Lilaki's Trip Report: Barcelona and Paris, September 26 - October 9

I forgot to add that I packed a gel-ice-pack (the kind you put in the freezer/fridge. I think it saved my poor feet!

Flights

We flew KLM from Toronto to Barcelona, via Amsterdam. It was an overnight flight which is normally okay for DH and myself. I think I managed to catch a few hours of sleep. However, it was a rougher than usual overnight flight. For some reason, the main cabin lights were left on ALL NIGHT. I wrapped my pashmina around my eyes like a blindfold and tried to shut out the light as best I could. The ear plugs did a mediocre job at blocking out the noise of two screaming children two rows ahead (they screamed for almost the entire flight).

Our stop over in Amsterdam was fairly uneventful. We ventured out of AMS to Schipol Plaza but didn’t stay there very long as it wasn’t very interesting. I bookmarked a few stores/things to buy on our return stopover.

CDG to YYZ was on a VERY old 747. However, the service more than made up for the cramped seats, aged interior, etc. Overall, we were very pleased with KLM … friendly, personable service on all four flight segments. DH was so impressed that he agreed to complete a customer experience survey (and DH never participates in market research)! We have never flown KLM but would fly with them again.

We flew EasyJet from BCN to CDG. Including the cost of our checked baggage, I think the cost both tickets was something like 75 euros! We had no problems with check-in (arrived ridiculously early and were ‘allowed’ to check in before the 2-hour mark) or getting seats (got the front row of the airplane). The only ‘glitch’ was that our bags were the LAST to come off the plane in CDG … the baggage carrousel actually STOPPED moving. And of course, my hair immediately fell out and I raced to the EasyJet desk to ask about our bags. Nerve-wracking minutes passed as the desk agent looked up our bags and then advised us that they were STILL in Barcelona. Suddenly, the belt started to move and our bags magically appeared. We would fly EasyJet again … and wish we had access to cheap flights within Canada!

Airport Transportation

From BCN, we took the Aerobus. We bought roundtrip tickets directly from the driver and were impressed with how quickly we arrived to Placa Catalunya. There were no signs from the airport to the shuttle bus but it was pretty easy to figure out … just walk outside of the terminal, look around, and the bus was right there!

From CDG, we took the RER to St. Michel and then caught a cab to our apartment. Tickets were easy to purchase from the machines (we have chip-cards). The cab fare was only 4E but the driver explained that there was a minimum 6E charge for any one trip plus 2E for our bags.

To CDG, I had originally planned to take the RER. However, DH’s physical condition (more on this later) plus our extra duffle bags helped rule out that option. While in Paris, I looked into a bunch of different shuttle companies (shared shuttle, private shuttle) and contacted Allonavette after reading a couple of comments on the forum. I can’t say enough about this company. I called on Wednesday to book a pick-up for Friday morning. The rep did not speak any English so we managed with my French. The cost would be 44E for a private shuttle. On Thursday, another rep from the company called and asked if we would agree to pick up a third passenger on the way to the airport. The rep did not speak very good English but we managed with my French. I was assured that if the third person was late, we would not wait. In exchange for a shared shuttle ride, our fare would be reduced to 35E. I decided to go for it … for a few reasons – a) I had already spoken to two different people at the company and they were both ridiculously friendly and accommodating with my French, b) no pre-payment was required (I didn’t want to give my credit card information for a booking and then have the shuttle not show up), and c) as a back-up, I asked them to arrive at our apartment 30 minutes earlier than I would’ve left if taking a cab and figured that if they never showed up or showed up late, I would still have enough time to call a cab (I already had these numbers handy). Overall, we were very pleased with Allonavette and would definitely use them again. The driver arrived 15 minutes early and there were no problems in picking up the additional passenger.

Transportation within Barcelona/Paris

We purchased the two-day HOHO bus ticket in Barcelona. This was great as the sites are quite spread out. On our third day, we covered all of what we wanted to see on foot. We did not take public transit in Barcelona.

In Paris, we reloaded our Navigo Decouvertes. Since we arrived on a Thursday and were staying for eight nights, we ended up purchasing two Navigo Decouvertes each … Thursday – Sunday and then Monday – Thursday (I hope that makes sense). Last time, we relied solely on the metro but this time, we used the buses 75% of the time with the metro the other 25% of the time. And of course, this meant that we’d be on our feet 100% of the time! Even though we never got a full week’s use out of our Navigo Decouvertes, we did the math and we got our money’s worth each time. I had contemplated buying a carnet of tickets but we love the convenience of the Navigo … on average, we used our passes 4x per day.

Accommodations

In Barcelona, we stayed at the Hotel Onix Rambla. This was recommended in Maribel’s guide to Barcelona (I forgot to mention this in my trip-prep section but this was an AMAZING resource – thanks Maribel!!!). The hotel was great … modern, airy, comfortable, great location, great price. We paid 85E per night for a double room with a view of Rambla Catalunya and breakfast.

The staff at the hotel were all fantastic. Breakfast was great – lots of things to choose from and decent quality. I’m not sure I would pay to eat breakfast at the hotel but we were very happy since it was included in our room rate.

There was a pool on the top floor of the hotel. We didn’t go swimming but it was VERY handy to plunge my aching feet into cold water after a long day!

In Paris, we stayed at Parisbestlodge’s Studio Saint Germain (650E for eight nights). We stayed at the Crazyview apartment on Ile de la Cite last fall and loved dealing with Thierry. Other Fodorites have stayed at Thierry’s apartments and I highly recommend it. The booking/reservation process is exceptionally easy and Thierry is so quick on e-mail. The apartment was small but space has been very efficiently used. The location was fantastic … in the heart of all the art galleries in Saint Germain. We had no issues whatsoever with our apartment.

Day 1 – Travel Day

We had a 10:10 pm departure time from YYZ. This left us lots of time to pack, prepare, etc. Part of our afternoon was eaten up with ‘emergency’ massage therapy appointments for DH and myself. DH started complaining of lower back pain a few days before we were to leave. By the day of departure, things were not looking good and I booked two appointments for us before we left (because I can always use a massage!). Afterwards, DH felt better but no miracles had been performed. Somewhat anxious, I threw in extra Advil and Anaprox into my bag. Little did I know, things would get much worse before they got better!

We arrived at YYZ with plenty of time to spare (remember, type-A personality!). Lucky for us, we ran into an old friend of ours at the airport and that helped kill the time.

Understand completely about Paris longing. Looking forward to more.

My husband and I are leaving for Barcelona in 10 days and look forward to your itinerary and your thoughts on the HOHO bus.

Looking forward to more...planning a similar trip in June of 2010 (Barcelona and Paris).

Great start, I'm looking forward to the rest of this report about two cities I've loved visiting.

Day 2 – Arrival in BCN

Our flight from AMS arrived in BCN around 4:30 pm. It seemed to take forever for our bags to come out but the speed of the Aerobus seemed to make up for it! We hauled our bags onto the Aerobus and made our way downtown. We passed Plaza Espanya and I made a mental note to return at some point during our trip. We walked from Placa Catalunya (south east corner, just as other Fodorites confirmed!) to our hotel. Barcelona was VERY warm compared to temps back home. I was surprised to see such tropical vegetation! There was some kind of festival going on in the streets so things were very lively.

We arrived at our hotel and checked in. I was immediately impressed by the lobby – sleek, open, airy and very modern. Honestly, for 85E a night including a street view and breakfast, I really didn’t know what to expect!

The desk clerk was super friendly and helpful. He pulled out a map of Barcelona and showed our proximity to all the main sights. He also offered the same discount for the HOHO bus that we got online … so if you’re staying at the Onix Rambla, you can probably just buy your tickets directly from the hotel.

We got up to our room and DH immediately took a nap. I’ve never been a napper but I always have an urge to unpack and get settled as soon as I arrive anywhere. Our room was very clean – hardwood floors, little Juliet balcony overlooking the street, the entire bathroom was marble, etc. Lots of storage space too. We also had a mini-bar which was perfect for my little ice pack!

After about an hour, we made our way out for dinner. I had done a bit of research about food and restaurants in Barcelona and we pretty much agreed that we wanted to eat at different tapas bars every night! Plus, I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to eat dinner at 9 pm or later each night so I figured tapas bars would be a safe bet. I was also a bit anxious about ordering in Spanish seeing as we only knew the very basic conversational words and really hadn’t had a lot of exposure to Spanish food. However, I had asked on Chowhound and was assured that limited Spanish wouldn’t be a major issue. Plus, one of the Chowhounders had e-mailed me a copy of her Spanish food glossary.

We had our first tapas meal at Taller de Tapas … it was supposed to be fairly easy for tourists to figure out the menu and it was also just up the street from our hotel! We had a great first meal! We started out with two glasses of cava, then some tomato bread. Of course we had to have the patatas bravas, a plate of jamon de bellota, some chorizo in cider, and spinach with chickpeas and pancetta. Everything was excellent! Our bill was 35E.

Refreshed after dinner, we decided to take a walk around our neighbourhood. In doing so, we stumbled upon Casa Batllo. At first, we weren’t sure why there were so many people on the streets taking pictures … it must have been the jet-lag! After we ooh-ed and aah-ed over Casa Batllo, we made our way back to the hotel. We stumbled upon a little take-out restaurant/café serving all sorts of prepared food AND (most importantly) gelato! The shop is called Nostrum and is two doors down from the hotel. Of course, being as tired as we were, we enjoyed some gelato and sat out on the bench in the middle of the leafy boulevard on Rambla Catalunya. It was a great way to end a long day of travel.

