Friday July 15, 2016 – Mormon Tabernacle Choir European Tour Journal
As promised, here is PART 2 of my “Better late than never post” from last year’s adventure in Paris [read Part 1 here]. You are also welcome to peruse Tour Days 1-18 if you forgot the plot… 😉
Oh, Paris! City of Light and Love! Our final full day of our epic three week European tour. The Chorus & Orchestra were up early morning hours at a photo shoot and the LDS Temple site [see Part 1 here] we were now back to the hotel meeting up with our guests for our “free day”. Mr. Mo was still not feeling well at all. He should have spent the day in bed – but that was definitely NOT going to happen! Three decades ago he served his LDS mission in Brussels and northern France. But, he never got the chance to come to Paris (it wasn’t part of his mission boundaries). So, he had been looking forward to this day literally for over 30 years! There was no way he was going to spend it in a hotel bed. He laced up his shoes, took an extra dose of cold medicine, and applied plenty of sun screen (also, a hat, and water)!
But wait. How can you possibly experience all of PARIS in less than 24 hours?!
You can’t.
So, you pick and choose based on #1. Your budget. and #2. Your priorities.
Our budget was small. Our priorities were to be able to see and experience as much as the city as possible with our limited amount of time & budget. Therefore:
- We decided that the museums were out. We will save those for another time (and yes, I know it took us 50 years for our first visit, but we are thinking positive). We also had to sacrifice climbing the Eiffel Tower (still on my bucket list) but chose to do a dinner cruise on the river which promised great views.
- We put on our walking shoes. We would be exploring with our good friends Rebecca (another Mormon Soprano in the Choir) and her husband Daryn.
- We started by taking the train from our hotel to begin at the famous Arc De Triomphe and work our way to Notre Dame.
- A friend of ours had just returned from Paris when we left for Europe. He had highly recommended a little hidden bistro called Chez France for lunch. So, that was our quest! The map app on our phone took us entirely in the wrong direction! *Tip – navigational tools do not work consistently in the city* So, after a lot of wandering, studying the website, and asking a local, then crossing the river and doing a bit more walking … Viola! We finally found it!
It was worth the hunt. C’est Magnifique!
When in Paris – you must eat here! Atmosphere. Charm. Authenticity. Taste. We give it 5 stars. We felt the price was very reasonable, too. The owner here is a delightful lady who is a wonderful hostess, and fluent in French and English.
We walked and walked… all the way back down the river – past the Naval Museum (there are bunnies in the grassy moat), the golden bridge, the Big Ferris Wheel on Place de la Concorde, the Louvre Museum (didn’t spend any time there – but saw the lines), and eventually the stunning Notre Dame Cathedral (We didn’t stand in line to go inside. Something I regret). Then we crossed over to the other side and walked back up to where we would meet our River Boat for our romantic dinner cruise on Seine.
Because I have so many photos and video clips – I decided to create this little video of our day for you to enjoy – with some lovely music (because you cannot experience Paris without the music! – and of course, the food! … well, sadly, you will just have to imagine how good it all smelled and tasted!)
Oh! be sure to notice the video begins filming at the same train stop we exited for our Bastille Day fireworks adventure the night before! – but now it was less 400,000 people, and we could actually see the full Eiffel!)
Here’s the video! Bonne journée! – MoSop
This is part of a 3-week series sharing my experiences during the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Central European Tour from June 28-July 16, 2016.
Read the whole series here!
Latter-day Soprano 