The Sunday After

J and I were pretty tired when we woke up the next morning, but we got our things together and checked out of the hotel. We knew our other friend was staying at the same hotel, and we asked the front desk about him to make sure he got in all right the previous night. I had received a strange text from him a bit earlier saying that he was massively hungover and that his debit card had been stolen the previous night.

The man at the front desk reported with a small chuckle that our friend hadn't checked out yet and had called downstairs for some milk. We weren't quite sure what to do so we headed over to Patka's flat and while we discussed what we ought to do, the man in question arrived.

He actually looked a lot better than I expected, and we managed to convince him to grab brunch with us. Our friend recovered sufficiently to tell us exactly what happened to him the previous night as we scarfed down our eggs and brioche as he sipped delicately from a Sprite.


He and another guy had decided that kebabs were in order after the club, and they were short a few euro so he made off to the nearest cash machine. On his way there, he spied a wine shop and decided to pop in for some drinks to go with their kebabs. Apparently, some Frenchman chatted him up and started hugging him while hollering "Americano!" and my friend pushed him away. He patted his pockets immediately after and noticed his wallet was missing. He grabbed the Frenchman and threatened to call the police when the Frenchman pointed at the floor. Lo and behold, there was his wallet. He considered it a close call until he noticed that his debit card was missing.

The whole time, our other friend is waiting at the kebab shop holding two giant kebabs up and wondering where in the world he's gone off to and how he's going to pay for the kebabs.

Anyway, we enjoyed the story immensely since no real harm was done and it went down well with our food. We wrapped up our morning with a stroll around the farmer's market that was across the street from the restaurant and then started the long walk back home. In London, most shops are open on Sunday even though they do close early, but in Paris, everything was completely shut and the streets were relatively empty.

We chilled out at Patka's flat, sharing some of our favorite music videos and miscellaneous video clips until it was time for us to leave to catch the Eurostar back home.

I'll miss Patka tons, but the engagement and move is a wonderful thing for her, and I can't wait to visit her in Singapore for her wedding. But until then...

A Farewell in Paris

The last time I saw my friend Patka, it was at her leaving party in London. She had found a fantastic job in Paris, and although we would miss her, we reasoned that Paris was only a few hours away by train. Fast forward ten months, and then she called to drop a bomb - she had gotten engaged and was moving to Singapore!

A bunch of us scrambled to get our Eurostar tickets in order to visit her before she left, and pretty soon, we were all gathered together at Gare du Nord in Paris. I had convinced J to come with me, and we decided to stay at the Best Western Les Theatres in the 2nd arrondisement, which was really cheap and literally right next door to Patka's flat.

Anyway, we were all starving and headed out on the town to hunt down some lunch after dropping off our things. Patka said that it was a surprise, and we just got hungrier and hungrier as our "five minute" walk stretched out to something more like thirty minutes. Finally, we were at Angelina, an upscale restaurant right by the Louvre, and she had brought us here because she promised that they had the best hot chocolate ever. Most of us had a croque madame (a cheese and ham sandwich with an egg on top), and the hot chocolate was to die for. It came in a little jug with a dish of whipped cream on the side, and you got to pour the hot chocolate into your cup and saucer. Seriously, the best hot chocolate ever.

Some of us had arrived the previous night and had a bit too much fun, and the rest of us were pretty tired from waking up early to catch our train so we all decided to take a nap before we went out for dinner. But on our walk back home, we came across a meat shop, and the two guys decided that they needed to buy a whole chicken to snack on before dinner. Did I mention this was on the walk home from lunch?! Boys will be boys. =)

We headed over to Patka's flat to toast her engagement with the champagne we had brought, and then we all piled into two taxis to Chez Janou. As Patka had promised, the food was excellent and reasonably priced with entrees ranging from 15-20 euros. But the service? Let's just say that it's was a very French restaurant. Anyway, it was a fun group of people - around 12 of us from pretty much all over, including the US, England, Poland, Germany, Belgium and a few Parisians thrown in for good measure. I would totally recommend eating at Chez Janou, but be warned that the staff is not the politest and they don't speak any English. They also have this amazing all-you-can-eat chocolate mousse that is ludicrously decadent.

