We started our trip in first class, where the seats are stuffed with gold feathers. It was so nice that it was comical. They don’t hassle you about where your bags are or what’s in the seat back pocket in front of you when you take off. At one point, a flight attendant almost tripped over my bag (It was in the aisle, I was getting something I absolutely had to have) and I said, “Excuse me.” He didn’t really hear me, but another attendant did and rushed over to see what it was that I needed. I guess they aren’t used to polite people in first class!
We did a lot more on our first day in Paris than we expected. Our hotel room wasn’t quite ready when we arrived, but the hotel is one block from the Jardin de Tuileries, so we went to Musee l’Orangerie and Musee de Louvre during the morning. While walking in the Jardin de Tuileries, we counted the many joggers and wearers of white tennis shoes, both of which we read did not exist in Paris.
I am struggling with Frence, so I’ve made up nick names to help me remember places. For example, Musee l’Orangerie is “the lingerie store” and so forth. I only say these things under my breath to my mom. I don’t want anyone to KNOW I’m a stupid American tourist.
After we ran out of energy, we returned to the room for a nap. This hotel room is amazing. It’s huge with 4 windows that open (we also read that huge hotel rooms don’t exist in Paris either). And my mom must have ordered a special package with the reservations/accidently done the online equivalent of flashing the booking agent because they keep bringing us gifts. These gifts include a nice note from someone important here at the hotel along with a box of chocolates, which I can eat, and what we think is a car odor freshener that you hang from a rear view mirror, and later, a bottle of complimentary merlot. The front desk clerk, Francoi, even escorted us to our room the first time, taking care to show us where the light switches were and how the air conditioning worked, etc. Everyone is very nice here, even though we read that nice people don’t live in France.
After our nap, we went to dinner at Chez Flottes, where the server was very sweet and understanding when we told him about my allergies, so he recommended a dish and made the proper accommodations, no butter, no sauce, etc. I also was able to get dessert, which may not happen again here, so I enjoyed it... green apple sorbet with calvados (which I pronounced correctly in perfect Spanish along with our Spanish speaking server, it's some kind of liquor, but I don't remember what kind because of my excitement over the pronunciation).
We then caught a cab, which also happened to be a Merecades, to a pier on the Siene River, right below the Eiffel Tower, and road on one of the boat tours. It was a good end to our first day in Paris. The cab, ride, however, was one of the highlights of the day because it turned out to be a “high speed chase around Paris” tour/simulation that kept us on the edge of our seats.
Time to go, mom is already waiting for me in the café downstairs. Today is our bike tour of the Monet gardens. I’ll let you know how it goes! (When I checked my spelling after posting, I realized I had typed Money Gardens. That would have been nice, too.)
I will leave you with some interesting quips from our first class experience:
Me to Flight Attendant #1: "I would like champagne, please."
Flight Attendant #1: "We don't have champagne, but we do have sparkling wine. I'll bring you some."
Me to Flight Attendant #2: "I would like another glass of sparkling wine, please."
Flight Attendant #2: "We don't have sparkling wine, but we do have champagne. I'll bring you some."
The Persian woman next to use hit her arm on the arm rest and then said to me, "I think I'm drunk."
Me, to my mom and the Persian woman: "First Class likes to keep you in a state of intoxication. They keep offering us more refills. They want to keep us happy."
Persian Lady: "Then I am very happy."
Mom, after a nap between dinner and dessert: "Is that the ice cream cart? It's not? Oh... well wake me up when the ice cream comes."
2 comments:
- Erica said...
- Hahaha!!! So, so, SO jealous of you - I've never flown first class; there's an ICE CREAM CART?!!! I always thought that first-class just meant a few extra inches of leg room and slightly wider seats. I WAS SOOOO WRONG.
- August 16, 2010 8:04 AM
- Erica said...
- Wait - I was so excited about your flight that I didn't comment on your actual activities in Paris. I don't know why people say that there aren't big hotel rooms and that people don't wear tennis shoes/jeans/etc. Weird. Your hotel sounds fancy shmancy. Looks like you're gonna have a MUCH better stay than we did! (I think my bed at our hostel might have had bedbugs!) I bet your boat tour was nice - looks like you had a great first night!
- August 16, 2010 8:06 AM
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