Day 3 – First full day in Barcelona

We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. They had a great spread – pastries, assorted breads, hardboiled eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon, cold cuts, boxed cereals, yogurt, fruit and different juices. The gentleman managing the breakfast room also offered freshly brewed coffee (café au lait) or tea.

After breakfast, we walked to Placa Catalunya. Even though we purchased HOHO bus tickets online, we still had to line up at the tourist information office to redeem our online voucher. The line was surprisingly long and there were only two reps working behind the counter. After about 20 minutes, we got our tickets and made our way into line for the bus.

This is where things got interesting … there were hoardes of people PUSHING to get onto the bus! Being the super polite Canadians that we are, we really weren’t comfortable pushing other people but after I ended up getting nearly trampled, DH finally had enough and started pushing back! Generally, the other tourists paid no attention to any semblance of a line up … they literally just came around the line to the front and pushed their way on the bus! It was a bit of a turn off – especially when the poor bus reps were trying to maintain some sense of control.

We waited around 15 minutes to finally get on the bus. We were heading on the Red Route (as recommended by Maribel). We were given headphones, coupon booklets and a map. The weather was fantastic and it was very comfortable sitting on the top of the bus seeing the city go by.

We were immediately pleased with our decision to use the HOHO bus … a major PLUS for us was the fact that the audio actually lined up with the sites! We had taken the HOHO bus in London a few years back and found it to be a very frustrating experience – our driver stopped on random streets for a ‘break’, the next bus took forever, the audio was never in sync with the actual scene, etc. So we were a little wary about the HOHO bus in Barcelona. But after talking with some friends/family who did it in Barcelona and also asking some Fodorites, we felt it was well worth the money.

Our first stop was Sagrada Familia. I won’t go into any of the details as I think this site has been well-documented on this forum/elsewhere. It is a very impressive site. The outside was pretty mobbed but we managed to get some people-free pictures. There wasn’t a huge line up to purchase tickets … BUT credit cards were not accepted. This was a bit surprising since we just assumed credit cards would be accepted at major tourist attractions. Luckily, we had some Euros on us and made our way into the church. There were some pretty huge lines to climb up the towers and we decided to continue on with the HOHO bus tour instead.

Back on the bus, we then went over to Park Guell and decided to hop off. Just my luck, there was a little café/pastry shop right at the bus stop and of course, I had to stop for a morning snack! We made our way to the park and were immediately impressed. I really liked the old ‘marketplace’ and the area surrounding Gaudi’s house. I found the entrance and lizard staircase to be overly crowded. And DH was turned off by the number of people sitting on the serpentine bench. It’s too bad this park isn’t located more centrally within Barcelona. It was really beautiful.

We rode the rest of the red route and ended up back at Placa Catalunya. Hunger and fatigue were setting in pretty quickly and we ducked into El Corte Ingles’ supermarket to pick up provisions for a quick lunch. We found water, fruit, sandwiches and cookies … all for a whopping 8E! Overall, we found food prices to be REALLY reasonable in Barcelona.

After a quick stroll through El Corte Ingles, we made our way to El Triangle and then back to the hotel. I was looking for Camper shoes as I had hoped they would be cheaper in Spain than back home … while there may have been a marginal price difference, I just couldn’t bring myself to pay 110E for a pair of flats from Camper – especially with the horrible exchange rate! So our shopping trip didn’t last long!

For dinner, we went to Cerveseria Catalana, a couple of blocks from our hotel. It is recommended in Maribel’s guide and also on Chowhound. We really loved this restaurant. We had cava, bacon/cheese/date brochettes, calamari, asparagus (with the BEST finishing salt), wild mushrooms with jamon de bellotta, patatas bravas, chicken croquettes, and fruit brochettes with chocolate sauce. Dinner cost 38E. We were stuffed!

Of course, we stopped off for gelato on the way back to the hotel at Palau du Four … I had the crème catalana and DH had the chocolate. This was the only hint of ‘rude’ service that we experienced in our entire two week trip … when I pulled out my credit card to pay for our gelato, the lady behind the counter gave me a VISIBLY nasty look.

With our gelatos in hand, we sat down on one of the benches on the boulevard and enjoyed the musicians playing at the various cafes. Ahhhh … we could get used to life here!

hey all,

thanks for the words of encouragement (sometimes you wonder who's reading your 'stuff'!).

i promise to write as much as possible as soon as possible ... but it's turkey weekend here in canada and i've got a busy week of work ahead ...

stay tuned!!!

lilaki, I'm enjoying this. I am glad the Aerobus worked out... I remember you were quite concerned about that!

It turns out I will be going back to Barcelona next month, so I'm reading this with even more interest.

Did you consider renting an apartment in Barcelona or did you feel more comfortable with a hotel on your first visit?

I'm still reading too. Loved Cerveseria Catalana, and since our apartment was around the corner, we went there twice.

(yk, I'm glad you decided to go.)

Nikki, which apartment did you stay at?

(lilaki, sorry for hijacking)

hi yk,

WOW - barcelona again! that's awesome.

we looked into some apartments first ... we had such a great apartment experience in paris last year that we thought we'd do the same in barcelona. however, with only four nights, we decided to stick with a hotel. plus, i could not beat the price of our hotel with a decent apartment in the same location (85E per night including breakfast for two in the eixample). so in the end, frugl-ness won over!

hi nikki - yes - please tell us - what apartment did you stay at? (yk - i was just about to ask the same question!)

This was the apartment in Barcelona:
http://www.habitatapartments.com/pedrera.htm

Details about it in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/back-from-barcelona-nikkis-trip-report.cfm

I just tried the apartment link and it isn't working; in fact the whole Habitat Apartments website isn't working. I hope it just means their server is down or something, and not that they no longer exist.

Thanks Nikki. The Habitat website was working just an hour ago, as I was browsing through their apartments. Maybe it's just down for now. I need to re-read your trip report!

lilaki, thanks for explaining. I looked up your hotel but it's 90euro/n for twin room inclu breakfast for my dates. The 1BR Habitat apts I've been looking at are about 70euro.

Sorry to interrupt your TR. Please continue!

hey yk - yes, i think that the hotel either gave us some sort of deal (we booked quite early) and/or raised their prices after we booked. good luck with your search!

okay - i'm full of turkey and ready to continue ... i'll see how long i last before jet-lag and tryptophan kick in!

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Day 4 – Second full day in Barcelona

Today, we woke up to great weather (again). I normally don’t ‘splurge’ on hotel rooms with views since we don’t normally spend that much time in our hotel. But for the extra 5E, DH convinced me that it would be worth it. I don’t know that the view itself was worth it (nice but I can see it from the street too!) but it definitely WAS nice to open up the balcony doors each morning and watch the city ‘get ready’.

After a filling breakfast in the hotel, we headed back down to Placa Catalunya to catch the the HOHO bus for the Blue Route. Overall, I liked this route better than the Red Route … while the Red Route covers the big Gaudi ‘must-sees’, I liked the open spaces the Blue Route covered.

Our first stop was Placa Espanya. I was surprised when we were the only passengers getting off at this stop. This was the impressive square that we passed on the Aerobus. It is quite stunning. DH really wanted to climb the stairs up to the “that building at the top” (the Museu Nacional d’Arts de Catalunya). I was a bit reluctant given my plantar fasciitis but quickly realized that there were escalators all the way to the top! We were rewarded with beautiful views of the city in a beautiful setting. We deeked into the museum to use the facilities and headed back out to find the next HOHO bus stop. We had a major Homer Simpson moment when we realized that there was a bus stop at the TOP of the ‘hill’ and we could’ve seen the SAME views if we had just waited one or two stops! Oh well, we had fun riding the escalators up! Although, I’m not sure I would’ve felt the same way if I climbed all those stairs!

We continued on the bus passing the Olympic stadium and Joan Miro museum. We decided to hop off at the Teleferic stop and bought tickets to take these gondolas up to the old fort. This was very cool. The fort is very well kept and quite quiet. We saw great views of the port … cruise ships, ocean liners, etc. Very cool! It was also nice and breezy at the top so we stayed fairly cool. Back down the gondolas and back onto the bus, we made our way through the southern part of Barcelona, through the Olympic village and then into the old town. As a last minute decision, we hopped off at the Santa Caterina market stop and went on the hunt for lunch.

We made a quick detour to a pharmacy to pick up some Voltaren gel (recommended on the Forums) … I put it on my lower legs and felt IMMEDIATE relief. It would be my saviour for this trip!

After dinner at two different tapas restaurants, I really wanted to sit at the bar and order my food. So we found a bar with some seats still open and decided to stop for lunch. The gentleman behind the bar didn’t speak a lick of English and we spoke VERY limited Spanish. So it was a humourous lunch full of point-and-nod! We basically pointed to things displayed at the bar and/or dishes other people were eating! I tried referring to my Spanish food glossary but it just took too long and we were hungry! So we ended up having various croquettes, spinach omelette, chorizo, bread, and a whole plate of cauliflower all for 11E!

After admiring the various stalls in the market, we made our way out back to the HOHO bus. But not before we found another pastry shop! And of course, we made an obligatory stop for dessert.

