Bye-bye, Room 607 Radisson Edwardian Kenilworth ...
We awoke Dec. 27 and rushed off to St Pancras railway station (remember, we'd been awake until around 2 and had a 10:30 train, and dammit, you do not want to miss a train after spending $250 to get yourself to Paris) to pick up the Eurostar, Europe's continent-wide train system and the vehicle by which you traverse the Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel." What a beautiful station.
European public transportation is a different animal than it is in the U.S. While I still prefer Amtrak when it comes to comfort, the efficiency of Eurostar can't be beat -- and it was an incredibly smooth ride while being a lot faster. I was asleep in 10 minutes, of course.
And then we arrived.
Anyone recognize Danny, Rich's rather expensive apology for screwing up our first anniversary? If ever a bag deserved to go to Paris, it's the fabulous Danny.
Ready for Paris!
Here's where you get off the train at Gare du Nord and it hits you: You don't speak French. You have no idea where you're going. What to do. Do I change my money? Grab a cab? Grab a map? Find a cafe and drink?!
Somehow we figured out the Metro -- which, by the way, is different from the country's RER train system and different from the bus system (the bus system rules! It was an amazing thing, really) -- after calling our landlord, who told Rich how to get to the apartment, sort of.
After a long, ridiculous walk through the wrong streets of Paris with all of our luggage (a very kind Frenchman helped us navigate at one point; who says the French are rude?), we arrived at our apartment in Le Marais, within a stone's throw of the Centre Pompidou, home of the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris (yaaaay! Paris is modern-art heaven, by the way, which is right up my alley).
Looking at our building from the outside
Looking down our street, Rue St. Merri
Oh, five floors up, no elevator.
(Another flight up)
And into our converted attic at the top of a fabulous old building -- tiny apartment, perfect for crashing -- add a little laundry, mini-kitchen ... all set.
It was perfect.
The coolest thing? A hybrid washer/dryer. Yep, one unit does both! It was like living our own episode of House Hunters International.
The thing about Europe is that everything takes up less space -- while we had a bed, two bunks folded up into the wall if you had more people, and those were then cleverly covered by a mirrored surface when stored. Mirrors and glass everywhere. The benches were great for storage, and there were stools and cushions everywhere to add either sleeping space or sitting space. Shelving was very creative.
And after a few days, you realize that someone lives in an identical space across the hall, and they're living (what sounds like) a pretty good life. You, too, could live with that small space. Really. (Well, maybe not Rich; he spent a good chunk of the time slamming his head into the beams.)
Even a tiny terrace!
Why, hello, kitteh across the way.
The view (actually on our last day -- kinda gray)
That's Hotel de Ville, Paris' City Hall and a pretty cool sight lit up at night
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