Plane to Paris...

Up early, again, to fly to Paris.  Breakfasted on the last of our delicious cereal, milk, and raisin toast.  As we are leaving, Phil casually asked how are we getting to Heathrow. I thought he was going to offer to drive us! I said just tube to Kings Cross, then tube to Heathrow as we had plenty of time. Oh no, first hiccough of the day. The tube is out between Kings Cross and Hammersmith! Alternate plan is to tube it to Paddington, then train it to Heathrow. It was much more expensive, even though we caught the slow train and not the Heathrow Express.  At least the train had space to put our luggage! We had to get off at terminal 1,2,3 and wait for the next train to Terminal 4. Weird, I know. We met an English lady who was also waiting for the next train. She was travelling to Denver, Colorado for an education conference. Of course I asked her what branch of education and she replied something like, “dissecting cadavers.” She said she’s never quite sure to tell people what she does or not. She’s still single! :-)

We finally get to the terminal and check in with a woman who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I had to get my ticket home from Tel Aviv out of my suitcase to show her even though I said I was not coming back to Heathrow at all. Anyway, I was pleased I didn’t have to pay excess baggage as we’d only paid for the minimum amount.

Poor Keeley was so pleased to get rid of that suitcase! She’s been toting it and her two backpacks around all morning even though I said I was fine with it. If a gentleman offers to take it down/up stairs, I gladly take him up on the offer, but Keeley determinedly says no thanks. Oh, she’ll learn!  Her backpack had to go through a special gate called oversize luggage because it had a mini-backpack attached to it. We’ve both brought too much stuff! We can’t wait to get a car!

Finally, to security. I breezed through without even having to take my boots off, but Keeley was pulled aside, blaming me for leaving my nail file in her backpack. I knew I hadn’t, so didn’t know what was causing the problem. He completely emptied her backpack, then inserting a blue wand to wipe around the inside of each compartment. Talk about thorough! Finally found the source of the aggravation. The presents she had bought Carl from the Harry Potter tour. Not allowed to give any more details on the off-chance Carl reads this, which of course he won’t. But I’ve been caught out before! ;-)

Keeley bought more presents at the Cath Kidston store before we boarded the very quick flight to Charles de Gaulle. Just had time for a pack of crackers and a white wine!

On arrival in Paris, Keeley sent me to ask how much the train was into Gare du Nord. She will never let me forget there was an information booth metres away, which obviously I didn’t see, as I walked at least a kilometre to the station to ask.  I trudged back to her, only to be put through the third degree, “where the hell did you go to?" The information is here and pointed to it. OMG I nearly died. The train was €10 each, and if we were to catch the train I’d have to walk back another kilometre to the station. Keeley was begging me to take a cab so I agreed to ask how much it would cost. She even agreed to pay for it, so I think all of my luggage was getting to be too much for her.

We asked one driver who said €80, to which I replied “Sorry, we can’t afford that!” who immediately dropped his price to 70. “Still too expensive!” and started walking towards the  station. Another driver chased us and said “€60”, to which we agreed. We actually felt sorry for him when we reached our airbnb an hour and a half later. It turns out our airbnb is on the south-eastern side of the city and the airport is to the north so he had to negotiate a lot of traffic even though it was only 3.30pm. We finally arrived at 39 Rue Chanzy (we would NEVER have found it on our own!) and Keeley had to go and draw out €60 in cash for the poor man. Probably the hardest €60 he’s ever earned. I gave him an Australian key-ring as a personal thanks. I’m sure he would have rather had cash! He was from Ghana and has lived in Paris for 10 years, but he hates it here- they all speak French!

Our airbnb looked impressive, two huge glass entry doors with two different codes to enter- very secure. We caught the lift to the first floor and found Maguy’s apartment- well, more like a house. It has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge lounge/office, a separate dining room, a kitchen and a separate laundry- unheard of in Europe. Even the hallways are much wider than average. Our big bedroom is covered with pretty floral wallpaper and has heaps of cupboards. I could live here permanently!  There are two bedside tables, a dresser and an old Singer treadle sewing machine. It’s years since I’ve seen one of these, and it’s in perfect condition.

Maguy offered us a glass of cold water and welcomed us to her home. She had brochures and books on Paris on the dining table, and advised us if we wanted to know anything, just ask. She was the complete opposite of our London hosts. We felt completely at home within minutes of our arrival!

It was getting late and we were hungry so we asked Maguy directions to the nearest supermarket so we could buy some dinner. I chose turkey croquettes, while Keeley bought some ready made pasta and a tin of tuna. The piece de resistance however, was the cheese platter we indulged in before dinner. Boursin, crackers and little ready prepared hors d’oeuvres and a bottle of red- the cheapest on the shelf d for €3.45 , which was nicer than most Australian reds.  Included in our purchases were some yoghurt and juice, a total of just over €20.

We ate our delicious dinner in the comfort of the dining room, and Keeley said she was happy to have a dinner like this every night in Paris, which is just as well as to venture out to dinner in this area would cost in excess of €100, even for an ordinary looking café. We had a quick game of bananagrams, as here we actually had a table to play on!

I was showered and in bed and sound asleep by 8pm. Apparently I didn’t even hear Keeley come in from her shower. And she was the one who had done all of the lugging of luggage!