Thursday, September 12, 2013

A Serendipity Day with the Girls




Awake before the desk called at 7 am; Jim and I were dressed and downstairs well before the Shuttle Bus arrived to pick him us at 7:45 am for his ride to Charles de Gaule Airport and his 11:30 am flight back to California.  He has a long day ahead with an eleven hour flight to Dallas, Texas; a seven hour layover….unless he can get an earlier flight…. And then three and a half hours back to Los Angeles.  But, he seems happy to be going home; six weeks was long enough for him.

I headed over to the apartment in the rain; very light rain; and enjoyed breakfast with the girls.  We decided to go grocery shopping first.  We established a kitty to use when we are all participating in an expense.  It was fun making decisions about our purchases along with learning about the store and the French ways…ie…fruit and vegetables need to be weighed and a price attached before going to checkout.
Rain is very light and sometimes none at all.  It was so nice we walked back to the apartment from the store instead of taking the Metro the one stop between them.  By the time we arrived and put everything away it was time for a light lunch. 
By 2 pm we were out the door and on the Metro with our first stop at the Palais Royal Musee du Louvre.  There I spotted the special entrance into the Louvre and took the girls into the underground shopping mall that has an inverted pyramid and an entrance into the Louvre plus tons of fancy stores!  It took us a bit to move forward as everyone had a different store they wanted to visit!  But we finally emerged on Rue de Rivoli and began our trek past the Comedie Francaise and then into the Petit Royal Gardens. 
At the far end of the gardens we checked the outrageous prices on the famous Le Grand Vefour Restaurant that was featured in the movie “Midnight in Paris”. 

Our next adventure was to find some of the Galeries/Passages from the late 1800’s that are scattered across Paris and are slowly being restored.  Today we visited the Galerie Colbert that has the famous Restaurant that was featured in the movie with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton “Somethings gotta Give”….
Next we walked slowly through the Galerie Vivienne; stopping for half an hour to have tea and cake at one of the lovely shops in the Galerie.  A unique experience for me!  Bonnie loved the shop with all the old postcards. 
  
Next we walked towards the Opera Garnier and passed the Paris Stock Exchange called the “Bourse”.  Then met a woman from California whose parents live in Yorba Linda.  Bonnie loved her cape and that started the conversation as she joined us on our walk to the Opera House.   She was hoping to tour the Opera House today as she flies home tomorrow.  She took the photo of all of us in front of the Opera House.  We all arrived together and there was only half an hour left before closing.  She quickly told us where to purchase the cape and then headed in to get a quick glimpse before closing.  We’ll come back another day.

Off across the street to the huge department store Galeries Lafayette to climb the stairs to the top for view across the city and also the stained glass dome inside on the way up.  So much to see and so little time!   As we reached the top the rain began to sprinkle drops here and there and so we made a decision to call it a day.
By 6 pm we were back at our grocery store picking up some premade hot food that we took home for our dinner in the apartment.  After catching our breath we ended the evening with a couple of games of Hearts.  They had to teach me as it’s been years since I played!  Lots of fun.  It’s now after midnight and Jim just sent me an email; he has arrived in Dallas.  Unable to change his flight so will have a long layover and arrive home in Los Angeles about midnight. 
Hope you enjoy the slideshow: 

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