Paris Day 1 - The Arrival

Wednesday July 24^th – Paris Day 1

It is 11:45 AM Paris time, and we’ve finally arrived from Madrid. I actually gasped when the plane landed…Am I really here? Craziness...It’s a hot one today around 86 degrees, and the distinct lack of air conditioner is noticeable at the Orly airport while waiting for our luggage. Melitza had no hope that the bags would arrive given our tardiness in getting our boarding passes at Logan. Luckily, I did not have to wait long. The bags arrived quickly and off we were to use the ATM! Took out 200 Euros and off I went to make my first purchase – an orange soda and a red bull. Yeah, I l know, exciting! Luckily we had already paid for admission to the bus which if my calculations are correct, would drop us off within 5 minutes walking distance from the hotel. 

 

Off we go, on the road towards Paris. Traffic is so weird here… lanes are narrow and cars are small. The bus trots along like an 18 wheeler and I just hope to make it in once piece. As you enter Paris from the South end, you notice tons of graffiti and run down buildings. Looks like a bomb went off here and vegetation has taken over the buildings as its new tenants.

Once we leave the artwork scenery the real Paris comes to light. The buildings, the tiny apartments with their balconies, the tourists, the cafes…! The closer we get to the stop I begin to recognize some of the highlights of Paris.  Pont Neuf, Le Grand Palais, Musee D’Armee and then the Eiffel catches the corner of my eye and that is when I suddenly come to realize, I am actually here. The stop comes to a halt a few feet off the Arc de Triomphe. What a majestic view. Melitza reminds me that I am actually walking in Paris. I just nod my head. There are 6 avenues that end at the Arc, with one of them being Avenue Carnot, where our hotel lies.

We drag our luggage downhill towards the Hotel Astrid, our bones barely hanging on to us, and within minutes we enter. To our left is a cozy room where they serve breakfast. The hotel attendant (I never caught her name) greets us with the ubiquitous Bon Jour. I respond with a Bon Jour of my own though not as guttural as hers. It actually sounds like she ends it with a ‘grrrrr’ of sorts…She quickly surmises that we are tourists. Referring to us as Monsieur and Madame Lopez. This is awesome.  She hands over the key to room 527 (cinquant veinte-sept), which weighs as much as a 20 pound barbell, and off we go.

The elevator is more like a coffin than an elevator. Fits at most 5 people…I take the luggage with me while Melitza decides it’s best to climb 5 stories. Once we finally figured out how to open the door (by sheer luck…), we head in. The room is tiny but cute with a closet, a mounted TV a desk, a small table and a pretty big bathroom. But the highlight of the room is its old style window which opens into an awesome view of the buildings across the avenue, with its red-tiled roofs.  I stick my head out and look towards my right, and there it is… the Arc de Triomphe in all its glory, welcoming us to Paris.