We Have Arrived In Paris!

Miss Manon Patisserie

After a slight snafu with the verification of Anna's new passport, we got on our way Saturday and had a great day of travel.  Our flight left on time and arrived almost an hour early, at around 6:25 a.m.  We took an Uber in to our neighborhood from Charles De Gaulle airport.  At first the ride in was quiet, with nobody talking, then Priscilla broke the ice by asking the Uber driver if he spoke English.  His answer was not much.  He then proceeded to use Google Translate to carry on a lively conversation with us all the way to our flat.  I was also using Google Translate.  He was going from French to English, and I was going from English to French.  It definitely was a brave new world moment for us all.  Anna did get to use some of her French, but when he wanted to make long statements he would use Google Translate.  We talked about the Yellow Vest protests and, of course, Trump.  My short summation of our thoughts about the orange-haired ignoramus was, "Trump idiot!"  Our driver said that he's noticed that people are staying away from Paris because of the protests.  He said we were smart for coming to Paris now since the crowds are down.  They really do want visitors.  As for the protests, we've seen no sign of them.

Our first stop in the Marais was Miss Manon's patisserie.  This is my Mom's favorite in the Marais, and I can see why.  Priscilla and Anna had a pain chocolat and I had another apricot pastry, the name of which I forget.  They were all delicious.  We also got coffees.  Before leaving I picked up a baguette and a few small quiches for later.  We were able to drop off our bags early at our flat.  That's when we met Lucy, our representative here.  She and her sister were cleaning the flat.  They are originally from the Philippines.  We bummed around for awhile in the Marais, picking up some groceries that we needed at the flat.  We stopped back at the flat around 11:45 to drop those off.  Lucy said we could stay at that time.  They had finished their cleaning.  That was welcome news to us.  We were all ready to get off our feet.

Our flat

Chocolat chaud

After a spot of lunch and some much needed rest, we set out to explore more of the Marais mid afternoon.  We found a lovely Madeleine shop that also serves hot chocolate (chocolat chaud).  That was our afternoon treat.  We continued walking up and down rue Saint-Antoine, the main drag in our neighborhood.  Priscilla and Anna would duck into stores and I would meander looking for photographs.  Anna found a lovely dress for her birthday gift.  We eventually made our way over to the lovely park, Place des Vosges.  Children were playing and lovers were, well you guessed it, loving.  The late afternoon light was beautiful in the park.

Place des Vosges