Paris, Parijs, Parigi

My last visit in Paris was a long time ago. I remember I was there just after Musee d'Orsay had opened and that was in 1986. So my latest visit could have been 19 or 20 years ago....? OMG! I'm so old!!!!

But this visit was different in many ways. Of course I was there to see the city, but I also was there to meet Aldo on his home grounds. The journey in the Thalys was fine, the problem was before. Though I went from home nearly an hour too early, I was stuck in Amersfoort with a train that wasn't going to ride. After I had asked some employees of NS what was wrong and what they could advise me, I found out that it would be the best tot go to Schiphol airport. I arrived there just in time for my train to Paris. That bloody NS.

Aldo was waiting for me at Gare du Nord with a Saab convertible. The car was from his work but he had the possibility to use it for the weekend. We had a pizza and went straight up to Montmatre where he showed me his Paris by night from Sacre Coeur. The tour of lights was completed by the light show of the Eiffeltower and a scroll over the Champs Elysées (see video below).

Next day I was waked by the smell of home baked croissants. It was a sunny day and after breakfast we did the extended tour through Paris in the open car (don't worry we were both dressed warmly). We saw the Gare d'Austerlitz, the Arab institute, Sorbonne, Louvre, Notre Dame, Place de la Concorde, Place Vendôme, The Bears Den, and many other sights that I can't recall when I write this down now. We did a boat tour on the river Seine by night. We had dinner at a place where we were welcomed with kisses. We packed as much as we could in that sunny Saturday because Aldo had found out that Sunday we would have the most horrible weather.

And on Sunday we had that weather. So we slept in and stayed in bed for the rest of the day, hahahahahahaha. Well we weren't thàt bad ... but we were bad. Aldo cooked a delicious Italian meal, we went to the station and the bakery, we showed each other some funny things on the computer. So all in all it was a very cozy Sunday, while it was storming and raining cats and dogs outside.

On Monday morning I left Paris. Amazing that you can travel from Paris to Brussels in just 75 minutes, but that it takes you an other 3 hours from Brussels to Amsterdam and an other two hours (today!) from Amsterdam to Zwolle.