We wake up to a cloudy day. Oh, Nice is slated to have plenty of sunshine in the days ahead. Lovely temperatures as well -- certainly nicer than what we will have in Paris, but still, it does feel like the skies have shut their doors, at least temporarily, to all that sunshine that was our friend for three days running.
It's good to leave a place right after breakfast. Those trips where I'd have half a day to explore before taking off were always unrewarding. I'd take that extra walk gauging the minutes, not really letting myself feel part of my surroundings anymore, thinking of the travel that was ahead. And so on this day too, I booked a flight to Paris that has us leaving our hotel shortly after breakfast.
(down the splendid stairs -- with a yawn!)
(a plate of favorites)
(a plate of favorites)
(one last Negresco cappuccino)
Yes, booked a flight, which has to be strange, considering how much I love train rides. It's just that the train ride from Nice to Paris is just that much too long. Six and a half hours, and there's a change involved -- never great when you have lots of luggage and a kid to mind. Alone, you can miss your connection and figure out an alternative. With Snowdrop in tow, it becomes more of a headache. Besides, I've accumulated enough miles to give us a free flight. A little over an hour and we're in Paris.
Well, Paris airport -- not a favorite place to arrive at for sure. Splurging on a cab does you no favors: it's a very stop-and-go ride in afternoon traffic. I much prefer the commuter train (even when their are delays as today), so we make our way to it and eventually we are in the city...
(so green! so many interesting dogs!)
... and walking to Le Baume hotel -- the incredibly lovely home of mine for all my trips to this city. The place where every minute is an exhale, a joy, a thrill really. I have my favorite two rooms -- I'll take either, they both have three big windows that look out on the street. They're both splendid.
(What happened to lunch today? Well, we helped ourselves to a couple of almond croissants from downstairs)
(Snowdrop and I always use the stairs when we leave; we've always admired the photos on the stairwell walls, but we'd never noticed that "Odette" was with a "petit chien" who looks remarkably like a dog we know back home)
This is when travel starts to be easy. No stress, no pressure. Walk this way, or that -- each direction brings a mix of the familiar with the new. How can you not love days here?!
I was surprised to read at the airport that one of the museums here is having a Matisse exhibition, featuring some of the better known work of his -- the lemons, for example, that have been feature prominently in my guest room, from farmhouse to the Edge, and now in Sally's House. It would be great to cap our Matisse exploration here in Paris, but I am actually too late. The exhibition is new and not surprisingly, all tickets for our dates are sold out.
We have other museum plans, but not for today. I unpack, we rest a bit, and then head out to the Luxembourg Gardens. Just to see what's blooming there now in March.
(we seek out the corner with daffodils... yes! they're here!)
Afterwards, we stop at a store to get pj's for Sandpiper. Dont ask -- it's a long story.
We have a dinner reservation for 7 p.m. but we're right by our chosen restaurant a half hour before that. As luck would have it, they're one of those places where they dont close between lunch and dinner. I can count such restaurants here on the fingers of one hand, and yet here we are, at Seulement Sea, at 6:30 and it's open. She loves this place for its oysters and fish and chips. It's one of those reliable eateries that wont cost a fortune and will deliver fresh seafood every time.
We walk back with our jackets zipped to our chins! It's nippy in Paris! Just 50F/10C at its peak. Some would say -- well, that's entirely reasonable for March. And it is, though Paris has had warmer days on Spring Break. But I have no complaints! We were to have rain all days here -- now the weather people are changing their minds. And in any case, I have said this too often -- rain in Paris is fine. Interesting even. A little awkward if you walk the more populated streets, but I have very many quite corners in the city, where no one will feel an umbrella bump.
We are home.
Back in our room again. Warm, quiet, beautiful. Content. At peace.
with so much love...
