The City of Love

We made it to Paris! Waking early on Friday, we caught the train and took off to meet up with Jeff’s parents. 

We arrived at the Airbnb, dropped off our bags, and took some time to admire the rooftop views and Jeff’s first look at the Eiffel Tower. Jeff set up his new “office” for the day while Dave, Pattie, and Amy returned the rental car. Later that afternoon, following the stress of the rental car and needing something “easy,” we set off on a very spontaneous trip to Disneyland Paris! 

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the train and were ready for an afternoon of Disney. We strolled through the main street and turned off into Discoveryland to test our Jedi skills on the Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain (aka Space Mountain). We followed that with a much more relaxing It’s a Small World ride, pointing out the places we’ve been and the places we still want to go to. We sailed the ocean with Captain Jack Sparrow on the Pirates of the Caribbean, and wandered through Adventureland, spotting the Swiss Family Robinson. We skipped the line (thanks to Jeff’s sweet-talking!) and successfully saved the mine from exploding on Big Thunder Mountain and wandered through Coco’s Land of the Dead, catching a silly picture with Dante. It sure was Dis-knee slapping fun! 

As usual, we woke early on Saturday, ready to see the city of love. We started the day by trying to catch the subway to the Palace of Versailles... turns out the stations we needed were closed due to construction, so we hopped on some scooters and took a ride down the river walk to the next open stop (Dave and Pattie’s first scooter ride!). 

Eventually, we made our way into Louis XIV’s dazzling palace, admiring the incredible tapestries, copious amount of art covering the walls and ceilings, and our favorite, the Hall of Mirrors. 

After snapping our photos, we made our way back to the heart of the city. We caught our first glimpse of Notre Dame, walked in the footsteps of Hemingway himself, and visited Shakespeare and Company, taking in the biblichor of the aged books. We continued on to admire the vibrant stained-glass windows at Sainte Chapelle and took one last look across the barriers at Notre Dame. 

Next on the list was a trip to Arc de Triomphe. What was supposed to be a 15-minute subway ride turned into an hour excursion. Not only were several subway stations closed for construction, but several were also closed due to the Yellow Vests protests, including the ones we needed... we walked several blocks and finally caught a bus to the Arc only to find out that it was also closed due to the protests. Hundreds of police armed with assault rifles, ballistic shields, and head to toe swat gear lined the streets and surrounded the arc. We asked one officer if it was safe to stay in the area and he said, “You’ll know if it’s not.” We took that, plus the sounds of sirens approaching, to mean, “Get out of here.” We found a cab (with the best Parisian cab driver) and made our way to safety, finding a cafe for a glass of wine and beer to sit and decompress from the afternoon’s adventures. We enjoyed a peaceful dinner at a quiet little restaurant off the beaten path and soaked up the perfect fall weather while sitting out on the terrace. 

As darkness approached, we strolled over to the Louvre to check out the illuminated pyramid before heading to the Eiffel Tower. As a whole, we all agreed that the Eiffel Tower is a lot more majestic up close and lit at night as compared to our morning views from across the water. By the time we made it back to the Airbnb, we were all ready for a good night’s rest. 

Sunday was our day for indoor adventures due to the rain. We spent the morning wandering through the Louvre, admiring the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and Christ Detached from the Cross. We traveled back in time, stumbling upon a real mummy as well as some incredible sarcophagi, countless statues, and beautiful paintings. 

Following the Louvre, we grabbed some sandwiches and set off for the Musée d’Orsay for a little more art appreciation. We spent most of our time admiring work by Monet and Van Gogh as well as the incredible clocks that were part of the old train station. 

Arted out for the day and ready to catch our train, we caught a last cab and headed for the central station. We took a few minutes to relax with a coffee before hopping on our unexpectedly, very long train ride back to Düsseldorf. 

Next up a road trip to Southern Germany!