Bienvenue our Paris Apartment and our Friends

Wow, what a long, crazy, but fun day.

Most of you by now know that we have been in a 2-star hotel since getting to Paris on Thursday due to a miscommunication with our landlady.  The start of our day’s journey would have made a great movie.  Charles and Judy Gattis were due to arrive at 9:45ish and we had told them not to worry about getting euros as we would be over near the apartment watching for them and pay for their cab ride (they could reimburse us later).  So the best laid plans were set for moving both of us in together.

Bernie and I started about 7am moving our six suitcases over from the hotel to the apartment courtyard one at a time. Sunday mornings are a great time to walk suitcases down the middle of Paris streets.  (We had no idea if the current renters were out yet but planned to evenually knock on the door to find out!) We ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel and walked over to the apartment thinking we would have about 45 minutes to an hour before our lovely friends from Huntsville arrived.   Au contraire!   Who knew their plane would arrive almost an hour early?  Just as we crossed the street, we saw Charles and Judy standing in the middle of rue St. Paul looking pretty bewildered.  They had just told the cab driver that they had no money and that their Paris hosts with the money were nowhere to be found!  Fortunately, the cabbie took a credit card and all was well.  Only a few minutes elapsed between the time they were stranded and our arrival but I’m sure it was an oh-my-gosh moment for them.

To add to the ongoing  confusion, the renters from the apartment came out the door lugging their suitcases and our landlady arrived to tell us that the maid would not come until 10am.  We lugged now eight heavy suitcases up the 36 steps and parked them in the walkway leading to the apartment.  Picture this: we are trying to greet Charles and Judy, arrange suitcases, talk to the landlady,  pay her and discuss the logistics of what we’re going to do for the next 3 hours while the maid is cleaning.  Are you following this?  Had someone been watching this scene unfold, they would have thought: “those crazy Americans.”

Well, anyway, the story has a happy ending as we walked them through the area around La Place des Vosges, Place de la Bastille, and the fabulous Sunday market at the Bastille.  Great fun.  Then lunch, a little grocery shopping, unpacking, a couple of naps and we were off to see the two islands of Ile St. Louis and Ile de la Cite including a tour of Notre Dame.  Then dinner and a lovely twilight walk along the river and home.

We’re too tired to move but eager to start afresh tomorrow.  Join us!

L&B