Day 8: Cafes of Paris and the Latin Quarter

Bonsoir. All good things must come to an end... this is my final blog post from Paris. How sad!

I woke up this morning to rain so skipped my run, got ready for the day, and headed out. It was quite a cold rain so I stopped for cafe creme #1 in my neighborhood before heading to the Trocadero area. It was extremely overcast so today was not the best day to see the Eiffel Tower, but oh well!

I saw it on my last trip and already have photos of it from that trip hanging on my wall at home so it's not like I needed a perfect photo of it!



I was chilled to the bone from the cold rain so stopped in at cafe #2 for my 2nd cafe creme of the day. I had planned on walking from the Eiffel Tower towards city center, but decided to hole up in the cafe and read all morning instead.

Next I headed to the Hotel de Ville area so I could do some shopping at BHV, the store I browsed in earlier this week. I tried on the coat I saw earlier this week and decided it wasn't anything I HAD to have. Instead I purchased a pink scarf - I had to buy something for myself!

Then I stopped in cafe #3 to have some fries. Healthy? Non. Delicious? Oui.

Then I headed over to the Latin Quarter for the walking tour. It was still cold and rainy but I figured if I can handle sub-zero temps, I was not going to let the rain bother me. The tour was awesome - I learned so much about this area of Paris. In case you were wondering, it is called the Latin Quarter because it is the home of Sorbonne University where Latin was the language of instruction....

I loved this area so much, I might stay in the Latin Quarter on my next trip to Paris....

After the tour, I stopped in to cafe #4 of the day. I was really cold after being out in the rain for 2+ hours, so I warmed up with a cup of soup - and read some more. I finished my 4th book today. Luckily, I have one more loaded on my nook so will have plenty of reading material for the trip home!

After attending mass at Notre Dame, I had my last gallette of the trip. Yum. It did not disappoint!



Now I am back in my apartment. I am sad that my trip has come to an end! However, returning to Paris is certainly not a question of if, it's a question of when (maybe in a couple of years?) I just really love this city; it feels like a 2nd home for me.

Thanks for following along and commenting - I've thoroughly enjoyed blogging. One downside to traveling alone is that you can't turn to someone and say - "Look - isn't that beautiful?" So instead, I came home each day and shared the beautiful sites of the day with all of you. This blog will now serve as a digital scrapbook; I know I will look back on it on days when I am really missing Paris.

So au revoir for now. My flight leaves tomorrow morning at 10:50 am - fingers crossed that I get 2 seats to myself on the way home... or a handsome, single seat mate! That's bound to happen for me some day, right? :)

I'll close with a quote from Hemingway from A Moveable Feast:

"There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always return to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it."

Day 7: Palace of Versailles

Bonsoir! I spent the bulk of today at the Palace of Versailles. The oppulence of this place just blew my mind away. King Louis the XIV spent a whole lot of money on this get away in the country (it's about 21 km outside of Paris). Here's the view of Versailles as I approached it.



It was really cool to walk through the grand apartments and see where the Kings and Queens of France lived. My favorite room was the famous "Hall of Mirrors". I loved all the chandaliers - so gorgeous!



The views of the gardens from the various apartments were great, too.



This was quite the place to live! Although, I don't know how "comfortable" it would be to live here since it's just, well, SO grand... It was interesting to see that they had billiard tables, though. I don't know nothing about the history of that sport but I guess I was surprised that it was something the royalty did?

After touring the apartments I headed outside to check out the gardens. The gardens were MASSIVE!


I would love to come back here in the spring or summer when everything is in bloom. It was fun to walk around, though, and the gardens are beautiful even during winter! It's so odd to me that everything is so green over here - back home, everything is covered in snow!


I kept thinking about how this whole area is considerably larger than the area of land that my hometown in North Dakota occupies. It seriously took me about 20-30 minutes just to walk to the middle of the gardens!

I also toured Marie Antoinette's apartment but I do not have any photos of this. I kind of got to a point where I OD'd on taking photos...

I got back to my apartment and rested a bit before heading out for dinner. Tonight I went to a place that had a set menu where you could choose an appetizer, main dish, and dessert. Interestingly, appetizers are called entrees over here. I think maybe because entree means enter, and an appetizer is how you 'enter' the meal? I don't have any pictures, but I tried something new tonight... I had rabbit for the first time. My friend Nora's mom had told me that I should try this while I was in Paris. It was actually really good! It was in a mustard sauce. I had mussels for my appetizer and creme brulee for dessert. Yum. That sounds like a lot of food, but the portions were small.