Back onto the bus, we rode to Placa Catalunya and then on to Casa Mila (La Pedrera). There was a small line but we were through in a few minutes. We spent about an hour or so at Casa Mila (everything was beautiful). If I recall correctly, cash was the only acceptable form of payment for admission tickets!

By now, it was mid-late afternoon and we walked back to the hotel. We took advantage of the hotel pool on the roof … it was unheated which for my purposes, was even better! I don’t know that you could actually SWIM in the pool (it’s really small and it was very chilly) but it was PERFECT to soak your feet/legs after a long day.

For dinner, I wanted to try Tapas 24. I read a lot of good things about this restaurant. We walked over and DH realized that this was NOT a non-smoking restaurant. We TRIED to grin and bear it but after about a minute of being seated, we realized that we just couldn’t have a meal in a smoke-filled environment. It was made worse by the poor air circulation as the restaurant is located on the basement level. We asked to be moved to the sidewalk patio but there were no seats available so we just decided it was not meant to be. Since we had such a good meal at Cerveseria Catalana, we decided to head to Ciudad Condal (same ‘family’ of restaurants). Unfortunately, there were no seats at the bar but we still had a great meal. We had cava, escalivada with goat cheese (sort of an eggplant terrine), steak brochettes, bread with tomato, montadito with camembert, mini-hamburgers with carmelized onions, foie-gras with Roquefort, and patatas bravas (of course). We decided to stay for dessert and we had a traditional flan and a pumpkin cake (which ended up being a pastry with a ‘squash’ filling – DH was sorely disappointed!). Dinner cost us 52E.

Nice report lilaki.
Tapas are my favorite food and Barcelona has some great spots to indulge.
Cannot wait to go back in the spring.

Day 5 – Last full day in Barcelona

Today, we headed to La Boqueria. We headed down La Rambla and I have to say, I was not impressed. It seemed fairly ‘junky’ and crowded. Friends and family have raved and raved about La Rambla … maybe I just don’t ‘get it’. La Boqueria was impressive … tons of vendors, artful displays, LOTS of variety. It was worth walking down La Rambla!

From La Boqueria, we headed to the old town to meander the curved/crooked streets and narrow alleyways. When I was originally looking into accommodations, I had considered an apartment in the old town and I have to say, that while we really liked visiting, I’m glad we didn’t stay here. The streets are charming, the buildings are very historic. It was a lovely stroll. However, I really liked all the wide, leafy boulevards in the Eixample.

In the afternoon, we headed to Casa Batllo. This was far and away our favourite Gaudi site. It was stunning. We stayed almost three hours! Admission was pricey but well worth it (and credit cards were accepted!).

On the way back to our hotel from Casa Batllo, we stopped in at Chocofans. A small chocolate shop with a very inviting sign … Cold hot chocolate! Yummmm! The lady in the shop was super friendly and gave us all these samples to try. So of course, we ended up buying a bunch of different chocolates too! Delish! And not to mention, a delicious cup of cold hot chocolate!

Back at the hotel, we packed up all of our bags … there really wasn’t much to pack since our shopping was pretty fruitless in Barcelona. We had more than enough time to squeeze in another long ‘foot-soak’ in the pool.

At 6:15 pm, we left our hotel and headed down to the Palau de la Musica for our show. I really had no idea what tickets I had booked! While the website was partially in English, there were no English descriptions of the show. The Spanish description was “El Primer Palau”. I just knew that tickets were 12E each and the show started at 7:30 pm! DH and I both like live musical performances and for 12E each, how bad could it be? We arrived at the Palau with more than enough time to take advantage of the scrumptious montaditos available at the bar.

The concert was a showcase of four youth musicians, each backed by the symphony. It was VERY impressive. We saw a french horn, flute, contrabass, and piano – each featured in a separate segment. We loved it!

We got back to our hotel around 10 pm and were STARVING. So we headed over to Piscolabis … right across the boulevard from our hotel. We finally got to sit at a tapas bar! We had guacamole with smoked salmon, a brie/truffle montadito, grilled mix vegetables, aubergine timbale with tomato and mozzarella, tomato bread, ham croquettes, and calamari. DH had a beer and I had a water. All for 25E.

Safety in Barcelona

I’m going to comment about the safety in Barcelona. To be honest, I was really worried about pickpockets/petty crime in Barcelona. In addition to the MYRIAD of stories on these forums and elsewhere online, my friend’s sister had her pursed ripped off her shoulder while in Barcelona. And last year, our cousins had their wallet lifted while on La Rambla (they think). So, I was more cautious than I normally am when I travel. We both had moneybelts (the kind worn under our clothes and not visible) and kept 20E or less in our pockets/sidebag. Our hotel had a safe which we used for our passports.

Thanks to one of the Fodorites, I also knew to keep my driver’s license easily accessible as we were indeed asked for ID when we paid with credit cards. Luckily, I had an expired driver’s license that I kept with me for this purpose.

Overall, DH and I felt VERY safe throughout our entire stay. We saw some shady characters every once in a while but we were pretty alert at all times and never had any issues. While we don’t dress like the locals, we definitely don’t dress like the ‘average’ tourist. No logo-ed t-shirts, no white running shoes, no fanny packs, no jogging suits, etc. I carried a small messenger bag with numerous interior pockets along with an exterior flap. DH carried a small Lowepro backpack for our DSLR. In crowded situations, he swung the backpack around and carried it under his arm like a football.

On a lighter note, DH and I developed some ‘code’ language … any time one of us thought there was a shady character around us, one of us would say “Eugene called at 10 o’clock” … Eugene being the code word for ‘shady character’ and ‘10 am’ being the reference to where this person was in relation to us. It served us well … we had a good laugh about it! And really, we didn’t use it all that often!

Great report! We had planned a trip to Paris last year, and we had reservations for that same Paris apartment. When we had to cancel the trip, we had no problems cancelling the reservation.

Lilaki,

Thanks for the trip report! I'm glad you got a deal on your Paris apt. - everyone seems to rave about Thierry. Is it a personal check that he allows for the deposit?

Can't wait for the Paris segment!

samsaf - oh, i hope you do get to go on your paris trip and stay at the studio saint germain! i'm glad there were no issues with cancelling the apartment ... i have a feeling thierry must have a waiting list a mile long!

anna - yes, it's a personal check that we sent. it's great because i just sent a cheque for $650 (canadian) - don't have to worry about money orders etc. thierry says he has never had to cash a cheque in his years of renting apartments and he will give your cheque back to you if you want.

Day 6 – Departing Barcelona, Flying to Paris

We woke up early today and left the hotel by 6:30 am to catch the Aerobus. Since we left so early, we did not have the usual hotel breakfast. We had purchased some yogurt and fruit the day before and that was our breakfast. We got to the airport quite early … there were just a handful of people on the Aerobus. We had a 9:55 am EasyJet flight to Paris. Oddly, our tickets said that the check-in desk would open by 7:55 am but there were already other folks lined up for other flights by the time we arrived at the airport (just after 7:15 am). So we were ‘allowed’ to check in and ended up being the first people checked in. Now, with tons of time to kill, we wandered around the airport in search of breakfast. We ended up having coffees/pastries at the café near the gate.

The flight was fairly uneventful … boarding was interesting as we’d never taken a flight before with open seating. We managed to get seats in the first row of the plane and saw lots of other passengers dealing with too many carry-on bags etc.

We arrived at CDG in a very old terminal and waited for our bags. Given all of the travel DH and I have done in our lives, we’ve never had any airline lose our bags (knock on wood … it’s quite shocking!). But for a good few minutes, I actually thought we were finally going to be faced with that situation while in Paris. We were the absolute last people standing around the carrousel and there were no signs of our bags. The belt actually STOPPED so I marched over to the EasyJet desk nearby and asked (in French) if the last of the bags had been loaded onto the belt. The lady at the desk took my baggage tags and said that it looked like our bags were still in Barcelona (my heart dropped). Luckily, we had packed one set of clean clothes in our carry-on and I was ready to leave the airport assuming that our bags would catch up to us later on. Just as we were about to start the paperwork, DH started hollering from the carrousel area as the belt started moving again and our two bags appeared!

Elated, we skipped down the terminal (stopping at Brioche Doree to grab sandwiches and water and trying not to get whiplash from the sticker shock … things were so much more expensive in Paris compared to Barcelona!) We made it to the RER station and tried to find a ‘short’ line to purchase tickets. Since we had chip cards, we were able to use the automated ticket machines. I also purchased our Navigo Decouvertes at the machine … the people behind me were not happy!

We grabbed the first available train and found some seats. The ride in was pretty uneventful but remarkably quick. We got off at St. Michel, took the escalators up to ground level and found the taxi stand. We were originally planning to walk to our apartment from St. Michel but DH’s back started to bug him so we hopped into a cab.

That afternoon, we spent time getting provisions and exploring our neighbourhood. We headed to Monoprix and spent a lot of time looking at products we didn’t remember seeing the year before. We picked up a baguette at the Paul on Rue de Buci.

Dinner that night was at L’Insulaire on Rue Grégoire de Tours. Another Fodorite recommended this restaurant and we decided to give it a try. We had an enjoyable meal. We each had the three course menu. I had the tomato/feta salad, the veal escalope, and tarte aux pommes. DH had the onion tart, leg of lamb and chocolate mousse. Dinner was 34E.

