We arrived in Carcassonne...

...early afternoon. The wind was going full force outside. Good thing our host, Suri, volunteered to pick us up.

When Suri arrived at the train station, a mystery was solved. We were wondering if he was a man or a woman. All we knew was that he was an artist. As he opened his car door, I was a little troubled about what the apartment would look like. If his car was anything to go by, we were in big trouble. There were papers strewn everywhere, soda cans (yes, plural), and generally other types of trash. Oh boy!

The apartment was a big surprise. When Suri said he was an artist, he was not kidding. He re-purposed found objects and everyday things into beautiful decorative art. The whole apartment was decorated that way and he's not even done yet. Never judging a book by it's cover never ran truer. He was also very kind. He toured us around the apartment and showed us some of the things he was still working on. He saw that we were drinking lemon water so he cut up a huge lemon and put it in a pitcher of water for us. He also volunteered to drive us to the train station for our departure tomorrow.

After the house tour, we walked the one block to the medieval city and started exploring the castle. I wanted to cry. Carcassonne was something that Anj and I only read about and then we were there, exploring the keep, walking the ramparts, going up snd down the towers. It was wonderful! The main street has been converted into shops selling candies, ice cream, souvenirs and costumes. As you walk along the side streets, there are hotels, restaurants and mini-museums. We also were able to chance upon an old church that we didn't see in the map, or maybe we just didn't understand it? So we sat inside for a bit and said our daily prayers.

When dinner time came, we retraced our ateps to those places that we thought were interesting, only to see them closed. So, we went back to the main square which was lined with restaurants.. The restaurants' menus was pretty similar so you go where the French go or you go with your gut. :D We chose one that says they won an award or something this year and also has a recommendation on Trip Advisor. They weren't ready to serve dinner yet so we started with cold drinks. When they were ready, we ordered our meal and a bottle of their house rosé to go with. One other thing I loved about the place is that, compared to Paris, everything was so, so much cheaper. As in! We stayed until Anj couldn't stand the cold anymore then we headed back to the apartment to pack again and separate what was going on the walk with us and which ones will be transported ahead to Santiago de Compostela. Tomorrow, we head to St. Jean to get our credentials. :-D

We slept for 4 hours...

...before having to wake up at 2:30 in the morning. We decided to wake up early and get a head start since we had a train to catch at 4:53 am to Carcassonne. Since there was no metro yet that early in the morning, and we didn't know how far the drive is from Rue des Martyrs to Gare du Nord, we decided to play it safe. So, at 3:45, we headed down the street to wait for a cab. Apparently, it's not that hard to find a cab at that ungodly hour, and it takes 10 minutes to get to the metro station. Of course, ot wasn't open yet so our cab driver was sweet enough to drop us off at a cafe across the station, where he said it was safer to wait. So, our last meal in Paris turned out to be 2 decafs and a crepe with Nutella. :)

We got to our platform with time to spare but when we looked at the train schedule, the ome we were trying to catch was not there. The first available one leaves at 530 am. We were to learn later that there was a train that left the 4:53, but it was on a different platform. No worries. Good thing our next carrier was not until 6:58.

As we boarded the 530 train, I breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing our love/hate relationship with trains was to follow us in Europe...

Today is our last...

...full day in Paris. We were to have three walking tours this afternoon, but after thinking better of it, we decided to skip the last of the three.

Having gone through Thursday's train fiasco, we were better prepared and knew which line to take to get us to Saint Michel-Notre Dame station. We got there about 15 minutes earlier and took the time to take pictures of the church

 There was a Filipino dude who offered to take our photo and asked us to take his and his wife's as well. Fair deal. At precisely 11 am, our guide, wearing the pink vest, showed up for our tour of the Left Bank and the Latin Quarter. Our first stop was in front of 2 French cafés, sitting side by side to each other. It wasn't to make a recommendation, but to warn us what to avoid and what to look for when eating out. lol! Afterwards he took us to Shakespeare and company, St. Julien's, Sorbonne University, the French 'Parthenon" and other points of interest along the left bank. Of all the tours we've taken, this was my favorite. Plus, the guide was witty and funny, without trying too hard. After the tour, Anj and I walked back to the park near St. Julien for a picnic lunch and to wait for our next walk . On this sunny Saturday, everyone seemed to have the same idea as it a few minutes before we were to find an empty park bench.

