wanted to eat in for 2 years. For 10 euro each, we had onion soup, roasted chicken, french fries, and apple tart...not bad!

Note...I was wearing a short black skirt with a sleeveless top and high heels. Do NOT wear such a thing in Paris...it causes stares.

Back to the apartment. We went to bed at 7:30pm, woke up at 1:ooam, and then slept until 11:30 the NEXT MORNING.

More later...not sure about pics and video. My laptop has a three prong cord and all our converters only have 2 prongs. My computer is about dead already, so I'm using theirs. It's not as easy to work with. So sorry.

More later...must be off.

Teri

P.S. I have no idea if this post has a million mistakes or not. Next post I will try to be more careful. Still trying to get acclimated. :)

13 comments:

*The Beautiful Life* said...

Teri, sounds SO fun!!

I'm a little confused as to why your black outfit would invoke stares... so what IS consider okay to wear? :)

Keep up the posting!!

Ruth

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

Sorry Ruth... It's just a short skirt causes Parisian men to stare. Never noticed it before. I'm sticking with jeans. Off to Tuilleries so see "dinner in the skies...will report back later.

Teri

cathi said...

Mishap's on trips make it all the more memorable..:) Have a great time!

A Tale of Two Cities said...

Well, after such an exasperating start, it has to go uphill from here. I couldn't help but chuckle. I can never talk my husband into the economical way into town--I guess he's afraid that this very same scenario would happen to us. Savor every moment of the trip! I'm also curious about what is Scott's favorite hangout???

The Flying Bee said...

Teri,

So glad you made it! This post made me laugh! Can't wait to hear more! Enjoy your trip!

Simply Colette said...

If you got it... flaunt it! Traveling can be rough. Glad you arrived safely though and are enjoying Paris. You meal for 10 euro sounds so yummy! Can't wait to hear more! :)

*The Beautiful Life* said...

Teri, you are so sweet (and innocent!) -- shorts skirts causing me to stare is most certainly not contained only to French men! I can assure you! :) Pretty much an across-the-board "man" thing -- the universal language, I think: attractive woman/short skirt = stare... ;)

Ruth

Charline said...

Teri,
So glad to hear from you. All is well for us. I can only imagine Scott pulling your bags up the hill on cobblestones, while you tried to remain cheerful. That is a great story (since it's over). I'm so glad you went for a fun dinner and to the Eiffel Tower. Your first day turned out to be wonderful and gave us all a laugh (sort of).
Thanks for the Birthday card and gift. We will go eat later this week.
Char

Diane said...

I've been checking your blog every day since you left hoping you would be able to keep in touch with us while you are there, so you can imagine how happy I was when I got home today to your first post. The suitcase scenario reminds me of my own suitcase story when Garry and I were honeymooning in Europe! I couldn't help but smile as I pictured you and Scott in my mind's eye. Everybody has to have at least one suitcase story in their lifetime, right?

Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures! Have fun ...

Lori said...

Where does the time go?! I can't believe you and Scott are already in Paris AND I can't wait for the next installment!
Lori

Patricia said...

Like everyone else, I had a good chuckle at your suitcase story! Look forward to hearing more - I didn't realise you were going for 2 weeks - that's a long time! :0)

Whatever Is Lovely said...

Terri! So good to see you are able to post from Paris!! & that you made it there safely! You had me laughing & gasping with each sentence! You are so much fun! Cant wait till your next post! Enjoy yourselves every minute! Hugs & Blessings ~ Teresa

Deanne said...

Teri,

This is hilarious! I am glad Scott kept breathing throughout Fred's talk!

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