Paris Post

22-07-2016 Paris Time

Our flight to Paris took us through Chicago and then on a Boeing 777-200 across the “Pond.”  Both flights were really comfortable, with the Paris flight only being half full with tons of space.  However, I do not think either of us got more than 1-2 hours of sleep.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Jean Claude Cochet, Anne’s father.  The last time we saw him we were at his house in the country for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, and that was 4 years ago.  Wow!  He was excited to see us for sure, as well as us to see him.  We waited just for a short while and Thomas met up with us from the Metro.  We then all piled in Jean Claude’s van and drove to Anne and Thomas’ apartment in Paris.  The drive was long, about an hour to the 15th arrondissement, and we encountered lots of traffic, but that gave us time to talk in the van and catch up.

No naps for us!  Anne came home from work for lunch and we had some wonderful Lebanese food, talked more, and went on a short walk with Thomas while Anne went back to work.  Thomas is a great tour guide, being a born and raised Parisian.  He is an encyclopedia of eclectic knowledge. He can talk about everything from architecture to history to gastronomy to real estate prices to the Starbucks with the cheapest prices…I think you get the point.  Then we hopped on the Metro to meet Anne at a restaurant owned by one of Thomas’ clients.  The restaurant has a menu that changes weekly so it can provide farm-to-table organic food.  It was just what we needed.  The owner was even there and we chatted for a few minutes.

It is always fun catching Tomas off guard.  Got it!

The next day we went on a huge walking tour, just Katherine and myself.  We met Thomas at his gym located on the Champs-Elysees.  No joke!  There is a super fancy gym right in the craziest fancy shopping area in France, and Mr. Thomas trains people there.  He took us inside and we met clients and coworkers. 

From there, we walked around even more, back to the apartment sightseeing along the way.  I was beat!  Many miles walking in flip flops is not a good idea, but it sure conditions your feet.  We stopped by a sporting goods store called Decathlon.  It is a GIANT, American big-box style store with the best display of quality merchandise I have ever seen.  We grabbed a few last minute items and headed home, stopping by the market and boulangerie-pâtisserie for dinner supplies.  Thomas’ mother would be joining us, which excited us since we missed making her acquaintance on the last trip.

Bread choices are serious business.

Thomas tossed a chicken in the oven and Anne prepared the starters. Yum!  Dominique, Thomas’ mother arrived, we were happily greeted, and the chatting began.  Dominique was excited to show us a book she just edited about old style bread baking and preparing.  Her job was to translate it from English to French and it looked amazing.  We hit if off once she heard the Cuban music we chose to play.  She too, is a Buena Vista Social Club fan.  All was good after that!

Anne inspecting the awesome bread and Katherine is really pondering the moment.

Friday was our last day before heading to Chamonix for our trek.   We made a massive postal delivery.  We have a bag that has to meet us in Munich in 2 weeks with the dress cloths and items we will not need on the trek.  This was all crammed into a duffle bag weighing 38 lbs.  Yup, that’s a lot of shipping weight to Germany.  68 Euros worth.  Hopefully, it will be waiting at Robert’s apartment when we get there.

The other item is going back to the USA which is a gift, so we will keep a lid on it.  Just stuff you can’t get in the USA from a brand that does import there.  Let’s see if it makes it.

Packing!  All 4 bags were laid out and gear is accounted for.  I am writing this as we wait for Anne and Thomas to finish work for today.  When they get back, we will load the Citroen Saxo and head to Anne’s parent’s house.  Our dinner will be with them tonight, and then we will get dropped off at the train station for our ride to Chamonix-Mont Blanc.  Expect lots of photos in the upcoming posts.  

Thomas' super organized nuts and seeds.  No messing around here.

Water Filter Packing from Katherine Mathiasmeier on Vimeo.