When plans to go Dublin fell through, we did a check of what cheap flights might be available through Ryanair. It was extremely last minute and right in the middle of a busy travel season so we were pretty sure if we found anything at all it would be somewhere obscure. We had almost given up when I decided to go location by location (their web site is terrible, by the way) and found the perfect flight to Paris-Beauvais. The return flight was €5.00 for BOTH of us! I can't explain how Ryanair works like this, but it does as long as you don't bring more than carry-on luggage.
Day One
The next day we were off. First, we checked into our hotel. The hotel was right by the Sorbonne, and had the cutest window that opened out onto the street. It had the smallest elevator I've ever seen - the two of us barely fit inside. The rest of the evening we spent exploring the neighborhood.
We sat outside and had coffee and pastries, looked at the Christmas tree at Notre Dame, explored a cooking store with a dog in it, walked along the bridges over the Seine, and eventually found a resturant down one of the little side street.
Day Two
The next morning started out with a gastronomic crusade. We were going to find a restaurant with authentic crepes. Eoghan spent some summers in Brittany as a teenager, so his standards of authenticity are slightly higher than average. It took awhile, but we found the place.
First, we got to experience the famously sassy Parisian waitstaff. But, the subtle rudeness of our waitress was just funny. I ordered a cafe. It wasn't. It was a drink about half the size of an espresso, and twice as strong. Rich and delicious, but I'm pretty sure it could put a hole in my stomach lining. The crepes were absolutely fantastic. I wish I had gotten a picture of our chef, possibly owner of the restaurant. He looked like Asterix at age 70,with a pipe!
From there we moseyed on over to Bastille and the Effiel Tour. It was pretty foggy so the visibility at first wasn't ideal. However, we stayed long enough for the night lights to come on. The visibility opened up and the lights were beautiful. We spent a few hours there looking at the skyline, drinking mulled wine, and enjoying the ice sculptures and other exhibits on the middle platform.
On our way back to the hotel to change for a show, we grabbed some wine, cheese and pate for a little in-room picnic. We caught the late burlesque show at Crazy Horse. I got my own cute bottle of champagne! It was a normal bottle of champagne, but slightly smaller with it's own ice bucket.
Day 3
The next morning was beautiful and we walked through the Jardin du Luxembourg on our way to the subway. We then headed over to the Musee d'Orsay and spent a few hours walking around there. I got to see Degas's ballet dancers, Gates of Hell, an exhibit of Picasso's deconstruction of Manet's Le dejuner sur l'herbe, and some Van Goghs. Of course, Paris is supposed to be a romantic city but the couple sucking face in the museum cafeteria was taking it too far.
After the museum then we walked through the Jardin Carrousel and the Jardin des Tulleries, past the Place de la Concorde, and down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Long walk, but we started out right as dusk was falling. The lights and the last minute shoppers made the Champs-Elysees an amazing sight. I got a little distracted by all the lights and almost walked out into one of those deadly traffic circles.
For dinner, we found a great place that wasn't too far from the home where Jim Morrison died. The french word for scallops? I don't know, but they were fantastic.
Just before we headed in we tried the bar close to the hotel. The beer was flat and they only had a squat toliet. I thought I was done with that in China. We gave up on the place, headed up the street a block, and fell into bed. Despite the last place, it was another good day.
Day 4
The last day was very foggy. It was Christmas eve, and we were a little worried we wouldn't get out of Beauvais. We had a quick breakfast, were searched like terrorists at the airport, and finally made it back to Eoghan's house in Ireland.
I'll have to do my best to describe because these are active religious grounds and pictures inside the temples was not allowed. The first golden buddha is a very large, fat, happy buddha in the center with the four Heavenly Kings along the sides. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Heavenly_Kings ) I thought the kings were pretty interesting. The each held a lot of meaning, in the colors of their faces, what they were holding, and their position in the temple. Wikipedia can tell you more if you're interested.
