Not Just Another New Year’s Eve

Pages from Jan’s Travel Journal: Monday, December 31, 2018

New Years Eve. I can’t say that the three of us were in a festive mood. It was our last full day in France before Craig and I flew home to face the funeral of our beloved mom, Ruby. It would be hard to leave Desmond to mourn on his own. We ate breakfast and then began packing our bags and cleaning the apartment. We left the luggage inside and headed out on a last exploration of Lyon. 

A lovely building near our apartment in Lyon

Our view crossing a bridge in Lyon on a cold winter day

Our first stop was the Cinema Museum in old Lyon, which houses over 450 movie sets and props. The main exhibition room contained many of the sets from the movie “Parfum”, which was a very creepy film. The sets were intricately detailed and quite fascinating. There were props from dozens of well-known movies which we really enjoyed viewing. We saw Harry Potter’s wand and learned that the studio had to keep making replacements because Daniel Radcliffe would nervously scratch the paint off of them. I enjoyed seeing many of the props from one of my favorite movies, Amélie. We saw Mrs Doubtfire memorabilia, costumes from Star Wars, Mary Poppins’ umbrella, and so much more! 

This is a full-sized movie set from Parfum.

Another movie set from Parfum

Props from Amélie,
one of my favorite movies

Props from the movie "Mrs Doubtfire"

There was also an exhibit of miniature interior scenes. My favorite was a restaurant, with tables no more than a couple of inches high. They were fully decorated with table linens, flowers, candles, tiny plates, cutlery, wine glasses, and even baskets of bread! I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. I did get a shot of an little apartment scene.

A very detailed scene in miniature

After that, Craig returned to the apartment for a rest. Desmond and I wandered around looking for a place to have lunch. We ate at a very crowded Italian restaurant and were lucky to find a table. Des ordered a tasty truffle ravioli and I chose a creamy chicken and mushroom pasta bowl. We did a bit of shopping after lunch, which was fun, but I was glad to return to our apartment. The temperature had dropped and the afternoon had become quite cold. 

A chilly day in Lyon, France

It was soon time to leave for the train station. We had hired an Uber, and it was a long ride to the station. I wondered if we were going to just ride all the way to Paris! The Gare de Lyon was a very open, modern looking structure, but it was absolutely freezing inside. Our train was late arriving and we endured a lengthy wait in a long line before we finally boarded. 

The train car was warm, at least. We soon settled in. Desmond contacted the host of our AirBnB to let her know we were running late and was assured that it wouldn’t be a problem. Months previously, I had made the effort to find a luxurious place with a balcony and a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower for our New Year’s Eve celebration. (Not that we were now in any mood to celebrate.) It was to have been a special treat before Craig headed back home, while I would have returned to Orléans with Desmond for another ten days. 

We became concerned when our host did not give us the full address of the AirBnB. Each time we sent a text, it took longer and longer for her to respond. We also needed the entry code to the building, but she told us to just stand outside and wait for someone to exit the building and then just slip inside! We were unwilling to do that and still she had not told us the apartment number, but simply said that the key was under the door mat! Apparently she expected us to enter the building illegally and then start looking beneath random door mats! 

By this time, the train was nearly due to arrive at our station. Several times, we tried calling the host, but got no answer. Desmond suggested that we remain on the train, which terminated at the airport. We decided to do that and explain to the conductor our dilemma while offering to pay the additional cost. However, the conductor never came into our car to check our tickets. Meanwhile, I was on my phone reserving a triple room at the airport Ibis Hotel. 

We arrived at the station and had begun walking the short distance to our hotel when Desmond spotted a Marks and Spencer! Craig patiently waited in the hallway with our luggage while Des and I darted into the busy store. We selected items for our New Year’s Eve "dinner" and Des found us a nice bottle of champagne. 

Within minutes of settling into our room at the Ibis, we received a call from our AirBnB host. She claimed her phone had gone dead, yet we could hear that she obviously was at a party. Could she not have used another phone? She became a bit angry when we told her we were not going to stay at her apartment and that we would be requesting a refund. (The corporate office of AirBnB arbitrated the dispute and I am happy to report that we received a full refund.)

We spent the last few hours of 2018 reminiscing about mom/grandma. We shed some tears but also laughed a lot over the many happy memories of that very special woman who never allowed Alzheimer’s disease to destroy her bright smile and loving heart. Between the stories and sips of champagne with which we made a toast to mom, we munched on stuffed grape leaves, sausage, tiny sweet peppers filled with cheese, savory crackers, a baguette and some lovely cantal, with crisp Florentine cookies and spicy mince pies for dessert. 

Our midnight supper on New Year's Eve
 in the airport hotel

While it certainly wasn’t the celebration we had planned, the three of us had made the best of it and found some happiness with which to ring in the new year. Instead of a view of the Eiffel Tower, we had a view of the parking lot. But we also had each other, and hearts full of love and special memories. 

