Successful Trip to Paris

In heaven over quiche lorraine at Le Solferino cafe

Today I washed the fairy dust from Paris out of my hair. It was a bittersweet moment (the bad part being I was shedding some of Paris off me; the good part being I was shedding some of Paris off me). Yesterday, when I should have been blogging, I was creating a slideshow, culling favorites from the 363 pictures I’d taken. At husband Gary’s recommendation, I downloaded one of French singer Edith Piaf’s songs to act as a sound track for the slideshow (“La goualante du pauvre Jean”). But when it came time to add the audio, I was told I was missing a something-or-other to make it work. Will tackle that “later.”

Carousel at Montmatre

Back to books. The Rick Steves’ Paris 2011 book I mentioned in my prior post did serve us well. The best parts were the how-to-avoid-long-lines and the don’t-miss-this notations, plus Steves’ or his co-authors’ breezy way of dissing or giving the thumbs-up to various aspects—an enjoyable read when we took the time to dig in. Generally, though, who had time? I would turn to it and frantically scan a particular entry before we ran off to grab the Metro. The only time the book failed us was when we relied on its “first-come, first-serve” statement for getting next-to-the-window seating on a particular dinner cruise. We arrived an hour early. No boat yet, and locked entry to the gangway, but we took the opportunity to lean on the gate and read the books we’d brought with us. No one else arrived until about ten minutes before boarding time. This was a clue that we may be operating under a false notion.

Eiffel tower at night

We were first on board, but we were told to wait, because we needed reservations. Though we quoted Rick Steves’ (and the cruise’s own website’s) “first-come, first serve” policy, it made no difference to the maître d´. I made a mental note to write to Steves’ publisher to let them know a change that would be needed in their 2012 edition. In the end only one table was available to us, for which we were eternally grateful, and didn’t care in the least (well, maybe just a little) that it was in the very center of the boat’s floorplan. But we had a wonderful trip on the Seine, no complaints. We did pass the lit-up Eiffel Tower while I was in the toilette, but my stall had a window to the scene. It was magical.