Food, Lodging, and Transportation in Paris

One of my favorite things about Paris was the food, even though I couldn't eat some of the very best things...the breads, pastries, and French macarroons. But there were plenty other tasty morsels for me to consume. Probably my most favorite was the hot chocolate that was served every morning at the Hotel Crillon. I'm not sure how the French make their hot chocolate, but it is delicious. It is thick, rich, and almost like drinking a melted chocolate bar. Matter of fact, it is so rich that a pitcher of cream is served along side it so you can dilute the hot chocolate. I acquired many of my daily carbs through this heavenly beverage. And the other carb requirements were fulfilled by eating ice cream for lunch. Hey, when you can't eat bread you have to find other satisfying things to fill you up. I also had some great dinners...roast chicken one night, calamari another, and a fish dish on the last night. I was worried about finding things to eat with my long list of food allergies, but it turned out not be to be too worrisome.

I thought the Beach Club and the Beach Boardwalk townhouse at Epcot were luxurious. I didn't know luxury. Four of our five nights in Paris were spent pretty much in the lap of luxury. The Hotel Crillon is a very old hotel and a place where royalty used to stay. There is marble and crystal covering the lobby, dining areas, bathrooms, basically almost everywhere in the hotel. I think the bathroom in our room was almost as big as my master bedroom in our home. I'm not kidding when I say I almost fainted when we were shown our room. And I did cry when my dad said he was picking up the bill. I wish my pictures were better so you could really appreciate how nice the room was.

Entry way looking towards bedroom. Yes, that is a walk-in closet off to the left.

Hallway from entry way towards bathroom. Open door is the water closet; closed door is the bathroom with soaking tub, huge walk-in marble shower and double vanity.

Bedroom with king-sized bed, single bed, and sitting area.

We used the subway (or Metro as it is called in Paris) almost as much as we used our own two feet. I was a bit nervous to use the Metro only because I really haven't had much experience riding public transportation and figuring out schedules and such. My fears were unnecessary as the Metro trains run almost every five minutes (some of them more frequently than that) and the lines are color-coded with directional signs all over the place. The most complicated thing about the Metro orienting yourself to the neighborhood once you were back at street level. Several of the stops have multiple exits to street-level so it can be a little confusing to know exactly where you are at one you come out of the Metro.

For the most part, our Metro rides were uneventful.Two funny stories, though. One night were coming back from dinner and I could hear our train coming so I picked up the pace just a little to make that train. Dad and Mom were a little bit behind and Dad said to just hold up and we would catch the next train. So I did. The train was stopped for a little longer than usual so it gave everyone a chance to catch up. Dad, Mom, Katelyn, and Carson managed to get on the train but Dave and I were cut off. We had given up our position because we thought were catching the next train. Anyway, it was funny to watch the doors close and all we could do was wave to everyone else as they left the stop. The next train was 5 minutes later and we all regrouped at the next stop. The other funny is very similar except this time it was me who squeezed onto a train and had to wait for everyone else at the next stop.

Some travelling tips and saving money:

• If your hotel includes breakfast as part of your stay, fill up fully at breakfast. Then for lunch eat ice cream or grab a sandwich at a take-away counter. Also ordering the plat de jour can be a less-expensive option.
• If you are staying in Paris for less than a week, don't buy a Metro pass especially if you don't mind walking. We bought 4 packets of 10 tickets (12.95 euros/pack) and 3 round-trip tickets to Versailles (13.80 euro/ticket), which was significantly cheaper than 3 Metro passes.
• When the travel books tell you to avoid the Metro during rush hour, they aren't kidding. I think every working Parisian is on the Metro between 7 and 8 a.m and then again from 5 p.m to 6 pm. The trains are crowded! On one train it was so crowded that not everyone could grab a handle or bar, so Dave had a woman leaning on him the whole time.