Oh, and a totally random thing happened. An older gentleman had overheard my accent and asked me where I was from and we figured out that we had gone to the same high school in Cupertino, California. What are the chances?! Anyway, he's an American who had been living in Burgundy for the last twelve years, and we exchanged information in case he ever came over to London or in case I was ever in the south of France. =)

After we ate more than our fill, we walked to Barrio Latino to dance the night away. We all paid 20 euro for our cover charge and that also included one drink. The venue was huge (4-5 floors) and the music was Latino but changed to hip hop much later in the evening. Patka warned us to keep an eye on our belongings since pickpocketing was pretty common, and her phone had been stolen the previous week. The dance floor began to fill up and we decided to leave after it got a bit too close for comfort.

Getting our things from the cloakroom was an absolute nightmare since no one was queuing except for us. We nearly got into it with a short African guy, but I still managed to get our things before he did. Hooray! We left the club, some of us worse for the wear, and we all piled into taxis that took us  home. J and I hit the sack, and I received a couple of amusing text messages of people having lost other people, but I figured I'd hear the story the next day.

Ile De La Cite and the Latin Quarter

There's a flower market on Ile de la Cite that was closed the last time I was in Paris so I was pretty excited to see it this time around. The market was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be, but it was also quite charming. The rain had finally stopped, and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds, which made it perfect for looking at some pretty flowers.

 

They sell not only flowers and plants but all sorts of garden-related knick-knacks. I was sorely tempted by a mirror, but the prospect of lugging it around for the rest of the day turned me off.

Since the market wasn't that large, I didn't linger too long and I crossed one of Paris' many bridges to the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank. The first sight I came across was the St. Michel fountain, which looks quite impressive from afar. Up close, um, not so much.

I quickly moved on further down Boulevard St. Michel, which is the main thoroughfare through the Latin Quarter, but I took one of the side streets away until I came across the Sorbonne, Paris' very famous university. It also was a lot smaller than I anticipated - I'm starting to sense a theme here.

Anyway, I continued my wander until I came across the Pantheon, the resting place of several famous people including Voltaire, Rousseau and Victor Hugo. The weather was pretty insane at this point, storming like mad one minute and then sunny the next.

Not a far distance away was the Jardin du Luxembourg, where the Palais du Luxembourg is also located. It's a very nice park, but I still think London's got Paris beat hands down when it comes to parks. I strolled around for a bit and sat down on one of the many chairs to relax my feet for a bit before moving on.

After the park, I thought it might be nice to roam around the rest of the Latin Quarter with no particular destination in mind. To my pleasant surprise, I came across a little reminder of home!

My plans for an aimless wander around the Latin Quarter came to an abrupt end when the threatening sky finally split open and it started pouring rain and the gusty winds flipped my umbrella inside out. I had already been out for seven hours or so, and I decided to beat it back to the hotel with a few pit stops on Rue de Rivoli, and I bought a ham crepe and pain du chocolat to eat back in the hotel room for dinner.

Paris, One More Time

One of the perks of J's job is that sometimes it sends him to fun places. This past weekend, he had to attend a "retreat" of sorts in Paris, and the firm was kind enough to put him up at the Hotel Regina in central Paris for two nights. Although I'd been to Paris before, I thought it'd be fun to tag along and see some of the sights I didn't get a chance to the last time I was here.

We hopped onto the Eurostar Thursday afternoon, and we were in Paris by early evening. We were pretty hungry, so we headed over to this cafe called Le Fumoir behind the Louvre that a friend had recommended to me. The dining room was adorable - it was basically a smallish library with dining tables scattered about. I already knew about the sky high food prices in Paris, but my eyes still bugged out a little when I saw that dinner was a set menu of 3 courses for 35 EUR. Yikes. But the food was amazing and worth every euro - I would definitely go back.

