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We didn’t get up quite as early as we had intended.. Mom definitely made it up and into the shower before I even opened my eyes. We got ready, packed, and checked out. Right beside the train station we stopped to eat breakfast. It wasn’t the quickest service, but the eggs were more cooked so that was a blessing! Haha

We got on the subway to take us to the main train station, we were there with 40 minutes to spare-and then promptly spent that 40 minutes walking in circles, up and then back down escalators, in all the wrong directions attempting to find the spot we were supposed to be in for our train to Lyon. I asked at least 5-6 different people working there where to go, some sent us up, some sent us down, finally one man took the time to explain in steps where to go..

But by then we had already missed our train, but seriously like 2 minutes. I talked on the phone with Morgana and Alex seeing if they could help me figure out what to do.. and thank goodness, because they explained how to get a new ticket for a train leaving in 15 minutes, and where to walk to get on said train. Mom had I hadn’t even sat our butts in our seats when the train started moving! And if Alex wasn’t able to tell us which platform the train was on, we’d have missed that train, too, because no where on the ticket does it say where it is! Apparently when it shows up on a big monitor, you have minutes to get to the platform. I guess if that’s our one snag, it wasn’t too terrible.. only a €104 mishap and wasting 30 minutes of Alex and Morgana’s time.. I still feel bad about that.

The train ride was 2 hours long and it went so fast that when we came to a stop, we got off, assuming we were supposed to. I did notice some other people not moving yet, but thought nothing of it. Come to find out we got off on the stop right before ours.. and Morgana and Alex were standing on the platform of the next stop waiting for us! Yikes. These French trains are just not for me, and fingers crossed that the Italian ones are slightly easier to navigate!

Once I had Morgana on the phone and she figured out what we did, they got back in their car and drove to the train station we were at and came in to get us. I’m sure they were hating us, I wouldn’t blame them a bit! I think if I had a better understanding of the French words I’d do better, but honestly it all looks like gibberish to me. I’m considering taking lessons in more languages because I hate feeling so useless.

Anywho, they collected us and we said our hellos, then quickly got the heck out of the chaos that is a French train station! Alex drove us to a cute neighboring town for us to walk around and explore. It was adorable, not crowded, and just what we needed after a day of feeling like our heads were going to pop off. We had ice cream at the best little place with over 95 flavors, and then some beer at their favorite bar in this area. It was truly perfect.

Once it started to get a bit late into the afternoon, we loaded up in their car and Alex dropped us off at their home, which is stunning and exactly what you’d picture a perfect French house with cool shutters and an incredible garden to look like.. and then he went to pick up their puppy from a dog sitter.

Morgana gave us the tour of her lovely home, she had made us each a room with a queen bed, by far the best and most spacious accommodations yet.. and definitely the most beautiful. We got to meet her older dog, Odin, who is the biggest floof there ever was, but is slow to warm up to new people, and we met their 3 kitties, one which is a Main Coon and absolutely gorgeous.

We chatted and caught up and I made it a personal mission to get to love on Odin (it didn’t take long at all, but I wanted to squeeze him and never let go, and that didn’t get to happen, but pets and kisses did-I’ll take what I can get). Alex came back with the puppy, Saku, who unlike Odin, was immediately happy to get all the loves and squeezes me kisses. Man, I love dogs.

Morgana prepared a traditional French meal for us, on a raclette.. im probably saying that wrong.. but you have potatoes and hams/meats on your plate, you melt the cheese in this dish thing and then pour it over your potatoes and meats and dig in.. while you’re eating that bit, you put on another slice of cheese to melt.. like everyone has their own little pan to melt their own cheese on.. it was awesome! And so very very filling!

We hung out and talked and played with the pups. It was a fantastic day. Sometime after it got dark mom reminded me that I hadn’t done my run yet.. so, I did a mile around their neighborhood.. there were several hills and with it being dark and unfamiliar, when I got to a square shaped cul de sac I ran around it like 5-6 times to make sure my mile wouldn’t be up a mountainous climb.. haha

When I got back, we stayed up talking a bit more before we all decided to crash. I was so exhausted from the day and knew I’d be sleeping so well in that big comfy bed that I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about it. Laying here now, it’s so hard to even keep writing because i just want to curl into a ball and sleeeeeeeeeep.

