Life . . . Reframed: Jersey to Paris and the CitizenM Hotel

August 12 - oh wow! I haven’t been up at 6:30 in a long time. Took awhile to drag myself out of bed, and then it was a mad rush to pack up the computers, the bathroom things, have a bite to eat, clean the kitchen, strip the bed etc. But we were ready to go by 7:30 - had a sad parting with Edwina, who is housebound and couldn’t make the trip to the ferry with us, and with the dogs Colin and Harvey.

This island has really grown on me over the past week, and I hope we’ll be able to return one day. Sarge and Edwina have been magical hosts - none of us put expectations on the other, and we had times together and times when we all did our own thing, and it worked out beautifully. My only regret is that Edwina is still in a lot of pain from the after-effects of spinal surgery several months ago, and so she was unable to join us in so many activities. She has a wealth of knowledge about Jersey, as does Sarge, and so it was great to have their advice about where to go and what to see. They are so generous - the kitchen was stocked with tea, milk, bread, jam, eggs, cookies, fruit and other assorted yummies for us when we arrived. As well, they had ordered in special hiking books on Jersey for us - we were ridiculously spoiled by them, and I hope we can repay that kindness one day.

The ferry ride was a little over an hour to St. Malo in France, and once there we caught a taxi to the train station. One would think that knowing a ferry had just arrived, a lot of people might be looking for a taxi, so there might be a bunch of them lined up waiting. Not at all. We waited probably a half hour for a cab, and one finally arrived. The train was not for a couple of hours, so it wasn’t a rush.

Tower in the middle of the English Channel

Sailboat with France in the distance

Another ferry heading somewhere else. It's quite large.

Another little 'fortification' built in the middle of the water.

St. Malo

On board the ferry in the upstairs lounge. The ferries here are quite expensive.
It cost about $80 for two of us to walk on for a one hour ride.

The train from St. Malo to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris is not cheap. It took about 5 1/2 hours total, and was a bit of a disappointing trip for us. We’re so used to having a car and stopping in odd little places, but you can’t do that on a train! In retrospect, it would have been less money to rent a car at the ferry station, and way more fun. Ah well, I guess we needed that lesson! We both had a little nap on the train, which made us feel a bit better.

The train station at St. Malo

On the train to Paris!

Just a train "inside" shot.

Arrived at CDG airport, and walked to our very hip and cool hotel called citizenM. The room is not large, but it’s very modern and laid out well. Everything in the room is controlled by a Samsung touchpad, including the various mood lightings on the outside of the acrylic bathroom walls - they change colours. Downstairs is the best hotel “lobby” I’ve ever experienced. It’s really not a lobby, just a bunch of really amazing living room areas, a bar area, and a big computer area full of desktop Macs and free printers. The check in here is all done by the guests. Very few staff are here - just enough to make sure it all goes smoothly. It’s kind of like checking into a space-age pod. Love it!

CitizenM Paris - exterior shot.

From the bar area looking through the 'living rooms' to the
reception and entrance.

Love this couch. The pictures move as you walk past them.

Need some computer access or a printer? No problem - room full of Macs
and printers - no charge. Really cool green aluminum sculpture on the wall.
Even the lighting is fun.

Fun things to look at on the walls while you're wandering around the living
rooms / socializing area.

This is where you check into the hotel. Pick a station, enter your
reservation number, program your room card and DONE! All the people in the
picture are checking in at the same time. The guy in the red t-shirt is there to
help if you need it.

Make yourself at home. Books, TV, conversation - very inviting space.

All kinds of funky chairs and couches around the place.

The jars on the table are filled with books! The shelves on the wall are filled
with fun arty things.

The bed is an oversize Kingsize bed built into the walls. That's the airport
looking out the huge window. The Samsung pad controlled a light curtain
and a blackout curtain. Take your pick. And no runway noise at all.

The bathroom 'pod'. The walls change colours depending
on the 'mood' you choose on the Samsung pad.

I really liked this hotel. Wifi was free. There were hundreds of free movies to choose from. And it cost us $212 for two nights. Not bad considering the prices in Paris!

We went downstairs and had a French buffet - absolutely NOTHING like any buffet I’ve had. The food was seriously delicious, the salad bar was amazing and the boeuf bourguignon - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! We decided to walk it off by walking over to the airport terminal to check out how far we'd have to go to catch our plane. It took about 4 minutes, so we didn't get much exercise!