Paris - Take 1

                       IAH - DFW - LHR - CDG/Charles De Gaulle Airport

                               1st Leg of 2018 Anniversary Trip

How did we get there?

 We flew American from Houston to Dallas, Dallas to London and then British Airways from London to Paris.

I should mention that we were originally scheduled to arrive at CDG around 9 am on the 19th, but due to some issues with American Airlines we didn't arrive until close to 630pm. So we lost an entire day.

Shuttle:

We took the train from CGD (There is a train station in the basement) to right around the catacombs. We took an Uber from there to our Condo. Our uber driver was awesome. He stopped close to the Eiffel for us to let us get some pictures and even offered to take a few for us.  We had a bit of a language barrier but that didn't stop him from being extremely nice and pleasant. It was very much appreciated.

We found that we didn't need to rent a car to do things within the city. I think that we will on our next trip as we want to venture out to the country side.

Where did we sleep?

Apartment CMG Suite Premium Tour Eiffel VII - In the 16th Arr.
(Note: They have several towers so if this one is booked there are several more to choose from) We booked via booking.com as most of the hotels we wanted to try were fully booked. Again, we tend to do things last minute. Couple that with my need for perfection and we are booking up almost to the time of departure. But the apartment had everything I was looking for,

HUGE TUB, kitchenette, television, king sized bed and most importantly PERFECT location. We were literally a walk away from everything. There were no extra frills, but it was comfortable & stylish. That's what we look for in a place when we are on a non relaxation vacation.

What did we do?

After the train, uber and getting into the apartment it was pretty late and dark. But we didn't let that stop us from getting out to explore the city. We looked up some restaurants neat the apartment and found there were quite a few nearby (within 5-10 minutes walking). So we hit the street and found that we had to climb quite a few flights of stairs in order to get to where we needed to go. After almost passing out on the stairs we found ourselves around a few restaurants and chose "    ". More on how the food was later. 

Day 2:
 We woke up a bit late and finally made it out at about 1130 am with no real destination in mind aside from breakfast and walking to the Eiffel. Which we discovered was super close about 7 minutes away but you could see it once you hit the corner. We walked around it a bit, took a few pictures. There were a lot of souvenir vendors but we opted not to make any purchases this early in the day because we didn't want to carry them around all day. We were also requested to sign some petitions but please be careful this is a way to distract you for pick-pocketing. They are working in 2's and 3's. 
 We contemplated having crepes from a vendor near the Eiffel but decided we wanted to try some real food. and just started walking until we walked upon a street full of eateries and just randomly chose one. Mistake. It wasn't that good, but the service was good. 

 Once we finished eating we just started walking and we ended up in front of the Army museum. We were searched and then allowed in the gates. I'm not sure if this is standard practice or if security was heightened because there was a car show. We walked around the outside garden area and admired some of the vehicles. We declined to actually go inside and decided to do more walking around. Directly across the street we found a set of statues. And it was really cool to see statues of people who looked like our kids. Its so important, so we took a few pics to take home to them. 
   We kept walking and ended up inside of this amazing bakery La Boulangerie Des

Invalides. We ate croissants, other deserts, and wine for about an hour and a half. It was extremely cozy and everyone inside was extremely nice. And the food and drinks were perfect. This is the place that made us fall in love with authentic cappuccinos. It was close to closing time so they didn't have as many items. Which isn't a big deal because we knew we'd be back. Its a pretty petite place with about 6 small tables. We noticed most came in to buy fresh bread before heading home for the night.
 This is also where we learned that the French are very "handsy". Everything is done with bare hands. If you happen to see this don't freak out this is pretty normal practice, consider it a cultural difference.

 Once the crowd completely thinned out, we made our way out and began walking again. Notice the theme here? And we walked into a Franprix near the 7th Arr to buy water and etc for the apartment. Franprix is awesome! They have fresh juice machines, liquor, food, meat, diapers, beauty supplies, fresh fruit and vegetables. You name it they have it. Mr.C had to try the fresh juice so we bought a large orange juice. It was really cool watching the oranges drop, get cut, be squeezed and end up in our container. And it was DELICIOUS, and fresh. Its kind of difficult to drink any other orange juice once you've had the best. and this was definitely it. We made our purchase and stuffed everything into Mr.C's backpack.
  And back to more walking around. When Mr.C had

to use the restroom so we wandered into a bar so that he could use their facilities. He had craft beer and I had a nice bordeaux. From there we caught an uber back to the apartment and that was it for Paris take 1. Stay Tuned part II is to follow because we came back after Rome.