Jan 15, 2011 -- 07:00 GMT - 8

  • View of my plane from inside the terminal at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The first leg of my journey to Paris was from SEA to ORD

Got up at 4:00am this morning to get ready to travel to Paris since the taxi was to arrive at 6:00am. The bus doesn't run often enough that early in the am so it made sense to get a cab. I used Stita taxi because they have a great online reservation system. After you make the reservation, the dispatcher calls you within a few minutes and confirms. The big surprise came when I discovered that a taxi ride to the airport is 55 bucks plus a tip! Very expensive when you consider that the bus/light rail alternative would have been free since NWH pays for my Orca card.

Got to the airport about two hours early. I learned that the airline now allows you to check-in online for international travel which is very nice. I decided to check one bag since my laptop and camera bag count as my two carry-on items. The curbside luggage check is only for domestic travel and the people that staff it are not airline employees.

I'm traveling in first class to Chicago and then business class to  Paris. The priority check in was very nice. I chatted with the agent about inventing a special passport holder that keeps the passport open for you. He was using a stapler as an alternative paperweight.

The priority security line was great. I still haven't had to do the body scanner yet. Ended up at the gate about 1.75 hours early. Could have slept an additional hour for sure!

Flight left on time from SEA. Since the Seahawks made the playoffs, the plane is packed with fans. It's Hawks versus Bears this weekend. 

Had some coffee and a decent breakfast of steel cut oatmeal, fresh fruit, and hot biscuits with jam. The first class cabin is much nicer on this 737 plane than some others on which I have recently traveled. Gobs of legroom!

Jan 16, 2011 -- 08:10 GMT+1

  • View from the Hotel Minerve in Paris

I arrived in Paris after a nice flight of eating and drinking.  After almost 8 hours on the plane I was very glad I was able to upgrade to business class.  Dinner was tilapia on the flight.  I was amazed that airline fish could actually be pretty good!  After dinner I watched movies on the little personal media players that they handed out to everyone.  I elected to watch movies on my iPad instead.  They also handed out Bose noise canceling headsets.  Wow, those things really are terrific.  They really block out droning and low frequency sounds.  I watched the first two Matrix movies and then it was time for breakfast.  The cabin lights were out while I was watching movies. We were supposed to be sleeping but I can never seem to sleep on a plane.

Arrived into CDG 35 minutes early.  Customs was a total joke.  They never said one word to me, barely looked at my passport, and handed it back to me without stamping it, darn.  American Airlines arrives into terminal 2A; whereas, my travel buddy, Sandro, arrived into Terminal 2E.  Since I arrived early, I went in search.  There was some police activity in the airport so I couldn't take the shuttle bus to terminal 2E.  Instead of waiting, I elected to walk.  It was a long way... that airport is HUGE.  It wasn't nearly as nice as I thought it would be for one of the world's busiest airports.  It was a little dingy looking and the lighting was really dim.

On my way to the other terminal I discovered the train station which was actually IN the terminal.  Very cool way to walk off a plane and right onto a train to take you anywhere in France without having to step outside or take a cab or bus to the train terminal..

Ended up having to fire up the cell phone to text Sandro and figure out where he was.  Once we met up, we went down to the train station, acquired some Euro from a cash machine and bought two one way tickets into Paris on the RER-B train.  The ride was about 37 minutes.  Since it is Sunday, the train was nearly empty.

After arriving at the underground Notre Dame RER-B train station, we emerged to find ourselves right in front of Notre Dame on a bright, clear, sunny day!  I was contemplating taking a quick picture when we were suddenly attacked by deaf/mute people... literally!  A whole bunch of them were zooming around the courtyard of the Notre Dame cathedral trying to get donations.  I was a sucker and gave them some coins.  Since it was really sunny and nice we decided to walk to the hotel rather than take the Metro.  The walk was about 0.4 miles.  Time for a nap.


Jan 16, 2011 -- 1:00 pm GMT + 1 

  • Wine dealer down the street from the hotel. Note the price of French wine is much less than would be expected in the US. 4€ for a bottle of bordeau is about $5.50. Apparently there is no VAT or other taxes applied to wine like there is in the US. Guess they don't believe in sin taxes in France... or wait, maybe wine isn't a sin.
  • Wine in front of the wine shop on the Rue St. Germaine. All the wine in France was really good, super cheap, and usually low in alcohol. They were about 12-13 percent on average. Here in the US a red wine is 14.5 - 15.5%
  • Map of the day 1 orientation and walking tour. AKA the paris death march

After a brief nap in the hotel, it was time to head out on a walk.  The weather was sunny and clear but a little cold.  Sandro had outlined a first day sightseeing trip on a google map so we headed out with our cameras to capture as many shots as possible in the nice weather.  One of the first places we encountered was a little shopping market of specialty shops on the Boulevard Saint-Germiane.  There was a produce shop, seafood shop, a butcher, a deli, a cheese shop, a wine shop, a pastry & bread shop, and a Brasserie/Cafe on the corner.  It was like a self sufficient little neighborhood market.


Jan 16, 2011 -- 1:00pm GMT + 1

  • Rue de la Parcheminerie by St. Severin
  • St. Severin street. More like an alleyway with shops along both sides. Cars and motorcycles would occassionally use this street
  • Cool Audi. I think it's an R8 but it doesn't have the two tone paint job that they mostly seem to have. And, it's a convertible!

After checking out the shopping area a bit, we headed down toward Notre Dame.  Along the way we found St. Severin church.  This quickly became a landmark for us to find our way back to the hotel.  Most of the streets of Paris look exactly alike so it's easy to get lost.  In addition, none of the streets seem to run at right angles so you feel like you are always walking in circles.  There were lots of little alleyway shopping areas.  I was amazed at how few people were zooming around the city.  Definitely not like London or New York.


  • My first look at Notre Dame
  • Detail of Notre Dame

After crossing the Seine to Ile de la Cité we approached Notre Dame again.  We were again mobbed by the deaf people begging for money.  I didn't feel badly saying no this time because I'd already given them something earlier.  The cathedral looks stunning from the West facing side.  The East facing side is the one with the flying buttresses.  The amount of detail in the stonework is incredible.  


Jan 16, 2011 -- 1:33pm GMT + 1

  • The tower St. Jacques is all that remains of the former 16th century Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie. It's 171 feet tall
  • Commemorating the church
  • View inside St. Jacques tower

We deviated from the map a bit when we saw the tower of St. Jacques looming above the other buildings.  Apparently there used to be a large church here but the tower is all that remains.  While we were taking pictures of the tower, we discovered that a lot of the public areas in Paris have free wifi access during the day... well, that's what the signs said but we weren't able to access the wifi.  (by the way "Why F-eye is pronounced We Fee in France, just so you know)