Categories: Paris, Solo in France
Discussed in this Episode
- Annie's AirBnB problem
- Recording an episode with Oliver Gee from the Earful Tower
- Meeting Patricia
- Women's only Hammam in Paris
- Perfume-making class in Paris
- Solo travel in France
THIS IS AN AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED TRANSCRIPT
0:00
This is join us in France Episode 224. Bonjour, I’m Annie Sargent, it’s good to be back after a week away. And I appreciate you being back listening. I know there are a lot of podcasts out there, many of them about France even. The difference is that I am French. So if getting the perspective of a local matters to you, you’ve come to the right place. On today’s episode solo traveler, Corey Fuchs tells us about her wonderful solo trip to Paris. Because she was traveling alone, she actually enjoyed some things that haven’t been mentioned on the podcast before. She has a great attitude and great tips for all of us. Show Notes and photos for this episode are on join us in France. com forward slash 224. Two to four. Join us in France is brought to you by Patreon supporters and addicted to France, the small group tour company for people want to enjoy friends. And check out our upcoming tours in May 2019. On addicted to france.com.
1:41
Curry, and welcome to join us in France.
1:46
Thank you, I’m excited to be here today.
1:48
I am very happy to have you on because we are going to talk about something that we haven’t done before, which is a solo solo female traveler, because you travel solo. So tell us a little bit. Yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself how you found the podcast while you travel solo, I know you’re not single. So yeah,
2:11
I am. My name is Corey and I live in Portland, Oregon, in the US. And I like to travel just in general, with my husband with my family. But probably every two or three years, I’ll do a solo trip on my own. And I just enjoy it. It’s a different experience than traveling with other people. And I just feel like it’s a great way to have a lot of freedom. So when you travel alone, you can obviously move at your own pace and do exactly what she wants to do. There’s no need to compromise with another person. But I also feel like it’s just a really good experience for me as a person to kind of connect with my own thoughts. And yeah, it’s like a kind of a kind of a meditative experience, in a sense, you know, you just kind of really get to know yourself. And it’s just a really enjoyable thing that I’ve really loved doing. And I’m just really grateful to have a chance to have a supportive husband that doesn’t mind if I travel.
3:12
Because I come back with a happy.
3:13
Yes.
3:14
Well, and that’s really important, you know, because I think it’s very, very common. I was just having tea with Elise, and you’ve probably heard Elise on the podcast. Yes. And she came over and we had some we were so nice. We were so proper today we had Well, actually we did coffee and scones.
3:37
Yes, it was lovely. And we were just talking about how so many of our listeners travel solo, actually. And it’s not because they don’t have a spouse or significant other, it’s just that their significant other does not like to travel. And so if you want to travel, sometimes you have to go by yourself. Yes,
3:56
yes, there’s nothing wrong with this, I highly encourage it.
4:00
I loved it. And then when I
4:03
I’ve always thought it would just be kind of a peer to be a fun city to go to and just to you know, have a four or five day whirlwind trip. And so when I decided on Paris for my trip, I just searched through iTunes and I just came across your podcast and it was really instrumental in my planning and my trip. It got me very excited. And I just felt like I came to parents with a wealth of information that was really helped me encouraged my trip to be very successful. It just it more enjoyable.
4:34
Oh, that’s wonderful to hear. Thank you so much. I’m glad you found us. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
4:38
me too. There’s not enough people, I think who have the the thought, oh, maybe there’s a podcast about that. But if you’re listening to this, I’m just giving putting a bug in your ear. There’s a podcast about everything. Yeah, you know, I have just developed a new interest in bird feeding. Because I was in the US. We’re over Christmas. And my mother in law has a lot of bird feeders and she gets I kid you not hundreds of birds at once. Coming to these feeders. And as somebody who loves photography, I thought I had my camera. I could just take pictures of all these beautiful birds just on the other side of the window. Right. And and so I got interested in I bought a bird feeder and I’m now attracting some birds to my own backyard. And and I earlier today listening on there’s probably a podcast about bird watching or bird feeding. I shouldn’t like look for that. And you don’t think yeah. Yeah,
5:39
but yeah, you want to learn it today on a podcast? Yeah, I’m a big podcaster. So
5:46
that’s great.
5:49
I didn’t think of that as an option. So
5:54
Mike, catch your interest Next, you never know.
5:58
Alright, so let’s talk about yourself solo trip to Paris and what you did and what you particularly enjoyed, and probably also what you wouldn’t do it again, if you know now that you’ve done it, and you’ve decided maybe not for you.
6:12
Okay, got it. So that 30 days in Paris, and I stayed in the mark turnoff area that I from the podcast, I listened to you. I think you guys had a podcast about all the different like, sections of the city. Yeah. And that’s attracted me because it just seemed like more of a, like a residential area where you can it’s not in the thick of all the touristy stuff. Yeah.
6:41
Which was perfect. So the way that I organized my trip, I just wanted to instead of trying to take the whole city only had two and a half days there. So I’m trying to take conquer the whole entire city in just a short period of time. I focused on two separate
7:00
Yes, mostly animal, right. And then yeah, two separate areas. Is that what you call them? areas? Yep.
7:03
neighborhoods.
7:06
Okay, yeah, sure. So yeah,
7:09
so I stayed in my turn off and traveled around, I think kind of my highlights some of my favorite things. was going to the police to garden Yay. And went to see a ballet there.
7:22
Oh,
7:25
nice.
7:25
Yes. Yeah, it was, it was amazing. And because I was a solo person, I think I got a better ticket. Because I got a box seat on the side.
7:36
Just only have one random ticket. And I got a five years when it was just the performance was amazing. And the colors and just
7:49
being in there. And
7:52
so when you go to the forum for ballet or an opera, I suppose it’s the same? Do they let you come in ahead of time to look around little bit? And you words Maybe, yeah,
8:04
so I came in maybe an hour earlier before the show. And you can
8:11
spot the champagne and you could walk around the entire inside. So I got to see all the different levels and all the staircases and all that they had a bunch of costumes from previous ballet
8:27
shoes. Yeah,
8:28
so I got a tour around the inside of the building before the show and then after I took my see it obviously I got to see the performance and then see the show on stage and then after I was able to go back into the main part and see it with some of the lights on so I was feeling is all our needs. And yes, I got a totally see the whole building which was
8:52
that’s great. So but you didn’t you didn’t take a tour as in like an audio tour or a guided tour. You touring by yourself. Yes. Okay. Okay. Yeah,
9:01
right. Yeah, cuz I think the audio guides, rentals probably are not operating. While you know, while people are watching performances.
9:11
I don’t think so. It didn’t seem like that was an option when I was just mostly the guy that took your ticket.
9:16
Right? Oh, that’s lovely. That stuff. That would be so fun. What, what time of the year did you go?
9:24
I was like mid November, which was nice about it was nice. And it wasn’t too cold. Right when everything was starting to be decorated for Christmas.
9:36
Maybe a week later, that would have probably been pretty magical. But it was a good time of year because it didn’t feel too touristy. I mean, some of the bigger attractions like the Louvre and like the catacombs were really busy.
