Farewell Tauck Ms. Sapphire, A Bientôt ma Famille
When we awaken, we are in Paris. I didn’t know we would be gathering for breakfast, but breakfast was one of our favorite meals and we did. AdventureMan wanted one last fresh squeezed orange juice and croissant, and N wanted one more cinnamon waffle with whipped cream. I had, I am not kidding, French Toast, also with whipped cream, a luxury I never allow myself in “real life.”
And while we ate really well this entire trip, when I get home, I find I have been so busy that I didn’t gain weight, I lost weight. I need to spend more time in France.
We gather in the lounge after our bags are packed and left in the hallway to be picked up. The good thing is that we can see the bags in the desk area, so we know they are tagged and will be safely delivered to our transportation.
We are tied up on the outside, next to another boat. To get to our rides we will go out the door, up the stairs, across the deck, down the stairs and down the gangplank. You can see the lights of other ship through the windows.
Our transportation comes, and we say farewell and head our separate ways, sadly, because this has been a great trip and we hate for it to end.
Our son and his family head to the airport for their flight. AdventureMan and I head back to the Napoleon Hotel, to catch up with ourselves and to have a combination 51st wedding anniversary and trip celebration dinner at a restaurant my husband found online and fell in love with.
Boarding the Ms. Sapphire
The ride to the pier took us through a part of town we hadn’t visited this trip, and in no time we were boarding the Ms. Sapphire. While we settled in, K took off to do some quick shopping; she is familiar with Paris and it was smart of her to grab some time where she could find it. Orientation would be at 5 and dinner at 6, so we unpacked and explored our new surroundings.
The curtains are closed because we are tied up next to another ship, AND because it is still really hot in Paris. And yes, it is temporarily chaotic while we get our clothes hung in the closet and our bags stowed, have a little patience!
We had packed just enough to get us through the trip; we had so much more space than we needed. In this bathroom, every mirror has a cupboard behind it, and there are additional electrical sockets in the little cupboards. The shower is luxuriously spacious.
We all got oriented, heard the plan for the next day (Classic Citroen Car Tour, a virtual tour through the ages of Notre Dame under construction, and a walking tour of the Left Bank, whew, and lunch on the Left Bank, yay!) and sat down to dinner. We were ushered to a lovely table for six, and spent most of the trip sitting at that table.
It takes a special crew to be so good with a wide range of ages. The waitstaff was excellent. Our primary waiter, Peter, was good at explaining how things worked and helping us find our way through it. No, they made explicit, French law would not allow serving wine to anyone under 18. You could order a starter, a main course, and a dessert, or three starters, or just a main course or even just dessert, which is up to you. They had wonderful desserts, and an ice cream stand in the back where any combination of ice cream and sauces was possible. Just how good can it get? They kept adult wine glasses filled unless you firmly said no.
It’s a new culture, new foods, and also familiar foods, up to you. The young people learned customs and etiquette very quickly. Yes, you can get your Caesar salad WITHOUT anchovies. (I love anchovies, and it’s how Caesar salads come in France, wooo hooo!) There are several choices at each meal and at least two soups from which to choose. Portions are normal-sized, and you can get more if you need (lots of teenage boys on board.) There is also a buffet with lots of favorites for American young people.
Just after dinner, our son’s family took off for the Eifel Tower to take one last stab at going up.
Success! Although it is close to 10:00 at night, there remains enough daylight to climb up and enjoy the view!
Bravo to parents who help their children achieve their goals!
On A Mission: Target Eifel Tower
In preparation for this trip, we had several family meetings to put together activities and priorities. Each one of us came up with one “Must” (mine was wandering in the Marais – Mission Accomplished!) so that we had some focus. My granddaughter, N, wanted to go to the top of the Eifel Tower.
We started working on access to the tower months before we departed Pensacola. Tickets were not available. Ticket scalpers had begun scooping up access tickets early in the game and selling them for exaggerated prices. This made life uncomfortable for tours and guides and independent tourists. N’s mother and I would check the official website often, with no luck.
N’s mother is a determined woman – and she lived in a Paris suburb where she taught English for a year, how is that for bold? She determined that accessing the tower would be the number one goal on Day One. Once the family had rested, showered and dressed, they took off to find out what access possibilities looked like on the ground.
They learned it is all luck, but that there are some times when access is likelier than other times. Meanwhile, they had a wonderful adventure and found a Kebab restaurant they all loved.
AdventureMan and I also found a restaurant we loved, Chez Barbara, just a short walk from our hotel. We loved it so much we ate there twice. As an aside, usually I take great notes to help me write up these trips, but when I went to look at my notes, the only notes I had were the Menu from Chez Barbara!
Chez Barbara
47 Rue Washington
75008 Paris France
Menu at Chez Barbara
ENTRÉES
Escargots – 6 pièces 10.00€
Croustillant de chèvre sur salade 8.00€
Carpaccio de bœuf fromage dur et câpres 10.00€
Melon et Jambon Serrano 10.00€
Burrata sauce pesto tomates 10.00€
PLATS
Croque Mr frites ou salades 13.00€
Croque Mme frites ou salades 14.00€
Burger ‘Chez Barbara’ frites 17.00€
Salade italienne 16.00€
Salade, tomates, artichauts, burrata, jambon sec
Salade de croustillant de chèvre chaud 16.00€
Fish & chips 19.00€
Mi-cuit de thon au sésame et purée 19.00€
Bœuf bourguignon (Black Angus) purée de pommes de terre 19.00€
Cuisse de canard confit purée de pdt 19.00€
Tartare de bœuf frites & salade 19.00€
Entrecôte grillée sauce au poivre frites 22.00€
DESSERTS
Crème brulée 8.00€
Tarte tatin, crème fraîche ou glace vanille 8.00€
Fondant au chocolat crème anglaise 7.00€
Baba au rhum 9.00€
SNACK
Tapenade des olives 6.00€
Grissini et Jambon Serrano 7.00€
Assiette de frites 5.00€
Assiette de charcuteries 12.00€
Assiette de fromage 9.00€
Croque Mr frites 13.00€l
I share this with you so you can see the prices, which we found quite reasonable. Wines, beer, and liquors also seemed reasonable – this is downtown Paris, a block from the Champs Elysees’.
What drew us to Chez Barbara was the menu – very down to earth French foods – and then the atmosphere. This was not a snooty restaurant. It was a local restaurant. In the outside seating area, a local sports team was meeting (heavy on beer and french fries) and a girl met up with a man who looked like her father, and they had a plate of french fries and a plate of cold cuts, which they shared, and several glasses of wine. A friendly Australian who worked as a day laborer offered to translate but we told him we were OK, and thanked him for his offer. There was a television and a small bar.
It was also another very hot evening, and we were jet-lagging. We split an Italian salad and a Beouf Bourguignon, and we drank a red Bordeaux. It was a great evening.
Police presence was heavy. As we ate (again, the windows to the street collapsed to the side, we were entirely part of the outdoors) several police cars came by nee-ner, nee-ner, and on the way back to the hotel we saw a person being ticketed for stopping. It was a chauffeur, waiting for a family dining at Cafe’ de Paris.
True confession: AdventureMan was very angry with me for photographing the police in action. He was right. I was probably not supposed to do that. Sometimes I take unnecessary risks. Don’t do what I do!
We linked up with our family who were eager to get to bed, get a good night’s sleep, and AdventureMan made plans for the next day to hike up to the top of the Arch with the grands while Mom and Dad sought to get those elusive tickets to climb the tower.
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