Instead of a book review for September…welcome to the travel log <3
As I look through my journal for the trip, the first entry was June 16th. Our Sarah had come for a visit that weekend and Russ was telling her about a tour company that a friend had recommended for the D Day beaches of Normandy. While I was finishing up dinner, I could hear those two chattering away over Russ’s iPad and the next thing I knew we were booked for a six day tour with Beaches of Normandy.
Of course I started immediately the following day to document every hurdle, every question, every fear – I turned them into prayers and one by one, God answered them. I have smiled as I have been reading through it from the inception of the adventure knowing from this side how He worked.
On the 16th of September, three days before departure, I was wrestling with what to pack and how to keep our passports, credit cards and cash safe. I was also starting to fret about how we would navigate the various modes of transportation needed to get to our hotels and meet up points for the tour. My entry that morning started with the Scripture focus from my morning quiet time:
And the gracious hand of our God protected us
and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way.
Ezra 8:31
That morning, this little verse jumped out of my reading and gave me comfort. I can attest that it proved true for us as one by one, the things I had prayed about ahead of time seemed to fall into place. The concerns I had were not solved before we left but rather would find an answer as we needed them.
An example presented itself as we sat at our gate in the JFK airport in New York waiting for our connecting flight to Paris. We knew we would have a tight connection on our return that would include going through customs and a re-entry through the domestic TSA channel.
We had prayed about this and decided to go ask an agent who was at one of the gate desks near us. She was confident we would never make it to our connection unless we downloaded an app called MPC mobilepassportcontrol that expedites the customs process.
You all know how paranoid I am about technology and apps, right? But there I was, sitting in the middle of the airport, downloading an app, scanning passports and recording our photos and setting things up for our return.
Every time I would think about trying to open that app on landing in New York for our return, trying to get it all processed and finding our way to the right line in the customs area, anxiety would arise.
But I would remember each time all the ways God had led us thus far and I would say a simple prayer that He would helps through. That sweet agent must have been an angel planted just for us. The app was good as gold, we were moved to a short line and made it to our gate with 24 minutes to spare before boarding.
Another gift came when we were finally able to check into our hotel in Paris. Details about that little surprise will be revealed as you read on. We had no idea how to go about selecting a place to stay so Russ contacted our tour group for some ideas. We used their list of suggestions and landed on Les Jardins d’Eiffel.
This little hotel is in the 7th arrondissement. It ended being a cute little neighborhood type setting and offered easy walking to the Eiffel Tower, Seine River, and many other of our top picks for the two days we had to spend in the city.
Directly across the street from us was this charming patisserie. We had our first croissants here as we dropped our luggage off with the staff and set out to explore the city on our arrival. We did not eat our breakfasts here the next two days though, because the hotel had the BEST complimentary breakfast buffet.
After dropping off our luggage off and getting our bearings, we walked the few blocks to see the Eiffel Tower. We had been warned that pickpockets will try to distract you and sure enough we were approached by two different groups with petitions, but again prayers were answered and a firm “no” was enough to send them in another direction.
After viewing the Eiffel tower, we walked toward the Seine River. We soon discovered everything was within easy walking distance and we could navigate fairly well. It was nice to be able to go back to the hotel for restrooms and water and to access internet to figure out the next plan. We may have had another croissant and then decided to find the Musee D’Orsay. This was one of my top three things to see. Russ was insistent we purchase entry tickets and I am so thankful.
The Museum is an old train station that was renovated and houses an amazing collection of art. It was absolutely breathtaking. The photo at the beginning of this was taken in the interior. I literally cried standing inches away from the Impressionists I had studied in French class so many years before.
We were growing weary and headed back towards the hotel with a lunch stop along the way. Our choice was perfect as it was a traditional French brasserie complete with paper cloth on tables and all the charm. It was called Le Roussillon and we enjoyed it thoroughly. Sarah had insisted I try the confit (duck), so my order was easy. And oh my. It was delicious.
We found the servers to be very kind, actually we found just about everyone in Paris to be very nice. They were patient with my attempts to use French and were quick to offer us English menus or answer questions. We were so surprised to have cars stop for us when we were waiting to cross the streets. Bicyclists are another story, but we learned to yield to two wheelers!
After lunch, we were able to check into our room and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I pulled the curtains across to see what our window view was. Yes. Without asking for it specifically, we were given one of the rooms with this view outside our window.
Since our bodies and minds were tired, we decided to take the early evening cruise on Bateaux Parisienne. It was an hour long ride down the Seine and back. The guide gave excellent information about the landmarks as we passed.
People along the shore and in other boats would wave and we enjoyed this immensely. We had decided the Île de la Cité, where the Notre Dame and the Saint-Chapelle are located, were not doable for us with the time given. This was the next best option to be able to view them so closely from the boat.
After the ride we found the cutest cafe to rest and refresh. It was called Le Malabar. I told Russ, if the store where I worked was a cafe…this would be what it looked like.
After some time just relaxing and people watching, it was back to hotel in time to see the amazing tower all aglitter as we had been promised.
My heart was so full. If we had to leave that next morning, I could not have asked for a better day in the city I have dreamed of seeing. We were also pretty tuckered and slept well.
I want to share links for the places we visited if possible, in case you are planning a trip yourself. I do not receive any kind of payment or credit for these, just putting here to be helpful. We purchased our tickets on site and had no difficulty. September seems to be a less busy time to visit.
Our hotel: https://www.hoteljardinseiffel.com/en/
Bateaux Parisiens https://www.bateauxparisiens.com/english.html
Le Malabar https://www.lemalabarparis.com/?lang=en