Back in Paris and Palais Garnier
Where did I leave off? Obviously I have been very slack with writing my blog. I do have quite a few things to catch you up on! I'll need to break it down into a few posts.
6/11
Our last morning in Nice!
We woke up super early to catch the train to Paris. It only took 5 hours. Shorter than the drive from Atlanta to Raleigh.
After arriving in Paris we headed straight to our AirBnB. Because we were so spoiled with such amazing accommodations before we had to have a bit of bad luck thrown in right? Pierre greeted us and welcomed us to our loft. Thankfully there was an elevator and no crazy stairs. 😅
tiny elevator.
As we were getting settled we couldn't help but also notice how hot it was. Before booking I had asked the hostess if she had a fan or two to create some air circulation and give relief from the hot summer days. Top floor, in a sunny apartment, during the summer? It was bound to be hot. She insured us that she had one. Pierre (her helper/friend) didn't know where it was and told us to contact Anais about it. The hostess was out of town, actually in another country. So she was hard to contact.
To wait for her response and escape the baking apartment we decided to walk up the street to McDonald's. Yes. Judge us. We don't care! It was delicious.
Who'd ever think McDonald's could look this good?
After hours went by we hadn't heard from the hostess. We were a little miserable. We noticed mold all over the shower and the shower curtain. Two of three living room lights were missing light bulbs. Two of the three bathroom lights were BROKEN. The couch was dirty. The HDMI cord was broken so the tv didn't work. NO FAN! It was a mess. Also, to add our AirBnB host still had not contacted us.
At least we had a good view.
The weather started to get crazy. The wind was howling and now the main window wouldn't shut. It kept blowing open. Again we try to contact our host and see if there is some special way to close it. No answer. We see the handle is loose and the bottom is not aligned. So we aligned it and voila it closed.
Next day, still no word from our hostess and the window now won't open. It was stuck. this sunny apartment now has no air circulation whatsoever.
6/13
The weather in Paris has been sunny and warm! Not a drop of rain. We needed to get out and get fresh air. It was actually cooler outside than in our apartment.
We decided to stop by a local boulangerie for baguettes 🥖
Last year we couldn't go on Champs de Mars because it was closed for the Euro Cup. We finally got to sit under the Eiffel Tower! She is just so magnificent.
After a couple of hours and a bottle of wine we decided to walk around. It was time to journey to the Opera!
On our way we stumbled upon the location where Princess Diana was in her car accident. It was very moving. We stood there for moment to look at all the pictures.
We walked around 6 miles this day! Here are some pictures from our walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Opera.
My favorite bridge in Paris decked out in gold.
"I love goooooold." - Goldmember
No one seem startled by the smoke. Never heard about what it was.
We finally made it!
This has to be one of my favorite buildings in Paris. If you know me well, you know my obsession with the Phantom of the Opera. The story was based here. It is not considered a true story, but many of the events actually happened. Like the chandelier accident. It wasn't the actual chandelier, but two counterweights that fell. There is also a "lake" underneath the opera House! Supposedly a branch of the Seine kept flooding the construction site. They decided to contain the water and build on top of it instead of moving the Opera. AHH!
I could go on and on about it, but enjoy all of our pictures from our visit to Palais Garnier.
Walking down the Grand Staircase! Also, girl to the right was judging.
There it is! Box number 5, the Phantom's Box. Always leave Box number 5 open.
"Close your eyes and let the music set you free!"
They say box number 5 had a hollow column where the Phantom would watch the plays and ballets from. He hid there so no one could see him. Also, when you peek through the windows the only box that's wasn't lit was box number 5.
The Grand Foyer was my favorite part. Completely took my breath away. It was designed after the Palace of Versailles!
Totally recommend visiting the Opera if you are in Paris. Try to see a show, it is only 15€! We somehow ran out of time.
After leaving we walked back home to our enferno. This was just the beginning of what was a horrible experience with AirBnB. I probably won't talk about it much further, but for a quick conclusion she only contacted us once and did not resolve anything. NOT until I contacted AirBnB customer service she contacted us again apologizing and had a friend come by and fix what she could. The window was never repaired. AirBnB gave us $100 for our trouble even though we requested to leave. They wouldn't give us more because they saw Anais was "trying." We reached out to Anais about some kind of refund and we have yet to hear from her a week later.
6/14
We walked to it local Starbucks because I was craving a Grande Latte! Again there's an "e" at the end of my name!
After spending the day walking around the city and window shopping we decided to grab dinner at a local cafe and it was delicious! We haven't had a bad meal yet. Afterwards we decided to find a bar with live music!
We found this place called the Celtic Corner. Filled with locals and there was actually a group meeting there for beer and practicing their English!
6/15
Today is the day we met with Lourdes! Lourdes is a consecrated woman living in Paris! We are helping her with a girls camp planned for the week of 6/19-6/23.
On the way to the house we had to find some ice cream. On our walk we noticed a man setting up for a big jump into the Trocadero fountain. It's very shallow. I'm pretty sure he was drunk.
After watching this man flail around in the water we continued our hike up to the Regnum Christi house.
Some of you may not know, but half of our adventure is being spent volunteering.
During our meeting we learned that we would be teaming up and teaching an English class as well as a cooking class. We also found out who our host family would be.
After our meeting we walked passed this beautiful bunch of Peonies. They were perfect for our shoot the next day.
We spent the rest of the night grooming and prepping for our sunrise session with Margaret Kathleen Photography. We're so thankful to be able to capture our one year anniversary in Paris.
I'm going to end this post here! It's already too long! Tomorrow I will try to update the following days. Our anniversary photoshoot, meeting new friends, a boat bar on the Seine, and our one year anniversary!
Until then, au revoir!
Love,