Which is exactly what I think I’ll do now. Goodnight!

We both slept in this morning and it felt fantastic! I was going to get up to run a longer run, but, well, that just wasn’t going to happen. We got ready and decided to walk to the Creperie we wanted to eat at yesterday. It looked tiny all closed up yesterday but had excellent reviews, so why not?

When we made it there (only like a 10 minute walk), there were the 2 ladies running the place and us.. they let us choose a table inside (it’s still cool in the earlier hours and at night here), and we looked over the menu. Many of the menus are only in French, or with English in tiny letters under the French ones.. sometimes i just point and hope for the best, but I was thrilled to be able to mostly read what these crepes were.

Mom had never tried savory crepes before, only the sweet or fruity ones.. she thought I was exaggerating at first about how good the savory ones are.. she quickly learned I was right to sing their praises. We each got one filled with eggs, mushrooms, onions, cheese, cheese, and cheese.

DE-LIC-IOUS. We each also got a sweet one too, Mom’s was apples and cinnamon, mine was chocolate and bananas with almonds. They were delightful, but not as good as the breakfast ones.
The ladies spoke mostly French but were kind and attempted conversation with us. We enjoyed their company too. One lady cooked the crepes (she made 2 at a time in a little kitchen made just for her.. like literally no one else could stand in there with her), the other lady was the hostess/waitress/everything else. She was funny and chatty, but wouldn’t let us take her picture (“I am lots of things, but not photogenic”).

When we left we decided to walk around to all of the shops in our area.. up one street and down another, criss crossing and looking at everything anyone had for sale. There were tons of chunky boots and sandals, purses, and expensive jewelry. I almost got a pair of handmade earrings until I realized that it was only one earring, there was no match, and it alone was €45.. I thought I was being ridiculous enough to buy a pair of earrings for €45, but I couldn’t justify just one for that price (and I like symmetry too much anyway).

We walked over to the rooftop restaurant to attempt again to drink/eat there.. it’s apparently also closed on Tuesdays. Boo. So, instead we ate a burger from the place we first stopped at a few days ago (that goat cheese burger was calling my name) and then headed back towards our hotel to drop of some new clothes we purchased. We ended up walking towards the Seine River because we knew we wanted to watch the Eiffel Tower light up after sunset.

Originally Mom was all for walking all the way to the Eiffel Tower like we did yesterday (2 more miles from where we were), but I talked her into waiting along the river for a “hop on-hop off” water boat. We sat and rested our feet and took pictures until the boat showed up and then we sat in the very front to sight see everything as it came.

It let us off right in front of the Eiffel Tower (we passed under the bridge I put our locks on yesterday). We walked around the park for a bit and then went to a corner cafe to have some wine, coffee, and desert. A couple from the US sat down next to us and so we chatted with them for awhile. After we told each other stories about ourselves and our journeys, the woman (my age, maybe a little younger) teared up a bit and said, “it’s beautiful that you’re doing this with your mom. I always thought I had time to travel with my mom, but then she passed and that was taken from me. I’m happy you’re able to.” And then we both choked up because I hugged her. Whew. Damn wine.

As the sun started setting, Mom and I paid the bill and started walking to look for a good spot to watch the Eiffel Tower light up. We ended up across the street in a perfect spot that had a place for us to sit in perfect view. The lights only happen every hour on the hour and it was 9:25, so we knew the first one wouldn’t happen until 10.. so, I went to run my mile along the river while we waited so I wouldn’t have to do it when we got back to the room.

There’s something about running and having pristine views every time you turn your head. I went down to a big bridge, crossed it, came down to the lock bridge, paused my garmin to take some pictures for a couple, then restarted as I ran across, then turned back towards the spot Mom was sitting. It was my far the most spectacular mile of my life, running towards the Eiffel Tower at night.