Afterwards, we went back to Notre Dame for our tour of, well, Notre Dame. We met another Filipino couple from Cebu but they didn't finish the tour as they had to catch another one of Montmatre. Our guide took us around the areas surrounding the church and explained the history, the design and the architecture of the building. He also took us around nearby surrounding areas within the proximity of the church. After the tour, we queued up to enter and pray for our petitions before looking around the inside of the church.

We went back to the park and stayed for a few minutes to savor our last glimpse of Paris in daylight before heading back to the apartment to start packing. :(

Today was another...

...sunny day. We had planned to go to the Louvre early since we've heard of the really long queues, but since we were able to get skip-the-line tickets, the urgency was removed. Instead, we spent the morning chilling in our apartmen pushing back the time we were to leave till about after lumch.

We arrived at the carnival station at 1pm. Heading to the Louvre entrance from the mall, the first thing we saw was the glass pyramid hanging from the ceiling, so we knew we were in the right place. The museum is massive, it would take way, way longer than the few hours we had to appreciate everything on display. So, we got the audio guide and tried to locate in the map the pieces and collections we were interested in. Specifically, the Mona Lisa, of course, Venus de Milo and the book of the dead.. Anj also wanted to see the egyptian antiquities and the Napoleon apartments, so we made time for that. We spent the better part of 4 hours going to different exhibits until we've had quite enoigh of art and history for the afternoon. We exited towards the Tuileries Gardens. At the park, we got ourselves some ice cream, sat around the fountain while writing on postcards to send back home. This seems to be a popular pastime here, sitting around the fountain and watching people pass. So, we did as the locals did for a bit.

After we've had enough of people watching, we walked towards the Plaza Concorde and took another glimpse of Arc d'triumphe from a distance.

Before heading back to the apartment, we had coffee at the 'Amelie' Cafe, eclairs at Van Gogh's favorite brasserie, stopped by the local rotisserie to buy dinner and got fruits from a neighborhood fruit stand. The Middle eastern vendor was a nice man who asked where we were from. My sister answered the Philippines and he gave her an extra fruit because his son loved his visit here . All in all, not a bad day. :)

Never blog...

...while on a short distance train is the second lesson we learned today but I'll go back to that later. The first was that no matter how organized you are, some things happen that will force you to adjust, reorganize and adapt. We left the apartment for our Versailles tour an hour before the scheduled time. We were a bit more familiar with the metro system by now and we were definitely feeling more confident about which lines to take to get us to the meeting place. What we didn't account for was  that the line we had to transfer to was closed from Thursday to Sunday due to some maintenance work. Oh boy! So we had to get off the metro, take the replacement bus and take the train again a few stops later. Then, we wasted a lot of time walking around Gare du Nord looking for a train that apparently does not even pass there. When we finally figured it out, we've already missed our tour group and decided to go it alone.


At St. Michel- Notre Dame, we boarded the train to Versailles. Or so we thought. That's lesson number 3. But let's backtrack to lesson number 2. We've been comfortably seated for half an hour and using the time wisely to catch up on our blogs when we were told by a fellow passenger that we were at the end of the line. But wait! It doesn't say anything about Versailles anywhere. At first we thought we missed our stop, hence lesson number 2, which was highly possible since we did pass a station that could have been a drop off point for us, but we were so busy typing away, we didn't pay it a moment's notice. As far as we were concerned, we were to get off at the end of the line. U-huh!

So we retraced our steps and looked for the next train going back in the direction we came from and recognized our mistake, which is lesson number 3: Read the train number or the name of the train. Well, duh! So, we got on the next train, yes, the right train this time and finally made our way to Versailles.

The terminal we got off was the one that was a 10-minute walk from the palace. We walked the main avenue that leads straight to the palace in the rain. Good thing we had the foresight to bring our raincoats and umbrellas, the one thing we did right today.

