Wuppertal to Paris
This was our travel day to Paris, but before leaving Wuppertal, I just have to mention our hotel’s interesting setup. In the girls’ room, there was a glass mirror between the main room and the bathroom. From the bathroom, you could see into the main room, but from the main room, the glass was only a mirror that allowed someone in the bathroom to have privacy. Our room did not work this way. From inside the bathroom, it was kind of a mirrored glass that you could see through. From the main room, it was a puzzle. Someone sitting at the desk had a clear view directly into the bathroom.
The view when sitting at the desk in the hotel room. Why?
This made no sense to me. Why would you want to have eye contact with someone at the desk while you are using the toilet? Had I not felt the need to be next door to the girls, I would have asked for a room switch. Improper installation? Just a weird option for guests? Not ok. You needed a certain amount of trust that your roommate would ignore you and wouldn’t let anyone else into the room while the bathroom was occupied.
Our hotel desk was not staffed for most of the day, and that meant that when I wanted to call a taxi and 6:30 am, I was on my own. The first place I called could not understand me and I could not understand them, so I had to hang up. The next place I called seemed to understand where I needed to be picked up, so I just had to hang up and cross my fingers. We got lucky and had a ride to the train station.
Fast train to Paris
The train to Paris took much of the day. On arriving, we were met by a sea of taxi drivers waving signs saying “$45 anywhere in city.” We instead walked a block away, ordered our first Uber ride, and got to our apartment for $14. This started my love for Uber in Paris. We had planned to meet our apartment owner at 1:00, and we arrived just a few minutes early. The apartment was perfect for our needs. Mike and I had the back bedroom, the girls had a fold out sofa in the living room, and we had both a bathroom and kitchen.
Happy with our Paris apt.
The girls and I set out to get groceries, and we ended up going for a long walk. The Euro16 Championship game was happening at a stadium nearby, and the FanZone was set up in the park at the Eiffel.
Ticket holders lining up for the FanZone events at Euro16
The nearby groceries were closed because of the FanZone traffic and security, so we had to explore before we found one. We did not find ready-made sandwiches like we’d hoped because the soccer fans were buying sandwiches and beer in massive quantities and had cleared most of the shelves. We instead bought pasta and drinks and breakfast food before going back to the apartment.
After a snack, my afternoon plan was to make it as far as the Rodin museum so I could buy museum passes for the next morning (I’d read online that the trick is to get them at a small museum where the lines are short so you don’t need to stand in line at a larger museum to buy your pass). The family was ready to walk, so we all visited the Rodin gardens for the last hour the museum was open. The super awesome ticket seller let me know we could visit the gardens for free and save a day of our four day museum pass for later. We only had time for the gardens anyway, so this was a huge savings. She also let us know that I didn’t need a ticket for Julia at all because anyone under 16 gets into museums for free. Julia was happily a child for the rest of the trip.
Invalides: The Museum of Contemporary History
Musee Rodin gardens
The Thinker
Rodin gardens: sculptures
Musee Rodin gardens: sometimes you take a picture and don’t quite realize what’s right behind you until later
The gardens were beautiful, and in the late afternoon heat, they were a good way to spend time outside
Walking home: Outside the Army Museum
We finished the day by making some pasta and sitting on their patio watching the sun go down while listening to the Euro16 fans.
This may have been close to 10:30 pm. The sun didn’t completely set until almost 11:00.
The Eiffel takes on France’s colors for the game
