Paris 2024

Part Two: Nine Days of Sports and Sites in the City of Lights

After our three days in Nantes, we took the train back to Paris for our nine night stay in a large apartment in Saint Germain Des Prés. The apartment was lovely and spacious and in a perfect location. There was a cafe right downstairs, we could walk to countless bistros and to two different metro stations. As soon as we checked in and settled our gear, we walked down the boulevard to Les Deux Magots. It is an historic Paris cafe once frequented by Ernest Hemmingway. If you have followed my blog before, you may have noticed a number of Hemmingway references. We didn’t set out to do a Hemmingway pilgrimage, but he keeps showing up! Wherever he lived, he enjoyed the cafe culture. (See Pamplona, Ronda, and Dancing in Havana posts)

In Paris, a lot of places can claim that famous writers, artists, musicians, actors, etc. ate and drank there. Yet these provincial establishments retain their local charm and do not exploit their guests by price gauging or serving substandard fare. They value their reputation.

Another Paris icon that does not disappoint is Cafe Angelina. We enjoyed a delicious brunch there and the menu had something for everyone. I recommend making reservations in advance.

Planning ahead is crucial when traveling with a group of nine, including children. We prioritized our time based on the availability of tickets to the Olympic Games. We downloaded the Paris 2024 Apps for tickets and transport. We were alerted when tickets were released and then we would get on the website. Usually, there was a limit of four or five tickets to an event. We put the information on the “Paris 2024 Family Calendar” and we signed up for our preferences. The adults shared “kid duty,” so that all of the adults had an opportunity for a special night out. The system really worked well.

We enjoyed a nice balance of sporting events, museums, shopping, dining, and relaxing at “home” playing cards and watching the Olympics on TV. Everyone had an opportunity to suggest an outing and for the most part all desires were met.

The city of Paris hosted a fantastic Olympics. The intent was to integrate sports into Paris’ iconic settings and bring the Olympics to the people. The parks of Paris became sporting venues, the streets were race routes for running and cycling, swimmers swam in the Seine and international fans were everywhere. The vibe was friendly and fun!

We felt completely safe and welcomed. Transportation to the venues was efficient and easy. Most sites were an easy walk from the subway. A multitude of volunteers moved spectators quickly through security and into their seats. Bathrooms were clean and plentiful. Fans filled the stands and the volunteers could attend events by flashing their volunteer credentials.

We attended sessions of volleyball, badminton, wrestling, beach volleyball, table tennis, swimming, and water polo. The athletes were amazing: the best in the world in their sport.

Bill and I enjoyed a special night at the Swimming Finals with our daughter Christine, a double silver medalist in swimming in Beijing 2008. We wore our USA shirts and saw Katie Ledecky win the gold medal in the 800m Freestyle and the US mixed medley relay break a world record. But for us, the best part was sharing the experience with Christine. who chatted with the American family next to us and eventually revealed to them who she was. At the end of the meet she asked, “Would you like to see my medal?” She reached into her purse and to everyone’s shock and delight pulled out a silver medal wrapped in a sock!

We all enjoyed a guided tour of the Louvre. Our guide was knowledgeable and fun and although the tour lasted almost four hours, it didn’t feel like it. The kids held up great and so did the Grandpas! Other popular outings included the Orsay, the Orangerie, Napoleon’s Tomb, a Seine River Cruise, and a day in Montmartre.

Some of the adults took a cooking class that included shopping in the market, making a meal, and then enjoying it with French wine. A group of us ladies shopped at Galeries LaFayette and made a stop at the USA House where Christine had full access.

John wanted to experience The Moulin Rouge, so six of us signed on for an evening there. Christine volunteered to do a movie and pizza night with the kids. The Moulin Rouge is for tourists these days, but the dinner was decent and the show was marvelous. Good idea John!

We celebrated my 69th birthday and our final night in Paris with dinner at a French-Japanese fusion restaurant. We couldn’t believe our time was over, but we all agreed it was a great trip! Thank you Jackie for your vision! And thank you Paris for the great memories!

**Garden Dinner** at
Monsieur Bleu with Christine

Next Post: Geri and Bill cross the Channel and Visit the UK.

Note: My recommendations are based solely on my own experiences. I am independent and unpaid.

Adventures In the South of Spain Goes North to France!

First Stop : Nantes (July 29-August 1)

**Kicking It Off With a Soccer Match in Nantes**

When Paris announced they would host the 2024 Summer Olympics, our daughter Jackie proclaimed “We should all go!” To be honest, we didn’t take her too seriously until about a year ago when she insisted it was time to start planning in earnest. To put things in context: in 2008, our daughter Christine competed in the Beijing Games and earned two silver medals in swimming. Jackie, Bill, and I traveled to China to cheer her on.

This trip was our first return to the Olympics; this time with Christine as a spectator. We were joined by Jackie’s husband Greg and their two children, and Greg’s parents. Some members of our group were visiting Paris for the first time and others were returning. It was my third time to the “City of Lights.” To combine the beauty of Paris with the Olympic Games was too tempting to pass up.

In the fall of 2023, the Paris 2024 Family Calendar was born. Nine of us committed to the August 2024 trip. We got busy booking lodging, buying train tickets, buying tickets to events, making dinner reservations, booking day tours, reserving museum entries, and reading guide books. We planned to meet in Paris on July 29th and board a train for Nantes on the Loire River for a three-night stay and a soccer game.

We strategically packed our carry-on bags for a month of travel, as Bill and I were heading to the UK from our Paris adventure. After overnight flights from Chicago, Austin, and Milwaukee, the nine of us met in the regional train terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Lattes and croissants all around!

The high-speed train trip to Nantes was comfortable and and we passed the time reading, snacking, and dozing. The highlight was when our granddaughter lost a tooth! The low point was when John and Jan’s duffle bag was stolen from the luggage rack. They were determined not to let that dampen our fun, so they approached their loss as an opportunity to purchase some French fashion and to utilize the French health care system. John learned that American bodies don’t fit well in skinny French pants and that he could save a lot of money on his medications in the French pharmacy. Jan looked fabulous in her new clothes!

Nantes is France’s third largest city, but it has a small town feel. The city center is charming and walkable. You can follow the 7.5 mile Green Line through town, past architectural highlights and public art installations, or you can ride the free trolley. Taxis and Ubers are plentiful and there is a tram, which we rode to the soccer stadium. Adults can enjoy nearby vineyard tours, but we chose to spend our free day visiting the kid-friendly Les Machines de I’lle. We rode the three-story carousel made of steel creatures a la Jules Vernes’ Twenty Thousand leagues Under the Sea. After that, we observed “the mechanical elephant” but declined to spend the waiting time to ride it. The kids preferred a stop in the gift shop and then it was on to lunch at a riverside restaurant.

On Wednesday, July 31, the nine of us took the tram to the Nantes soccer stadium to see the Nigerian Women battle the Japanese Women for our first Paris 2024 event. Even at 5pm, the sun was intense and the temperature about 37 degrees Celsius (close to 100 F) . When we spotted empty seats in the shaded section, we moved! We drank plenty of water and ate some salty snacks to keep us from dehydration. The game was exciting, the Japanese prevailed 4-1. After the game, we boarded the tram for the ride back to town and some refreshing gelato at Amorino.

Our stay in Nantes gave us a chance to recover from overseas travel and adjust to the time zone before our stay in Paris. We were unprepared for the extreme August heat and many hotels in France do not have air-conditioning. We ended up changing hotels after our first night in Nantes; not the hotel’s fault. Nantes is a great destination to enjoy leisure activities, good food, and friendly people.

(Double-click on photos for better viewing)