After dinner, we raced to the Trocadero to catch the 10 pm Eiffle Tower sparkle. Last year, we approached the Eiffel Tower from the Bir Hakeim metro station and I always regretted not doing the ‘proper’ approach from the Trocadero. I had done this with my parents when I was 10 years old (although, the weather was misty and cool way back then) so it was very reminiscent when DH and I rounded the bend and saw the tower. Clearly, a lot of other people had similar ideas as the place was PACKED … with tourists and annoying hawkers (“Monsieur, bling-bling? Keychain?”). A couple asked us to take their picture and it turns out that they live just a few blocks from us in Toronto. Small world!

We made our way down towards the tower and ended up staying for the 11 pm sparkle. Cold and very tired at this point, we walked (and walked and walked) to the Bir Hakeim metro and headed home. It was REALLY nice to be back in Paris. I think I went to bed with a grin on my face!

Great report, lilaki! I'm glad you and your DH enjoyed Barcelona.

Day 7 – First full day in Paris

Today, we had a busy day. I had booked a bakery/patisserie tour with Meeting the French. We were meeting with the guide (and rest of the group) at Au Grand Richelieu at 11 am. We took the bus and arrived early. We walked through the neighbourhood and spent a bit of time at Palais Royale.

We headed back to the bakery and met with the rest of the group. It was a FASCINATING tour. DH and I both love to cook and I love to bake. And we both love to eat! We saw how to make baguettes and then moved on to croissants/pain au chocolat. After 20 minutes, we went back to the baguette area and sampled fresh from the oven baguettes! Heaven! We learned so much during this tour and would totally recommend it to anyone going to Paris. At the end of the tour, of course, we purchased some snacks and headed off to Palais Royale to devour our goodies.

After a good break (Palais Royale was so quiet and peaceful), we decided to head onto the Louvre. Last year, we spent a whopping two hours running through the Louvre, catching the highlights. Not only were we exhausted, we were really annoyed with all of the people in the Louvre! So we didn’t last long. However, this time, the Louvre was DH’s one MUST DO for the entire trip so I made sure that we were going back on a day when we could stay for a LONG time. The Louvre is open late on Friday (and Wednesday, I think) so we headed on over for our museum day. This time around, our Louvre experience was very different. First, we went in with a different mindset – i.e. we psyched ourselves up for the crowds. Second, DH plotted out all the things he wanted to see BEFORE we went into the Louvre. And third, I just ‘sat out’ some of the exhibits. I like museums but my art of choice is impressionism. Particularly, I LOVE the architecture in museums so for me, the big draw of the Louvre is the actual building itself … not so much what’s IN the building. So as DH made his way through his favourite artists and works, I would sit out in the main foyers people-watching/admiring the building. This worked really well for both of us as DH felt he could take his time admiring his favourite pieces and I could enjoy the building and also rest my weary, pancake feet.

Part way through our visit, we took a break for lunch at the main cafeteria. I had a quiche and soup while DH had lamb stew. Tap water is free and we took advantage of that! Oddly, bottled water was exceptionally cheap in Barcelona but extremely expensive in Paris. We ended up lasting five and a half hours in the Louvre. A LOT longer than last year!

We caught the bus home and purchased our dinner from the ‘chicken vendor’ on Rue de Buci. We bought a roast chicken (not a Bresse but very close to a Bresse, according to the chicken vendor), roasted potatoes, grated carrots salad, and creamed spinach. Honestly, I would eat roast chicken every day in Paris if I lived there. I’m determined to figure out how to make a roast chicken that tastes like a Paris chicken!

After dinner, DH was pretty wiped out (he was marching pretty quickly through some sections of the Louvre). I headed out to City-Pharma on Rue du Four. Last year, I ventured into this parapharmacie while DH waited outside. I didn’t last very long as the place was crazy packed and even old women were pushing me aside! This year, I resolved to outlast the crowds and also hoped that it might be a bit quieter on Friday at 7 pm! I was right … the place was empty. I perused the aisles for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what was what. While I speak conversation French, I never learned ‘complexion’, ‘wrinkle’, ‘blemish’, ‘SPF’, etc! It was hilarious as I tried to translate these words. But luckily, I figured things out pretty quickly (anti-wrinkle = anti-ride!) and there was a super helpful lady at the store. While she didn’t speak a word of English and I don’t speak colloquial French, we managed to understand each other … I ended up with two Avene creams … with SPF protection but no anti-wrinkle/anti-anything properties (just what I was looking for!). I also picked up extra tubes of Voltaren gel.

I called DH after I was done at the store and we met for gelato at Grom on Rue de Seine. DH was starting to walk a little funny but kept insisting that he was fine … just a little tired after an epic Louvre visit.

Nice trip report. A few years ago we did a Paris/Barcelona combo trip and loved it. Looking forward to the rest of your report. When exactly were you there?

hi isabel,

we were in barcelona from sept 27 - oct 1 and paris from oct 1 - 9.

Lilikai,

Do you mind posting a link for the patisserie tour? The tour sounds interesting - and I'm guessing since you actually go into the bakery, it's not a large tour group.

Did you like Grom? I don't see it mentioned on Fodors too often.

I loved your Barcelona notes, since I'm headed there next month. Thanks for writing your report.

hi lilaki - I too would like to request a link to the patisserie tour. It sounds like a real treat! I am enjoying your report and can't wait to see what else you have in store while in Paris

tC

hi everyone,

thanks for all the positive comments! i got a few more segments done last night ... i will post them shortly!!

the pastry tour is a guided visit offered by "meeting the french". this is the link:

http://www.meetingthefrench.com/services23.php

if you're looking for technique classes, this is NOT for you ... it is about a 45 - 60 minute behind-the-scenes look at a working bakery/patisserie. we did SOME hands on stuff but it was limited. it was VERY cool to see the inner workings of a bakery/patisserie.

Day 8 – Saturday in Paris (plus a visit to the emergency room!)

On Saturday morning, we headed out to Marche Puces aux Vanves. It was really interesting to see all the ‘stuff’. We didn’t buy anything … the exchange was just outrageous and there wasn’t anything we fell in love with. DH was really walking funny by now so after we got off the bus on our way home, I dragged him to the pharmacy. I had read that French pharmacists were very helpful and we were passing one anyway … so I marched in with a reluctant DH following behind.

The pharmacist was super helpful and spoke English … which was great because DH and I couldn’t figure out how to say that he “threw out his back” in French! By this point, DH had already popped Advil on Friday and Anaprox on Saturday and he finally admitted that he was in a lot of pain and it was actually radiating down his leg! The pharmacist recommended some specific doses of Advil (we bought more right then and there) and also a stick-on heating patch. She also suggested some Ibuprofen gel since the Voltaren gel didn’t seem to be working. We bought it all!

Funny story … sensing that DH’s back was NOT right, I had Googled “massage therapy Paris” earlier that morning. All this X-rated massage stuff came up in the search results! I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong in the search function so I changed things up “massage therapy session Paris”, “sports massage Paris”, “deep tissue massage Paris”, “Swedish massage Paris”, etc. etc. and pretty much the SAME x-rated stuff kept coming up.

So, at the pharmacy, I asked the pharmacist if a massage appointment would be helpful. A REALLY weird look flew across her face and she said (very CURTLY) “I would prefer if he gets a different kind of massage”. At first, I didn’t understand what she was saying so I explained what happened with my Google searches. A look of recognition appeared on the pharmacist’s face and she explained that the French word for massage therapy is “kinesitherapie” and a massage therapist is a “kinesitherapeute”. D’oh! No wonder!!! The pharmacist was also kind enough to photocopy a list of kinesitherapeutes in the 6th arrondissment for us. The pharmacist also suggested that we head over to any emergency department to get a prescription for stronger meds (anti-inflammatory and pain reducers). DH has taken things like this before but didn’t remember any of the technical names.

Back at the apartment, I began calling … and calling and calling down the list of kinesitherapeutes. Some places didn’t answer and those that did, all said they could fit us in after October 9th! I even called the ‘emergency’ kinesitherapie service! We finally gave up and took the metro over to the emergency department at the Hotel Dieu de Cite (practically our next door neighbour last time we stayed in Paris). There were a few people in the waiting room but they took DH’s information right away. A nurse took him in for an assessment within about 10 minutes of our arrival. Oddly, they didn’t let me come in with him. But I watched and it looks like they never let any companions in with patients. I waited in the waiting room and felt a little anxious. There were other tourists there as well … a couple from Australia (I assume from the flags on their backpacks), an American pair (assumed by their accents). I had no clue how long DH would be in there for. After about 45 minutes, I asked the admittance desk if I could speak with DH and find out if he’s okay. I was told to have a seat and continue to wait. It didn’t really answer my questions but I wasn’t going to fight it since it hadn’t been that long. After about an hour (in total) DH came sauntering out like a new person. I think he even had a little swagger! The doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory and some codeine. A nurse actually gave DH some codeine (in effervescent form!) while he was still in the ward.

I was shocked that a) we weren’t asked to pay for anything (not even the one dose of codeine) and b) we weren’t asked to complete any paperwork. We were both flabbergasted! As Canadians, we love universal health care but I had never thought that the French healthcare system would cover foreigners! We had health travel insurance and were more than prepared to pay the price of our visit! It was a pleasant surprise.

