Our early going proved their many blessings. We left Grand Rapids for Chicago (in a borrowed car, no less) for O'Hare a little later in the morning than we had planned, but the going proved pretty easy. There was again a struggle parking in the economy lot as we circled the vast lot like vultures while cars were easily double parked. Check-in and security lines were okay as we made our way to our flight. We fly over to Minneapolis (we both slept on the flight) before we caught our connector to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport.
Our overnight flight went less well. While there was dinner and decent space, neither of us slept well. Our normal gift of airplane sleeping seems be failing us as we traverse oceans. Between swelling feet and numb butts, there just wasn't comfortability for deep sleep. Even tuning into a restful movie like the classic Beauty and the Beast or Moana wasn't working. By European morning, we were okay, but tired.
Upon landing, we found Sunday morning long waits. We taxied in the plane for 45 minutes waiting for a gate. When we finally did deplane, there was a long walk to customs, where another hour long line awaited us.
Once we claimed our baggage, it was off to buy our museum pass and Metro tickets. From there, it was relatively easy to find the RER line that would bring us to the city (that is, once we figured out a ⬇️ means "continue this way" not "go down a level")
Fortunately as well, I had planned the RER line, a 5 block walk, then the Metro to our Airbnb apartment (according to Google Maps) only to find the RER connected directly to our needed Metro line. No wheeling luggage through the streets unnecessarily.
Our metro stop was exactly in front of Moulin Rouge. Our street was easy to find. Two blocks down and our hosts were awaiting us. I'm sorry to report we didn't get a picture with Clarisse and her boyfriend, but they were so gracious in showing us around. The apartment was everything shown in the description, plus some! They had croissants waiting for us and showed us connections to the wifi, turning on the TV, and running the dishwasher. So sweet and helpful with enough English (despite claiming otherwise) to answer all our questions.
Once they departed to leave us to ourselves, we quickly collapsed for a nap.
When we woke up later that afternoon (groggily, I'll add) we decided to set out on foot to see what we could see. We also got in contact with our friends, Austin and Ashley who arrived a day before us, about a meeting point for later. We then set out meandering through small and large Parisian streets, taking in what sites and restaurants are near us. The buildings got gradually larger and streets marginally busier as we neared the city center.
Finally, we entered some arches and found the familiar glass pyramid of the Louvre.
We strolled the nearby Tuileries Garden where we spotted our first sighting of the Eiffel Tower. (Where Mer commented, "Is this going to be like Machu Picchu and we take a picture of it every time we see it?") We then pulled up a chair in front of a fountain to sit and rest a moment. Ah Paris!
Eventually, we made our way to Pont Neuf to meet our friends. And what a non-French embrace we had!
We strolled a bit of the area before deciding on dinner in the Latin quarter. We walked and talked for awhile before finding a bistro for dinner. There we enjoyed a casual meal (early, by Parisian standards). We continued our stroll back toward Norte Dame before finding gelato on Ile de St. Louis. There was a river dance scene going on nearby that we walked to before finding a seat.
It was then then our exhaustion hit us. The jet lag, the naps, the walking. We were tired. We bid our friends Adieu and made our way to the Metro just on the street above the river. It was the pink line that awkwardly did connect to our blue line. We were tired enough we didn't want to try to disembark sooner and walk directly. We rode it around until our (now familiar) Moulin Rouge stop (illuminated by its nighttime red lights). We found our apartment in we crashed. Good night Day 1 in Paris.
