I went to Paris in June
 

And I had no plans. Other than my hotel booked about a month prior. I wish I could have stayed for two weeks, but due to terrible spending habits I was only there for one week. The weather was perfect. I arrived on a Weds, booked econ plus seat, didn't sleep at all as usual. I watched a few movies which I can't remember. This was my 14th trip since 1999.

Day 1
Arrived on time, skipped baggage claim as usual, went to the taxi line. There might have been two people ahead of me. Traffic was hideous. Cost about 60 euros. As I'm paying the driver I glance sideways and see two smiling faces awaiting my arrival. Yeah they remember me! It's been two years since last trip. It's nice to be remembered.

Yeah my room is ready! Always nice. Courtyard view so I can sleep. And that I did for about six hours. No shame. I like to sleep. I wake up and need coffee. I go to Relais Odeon. Then I need food, and I want to walk so I go to a café in the Palais Royale. It's right next to Le Grand Vefour.

Dinner is a croque madame, fries, and green salad. With Chablis. Ah Le Grand Vefour. I was last there in 2007 I think it was. What to do, what to do. Decision time, should I or shouldn't I? Ok that's it, I will have lunch at Le Grand Vefour but that means no shopping at LV. Or Chanel. Food wins this round. I walk in wearing my jeans, oh the horror, and make lunch reservations for Monday. I slip out quickly hoping that the diners weren't horrified by my attire.

Feeling satisfied that my Monday lunch will be fabulous, I go in search of a celebratory wine. Every trip I like to try at least one café I've never been to before. I think it was called Café Colette, near the Louvre end of the Palais Royale. I order more Chablis, or maybe it was Sancerre.

Time to walk again, it is dark now. I enjoy the Louvre (outside obvi) the Pyramid has a lovely red light art installation inside it. Interesting. I go to Café de Flore. All of the outside tables are full. Rats. Turning around, I go to Café le Buci for Sancerre and ice cream.

I still want to go to the Flore. So I try again, and this time I score a prime table. I order a Kir Royale. And then a Pommery Rose. And then I made a new friend.

I like the way this report is starting out. I'm looking forward to more!

Hi RUEDEBUCCI,

I always enjoy reading about your forays in Paris. What is "croque madame" please?

Waiting for more...

I think a croque madame is a croque monsieur with the addition of an egg.

Love the Pommery Rose choice - look forward to more.

Sounded perfect until I got to " Sancerre and ice cream". Okay, I will reserve judgement!

A most welcome Paris read. I envy your casual reference to walking about from place to place, as I still struggle with geography after seven trips. Looking forward to more!

Sancerre pairs well with anything....one of my favorites! I will have to try it with ice cream

What a shame to have a courtyard view so you can sleep. ;-) This morning I was delighted to jump out of bed at 5am to see what on earth had happened after the huge noise. A car had missed the turn and clipped off 4 of the brown metal poles protecting the sidewalk. Unfortunately, the car was long gone, so I was not able to admire what damage it had done to itself.

"I went to Paris in June---and I had no plans."

Your opening line, along with the Sancerre, and I'm definitely along for the ride.

Looking forward to your week!

Hotel?

I'm in, too! Loving all of your beverage selections.

Well, I'm hooked! I look forward to more of your wanderings, ruedebuci!

Ruedebuci, I'm waiting for more, too!

Thanks all! I typed up day 2 last night, hit submit, and got "Fodor's is Offline" message. Grrr, not happy.

So I will report back later, stay tuned.

Cath my usual hotel is Le Regent.

Waiting to hear about the new friend.

I write trip reports in Word and then copy them to Fodor's. This way the text doesn't get lost in cyberspace if the web site is screwed up.

Looking forward to more! Thanks for posting.

Ok one more try for day 2. Nikki thanks for the tip but my computer is lame and doesn't have word.

Day 2
I wake up at 6 am. What an ungodly hour! I'm on vacation what is this #@$!? I have a "goodnight" text from my new friend. I'll call him Pierre, lol. I try to go back to sleep, but I have a coffee craving. I call for a 7 am breakfast delivery.

While eating breakfast in bed, I get another text. Huh. I keep eating, and then another text. Mmm okay. Maybe he is interested? {I can hear you all saying in What? yeah me too.)

So I text back. Got nothing else to do. Well not until my 1 pm lunch with a longtime Parisian friend (I'll call her Francine, we've been friends for several years.)

He wants to meet. I suggest coffee at Relais Odeon. At that moment I'm so glad I brought my leather skirt and push-up bra. (Just kidding folks).

He arrives at Relais Odeon shortly after I do. We talk. We laugh. Le sigh. We go to the Luxembourg Gardens. I'm having the time of my life. Then I must go to meet Francine. He escorts me on the metro, line 6, Kleber stop. I spot Francine, and he asks me to meet up with him later. We'll see.