DH was in much better spirits and more importantly was walking a LOT better. So we headed on with our day. I had some kitchen/food shopping destinations so we metro-ed over to the Right Bank. We headed to G. Detou (vanilla beans, baking chocolate, saffron, etc.) … but not before making a detour along Rue Montorgueil. And lo and behold, we came upon Stroher. Well, naturally we had to stop in and sample some of the goodies! DH had a chocolate éclair and I had a coffee religieuse. I think it was a pastry highlight!!! The coffee flavour of the religieuse was unbelievable! Further along, we found a pharmacy and filled DH’s prescriptions.

After our afternoon ‘snack’, we made our way to G. Detou, A Simon, Mora, and E. Dehillerin. We picked up quite a bit of stuff (including a nylon rolling pin … which turned out to be ridiculously practical on the journey home) and finally headed back home to dump off our haul! DH’s pain meds had kicked in and he was like a brand new person!

For dinner, we went to Le Souffle (I had called on Friday for reservations). This was the one ‘special’ meal of our trip. We each had the three-course menu of soufflés. I started with the fromage, then the chicken with mushrooms, and finally the pistachio and chocolate soufflé. DH had the wild mushroom soufflé, then the wild boar, and finally the Grand Marnier soufflé. Dinner was 62E. It was a definite food highlight for both of us … not just for this trip but in our lives.

It was Nuit Blanche in Paris so we took a round-about way home and headed on over past our old apartment and over to Ile Saint Louis, then onto Notre Dame and then Saint Julien le Pauvre. I think everyone from Paris and surrounding areas was out for Nuit Blanche. The streets were packed and the lines were LONG … so we didn’t see much of Nuit Blanche but enjoyed a long, festive walk.

Day 9 – Sunday in Paris

Last year, we had one weekend in Paris and on the Sunday, we had the choice of going to Versailles or going to the Richard Lenoir market. We chose Versailles and I kept the market down on my list of things to do for ‘next time’. So this year, we went to the highly-recommended market! We took the metro over to Bastille and decided to explore the neighbourhood a bit before walking into the fray of the market. We walked over to Place des Vosges and admired the architecture. Feeling peckish, we continued towards the market and stumbled upon Gerard Mulot’s bakery/patisserie. I had a list of all the bakeries/patisseries that I wanted to visit this time but had Gerard Mulot’s Saint Germain address listed down. So this was a pleasant surprise. Even more pleasant was the pain au chocolat et framboise that both DH and I scarfed down. It was hands down the BEST viennoisserie that we had throughout our trip. We made a mental note to go to the Gerard Mulot location in the 6th later on in our trip!

Satiated, we walked to the market. We love markets. We probably spent a good two hours wandering up and down the aisles of the market. DH seemed a bit ‘off’ since every time I asked if he wanted this or that for lunch/dinner, he was very non-committal (which is ODD for either of us since we both love food so much). I stopped by one of the cheese stands and DH made a beeline AWAY from the cheese stand! Turns out that DH’s sense of smell was totally off! He felt nauseous around the cheese and also had very little appetite for anything. He was also feeling beyond exhausted. But being a trooper, he didn’t tell me any of this as he didn’t want me to worry. Well, needless to say, we grabbed some prepared dishes to assemble later on for dinner (boeuf bourginon, haricots verts, bread, etc.) and made our way back to the apartment.

That afternoon, we had plans to take the bus over to the Petit Palais/Grand Palais and explore that area before heading on over to the Eiffel Tower to get some daytime shots (the weather was sunny and crisp). We zipped through the Petite Palais and Grand Palais last year on our Fat Bike tour and definitely wanted to see more. DH took a 30 minute nap while I iced my feet. After 30 minutes, he was in even WORSE shape than before. So we agreed that I would go out on my own and DH would rest up. We also agreed to have a touch point at 5 pm to see how the other was doing (but mainly for me to see how DH was doing).

On the bus ride over, I shot an email over to my brother in the US … he’s a pharmacist. Originally, we didn’t want to tell any family members about our hospital visit because a) they would worry and b) what could they do back home? Anyway, I told my brother about all of the meds and dosages … and hoped to hear back soon.

I took bus #63 over to Pont Alexander and walked across the bridge to the Petit Palais. Since some of the exhibitions at the Petit Palais were free, I decided to go in and check it out and take advantage of clean bathrooms!

From the Petit Palais area, I walked towards the Franklin D Roosevelt metro stop. I passed a really cool display of a bunch of enlarged Vogue covers. I stopped at a bench to take some neat pics of all the covers lined up symmetrically and then made my way onto the metro.

I got off at Trocadero and walked through the throng of people. Interestingly, not a single “Bling-Bling Keychain” vendor approached me for the entire time I was around the Eiffel Tower. This was really odd since we were constantly accosted the last time we were here. DH says it’s because I have a very ‘unapproachable’ look on my face when I’m walking down the street!

From the Palais de Chaillot, I made my way down to under the Eiffel tower to take more pictures. If you’re wondering about this ‘obsession’ with the Eiffel Tower … years ago, DH and I saw a poster with three segments of the Eiffel Tower. Each segment was an ‘unrecognizable’ section of the tower and not a single picture was of the tower in its entirety. I really wanted the poster and DH said “Why would we buy someone else’s picture? Why don’t we just go and take our own?” So, last year, we snapped a ton of pics with our little point-and-shoot digital camera. They were okay … nothing great. I never got to ‘replicate’ that poster. I went back to the store where we first saw the poster and of course, it wasn’t there! And sadly (or gladly), that’s partially how this return trip to Paris was born. So this time around, armed with a Nikon D90, I was definitely making my own three-piece poster! I am pleased to say that the camera rocked and I got some fantastic shots … not just of the tower but of a whole bunch of different things too.

Anyway, back to the day … I stayed under the Eiffel Tower for quite some time … just admiring the structure, people watching, snapping random shots. Then I decided it was time to make my way home. I called DH … he was STILL sleeping! But he said he felt MUCH better. I walked along Quai Branly, passing the Branly and the living wall and then hopped on the #63 bus near Alma.

On the way home, I walked past the bakery/patisserie Carton and decided that I was hungry (of course) and that more importantly (yeah, right!), DH needed an after-nap snack … so I picked up two café éclairs. They were good … but not nearly as good as my café religieuse that I had from Stroher.

Back at the apartment, DH was re-energized and hungry. We had our market dinner and then headed out to Pont des Arts. The bridge was pretty quiet this night. Last year, when we sat on Pont des Arts, it was a rocking party. There was a birthday party being hosted on the bridge, wedding photos being taken, a jewellery vendor, etc. But tonight, it was very peaceful. We heard music coming from the direction of the Louvre, so we decided to walk over. In the courtyard, there was a cello player and a small audience had gathered to listen. It was really beautiful. The Louvre courtyard was very, very quiet since it was Sunday night and we took some great pictures of the pyramid and still fountains.

When we got home, my brother (the pharmacist) called and suggested that DH scale back the meds. The anti-inflammatory dosages were really high and the codeine was clearly making DH a mess. So, for Monday, we decided to see if DH could manage without the meds… Being off his feet for most of the day plus the afternoon-long nap seemed to help WAY more than any of the meds.

lilaki, I'm enjoying this.

Anselm

Making note of the Gerard Mulot branch near the Place des Vosges for my visit next month. Thanks.

That sounds like a long walk! Sighing for Paris! Know what you meant about the Rambla but the market really is super.

Day 10 – Monday in Paris

Today, we woke up to rain. It was also quite cool. Undeterred, we headed off for Madeleine. It was an area that we did not explore last time and of course, was on my list of things to do this year. Being food lovers, we sought out Maison du Miel, Fauchon, Hediard, and Maille. To celebrate the occasion of being at Madeleine, we had madeleines at Fauchon. In Clotilde’s book about Paris’ restaurants/food shops, she mentions that one expects more sparkle from Fauchon and she couldn’t have been more correct! The madeleines were good but not outstanding! I think I was also expecting more (of what, I don’t know) from Fauchon. Maybe something like Fortnum and Mason in London. We still managed to buy gifts for those at home at Fauchon and picked up several different bottles of mustard from Maille. By the time we were done wandering around the area, we were soaked and cold … so we headed home to throw our wet clothes into the dryer!

On the way back, we stopped in at Eric Kayser’s shop on Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie to pick up some lunch. There were delicious looking pizza/fougasse creations that we could not resist. And of course, we picked up a small bag of financiers (which I had spied each time we walked by the shop). Lunch was delicious! The ‘pizza’ had a béchamel sauce and the financiers were incredibly flavourful.

In the afternoon, we wandered over to BHV. We spent a whopping 45 minutes here last year and remember seeing some really cool kitchen things. We did some great browsing but walked away empty handed. We headed back back home for a nap for DH and ice for my feet.

