On the day of our 7th annivesary, we packed the suitcases, found the passports (after a brief scare), and headed overseas for a 12 night adventure...Toups Style.
After the fun-filled weekend of Raja and Tina's fabulous wedding, we had no problems sleeping on the plane. We both woke up around the same time to find out we only had 30 minutes until we arrived at Charles de Gaule. Those 9.5 hours were some much needed sleep.
Upon grabbing our bags from the carousel, we proceeded to the taxi lanes. After the 2008 trip, we learned "less is more" when dealing with luggage in Europe. One backpack and one giant suitcase is all we brought with us.
The taxi dropped us off at our new temporary residence: 22 Rue de l'echele, just between the Mabillon and St Germaine des Pres Metro stops. For those familair with Paris, this was very near the University and one block from Les Deux Magots on the left bank.
Our contact met us at the appartment to collect the rent and deposit. Oops. We did not have enough cash and had to immediately hit the ATM...twice... to settle up on the bill. Nonetheless, we got a great deal on this place, especially for the excellent neighborhood.
Time to hit the streets. After unpacking, we strolled up to the Seine and proceeded towards the Arc de Triumph. Along the way (eh maybe 30 minutes since our arrival in France) we were scammed by a nice old gypsy woman. In hindsight, her scheme was to leave a gold ring on the pavement. As we walked past the ring she pretended to be walking along side of us and picked up the ring. We told her good luck, but then she claimed that we should take it becuase she did not wear any jewelry. She even showed us that it was "real" gold; it had an 18k gold stamp on the inside! A small donation later (so she could get a Coke), Thad's ring finger turned green. Scammed! (but certainly worth the great effort on her part).
We stopped in the Louis Vuitton store on the Champes Elysee and we nearly purchased a 25,000 Euro trunk... but decided against it. Our promanade finally ended at the Eiffel Tower where we lounged and ate ice cream. It's springtime, so there were lots of tulips and blooming trees around. We took the Metro back to the neighborhood, grabbed some jambon y frommage sandwiches, and hit the sack.
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