Chasing Summer –

Arrival

I flew into Paris on May 15th on a direct flight from Calgary. It is an 8-hour and 30-minute flight, but once you add taxiing time more like 9 hours. The flight also left late so that was another 45 minutes. It was a red-eye flight leaving Calgary at 7 pm and arriving the next day at lunchtime, with the time difference.

Learn from me, do not book any tours for several hours after your arrival as it will take longer than you can imagine to get out to the city from the airport. Immigration and customs were simple and quick, but waiting for luggage was not. Passengers stood for an hour before the first piece of luggage came out on the belt. 90 minutes after landing I was finally ready to get transportation to my hotel which is located right in the heart of Paris.

There are three basic options; official taxis, ride-shares, or public transport. They are each going to take at least an hour to get into the city. The traffic to get into the city and in the city center is horrible and slows down travel significantly. Public transport is, of course, the cheapest but I would have to transfer and with luggage and crowds that was more than I wanted to deal with. It costs about 7 euros for the bus and 12 euros for the train. I went with Uber and it was 53 Euros. Official taxis are about 63 euros.

I was staying in Hotel France Louvre, a three-star hotel about a 20-minute walk from both the Louvre and Notre Dame de Paris.

Back in Canada, I had purchased a three-day Paris City Pass that came with a 2-day Museum Pass. The Paris Pass® | Save up to 50% It cost me 194 Euros. Most of the popular activities I needed to reserve weeks in advance and waiting too long meant many things were no longer available.

Missed Louvre

I had booked a timed ticket for the Louvre for 3pm (23 Euro), but missed that timing by about 60 minutes (there is a 30 minute window given at most sites with timed tickets). So instead I wandered around the outside area.

Wine, Merci

I also booked a wine tasting with Les Caves du Louvre @ 5:30. (36 Euro value) As the name suggests, it is about a 10 minute walk from the Musuem to the wine tasting.

I prefered the white, Loire, and the cheaper red, Bourgogne.

Sight Seeing on a Stroll

After fortifying my very tired self with wine I began the wander back towards my hotel room, getting caught in the evening rain showers and taking shelter under trees. On my way I passed several interesting buildings.

One thing I noted, besides the large number of tents set up by those who can’t afford the steep rental prices, is the creative manikins in many stores don’t look like many from North America. And the wall graffiti also includes mosaics and other bits of 3d art.

By the time I made my way back to my hotel, a little wet and a lot tired, I bought a bagel sandwich and pear tart. It was a yummy way to end the day.