Dinner was at L’Atlas Brasserie on Rue de Buci. DH really wanted an outdoor dining experience in Paris. Last year, we got so wrapped up in the markets and all the yummy prepared foods at Monoprix that we did not have very many meals out. So this year, we exercised a bit more restraint and managed to have more dinners out. I had a tomato salad and sole meuniere. DH had chevre on toast and steak frites. Our bill was 50E. The food was nothing exceptional but still very good … it was more like the street entertainment distracted us from our food. L’Atlas has an oyster bar facing the street and we were seated directly behind the bar … which was really cool because we could watch the oyster guy doing his thing. A seemingly drunk person walked up to the bar and grabbed the giant crab sitting on the display. The oyster guy lunged forward with his shucking knife to ‘swat’ the drunk guy away! The crab was rescued but the drunk guy could not be deterred until the oyster guy threatened him with his knife. Such a ruckus was caused that all the waiters came forward, ready for battle. About 30 minutes later, someone else started to ‘smack talk’ one of the waiters out on the street. And again, all the waiters (and the manager, I think) came forward and were ready to drop their gloves. Anyway, needless to say, our dinners may have tasted differently if we had eaten indoors!

DH’s back/leg were much better today but his stomach was still feeling funky so I enjoyed his cheese course!

Hi Lilaki,

Enjoying your report and reliving time in Paris on this rainy morning. I can totally relate to your "need" to return to Paris which I continue to feel even after my 4th visit. I always get the same response, "don't you want to go some place new?". The answer is yes but I seem to yearn for Paris so I think any future journeys to Europe will need to include Paris as the departure city.

Previous trips have all been just a few days with the usual rushing around to major sights. I would love to just spend a week absorbing the city and hope to rent an apartment sometime in the future. Which brings me to the question, which apartment/area did you like best and why? Parisbestlodge seems to get near perfect reviews.

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

p.s. Lunch at Le Souffle was a highlight of last trip, also had the chicken/mushroom....they bring that fluffy souffle to the table, poke a hole in the top, and pour the chicken mixture into souffle. Yum!!

How far in advance did you reserve your tour with meeting the french?
I am enjoying your report,as we have just made our reservations to return for trip #6 in May
Thanks
Elaine

hi cjogo,

i think you've captured it perfectly ... it's a paris yearning!! i was thinking either eastern europe or italy next time/next year with a final few days in paris.

the crazyview apartment was quite different than the studio saint germain. for starters, there was more space. a couch definitely would've been nice. especially while DH was resting his back in bed ... it would've been nice to have somewhere to sit! crazyview also was MUCH closer to berthillon ice cream ... although, i don't think you should pick an apartment based on that! however, SSG was in more of a 'neighbourhood' ... cafes, shops, galleries all within minutes of your door. if you click on my name, you'll find my trip report from last year and also the link to my apartment review which is on slowtrav.

i will submit another one to slowtrav about this year's apartment experience.

i would definitely rent from thierry again ... it is a very easy/pleasant experience.

hi lainie,

i was pretty much going on the meeting the french website every month waiting for the fall schedule to be released. because of the summer holidays (i think), the fall schedule wasn't published until september ... i would guess that the may schedule would be published sometime in late winter/early spring.

there are lots of different tours available and ours wasn't sold out ... so hopefully you'll find one that fits your schedule!

Day 11 – Tuesday in Paris

This morning, we headed out to the Marche Raspail. I had read somewhere (most likely this forum) that there was a very good roast chicken vendor at this market. It was a small but very ‘posh’ market. We picked up our roast chicken and headed on over to La Vaissellerie. Every time we were in a kitchen section of any store, DH gravitated over to the espresso cups that look like crumpled paper cups. I kept telling him to get a set but he would always pass and say “maybe later”. At La Vaissellerie, of course, DH found a whole bunch of these crumpled ‘paper’ cups and bought a set! We also bought a few other kitchen things. The folks in the store were super helpful and also packed our things in preparation for the flight home.

For lunch, we devoured the Marche Raspail roast chicken (the BEST one, we decided). It was certainly more tasty than the one we had picked up at the chicken vendor from Rue du Buci.

We had a booking for a 30 minute cooking class with Ateliers des Chefs at Lafayette. It was a 1:30 – 2 pm class so I wasn’t sure if we could make it from breakfast without food. PLUS, I wasn’t sure if the portions were going to be ‘decent’ for lunch or whether we’d just get samples of the food. So we had our chicken lunch.

We got to the Boulevard Haussman area quite early and wandered around a bit. All the stores were preparing for a huge sale … things were being marked down but even though they were being labelled today, the original prices would still be charged today. We were the first folks to arrive for the cooking class. I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure how my conversational French would hold up in a class. But for 15E per person, at least we could just WATCH if things were REALLY bad. Turns out, we really enjoyed the class and we both learned a LOT. I don’t know whether the instructor spoke English (we just all started conversing in French). The class went by quickly … we made arugula salad with sundried tomatoes and a delicious balsamic dressing (composed simply of a balsamic glaze and olive oil). We helped peel potatoes for a mashed potato dish, we chopped chives for the cod, we minced garlic, etc. It was really interesting and much more hands on than I was expecting. I actually thought we were going to watch a 30 minute cooking demo and then sample the dishes afterwards! What we got was a full, hands-on cooking class. The instructor would demonstrate and then we would follow. We even learned some really cool plating tricks (okay, cool if you love food/cooking like we do!). After the cooking was done (it makes the show 30 Minute Meals look pretty pathetic because we created a pretty fancy dish), we all sat down and ate our own creations. Never one to pass up food, of course we tucked in for our SECOND lunch of the day! Dessert was also offered (for an addition 3E per person) and naturally, we didn’t decline! Dessert was a blancmange with raspberry coulis. DH’s appetite was clearly back!

STUFFED, we wandered through Printemps (and contemplated some 50% off Le Crueset stuff … but later decided against lugging such heavy things home) and Lafayette. We also tried to find the balsamic glaze the instructor used at Lafayette Gourmet (he said it should be there) but were out of luck. So on the way home, we stopped off at the Monoprix at the Pyramides metro stop and found our glaze there. For likely a lot less money too!

With two lunches and dessert, we really weren’t hungry for dinner. By around 8 pm, we started feeling a bit peckish so we headed out to see if anything whet our appetite. We settled on a window seat at Jade café on Rue de Buci and each had a croque monsieur. DH also had a beer. Our bill was 21E.

Still in the mood for something sweet, we popped into Amorino to have some gelato. I’m not going to get into the whole debate here because there seems to be two camps … Amorino or Berthillon. I have to say, I’m in the Berthillon camp. Last year, we had Berthillon almost every night of our trip (we were just minutes from Ile Saint Louis). Our gelato was good but it was no Berthillon!

Hey Lilaki,

Still enjoying your report - I really love food, so I've been gobbling up all your experiences!

I feel a bit stupid for asking, but you mentioned three pastries that I'm unfamiliar with - the coffee religieuse, pain au chocolat framboise(chocolate croissant with raspberries?), and financiers...would you mind explaining what these are?

We went to the Bastille market on a Thursday, and I don't recall running into an area with prepared food like boeuf bourginon - was it good?

I've never been to the Raspail market, but you make the roast chicken sound so good that I may have to venture that way again...not to mention how close it is to the Eiffel Tower!

Love your report and all the detail. I've been to Paris 15 times and never stop yearning for it. Thanks for reviving many memories.

hey anna,

not stupid questions at all... i will do my best although i'm sure other fodorites here can chime in with more expertise...

religieuse is a pastry (not a viennoiserie, like a croissant) that looks like a two ball snowman (imho). it's a choux pastry that is filled with a pastry cream (i think) ... and the cream for me was coffee flavoured. i believe it was supposed to resemble sacre coeur and/or other churches, hence the name. personally, i think you get more 'bang for your buck' with the religieuse ... i'd say it's almost like an eclair but just shaped differently.

pain au chocolat et framboise ... exactly like a pain aux chocolat but with raspberry preserves as well ... (the flavour combination of this particular one was absolutely SPECTACULAR and neither DH/myself are huge fans of raspberry anything)

financiers are little 'cakes' ... i believe that way back when they were originally made, they reminded people of gold bars ... hence then name (??). anyway, they remind me of poundcake but richer/denser/more moist ... i believe there are ground almonds in them. the little bag we got from eric kayser had four flavours - vanilla (or just plain), chocolate (crazy intense chocolate flavour), pistachio, and matcha.

have you ever seen clotilde's book about paris restaurants? or do you go on clotilde's website? www.chocolateandzucchini.com ... she does a much better job at explaining what these sweets are all about!

the boeuf bourginon at the bastille market was excellent ... VERY strongly flavoured.

hi nancy...15 times!??!?! ooooh - so jealous!!!

more coming up today ...

lilaki, nice report. Barcelona and Paris are two of my very favorite cities. Always great to read someone else's experiences there.

Day 12 – Wednesday in Paris

I headed out to City-Pharma myself this morning. I really liked the Avene creams that I had purchased a few days back. I called the drug store at home to find out the price (more than double) and headed back to buy more. Plus, I had a shopping list from a few other girlfriends who wanted their French face cream fix! Like the last time, City-Pharma was quite empty so I was able to browse in peace.

DH met me at St. Sulpice. We headed over to Pierre Herme in search of viennoiseries. There were lots of fancy chocolates and pastries but we weren’t in the mood. The store is very impressive, however. So we walked over to Gerard Mulot … I think we were secretly hoping to have another pain aux chocolat et framboise! Sadly, Gerard Mulot is closed on Wednesdays. Pathetically, we were quite heart broken about this!! From there, we went to Natalys and Du Pareil au Meme to pick up baby gifts for friends who are expecting soon. We loved DPAM. Such a cute store. We also found a very sweet blanket at Natalys.