9:49
But it didn’t feel too touristy. I live in Paris maybe 15 years ago, in the middle of summer. And then this was a completely different experience. Right. Much better experience in November, I think. Yeah,
10:00
right. Right. November is Yeah, I mean, it’s just French people let me know there’s always tourists but not in such large numbers that you notice. Yeah, yeah,
10:10
I just didn’t feel like I was being herded around anywhere. You know, I was kind of enjoying myself and the streets are busy and everything but it was I thought November was a perfect time to go.
10:20
So you went mid November 2018. Yeah, yeah. Okay, very good. And when when you say the weather wasn’t cold, so where’s home for you? I don’t think you told us Portland, Oregon Portland, Oregon. Oh,
10:33
I think it’s his fault there but it’s overcast all the all the wintertime
10:36
rains so Paris weather didn’t start till you
10:41
know yeah, I mean I had a coat and gloves on but it wasn’t freezing or anything like one morning I went out and went on a run and it was really nice and enjoyable wasn’t too cold so yeah, it’s good time of year to go Yeah, I think it’s the season sort of my fight price was very fair and reasonable my Airbnb price is very fair. I think you know offseason
11:01
Yeah. Yeah,
11:04
that’s excellent than staying in Melbourne us you know, it’s it’s not I mean, lots of people live there but it’s not in high demand for tourists. I don’t think I mean yeah, in some demand but not high demand. Yeah,
11:19
I I would absolutely stay in that area again that I got an Airbnb. I chose that over a hotel because I did want to kind of get a feel of what it was like to be a local and the street that I stayed with called ru. degree degree D RG r e. Right. It was right off the metro station. Yep, degree. And it was very accessible to the metro station. The metro station was right on the corner. And then when you walked on the street, there’s Kathy and then there was a for luxury and a florist and and butcher and rotisserie shop bakery’s like it’s just as he walked down the street, there was always a little different shop and it was just just walking down the street was just magical and amazing. You could just feel like it would be like a bear and then stop a nice little shop and grab some food for dinner and go home and I loved it. It was a perfect place to stay. And then I stayed in a
12:20
an Airbnb one of my criteria is I wanted to see the rooftops in the morning. So I stayed on the sixth floor of a just a little loft. So every morning I looked out and I could see all the rooftops of Paris. It was magical. I loved it, it was I would highly recommend that area was
12:34
wonderful. You’ll have to send me a link to that specific Airbnb. And I’ll put a link to it in the show notes so that people can if they want to check out that one. It would be good was it that was just for a solo traveler or was there room for more people?
12:50
It was a lot better the bed upstairs and then I think their couch converted to bed. So maybe two couples would probably be the max but it was pretty small. Yeah, they don’t.
13:01
No elevator.
13:05
Very clear. And they’re listening. There’s takes lots of stairs. And if you have a lot of luggage, you’re gonna have to carry it up. So that was fine. I just, yeah, I travel light and it was just me. So that’s another thing about being a solo travel is you can make that choice and not make anybody else’s sad. They have six flights of stairs to go up to you to get your play. Yeah,
13:22
because in France, if it says CCM a sixth floor, it is six flights of stairs. You know it’s Yeah.
13:31
All right. Lovely. Okay, what else did you do so going to see an a ballet at the opera ganja? What else did you do?
13:37
I also took a perfume making class, which was really fun. And it was in a shop called can Dora and the Monterey and it was a two hour workshop. So the herb she said it’s really beautiful room and he goes over all of the history of perfume and the history of perfume and Paris and Egypt learn all this information. And then it’s actually a hands on workshop. So it teaches you how to make your own personal sense. Wow though. It was really fun. And it was I just thought it was a unique experience. So you get a smell. It’s different smells and he tells you how they all combined together and then you leave with your own bottle of specialty perfume that you may just for yourself in Paris know the right to a carry on. So you don’t have to worry about checking your bags, but it was a really fun experience. It was something unique that I did.
14:31
Wow. And so those can can Dora you said Can you spell that? Yeah.
14:35
The Andy are a
14:39
Okay.
14:41
Good, very good. Oh, I didn’t realize there were few making classes. That sounds like really fun and interesting. Yeah, yeah,
14:49
that’s really fun. I wanted to do something that I mean, obviously I want to see all the museums and all the touristy things, but I want to do something that was a little unique another thing that I found that I didn’t do cuz my schedule didn’t line up it was there’s a can can class French can can class. He
15:08
can’t remember I’ll have to can’t remember the name of the place that does it. Basically, they dress up in here and and then that you know they put you in a skirt and everything I teach you how to do a dance and you perform a dance at the end but my skills
15:27
Okay, well, that would be very fun. Okay, so if you find the link again, send it to me. I’ll add it to the to the episode to as a suggestion. I mean, you haven’t tried it. So we don’t know if it’s any good, but it sounds like fun and really interesting and different. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah,
15:43
I said that the perfume making class and then also I went on your suggestion, I didn’t even have this on my radar even think about it. But those said Chappelle.
15:54
Yes. I,
15:57
you guys seem to talk about it so often in your podcast, and highly recommend it. I’m like, Okay, I have to do it. Just to see what it’s all about. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. But for when you walk in there is something else. Just Yeah,
16:14
it’s a must. I would put that as a must see. Yeah.
16:17
And it doesn’t take that long. And really, it’s it’s it’s very different from any other church you’ll walk into. Yeah, yeah.
16:25
Just the history and how it came about. And yeah, it was really beautiful. What I did to that I would also recommend, which I know that you guys have talked about a lot is I got the museum pass. Wonder online of everybody waiting to get into the San Chappelle or any other museum. I just walked right up to the front of it. Right. And it was made it really easy. Yeah, yeah.
16:46
It’s sometimes it’s not worth it money wise, but it’s worth it time wise, I think. Yeah,
16:54
I feel like I probably put okay then on everything that I did. And I doing more things to with the museum path. And I would have done like, for instance, one day, I was kind of walking around the station and the prey. Yeah. And I just wasn’t feeling it. It just wasn’t really seeing anything I wanted to do. But I stumbled upon the Cluny museum. And when I had the museum path I heard you guys talk about on the podcast before. So I went inside, and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a really neat piece of history. And I probably would have missed that, or probably would have been willing to pay for it. If I had to pay extra bits about the museum pass. And that was already here. You might want to check it out. And I was really glad that I did. Yeah,
17:35
it’s it’s lovely there. So you got to see the lady in the unicorn. I hope. Yeah, Yeah,
17:39
I did. Yeah, I didn’t have a whole year for an exhibit there. And, you know, some of the ruins and everything is summers, I wouldn’t didn’t think of parents of having ruins. I don’t know why. But
17:54
we don’t have as many as well preserved ones is Rome. But we at one point we had mean it was a Roman city with all the Roman accoutrements. So yeah, yeah. Yeah,
18:07
it’s incredible.