At first sight, the palace is majestic and grandiose. This impression doesn't change as you go inside and look at the exhibit. The combination of the different displays and the description in the audio guide paints a picture of an opulent, decadent and extravagant lifestyle that it was quite overwhelming. It's no wonder the people got mad at the monarchy. It was almost ridiculous in my eyes, and such grandeur shouldn't be for one family alone. It was a long walk from beginning to end, there was so much to feast your eyes on but there's only so much you can take. After a while I just wanted it to be over. We weren't able to see the gardens anymore since the rain was incessant. Instead, we trudged the short distance to the closer of the 2 train stations while eating our baguettes, French style.. When in France and all that. :)

Wednesday was a wonderful ...

Pere Lacahaise

...sunny day. We were able to go out in dresses, and it seemed so did a lot of the women in Paris. :) It's definitely a good day to be outdoors.

Our first stop was Pere Lachaise. Here was another test to our navigation skills. Despite what the map says, there's really no easy way to go around the place. It's easier to get disoriented and lost looking for specific names. But you can keep trying. Pere Lachaise was fascinating. There's a kind of beauty in the personalized stone statues lovingly carved in remembrance of the dead. At the same time, there's a desolation in those that you know haven't been visited in decades, which you can tell by the layer of dust and the intricate cobwebs blocking the gates. .There were also those that made us laugh at their ridiculousness and those that made us feel sad, as though those left behind were never able to recover from the loss. In any case, the day was too beautiful to waste pondering about the lives of the souls who have moved on so we decided to leave before the morning turned into midday.

Moulin Rouge

Heading back to the metro, we chanced upon a pharmacy and so decided to look for the anti-blistering cream that my learner advised me to get for the walk.. The pharmacist was a very sweet old man who did his best to help me. It took a bit of time, but after going through several cabinets, he finally found it. And he even thanked me for waiting. Old people can be so charming! :) At the entrance to the metro station was a fruit stand with a beautiful array of fruits and vegetables. How can we resist? So with shopping bag in one hand, we went to the metro that would take us back to our apartment.

Montmatre

After lunch, we headed to the meeting place for our walking tour of Montmarte. The place was near Moulin Rogue, which incidentally was the tour's first stop. Our guide, Lily, is a local who led us around the streets of the area, including the red light district. She also pointed out places where painters like Picasso and Van Gogh used to live and hang out. And wouldn't you know it, Van Gogh's favorite broucherie was a block away from our apartment. We heard stories behind the public drinking fountains, a popular but tragic French singer named Dalida and the story of St. Denis' head. The tour ended at the foot of Sacre Coeur, which is one great basilica. And the view was not too shabby either. We stayed to pray for a bit, but it was kind of distracting because of the volume of tourists and the guards constantly shushing them and reminding them not to take pictures.

Sacre Coeur

Afterwards, we headed to the more touristy area near the back of the basilica where artists are lined up offering to paint the tourists. We went around the square looking at different paintings and souvenirs and when we've had enough, we took the Montmartebus and happily, the bus stop was only a few buildings away from our apartment and an end to another busy day. :D

The Missed Tour and Taking the Wrong Train to Versailles

Day 3 -Versailles Day
27 Sept 2015

An Ordinary Day

Day started ordinarily enough. A lil rainy but we'll manage. Made & had bfast, showered & made our way to our favorite metro station, Abessess, because it's the nearest to the apartment, to meet our tour group at Fontain Saint Michel. We left at 8 am as the group was to meet at 9 am. All good. Plenty of time. We'll get there with even enough time to spare to get a baguette for lunch. Or so we thought. Route was to take line 12 and then transfer to line 4. Everything was fine & dandy. And then came the curve ball. Line 4 was under construction. It was all over the announcements on the stations & trains! But of course since they were in French...

Thus started our mad scramble towards Saint Michel. It was a mess. I was a mess. Good thing i had Internet access today so we can figure out how. But even that was a challenge. We took the replacement bus to Gare du Nord & then got into another challenge whether or not we should a taxi. 20 mins & with the traffic, it may cost more than a hundred Euros. Not on this life! So we got into a long discussion & ended up deciding to commute to Versailles ourselves with the hope of meeting our group there. No point in trying to catch them en route anymore as we were very late already. As i write this we're comfortably seated on RER C making our way to Versailles-Rive Gauche. Train is overland so we can see a lil bit of Paris outside of Zones 1& 2.

