Off to Paris

1-4 June 2022.

After an early breakfast Wednesday 1 June, we checked out of the hotel and walked the short 15 minutes or so to the Gouda train station. We only had a few minutes' wait before the next train to Rotterdam Centraal and we hopped aboard. Once at Rotterdam we looked for the lounge so we could hang out for the next couple of hours.

At a little before noon we made our way to the platform and had to wait just a few minutes before our train arrived from Amsterdam. The cars were already quite full but we had reservations so we found seats, shoved our luggage into the overhead bins and settled in for the 2-and-a-half hours.

It was a gorgeous day for a train trip and we lapped up the scenery as we passed from the Netherlands on into Belgium. We both agreed that the Antwerp and Brussels trains stations were exceedingly unimpressive. Soon we were speeding through northern France -- and I mean speeding; the Thalys is a high-speed train reaching a top-speed of 186 mph. It shares the same track with the Eurostar.

We had a pleasant if uneventful trip to Paris Gare de Nord. Once there we made our way to the Metro line 5, which would take us right to our drop-off point, close to our apartment. We had a short wait to buy a carnet of 10 tickets (single trip) before boarding the 5. 

Fortunately, we had very little shlepping down stairs to do but the Metro was crowded and we had a large number of stops ahead of us. Bu the time we were halfway through our journey most passengers had gotten off and we could sit in peace.

Once we reached the Campo Formio metro stop we got off, hauled our bags up two sets of stairs and then made our way down rue Pinel to our apartment.

Our Air BnB hostess was waiting for us and after a tour of the apartment she said au revoir and is off to Greece for a month! Afterwards we walked down to the nearby Place Pinel and picked up a few basic groceries.

view of the 13th arrondissement from our terrace

Since arriving in Paris I have slipped increasingly under the weather and thus for obvious reasons have decided to self-isolate for five days. Which means we have done very little and what has been done has been taken on by the French Tarte! 

Two days in a row she went out for some groceries and then on 3 June she went to the Metro kiosk at Place d'Italie, just a short walk from here, and recharged our Metro Navigo passes that we haven't used in four years! Even though hesitant about her rusty French, she was able to communicate our needs to the Metro personnel pretty darn well.

On 4 June I finally got outside and it felt wonderful. After showering and getting dressed we headed out for Place d'Italie to pick up some more groceries. Susie had picked up food-to-go last evening from Tang Gourmet, just off the Place and we had lots of leftover rice and meat so I thought I'd make fried rice. Anyway, it was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed the stroll of Boulevard l'Hopital to the Place.

Afterwards we strolled back home and I crashed for about an hour or so. We had talked about going out for an aperitif at a nearby cafe but the rain came which pretty much quashed those plans.

Place d'Italie, this multi-floor indoor mall stretches beyond the frame to the left

Now that I'm on the road to recovery, we'll see what tomorrow brings. . .