|
Surprise trip
In February,my husband and I went out to dinner as we often do on a Friday evening. He proceeds to hand me a paper with flight times booked for Paris. I was shocked to say the least. We have been married 45 years and he has never done that. Then he gives me another paper with the apartment he had booked. WOW, I am drinking my Kir royale and trying to calm down. Now I am hoping I can take the time off from work or he will be going alone. We have been here 10 times before, but I am always ready to come back.Anyway, it worked out and we departed May 6th for 2 weeks in our favorite city.
Flight was smooth and my husbands friend Lucien met us at the airport.We managed to get all our bags in his small car and off we go to the 16th. I can’t imagine driving around the Arc d ‘ triumph,crazy drivers, but he doesn’t mind. We like to stay in different neighborhoods and the 16th is lovely. We got settled in, said au revoir to Lucien, and went out to explore. We needed to pick up some water, coke,etc at the monoprix, and then decided to walk. it was a beautiful sunny day,and we walked up the street and ended up at the Eiffel Tower.Oh how I love to see that on the first day..Lots of people out and about.we continue our walk,ended up in the 7th, it was familiar,as we stayed there 2 years ago. We tried to get out metro passes loaded at one of the tabac places, but we were directed to a metro station,as it expired. No problem, lots of them around. We use the metro all the time while we are here. I know we stopped somewhere to eat,can’t remember where or what. I was so tired.More later... |
What an exciting surprise! Can’t wait to read more.
|
Tuesday our main goal was to find our train station and see if trains would be running.
After a sluggish start,we were up and out. Bill watches his blood sugar, so he makes a light breakfast before we go out.He makes eggs and ham which he picked up at monoprix.I just need some coffee and then I pick up a pain au chocolate on the way. Good news ,we found the train station and our train will be running Wednesday to Vernon.I can’t wait to see Giverny. Today was a beautiful day, sunny,clear blue skies,warm. We did get to Galeries Lafayette to browse, went to the rooftop terrace for drinks and to soak in the view.Back to the 16th to explore and find a place for dinner. We swore we would sit back and relax this trip,no pressure to see everything the first day. We walked down rue de passy, found a small restaurant. We enjoyed some salmon dishes and I had a dessert recommended by the French couple next to us. It was lies flottantes(floating island),light as air.Home to bed,getting up early for the train. |
The train to Vernon was 15 minutes late taking off from the station.I had stopped at Starbucks before boarding and the ride was pleasant. We took the little tram over to Giverny. We were in a short line to buy tickets,waited 10-15 minutes. The flowers in the gardens were all blooming, and the lily ponds, wow what can I say? Breathtaking, I loved this part and we spent a lot of time here. We went into the house and what a kitchen,lots of copper pots.
When we came out, the lines were longer, lots of bus tours here. We decided to have lunch in the museum restaurant. We sat outside and there was only one waitress,she was really moving. It took forever to get our check. Food was ok,pleasant afternoon. on the ride back to Vernon, we met 2 girls also from Pa, one teaches English to French children, her friend was visiting her. She teaches English to children in Japan. We went to a small cafe and had a drink near the train station. When I went in, our scheduled train wasn’t on time, but we were able to get on an earlier train, that made 23 stops,but at least we got back to Paris, although it took a bit longer. |
Thursday we decided to go to our favorite museum, Musée d’Orsay. We walked right in , no line. This is our favorite and we always have lunch in the beautiful restaurant on the second floor. After we just walked around, no plans .We did drop in to the Polish church,Mass was being celebrated. We are of Polish descendants, so we talked to a gentleman who said they have a kitchen and dining room down stairs. It is only opened on Sundays, so we made plans to return. We then walked over to Place Vendôme. There were a lot of cars, all kinds , some sort of Citroen celebration. We got to see the latest Bentley models, as well as other brands. I had signed up for a cooking class at the Ritz cooking school to make macarons. Bill went back to the apartment until my class was over. There were 6 French students and myself. They did have a translator for me. We learned how to make chocolate and strawberry macarons. At the end of class ,we were sent home with our macarons. I met Bill and we stopped in a small bistro and had dinner, then home.
