Paris with Friends

We are so fortunate to have friends who live in France. Nearly every trip, we manage to connect with them. Often, we visit them in Nantes. This time, I asked if they'd meet us in Paris.
They had to rearrange their schedules, because they were on their way to visit family in Nancy, France, but they stayed in Paris on Friday to meet us.
Michel (the husband) met us at the train station, where we hung out for half an hour because one of his daughters was catching a train to Switzerland. We got to spend a bit of time with Isabelle who had stayed with us in Ohio before.
With Michel and Danuta, we went for a walk on Isle aux Cynges. I'd read about it on Facebook and it looked lovely, but you can probably just look at the pictures and skip the actual walk. It was just a stroll on a  manmade island, but it was a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.
The island, in the middle of the Seine, begins at the French version of the Statue of Liberty.

I thought this was kind of a cool shot. It looks like she is just standing at the end of the bridge along with the other people. Truthfully, she's in the river. 

Here's Earl and me with Michel and Danuta, our friends who live in Nantes. As you can see, the walk ends with a lovely backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. It was cold here in Paris, so Danuta wrapped me in her wool scarf to help me stay warm. 

We also got to catch up with Henri, a boy who stayed with us in Ohio when he was 15. He's a lawyer now for the minister of defense in France and had about 15 minutes to meet us before rushing off to spend time with a friend. Nice to see him again.

We had dinner with our friends and two of their children at a "typical" brasserie near Gare St. Lazare. 

I'll just show you a picture of the ceiling and you can picture the rest. I feel safe in guessing this was a Belle Epoque-style brasserie.

Off to buy some gifts today and to explore more of Paris

Finalement!

Guess where we are?
After all the cancelled flights and volcano dust, our plane left on time and arrived pretty much on time.
We didn't get a lot of rest and Earl definitely had a tougher time than I did. That's why he is snoring behind me right now. This was the smallest amount of space I've seen on an Air France flight. Here's a photo of Earl sitting as far back as he could. Can you see the metal that runs along the back of the seat that gouges into Earl's knees. When those guys in front of us laid their seats down, ouch! Also, the flight attendants banged his knee every time they came down the aisle with the food cart.
In spite of the small amount of sleep we got, we were determined to stay awake when we arrived. We made it to the hotel about 2. We showered and went in search of a Brasserie, which is a French restaurant that serves sandwiches and food all the time. Many restaurants only serve meals during normal hours, so dinner isn't available until 8 p.m. and no one is serving lunch at 3 p.m., except the brasseries.
We sat outside because the weather was in the mid-70s to 80. A breeze kept us cooled down.

I ordered a pichet of red wine, which is a small pitcher, and we both ended up having four glasses -- but the glasses were small, really. Considering that I hadn't had any alcohol the past three weeks, the wine really hit me. I would say I was tipsy, but I think it went farhter than that.
Then we ended our meal with little espressos. Earl doesn't even like coffee, but he agreed to drink an espresso in the hopes of staying awake.
After our lunch, we went walking. We took a bus and then walked down by the Seine and enjoyed the sunshine. And so did an old couple making out along the river. It seemed so French that this guy with a mane of white hair had his hands on either side of this older woman's face and they were, well, Frenching, right there on a bank beside the river.
I love that the sun was shining and the leaves are unfurling, which makes for much better photos than our last trip during March a few years ago, when everything was still pretty gray.
As our energy started to wane, we stopped at another cafe near Pont Neuf for a second espresso. We were setting small goals for ourselves -- if we don't
go back to the room until 7 then we can stay awake until 8... Finally, we caught a bus and returned to the room.
And there is one thing I hope everyone will agree on when they see these photos, and that is that the $25 I spent to have my hair blown dry and straightened on Thursday was definitely worth it. Even after a night on the plane, it still looks fabulous.