18:10
So some of the other things that I did, I went to the library, I think, was my favorite area. I mean, I only focused on two areas, but them around was just really a unique and special area. I did a self guided bakery tour, I really wanted to do a food tour, but it didn’t really work out with my schedule to what was available. So I just sent off a bunch of different bakeries that I wanted to see that and I just kind of mapped it. I use my Google Map flop I mapped it, and then I just walked from bakery, the bakery, but it was a really neat way to kind of explore the area and just kind of walk and see what’s around. And then it was see because I tried things. Which was great. Yeah, yeah.
18:52
See, I see you went to Omaha Vu which is a really unique bakery because they mostly make that one type of pastry or remember you. Yeah, yeah,
19:03
that was probably my favorite. The they make these little What are they merengue?
19:11
It’s a fancy sort of merengue. And it’s really well done. And the flavors are, you know, they picked some really good flavors, and it tastes really good. And it’s really easy to find in the my, I mean, it’s like, if you have the if you have Google Maps, you will you’ll probably stumble upon it, too. Yeah, just by
19:30
right? Yeah, it was definitely go in there. And they had a little tiny option. You don’t have to get the big huge pastry, you could just get the little tiny one just to have a nice taste, which is nice. And then my second favorite one was near m e. RT near a
19:49
French word nice. It’s that’s probably a Dutch name or something would be my guest. But
19:57
it I think it was established in it’s older than the United States.
20:03
Well, that’s
20:06
okay, fair enough. I thought it was pretty impressive. That they, it’s a chocolate shop with a lot of different chocolates that but they also make these wafer cookies. They’re very San wafer cookies, and they have different feelings, like they had a prelude and I think they had a lemon filling. I got the just the Mila filling. And those things really thin kind of warm way for cookies. And then when you bite into it, it almost just melts into your mouth. And it was really delicious. I saw some good reviews on the bakery and it was kind of a musty. So if you stumble upon that bakery definitely go in and they don’t have the cookies on their display case. You have to ask for them. But they’re very famous. They come in this really beautiful little bag. It’s definitely just experience on its own.
20:52
Well, that’s weird that they don’t have them on display if they’re famous for it. Yeah, yeah.
20:55
I saw a lot about it on the internet. It was even one of the stops. Is that one of the walking tours that I was going to sign up for.
21:04
So that’s just how they do it. Yeah, yeah.
21:06
And as I was kind of walking around, and going to all the different bakeries, I definitely said, there’s a lot of little cafes that you could fit into people watching. I went into the coffee Museum, which was, I’m a big Picasso fan. And it was just amazing to see the amount of everything that they had, and just the variety and all the different. And just the building itself was incredible. You know
21:31
why they have so much in France, right?
21:33
I heard it was because he owed a bunch of ours wiped out a bunch of taxes after he died.
21:40
State owed a lot of taxes. And that’s how they, yeah,
21:46
okay, for
21:48
us. I’m sure they’re not hurting or anything, you know, they probably kept enough.
21:54
Fair enough.
21:58
I love that museum. It was definitely a month. I would I would go back there again, for sure. So,
22:05
did I do?
22:08
list?
22:11
Yes, I did. And that was great. I went first thing in the morning. So I got right in very, very quickly. And
22:24
I loved it. I it was smaller than I anticipated. But just all of the Monet paintings and just the way that it was.
22:35
It says paintings for that room.
22:39
Yes. Yes. Yes. He made he. Yes, his whole life. He painted water lilies in different formats, whatever. But he knew he had been commissioned to to do these pieces for semicircular room. Yes.
22:58
Okay. Yeah, felt like those paintings were made for that room, just the way that was displayed. And everything was really beautiful. And since I went there really early in the morning, there was hardly any people in there. So I really got to kind of spend some time in the room and just really take in the paintings and I probably spent maybe a good 45 minutes to an hour in there. And maybe longer tonight, just because I it just felt really good. It was just nice to be with less people because a lot of the museum’s you go to there’s just a lot of people everywhere.
23:27
And you know,
23:30
sorry, I interrupted you. Well, I just wanted to say it’s lovely that you say that, because that’s what that museum was designed for, was to be contemplative. It was designed for people to come in there and sit on those nice oval benches, and just look at the light changing. Because this is what pretty much money did. He spent his life painting the same themes over and over again, it was a bit of fun, then so we would paint because the same Cathedral at different times of day, the same pond at different times of day. And with his changing eyesight also, because as he got older, he lost most of his sight. So it’s really interesting to see, you know, when people can just sit there and I mean, you I wouldn’t spend the whole day staring at them, honestly. But
24:24
you know, if you can spend 45 minutes, that’s wonderful.
24:29
And I was thinking to just that’s another benefit of traveling Solo is if you’re with somebody else, they might not be that interested in sitting and sharing. For a
24:39
minute. Yes, yes. Even somebody? Yeah. Yeah.
24:45
That was a I love. I love that. Yes. Am I that? You say dare say? Yeah.
24:53
Music?
24:56
Yes. Yeah, I went in there. I liked it. It was on construction. They’re renovating impressionist area. Okay. So they have I think they had all the paintings out. But it definitely felt under construction. But just going in and seeing the inside of the building was pretty incredible.
25:16
And the train station, that’s the one that’s in the train station, correct? Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. And that one was really busy. There was a really long line, even with the museum path to get around. And I had to go through the security to get in to
25:30
Yes, you always have to go through security. No matter. Yeah.
25:34
So that took a long time. But I like that one. It probably wasn’t my favorite museum. But it’s definitely worth worth seeing. And it might have been better once they get all of the renovations done. Yeah,
25:44
I didn’t even realize they were renovating next time. I’m in Paris. I’ll have to go check it out. See if there was if it was just something quick, or if they’re doing something more lengthy. Yeah. Yeah.
25:53
And then I also did the National Museum of Art. Yeah.
25:59
You
26:01
know, that’s, that’s not what most people go to. That’s cool. Yeah,
26:04
you know, I didn’t even have that on my radar. But usually when I travel solo, I’ll post things on my Facebook page. So my family knows what I’m doing and that I’m okay. Good way to check in. And and my aunt suggested, she said, You have to go to that museum. Because when you go to the top, you could see all of Paris. Yeah, you get the best view of Paris. So and I had no idea that was an option. And I just decided to go over there and see it, because I my plan was the I had different plans that they change. So I went to see it. And I was really like that museum. They had just some great art. They had some good. I mean, the view is just
26:47
Yeah, the view is worse than
26:49
that. Yeah, absolutely. And so that was really enjoyable experience, too. I love that museum. And all the museums are just well done. Yeah. Yeah,
27:01
they didn’t really have any instructions in English. So it would be helpful to do maybe a little bit of research of what you’re looking for and everything because everything is mostly in French.
27:11
Yep.
27:14
French people are a bit stubborn. They don’t want English.
27:21
English as you know. So yeah. We’ve had a few wars with the English as you know, so
27:29
this is kind of competition, like our people should just be able to read French anyway. Right. But not quite so much anymore. I mean, you know, it used to be just, I mean, just 50 years ago in America, everybody took French, right? Yeah, yeah.