Let's see how it goes...


And We Took the Wrong Train

Apparently we took the wrong train and ended up in a place called &#*:€$@%;. So how to get back on track? With a leap of faith we took the train back to Versailles Chantiers. We'll figure it out from there. At the station we got baguettes for lunch at happily & gratefully discovered it was just a 20 -minute walk away to our destination. So we began our hike through cold, wet Versailles. It was a good one though. We saw a little bit of the town & its everyday life. It had a surprisingly  small town feel to it which I found really charming.

Finally we saw our destination! Even in the rain & overcast clouds it was grandiose beyond words! Magnificent, insanely oppulent,  inconcievable & majestic at every turn. One thing I can say about Louis the 14th is that the guy had vision. Genarations after his demise, through revolutions, wars & crises, the Versailles Palace still stands strong & proud, beckoning to be admired. And as we wandered along her walls, I couldn't help but wonder at how they lived. During their time it was public as public can be & decadently rich at that. At 15 Euros, it was so very worth it. A feast for the senses. The eyes at least. Definitely not for the legs that will carry you through  rooms upon rooms inside the palace. It was a beautiful long walk through French history, art & culture. Like watching a documentary but walking through it instead of watching it on tv.

As the weather was so bad, we skipped the gardens. Not sorry though. We had a glimpse of it from inside the palace & indeed it is worth visiting. It's beautifully manucured lawns & ornamentals  expands as far as the eyes can see. One of the many reasons to return.


Sidenote:

So far the Navigo card has been heaven sent. Amidst all the rides we've taken & commuting faux pas (since we're in France) we've made, we've never had to worry about fare cost. At 40.4 Euros & a 1x1 id, it has been one of the best investments on this trip. 

Jim Morisson, Chopin and a Basilica near the Red Light District

Day 2 - Pere La chaise Cemetery, Montmartre & Sacre de Coeur
Sept 26

Visiting Jim Morrison's Grave

Up early today. Pere Lachaise would open at 8 am and we wanted to be there early so we'll have plenty of time to explore & still make it in time for our 2:30 Montmarte & Sacre Coueur tour. Day was beautiful. Warm but not hot & the sun smiled all the way. Trip was breezy & we found Pere Lachaise without any incident.   I read online that there was a small office where we can get maps. Found out that window was closed bacause of "attacks" & everyone has to go through the main entrance. And so we did. At the main entrance however there was still no office still so we took a picture of the map on the billboard instead to find as many graves of famous people as we could. I know it's a little macabre but that's what you do in Pere La chaise. On our list was of course Jim Morisson. And then Chopin, Edith Piaf and many others. It was like going on a mini-adventure trying to find them. A treasure hunt of sorts through the labyrinth that is this place. The graves were beautiful and grand and some, sad. Even here art & architecture thrived. We only found 2 from our list (Jim Morisson & Chopin) but saw many interesting ones and some more that I'm sure belonged to prominent Frenchmen. Before we knew it it was 11 AM, time to head back for some lunch & get ready for the afternoon.

We stopped by a fruit market to get some ingredients & home we went. Good thing we stayed at a well -equipped little apartment that had everything we needed. Lunch was delicious! Pasta with tuna & olives in olive oil, and the sweetest seedless watermelons for dessert. Out on the street that would have cost us € 20 per person. Cleo cooked & I washed. That's kind of our rule. One cooks & the other washes.

The Basilica and The Red Light District

After lunch we headed out to the Blanch station for our Montmartre tour. We found ourselves on a street called Pigalle w/c is what I assume is their red light district as evidenced by an array of sex shops, an erotic museum and cabarets that offer lap dances, live shows & all that stuff. They were side by side with sauna & massage parlors, souvenir shops, pharmacies, restaurants, etc. Pretty interesting place. The most iconic spot however is the Molin Rougue. Couldn't miss it if we tried. The red windmill at the facade says it all. 2 of my favorite entertainers of all time actually performed here, Frank Sinatra & Ella Fitzgerald. Would love to watch a show here that people say is a real spectacle but at € 87a pop, would have to reconsider 1st. Anyway we have a few more nights.

