So by the time we kicked-off the 2017 French summer trip.. the usual blistering heat of Delhi was giving way to rainy spells, heralding the monsoon season. Our friends joked about it being a European weather in Delhi and were envious about our upcoming sojourn.
As we were landing at the Charles De Gaulle airport, the pilot announced an unusually hot day with temperature of 37 degree, welcoming us all to sunny Florida… or so it seemed. And there I broke into a sweat!
The Paris of my memories was the Paris of dreams.. cool, breezy, with blue skies speckled with fleecy clouds.. sauntering lazily along the seine… But Paris of today was as sunny as tropical Maldives, minus the sea and as hot as New Delhi. Worse, since the Parisians don’t believe in the fans (ventilador in french) or the air conditioning (apparently bad for health) we felt like being back home with a power cut! Soul sapping heat, sweaty sleepless nights. And this is us who should be used to this weather.. the Parisians at least braved the heat much better than us!
On Day 1, we decided to face head long., the exhaustion and sleep deprivation (that happens after a long journey) and against popular advice, went to Disneyland. Thanks to prior planning, this first night we had checked into an apartment in Serris, literally next door to Disney theme park.
We went with zero expectations in terms of what we wanted to achieve, rides that we wanted to get on.. etc.. because the basic purpose was to acquaint little one with this charming place called Disneyland.. full of his favourite characters.. Mickey Mouse being on top of that list.
His high points, in a nutshell, were the carousel ride, the Mad-hatters cups..and the ice-cream. I guess, he was too young and we too pooped to do much. In all a very expensive kind of “experience”.
Next morning we checked out the outlet malls close by (Val d’europe) and stocked up on essentials from Auchan (pronounced “Ossan”).
Had booked a cab to ferry us and our gigantic baggage to Paris downtown, for 70 €, which was economical on the physical front.. sparing us the task of lugging bags to the metro station and beyond.
Once in Paris.. we settled in our (actually Laure’s) apartment (Air B&B), walked down to nearby patisserie and got something to munch on.
Then ambled along the streets of Montmartre and collected our food passports (https://www.le-food-trip.com/en).
Did few tastings in Montmartre including olive oil (Huile’d’ olive) at Ecomusee L’Olivier and Confiture tasting at La Chambre Aux Confitures.
In the evening after dinner and settling rest of the family members, me and mine, decided to walk towards Sacré Couer, a small walk from our apartment. We were aware that 21st June is the day Parisians celebrate Fête de la Musique. This is one day when the entire city comes alive with music and free gigs happening at every corner and plaza.
The residential area around our apartment was pretty much asleep but as we ambled closer to Sacré-Couer, we could hear melodies floating in the air.. and soon the streets were full of life, music and revellers.. bands performing everywhere and depending on your taste you could enjoy a different genre of music. The best performance of the evening was a band of drummers, some 20 odd gifted drummers beating away to glory and the crowd swaying to the beats. A serendipitous, great night!