27:47
Everybody, everybody went to high school, French, at least some nowadays not so much. Yeah,
27:52
that’s one of the things that I really wish I would have probably done a little bit more of just learning some more French and just
28:01
did some of the very basics of you know Basha, or and that kind of thing. But I really didn’t put a lot of effort into learning some of the phrases. I don’t think I needed it. I just find everybody soaking up English. Kind of get you going. But
28:16
yeah, it always helps. I mean, but you’re right. You don’t need it. It’s except a museum like the museum national demo down where they don’t have a lot of displays in English. There’s very few museums, even in Paris, where everything is translated into English, which you’ll run into is a few things are but many things are not. And so you know, yes. Yeah, it’s luck of the draw. Like if you if you go to the Louvre, which I see you went to, she goes into Hammurabi code. It’s, it’s marvelous. It’s this old law code from like, 4000 years ago or something. And they have the old stone, the original stone, and there’s a translation of it into French next to it, but no English No, Mike. Yeah, I don’t you put English it’s really interesting. You know. So when I go with people, I translate it for them on the fly kind of thing. But it’s really silly that they don’t have it in English. I mean, you can always look at it on your phone, right? It’s a famous speech. You can go to Wikipedia and see it at the same time. So if you really want to see it, and you have data, you will always find a way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,
29:28
my phone carrier what I learned, this is the first thing. First time I knew about this, but my phone carrier had a $10 a day. You can use your data for $10 a day internationally, which I thought was completely worth it. Yeah. So I could look things up on my map. I can. I mean, just having the data was was amazing. And I think all the parks in Paris are supposed to have data, but I wasn’t really having any luck and finding into the Wi Fi and everything. So I just used my cellular plan, which made it easier.
30:00
Last time I was in Paris, I had a hard time finding Wi Fi. But of course, since I have a French phone plan, it’s usually not a problem. So I never think about it. But last time I was there, I thought oh, let me try. And so I would go to a park and try and find the the the free Wi Fi for everybody. The public Wi Fi, I guess you should call it. And very often it wasn’t there. So I’m like, oh, maybe they’re changing the routers or something. Yeah, you should get data. If you hope to your phone at home. You will be hooked to your phone in Paris. Yeah, yeah.
30:31
And
30:34
it gets so used to, you know, just mapping things and I can map the subway
30:40
very easily on my phone just to get from point A to point B it just made it really easy. Yeah. So
30:47
tell us a bit looser. What did you think? Yeah.
30:50
I liked it. I honestly, I was kind of wrapped up for the day. Good night. And I was feeling like avocado, I want to do something else. But I wasn’t really sure. And I noticed that the liver I had really late hours. So I’m like, oh, why don’t I go check it out. So I went there maybe less than an hour before they call so I didn’t spend a ton of time there. But I did want to see the Mona Lisa. Because Yeah, you know,
31:17
and it was really nice to the return anybody there they’re about to close. I went right up to the front and thought got the selfie and
31:29
turned yourself into a Chinese tourists. Poof just
31:40
I would definitely need to go back to that movie. And again it justice because I mean, just the amount of art and history there is completely worth it. But it was more one of those.
31:50
I have the past. I have a little bit of time. I’m not ready to call it a night yet. So why don’t we just stop and go in there. But just even though around it was really beautiful theme the pyramids outside all that up was really fascinating. It was
32:07
very energetic. Yeah. Yeah.
32:09
It’s lovely. Yeah, you probably did a lot of walking and stuff. Because that’s I mean, you saw a lot in for it four and a half days. Yeah. Yeah,
32:17
I did. I did do a lot of walking. And I look pretty energetic person. When I travel, I like to do a lot of things and see a lot of things. So and I didn’t take that much time to sit down and had long meals, I just kind of did mostly grab and go food the whole time. So it just kind of allowed me to have more time to go through the things that I wanted to see.
32:40
That’s interesting. Yeah, that’s a good way to handle it is if you if you’re willing to just eat on the fly kind of thing, then you will save a lot of time. Yeah, yeah,
32:48
absolutely. And there’s plenty of options. I mean, there’s little markets and food fans and grabbing those shops. And I mean, cafes. I mean, there’s tons of all all over the city.
33:01
Gee, I just found your selfie in front of the Mona Lisa. Nice, nice job. I can’t do
33:12
that. I just had to do it. So
33:16
I thought my next trip to Paris with that spend more time at the Louvre for sure. Alright,
33:22
that sounds good. Well, you did plenty. I mean, honestly, you did quite a bit. I’m looking through your I mean, we’re not done. And there’s a lot. Keep going. Keep going. Yeah. Yeah,
33:32
another experience that I kind of had. My goal of what I wanted to get out of Paris is I wanted to experience some of the boss, because I know that there’s some really lovely spas and obviously, with all the makeup and perfume, and it’s just all the Asian things. So I picked a Turkish among, which is a kind of a women’s only spa. And I spent probably four or five hours there, which was just a lovely experience. And it was a good way to get balance all of that walking and being in the city and seeing museums. So the one I chose was called Oh, Qari, and it was in the first round this month, right? In the sake of all the touristy shops, there’s a lot of Starbucks and stuff around there, like that, you know, the areas called?
34:19
No, I’m gonna look it up
34:21
here near the modern art museum.
34:26
Okay.
34:29
Let me look at it. Just keep talking. I’ll find it.
34:32
Okay. So, but that was a great experience. It’s a women only spa. And when you go in there, you just relax and steam bath and saunas. And it’s just inside, it’s really beautiful underneath and then you can get body scrubs and massages. And the whole experience is just to kind of relax and to rejuvenate and relax. And it was amazing. I spent, I think about four hours hours there. I walked out feeling really refreshed and beautiful and energetic. And it was a really unique and unique experience. I think there’s a couple of well known her mom in Paris. I don’t think there’s any. I live in Portland, Oregon. But it was definitely experience that I went for that I really liked. And I think there’s a lot of other high end spas and other kind of things that you can do there. But that’s the one that I chose. And it was
35:24
and it worked. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Great recommendation, because I’ve had people ask me for recommendations for spas in Paris. And I can never recommend one because I’ve never been to one. I know the the ones in Toulouse. Yeah. So.
35:38
So this is this is nice. It’s so it’s kind of not too far from the Louvre. It’s not too far from here, either. It’s Yeah, it’s it’s very central. You know, it’s very, very much downtown Paris. But yeah, it looks nice. Looks looks like a nice area. Yeah.
36:02
You know, how I found it is I put a post on the Facebook group to join us in France Facebook group.
36:07
Oh, yeah.
36:09
Somebody sent me a list of recommendations. And a couple people had responded. So that’s how I did a little research from that suggestion. And that’s how I found it. So joining the Facebook group really helped me along with my trip and oh, yeah, me. Transportation, things to do. Just seeing what other people post it was a great, great resource. Yeah.
36:32
And the group is fantastic. The people there the people don’t dissipate have been to Paris many of them many times. And some of them very recently. Some of them are repeat offenders.