Then, at 10:00 on the dot, the sparkly lights started! It was as magnificent as you’d imagine. I could have sat and watched that all night long, but it stopped after 5 minutes so we walked across the street and got a taxi back to the hotel. After I showered I was out like a light. Our last day in Paris was a fantastic one.

We had to get up “early” today to make it to breakfast and to the Louvre Museum meeting spot for our tour on time. So, I didn’t run.. we got ready and left the hotel room by 8:05 and walked to our Crepe destination.. to find out it was closed! Damn.

We carried on and walked into every place that was open.. several only had croissants and jam, one lady said they were out of eggs, and then finally we walk into a cafe that claims to have breakfast AND eggs.. so we sit and order.. y’all, those fried eggs on top of that ham would have been a masterpiece, had they actually cooked the eggs a little bit.. like they were still gooey, I wouldn’t even had called them over easy! Hahaha

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still ate them.. because fat kid problems, I was starving and who knew how long it would take for him to come over, take them back, bring them back, etc.. plus I hate sending back food in general. So whatever, me and those gooey eggs went to town, stomach cramps later be damned. Lol Mom attempted and then gave me half of hers-which was actually cooked to over easy. I got a side of French bread and used that to soak up the yolks.. I wasn’t like loving it, but in the end I wasn’t mad at it either!

We walked to the Louvre Museum and stopped at a bridge along the way. I thought it was bridge Andrea and I had put love locks on back in 2019, but the majority of the locks had been cut off and the railings were covered in plexiglass. I was sad, to know that the lock Andrea had put on for her and Andres had been cut off and thrown away. I was also sad that the one I put on for Nancy was gone, too. —-side note, Andrea and I hiked the Camino de Santiago across Spain in 2019, 550 miles, but we started our trip off with a few nights in Paris before going to St. Jean Pied de Port. Andrea and Andres had just started officially dating. And Nancy, my work mama and the all around best human I’ve ever known, was at home in hospice care after the return of her pancreatic cancer. I put a lock on the bridge for her, symbolizing for everyone that loves her that their love would be eternal too. She passed away shortly after I got back from that trip, before I got to see her one last time.

Anyway, on this bridge today, I decided I’d get Andrea and Andres a new lock, and Nana and myself our first lock-since clearly that didn’t jinx their new relationship 3 years ago.. maybe it had some benefit to their relationship seeing how it’s been going strong ever since (heaven forbid it be because they were always meant to find each other and nothing at all to do with some lock she put on a bridge in Paris).. either way, I figured it couldn’t hurt us. We didn’t see anyone selling locks like Andrea and I did a few years ago, so we continued on to the Louvre to wait for our tour and we’d handle all this lock business later.

We met at the chariots for our tour guide. There were several companies and quite a few people, but our guide wasn’t there yet. The lines at the Louvre were really starting to grow. Since we were early, we got to watch lots of groups go ahead and walk to the museum and in through a side door. Eventually, our guide showed and he was absolutely worth every penny paid for this tour.. he had the look of a professor out of 1822, clothes and all-plus he was witty and cracked jokes that I found hilarious (others didn’t seem to find him as funny as I did though, whatever, be miserable). He was born in France and grew up here, but his family originated in Wales, so he had more of a British accent except when he spoke French.. I was in awe.

He took a group of 16 of us through the side doors, security, and then to the main area to start the tour. We had headsets on in one ear and he proceeded to take us around and show us things along with telling us the history behind the pieces he was showing us. It was educational, entertaining, and I feel like I got much more out of it than I would have if I just walked around on my own. We learned the history of the Louvre, all about Napoleon the 3rd, the French Revolution(s) and the many governmental overthrows and sieges. He also taught us about the differences between Roman and Greek statues and lessons about the important ones he showed us.

