Off to Paris!

 Sunday-Monday September 21-22, 2025.

We're in Paris safe and sound after uneventful but long and tiring air travel. Jet lag hasn't always been an issue for the two of us so I suppose it's age more than anything else, but traveling Sunday/Monday, while pretty uneventful, took it's toll on us physically. As a consequence, we enjoyed doing very little of anything Monday.

Our neighbor Don T. picked us up yesterday at about 11:30 amSunday morning  and drove us to the Grand Rapids Airport where we zipped through security. In fact there appeared to be more TSA staff working than travelers. We quickly settled in for our short wait to board for the Detroit leg of our flight which left right on time at a little before 2 pm.

Barely 30 minutes after leaving Grand Rapids we touched down in Detroit, and had a short wait for our carryon bags to be brought to the top of the jetway. (We usually check a bag or two but our recent trips have demonstrated we take far too much stuff. And anyway, it makes returning to the USA that much easier since we won't have to re-check our bags once we land in Detroit.)  We had plenty of time to amble through the underground tunnel at DTW to get ourselves to the connecting terminal and our Delta flight to Paris.

waiting in Grand Rapids

In Detroit we boarded a very full flight about 5:20 pm and departed right on schedule at 5:55 pm. The flight was smooth and quiet; the staff friendly and attentive but pretty busy; the food was mediocre as were the wines. We did watch the lovely Juliette Binoche film, Taste of Things, which set us in the right mood for going back to France. While Susie tried dozing I opted to rewatch The Princess Bride for the umpteenth time. 

Once we landed at Charles de Gaulle airport we made our way through Border Control -- which was a very convoluted and oddly disorienting maze of various lines shuttling hundreds of people one way or the other. But it went quickly and we were soon outside in search of a taxi. Fortunately, there was no queue for a cab and we were directed to the first one in line. Off we went lurching through the stop-and-start morning commute traffic that is the hallmark of nearly every major city on the planet. But our driver was a pro and we shared a most engaging conversation with him for the next hour or so before he dropped us off in front of our apartment on the Place d'Aligre.

entrance to our apartment building on Place d'Aligre.

We had a short wait for our host Roman to meet us outside the entrance. He soon pedaled up on a bike and, after introductions, we were led inside and up to the top floor apartment. Once we familiarized ourselves with the space we would occupy for the next nine nights, we bid our host adieu.

 

the view from our living room and bedroom overlooking the Place

After a short nap of about an hour or so we got ourselves together and headed out for a bite of lunch and to find the nearest grocery store. Both objectives were easily achieved right along our Place.

We came across a couple of lunch venues that were appealing but it was Parissi's that grabbed our attention. The staff spoke English with both a flair and a joviality that was hard to resist and their menu was right up our alley. Anyway, we ordered a glass of chablis, Susie had the Croque Monsieur and I had a Croque Madame, each with the requisite frites of course.

Parisii's bistro

lunch at Parisii's across the Place from our apartment

classic croques

After a leisurely and surprisingly filling meal we walked a block or so over to the Franprix grocery store right along the curve of the Place. We needed just a few necessities since we hope to pick up our fresh goods, produce and maybe cheese and fish at the indoor Marche Beauvau and the huge outdoor Marche Aligre on Tuesday (both are closed on Monday like so many other places in Paris).

grocery shopping right on the Place

Oh, and I think I have our weekly Navigo Metro passes charged up -- and we'll soon find out if I did it correctly!

Tomorrow its a museum day and testing out our Navigo passes!

How classic is this?