36:46
Ask for a specific recommended I’m so I’m just flabbergasted. Somebody will ask for like, I don’t know, a
36:55
cloth
36:55
store, did they? They like to do whatever. And people will come up with like lots of recommendations of places they’ve been to, because I could Google Places as well. I mean, I got Google figures like anybody else. But I don’t want to recommend places I’ve never been to. So this is this is all carry Turkish Parsons. Sounds good. It looks very gilded in there. I’m looking at some photos. Yeah,
37:23
it was very nice. It was a good unique experience. I really liked it. And it was a good a good a balance between being out of the city and walking around and in the subways and in and out of museums, and that it was just a way for me to relax. And that was part of my goal to is to obviously see Paris, but also just to just relax and get some. Yeah,
37:41
you’re on vacation. Yeah. Yeah,
37:44
that’s right. Another thing I did that I thought was really fun, is I went to a indoor cycling class, like a spin class. And I found a studio called ki will k i wi Ll I don’t think that’s a French word.
38:02
Okay, that was really fun to take a exercise class, it was French. Yeah,
38:09
all
38:09
along. And that was something that I just thought was really unique in that place. They said a candlelight. So you’re in the dark and the light a bunch of candles, and when they make your work out really hard. Yeah,
38:24
so that was a fun experience just to do something because I do spin classes at home in English. So I was like, that was really fun. So
38:33
it was a very different, like, was it easier was it harder, was like the same kind of level.
38:41
Same kind of level. I mean, it was a little bit harder to follow along to their instructions were in French, so I kind of had to pick up what everybody else was doing. I would say it’s probably pretty comparable to a cycling class in the US. But it was just a fun experience to do something that I felt like that was a little bit more but maybe a local person and my to, of course,
39:01
a totally.
39:03
Like it’s like to live there. So I thought that was a fun experience.
39:06
Totally, totally. I don’t think most visitors would go to a spin class. No, they wouldn’t. Most of them, I don’t think Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. That’s great. Yeah.
39:16
And I also on your recommendation to the Baton Rouge. Yeah,
39:20
that’s Alicia. Yeah, yeah,
39:22
I said I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, but I didn’t want to take the time to travel over there and spend the time. So that was my choice to do that tour at night and seeing the Eiffel Tower. Twinkle up it with the life is
39:42
really nice, it just makes you go.
39:48
It would light up at night. If I wasn’t a part of the city, we can see it if I would, it would twinkle I would notice a lot of people just stop in their tracks and pull up their camera and take pictures and just stare at it.
40:00
Well, your time thing?
40:01
No, it’s your round. But it’s it’s only like in the winter, it only does it like two or three times. Because it the opening and closing hours for the Eiffel Tower change depending on the time of year. And also the season. I mean, you know, because people don’t realize this. But when you go up the Eiffel Tower, it’s freezing up there. So if it’s a super cold day, even if it’s open, people won’t go up because they’re like, I’m not going up there. It’s too cold. French people anyway, you know, Canadians are different.
40:37
All right, refresh people.
40:39
I
40:39
know, I’m not going over, it’s too cold. So the opening goes at different times. But in France, it’s dark. Well, you know, the shortest day of the year, it’s going to be dark at 5:30pm 6pm,
40:54
more or less. And so it will start twinkling. Maybe it’s the first time will be 7pm. And then do it at 8pm and 9pm and 10pm. And then done for that day. Because it’s winter. Yeah,
41:05
you know, right. But
41:07
they do it all the time. I mean, year round, it will sparkle. Yeah, yeah.
41:11
But I was it was really fun to that I definitely took the tour at night on your recommendation on the autonomy. And I like that I think it’s a must do, I definitely wouldn’t do it again. Like it’s a one time
41:25
experience.
41:29
And a funny story is I was leaving, I don’t remember where I was. But I was heading over to buy my ticket to get the bow and I asked somebody for directions. And he said it’s four bridges down. So I walked down four bridges, but I walked the wrong way. I thought I might walk into her walking the other way. But it was no big deal. And I just felt like if I was maybe with somebody else, it could have been kind of a stressful situation we kind of lost at that night. We want to get on the boat. But just as I was on myself, I was like, I’m gonna get some extra steps in today. And yeah,
42:08
well, you know, I thought it was it’s no big deal.
42:11
But to Lucia is actually a brand, it’s the proper name that this one company is called. There’s others that do the same things. can remember now the name of the one that we use all the time, and it’s
42:25
it might come back to me, I’ll put the link on the in the show notes. But there’s other brands that do pretty much the same thing. It’s your hour long tour of the river, and some of them will do dinner, some will do drinks. You know, it just depends on what you want and how much you want to pay. But it’ll cost you about 15 bucks. Well, euros, and it’s it’s totally worth it one time. You don’t need to do this again and again and again. You know, it’s just it’s fine. It’s once you’ve done it, you’re like, Oh, this is nice. You know, I’m floating around the sand and seeing all the because it’s a different perspective from the river. It’s a different perspective. So you know, once and then you good? Yeah, yeah.
43:05
But I’m glad I said it was it was a good experience. And then I got to see the Eiffel Tower because I have to see the Eiffel Tower at some point. And when you
43:16
take the time to go over there and yeah, that’s a perfect way just to kind of end the evening. Yeah,
43:20
that’s that’s that sounds. I mean, I always I always take people when whenever I go with other people, I take them because I’m like you, you gotta see this. It’s It’s fun. Of course. I wouldn’t really have to do it over and over again myself. But
43:36
it’s fun. Yeah. And yeah,
43:37
I really enjoyed that. Another thing that I did do as well as the catacombs. I did the catacombs tour.
43:45
Nice. Yeah, yeah,
43:46
I really liked it. I
43:51
definitely would recommend buying tickets in advance because I was probably the busiest attraction. Yeah, that I saw. Yeah. I stayed was. It was right in. The interest of the catacombs was right near my Airbnb. So I walked by there a lot. Yeah. Yeah.
44:11
You see online all the time. Yeah.
44:12
But yeah, that was a neat experience. I’ve seen the catacombs in Nathan, before. So kind of already been in a catacombs situation. So
44:27
if you’ve seen the one to Naples, maybe you could get the one in Paris.
44:34
But it was a really neat experience. It’s pretty well done. I mean, easy to walk through, which was nice. Yeah,
44:41
for you. It was close. I mean, yeah. No fellowship. You know, you’re right there. So yeah, nice. Yeah,
44:46
no, another thing I did, too. I went to the Mount Carmel cemetery.
44:50
Oh, yes.
44:53
Beautiful. Just studying I like cemeteries. Whatever that reason, I just think they’re all good. Poland. Interesting. I love I usually better the cemetery whenever I travel, but I thought that was really well done. I think it’s a smaller, much larger Cemetery in Paris. Yeah,
45:11
well, yes. There’s a Bella shares, which is bigger and has more famous people, but also has plenty of famous people. And it’s it’s very nice. It’s it’s very similar. Mobile, nice. I don’t think it’s quite as old. But it’s in the I mean, in the American kind of vision of things. It is very old, but not quite as old as flashes.
