Welcome Back to Paris

After a nice relaxing evening, we had a relaxing morning. Our train isn't until 11:30 so we don't have to rush.

We eat the yogurt and banana we bought at the grocery store. 

Aparna looks for a place to get her nails done but can't get in anywhere. I work on some blog posts. We finally pack up and take the 5 minute walk to the station. After some confusion our train arrives and we are off for Paris. The train is uneventful. 

We head down to left luggage and surprisingly I don't need to pay anymore for my luggage. I thought it was 5.50 euro per day but the locker pops open when I put in my ticket. Since we have a lot of luggage now, we grab an Uber. It's about 9 euro versus 3.60 for the metro for two and we don't have to transfer or walk. 

We are staying at the Westin as part of our cruise. Our room is ready when we arrive. Aparna goes to pick up or mail from the concierge and just gets an envelope about our cruise. We shipped a book and dress to the hotel before we left. She convinced him to look and he finds our package. 

Definitely the nicest room we have had so far. First bathtub. 

We head out to lunch. I remember seeing a boulangerie across from the bistro we eat at the other day. We walk a few blocks and grab lunch. Turns out it's some chain. Oh well. 

Beef baguette and paella salad. 

We wander around a bit to find some last minute stuff. We are really looking for convenience store or grocery store. I find K-mart on apple maps. I know it can't be what I'm thinking but its really close by so we walk. It's starts to rain but it's not too bad then suddenly it just dumps. We duck into the store and it's a Korean grocery store. K-mart makes sense. We wait out the rain in the store. We finally find the type of store we want and get what we need. 

Aparna really wants her nails done. We find a place nearby. The lady doesn't speak much English but a sales rep is there who does. She doesn't have time to do both her hands and feet before her next appointment so Aparna is undecided. I tell her to do her feet and worry about her hands later. Finally the lady moves her appointment so Aparna can have both done. 

I walk around while her nails are being done. There are tons of Asian restaurants here including a lot of Korean and Japanese places.

I must have seen 4 or 5 ramen places alone. Even a Korean butcher. 

Her nails are done and we head back to the hotel. I thank her for making time in French (thank you google translate) and she replies that it's her job in French. I actually understand her response. 

We are getting picked at 6:30 for our welcome reception at the Marriott. A small van takes eight of us over. We are lead to a small room with 50 chairs set up. Wow, this is a small group. The ship capacity is 169 passengers. A quick glance around the room and we are youngest and only non-Caucasians. There may be some people in their fifties. We get the overview of tomorrow and have a drink. We converse with some people and are taken back to the hotel. 

One of Aparna's nails gets messed up so we head back to the nail place but it's closed. It's a little cold and windy so we go for ramen. We pick a place with a line. We are the second group in line. Another 4 or 5 groups form behind us. The line moves quickly. 

I go with the basic charsu ramen. 

Aparna gets the special with black garlic oil and spicy miso. 

The tonkatsu broth is the most flavorful and porky broth I have had. The black garlic oil is amazing too. Probably the best tonkatsu broth I have had over the past year and a half. 

Food cost for the day is about $53. 

Steps for the day are just under 14k and 5 miles.