Francine: "Who is that guy?!?"

Me: "I met him yesterday."

Francine: "That was fast."

Me: "Yeah I know!"

Yeah I'm in Paris, I had a romantic date in the Luxembourg Gardens, and now I'm going to the Paris Polo Club!

This will be a first. I've never even seen a polo match. I meet some of Francine's family and friends. Lunch is Chablis, shrimp in a ginger sauce with rice, and vacherin (sp?) for dessert. All very good.

Afterwards we drive through the Bois de Boulogne which I've never seen before. Then I head back to my hotel for a nap, tired from all the excitement of the day.

"... Sancerre and ice cream."
Is Sancerre a brand of chocolate syrup, or what?

I smell romance. Just lovely, Rue.

Ooh la la
Cheers to your 14th visit to Paris.
I'm along for the ride

Oh boy!!! This is getting good!!!

Is Sancerre a brand of chocolate syrup, or what?>>

Is that a joke? It's a French wine appellation from the Loire area, there are both white and red Sancerres (almost most people only think of the whites). I like a red Sancerre with salmon, as it is fairly light, it is a pinot noir. I personally don't think wine goes with ice cream, but some people do.

Interesting report. I would be cautious about being picked up by dragueurs in Paris who prey on tourists, though.

as a tip on the word, you do not need to paste your report into anything, if you highlight it and right click (to copy and as if you were going to paste it) and hit submit, if the site is down, it will still be "in" your browser, so to speak. So if there were an error and you brought up the thread again, you could still paste that into it. Or you can just paste it into an email message or something.

The antithesis of me! No plans! So daring! I am loving this - I can't meet up with a Pierre as I am married, but am so enjoying your narrative. Will be tuning in for more!

<I>Is Sancerre a brand of chocolate syrup, or what?>>

Is that a joke?</I>

It was totally clear to me that it was a joke based on the way it was mentioned in the previous episode.

Well she made it home safe and sound, so as far as I can tell, it was consensual preying. :-)

I'm in, too, ruedebuci - looking forward to more!

Christina thanks for your concern, sincerely, but I'm very street smart. Yeah I know anything could happen. I've done some crazy stuff in Paris, most of which I can't post about! (And some of which I wouldn't do again). And thanks for the tip about posting and saving.

Yanky that's funny "consensual preying"!

Mogs I've done the "no plans" thing a couple times before. Try it!

Wow. I would love to hear all about the "crazy stuff" . . . but I'll settle for what you can share here. :)

Sounds like fun, Rue. Clearly we all want to live vicariously through you! :-)

Day 2 - continued

After a nap, don't remember how long, I needed to find dinner. No plans meant I had no dinner reservations that night, a Thursday. I walked to Marco Polo. Complet. Last trip I had some good Mexican food on rue Dauphine. I had to try it and compare it to the fantastic Mexican food I have here at home. I generally eat Mexican at least once a week, so why not? I think the place is called Fajitas.

And it's packed. I have to wait about 10 minutes. I order a Corona and chicken quesadillas. And chips and salsa. It hits the spot.

I did see Pierre again briefly, he insisted, and it was lovely but he had to work so our time was short.

My note taking was terrible this trip. What did I do with the rest of my evening? Likely walked around here and there. I do remember I ended the night drinking Champagne at the Flore.

delightful report! Can't wait for more.

Dying laughing at you! We passed a Mexican restaurant every day on our last trip but I cannot get myself to go out for Mexican while in Paris. It's a total mental block for me. I do always seem to make it to Marco Polo on every trip though---apparently I have no mental block with Italian while in Paris!

Enjoying your trip report...and it <i><strong>is</i></strong> a trip.

Your style is different than mine. I research like crazy before, and tend to be somewhat flexible once there -- but not like you -- wow!

I also write up my TRs in Word and paste into Fodors...I am a frequent mis-typer.

Keep it coming.

SS

Seems to me you are remembering the important things ;-)

More, please.

As is typical of me, I never finished my report. I hang my head in guilty shame.

But I need to post a follow-up because my head is about to explode. After I returned home, I heard from "Pierre" from time to time. He did remember my birthday which was nice. Mostly just chit chat, hey how are you type stuff. I played it cool as I do.

Well today he finally asks, when am I coming to Paris again? March it is. Sooner than I thought :)

Does this mean I have a French manfriend? LOL

Nice! And yes, sounds that way to me!

So that means you need to finish up with this report before you go in March. :-)

Thanks! Maybe I will, but I don't know if anyone would be interested since it was months ago.

Hey, I'm always interested in what a fellow Fodorite who loves champagne does in Paris!

Thanks Kathie but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen. Sorry I'm lame!

BUT I just booked trip 15 for the end of March. My French man friend twisted my arm! It's been a long time since I went in the spring as I prefer summer trips. I hope the weather is good!