Paris in Summer

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Monday, July 20, 2009

Arriving in Montmartre, the four of us climbed the infamous stairs there and after a stop or two so that I could catch my breath, we made our way to Sacré-Cœur. The day was warm but there was a welcome breeze to cool us as we explored the area around the Basilica. We paused in front of a statue and I asked Mathieu whom it was commemorating. He told me that this man had been killed because his music was unpopular. Des told me that his friend might have been making that story up, so I may never know! The view from the Butte Montmartre is spectacular, and I took a picture of the distant Eiffel Tower from the same vantage point I had used in February. Montmartre, loosely translated, means "mountain of the martyr" and was named after St. Denis, who was decapitated on that site in 250 A.D. 

This view of the Eiffel Tower from Montmartre looks
 a bit different from the photo I took in February.

We left the hill in the opposite direction from which we had ascended and found ourselves in the area where the movie "Amélie" had been filmed. The hillside was teeming with tourists and the carousel was whirling merrily, loaded with children and their parents. We stopped at a cafe for a cold drink, and then did a bit of souvenir shopping. Desmond bought a pair of socks for me which had a map of the Paris Metro imprinted on them! At the toes, you could find the station across from our hotel. I collect socks, so that was the perfect little souvenir.

A close-up of Sacre Coeur.

Tour boats on the Seine

Always a pretty sight

Paris in summer... is HOT! We discovered that our hotel does not truly have air conditioning. The hallways are much cooler than the rooms, so we propped the door open a few inches and with the window open on the opposite wall we were able to get a nice little breeze going. It was too bad we couldn't leave it that way for night! Speaking of the hotel - I finally ran across one of those miniscule Paris bathrooms that I had heard so much about. The one in our room was so small that when I tried to undress, my elbows would bang against the walls. The shower stall seemed to be the roomiest place in the bathroom! There was a large hair dryer unit attached to the wall across from the toilet, and one of the magnets was missing, so if you even breathed on it the drying wand would fall off and automatically begin to blow. It was pretty hilarious, and happened within a few seconds every time one of us went into the bathroom.

Travel Tip: Avoid Paris in summer. The temperatures are brutal!

Amélie Slept Here

Pages from Jan's Travel Journal: Saturday, February 28, 2009

After visiting the Montmartre Cemetery, we returned to the hotel and found our room, which was actually a lovely suite, the "Amelie Poulain" suite. It was quite roomy and charming. Our bedroom had a pretty white iron canopy bed, and Desmond's room was equipped with twin beds, an armoire, and a little writing desk. There was also a small, triangular room which contained a large desk, two iron chairs with pretty cushions on them, and a tray on the desk which was laden with packets of coffee, tea, and raisin cake. It was a treat to have a kettle with which to make coffee and tea. The bathroom was also large, with a teak vanity, a tub/shower combination, and a towel warmer. The only negatives were the lack of a view and those stairs! I had read reviews of the hotel and understood that there was a lift, but did not realize that the lift did NOT service the suite, which was the only room at the top of a long, narrow staircase. It was awful for Craig, Des, and the porter to have to wrestle our heavy luggage to the room. All was forgiven once they opened the door and saw the rooms. 

One of our rooms at the Hotel Prima Lepic, Paris, France

After a short rest, we set out in the direction of Sacre Coeur Basilica. It was not a long walk, but we were trudging up hills and many stairs. It was well worth the climb, though I would recommend the Funicular next time! Sacre Coeur is enormous and very beautiful, looking almost as if it were constructed of sugar. We went inside to view the lovely domes, stained glass, sculptures, and paintings. The crowds were so thick that it was difficult to walk on the sidewalks and stairs and we were afraid of becoming separated. On such a beautifully warm day, it seemed that all of Paris was outside! There were many street performers - mimes, jugglers, musicians, and others. There was a violinist who was excellent. He smiled broadly as he played, and truly seemed to be enjoying himself, so we tossed a few coins into his case.

The happy violinist.

Basilica Sacre Coeur

The view over Paris from that height is spectacular! You can see for miles across the city, to the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, and beyond. The population of Paris is over 2 million, and when you include the metro area, it swells to 12 million! A bit mind-boggling to this small-town Kansas girl. We walked slowly back to the hotel, picking up a few more souvenirs along the way, and as always, snapping lots of photos. We lingered in the Place la Tertre, where the many artists were busily plying their trades. The sun shone through the bare branches and the few new green leaves that had cautiously opened in the warmth, dappling the square with shadows. The laughter of children rang out as they happily rode the carousel, and lovers strolled hand-in-hand through this romantic, postcard-perfect scene. 

After another brief rest at the hotel, we hailed a taxi for the ride to the Hard Rock Cafe. While not a place I would have chosen in which to dine in France, we wanted to give Des the treat of some "American" food. On the way to the restaurant, in the taxi zooming down one of Montmartre's steep hills, we all cried out "whee" as we whooshed downward. I later thought how odd it must have seemed to our French taxi driver, who surely wondered why those crazy Americans were yelling "Oui" as they went downhill! The Hard Rock was crowded and noisy, but the food was good and the Cokes were served with ice! Desmond really enjoyed dining on barbecue for the first time in months, and we had a good time looking at the memorabilia and shouting to each other over the loud music.