We took the long way home and passed Laduree. I don’t think I ‘get’ macarons. They’re good but I’ve never understood the craze. Anyway, we poked our head quickly into (and out of) Laduree on Rue Jacob. We turned around and saw a bakery/patisserie (now THAT is more like it!) and headed over there instead. We picked up a baguette, some croissants, and two religieuses (one raspberry and one chocolate). Honestly, writing this report makes me really wonder how my clothes still fit after a week of our ‘eating trip’! Thankfully, all the walking must have offset all the calories!!!

That afternoon, we decided to trawl the bouquinistes to see if we could find any paintings/prints/posters for our house. Last year, DH found a poster that he’d had in his bedroom from when he was a little boy and we also picked up some canvas paintings that now hang in our hallway. We don’t have a lot of wallspace left for things but we thought we’d check it out anyway. The weather was holding up so we thought we’d take a chance.

We started on the Left Bank and then crossed over to the Right Bank. I think more than 50% of the bouquinistes were closed! We managed to find one small painting for our kitchen but otherwise, we were out of luck! All was not lost though … in our walk, we took a detour to Berthillon on Ile Saint Louis and had one boule each. Ahhhh … even though we had ingested an insane amount of calories already, we both REALLY regretted not having Berthillon earlier in our trip! We sat in the park behind Notre Dame for a good rest and soaked in some scenery before meandering back home.

By this point in our trip, we had amassed quite a load of purchases in Paris so we decided to spend some time packing. We still had one more day left but weren’t planning to do anymore shopping. DH is a master packer so I left him do most of it in peace while I surfed the net and iced my feet. One major bonus of the apartment is the free computer/internet … beats lugging around your laptop!

For dinner, we decided to try out Le Breizh Café in the 3rd. Getting there was a breeze (hopped on one bus or another, I think) and the weather looked great. So for the first time in our whole trip, we left the jacket and umbrellas back at the apartment. DH had a salad with a wasabi vinaigrette (delicious) while I had a salad with regular vinaigrette (good but not as good as DH’s). We each had one savoury galette. DH had a galatte with eggs, gruyere, carmelized onion and andouille sausage. We both agreed his galatte wasn’t the best. I had a galette with eggs, gruyere, mushrooms, bacon, and buttermilk. It was delicious! For dessert, DH had a chocolate/banana crepe with chantilly, and I had a pear/caramel crepe with chantilly. DH said his dessert crepe made up for his dinner galette. Dinner with one bol of house cidre was 46.50E.

Partway through dinner, the skies opened up and it started to pour. Even though we were seated at the window, there was a huge awning that protected us from most of the downpour (we had a mist every once in a while but it was actually refreshing). Seeing as how we left our umbrellas and jackets at home, we tried to wait out the rain but it didn’t seem to let up very much. So we finally pulled up our socks and waded our way to the bus stop. I still had my scarf with me so I used that as a bit of a tarp. Cold and wet, we finally made it home!

As a fellow plantar fasciitis sufferer and massage addict I completely understand how those massages pre trip are vital I am heading to Paris (and a few other places) next March and really appreciated your report. I have not finished reading it yet but wanted to say thanks!

Sorry for this trip to end!

BTW, I saw an acupuncturist for pf and I don't know if it worked because I switched from low fat milk back to regular milk at the same time. But all foot pain went away. Read or heard that alternating shoes with heels with flats helps one's feet adjust to life without high heels (i.e., retirement!). Don't know if this applies to your situation though.

Also, heat rather than ice soothed my feet more. Did your doc say use ice? Good luck with it "AH Paris!"

hi emerald - yes - pre-trip massages are definitely the way to go! i'm so glad i 'splurged' for it ahead of time. i think being proactive helped a lot this time around.

hi tdudette - acupuncture!?! i never even thought of it! i will look into it ... thanks for the help. and yes, my podatrist suggested ice ... to deal with the inflamed plantar fascia. i wish i were retired (but unfortunately have a long way to go) but i wear flats all the time. heels absolutely kill me! and my orthotics are quite aggressive so they don't fit into heels.

i'll be posting more ... i've got one more day to write up plus some final thoughts ... sorry for the delay...

thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Day 13 – Thursday (last full day) in Paris

This morning, I had booked a Chocolate Walk with Paris Walks. The booking process was very easy … I got the schedule a few months in advance and then faxed in my CC reservation. I received confirmation of my reservation by e-mail.

The tour started at 11 am and we were to meet with the guide and other participants at the Louvre-Rivoli metro station. We got to the area a little early so we decided to wander around Jardin des Halles. It was mid-morning so the park was very quiet. I FINALLY figured out where the giant ‘head’ was located!

We spent more time than expected in the park so we raced back to Louvre-Rivoli metro to meet up with the group. Overall, we both LOVED the tour. Our guide was Iris Grossman Spencer and she was super enthusiastic and knowledgeable. At first, I thought 25E per person was a bit steep for a two hour walking tour. But I think we really got our money’s worth! The samples were amazing! Honestly, if you’re ever doing this tour, have a LIGHT breakfast. I wish we did!! But, of course, that didn’t stop us from indulging! We went to four different places … a bakery/patisserie where we sampled a chocolate Opera cake, a chocolatier where we tried three different kinds of chocolates, then another chocolatier where we sampled an éclair and two different chocolates, and then finally a third chocolatier for another two chocolate samples.

The tour was over at 1 pm. I’m glad we did it … we wouldn’t have gone to any of these shops and we certainly wouldn’t have learned about the history, flavour differentiation, etc. etc. Even though it will be hard to believe from this trip report, I’m not a chocoaholic. I don’t crave chocolate … however, I crave pastries/cakey-doughy sweets. This tour may have changed that! I really got an appreciation of GOOD chocolate and the different KINDS of chocolate.

After the tour, we were quite stuffed so we went to wander around the Tuileries. DH found two chairs and fashioned a lounge-chair-with-ottoman. I walked around to snap pictures. They were tearing down the temporary structures from Fashion Week so that was interesting to watch.

We had a ‘free’ afternoon … i.e. we didn’t have any plans and were trying to figure out what we wanted to do. We were debating between Jardin du Luxembourg and Christian Constant’s shop on the Left Bank (fabulous little café that we went to last year for the most amazing lunch) or riding the bus out to La Defense. Either way, we both needed to find a bathroom! So we headed out of the Tuileries.

Last year, I wanted to go to Angelina’s to try the ‘famous’ hot chocolate. However, we stumbled upon Christian Constant and had his hot chocolate instead. Anyway, seeing as how we were so close to Angelina’s, we decided to go there for something different (and to use the bathrooms!). During our walk, Iris warned all of us to get the SMALL serving of the hot chocolate at Angelina’s. When we were seated, I ordered one SMALL pot of hot chocolate to share between the two of us. The waitress KEPT insisting that we would need a LARGE pot. Even though I really just wanted a SMALL pot, peer pressure finally got the better of both of us and we ordered a large. In addition to the hot chocolate, we ordered a strawberry/pistachio mille feuille. The hot chocolate was good but not as good as Christian Constant … both DH and I found it a bit too sweet. The mille feuille was excellent.

By now, you’ve probably noticed that we have gorged ourselves on this day … pastry, chocolate, more pastry, more chocolate… We paid for this gluttonous behaviour!

Upon leaving Angelina’s, I started to get really HOT. And I started to feel very JITTERY! My heart was beating quickly, I felt anxious, short of breath, etc. It was like I was sick or something! Thinking that it was just a very bad sugar-high, we walked back to the apartment … avoiding the bus/metro because a) I needed the fresh air and b) we needed the exercise! We both had major food ‘shame’!

We passed the bouquinistes on the way back and we had CLEARLY made a mistake to do our trawling the day before. There were SO many more bouquinistes open on Thursday than on Wednesday. We ended up buying a few posters and an ‘antique’ map of Paris.

When we got back, we finally decided to pack up the last of our purchases before heading out again. The painting and posters were small and we didn’t think we would need a poster tube. However, the map was quite large and we would definitely need a poster tube. I knew there was a Gilbert Jeune near St. Michel and made a mental note to head there at some point during the day. However, I looked at the map and then looked at my ROLLING PIN that I had purchased on Saturday. Turns out, the rolling pin was JUST a hair longer than the map! We rolled the map around the rolling pin and then slipped the plastic covering back over the (ingenious!) pin/map contraption!

It was just after 3 pm or so by the time we were done. Our apartment was looking sparse and I was staring to feel a little nostalgic (which is sad seeing as how we hadn’t even left yet). So I quickly quashed those feelings and we walked out to the bus stop.

We decided to ‘replicate’ the BalaBus which is a regular city bus available only in the summer months and only on Sundays (I think). We hopped on the bus near Pont Neuf, transferred at the Musee D’Orsay and went across to Concorde and then down the Champs Elsysee. Amazingly, I got some great pictures. It was a very interesting experience being in a bus on the Champs instead of walking. We even made it (alive) around the Arc de Triomph! It’s less harrowing when you don’t have to drive it yourself!

The bus continued down to La Defense and I assumed it would take us back to where we started. However, at some underground station in La Defense, the bus driver turned around and told us that we needed to get off the bus. I wasn’t entirely sure where we were but we made our way up to ground level and surfaced right in the middle of the hustle and bustle at La Defense. We walked up to and under La Grande Arche de la Defense. It was SO cool. The whole area was so cool! It was probably 4:30 pm by the time we arrived and a lot of the workers were making there way home. We sat atop the stairs under the Arche watching the working world go by. We then headed underground to check out Quatre Temps (interesting but not a destination).