After our great meal, we wandered back to the hotel to find a host of problems waiting for us. The Hotel Regina is a four star hotel that had been recently renovated, and the rooms don't come cheap. Too bad it doesn't show. The thing about European hotels is that they're never going to be as nice as American hotels, so you have to reset your expectations. In any case, our room had a musty smell, the bathroom had a funky smell, the volume on our TV didn't work, the safe wouldn't shut, and the mattresses were overly firm. Oh, and a double bed is literally a double bed - two mattresses pushed together.

We called down to reception to see if anything could be done, and they sent over a guy to fiddle with the TV some to no avail. We pretty much shrugged our shoulders and decided to hit the sack. To be frank, I think we would've been surprised if they had done something about it - service here is not the same as it is in the US. We went to sleep on our overly firm mattresses, and I laid there wondering what I should do the following day when I was going to be on my own since J would be occupied with work things pretty much all day long...

Sunday at Sacre Coeur Basilica

Our last day in Paris, and I thought we'd head over to Montmartre to visit the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Place du Tertre. I knew that there were going to be a lot of stairs going up to the Basilica, but I didn't know that the stairs at the Metro station would be killers as well. A warning for anyone going to Abbesses station - there are a lot of stairs. But those were a breeze compared to the climb leading up to the Basilica. There's a lift that takes you straight to the church, but we decided to forego it since we're both young and able.

The view at the top made the climb completely worthwhile even if we were a little sweaty and our quads were on fire. You can see all of Paris, and the view was stunning despite the gloomy weather. An extra bonus was the harpist on the stairs whose playing added to the tranquility of the scenery.

After taking in the view, we made our way into the church. There were a few odd things. One - a soccer player doing tricks with a ball on a mini-trampoline on the stairs leading directly up to the church. It was also a bit odd to be sightseeing since they were conducting services during our visit, and I felt like we were intruding even though it's permitted. I felt even odder when I saw that the church operated a gift shop within its doors - I seem to recall something in the Bible about God not being so happy about that kind of goings on in the church. Anyway, the whole thing felt kind of strange so we headed for the exit right away.

 

Did I mention that J is a wonderful husband? He didn't get a bit upset when we ended up climbing those stairs twice due to a navigational error on my part in trying to get to the Place du Tertre. He just nodded and started heading back up. We finally reached the Place du Tertre, a place where the artists gather to show off their wares, and we looked over some of the art to see if there was anything we'd want to take home. Not so much, but it was a fun atmosphere.

 

After declining many kind offers to have our portraits sketched, we popped into a restaurant and had a semi-digestible meal - typical of a tourist spot, so we weren't too surprised.  At least we had a nice view of the artists and the eager tourists.

After our rather disappointing lunch, we headed to the Metro station while trying to duck the "string men," who try to tie a string around your wrist and generally pester you. There's also a rather hideous street directly south of the stairs that sells horrible touristy clap-trap. Yuck.

Anyway, we hopped back on the Metro to visit the Musee d'Orsay, which is famous for its vast collection of Impressionist paintings. Luckily for us, it was the first Sunday of the month, where many of Paris' museums and monuments are free to visit, including the Musee d'Orsay. Photography isn't permitted within doors, so I had to content myself with just enjoying the wonderful paintings of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Manet, Renoir, etc. You get close enough to the paintings that you could probably reach out and touch them - but you probably shouldn't.

 

We stayed until the museum closed, and we crossed the Seine one final time to head to our hotel to pick up our luggage before heading to the Gare du Nord.

My final, random thoughts on Paris:

• I smelled urine more often than I cared to. Even in unexpected places like in the Notre Dame Cathedral.
• It's a lot like London but with even more impressive architecture.
• Almost every restaurant offers a croque monsieur (a hot ham and cheese sandwich).
• Streets are in extremes - they're either very narrow or very broad boulevards.
• People were very nice - we didn't encounter any of the mythical French hauteur. I actually had two restaurant people apologize for their poor English skills.

I'm supposed to return in a few months to visit a friend, so I guess this isn't the last I've seen of Paris...

