J'aime Paris
Paris has always been on my bucket list. I mean, who’s bucket list isn’t it on? Oh, aside from Mike’s (I KNOW!). Thankfully, while dining at our favorite RVA restaurant one night (miss you Stella’s), our waiter had just got back from Paris and convinced Mike it is definitely a city worth seeing. Fast forward six months, and there we were navigating around the City of Lights.
As you read in our last post, we loved London… but something shifted as soon as we stepped off the train and it wasn’t just the weather (hello sun and warmth). Paris was energizing. We packed so much into our short stay. We averaged 30,000 steps per day, which helped because we also averaged about 30,000 baguettes per day. I can’t speak for Mike, but it quickly became one of my favorite cities (after Boston and New York of course); it was pure magic and I was hypnotized.
Everything you have heard is true: it’s romantic, it’s beautiful, and yes, you should speak a little French. Un peu. It doesn’t take much though—bonjour, merci, au revoir, parlez-vous anglais?, and combien pour une baguette? Fortunately, we went full-out tourist mode and had a pocket book for the French language. Initially, we took pictures on our phones of certain pages from the book so we could sneakily reference words/phrases without looking like complete tourists. And then day two rolled around and not only did we have the book out in public, but we also had the Paris map out too.
DAY ONE
Our “official” first day was a travel day, so not much to report, aside from a delicious dinner at Ober Mama… which is Italian.
We kicked off our *very* Parisian experience with a wine and cheese pairing with Wine Tasting in Paris (thank you Molly and Kate!). Walked in tourists, walked out connoisseurs. Okay, hardly, but it was incredibly informative and also really fun. We learned a lot about the wine regions in France, French wine, and how to pair with cheese and other dishes. We could actually taste the difference of each wine before and after pairing it with cheese. C'était magnifique!
Our class was next to Lutetia Arena. We stopped by this incredibly historic site to find people casually hanging out, playing soccer, and having a bite to eat. I found it amusing—this is a 2nd-century Roman amphitheater that once seated 10,000 people for gladiatorial combats…and today, it is just like any other park in this history-rich city.
We walked to Notre Dame and around the islands before soaking up the warm sun on a boat tour along the Seine. Later that day, we parked ourselves in front of the Eiffel Tower with a bottle of wine and a baguette. (I mean, if you don’t, did Paris even really happen?) Eiffel Tower is stunning during the day, but absolutely breathtaking at night when it is all lit up.
We visited Palais de Tokyo, which houses interactive contemporary art exhibitions and installations. It was… très unique. We were greeted by two women dancing, one in a gorilla costume, and had to walk around another rolling around the floor with a rock. The further into the museum we went, the more interesting it got. We don’t want to knock anyone’s art, but a man dropping a potato on another man’s head, in a city full of Monet’s and Van Gogh’s, is just not necessarily the kind of exhibit we wanted to spend time trying to interpret.
We capped off day one with a walk to the magnificent Arc de Triomphe and a stroll down the Champs-Élysées.
Pit of the day: Okay, we might have accidentally stumbled upon Notre Dame… and didn’t realize what it was at first. That was an embarrasing moment
Peak of the day: Picking out a bottle of wine with the knowledge we received from our wine class and pairing it with Eiffel Tower views
DAY TWO
…started with a croissant and café, because, Paris. First stop: Louvre. (We recommend purchasing tickets online in advance. While you still need to wait in a line, it is significantly shorter and it’s not much of a wait at all.) Pictures do not do this place justice—it is enormous! It showcases 35,000 works of art and would take nine months to glance at every piece. It goes without saying, but we were not getting through this entire museum. And let’s be honest, we came for Mona Lisa anyway.
We were in Paris for a few days and did not want to spend our entire visit inside (regardless of how iconic the museum). We spent a few hours in the Louvre, but in hindsight, we would have been completely satisfied with seeing just these three exhibits: Napoleon III Apartments, Louis XV Crown (adorned with pearls, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topazes, and diamonds JUST to wear once (at his coronation)), and of course, Mona Lisa. The crowd around Mona Lisa was the exact opposite of the painting itself: large and overwhelming. But still, very cool to finally see in person.
We broke from being tourists for lunch and found a park that seemed to be a hot spot for locals. Break over, map out: off to Musee d’Orsay for some Van Gogh and Monet.
We wandered around a little bit more (at this point we’re checking my Fitbit every half hour and giving ourselves a pat on the back), and then headed back to our neighborhood of Montmartre for sunset. Montmartre is the city’s steepest quarter and is incredibly charming. At the top of the hill is the Sacré-Cœur basilica and exceptional city views. We eventually made our way back down the hill for a late dinner at a traditional French restaurant, but not before listening to live jazz and enjoying some escargot (I may have enjoyed it a little more than Mike).
Pit of the day: We could NOT find our way out of the Louvre. It’s the never-ending museum
Peak of the day: Discovering the fairy tale setting of Montmartre!
The next day was our last and we had no idea where to head next. Between Paris and Amsterdam, we had two weeks completely unplanned, and while we had every intention of figuring that out before we left for Europe, and then in London, and then our first, second, third day in Paris… we were now technically homeless and had to find shelter in a coffee shop—tough life. (Okay, when I say “we” I mean me, World’s Most Indecisive Human, but what’s mine is his, so, we’re in this together.) Fortunately, throughout our time in Paris we met wonderful people that were eager to provide advice and recommendations on where to go. SO, we ended up renting a car and making a seven-hour trek to… Provence!