Tomorrow is my last full day in Paris. This vacation went by WAY too fast. Usually, but the end of a vacation, I am anxious to get home and return to my usual schedule. I really don't feel that way this time, though... A large part of that probably has to do with the fact that I took this week off from studying for the CFA (which has totally consumed my life) - so knowing that I have lots of studying to return to is not all that appealing...

Tomorrow my plan is to go for one final run in the mroning, head to the Eiffel Tower area, and then do a guided walking tour of the Latin Quarter. I'll cap off the day with mass at Notre Dame and one final meal out, which will probably be a gallette. Oh how I j'adore gallettes. :) They aren't gourmet or anything but that's probably my favorite thing that I've eaten here!

Au revoir - I am off to do more reading. I'm on book #4 of my vacation!

Day 6: Museums of Paris!

Bonsoir! Another day has come and gone - this vacation is going by much too fast!

I was pretty tired out from the Normandy tour so I slept in this morning and then headed out for another run along the Seine. I was feeling pretty tired but the fresh air from my run rejuvenated me! I got ready for the day and headed out to tour some museums.

My first stop was l'Orangerie. This museum is known for the beautiful displays of Monet's Water Lilies. They are beautifully displayed in a circular room.




The museum also had works of other impressionist artists, such as Cezanne, Renoir, and Matisse. I love the artwork of the impressionists - definitely my favorite type of art!

I walked back through the Tuileries towards the my next stop, the Louvre. I just love the huge parks, like the Tuileries.



As you can see, they have chairs around the pond. In the summer, children float little boats on these ponds. So cool.

Next I headed into the Louvre. Holy cannasta, it is massive. Truth be told, I only tackled one wing and one floor of the museum. It's just too overwhelmingly massive for me. I am glad that I went, though. I saw the wing of Italian artwork, including the famous Mona Lisa.

At this point, I started to get museum ADD, so I headed out and walked along the Seine towards the Latin quarter. I was craving a gallette, so I headed toward the St. Michel area to find a creperie. I really need to figure out how to make these gallettes when I get home. They are SO good. This time I had one with ham, cheese, and onions, topped with an egg and a little salad.



Yum. It tasted even better than it looks. I might need to have one more gallette before I go home... I think it might be my favorite thing to eat in Paris!!

After my late lunch, I was hoping to check out the Conciergerie, which is where prisoners were held during the Revolution - including Marie Antoinette. Unfortunately, it is closed this week. :( Bummer.

So I walked home along Rue de Rivoli and stopped at Hotel de Ville. Hotel de Ville is so beautiful! I love the carousel on the corner!


You can go ice skating in front of the Hotel de Ville right now. I opted not to, but seeing the skaters definitely makes me think of the Barrister as we went skating together in December.



I am thinking it may be a good idea to avoid this corner for the rest of my trip (I've walked by it multiple times now and run by it in the mornings) - it conjures up memories that I really don't want to think about right now...

I cleared my mind with a little window shopping in the beautiful BHV.


I came very close to purchasing some outerwear but then I remembered that I already own, um, 12+ jackets, possibly more... So I really do not need another. Amber is probably laughing as she reads this because she heard all about my outerwear obsession on our marathon road trip. I am drawn to outerwear like a moth to a flame...

After that, I stopped in at multiple Tabacs and got REALLY good at asking (in French) if they had stamps for post cards. Dear God, it is hard to find postage card stamps! I stopped at 5 different Tabacs. No luck. Finally I stumbled upon a post office and was able to purchase some! Success!

I celebrated the fact that I won't have to ask about postage stamps anymore by having a couple of glasses of wine in two different cafes and read for a bit before heading back to my apartment.

Je suis fatigué. And I am craving french fries so I might go to the cafe on the corner and have some for dinner. I swear they taste better over here - especially when dipped in mustard. Oh and the mustard tastes better over here, too!!

Tomorrow I will head to Versailles. I only have 2 days left in Paris! I honestly could spend a month in this city. Or maybe a lifetime? Ok, kidding... I can't afford to live here - and I am sure it wouldn't be as lovely if I was working each day... And I'd miss my family/friends. But seriously, this city rocks.