Streets of Paris

After we left Notre Dame Cathedral, we crossed back over to the Right Bank via Pont Saint Michel to the sounds of quintessential French accordion music. There are accordion players all over the city, including on the Metro, and I think it's rather nice!

We were heading in the direction of the Marais district when I spotted a chocolate shop Maison Georges Larnicol, also known as chocolate heaven, and we had to stop by to sample some of their goodies. In addition to their regular yummies...

They were all ready for Valentine's Day as well!

 

Despite being distracted by coffee caramels, we finally reached the Place de Vosges, which is in the heart of the Marais district and is also the former residence of Victor Hugo! His mansion is now a museum, and we took a quick gander within. There are also a ton of art galleries within the plaza and a hidden garden belonging to the Hotel Sully. 

We were pretty tired after all this wandering about so we took a quick nap at the hotel before heading back out to visit the Place de Concorde, Champ Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. Night had fallen by then, and Paris truly became the city of lights. Did you know that the Place de Concorde was the site of the guillotine that took the heads of Madame du Barry, Marie Antoinette and Robespierre? Not to sound grisly or anything, but it's surreal that I was actually standing in a place of such historical significance. 

 

The walk up Champ Elysees started out nice enough. It was just the two of us for a while, but we soon came across the requisite crowds and shops the closer we got to the Arc de Triomphe. Apparently, it's also where the local mallrat types hang out, and there were lots of young kids chatting each other up. The peaceful walk turned into dodging crowds, and I think we were both glad to leave the area.

I wanted to continue the walk from Arc de Triomphe to the Trocadero to view the Eiffel Tower up close, but I think J was pretty exhausted from all the walking. He totted up the miles and it came out to an astounding 20 miles or so - what a trooper! I saw the Eiffel Tower from afar, and it was enough for me to not want to walk my husband to death to see it.

Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame

After a good night's rest at the hotel, we resumed where we left off yesterday after our blip at the Louvre, and we crossed over the Pont Neuf to get to Ile de la Cite. It was the first time I saw the Seine river, and I hate to say it, but the Seine is more beautiful than the Thames - much less brown and a lot more green.

Once we were across, we quickly checked out the Square du Vert Galant and walked along the Quai des Orfevres until we reached Saint Chapelle, a Gothic chapel that's renowned for its stained glass windows. It's hard to spy the chapel from the street, and near impossible to see its facade in its entirety. You can only see a bit of it once you've passed through the security office.

The chapel itself is quite small but also enormously impressive. We were initially disappointed when we walked in because the bit of stained glass that we saw was nice and all, but there just wasn't that much of it.

Then we figured out that we had to go up a very tight and very curly and very steep staircase to reach the really good stuff. So we went up the stairs, and let me tell you, it was really, really good stuff. The windows were at least twenty feet high, and they were just about everywhere, except for one wall, which was dominated by a large rose window. Wow. Just wow. It was quite dim in there, and the chandeliers were lit a bit haphazardly, but the windows were amazing. I can't imagine how beautiful it must be when the sunlight streams through.

The caretakers had very thoughtfully lined the sides with seats, and J and I sat for a while just enjoying the windows. I hope J enjoyed his respite, because it wasn't long before we were headed for lunch at Au Bougnat, a restaurant on rue de Chanoinesse, but the place ended up being closed. Boo. But I did enjoy walking through a street that was somehow entirely free of tourists. =)

Anyway, we ended up lunching at the Cafe Quasimodo, and I ordered a hamburger with frites. When the hamburger arrived, it was just the meat patty, lettuce and tomato - no bun. I'm not sure if this is a french thing or something, but I thought it was hilarious and pretty perfect since I hate hamburger buns. It's protein-style at In-N-Out for me. After I ate my hamburger steak, we headed next door to Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Cathedral offers candles that you can light...

After we walked around the Cathedral, we took the long way back to the hotel via the Marais district, which is the oldest part of Paris. But I'll get to that tomorrow - this is already a super long post!