3.France
Bonjour! Madame!: Four Days in Paris
Day 1 (Day 8 total of Euro-trip)
We survived our first week in Europe and boarded another mega bus from Bruges to Paris. We were fortunate to be staying with a family friend whom I’d never met, but he was the nicest guy. If you want to skip to the quick highlights of our trip click here.
My first impression of Paris was it looked very similar to London, although I found it less touristy. It’s certainly a unique city with it’s own quirks… 4 things in particular stood out as funny cultural differences:
1) Parisian Dining experience: The restaurants are small/intimate. You are so close to the next table there is essentially no privacy. That doesn’t seems to bother people because the second major difference is PDA.
2)Public Displays of Affection: Paris is the city of romance, but it seemed everywhere you turned people were sucking face. In Canada this makes people uncomfortable, but in Paris it seemed normalized. We ate a meal beside a couple that couldn’t keep their hands off each other. It’s these little moments that make travel so interesting, just being out for dinner is an experience in itself.
3) Every season is patio season: It was late fall and cold/rainy out, but in Paris (and I found most of Europe) patios stay open and are really popular. In Canada we love our summer patio season, so it’s pretty great in Europe you can sit and have a drink outside year round.
4)Lastly, Food to go was another hilarious encounter. It seems to be something people don’t really do in Europe. At a Pizza place I asked for a ‘to-go box’ but the waitress seemed confused. She wrapped my Pizza in tinfoil and handed it to me with a strange expression on her face.
Day 2 (Day 9 total): Food Coma
One of the many things on our bucket lists was to try Crepes in France. We went for breakfast at Aux Ducs De Bourgogne, a cute little restaurant that was also gluten-free friendly (yay!). The owner Charlie, a sweet older man recommended we try the Salted Caramel Apple Crepe and it was absolutely heaven.
After breakfast I had my first hop-on-hop off tour, and I suppose if you weren’t super anal like me it might be nice to have this all planned out, but I enjoy it more when Jenna and I follow our own travel itineraries. The bus takes you to all the staples and we had the pleasure of passing Moulin Rouge while Lady Marmalade played. We got off at Notre Dame to explore.
It was our first time inside a church in Europe and what a way to start, it was stunning! The mosaic of colours in the stained glass windows, the tall arches, the candlelight…it was simply majestic.
We payed about 7 euros to climb to the top: 380 steps in a never ending spiral tower (not for the claustrophobic), but I can say it’s worth it for the views. You can see the entire city, the canals, the eiffel tower. The creepy gargoyles and the sounds of the tower bell ringing made me feel like I was in a scene from Beauty and the Beast.
For Dinner we met Nic (the guy we were staying with) and his friends. The restaurant we went to ‘Il Giramonde’ was discreetly located in a meat shop basement, which would’ve been missed if we didn’t have insider information. This is why it’s great to stay with locals, in fact I encourage you to go outside your comfort zone of hostels and hotels and spend a night couch surfing or at an airbnb. It was the best decision we made, not only to save money, but to see a different side of the city and make a new friend. Dinner was a really pleasant because cultural gathering. Nic himself was a Canadian now living in Paris, his friends included a woman from London, a woman from Portugal and her husband a Parisian local. We had so many laughs about the little cultural differences between us, for example the woman from London couldn’t believe her toddlers were expelled from school for 6 weeks because they had peed their pants. We thought that was a harsh punishment, but the Parisian man laughed because that was just how Parisians raise their children, apparently much more strict about things like that. We laughed, we drank lots and the food was plenty. I ordered the most delicious ball of cheese similar to a Caprese salad and some sort of meat I could not pronounce. It helped having french people assist us in ordering. *Disclaimer: When eating in a group like this it is often polite to split the bill evenly b/w everyone rather than paying for your individual meals. Sometimes travelling, no matter how outgoing you are can be isolating and it was so nice to spend time with interesting people. Where’s your favourite place to eat at in Paris!?
