Montmartre, Paris

PARIS 

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We started our trip in Paris. One of my favoirite cities in the world. Je t’aime!

My son Milo and I spent our first three nights there before driving down to our first house sit, about an hour and a half outside of Paris. Jed stayed behind to greet our pet/house sitters at home and get them situated.  He joined us several days later.

While in Paris we rented a flat from a couple via Airbnb. If you haven’t checked out this site yet, do yourself a favor and take a look! There are places all over the world listed there and you can rent anything from a shared room to an entire place from private owners.

We found our flat in a fantastic location, Montmartre, Paris for about $93.00 a night. The only drawback? The STAIRS OF DOOM! The ad said there were six flights of stairs, but really that was an understatement, at least by our standards! It felt more like ten. Add luggage and a sick kiddo to the mix…well, humph.

The Stairs of doom….daa da daaaa……and trust me the picture does not do this justice. It was taken from about half way up because the camera couldn’t capture the whole thing to the bottom!

Once we wheathered the climb we were rewarded with a view of The Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart)…

The Apartment… We were in a bit of a fog with jet lag as neither of us were able to sleep on the plane despite the pillows and blankies, so we spent a lot of time in the apt.

The street…

Pics of the neighborhood we stayed in…the lovely Montmartre. Random building…

My traveling companion is a comedian…

Dinner- quiche and salad. This picture is a poor representation of the taste. French people know their quiche! (Warning, you will see lots of pictures of food throughout my posts, so you may want to have snacks on hand.) 🙂

Montmartre is the famous art district. Artists wonder the streets and offer tourists the chance to have their portrait done. You don’t always get to see an example of their work first…not sure why, as you aren’t obligated to buy it once they do it. I did buy mine; we had Milo’s done here last year. Jed is next!

Some work of the local artists. Tres Jolie!

My impersonation of a photographer, via my iphone (which all these pictures were taken with btw)… Smoke break…

Artist going to work…

Dog at sidewalk cafe…

Museums are great, but there’s something about watching art being created in front of you…watching the blank canvas come to life before your eyes…

On the second day in Paris we took the commuter train out to meet the people whose house we would be sitting Oct 9th for five days. Very nice. Milo loves their guinea pigs…here’s a pic…more on that place later…

The metro is extremely easy to use, and unfortunately extremely smelly. 🙁

Milo and I headed out to the Children’s Science Museum…for you Seattle folks, it’s basically the Paris version of the Seattle Science Center….

Stopped at McDonalds- much to Milo’s chagrin he found the shakes sold here are smaller…

The time came….da da….to drive a rental car through Paris…and a stick shift to boot! Luckily, I found it’s like riding a bike. I’d actually forgotten how fun it is to drive a manual…it feels more like driving, if that makes any sense. 😉

Milo was very afraid! haha

The definition of chaos? Driving in Paris…picture no GPS voice commands, no idea where the street signs were, the fact that they don’t have “lanes” per se but prefer to “weave” as if just having finished a liter of wine. And the roundabouts! ha It made us laugh.

For those of you who live in Port Townsend, the two piddly roundabouts that we have…you know, the ones no one seems to know how to use? Well, they don’t exactly count as practice…the one we had to traverse was, well…it was this…

Yes, there are NO lanes…you just merge and hold on for dear life- it only took us one full revolution around before I managed to get us on the road we needed…cue pat on the back. 😉

For those of you not familiar with the ones in our home of Port Townsend, I’m adding a pic of it from just after it was finished…see any difference? Yes,  one car at a time. lol

If you are reading this mid trip, here is a link back to the beginning.

Next Stop – Villeneuve sur Yonne, France

Hollin Stafford
Hollin Stafford

Hollin is originally from California. After obtaining a degree in Sociology she worked as a flight attendant for United Airlines so that she could combine her work with something she’s always loved, travel. Later she found herself in Seattle, WA where she met her husband and went to work in the real estate field.

She moved with her family from Port Townsend, WA to Sintra, Portugal in 2016. They said they’d try it out for a year and never left! Leveraging her U.S. real estate background and the insights she’s gained over the years into Portuguese life, she works with the Brightman Group, guiding international buyers and connecting sellers. She loves her work and finds delight in helping people find their ‘spot’ in the world.

Hollin's passions also include spending quality time with family and friends, seeking out excellent food and writing. She writes in a variety of genres, from YA, to literary short stories, non-fiction and engaging travel pieces. Her current focus is on writing a memoir about what brought her family to Portugal.

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