Walt and I flew from San Francisco to Paris three times in the year 2000. I guess we were living large. Two of our trips to Paris that year lasted only 3 or 4 days. In hindsight, I admit that was pretty extravagant. The third trip was for a three-week stay in the Loire Valley and Paris, with side trips to Champagne and Normandy. That's when I realized how much I liked being in the Loire Valley.
In July 2000, Walt was lucky to be able to go on a business trip to Italy with some of his San Francisco co-workers. He said that since his flight required a layover in Paris, he thought he'd plan to stay in Paris for a long weekend on his way back to California. It was the July 4th weekend, so I could see clear to take a few days off. I told him I'd meet him in Paris for that long weekend.
CHM was in Paris that summer. Being able to spend some time with him was a bonus. His partner Frank was there with him, as was a Frenchwoman CHM and I had both worked with in Washington DC. So we had plenty to do. One of the things we did was go up to the top of the Tour Montparnasse to see Paris from on high. Photo below.
Walt and I stayed in a hotel, called La Tulipe, in the 7th arrondissement not far from the rue Cler market street and the Eiffel Tower. It had been recommended by Rick Steves on one of his TV shows about traveling around Europe. We hated it! But it was all because of the weather. It was so hot and humid in Paris that weekend in 2000 that we needed to sleep with the window open at the hotel. It looked out onto the courtyard, and the hotel was full of young American tourists. They would gather in the courtyard late at night and loudly discuss what they had done earlier in the day and what they were planning to do the next day. The noise was terrible. And besides that, there were swarms of mosquitoes because of the hot weather. We hardly got any sleep at all, and vowed never again to stay in a Paris hotel without air-conditioning in summertime.
Just a few days ago, while rummaging through my KDC photos, I stumbled on one I had taken of Walt, Jeanine and and Frank sitting on a bench in Place de Breteuil, after visiting the Marché de Saxe. We didn't look like having bought anything for lunch though! It was probably that same weekeend you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteJeanine, Frank and I would leave a few days later for Carteret, I guess.
I'm sure that's right. Maybe we had lunch in a restaurant.
DeleteHa! One of the descriptions I see online, of that hotel, says that it is "nestled in a discreet, quiet street".
ReplyDeleteGreat memories for you, here!
It was a quiet street, but a very noisy courtyard. If we hadn't needed to keep the window open, it might have been fine. Americans talk in very loud voices.
DeleteI generally like Rick Steves programs...interesting that his hotel recommendation was a bust. All the young travelers probably found out about the hotel the same way. Tour Montparnasse, didn;t realize it was that tall!
ReplyDeleteThe Tour Montparnasse is over 200 meters, 675 feet, tall. 58 floors, I think. Best view in Paris.
DeleteI believe Rick Steves is, shall we say, a somewhat debatable quantity, to judge by some of the comments on travel messageboards, but I've never bothered to try to find out what he advises about places I know and could judge him by. It may be that different audiences need different sorts of advice and information.
ReplyDeleteWe were 20 years younger then, and we didn't anticipate the hot, humid weather oro the mosquitoes.
DeleteWhen I did my big trip to France in June 2001, I was with a tour group for 15 days, but I arrived 4 days early to get over jet lag and see things in Paris that were not part of the tour: a day in the Louvre, a morning at Musee d'Orsay, and other sites. I spent the first 4 nights at Hotel Bercy Gare de Lyon. I was pretty proud of booking it on the internet, and it was pretty nice. It never occurred to me to see if it had air conditioning. The weather was miserably hot, even with my window open. I was very happy when I joined the tour group at a hotel with air! That was a nice hotel, and since the room was already paid for before I left home and I was feeling a little flush with money, I decided to live it up and let them do some of my laundry. I will never forget paying $5.00 for one pair of panties!
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