I have no qualms about saying that Paris is my favorite travel destination. I can’t express how grateful and lucky I feel to be back, especially with the holiday spirit in the air – people are cheerful and the ‘City of Lights’ is shining even brighter with colorful decorations – if only it was like this all the time. That said, we have arrived!

Our day started well. The driver arrived a few minutes early and we were ready to go. The ride up to Toronto was smooth and quick. Well actually, smooth and fast as our driver was zooming right along. Once we arrived at Pearson Airport, we only had a few minutes to wait before checking in our luggage.

Since we were flying business class, we’re able to enjoy the Air Canada Signature Lounge. Our server, Nav, was awesome and took great pride in making sure we enjoyed our meal. He even bumped us up on our wine selection with our meal.

We were chatting with a couple sitting next to us after dinner. They were heading to Amsterdam to start a Christmas Market River Cruise to celebrate his retirement. The time passed quickly and soon we were all ready to head to our gates to leave.

Our flight was delayed while they finished loading some freight, but aside from that we had an easy flight. We both slept for a while, which was a treat. It makes the first day so much easier to not be exhausted.

A bonus, thanks to the Olympics, was an updated passport control area. Using the machines makes things so much quicker. The baggage claim area is also new. Kudos to the French for the upgrades.

The first order of the day was getting from the Charles DeGaulle Airport to our hotel. We’re staying at the Hotel Au Manoir des St Germain in the 6th arrondissement. To get there using public transport would require changing from the train to the metro and then a short walk to the hotel. So towards the taxi line we went.

Between the baggage claim and the taxi line is the gauntlet of scammers trying to get you to ride with them. The way to navigate is to just say no and keep moving. They are not registered and they don’t abide by the fixed tariff rules.

The ride from the airport to a left bank destination is a fixed €65 rate; only €58 if you’re going to the right bank. After letting our driver know where we were heading, we were on our way.

We’ve stayed at Hotel Au Manoir des St Germain before and enjoyed it. It is in a great location, it’s cozy and the people there are all very friendly and helpful, so we thought it would be a good choice.

We arrived a bit early for check-in, however our room was ready. We were able to get settled in and cleaned up, which was an unexpected treat.

We decided to head next door to Brasserie Lipp for a nice lunch. It’s one of the landmark brasseries where all the old literary folks used to hang out. We shared some foie gras and then both ordered the Duck confit. We enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine from St. Joseph and ended our meal happy and sated.

We made the long walk of about ten feet back to our hotel and relaxed before changing for the evening’s event.

We had a 6:00 pm reservation for the Tootbus, so we headed over to the starting point. Their office is located near the Opera Garnier, which is a ways away from us. We decided to take the Metro to get there, since it was rush hour and the streets looked a little busy.

It was a bit drizzly, so it is nice having a Metro station close by. I had already recharged our Navigo cards, so it just took two taps and we were on our way. The first train was a bit crowded as it was just after 5:00 pm and people were heading home for the day. The second train was also crowded, but since we only had one stop, we just stood in the doorway.

Tonight’s excursion was an open-air bus tour to see the holiday lights in the city. We made sure to wear warm layered clothes, hats and gloves to fight off the chill.

The route started off near the Opera Garnier, then headed to the Place Vendôme, La Madeleine, Place de Concorde, up the Champs Élysée around the Arc de Triomphe, back down the Champs Élysée, over to the Trocadéro, across to the Eiffel Tower, over to Avenue Montaigne, by the Louvre and then back to Blvd Haussmann and ending in front of Au Printemps. Don’t believe me? I have pictures to prove it.

The bus arrived at the Eiffel Tower at the top of the hour and we got to watch the light display. It was quite the treat.

It may have been a little chilly, but it was a lot of fun. The decorations were beautiful, we got ideas for where places were that we want to visit and learned a new short cut via the Metro and RER trains to move about the city. Also learned about ticket inspectors as they were at the exit when we returned to Saint Germain station. No worries though.

Took the short walk back to the hotel and it sure felt good to stretch out and climb into a warm, comfy bed. 3..2..1.. And it was off to dreamland – we were tired.

It was a great first day in Paris.