Retro Minute #15: A Trip to Rome & Paris

To sort of celebrate 18 years of blogging, I'm sharing 18 of my favorite posts from previous blogs. Here's the fifteenth post from February 15, 2018 from Rainswept blog.

We're taking an imaginary city trip! Pick a location you've been wanting to visit, google the heck out of the internet and put together the top ten things you want to see, do, experience, eat, etc. there! (Note: These would be the places I would visit if I ever thought to go on any type of tourist vacation. The movie references are in parenthesis.) (This was orginally posted for Top Ten Thursday hosted by Tamara here.)

~ Day 1 - Rome, Italy ~
The flight to Rome was not great but the view of the clouds removed some of the bad vibes though I was stuck in the middle seat between a tall man with a scowl on his face and an old lady who chattered into a phone recorder. The noises were hard to ignore but at least, I got ear plugs which only worked slightly.

01 - Check into a small, homely hotel (Roman Holiday)
It was night when I arrived in Rome. The lady behind the desk spoke broken English but at last, I went up to my room by many winding stairs. It was small but lovely. In the morning, when I woke up to take a shower, I found a strange lady there. She was the maid and she was surprised to see me but she smiled before she left me the towels. I should never book hotels again without first asking how the cleaning service was.

02 - A ride on a motorbike on the streets of Rome (Roman Holiday)
It was a warm afternoon when I woke up after a long nap. Somehow I managed to secure a ride through the streets of Rome from a really nice fella who was an American. He smiled far too much showing off his perfect but coffee-stained teeth.

03 - At the Mouth of Truth (La Bocca della Veritá) (Roman Holiday)
We stop at the Mouth of Truth and the American dared me to stick my hand in the mouth. The myth is that it would bite the hands off of liars. I shook my head. I'm not a liar but who wants to take the chance of losing a hand?

~ Day 2 ~

04 - A walk on the Spanish Steps (Roman Holiday)
I brought an ice cream cone and sat on the Spanish Steps. Though it was still hot, the ice cream made it a very enjoyable day plus I had another cone and a whole bunch of junk food.

05 - A party out in the night (Roman Holiday)
Somehow I ended up at a party and I danced with a barber and then a very handsome gentleman. I danced rather clumsily but he didn't notice or pretended not to notice. Though there were some strange scuffles about but otherwise the evening was quite lovely.

~ Day 3 - Paris, France ~

Soon I was on a flight to Paris though I had to pay extra for a later flight as I missed the first flight. I woke up late. The time difference wasn't much but it certainly affected my sleeping habits. The flight was short which was nice. A quick check in at a hotel, a short nap and off I go.

06 - A visit to a bookstore (Funny Face)
I strolled around the streets and found a little book shop. The place was small but it was heavenly. Most of the books were old paperbacks and in French but I looked through them just the same. A whole bunch of people came for a photo shoot and ushered me out rather quickly.

07 - A night bateau-mouche (open boat) ride on the Seine (Charade)
Met an American there, he seemed nice but somewhat sly. Could he be a spy or some sort of government agent? It's hard to say though he was quite a gentleman.

~ Day 4 ~

08 - A visit to the Eiffel Tower (Funny Face)
What's a visit to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower? There were these people bursting into song right there but I didn't mind. It was fun to watch them. But the best part was the view - it was amazing.

09 - The art museum Musée Carnavalet (The Musee Carnavalet) (How to steal a million)
Everything here was wonderful though the security seemed rather serious standing guard. It was far more crowded than usual but I did get to see some artworks and sculptures though no cameras was allowed so no pictures. There was some excitement about a special sculpture but I didn't pay much attention.

10 - A meal at the Maxim's, 3 Rue Royale (How to steal a million)
The meal was satisfying and the company was interesting and quite handsome. The man just appeared and started talking to me though he seemed quite focused on crime. A quick after dinner walk and that was the end of the trip.

Where do you want to go on your trip?

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Image credits:
Rome, Italy image by David Iliff > link
Roman Holiday screenshots > link
Spanish Steps in Rome (Photo by Piotr aka 2pi.pl) > link
Paris, France (photo by Sergey Ashmarin) > link
Funny Face screenshots > link 1 > link 2
Charade screenshots > link 1 > link 2
How to steal a million screenshots > link 1 > link 2 > link 3
Musée Carnavalet > link
Maxim's (photo by Natlo47) > link