Bonjour, Paris!

We left Pezenas at the crack of (our) dawn (730am). Our apartment was very nice, comfortable, large. But could use some TLC, like getting rid of the white hand of Mordor on the front door :)))) We would definitely stay there again.

We said goodbye to our pretty Pezenas while dragging our luggage to the car. It was yet another gorgeous day in the South of France.

We arrived at the rental car return, marveling again at the tight spaces, and parked the bad boy. Full tank, no damage. ALL good!

Montpellier St. Roch station is modern and clean.  But there is only one toilet area, which required a few coins to enter, on the other end of the station.

We had trouble, again, figuring out where our seats were. But were glad to be in the First Class car. It was comfortable and quiet. We wiped everything down with our Clorox wipes.

And, just like that! (lol!) 4 hours later, we were in Paris at Gare de Lyon!

We caught a Taxi to our apartment on Rue Nicolo in Passy in the 16th arrondisement (our favorite).

I must confess, I teared up a bit when I saw Paris for the first time in 3 years. I felt like I was home.

Our apartment for the next 8 nights was lovely. Modern but with character, like wainscoting, crown molding, original wood floors, period doors. It felt bigger than it was.  We wiped everything down.

View to the left

View to the right

 

And it had a blue door! Our first in 8 Paris apartments! 

We got supplies at the nearby grocery. There were 3 within 5 blocks. Another thing to love about Paris!

We headed out to the Trocadero for our first views of the Eiffel Tower, passing Benjamin Franklin on the way. We were a bit shocked that Trocadero was under construction and crowded with less than gorgeous views. It's all in prep for the Olympics. So it'll be worth it in 2024.

The Metro from Trocadero got us to Saint Paul and we walked to L'As du Fallafel because it's delicious and it had been 3 years. The Marais was crowded, as usual.

While in line for fallafels, a staffer came out and took our order.

Then we presented it to the guys at the window and paid, and TIPped! Just a couple of Euro, don't go crazy.

And then husband had the freshest, most delicious fallafel sandwich, and my fries.

It's famous for a reason (deliciousness)!

We took our takeaway to a little square a couple of blocks away. The restaurant could have accommodated us but it's tiny and tight. And not where we wanted to be in these COVID19 times.

After our delicious lunch, we walked through the busy Marais.

To the gorgeous Hotel de Ville. It was decked out with the Olympic Rings.

We are so bad at selfies!

We crossed over to Ile de la Cite to see the under-renovations Notre Dame. They have definitely made progress!

Our favorite drinking place, Au Bougnat, was closed !?! :( Pre-Covid, it was open every day...

So we wandered over to St. Germain, to get away from the throngs of tourists. And ended up at the inviting, because of a friendly brown waitress, Le Quartier General Bar and Bistrot for our first drinks in Paris since 2019. It was good to be back!

We walked around the 6th a bit (there were many other cute places to drink and eat) then caught the Metro back to Passy for the night. 

So happy to be back in Paris!