Back from our long weekend in Paris!

Old Nov 10th, 2004, 03:14 PM
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Back from our long weekend in Paris!

Hello! My husband and I had a fantastic time in Paris celebrating our first year of marriage! Thanks to all of you for answering my questions and providing lots of great info. Onto the details...

We flew direct from Altanta to CDG and arrived Thursday morning. Normally we like to take a train into the city, but this time we opted for a taxi - it cost us about 37 euro to get to our hotel, the Hilton on Ave. de Suffren, next to the Eiffel Tower. My H had enough Hilton points to cover our entire stay there. And because he is "diamond status" or whatever, we got upgraded to a room with a balcony with a VERY closeup view of the tower! The hotel knew we were there celebrating our anniversary, so they brought up a bottle of wine with cookies and petit fours!

So we checked in, cleaned up and headed out. Walked to the tower first and craned our necks staring up at it. (We have about 20 pictures of it that all look exactly the same...) Then we strolled around the Champs de Mars and eventually found our way to a Metro station. We bought two carnets (which turned out to be WAY too much for our short stay - we didn't realize we could share a carnet) and headed to Notre Dame. Wandered around some more, then headed to Ile St. Louis for lunch. We decided on Cafe Med on rue St. Louis for crepes. I had one with apples and calvados (a liqueur served flambe) and my H had a ham and cheese crepe. Total cost about 15E, including a bottle of water.

Then we headed back in the direction of our hotel because we wanted to stop by Le Florimond to make reservations for later that night. We had no problem reserving a table, thankfully - we LOVED this restaurant!! After reading all the raves about it on this board, I knew we had to eat there. I had foie gras (which I didn't really care for, actually - don't see what all the fuss is about!), scallops in an almond oil sauce and creme brulee. My H had some sort of deer sausage (can't remember the French name) with chutney, boeuf moutarde with a beef stew and millefeuille for dessert. Despite my disappointment in the foie gras, everything else was FANTASTIC, especially the boeuf moutarde. I'm drooling just thinking about it. (Now that I re-read some posts on here about Le Florimond, I see that many others have enjoyed this dish. Anyone know where to buy the moutarde violette de Brive in the US?) With a bottle of Bordeaux, our bill came to 104E.

On Friday, we started our day at the Arc de Triomphe. Enjoyed the view from the top, of course, and also liked the display inside of black and white photos depicting the liberation of Paris during WWII. Then we strolled down the Champs-Elysees, stopping in lots of shops along the way. We had lunch that day at Le Ponthieu Cafe on Ave. de Franklin D. Roosevelt, about a block or two off Champs-Elysees. This place was absolutely mobbed with Parisian businesspeople on their lunch hour! I had French onion soup and a croque monseiur. H had seafood quiche and rotisserie guinea hen. Total about 36E.

Then we headed toward the Place de la Concorde, Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to actually go in the Louvre, but we enjoyed wandering around it. (We sure did a lot of wandering, didn't we?)

Next up: Angelina's for chocolate and macarons (about 21E total)! Can someone tell me if the Mont Blancs are better than the macarons? No, on second thought, don't tell me - I'm better off not knowing if we missed out on something special! After Angelina's, we walked up rue de Rivoli in the direction of Hotel de Ville. I had no idea that this was a big shopping area - it was mobbed with people going in and out of all the stores.

That night, we went to L'Angle du Fauborg for dinner. I had made reservations there a few weeks prior to our trip. L'Angle du Fauborg is the smaller sister restaurant of Taillievent (is that how it's spelled?), located in the 8th just a few blocks away from the Arc de Triomphe. This was the fanciest meal of our trip - so good!! We toasted ourselves with a glass of champagne, then started the meal with endive soup for me and artichoke salad for my H. Then I had a beef dish (very tasty, but we liked the boeuf moutard at Le Florimond better), and my H had a braised lamb dish. We finished off with an assortment of fromage. With a bottle of wine, the bill was about 140E. Very good food, wonderful service - I would definitely recommend this place.

Funny story: We speak very little French, so we brought our little Marling Menu Master everywhere we went - including L'Angle du Fauborg. We tried to be inconspicuous as we looked up all the menu items, but this adorable older French couple sitting next to us saw us leafing through our book. They started laughing (in a friendly way), and the gentleman leaned over and said to us in English, "Don't worry. I've lived here all my life, and I still don't know what some of these menus mean..."

After dinner, we wandered back down the Champs-Elysees and went to Laduree for espressos and dessert. I had a tarte chocolat, and my H had a Mont Blanc, since we missed out on the yummy-looking Mont Blancs earlier that day. The one he got from Laduree didn't look as good as the ones at Angelina's, and he was disappointed with the taste - oh well! Total at Laduree was about 18E.

Saturday - our last full day in Paris! Visited the Pompidou Center first, then wandered Ile de la Cite and climbed to the top of Notre Dame. SO glad we went to the top - we really enjoyed the gargoyles and the fantastic views of the city! Then we headed to the Latin Quarter, visited Shakespeare and Co., grabbed some baguettes for lunch, and explored lots of backstreets and alleyways. We walked all the way down Boulevard St. Germain to Les Invalides. I recently read a trilogy by Sandra Gulland about Josephine and Napoleon, so I really wanted to see Napoleon's tomb. I found it interesting, since all the details of his life were fresh in my mind. Next: Rue Cler. We got there in the late afternoon, so the area was mobbed with locals buying meats, cheese, bread and wine for their dinners. We bought honey and chocolates for ourselves as souvenirs.

