For many years, I’ve used the “Airport Connection” shuttle service to get from and to the airport. Depending on the time of day, you might have the van to yourself or you might be sharing it with six other people. Which means that you might have a direct and efficient route from/to the airport or you might get to see some new parts of Paris if the driver drops off or picks up another party before or after you! Share, share, share – it’s not always the American way!
For the first time, my shuttle driver was a woman (and a very fine driver, I must say)! She had a sidekick who served as the navigator/front-man/suitcase-slinger/phone-answerer. It worked very well. Other times I’ve been a bit nervous when the driver was consulting a map while driving (or answering the phone or turning around to chat with the passengers). But she could actually pay attention to the driving. The mid-morning hour, combined with the rain and an accident somewhere contributed to big traffic delays on the A3. I left the airport at about 10:00 and was deposited at my apartment at noon – and I was the first dropoff! Good thing I wasn’t in a big hurry! But at least I could enjoy looking at the wild poppies growing along the roadside, check out a bunch of car models we don’t see in the U.S., and take a short snooze or two!
The elevator in my building might be the smallest one I’ve ever seen! I could just barely walk straight in (I didn’t have to shift diagonally). It held me and one suitcase (I had to take two trips to get everything upstairs). The interior is – no exaggeration here – about 30 inches wide and about 20 inches deep. It’s cute, and it’s efficient, and it does the trick, but oh my goodness, what a squeeze! The sign says it accommodates two people. They’d better be VERY friendly!
The apartment is on a lovely tree-lined boulevard called Avenue de la Motte Picquet.
It’s just above Café Max (the red awning in this photo), and a couple blocks from Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides. The tables outside of Max’s were filled with businessmen when I got back to the apartment tonight. At the end of the block there's a big flower shop and a posh restaurant/café. My metro station is La Tour-Maubourg - its entrance is in a beautiful little park across from the flower shop. A taxi queue/shelter sits adjacent to the park. Bus #28 stops right outside my door, and bus stops for four other routes are within a couple blocks of the apartment. A Vélib’ rack (Paris’ ubiquitous self-service one-way bicycle rentals) sits outside my door. So many transportation options besides good ol’ shoe leather! Banks, a post office, cafés, chocolatiers, bookstores, newsstands, pastry shops, grocery stores, bars, a mattress shop, hotels, restaurants, an antique watch/clock repairer, the Chilean embassy, a snazzy purse/wallet shop, a car wash, real estate agents, a dance studio, hairdressers, etc. line the boulevard – it’s a village!
Rue Cler, one of my very favorite streets, is a short three blocks from the apartment. Tonight I had dinner under the awning (it was still drizzling a bit) at a café I try to patronize every trip, Café du Marché on rue Cler. My Confit de Canard (duck leg and thigh that has been preserved by curing with sugar and salt, then roasting in duck fat and setting aside to age in the fat, then heated and crisped before serving) with fried potatoes, a green salad, slices of baguette, a glass of red wine and a cup of espresso came to €14.70 (about $20) - yet more evidence that “we’re not in M’pls any more!”
For the first time, my shuttle driver was a woman (and a very fine driver, I must say)! She had a sidekick who served as the navigator/front-man/suitcase-slinger/phone-answerer. It worked very well. Other times I’ve been a bit nervous when the driver was consulting a map while driving (or answering the phone or turning around to chat with the passengers). But she could actually pay attention to the driving. The mid-morning hour, combined with the rain and an accident somewhere contributed to big traffic delays on the A3. I left the airport at about 10:00 and was deposited at my apartment at noon – and I was the first dropoff! Good thing I wasn’t in a big hurry! But at least I could enjoy looking at the wild poppies growing along the roadside, check out a bunch of car models we don’t see in the U.S., and take a short snooze or two!
The elevator in my building might be the smallest one I’ve ever seen! I could just barely walk straight in (I didn’t have to shift diagonally). It held me and one suitcase (I had to take two trips to get everything upstairs). The interior is – no exaggeration here – about 30 inches wide and about 20 inches deep. It’s cute, and it’s efficient, and it does the trick, but oh my goodness, what a squeeze! The sign says it accommodates two people. They’d better be VERY friendly!
The apartment is on a lovely tree-lined boulevard called Avenue de la Motte Picquet.
It’s just above Café Max (the red awning in this photo), and a couple blocks from Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides. The tables outside of Max’s were filled with businessmen when I got back to the apartment tonight. At the end of the block there's a big flower shop and a posh restaurant/café. My metro station is La Tour-Maubourg - its entrance is in a beautiful little park across from the flower shop. A taxi queue/shelter sits adjacent to the park. Bus #28 stops right outside my door, and bus stops for four other routes are within a couple blocks of the apartment. A Vélib’ rack (Paris’ ubiquitous self-service one-way bicycle rentals) sits outside my door. So many transportation options besides good ol’ shoe leather! Banks, a post office, cafés, chocolatiers, bookstores, newsstands, pastry shops, grocery stores, bars, a mattress shop, hotels, restaurants, an antique watch/clock repairer, the Chilean embassy, a snazzy purse/wallet shop, a car wash, real estate agents, a dance studio, hairdressers, etc. line the boulevard – it’s a village!
Rue Cler, one of my very favorite streets, is a short three blocks from the apartment. Tonight I had dinner under the awning (it was still drizzling a bit) at a café I try to patronize every trip, Café du Marché on rue Cler. My Confit de Canard (duck leg and thigh that has been preserved by curing with sugar and salt, then roasting in duck fat and setting aside to age in the fat, then heated and crisped before serving) with fried potatoes, a green salad, slices of baguette, a glass of red wine and a cup of espresso came to €14.70 (about $20) - yet more evidence that “we’re not in M’pls any more!”
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