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paris in forty hours, four thousand words
Friday, we arrived in Paris a little after noon, not too tired as we'd finally grasped that sleeping pills are not evil if they buy you an extra half-days vacation. We RER-ed to our hotel, which made our day by letting us check in a little early, nap a little, and shower. Around 3:30 we went to the nearest café to eat, well, not great food but hey, we was hungry. We took a walk up by the Seine, making to the Île de la Cité and Île de Saint-Louis, where we went to Berthillon for ice cream because Julie (who is from Paris) said it is the best. They were out of their famed marron glacé ice cream so we instead had their salted butter caramel ice cream, a flavor so amazing I’ll probably try to replicate it endlessly for the rest of my life. Salt. Butter. Cooked sugar. Salt. Butter. Damn.
Saturday, I woke to Alex peering into my face with a concerned expression as I had slept twelve whole hours on a weekend, something he has tried to train me to do for the entirety of our courtship, thus far, with no success until a day we really could have used an earlier start. We took the metro to Montmartre, walked up and down many old hills, and found Coquelicot (a bakery Clotilde has waxed poetic about) purely by accident. The bread, aroma, and entire place is decked in the kind of perfected adorability you’d expect from such a cute-sounding place. Later in the day, we stopped at Patrick Roger chocolates, David Liebovitz’s chocolatier of choice, for some tasty treats, and later to L’Enoteca for dinner. This was another awesome Julie recommendation – we had a great Italian (!) meal and even better wine. [It will take another entry entirely to tell you about the CorLeone dessert she insisted we order, but we promise, it's a good story!] On our way back to the hotel, we ducked in a photo booth in the metro and took probably the most decent picture I have ever seen of us. Wine’ll do that to you.
Sunday, again with the sleeping eerily late, we had a very late breakfast at Brasserie Balzar, a very old Alsatian restaurant with a terrifically loyal following (an entire chapter in Paris to the Moon is dedicated to the regulars staging a protest after the place was sold to a restaurant group, successfully demanding that they change nothing about the place). Despite priding myself on knowing enough French to make sense of most things, I knew not a word on that menu, and too proud to ask, just ordered a gratin. Oh, my. After “brunch” we walked all over the Latin Quarter, but dissatisfied with the touristy vibe, we walked back along the river. And walked and walked, with no purpose or plan, until we saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance and decided, why not? An hour later, legs so tired they were on autopilot, we watched the sunset under the Eiffel Tower, and took dozens of terrible self-portraits in the spot where we got engaged in December 2004. Yes, I know, retch.
Monday, our last day, it was drizzly and overcast but we forgave the weather after being so hospitable to us all weekend. We decided to go to the infamous Poilâne bakery – a very old bread bakery that makes a famous 2kg round loaf, as well as tiny, precious sable cookies called la punition. We bought an applesauce croissant for the plane, and a bag of the my coworkers are currently feasting on. Nearby was Pierre Hermé, a place where they insisted we take home three macaron each, when we only needed one. At the register we fretted that we didn’t have enough euros left when they pronounced that the macaron were free! Apparently, March 20th is the Festival of the Macaron at Pierre Hermé, or, Woot! Yeah, dawg! Some free shit! as we say in America. Full on macaron and tiny cookies, we had a final cup of café and sadly returned to our life on this side of the Atlantic. But I swear, we chased the sunset the whole way home.
Before I left for this vacation, I mocked the nay-sayers but mostly because I echoed their doubts. I mean, what were we thinking? One vacation between our wedding and first anniversary and we pick forty hours in a city that is an eight-hour flight away? But, the flights cooperated, our jet-lag was minimal-to-none, the weather was a delight, the hotel as cute as we remembered it, our French better than we’d left it, our food choices better informed and even more satistifying than last time, and our staunch belief in self-guided walking tours superiority over queues at museums reaffirmed. This trip rewarded our impulsivity, refreshed my bored mind with delicious vistas and taste-bud staining flavors, and pretty much did everything a great vacation is supposed to, with the added bonus of leaving me with enough vacation days to go somewhere more exotic later this year.
How does this sound? “Happy Paper Anniversary baby, and but watch out! A ringtail lemur has just joined our safari!”
comments (26)
oh how sweet! Paris! It sounds and looks beautiful. That's so cool that you went for the weekend! :D
1 | Shannon | March 21, 2006 11:51 PM
You take the most beautiful photos! I know that this must be mostly due to your personal photographic genius, but just to ease my own curiosity--what type of camera do you have? I saw a caption that said it's a Canon Rebel, is it a digital one? I have a 35mm Canon Rebel and, alas, my pictures are never so beautiful. Great blog, by the way, love it!
2 | Lori | March 22, 2006 12:35 AM
hmmm..."a ringtail lemur has just joined our safari?!"
3 | RzDrms | March 22, 2006 03:52 AM
I really enjoyed your blog today. Paris is a city I love, with that love I can tell you both have...it's a soul sister kind of city. Glad you had such a wonderful time and good weather (it's been bad here in Europe!).
4 | UKYankeewoman | March 22, 2006 08:28 AM
I completely appreciate your Paris vacation... in a couple weeks I'm doing something similar in Napa, which is no short flight from DC. I'm glad to hear it can be done, and so enjoyably!
5 | E. | March 22, 2006 08:54 AM
I want to see the photobooth picture! Also, can you tell us what hotel it is (you can email me if you want)? I've got a little book of daydreams and a weekend in Paris next year is one of them.
6 | Krissa | March 22, 2006 10:30 AM
As someone who is truly in need of a vacation, I thank you for this post.. Nothing like vicarious living through internet strangers! So glad you guys had a good time! Also, your pictures are breathtaking! Great job..