So the tour started & it was a very nice way to get to know our neighborhood. Yes, our apartment is right smack in Montmartre! Our guide was a pretty 19-year old French student, Lily. She took us through the old windmills, avenues & boulevards of cafes serving the most mouth-watering offerings from all over  France. Wine, cheese, chocolates, snails, duck wow! We saw parts of Montmartre we would never have discovered had we done this on our own. A vineyard right in the city (who would've thought!), Pablo Picasso's haunt as a starving artist, Amelie's restaurant & market & saw a lot of beautiful, haunting street art. We walked through residences of turn of the century poets & artists & modern day Montmarte.  It was a lot to take in. It was a lot of walking & climbing too and my legs hurt but they didn't complain. They were in fact very, very happy exploring with me .

We ended the tour at what is supposed to be one of the best places to admire the Sacre Coeur from, the back. And I heartfully agree. She was awe-inspiring, graceful, imposing, grand and proud.

We found our way to the front & saw a beautiful view of Paris. No words. And then it was time to go inside the the basilica. Oh the suspense! Been waiting for this for months so naturally I was like a giddy little girl. Wouldn't be surprised if I were skipping. It was grand beyond grand! No pictures allowed whatsoever. So I'll leave you, dear reader, to experience her for yourself.

After going around we took a moment to pray. It was nice to have had a moment of silence inside to connect with the One who allowed all of this to happen. Said a special prayer & then off again we went!

More walking again in the cobbled streets of Montmartre. We found ourselves in a very busy but pretty & colorful square lined with cafes, patisseries, shops, art galleries & artists galore trying to convince you to have your portrait painted for €25. It was dizzying but what a great experience!

We took a bus back down to Rue Yvonne Le Tac (our street) this afternoon bone tired but super satisfied with our beautiful 2nd day in Paris.

With a Da Vinci Code Side Trip

Day 1- City Tour, Saint Sulpice, Trocadero, Eiffel & Seine River Cruise

Our day started with a tour of the city. I always start my daysin a new city with one of these if I can to have a better perspective of the place.  Meeting place was the Fountain on Saint Michel. Today the archangel Michel had a red blindfold over his eyes but nobody could tell us why. Then the group made it's way to the historic Notre Dame Cathedral (More on this later). After this we walked our way down the banks of the Seine. There are 22 bridges cutting across this French landmark. On this tour we explored 2 of them. One had the sculpted drunken faces of the guests of a famous monarch during an epic banquet, and the other, the famous love bridge. Couples visiting from all over the world would put a padlock on the fence wall with dedications to their love. They would later throw the key away into river believing that this would bring their relationship luck and they will be together forever. Next stop was the massive Louvre grounds. The Louvre houses more than 35,000 artworks and they say that if you take 8 hours a day for 2 months, allotting 1 minute per artwork, you still wouldn't be able to see all of them. We'll visit the inside on Friday. Excited! For today was only the grounds. Yes, we saw the famous or infamous entrance designed by architect IM Pei. And yes, we took selfies. Last 2 stops were the  Tuilleries gardens that led to  Place de La Concorde. Outstanding for me was the Obelisk which I found out was the actual site of the guillotine. On the very spot was where Marie Antoinette's beautiful head was dismembered from her body.

We decided to visit Saint Sulpice today. I wouldn't miss it after reading Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. I even re-read it to see what other places we can add to our itinerary. She didn't disappoint. From the beautiful fountain that welcomes worshipers at the square down to every single detail inside the church interior. Although probably not as famous (judging from the traffic of visitors) as her sisters,  the Notre Dame & Sacre Coeur, she is every bit as beautiful and serenely dignified. There were many beautiful, solemn chapels within & the main altar was incredible. I also found the organ where Sister Sandrine hid as she watched the albino, Silas, going about his ungodly business. The most exciting bit for me though was seeing the rose line for myself. This was believed to hold the key to the holy grail. Wow!

