Joyeux Noël

Christmas morning came  and instead of bringing more snow with it, it brought frigid temperatures and ice.  Naturally, Katie and I decided that it would be a great idea to go for an early morning run.  Katie spent a semester in Paris in college and it was there that she developed her love of running.  We decided to run to Parc Montsouris as this was where Katie used to run from her dorm.  From what Katie estimated, it would be about a 4 mile loop from the hotel, which seemed perfect.  Except it was absolutely freezing out.  And the sidewalks were covered in ice.  And somehow we made a wrong turn.  We did make it to the park, and headed back.  However, around mile 4, I hit a frozen wall and decided I needed to take the Metro back.  Riding the metro was a bad choice.  Not only did standing around make me even colder, but my legs completely seized up and my stomach started to rumble.  THEN, we emerged from the Metro right in the middle of Latin Quarter and had to run the remaining mile down streets that smelled of gyros and baguette.  It was cruel and unusual punishment! 

After our morning run (which the boys did not join us on, SHOCKER), we headed out towards the Eiffel Tower so that the Paris virgin in the group (Kevin) could see it.  Somehow, we got on a train that terminated at Les Invalides, so we decided to walk the rest of the way.  Normally, it would have been a nice walk along the Seine, but it was icy and cold and we got harassed by a stupid gypsy which kind of took away from the beauty of it. One of the benefits of it being so cold was that the Eiffel Tower was crawling with less tourists that it usually is.  However, our plans of going up into the tower were dashed by the huge line that would have forced us to wait in the cold.  Either way, we decided to snap a few obligatory photos before we headed off to our next destination.

 

Since it was Christmas, almost everything in Paris was closed.  However, as we walked by Hotel des Invalides on our way back to the Metro, we realized that while the museum was closed, the inner courtyard was open.  Since Kevin is a boy, I thought he would enjoy the former military barracks of Napoleon, so we wandered around inside for awhile so Kevin and John could appreciate the cannons and giant gun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the boys had their fill of jokes about “Napoleon’s balls”, we decided to head back to the hotel for a drink or two and a few rounds of "bananagrams” before our dinner cruise on the Seine. On the way, we passed my favorite place in Paris – the Rodin museum.  Unfortunately (or fortunately if you are Kevin), it was closed.  We also stopped to get more gyros for lunch.  You really can’t eat enough of them.

Unlike the daytime Seine boat I went on as a student, the cruise Katie booked us required fancy clothes and came with dinner and wine.  Anyone who knows me (and Katie), knows how much we love to dress up and thus I was extra excited about the cruise.  Even Kevin got into the spirit.  We made our way back towards the Eiffel Tower (carefully since it was even more icy than before).  I made a very smart decision to wear my pumas and carry my dress shoes (smart because these things literally are 6 inches high and I would have wound up in the river).  However, no sooner had I changed into more appropriate footwear and gotten inside, than we hit a snag.  The river was too high and the boat couldn’t go out!  They offered us the chance to still eat on the boat at a discounted rate, but since the discount was a mere 15 euros (not 50 as the women rudely corrected me), we decided to find another restaurant.  A bit of a letdown, but I was still able to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, and save 260 euros a couple, so in all, not the end of the world.   The restaurant we chose, recommended by our hotel, was fabulous.  The staff was legitimately  excited to have us in the restaurant, and the food was once again delicious.  If you are ever in the Rue Mouffetard area of Paris, check out Le jardin d'ivy.  You won’t regret it.