One of my favorites was Hermaphrodite, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite.. the sculpture looks like a woman daintily lying on a soft bed from every angle, except one, when you realize the figure has male genitalia. He told us a story about one theory: Hermaphrodite fell in love with a Fairy or a mortal and his parents forbade him to be with her, so the couple went to another God and begged to be inseparable, so the God joined their bodies and gave the one remaining body the best of the previous two. So they literally became one. And while I’m clearly not the best at retelling Greek folklore, I love the story regardless, and I love the meaning behind it.. not that I want to be in that situation myself lol

Anyway, we ended up at the Mona Lisa, the prized painting of the Louvre. There was a line to get to the front and then you had to basically fight for your chance to get a picture with the painting.. Lord have mercy it wasn’t that serious! I mean, it was beautiful and it was what I originally came for.. but all the hoopla was a bit much. From that moment, I swear the rest of the tour became entirely too crowded. People smacking into you, standing so close to a painting that they couldn’t see it if they tried, but yet they blocked it from view of anyone else.. cool.

Mom started to venture off on her own way before this moment, because she didn’t find our guide quite as entertaining as I did.. and the crowds were bothering her, too. By the time we finished, we were both famished and didn’t stop for much on the way out in order to find a cafe to sit at and eat some lunch. There were plenty of options choose from, I just picked one and we sat inside at a window so we could people watch.

I ordered croquettes, which none have yet to taste like the ones Andrea and I ate all the time in Spain, but these were still good. Mom got a burger, I got fish and chips, and it wasn’t too shabby. Naturally I liked the wine best 😉 Mom actually ordered a Chardonnay,I was shocked! (She didn’t like it lol). We ate and watched the people coming and going, and then watched a little longer as we waited for the waiter to bring us our check.

From there we walked towards the Eiffel Tower, and in search of the actual bridge Andrea and I had put locks on. She had sent me a picture so I could try to find her lock, and when I saw it I realized I had been at the wrong bridge before.. the one we put locks on was very close to the Eiffel Tower, and so maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to find them!

We walked, laughed, took pictures, stopped for little sit breaks, and walked some more. When we did get to the correct bridge, our locks had been cut off-the only locks there were with 2022 dates besides a few here and there with some older ones. I scoured the bridge anyway, just in case, with no luck. Oh, well. I’ll get new ones. Except even here there was no one selling any.

We continued towards the Eiffel Tower, stopping for more pictures of pretty places. We came to a perfect spot to take pictures together with the Eiffel Tower in perfect view. We hung out a while, then went to a little grocery store to get a phone charger for mom. They were playing Outkast, which made me smile. They also had some black locks for sale, not quite what I wanted, but they’d get the job done.

Immediately after leaving we found some souvenir shops.. we got a few goodies and then BAM. Mom spotted the good locks-way too big and €7, but how can you put a price on everlasting love? 🤣🥴 So i got them, I used that man’s marker, and then mom returned the black ones to the supermarket.

We went to a cafe and had wine (well, I had wine, mom had coffee and a crepe lol).. we were originally wanting to hang out in this area until night fall so we could watch the Eiffel Tower light up.. but then we changed our minds and decided to do that tomorrow. We walked back to the bridge, I put our locks on and threw one of the keys for each lock into the water.

We were heading back to our hotel room to decide what to do for dinner when I had to pee so bad, so we stopped at another cafe. I went in to use the bathroom and mom got us a table out front. We ended up ordering a pizza and more wine for me, a Coke Zero for mom. Y’all, I really try to get her to enjoy some alcohol with me, but she’s not really a fan and you cannot talk that woman into doing a single thing she doesn’t want to..

We enjoyed the pizza and eventually started making our way towards the hotel when mom flagged down a taxi driver.. she asked him, “can you take us to our hotel?” Of course he says yes, which hotel? And she says, “oh, I don’t know” hahahaha dear lord. I had to get the address out for him because there are several locations and we were nervous we’d give him the wrong one. We were swiftly back to our room, where I changed to go for my mile run.

It was already dark outside and a little creepy, since I didn’t have a perfect understanding of our area.. I managed well enough though 🙂 I finished my mile less than a block from our room, but ended up turning the wrong way, so I added a 10 minute walk to it.. whoops! I’ll blame all the wine 😉

Speaking of wine, that’s what’s taken so long to write this post and get it uploaded.. I drank too much wine to actually write any of it last night, I just went to sleep.. and I slept damn good, too.