45:38
by a 200 year old bakery so much.
45:42
Americans with old Yeah, but that was, it was really close to my life. And I was just kind of on a walk and
45:51
walk through it. And it was just a really beautiful strength is really well kept. And it just kind of had a nice peaceful feel to it. And all the different to very unique and really well cared for. I liked it all the mom, flowers were really pretty and
46:05
right, because you were there in November, mid November. So we had just had All Saints Day, like to sun, which is November 1. And in Paris because the weather is not very warm. The flowers live on for about a month or two. And then they freeze and then they died. But so that’s probably why it was so so many flowers. Yeah.
46:27
Okay. Yeah, I was wondering why that was so well kept and why there’s so many fresh flowers. But that makes perfect sense. So that was Yeah, that was a really worthwhile experience, too. Yeah.
46:38
Sounds good. Sounds good. So you mentioned that you didn’t really go to a lot of restaurants. Are there any you want to tell us about or what do you do for food?
46:47
I had mostly grabbed like a big gap. And just he went into a little sandwich shop and we’ll grab a sandwich or a little salad and just kind of to around I really didn’t sit down have a meal it wasn’t I right. That’s probably one of the things I wish I would have done is maybe done a little bit more research and at least picked one restaurant and had a sit down meal and really enjoy the cuisine there. But yeah, it wasn’t on my radar. So I just I shopped at the little shop, I did get a rotisserie chicken at the, at the meat store on the street that I was staying on, which was probably the best piece of chicken I’ve ever had in my life. Really great food, you know, lots of big gaps and the strawberries and raspberries were really good at that time of year for some reason.
47:38
Okay, yeah, right.
47:40
Right. Right. So in France, a lot of strawberry producers will do a first harvest in the spring and then a second harvest. You know, late fall early winter, and they’re delicious. Yes, they’re very good. Yeah,
47:54
I mean, a lot of raspberries.
47:58
Just kind of bakery one day, so I kind of ate my way through the Murrays I’m tasting cookies and chocolate. That was pretty great. I just spent some time at some of the cafes, just doing some people watching which was really fun. Yeah,
48:13
and I brought a book with me just to read just it was a book about Paris It was called the Paris apartment. And the offer is hurting his name is Michelle cable. And it was a really neat story that was based in Paris so I enjoyed some of the cafe some people watching and reading my book relaxing but I really didn’t have any meals I did find that a lot of the cafes like if you order a glass of champagne, they give you a little snack on the side like some peanuts or salami. So I kind of did that but that’s probably the one of the things that I would have. wish I would have done is maybe research the restaurant had a sit down nice meal and really enjoyed one nice meal. So next
48:52
time Yeah, next time next time. That’s good. All right, we do the end of your list. It looks to me like we’re close to the end of lyst
49:02
I The other thing that I did with the Tuileries Garden. Oh yes. twice and I loved it so much it was it was a really fun. I don’t know if it’s like this year round, but I felt like it was mostly local people enjoying their day and walking around and playing with our kids and having a you know, sitting down and having lunch there were some kids playing with a toy boat that they were kind of pushing with six little sailboats and upon yo it was a it was a very relaxing park it was really beautiful I liked it and then one morning I got up early and I wanted to go for a run so I decided to go to the to the race Park which was in Paris in the morning is something else I don’t think patients are morning people so it’s very quiet
49:51
but it was fun to get out and see the city wake up and all the bakers are working and then just to run through the park was really enjoyable and all the building no just hardly any people on secret really just kind of absorb all of the big buildings, the fountains and there’s tons of statues in the park and all the the landscaping is so well kept I loved that experience. It was probably one of the highlights of was just getting out and being in the in the to the race garden early in the morning.
50:19
You know, it’s funny that you should mention that because there’s a song called New Froggy not harder, because it’s a French song is a very old French song. But it’s called it is sank by see value. And so it’s 5am and Paris wakes up. And the whole song is this silly description of all the things that happened as Paris wakes up. It’s a song that I used to use when I talk French. Cuz it’s, you know, it’s a it’s a good song for that, but it’s very old. It’s it’s really old, old style that you probably wouldn’t like even like the song by itself. But it’s a it’s a good cultural experience. So you just think
50:58
it would be good to people who are Francophiles and want to look some more into this whole Paris waking up in the morning. Yeah, yeah,
51:06
it was it was a good experience to see how everything into Vegas, we’re definitely working. Oh, yeah, I think they start pretty early. But it was pretty quiet and calm. And just as the city was really clean and beautiful. And that was a really fun experience too. But I love the jewelry part. And I would definitely go back and spend some more time there and just kind of walk around. And
51:26
yes.
51:28
Depending on where you are in Paris, the Luxembourg Gardens would give you the same feel. It’s very similar. It’s just any different part of the city. But all these little gardens and berries are just lovely. Yeah, yeah.
51:44
So as good, you know, you remind me of I have talked to Janice Chang, a couple of times on the podcast. And you remind me of her, she also travels solo. And one of the episodes we did was called looking for unique experiences in France, it was Episode 86. Because she is the same type of person, like you know, she’s a runner, and she Go, go, go, go go.
52:12
That sounds like a lot of you know, YouTube would hit it off. I think it would like
52:18
to look that up. Yeah, I definitely like to pack a lot into my days. But I think that’s what’s nice about being Solo is I can do that I can just go at my own pace. And if I change my mind, or if I’m not feeling something, then abandon that plan. Let’s go find something else to do. It’s just
52:37
of women. And like we said at the beginning, there are a lot of women who will travel solo. But there are also a lot of women who would never think of it because they were
52:47
intimidated. And I think you’re what you shared with us today is you shouldn’t be intimidated. It’s fine.
52:55
No. Yeah. Yeah, very safe. And it still like what I would meet people, from time to time, they’d still kind of like, wow, pretty impressed that I was there alone. Like, I would never do that. Or it like it was something that was kind of brand but you shouldn’t be intimidated. It’s very easy to do everything that you pay for times one. So it’s 34 balls.
53:20
For our family and for you know, yeah. Yeah,
53:23
it’s just a great way to get to know yourself and to connect with yourself and to really connect with us today, because there’s just less distractions, and you can really absorb what you want to observe. And I just, I know a lot of people that do travel solo at all opens them up to meet a lot of people. So I know some solo travelers will just come through there alone, it almost forces them to meet other people, they make a lot of connections with others, which is a very appealing experience. I’m more of an introvert in that sense. I kind of for whatever reason, I just kind of like my alone time. But that’s just another reasons why you should travel solo and apparently the perfect city to do it. Because it’s very safe. It’s easier to get around. There’s a lot to do and see. Yeah.
54:06
I highly recommend and you know, when you go to restaurants and cafes in Paris, you will always see other people eating alone.