After Saint Sulpice we headed to the Trocadero Plaza. The best way to approach the monolithic Eiffel in my book. The view was spectacular! Slowly we m6ade our way down to the tower and like everyone else who was there, shamelessly took tons of selfies & groupfies :)

They say you must see the Eiffel tower at day and at night. And we planned on doing just that.  But since the sun doesn't set here until 9ish PM (early autumn), we had to wait. We bid our time at the park & later on took a lovely boat ride along the river Seine. We got seats on the roof deck despite the drizzle & the cold like many of the tourists. The funny thing is that most of the passengers on most of the boats we passed had the same idea. Very few people stayed inside. They were even almost always empty. Lovers, singles, old people, young people, families, all of them preferred the crowded roof decks to the warm, comfortable seats inside that even came with audio guides. Couldn't blame them. Catching pneumonia is a small price to pay for the view haha! Nothing compares.  And people were waving at each other from boat to boat it was wonderful!

From the boat we saw the iconic buildings of Paris from different angles. We also saw Parisians dining & wining on the banks, families picnicking & lovers kissing unabashedly. The thing that charmed me most was the dancing on the banks complete with live music. It was a special area/ platform set up where couples danced the tango, waltz, etc. I wanted to jump off the boat & join them. That I could watch for hours.

By the the time the ride finished it was dark and the Eiffel tower was finally lit. She was even more majestic. And as a bonus we saw her sparkle. Not kidding! Apparently every night on the hour she sparkles for everyone to see. What a treat!

Thus ends our 1st day in Paris.

It's our first morning...

Pl. St. Michel

...in Paris. The first item in our itinerary today was to go to the Gard du Nord train station to exchange our paper tickets with real tickets that would take us from Bayoonne to St. Jean Pied Port, where our pilgrimage will start.

There was still a light drizzle as we left the apartment. It was a cold and windy Tuesday morning and the neighborhood hasn't quite woken up yet as we made our way to the metro station.Pardon my ignorance but I was a bit intimidated by the this piblic transport. I can't really describe how labyrinthine the metro system is in Paris. It seemed like endless corridors that lead to other corridors that lead up and down a series of stairs and into another corridor that opens to great hall which leads to even more of the same. As we navigated this transportation system for our first foray into the city, I remembered something very important. I hate stars! I don't know how many flights of stairs we went up and down on and how many times we transferred stations from Abesses to Gare du Nord train station to St. Michel - Notte Dame station but darn, that was tiring! And confusing. And it wasn't even 9 a.m. yet! When they called it the underground, they were not kidding!

River Seine

We arrived at the Pl. St. Michel early for our walking tour of the city. We explored the area a bit and got our first view of the Seine and our first glimpse of Notre Dame. I wanted to shout, "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" out loud but I didn't want to be committed on my first day around Paris. :D

The 3-hour walking tour started at roughly 10 am. Our first stop was of course the fountain of St. Michel where the group assembled, followed by a little history of Notre Dame, a walk along the banks of Seine, the 'love bridge,' the Louvre, the Touleries Garden before ending at the Pl de la Concorde. :P After the tour, we headed back to our apartment for a late lunch and prepared to meet the Eiffel Tower.

Along the Seine River

Saint Sulpice

In the late afternoon we set off for the metro to go to the Eiffel Tower and our Seine River cruise. But first, to the Rose Line in Saint Sulpice. The facade of the church also featured details which were typical of it's era. In short, it was beautiful, if a bit understatef when compared to Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. Sadly,  large portion of the inside were in a state of disrepair but the notices around the church said it was in the process of being renovated. At least, I assume that's what it said. It was in French so for all I know they could have been just telling people to be quiet. :D We stayed for a bit to pray for our trip and our family and friends back home, before emerging into the sunlight

The Rose Line

So, it was off to the metro again where we got off at the Trocadero station and emerged to the wonderful smell of crepes. So, what else is there to do but to sample some, right? So we were eating crepes with bananas and Nutella as we saw the Eiffel tower up close for the first time. We walked down the garden and crossed the street to the Eiffel tower, looking at it from different angles, which took all of 15 minutes. :D The tower was both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. Make of that what you will. Oh, there's definitely a thrill attached to gazing at it up close for the first time, but it seemed to me that it's appeal is more for what it represents. As in, "Whoopee! The Eiffel Tower! I'm really in Paris!" But that's just me. What do I know?

