We came up with the idea of a year-end trip to Europe to coincide with the end of Chris' 6 month long training in Germany.
Another couple was supposed to have come with us and take us to good grub but were unable to make it at the last minute.
I almost didn't make the trip: Madison fell sick, then Liam fell sick.. but the general consensus was that I should just GO ALREADY.
So I did.
I was really excited about the solo 14 hour flight! 14 hours of uninterrupted time to do nothing much! Time flew by quite quickly and before I knew it I arrived in Paris.
Day 1:
I arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport at 7am. Immigration clearance was smooth, so was the baggage claim. Chris met me and we caught the train back to town. He had checked into the apartment the day before. It was an old walk up apartment, with the creaky floorboards and quaint kitchen to boot. Very Parisian.
Got a cup of coffee and found out that Parisians like their coffee scalding hot and quite strong. I scalded my fingers as the coffee was spilling out everywhere. I think Parisians just don't walk around with their drinks. Bought some pastries and found them rather cold but crispy and buttery once reheated in the oven.
We wandered around and visited the science museum at the Palais de la Couverture. Fantastic except that everything was in French. There were many live talks and demonstrations on a Sunday!
Day 2:
Saw the Notre Dame cathedral. I didn't realize it's an actual church that is still being used! We didn't climb up the tower though, that would probably be nice too. Very ethereal being in the cathedral, candles and paintings and all.
We took the train to Sacre Coer, which is the highest point in Paris. Visited the cathedral there and checked out the crypt and its dome. Great views up at the dome, but seriously many steep and narrow stairs to climb. We got a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower from the dome.
For lunch, as per the Timeout Paris handbook, we went to Ma Cocotte, a Philip Starck restaurant. It's located at a rather unusual place near a bunch of flea and antique markets. Considering we didn't have a reservation, we were lucky to get a table for lunch. It was very busy but service was good. The staff were attentive and quick to get our orders. Food came relatively quickly too. It was interesting to see how much pride the French take in working in the restaurant service. They multitasked and are efficient. We got the fixed prix menu and got 2 courses with drinks for 2 for 56 euros! Reasonable in my opinion. There was quite alot of food for lunch! Absolutely no issue not being able to speak French.
After lunch we did more walking and wandering, but as it was winter it got dark and colder very quickly.
Day 3:
Decided to visit the Paris catacombs. The catacombs are a series of underground tunnels that were created in the early days as a result of mining for stone. The city became unstable as a result of these tunnels and parts collapsed. Subsequently parts of the tunnels were used as cemeteries as the city ones filled up. There are actual human bones lining parts of the tunnels that are open to public for viewing. As you can imagine there are 3 hour queues daily to see the human bones. We waited the 3 hours and it was probably worth it. The entire walk took about an hour to do and we wound up at a different location to where we started!
We had dinner at a local bistrot which had decent food and wine. After wandering around a little bit more it was time to call it a day.
Day 4:
Travel to Les Arcs-- we were booked into the Radisson Blu arc resort at 1950.
To get there: we had to fly to Geneva, hire a car, then drive the 200 km or so to Les Arcs.
When we arrived, the weather was unseasonably good! Blue skies, temperatures above freezing and no snow on the roads. We picked up a rental Volvo CX 60 which had snow tyres and set off.
It was so pleasant as we drove back from Geneva towards France again. We stopped at Lake Annecy to take in the sights and have lunch.
We passed through Bourg St Maurice, the final town before going up the mountain. From there it was a short pleasant drive up to the resort. The roads were good and we were up within 20 minutes.
In my experience, this resort is one of the best I've ever been to. We had a self contained room which had a kitchenette that was fully equipped. It had a Nespresso machine and a few capsules of coffee. The room rate included a welcome pack that had some cleaning equipment and an assortment of tea and condiments.
As it was Christmas eve, the resort had also organised for an outdoor performance complete with fireworks. There was a fire performance, followed by a trapeze act ( in the snow! ) and finishing off with fireworks and Santa zip lining across 3 rooftops!
After the performance we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner, which was unfortunately probably the worst meal of the trip. It was pre-prepared in anticipation of the crowd and it showed. The roasted capon was chewy and the dessert was dry. What made the meal even more passable was that there was a toddler at the next table who whined and cried the entire meal. I felt so sorry for the parents! The kid was probably tired and the Christmas meal didn't have a kids version. I couldn't imagine any kid wanting to eat the tough piece of meat! Dessert was a slice of log cake but that too seemed dry and too sweet. Anyhow... it was a long day of travelling so that was it for us after dinner!
Ski trip to follow....
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