We are putting a lot of miles on our fit bits! |
nice report - keep it coming!!
|
Friday we always meet my husbands friend and his wife for lunch. We had lunch at Angelina’s in Galleries Lafayette as we had plans to see their fashion show at 3. Angelina’s is just convenient, and Marie and I love to look at the designer clothes we can’t afford. This year they now charge 12 Euros to attend the fashion show. They did give us a bottle of water. Nothing exciting in the show. We then walked around and had to look at baby things, we just found out we are going to be first time grandparents in November.
The 4 of us then went up on the rooftop terrace for a drink and pictures. It was a gorgeous sunny day. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7b42911c8.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a11a8dd8f.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9adaf10c5.jpeg |
How exiting! I am really enjoying your report. Isn't Paris wonderful?
|
Yes, we just love it. Even when you are just walking and watching people. We did end up walking towards Notre Dame. I always need to pick up a few rosaries. We decided to get some drinks and dinner. There is a restaurant behind Notre Dame -Au Vieux Paris d’Arcole, we have tried to eat here before ,but the timing never worked out. We sat outside and noticed there were 2 rooms inside plus an upstairs dining room. When my husband asked for the wine list, they said come in and took him down stairs to choose a bottle. We started out with a seafood appetizer that we shared. I think I had confit de canard, We talked to a couple next to us, they were visiting from Switzerland and had a few days in Paris. Back on the metro and home to the 16th. I love seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up as we get out of the Metro.https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9f2cc59ac.jpeghttps://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...eae316166.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bd0b7677d.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6c3066e67.jpeg |
Enjoying your report :)
Boots |
Also following along as I'll be in Paris in a couple of weeks. Love the sparkly shoes in your last photo :)
|
Thank you
|
Everybody needs a sparkling pair of sneakers
|
Saturday we had to go to the train station to see if our train to Reims would be running. We had plans to go Monday. They told us it would not be running, but they gladly exchanged our tickets for Tuesday. Since we had no plans , Bill wanted to check out the food in le Bon Marche.
There seems to be more police everywhere. Several times we were stopped in the metro areas to have our tickets checked. The variety and selection at le Bon Marchhe unbelievable. The cheese selections cover 3 refrigerated cabinets. How do you pick one? We spent a bit of time here, picked up some things. The church of the Miraculous Medal is around the corner, so we always stop in and pick up some things. There is a new “ le Bon Marche” in the 16 th, so we would be checking that out in a day or 2. We had no plans for dinner that night, so we thought we would walk around the streets near our apartment. We came across a restaurant called Tsari”. It is an interesting (?) place as the menu is half French and the back is Russian or middle eastern. Since that is our heritage we gave it a try. They had pierogies on the menu as well as several other Russian dishes. My husband asked for a chicken dish, the waitress came back and said they didn’t have that one. He tried to order another, once again she said they didn’t have it. We asked just what they had. He ended up ordering some meat patties. I chose an avocado/ crab meat dish. When it was time for dessert, I really just wanted some ice cream. She came back and said, no ice cream. I asked what they did have, after 2 more things were unavailable. It was getting to be funny. She came back and said she saw apple strudel, so I had that. Evidently, they had only been opened for a week and were working out the bugs! Lots to work out! They did apologize and brought us each a nice glass of champagne,which was delicious. We did get a good laugh out of the whole thing,https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5950427dc.jpeg Avocado/ crab salad https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7a0c5882a.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9a9803c61.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ceaa002eb.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dafb91c13.jpeg Which one? https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d2ebf5dc8.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...08eae3b2b.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...918ed64af.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3df7f1550.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...170e0ca54.jpeg |
Hey L,
Thanks for sharing. You have a wonderful husband. Keep him. :) ((I)) |
All those pastries - mmmmm!
|
Enjoying your Paris rambles and terrific photos. What a juicyTR!
|
Sunday we did go to the Polish church (Notre-Dame -de-l’Assomption) built between 1670 and 1676.It is located along rue Saint -Honore. There was standing room only for Mass.Outside there was a farmers market selling Polish meats , candies,books.