If you don't mind, would you please post a short list of must-see, non-touristy places in Paris. I'd like to file it away for future planning. Thanks!
7 | Jessica | March 22, 2006 10:37 AM
Krissa - We stayed at the Best Western Nouvel Orleans (I swear, it looks nothing like the stateside BWs). The rooms are tiny (think Hudson Hotel) but renovated, modern, and cute. It is on the left bank in one of those lovely old buildings with black wrought-iron window fronts, directly across the street from the Mouton Duvernet metro on the 4 line, one block from an RER stop, and very inexpensive. If prices go up, I'm blaming all of you. :)
Jessica - I need to get this list together, replete with recommendations from Julie that we never made it to, so hopefully soon! (we also cruised both Lebovitz and Clotilde's sites for their favorites) When I get a chance, I am going to update this post with more links (I was exhausted when I finally got it up!) and because I am anal-retentive, proper accent marks.
The photobooth picture looks freakishly like one from the New York Times Vows section.
8 | deb | March 22, 2006 11:00 AM
Finally! I have been waiting patiently all weekend for these pictures. They're gorgeous. Looks like a blast. Next time take me with you! :-) See you soon.
Ciao babes
9 | jocelyn | March 22, 2006 01:42 PM
Looks like you had a wonderful time - PLEASE put on the cute photobooth picture!
10 | Jess | March 22, 2006 02:47 PM
what about a meerkat? If only because I like to say "meerkat".
11 | New Blue Shoe | March 22, 2006 03:29 PM
WOW! What an adventure. You guys sure did get to see (and eat) some great stuff while you were there. I agree -- down with the naysayers. Sometimes a little adventure is what we need to be reinvigorated for our work and lives. Bravo!
12 | Kelli | March 22, 2006 03:55 PM
Berthillon...mmm...so good...so jealous.
I was skeptical too--as good or better ice cream than gelato?? Ahh, but it is!
13 | Cristina | March 22, 2006 04:08 PM
Ring-tailed lemurs? You're going to Madagascar next? I am so third-wheeling.
14 | NotoriousANG | March 22, 2006 04:33 PM
I've been reading your posts for some weeks now, thoroughly enjoying every last one.
So glad you reaped the benefits of Paris and the weather cooperated (in general). I've lived here for a year and a half now and just wanted to thank you for your wonderful pictures! Though I'm grateful for every day I'm here, sometimes I admittedly forget the magic I found in this city at the very beginning of my time here. Your photos brought it all back and I can appreciate the beauty "a nouveau."
Merci beaucoup!
PS - Le Coquelicot... the best laid-back little French brunch I've ever had. Their bread is outta this world. Feeling rather inspired to make my way up there this weekend... thx
15 | Lou | March 22, 2006 05:32 PM
Thank you!
I finally added some links, more information, and hopefully coded all the accent marks accurately. (Can you sense my relief? Pathetic, non?)
I can't find a link for Coquelicot [24 rue des Abbesses] anywhere, but you'll just have to trust me (& Lou) that it's worth going to.
16 | deb | March 22, 2006 05:59 PM
just the thought of the salted butter caramel ice cream is making this preggers gal droooool.
17 | whoorl | March 22, 2006 06:41 PM
The last time I went to Paris I was still in the gestational stages of life. I am envious of your trip and hope to be able to see some of the same sites, especially the food ones. Thank you for your delightful words and beautiful photos.
What was your favorite chocolate?
18 | Jen | March 22, 2006 07:10 PM
i'll just ask outright then: is the "ringtail lemur" addition a code for something we should be aware of? :)
19 | RzDrms | March 22, 2006 08:03 PM
Oh gosh I envy you, Deb. It's beautiful that you two can run off to Paris (or anywhere) for a weekend and enjoy yourselves :) Soon...I may be able to do the same--if I can drag him out of the fly shop to go :) I'd settle for being whisked away to the Taylor River to fish for a weekend... :) ...though Paris or Tuscany (where I could die a happy, happy woman if I had to there) would be nice too!
PS--I'm hungry. When you talk about food like that somehow my Healthy Choice Chicken Alfredo doesn't sound so good...
20 | Teresa | March 22, 2006 09:19 PM
Mmm. Your trip looks like it was delicious in all the ways that matter.
We are very fond of the weekend get-away, especially the occasional elaborate, totally impractical, seemingly implausable ones. Joie de vivre and all that jazz! Thanks for the links.
21 | Nancy | March 23, 2006 10:22 AM
What a treat! Manhattan User's Guide just dropped a link to this Paris Daily Photo weblog: http://www.parisdailyphoto.blogspot.com/ . His top entry? Montparnasse! (Where we stayed.) I can't believe we missed the best crepe in the city. We will have to return, pronto.
22 | deb | March 23, 2006 10:39 AM
Where are you flying to this weekend? Tokyo? Rio?
23 | Neil | March 23, 2006 05:29 PM
Or Trader Joes?
24 | Neil | March 23, 2006 05:30 PM
Hi Deb,
I too am newly addicted to your site. Your posts are entertaining and inspiring! :) I am a novice cook, but really enjoy it. I fell in love with fondue in Switzerland and I got a fondue pot for Christmas and have been dying to try it out. Do you have a favorite recipe for chocolate fondue? I know I can find a million on the internet, but I thought I'd at least ask a "real life" cook if you knew where to find a good one...thanks. Looking forward to your next post!
25 | cori | March 28, 2006 06:08 PM
I really do not like Paris, I think a romantic vacation would be on a island somewhere with your lover and you alone with no body but someone provide care and relaxation where peace and love reigh.
26 | Sylvia | August 17, 2006 11:13 AM