54:15
And
54:16
I this doesn’t happen so often in to lose. The few times I’ve been out in the city and to lose and I’m eating by myself. It always feels awkward. But in Paris, it doesn’t. You always have lots of other people who are just, you know, they’re stopping for lunch because they want a nice lunch and they’re by themselves. And so what,
54:36
you know, yeah. And I spotted. I sat on the
54:44
outside of Notre Dame Cathedral. I didn’t really want to wait in line and go inside the cathedral. And it just didn’t seem super appealing to me. But I wanted to see it from the outside. So I sat outside of that it was just the cafe notre DOM, and there’s probably 30 other solo people just sitting out there enjoying your lunch and yeah, I I noticed that a lot actually. Yeah, yep. Yeah, it was fine.
55:07
Wonderful. Wonderful. Okay, any words last words of wisdom for us? before we say goodbye?
55:14
I definitely would take I would take your recommendation and Uber to and from the airport. I
55:22
got
55:23
the train. Yeah. What’s that?
55:25
Or taxi?
55:26
Or taxi? Yes, yeah. I took the train into the city from the airport, it was just fine. I got to exactly where it needs to be just fine. But the train ride back was there might have been a strike that I’ve heard about happening, because we got partially on the train. And they made everybody get off the train. And then we had to load up to a bunch of buses. And it was like, organized mayhem. I don’t know exactly what was happening. And I made it to the airport in time, but it just added a little bit of stressful. Yeah, yeah, situation to my trip that could have been avoided. We have heard it by taking a taxi.
56:04
Maybe going to the city, if you’re not a big hurry, taking the train would be fine. But if you’re trying to get to the airport and want to make it seamless, I’d recommend a taxi. Yeah, yeah,
56:12
I would. First even I unless I’m by myself.
56:19
If I’m by myself, and I don’t have a lot of luggage, I will take the metro because I you know, I mean, I can handle it. But I wouldn’t recommend it for people who just fresh off the airplane and they don’t know where they’re going. And they’re jet lagged. And they’re tired. take a taxi on. But taxis are actually a lot of the time cheaper than Uber. Because it’s it’s set rate. So and the reason why the the ER the so this is a regional train that takes you to the airport, the reason why they stopped in the middle, you’re right, there was probably a strike. And they switch to glasses, because in the middle of that line somewhere, and I don’t know exactly where it is. Maybe you remember the stop where they made you got off, get off. It switches. So what was it called? Do you remember the name? Do you remember the name of that stop where they made you get off and they get a bus?
57:13
I have no idea I got really confused. I don’t even know what’s going on.
57:21
It was really strange. They just stopped the train and made everybody get off. And all the instructions were in French or all the masters and everything that everybody was that was there. So it was just kind of chaotic. So I couldn’t really ask any questions, I just kind of followed a lot of thoughts. And hopefully they’re planning on taking. Yeah.
57:40
So what happens is at some point along that line, it stops being at the pay, which is the metro system. And it starts being SNCF, which is the train system. And if either one of them is on strike, then you will do half of it on the on the train and the other half in the bus. It’s really ridiculous. So and it happens more often than you would want because French people like to strike. And so you know, I would just just yeah, just get on a taxi, and it’s not that much. The most you will pay is 55 euros. And yeah, it can be as little as 30 euros depending on what airport and where you’re going to. So it’s really not worth you know, the hassle of the of the train, I think, Yeah,
58:27
I agree with you, I would have definitely recommended that. So
58:33
I had an address my other two last words of wisdom is don’t be afraid to travel alone, it’s, it’s a great way to enjoy yourself, it’s a great way to get to know it’s pretty and you’ll feel good. After you leave your soul accomplish, you’ll feel proud of yourself and just try it, try it once. And if you don’t like it, you ever have to do it again. But if you’re a traveler, try it. You might want to try it at least one. Then the only other thing I just would say is I went to Paris for four days. And it just I obviously would have liked to go longer. But don’t be afraid to take a short trip. And I think we all kind of wait till we have the perfect amount of time or the right kind of vacation vacation time or whatever the timing is right to take a long trip. And I’m not going but it’s okay to go on a 45 day trip and just kind of squeeze it in. Because it’s not going at all. Perfect time to travel, that will never happen. So don’t be afraid to take a short trip if that’s what your schedule allows. Just do it. Yeah.
59:36
And also, it’s not that unusual anymore for people to find great deals on flights. That Yes, you know that? I mean, I’ve had friends of ours who said, Well, I can fly to France for $500. You know, I’m coming. They’re like we’re coming. And that’s
59:56
how I
59:57
yeah, I try fine. I found my ticket on Priceline, they have a function where you can choose the date and the time that you fly in and out as a mystery but you could choose the day to you fly and you can choose range of layover time that you’re comfortable with. And then they tell you the price am I from Portland, Oregon to Paris was $540 round trip which is typically double Yo, that was a big motivator for my trip and I once I bought the ticket they told me what time I fly in and fly out which it Who cares if I had some flexibility it was I picked the days that I wanted to it ended up being perfect. Yeah.
1:00:38
And and how many stops did you have to suffer through with that?
1:00:42
I thought one each way. So I stopped through
1:00:47
Salt Lake City on the way down. And I think I had like a four hour layover and it was enough time I actually went out into sea salt lake city because there’s a train there. I think you said you’re just in Utah. You Yeah, okay. Yeah, city. Yeah. We had a train ride at the airport. So I went and saw the temple square and had some lunch and then came back and flew directly to Paris. And on the way back, I stopped through Amsterdam. Nice and it wasn’t really short layover. Yeah, yeah.
1:01:12
So you did great on your price, too. That’s, that’s wonderful. How much did you have for the night for the Airbnb? If it’s not to? You remember how much you paid?
1:01:24
I was around, I think 7060 to 70 years ago.
1:01:28
Wow. That’s cheap. That’s a steal. Yeah, that’s what you asked for 62 stairs, folks.
1:01:37
Every morning, got to see the rooftops of Paris. It was totally worth two flights of stairs. And good. I thought it was just doing an Airbnb to
1:01:46
give you another way to see how people live in Paris. That was their apartment. Yeah, it was actually some. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, it’s just as far as like the cost and everything. I mean, the museum path is probably one of the biggest expenses, but I got my money’s out of that money’s worth out of that. No problem. Yeah. Yeah,
1:02:06
you did. God, you’ve traveled on the cheap as well. Yeah.
1:02:14
I’ll remember this trip for the rest of my life. It was just a wonderful four days. And I’m really glad I did it.
1:02:19
Wonderful. And thank you so much for coming to tell us about it. Because a lot of us need encouragement to go do fun things like that. And it’s great getting specific recommendations. Also. I mean, like the, the spa, the perfume class. Nobody’s ever talked about those before. So that’s wonderful. Yeah.
1:02:38
And I’ll send you I’ll figure out what the name is. I can it’s one. It’s like the police birthday, or I can’t remember. Yeah,
1:02:46
I think that’s who does the can can class so that my next trip to Paris, I’m going to schedule. It’s like you take that class, because that’s just to find a path that
1:02:55
Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Cory, you’ve been wonderful guest Thank you. I couldn’t do this podcast without people like you. So thank you again.
1:03:04
I’m glad you do. Yeah. Thank you Annie
1:03:07
All right.