That night, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower - loved it! Not to point out the obvious, but it's so high up! I felt like I was sitting on top of the world's tallest flagpole. The views were incredible. Back on terra firma, we wandered down rue St. Dominique and decided on Le Petit Torquet for dinner. My H had pumpkin soup, beef poivre and pear crumble; I had a salad of endive, granny smith apples and goat cheese, guinea hen in a mushroom sauce and rice pudding with pineapple and rum. With a bottle of wine, total was about 96E. This restaurant was good, but not as memorable or as tasty as Le Florimond or L'Angle du Fauborg.

Well, that pretty much concludes our trip! I just realized how much I talked about the food we ate... now you know what my priorities are! It was such a wonderful trip. We wore ourselves out with all the walking we did, but it was so worth it and so romantic. Paris was just lovely. The weather was cool, but not unpleasant - all the better for snuggling. The forecast predicted rain, but we didn't have any at all. If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading!!
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Old Nov 10th, 2004, 04:05 PM
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What a perfect long weekend in Paris!
I really enjoyed reading your report, I am so glad you had such a nice time, I am so glad that the weather was good and that you were able to do and see so much!
When are you going back?
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Old Nov 10th, 2004, 04:06 PM
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Perfect, brief, well written but most important, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
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Old Nov 10th, 2004, 04:18 PM
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Thanks, ladies!

Cigale, you thought that was brief? I was actually trying to edit it down because I thought I was writing too much!

And Scarlett, as soon as possible!
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Old Nov 10th, 2004, 04:26 PM
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And that was only year one! Think what's in store for the next 365 days!

Bon Anniversaire!
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Old Nov 10th, 2004, 04:31 PM
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Nice food report Meredith! lol My husband always remembers the places he has been by the food he ate! I remember art and CHOCOLATE.

Which chocolate shop did you buy chocolates at on Rue Cler? I remember there was a small chocolate shop run by two grandmotherly types on Rue Cler closer to Rue De La Motte Picquet called Le Lutin. There is also a Leonidas on Rue Cler. I am just wondering if Le Lutin is still there and how you thought their chocolates compared to any others you have eaten.
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Old Nov 10th, 2004, 04:40 PM
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Ronda, we bought our chocolate at A La Mere de Famille. There were a few different chocolate shops right in the area, but we liked the looks of this one best. Plus - don't laugh - everyone calls me Mere, so the name of this shop seemed like a sign.

We haven't cracked into our souvenir chocolate yet, but we did sample some in the store, and it was delicious! (But then again, I've never met a chocolate I didn't like...)

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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 01:29 AM
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Thanks so much for the great trip report! My husband and I are going for a long weekend next month and this makes me look forward to it more!

Judy
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 03:34 AM
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> We bought two carnets (which turned out to be WAY too much for our short stay - we didn't realize we could share a carnet).

I hope you have kept the tickets you did not use. Now you have an excuse to return to Paris (tell you husband you gotta use the tickets!). They remain valid for a long time. I always buy a carnet on my visit to Paris, even for a day or two and either alone or for two because I can use the eventual left overs next time.
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 05:11 AM
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Thanks for sharing your trip report. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. My husband is taking me to Paris next summer for our 20th. Can't wait!
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 07:11 AM
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Thanks so much for the restaurant reviews! My husband & I and my daughter & son-in-law will be visiting Paris for the first time next month, and I'm making notes of any useful information I can find. What's a "carnet" anyway? And do we need to get 1 or 2? (Our stay is one week, and we'll be staying at a resort next to EuroDisney--Marriott's Village d'Ile de France)
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 07:20 AM
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Sounds as though you were able to fit a week's worth of enjoyment into a long week-end!
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 07:24 AM
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Hi M,

Lovely Anniversary.

Thanks for posting.
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 08:19 AM
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Lovely report, Happy Anniversary! Oh, I REALLY want a long weekend in Paris...
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 08:49 AM
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If i'm not mistaken and still remember right, "carnet" is a set of 10 tickets for the Metro which is more practical than buying one ticket at a time.
Always loved Paris- can't wait to go back!
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 09:00 AM
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Yes, a carnet is simply 10 metro tickets. We knew that a carnet was worth 10 rides, but we weren't sure if we'd be allowed to share them. But yes, you can share them, so one carnet would have been plenty for us.

And as for the leftover tickets, we ended up giving them to our concierge as part of a tip - he was so helpful and friendly to us during our whole stay, so we were happy to give them to him!
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 09:13 AM
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Sigh...what a deliciously romantic (or romantically delicious) report.
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 09:24 AM
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Thanks for a wonderful trip report! We leave for Paris one week from today, and I'm getting quite excited.

If you just returned, how was the weather? I know your weather may be very different from our weather, but I'm holding out hope that it won't be too chilly!

Thanks - and happy anniversary (we've been married almost 2 years, but this will serve as our honeymoon!).
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 12:35 PM
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kgh8m, the weather was mostly in the 50s, I'd say. It was overcast most of the time, but it never rained. Nighttime dipped down into I guess the low 40s. It was chilly, but not unpleasant. I'm the type who is always cold, but I was comfortable in a knee-length coat, light gloves and sometimes a scarf.
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Old Nov 11th, 2004, 12:37 PM
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Thanks, Meredith!
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