We set off for the river cruise at 8pm and stayed on the roof deck. We saw a lot of amazing architecture. The buildings are the art. Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, the Louvre the numerous bridges and other fascinating buildings, and at the end of the cruise, the light show of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel tower at night is something to behold! Seeing lit up gave me a better appreciation for this massive tower of iron. It just seemed magical to me.  And that's when I came to understand the fascinating appeal of the Eiffel Tower.

Thankfully our apartment is...

...only a block away from the metro. It sits along Rue Yvonne le Tac, in the area of Montmarte. My first sight of Montmarte was a carousel, which is visible as you exit the Metro and head up to street level.

My next view was of cobbled roads with streetside cafes and charming store fronts, some of which were already closed considering the late hour. The drizzling rain lent a bit of drama to what was already a very pretty scene. If I wasn't so tired already, I would have scrounged around my bag for my camera and taken a shot. We walked the block to the apartment gate where our friendly host was already waiting for us in front of a simple building, with vine-covered walls. She typed in the code that opened the front iron gate and another set of code to open the main door. She then led us along a short narrow hallway which opens to a snall common courtyard. Following her, we crossed the courtyard, went up the worn wooden stairs and into one of the 2nd floor apartments.

The apartment is...hmmm...how shall I describe it...well, it's tiny. But it has all the basics. The space was just enough for a double bed which folds up to a couch, a coffee table and a book shelf. On the left wall is a smal cabinet, a small refrigerator, 2 stove tops, an oven toaster, a clothes washer and a sink. Along the top are cupboards and there was a box of a shower at the far corner. The toilet was across the hall.

Ashley, our host, showed us how everything worked, gave us the codes to the gate and the main door, the login information for the WiFi and a map to the closest supermarket and other placea of interest in the neighbohood, and since this was Montmarte, there's a lot of those. She was also sweet enough stock up on some basic provisions for us so thankfully we didn't have to go out and look for a brasserie or a restaurant when all we wanted to do was bathe and sleep at the end of a very long day.

There was a slight drizzle...

...and a nip in the air when we landed in CDG terminal in Paris at about 6:02 p.m. on Monday. Our legs were a little stiff after an almost 11-hour flight from Beijing, where we had a 2-hour layover before flying to Paris. As we made our way to the carousel to claim our bags, a funny memory came to mind of a learner apologizing to me in advance for what she calls 'one of the worst airports in the world.' Clearly, the lady has not been to Manila yet. :D

After I collected my bag, I assumed that Anj's bag would come out soon thereafter, particularly since we checked-in together. So, we waited. And we waited. And then, we waited some more. The crowd was thinning out considerably and we were both starting to get worried especially as this wouldn't have been the first time for Anj to have her luggage 'misdirected.' We sent a not so silent prayer of thanks to our guardian angels and breathed a sigh of relief when the hot pink/gray backpack finally made an appearance, along with the last few stragglers.

So, with our bags strapped, we boarded the free train shuttle that would take us to the train terminal to the city and where we can purchase NaviGo cards, which would be our train ticket and our unlimited 7-day pass to public transportation in all zones of Paris. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my ID picture necessary for the card. So, we looked around for photo booths in the terminal and luckily, found one.

It's one uf those self- service photobooths that normally woukd have been a cinch to operate, but proved to be a challenge since of course, everything was in French. Thank God for the kindness of strangers! A man sitting nearby, who was either disturbed by our bickering since the machine already took my money but had yet to deliver the goods or felt pity at the look of counfoundment on our faces, approached us and offered rescue. He operated the booth for me and advised me on the appropriate picture size for the card. When the photo came out, I almost gave him a hug. Almost!

Off to the counter we went to get the cards. I don't know if it was the long flight, the tiredness or the hunger, but for some reason, neither Anj nor I could understand what the lady at the counter was saying. Yes, she spoke in English. But no, it just wasn't sinking in. So, she took the cards back, asked for our pictures and put it together. Another angel sent to help us.

With passes in hand, we took the train to get to the metro line that would take us to Montmarte and the apartment that would be home for the week that we will be in Paris.