1:03:09
Allah,
1:03:10
thank you, Cheeto Velasco, Mark Reynoso and Alyssa Stimson for pledging to support the show on Patreon this week. And my thanks also to all the other patrons who support the show month after month. Thank you for giving back. Would you buy me a coffee format in real life, you can do that by supporting the show on Patreon for as little as $2 per month, visit patreon.com forward slash join us that’s pa te r e or n. Join us no spaces or dashes to see the different reward tiers. And thank you so much for giving back. I released all the Patreon rewards for the month of February. And those are always fun to make. And also, thank you Chelsea Ellis for your one time donation, there is a tip your guide button, green button on each of the episode pages. And if you get value out of the show tips are greatly appreciated.
1:04:08
I couldn’t do an episode last week because I was in Paris all week. I wasn’t doing tourists per se I went to meet with family and also to prepare for new tourism developing that all of you will be able to enjoy, but it’s not ready. So that’s all I’m going to say about that. The weather in Paris and all of France actually has been amazingly good. The second you know, for the second week of February, it was well, actually the second half February. It was sunny, it was mild, no rain, completely unexpected. I was listening to my favorite French gardening show this morning. And the Master Gardener explained that he looked into it and about every 10 years we get an unusually warm month of February. He was saying Don’t count on it in the future. Just too bad. I could really get used to this.
1:04:59
One can tell you about is my relatively bad experience with Airbnb. I had done all the usual due diligence, I read dozens of reviews, I picked a nice new area for me. I was in the books, gumbo, VA Omaha area, I exchanged a few emails with the owner, the person was very responsive, it all seemed Great. So I get there. And I follow their instructions on how to get the key from the key box. All the instructions were very French specific, but no problem. I’m French I knew what they meant. I’m not sure. A first time visitor from North America would have figured it out what is as easily but nevermind that. The problem was there wasn’t any keys in the key box. So I scrambled to find the owners phone number. I had seen it somewhere but you know how it is, you know Airbnb sends you dozens of emails. So I was always this number. It wasn’t in the emails. So I log into my Airbnb dashboard, but I was logging in from my phone. And since it’s a new device, they wanted two factor identification. It worked but it took 20 minutes. So word for the wise if you’re using Airbnb have the owners phone number somewhere where you can find it very easily. Most of you probably know this I don’t have I hadn’t used Airbnb in years. So I will spare you all the sordid details. But what happened is that the cleaning lady had left with a key in her bag. And it was four hours before I could get into my apartment. Luckily, this person owned another apartment in the same building and it was empty. So I stored my luggage there and I didn’t wait around the whole time. She refunded that first night which was nice, but honestly I would rather pay for you know for the night and not have all this stress. When I finally get got into my apartment, I realized that the bed was very uncomfortable. It was very hard.
1:07:08
The pillows were awful everything about it was just not right. It was the cheapest IKEA crap you have ever seen. So um, and you know, only one review had mentioned the bed and they said it was very comfortable. So very comfortable for who for children may be but for me, it wasn’t so. So that was strike to the bed wasn’t comfortable. Strike three is that on Friday night around midnight, the loudest music came on and stayed on all night long until 830 in the morning. It was so loud it rattled and buzzed our windows. Apparently it was a restaurant downstairs that had a special event. This was not usual. But it happened while we were there. And
1:07:58
we had a terrible night we had we both my husband was there with me. And we both had a terrible headache the next day. Then on the last day of the week, cherry on the cake. I had time to kill before I had to go catch my train. So my pack my bags, were all packed and ready to go. And I decided I’m going to be nice and take my trash bags down to the communal garbage bags, you know, garbage garbage cans downstairs. And you had to exit the building to do that. And when I pushed the button to get back in, the intercom was broken. It had worked all week. But that moment it decided to break. So thankfully, a woman came to visit a friend of hers who lives in that apartment building and she had her phone number. Because I mean the it’s not like you could call other people in the building, none of the buttons worked. So she had the phone number. So she called her and said, we’re stuck downstairs and chill. She came to open the door for us. But without that I would have missed my train on top of it. So if you’re if you’re going to rent from Airbnb, and I know a lot of you are, make sure that whoever you rent from is not somebody who owns a ton of apartments in Paris, which happens a lot. Now, I hadn’t realized this but then later when I went back, I realized how I could have told these, these this couple they had like maybe a dozen reviews for the one apartment that I was interested in. But they had hundreds of reviews on Airbnb. So Airbnb doesn’t tell you owe these people have several apartments, but if they have hundreds of reviews, you know they must have other apartments, right? So these people were nowhere near me and they could not do anything other than make phone calls. And I’m pretty sure they yelled at that cleaning lady for making a silly mistake. But you know what, she’s a cleaning lady. She’s not an apartment manager. So I was mad at them for putting too much responsibility in the hands of a cleaning lady and not even a cleaning lady they knew personally, but it’s like a company an agency, right that sends whoever is available that day. Well, of course mistakes are going to happen like duh. So enough about Airbnb. While I was in Paris. This time, I also met two lovely people in real life. The first one was Oliver g from the earful tower. And he was on one of the episodes of this podcast few weeks back well, months, but
1:10:40
I missed him when he came through to lose because I was doing a tour.
1:10:45
But
1:10:47
we recorded an episode for his show that I think will come out tomorrow Actually, we had a great time chatting is a fun young guy. He’s tall I he was much taller than I imagined him to be. He’s also really fed and I had to follow him up six flights of stairs without any an elevator
1:11:07
had been a long time since I took six flight of stairs without an elevator. But I lived to tell the tale. I also met Patricia who is a listener of this show, and also the Eiffel Tower and she generously offered to let me use her guest bedroom when I go to Paris for tours. And this was so unexpected and generous. When I read her email, I couldn’t believe it. So I told her Let’s meet in real life, shall we? Just to see if we like each other because you know, you know me from the podcast, but maybe I’m a total jerk who knows. We we spent a few hours together in her lovely apartment, we hit it off. And next time I go to Paris, I’ll take her up on her very nice offer. So big shout out to Patricia for being incredibly generous and so friendly. And you know what? She totally really did this apartment and it looks so nice. She’s a young retiree American who’s been living in France on and off for several years. She has she has French people totally figured out. She speaks French really well. For one thing. She has French friends. She is totally up to this renovation job. You know, you know this guy who wrote a book about how difficult it was to renovate his Paris apartment. I wonder if he didn’t go in totally clueless on purpose. I mean, you know more drama right? Anyway, Patricia did it right and it’s lovely.
1:12:35
Okay, so this episode is getting a little long as always, if you know people who are looking for info on France tell them they need to search for join us in France on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, anywhere they get their podcasts. And also of course on join us in france.com. There’s also a search button on join us in France. com. And since I have bad memory, I use it all the time and it works. Well. Have a great week of trip planning and I’ll talk to you next Sunday.
1:13:07
The join us in France travel podcast is written and produced by Annie Sargent and copyright 2019 by addicted to France. It is released under Creative Commons Attribution non commercial no derivatives license.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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Episode Page Guest NotesCategories: Paris, Solo in France