We left the fantasy world of Disney to enter into the real world of Paris. Our hotel is in Le Marais and I am so happy to be in a nice, friendly, clean hotel again. Le Marais is the closest you will get to the feel of medieval Paris and has more pre-revolutionary buildings and streets left intact than any other area in Paris. It’s also a great home base for exploring the city.
Our hotel - Metro stop St Paul - third street to the right - 3 Rue Caron - That was easy
Ice in America is abundant - in every hotel room is an ice bucket and somewhere down the hall is the machine that the guest can access at any time. Not so in the countries we have visited so far. In Iceland they looked at us weird when we asked for ice and they disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a small bucket. In Oslo the same look and we were told that they needed the ice - with coaxing they reluctantly gave two plastic cups of cubes. Our second hotel in London had a small, slow ice machine but they provided no bucket to retrieve the ice. Keep your plastic bag from the store - it makes an ice bucket with handles. At Disney Paris the bar area had no one there but their ice was precious - the guy only wanted to give us one small cup - we fought for two small cups. We arrived in Paris - our hotel is really nice and we ask for ice and again the guy disappears into the back - this was a new twist a flat plate with cubes. Better hurry the ice is melting. Are we crazy wanting a cold drink - stupid americans!!!
Our room is on the sixth floor - the windows actually open and this is our view - pinch me - are we really in Paris? Yes we are!!
Go out our hotel front door, left up the street and it opens up into this small square with five different cafes. We reviewed each menu in French and picked one for dinner and a 50ML glass of Leffe beer. We are excited to explore the sites in the morning.