Oct 31 – Nov 7: Paris, France by Cathy

A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life. Thomas Jefferson

We could not agree more, Mr. Jefferson.

We arrived in Paris after a high-speed train trip from Munich,

and from our homey, historic, and very Parisian (as in Munich, this was our host’s primary residence) apartment in the 2nd Arrondisement, we walked. And walked and walked. And then (with luck after a cappuccino) we walked some more. Over the course of seven days, we walked to, along, over, or through…

Pont Neuf (the night of our arrival)

the Tuileries Garden

Place de la Concorde

Champs d’Elysses (Mick’s favorite Ferrari)

the Arc de Triomphe

the Eiffel Tower

the banks of the beautiful Sein

the Pont des Arts

the Institut de France

the Louvre Palace (that sky color is real – no editing!)

the Centre Pompidou

Canal Saint-Martin

Coulée verte René-Dumont  (like High Line Park in NYC)

Bois des Vincennes

Père Lachaise Cemetery (RIP Mr. Mojo Risin’)

Pont Neuf / Square de Vert-Galant 

Notre Dame Cathedral

the Pantheon & the Sorbonne

Luxembourg Garden

San Sulpice

the Musée d’Orsay

the Louvre

Sacré-Cœur

Galeries Lafayette (rooftop terrace)

Fontainebleau

… and learned a lot – about history, beauty, and yes, the point of Life (with a capital L like Jefferson).

At the Cafe Les Deax Magots, once famous for its literary and intellectual clientele, at the recommendation of my friend Ellen, we sipped cappuccinos and watched Parisians (and tourists) stroll by just as she and her father did years ago.

At Maison Deyrolle, recommended by our Lindsey Court neighbor, John Brown, we discovered a taxidermological paradise – definitely one of our favorite places – and Mick took home a fossilized ammonite. Foster’s Bighorn will never be the same.

At the Louvre, we took in the biggies – Mona, Venus, etc. – but were most intrigued by these lesser known works:

On the Galeries Lafayette rooftop terrace we were unexpectantly dazzled when, at 6pm, the tower lit up with sparking lights.

FOOD Notes: 
Paris is wildly expensive (even compared to San Francisco), so we were very happy to find Al Boustan, around the corner on Rue Montorgueil, where we ate delicious “Lebanese burritos” at under $5 on 3 of our 7 nights there! In contrast, one night Mick had a Chipotle burrito that was $15! A couple of nights we had microwave pasta dishes from the local convenience store that were c’est délicieux.

We also were lucky to find EXKi Montorgueil, a great place for homemade, healthy, reasonably-priced pastries, ready-made salads, and sandwiches that we often took with us to-go.

The closest we came to French cuisine was at Cafe du Centre, also on Rue Montorgueil, where Jeff and I had delicious French onion soup while Mick was at home enjoying a slice of pizza and a movie.

At Stohrer, the oldest patisserie in Paris (1732) and conveniently located right around the corner from our apartment, we purchased a babà au rhum. Apparently this interestingly-shaped confection is Paris’ most famous pastry and it’s birthplace is Stohrer. I’d like to tell you how it was, but, alas, we were all too inebriated afterwards to give an honest review. Seriously. I think the cake to rum proportion might have been 50:50. Next time we’ll try the puits d’amour, Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite (for which she traveled here specifically in 2004 – pictures are plastered all over the place).

Since I started off with a quote, I’ll end with three others – one for each of us – that I think very aptly describe our thoughts about Paris.

• MICK’s PARIS QUOTE
  “It is perfectly possible to be enamoured of Paris while remaining totally indifferent or even hostile to the French.”
       James Baldwin
  I’m assigning this quote to Mick as he really loved Paris; however, with few exceptions he thought the people we met were aloof (at best).
• JEFF’s PARIS QUOTE
  “In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.”
       Mark Twain
  – this quote is further confirmation of my long-held suspicion that Jeff secretly channels Mr. Clemmons.
• CATHY’s PARIS QUOTE
  “Paris is always a good idea.”
       Audrey Hepburn  in Sabrina