MACY'S IS AWESOME MAN
The 2 days sale they are having is "like totally awesome"!! I have a travellers card that gives me 10% off and this applies to already discounted items! I get 70% off the cost of a ‘Guess’ top and buy a couple of other items for prices that are just plain silly. This is so great – I can’t remember the last time I wore anything that wasn’t a plain black t-shirt and jeans. I'm really happy and consider flying to New York each season to do my clothes shopping.
New York is the place to shop.
We grab a quick cuppa at Starbucks and a bite to eat then head back to the hotel to grab our luggage and catch the pre-booked shuttle to the airport. Jan has advised us that traffic is bad on the way so we allow an addional hour which works out really well.
BACK TO JFK AIRPORT AGAIN
We get to bypass the self service check in thanks to Charlie (yay) so we check in fast and head through to wait in the lounge.
Charlie needs to burn some energy so I start racing her up and down the terminal. Pretty soon we have a following of all the other kids (she realy likes two little Lebanese boys aged 4 and 8 who think she is so cute) and she leads them with "ready setty go" in more races on her own. They all speak different languages and a little English but fun and laughter is universal :) I sit back with the other parents and watch them - I think everyone see's the plan and we all hope the kids sleep during the flight.
I tell Charlie we are going o the plane soon ad she stops playing and gets a strange look about her so I crouch down to talk to her and find out what's wrong. What's wrong bubba? I say. She says "I'm sad Mummy" .. why are you sad? I don't want to go on the plane Mummy. Why not bubba? I want to stay here with the boys. But the boys are coming on the plane too Charlie. We're all going to Paris together honey.
Her language skills have improved so much in the last week. It's surprising to hear her speak her own mind and converse with people rather than just responding to OUR conversations.
AND OFF TO PARIS WE GO
The flight was not as easy as the first. We stayed up late and planned to sleep during the flight but Charlie had other ideas. She wouldn' sleep until one hour before touch down by which time we were really frazzled. She is very active these days. She wanted to talk to everyone. The girls infront of us played with her and gave her a littlest pet shop doggy. They asked if she could sit with them for a while and I said 'yes' and handed her over (wohoo!) ....
... then she wandered down and found the boys again and sat with them for a while watching them play Nintendo. Otherwise she wanted to stand up and climb all over me most of the flight. Annoying when you are tired.
We were so happy to finally get a little sleep when she crashed. I had to be quite stern with her and repeatedly tell her to lie down and go to sleep. Eventually she conceded.
PARIS CUSTOMS ... COME ONE COME ALL
Paris customs and immigration was so funny. No cards to fill out no discussion about food etc. We just walked through after our passports and tickets were checked. WOW. We kept waiting to be stopped and told off - like maybe we missed something. So different to Australia and America. So here we are! We are in PARIS! The city of love.
UN RER ET LE METRO
We have to get three trains to the 'Hotel Comfort' where we are staying. We have three cases, a stroller, a packpack and another tote as well as Charlie in the Beco. OMG this is crazy. We try to work out the train maps and the directions we have for the hotel but we're not really 100% sure so I find an information desk. (Cabs have never been an option without a car seat for Charlie). This is the first time (for me) in a country where English is not the main language and I nervously say "Bonjour Madame. Parlez vous Anglais" to the attendant. She does! She grabs a Metro Map and looks at a lot of books to consider the route then maps out our stops and explains it in English. Cool. We are set. We were pretty much right but it's nice to get confirmation!
PARISIANS DO NOT SMILE
The journey is interesting... we fumble with our luggage finding many broken lifts and having to navigate massive flights of stairs with all the cases and the stroller. Thank goodness we have missed peak hour is what we think!! Parisians help us without being asked but they have this air of begrudgedness (lol is that a word??) and never smile or make eye contact. A few people tsk tsk. No one smiles the way they do in Australia - when they see Charlie and I smile at them I get nothing in return.
We eventually find our hotel and are told check in is 1pm so we leave our baggage with Veronique the concierge (who seems a little sour at first) and head out to find food. Everything is REALLY expensive and the Aussie dollar does not convert well here. We find a little cafe bar and I speak French as much as I can to ask about food and coffee. No food for 40 mins so we order coffee and wait. It's Sunday afternoon and this place is full of a few locals who must come here often. I feel really self conscious here. It's not a touristy area at all and we stick out like dogs balls. I don't feel welcome yet. I am in a bad mood and tired and at this stage I don't like Paris or French people.
The waiter puts some cool lounge music on and smiles at Charlie and speaks a little English. I ask him to choose a red for me. We order food. Vege lasagne and Ant has a lentil dish. Yum. Charlie giggles as a hatch lifts and a very tall man comes out from under the small bar counter - they must keep supplies in a cellar down there. We pay then go check in at the hotel.
THIS HOTEL REALLY SUCKS
I am taken aback when we get the lift. It fits four people apparently. I am dubious that four will fit and Charlie and I go on ahead. Even with two it's claustrophobic.
I am shocked when I see the room. What a contrast to the 2 star accom. in New York!!! It's small, ugly, and hot. No way! We are in floral bedspreadville. And it's not ground floor like we booked. Is this a downgrade or an upgrade. This sucks. I am not happy. I go to help Ant with the bags. The elevator opens and if I were in a better mood I would have cracked up. Ant is crammed in with all the cases and stroller. If I weren't there to help I doubt he would have been able to extract himself. Hehe.
It's not good I say. Prepare yourself :)
Note, in this image I have removed the floral bedspread to improve the room somewhat (and yes that is a wall either side 1 foot from the bed).
Well we think... it's just for sleeping. We decide that we should do the same as we did in the US and just go to sleep till the next day to avoid jetlag. Seemed to work last time. The room is really hot. We eventually figure out how to open the window But we wake up at 3am and watch a little TV. Then we bide our time waiting for Paris to wake up. La lala la laaaaa. Tap tap tap tap. The moon is still out... waiting waiting.
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