Some of us slept in again. Surprising Paul and I have switched our typical morning routines on this trip. Usually I’m the first one up and around for quite a while before the rest of the family. On this trip, Paul has been the first one up and I have been sleeping in. Paul and I went off to post office in Gard Est to buy a box and find out what we had to do for mailing back some souvenirs. Unfortunately, the post office was closed. We returned to the apartment and looked up other post offices online. Turns out there was one near the apartment so we headed out again for a second try. Our path took us through an African immigrant neighborhood. It seemed rather lively. I wondered how well the populations were meshing with the Parisians.
The second post office was open. We bought a box that was the equivalent of “if it fits it ships” and returned to the apartment to pack the box. When we returned with the packed box we found the post office was closed. Oy! Paul found online that there was a post office near the Louvre and Notre Dame that was open later. We decided to haul the (heavy) box with us on the metro over to Notre Dame. Paul was not at all optimistic that we were actually going to be able to mail the box in which case I would be dragging it with me to Le Puy en Velay since we were leaving Paris very early and the post office was closed on Sunday.
Luckily, the third post office was open and we were able to mail the box even though I don’t really know enough French words for postal interactions. We’ll see if it actually arrives at our house. Our next stop was the cell phone store to buy a cellular SIM card for the cell phone and a data SIM card for the ipad in the hopes that I could use the mapping feature to help us not get lost. That also turned out to be a few long walks and stops at multiple stores to find what we needed. We eventually found a store with the right cards. We strolled along the Left Bank (lined with book sellers), crossed the Seine and made our way to Notre Dame.
The second post office was open. We bought a box that was the equivalent of “if it fits it ships” and returned to the apartment to pack the box. When we returned with the packed box we found the post office was closed. Oy! Paul found online that there was a post office near the Louvre and Notre Dame that was open later. We decided to haul the (heavy) box with us on the metro over to Notre Dame. Paul was not at all optimistic that we were actually going to be able to mail the box in which case I would be dragging it with me to Le Puy en Velay since we were leaving Paris very early and the post office was closed on Sunday.
Luckily, the third post office was open and we were able to mail the box even though I don’t really know enough French words for postal interactions. We’ll see if it actually arrives at our house. Our next stop was the cell phone store to buy a cellular SIM card for the cell phone and a data SIM card for the ipad in the hopes that I could use the mapping feature to help us not get lost. That also turned out to be a few long walks and stops at multiple stores to find what we needed. We eventually found a store with the right cards. We strolled along the Left Bank (lined with book sellers), crossed the Seine and made our way to Notre Dame.
The line into Notre Dame was moving quickly and in no time we were inside the cathedral. Lucky for us, while were where there the bells started ringing and a priest began Saturday evening mass. The choir was singing, the organist was playing, thepriest was wafting incense and it was all very lovely. I’ve always wanted to hear music inside a large cathedral so I stood looking at the rose window and listened for a long time. The rest of the family was underwhelmed and Liam and I found them outside. We found another Parisian park. Unfortunately the toy boat rentals had ended for the day and the entrance to the playground area was closed also.
This was our last night in Paris. We returned to the apartment and got ready to leave early the next morning. Some of us watched Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Tomorrow Paul is heading home (rejoining us in 9 weeks) and the kids and I are heading south to the Loire Valley and the town of Le Puy en Velay. Next stop- Le Puy-en-Velay.
This was our last night in Paris. We returned to the apartment and got ready to leave early the next morning. Some of us watched Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Tomorrow Paul is heading home (rejoining us in 9 weeks) and the kids and I are heading south to the Loire Valley and the town of Le Puy en Velay. Next stop- Le Puy-en-Velay.