Literally, en Français, Hotel Dieu translates to Hotel God. That’s precisely where our room was located, directly under heaven, and across from Our Lady, Notre Dame, Ile de la Cité, Paris, France.

Upon leaving Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Terminal C, we took the RER to the Metro stop St. Michel, walked over the bridge and voila!--- Notre Dame in all its celestial splendor. Facing the front doors of this gothic cathedral, on the left was the hospital, a stone’s throw, which housed the hotel on the very top floor. Nancy, my traveling partner, is an ARNP at Jackson Memorial, Miami, Florida and she thought it would be a very unique experience to stay in a hotel on top of a hospital. Unique is singularly the best word I can think of to describe this experience.

We entered the hospital and soon walked out an exit on the right, to behold a beautiful gothic courtyard that you would expect to see on an estate. We climbed one flight of stairs which led us into another section of the hospital and after 20 steps,we found a room with a very large elevator, almost as large as our room! We pressed the elevator button for the 6th floor and it stopped on the 4th floor. No one was there waiting so we proceeded to the 6th floor, which was the top floor. Throughout our entire stay, every time we used the elevator it stopped at the 4th floor ,which had two wards named St. Marc and Ste. Marie. We started to believe that the spirits of these two saints actually lived there and liked checking out the visitors.

Finally, we arrived on the 6th floor and the elevator opened up right in front of our hotel “ward”. My first impression was, ”Oh no ,back in college!” as it felt like a dormitory. The reception area was very tiny and upon entering our room, I felt that was tiny, as well. The only window was a sky light so the view consisted of clouds, blue sky, and a few birds, here and there. The tiny closet barely had room for clothes and there was absolutely no furniture for clothes storage. Okay, I can live with this for 8 days. Then, my worst nightmare, a bathtub without a shower curtain. Why can’t a room with a flat screen TV have a bathtub shower curtain? Mind you, this modern TV had only four stations and they were all French-speaking.

Alas, as time progressed, what seemed like a room void of most traveler “necessities” transformed into a quaint, enchanted domain. Upon further encounter of the close kind, I realized that this entire room, reception, and hallway were immaculately clean, I mastered the tub situation. Reclining on the bed, one could look out the window and watch the clouds, swallows, rain, snow flakes, and jet paths. It was a pleasure to open and close the sky light window with the push of a button. Rather than a city view, “the sky was the limit!”

If we were hungry or thirsty, we could step outside the room make a right turn, take 12 steps and there were a choice of beverages including water, soda, beer, wine, various teas and coffee. Moreover, snacks were available. If you were real hungry and you did not want to go out, you took the elevator to the 1st floor, descended a flight of steps and a hospital cafeteria served warm food.

The TV that featured four French channels served as my instructor parce que je peut ecouter en francais et my French improved. The hotel staff were charming and ready to help in any way possible. Even though they all spoke impeccable English and French, none of them were from France. Marie came to France from Lebanon to study for her Master’s degree. She achieved that goal, went home for awhile, and returned to Paris. Paul was from Thailand and we spent quite a bit of time talking to him. They were all quite helpful and very friendly.

Our double room with twin beds was 120 Euro a night and for Paris, this was a great price. The location was absolutely center and you could take a nice stroll to most of the fascinating museums, squares, and great sights. Within walking distance were the Comedie Francaise, The Louvre, Pompidou Center, the Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Musee D’Orsay,, St. Sulpice, Luxembourg Gardens, the Eifel Tower, Opera Garnier, Galeries Lafayette, Place des Vosges, Hotel de Ville,and the famous Berthillon Ice cream parlor located on the main street of Ile St. Louis. Notre Dame was in breathing distance and I enjoyed the bells which started at 8AM daily. Paris is the largest outdoor museum in the world. Even the bridges featured great art especially Pont Alexandre III. Everywhere you look, no matter which direction, you can stand and turn 360 degrees and see art. I highly recommend this hotel named God, to people who are on a budget, love to walk, appreciate a very clean room and extremely helpful hotel staff.