When we arrived at the Venice-Treviso Airport, we immediately made our way upstairs to check-in. There was NO line….yay! We had printed our boarding passes the day before in Venice. We saw a Ryanair desk, and the luggage check-in counter. Knowing that we had no intention of checking in our luggage, we went straight to the Ryanair desk (right before security). My family went on the left side, while Em and Ben’s family were assisted on the right side. All we were asked was to show our boarding passes and passport, and that was that. Huh? Ok so, we proceeded. In my mind, I thought, wow that was easy! However, Ben and family were advised to have their luggage weighed, and I was tempted to join, but I decided to have our side move ahead towards security. We told Emily we’d wait for them at our gate. After 15-20 minutes of waiting, Nancy suggested that I go back up to check on them. I made my way past security again, and found Emily, Janelle, and Andrew, but no Ben. According to Emily, Ben’s luggage did not make the cut as a carry-on so he had to pay for his luggage. I started to worry. Why? I’ve read in many postings that Ryanair could still flag you even if you’re about to board your plane. I looked around. In US standards, our carry-on luggage was a typical sized luggage for carry-ons. But when we were at the Ryanair gate, everyone else around us had luggage that was at least 1/4th smaller. At this point, in my mind….whatever!

Since we only had a couple hours of sleep, we found ourselves sleeping during the plane ride. What was Ryanair like? It was just like your typical budget airline, like Southwest. I expected nothing, and was pleasantly surprised that all went well during our flight. I think I slept even better knowing that we didn’t have to pay a single dime at the airport. All in all, for this flight, we had a great experience with Ryanair.


Our plane arrived at 10:30am. I’ve never been to this airport. Back in 2007, Nancy and I flew in out of Charles de Gaulle Airport (a much bigger airport). Once we had all of our luggage, I saw a sign for the buses to Paris – Porte Maillot. My VRBO apartment contact, Pierre Henri, told me to take that bus and get off of Porte Maillot. Done! We got our tickets, followed the signs to the airport bus station. We boarded our bus which took us to Paris within 45 minutes. The weather was different from the sunny days in Italy. We expected rain, but at this time, it was just dark gray clouds and no rain. The 45 minutes went by quickly. I must’ve slept through most of the ride.









be back. The last time Nancy and I were in Paris, it didn’t rain the way it did on this day. Yet, the tower was still quite stunning sans that bright sun. It was shrouded in light gray clouds which actually gave it a different kind of beauty. We’re in Paris, rain or shine….c’est la vie!


For dinner, I took our troop and headed back to the train towards Opera. At this point, for me, I started gaining confidence about the Metro. It was just like riding a bicycle. Everything started coming back to me. I began to remember how to move around Paris, how to read and interpret the Metro maps. There were instances when we made the wrong turns, but we caught the errors early enough and corrected our mistakes. Ok so back to Opera, and riding this bicycle. This was the area where Nancy and I stayed before. I was hoping I could take them around but it was already getting late and we were hungry. We went to a local English pub, and had burgers, and appetizer platters that we all got to share. It was good to relax for a bit and take a breather from a very long day of travel. After dinner, we walked a a couple of minutes from the pub that took us to the 9 train, the train that took us back to our apartment. We didn’t have to switch trains, yay!


Shopping in Paris?
Sure. Why not? We did a little bit of this and that. We headed straight for Galeries LaFayette. I remember Galeries Lafayette which is this gigantic blocks of building with levels of endless shopping. I compare this to New York’s W. 34th St. Think of Macy’s, and you’ll get the picture. But Galeries LaFayette has more character than NY’s Macy’s. There’s this dome in the very center of the Women’s building. It’s a feast for the eyes. It was crowded. Madison and I were on a quest for new shoes. I got rid of my 5 lb. Doc Maartens. She on the other hand found a great deal on a black combat boots. The rest of the gang got a suit, jacket, and other tops.
9th floor, there’s a cafe, and right outside the cafe is the rooftop of the building. It gives you a view of the city from the Eiffel Tower to Sacre Couer on the others side. The best part of it all, it was a free attraction.




Next stop was Sacre Couer, another site that gave us a majestic view of Paris. I forgot to mention that we were there on Easter Sunday so this place was packed
with people celebrating the holiday, along with the tourists. There were lots of street performers who were vying for attention (and tips). The stand out? This guy and his soccer ball. He was not playing with ball on the ground. He was hanging on a pole balancing the ball, and doing all of these Cirque du Soleil acrobatics. It was close to 3pm and we got ourselves ready to attend a church service on Rue Pierre Nicole. It was a good break from our busy day. We met up with Emily and fam and attended a service that was preached in French, Oui!!! Thankfully, the minister translated some of the key verses in English.
This was our last evening in Paris. The day was so gorgeous