Evening of Day 4

Greetings! I just got back from my tour of the Landing Beaches of Normandy. It's going to take me awhile to sift through all the photos so I'll be back tomorrow with a post about that. I am definitely very, very glad I did the tour. After seeing movies like Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, it was surreal and humbling to see the beaches in person...

When I last left off, I was getting ready for the ballet! I wanted to have dinner in my apartment before the show so decided to buy one of the rotisserie chickens I've been drooling over all week at the local butcher shop.


I bought a small chicken and resisted the urge to buy some of the potatoes since I still have the fingerling potatoes I bought at the market on Sunday...

I shredded the chicken, cut up some greens that I had bought on Sunday and topped it with avocado and tomato, and a vinagrette that I mixed up with dijon mustard, balsamic and red wine vinegar. Yum! I don't have the French knack for presentation, but here's a picture of my delicious and healthy salad!



While it is fun to eat out, I am really enjoying eating meals in my apartment. I usually eat about one meal out a day. It's a great way to save money and I do not feel like I am depriving myself since the meals I am fixing have been delicious!

After dinner, I got dressed and headed out for the ballet (terrible self-photo, ignore the running clothes on the floor!)!



I got to the Opera area a little early so I could enjoy a glass of wine before the ballet. The Opera house is so so so gorgeous. As usual, my pictures do not do it justice. I am really terrible at night photos & photos of the interiors of dark places. I have an old point & shoot camera and I never have been able to figure out the night settings! These shots give you an idea of what the place is like, though.





The ballet was beautiful. It was danced to Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, which is one of my favorite pieces. This is my first ballet since seeing the Nutcracker in college - I really, really enjoyed it and was impressed by the dancing and the music. I would definitely love to go to another ballet back in Minneapolis.

All in all, it was a wonderful night.

And I am off to bed! I had planned on going to Versailles tomorrow but I am going to wait and go on Friday as I need a slower paced day tomorrow. I bought a Paris Museum Pass so tomorrow I plan on leisurely popping in and out of some museums. A couple of you commented and convinced me to give the Louvre a try, so I will probably head there tomorrow night after dinner. It's open late on Thursdays so I figure if I go in the evening, the crowds should have thinned out by then.

Good night, everyone!

Day 4: Champs Elysees

Good afternoon, everyone, and happy Tuesday! I woke up to rain this morning so decided not to run as I'm not a huge fan of running in the rain! I wanted today to be an easy going day as I know tomorrow will be a big day since I'll be gone for about 14 hours for that Beaches of Normandy tour! So I took my time getting ready, finished book #2 of the trip (A Secret Kept which was good but not as good as Sarah's Key, the other book by the author), and headed down to the cafe on the corner for a cafe creme.


I must say, it's really nice to sit and savor my coffee for a change! At home, I am usually gulping it down on my drive to the park & ride where I catch my bus!! I sat in the cafe and started a new book - Murder in the Marais. I am not usually a mystery reader, but this book came recommended and it's set in the arondissement where I am staying, so I had to check it out!! I read the first couple of chapters and did some people watching.

Once I was caffeinated, I took the metro to Champs Elysees which is one of the most famous boulevards in the world. It's lined with upscale stores, such as Cartier and Louis Vitton, and some American-based companies like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch. I stopped into Zara for a bit.


I think I did about 3 or 4 case studies on Zara in my MBA program, so it's fun to see the store in person after reading so much about their sucessful business practices. I saw quite a few things that I would love to own, but I decided to hold off on buying anything for now.

I continued on until I got to the end of the boulevard where you find the Arc de Triomphe. I climbed to the top of the Arc on my last trip so this time I just viewed it from afar. It was commission by Napoleon to commemorate his victories.


After that, I headed back down the other side of the street and stopped at Laduree. Laduree is a famous patisserie that is known for their Macaroons.

They had a beautiful Valentine's Day window display!


I waited in line for some macaroons and got a couple of shots of the delicious sweets that they sell.



Macaroons are made with almond flour, so they are a gluten free treat that I can enjoy! I bought 4 macaroons - raspberry, dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. It was hard to choose which 4 to buy!

I had some mussels and fries for lunch. I got the small 1/2 portion of mussels, which was quite a generous portion in my opinion. They were steamed in white wine and were so good!! I think I could eat mussels every day!



