Mon voyage vers la belle France: Two Americans in Paris the Remake

Bonjour,

Here is part two of mine and Elle's european trip. Our flight to Paris at 7am Dublin was quite eventful because of the slew of little kids on their way to Disney Land, there was applause at take off and landing. Adorable but loud! We arrived in Paris very early in the morning on Wednesday and made our way into the heart of the city on the RER which took us another hour so by the time we got into the city it was time to find some lunch. We grabbed a quick lunch in a traditional brasserie, very interesting people watching to be sure. Burgers were a little raw but thats how it is in this country, either you order medium and its still bleeding or you order medium, they realize you are a foreigner and they still do it well done. Not sure what is worse! After lunch we headed to do what every girl really wants to do in Paris... Shop! After touring through an quick and overwhelming look at Galleries Lafayette which we decided we would leave for a day when we hadn't woken up at 4 am we headed to get our hair cut. I have been waiting on this for awhile and it was so nice to finally have my hair look normal. Elle was extremely impressive and decided to get hers done even though she could only really communicate with the hair dresser with hand motions. It was slightly easier for me but I still don't really know hair cut vocabulary so still a bit of a murky area. Our hairdressers were very nice and while they started by making faces at our hair as if had never seen a hairbrush by the end we had all come to some sort of strange interlanguage agreement that things were now, "much better". Once our hair was done it was time for some window shopping, moving into our hotel and hopping on the metro to find some dinner. We decided to start in the Latin Quarter and payed a visit to Shakespeare and Company, now mandatory for anyone who comes to Paris with me. Then we headed towards the food and found a little italian place, quite kitchy inside and the waiters could be pushy but the food made up for it and it was fun wandering around the tiny streets. The tortellini with a mushroom and white wine sauce was awesome and after a few laps of the area we were ready to hit up the Amorino Gelato shop. These shops are all over Paris and while a chain have maintained some of the best quality gelato you can find. Some chocolate and coconut gelato later it was time to turn in for the night and so ended our first day in Paris. The next day we got up early to grab a quick breakfast in the hotel and headed out for a true day of shopping now that we had our new hair and could blend in the well polished crowds of Paris. Breaking for lunch we found an amazing and quick sandwich place which was obviously a favorite with the local business people. The only oddity was the bathrooms in the basement which required jumping into an extremely small and strange elevator. In addition some phantom worker put a bag of garbage on the elevator on our way back up but never showed up to claim it. Well tired from our 16 hour day Wednesday and our shopping Thursday we returned to the room to drop off our purchases and hang out in the square near our hotel. Some more good food at a nearby chinese restaurant and we were well settled for the day. Friday we decided to go out to the Eiffel Tower to walk around, have a picnic and see a few other sights in that area. We grabbed some fruit, cheese and bread from a mono prix and then a crepe for dessert. Some asian food also accompanied us our on trip to enjoy the sun in the park near the eiffel tower. There were lots of people out and about, some pick up soccer games (boys only) and lots and lots of dogs. My favorite were the massive tour groups seeing Paris from the windows of buses (not recommended). After a quick trip back to the hotel, obviously we had to check in on the royal wedding (not true we were trying to find the weather report and got sucked into the 20 minute news cycle of the kiss on the balcony) we headed to the Bon Marche to find some gifts for Elle's family and just to see another section of the city. Perhaps the strangest part of our day was riding the metro home at the end of the day were we encountered a man and what we thought was his dog in matching leather jackets. In fact his dog was a very ratty looking cat which was angrily meowing at everyone on our car and apparently rides around on this person's shoulders. As Elle and I tried desperately not to burst out laughing at this person we arrived at his stop and in order to communicate his need to exit the car he... meowed at us? I don't speak cat but apparently that was the only language this person could think to speak to us in and after several swimming like motions we moved out of his way to collapse on the seats near by in hysterical laughter. I really wonder about people sometimes but as Mom says, it takes all kinds and they are all here. Saturday brought a visit to Sacre Coeur, my favorite church in Paris and the beautiful views from the hill. After a walk around the artist fair in the square near by we found an adorable restaurant and tucked in for some very traditional french food. My beouf bourginon was amazing but I am sure Julia Child's could have topped it. In traditional French fashion lunch was long and drawn out with lots of time to simply sit and enjoy the amazing weather. It was our first day of real sun in Paris and I believe we all ended the day with a bit of a sunburn. Then it was off to the Arch de Triomphe and for a quick stroll down the Champs Elysee. We met up with Tom who got in from Holland that afternoon. That evening we grabbed some pizza and took in Thor at a local movie theater nearby and then called it a night. The next morning we met for breakfast and headed to one of the most famous cemeteries in Paris where the graves of such people as Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Edith Piaf are buried. There are also several incredibly moving sites dedicated to the French jews and resistance fighters who died during WWII. We realized that morning that it was the French Labor day which means everything national is closed so there was not a ton to do as it was a sunday and a national holiday. The cemetery was packed with people, french and tourists paying their respects and enjoying the nice weather. Next we headed to Notre Dame to sit by the river, enjoy the gardens and get a glance at the famous architecture. Then our mission was to find some gelato which we did right near the Centre Pompidou which it being a national holiday was closed but the fountain was still on and there were lots of street performers. Interestingly enough it seemed the people who work at the centre pompidou had organized a soccer game in the lobby and seeing as how the building is almost entirely glass you could see some of it going on. Sun, Gelato, interesting music and puppets and an indoor soccer game and it was a perfectly eccentric afternoon in Paris. Too quickly time got away from us and in the interest of getting Elle to her hotel before to late it was time to once again brave the hot paris metro to find our dinner location. Those of you who have read the blog previously know that I took Harry to one of my favorite restaurants in Paris Chartier on my last visit and this one was no exception. The line had not yet formed at 6:30 so we got in quickly and started with some traditional escargot. One of my favorite dishes when done well Tom and Elle both braved the strange color and texture to enjoy what is a vehicle for lots and lots of garlic. We all enjoyed some simple but delicious meat dishes and then followed with goat cheese and chocolate cake. Once again quick, good, not terribly expensive and we were on our way. After putting Elle on the RER to her hotel near Charles de Gaulle Tom and I caught the late train out of Paris and we were back in Rennes that night. Au revoir Paris. See you in June!
It was a great trip and now its back to work for me. So little time left but I am sure I have one or two more adventures up my sleeve.
Love From France!