Day 3: Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters
Being the active women we are, Jenna and I like to jam pack our day. We decided that we didn’t get enough stairs at Notre Dame so we would climb another 704 up the eiffel tower. This excursion cost about 5-10 euros depending on your age. I would say it’s worth it for the views and to get some nice pics of the city. Plus another bucket list item checked because we are tacky and basic like that. Of course even that wasn’t enough stairs to constitute a good leg day for us, so we hit up Catacombs. If you’ve read anything about Catacombs I’m sure there are tips about when to go to avoid line etc, but unfortunately it can be a luck game and we ended up standing in line for 2 and 1/2 hours. Thank god for friends, snacks, and smart phones to pass the time. In my expert adventure opinion I would say it is well worth the wait. Catacombs was unlike anything I had ever seen. You travel down another 300 step spiral staircase to an underground tunnel (disclaimer: NOT FOR THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC).
You can feel the air changing as you descend, it gets colder and creepier until you finally reach a tomb of bones. The whole passageway is made of human remains and it is SO bizarre.. At first it feels like a regular museum experience…but then when you think about how these were people who were killed and these are there bodies… SOMEBODY CALL THE WINCHESTERS because there has got to be a ghostly presence down there.
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We ran from the Catacombs to the Louvre because TRAVELER TIP: it’s free on Fridays after 6pm to people under 26 (bring valid ID!). We love the word FREE. If you are over 26 I would still say do it, there is so much to see and learn about even if you aren’t really into art and history there is something there for everyone.
From Egyptian crypts, to Napoleon decor, medieval jewellery and Roman statues. We went right at 6 and there was barely any line, although rumour has it there’s a secret passageway, but we didn’t find it. Definitely look into it! We ran straight to the Mona Lisa first because we wanted to snag a pic before the lines. There was still a crowd but we managed to get some shots. It’s amazing to think about how some of the paintings are so large they stretch from the ceiling to the floor and someone took the time to paint in every little detail. And of course the work on the ceilings was breathtaking.
Below is a shot of one of my favourite pieces: I read somewhere that these particular flowers are a symbol of how fleeting life is because they are in full bloom and die within a few hours, which is kind of the strange mix of feelings I had when I saw this because it’s so beautiful, but there is also something sad about it at the same time.
After the Louvre we bought some pastries, chocolates, a baguette and wine and headed to the eiffel tower to picnic and watch the lights change. It’s really a beautiful city in it’s own special way.
Day 4: Breakfast in America
Today was a free day for us with no major excursions planned. Feeling a little homesick for an american style meal we ate at a place called ‘Breakfast in America’. It’s a cute 50s style diner that is decorated with American Pop-culture. Basically a lot of F.R.I.E.N.D.S merch aha. We spent the rest of the day shopping, strolling the streets and admiring the architecture. Paris was one of my top ten cities on our trip and although we ticked off all our to-dos in 4 days I definitely think you could find many neat things to do if you wanted more time. The food alone was some of the best we had in Europe.
The Run Down:
Where to stay: we stayed with a friend, but I have friends say these are good ones: 3 ducks hostel, vintage hostel, arty paris, or on the pricier side: hotel de londres eiffel, hotel fabric
Where to eat: Babalou (pizza), Aux Ducs De Bourgogne (crepes and pastries), ‘Il Giramonde’ (Parisian), Le Rubis
Best Place to grab a quick bite/Coffee: Carette, Smiths Bakery, Vendors around the eiffel tower are good for a quick bite on the go
Nightlife: Wine and the Eiffel tower, Moulin Rouge, (we didn’t go partying but these are good bars/places to grab a drink) Le bar long, cocktail experimental, Silencio (David lynch bar), Cafe de Flore, Crazy Horse (cabaret)
Sights and Excursions: Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Catacombs, Sainte-Chappelle, Louis Vuitton Foundation. There is also a Disney land (though we were not interested in this
COMMENT BELOW YOUR FAVE PLACE TO EAT IN PARIS:D