Bonjour Paris!
Our adventure starts with a plane ride. A few plane rides. To get from Denver to Paris we had three legs to the trip: Denver to Boston to Reykjavik to Paris. It looks like a lot when written out, but it wasn't too bad! Our Boston stop gave us time to sit and have a bowl of clam chowda and a pint of Sam Adams for dinner, and the Reykjavik stop broke up what could have been a long leg (and will be on our way home).
The intention was to each have a carry on bag and a "personal item" bag. A somewhat last minute decision led to checking the boys' suitcases - which proved to be the smart choice. Van and Wes could have handled them, but it was much easier to not worry about it.
With their first stamps in their passports we landed in Paris under grey, misty skies. A very nice cab driver managed to fit all our bags into his little vehicle and took us right to the door of our apartment. There our host, Veronique, welcomed us to her AirBnB home and showed us around what would be our home away from home for a few days. She is an architect and had converted a warehouse space into a really amazing art loft space. We left our bags and went to check out some of the city.
With just a few hours until our friends arrive, and with kinda drizzly weather, we snagged a cab and went about 10min west to Centre Pompidou. We checked out the center itself, saw some of the exhibits (quite modern and "weird") and took the long escalator to the roof to take in the city view. Even with the rain we could still see miles of roof tops, the lower half of the Eiffel Tower and the two towers of Notre Dame.
Outside we found the Stravinsky Fountains, although only the lips were spouting water, and a large modern mural. All of this next to Saint Marie, eroded and worn with time. The contrast was telling of how the city has grown around itself. As Van said, "That's crazy!"
Before heading back to meet up with the Bayons we stopped at a cafe. I indulged in a caramel latte concoction and we enjoyed sitting outside people watching... under an awning and heaters. We'd been awake for about 27 hours at this point (not much sleeping on the flights unfortunately) but everyone was in great spirits and smiling.
We arrived back at the apartment just moments before our friends. Everyone was elated to have made it! There were months of planning, coordinating, hotel hunting and just plain anticipation - we'd made it! The boys settled right into the apartment, scarfed down some pizza from the joint next door, and the big folks had already acquired three or four bottles of wine and some charcuterie to enjoy for the evening. We sat around the big oval dining table, laughed and raised our glasses to a fantastic two weeks ahead!
The intention was to each have a carry on bag and a "personal item" bag. A somewhat last minute decision led to checking the boys' suitcases - which proved to be the smart choice. Van and Wes could have handled them, but it was much easier to not worry about it.
With their first stamps in their passports we landed in Paris under grey, misty skies. A very nice cab driver managed to fit all our bags into his little vehicle and took us right to the door of our apartment. There our host, Veronique, welcomed us to her AirBnB home and showed us around what would be our home away from home for a few days. She is an architect and had converted a warehouse space into a really amazing art loft space. We left our bags and went to check out some of the city.
With just a few hours until our friends arrive, and with kinda drizzly weather, we snagged a cab and went about 10min west to Centre Pompidou. We checked out the center itself, saw some of the exhibits (quite modern and "weird") and took the long escalator to the roof to take in the city view. Even with the rain we could still see miles of roof tops, the lower half of the Eiffel Tower and the two towers of Notre Dame.
Outside we found the Stravinsky Fountains, although only the lips were spouting water, and a large modern mural. All of this next to Saint Marie, eroded and worn with time. The contrast was telling of how the city has grown around itself. As Van said, "That's crazy!"
Before heading back to meet up with the Bayons we stopped at a cafe. I indulged in a caramel latte concoction and we enjoyed sitting outside people watching... under an awning and heaters. We'd been awake for about 27 hours at this point (not much sleeping on the flights unfortunately) but everyone was in great spirits and smiling.
We arrived back at the apartment just moments before our friends. Everyone was elated to have made it! There were months of planning, coordinating, hotel hunting and just plain anticipation - we'd made it! The boys settled right into the apartment, scarfed down some pizza from the joint next door, and the big folks had already acquired three or four bottles of wine and some charcuterie to enjoy for the evening. We sat around the big oval dining table, laughed and raised our glasses to a fantastic two weeks ahead!
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