Day of Relaxation in Montmartre

 Today was a day of rest and relaxation for us at the apartment and in the neighborhood. We are staying at 9 rue Francoeur in Montmartre. Even though we had thunderstorms today, we enjoyed a walk in the neighborhood. Here are some photos from our walk today.

 

Out of all of these delicious looking items, none of them taste good. We just stick with our baguettes. Grab them on the go, warm, and have them eaten by the time we are around the block. 

Notice, no pictures of our bread. It's gone right quick like. 

I might have to start putting a stick of butter in my backpack.

 I should also consider walking more miles in a day.

The photo on the left is our door on the street. Once inside that door, the photo on the right is the 2nd door that leads you inside our building. The little lift is straight ahead and the locked door to our recycle bins is on the right. Bicycles are also stored in the same room.

There are spiral wood stairs on the left going up 6 full floors to our apartment.

 Isaiah takes those since 3 people won't fit in the lift. 

Productive day with the laundry "at home" too!

And, we went to the store (next door) again. These carts are the absolute best.

 So light and easy to maneuver in all directions. 

Isaiah's favorite cookies, only 16 in a box. 

The correct milk and juice. 

 Best sandwich fixings.

Dax's cereal and bread (toast).

The correct butter and jam.

June 1, Journey from London to Paris

London to Paris

We began our day taking the Hoppa Bus to Terminal 2 LHR,

 then the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station,

 grabbed a cab to St. Pancras Station, 

took the Eurostar to Paris,

 and jumped in another cab to our apartment in Montmartre. 

The boys relaxed in first class on the Heathrow Express with lots of leg room and silence. Too bad it's only a 15 minute ride. We could have done this all day. Ha! 

Our most fun experiences of traveling together simply involve the people we meet.  

Our taxi driver from Paddington to St. Pancras was fabulous.

 Charles has been married for 56 years and worked as a taxi driver for 45 years 

and retires in just 16 days. 

We were blessed to have him as our driver. 

What a delightful man from the Colindale area. 

 The Eurostar (Chunnel) from London to Paris. Isaiah had his first Toblerone bar.

Dax and Isaiah both watched some Indiana Jones. 

Also we met two couples from Tasmania. Fun conversations. 

Arrived at the dirty Gare du Nord in Paris. You have to pay nearly a Euro now to pee. We saw dogs peeing in the station. Guess they didn't want to pay. They do, however, now have a Starbucks with outdoor seating (since there are zero seats in the station). 

We were pleased to see armed military security up the wazoo. 

Big guns, loaded magazines.

We encountered a stupid man aggressively screaming to lure us to his trashy trunk cab. We chose the nonviolent approach and used colorful French words to assure he would go away, "Allez Vous Bai***" We found the perfect cabby from southern Lebanon. Dax pointed out that Beirut was the Paris of the Middle East in the early 70s. Cabby agreed. He had no problem getting us safely to our apartment.

Oh how we have missed this place. Here are the views from top floor apartment. 

The first four photos are out the front.

Dax eating some cereal and Isaiah's mezzanine.

We did walk 10 feet next door to get some groceries when we arrived. Our little store has received a little upgrade. More selection and cleaner! Lucky us.