Paris, voila!

After 11 hours in the air and a little  nervousness about connecting in Newark, I arrived in Paris ready to join a group of fellow ballet nuts on our epic trip with Tours en l'air! We aren't gathering officially as a group until tomorrow but our leader, Katherine, suggested we meet at the bar of our hotel for drinks at 6p so I've got the day to kill. I didn't get much sleep on the red eye flight (due to two men chatting in Spanish all night...grr) so I was a little woozy getting off the plane. Customs & immigration was a piece of cake and then finding the RER was pretty easy once I understood that the station is in Terminal 3. All the service people I've had to deal with were much friendlier and open to English speakers than the last time I was in Paris (maybe 6, 7 years ago). Our hotel is in the Marais, one of my favourite neighbourhoods with a great local culture. We will not have a problem finding good bistros to dine in when we are on our own. After checking in and getting the lay of the land, I decided to take a stroll and find some food to combat my jet lag. I had lunch at a tiny little corner bistro called La Vache Acrobat. I had a delicious veggie puree soup and slightly over done beef (more medium well than medium) with really good potatoes. After lunch, I walked down to Place de la Bastille to check out the arts and crafts market. I found the wares pretty similar to what you might find at an art fair in your community-funky jewelry, so-so paintings, interesting functional pieces, etc. I walked back to the hotel via Blvd Beaumarchais looking in shop windows. By the time I got back to the hotel, I was really feeling the lack of sleep so I decided it would be a good idea to relax in the hotel and read a bit. At 6p, the crowd had gathered in the lobby. It was fun to see how many different places people were from. The group is predominantly white older women many traveling with friends or alone. Most of us walk to dinner at a nearby bistro Katherine recommended. I had the rotisserie pork with mashed potatoes, followed by a pear tart, quite good and very reasonably priced. The service was great for handling a rather large group. I enjoyed getting to know some of the other ladies.
Tomorrow we have Nureyev's R&J at the Opera Bastille. Tonight's challenge is getting a good night's sleep.