Paris... The Bad, The Good and The Funny

I recently treated my mom to a weekend in Paris for her birthday. Things didn't go exactly to plan, but we had a load of laughs and came away with many memories.

It was raining the day we arrived... the type of rain that drives everyone indoors, seeking warmth and shelter, and yearning for hot cups of tea and yummy cakes. Consequently the queues for cafes everywhere were horrendous! After a bit of browsing in the beautiful Galeries Lafayette, I'd planned on taking my mom to Angelina's  for tea, but we really didn't want to waste the afternoon waiting in the long line that was snaking down the Rue de Rivoli.

Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette

Plan B - find somewhere (anywhere) along the Champs Elysee - turned out to be Very Bad Plan Indeed. We'd walked all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe... in the pouring rain.... without finding anywhere. Finally, just near the Arc, I noticed a restaurant  that was serving les gateaux yummy and had loads of empty tables under the cover of the awning in front of the cafe...result!

Or maybe not. Apparently the only table that was available for us was the one right at the edge of the awning... the table that was getting progressively wetter with the persistent raindrops falling on it. When I pointed out to the sullen waiter that there were in fact other empty tables and that we did not fancy sipping tea diluted with the deluge of water that would be falling into our cups, he just shrugged mournfully... "I cannot help the rain!". 

Fair point. I did not expect him to be in control of all matters meteorological. I did, however, expect a bit of half decent customer service... so we let our feet do the walking as "I can, however, take my patronage elsewhere, Monsieur!".

Admitting defeat, we returned to our hotel, stopping at the little patisserie over the road to pick up a selection of macaroons and a takeaway coffee. We were just enjoying the sugary delights in the comfort of our hotel room... with not a sneering waiter in sight... when with a loud crash, a huge picture fell off the wall and onto the floor... yikes! Luckily that didn't happen in the middle of the night... or we may well have both suffered heart failure. Nothing worse than getting woken up by loud crashes and bangs....

Nothing disturbed our slumber that night. After a fabulous dinner in a brasserie not far from the hotel... great food and a jovial waiter who seemed quite struck with the mother and daughter duo, tried speaking to us in Russian and then Italian when I attempted some awful French, and then joked that we did not need to pay for the meal, but we'd have to do the washing up.... we went to bed early, planning to make the most of our second and last day in Paris. I didn't bother to set an alarm... my mom is always up with the larks, so I didn't give it much thought. I certainly did not expect to sleep right through until almost 11 o'clock the following morning! What did that jolly waiter put in our ratatouille the night before? Valium?

Of course we'd missed breakfast and, what was worse, wasted a good few hours of the glorious sunshine! I phoned down to reception (worried that we'd even missed checkout) and the lovely gent on duty reassured me that we still had another hour, and then offered us breakfast in our room at no extra charge. Within a few minutes, there was a knock on the door and a tray of fresh pastries, baguettes, butter, jams, honey, a pot of tea and orange juice was delivered to us...what a treat to have breakfast in bed!

Fuelled up and feeling very well rested, we set off for the Eiffel Tower and a boat trip down the Seine to take in the sights...

A bit of a dash back to Gare du Nord and we just made our Eurostar train back to London. 

Tout est bien qui finit bien!

(All's well that end's well)

Photos all my own