Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

A Morning in the Marais

I like our room! A good night’s sleep makes all the difference in the world. We hear no doors opening and closing, no traffic, no water pipes – nothing. We sleep, by the grace of God and good insulation.

Breakfast is included with our room, so we are up and ready at seven. The breakfast room is the hotel dining room, very lush and elegantly comfortable. The brunch is generous, meat and eggs and pastries and they are generous with the coffee, too, and that matters to me. A quick trip back upstairs to brush teeth and we are on our way.

We’ve watched all the YouTube videos about pickpockets, and how to buy tickets for the Metro and discovered we’ve overstudied for this test. It is easy. We are steps from the Metro entry, we know what we want, we step right up to the ticket booth and buy cards on which we pay for ten trips. Even if we don’t use them all; we will be back and unused trips can be at used another time.

Paris is still unusually hot. Although the morning is relatively cool, the metro is stuffy. Other than that, the signage is clear – as long as you know the line you are taking and the direction, you can get there. Our goal for today, the Marais, is a straight shot with no changes. We board at L’Etoile and get off at St. Paul.

It’s so early, it’s just us and all the people going to work, which is fun for us. What we love is walking, taking in the back streets, looking at the details, so we will take you along with us.

Sharp eyes, AdventureMan. You spotted the old city walls, and their significance.

This is the kind of discovery we love, below. Musical instruments – and a barber shop! This is a very cool place.

We find a mini-department store and I find all kinds of Olympic schlock for the upcoming spectacle.

Heading into Place des Vosges.

St. Paul’s

I love this sign below – Don’t go in after the signal sounds or you will hurt yourself!

We want to get back to the hotel because we know our family will be arriving soon, and as we are getting on the Metro, we get a call that they are leaving the airport. We can’t wait to meet up.

August 12, 2024 Posted by | Adventure, Arts & Handicrafts, Beauty, Cultural, Customer Service, France, Local Lore, Paris, Travel | , , , | Leave a comment