The Boatwrights Abroad: Visiting Friends in Paris

Visiting our friends Ryan and Dana Powell

On Saturday (March 15) we slept in a bit, since we had gotten to bed late. I was still struggling to figure out the metro card, and it was stressing me out to try to get to our friends the Powells outside Versailles, so we decided to take an Uber. Except in transferring the address of the train stop from my phone to Zach to put in the Uber app, we put in the wrong address and ended up very far away from our friends! Restarted the Uber trip and we eventually made it to Versailles, but it was frustrating. :-/ 

Our friend Dana stopped by the gates of Versailles and we took a look around—we did not plan to see Versailles this trip, so just looking at the front of the palace was good for now! And then we drove to the Powells house. We have known the Powells (who are American) since they joined our church in 2021, when they were living in Texas for a few years in between their times in Paris. They have three children close to Wilder and Felicity’s ages and the kids have missed their friends, so they loved getting to play together.  

Gate of Versailles!

We had lunch with Dana, Ryan, Dana’s mom and stepdad. They made us roasted chicken with vegetables with bread and cheeses and a creamy dessert. Yum!

Look at that beautiful lunch!

Dessert

Cute mugs

After lunch, Zach and I and Dana and Ryan took a walk to their friends’ coffee shop in town while the kids stayed and played at the park behind their house. It was chilly, but nice to walk around and see the neighborhood where they live. And of course to chat! Dana and I have kept up on Marco Polo talking frequently in the 2 years since they moved, so it was so nice to see each other in person again.

Clara, Bella the dog, Emma and Felicity

Bryce and Wilder

Walking!

Zach always loves a Golden

On the way back to Paris, we took public transportation. I talked with the lady at the information booth at the train station, and she helped me get the RATP app and pick the right Navigo cards to put on my phone wallet. However, I couldn’t figure out how to switch from one card (mine) to the other (Felicity's with its reduced fare price). They let us through, knowing we had purchased tickets, and we got on the RER train, then the Metro, and got off at the right stop. 

Riding the RER train

We walked through the Champ de Mars and Eiffel Tower, which lit up sparkling just as we went by! So magical. We walked to a restaurant called Cafe Fleur where we met our friends Claire and Corentin, and their three children. 

Such a cute little car

Claire! <3

Claire and I met when I studied abroad in Angers, 20 years ago. She was born and raised in Angers and attended the university where I studied. We became friends because she and a group of French students were coming to study at Texas A&M the following year. Between that summer and the next year when they were Aggies, we formed a lovely friendship, one we have maintained ever since. Every time Zach and I have come to France since then, we have gotten together with Claire (even stayed with her one time!), and then with her husband and family as they grew. This time, our children are all close in age—her youngest is three. The older kids used our phones to google translate and talk with each other, and we all had a nice visit. 

Using google translate to make conversation

Claire and Corentin live in Viroflay, which is actually close to Versailles, but were in Paris for an afternoon concert. 

Felicity and Wilder were very much looking forward to trying escargot, lol

Wilder and Felicity were eager to try escargot and lucky for us, it was on the menu at this restaurant. They both tried it and liked it! I have always liked escargot, so I wasn’t worried—if they didn’t like it, more for Mom and Dad!

I had a fish with haricot vert (French green beans) soaked in butter. YUM. Zach had shrimp risotto, also delicious. Felicity had a burger and fries and Wilder had cheese pizza. They shared a molten chocolate cake dessert and Zach and I had creme brulee—my favorite!

Snails!

Trying escargot

She liked it!

Wilder liked his snails too!

My dinner. Very good and I the green beans. YUM!

Creme brûlée, my favorite

The crew!

With Claire and Corentin

The girls

After our dinner, which lasted till late—the kids were such troopers, all of them—we walked home, and got to see the Arc de Triomphe lit up at night. It was a very late evening, but totally worth it. 

Part of why we wanted to make a trip to Paris right now was to see the friends we have who live there. It was such a sweet day, and we had more friend visits to look forward to!

On Sunday, we went to Galeries Lafayette, and saw more friends!

The Boatwrights Abroad: Eurostar and Intro to Paris!

St. Pancras Station

On Friday March 14, we packed up all our things, and ate the full English breakfast that the hotel offered every day (Every other day we made breakfast in our room to save $$). I just want to say that we really enjoyed staying at this Wilde Aparthotel. We’d stay there again for sure. There are other Wilde Aparthotels in the city, but this was the only one we had found that had a one-bedroom suite option. The staff continually went above and beyond to make our stay comfortable, and the whole place was just really nice.

As a side note, we loved that the hotel had “Wilde” in the name. We spotted a shop with “Zach” in the name on our walks, and a realtor named “Felicity” as well. And a road with “Dean” in the name. The name “Abbey” was everywhere of course, from Westminster to Abbey Road. 

A realtor named Felicity 

Wilder's middle name is Dean (and it's the name of his grandpa!)

This place was near Zach's sister's house!

