Manage to sleep in a bit and after breakfast at the hotel, headed over to Chartrons, the now chic neighborhood where the wine used to be stored. On Sundays there is a quayside market and this was well attended and had many options. I had a half dozen oysters. A number of river cruise boats were tied up and an ocean liner was being towed to the dock. After walking around the area a bit I stopped at the Chartrons covered market and had an excellent burger. From there, walked through the lovely public garden. Then tram back to the hotel for a little down time during the heat of the afternoon. A good walk around before dinner on the terrace in front of the intercontinental hotel. Excellent dinner with some Foie gras and truffle risotto, paired with some nice local wines.

High speed trains are a wonderful thing, and today’s trip was flawless. 10:35am departure from Montparnasse and pulling into Bordeaux at 12:47, non stop! From there a quick tram ride to the Quality Inn where I have stayed before. After check in, off to lunch and then a walk around. Very sunny and warm here. Lots of people out and about because of the weather and being Saturday. Bordeaux is very pedestrian oriented in the downtown area and has a great tram system. I took the tram over to the St. Michel area, stopped for a glass at Julo, a nice wine bar and then walked back to the center and stopped into La Bande de RoRo for a plate of charcuterie. Lovely end of the evening on the terrace facing the main square.

A beautiful day here! After morning coffee headed over to the Marais for a second cup at Le Peloton and then had a brief get together at the apartment with Linda and her husband. Then it was of to Brigade de Tigre, an Asian influence restaurant for lunch with Léopoldine. Excellent food and the owner came out and spent some time with us. Truly a really fun meal. Then a long walk around and back to the apartment. I took the chance and asked if the same place would be available for my trip end dates and the manager opened it up on AirBnB for me, so I was able to reserve the same place again for the end of the month. Now it is packing time as I have a morning train from Montparnasse down to Bordeaux.

Dragged out of bed at 8:30am and headed to a promising looking coffee shop nearby, Big Shot, which did end up being very good. Then after regrouping I went to the Musee de Malliol, which had a temporary exhibition of photos by Robert Doisneau. Maybe best known for the famous photo of the kiss at Hotel de Ville. (It was hired actors!). Some very amusing photos, my favorites being a series depicting reactions to the painting of a nude derrière through a window, see below. After a lunch at Chez Germaine, back for a brief nap and then across the street to the Distillerie de L’Arbre Sec. This was featured in Earful tower podcast and you can craft your own gin with a small still and various botanicals. I opted just for a brief orientation, and Lucille who provided it was a student of oenology had worked in Bordeaux and was very much in to it. They had a whole wall of different herbs etc. Here is the link to the episode if you want to know more https://theearfultower.com/2024/12/02/check-out-this-fun-new-gin-distillery-workshop-in-paris/

After that is was off to look at Pl. Dauphine and then to St. Germain. Some food at Avant Comptoir du Terre and then over to Rue de Montorgueil for a little more dinner. All in all a solid first day.

My AirBnb is small, but a great location within a few blocks of the Louvre-Rivoli metro stop and near Chatelet and Montorgueil. Fun discovering new places in a new but nearby neighborhood.

After an easy 10 hour flight from Seattle, it took about an hour and half to get through the passport stamping routine at CDG. From there an easy ride on the RER to Chatelet and then a walk to AirBnb. Excellent surprise party for Sharon put on by Darren for her 50th birthday at Amatxi, a Basque restaurant that he privatized for the evening. Food kept coming out and lovely natural wines for tasting. I eventually hit the jet lag wall and had to head home, but very fun first evening back.

Headed down to the metro for 2 stops to the dreaded Chatelet station and then on to the RER B for the airport. Train came immediately so was at the airport by 7:00am. Amazingly, the airport has seen some improvement since the Olympics and for the first time ever there was not a long and slow line for passport stamping. They still have only one person doing it, but the machine takes care of the actual computer part and then you just wait to get the stamp. Anyway, smooth flight on Air France, with 2 empty seats next to me (adjust your seating a day or so before flight if you want this). Global Entry continues to be good with no wait at all to get through Seattle customs and immigration.

So, thinking about the trip, visiting London was interesting and the transit etc. is really good there, just scan your Apple Pay or credit card and when you have done a certain amount of trips per day the rest are free. Yes, things are expensive, but I had a free ticket, using points, and a free Hyatt room using points so it was reasonable for me. Bruges was lovely and I would highly recommend a few days there. Using the Eurostar was very easy and much preferable to dealing with an airport. About 2:15 to Brussels and then a local train that left immediately to Bruges included in the ticket price. Lovely old town, mostly car free, lots to see and do and good restaurants.

Lille was not as interesting to me, nice old town, surrounded by more modern things. Partly might be that the weather was very cold and grey. I would not feel a need to revisit.

Paris is always a good idea, to borrow a quote. As a regular I’m now free from the tourist musts, and can just be a flaneur and also revisit my favorite spots. Food wise, it continues to be a bit of a challenge with almost all French restaurants having exactly the same items on the menu. There is a surge of ethnic places that are quite good so some variety is possible, but getting a quick meal if you are Gluten Free is very challenging. Spent some time looking at Apartments to purchase and did not find anything I really liked, but it does reinforce how good the Fractional in which I own a share is. The location, layout and condition of the apartment are all excellent and the expenses low since they are shared 12 ways, but, the schedule is fixed so that is a limitation. All in all an excellent trip with no major mishaps! Stay tuned for the next one!

The last day is always bittersweet! Spent time packing and organizing and of course cleaning. Friend Pam came in from Seattle and helped her get to her AirBnb and then a nice lunch. After that, back to organizing, some walking and the dinner with Pam and John R at Colimacon. Heard about this restaurant from a French instagram poster, HelloFrench, and her father runs the restaurant. Excellent meal with good bottle of Chateau Neuf. Off to CDG at 6:15am tomorrow morning for flight back to SEA.

Headed over to the Jardin du Luxembourg this morning, nice to sit in the sun and spring is definitely showing itself there. After that a nice long walk down Blvd St. Michel to Rue de Montorgueil for lunch at Le Compas with some Americans who spend time in Hawaii and live in Santa Barbara. Excellent chatty lunch followed by a good walk. Then some downtime and off to St. Germain for light dinner at Avant compoirs. Tomorrow is packing and organizing for departure very early on Thursday.

Headed over to Montmartre for the morning. The best way to do this is to pass by the standard Abbesses and go to the next stop which is Lamarck-Calaincourt. From there it is a short walk to the Dalida statue at the bottom of Rue D’Aubrevoir. This is a super scenic street that gets you up to Pl.Tertre without having to deal with the crowds. After a walk around headed over to Sacre Couer and then to Hardware Society, an Australian coffee shop. From there, walked down Rue des Martyrs to Printemps. This store has a number of good restaurants on the 8th floor with and excellent view and good food. From there headed home to get taught how to use the keypad on our new smart lock properly. Turns out Code + short push on unlock button does unlock it and Code+long push locks it, so problem solved. Nice meet up at Deux Magots with a friend. Dinner at nearby Le Bucheron.

Bit of a low key day to day. Got up to a light but persistent drizzle, headed over to the new Copains location on Rue de Rozier just a few blocks away. Decent GF croissants and good coffee. Then to Bastille for the Sunday Market. Over to BHV to find a light bulb, then home for awhile and a late Steak Frites for lunch at Relais de L’Odeon. After that a little down time and evening walk with come Charcuterie for dinner.