By about 6:30 pm, we figured we should make our way home. I had no idea how to catch the bus to go back so we decided to hop on the metro back over to Louvre-Rivoli. We swiped our cards to go through the turnstiles and kept getting a big red “X”. Honestly, I hadn’t given much though to the return trip because I had earlier assumed we were going to make a round trip on the bus! So we found a ticket machine (along with a line of 20 people). I wasn’t sure what RATP zone we were in … our Navigo’s were for Zones 1 and 2 only. I found two RATP workers fixing one of the ticket machines and I asked them for some help. They were very patient with my French and insisted that our Zone 1 and 2 Navigo’s SHOULD work on the metro but not on the RER. However, I kept explaining how we went to the metro entrance, swiped our card and then couldn’t enter. So we finally all agreed that it was better to just buy tickets to get home. I don’t know whether the RATP workers were right but we bought two tickets for 4.5E (I think for both) and went on our way. It was a quick ride back on the metro to the Louvre-Rivoli station … from there we just crossed the Seine and made our way home.

Neither DH or myself were very hungry for dinner but seeing as how we’d had nothing but white carbs, chocolate, and a TON of sugar for the whole day, we figured we should probably seek out something remotely nutritious. We went to Café le Buci and I had a light meal of onion soup with a composed salad. DH had a tartiflette (which was like a mini-casserole) and salad. Shockingly, we skipped dessert.

After dinner, we strolled down to Pont des Arts to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle through the cloud/fog/mist at 10 pm. We listened to a marching band playing on the banks of the Seine. Reluctantly, we headed home to pack up our last things and hit the sack … we were going to have a very early morning on Friday.

I don't suppose you remember the names of the chocolate shops you visited on your walk, and where they were located?

Inquiring minds want to know.

hi nikki,

we went to gosselin (bakery/patisserie), cote du france, michel cluziel and JP hevin.

i'm STILL ashamed by how much we consumed that day. but damn, it was good!

Day 14 – Leaving Paris, Flying Home

We woke up at the very dark hour of 5 am! Shockingly, La Palette was actually SETTING UP for the day. We couldn’t get over it … we went to bed probably just before midnight and La Palette was STILL in full swing … and five hours later, the chairs/tables were being set up once again!

Allonavette showed up at 5:45 am for a 6 am pick-up time. We had originally requested a private shuttle to CDG but they called the day before and asked if we wouldn’t mind picking up one other passenger in the 17th arrondissment on our way. Even with the additional passenger, we arrived at 6:40 am at CDG.

We had breakfast at Paul at CDG … one chausson aux pommes for me (which was truly sad as my last viennoisserie because it was full of sour apple SAUCE) and one pain aux chocolate for DH. I had exactly 1.50E in change so I decided to buy one single Laduree macaron while waiting for our plane. The lady behind the counter said the caramel is the best flavour so I gave it a shot. It was excellent … but I still don’t ‘get’ macarons. I guess they’re just not my thing.

The flights home were fairly uneventful … we stopped over in AMS and picked up some souvenirs and our duty-free stuff. We had a three hour layover and I was thinking that it would be too long. However, by the time we had grabbed a bite to eat and done our shopping, we were running to the gate! Oddly, our flight didn’t depart until 1:45 pm. The boarding time on our boarding passes said 12:30 pm. I really thought this was strange (and possibly a typo) but then I remembered another Fodorite explaining an ‘unusual’ boarding process in AMS.

By the time we arrived at our gate, (just after 12:30 pm), there was a VERY long line. Thinking that we must have gone to the wrong gate (i.e. these people must be lining up for a DIFFERENT flight that is leaving shortly), I walked to the front of the line and saw everyone going through a security check AND then through boarding. There were at least 200 people ahead of us … and at least another 200 people BEHIND us by the time all was said and done. Thankfully, we actually paid attention to the boarding time printed on our passes!

Our AMS – YYZ flight ended up being delayed by about 20-30 minutes … but to be honest, I don’t remember much. I fell asleep at some point and woke up thinking we were still on the ground … but there were clouds outside the window.

Some Final Thoughts

When we finally got home, we were happy to be there. But even as I write this trip report, I’m sad our trip is over! I was dreading our departure day as soon as I ARRIVED in Paris!

DH and I both liked Barcelona but have no desire to return. I’d like to visit other cities/areas of Spain though.

I did not have the same feeling of ‘unfinished business’ as I did the first time we left Paris. So that’s a good thing! I am definitely going to go back to Paris again. Maybe soon, maybe not. We’ll see. I do feel like I’d be ready to go somewhere else though and not REGRET going somewhere else OTHER than Paris. I have started a folder … things that I definitely want to do/see/eat/try next time I go back to Paris.

I have confirmed though that I feel a weird sense of belonging in Paris. Flying over and buying an apartment would likely be steps 1 and 2 after winning the lottery! DH doesn’t share this same sense of belonging … not sure if it’s because he had a rough go of the trip this time or if it’s the language barrier. While my French is not 100% fluent, I love practicing and I love that the locals all encouraged me to speak French (instead of reverting to English).

We’ve got no firm vacation plans for 2010 … in the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy all of the other trip reports that are constantly being posted. They are a wonderful source of inspiration! And, they’re a great way to get through a dreary winter season!

If you’ve managed to stick with this LONG-winded trip report, then I hope you’ve found it useful/helpful.

Lilaki

lilaki - I have enjoyed reading of your exploits. We are planning to include a patisserie tour for our next tour. Thanks for the great link and idea.

tC

Lilaki, thank you for this. I enjoyed following along.

Anselm

hi tC and AA ... thanks so much for the comments ... and for sticking with this awfully long report!!

Merci beaucoup, lilaki. Thanks for taking the time to write this report. EJ

Obsessive trip planner? Laid back husband? Need to return to Paris? YOU speak MY language. Thanks for the great report.

We're headed to Barcelona for the first time next summer and I can never get enough of Paris so you've filled all my needs with your great report. Gracias and Merci!

Great trip report and very helpful. I've booked the same studio for next May.

Lilaki,
I have enjoyed and been inspired by your reports. Would you say that the Crazyview apt was a safe location - entry, street, coming home late at night over bridge for a solo woman? Thanks

Lilaki,
I enjoyed your trip report so much! Wish i could write like that! It is so funny that you said the same think I always say, if I ever win the lottery, I too will buy an apartment in Paris. I also share your opinion about macarons. Not my thing. Did you ever find that unusual, special baby gift for your friend's baby? If so what did you end up with?

Lilaki,
You did a very nice job with your report. We just got back from Paris and hope to go to Barcelona next year, so I found this report especially relevant. (I don't get the love of macarons either.)

hi all!

wow - thanks so much for all the compliments! i'm glad the report has been useful!

to answer some questions:

flounder - yes, i would say the crazyview apt felt very safe. ile de la cite is quiet - not a lot of hustle and bustle. plus, the police HQ is just around the corner! overall, i felt very safe all throughout paris (either with DH or on my own).

smacknmo - thanks for remembering the search for baby gifts! we ended up with a whack of clothes/outfits from DPAM - OMG - such a cute store! DH was tickled with some of the stuff we got there. and we got a gorgeous blanket from natalys. honestly, we were SO intimidated with the prices at many of the other baby stores - 50E for a sleeper? yes, we want to be generous but maybe we're just too practical for our own good? anyway, good thing we stocked up in paris ... our friends had their baby just last weekend - four weeks early! all is well.

You´re a great writer, I really enjoyed reading your report The chocolate tour sounds interesting, I will keep that in mind for my next trip

Likaki, I've booked the St. Germain apartment for May 2010. It will be my first solo trip. The apartment doesn't appear to be near any metro stops, but how about bus lines? AMT machines at banks? I'd appreciate any information you might care to share.

Sorry about the misspelling Lilaki.

hi bluzmama,

sigh - i'm SO jealous you're heading to paris!

the apartment is close to lots of metro stops ... st. germain, odeon, mabillon. it's maybe a 5 min walk?

there were lots of bus routes around as well ... depends on where you're going. we got very familiar with the bus routes. bus 58 and 70 are right around the corner from the apartment. and bus 24 and 27 (i think) were just a little further up on the banks of the seine. you can download all of the bus maps from the RATP site and then figure out where you want to go from there. ALSO, definitely print out a 'plan du quartier' from the RATP site ... it shows you were ALL the bus stops are around the apartment. i left mine taped to the bathroom door (next to the computer) in the apartment but i'm not sure if it will still be up when you get there in 2010! one of the other fodorites has a thread here (somewhere?) that gives you the instructions on how to figure out the various bus routes in paris ... i can't remember what it's called but maybe one of the other fodorites can chime in here? it had something like "getting from a to b in paris by bus" in the title...

there were ATM machines all around ... i think we went to the societe generale bank/machine near rue de buci.

it's a GREAT neighbourhood ... you'll have a fantastic trip!

found it!!

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/the-shortest-distance-between-pointe-a-et-pointe-b-cest.cfm

Great Lilaki-thanks for the advice. I'm really excited about my trip. Is there a Nespresso machine in the apartment?