We arrived after a seven hour, forty minute flight from Newark to Paris’ Orly airport. Orly is the “other” airport in Paris, Charles de Gaulle International is the primary. It was an uneventful flight. The French food on board is exotic even by French standards, but champagne and wine were flowing. We got some sleep, which is always helpful, to avoid jet lag. After arriving at our hotel by taxi at 10:30 AM we had to kill time until our room was ready at 2:00 so we headed down the hill to the Seine to do some site seeing.
Officially known as Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, the iconic church established in 1183, was impressive even with work still ongoing and some areas covered with scaffolding after the fire on April 2019. It was hard for us to imagine what that scene must have looked like while looking at the magnificent Cathedral. The line of people waiting to get inside was massive so I doubt we will make it inside. I would prefer to visit the nearby church Sainte Chapelle which is also on the island. It has stunning stained glass windows from the floors to the tall ceilings. Both churches are located on the islands in the Seine, Ile de la Cite, which along with the smaller Ile Saint Louis, is the area where Paris was “founded” by the Romans who displaced the native Parisii people. After coffee and fresh OJ at a nearby cafe we headed back across the bridge Pont Neuf which translates to new bridge. Actually it is the first bridge built over the Seine, I guess it was new at one time. We visited Shakespeare and Company. A very popular old bookstore just across the river where a few people were waiting outside to be let in so it wouldn’t be too crowded. Janet bought a nice cloth book bag and paid .40 euros for a paper Shakespeare & Co. bag to carry her Shakespeare and Co. bag in. We stopped by the nearby Odette, a small shop that sells small cream puffs, coffee and other beverages. We ordered a couple of the tiny pastries and sat outside with a cold bottle of water to watch people walk by. People watching is a favorite activity of ours in when we travel. We also enjoy spotting doppelgängers, body double look a-likes, of people we know.
Thankfully, our room was ready at 2:00. By then we were totally ready to settle in, shower, unpack and take a short rest before dinner. The room was small like many hotels in big cities. Les Dames du Pantheon is a Hyatt affiliate with air conditioning. The hotel’s theme is a tribute to famous French women, Dames. Our room was overlooking the Pantheon. Bathroom showers can be notoriously dangerous in some European hotels. This one was no different, in a beautiful but deep tub, very slippery with no handrails or anything to grip onto getting in and out. At this age we were risking our well being just to shower. You had to stand under the rainfall shower head to turn on and adjust the water temperature. I have learned that the cloth bath mat, meant to be used dry just outside the shower, makes a good nonslip mat in the shower after it gets wet.
After resting, we dressed and began our walk a few blocks down to the nearby Luxembourg Gardens, which is the Paris equivalent of New York’s Central Park. It made for a nice walk to the Montparnasse area for dinner at La Closerie des Lilas, which is The Closet of the Lilies in french. The exterior and garden dining area is very plush and green, unlike the fake and gaudy flowers that some touristy establishments around Paris use to adorn their exteriors to draw attention. We arrived early in order to have apero, drinks at the Hemingway bar. There is a picture of “Papa” on the wall in the bar and a plaque to commemorate his favorite stool where he did a lot of writing. We then moved to the uncovered garden area for dinner. Our server, Malek, was delightful in an understated way. I always enjoy “loosening” up a server with some lighthearted banter and Malek seemed to enjoy it. We sat next to the Oyster bar and watched huge towers of seafood on ice being prepared. Chilled shrimp, lobster, spider crab and fresh oysters on the half shell were artfully arranged on large icy platters and delivered to tables throughout the restaurant and brasserie, this establishment has a bar, a less expensive brasserie and a pricy restaurant in the location. We ordered a half bottle of Bordeaux red wine for dinner. After splitting a nice Caesar salad, Janet selected an Italian stuffed pork tenderloin and I had the Beef Tenderloin cooked Hemingway’s style, coated in cracked pepper and served with a brown cracked pepper sauce and a side of frits, ie: French Fries. For dessert we split a Baba Rum, a sponge cake soaked in rum after baking and topped with a delicate Crème Anglaise sauce. At service, our server took a bottle of rum and generously added more to the already saturated cake. It was on my list of pastries that I had been anticipating for a long time.
We have learned to pace ourselves after a long flight and not make firm plans on arrival day. It worked out well today and we are ready for a good nights rest after the stroll back to our room through the streets of Paris at dusk to rest up for a full day of seeing more of Paris tomorrow.
