Nous aimons Paris!

Em and I were incredibly fortunate and able to head to Paris this month, to celebrate my 40th birthday, and pre-celebrate 10 years of marital bliss.

It was phenomenal.  6 days of enjoying art, history, museums, and the cafe culture.  Huge thanks to Jack and Anne for coming down and staying with Zoe, while she went to school, as we jet off across the Atlantic.

Highlights included Versaille, Notre Dame, Montmarte, and cheap, yet enjoyable table bordeaux. We stayed in the 7th arrondissment, just about 1/2 a mile from the Eiffel Tower, and around the corner from the Champs De Mars and Ecole Militaire, where Napoleon is entombed.  3 blocks from our hotel we stumbled across a fantastic market street, Rue Cler, with fish mongers, patisseries, fromageries, boucheries and chocolatiers, and many small cafes. Quite a gem.  We used Rick Steves iphone app, which had a ton of walking tours of major museums and attractions, as well as helpful discussions with Paris tour guides about different elements of the city.  It saved us a lot of money on audio guides for museums, and really helped orient us to the city.  I recommend it.

Check out the photos on snapfish - I've got some captions with a bit of additional info.

So glad to have time with my wife in such an amazing locale - We enjoyed every minute, and can't wait to start planning our excursion for her 40th!

Here are my mostly unedited notes from our trip - proceed only if you dare!





Friday: FIRST DAY: Landed at 11am, made way through RER & metro (very busy transition from Blue line to Yellow line at St Michelle/Notre Dame).  Listened to a Roma duo playing accordians on the RER into Paris.
Asked a French lady where ave de tourville was (she stopped & got out map in driving rain!!). Do not believe that Parisians are rude. Not true at all. Make a good faith effort to approach them politely in their own language, and they'll proceed to help you however they can.  Lovely people across the board.
Found hotel. Axel & Caroline checked us in. Skyped w/Z.
Snack at La Terrasse - mussels, onion soup, carafe of wine: 32 €
Musee d'orsey: van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, Manet
Bought Z an Eiffel tower snow globe
Aaron lost his 5 day metro card
Drank kir & wine at cafe. Aaron found his metro card (after fruitlessly running back to snow globe place.)
Then the Louvre! Walking along Seine to get there, seeing the Eiffel Tower orgasm, then the highlights of the Denon wing: Aphrodite, Mona Lisa. 
Lovely dinner at 7th Vin (duck for Em, steak tartare for Aaron & of
course, Bordeaux (€61.30).   Stopped at shop for beer, electrical
converter, chocolate

Saturday: Day 2: Slept late, walked along shops at Rue Cler (just off ecole militaire, next to metro). 
Rode metro/RER to Notre Dame, lovely tour by Rebecca, a catholic volunteer, who used to live in NOLA.
Croque Monsieur & Norvegien (smoked salmon) at Cafe on il de la city.
tried to finish historic Paris walking tour but rained out after Shakespeare & Co!  
After metro indecision, we ended up at the Eiffel Tower, and took our bateaux tour.
Headed back to arrondissment 7 (our hotel 'neighborhood') & had a nice dinner - carafes of wine, escargot app & amazing boudin entree. 
Headed back to hotel for Skype, credit card wrangling & trip planning. Must
find good live music one night.
 
Sunday: Day 3. Woke at 8 (thanks to my alarm - also woke at 5:30 thanks to their alarm). 
Got moving relatively quickly & took metro/RER to st Michel to pick up rained out historic walking tour. St Chapelle's amazing stained glass the highlight (thanks to security guard holding my pocket knife he discovered, I was in a good mood, though Em was annoyed by its existence)
Go-go-go
Stand up lunch from creperie on way to musee de l'orangerie, 
pausing at tivoli jardins to appreciate the sun.
Impressionist focus at l'orangerie. 2 galleries full of massive scale canvases of Monet's water lillies. Downstairs was cezanne, renoir, laurencin, matisse, picasso & an exhibition of soutine. Fantastic musee.
We then attempted the Hopper exhibit at Grand Palais, but couldn't come to terms w/2 hrs in line. 
A little shopping & vin chaud at a marche Noel on the champs élysées. 
We then jumped on the metro to check out montemart & sacred couer. Lots of hucksters on the way up, but beautiful view, lovely basilica, and we sat for mass! 
Then a little shopping on the way down, broken up for a cafe stop for vin & wifi. 
Checked out another marche Noel, this time sampling roasted chestnuts before going down, down, down the Abbeses Metro stop - must have passed the catacombs on the way. 
Ate a little bread & cheese in the room, skyped w/Z 
then popped out to 'our' cafe La Terrasse up the street from our hotel.

Monday, day 4:
3 hour Hopper line, at Grand Palais.  Could not abide.
Champs élysées - Ladurée - amazing patisserie  home to the most amazing french cookies, macarons. melt in your mouth. ganache filling. heaven.
Strike outs in Bastille (flea market & bistro Paul Bert both closed). 
Recovered nicely by heading to the hill!
Lunch in Montmartre - giant salads at le relais gascon, then shopping at marche Noel & surrounding shops. Happened into Art 21 gallery on our way to musee montemart, and wandered out an hour later with our own piece of art! Instead of looking intently, then leaving behind, we get to take this one with us. Gallery owner Bruno was great, and we're really glad to have this piece of Paris (from a Chinese artist!). 
Then continued up the hill, more shops, vin chaud at a great place, then back down the hill to the metro & Tourville. Quick stop, then back out, walking to tour d'eiffel. Amazing views, then walked back to Rue Cler, and terrasso for dinner. Another fantastic day in Paris.

Tuesday, day 5  
Em woke up under the weather  out relatively early to catch RER to Versaille  woah  hall of mirrors, amazing urban planning layout, and generally making white house look like a shanty.
Lunch at le petite Cler, bought the best chocolates in Paris, changed at hotel, then Billie Holiday musical. 
Dinner at Polidor of Midnight in Paris fame (beef bourganie) pee in hole in floor. apparently, no
plumbing update since they opened in 1845.  Wandered into Latin Quarter, cigar/cigarettes, belgian beer, amenable Aussies and lots of rounds and talk of rugbee, NFL, arms control, USA vs Australian independence.

Wednesday, day 6.  Get up, pack.  A runs quick to Rue Cler and the Patessierie for Pain au Chocolate, cafe.  RER to CDG.  Not sure which of two stops we needed, and none of the Parisians we asked knew either.  A little data roaming later, we're in the LONGEST LINE EVER at the American check in.  Make our flight.  But barely.  Had to sprint past the Ladurée shoppe in the airport. Not sure if Em will forgive me.  Nous aimons Paris!