Our first plan for getting Lily back to Exeter involved spending the night in Caen and putting Lily on the ferry on Saturday. That got botched when we heard about the train strikes in the U.K. Lily would have had a long ferry ride followed by a seven hour bus trip that brought her from Portsmouth to London and then back to Exeter. We checked flights from Paris and we changed course.

It cost 50 euro to purchase a one way airline ticket to London and I was sold! This was cheaper and involved less time spent traveling than the ferry. It would also cut her transit time once in the U.K. We booked train tickets from Laval to Paris and jumped on the train early Friday morning. We arrived at Montparnasse at 10:30 and walked to our boutique hotel in Cirque d’Italie. It was a little bit of a longer walk with a suitcase than one of us expected. I, for one, find every moment walking the streets in Paris a treat! Even with plantar fasciitis.

We took an Uber to the Galleries Lafayette. We had a mission that included buying Lily a winter coat and new jeans. This massive, beautiful retail center was more than we could have hoped for. It is in a gorgeous rotunda building and reminded us both of the multi-floored Harrods. It is one store with multiple boutiques featuring clothes, shoes, make up, perfume, souvenirs, jewelry…everything. In and amongst all the shopping are different cafes and restaurants. We chose a Pan Asian lunch and it was the best Thai food I have ever had.

We went to the rooftop garden and did a photo shoot. The gardens were beautiful and the views allowed us to see all of Paris splayed out in front of us. It turns out, I am not a portrait photographer but I gave it my all. I felt like my subject was beautiful in each shot but she has a very discerning eye. I’m learning. Maybe I am getting better with each shot?

After shopping and entering a worm hole at Zara, we came up for air, and began walking towards the Seine. We stopped and refueled with cappuccino and a crepe. After resting our weary feet for a few minutes, we walked towards Notre Dame past the Louvre and marveled at the late afternoon light.

We found some charming winding streets across from Notre Dame but the stores were closing so our wallets weren’t impacted. We decided to venture on the Metro back to the hotel. I was convinced we were going to be pick pocketed as the trains were filled to capacity but somehow we made it without losing any of our purchases. Now for a quick shower and off to dinner!