We went downstairs to try the pierogies. There was no menu, and the poor woman couldn’t tell us what was available, so she walked us into the kitchen, and the cooks lifted lids off big pots of soups , a pork dish and the pierogies.The pierogies were almost as good as mine!https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...95cccc6ba.jpeghttps://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bd77ca041.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d5f18aadd.jpeg |
What an awesome surprise for your husband to spring on you!
Enjoying your report and pictures. |
Monday 5/14
Since our train schedule changed to Tuesday, we decided to go to the Foundation Louis Vuitton. This was our first cloudy cool day, but no rain. The FLV promotes contemporary artistic creations.https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...876031a84.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...99694a70d.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a74f19f90.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1349b905b.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...686ce3145.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c1459a1b3.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3e554abb7.jpeg Spent some time here going up all the floors exploring many interesting exhibits,watching videos. When you get to the top, you walk outside getting wonderful views. We walked back to get the metro and continued on our journey. We do have certain things we do for sentimental reasons. One of them is having dinner at Chartier, it’s not great gourmet food, it’s good food, but we go for the atmosphere, watching the waiters hustle back and forth.https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c27a3a151.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a0bd734cf.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4fa34a2f7.jpeg Escargot, confit de canard, kir royale������ |
May 15
off we go to Reims. Train was only 15 minutes late,but a pleasant quick ride. We stopped in the tourism office for some maps. Walked through center city and to the cathedral.just amazing. We did the tour of the Palace Tau. So much history to learn about dating back to the 6th century. We continued our walk and found ourselves at Taittinger champagne house. Luckily for us the next tour was starting in 5 minutes. The tour lasts about 1 hour,learning the history, going down in their cellars,followed by a glass of champagne, We did the 19 Euro-1 glass tasting. They offer 30 and 40 euro tours with 2 or 3 glasses.. we left and needed to find some place to eat. As we got to the center of town, several places closed the kitchens at 2 , but served drinks. We finally found a place, sat out in the warm sunshine and enjoyed a late lunch, before catching our train.https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3ddda27d1.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b291260e5.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3d13e2607.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d3bf59e26.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f230b6a79.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...32421fd90.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1b00eecb9.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3e29ccca7.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5e8de70b6.jpeg |
Sounds like you enjoyed your surprise! I feel like bookmarking this report and referencing it the next time someone posts about a surprise trip he (it’s usually a he) wants to give his wife or girlfriend. Almost always, numerous people says surprises are bad ideas. At least in your case, I’m glad it wasn’t.
|
Janie, Incredible photos and a wonderful TR. All our husbands (wives, too actually) should take note :) And I have taken good notes on your adventure for my time in Paris in July. So glad it went well...even with the Greves. Merci !
|
Janie, we were in Paris just before you. I am enjoying your report and photos. You did many of the same things we did and like you do things we have done before for sentimental reasons. We always go to the fashion show and decided to go this time even with the €12 fee. It is not worth it at all and we won't go again. In the past it has been packed. Only one third full this time. We remember when the roof deck was just a wide open space. They have certainly maximized that real estate!
|
May 16
Today we did our cooking class with Catherine at her restaurant Reed. We enjoyed catching up with her, as we have taken classes with her before and have become friends. My husband remembered her saying heavy duty foil was hard to get in Paris, so he bought a gigantic roll at Sam’s club before we left. I made him put it in his suitcase, I didn’t need the extra weight in mine. When we were unpacking, he found a note from airport security saying they had opened his luggage to see what was in it. Anyway, Catherine was thrilled with her gift. There was one other person in the class, a woman from Ohio. We made profiteroles, cheese gougeres, cheese soufflés and duck with a mango chutney. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0e5016656.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...01a715d19.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...98aeef359.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6535be4a7.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cf1ca7276.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...450e3da15.jpeg My friend Grace gave me this apron several years ago, and I always bring it along. After about 5 hours of eating , laughing and drinking some wine, we parted ways. We found out when we were in Paris that our son and his wife were expecting a baby boy. This is our first grandchild. We had known for a few weeks and I planned to do a little baby shopping while in Paris. I had planned to buy some neutrals, but then we got the word it was a boy.���� |
The dinner you cooked looks amazing. Will you recreate it at home? Are we all invited?
