tbaroundtheworld

When I was traveling extensively in Asia, I almost always stayed in 4-star hotels. In the major cities, they were very inexpensive, typically sub-$100, and the services, like laundry, followed suit. But once I was out of that phase, and Europe became our annual destination of choice, we began to rent apartments. Not only were they reasonably priced, but they offered amenities that made our trips more comfortable and less expensive. Having a refrigerator means as many meals in as you please, and a washing machine allows you to take a 4-week trip with nothing more than a carry-on. Our apartment hunting has evolved as well. Initially we started with the two well-known internet rental sites – Home Away and VRBO. We developed a simply list of absolute requirements, that allowed us to filter through the hundreds of offerings found in most major cities. Washing machine, walking distance to where we want to spend our time, two lights by the bed for reading, lights in the living room for t...

Having one last dinner in Paris, we decided to continue our search for “real Paris experience” and took a medium walk down Blvd. Saint-Germain to a restaurant we’d seen on our long walk home from our dinner in the Latin Quarter. That dinner – our second Raclette experience – was not as good as the wonderful version Chris had provided for us in Zurich to celebrate MLW’s birthday. It was however fun to eat in a touristy restaurant among travelers trying to make some sort of connection to their fellow diners via loud conversations about what they know in common. This part of the Latin Quarter is stuffed with restaurants, side by jowl, catering exclusively to tourists. Every type of cuisine available, in restaurants that try to appear authentic. But the real draw here is to eat in a place where you don’t feel like an outsider, a feeling too often conveyed by restaurants outside the areas frequented by tourists. Witness our coffee experience from earlier in the week – you’re not from the...

Our last day would be devoted to loose ends, a couple of churches that had eluded us, a visit to the Louvre gift shop, and churros at La Tower. We started once again at Secco, the neat little coffee shop slash artisanal bakery we visited yesterday. Today we had an English lesson for the clerk and a French lesson for me and lots of compliments and laughter to go around. We said our farewells and left heading off to Eglise Saint-Sulpice, passing what seemed like an endless string of patisseries, each one more beautiful and aromatic than the last. It was easy to find. The morning was just beautiful – cool, crisp and sunny with a light breeze – and the light on the fountain in front of the church was lovely. Not many people at this hour, a woman with a small dog, a young couple taking photos, a man doing a panorama with his phone on a selfie-stick. We went in and wandered around. Saint-Sulpice is the largest church in Paris and was built starting in 1646 by Father Jean-...