19th Installment: C’est Parti (Here We Go)

This will be the final installment of our trip and a synopsis of our last 3 days in Paris. First off… it’s been fantastic here! The best food, very good inexpensive wine, the incredible visuals everywhere we go, kind and interesting people, and on and on.

Our 300 sq.ft. studio has worked out extremely well. We are positioned in the Batignolles neighborhood in the 17th arrondissement. It’s everything and more that you could want in a compact area. Within 2 blocks we have 3 butcher shops, 4 boulangeries, flower shops, pharmacies, bazar shops (like dollar stores, but better) at least 20 bars and restaurants, produce markets, grocery stores, and much more.

Again just two blocks away is the most incredible park, Parc Clichy Batignolles Martin Luther King, with a small lake, fountains, lush greenery, open spaces, kids play areas, and the most amazing part is that it is ringed by about 12 apartment blocks, each with their own architectural design. An offshoot of Gare Saint Lazare runs above ground through it also, which is très cool.

I’m running out of synonyms for amazing and don’t want to bore you, so I’ll just post a few more pictures and keep the chatter to a minimum.

Here’s some photos of the view from our room looking over rooftops towards the Sacré-Coeur, and how narrow the elevator was taking us to the 7th floor (better than the 136 stairs), our favourite lunch spot right around the corner, a bike repair station inside the park, and the Tour Saint-Jacques towards the Seine.

Yesterday we visited the refurbished Notre-Dame Cathedral which was ravaged by fire just 6 years ago. By far one of the grandest buildings in the world. It’s scale and workmanship were magnificent!

Anyways, tomorrow we leave in the morning for our return flight from Charles de Gaulle to Calgary, and then on to Kelowna, and finally the 300 km drive home with a nine hour time difference to Castlegar. Yikes sounds daunting but we’ve done it 4x before with a short rest along the way. I can’t wait to get back to working in the yard and seeing our family and friends.

Thanks to all of you that stuck it out with my banter and I hope you were able to get some ideas for your next trip abroad. Feel free to contact me if you want some tips for simple travel, or ideas for an itinerary, I’d love to help.

FYI: We walked over 250 kms on this trip, took 15 trains, and stayed at 9 Airbnbs, and I still put on a few pounds (Carol looks marvelous!)

Thanks to Jay Friesen for his technical expertise in helping me with the administrative work behind the scenes on the site! And thanks to all who took the time to offer a comment along the way, much appreciated.