Travel Bugs

Back in November when all of these travels were only in our imagination, Callum said to me, “Oh, Rachel, I have a secret, but I can’t tell you—but I really want to.” I managed to weasel out of him that he had planned a secret component to our trip in between Jordan and Spain but wanted to surprise me. He had originally wanted to make me think we were going straight to Spain but then lead me to a check-in counter that said “Paris” and shock me on the day, but he just couldn’t hold it in.

I had my suspicions about it being either Morocco or Portugal…nearby-ish places that he knows I want to visit. Then about a fortnight beforehand, I started suspecting Paris. He had given clues like “you’ll love it” and “we’ll get good coffee there” and “we’ll be able to flush our toilet paper down the toilet”. All this led me to believe we’d be visiting the city of love…and I was right!

It was so cold in Paris in early January, of course, which did make it a bit uncomfortable, but our hotel room was warm and cosy, and the bathroom was modern and the shower had amazing water pressure. The bed was very soft, just how I like it, and the buffet breakfast was AMAZING. We liked Jordanian food a lot, but one can only eat so many falafels and pickled veg before you really just want a croissant and a decent espresso.

We only had three full days in Paris, but we certainly made the most of it.

Our first morning we ventured outside to take the metro only a few short stops to visit the Musée de l’Orangerie, something we missed the first time we went to Paris back in 2015. This is a bit of a naïve miss since I love art and Monet, and this particular art gallery is known for housing eight of Monet’s giant waterlily canvases. Two oval-shaped rooms are devoted to four paintings each, which span the walls like giant wall-paper, with seating in the centre of each gallery for people to sit and contemplate his genius. And we did! It was glorious. I was particularly impressed with the French school children who were all admirably angelic and respectful, their teachers doing a fantastic job of quietly educating them about one of their nation’s greatest artists whilst allowing all other visitors to enjoy the space.

We also returned to quite possibly my favourite art gallery in the world, the Musée d’Orsay. There was a huge line to get in…it took an hour of lining up in the frigid air and a further half an hour lining up inside, before we finally got our entrance tickets. By then, we were hungry for lunch so joined the queue yet again to get into the café, one of three eating locations and by far the most economical. It still set us back $40 AUD for a couple of sandwiches, cookies, and a drink. We viewed most of the building before both getting arted-out. It turns out two art galleries in one day is probably too much, even for me. I did love seeing all of my favourite pieces, though, and being in awe all over again at seeing Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, Seurat, and a piece by Paul Signac, which is one of my all-time favourite impressionist works: “Entrée du port de la Rochelle” (1921).

We headed home after this and I succumbed to a stomach issue which troubled me for the next week, unfortunately. I think all the different cuisines had finally caught up to me and my gut biome was not happy. This is a cost of extensive travel.

I did rally enough to go on a half-day walking tour of different Parisian landmarks the next day and managed a full day of marvelling at sights in the charming Montmarte (another thing we missed the first time around). It was here we had a delicious lunch. I ordered a rather boring spaghetti, trying to appease my stomach. I had order-envy though, as Callum had gotten a traditional boeuf bourguignon which he generously shared half of when my doe-eyes communicated my jealousy. I mmmed and ummed with every bite.

Paris was a wonderful surprise and despite the cold and my health issues, I think three days in Paris is better than zero days in Paris. We have resolved to go again one day, in the warmer months and for longer. We are also interested in other places in France but thus far have not made it a priority to properly visit it. It is yet another thing on our travel to-do list!