the road to paris

Day 9

we got up early and hurried out of chilly little Frauenau
3 degrees celsius
we drove through beautiful mist covered rolling hills and forests
all the way down to normal elevation
and finally hit the autobahn
we were able to stop once again in Heidelberg
for lunch
and chose a "Mexican" restaurant from Jayme's guide book
it was run by some Lebanese men
so they also served kebabs
i fell off the veggie wagon
and ordered “chicken fajitas” which was quite good
but not in the least Mexican
and Jayme ordered the “vegetarian tortilla”
which was essentially a toasted tortilla
filled with shredded lettuce and some kind of white sauce
maybe sour cream maybe kebab sauce
who knows?
it was food and it was fun
and hey
we were in Heidelburg!
of course we stopped in again at the bakery
and this time got 3 fancy desserts
instead of the chocolate balls
we ate two of them in the park
Gavin spat one of them into momma's hand
not a fan of nuts
after a relaxing hour we pointed our microwave on wheels
back toward Paris at about 100 miles an hour…
after about 50 dollars in highway tolls
we slowed to a crawl around dusk
on the outskirts of Paris
the traffic was not so "ooo-la-la"
we inched along for two hours
motorcycles speeding between the lines of cars
in the inner city
complete and total CHAOS
just shy of what i imagine driving in Manilla to be like
Jayme jumped out and ran in to check in our hotel
while i double-parked on a very narrow and busy street
we were told parking was either
A. in a parking garage (32.00 USD a day) or
B. “somewhere on the street”
we circled the block once
got lost
circled again
got lost again
and never saw a single parking space
so we took the expensive le garage option
it had been a beautiful day coming into the city
80 degrees and sunny
the evening was perfect weather for café-sitting
the hotel we were staying in was not our tour manager's first choice
but was literally the last hotel we could find under $300
anywhere in the city
we were actually very happy with it
located in the 5th arrondissement in the Latin quarter
it is close to some seedy neighborhoods
but in the other direction the walking is very nice
right around the corner is an unbelievable bakery
and several restaurants
it is also very close to a metro stops
the lobby of the hotel is decorated via grandma
doilies, creepy dolls in overly fancy dresses,
fake flowers and fake antique furniture
there is also some kind of glowing light made of glass grapes
that is so hideous that Jayme can not cross the lobby
without staring at it
we ventured out around 9
and ended up in a Greek restaurant
that we somehow thought was French
it was a bit expensive but the food was amazing
we sat outside
of course
the weather was perfect
we revelled in the fact that
yes
we were in PARIS
it felt good
and Gavin suggested a toast