THE TARHEEL CHRONICLE

We spent three days in this wonderful little place.  As we walked out the door of our hotel to a waiting taxi, it was raining.  It was sad to think we will not likely see this place again.  It seemed like a nice place to live.

The place we stayed, Hotel du Globe, was excellent. Although, only 2 stars, our room, No. 27, was well equipped, very clean and had a nice balcony with chairs and a table.  The breakfast, offered at €9, was a good value by French standards. The staff was very welcoming and made us feel at home.

Aix-en-Provence is a city of fountains.  You can’t walk many blocks without seeing one.  The streets are narrow and lead to many plazas that are  surrounded by stores and sidewalk cafes.  They are busy late into the evening.  The food and drinks are expensive compared to the U.S.  We normally ate out only once a day.  At the other meal we would snack on fruit and stuff in our room.

We bought our snacks at a little corner store called 8-a-Huit which means 8 to 8, their hours of operation.  We bought fruit, chips, cookies, peanut butter, water and wine.  Our favorite wine was Roche Mazet Merlot.  We tried the Bordeaux but it seemed a little lite on taste for us.

We also found a self serve laundry “laverie” close by to wash our clothes.  That is a great place to meet people.  We met a frenchman who had lived in the U.S. for 6 months and a guy from Maine who was traveling with a group.  It cost €3.20 to wash a load and €1.00 for each 10 minutes in the dryer.  There was a steady stream of people coming and going.

Every day as we walked through town the streets and plazas seemed to change.  Thursday, the day we arrived, we only ventured a little way from our hotel.  Friday, when we went to dinner, people were out everywhere, especially the 20 something’s.  The bars (there are lots) were teeming with young people drinking and smoking.  Smoking in public here is much more prevalent than the U.S.  THe sidewalk cafes are also crowded with people eating and drinking.  All of this carries on until late at night.

Saturday morning when we walked through town all the plazas had turned into flea markets. There was  most anything you might want to buy from clothes to soap to fruits and veggies.  When we went back out for dinner,  the fea markets had disappeared.  There were only a few people at the restaurants and bars.  However,  we did hear people celebrating in the wee hours from our room.

Sunday everything was much slower.  Most of the shops were closed. In the morning we heard  church bells ringing.  Otherwise, a calm seemed to have come over the city. Traffic picked up in the afternoon but with less intensity.

Even though it was raining Monday morning, the day we left, everything had come alive again.  When we arrived at the train station there was a small crowd waiting to board trains. The cycle had started over.

We came to Paris at a great time. The first morning after we arrived, we scanned the breakfast buffet at our hotel and headed out to see what else we could find.  Just a short distance down rue Saint Germain we found a McDonalds. After an Egg McMuffin and a cup of coffee we were ready to go on an adventure.

As with any new place we visit it takes a while to get acclimated to where you are, which direction is north or south and where your hotel is in the scope of things.  Everything in Paris is viewed from the prospective the Seine River.  Is it located on the Left Bank or Right Bank?  Which bridge do you go across to get there?

We stayed in the Latin Quarter at the Hotel du College de France located at 7 rue Thenard.  That address is on the Left Bank just South of Notre Dame Cathedral.  The reason it is called the “Latin Quarter” is several colleges are located there.  At some point in ancient times the students spoke Latin, hence, the “Latin Quarter”.

The Hotel du College de France is a 2 star boutique hotel that is in a great location. It is within 2 or 3 blocks of the Seine and walking distance to many attractions.  Two attractions, The Eiffel Tower and The Arc de Triomphe, are a good distance away. If you don’t mind walking and enjoying the sights, it doesn’t seem that bad.  However, you might want to take the Metro when returning to the hotel.

The Metro system in Paris is rather complex. It takes some time and study to figure out which subway train to take and what the connections will be to get from point a to b.  Some of the trains are very crowded.  A couple of times we felt like sardines.  Another person could not have pushed their way onto the car.  We were warned to beware of pick pockets in these situations but never had a problem.  We stayed alert, kept our backpack close to us and carried money in our front pockets.

Intercity trains are run by the French TGV Authority.  There are several train stations in Paris served by the TGV.  We arrived at Gare de Nord which was  extremely busy and crowded. People were moving though the terminal shoulder to shoulder.   We departed Paris via Gare de Lyon. It was less crowded and easier in which to get around.

Paris was a busy place on almost every level.  People were going to and fro.  The museums were crowded and the sidewalk cafes were teeming with customers.  Spring was definitely in the air.

We found one of the best ways to enjoy Paris is to find a spot on a park bench or at a sidewalk cafe. From there you get to see Paris in motion.