We didn’t waste a minute in Paris. We shopped, ate, and went to museums with basically no downtime. After a full day, we would return to wash and change for dinner. No rest for the weary!
The only day we gave ourselves some time to get it together was the night before we left. It occurred to us that we needed negative rapid tests to return to the US. My friend had two boxes from Abbott. One was past due by six days. The person watching each of us online administer a test declared one invalid, although it clearly states on their website that the tests are good for 15 months.
We raced over to a Pharmacy, but most were no longer giving tests. Panic set in. I had others from iHealth, and CVS, but USV purchased them, so I didn’t have the order# to get an online appointment. However, I needed help immediately as dinner was in 30 minutes.
The answer is the hotels. For 100 euros, they would have a “doctor” come to administer a test. We had dinner at Le Meurice, ending on a fancy note, and called the concierge. He couldn’t have been nicer. We showed up and had a drink at the bar. I got a test with a negative result—a huge sigh of relief.
The whole ordeal is utterly ridiculous, considering everyone is half mask, no mask, some mask on beyond stressful.
We sat down for dinner, at the Meurice put us in the wrong restaurant. We both had a hunch but fully realized it when they came over to apologize. A huge fuck-up on their part, but again, the concierge did save the day!