Wandering the coasts: April 2023

Gina and I have been planning a trip to Europe ever since we got together 3 years ago, and we decided on spending three weeks travelling through France.

She's still working part time, so we interspersed hotel stays with Airbnb stays so that she could have a place to work. We also brought about a week's worth of clothing with the intent of doing laundry at each Airbnb.

We left Austin in the early evening for a two and a half hour flight to Chicago. After a 2 hour layover, we boarded our 8 hour flight to Paris. Neither of us figured we'd get much sleep even after taking some melatonin, so we didn't plan much for our first day in the city.

We didn't have much trouble getting our bags, and we easily found the Metro train that would take us to our hotel. It was about $25 for the both of us for our tickets into the Latin Quarter of Paris.

We stayed at Hotel Atmosphere for four days, very close to the Maubert - Mutualité metro station and about a 4 min walk. The hotel was reasonably priced, especially since it had an amazing breakfast!

Selection of meats

Selection of cheeses

All the breads, cheeses, and meats

The rooms have a Nespresso coffee maker, as well as a mini fridge and TV. Although the AC wasn't yet enabled (the weather is still too cool), we could open our window that overlooked Rue de Ecoles. The Sorbonne University is three blocks down from the hotel, hence the street name.

Another landmark very close to the hotel is the Pantheon, a former church that now displays a history of France, and is also the resting place of notable French, such as Voltaire, Braille, Marie and Pierre Curie, and Victor Hugo.

The Pantheon also has some amazing views of the city.

There are numerous sculptures and paintings inside the Pantheon showing the history of France and their historical figures such as Saint Genevieve and Joan of Arc.

We also had an opportunity to visit the catacombs under Paris. The catacombs were formed when the limestone under the city was removed to construct the buildings in early Paris. Over time, miles of underground quarry was formed. After they were no longer in use, they were utilized to rebury the millions of Parisians that filled the local cemetaries. It's estimated that there are two million people buried under Paris.

During our stay in Paris, we met up with a Navy buddy of mine, Mike, and his girlfriend Barb. We've known each other for over 30 years, and outside of the Navy, this is our first trip overseas together.