Escape to Paris- La Fin

Rainy day Friday. A good day for Musee d'Orsay and tucking into some yummy food. 

A little market in St. Germain. 

Entrecote, tartare, frites and french wine! 

Visited this museum with Pete back in 2005. Happy to see these masterpieces again!

We walked across the Siene to the Tuileries, where there was a Christmas market. 

From there, we walked up the Champs-Elysées. The red lights turned on as we walked up towards the Arc de Triomphe. No Christmas markets there this year though. 

For dinner, Bobbie made reservations at Milagro, a restaurant near the Eiffle tower owned by her American friends, Justin and Lindsey. They had me at ceviche! First, we crawled through Friday evening traffic in an uber to get to Bobbie's friends' apartment in the pouring rain. She had a roaring fire and wine waiting in her beautiful Paris apartment. My former Amsterdam friend, Juliette, took the train in from Versaille where she moved this summer so we got to all have a nice dinner out! A very cool experience to be friends with the chef. 

We closed the restaurant down and then walked in the rain to see the Eiffel tower. It was 11:40 so we waited the extra 20 minutes to see the twinkly show up close and personal! 

On our last morning before my train back to Amsterdam, I wanted to see if the Christmas trees were set up around the Pantheon. Instead, I found something even better. A line of people around the block waiting to pay their respects to Josephine Baker who was being honored. 

A final stroll through Luxembourg Gardens. 

 Au revoir Paris! I've now visited this city in every season and they have all been great! 

Escape to Paris- Day 2

I really got into the Christmas spirit on our first full day! It started with a pan du chocolate at Bobbie's favorite bakery near her old apartment. Gonna need provisions for another big day of sightseeing! 

My last trip to Paris was in May 2018 so I hadn't yet seen Notre Dame after the fire. Very sobering. I'm so glad we went to the top on our last visit. 

We crossed the Siene and went to see the location of Bobbie's former cupcake shop, Bertie's CupCakery. Then some shopping on Ile-Saint-Louis.

We crossed over into the Marais for more shopping, on the hunt for Bobbie's proclaimed best macarons at Carette on the Place des Vosges. While on our way, it started snowing! Very lighly and it didn't last long, but it made my day! Bobbie the Newfie was less impressed ;) 

An original timbered home

The fanciest dog park I've ever seen! 

Macarons in hand, we stopped for a yummy lunch at a quiche spot. 

The Hotel de Ville setting up for their Christmas market

We did some shopping at Naf Naf and then stopped at a cafe for some wine and a crepe. 

Some random Instagram account highlighted this gorgeous indoor shopping arcade, Galerie Vivienne so I had it on my list to see. 

Next up, the Christmas lights and windows in the shopping district behind the Opera house and the highlight, the Christmas tree in the magnificiently domed Galerie Lafayette! 

View from the top of the Galerie Lafayette

Have you seen the quirky show "Alice in Paris." It follows a young woman who moves to Paris and experiences all of the wonderful eateries of the city. On one episode, she went to this spot back near the Marais where they serve cheese and wine pairings. Sold! It was a lot of cheese, bread and charcuterie, but the concept was fun! 

Unable to walk any further, we ubered back to the hotel and collapsed into bed with our macarons!

 

Escape to Paris- Day 1

During the locked-in-the-Netherlands phase of the pandemic (when EU borders were closed), my heart ached to visit Paris. The idea that this beautiful city that is so, so close (3 hours by train) was so inaccessible was just another disappointment. A few friends visited Paris earlier this fall and I was inspired to take the risk and make the trip. It didn't take any convincing for Bobbie to agree to come with me. Having lived 5 years there before her move to Amsterdam, she is always happy to go back. And it was great to have a former local as a guide for our trip! 

Without kids in tow, we packed a lot into 3 days, walking 20,000 steps a day all over the city! My goals for the trip: soak in the architecture, see Daniel Hirst's cherry blossoms, see the Opera House, eat good food, soak in the Christmas spirit, do some shopping, and see the Eiffel tower at night. We did it all and so much more! The Netherlands was under a parital lockdown during this time with nothing open past 5PM, so we felt like we really escaped. 

Day 1: Easy train from Schiphol (though fuming inside about the Dutchmen in front of us who didn't wear masks despite numerous announcements to do so!). Metro to our hotel near Luxembourg Gardens. Open the hotel room windows and see the Eiffel tower! Trip is off to a great start. 

Lunch of savory crepes and hot apple cider

The sun was shining, but it started sprinkling. I knew a rainbow must be near... 

Headed into Luxembourg gardens and caught the end of the double rainbow!

I wouldn't have thought to visit Paris in December with the risk of bad weather. But when some friends visited Paris in October and shared photos of the Damien Hirst Cherry Blossom exhibit at the Foundacion Cartier, I was determined to visit before the exhibit closed in early January. These beauties would be off to their private collectors and I didn't want to miss it! 

The works were super sculptural and colorful up close.

He made 107 of these, though only 30 were displayed. My attempts to learn the price paid for each one was in vain. 

Walking back to the hotel, the presidential motorcade passed by here. 

A charming square by the hotel.

I love the Parisian architecture of Lutetian limestone buildings and zinc roofs. 

Hit up Bobbie's favorite ramen shop down the street from the Opera House

Another friend had posted pictures from Paris this fall and one looked like it was taken in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, but was actually the interior of the Paris Opera house. I had to see it! Our first night was opening night for the ballet so we got tickets for a memorable night. We explored the building a bit with some bubbly. Magnifient! Then we settled in for the strangest ballet experience. The first number (of 3) was good, Rhapsody, though the garish costumes were a bit distracting. Thinking it was only going to get better from there led to disappointment with the next two acts. First, a premier of a new work, which was modern and choppy. Intermission people watching was fun and then we settled in for 35 minutes of a remake of a 1913 Russian ballet where groups of dancers stood in huddles and stomped around the stage in large tribal costumes. No thank you! But memorable as I said! 

We walked all the way back to the hotel, seeing some of the sights at night.