Lilaki's Trip Report: Barcelona and Paris, September 26 - October 9
Oct 15th, 2009, 06:21 AM
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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!
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!
Oct 15th, 2009, 08:32 AM
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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!!
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!!
Oct 15th, 2009, 05:21 PM
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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.
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.
Oct 15th, 2009, 05:23 PM
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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!
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!
Oct 15th, 2009, 05:25 PM
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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!
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!
Oct 15th, 2009, 07:34 PM
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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!
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!
Oct 16th, 2009, 04:36 AM
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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.
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.
Oct 16th, 2009, 06:01 AM
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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!
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!
Oct 17th, 2009, 09:27 PM
#55
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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!
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!
Oct 18th, 2009, 05:21 AM
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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!"
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!"
Oct 18th, 2009, 11:16 AM
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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!
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!
Oct 20th, 2009, 06:15 AM
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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.
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.
