Friday, May 22, 2009. This morning we had to change hotels, because we had originally booked the Hotel Muget for two nights, with plans to travel to Bordeaux today. The house in Bordeaux is typically rented from Sat – Sat, and the owner could not guarantee us occupancy from Fri – Fri until we got very close to our travel dates. With the uncertainty about being able to get into the Bordeaux house, we decided to spend an extra day/night in Paris. We were unable to extend our stay at the Hotel Muget, and ended up selecting a hotel nearer to the train station where we will catch the very fast train going to Bordeaux.
We took a taxi to our new hotel in the morning, and the Lepplas ventured out for a completely touristy but really nice boat ride up and down the Seine afterwards. Dan scoped out our new neighborhood and enjoyed some quiet time.
Madeline had come down with a nasty cold on Sunday before our trip, Morgan caught the bug by Tuesday, and David was bitten with it by Thursday night. Still, he powered through, and we took the Metro like pros to the Invalides stop (ironically named.) The view of the city was beautiful from the water, and it was a gorgeous day. We saw Notre Dame from the boat, and had walked by it the day before, and planned to visit it after the boat ride. David wasn’t feeling well enough to slog through Notre Dame, and we decided to stay together and return to the area of our hotel, rather than separate.
Once we got back to our hotel, Dan was ready to go shopping with Margaux and me. David, Morgan and Madeline got some rest. We walked to a huge department store that was about 10 minutes away from our hotel. Margaux had injured her ankle in Softball prior to our trip and needed some shoes that would better accommodate her ankle brace.
We found the women’s shoe department in the Galleries Lafayette. After some time, a saleswoman asked us in English if we would like to try on any shoes. Margaux had located a pair that were of interest and showed them to the saleswoman. She explained that she only helped customers with selected shoe brands, and that we would have to get help from the heavily pierced man who was standing 10 feet away. Had we been interested in more than one brand, it might have been necessary to get the assistance of several salespeople!
We asked the next salesperson for assistance, and after experimenting to identify the correct European shoe size, Margaux selected a pair of shoes. Dan then asked the man about the “system” for making a purchase. I thought that was a very odd question, but being unable to communicate in French, I waited helplessly for the salesperson’s reply. Dan translated:
First. The salesperson will create a hand-written “ticket” describing the shoes and listing their price.
Second. We are free to continue shopping throughout the various departments, and we should ask other salespeople to create additional tickets for anything else we want to purchase.
Third. When we have found everything we want to buy, we go to a central cashier and pay for all of our items.
Fourth. We return to every department where we were before, and show the salespeople that we have paid for our items, at which point, they will give us our purchases. So simple and straightforward!
This process significantly dampened our enthusiasm for much additional shopping, so after some half-hearted exploration, we paid for the shoes and left.
We stumbled through an outdoor market, sort of a very cool flea market, and Dan insisted that we avoid lingering because he was certain that he would not be able to resist all the temptations there.
Later that evening, with everyone feeling much better, we enjoyed yet another outstanding meal in Paris, at Nuxis. The chef/owner Thierry Curiale could not have been more accommodating! For starters, David asked whether or not they had gin and tonics available. After some searching, they found a bottle of gin. Tonic? Not initially available. David asked if it would be alright if he went out to buy some tonic. The chef insisted on going to get the tonic himself!
The meal began with an amuse bouche of carrot soup, served in tiny mason jars. It was so delicious that Morgan vowed that if she ever has children, she will name her first child after Nuxis.
Won’t bore with a play by play of each course, but we enjoyed every element of our meal. We enticed the chef to pose with us for a happy photo near the end.
Photos with this post:
- Beautiful pillar with sculpture near the Seine.
- Notre Dame from the water
- Margaux on the Metro as we returned from the boat ride
- All of us at Nuxis.
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