I borrowed a suitcase from my sister-in-law and left my broken one at the hotel. If it had broken somewhere in the US, or at the end of my trip, I might have brought it home to try to fix, but we had quite a bit more travel to go and I needed one with working wheels. Plus Zach looked up the brand of suitcase I had and there’s not an easy way to replace the wheels. 

Anyway, we took an Uber to St. Pancras / King’s Cross Station to take the Eurostar train to Paris. We had planned to stop at the Harry Potter 9 3/4 spot in King’s Cross, but the kids wanted to get souvenirs and we had run short on time to do that earlier in the week so they did a little shopping in the station instead. It was also very crowded and we wanted to make sure we got on the train in enough time to get settled. I would have liked to have picked up sandwiches for us before boarding, but again, ran out of time.  

Super steep ramp!

As a planning note, I did not book the Eurostar train tickets far enough in advance. If you’re planing to take this train, book your tickets as soon as you book your flight. Just like an airplane, the prices go up and up the closer you get to your departure date, and seats are limited. I couldn’t find four seats together facing each other with a table, but I spoke with Eurostar on Instagram DMs (Thank you Reddit for the recommendation) and they were very helpful, placing us three to a table and one right behind. They suggested we ask the fourth seat mate if they’d like to switch seats. 

We were in luck - Zach’s lone seat was beside an empty seat, and the fourth seat mate at our table was very accommodating and agreed to switch. He got an empty seat next to him and we got our four together! 

The train was so fun—I think it’s so relaxing and enjoyable to travel by train! And people watching is fun. Most folks on the train were quiet and chill. One car down, a group of guys in yellow shirts and kilts were having a party with beers and snacks, and the next one down, a group had a box of scotch eggs and were having a lunch party. We got some sandwiches and cobbled together a meal with our leftovers from our fridge and the kids lunchboxes. We enjoyed the trip—through the Chunnel, and watching the countryside go by. The Eurostar was something Wilder was really looking forward to and the kids enjoyed every second! 

So happy to be on the Eurostar!

Inside the Chunnel!

In the Chunnel

Under the sea!

Journaling

All too soon we arrived in Paris at Gare du Nord and disembarked to a bit of chaos. The station is nice—I’ve always thought it was pretty. But getting oriented and getting into an Uber to get to our rented apartment was a little challenging. While we waited for the Uber outside the station, two guys got into a fight and went to actual punching, and kept antagonizing each other for far too long. We were relieved to get in the car! 

Gare du Nord

Our apartment (rented through Cobblestone, thank you Rick Steves for the tip on this non-AirBNB short-term rental) was in a beautiful neighborhood in the 17th arrondissement. Just north of the Arc de Triomphe on one of one of its radiating streets, which made getting oriented easy because you can’t miss it! 

Our apartment on the 3rd floor (4th? Zero is the first floor) was a classic French style—old but renovated. Very spacious, functional and cozy. It was a delight to spend a week there! 

Such a pretty living room

Bedroom

Spacious bathroom!

The apartment had so much space!

full kitchen

My Victor Hugo desk. :-)

The Art de Triomphe is on the left. Our apartment is through the blue door on the right.

First view of the Arc de Triomphe monument

We unpacked our things and got settled, and since I couldn’t figure out the metro card system quickly, we took an Uber to our Seine river cruise so we could catch a sunset time. We chose the regular cruise, not one with a meal.

On our way to the cruise departure point, we spotted the Eiffel Tower for the first time, and it actually brought me to tears. We all gasped in delight, and getting to see it with our family in this season of life was so special! It made my heart so happy. 

First view of the Eiffel Tower! <3

That first look.

It was really chilly, but we sat on the top deck. I didn’t want to miss anything by being inside and the family humored me by staying up on the top. :-) We got the audio tour on our phones, but I’d forgotten my earbuds so we played it aloud (It was too quiet). I recommend bringing earbuds for your phone! But we really enjoyed seeing all the sights along the Seine as the sun went down. The clouds had broken so the sunshine made everything glow. 

Top deck!

Notre Dame

Afterward, we took an Uber back to the apartment, then went to Monoprix down the street—a department store kind of like Target with a basement grocery store. We stocked up for the week, but it took a while to choose items because everything was in French. I do know some French, but we did a lot of looking up the names of items and Google Translate to make sure we got the right kind of cream for coffee, etc. Eventually we got more ravioli, salad, baguette and cheese, and some fruit and veggies. 

I made a snack board and dinner, and we enjoyed it with a bottle of wine that the rental company provided us. It was good! 

Haha, our apartment had a special Camembert knife

The temperatures outside were chilly, but radiators throughout the apartment kept us nice and warm. The living room had a very good quality sofa bed that the kids loved, and our room had a really nice bed as well. So sleeping in Paris was a good experience! 


At night, Wilder and Felicity liked to look at the lights of cars going by reflecting on the ceiling in their room. They called it a light show. 

The next day was Saturday, and we spent the day visiting with friends!