Now I am back in my apartment. I am going to a Ballet tonight at the Palais Garnier so I wanted some downtime in my apartment before I start getting ready for the evening!

I probably will not do a blog post tomorrow since it will be a full day for me. I have to be at the tour office at 6:45 tomorrow so it will be an early morning for me! I am really looking forward to touring the Beaches of Normandy, though.

Here's the interesting fact of the day. It turns out that Jim Morrison died in a bathtub in an apartment across the street from where I am staying! Confession: I know the name Jim Morrison but I didn't really know who he was, so I had to google him... Classic rock is just not my genre, so that's why I didn't really know who he was. I guess the circumstances of his death are a bit unknown and some people think he is still alive... He does have a grave at the famous Pere Lachaise cemetary, though!

Au revoir for now! I'm off to iron my dress that I will wear tonight!

Day 1

Bonjour from Paris!! Day 1 is already behind me, I think this trip will go by quickly!!

The flight went well - the 9 hours actually went by pretty quickly. It wasn't a full flight so I lucked out and had 2 seats to myself! It was really nice to sprawl across those 2 seats. I didn't sleep much but I was way more comfy than I would have if I'd had a seatmate.

I found my way to the apartment easily and continued my trend of not getting lost in Paris. Last time I was in Paris, I never got lost. I am probably jinxing myself by saying this, but this is sort of miraculous for me as I am notorious for getting lost! I got to my apartment in the Marais and the cleaning guy was still there so I hung out on the terrace and read while I waited for the apartment owner to show up so he could explain how everything works. When he got there, he informed that he had a little bad news - the hot water was not working in that apartment and he wasn't sure when it would be fixed so he offered to take me to a different apartment in the Marais. For those familiar w/ Paris, the apartment I had booked is close to Hotel de Ville. The new apartment that he moved me to is about 2 blocks from Place des Vosges and maybe 4 blocks from the St. Paul metro stop. So it's in a very similar neighborhood. My heart was set on that first apartment but having hot water is way more important to me. He did say that if I want to move back to the other apartment when the water has been fixed, I can, so I haven't ruled that out just yet... ButI really do not want to re-pack and haul my suitcase over to a different apartment. Plus the apartment they moved me to is very nice and is actually probably even a little bit bigger. It doesn't have a terrace, but it's probably unlikely that I'll use the terrace much since it's February and all...

The whole apartment changing thing is really not a big deal, though. One thing I love about traveling is that is forces me to be a bit more flexible. Flexible is really not a word that typically describes me, but when you travel, it's a must. Plus, it's really hard to let anything bother you when you are one of the moest beautiful cities in the world!!

After grabbing some soup and finding an internet cafe so I could check in with my family and let them know I arrived safely, I headed to the Palais Royal area to do a French Revolution walking tour. I had done another tour by this same company last time I was in Paris. The tour was pretty good, but not as good as the last one I did. I think I might be more confused about what happened during the French Revolution now than I was before... the guide was a little bit confused I guess you could say? She kept forgetting dates and blanking on things completely... It was a bit awkward... But I am still glad I did the walking tour as I saw parts of Paris that I didn't see on my last trip. And it was nice to talk to others in English as that's not something that will happen very often this trip!

After all the walking, I had worked up an appetite so I headed to the St. Michel area for an early dinner. I was hoping to find a menu with mashed potatoes (ultimate comfort food for me), but didn't see anything on w/ pomme de terres on the menu and I was too lazy to look further, so I went to a creperies place instead. I can't have traditional crepes, but buckwheat crepes are gluten free so I found a place with a selection of gallettes (savory buckwheat crepes) and had a nice salad and a gallette with ham, mozzarella, and tomatoes. This meal was awesome! Here are some pictures!



After dinner, I headed back to my apartment and called it a night. My goal was to stay awake until 7 pm and I stayed up until 9 pm - not bad considering the fact that I probably got about 3 hours of sleep!

Oh, and here is my random/funny observation of the day. You know the movie, "No Strings Attached" that's playing now? Over here, the title of the movie is "Sex Friends"!!! I thought that was pretty funny! Can you imagine that being the title of a mainstream movie in the US?? Ah, the French. They sure are direct.

Au revoir for now! It's Sunday morning so I am going to head out to the Bastille market. Tonight I will go to Mass at Notre Dame at 6:30.