Sis in France - Paris

My sister's trip started and ended in Paris - we flew French Bee via Orly airport, so it only made sense to see some of Paris!

We arrived, and went straight to our hotel near the Gare de Lyon. After freshening up a bit, we walked to the gare, intending to go to Les Galeries Lafayette for dinner and the rooftop view - well, as we were looking for the metro, we realized that it would be tight on time (and frankly, we were bushed!). Bingo, we decided to go back to one of the many restaurants we had passed on our short walk. Good decision! Several crêpes later, we strolled back to bed 😎

The next morning, we dragged the trunks to our train... Sis got through, but while I was switching to my ticket, an agent saw my trunk and said Non! 😲 Apparently, trunks that are ok for airlines do not count as luggage for OUIGO - it's not allowed on the train! When that finally soaked in, I said oooohhhh... What do I do? Well, the agent took another look at my ticket (I assume to check that I had at least paid for a big bag), took pity on me, and said... OK, just this once, you can do it. Phew! 😌 I said, absolutely, never again, and thank you!

Then I caught up with Sis, and the other trunk...

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Luckily, we all only had small suitcases when we came back to Paris 🤪. 

Unluckily, we all forgot about the huge number of stairs you need to climb to use the Metro! We finally got to our apartment, but then decided that everything from then on had to be by bus (or Uber).

Friday evening (by bus!), we took a friend's advice and went to a concert at Sainte Chapelle - it was gorgeous, and the music was lovely! (The seats were not lovely, and the entry process was tedious, but worth it)

Saturday was *very* busy!

We had tickets for the Musée d'Orsay (more about that elsewhere) in the morning (Uber), then to Les Galeries Lafayette for lunch and the previously-missed rooftop view (tried a bus, but it turned out to not run during lunch, so... Uber!)

We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon at the apartment (bus), then went back out again (bus) for our night (bus) tour.

Sunday, the vote was unanimous! We recuperated to some degree, then sent Sis on to the airport and home!

For us, since the bus passed right by, we stopped off at the Panthéon! We weren't 100% sure we would be up to this, so we hadn't gotten tickets in advance. While waiting in line, I noticed a savvy couple buying theirs online, then jumping over to the no-waiting-cause-we-bought-online section 😜... Oh well, we got there eventually.

Monday, we relaxed again - Phew!

Tuesday, we packed up and took an Uber to the National Library Richelieu. We were able to check our bags (you know, the small ones) and enjoy the atmosphere - books under an oval skylight.

Then it was time to get our bus back to the train station, and on home!

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For Orly - getting to and from, and navigating the airport, see here.

As always, see the Sisters in France 2023 album for more photos (with captions this time!)