|
Yes, come on over! Bring the wine!
|
5/17
This trip is flying by, I can’t believe it. Today I did a little baby shopping, then. I wanted to go to a new restaurant I had read about. Sometimes we go for a nice lunch instead of dinner at the same restaurant. You can save a few Euros for other things. The name of the restaurant is Baieta. It is located at 5 rue de Pontoise, in the 5th. The name means kiss in Nice. The young female chef is doing very creative delicious things with a Mediterranean flair. My husband had the Bouillabaieta, her take on bouillabaisse I chose the menu of the day which started out with mackerel layered under a biscuit with some anchovy butter on the base. It was so good. My main was a cod dish with sweet potatoes. This just melted in my mouth. Bills dish was equally delicious. While we were waiting for our lunch, they brought out 2 pieces of pissaladiere followed by tomato water. That was a first for us. We had a nice wine, spoke to a local couple next to us who told us the restaurant was only opened a few weeks ago. Of course, I needed to try one of the creative desserts. Chocotube, with cocoa ice cream, we shared it.https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8847b03c6.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1d6466dd2.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d8f18065.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...13a2ec123.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2630bdbfd.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...84e5b4dbd.jpeg After that lunch, we needed to do some walking. It was a beautiful day out so we just wandered. we came across some beautiful flower stands, everything is so fresh and vibrant. As we were walking a cute little puppy was out with her owner. She was 2 months old and came right to us. Her owner allowed me to hold her .https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4a0bc8c67.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4c0e08ddb.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...59a4c8378.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...50dbc5e11.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5e334e56c.jpeg |
We continued to walk off our lunch , it was a gorgeous day. We thought it was time to head to the Georges V . Someday I would love to dine here, but for now it’s a drink and some photo taking.
The flowers are breath taking in the lobby.https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...257c1ce8c.jpeghttps://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a74b2ffa3.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b958181bf.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...595629f03.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...14f1e4857.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8aeb67d69.jpeg We didn’t waste too much time, walking up the Champs-Elysee,took a picture of the Arc, then headed back to the apartment. |
Taittinger was so good. did you have the English tour. I loved the cellars. I am so glad to see what Catherine Reed looks like. Great pictures.
|
Macross Yes , we had the English tour, we really enjoyed learning the process.
Catherine is delightful and knowledgeable, we love her. |
5/18
Another beautiful day, we are so lucky this time. 2 years ago we had rain almost every day. We took the metro over and then got on the funicular up to Sacre Coeur. We love to go in this beautiful church. We happened to come upon a lovely festival, celebrating the foods from the Perigord region. There were lots of samples, fois gras, meats, cheeses, wine. Everybody was so pleasant, offering samples. Bill bought a nice bottle of wine. We went in one of the souvenir shops to pick up a few photo cards. Bill noticed something fall on the counter when he used his credit card. It was the CHIP from his card. I didn’t know they could fall out.He wanted to go back to the apartment and glue it. Just an FYI, they don’t work when glued!, Oh well, luckily we had other cards. We decided to head over to Luxembourg Gardens. Lots of people working on their tans! We stopped for lunch, sitting in the warm sun, having some wine, bread, ahhhh. I had to stop at Amorino for a gelato. Chocolate, coconut ,caramel.more walking. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a984abb32.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...887b64bae.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...22e2d7c77.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4b5d4b089.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cdd99df0f.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e711ff8d6.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c529fe9be.jpeg |
Time goes by so quickly while in Paris. Time to start planning another trip.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...eca489775.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...66bd5ec2e.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...71b13388f.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b1f2f41bf.jpeg |
What a nice report! You look very pretty and French!
|
Love this report! Glad to see I am not the only one to take so many pictures of the "art of food" -- also interested learning about the Polish church, off St. Honore -- what arrondissement -- 1st or 8th? Who knows if we'll get to Paris (again), but you can never go too many times for sure. Fabulous weather as well. Hopefully report and pictures to continue......
|
Polish church is at 263 Rue Saint Honore ,75001
|
Wonderful report and pictures!
|
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:42 AM. |